SUPER ROBOT TAISEN S
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Chapter 17 – Prelude to Revolution, Part 2
All Kira could do at that particular moment was weave his way out of the Destiny Gundam's attack as best as he could, trying to read and anticipate his nemesis' wild assault. The remains of Requiem had not even cooled down yet, and his companions still hadn't fully recovered from the fatigue of the previous battle. Indeed, even as the main LOGOS armed force was scattering, a few die-hards were still willing to fight to the last man. In such a situation, fighting against his temporary ally was not exactly what the young chestnut-haired Coordinator wanted...
"Stop running away, Kira Yamato!" Shinn roared. "I will avenge Stellar and my family!"
"This pilot... he's consumed with the need for revenge!" Kira thought to himself, now trying to focus fully on the Destiny Gundam, whose Voiture Lumiere wings were fully deployed. Coupled with the massive anti-ship sword it was swinging, and Shinn's wild screaming, it really gave the impression of an avenging angel coming from the depths of Hell.
Luckily for Kira, Shinn's blind rage had left the FAITH ace careless and easy to read. It only took a few seconds for Kira to snap out of his surprise and fight back, the Strike Freedom kicking the Destiny in its midsection and forcing it away. The Destiny Gundam quickly recovered, not even a scratch on its armor thanks to its Variable Phase-Shift Armor, but the counterattack had taken the wind out of Shinn's sails, and the FAITH pilot was shaken into his cockpit.
"Uuuugh... d-damn youuuu!" Shinn snarled, his rage growing to the point where he simply couldn't think straight any more. He gripped his anti-ship sword with both hands, flying in a circle around the Strike Freedom in a frantic attempt to find a blind spot. Kira tried to keep his opponent in his sights, his senses stretched to their limits as he waited for Shinn to make the first move.
Around them, the battle had erupted once again. Only, this time it was the combined ZAFT and Neo Zeon assault force bringing their full might to bear on Terminal and their allies. Several Geara Doga, ZAKU Warriors and other mass-produced Mobile Suits were swarming Kira's companions, forcing them to do their best to avoid getting shot down!
"This is bad. I had a suspicion they would soon turn against us, but I didn't think it would be this soon..." Kira murmured to himself. Shinn went for another attack, not bothering to cover his Gundam's cockpit area – he was probably counting on the fact that Kira wouldn't have gone for a killing blow, much like in their previous battle, when he had managed to destroy the Freedom Gundam...
But Kira was not going to repeat the same mistake. As Shinn brought his anti-ship sword down on the Strike Freedom, Kira managed to move just a little and caught the massive blade between the palms of his Gundam's hands, using the hand-mounted beam shields to cushion the swipe. Shinn's eyes widened in surprise and anger as he tried to dislodge his blade…
"That would have worked if this was a beam saber… is that what you're trying to say?" Shinn bitterly exclaimed. Kira didn't answer and went for a shot to the Destiny Gundam's abdomen, releasing the massive sword by twisting it to the side, and sending the enemy stumbling. Before Shinn could recover, Kira had quickly unsheathed his beam sabers and gone for a vicious double slash to his opponent's chest. Shinn was able to dodge the first slash, but the second followed too quickly for him to follow up, and it managed to score a blow on the Destiny Gundam's right forearm.
Snarling angrily, Shinn renewed his assault with reckless abandon, setting aside all semblance of strategy or defense. Like a madman, the FAITH ace rained a barrage upon his opponent, who still managed to take advantage of Shinn's state of mind to deflect or avoid the younger pilot's blows, and subsequently scored another hit on the Destiny Gundam's shoulder, almost forcing Shinn to drop his anti-ship sword, but not quite.
"That was awesome! Nice move, Kira!" Judau cheered.
Ichika smiled and nodded to himself. "Kinda reminds me of when I had to stop Houki from hitting me with that shinai of hers..." he said, stifling a nervous laugh. Those memories of how scary his childhood friend could get were never going to go away, no matter what...
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"What's going on here?" Raul exclaimed, his Excellence-F weaving through the remains of what only a few minutes ago was LOGOS' ultimate weapon. Lunamaria's Force Impulse Gundam was right behind him, her weapons ready in case anything happened. In a few moments, both of them were out in the open, in the midst of the wreckage of numerous LOGOS units. And they both could see that the Destiny Gundam was relentlessly attacking the Strike Freedom, in front of the rather flabbergasted Terminal forces. "Hey! Isn't the guy one of your teammates... Lunamaria, was it, ZAFT girl?"
Lunamaria rolled her eyes in annoyance at the nickname Raul had slapped on her. "Yes, it's Lunamaria... but whatever! Looks like Shinn's decided now is as good a time as any to get his revenge on the Strike Freedom..." she commented, looking at the battle between the two mighty Gundams. The Strike Freedom seemed to have the upper hand in terms of speed and self-control, as furious as the Destiny's assault was. Indeed, even though the rest of Terminal was standing in the proximities, they didn't seem to be in a hurry to intervene. It was pretty clear that they trusted Kira to be able to handle himself in this fight.
