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Gundam Liberty: Lion's Silence
Chapter 16: Escape from the Vanguard
Republic of Munzo-Then
"LOOK OUT FOR INCOMING ATTACK!"
The warning was supposed to be too late, but as the missile flew towards the Waff, the eyes of those present on both sides collectively widened in shock. Leon turned the suit, manipulating the fingers to grab the missile. Then, like a spear, he threw the missile back towards the ship that had fired it, causing it to shake.
"Impossible, what the hell is that thing?" the captain asked.
"There you are, crew quarters, thrusters, and then hanger bay," Leon muttered.
He flew the Waff faster, dodging the gatling gun fire and missiles. Bringing the bazooka up, he fired one round that struck the ship, creating an explosion that filled one of the crew corridors. Then he swerved, strafe firing the ship and hitting one of its thrusters. With the same movement he dived underneath the ship, using his shield to block the bullets. He swung the shield just as one of the mercenary jets launched, the shield was crushed, but Leon was able to knock the jet back into the hanger, causing an explosion and blocking the catapult with debris.
"One more," he said.
The Waff flew away from the ship, leaving it vulnerable for the Munzo forces to finish off. It darted around the field of space, Leon's vision blurring as he did. His chest began to hurt and his hands shook, and his fingers twitched before gripping the trigger tightly. The Waff threw its shield, crashing into the bridge of a warship. Leon fired a round for good measure before he swerved towards another ship.
"One more," he snarled.
He fired two more rounds, hitting the ship dead on, but not triggering an explosion. The Waff threw the empty bazooka away and drew from its hip an axe. Leon roared, blood hitting the lower part of his helmet, the G's affecting his organs as he flew at his enemy like a madman. He dragged the axe across the side of the ship and then dragged it upwards. The crew inside the bridge saw the Waff looked down at them before Leon crashed the axe down onto it. Munzo, Federation and mercenaries alike looked at the Waff, it had been coated in oil, giving it an almost blood like coating. Inside the machine, Leon slid back the visor of his helmet and wiped at the blood across his mouth.
"This is the future of war is it? Humanity's future? Damn it, DAMN IT!" Leon yelled.
Now
Casvall's hands shook against his chair, saliva ran down his mouth and his eyes remained shocked. Rosamia rubbed his leg with one hand and used a handkerchief to wipe his mouth with the other. She withdrew, looking at the man with concern across her face. He flinched before his head flopped down, his eyes empty again.
"If only we could erase the past, replace it, stay locked in childhood forever," she said, wrapping her arms around Casvall's head.
From the observation room, Nanai Miguel shook her head at the exchange. Behind her stood Alex, whom smirked at the gentle caresses Rosamia gave the comatose man.
"If this is what the system could do to a man with basic Newtype potential, I can't see it doing any worse to regular pilots," Nanai said.
"The Psychommo system will be readily available to use for regular pilots based on the data we acquired from Casvall's flight, Cyber Newtypes, even Puru clones will slowly become obsolete, even Newtypes themselves will no longer be necessary as we will have pushed the boundaries of what is possible, once we have completed the Weaver axis," Alex explained.
"Newtypes are supposedly the next step in human evolution; can you truly say that they will serve no purpose in the future? By that judgement, what makes my Newtype lab so valuable?" Nanai asked.
Alex balled his hand into a fist, as if he was gripping the very concept that he was debating and making it his idea.
"Being a Newtype is not just about enhanced senses of spatial awareness, it is about connection, we Newtypes feel so harshly and even fall in love too quickly because we are capable of connecting to others," he explained.
"You cannot read minds," Nanai said.
"Of course not, but do you ever wonder why it is Newtypes will develop such strong emotional attachments, it isn't just the basic psychology of abandonment or the craving of human contact. My love for Four Murasame, and her love for me, was born of our Newtype connection, within moments we understood one another's feelings, our pain, our hope, it's why Rosamia feels so strongly for Casvall."
