Gundam Wing: War in A.C. 200
a Gundam Wing Fanfiction
by Torankusu Senshi
Chapter 5: The Battle That Sprung From the Depths of Hell
The L3 Colony Cluster was normally a quiet place. Despite the fact that it was the center of business for the Winner Foundation, traffic was relatively low, all business was conducted over vid screen. As, for years, it's most powerful and influential family had been total pacifists, it had a rather peaceful atmosphere to it. According to the Earth Sphere United Nation policy, it had a complete lack of any kind of mobile suits or weapons. They were peaceful people, had always been, and had never seen the need for weapons of war.
Unfortunately, the choice was no longer theirs to make. The Cluster was formed almost like a sphere, with the center being completely empty, a space meant for traffic and deep space demonstrations. Normally, there would have been commercial ships flying to and from Colony to Colony crowded this space. Today, it was fairly empty.
Unless one counted the legion of mobile suits gathered in it, and the three colossal one mile long warships heading for them.
The Preventer mobile suits were a sight to behold in their massive numbers. Tauruses floated side by side in well ordered regiments, as if they were human troops. The space Leos stood at the back, flanking the main Taurus units on either side. All in total, 800 mobile suits, the entire strength of the Preventer Agency, was gathered in the space before the L2 Cluster. The distant sun gleamed off their titanium alloy, and within each one was a scared but determined pilot. If this crisis had posessed any good effect, it would have been that the Preventers were now a family with a single goal: Defend their home at all costs.
Gundam Altron, and it's anxious pilot, Wufei Chang, stood at the front, but a little to the left. With it's glowing laser trident, dragon fangs, heavy armament, and ready battle stance, it would have given even the bravest human warriors pause. Too bad the incoming enemy was not human.
The mobile suit of Lucrezia Noin also stood to the side, but on the right, as opposed to Wufei's left. It was a white Taurus, an out of place color next to the black ones behind it, and, just like Altron, had been heavily modified in recent months. It bore the regal colors of the once proud Sanq Kingdom, and bore two beam rifles, one in each hand. It seemed itself much like a royal guard, which was fitting due to the person to the immediate left of the mobile suit:
Zecchs Merquise, in Tallgeese III. The mobile suit held it's shield firm in one hand, and it's now infamous Mega Cannon in the other. It's combat stance seemed somehow noble, princely and dignified, which would suit the man inside just fine. The posture was most likely due to the Zero System it used, Zecchs' very mind served as the interface for the Mobile Suit's controls and it's mighty limbs.
The sight of the Preventers was one that no sane army that ever existed would dare to challenge. Even without the horrifying sight of it's heavily armed legions littering the starred fields of space, one would have paused simply at the thought of the roster. Zecchs Merquise, Wufei Chang, Lucrezia Noin....Possibly the best army that had ever been assembled.
And deep in his heart, Zecchs knew it was yet not enough.
The three one mile long warships continued their indifferent approach, seeming to make the large army before it small by comparison. The face of Relena frowned at him from the screen to his left, inside the cockpit of the Tallgeese:
"How much longer, Zecchs?"
Zecchs didn't turn to answer it, but he smiled with that side of his face. "Are you that anxious to see us battle, sister?"
He didn't even have to see the girl's face to hear the indignation in her words. "Why you..."
And then, it was time. "Quiet, they're here." With one hand, he flipped off the long range communication system, and the screen bearing Relena's face winked out of existence, replaced by scrolling numbers and threat assessments. As had been decided, the Leader of the Preventers would deliver an ultimatum to the invaders. With that same hand, his finger flipped the switch of the wide broadcast, everyone in Earth and the Colonies who turned to his frequency would be able to hear him, now. Most notably the aliens before them. He did his best not to let the simple though that they were about to engage ALIENS give him the creeps, spoke up in his most commanding tone:
"Alien invaders. You have entered an area under protection by the Earth Sphere United Nation. I order you to cease and desist. If your intentions are not peaceful, we will be forced to engage you."
For a long moment, the entire communications band stood silent, in a mimicry of the space around them. Then, their answer came loud and clear, a single from the battleships:
From the sides of all three battleships, legions poured out. Legions of mobile suits. Alien in origin, definitely, but at this distance, he couldn't tell. They were biped machines, that much was certain. They seemed to pour out like the Great Flood, hundreds upon hundreds of them. They blazed towards their newfound opponents in perfect synchronization, getting closer to make out some detailts. They were biped, and had two arms, one of which held what appeared to be a gun, and the other what was definitely a laser saber. They were black, and masses of black tentacles slithered from behind them. The entire Preventer Comm Channel seemed to gasp in horror.
