This chapter's going to be a little more extensive than before.
Chapter 37 – Spies At Dinner! Moon and Axis Are Allies!
It wasn't long after leaving Last Guardian that a call came from the Earth Federation's administrative headquarters - Lhasa, a city nestled in the Himalayan Mountains not far from Neo Hong Kong.
"Your Highness!" Loran and Harry exclaimed joyfully when they saw Dianna's face appear on the viewscreen in the Ra Cailum's bridge.
"Loran...Harry...I'm pleased to see that you're safe."
"We're happy to see that YOU'RE safe, my queen," Harry replied, bowing respectfully. "It seems the Federation brought you to their headquarters."
"Did you happen to meet Prime Minister Wong?" Bright asked. Unexpectedly, someone did appear behind Dianna - a man with long hair, dark sunglasses and dressed in an immaculate dark suit and maroon tie. The man also had an overcoat hanging from his shoulders like a cape.
"Well, hello there!" the man said with a wide smile. "I think someone mentioned me?"
"Prime Minister!" Bright exclaimed, immediately standing to attention.
"Are you two her personal guards?" Wong asked wryly; "I must say, your queen is a lovely lady - So polite and gentle...and pretty, too."
Harry's eyes burned with rage behind his own sunglasses, while Loran leered at him. But all this achieved was making Wong burst out laughing.
"Oh, don't be such sticks in the mud!" the leader of the Earth Federation said as he composed himself; "I was just kidding around!" But even Bright was starting to look embarrassed by his leader's behavior.
"Now that we've returned," Harry said, trying to calm himself down as well; "We kindly request that you to return Her Majesty to us."
"Of course, my good man!" Wong replied, his tone remaining entirely informal, yet somehow condescending; "Just swing on by, and we'll have her all dolled up and ready to go for you!" He started to press a button to end the conversation, but then seemed to remember something.
"Oh, and by the way...it seems like Her Majesty's loyal spies have picked up some juicy doings up on the Moon. She'll tell you more once you arrive. Now, if you'll excuse us..." And with that, Wong finally did sever the connection. Harry immediately let out a bellow of rage before storming off, ranting and cursing about Wong Yun Fat.
"I-I think Commander Ord speaks for both of us," Loran said, though he was clearly not used to seeing his superior blow up quite like that.
"Like him or not, he's our Prime Minister," Bright sighed. "But his power isn't absolute. There is a council that can override his decisions with sufficient votes."
"It still seems like a gaping flaw in the logic behind the Gundam Fight if it enables a man like him to grasp the reins of power," the Turn A's pilot said.
"Perhaps it is, Loran," the Ra Cailum's captain said, "perhaps it is."
Rossiu and a few of his assistants descended down the elevator to the deepest part of Lordgenome's old fortress. The room they found at the bottom was dark, save for a single barely glowing tube of liquid in the center. There was a thick mass in the center of it, but the darkness hid its nature from view. Bubbles rose in clusters up the tube, indicating that a gas of some kind was being channeled into it as well.
As they stepped inside, numerous green lights came on, and a low hum filled the room, causing the tube to glow more brightly, revealing the mass inside: it was a human head attached to countless wires. The head was wrinkled and bald, but hardly that of a weak, aging mortal. The shocked out goatee was still thick and full.
"We did it...the biocomputer has been activated," one of Rossiu's assistants said.
"Well done," Rossiu replied before turning to the head. "Awaken, Lordgenome, the man who once protected humanity."
The head was indeed that of the feared Spiral King. But now it had been attached to a powerful computer system, and as a mere head sealed inside a vat, could do no harm. Lordgenome slowly opened his eyes, which had a spiral in them - this was the mark of one who had drunk deep of Spiral Power. He then let out a yawn, as if he had been woken up from a nap.
"Just as you predicted, the Humanity Extermination System is starting up."
"And in a panic, you bring the dead back from hell," Lordgenome replied.
"You are simply a bio-computer created using Lordgenome's cells. I won't question your deeds from your previous life. But tell me, was Nia's prophecy true? Is the moon truly going to fall on us?"
Lordgenome closed his eyes, as if processing something.
"The moon is only half of the threat."
"So, what's the other half?" Rossiu asked.
"The other half of the Humanity Extermination System is an entity that humanity itself has given form, but the Anti-Spiral have given their blessing."
"And?" Rossiu demanded.
"That is all I know," Lordgenome replied. "But it seems your mind is made up already. I doubt my words have changed your intentions."
Janus and Tara gazed out at the Himalayan Mountains, which slowly passed by as the Ra Cailum made its way to Lhasa, in the former nation of Tibet, now a territory of Neo Hong Kong. The radiation from the Getter Ray Armageddon didn't extend all the way up to these heights, so the administrative capital was moved there from the African city of Dakar. The view was a nice bonus.
"Rei would have loved to see this," Janus sighed. "All these mountains topped with snow…"
"You miss her?" Tara exclaimed with a smile; "Awwww, you DO see her as a little sister!" She pinched Janus' cheek. At this moment, a rather depressed Hathaway happened upon them.
"Stop it!" he said, pulling Tara's hand off. "I make one slip of the tongue…"
"But it's so cuuuute!" Lifthrasir's pilot cooed; "You're her onii-chan!"
"C'mon, stop it!" Granlif's pilot said, although he was laughing. He couldn't really get mad at Tara over a little thing like this.
"Hee-hee! Onii-chan! Onii-chan! Janny's a onii-chan!" Tara giggled, again using the Japanese honorific. As the two continued their playful argument, Hathaway was awed by the aura of affection they gave off - it was even stronger than it was with Amuro and Chan, even though neither of them were Newtypes.
The boy felt the same twinge of jealousy that he had felt before, and immediately ran off, with the couple none the wiser...
Christina was also watching the Himalayas go by in a different section of the ship as she talked on the phone with someone...a boy from Side 6 that she had babysat for toward the end of the One-Year War. But now...
"I know you'll do great there, Alfred!" she said happily. "Congratulations again on your new job!"
Hathaway came up behind her, and again found himself listening in.
"Yes, I promise I'll come see you and your new girlfriend one of these days," the Gundam Alex's pilot said. "Bernie? We've talked a few times, but I haven't seen him in ages either...but maybe I can convince him to come along. It'll be a big reunion!"
Christina smiled widely as she heard Alfred's response.
"Alright, we'll hammer out the details once we've dealt with the current crisis. Take care, Alfred." With that, she hung up.
Thirteen years, she thought, has it really been THAT LONG since I last saw either of them? I wonder if Bernie's been caught up in all this, too.
"Hey, Christina," the boy finally said. The woman turned to him as she pocketed her phone.
"What's up, Hathaway?" she asked. Hathaway sighed - his father and Amuro always said that Christina was easy to talk to...she was sort of a mother figure for Londo Bell...but would she really be able to answer this?
"It's about Janus and Tara," he said with a sigh; "I can't help but notice how close those two are...and to be honest, I'm kinda jealous."