"As well as her being stuck as a hormonal teenager and him being quite good looking and mysterious," Nanai said, leaning on her hand to hide her smirk.
"Mysterious," Alex scoffed. "The bastard son of Athha, exiled to space where he became a mercenary, fought in the Munzo defence corps, against the Crossbone vanguard movement, the Jupiter independence wars, the battle of Orb, and the Genesis conflicts up until the second Plants and Alliance war," he explained.
"If the rumours are to be believed, he's also distantly related to Dagger Thanos," Nanai muttered.
"A connection he lacks, just as he lacks connection with anything, in fact, the only person he might have truly connected with is now dead," Alex said, his dramatic tone shifting into a laugh.
"What is the Weaver Axis Leonard, I know it's connected to your Gundam, and that it involves a type of mass hallucination, but what exactly is your end game with it?" Nanai asked.
"What we have always wanted my dear, victory for Zeon, and freedom for the Spacenoids," Alex stated before turning to the door. "Keep me up to date on his condition, preferably before you tell one of the Zabis!"
"The Zabis, one wonders who truly rules Zeon now," Nanai mused as she continued to look at and study the sleeping lion.
The Peacekeeper and its accompanying ships flew as fast as they could, two Crossbone Zamouth Nada and two Zamouth Jeth class ships continued their relentless pursued. Stray missiles and beams got lucky hits on the White Base, which continued its flight with the rear guns firing back. Ryu sat in one of those gun ports, catching sight of a Den'an-Zon flying alongside a Den'an-Gei, the suit used its beam shield to block Ryu's shots whilst the Zon fired its heavy lancer over the Gei's shoulder. Suddenly, a beam slammed into the Zon, courtesy of a shot from one of the Jegan's. Sleggar and Yu stood side by side on the White Base, the Jegan firing its beam rifle whilst the Blue Destiny fired its machine gun. Sleggar hit the Gei's leg with a beam, giving Yu an opening to pierce the cockpit with machine gun fire.
"Input the targeting protocols, redirect missiles, hit their flanks," Natarle said.
Her commands came with the old move she used during the last skirmishes of the previous war. Missiles the ship had fired became inactive, before activating their thrusters and slamming into one of the Zamouth Nadas. Burning targeted the vulnerable ship with his beam rifle, hitting the cannons and missile launchers. A Berga-Dalas flew at the GM custom, thrusting its lancer at the suit. Burning tilted back and tried to shoot the Dalas at close range, the Dalas however engaged its energy shield and knocked the GM to the side.
"Pull back sir," Kou requested.
The Zephyantes tried to hit the Dalas with a beam, but the knight like ms blocked the shot. Kou drew his beam sabre and struck the Dalas's shield.
"Rather quick to change your loyalties Gundam," the purple haired pilot said.
"I'm fighting for the comrades I have left," Kou retorted.
"A noble sentiment, but not good enough," the pilot said.
"Dorel Ronah," Seabook suddenly called out.
The F91 flew in, firing its beam bazooka at the Dalas, separating it from Kou. Small Vanguard Ebirhu-S mobile suits flew to the Dalas's side. One fired its shot claw, only for the F91 to draw its beam sabre and slice it apart.
"That is you isn't it Dorel Ronah?" Seabook asked.
"Kincade Nau, or should I say Seabook Arno, the F91 suits you more than that wannabe pirate costume," Dorel said.
"What about you pretending to be some knight, where is Cecily?"
"My dear sister Berah is sadly a spectator to this tragedy, grandfather has his ambitions and that still includes the achievement of Cosmo Babylonia," Dorel explained.
"What is he talking about?" Kou asked.
"Focus Ensign," Burning said.