And then, Zecchs saw the mobile suit at the front of the legion, the one heading dead on toward him. It was something he had seen before, and though he never spoke of it to anyone, had seen it in his very nightmares:
The Gundam Wing Zero was leading the pack of Alien Mobile Suits.
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Unlike a few days before, when the room had been respectfully quiet, that was not the case at the moment. The Earth Sphere United Nation War Room was the very epitomy of ordered chaos, with men running from station to station in an attempt to cross reference readings, others running around to find things out, and other simply doing it because they had no clue what was going on. The President stood by the main control station, watching the scene on the main monitor with a grim face.
Relena Peacecraft stood by the communications station from which she had been talking to Zecchs, and later listened to his ultimatum. She now watched the scene on the vid-screen as well, however much she wanted to look away, something inside her felt it would be a disrespect to those that would die today. She would honor their deaths as best as possible, by watching them die. It was all she could do.
On the screen, the legions of allied and opposing mobile suits clashed. The screen switched to a distant view, probably taken by one of the L2 Colonies themselves. She could see the spears of light that marked the laser beams, the flashes of blue that marked retros and thrusters. It was a scene from the very depths of Hell, something she had once hoped never to see again. The alien warships themselves continued their merciless descent to the battlefield, monsters in their own right, and maybe more terrifying than the actual battle.
She heard a technician speak up, in a confused voice to the President.
"Sir, Agent Wind has reported an anomlay in the enemy's mobile suit legions......"
Agent Wind, that was Milliardo. Relena was not watching, her eyes were glued on the battle, even as men ran back and forth, doing the best to correlate as much data as they could. But the President's irritated voice came back loud and clear from the few feet in front of her he was:
"Well, what is it?"
"Sir, the Gundam Wing Zero appears to be leading the pack of alien mobile suits, and has just engaged in combat with Mobile Suit Tallgeese."
The President was quiet, as was anyone that was close enough to have heard that. Wing Zero was a symbol, the symbol of a War fought for Peace, of a man who had dedicated his life to showing Humankind the folly of it's ways. To have it at the head of the enemy's mobile suit force.....
Relena did not care for that part, or for the Gundam, for that matter. Wing Zero had been supposedly destroyed years ago, but if it was back, there were only 2 known pilots in the entire Earth Sphere that had ever been known to completely master that system. Zecchs Merquise, the Lightning Baron, and....
"Heero?" she asked in a small, fearful voice.
She stood quiet, as if her brain had shut down, throughout the chaos that followed.
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The battle was ferocious on a scale unmatched in any in human history thus far, with it's only rival being the final battle of the Eve Wars. The awesome speed and agility of the Preventer Tauruses was matched, if not exceeded, by the enemy mobile suits. They were less heavily armed than their alien foes, but the determination filling their spirits overrode their fear at what they fought. If the aliens had any sense from this battle, the would have seen that Humankind was an instinctively warlike and violent species, they fought as if posessed.
The neatly ordered regiments that had stood tall before on both sides had been broken up, and what ensued could only be described as chaos. The battle was hazardous to friend and foe alike. Beams of lasers cut through the air, destroying mobile suits from both sides with extreme prejudice. When their laser cannons had run empty, most shots going wide of their targets, they had drawn their sabers, and many now engaged in duels of will and strength with the other.
So it went. Beams crisscrossed, engines flared, explosions cut through the air. It was a positive whirlwind, and impossible to follow. The peaceful people watching from the L2 Colony Cluster were silent in their horror, watching, the only thing they could do. Mothers held their children, fathers remained silent, and young people cursed their own weakness for not being up there, not fighting for the future of their race.
Gundam Altron would later be described as "Death from Above" in the aftermath of the battle. It's pilot screaming mad battle cries, the Gundam tore through any who dared to stand in it's path with a single minded ferocity that even alien mobile suits seemed to hesitate at. One moment dueling and destroying a larger mobile suit, the kind that seemed to serve as commander for the others, the next moment it was on the other side of the field, tearing through an entire group of them. The flame thrower blazing flames all over the area, the trident cutting through enemy mobile suits as if they were made of paper, Wufei piloted his Gundam with a reckless abandon like he hadn't since the Eve Wars.
Liuetenant Lucrezia Noin's white Taurus mobile suit dueled with two opponents, and held her own. Deespite their speed, agility, and powerful tentacles that seemed to serve as secondary arms to render suits useless, Non evaded their blows, her cannons blazing in return fire. No thoughts coursed through her head, none but the overwhelming sadness that she was in the midst of battle again. This only seemed to infuriate her more, and her battle with her two opponents grew even worse.
