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Kido Senshi Gundam: Char's Counter Attack
The Last Stand, Chapter 5
-Gredival
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It started suddenly. News reports from all over announced the Neo Zeon had started another war. But of course everyone in the battlefield knew that. The whole Neo Zeon fleet pitted up against Bright Noah's divided taskforce.
"Funnels destroy them!" Nanai shouted. Her commands moved the cylinders on her shoulders into movement, all six dispatching and zooming out into the battlefield. Ten flashes of light flared and the six cylinders returned.
"Damn, first missile wave shot down!" the crew reported to Bright.
"Launch second wave. Prepare first Mobile Suit Wave!" Bright responded.
"Launching second wave and first Mobile Suit Wave!" the speakers announced.
The Jegans boosted out of the Londo Bell fleet hangars on shackles and streamed off into the war.
His name was Sergeant Benjamin Matthews. He was raised in a time where children idolized the mobile suits that fought in the One Year War; it was a war far separated from their existence and yet had everything to do with their existence. And from that child who got excited whenever Zaku's or GM's were mentioned, came a young man who fought for the Federation with pride. His chestnut brown hair was short, trimmed less than an inch in most place with increasing length on the top of his head in back to front direction, frozen in style by hair gel. He had an equally neat goatee that encircled his mouth and some of his chin. The glasses on his face gave him an edge of intellectual sophistication. His hazel eyes had a glimmer of that boyish charm whenever he smiled. To say that he was popular among the Londo Bell's female crew would be an understatement.
And just like all those beautiful people one envies in life, he was also talented. Were it not for the rise of the Londo Bell rookie known as Ryou Okuimi, he most definitely would have been a candidate to pilot the Re-GZ.
Perhaps it was for this reason he was one of four pilots in special suit – the RGM-89S, the Stark Jegan. A last minute suit acquisition by Bright from the Londenion Defense forces. After Bright and Tooth had analyzed the data that Lieutenant Okuimi had sent they decided they would definitely need heavy live fire support. So they selected the five top pilots still with the fleet, and sent them to fight in the heavy artillery suits.
Off to fight – and, quite possibly, off to die.
"This is Raven One. Enemy has been spotted," Ben reported. "Prepare to engage!"
A series of explosions lit up the dark backdrop of space. Explosion upon explosion, and flashing yellow bursts of light. Were it not a scene of death and destruction, a glimpse of war – humanity's greatest downfall and tragedy, it might have been considered beautiful.
The Psyco-Doga stalked through the ranks of the battlefield like a dangerous predator, driven by instinct and hunger. It flew through the Jegans, swerving viciously to avoid the beam riffle shots. And those that would have found their mark were easily deflected by the I-Field.
The riposte for these unlucky attackers was death in the form of funnel blasts. The six large funnels dropped from under the suit's skirt armor and flew out. Moving like hornets they weaved through the lances of energy and hail of vulcan fire to blast suit after suit. The Psyco-Doga preyed on the Jegan units, crippling them one by one.
The next wave of missiles entered the field. Nanai moved her head slightly to take her glimpse through battle-hardened eyes. Then she turned the suit and sped off towards them, eyes never wavering.
"That's it," Ben called. The four Stark Jegans turned their attention to Nanai, who was rapidly approaching the missiles. "Let's go."
The jade green suits flew towards the Neo Zeon beige armor. The green mono- eye of the Psyco-Doga stared at the five suits, which wasted no time encircling Nanai. Or trying to. The "Raven" squadron was sent scrambling soon enough as they tried to avoid the chilling kiss of death that the funnels promised.
"Destroy the missiles!" Nanai commanded. The funnels seemed to pause as if processing the command before they flew out, descending upon the missiles with blasts of bright energy.
"Now, while those funnels are gone!"
The five Stark Jegans regrouped as they circled Nanai briefly to launch their missiles. Red missile after red missile boosted out of the Stark Jegans' shoulders. The Psyco-Doga shot straight up, barely weaving through debris and igniting its boosters to a speed at which the missiles simply could not keep up with.
Nanai chuckled to herself as she wore a grin, her shoulder beam cannons blasting through the warheads and detonating the pursuing missiles. A line of explosions lit the field and the funnels arrived at Nanai's side, swarming upon the missiles and drowning them in the fires of early detonation.
Ben's hands moved in arcs to swing the controls in order to keep his distance from the funnels. He fired off two of his large missiles at a funnel, which reacted instinctively to shoot down the targets. It chased after the Londo Bell suit, firing lance after lance of energy.
The Sergeant strafed side-to-side retaliating with bazooka shells. One hit the funnel stopping its movement temporarily – long enough for Matthews to drown it in machine gun fire. He glanced around and in medium distance he saw one funnel hit Raven Two, piloted by Benjamin's friend Brett, in the side cutting the suit's movement.
"Brett, get out of the way!" Ben called. He moved to assist his friend.
The next shot pierced the cockpit of Raven Two.
Growling, Ben fired off his three grenades. The funnel moved quickly to get out of the way, firing as it went. It struck one down before the other two impacted on the sentient cylinder.
Meanwhile the Stark Jegan scrambled in quick bursts from side to side, avoiding the shoulder beam cannons of the Psyco-Doga. Sweat lined Ben's forehead as he tried to stay one step ahead of the incoming blasts. He could feel numbness in the tips of his fingers.
"Child's play..." Nanai muttered. One blast caught the defensive Stark Jegan in the leg. A funnel passed by during its engagement with another Jegan, taking the time to blast Ben's suit square in the back disabling what was left of its movement. Nanai easily dodged the bazooka shots as she moved in for the kill. The machine gun fire pierced through the I- field riddling the front of the Psyco-Doga's thick armor with bullet holes. The lights cockpit of the Psyco-Doga faded in and out as an impulse. Nanai cursed under her breath and lunged for the Stark Jegan. Grabbing the small suit she prepared to finish it off. Her Mobile Armor's hand lifted the hapless Jegan into position above her.
"I'm not going alone," the young man said through gritted teeth. The blood on his face was mixed with sweat as it trickled down his face. He slammed his fist on the controls to fire his two remaining large missiles in a kamikaze.
The missiles tried to release, but the only thing that could be heard was the crackling of shorted electricity.
"No, not now!" he screamed frantically, pounding furiously on the controls.
"Checkmate."
The cockpit monitors of the Stark Jegan flashed a brilliant white as the shoulder cannons ripped the suit apart.
Nanai let go of the suit, its wreckage drifting through space. Nanai shifted her head from side to side trying to decide upon her next target.
"You'll regret that!"
