Disclaimer: See previous chapters

Chap. 51

Space Knight Command Center

Shhhhhhhhhaaaaaaaaa!!!!!!!!!!

With a feral cry, Sliver charged at the Scarlet Tekkaman with his lancer at his side. Aki stood still, appearing to wait for the dark tekkaman to attack, but when he came in close enough, she shot up in the air in a flash and caught Sliver off guard. Her lancer ripped upward and would have taken off Sliver's head if he had not brought up his own lancer forth and caught the strike before it his. Sliver reeled around, his feet smashing into the ground and he looked up at his opponent, only to see her already coming at him.

"Yaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhhh!!!!!!!!"

Sliver was driven back as Aki clashed with him and the two slid back on the ground, Sliver feet ripping up the ground. Sliver was surprised. More than surprised. He expected to cripple the Space knights here and now. With news of their desertion, he thought that it would be a simple case of invade and conquer. But he didn't expect her to be so aggressive. And powerful. Apparently, the nickname 'Red Devil' did her justice. Or did it?

"You are strong Scarlet. But is this power or desperation?!"

Sliver pushed back, shoving Aki backward. Then his booster ignited and he charged at her full force. Aki was caught in the midsection and gasped as Sliver continued to push her, aiming for the side of the Command Center. Thinking quickly, Aki wrapped her arm around Sliver's neck and flared with red energy. Fiery wings emerged and Aki flew upward, taking Sliver with her. The crystal hawk soared high into the air and then descended sharply, tossing Sliver downward to the ground. The energy wings continued downward, heading straight for the downed tekkaman. But Sliver recovered enough to summon his own crystal hawk and flew up to meet Aki. The two energies clashed in a intense explosion, enough to tear up the ground below slightly. Nearby, the remaining Sol-Tekkas backed away to the base as they watched the fight. The light from the clash cleared and the tekkamen landed on the ground, seemingly unfazed by the collision. But Aki was in fact seriously stressed within.

'No. I have to…keep going…Can't lose it…yet…'

Aki charged again and Sliver did likewise


L2 Colony

Duo had finished packing his bag while Hilde watched from behind. After the incident with D-Boy and Noal, Duo managed to contact Quatre and Noin, who asked for him to join them again. Duo agreed, but went back to his home colony first to pick up a few items as well to tell Hilde that he would be leaving with the others and wanted her to watch the place. Hilde had been silent about it, knowing that he had to go and fight, but was worried nevertheless. Duo took this into account as he made his way to the door.

"Hey don't worry about it. It's just a little hangout with my friends. I'll be back before you know it."

Hilde gave a light nod, "Okay. Just…watch yourself out there."

Duo gave one of his grins, "I always do, babe."

Duo walked out toward the docking area with Hilde watching him from behind for as long as she could. Duo smiled within. He never really had anyone to return to before. That gave him a good feeling, despite everything that had happened. Seeing the shuttle up ahead, he put the thoughts aside and entered inside. Igniting the boosters, the shuttle flew off into space, with the gundam tekkaman of death rejoining his group.


Earth orbit

A single shuttle was flying up from Earth en route to the Space Ring. Aboard the ship were David and Anita, two of the Space Knights that had escaped the capture of the Command Center. After they had departed, the two of them were kept on the move since they were the only ones OZ had been able to trace. When Beta ship ran low on fuel, Anita managed to obtain a shuttle, but it was David's idea to head into space.

-

"Why outer space?"

"I don't know. It just feels right, I guess. Besides, with all the chaos going on up there, we can hide easily. At least until we figure out what to do."

"Well, we can't go back to the CommandCenter and I'm getting tired of being chased around like this."

"So that's the plan. To outer space then."

-

Okay, so it wasn't much of a plan now, but they had little else to do. At the very least, they could continue to fight the Radham, but by themselves?

"Which colony?"

"Huh?"

Anita looked over at David and repeated the question, "Which colony should we head to?"

David looked forward out the window, "You pick. It doesn't matter."

The woman however saw that something was on his mind, "What wrong? You seem to be a million miles away."

David sighed, "I don't know. I just wished we could have done something back at the Command Center besides up and running."

"Well, the Chief did order us. Besides, you know what she was doing. Following Relena's example was the best call at the time. She just didn't want us getting captured and used by Romefeller."