Tallgeese III and Wing Zero were at the center of this veritable whirlwind, dueling, like they had all those years ago, when one of the pilots was a simple child. They had both foregone their powerful beam weapons, instead relying on their sheilds and laser sabers to attack. They danced the dance of war, their blades leaping out at each other, blocking and parrying. The gears in both suits shifted so quick that the Zecchs' ears were ringing from hearing the sound of them. The massive legs fired retros in different directions constantly, the momentum reversing, the physics of battle changing with the engine direction.
Zecchs yelled in desperation as his mobile suit's shield barely managed to intercept the blade of the Wing Zero:
"Heero! Are you in there?! What is this?!"
The Gundam's lifeless, yet foreboding gaze was his only answer. That, and the rapid succession of beam strikes that even the Lightning Baron was hard pressed to counter. Again, Tallgeese reeled from the merciless assault of the Wing Zero. Heero had always been a good combatant, even had defeated Zecchs soundly in battle during the Eve Wars, but this.....this was madness. The Gundam was using Heero's style, certainly, but it lacked the cold yet deteremined detachment that it used to posess. In it's place was a passionate and ferocious fighter, who fought with skill that was hard to defend from.
"Heero!"
Again, that lifeless stare from the eyes of the Wing Zero was the only response.
Then, something in Zecchs snapped.
With a bloodcurling cry from it's pilot, the Tallgeese lashed out in moves so quick that the Suit's joint activators threatened to break under the pressure. Unrelenting, Zecchs stabbed and slashed, and the Wing Zero fell back before the onslaught. That was when it did something that Zecchs hadn't expected, and something he would regret later.
It drew it's Twin Buster Rifle, brought it up to aim directly at the charging Tallgeese, and fired.
Zecchs, using all of his instinctive reflexes, and the saving speed of the Zero System, managed to hit his boot retros at the last moment, and the Tallgeese blasted up and above the beam. The beam of sun colored annihilation lanced out, hundreds of mobile suits being destroyed in it's wake. A million cries could be heard over the communications, all of them Human. But the one that pierced Zecch's senses was one certain cry, the cry of Lucrezia Noin.
His savage set of mind was erased completely, the only thing he wanted to do now was to get to Noin's side. Nothing else mattered.
The Tallgeese III spun from it's unexpected opponent, and used all of the power of it's thrusters and retros to rocket at the spot where Noin had been. The backwash hit the Wing Zero dead on, and the Gundam fell back yet again, temporarily halted. Zecchs could make out the white Taurus, and it seemed as if he would make it there, in time. The speed he traveled at almost rended his mobile suit to pieces, and forced him back into the seat.
Unfortunately for the desperate warrior, it was at that moment that the Warships themselves arrived on the field.
Beams of power leaped from their hulls, slicing through Preventer mobile suits with pinpoint accuracy. The Tallgeese III dashed with all it's speed across the battlefield of death, not even bothering to evade potshots from alien mobile suits that were shot at it on his journey. And, he was there, his mobile suit's arm reaching for the body of the white Taurus....
At that point, a beam of white energy shot out from the nearest warship. It seemed to grasp Noin's Taurus, enveloping it in blinding light, so much so that Zecchs had to look away or be blinded. When the light dimmed, and the scared Lightning Baron looked around, the Taurus was no longer there.
It was, instead, drifting into a hatch on one of the alien warships. The hatch closed, and much to Zecch's dismay, the ship began retreating at impossible speeds back towards it's massive Home fleet. The other two flanked it on either side, going at a lesser pace. The alien mobile suits seemed to go on a massive retreat, all returning to the giant holes in the ships from whence they came.
Zecchs was so shocked by the outright capture of Noin, that it took him literal minutes before he regained himself. At that time, only one warship remained. Zecchs turned to his communications, yelling for the Preventers to assemble and attack the last warship.
All he got was static.
His mobile suit turned slowly around, and for the first time Zecchs got a good look at the battlefield. Wreckage was everywhere, littering the field like if it was a garbage site. Besides the wreckage of a few, the alien mobile suits were completely gone. Outer Space was completely silent.
The Preventers were gone.
Before his mind could fully register the magnitude of death that had taken place today, his mobile suit was slammed into by something. Slow on the uptake, it took the Tallgeese a moment to spin it's giganic metallic body around. He saw Gundam Altron, and hear his friend's voice over the comm:
"We've got company! Watch out, Zecchs!"