Indeed, the Strike Freedom was fending off its opponent's assault with impressive skill. A powerful slash from the Destiny's beam saber tried to catch the Strike Freedom in the midsection, but Kira managed to dodge at the last possible moment, and the glowing blade missed the Strike Freedom by just a couple feet or less. The furious Shinn tried again, undeterred, but once again, his attacks failed to do any damage.
"DAMN YOU! STAND STILL ALREADY!" the near-crazed Shinn roared. His Gundam's movements had turned wooden and predictable, and now more than ever, Kira was able to fend him off, blocking his swings and delivering a powerful blow to the Destiny's chest area which rattled Shinn in the cockpit.
Unfortunately, this was not going to do much to deter Shinn. The young FAITH ace was so furious and driven by rage that he could shrug off any sort of pain and keep going. He grit his teeth and shook his aching shoulder, but as soon as he was able to recover, he went on the offensive once again. This time, he managed to regain enough lucidity to attempt something of a strategy - he tossed his beam boomerangs, which sailed through the air and homed in on the Strike Freedom, but once again, Kira was easily able to dodge them.
But that was exactly what Shinn was going for. With Kira apparently distracted with the boomerangs, Shinn drew his long-range beam cannon and fired a destructive beam that semed about to hit the Strike Freedom dead center... were it not for Kira dodging at the last possible moment, with such speed and readiness that it was clear he had seen that coming a mile away.
This only infuriated Shinn all the more, and the red-eyed FAITH ace dashed in with his palm-mounted Palma Fiocina cannon, trying to hit the Strike Freedom as it moved out of the way, a pair of wings of light shaped like a butterfly's spreading out of the Destiny's back. But he didn't have any better luck - Kira managed to dodge the attack and deliver a powerful slash that almost took off the Destiny's left arm.
"Just as I feared... Shinn is letting his rage get the better of him." Lunamaria stated with clear worry. "Your companion can read his movements so easily now..."
Raul rubbed his chin, knowing what Lunamaria was talking about. "Yeah, I can see that... but wait, since you're supposed to be on his side, why don't you go help him?" he asked.
The fuchsia-haired girl tightened her grip on the controls. Yes, that's what she was supposed to do, but at the moment... she really wasn't sure whether that was what she should do. And that was a feeling she had had for a long time...
But before Lunamaria could clear her head and decide, someone else intervened and tried to decide in her stead. The Destiny and the Strike Freedom were just about to clash for the latest time, when a barrage of green energy beams rained down on Kira's Gundam, and two of them caught the Strike Freedom in the left shoulder and left hip. The Ultimate Coordinator yelped in surprise and was forced to back away... just as the Legend Gundam's DRAGOON system fired another barrage, this time targeting the rest of the unprepared Terminal team. Sousuke's Laevathein was able to dodge the beams, and the Nu Gundam and the ZZ Gundam absorbed the blows with their I-Field and Beam Coating respectively, but a stray shot damaged the Full Armor Gundam Mk.3, and Roux grit her teeth in frustration.
"Watch out! Zat's zee... Legend Gundam, non?" Charlotte exclaimed, her Rafale Revive barely dodging two beams.
"That it is..." Roux muttered, inwardly cursing as the Providence Gundam lookalike scattered them by unleashing an all-range assault with its DRAGOON pods. She was able to get to a safe distance, but she knew it was too dangerous to try and approach the battle now...
"Dammit, that Rey Za Burrel guy just had to butt in..." Judau muttered.
"Rey!" Shinn exclaimed, finally shaken out of hs blind rage. He calmed down just enough to get away from the Strike Freedom and get into a fighting stance, even as the DRAGOON pods returned to the Legend Gundam and his companion floated next to him. He could see that the bulk of the allied ZAFT / Neo Zeon fleet backing Rey up and getting ready to engage the Terminal forces...
"Just what we didn't need..." Kira murmured to himself. He was sort of hoping that Shinn's companions would give him the order to retreat...
"Shinn, keep your cool. You have defeated him once, and I'm sure you can do it again. We will handle the rest of Terminal." Rey advised his companion. A second later, several ZAFT and Neo Zeon Mobile Suits charged the Terminal forces as they were trying to reorganize themselves after Rey's attack.
"Try to stick together!" Amuro exclaimed. His Nu Gundam absorbed some beam fire from a ZAKU Warrior and fired back with its own beam rifle, striking the Zaku-lookalike in the chest with lethal accuracy and destroying it! "Don't let them surround us or divide us!"
"I'm afraid this is going to be easier said than done!" Tatenashi answered as her Mysterious Lady IS weaved into a group of Geara Doga and dodged all of their fire. Laura followed up, and her Schwarzer Regen's railgun came alive a moment later to destroy a Geara Doga threatening the Eternal...
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On the pink battleship's main bridge, Lacus Clyne saw a pink seed covering her entire visual, shattering in myriad of shards before her vision returned - but by then, her eyes had already turned a full blue, and her gaze had become intense and focused. Combined with her battle kimono and her natural charisma, this contributed to making her look regal and determined, even as several Neo Zeon units swarmed around them.
