MS Gundam Wing: Revolution
Book Three, Part Twelve
Inside the Colony's main base, in their quarters, Utena watched as her lover Anthy glowed with a shimmering light.
"What are you doing, Anthy?" Utena asked.
"Limiting Akio's powers," Anthy murmured as she frowned in concentration. Reaching across the huge distances involved was harder than she expected.
"I thought he lost most of his power when you escaped?" Utena asked.
"He did," Anthy agreed, "but when he destroyed Ohtori and left, the souls bound up there restored him somewhat."
Utena thought of poor, goofy Wakaba, Miki, even that arrogant ass Saionji and sighed. "Oh, lovely. Can the Gundams handle him?" Utena asked.
"I don't know," Anthy admitted.
0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0
Juri and Akio bobbed and weaved in the Epyon and Wing Zero. They were surprisingly evenly matched, but gradually Juri was gaining an advantage.
Akio cursed as he hauled on the control sticks. Juri had spent years, more or less, becoming a skilled Mobile Suit pilot. Despite Akio's abilities he had not, and the difference showed.
"Where is UTENA?" Akio cursed again.
Juri dodged backwards, then used the back thrusters along with her main engines to throw herself into Epyon with huge force,
"GACK!" Akio was thrown forward and back in the cockpit, the force rattling him badly. Worse, his concentration lapsed...
Seizing the chance Juri raised her beam saber in two hands and then drove it down into Epyon's cockpit.
Akio saw the flare of light, "NO! My glorious final battle..."
Then the beam cut right through the cockpit and burned Akio to ash. The broken, pilotless mecha spun away, gas and smoke venting from the wreck.
Juri reported to the others, "Epyon has been destroyed."
Cheers rang out over the radio, before Noin ordered everyone to maintain radio discipline.
"There's still the Dolls and Libra," Quatre reminded everyone.
"Spoil sport," Duo Maxwell said cheerfully.
On the bridge of the Libra, the all women crew sat in stunned disbelief.
"How?" Yuki asked. "How could this happen?"
"Lord Akio...," Hikari breathed out.
Maya slammed her hands down on the main controls. "Everyone!" she barked.
"Ma'am?" Rhion asked weakly.
"Even with our beloved Akio gone, we will carry out his intent!" Maya declared. "We will use the Libra and mobile dolls to destroy the enemy! Then we will move on to Earth!"
"Yes!" Yuki cheered.
"Everything will burn!" Maya continued.
"Yes!" Hikari cried.
"And someone find that damned Lady Une," Maya growled out, "I want that bitch dead."
"Oh yes," Rhion agreed.
Energized once more by thoughts of revenge, the crew went back to work.
The mobile dolls nearest to Libra were cleared, and the Gundam's advanced on the Libra itself.
"Duo, Trowa, you need to board it," Quatre ordered. "We'll keep Libra busy."
"Why us?" Duo complained, but he in Deathscythe and Trowa in Heavy Arms dodged fire to reach the vulnerable hangars and burst in. Once they did, they left their two Gundams and entered Libra's halls.
"We need to find the bridge," Duo noted, "we can shut down Libra and the mobile dolls."
"Obviously," Trowa agreed as they followed a map of the interior that had been smuggled out.
As they rounded a corner a voice noted, "About time someone got here."
Duo very nearly shot her, then blinked, "Lady Une?"
"Correct," Une nodded. She looked raggedly as hell, and from the bruises had clearly been beaten more than once. "We need to get to the bridge," she said tiredly.
"You're in no shape," Duo started.
"There's no time," Une shook her head. "Don't waste it arguing."
"She's right," Trowa cut him off.
With their map and Une's help they avoided security and went up Libra's various decks. "Why no elevators?" Duo complained as they hurried up stairs.
"They can be shut down from the bridge," Une noted and Duo cursed softly.
The group reached the bridge level, and advanced up the hall cautiously. "Is there no crew?" Trowa had to ask.
"The Libra is hugely automated," Une said, "it could be run by one person, in a pinch. There's likely only the women on the bridge."
"Akio only has women staff," Trowa noted, "why am I not surprised?"
They reached the doors, then Duo checked the lock.
"The code is 4-02-1997," Une told them.
"I keep forgetting Treize and you planned this," Trowa noted dryly.
"Not this specifically," Une sounded mildly offended, "our plan was much tidier."
Both men ignored that.
"Let's go," Duo said as he triggered the door.
The women looked up in surprise as the three charged in. Trowa and Duo swiftly shot the lady at weapon's control and navigation.
"YOU," the apparent leader yelled at seeing Une and both fired nearly at the same time. Her chest blossomed red, then her gun discharged again.
"Oh," Une breathed out, then dropped.
Duo and Trowa shot the last few women, then hurried to check on Une. Part of her head was blown out, it had been almost instantly fatal. "Hell," Duo sighed. He hadn't liked Une, really, but they had been allies of a sort.
"Come on," Trowa urged him, and the two men shut down Libra's weapons.
"Can't stop the mobile dolls," Duo noted as he checked the controls. "They're locked in a self-guided mode."
"They're fighting dumb," Trowa shrugged, "we'll clear them out." Both men made various adjustments to the controls, then hurried off.
0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0
"Libra's weapons are down!" Quatre announced to great cheering. 'And now various governments will rush in to take it,' he mused.
An American squad of 'Tallgeese' style mobile suits broke through the chaoticly fighting mobile dolls, even as Deathscythe and Heavy Arms jetted away from Libra.
"Why are you leaving it unmanned?" the leader of the Americans demanded.
Before anyone could pursue that, the massive fuel tanks that fed Libra's engines exploded. The engines blew outward in a burst of escaping gas and flame as observers cried out in alarm. Then the main gun overloaded, shorting out systems all over the space fortress.
"WHAT DID YOU DO," the leaders of several factions yelled.
Speaking for the colonies Quatre calmly reported, "We've crippled Libra. The colonies feel it is too dangerous to the peace to remain in play."
"How dare you..."
"It's not destroyed," Quatre added, "but it will take years to repair, assuming anyone will allow the others to do so."
'Which no one will let anyone else do,' Quatre hoped.
The five Gundams rejoined the combat against the out of control mobile dolls, and they began to make progress. It was a long, grinding fight, but working together the pilots could out-think the dolls, and eventually space was clear of them.
"Juri!" Releena beamed as she radioed her.
"We did it," Juri smiled back warmly.
The different forces stood down, even as communications began to move between the various leaders.
"The war is over," Releena sighed.
To be continued...
Notes: Akio isn't a 'pro' pilot, basically. He may have been expecting to be able to cheat in some way... Plus he had his heart set on beating Utena.
The access code to the bridge is the date the anime Revolutionary Girl Utena debuted.
Next chapter should wrap up the remaining bits.