Then, alien mobile suits descended upon them. Zecchs mind went blank of all thoughts of Noin and the Preventers, and he went into battle mode again.
Mobile Suit Tallgeese III and Gundam Altron stood side by side as the circle of mobile suits descended upon them in a flurry. There must have been ten of them. Metallic arms and glowing blades lashed out, shields blocking attacks, only barely. This went on for an uncountable amount of time, until Zecchs could hear Altron, beside him, fall. Wufei shouted in fury as he was overcame by the attacks, his Gundam being sliced into.
And then Zecchs stood alone, the battered and scarred Tallgeese holding it's pink beam saber firm, next to it's disabled companion. The enemy mobile suits charged at him, intent on blood.
Zecchs reached quietly for the self-destruct mechanism of the Tallgeese III. If he was going to die, these bastards, sure enough, would accompany him to Hell.
And just before he pressed the button, three of the enemy mobile suits exploded brilliantly, painting the black starfield orange and red, shrapnel pounding into Tallgeese's viewscreens. While the explosions covered the mobile suit's viewing screens, Zecchs could only hear the secondary explosions, and feel yet more shrapnel hit his suit. Then, it was silent.
The cloud of debris slowly cleared, and Zecchs finally saw the stars in the vid screen, again. Expecting to see the destroyer of the enemy mobile suits, he saw nothing except the blackness of space. Then, without warning, something appeared against the background.
Death stared Zecchs in the face.
Gundam Deathscythe Hell, more to the point. It's beam scythe held in both hands, floating in that trademarked fear inspiring stance, and it's impressive wingspan arrayed fully behind it, the cheerful voice of Duo Maxwell rang in over the comm.
"Who ever thought I'd be saving your ass?"
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The hospital room of Trowa on colony X-18999 was not the most spiritually motivating scene one could find in the Earth Sphere. Quatre Rababera Winner and Catherine Bloom sat beside the bed of the injured Trowa Barton, both wearing that look of fearful hope, mixed with exhaustion. Neither had gotten any sleep for a long time, the varying condition of the young man in the bed was the only thing that mattered to either of them. Empty cups and wrappers of food lay beneath them, things bought from Hospital vending machines. Catherine, though she sore that look on her face, was somehow managing it in her sleep, the young brown haired girl snored softly from her chair. Quatre was looking out the window beside him, out at the stars. The spars, where he probably should be.....
And then a loud, booming voice interupted Quatre's reverie. "Master Quatre."
Quatre spun around in his seat, turning to face the person who would dare interupt the moment of quietness, or adress him during such a grave time. The smiling face of his old friend, Rasied, gazed back at him. Thw man took a small bow, and Quatre found himself at a loss for words. He hadn't seen or heard from the Magonac Corps in years.....
"I was told I could find you here. How are you?"
Quatre managed to shake himself back to the present situation. "I'm fine. Trowa could be better."
The behemoth of a man turned a sympathetic eye on the young man in the bed. " Yes, it is too bad about Master Trowa. However, you must now leave his side, Quatre. I am sure Mistress Catherine will take care of him."
Quatre was slow on the uptake, he was tired at the moment.
"Why should I leave?"
Rasied smiled, almost glowed with pride.
"Your Gundam is waiting outside, Master Quatre."
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Relena Peacecraft once again stood in the Great Hall speaker's podium, for the second time in as many days. The flashing lights were again upon her, and as much as she might want to shield herself from them, she did not. She stood, proud and regal, ready to deliver her newest announcement. The announcement that would change her world, and affect the world of everyone else for all time. She didn't want to, but....
"Ladies and gentlemen, once again I come before you to address you on the manner of the Alien Fleet approaching us."
As they were all too often these days, the press was dead silent. They knew Relena would tell them.
"Four hours ago, in the L2 Colony Cluster, the Preventer Agency encountered three alien warships, and engaged their mobile suits in combat."
There was a small murmur, but nothing else.
"The Preventer Agency has been completely destroyed."
Then, everything was chaos. The outraged shouts and cries of millions of people reverberated through all the Earth Sphere. Relena waited quietly before continuing:
"As of a half an hour ago, the Council of the Earth Sphere United Nation made a decision. All mobile suit factories have been reopened, and all old mobile suits are being recommisioned. The Earth Sphere United Nation Armed Forces is now a reality, and for one good reason:"
They all knew what was coming, but kept silent, just as well.
"As of 7:30 pm, on this day of May 17, A.C. 200, the Earth Sphere United Nation is officially at war."