The GM custom flew, firing its beam rifle to draw the Vanguard suits back. Seabook engaged his radiator fins, shedding the heat his machine had built up. Flying between his targets, they fired their weapons only to hit his afterimages. Dorel followed Seabook's movements, firing shots from his lancer that were either blocked or dodged. He kept up with the machine better than his allies, one Ebirhu was slashed open by the F91 whilst Seabook used his beam launcher to shoot another in the head. Burning fired more shots from his rifle, hitting an Ebirhu in the shoulder. A second came around and dived at the GM custom with its lancer. Burning swerved and got his leg hit by a third Ebirhu's beam spray gun.
The veteran pilot barely regained control in time, blocking the Ebirhu's shot clawwith his shield. His rifle was hit by a shot from the Ebirhu, making Burning throw the weapon aside. He drew his beam sabre just as the Zeta flew past him in Wave rider form. Roux was in the pilot seat, hitting the Ebirhu with a beam rifle blast before she transformed and slashed the shot claw. Burning flew forward, hitting the Ebirhu's head with his Vulcans before he impaled the suit.
"I'm nearly out of power," Burning said.
"Retreat to Peacekeeper, Blanc, launch in the Guaiz R to compensate, Lieutenant Emma and Keith cover his regroup," Natarle commanded.
"Report from the Double Zeta, Judua's legs have taken damage, he can't turn to mobile armour mode and he's nearly out of power," Frau said from the White Base.
"Have the Guncannon loaded and Hayato ready to launch, starboard side gunners give him an opening to fly through, I don't want so much as a spark coming from that suit when it gets here. Chap and Uso, divert to the defence of the Acidalium, back Ergnes and Isaac up," Bright was sweating, but still maintained perfect control of the crew, and of the flow of battle.
On the Acadalium, Ergnes sliced through a Zon just as Isaac threw grenades at two approaching Ebirhus and a Gei. One of the Ebirhus was hit but was able to damage Isaac's rifle. The other Ebirhu and Gei landed on the ship, approaching Isaac. Isaac launched his Cerberus heads forward, piercing the Ebirhu's chest and crushing the Gei's arm. In a bid to fight back, the Gei drew its beam sabre, but was slashed by Isaac's axe. Ergnes shot the remaining Zon and then swerved to dodge a Dahgi-Iris's beam gun blast.
"White Base we need reinforcements, we've lost most of our surface weapons," Ergnes said.
The Iris fired its torso mounted beam cannon, pushing the Delta into the Acidalium. Chap fired the Jegan's bazooka, but the Iris swerved and drew its beam sabre, flying at Ergnes.
"Activating Voiture Lumiere," Ergnes said.
The 'wing' effect shot out of the Delta's thrusters, giving it a sudden burst of speed. Ergnes flew to the side of the Iris, slashing its arm off.
"Damn," the pilot cursed.
She flew backwards, blocking a few shots with her shield before firing her beam cannon again. A warning alarm came through as Uso and flew in, firing his rifle. The Victory Gundam intercepted the Iris's beam with its shield.
"Yoshikazu, Yasuhiko, form up on me, the ship from is on its last legs, we need to finish it here and now," the Vanguard pilot said.
"Belay that order Annamarie," a voice commanded over the radio.
"Zabine," the woman whispered.
Further back from the pursuit, a Zamouth Garr class warship drifted, with two mobile suits on top of it observing the battle. One of those suits was what appeared to be a black/blue shaded Crossbone Gundam, the XM-X2 model. Inside that machine sat a blonde haired man with a patch over his right eye. Beside him was a white and purple suit designed to look like an angelic knight, the pilot of the Vigna-Ghina, Cecily Fairchild did her best to control her shaking hands.
"Brougia and Ronah units pull back, Tracer unit continue pursuit," Zabine Chareux said.
"If we push just a little more…"
"People who can't control their emotions Annamarie are mere trash," Zabine said, cutting off his former trainee.
Annamarie's hand shook as she turned her suit around. Dorel had his men deploy flares and chaff, covering his escape.
"Until next time Arno," he said.