The wave rider's mega beam cannon made the Neo Zeon suit shudder as it collided square with the back of the large suit. The jet-like craft zoomed past its opponent, rolling away from the oncoming beam fire as it arced around for another round.
"You again!" Nanai's voice dripped with venom.
"In the flesh," Ryou replied. The wave rider rolled rapidly to its right then to its left as it avoided the next two shoulder cannon blasts. This time its two beam guns scored blows on the Neo Zeon prototype.
Reacting to Nanai's distress the funnels came to the woman's aid, the four cylinders chasing the fast moving craft. Ryou turned the newly grenade launchers around to fire at the pursuing weapons. The three grenades caught two of the funnels in the blast. The sole remaining Stark Jegan responded to the situation as they engaged the remaining funnels.
Ryou switched the Re-GZ Custom to Mobile Suit mode to engage the approaching Psyco-Doga. A hyper beam saber appeared in his right hand as he thrusted forward to try skewer the Psyco-Doga. The other suit dodged the move and countered with a shoulder cannon blast. Ryou accelerated into the move in order to avoid the counter, and swung around in a lightning fast pivot.
The saber knocked off the left shoulder cannon. Ryou strafed away from the ensuing retaliation shots. A quick boost to the upper right into a direct dash to the left side moved the Re-GZ Custom out of harm's way. He retaliated with two blasts from his beam assault riffle. One faded into nothingness as it touched the anti-beam weaponry I-field, but the other came right through blasting the Psyco-Doga's skirt armor.
"What?!" Nanai asked in disbelief. Her eyes widened in realization. That kid in the Stark Jegan had damaged the power cable with the machine gun fire. She took careful note to begin dodging the incoming retaliation as the two traded beam fire.
Ryou swung the controls comfortably in his increasingly confident movement; dodging the blasts easily, he responded with half assed shots to keep the bulky suit moving. It could be fast, true. However this was not its element. Its maximum thrust may have be more than the Re-GZ Custom's but that came from the large booster thrusters on its back which were of no use in combat like this. Any attempt to use them to strafe would put the suit in danger.
It would end here. Ryou dashed forward in one deadly movement, only moving once to avoid the incoming cannon fire. He pulled out his left saber.
The green blade of the saber met the green glass of the mono-eye as Ryou shoved the melee weapon into the Mobile Armor's face. Funnel fire took that hand from the Re-GZ though. Ryou shoved his suit backwards fast to get into a position to avoid the funnel's continuing shot. And while he avoided the second shot, the other's funnel's fire blasted the back of the left shoulder.
Nanai slammed her fists down in her seat. The Psyco-Doga's visuals were utterly destroyed, making the shoulder cannon utterly useless. He sent signal to the Rewoola and nearby Geara-Doga's to rescue her.
Ryou dodged the rapid fire of the funnels, which were much quicker and harder to dodge than the shoulder cannons, especially with the ever- changing angles they fired from. He noticed the Stark Jegan approaching. It held up its bazooka as if to try signal the Lieutenant.
Ryou dashed downwards in a straight line, giving the funnels the perfect chance to blast him. The bazooka shell paralyzed them before they could follow however. Two beam assault riffle blasts knocked them into the way of a large missile.
Ryou turned his attention back to the Psyco-Doga and could see it being towed away, a large Geara-Doga troupe guarding it.
"Okuimi, get the men out of there. We'll re-engage after repairs and re- briefing."
= = = = =
The cockpit opened up and the Lieutenant jumped out, taking off his helmet in the process. "Start repairs on it immediately! It needs to be ready to launch in the next wave!" he barked to the mechanic crew. He hurried to the gathering of pilots around the wreckage of a Stark Jegan.
"Ben!" Ryou called as he shoved past the others to the cockpit door of the ruined suit. "He needs a doctor! Now!" Ryou called frantically. Nervously, an ensign ran off farther into the ship to get the medics.
The dying man cradled his insides with his arm, blood staining his space suit from the large gash in his side. Blood ran down the corner of his mouth. "Hey... Ryou," he said faintly.
"Look you're going to be all right you hear? Don't give up Ben! You can do this..."
"Ryou... watch out for... her. She's... heartless..."
"Don't try to speak, there'll be time for this later," Ryou said. The medics came in running and lifted the man onto the stretcher.
"...desperate..." Ben gasped as he was carried away.
Ryou stood there helplessly as the man was whisked away.
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"The mobile armor should be disabled," Ryou said during the briefing. His abilities had offered him a growing position of leadership among the Londo Bell crew, which was now sorely lacking in that department. "I doubt they'll have it ready by the time we re-engage."
A sigh of relief could be heard from the pilots as they chattered about the news.
"Remember though this isn't a reason to celebrate just yet. The party comes after we blow up that colony," Tooth said.
"To make matters worse, the Neo Zeon should still have another Newtype suit for that armor pilot. The one that I fought while en route to Anaheim," Ryou added.
"This is our last chance," Bright said sternly. "We must stop Sweetwater this time. Or everything we sacrificed to stop Axis will be meaningless."
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Although they still had a standing army, the Neo Zeon army was not united in solidarity. After all, at the end some piloting Geara-Doga's found saving the Earth to be a worthy cause as they feebly tried to push Axis out of the atmosphere. Those left hung by a hair's devotion, especially with the loss of their newest weapon so soon in the game after the devastating blow that was Char Aznable's death. They were weak. They were ready to falter.
Nanai could not let that happen.
"People of Neo Zeon!" she proclaimed loudly over the broadcast. She was now donning distinctive Zeon formal wear, addressing the Neo Zeon peoples as a nation. The coat wrapped around her abdomen tightly, hiding everything but the collar of the dress shirt and tie. The skirt was long, hanging around the middle her knees. She spoke with authority and a burning passion, rallying the people to their cause and inspiring nationalistic pride in her soldiers. Justifying her actions.
"This is what our great commander and Captain Char gave his life for! This is the dream of Zeon Daikun! This is what our sons and daughters, our brothers and our sisters, our fathers and our mothers, our friends and our people have spent years suffering for! This is why their blood has run! This is the hope of all spacenoids! It is in our reach – TAKE IT!"
The soldiers on the floor below her ripped into a roar of applause and cheering. Her eyes scanned across each and every one of them, hearts filled with patriotic idealism.
And a little smile crossed her face.
= = = = =
Ryou blinked his heavy eyes. It was the third time he had watched the playback of his fight with the Jagd-Doga. He rubbed his eyes, ignoring the sting.
"Lieutenant you really should get some rest..." Erica said from the doorway. She brushed some of her hair behind her ear as she approached the man.
The man turned his head a little and chuckled softly at the girl's concern. "I'll be fine, don't worry about me besides, I won't be any good on the field if I just woke up."