"Why?" Christina asked, smiling and leaning against the window; "Is there someone you like a lot? It's not Tara, is it?"
Hathaway shook his head, and started to blush deeply.
"There's...this girl I met a couple of times," he explained; "Her name is Quess Paraya..."
"Ooooh, you're blushing!" the woman said with a grin; "You've got a crush on her, don't you, Hathaway?"
"I-It's more than that," the Xi Gundam's pilot said, his gaze breaking away from Christina, instead gazing at his own hands. "It's like...it's like I'd do anything for her!"
"Anything?!" Christina exclaimed, suddenly seeing the desperate sincerity in Hathaway's expression.
"Anything!" the boy confirmed.
What is it with young Newtypes and first love, she thought; Are they all doomed to be like Commander Amuro and that Lalah person?
"How do you know Quess feels the same way?" the veteran pilot said forthrightly. "Listen...if you see her again and she remembers you, try asking her straight out. The answer could be painful, but at least you'll know."
This made Hathaway feel a little better, but now the thought of rejection was in the back of his mind.
"Thanks," the boy said; "I suppose I can try that...if I ever see her again."
Masato and Miku, like just about all of the newcomers to the group, were run through the informal initiation process of joining DREAM - watching an episode of Gekiganger 3 and tasting Akito's cooking. But the two opted to stay on the Ra Cailum, where Dianna, Loran and Harry also chose to stay. Luckily, Zeorymer's limbs could still easily be separated from the main body, which made it possible to store in the hangar.
Zeorymer's pilots went to check up on their mech in said hangar - but it wasn't long before Masato's gaze turned to the Turn A Gundam.
"Miku...I think I know that robot from somewhere," Masato said. "Just like how I knew Zeorymer. Why would I know that machine? It's not related to the Hakkeshu at all."
However, Miku's attention was diverted to somewhere else. She saw Leeron wheeling what appeared to be a boxers-sporting robotic skeleton into another part of the hangar on a two tiered cart, with the lower one holding a bucket. with Yoko and Janus following behind. Yoko was holding a long cord that was running out from Gurren Lagann's head, while Janus held a black disc. Curious, she turned off in another direction in order to follow them.
She followed the two from a distance, hoping to not be seen. They soon arrived at some sort of workshop.
"This is another of your 'side projects', Leeron?" Yoko quipped as the mechanical genius prepared. "You haven't told anyone about this."
"What did you think I was doing while you were out in battle, silly?" Leeron replied. "I found this thing in Lordgenome's scrap pile right next to where Granlif was. I figured it was related, so I took it along. Then when I saw Xemmey as an android, I knew exactly how it worked! Of course, I made my own additions...Jan, before I forget, can you insert the disk into the slot on its chest?"
"But if this thing is like Xemmey," Janus replied as he did so, "It's kinda missing...you know, everything that isn't its skeleton?"
Leeron pulled the bucket from under the cart and turned it over. Unceremoniously, a viscous goop the same color as a fair-skinned human began to flow out, and quickly began to cover and cling to the inactive skeleton.
"Okay...what did that accomplish?" Janus said, wondering just what sort of crazy stunt Leeron was trying to pull.
"You'll see," the mechanic replied eagerly. "Yoko, be a doll and plug that cord into his head, would you, please?"
"Won't this fry the android's circuits or damage the disk?" Yoko replied as she hesitantly plugged the cord into the socket on the small robot's head.
"Girl, this is Spiral Power we're talking about; Simon can make it do what he wants it to do! Speaking of which...hit it, hon!"
Back in the hangar, Simon, hearing Leeron's call, revved Gurren Lagann's Spiral Engine, which was connected to the android. The Spiral Power traveled down the cord and entered the android's body. The viscous goo began to wobble and quake, then it began to flow over and attach to the skeleton, forming artificial skin, muscles and even hair.
Meanwhile, the head began to form into a familiar face - it was the same face as that of Xengar, the floating head who served as Janus' AI companion. Before long, it had formed into an anatomically correct human, right down to the extras in the groin. Its decency was kept thanks to Leeron's foresight to give it underwear.
Miku watched this whole spectacle in shock. What on earth was this Leeron person doing? Was he giving life to an android?
After the goo had finished forming around the skeleton and had sufficiently hardened (which happened very quickly), the android began to hum and whir a bit. Yoko and Janus looked on intently, which Leeron simply got an eyeful of the well chiseled body.
Finally, the android's eyes opened, causing Leeron to raise his arms to the heavens, and laugh maniacally while it sat up.
"IT'S ALIVE! IT'S ALIIIIIIIIIIIVE!" he cackled.
"Ungh...where am I...Wait a minute, this isn't the cockpit of the XNG-0A!" the newly activated android exclaimed once he sat up.
"Welcome to the real world, you big hunk of man-droid, you!" Leeron said with a swoon.
"Hey, buddy," Janus said. "You've got a body now, thanks to Leeron here."
Xengar examined his new form, seeing how everything worked. After a moment, the android slid off the cart and onto his feet. He walked around a bit, with a perfectly natural gait.
"Wow...if I didn't know any better, I'd think you were a real human," Yoko commented. "And a real lady-killer, too."
"Let's get you some new threads, and then Jan here will show you off!" the mechanic said excitedly. "And it just so happens that I have some!"
Miku quickly left, hoping she hadn't been seen.
The Ra Cailum and Nadesico successfully launched into space, and headed for the Lunar Kingdom on the dark side of the moon.
"Uh-huh," Puru chirped, talking into the Quebley's communicator - she was talking with an agent of Neo Zeon - her contact for her 'spying' mission on Londo Bell; "Yep. Really? As strong as Judau?! What's her name? Will she be there? Okay! I'll report to her once I get there. You know very well which 'her', silly! Okay, Elpeo Puru, out!"
Unbeknownst to her contact, Bright, Amuro, Judau and Hathaway were listening intently as they floated outside her cockpit.
"So, what did your contact tell you?" Judau asked.
"Haman and Char are gonna meet with some guys named Ghingnham and Maintainer at the Lunar Kingdom's capital...um...I think it's in two days. It's gonna be a biiiiiiiiig party!"
"Then the information from Dianna's loyalists on the inside is true," Amuro said.
"Does your contact still think you're spying on us?" Bright asked.
"Yup!" Puru said with a giggle. "But I just want to be with big brother Judau, and not with that mean old Haman!"
"Okay, listen, Puru," Bright continued; "I know it may not seem right, but I need you to keep lying about what we're up to, and tell us any more information that they tell you."
"Hey, you're asking her to LIE to them?!" Judau protested angrily. "Of course, we can't just tell them what we're doing, but still, it would be better if she just didn't say anything! Puru, just..."
"Judau, I don't like using tricks like these either," Amuro said, shaking his head. "But Char has indicated that he wants to ruin the Earth and make it completely uninhabitable! If there's a way we can stop Char or get him to change his mind, then we have to do whatever it takes to find it out."