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a Gundam Wing Fanfiction
by Torankusu Senshi
Chapter 5: The Battle That Sprung From the Depths of Hell
The L3 Colony Cluster was normally a quiet place. Despite the fact that it was the center of business for the Winner Foundation, traffic was relatively low, all business was conducted over vid screen. As, for years, it's most powerful and influential family had been total pacifists, it had a rather peaceful atmosphere to it. According to the Earth Sphere United Nation policy, it had a complete lack of any kind of mobile suits or weapons. They were peaceful people, had always been, and had never seen the need for weapons of war.
Unfortunately, the choice was no longer theirs to make. The Cluster was formed almost like a sphere, with the center being completely empty, a space meant for traffic and deep space demonstrations. Normally, there would have been commercial ships flying to and from Colony to Colony crowded this space. Today, it was fairly empty.
Unless one counted the legion of mobile suits gathered in it, and the three colossal one mile long warships heading for them.
The Preventer mobile suits were a sight to behold in their massive numbers. Tauruses floated side by side in well ordered regiments, as if they were human troops. The space Leos stood at the back, flanking the main Taurus units on either side. All in total, 800 mobile suits, the entire strength of the Preventer Agency, was gathered in the space before the L2 Cluster. The distant sun gleamed off their titanium alloy, and within each one was a scared but determined pilot. If this crisis had posessed any good effect, it would have been that the Preventers were now a family with a single goal: Defend their home at all costs.
Gundam Altron, and it's anxious pilot, Wufei Chang, stood at the front, but a little to the left. With it's glowing laser trident, dragon fangs, heavy armament, and ready battle stance, it would have given even the bravest human warriors pause. Too bad the incoming enemy was not human.
The mobile suit of Lucrezia Noin also stood to the side, but on the right, as opposed to Wufei's left. It was a white Taurus, an out of place color next to the black ones behind it, and, just like Altron, had been heavily modified in recent months. It bore the regal colors of the once proud Sanq Kingdom, and bore two beam rifles, one in each hand. It seemed itself much like a royal guard, which was fitting due to the person to the immediate left of the mobile suit:
Zecchs Merquise, in Tallgeese III. The mobile suit held it's shield firm in one hand, and it's now infamous Mega Cannon in the other. It's combat stance seemed somehow noble, princely and dignified, which would suit the man inside just fine. The posture was most likely due to the Zero System it used, Zecchs' very mind served as the interface for the Mobile Suit's controls and it's mighty limbs.
The sight of the Preventers was one that no sane army that ever existed would dare to challenge. Even without the horrifying sight of it's heavily armed legions littering the starred fields of space, one would have paused simply at the thought of the roster. Zecchs Merquise, Wufei Chang, Lucrezia Noin....Possibly the best army that had ever been assembled.
And deep in his heart, Zecchs knew it was yet not enough.
The three one mile long warships continued their indifferent approach, seeming to make the large army before it small by comparison. The face of Relena frowned at him from the screen to his left, inside the cockpit of the Tallgeese:
"How much longer, Zecchs?"
Zecchs didn't turn to answer it, but he smiled with that side of his face. "Are you that anxious to see us battle, sister?"
He didn't even have to see the girl's face to hear the indignation in her words. "Why you..."
And then, it was time. "Quiet, they're here." With one hand, he flipped off the long range communication system, and the screen bearing Relena's face winked out of existence, replaced by scrolling numbers and threat assessments. As had been decided, the Leader of the Preventers would deliver an ultimatum to the invaders. With that same hand, his finger flipped the switch of the wide broadcast, everyone in Earth and the Colonies who turned to his frequency would be able to hear him, now. Most notably the aliens before them. He did his best not to let the simple though that they were about to engage ALIENS give him the creeps, spoke up in his most commanding tone:
"Alien invaders. You have entered an area under protection by the Earth Sphere United Nation. I order you to cease and desist. If your intentions are not peaceful, we will be forced to engage you."
For a long moment, the entire communications band stood silent, in a mimicry of the space around them. Then, their answer came loud and clear, a single from the battleships:
From the sides of all three battleships, legions poured out. Legions of mobile suits. Alien in origin, definitely, but at this distance, he couldn't tell. They were biped machines, that much was certain. They seemed to pour out like the Great Flood, hundreds upon hundreds of them. They blazed towards their newfound opponents in perfect synchronization, getting closer to make out some detailts. They were biped, and had two arms, one of which held what appeared to be a gun, and the other what was definitely a laser saber. They were black, and masses of black tentacles slithered from behind them. The entire Preventer Comm Channel seemed to gasp in horror.