"We have six hours before the mission. I can wake you up in five and give you a little time to get the grogginess out of the way."
He leaned back, craning his neck to look at the girl. Sighing, he gave into the girl's persistence and concern. "Just don't let me be late, okay?" he asked, half jokingly.
"Sure thing," she replied with a comforting smile. She moved to shut off the laptop as Ryou moved towards his bed. "What's this?" she asked, taking the small picture frame in her slender hands.
"That?" Ryou said turning his sleepy gaze. "That's Chihiro and me from a year or two back," he yawned as he sat down on his bed.
"She's pretty," Erica mused. She suddenly felt very relieved that Ryou had cut her off earlier. "How long have you two been..."
"It's hard to say, it kind of just happened. I've known her since we were kids..."
"All right I should leave you to your rest!" she said quickly, putting the picture down hastily. "Sleep well!" she called as she hurried out. Ryou stood up and walked back to the desk, taking the frame in his hands.
"Promise, eh?" he said quietly. He put it back down and went back to bed.
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She sat on the sofa, staring at the fireplace silently. The wood crackled and snapped as the fire devoured it, burning it and turning it into warmth and smoke. She hugged her knees under the blanket as she watched the process. She tore her eyes away to look out the window. The glass roof of the colony was non-existent as far as a stargazer was concerned, the bright white lines shining beautifully in the sky.
"So are you out there?" she asked, knowing she wouldn't get an answer. "Are you watching over me?"
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Ryou grunted as the wave rider spun in revolutions as it dodged the beam riffle fire from the Geara-Dogas. The wings spun in perfect timing, each time avoiding a possible hit. His beam cannon and beam guns delivered the counter attacks as he flew by.
"That colony is mine..." he snarled behind gritted teeth. There was no retreat and strike again this time. This was for all the marbles – or in this case, just one big one called Earth.
He unloaded a full power blast at the colony, arcing around again for another pass.
"You're not getting Sweetwater!" Nanai promised as she charged the wave rider. She ended her blast forward to fire off her six missiles at the craft. Ryou countered with all of his missiles as well before he ducked down into a tight dive. The chain reaction from the explosions took out all twelve of the projectiles.
The Re-GZ Custom was rising fast as it approached Nanai at full thrust. "I've got to get in close and take away the advantage of her funnels," he said to himself. She fired off four mega particle blasts from her shield. Ryou tucked into a hard right bank to avoid the blast and countered with his main cannon.
As the Jagd-Doga side dodged the blast, the Londo Bell pilot shut his eyes and launched a flash cracker.
"Damn it!" Nanai cursed as her cockpit monitors flashed bright white, stunning her vision. She barely parried the incoming saber sweep with her own saber. 'He has improved significantly over these two battles,' Nanai thought to herself as the Jagd-Doga exchanged saber swings with the Re-GZ Custom.
Moving in close for the melee battle definitely took away the advantage of the Jagd-Doga's funnels, but it also left the Re-GZ Custom with very few options offensively. And from his last battle from with the Jagd-Doga, Ryou knew that Nanai could be an extremely dangerous opponent in a saber duel. She might have underestimated him before, but now she would definitely expect any improvision he would make if she got the advantage. He could not take any bold moves.
He alternated the rounds of saber sparring with bursts of vulcan fire, forcing the Jagd-Doga to shield itself for a few seconds; he scanned the battlefield each time making sure everything was in place and moving himself a little closer towards Sweetwater before the next few minutes of saber fighting.
He waited patiently for what he needed, not daring to blink as the sweat trickled down his forehead, annoying as a buzzing insect that stays too close.
"Fifth wave, fire!"
He tallied for about half a minute, taking a more offensive approach. Then he strafed to the right and away.
'Running now?' Nanai thought as she saw the suit move away. Her eyes widened as she realized where he was going – Sweetwater.
"No you won't!" she yelled angrily, deploying her funnels. Just then she noticed the missiles. "Nice move, kid, nice indeed," she muttered bitterly. "Funnels get the missiles!"
She concentrated deeply as the funnels redirected themselves towards the approaching wave. Then they entered firing frenzy, blasting missiles and moving fast to the other targets. She turned her attention back to Ryou and the Re-GZ.
The bazooka shell hit the metal, destroying its integrity. Ryou fired another shell, creating an entrance into the colony. He moved inside quickly.
Nanai checked back behind herself to see how the defenses were holding. Then she followed the suit into the empty city; she'd have to hunt the Re- GZ inside the colony before it either destroyed the colony, or the colony destroyed them.
She made her way through the access terminals and landed inside of the living area, her Jagd's feet making heavy imprints on the dirt and grass.
"When you dare to destroy the world to change it, you're being reckless," Ryou's voice echoed from all sides.
"Shut up! You'd never understand!" Nanai spat back taking off her helmet, sending her hair flying. The helmet bounced uselessly, settling behind her seat. He had no right to insult her or Char in such a way.
"You'd be surprised," came the voice as a figure appeared across the street. Nanai fired the beam assault riffle and the dummy exploded. Nanai barely blocked the hidden Re-GZ's bazooka shell, as it imploded on her small shield.
"So you can tolerate the sins of man on Earth?!" Nanai asked as she discarded the charred shield drawing her beam saber into her left hand. She glared around the deserted city dangerously.
"Covering the Earth in eternal winter doesn't purify, it only hides!" a grenade came down from above. Nanai started to thrust away, but was thrown to the ground from the explosion. "It's still the same underneath."
"Not if we purge the parasites!" the Neo Zeon director responded firing her beam assault riffle to her left. The Re-GZ dropped to the ground as the shot of energy ripped through the building on the side of the path it was about to cross. "Got you!" she exclaimed as her suit hovered above firing at the fallen suit.
"You're blinded in fighting and your revolution!" Ryou spat as he fired off a grenade at the beam assault riffle shot. The explosion engulfed both in dark black smoke stealing both pilots' vision. The Re-GZ's thrusters flared as it thrusted out of the smoke, sliding on its back. The sparks from metal on asphalt showered beneath the suit. Extending its hand, the Re-GZ's fingers fired three dummies into the smoke.
The Jagd-Doga charged through the smoke, beam saber slashing blindly for the Re-GZ. This kid had said well more than enough. The deadly saber ripped through the dummies.
"You can't win fighting blindly!" the young Londo Bell pilot yelled at Nanai. She responded by firing her grenade mounted on the beam assault riffle, Ryou moved, controlling his vulcan guns to shoot it down as the Jagd Doga charged in with its saber.
The colony shook with impact. Stopping both suits.