"Okay! I promise!" Puru said.
"That's great," Bright said with a nod. "Thank you, Puru. You may yet save countless lives with what you just told us." But before everyone could float away, the young Newtype remembered the newcomer to Char's personal forces.
"By the way, my contact mentioned that there was a really powerful Newtype in Char's elite forces...I think her name was Quess something…" The name made all of Hathaway's neck hairs stand on end in shock.
Quess?! Xi Gundam's pilot thought; SHE joined Neo Zeon?! I've got to see her, and save her before Char pulls her in too deep!
He was too focused on the girl to realize that Amuro and Judau also sensed his burst of emotion, and that Bright also knew just who Quess was...
After some discussion amongst themselves and further investigation of the matter, DREAM's members arrived at the conclusion that a direct assault was not the best of plans. The negotiations were being held in the royal palace itself under the pretense of a gala celebrating an initiation of trade relations between the two powers; and there would be innocent civilians.
Instead, a select group would pose as guests and see if they could pick up any information to exactly how Neo Zeon and the Lunar Kingdom would be working together.
"Since the head of Anaheim Electronics is going, I'll go," Akatsuki said confidently. "As his business partner, I'm sure he will vouch for me."
"I'll go!" Puru said. "They all think I'm still a Zeon soldier, so they'll let me in for sure!"
"As for anyone else," Bright said. "We need to pick individuals who they would have reasonable doubt to consider possible spies. That probably disqualifies just about anyone from this world..."
"Dad...I'd like to go," Hathaway interrupted. "Maybe I can talk to Char, Newtype to Newtype."
"That's crazy!" Bright exclaimed, horrified at the idea. "I'm not letting you risk…"
"Char won't let anyone lay a finger on your son in this situation," Amuro said. "He respects you too much to do that."
"I'm not afraid of him being hurt," Bright said grimly. "I'm afraid that Char will lure him in somehow - get him to turn against us." This thought alarmed everyone else in the conversation except for the Nu Gundam's pilot.
"I'm all for being realistic," Akatsuki said; "But that's a heavy accusation you're laying there, calling your son a possible traitor!"
"You don't know Char, Akatsuki," the Ra Cailum's captain said. "Not like Amuro and I do." Hathaway scowled, angry that his father had denied him a chance to see Quess.
"But...if my son can be trusted with a Gundam," he continued; "Then I suppose I should at least give him a chance. But I will need someone to keep an eye on him..."
Eventually, the remaining infiltrators were chosen, a grand total of seven, to cover the most ground. On top of Puru, Hathaway and Akatsuki, Tara, Janus, Yurika and Akito were also chosen. However, Loran, who knew the capital and the palace like the back of his hand, was chosen to lead the operation as the last.
And in order to do that without being recognized, Loran needed a disguise. Yurika happened to have a large store of formal clothing on the Nadesico, which she had saved for such an occasion. Meanwhile, the young queen, the two princess sisters, and even George DeSand provided Loran training for how to walk like a proper lady.
All during the slow journey to the moon, Loran was drilled over and over in the proper etiquette for women at parties, from posture to dancing lessons to how to curtsy properly. The manlier men in DREAM struggled to contain their laughter at what Loran had to go through.
"And once more!" Dianna said, tapping a fan in her hand to a rhythm. "1, 2, 3, 2, 2, 3, 3, 2, 3..."
"Can we take a break?" Loran sighed as he let go of George, who was serving as his dance partner. "We've been at this for four hours! And you know very well that I know how to waltz! I'm going to gather information, for the love of..."
"You're going to learn to dance and act like a proper lady," Dianna replied with a leer. "It's a very important part of the disguise."
"Don't be embarrassed, Loran," Nunnally said. "We've had Gender Role Reversal Festivals at my school for two years now. Suzaku and my big brother even got in on it. It was fun!"
"Easy for you to say," Loran grumbled. No one thinks twice if a woman dresses up like a man...but if it's the other way around…
While the rest of DREAM waited out at a distance, the infiltration team was flown into the domed city. Each of them had a tiny recording device placed inside their ears. Due to the lack of Minovsky Particles in the vicinity of the Lunar Kingdom, signals from the devices could easily be beamed back to the ship. After finding Dianna's contact and obtaining forged invitations, "Laura" (Loran's assumed name) led them up to the palace, trying his best not to trip in the high heeled shoes he was wearing.
They approached to a guard, a member of the coup d'etat faction. As each guest passed, they held out their invitation for the guard to take a quick glance at.
"Invitations out, guys!" Puru said. She wore a cute lace dress with a similar color scheme to her Quebley; Janus and Akito wore nice suits; Yurika wore a more formal version of her usual captain's outfit (with the patches removed to prevent suspicion); and Tara wore a dress similar to the one she had worn the day of the art contest judging.
As they passed, the guard glanced at their invitations, and showed no signs of suspicion whatsoever, especially when they were being led around by Elpeo Puru.
"All right, we'll split up into pairs." Loran said. "Akatsuki, I hope you don't mind babysitting."
"Shouldn't a nice young lady like yourself have a companion?" Janus said with a bit of a snicker. "Go with Puru and Akatsuki. They'll protect you!"
"C'mon, lay off," Loran replied in an annoyed tone. "It's not like I want to dress up like this."
"Okay, okay, I'm sorry," Janus said, trying to calm down. "C'mon, let's go before I split my sides..."
Haman Khan, dressed in a lovely white gown with large silk roses on the shoulder and hip; as well as a pink bow on her left arm, was already getting bored of schmoozing with the politicians. Meanwhile, Gym Ghingnham was off flexing his muscles for the ladies, while Agrippa Maintainer was too busy kissing up to Zeon officials. The only person she was remotely interested being around was Char, and he hadn't arrived yet.
But then Haman caught sight of Yurika and Akito. They were at the refreshment table, sampling the different delicacies. She got the same aura from them as she did Judau - an honest one that suggested not only a lack of ill intentions, but to ever possibly possess them. Figuring they would be good for a laugh, the Zeon commander approached them.
"Pardon me, but I don't think I've seen the likes of you around."
"Oh...um...hello," Akito replied nervously, remembering the description Judau had given of Char's right-hand woman. "I gotta say...the people of Zeon have good taste!"
"Yes, the refreshments are nice, I suppose," Haman said with a sigh. She hated small talk.
"I especially like those little veggie rolls," the Aestivalis pilot said as he picked up. "They're not too oily, nice crunchy exterior, and the hint of garlic really enhances it!"
"Really?" Haman said, dropping her guard a little at this unexpected comment. "It's a little recipe my father passed to me...do you cook?"
"Are you kidding?" Yurika said excitedly. "My darling Akito is the best cook around! I bet he could make better food than any chef in all of Zeon!"
"Really? What exactly is a cook doing at a party where only politicians and military men are allowed?"
"Hey, I'm a battleship captain, you know!" Yurika chimed in. "I...um...used to be, anyway."