"Please, turn our ship 20 degrees and concentrate fire on the incoming enemy. Try to keep them as close to each other as possible." she instructed her bridge crew. She shook lightly when a few glancing shots found their mark on the Eternal's hull, but the pink battleship was able to shrug off the damage easily enough.
One moment later, a barrage of concentrated fire from the Eternal forced the enemy to hang back, and the other two battleships were quick to capitalize on that. A pair of precise shots from the Archangel's Valiant Mk.8 cannons destroyed a Geara Doga and a ZAKU Warrior, while the Kusanagi used its Lohengrin positron cannon to decimate a squadron of GOUF Ignited that was trying to catch the Izumo-class battleship on its side. With the main attack force forced to halt their assault, the Ra Cailum added to it, firing several missiles to scatter the rest of the attack force.
"Try to cover our fighters. Keep the main force from concentrating fire on them." Bright exclaimed, and the entire bridge crew frantically got to work to follow the order...
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Raul sighed as the battle proceeded to get more intense than ever. Shinn seemed to have gotten a second wind and, after having been calmed down by Rey's intervention, was now pushing Kira harder than before. The Strike Freedom was still doing a good job avoiding the Destiny's wild swings, but Raul could see that it was not having such an easy time any longer.
"Look, Lunamaria... I would like to stay here and chat with you, about how the Destiny Plan is not the right way for humanity to come together and all... but I've got some friends I need to help out, and your sister is among them." Raul stated. He quickly recharged his rifle and set out to take off again and rejoin his companions in battle. "I don't claim to know about your reasons for joining that Durandal guy. But your sister is there, and I'm sure she would say the same thing I am saying now. The Destiny Plan will not help humanity. It will only spread oppression and suffering. And I'm sure this isn't why you have enlisted in ZAFT's army."
"I..." Lunamaria stammered out. But Raul was not about to wait. He powered up his Excellence-F and flew towards the battle, drawing his beam saber as well in the process. Immediately, the Legend Gundam turned a few of its DRAGOON pods towards him and fired, with only Raul's quick reflexes allowing him to dodge the lethal azure beams. He tried to get in close quarters and hack at the Legend Gundam with his beam saber, but the Gundam was faster than its bulky frame might have suggested, and Rey was a skilled pilot - he was able to easier dodge all the swings, and retaliated with a series of dazzling swings from his Defiant Kai beam javelin, an odd weapon consisting of two beam sabers joined at the hilt, in order to create some sort of stick with a long beam blade at each end.
"Surrender. You cannot hope to stop the coming of the new order." Rey stated, his serene face surrounded with long golden locks appearing on one of Raul's comm screens.
"Ugh... you just had to butt in while I was trying to help your comrade, huh, prettyboy?" Raul answered with a short, bitter laugh. A slash from the enemy's weapon came closer than the red-haired young man would have liked, forcing Raul to back away with a quick speed boost... but the Legend Gundam proved it was able to keep up, and closed in for another attack that was luckily blocked by the Excellence-F's beam saber.
"I see you were trying to plant seeds of doubt in her mind. Lead her away from Gil's plan for humanity, and turn her into a fool like her sister." Rey rebuked Raul, his voice stern but tinged with just an hint of anger. "I will not allow you to interfere with Gil's vision."
"His vision, you say?" Raul countered. He was able to get away from the Legend Gundam long enough to draw his Distract Rifle and fire a few shots at the enemy Gundam. Most of the shots were dodged, but the last one struck the Legend in the right shoulder. "You're talking about the Destiny Plan you're trying to impose on humanity, right?"
"It is the only way to save humanity from themselves." Rey answered matter-of-factly. As his DRAGOON pods returned to him, he fired back with his beam rifle, trying to put pressure on Raul. "Gil is the only one who can achieve this."
Raul rolled his eyes at that. "Is he? Because right now, all I've seen him do is put innocent lives in danger." he answered as he nimbly dodged enemy fire. He noticed that the DRAGOON pods were almost back in place. Time to try and get closer, before he could unleash those things' firepower once again...
"It is inevitable that some have to be sacrificed in order for a complete renewal of humanity." Rey answered without missing a beat. "Time is running out fast. The tragedies of the last few years must never be repeated. And Gil's Destiny Plan is the only way for humanity to keep on the right path."
"Could you say the same thing to the faces of the people you will tread upon to make your new world?" Raul countered. His Plasma Sword flashed towards the Legend Gundam's chest, but the agile grey Gundam swatted away the Excellence-F's bladwe with its own beam javelin. "Ugh... this guy is good... and that Mobile Suit he's piloting... it's on a whole other class!"
"You can still get out of the way." Rey continued. "Leave Terminal, and do not interfere in Gil's plan any longer. You will be able to find your place in the world."
Raul grit his teeth and swarved away in an attempt to dodge his opponent's beam javelin, but the blade struck anyway, burrowing a large gash in the Excellence-F's right leg. The angel-like mecha lost altitude and swayed dangerously close to the ground, but Raul managed to regain his flight asset just in time.
"Not good... this guy is too strong for me to handle at the moment." the red-haired young man murmured. To his horror, the DRAGOON pods took flight once again, and began taking aim towards him...