"No!" Nanai yelled as she released what the explosions meant. Missiles.
Ryou took advantage of the situation feinted a thrust. Nanai fell for the move, her mind too distracted by what had just happened and the anger clouding her mind. She directed her suit to side dodge. The Re-GZ's saber changed directions and slashed, cutting off the right forearm of the Jagd- Doga, assault riffle still in its grasp.
"Sweetwater will drop!" she snarled, infuriated with the troublesome Londo Bell Pilot.
"Not while I live!" Ryou promised, his own voice equally fierce.
The Re-GZ fired a bazooka shell at the Jagd-Doga before it drew its other saber. Nanai had barely gotten out of the explosive shell's way as the Re- GZ's first thrust came in. Each swing of the Jagd Doga's was parried by Ryou's left saber and Nanai was barely able to dodge the counters. Each riposte swing got closer and closer to hitting the mark. Nanai may have been the superior pilot, but her mistakes had evened the odds. Soon she had to devote her single saber to pure defense against Ryou's two.
"It's over!" Ryou proclaimed. His left saber smacked Jagd's Doga's defensive blade to the far left twice from inside, then the right blade came across to slash off the arm. The left saber cut downwards meanwhile, severing the defensive Jagd Doga's legs in one swift motion. The limbless Jagd-Doga fell backwards. The blades of the Re-GZ's sabers faded and disappeared.
"I'm going to stop this colony." The Re-GZ's thrusters flared to life as he moved towards the exit.
Nanai realized that she still had the funnels; she pointed her camera at the departing Re-GZ. The hawk like mask of the Jagd-Doga trained its glaring eye on its enemy. "NO... RIGHT!"
Ryou acted on instinct as he whirled around and fired his last dummy. The balloon expanded and the funnels ran into the form, detonating the mine.
The Re-GZ was thrown backwards by the explosion, skidding backwards in the dirt and grass. Ryou moved the controls, finding that nothing was damaged by the impact.
He looked back at the broken Jagd-Doga. He couldn't help but feel pity for her, even though he knew she didn't have any for the lives of his comrades or him. Could he spare her life, knowing that she would never have done the same for him? His experience in war told him no, but his bleeding heart said otherwise. He proceeded outside, hoping the woman would have enough sense to get out of the death trap and accept whatever awaited her on the other side of this war.
Ryou moved around the colony exterior. Missiles had hit, for sure, but Sweetwater was still moving. Not nearly enough had impacted to bring the man made city down, and none had hit vital spots. He moved to the bottom of the colony. A grunt Geara-Doga moved in to try stop him. He dodged around the beam riffle shot and accelerated towards the suit as he ignited a beam saber. He passed the grunt, beam saber tearing up the Geara-Doga as he went. He found the colony fuel tanks.
'The nukes that are missing are somewhere on this god forsaken thing. Will this be enough?' Ryou wondered. He couldn't take the risk, there was no telling if the fire could spread fast enough to stop the colony's movement and force the nuclear warheads to detonate. He'd have to find the weapons to be sure. He made his way around the surface of the colony, keeping his thrusters low as he glanced side to side for something suspicious. Out of the corner of an eye, saw a flash of red. He moved closer to discover a red Musaka.
Three Geara-Dogas moved to fight him. He threw his left beam saber at one of the Doga's, the hilt hitting the torso and igniting the blades.
He fired off another flash cracker, as he avoided the incoming beam riffle shots. The suits drowned in blinding white light. Ryou charged, cutting one of them in half as he passed. He killed his momentum and turned around, thrusting the saber in the back of the other before thrusting away.
Just then the colony began to speed up as it entered the atmosphere, red fire dispersing around the space city as it began plummeting.
'NO! Not now!' He looked around frantically.
No sign of a missile wave coming.
= = = = =
"The Jegans aren't drawing enough of the Geara Dogas away! Only eight got through from the last wave. We're not causing enough damage!"
"The Re-GZ is alone in close proximity to the colony, minovnsky is too thick to reach it though"
"Damn it! Will the last wave hit?" Bright asked.
"Only about a fourth of the missiles if we're lucky."
"Fire it's about to enter the atmosphere!" Bright barked.
= = = = =
MISSILES! Another flash. Another, and another. The flashes of light erupted all around as they exploded. Six came through to impact the colony, shaking the Re-GZ as it stood on the shell of the space city. Some metal ripped and flew away. However the colony continued moving. Ryou cursed loudly.
He circled at a safe distance, firing his vulcans at the Musaka. The shots landed on the red armor as the suit hovered around. Slowly the sound of steady gunfire became the sound of empty cartridges firing air.
Ryou checked the diagnostics. One option left.
= = = = =
"It's entering the atmosphere!"
"Will it survive the atmosphere?" Bright asked.
The room went quiet.
"Yes."
= = = = =
"Not all promises can be kept... I'm sorry, I really am..."
He had made his decision.
The wave rider arced around, and charged straight towards the Musaka, the falling colony, and the burning atmosphere.
"I love you, Chihiro."
The Re-GZ's main cannon and beam guns fired, striking the Musaka.
The Musaka erupted in a brilliant flash of light as the wave rider passed over it. The explosion rocked the colony, which was never meant to withstand the force of conventional missiles, much less nuclear weapons. Fire erupted as the oxygen within the colony's residential area ignited. Whatever was left after the explosion was consumed in the blaze and fires of the atmosphere.
Ending Notes: Yes there is another part coming along that ties everything up. Just for reference I am using the Re-GZ Custom model from MAHQ's statistics, I substituted a Hyper Bazooka for the Beam Assault riffle, specifically for dealing with Nanai's I-Field and added grenade launchers and flash crackers. The main feature of the suit is increased maneuverability and speed, as well as making the wave rider a transformation rather than a detachable BWS. If you go through the whole battle scene you will find Ryou has lost his bazooka, all his missiles, the grenades, and his sabers. His one functioning weapon left is the vulcan guns. An important thing to note is that Amuro had weapons capable of doing significant damage to a capital ship from afar. Vulcans are relatively powerless compared to the Nu's beam riffle. I consulted RGZ on this and he agrees, the chances of the vulcans piercing the hull and still blowing up the missiles are very slim. Now that still leaves one other option. Since the suit can now transform to wave rider, the other choice is to use his beam cannons in wave rider form from afar which COULD blow up the ship. This requires for him to be outside. The issue at hand: Can the Re-GZ custom survive the atmosphere? After consultation with RGZ again on this option, he also doubts it since the suit doesn't come with a cooling system capable of that and it wouldn't have something to spread out the heat well enough like a giant arse shield.