"I know. It's just feels…unusual. But hey, what do I know?" He sat back in his seat and folded his hands behind his head. "I'm just a blond airheaded playboy."

"Oh please." Anita scoffed lightly. "That may work on the others, but not me. You're a lot deeper than that, David."

"Heh. Hard to believe we haven't hooked up yet." he joked.

Anita smiled as she shook her head. "Not really. I'm not some…"

The shuttle's warning signal flashed up, alerting the two of them into attention. Checking the radar, they found a squad of Sol-Tekka carriers flying right up from behind them.

"Five carriers?" Anita noted. "Isn't that a bit extreme just to capture two Space Knights?"

As if that wasn't bad enough, a spectrum of dark light flashed before them, forming a dark hole just above the Space Ring. David and Anita were now faced with a group of five Radham tekkaman in the front and OZ carriers behind, sandwiching them right in the middle.

"Still think this was a good idea?"


Romefeller Foundation

The board members of the Foundation were all seated in the meeting room discussing there present agendas to bring about peace on Earth. Duke Dermail was seated at one end of the table while Queen Relena sat at the opposite end. While they converse, Relena found herself deep in thought.

'Romefeller can take away my freedom. They may even take away my life. But as it stands, Romefeller will use me to continue this war. There must be something I can do.'

"Queen Relena."

Relena suddenly blinked upon hearing her name. Looking up, she saw that one of the members had indeed addressed her.

"I hear that you have your own proposal for peace."

Relena shut her eyes as she arose. Perhaps this is what she was waiting for? Time to find out. Her eyes opened…

"Yes. There are still tensions worldwide with many nations still distrustful of Romefeller. I believe there is a way to deal with that."

"How so?"

She turned to the one that asked, "By lowering and removing all weapons that have been said to have been stationed for peace." The shock in Dermail's face was evident, but Relena continued, "That way, we can clearly state our message of peace to the world."

"I have to object." Dermail yelled, almost. "That is a purely idealistic plan. Have you even thought about the rebel forces worldwide as well as the Radham that remains a constant threat?

Relena remained calm, "The Radham are dangerous, true. That's the purpose of the Space Knights, to deal with those threats. As for the others, the threat is Romefeller." She lifted her arm in gesture, "When a person wants to ask for peace, naturally they must be the first to lower their weapons."

Dermail frowned, "Queen Relena. That is not how we do things here in the Romefeller foundation."

"Considering that the Foundation is striving for peace, the time has come for Romefeller to make some changes." Relena countered.

"There is no reason to change any of our policies or ways."

"That may be your own opinions, Dermail." Her gaze shifted to all the others, "Or are they the thoughts shared by the Foundation as a whole?"

Dermail smugly folded his finger together on the table, "I fully believe that I am speaking for the Foundation in its entirety."

"And is he speaking for you gentlemen?"

"No. We haven't come to a consensus yet on these matters."

Shock again, "What?"

"I must agree as well."

Dermail jumped up from his seat and roared, "Are you saying that a few words from this child should change Romefeller!"

Relena's eyes narrowed and everyone in audience stared at Dermail. Dermail looked around, seeing that his compatriots were no longer on his side. Relaxing before things got out of control, Dermail seated himself down.

"My apologizes. I'm afraid I let my emotions get the better of me. I'm just pointing out the potential risk in weighing our decisions solely on the ideas of Queen Relena."

"These are not matters to take lightly, so we'll adjourn and speak at the public gathering later on."

Relena gracefully bowed in acceptance and the group dispersed from the room. However, Dermail's gaze was on Relena, just realizing now the possible error he had made.

One that may be too late for him to correct…

Command Center

Aki and Sliver continued their fight, slashing across both the skies and the ground. Aki fought aggressively, attacking first whenever she could and keeping Sliver on the defensive. Despite this, they still fought evenly and Sliver's anger began to turn the tide.

"You think you can match with me!" Sliver roared as he shot upward and struck, hitting Aki's block. He then pulled his arm back and struck again. This time, Aki was unable to defend and her chest was slashed across. Aki returned the attack by striking Sliver's shoulder, but it wasn't as bad as his attack and only knocked him back. The two landed on the ground and faced off.

"Well, isn't that a fitting color for you." Sliver taunted at he noted Aki's now-bleeding chest. "Let's see if I can improve on that."

Meanwhile her wound pained Aki, but that was nothing compared to the drain of energy she felt. 'Crystal's draining me…I have to finish him…now or never.'