"Yeah, we defected from the Federation to Zeon." Akito replied, thinking quickly. "But we haven't been assigned to any ships yet. If you don't believe us, we'll give you some information that we got before we defected."
"We heard that the Federation is sending a fleet to Mars," Yurika said quietly. "If I were you, I'd ambush them on the way."
Haman gasped. There were already operations by Zeon to colonize Mars - if the Federation knew, then that meant the entire venture was in danger. Even if the information was false, the operations were too important to leave unprotected.
Of course, she didn't know that Yurika had come up with that idea on the spot, nor did Yurika know that Zeon actually had plans to colonize Mars.
"I see. You've given me very important information," Haman replied cordially. "I'll see to it that Lord Char gets it. Excuse me."
Akatsuki had managed to locate the head of Anaheim Electronics, and almost immediately started talking business with him. Meanwhile, Puru started wandering around, looking for someone in particular. Soon enough, she spotted the person in mind - her twin sister, who was dressed in a Zeon officer's uniform.
"Sister!" she squealed. Puru Two smiled and subtly motioned for her sister to approach so they could talk.
"Hello, Puru," the Zeon pilot said; "How goes your secret mission?"
"It's going fine, Puru Two!" Puru lied. "They totally think I'm one of them." Puru Two, having no reason to believe that her own sister would change sides, believed her.
"Good. Things are progressing well with Lord Char's plan. He's going to announce it tonight."
"Hey, Puru!" Tara called over.
"Hiiiii!" Puru said, waving her friend over. Janus was talking to Chara Soon, but was soon pulled out of the conversation.
"Jan and I was just talking to some chick with red and yellow hair," Lifthrasir's pilot began before noticing Puru Two; "Wow, I didn't know you had a twin sister!"
I'll bet these are two Londo Bell members acting as spies, Puru Two thought; But I can't expose them here...Lady Haman said that Lord Char WANTS them to know his plans.
"What's your name, little lady?" the purple-haired girl asked politely.
"Puru Two," the Cyber-Newtype replied.
"That's certainly...different," Tara exclaimed.
"It's the name I was given at birth, just like you or any other person," Puru Two answered, slightly annoyed.
"If you're Puru Two, then where are Purus Three, Four, and Five?" Janus said jokingly. Figuring there was no reason to hide such information, the Zeon pilot began to answer in a tone of complete seriousness.
"They're patrolling somewhere around Axis. Six through Ten, as well as Twelve, are in training, and Eleven is on leave."
Tara and Janus blinked in shock.
"...You have...eleven other sisters?" Janus said.
"Yep!" Puru said, still smiling.
"And you all...look alike?" Tara said.
"Yes," Puru Two said, raising an eyebrow. "Does that bother you?" The two other pilots imagined the twelve Purus running back and forth, saying "Puru-puru-puru-puru" over and over as they ran.
That...would be too MUCH Puru to handle, Tara thought.
"Geez, and here I was hoping for a little break," Ryoma grumbled as he hopped into Black Getter's cockpit - alarms had heralded the approach of hostile forces; "What are we up against?"
"More Titans troops, it seems," Hayato said. He was on the Nadesico's bridge along with Benkei.
"Titans?!" Ryoma exclaimed. "But…"
"Some evil alien empire called the Muge Zolbados Empire has been using Invaders as troops," Kei said from inside Shin Jaguar; "And some of those Invaders are using the forms of old Titans troops."
"Invaders?!" Ryoma exclaimed even louder than before; "Why the hell would Invaders work with ANYONE?!"
"It's possible that Saotome made a deal with Emperor Muge himself," Hayato said; "The Invaders are vicious and unfeeling monsters, but they're not stupid."
"Could they be preparing to attack the meeting?" Amuro said; "Based on our previous encounters, the grudges of those Titans' soldiers seems to be intact. If that's the case, then we have to fight them."
"Wait a sec," Asuka chimed in; "So we have to stop these guys from killing our enemies...why? If they off Char and Haman, then we don't have to worry about whatever he's planning!"
"We don't necessarily want Char Aznable dead, Asuka," Bright said; "Personally, I'd like to make him see reason."
"More importantly," Amuro added; "The presence of these monsters puts our spies in grave danger...one of them being Captain Misumaru."
"Oh," Asuka said awkwardly; "Good point. Well, let's get to it then."
Shin Getter, Black Getter, Zeta Gundam, Psyco Gundam mk III, Mazinkaiser, Dancougar, Astray Blue Frame, Zeorymer, Evangelion Unit 02, Methuss and Nu Gundam all launched out of the two ships to meet their enemies.
As usual, it was a mix of Invaders and Titans mobile weapons. But leading this mix were two large green mobile suits. One of them had a purple chest plate, and was armed to the teeth with all sorts of beam weaponry and missiles. The other was slightly smaller, and only seemed to have a shield with a grappling claw attached, though closer surveillance indicated the presence of multiple beam weapons stored there.
"Those mobile suits…" Kamille gasped. He had seen them during the final days of the Gryps Conflict - the heavily armed mobile suit was the Palace Athene, and the one with the shield was the Bolinoak Sammahn.
"Reccoa Londe and Sarah Zabiarov," Fa said grimly; "So, both of you were brought back as well."
"These brain waves," Four gasped as she sensed the mix of Newtype and Invader thoughts coming from the two resurrected Titans, "And I thought the ones made by pure Invaders were frightening enough!"
"So, you survived after all, Four Murasame," a familiar voice said. Flying in from another portal came Jerid Messa, once again in the Byarlant Custom. "Looks like the boys at Kilimanjaro were busy since we've been gone. How did you get free of their control anyway?"
"Isn't it obvious, dummy?" Sarah said, wagging her tentacle arm; "Only Getter Rays could pull that feat off!"
"And it looks like the one who used Getter to oppose us long ago is here," Reccoa added.
"I'll be happy to show you freaks the power of the Psyco Gundam mk III!" Four said bravely. "I won't let any of you hurt Kamille, Ryoma or any of my friends!"
"I wouldn't put too much stock into the power of one over-sized mobile suit, my dear," another voice, somehow speaking directly into everyone's minds, came from yet another portal. The newcomer was a large mobile suit, golden in color and incredibly bulky-looking, though it zipped through the lunar sky at high speed. One of the machine's arms held an oversized beam rifle, while the other held a beam saber. Its head was somewhat conical, with a monoeye sensor peering ominously from it. This was the machine he had died in…"The O".
"SCIROCCO!" Kamille snarled. He had dared not consider this possibility - but someone as evil as Muge Zolbados would surely have resurrected the man from Jupiter if he had done so with these other Titans aces.
"Why am I not surprised?" Bright sighed.
"How nice," Scirocco said, now speaking normally; "I come here to destroy Char Aznable and Haman Khan, and I find Kamille Bidan AND Bright Noa as the welcoming party. Now I can get revenge on the ones who gave me the most trouble all at once."