Kido Senshi Gundam: Char's Counter Attack
The Last Stand, Chapter 5
-Gredival
= = = = = = = = = = =
It started suddenly. News reports from all over announced the Neo Zeon had started another war. But of course everyone in the battlefield knew that. The whole Neo Zeon fleet pitted up against Bright Noah's divided taskforce.
"Funnels destroy them!" Nanai shouted. Her commands moved the cylinders on her shoulders into movement, all six dispatching and zooming out into the battlefield. Ten flashes of light flared and the six cylinders returned.
"Damn, first missile wave shot down!" the crew reported to Bright.
"Launch second wave. Prepare first Mobile Suit Wave!" Bright responded.
"Launching second wave and first Mobile Suit Wave!" the speakers announced.
The Jegans boosted out of the Londo Bell fleet hangars on shackles and streamed off into the war.
His name was Sergeant Benjamin Matthews. He was raised in a time where children idolized the mobile suits that fought in the One Year War; it was a war far separated from their existence and yet had everything to do with their existence. And from that child who got excited whenever Zaku's or GM's were mentioned, came a young man who fought for the Federation with pride. His chestnut brown hair was short, trimmed less than an inch in most place with increasing length on the top of his head in back to front direction, frozen in style by hair gel. He had an equally neat goatee that encircled his mouth and some of his chin. The glasses on his face gave him an edge of intellectual sophistication. His hazel eyes had a glimmer of that boyish charm whenever he smiled. To say that he was popular among the Londo Bell's female crew would be an understatement.
And just like all those beautiful people one envies in life, he was also talented. Were it not for the rise of the Londo Bell rookie known as Ryou Okuimi, he most definitely would have been a candidate to pilot the Re-GZ.
Perhaps it was for this reason he was one of four pilots in special suit – the RGM-89S, the Stark Jegan. A last minute suit acquisition by Bright from the Londenion Defense forces. After Bright and Tooth had analyzed the data that Lieutenant Okuimi had sent they decided they would definitely need heavy live fire support. So they selected the five top pilots still with the fleet, and sent them to fight in the heavy artillery suits.
Off to fight – and, quite possibly, off to die.
"This is Raven One. Enemy has been spotted," Ben reported. "Prepare to engage!"
A series of explosions lit up the dark backdrop of space. Explosion upon explosion, and flashing yellow bursts of light. Were it not a scene of death and destruction, a glimpse of war – humanity's greatest downfall and tragedy, it might have been considered beautiful.
The Psyco-Doga stalked through the ranks of the battlefield like a dangerous predator, driven by instinct and hunger. It flew through the Jegans, swerving viciously to avoid the beam riffle shots. And those that would have found their mark were easily deflected by the I-Field.
The riposte for these unlucky attackers was death in the form of funnel blasts. The six large funnels dropped from under the suit's skirt armor and flew out. Moving like hornets they weaved through the lances of energy and hail of vulcan fire to blast suit after suit. The Psyco-Doga preyed on the Jegan units, crippling them one by one.
The next wave of missiles entered the field. Nanai moved her head slightly to take her glimpse through battle-hardened eyes. Then she turned the suit and sped off towards them, eyes never wavering.
"That's it," Ben called. The four Stark Jegans turned their attention to Nanai, who was rapidly approaching the missiles. "Let's go."
The jade green suits flew towards the Neo Zeon beige armor. The green mono- eye of the Psyco-Doga stared at the five suits, which wasted no time encircling Nanai. Or trying to. The "Raven" squadron was sent scrambling soon enough as they tried to avoid the chilling kiss of death that the funnels promised.
"Destroy the missiles!" Nanai commanded. The funnels seemed to pause as if processing the command before they flew out, descending upon the missiles with blasts of bright energy.
"Now, while those funnels are gone!"
The five Stark Jegans regrouped as they circled Nanai briefly to launch their missiles. Red missile after red missile boosted out of the Stark Jegans' shoulders. The Psyco-Doga shot straight up, barely weaving through debris and igniting its boosters to a speed at which the missiles simply could not keep up with.
Nanai chuckled to herself as she wore a grin, her shoulder beam cannons blasting through the warheads and detonating the pursuing missiles. A line of explosions lit the field and the funnels arrived at Nanai's side, swarming upon the missiles and drowning them in the fires of early detonation.
Ben's hands moved in arcs to swing the controls in order to keep his distance from the funnels. He fired off two of his large missiles at a funnel, which reacted instinctively to shoot down the targets. It chased after the Londo Bell suit, firing lance after lance of energy.
The Sergeant strafed side-to-side retaliating with bazooka shells. One hit the funnel stopping its movement temporarily – long enough for Matthews to drown it in machine gun fire. He glanced around and in medium distance he saw one funnel hit Raven Two, piloted by Benjamin's friend Brett, in the side cutting the suit's movement.
"Brett, get out of the way!" Ben called. He moved to assist his friend.
The next shot pierced the cockpit of Raven Two.
Growling, Ben fired off his three grenades. The funnel moved quickly to get out of the way, firing as it went. It struck one down before the other two impacted on the sentient cylinder.
Meanwhile the Stark Jegan scrambled in quick bursts from side to side, avoiding the shoulder beam cannons of the Psyco-Doga. Sweat lined Ben's forehead as he tried to stay one step ahead of the incoming blasts. He could feel numbness in the tips of his fingers.
"Child's play..." Nanai muttered. One blast caught the defensive Stark Jegan in the leg. A funnel passed by during its engagement with another Jegan, taking the time to blast Ben's suit square in the back disabling what was left of its movement. Nanai easily dodged the bazooka shots as she moved in for the kill. The machine gun fire pierced through the I- field riddling the front of the Psyco-Doga's thick armor with bullet holes. The lights cockpit of the Psyco-Doga faded in and out as an impulse. Nanai cursed under her breath and lunged for the Stark Jegan. Grabbing the small suit she prepared to finish it off. Her Mobile Armor's hand lifted the hapless Jegan into position above her.
"I'm not going alone," the young man said through gritted teeth. The blood on his face was mixed with sweat as it trickled down his face. He slammed his fist on the controls to fire his two remaining large missiles in a kamikaze.
The missiles tried to release, but the only thing that could be heard was the crackling of shorted electricity.
"No, not now!" he screamed frantically, pounding furiously on the controls.
"Checkmate."
The cockpit monitors of the Stark Jegan flashed a brilliant white as the shoulder cannons ripped the suit apart.
Nanai let go of the suit, its wreckage drifting through space. Nanai shifted her head from side to side trying to decide upon her next target.
"You'll regret that!"