And then, Zecchs saw the mobile suit at the front of the legion, the one heading dead on toward him. It was something he had seen before, and though he never spoke of it to anyone, had seen it in his very nightmares:
The Gundam Wing Zero was leading the pack of Alien Mobile Suits.
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Unlike a few days before, when the room had been respectfully quiet, that was not the case at the moment. The Earth Sphere United Nation War Room was the very epitomy of ordered chaos, with men running from station to station in an attempt to cross reference readings, others running around to find things out, and other simply doing it because they had no clue what was going on. The President stood by the main control station, watching the scene on the main monitor with a grim face.
Relena Peacecraft stood by the communications station from which she had been talking to Zecchs, and later listened to his ultimatum. She now watched the scene on the vid-screen as well, however much she wanted to look away, something inside her felt it would be a disrespect to those that would die today. She would honor their deaths as best as possible, by watching them die. It was all she could do.
On the screen, the legions of allied and opposing mobile suits clashed. The screen switched to a distant view, probably taken by one of the L2 Colonies themselves. She could see the spears of light that marked the laser beams, the flashes of blue that marked retros and thrusters. It was a scene from the very depths of Hell, something she had once hoped never to see again. The alien warships themselves continued their merciless descent to the battlefield, monsters in their own right, and maybe more terrifying than the actual battle.
She heard a technician speak up, in a confused voice to the President.
"Sir, Agent Wind has reported an anomlay in the enemy's mobile suit legions......"
Agent Wind, that was Milliardo. Relena was not watching, her eyes were glued on the battle, even as men ran back and forth, doing the best to correlate as much data as they could. But the President's irritated voice came back loud and clear from the few feet in front of her he was:
"Well, what is it?"
"Sir, the Gundam Wing Zero appears to be leading the pack of alien mobile suits, and has just engaged in combat with Mobile Suit Tallgeese."
The President was quiet, as was anyone that was close enough to have heard that. Wing Zero was a symbol, the symbol of a War fought for Peace, of a man who had dedicated his life to showing Humankind the folly of it's ways. To have it at the head of the enemy's mobile suit force.....
Relena did not care for that part, or for the Gundam, for that matter. Wing Zero had been supposedly destroyed years ago, but if it was back, there were only 2 known pilots in the entire Earth Sphere that had ever been known to completely master that system. Zecchs Merquise, the Lightning Baron, and....
"Heero?" she asked in a small, fearful voice.
She stood quiet, as if her brain had shut down, throughout the chaos that followed.
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The battle was ferocious on a scale unmatched in any in human history thus far, with it's only rival being the final battle of the Eve Wars. The awesome speed and agility of the Preventer Tauruses was matched, if not exceeded, by the enemy mobile suits. They were less heavily armed than their alien foes, but the determination filling their spirits overrode their fear at what they fought. If the aliens had any sense from this battle, the would have seen that Humankind was an instinctively warlike and violent species, they fought as if posessed.
The neatly ordered regiments that had stood tall before on both sides had been broken up, and what ensued could only be described as chaos. The battle was hazardous to friend and foe alike. Beams of lasers cut through the air, destroying mobile suits from both sides with extreme prejudice. When their laser cannons had run empty, most shots going wide of their targets, they had drawn their sabers, and many now engaged in duels of will and strength with the other.
So it went. Beams crisscrossed, engines flared, explosions cut through the air. It was a positive whirlwind, and impossible to follow. The peaceful people watching from the L2 Colony Cluster were silent in their horror, watching, the only thing they could do. Mothers held their children, fathers remained silent, and young people cursed their own weakness for not being up there, not fighting for the future of their race.
Gundam Altron would later be described as "Death from Above" in the aftermath of the battle. It's pilot screaming mad battle cries, the Gundam tore through any who dared to stand in it's path with a single minded ferocity that even alien mobile suits seemed to hesitate at. One moment dueling and destroying a larger mobile suit, the kind that seemed to serve as commander for the others, the next moment it was on the other side of the field, tearing through an entire group of them. The flame thrower blazing flames all over the area, the trident cutting through enemy mobile suits as if they were made of paper, Wufei piloted his Gundam with a reckless abandon like he hadn't since the Eve Wars.
Liuetenant Lucrezia Noin's white Taurus mobile suit dueled with two opponents, and held her own. Deespite their speed, agility, and powerful tentacles that seemed to serve as secondary arms to render suits useless, Non evaded their blows, her cannons blazing in return fire. No thoughts coursed through her head, none but the overwhelming sadness that she was in the midst of battle again. This only seemed to infuriate her more, and her battle with her two opponents grew even worse.