"Lay off, pal!" Jerid yelled; "Kamille Bidan is MY prey!"
"I'm afraid he's mine," Scirocco said in a commanding tone; "Is that clear, Jerid Messa?" The waves of psychic power seemed to cow Jerid into obedience.
"So that's Paptimus Scirocco," Sara Yuuki said; "His mental energy is incredible!" That attracted Scirocco's attention. As his machine locked gazes with Dancougar, the Cyber Beast Force felt the enormous pressure being emitted by the Newtype-turned-Invader.
"Ah, so that's Dancougar," he chuckled; "Looks like I'll get a shot at it myself after all. Once I take care of the Zeta, you'll be next."
"Be careful, everyone," Fa warned the group; "His machine may look bulky and slow, but it's built to fly in Jupiter's high gravity. That makes it incredibly fast, especially in these conditions!"
"Duly noted," Ruri said, mentally sending commands to Omoikane. With Yurika at the meeting, she was the designated captain of the Nadesico.
"Go, my brethren!" Scirocco bellowed; "Flatten these foolish humans! But leave the Zeta Gundam for me!" With that, the Invaders and Titans machines all rushed in.
Hathaway had searched for over an hour for Quess, but to no avail. The dance hall was too crowded and too noisy for him to do much. But when he approached the stairs leading to an upper level, he saw Quess coming down. His heartbeat immediately sped up.
The girl was wearing a Zeon officer's uniform with her hair tied back - a decidedly unsexy look. But Hathaway didn't care one bit - this was the girl he would do anything for. But seeing her like this made him wonder if she was already beyond convincing.
"Quess!" he said, rushing to meet her. She stopped, surprised to see this familiar face from her past.
"Hathaway?!" she exclaimed. "Wow! Of all the places to run into you!" She finished walking down and started squeezing her way through the crowd. Bright's son followed her, trying not to lose her in the mass of people.
"Quess, what are you doing here?" he said as they reached the refreshment table; "Why are you with Neo Zeon?"
"Because I believe in Lord Char's vision," Quess replied, picking up a plate, then placing one of Haman's veggie rolls on it. "Did you defect because of that, too?"
"Oh, yeah," Hathaway replied, trying his hardest to lie. "Something like that. I'm just surprised to see you here, is all." Unfortunately, Quess, thanks to her Newtype abilities, saw straight through Hathaway's ruse.
Bright Noa's son, she thought; I'll bet Lord Char would love it if I could get him to join our cause!
"You look nice," Quess said as she started to subtly use her self-proclaimed feminine charms on him. Being in the early stages of puberty, Hathaway fell for it hook, line and sinker.
"Y-you look good in a uniform yourself," he replied, nervously putting his hands in his pockets, wondering if Quess really did like him back. The boy tried to summon up the courage to ask Quess about her feelings, but couldn't. But the girl casually chewed on the veggie roll.
Not bad, she thought; Seems like Lady Haman isn't half-bad a cook.
"S-so, are we gonna see Char?" he asked, deciding to change the subject.
"Yep," she said after swallowing her mouthful. "He's going to officially announce his plan here...and then leak the basics of it to all of the media. Those stupid Neo Colonies will wet their pants, they'll be so scared!"
As if on cue, the whole room went silent as Char suddenly stepped into the ballroom. While everyone watched him, his eyes slowly swept from one side of the room to the other, looking for anyone suspicious, and using his Newtype senses to that effect as well. The crowd, meanwhile, parted to let him have access to a podium on the south wall.
It looks like Elpeo Puru has brought Londo Bell to me, Char thought as he looked over at Puru and Puru Two. That means they have spies here.
And...I think that's Bright Noa's boy, he then thought as he sensed Hathaway's presence. It seems like he's become a Newtype as well. No wonder he's fallen so hard for Quess. Poor lad.
As he continued walking down the lane opened to him, every person (even the spies) in the room raised their arms up, and uttered that famous battle cry:
"...SIEG ZEON!"
He stepped onto the podium, picked up a pitcher of purified water that had been placed on it, poured it into a glass and drank it. The silence was so utter than when he placed the glass down, it seemed like a bomb had gone off.
"Thank you all for coming," he began. "We are here to celebrate and strengthen a new bond we have forged - the people of Neo Zeon and the Lunar Empire, working together to defeat the loathsome Earth Federation!"
Agrippa nodded eagerly. Char then paused as he again swept the room with his eyes. His gaze met every single one of DREAM's spies.
"To achieve that," the leader of Neo Zeon said, "We shall crash the mining asteroid Fifth Luna into the Federation colony of Neo Ireland, whose minister applauded the slaughter of innocent Spacenoids during the One Year War! Together, they will plummet to Earth, rendering it unfit for any use...even for their Gundam Fight!"
A DOUBLE colony drop?! Hathaway thought. That's insane!
How could anyone even think of such a thing?! Tara thought. He's worse than Shapiro Keats!
This guy has to be stopped! Akatsuki thought; Otherwise my deal with Anaheim Electronics is gonna fall through!
This definitely sounds like the kind of man that Gym Ghingnham would ally with, Loran thought, absentmindedly wriggling in his high heels.
"For those of you who are not yet fully aware of the history of Zeon, allow me to elaborate, so that you will know the meaning behind our endeavor."
Again, the spies felt like Char was addressing them directly.
"There is a colony in Side 3 called Sweetwater," the Red Comet explained; "It was created by combining a closed-type colony with an open-type, and was therefore very unstable. It was made hastily to accommodate the refugees who survived the past space wars."
A memory of wandering the desert suddenly came to Janus' mind. Had he been a refugee himself, or was this somehow a vision forced upon him by something in Char's words? He wasn't sure, and could only remind himself that Char was planning two simultaneous colony drops.
"This was the ONLY measure taken by the Earth Federation government!" Char boomed; "They concluded that everything was fine as long as they made a container to stick the refugees in. They remained on their orbital colonies and refused to share their resources. My father, Zeon Deikun, made a request to Earth for autonomy for all space immigrants known as Spacenoids!"
Char's father, Tara thought. He must have been a very noble man.
"But he was assassinated by the Zabi family!" the leader of Neo-Zeon said; "The Zabis had called themselves the Principality of Zeon, and waged a war for independence against Earth and the Neo Colony nations. Unfortunately, it did not end as we had hoped...the Zabis lost the war, which sealed their fate."
Maybe Char's descent into darkness began with Zeon Deikun's death, Akito thought. I know that I lost it when I learned Fukube was responsible for the destruction of my home colony on Mars...
"But the Earth's government had grown arrogant," Char continued; "The Federation forces had become corrupt from within, giving forth rogue Federation movements like the Titans, and resulting in the brazen activities of Paptimus Scirocco, who used his resources as leader of the Jupiter Fleet to seize control and cause more conflict! This history has made all Spacenoids, Zeon or otherwise into refugees!"
"Well, yeah, I knew that," Quess murmured.