The wave rider's mega beam cannon made the Neo Zeon suit shudder as it collided square with the back of the large suit. The jet-like craft zoomed past its opponent, rolling away from the oncoming beam fire as it arced around for another round.
"You again!" Nanai's voice dripped with venom.
"In the flesh," Ryou replied. The wave rider rolled rapidly to its right then to its left as it avoided the next two shoulder cannon blasts. This time its two beam guns scored blows on the Neo Zeon prototype.
Reacting to Nanai's distress the funnels came to the woman's aid, the four cylinders chasing the fast moving craft. Ryou turned the newly grenade launchers around to fire at the pursuing weapons. The three grenades caught two of the funnels in the blast. The sole remaining Stark Jegan responded to the situation as they engaged the remaining funnels.
Ryou switched the Re-GZ Custom to Mobile Suit mode to engage the approaching Psyco-Doga. A hyper beam saber appeared in his right hand as he thrusted forward to try skewer the Psyco-Doga. The other suit dodged the move and countered with a shoulder cannon blast. Ryou accelerated into the move in order to avoid the counter, and swung around in a lightning fast pivot.
The saber knocked off the left shoulder cannon. Ryou strafed away from the ensuing retaliation shots. A quick boost to the upper right into a direct dash to the left side moved the Re-GZ Custom out of harm's way. He retaliated with two blasts from his beam assault riffle. One faded into nothingness as it touched the anti-beam weaponry I-field, but the other came right through blasting the Psyco-Doga's skirt armor.
"What?!" Nanai asked in disbelief. Her eyes widened in realization. That kid in the Stark Jegan had damaged the power cable with the machine gun fire. She took careful note to begin dodging the incoming retaliation as the two traded beam fire.
Ryou swung the controls comfortably in his increasingly confident movement; dodging the blasts easily, he responded with half assed shots to keep the bulky suit moving. It could be fast, true. However this was not its element. Its maximum thrust may have be more than the Re-GZ Custom's but that came from the large booster thrusters on its back which were of no use in combat like this. Any attempt to use them to strafe would put the suit in danger.
It would end here. Ryou dashed forward in one deadly movement, only moving once to avoid the incoming cannon fire. He pulled out his left saber.
The green blade of the saber met the green glass of the mono-eye as Ryou shoved the melee weapon into the Mobile Armor's face. Funnel fire took that hand from the Re-GZ though. Ryou shoved his suit backwards fast to get into a position to avoid the funnel's continuing shot. And while he avoided the second shot, the other's funnel's fire blasted the back of the left shoulder.
Nanai slammed her fists down in her seat. The Psyco-Doga's visuals were utterly destroyed, making the shoulder cannon utterly useless. He sent signal to the Rewoola and nearby Geara-Doga's to rescue her.
Ryou dodged the rapid fire of the funnels, which were much quicker and harder to dodge than the shoulder cannons, especially with the ever- changing angles they fired from. He noticed the Stark Jegan approaching. It held up its bazooka as if to try signal the Lieutenant.
Ryou dashed downwards in a straight line, giving the funnels the perfect chance to blast him. The bazooka shell paralyzed them before they could follow however. Two beam assault riffle blasts knocked them into the way of a large missile.
Ryou turned his attention back to the Psyco-Doga and could see it being towed away, a large Geara-Doga troupe guarding it.
"Okuimi, get the men out of there. We'll re-engage after repairs and re- briefing."
= = = = =
The cockpit opened up and the Lieutenant jumped out, taking off his helmet in the process. "Start repairs on it immediately! It needs to be ready to launch in the next wave!" he barked to the mechanic crew. He hurried to the gathering of pilots around the wreckage of a Stark Jegan.
"Ben!" Ryou called as he shoved past the others to the cockpit door of the ruined suit. "He needs a doctor! Now!" Ryou called frantically. Nervously, an ensign ran off farther into the ship to get the medics.
The dying man cradled his insides with his arm, blood staining his space suit from the large gash in his side. Blood ran down the corner of his mouth. "Hey... Ryou," he said faintly.
"Look you're going to be all right you hear? Don't give up Ben! You can do this..."
"Ryou... watch out for... her. She's... heartless..."
"Don't try to speak, there'll be time for this later," Ryou said. The medics came in running and lifted the man onto the stretcher.
"...desperate..." Ben gasped as he was carried away.
Ryou stood there helplessly as the man was whisked away.
= = = = =
"The mobile armor should be disabled," Ryou said during the briefing. His abilities had offered him a growing position of leadership among the Londo Bell crew, which was now sorely lacking in that department. "I doubt they'll have it ready by the time we re-engage."
A sigh of relief could be heard from the pilots as they chattered about the news.
"Remember though this isn't a reason to celebrate just yet. The party comes after we blow up that colony," Tooth said.
"To make matters worse, the Neo Zeon should still have another Newtype suit for that armor pilot. The one that I fought while en route to Anaheim," Ryou added.
"This is our last chance," Bright said sternly. "We must stop Sweetwater this time. Or everything we sacrificed to stop Axis will be meaningless."
= = = = =
Although they still had a standing army, the Neo Zeon army was not united in solidarity. After all, at the end some piloting Geara-Doga's found saving the Earth to be a worthy cause as they feebly tried to push Axis out of the atmosphere. Those left hung by a hair's devotion, especially with the loss of their newest weapon so soon in the game after the devastating blow that was Char Aznable's death. They were weak. They were ready to falter.
Nanai could not let that happen.
"People of Neo Zeon!" she proclaimed loudly over the broadcast. She was now donning distinctive Zeon formal wear, addressing the Neo Zeon peoples as a nation. The coat wrapped around her abdomen tightly, hiding everything but the collar of the dress shirt and tie. The skirt was long, hanging around the middle her knees. She spoke with authority and a burning passion, rallying the people to their cause and inspiring nationalistic pride in her soldiers. Justifying her actions.
"This is what our great commander and Captain Char gave his life for! This is the dream of Zeon Daikun! This is what our sons and daughters, our brothers and our sisters, our fathers and our mothers, our friends and our people have spent years suffering for! This is why their blood has run! This is the hope of all spacenoids! It is in our reach – TAKE IT!"
The soldiers on the floor below her ripped into a roar of applause and cheering. Her eyes scanned across each and every one of them, hearts filled with patriotic idealism.
And a little smile crossed her face.
= = = = =
Ryou blinked his heavy eyes. It was the third time he had watched the playback of his fight with the Jagd-Doga. He rubbed his eyes, ignoring the sting.
"Lieutenant you really should get some rest..." Erica said from the doorway. She brushed some of her hair behind her ear as she approached the man.