Seabook grit his teeth together in frustration, the F91 had taken more damage, just as the other Gundams too were being overworked. The Delta Astray would have had smoke rising from it, a reflection of how tired the Martian pilot was.
"We're outrunning them, little by little," Ergnes muttered.
"We have to keep going; if we keep on this path we'll reach the resupply point," Natarle said.
"But there is a chance they could still intercept us, what was the last call from intelligence?" Otto asked.
"Sensou spies were able to gleam several pieces of information the last communication we had from Flay, negotiations between the Space Revolutionary army and Kycilia Zabi fell through when Sensou agents were able to unearth a Zeon conspiracy to assassinate key leaders, Sensou agents Lancerow and Jamil rallied the SPA's mobile suits to drive back Kycilia's force, Dozle Zabi faced a setback in his campaign against the OZ faction, forty percent of his forces were wiped out by a flanking manoeuvre, pretty impressive considering there were only Leos protecting those colonies," Natarle explained.
"It just goes to show, Sensou and ZAFT aren't the only factions with talent on their side, was there any information about Garma Zabi's movements?" Bright asked.
Gaia Base
Zeon Mobile Workers floated around the now Zeon occupied base, moving cargo and engineering teams to fix on new defences and repair areas. Inside the base, buggies zipped through the hanger, carrying parts as soldiers and pilots carried out exercises and checks on machines. Mechanics were in the process of overhauling the mobile suits left behind by the Alliance, Dagger Ls were having the blue of their paint replaced by green, mechanics on wires sprayed the new dye over the chests and legs of the suits. Other mechanics opened the arms and removed the backpacks of the suits to make them compatible with Zeon equipment. As his men worked, Garma carried out very different tasks from his office.
"Avalon, they're independent from Sensou but still maintain close ties, so probably not, we don't have the funds for mercenaries like Tekkadan, Ameria maybe, or the capital guard," Garma harshly smacked the mouse of his laptop in frustration.
He rested his head back, opening his eyes when he heard the door swish open. Chris floated inside, raising a formal salute but with a mocking smile.
"And to think, we always thought you would make a better politician than a soldier," he said.
"If Gihren had sent me instead of sister to negotiate with the SRA, then we would have more allies in this fight," Garma said.
"Kycilia has always plotted behind the scenes, and it wasn't the acceptable kind either, you know when the car with Dozle and Sasro got blown up, there were a few people who whispered that it was a mighty fine coincidence no one tried going after Kycilia or Gihren's vehicles," Chris explained.
"Did you ever get a chance to talk to these people?" Garma asked.
"Nope, they all conveniently disappeared, between Kycilia and Gihren, she has always been the most deceitful of the two and the most bitter, why do you think she wears that ridiculous helmet and mask?"
"It's a formal uniform, and ridiculous? Says the man who dresses his mobile suit up like a primitive warrior from Earth," Garma retorted.
"I'll give you that, still, I could be dressing myself up as a pirate," Chris grinned.
"The Crossbone Vanguard, strange that Seabook Arno took them in that direction, but they did always border the line between pirates and legitimate government entity. Of all our allies its Iron Mask that disturbs me the most," Garma explained.
"I would be wary of Bask Om, he hates spacenoids, for him to accept working with Alex Leonard means that that pilot must hold some significant sway over the disgraced Titans, enough to make them break away from the man from Jupiter. Scirocco, I'm surprised he hasn't involved himself in all of this yet, but Alex Leonard is creating some concern, short term at least he is a threat to Zeon," Chris explained.
"So if we were to deal with him, then we'd be safe for now, enough for us to focus on…"
"I did say short term Garma," Chris said.
"Right now people need the Zabi family to be united, if Dozle and I return then we can be the voices of reason for Gihren and Kycilia, we are at our strongest when united," Garma explained.
Chris lowered his head for a moment, before looking at his friend with a severe expression.
"Garma, Zeon hasn't been united for a long, long time, you were sheltered from it, but there were large pockets of people who believed that the murder of Zeon Deikun was your father's doing," he explained.