He didn't mention Haman, Puru thought; I guess that's because she works for him now.
"What is our future?" Char said, gesturing to the crowd; "Reflecting upon this tragic history, I firmly believe that mankind must do everything to prevent war between the Earth and space from rising up again! This is the true purpose behind our double colony drop - to change history!"
To change history, Janus thought. He thinks that doing something so evil will really change history?
"Hence, we will discipline the people who live in the Neo Colonies, and ultimately eliminate the source of all conflicts in the Earth Sphere!"
Everyone in the crowd except for the spies started chanting "SIEG ZEON" over and over. Finally, Char motioned for the crowd to continue their activities, and then turned to the small band playing in the far corner.
"Isn't he wonderful?" Quess sighed; "So decisive...so daring...so dreamy..." Hathaway seethed - not only had Quess fallen in with Char, but he had somehow seduced her into joining his cause!
Meanwhile, Char spied a woman in the crowd, with silver hair and dark skin. Somehow, Char was reminded of Lalah. She was a Newtype woman he had saved from a Neo-Indian brothel. Both him and Amuro had fallen in love with her during the One Year War, but Amuro had killed her in the heat of battle.
He approached the woman, bowed politely, not realizing that the woman was not a woman, but a man...Loran Cehack.
"Pardon me, but may I have this dance?"
Loran was immediately uneasy, but agreed. He couldn't afford to blow his cover. As the band began playing a waltz, the two held hands, stepped out onto the dance floor and began to dance...
"Damn Invaders! Pick on someone else!" Ryoma yelled as he slashed a flying Invader away. As an old enemy of the Invaders, a large number of the domesticated aliens were focusing on the Getter pilot. But soon enough, Sarah's green mobile suit had snuck in, and drew one of its beam sabers, prepared to slice Black Getter in twain.
"For the glory of Lord Scirocco and our race," Sarah cried, "I'll kill you, Ryoma Nagare!" But before she could get a hit in, a huge black fist struck her green mobile suit, smashing the Bolinoak Sammahn aside. When Ryoma turned to see who his savior was, he saw the Psyco Gundam mk III standing there.
"Didn't I say it before?" Four proclaimed; "I won't let these freaks touch my friends!" Ryoma grinned and turned his attention back to Sarah, who was getting back to her feet.
"Damn you," she growled; "Go, Metal Beasts! Destroy these humans!" With that, three new Invaders stomped forward - one of them was an abominable, semi-robotic biped with a ghoulish white face, long neck, heavy body, insectoid wings and a long tail tipped with a single stinger. The second was a bulky humanoid monstrosity with a sickly white body, a single eye, and metallic tentacles extending from its right arm and both of its short legs. The third and smallest of them was a three-legged creature with two long tentacle-arms, five tubes sticking out of its spherical body and a single wicked eye peering out. The long-necked Metal Beast spewed out a rope of Invader goo, while the other two tromped in, tentacles keened to smash the two.
"Looks like Muge's cronies have been busy with their experiments!" Ryoma quipped, readying a Getter Tomahawk and dodging the Invader goo. But then something burst out of the ground.
"DRILL HURRICAAAAANE!"
Shin Getter 2's drill tore through the spherical Invader in one go. As Shin Getter reached the peak of its flight, Kei gripped the separation lever. Meanwhile, Four started peppering the long-necked Metal Beast with beam fire to keep it pinned down.
"Your turn, Go!" she said; "Open Get!" The three machines split up and changed into Shin Getter 1, which quickly landed by Ryoma's side.
"Ryoma! Let's combine our strengths!" Go cried as the red machine charged up a Getter Beam. Black Getter's pilot simply grinned and began charging up a Getter Beam itself. As the hulking Metal Beast got within tentacle range, the two prepared to release the energy.
"DOUBLE!" Go yelled.
"GETTER!" Ryoma cried.
"BEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEAM!" the two roared simultaneously, combining their beams into one huge blast and incinerating the Metal Beast with one shot. Seeing that its companions were taken down, the long-necked Metal Beast started to frantically fire eye beams.
"I'll handle the last one!" Four said. She spurred her oversized Gundam into as much of a run as she could, mentally reading the Invader's intentions to dodge the beams. Once she was close enough, she created a pair of large beam swords from her machine's wrists, then started slashing at the semi-robotic Invader with ruthless efficiency.
"Wow, look at Four go!" Gai exclaimed as she grabbed the Metal Beast and slammed it into the ground; "She's good at fighting Invaders!"
"I just gave her a few pointers," Ryoma quipped as he eyed Sarah's mobile suit. "The rest is all her."
"Now, the finisher!" Four cried. She opened all of the beam cannons the Psyco Gundam mk III had and fired them all at once - this torrent reduced the Invader to a pile of inert goo. Seeing this terrifying power, Sarah felt compelled to flee. But to her astonishment, she didn't sense Black Getter sneaking up behind her.
"You're not getting away, sweetcheeks!" he chuckled as his machine charged up another Getter Beam, and firing before she could flee. This blast dealt severe damage to the resurrected Newtype's mobile suit...more than she could safely regenerate on the battlefield.
I have to bail out, she thought as she opened a portal back to Muge's dimension and slipping into it; Forgive me, Master Scirocco!
Elsewhere on the battlefield, Masato Akitsu was doing his level best to fight the Invaders that were focused on him. He tried to punch some of them, but they were all too quick. If not for an energy barrier protecting the huge Super Robot, they'd have wormed their way into its workings and taken over.
"Just stay focused, Masato!" Miku encouraged him; "We can do this!"
"These things...they're all over us!" the boy cried as a flying Invader bounced off its barrier.
"I'll help you target them." Miku said, trying to calm her frantic co-pilot. "Once we've locked on, let Zeorymer's power do the rest." Indeed, Miku targeted some of the incoming Invaders. Then, Masato suddenly remembered how to do what he wanted to do. The young man pushed a different lever, making Zeorymer raise one of the orbs on its arms. The orb flashed, and all of the targeted Invaders began to explode one by one. The last one was close enough that it splattered its guts on them.
To his horror, Masato could make out the moaning, suffering faces of people amidst the Invader goo.
"Aaaaaaaaaaah! Get it off, Miku! Get it off!"
But suddenly, Masato felt himself starting to black out.
"Ggh...not again!" he grunted as his mind faded. When he came around after a few seconds, his colder, crueler personality that had manifested in the battle against Lanstar had returned.
"Masato? Are you okay?" Miku asked. "I think those people are suffering...it's probably best if we..."
"Shut up and get that disgusting filth off, Miku," Masato ordered; "I can't see a damned thing."
"R-right," Miku said. Zeorymer began to emit intense energy, boiling the Invader goo off. Once the view was clear, Masato looked around at the lunar landscape.
"To think I'd be back here again," he mused; "Funny how things work out." He then spotted another pair of the spherical Metal Beasts charging at him.