The man turned his head a little and chuckled softly at the girl's concern. "I'll be fine, don't worry about me besides, I won't be any good on the field if I just woke up."
"We have six hours before the mission. I can wake you up in five and give you a little time to get the grogginess out of the way."
He leaned back, craning his neck to look at the girl. Sighing, he gave into the girl's persistence and concern. "Just don't let me be late, okay?" he asked, half jokingly.
"Sure thing," she replied with a comforting smile. She moved to shut off the laptop as Ryou moved towards his bed. "What's this?" she asked, taking the small picture frame in her slender hands.
"That?" Ryou said turning his sleepy gaze. "That's Chihiro and me from a year or two back," he yawned as he sat down on his bed.
"She's pretty," Erica mused. She suddenly felt very relieved that Ryou had cut her off earlier. "How long have you two been..."
"It's hard to say, it kind of just happened. I've known her since we were kids..."
"All right I should leave you to your rest!" she said quickly, putting the picture down hastily. "Sleep well!" she called as she hurried out. Ryou stood up and walked back to the desk, taking the frame in his hands.
"Promise, eh?" he said quietly. He put it back down and went back to bed.
= = = = =
She sat on the sofa, staring at the fireplace silently. The wood crackled and snapped as the fire devoured it, burning it and turning it into warmth and smoke. She hugged her knees under the blanket as she watched the process. She tore her eyes away to look out the window. The glass roof of the colony was non-existent as far as a stargazer was concerned, the bright white lines shining beautifully in the sky.
"So are you out there?" she asked, knowing she wouldn't get an answer. "Are you watching over me?"
= = = = =
Ryou grunted as the wave rider spun in revolutions as it dodged the beam riffle fire from the Geara-Dogas. The wings spun in perfect timing, each time avoiding a possible hit. His beam cannon and beam guns delivered the counter attacks as he flew by.
"That colony is mine..." he snarled behind gritted teeth. There was no retreat and strike again this time. This was for all the marbles – or in this case, just one big one called Earth.
He unloaded a full power blast at the colony, arcing around again for another pass.
"You're not getting Sweetwater!" Nanai promised as she charged the wave rider. She ended her blast forward to fire off her six missiles at the craft. Ryou countered with all of his missiles as well before he ducked down into a tight dive. The chain reaction from the explosions took out all twelve of the projectiles.
The Re-GZ Custom was rising fast as it approached Nanai at full thrust. "I've got to get in close and take away the advantage of her funnels," he said to himself. She fired off four mega particle blasts from her shield. Ryou tucked into a hard right bank to avoid the blast and countered with his main cannon.
As the Jagd-Doga side dodged the blast, the Londo Bell pilot shut his eyes and launched a flash cracker.
"Damn it!" Nanai cursed as her cockpit monitors flashed bright white, stunning her vision. She barely parried the incoming saber sweep with her own saber. 'He has improved significantly over these two battles,' Nanai thought to herself as the Jagd-Doga exchanged saber swings with the Re-GZ Custom.
Moving in close for the melee battle definitely took away the advantage of the Jagd-Doga's funnels, but it also left the Re-GZ Custom with very few options offensively. And from his last battle from with the Jagd-Doga, Ryou knew that Nanai could be an extremely dangerous opponent in a saber duel. She might have underestimated him before, but now she would definitely expect any improvision he would make if she got the advantage. He could not take any bold moves.
He alternated the rounds of saber sparring with bursts of vulcan fire, forcing the Jagd-Doga to shield itself for a few seconds; he scanned the battlefield each time making sure everything was in place and moving himself a little closer towards Sweetwater before the next few minutes of saber fighting.
He waited patiently for what he needed, not daring to blink as the sweat trickled down his forehead, annoying as a buzzing insect that stays too close.
"Fifth wave, fire!"
He tallied for about half a minute, taking a more offensive approach. Then he strafed to the right and away.
'Running now?' Nanai thought as she saw the suit move away. Her eyes widened as she realized where he was going – Sweetwater.
"No you won't!" she yelled angrily, deploying her funnels. Just then she noticed the missiles. "Nice move, kid, nice indeed," she muttered bitterly. "Funnels get the missiles!"
She concentrated deeply as the funnels redirected themselves towards the approaching wave. Then they entered firing frenzy, blasting missiles and moving fast to the other targets. She turned her attention back to Ryou and the Re-GZ.
The bazooka shell hit the metal, destroying its integrity. Ryou fired another shell, creating an entrance into the colony. He moved inside quickly.
Nanai checked back behind herself to see how the defenses were holding. Then she followed the suit into the empty city; she'd have to hunt the Re- GZ inside the colony before it either destroyed the colony, or the colony destroyed them.
She made her way through the access terminals and landed inside of the living area, her Jagd's feet making heavy imprints on the dirt and grass.
"When you dare to destroy the world to change it, you're being reckless," Ryou's voice echoed from all sides.
"Shut up! You'd never understand!" Nanai spat back taking off her helmet, sending her hair flying. The helmet bounced uselessly, settling behind her seat. He had no right to insult her or Char in such a way.
"You'd be surprised," came the voice as a figure appeared across the street. Nanai fired the beam assault riffle and the dummy exploded. Nanai barely blocked the hidden Re-GZ's bazooka shell, as it imploded on her small shield.
"So you can tolerate the sins of man on Earth?!" Nanai asked as she discarded the charred shield drawing her beam saber into her left hand. She glared around the deserted city dangerously.
"Covering the Earth in eternal winter doesn't purify, it only hides!" a grenade came down from above. Nanai started to thrust away, but was thrown to the ground from the explosion. "It's still the same underneath."
"Not if we purge the parasites!" the Neo Zeon director responded firing her beam assault riffle to her left. The Re-GZ dropped to the ground as the shot of energy ripped through the building on the side of the path it was about to cross. "Got you!" she exclaimed as her suit hovered above firing at the fallen suit.
"You're blinded in fighting and your revolution!" Ryou spat as he fired off a grenade at the beam assault riffle shot. The explosion engulfed both in dark black smoke stealing both pilots' vision. The Re-GZ's thrusters flared as it thrusted out of the smoke, sliding on its back. The sparks from metal on asphalt showered beneath the suit. Extending its hand, the Re-GZ's fingers fired three dummies into the smoke.
The Jagd-Doga charged through the smoke, beam saber slashing blindly for the Re-GZ. This kid had said well more than enough. The deadly saber ripped through the dummies.
"You can't win fighting blindly!" the young Londo Bell pilot yelled at Nanai. She responded by firing her grenade mounted on the beam assault riffle, Ryou moved, controlling his vulcan guns to shoot it down as the Jagd Doga charged in with its saber.