"Convenient considering he isn't alive to defend himself," Garma said.
"That doesn't discount the possibility Garma that Gihren's line of thinking, that his and Kycilia's ambitions, even Dozle's enthusiasm is driving our nation to disaster," Chris stated.
"And what is it about me that makes me a liability to our nation?" Garma asked.
"Right now it's your naiveté," Chris said.
His fierce expression faded however when he realised how harsh his tone had been. But the damage was done, Garma lowered his head in quiet contemplation, crossing his fingers together and leaning his elbows on the desk.
"I'm not an idiot Chris, I know Gihren and Kycilia are at their heart incredibly selfish people, I like to think that it's the reason father kept me away from them," he said.
"Whilst I'm speaking harsh truths Garma, your father wasn't a moral man," Chris said.
"Is there such a thing as a moral leader?" Garma retorted.
"Siegel Clyne, Patrick Zala, Uzumi Nara Athha, Muruta Azrael, Lewis Halberton, if history had been different these men would have been remembered as heroes, victors whom wrote history. With his power Gekido Jaeger performed a miracle and was deemed a hero, with her power Lacus Clyne formed the Ships alliance and ended the previous war and became the idol of peace, with his power Dagger Thanos created his own army and is now the master of the chaos on Earth, with his power Gilbert Durandal became leader of the Plants and ZAFT and now under the flag of righteousness is on a path to conquer Earth, with his power Vincent Rach saved the world from the rising terrorist threat of true faith.
"Yet, the truth, or rather, that which people bury, can be very different, Gekido Jaeger was a mercenary and killer who stumbled upon a power better men should wield, Lacus Clyne preached of peace but could only bring an end to the conflict through fighting, Dagger Thanos betrayed the ideals of ZAFT and rules with an iron fist, Gilbert Durandal has the gift of the silver tongue, an ideal politician and an ideal liar using half truths to get his way and Vincent Rach committed mass murder. If Gihren wins he'll be the man who sacrificed millions of his people to have achieved not just independence but domination, if Kycilia wins she'll be the woman who will have united the colonies through betrayal and clandestine murder,"
Whatever direction Garma intended to take his rant, whatever analysis he had for his own potential rise to power was cut short when the computer chimed.
"Garma sir, there's a communication from Prime Minister Gihren," the communications officer said.
"Put it through," Garma said.
He straightened out his uniform, something Chris did for his collar at least. But there was no video feed, just an audio, as if that was all Gihren could afford for his brother.
"Garma, with your taking of Gaia base a success, you're now to take your fleet and attack ZAFT's Neo Detroit border outpost," Gihren said.
"All of the fleet, but brother, shouldn't we be…" Garma stopped, narrowing his eyes.
It was a recording, leaving no room for debate or questions.
"Didn't even afford us the time for a proper briefing," Chris snarled.
Garma typed in a few commands on his computer, bringing up a map of the region. Neo Detroit base was far from Gaia base, it was one of four bases in ZAFT territory that monitored the border of their colonies. Zeon had never attempted an attack before, and Zeon had no other bases in that territory, so this was not a coordinated attack. If Garma took his fleet, they would lose Gaia base as a strategic stronghold, but their attack on Neo Detroit would come with heavy casualties. Not only that, but ZAFT would quickly coordinate a retake operation with reinforcements from the nearby Tesla and Shakespeare outposts and possibly Sensou's Double R Martin base, one Zeon fleet against potentially Four enemy fleets. Chris flinched when Garma banged his fist against the desk.
"Prepare your men, we'll pack up the units we've prepared, use the raw materials we have to upgrade our ships and then begin our journey to Neo Detroit," he explained.
"You're not actually thinking of following this lazy, and blatantly token order are you Garma?" Chris asked.
"We have our orders and our duty," Garma said.