"Go to hell, you freaks!" Masato bellowed as he raised Zeorymer's other orb. The two Metal Beasts exploded, splattering Invader goo at the robot's feet. Masato grinned.
"I must admit," he chuckled; "it's fun making these things explode!" He then looked over at his allies, who were going all out against the waves of Invaders.
"And it seems like these idiots don't have any inhibitions about killing them either," he said.
"A horde of Invaders is coming our way at nine o'clock!" Miku cried out. He looked over to his left, and indeed saw a large swarm of the aliens crawling towards him.
"Excellent," Masato said as he entered the sequence of commands for Zeorymer's ultimate attack; "We'll blast these abominations to pieces all at once." The robot raised its hands and slammed the two orbs together in front of its chest.
MEI...OOOOOH….
All of the Invaders went up in a huge blast of energy, and reduced to a fine powder. Once they were gone, Masato leaned back in his chair.
I've seen the Turn A already, he thought; I wonder if its brother is still here...
"Rrgh! Hold still, you stupid kid's toy!" Asuka yelled as she tried to hit an enemy Asshimar with her Eva's machine gun, but it flew by with ease. It banked around and fired its beam cannons, scorching Unit 02's armor. Dancougar flew over to her as the mobile armor moved in for another pass.
"Calm down, Asuka!" Ryo called out as Dancougar punched the Asshimar out of the air with its fists.
"I don't understand," the teenager groaned; "I didn't have any problem fighting before! Ooh, if Kaji were here, I'd..."
"Forget about Kaji," Sara Yuuki said angrily, "And focus on the battle!" But Ryo, seeing that this was a teachable moment, stopped his teammate.
"Let your intuition…" he began before correcting himself; "No, let your instincts guide you."
"That's right," Shinobu added; "Accept and draw strength the animal within." Asuka sighed and closed her eyes, deciding to take the advice of these people - if Kaji could trust them, then she figured they must be worth listening to.
Accept my animal within, she thought, relaxing her frantic mind; Let my basic instincts guide me.
As she did so, a sphere Metal Beast came charging towards her. But when she opened her eyes, their color had changed to a bright green. With terrifying speed, she made her Eva draw its progressive knife.
"Rrah!"
Asuka lunged at the Metal Beast, stabbing it in the eye, then slicing it open. Just then, a pair of GM Quels rushed at her.
"Toryah!"
She wheeled around, smashing them both with a spin kick, then throwing her knife upwards grabbing both mobile suits and smashing them together. The thrown knife managed to slice a flying Invader in half before coming back down.
"Wow, she's a fast learner!" Masato Shikubu exclaimed. "Maybe Evas have the power of Instinct like Dancougar does!" None of the Cyber Beast Force realized that something deep within Asuka had changed thanks to their instruction.
This...feels amazing, the Eva pilot thought as she tore through more Invaders after picking up her knife. It's like I'm finally free to be me!
She spotted Reccoa's Palace Athene, and rushed at it with frightening speed - too quickly for even the reborn Newtype to anticipate.
No need to pretend!
Asuka smashed it with Unit-02's free hand.
No need to play the goody-two shoes!
She stabbed it in the cockpit with her progressive knife, narrowly missing Reccoa herself.
Not with the Cyber Beast Force…
She twisted the knife, forcing the cockpit to eject.
Not with...
New feelings blossomed within her heart as an explosion blossomed from the Palace Athene.
Shinobu!
"FIRE BLASTEEEEER!"
In spite of the lack of air on the Moon, Mazinkaiser managed to unleash a blast of fire from its chest, burning several Hizacks to a crisp.
"Ha!" Koji laughed; "You think you monsters can match Mazinkaiser?" He had inadvertently left a comm link with Gai Murakumo open, and the mercenary had gotten an earful of Koji's yell.
"Are you Super Robot pilots always this loud?" Gai said, his tone just barely betraying his annoyance; "And why do you call out all of your attacks?"
"Whoops, guess I left my comm link with you on," Koji exclaimed before deciding to answer his comrade's question. "But if you must know, yelling gets our fighting spirit going!" You gotta have lots of it to pilot a Super Robot, especially one like Mazinkaiser!"
"It's a waste of energy," the Astray Blue Frame's pilot said as he took careful aim at a passing Invader with his beam rifle; "Just focus on your target…"
He fired, blasting it apart in three shots.
"And eliminate them. And I did that without any yelling whatsoever." Koji rolled his eyes.
"Whatever works for you," Mazinkaiser's pilot said. "Now, if you'll excuse me while I take out those mobile armors MY way!"
"KAISER BLAAAAAAAAAADE!"
Again, Gai's ears were blasted by Koji's powerful yell. He finally took it upon himself to sever the comm link as Mazinkaiser pulled out its sword and rushed at a nearby Metal Beast.
"As long as it gets the job done," Gai mused, "I suppose it doesn't really matter." He looked up and saw the Byarlant Custom headed for him.
"You're mine, Gundam!" Jerid roared. Gai readied the Blue Frame's bazooka...and then decided to see how well calling out his attacks would work for him.
"Bazooka Shot!" he yelled. The rockets launched out, nailing the mobile suit in the leg. Gai then tossed the weapon aside and readied his beam rifle.
"Beam Rifle!" Gai cried as he fired a few shots - Jerid dodged the first two, but got hit by the third. Finally, the leader of Serpent Tail pulled out his beam saber.
"Time to end this...Beam Saber!"
He slashed Jerid's mobile suit in twain, causing it to go up in an explosion. The resurrected Titans pilot was again forced to retreat through a portal back to Muge's home reality.
"Nope," Gai sighed. "Still feels like a waste of energy."
"Kamille Bidan!" Scirocco boomed as he clashed beam sabers with Zeta Gundam. "I've waited for this chance ever since I came back from the dead!" The two had been fighting furiously - neither able to land a hit, and neither relenting.
"And the result will be the same!" Kamille retorted. "The only difference is that this time your body is a proper reflection of your soul!" He flew backwards, tossed his beam saber forward, and then fired on the blade with his beam rifle. The resulting collisions spread the streams of particles into waves. The O, however, was easily able to dodge them.
"You can do better than that, boy!" Scirocco laughed. Suddenly, he felt the presence of someone else nearby - and the presence of funnels. Indeed, Nu Gundam's Fin Funnels were making a beeline for him. But again, he dodged the beam shots.
"Scirocco!" Amuro cried.
"Amuro Ray!" the Newtype-turned-Invader said; "So, I see you've overcome your demons...or perhaps you've allowed them to consume you? Allow me to be the judge of that!" With that, The O charged at Nu Gundam as he filled his machine up with his wicked mental energy.
"Perish, you waste of space!" Scirocco then bellowed as he fired his beam rifle, the shots bolstered by his evil willpower - a modification made by Gildrome. But Amuro did something that surprised even the man from Jupiter - he recalled his funnels and then arranged them so that a pair of funnels formed the corner of a tetrahedron - which safely encased him in an I-Field, causing Scirocco's beams to fizzle out.