The colony shook with impact. Stopping both suits.
"No!" Nanai yelled as she released what the explosions meant. Missiles.
Ryou took advantage of the situation feinted a thrust. Nanai fell for the move, her mind too distracted by what had just happened and the anger clouding her mind. She directed her suit to side dodge. The Re-GZ's saber changed directions and slashed, cutting off the right forearm of the Jagd- Doga, assault riffle still in its grasp.
"Sweetwater will drop!" she snarled, infuriated with the troublesome Londo Bell Pilot.
"Not while I live!" Ryou promised, his own voice equally fierce.
The Re-GZ fired a bazooka shell at the Jagd-Doga before it drew its other saber. Nanai had barely gotten out of the explosive shell's way as the Re- GZ's first thrust came in. Each swing of the Jagd Doga's was parried by Ryou's left saber and Nanai was barely able to dodge the counters. Each riposte swing got closer and closer to hitting the mark. Nanai may have been the superior pilot, but her mistakes had evened the odds. Soon she had to devote her single saber to pure defense against Ryou's two.
"It's over!" Ryou proclaimed. His left saber smacked Jagd's Doga's defensive blade to the far left twice from inside, then the right blade came across to slash off the arm. The left saber cut downwards meanwhile, severing the defensive Jagd Doga's legs in one swift motion. The limbless Jagd-Doga fell backwards. The blades of the Re-GZ's sabers faded and disappeared.
"I'm going to stop this colony." The Re-GZ's thrusters flared to life as he moved towards the exit.
Nanai realized that she still had the funnels; she pointed her camera at the departing Re-GZ. The hawk like mask of the Jagd-Doga trained its glaring eye on its enemy. "NO... RIGHT!"
Ryou acted on instinct as he whirled around and fired his last dummy. The balloon expanded and the funnels ran into the form, detonating the mine.
The Re-GZ was thrown backwards by the explosion, skidding backwards in the dirt and grass. Ryou moved the controls, finding that nothing was damaged by the impact.
He looked back at the broken Jagd-Doga. He couldn't help but feel pity for her, even though he knew she didn't have any for the lives of his comrades or him. Could he spare her life, knowing that she would never have done the same for him? His experience in war told him no, but his bleeding heart said otherwise. He proceeded outside, hoping the woman would have enough sense to get out of the death trap and accept whatever awaited her on the other side of this war.
Ryou moved around the colony exterior. Missiles had hit, for sure, but Sweetwater was still moving. Not nearly enough had impacted to bring the man made city down, and none had hit vital spots. He moved to the bottom of the colony. A grunt Geara-Doga moved in to try stop him. He dodged around the beam riffle shot and accelerated towards the suit as he ignited a beam saber. He passed the grunt, beam saber tearing up the Geara-Doga as he went. He found the colony fuel tanks.
'The nukes that are missing are somewhere on this god forsaken thing. Will this be enough?' Ryou wondered. He couldn't take the risk, there was no telling if the fire could spread fast enough to stop the colony's movement and force the nuclear warheads to detonate. He'd have to find the weapons to be sure. He made his way around the surface of the colony, keeping his thrusters low as he glanced side to side for something suspicious. Out of the corner of an eye, saw a flash of red. He moved closer to discover a red Musaka.
Three Geara-Dogas moved to fight him. He threw his left beam saber at one of the Doga's, the hilt hitting the torso and igniting the blades.
He fired off another flash cracker, as he avoided the incoming beam riffle shots. The suits drowned in blinding white light. Ryou charged, cutting one of them in half as he passed. He killed his momentum and turned around, thrusting the saber in the back of the other before thrusting away.
Just then the colony began to speed up as it entered the atmosphere, red fire dispersing around the space city as it began plummeting.
'NO! Not now!' He looked around frantically.
No sign of a missile wave coming.
= = = = =
"The Jegans aren't drawing enough of the Geara Dogas away! Only eight got through from the last wave. We're not causing enough damage!"
"The Re-GZ is alone in close proximity to the colony, minovnsky is too thick to reach it though"
"Damn it! Will the last wave hit?" Bright asked.
"Only about a fourth of the missiles if we're lucky."
"Fire it's about to enter the atmosphere!" Bright barked.
= = = = =
MISSILES! Another flash. Another, and another. The flashes of light erupted all around as they exploded. Six came through to impact the colony, shaking the Re-GZ as it stood on the shell of the space city. Some metal ripped and flew away. However the colony continued moving. Ryou cursed loudly.
He circled at a safe distance, firing his vulcans at the Musaka. The shots landed on the red armor as the suit hovered around. Slowly the sound of steady gunfire became the sound of empty cartridges firing air.
Ryou checked the diagnostics. One option left.
= = = = =
"It's entering the atmosphere!"
"Will it survive the atmosphere?" Bright asked.
The room went quiet.
"Yes."
= = = = =
"Not all promises can be kept... I'm sorry, I really am..."
He had made his decision.
The wave rider arced around, and charged straight towards the Musaka, the falling colony, and the burning atmosphere.
"I love you, Chihiro."
The Re-GZ's main cannon and beam guns fired, striking the Musaka.
The Musaka erupted in a brilliant flash of light as the wave rider passed over it. The explosion rocked the colony, which was never meant to withstand the force of conventional missiles, much less nuclear weapons. Fire erupted as the oxygen within the colony's residential area ignited. Whatever was left after the explosion was consumed in the blaze and fires of the atmosphere.
Ending Notes: Yes there is another part coming along that ties everything up. Just for reference I am using the Re-GZ Custom model from MAHQ's statistics, I substituted a Hyper Bazooka for the Beam Assault riffle, specifically for dealing with Nanai's I-Field and added grenade launchers and flash crackers. The main feature of the suit is increased maneuverability and speed, as well as making the wave rider a transformation rather than a detachable BWS. If you go through the whole battle scene you will find Ryou has lost his bazooka, all his missiles, the grenades, and his sabers. His one functioning weapon left is the vulcan guns. An important thing to note is that Amuro had weapons capable of doing significant damage to a capital ship from afar. Vulcans are relatively powerless compared to the Nu's beam riffle. I consulted RGZ on this and he agrees, the chances of the vulcans piercing the hull and still blowing up the missiles are very slim. Now that still leaves one other option. Since the suit can now transform to wave rider, the other choice is to use his beam cannons in wave rider form from afar which COULD blow up the ship. This requires for him to be outside. The issue at hand: Can the Re-GZ custom survive the atmosphere? After consultation with RGZ again on this option, he also doubts it since the suit doesn't come with a cooling system capable of that and it wouldn't have something to spread out the heat well enough like a giant arse shield.