"We don't have the military power to attack ZAFT on the scale these orders suggest, Sensou maybe, but there would be no strategic value to such an operation, this is another suicide mission," Chris explained.
"If you have a formal complaint, gather those who feel the same and return to Side 7," Garma said.
"But then we'll face a court martial as deserters," Chris said.
"These are our orders Chris," Garma shook his head, sweat running down the side of his face.
Another chime came on Garma's computer, leading him to angrily slap the receive button.
"WHAT!" he yelled.
"Garma sir, it's another communication, this one is from Lieutenant Ral," the communication officer said.
"Ramba Ral," Chris muttered.
"He had joined Sensou as an honorary Peacekeeper, but his loyalty to the Side Colonies is without question, put his message through," Garma commanded.
"Sir, this one isn't a message this time, it is a call."
"Then put it through."
Garma turned the laptop, seeing the Lieutenant wearing his flight suit; static on the walls behind him, another decoration was the soldiers on stretchers and mechanics darting around to put out fires.
"Contacting Gaia base, this is an appeal under the Colony 30 Act requesting aid to protect civilian life, the Frontier V colony is under heavy attack by unregistered military forces, I repeat this is a civilian colony I appeal to any military forces in the area under the Colony 30 Act," Ramba explained.
"Frontier V, Gihren never mentioned any kind of attack on them," Garma said.
"Would he have told you if he had planned it, why would our own attack a colony under Lieutenant Ral's supervision, he made it pretty clear he didn't intend to interfere with Zeon unless…" Chris paused, putting his hand to his chin.
"What is it?" Garma asked.
"He discovered something untoward about Alex Leonard, or your sister, Lieutenant Ral is popular with the troops, but his family was always loyal to the Deikuns," Chris explained.
"Civilians, if it was Leonard, attacking the colony itself, damaging it, it would be unnecessary considering that machine of his, Frontier V, civilian, neutral, so it could be a Heliopolis and one of ours trying to do a…"
"Rau Le Creuscet," both Chris and Garma muttered.
"We have our orders don't we?" Chris asked, shrugging his shoulders.
"Contact my ship, I want a regiment of mobile suits ready, I'm taking a force to respond to this appeal, Chris, you'll continue to make the necessary preparations for our attack on Neo Detroit, you will continue this preparation until my return," Garma explained and Chris smirked.
He lifted his hand into a salute.
"Zieg Zeon Garma," he said.
"Zieg Zeon," Garma whispered.
There was a moment to breath, and in that moment Amuro looked out at space from White Base's observation deck. His thoughts were dominated by the battles he had fought, and the key players of these battles, his fellow Gundam pilots and their troubles, Kamille and Judau seeking to save their family and friends, Uso and his hope to redeem a woman whom had proven herself sadistic.
"I'm sorry to interrupt," and Seabook Arno, the young man who wanted to stop the old Vanguard's plans of Cosmo Babylonia, and save the woman he loved.
"It's okay Seabook, join me," Amuro put on a reassuring smile as Seabook walked into the room.
"The Vanguard is still on the chase, and the F91's radiator fins have taken damage, and the Variable Speed Beam Rifle is down," he said.
"We need to keep going, they're regrouping, using the other ships to slow us down and make us use up our energy and ammo," Amuro said.
"They're preparing to attack us again, no doubt to finish us off, or distract us whilst Bugs did their way inside the ship," Seabook said.
"Casvall, it would have made more sense to have him lead the attack against us," Amuro said.
"Maybe they're saving him for something," Seabook suggested.
"Either way," Gyunei said, making his way into the room. "He's our enemy!"
"I'm not so sure," Amuro muttered.
"Guys," Hayato suddenly came around the corner, gripping the corner of the door to steady himself in zero gravity. "The Captains are calling a fleet wide meeting," he said.
The four pilots floated to White Base's bridge, Natarle was on the main screen with Otto and many of the other pilots and crew.