"Fin Funnel, go!"
The familiar, confident voice of Amuro Ray blared from Raul's speakers, and the young man was able to breathe a sigh of relief when the Nu Gundam intervened, its Fin Funnels taking aim and shooting down several of the DRAGOON pods before they could fire themselves. Rey frowned slightly and backed away, while Raul dodged the incoming beams from the remaining DRAGOONs... and the Infinite Justice Gundam flew in as well, backing up the Nu Gundam's assault.
"I'll take care of him, pilot Grayden. You take care of the rest of the ZAFT forces... It won't be much longer before they launch another assault!" Amuro exclaimed. His Mobile Suit's radars picked up several more heat signatures coming from his front and left, and both him and Athrun stood ready to face the Legend Gundam while Raul and the rest of Terminal turned their attention to the incoming reinforcements, the Minerva among them...
"Thank you, Captain Amuro. Commander Zala. I wish you good luck with that." Raul stated, before joining the Mithril assault team, Mwu's Akatsuki Gundam and the IS squad in their counterattack. Rey glared at the retreating form of the Excellence-F, but he knew that he had much more urgent troubles to deal with.
"You still insist on betraying the country that welcomed you back, Athrun Zala." he stated, fending off a first assault from the Infinite Justice while at the same time keeping an eye out for the Nu Gundam. The two aces were double-teaming the Legend Gundam, hoping to create an opening and capitalize on it.
Athrun grit his teeth in anger as he remembered how he was framed and nearly executed for finding out the truth about Durandal's plans. "I couldn't keep turning my eyes away from the truth, Rey! And I couldn't condone what the Chairman is doing!" he answered with a convinction he had been lacking until that very moment.
Rey frowned angrily. "Even after seeing for yourself how ineffective your way is?"
"Durandal talks a good game, but all he really wants to do is control people and impose his will upon everyone." Amuro fired back. "And for one, I cannot allow him to stifle humanity's potential through the Destiny Plan. Someone who has given up on humanity cannot be expected to lead them."
"Are those the words of a Newtype who is letting the system take advantage of him, rather than fight to change this status quo?" Rey fired back. "It is this sort of misguided hope that is destroying everyone's future!"
"I'm afraid I cannot wait to see if the Destiny Plan can do any better. I will have to fight you according to my own convinctions." Athrun exclaimed, blocking his opponent's beam javelin. "And I will free Shinn from the spell you've put on him."
"Perhaps I should say the same about you, Athrun Zala." Rey answered, waving his beam javelin and forcing the Infinite Justice away from himself. Athrun was able to dodge and drew his beam blades to attempt a direct attack on the Legend Gundam. The mighty blades met the points of Rey's beam javelin in a shower of sparks, and the Providence knockoff was struck by a few shots from Amuro's Fin Funnels, but he managed to weather the worst of the damage, and answered with another barrage from his DRAGOONs. This time, the Nu Gundam was unable to fully guard, even with Amuro's Newtype senses warning him of the danger in advance, and the angel-like Gundam was struck by a few beams.
"It's just like the Providence Gundam..." Amuro murmured to himself, and for a moment, he was able to see Rey's serene face morph into that of the nightmarish Rau Le Creuset, complete with his mask and his mocking smile. "What does this mean? Is there any connection between this boy and Le Creuset, aside from piloting a similar Gundam?"
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"Keep the enemy from approaching. Protect the flagship!" Melissa exclaimed. Her Arm Slave used all the decoys it could find, including the wreckages of destroyed LOGOS units, to launch a series of brutal attacks on the joint ZAFT / Neo Zeon forces, and just then, she found the right moment to emerge from her cover, and able to fire a machine gun barrage that downed a Geara Doga. "Hah! Bullseye!"
"Hey! Be careful!" Ichika warned her, catching wind of a GOUF Ignited that was aiming for her... but it was unable to do anything before it was struck head-on by a lethally accurate shot from the sniper rifle belonging to Kurtz's Arm Slave. The GOUF's head exploded, sending the whip-wielding Mobile Suit crashing on the surface.
"No worries, kiddo! You know big sister always got me to back her up!" the blond sniper reassured Ichika with a thumbs-up and flashing his trademark winning smile, before getting back to his position of advantage to pick off any Mobile Suit that might get too close to the Ra Cailum or any of the Three Ships.
"Ve just need to rezist until our allies haffe finished zeir fight." Laura stated. She barely managed to dodge a Geara Doga's suppressive fire and fight back with her IS' railgun, while Cecilia's Blue Tears and Charlotte's Rafale Revive gave her long-distance support. The Blue Tears bombarded a group of ZAFT Mobile Suits with several light blue beams that tore through their defenses, while Charlotte's rifle forced the remaining ones to scatter, when it was not enough to destroy them ouright.
"Eet shouldn't be a problem, ma cherie." the blonde French girl answered. "In fact, I think zese enemies are putting up less of a fight."
"Glad to see you're confident." Roux continued as she maneuvered her Mobile Suit in an attempt to draw fire away from the more fragile IS units. "But don't get cocky, now. I think the Minerva will be upon us shortly..."