Sliver charged again and Aki waited, ready to try the same technique as before and catch him off-guard again. Sliver closed in and Aki sprung up quickly. However, Sliver twirled off to the side and dodged her completely.

"Ha! Do you really think…?"

But Aki had hoped that he would avoid the charge and when he did, he left his side open. With the lancer's bottom end, she stabbed backward and caught Sliver right in the ribs.

"Guuuuuaaaahhhhhhh!!!!!!!!"

As blood shot out, Aki reversed her charge and tackled him from behind, smashing him face-first into the ground. She then propelled herself back and stood a few steps away. But before she could do anything else, she suddenly dropped to the ground in fatigued pain.

'Ahhhh….Not now….Just…another minute…'

But it didn't seem that she would get that minute because Sliver arose from the dirt, damaged and extremely pissed. He gripped his lancer tight in anger and his Voltekka cells opened.

"Die, b$&)!"

Dark lightning began to cover over him and the cells charged. Aki looked up helplessly as he began his attack until a beam of light caught her view. It flashed out and hit Sliver in the back, causing him stumble and his Voltekka blast to fly just over Aki's head. Turning around, he saw that the blast had come from one of the Sol-Tekka's who had been watching the fight. Sliver watched as all the remaining soldiers rose up against him as well.

"You think you can do any good?" he crackled as he raised his lancer to them. The soldiers seemed to back off and Sliver laughed. "Ha! It's too late to be cowering now. You will all die!"

However, the soldier didn't back away because of him. They backed away because of what was occurring behind him. Aki had arisen fully from the ground and was crackling with energy of her own. Her Voltekka cells were shimmering brightly with energy and when Sliver realized what was going on, it was far too late.

"Voltekka!!!!!!!!"

An intense beam of red energy flashed out from the cells and smashed right into Sliver full force. Sliver wasn't even able to scream as he was overwhelmed by the power of Aki's voltekka. The beam continued onward across the landscape, ripping up the ground until Aki finally ceased firing the voltekka. The smoke cleared up and the only thing that was left was a wide trench ripping up alongside the Command Center and into the lake nearby. The dark tekkaman was nowhere to be seen. Aki remained in pose for a long minute before finally collapsing on the ground. As the fallen chief lay unconscious, the remaining Sol-Tekka pilots moved close to her and gently carried her back to base.


"Chief…"

"Quatre?"

Noin, Trowa and Quatre were hiding out in a shuttle within a destroyed colony. The three were waiting there for Duo to arrive when Quatre suddenly jerked and said Chief. The blond-haired youth looked up at Noin and answered.

"Something has happened to Chief Aki. I don't know what, but I know something's wrong."

Noin didn't dispute his claim, but there was nothing they could do at this point now. She simply stood beside Quatre and placed a hand on his shoulder.

"Duo's coming." Trowa informed. From the cockpit window, they could see a lone shuttle approach them.

The shuttle docked and Duo entered inside with the others, "Okay, I'm here." he announced jovially. "So what's the plan?"

"We need to find the others." Noin proclaimed. "The White Fang are creating greater tensions here in space and that could cause more problems that can be dealt with."

"Is that the right thing to do?" Trowa asked. "After all, the White Fang claim to be fighting for the colonies. Would it really be in their best interest to fight against them?"

Noin folded her arms, "It's too early to say. But the gundams are needed together should things get rough. And don't forget, the Radham are still a threat. Those tekkamen that have been showing up will stress things on Earth."

They knew what she was talking about. Both Duo and Quatre had already faced the deadly tekkamen Shirken and Sliver. To top it of, they had heard about a third one on Earth that had been doing some damage.

"The Space Knights." Quatre said suddenly. The others turned to him in askance and Quatre repeated, "The Space Knights. We need their help too."

Duo sat in one of the seats, "But will they? They have always kept their mission solely on the Radham."

"I think given the circumstances they will." Noin replied. "Word is that all of them have been scattered when Romefeller took over their Command Center."

Quatre nodded, "Alright then. We'll look for Heero, Wufei and the Space Knights."


Earth Orbit

The Radham and the OZ forces battled with the shuttle trapped between them trying to escape. As it rolled and swerved around one of the beams hit the shuttle, causing it to spin uncontrollably. Anita managed to correct it but by the time she did, more crossfire beams hit them. The shuttle was hit heavily amid the rain of energy fire.