"Get back here, demon!" Kamille roared as he pulled out another beam saber. Seeing that a more direct approach was necessary, Amuro returned his funnels to their rack and pulled out Nu's own saber.
"Kamille, let's confront him together!" Amuro called out. Together, the two Gundams rushed at Scirocco. But to their shock, the man from Jupiter was able to parry their attack with not one...but four separate beam sabers - The O had extended another pair of arms from its body.
"That won't work on me, you fools!" Scirocco laughed as he used more of his mental power to make his sabers grow larger...
Back inside, the party was starting to wind down as some of the Moonrace people began to return to their homes. But it was still lively - enough that Gym Ghingnham needed some space. He missed being able to fight - he missed the exhilaration of battle. As he gazed out at the well-maintained castle grounds, the general suddenly felt a familiar presence behind him.
"Gym Ghingnham," the presence said. Gym turned around and saw Kushiel hovering there.
"What brings you here, Kushiel?" the Turn X's pilot said. "Are you impressed with our double colony drop plan?"
"There is no time to idle chatter," the High Seraph said. "An enemy force that threatens this reality is bearing down upon this place...and it is not Londo Bell."
"But we still haven't found a way to repair the Turn X!" Gym said, slamming his fist into the wall behind him. "Without its plans…"
"I shall repair it as much as possible," Kushiel said. The Lunar Empire general nearly doubled over in surprise.
"You can?!" he exclaimed.
"I can even restore its ability to use the Moonlight Butterfly," the angel added. To his surprise, Gym steamed and fumed at him in rage.
"What?!" he ranted; "Why didn't you do this before?!"
"We dared not interfere more than necessary," Kushiel explained; "Giving you the key to unseal the Turn X was necessary...and now repairing that machine is also necessary."
"Then do it!" Gym barked; "And take me with you so I can see your feat!"
"Of course," he said, opening a Threshold to the hangar where the Turn X was being stored. But suddenly, the general stopped as an idea came to him.
"A moment, though," he chuckled; "I'd like to demonstrate the power of the restored Turn X to Char Aznable...but first, I must ensure that he will be watching!"
Luckily for DREAM, the Ra Cailum and Nadesico has avoided the worst of the fighting, insteading providing suppressing fire for their allies while taking out any Invaders that got too close. Inside Bright's ship, a comm link was established, and Yurika's face appeared - she looked visibly distressed.
"Hello, Captain Noa. We're on our way back. Though it seems like there's a battle going on there."
"What did you and the others learn?" he asked. "I'm forwarding this to all of our mobile weapons and to the loudspeakers of both ships."
"It's worse than we feared," Yurika explained; "Char Aznable is planning not just one colony drop, but two...at the same time!"
"What?!" Minato exclaimed. "How does he plan to accomplish that?!"
"He plans to ram Fifth Luna into Neo Ireland," Hathaway said; "And make them both fall to Earth to destroy Lhasa and start a nuclear winter!"
"Char's truly lost his mind," Amuro murmured.
Captain Quattro, Kamille thought. But this announcement did not go unheard by Scirocco, who burst out in riotous laughter.
"Char?! Staging a colony drop?!" he cackled; "Oh, this is truly rich...to hear that the noble Red Comet has fallen so deep into darkness! This day just keeps getting better and better!" He slashed at Nu Gundam, narrowly missing it, but forcing Amuro to back away. This gave him room to lunge at Zeta Gundam.
"Now, for my prize!" he yelled victoriously. But suddenly, he was struck by a pair of extra powerful beam shots and sent flying. Everyone turned to see where the beam shots came from. But DREAM collectively gasped in horror when they recognized the machine.
"Ah, Londo Bell!" Gym said as the Turn X flew in.
"The Turn X!" Bright exclaimed. "How in the world did they repair it?!"
"Interesting...so these are the 'Invaders' I've heard so much about," he chuckled. "So, they can pilot mobile weapons...though I question their choice to pilot outdated mobile suits."
"We don't have time to play with you, Gym Ghingnham!" Kei said.
"On the contrary, I'm merely doing a little demonstration for Char Aznable of Neo Zeon!" Gym replied. "Since you lot have been nice enough to guard our celebration from unwanted troublemakers, I'll return the favor by eliminating the rest of the troublemakers for you."
"What in the world is THAT?" Scirocco exclaimed.
"This, my friend, is the most powerful mobile weapon ever built," Gym declared; "The almighty Turn X Gundam!"
Scirocco sneered, amused by Gym's confidence.
"Interesting," The O's pilot said; "Let's put that boast to the test, shall we? All forces, destroy this upstart!" With that, all of the remaining forces charged at Gym en masse.
"Excellent!" Gym laughed; "You've created ideal conditions for me to test out the Turn X's newly restored ultimate ability..."
It can't be, Dianna thought, they actually figured out how to restore...
"THE UNSTOPPABLE MOONLIGHT BUTTERFLY!"
The Turn X opened the valves on its shoulders, releasing the dreaded cloud of nanomachines. Gym flew forward through the crowd of Invaders. To his delight, the nanomachines not only ate away at the metal that composed the mobile suits and Metal Beasts, but also broke down the flesh of the Invaders. It took all of Scirocco's Newtype power to prevent The O from being consumed.
"Foolish aliens!" Gym bellowed triumphantly; "None can challenge the dominance of the Turn X, nor of Gym Ghingnham, supreme general of the Lunar Empire!"
Such power, Scirocco thought; I should let Muge Zolbados know of the existence of this Turn X Gundam. If this Gym Ghingnham fellow is as battle-obsessed as he sounds, he'd be happy to serve my emperor!
With that, he disappeared. Seeing that the Invaders had been defeated, Gym turned back to DREAM.
"Look upon me, and tremble!" the general declared; "This power, when paired with the destructive force of two falling space colonies, shall bring forth the end of the Earth Federation!"
This is bad, Harry thought; The Moonlight Butterfly can destroy organic matter now! While similar thoughts were running through everyone else's minds, Masato, still ruled by his cruel personality, was grinning wickedly.
So, that's the man who's using the Turn X. Splendid...simply splendid!
"Amuro Ray, Kamille Bidan and all survivors of the Anti-Earth Union Group," Gym said; "I was told to pass on a message to you from Char Aznable. He said…'I'm going to shoulder the burden of erasing mankind's sins, and no amount of lecturing will make me change my mind'. Make of that what you will."
Char...you were set on this from the very beginning, weren't you? Amuro thought.
"You know, I could annihilate all of you right here, now that the Moonlight Butterfly has been restored," the Turn X's pilot said with a chuckled; "But both Char and I would love nothing more than for you to watch the Earth Federation perish before your very eyes! So today, I shall let you live!"
He withdrew the Moonlight Butterfly.
"Farewell for now, Londo Bell! I look forward to our next...and final meeting!"
With that, he warped away.
Woo! Longest chapter in a while! Until next time, folks!