Judau stopped for just a moment right after dispatching a Jagd Doga, and took a wary glance at the gigantic ZAFT flagship, who was keeping a reasonable distance from the fight, only supporting its troops with a concentrated barrage of artillery fire. "There they are. If only we could take down that flagship, we would take the wind out of ZAFT's sails."
"It looks... a little too well-armed for a direct assault to work. And it's still defended by far too many enemy units." Chan observed. A Blaze ZAKU Phantom came dangerously close to hitting the Re-GZ's main body, and she dodged sideways at the best speed she was capable of, before firing a few missiles that hindered the enemy's approach. "For now, we need to create a distraction. As soon as the Minerva's defenses falter, we need to step in and deliver a crippling blow. Disable the engines or something like that."
"The Laevateinn and I can handle that." Sousuke answered. Of all of them, the young Mithril sergeant was the one who was giving the most headaches, his state-of-the-art Arm Slave being more than a match for even the most advanced mass-produced Mobile Suits.
"Alright, let's try that. Enemy incoming! Scatter and give them multiple targets!" Tatenashi exclaimed, just a moment before the enemy units went on the offensive. Immediately, the Laevateinn countered by firing its gatling gun, which managed to down a Geara Doga and a ZAKU Warrior, and the IS units scattered around the enemy formation in an attempt to confuse them and strike them in their most vulnerable spots. A group of ZAKU Warriors led by a Jagd Doga singled out Tatenashi as the most dangerous of the IS pilots, and the Neo Zeon suit deployed its funnels to shoot her down, forcing the former Russian representative to a breakneck dodge.
"Be careful!" Ichika exclaimed, trying to intervene to aid Tatenashi - only for the girl in question to protect herself from the incoming beam with some shields made out of water, condensed from what little hydrogen and oxygen could be found in the void. Ichika, for his part, soon found himself targeted by another group of Mobile Suits, and widened his eyes in surprise and fear. He tried to get away, but another ZAKU Warrior stood in his way, blocking his path. "Ugh... damn, this is getting bad..."
"Ichika!" Charlotte intervened just as the ZAKU Warrior raised its heat hawk to strike down the Byakushiki. The Rafale Revive fired a series of shots, two of which struck the ZAFT Mobile Suit's arm, severing it at the elbow! The ZAKU Warrior stood back in surprise, and Ichika took just half a second to sigh in relief before raising his Yukihira and bringing it down upon the ZAKU Warrior's monoeye camera. The Mobile Suit's single eye shorted out with a chilling buzzing sound, and the now-disabled mecha stumbled and fell down with a dull sound.
Nodding in satisfaction, Ichika turned to his girlfriend, who was now covering him and the rest of the IS team against the rest of the enemy forces. "Thank you, Charl!" he said with a small smile, receiving a wink from the blonde girl in return. But it all lasted for just a second before they were forced to turn back to the battle...
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Lunamaria couldn't remember having been more conflicted in her life. On one hand, she had her loyalty to her country, and the fact that she needed to support Shinn and stop him from going off the rails entirely. Ever since Athrun and Meyrin's turncoat act, she was feeling like she was the only person allowing him to hold it together...
But on the other hand... her conscience had been screaming at her for a while now. This was not what she was supposed to be doing. Was her loyalty to her country and to her leader really important to the point where she would aid them in a plan to destroy an entire nation and rob humanity of its freedom? Sure, the Chairman had put it in terms of making sure humanity couldn't repeat past tragedies...
But still, could she really trust the person who had claimed that her dear sister and her idol had been turned turncoat by LOGOS? She couldn't believe that... she couldn't accept that to be the truth. Athrun and Meyrin were not like that. There had to be a mistake... or something more sinister!
Lunamaria was jolted out of her thoughts when the Strike Freedom and the Destiny clashed once again, their beam sabers pushing upon each other. The mighty blades were crackling and hissing, their bright colors spreading in flashes all around them...
The Strike Freedom and the Destiny interrupted their clash and pushed away from each other, exchanging several shots from their beam rifles and flying around each other as they carefully waited for any sort of opening. Kira frowned in his cockpit, all of his senses tense and ready. Now that Rey had intervened and had snapped his companion out of his blind rage, Shinn was fighting more carefully and with better strategic sense.
Finally, Shinn fired several blasts in rapid succession from his beam rifle, forcing Kira to do a quick sideways dodge. For a split second, he expected Shinn to charge head-on like he was used to, but this time, the Destiny pilot went for a different tactic - he dashed out of the way of the Strike Freedom's beam rifle and fired a beam of energy from his long-range beam cannon, but once again, Kira was able to react in time and dodge the attack. Deciding it was high time to break that stalemate, Kira had the Strike Freedom dash in, both beam sabers unsheathed and ready to slash at the Destiny. But its counterpart managed to raise its own weapons in time, and blocked the attack once again.
Once again, Kira was not daunted, and had his Gundam spin around, delivering a powerful kick to the Destiny's midsection. This time, the ZAFT Mobile Suit was sent back several meters, but stopped just in time not to crash on what remained of Requiem.