Tallgeese III and Wing Zero were at the center of this veritable whirlwind, dueling, like they had all those years ago, when one of the pilots was a simple child. They had both foregone their powerful beam weapons, instead relying on their sheilds and laser sabers to attack. They danced the dance of war, their blades leaping out at each other, blocking and parrying. The gears in both suits shifted so quick that the Zecchs' ears were ringing from hearing the sound of them. The massive legs fired retros in different directions constantly, the momentum reversing, the physics of battle changing with the engine direction.
Zecchs yelled in desperation as his mobile suit's shield barely managed to intercept the blade of the Wing Zero:
"Heero! Are you in there?! What is this?!"
The Gundam's lifeless, yet foreboding gaze was his only answer. That, and the rapid succession of beam strikes that even the Lightning Baron was hard pressed to counter. Again, Tallgeese reeled from the merciless assault of the Wing Zero. Heero had always been a good combatant, even had defeated Zecchs soundly in battle during the Eve Wars, but this.....this was madness. The Gundam was using Heero's style, certainly, but it lacked the cold yet deteremined detachment that it used to posess. In it's place was a passionate and ferocious fighter, who fought with skill that was hard to defend from.
"Heero!"
Again, that lifeless stare from the eyes of the Wing Zero was the only response.
Then, something in Zecchs snapped.
With a bloodcurling cry from it's pilot, the Tallgeese lashed out in moves so quick that the Suit's joint activators threatened to break under the pressure. Unrelenting, Zecchs stabbed and slashed, and the Wing Zero fell back before the onslaught. That was when it did something that Zecchs hadn't expected, and something he would regret later.
It drew it's Twin Buster Rifle, brought it up to aim directly at the charging Tallgeese, and fired.
Zecchs, using all of his instinctive reflexes, and the saving speed of the Zero System, managed to hit his boot retros at the last moment, and the Tallgeese blasted up and above the beam. The beam of sun colored annihilation lanced out, hundreds of mobile suits being destroyed in it's wake. A million cries could be heard over the communications, all of them Human. But the one that pierced Zecch's senses was one certain cry, the cry of Lucrezia Noin.
His savage set of mind was erased completely, the only thing he wanted to do now was to get to Noin's side. Nothing else mattered.
The Tallgeese III spun from it's unexpected opponent, and used all of the power of it's thrusters and retros to rocket at the spot where Noin had been. The backwash hit the Wing Zero dead on, and the Gundam fell back yet again, temporarily halted. Zecchs could make out the white Taurus, and it seemed as if he would make it there, in time. The speed he traveled at almost rended his mobile suit to pieces, and forced him back into the seat.
Unfortunately for the desperate warrior, it was at that moment that the Warships themselves arrived on the field.
Beams of power leaped from their hulls, slicing through Preventer mobile suits with pinpoint accuracy. The Tallgeese III dashed with all it's speed across the battlefield of death, not even bothering to evade potshots from alien mobile suits that were shot at it on his journey. And, he was there, his mobile suit's arm reaching for the body of the white Taurus....
At that point, a beam of white energy shot out from the nearest warship. It seemed to grasp Noin's Taurus, enveloping it in blinding light, so much so that Zecchs had to look away or be blinded. When the light dimmed, and the scared Lightning Baron looked around, the Taurus was no longer there.
It was, instead, drifting into a hatch on one of the alien warships. The hatch closed, and much to Zecch's dismay, the ship began retreating at impossible speeds back towards it's massive Home fleet. The other two flanked it on either side, going at a lesser pace. The alien mobile suits seemed to go on a massive retreat, all returning to the giant holes in the ships from whence they came.
Zecchs was so shocked by the outright capture of Noin, that it took him literal minutes before he regained himself. At that time, only one warship remained. Zecchs turned to his communications, yelling for the Preventers to assemble and attack the last warship.
All he got was static.
His mobile suit turned slowly around, and for the first time Zecchs got a good look at the battlefield. Wreckage was everywhere, littering the field like if it was a garbage site. Besides the wreckage of a few, the alien mobile suits were completely gone. Outer Space was completely silent.
The Preventers were gone.
Before his mind could fully register the magnitude of death that had taken place today, his mobile suit was slammed into by something. Slow on the uptake, it took the Tallgeese a moment to spin it's giganic metallic body around. He saw Gundam Altron, and hear his friend's voice over the comm:
"We've got company! Watch out, Zecchs!"