"We have to bail!"

The shuttle continued to take punishment until finally it exploded. But within the flame, a smaller object emerged from the fire and shot out into space. Beta…

"Now to really fly." Anita grinned as she pressed the pedal, causing the boosters to flare and the ship to rocket away from the battle. The combatants didn't seem to stop and they continued to fight on.

"They seem persistent in…what the?"

The Radham tekkamen suddenly circled around the OZ forces and attacked them from behind. The dolls were slow to turn around and a few were promptly destroyed. The remaining forces settled near the Space Ring section and held there ground there. This unfortunately brought the fight to the Space Ring itself. Inside, the people ran away in terror as the battle threatened the very integrity of the Ring. Overhead, David and Anita observed this in shock.

"They're going to battle there?" David gasped aloud.

"Those people…" Anita then blinked and looked back at David. "We're going in, aren't we?"

She really didn't need an answer to that, but he nodded anyway, "You read my mind."

The starjet's engines burst aflame and Beta spun around toward the Space Ring. David summoned his crystal and called forth its power.

"Tek-Setta!!!"

With the amazing power of his tekka-set crystal, which calls upon the universal forces of time and space, David is able to undergo an incredible transformation and is endowed with impenetrable armor...quantum energy weapons...and superhuman powers...transforming him into the Space Knight Tekkaman Sommer!

"Let's go!"

Sommer wheeled in the space and landed on top of Beta just as it zoomed off into the battle. Beta's laser weapon fired, clearing a path through the battlefield and stopping the combatants in their tracks. Sommer leapt off and hooked Beta while bringing his lancer across one of the enemy Radham. The alien creature was sliced in half while Sommer slid across and reeled himself back on Beta. The Radham tekkamen followed in pursuit, ignoring the Sol-Tekka Dolls behind them. Beams chased behind them, but Beta suddenly curved downward, toward the Earth. The Radham followed and continued to attack them while Beta suddenly began to slow down.

"Go for it, David!"

Sommer swiftly spun around with his back toward the Earth and leveled his lancer forward. His voltekka cells glowed brightly and two mechanical protrusions formed from his shoulders and connected with his lancer. The cells shimmered further, causing the protrusions to glow as well and form a ball of energy in the center. Finally Sommer shouted…

"Cannon Voltekka!!!!!!!!!"

The ball exploded into a massive beam of straight energy that rushed through the Radham and wiped them out totally. The beam suddenly intensified, still flying out into space almost ceaselessly. Fortunately, Sommer had positioned himself away from the Space Ring, so it was in no danger. However, it did push Beta downward toward the Earth forcefully. Anita fought to turn the ship upward, but wasn't doing to good.

"David! Shut it off!"

Sommer struggled with the still-growing beam and finally managed to break the blast and stop it. But Sommer himself staggered down and slipped off of the starjet. Above, OZ Sol-Tekkas saw the downed tekkaman and moved in close to retrieve him. However, Beta suddenly swooped in between them and when they looked in the spot where Sommer was, he was gone. As Beta made its way into space Sommer climbed up on top of Beta and held on.

"You alright David?" Anita asked from within.

"Yeah. Just a little winded." He managed to rise up. "I think I know how Yumi felt when she used the Reactor Voltekka."

"Well, let's get out of here before they decide to actually follow."

"Oh come on." Sommer smiled underneath his armor. "As I recall, speed is your thing."

"Got that right." Anita smiled back as Beta shot off and disappeared into space.


Earth

A lone star could be seen in the skies of the setting sun. However, it wasn't the morning star, due to the fact that it was growing every second. In fact, it was a blue energy wave that soared through the skies above the clouds. Gundam Tekkaman Wing Zero…

'Relena…'

He saw her as a figurehead that was bringing in a fake peace. Such an act would only cause more suffering and more conflict, with Romefeller hiding behind Relena in a mask of peace. A peace that would end if that figurehead was eliminated. That would mean…

'Relena. You must be eliminated.'


Relena moves forward with her plans for peace, unaware that Heero plans to assassinate her. Wufei charges for the Lunar Base, but encounters the dark tekkaman Shirken in battle. D-Boy and Noal head for a distant colony where they discover the truth of the gundam tekkamen and the dark secret behind them. Next on Gundam Tekkaman: Survivor of a Distant Past