The frustration inside Shinn welled up again. His anger at the one he saw as responsible for his misery, his irritation at still not being able to overpower the hated Kira Yamato, all of these were reaching a fever pitch, and making him forget Rey's words from before. All he could think of was getting his revenge on the Strike Freedom and finally put an end to his interference... avenge his family and Stellar... and destroy the one who kept getting in the Chairman's way!
"Damn you, Kira Yamato... DAMN YOUUUUUU!" Shinn roared. The Destiny Gundam grabbed its anti-ship sword with both hands. Kira was forced to fly back in order to dodge a series of wild swings, but he quickly managed to find an opening and fired his beam rifle at close to point-blank range, hitting the Destiny in the chest!
But the hit seemed to further fuel Shinn's rage and determination. Howling with bloodlust, the young FAITH ace charged head-on, throwing all caution to the wind, and tried to cut down the Strike Freedom with his anti-ship sword. Kira was taken aback somewhat by the sudden surge of aggression, and the Strike Freedom ended up taking a nick on the side - which was nullified by the mighty Gundam's Phase Shift Armor - but he quickly got his wits back and struck back with his beam saber, damaging Shinn's Gundam in the chest and left arm. Sparkles spraying out of the gashes in its armor where Phase Shift had failed to completely stop the blows, the Destiny Gundam floated back, and Shinn tightened his grip on the controls until he could no longer feel the blood flow...
"Enough of this, Shinn. Shouldn't we stop this madness?" Lunamaria's voice came from Shinn's speakers, startling him for a moment. Kira saw Shinn hesitate, and realized something must be up.
"Luna?" Shinn murmured, once again managing to get over his blind anger for just a few moments. "Luna, what are you doing? We're fighting right now... even Rey seems to be having trouble with these people! If we don't all do our part, we won't be able to destroy Orb and those who stand in the Chairman's way!"
"Luna? This one is..." Kira murmured to himself, taking a good look at her Force Impulse Gundam. "Yes... that's that pilot Athrun told me about."
"I've thought about that, Shinn. And believe me, I've realized that it's not worth all of this!" she answered, hoping this would get through to Shinn and snap him out of his rage.
Unfortunately, her pleads fell on deaf ears. Shinn stood in silence for just a moment, shock evident even in just the movements of his Gundam. But right after that, he focused back on the battle, furious at the perceived turncoat act. "You too will betray me, Luna?" he murmured, rage and despair mixing in his voice. "You would join the ones who want to take humanity's last hope away?"
"Shinn, please, listen to me... I don't want to hurt you! But I'm not going to just stand here and let things happen any longer!" Lunamaria exclaimed desperately. "I... now I know that Meyrin is still alive, on one of those ships. And I'm not letting you, Rey, the Chairman nor anyone else take her away from me!"
"She… she betrayed us, Luna!" Shinn snarled, but this time, there was an hesitation in his voice that Lunamaria couldn't miss. The FAITH ace, it appeared, was much more conflicted about his actions than he tried to portray outwardly. "I had no choice! The Chairman's new world will make everything better! But she and Athrun, they wanted to keep the world as it is!"
"That's the point. No one should live with their destiny being predetermined." Kira fired back, and gave Lunamaria a sympathetic nod while he pushed Shinn back on the defensive.
"Millions of people will die if the Destiny Plan doesn't succeed!" Shinn answered. He went back on the offensive, using his Gundam's long range beam cannon to try and get a direct hit on that annoying Mobile Suit. Kira dodged the attack and went for an overhead slash, which was blocked at the last moment by the Destiny's beam shield.
"Millions of people are dying, Shinn! Haven't you realized it?" Lunamaria exclaimed. Despite knowing that her Impulse was no match with the Destiny with a berserk Shinn at the controls, she still went on the offensive in an attempt to aid Kira as much as she could. "What we are doing is just spreading more suffering! We're just creating more people like you! Can't you see it?"
This actually caused Shinn to falter, and Kira held off, hoping that the young FAITH ace could finally start to come around. Shinn floated back, unsure of what to do, and shocked at the realization…
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The battle with the Legend Gundam piloted by Rey was getting harder. The blond ZAFT pilot was almost supernaturally skilled at piloting the bulky Legend Gundam, and his DRAGOON pods make it exceptionally difficult to approach him without danger.
"Your bravery is admirable, but misdirected." Rey stated, even as he was forced into a breakneck dodging maneuver to avoid the Fin Funnel's beams raining around him. As the remote weapons stopped firing for just a moment, the Legend Gundam drew its beam rifle and fired at the Nu Gundam, attempting to bring it down. Just in time, the Nu Gundam recalled its Fin Funnels, which formed a pyramid-like structure around its body and projected an I-Field that surrounded the Mobile Suit on all sides, absorbing the beams.