"I'm glad you've all come together, it's time we began to face facts, our mobile suit force is damaged and overworked, if we continue to engage the enemy forces pursuing us then there is a chance we won't make it to the rendezvous point," Natarle explained.
"And even if we do, we would be leading the Crossbone Vanguard to our support forces and starting a battle that would damage the equipment they're delivering," Bright said.
"There is one thing we could do," Nahe said, catching everyone's attention. "The Acidalium is the most damaged, but it's also designed to operate with minimal crew, some systems are even automated, in theory we could turn the Acidalium towards the enemy forces and attack them, acting as a distraction," he explained.
"Even if the ship was fully automated it would still need a crew or some mobile suits to fully convince the Vanguard that they're under attack, if not then they would just ignore it or destroy it before we've gotten a sufficient distance away," Sleggar said.
"So what can we do?" Hayato asked.
"We need bait," Burning said.
"But what kind of bait is going to convince the Crossbone Vanguard to stop its pursuit?" Uso asked.
"Isn't it obvious, those Gundams of yours are thought of to be pretty special," Chap said.
"If Murrue Ramias was here, she'd say something about not trading lives," Natarle said.
"You're the captain who used Lacus Clyne as a shield, if there's anyone here with the capacity to send men off to die, it is you," Sleggar said, smiling at Natarle.
"I wish there was another way, I wish we could outrun them, but when weighed against the lives of the civilians in need of our help, we need to make sacrifices, no matter how much it might break our hearts," Bright explained.
"I'm not afraid of dying, I'm not afraid of my crew dying, if it's for something that matters," Otto said.
"We need to make it matter, who wants to volunteer?" Sleggar asked. "Not just to give up their lives, but to give up parts of themselves too?" he looked to the Gundam pilots as he spoke.
Cecily Fairchild had another name, Berah Ronah, granddaughter of Meitzer Ronah, the founder of Cosmo Babylonia. He began his rise to power as a junker, finding materials during the earliest days of space colonialism in the Cosmic Era. By the time of George Glenn's retirement, Meitzer had enough money to own a colony near Side 1 and employ a vast array of people. After making his fortune, he returned to his aristocratic roots, redesigning himself not as a mayor but a nobleman. He then began to write his manifesto, and founded the belief of Cosmo Aristocracy. His belief was that humanity needed a new hierarchy, the chosen aristocracy would lead humanity, power would be inherited and not earned. Years later, the Crossbone Vanguard attacked the Frontier Four colony and officially founded Cosmo Babylonia.
'But what connects grandfather's dream to Alex Leonard's dream?' she wondered.
Zabine flew beside Cecily, nudging the Vigna.
"You're doing well to hide your doubt Lady Ronah," he said.
"Even if they meet with reinforcements, are these people really a threat to us?" she asked.
"Never underestimate the resolve of your opponent," Zabine turned the X2 and chuckled. "You're about to learn that the most dangerous enemy is the most desperate one," he said.
"HARD TO PORT!" he yelled.
The ship swerved, turning at the last moment, just as a positron beam scraped across its side. Cecily looked towards the Martian ship, the Acidalium, all of its weapons were fully exposed and on top of the ship were Gundams. The Zeta and Double-Zeta along with the GM cannon and the Guardshell stood on the Acidalium, weapons ready, the eyes and visors of the suits glowing. The battleship was flying straight towards the Crossbone Vanguard forces, a small crew of volunteers in the bridge. Inside the Zeta, Sleggar smirked, whilst Ryu narrowed his eyes at the forces, preparing to move the Double-Zeta again.
"Keep going White Base, Peacekeeper, make it count," Chap said.
"I wish you luck Ergnes, get our people home," Nahe smiled.
Burning sat on his new chair in the Acidalium's bridge, shaking his head and laughing.
"I always thought I would die in some mobile suit, Captain Burning, it sounds good," he said. "Acidalium, pilots, commence operation last stand!"
Next Chapter 17: The wilful roar
Hope everyone enjoyed the chapter