Then, alien mobile suits descended upon them. Zecchs mind went blank of all thoughts of Noin and the Preventers, and he went into battle mode again.
Mobile Suit Tallgeese III and Gundam Altron stood side by side as the circle of mobile suits descended upon them in a flurry. There must have been ten of them. Metallic arms and glowing blades lashed out, shields blocking attacks, only barely. This went on for an uncountable amount of time, until Zecchs could hear Altron, beside him, fall. Wufei shouted in fury as he was overcame by the attacks, his Gundam being sliced into.
And then Zecchs stood alone, the battered and scarred Tallgeese holding it's pink beam saber firm, next to it's disabled companion. The enemy mobile suits charged at him, intent on blood.
Zecchs reached quietly for the self-destruct mechanism of the Tallgeese III. If he was going to die, these bastards, sure enough, would accompany him to Hell.
And just before he pressed the button, three of the enemy mobile suits exploded brilliantly, painting the black starfield orange and red, shrapnel pounding into Tallgeese's viewscreens. While the explosions covered the mobile suit's viewing screens, Zecchs could only hear the secondary explosions, and feel yet more shrapnel hit his suit. Then, it was silent.
The cloud of debris slowly cleared, and Zecchs finally saw the stars in the vid screen, again. Expecting to see the destroyer of the enemy mobile suits, he saw nothing except the blackness of space. Then, without warning, something appeared against the background.
Death stared Zecchs in the face.
Gundam Deathscythe Hell, more to the point. It's beam scythe held in both hands, floating in that trademarked fear inspiring stance, and it's impressive wingspan arrayed fully behind it, the cheerful voice of Duo Maxwell rang in over the comm.
"Who ever thought I'd be saving your ass?"
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The hospital room of Trowa on colony X-18999 was not the most spiritually motivating scene one could find in the Earth Sphere. Quatre Rababera Winner and Catherine Bloom sat beside the bed of the injured Trowa Barton, both wearing that look of fearful hope, mixed with exhaustion. Neither had gotten any sleep for a long time, the varying condition of the young man in the bed was the only thing that mattered to either of them. Empty cups and wrappers of food lay beneath them, things bought from Hospital vending machines. Catherine, though she sore that look on her face, was somehow managing it in her sleep, the young brown haired girl snored softly from her chair. Quatre was looking out the window beside him, out at the stars. The spars, where he probably should be.....
And then a loud, booming voice interupted Quatre's reverie. "Master Quatre."
Quatre spun around in his seat, turning to face the person who would dare interupt the moment of quietness, or adress him during such a grave time. The smiling face of his old friend, Rasied, gazed back at him. Thw man took a small bow, and Quatre found himself at a loss for words. He hadn't seen or heard from the Magonac Corps in years.....
"I was told I could find you here. How are you?"
Quatre managed to shake himself back to the present situation. "I'm fine. Trowa could be better."
The behemoth of a man turned a sympathetic eye on the young man in the bed. " Yes, it is too bad about Master Trowa. However, you must now leave his side, Quatre. I am sure Mistress Catherine will take care of him."
Quatre was slow on the uptake, he was tired at the moment.
"Why should I leave?"
Rasied smiled, almost glowed with pride.
"Your Gundam is waiting outside, Master Quatre."
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Relena Peacecraft once again stood in the Great Hall speaker's podium, for the second time in as many days. The flashing lights were again upon her, and as much as she might want to shield herself from them, she did not. She stood, proud and regal, ready to deliver her newest announcement. The announcement that would change her world, and affect the world of everyone else for all time. She didn't want to, but....
"Ladies and gentlemen, once again I come before you to address you on the manner of the Alien Fleet approaching us."
As they were all too often these days, the press was dead silent. They knew Relena would tell them.
"Four hours ago, in the L2 Colony Cluster, the Preventer Agency encountered three alien warships, and engaged their mobile suits in combat."
There was a small murmur, but nothing else.
"The Preventer Agency has been completely destroyed."
Then, everything was chaos. The outraged shouts and cries of millions of people reverberated through all the Earth Sphere. Relena waited quietly before continuing:
"As of a half an hour ago, the Council of the Earth Sphere United Nation made a decision. All mobile suit factories have been reopened, and all old mobile suits are being recommisioned. The Earth Sphere United Nation Armed Forces is now a reality, and for one good reason:"
They all knew what was coming, but kept silent, just as well.
"As of 7:30 pm, on this day of May 17, A.C. 200, the Earth Sphere United Nation is officially at war."
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