Athrun tried to take advantage of Rey's distraction, and the Fatum-01 mounted on the Infinite Justice's shoulders flew out, allowing Athrun to mount upon it. Then, it fired a large energy beam that struck the Legend Gundam in the side, bypassing its Variable Phase Shift Armor, and causing Rey to grit his teeth in a brief moment of anger. The blond ZAFT ace retaliated by swooping down on the Infinite Justice and trying to shoot it down with a barrage of shots from his beam rifle, and a couple shots actually landed, knocking Athrun's Gundam off the Fatum and jarring the blue-haired former ZAFT ace into his cockpit. Athrun grit his teeth and tried to right his Gundam's position before Rey could swoop in and follow up...
But Rey was not allowed to follow up. The Nu Gundam intervened and slammed into the Legend before it could reach the Infinite Justice, giving Athrun ample time to recover. Rey reacted quickly and threw Amuro's Gundam off of his own, but Athrun was already able to go on the offensive once again, and he drew a beam saber, slashing the Legend Gundam in the right leg. The laser blade pierced through the Mobile Suit's knee joint and erupted out of the other side, inflicting some considerable damage and causing Rey's cockpit to start flashing red with alarms.
"Hmph. Not good. The damage is really beginning to pile up." Rey noted, and tried to quick dislodge his Mobile Suit from the opponent's blade...
oooooooooooo
"We're almost there! Keep it up!" Raul exclaimed. After taking aim for a moment, he let loose with his Distract Rifle, and a split second after, an enemy Blaze ZAKU Phantom was shot down by a solid energy beam, and Raul moved away from the ensuing gunfire from the enemy. The Minerva was getting closer, and the Terminal team was being targeted by its weapons, most of them directed at the Archangel, the Eternal and the Ra Cailum.
"All weapon systems, target the Minerva." Murrue exclaimed. "Disable its weapons."
"Be careful! I think it's already charging its Tannhausers." Miriallia noted. Her instruments picked up an energy spike in the front of the ZAFT flagship, and Chidori frowned as she noticed that the enemy seemed to be about to target the Eternal...
"Sousuke... if you're going to try anything, you'd better do it now!" she murmured to herself.
oooooooooo
The Terminal team was fighting with all of their strength against the vastly superior ZAFT and Neo Zeon forces, holding their own admirably as they took down one opponent after the other. Several enemy Mobile Suits lie in shambles on what was once the surface of the dreadful LOGOS superweapon, yet even the Terminal team was beginning to lose steam. The golden Akatsuki Gundam deployed the mobile bits on its Shiranui space pack, and fired several beams that cut down a group of enemies, while reflecting the laser blasts from an incoming Jagd Doga that foolishly tried to attack it head-on. The reflected beams shot down the enemy Mobile Suit, and Mwu nodded in satisfaction... just before another group of enemies tried to catch them in a pincer formation, attacking from both above and below.
"These guys play for keeps, huh? Well, I don't mind it, but I don't want them to get too rough on me!" Tatenashi joked, causing Roux to groan at her innuendo. "I'll just have to get them to be more gentle and take it slowly!"
"Do I want to know?" Cecilia asked with a groan. The Mysterious Lady began to glow brightly, emitting a greenish luminescence that quickly formed a coccoon of light around the mighty IS unit... and the enemy units seemed to slow to a crawl as they approached, until in Tatenashi's point of view, they were moving in slo-mo! The barrier around the powerful IS unit sped forward, demolishing the enemy Mobile Suits one after the other like some sort of green comet! "What? Oh my... and what is that, pray tell?"
"Zat ees... zee Mysterious Lady's One-Off Ability." Charlotte answered, watching in awe as the Russian representative decimated the enemy, with none of their attacks even coming close to hitting her - while almost swallowing everything that came close to it. The ZAFT and Neo Zeon army fell into disorder, frantically trying to defend against this unstoppable attack, but Tatenashi didn't waste time fighting the grunt units, and went for the Minerva. "It ees called... Sökkvabekkr, I sink... eet creates a wide-area stasis field around zee Mysterious Lady. A perfect barrier zat ees almost inescapable and unavoidable, swallowing all around eet."
"It looks even more powerful than my Active Inertial Canceller..." Laura commented, her single visible eye widening in surprise. The Mysterious Lady continued on its way, cutting down anyone that stood in Tatenashi's way, and the crew of the ZAFT flagship began to scramble in a moment of panic!
"Enemy incoming! An IS unit!" a very surprised and alarmed Arthur Trine shouted. The Mysterious Lady's shield was not powerful enough to punch through the Minerva's hull, but it was still strong enough to open some serious dents in the flagship's side and front!
"We can't get a lock on it! It's too fast!" another bridge operator exclaimed. The Minerva's Igelstellungen fired a salvo, but none of them even came close to hitting the IS Academy ace.
"Oh? Looks like this is too big for me to really damage... at least right now." Tatenashi commented. "Well, no problem. It's not really what I was going for."
Her playful smile turned predatory. "Consider that part of my revenge for my little sister, ZAFT." she uttered.
For a moment, nobody on the Minerva's bridge understood... and right after that, the ZAFT flagship was violently shaken by an explosion occurring near the back thrusters! Another shot severely damaged one of the wings, and caused the mighty battleship to lose balance for a few moments, its engines having been partly compromised.
Talia grit her teeth as the shaking almost caused her to fall off her seat, and the collective shouts of the crew filled the main bridge for a moment. "Damage report!" she exclaimed.
"Losing thrust and power, captain! One of our wings is compromised!"
"We are being attacked from behind! Terminal managed to get around our forces somehow!"
Talia's eyes widened in surprise as a visual came showing a few Terminal units flanking the Minerva - Sousuke's Laevateinn and Chan's Re-GZ, both of them targeting sensitive spots in the flagship's body with their weapons! Sousuke's red-and-white Arm Slave was holding its Demolition Gun, and was using it to blast several holes in the Minerva's flank, dangerously close to the engines.
"AL, adjust aiming. Disabling engines." Sousuke stated. His Arm Slave's artificial intelligence began to zero-in on the enemy flagship's weak point, and just a split second later, the Laevateinn's Demolition Gun fired again, striking the Minerva in the side just as Chan provided cover by doing a strafing run that disabled several Igelstellungen.
Even as she and her crew were getting rattled by the shaking, Talia was quick to assess the situation. They needed to retreat before Terminal could bring down the Minerva, or their position would quickly become critical. There would be other chances to take down their enemies, and by then, Neo Zeon and ZAFT high command would surely back up the Minerva with better troops.
"Evasive maneuvers! Steer all the way to our front-left and evade pursuit! Recall all of our troops!" she ordered.
The order was quickly carried out. "Yes ma'am!" Arthur exclaimed. "Warning! Warning to all units! Calling for immediate retreat! I repeat, retreat immediately!"
The entire ZAFT and Neo Zeon lineup began a fighting retreat, disengaging from whatever opponent they were up against, most of their pilots sighing in relief at the thought of not having to deal with Terminal any longer. Only stopping to pick up their comrades who had gotten out of their destroyed Mobile Suits, all ZAFT and Neo Zeon soldiers backed away, and the Minerva turned around as quickly as it could.
"Enemy retreating. Should we give pursuit?" Sousuke asked.
"No need to. It might be dangerous to give chase at the moment. Their reinforcements might arrive soon, for all we know. And we're already spent from the battle." Chifuyu answered from her command position. "We've already destroyed Requiem and inflicted some serious damage upon them. I think we can content ourselves with that."
Everyone accepted the explanation, even though some thought that they could have taken the chance to give chase and take down the Minerva once and for all. The Terminal squad stood back, dodging the few missiles and lasers still raining their way, and formed a line in order to further intimidate the enemy into backing away.
Even Rey and Shinn had heard the retreat order, and the Legend Gundam had quickly disengaged from the Nu and the Infinite Justice. Athrun and Amuro had wisely decided not to give chase, and simply stood in place, watching as the Legend went to fetch Shinn and the Destiny.
"Shinn, we need to retreat, right now." Rey stated, holding out a hand towards the Destiny. "We'll have other ciance to defeca Terminal and the Three Ships Alliance."
At that moment, Shinn was engaged in a frantic swordfight with the Strike Freedom, neither combatant living nor gaining ground… but his fury was such that he almost didn't pay attention to what Rey was saying. "What? No, I can't back down now!" Shinn exclaimed. "Not when I have the Strike Freedom on the ropes!"
The Strike Freedom advanced a little more, Kira's beam saber pushing against Shinn's… and Rey reiterated the order he had gotten. "Shinn, this is not the time. We need to retreat and regroup in order to have a better chance to make Gil's dream come true." Rey continued. "We will have other chances to destroy the Strike Freedom and the rest of the fools. If you stay here, you'd only die or get captured pointlessly."
Much to his frustration, Shinn couldn't argue with that, so he reluctantly decided to go along… but not before relaying the dreaded news to Rey. "Fine… if we must retreat, we must. But… it seems that Lunamaria has decided to join Terminal as well…"
Rey seemed to frown ever so slightly, while Lunamaria cringed in her cockpit. "If she really did that, she is to be considered a traitor, and dealt with accordingly." The blond pilot answered, even as the Strike Freedom placed itself defensively in front of the Blast Impulse. "Come, Shinn. We need to regroup and plan the next move."
"Wait, Shinn! Don't let yourself be manipulated!" Lunamaria pleaded, giving it one more chance to make her companion see reason. "This isn't you, Shinn! We cannot continue supporting this madness!"
But her attempt was no more successful than the others. Shinn glared hatefully as the fuchsia-haired Coordinator, and began following the Legend Gundam and Rey in retreat. "Silence, Luna! I can see now that you're no better than anyone else!" he shouted hatefully, hard enough for Lunamaria to flinch at the sheer venom in his voice. "You've chosen to side with the enemies of mankind, I see. In that case… when we meet again, I will show none!"
Lunamaria desperately shook her head. "That's not true, and you know that!" she shouted back. "Please, Shinn, listen to me! The Chairman and Rey are turning you into something you aren't! They're feeding your rage and your sorrow in order to make you dependent on them!"
"Traitors don't get to question they former side's higher ground." Rey answered with a steely edge to his voice, before breaking off completely and guiding Shinn back to the retreating Minerva…
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TO BE CONTINUED…