Mobile Suit Gundam Century's Dawn
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When the Exalon arrived in Washington D.C., they discovered it devastated by AMEC. With Koshiro suffering from
decompression sickness, it was up to Lee in the Guncannon to take out the siege line. When confronted Captain Raven,
the commanding officer of the siege line, he revealed that Washington was easy picking for them. He also revered Lee
by calling her 'My Lady' before killing himself. Now the Exalon is on its way to help an Earth Federation ship in trouble.
[Title: Gundam's Return]
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The Enterprise was the oldest and largest ship in the Earth Federation fleet. Standing the length of a football stadium
(not field, stadium) and containing an arsenal enough to level a small town, it has earned its place as the most powerful
aircraft carrier ever to serve. But now, it was under attack by a group of AMEC aircrafts.
Captain Richard Harrington grunted as another barrage of missiles struck. Damage reports seemed to be the only thing he
could hear right now.
"Fire on E-deck, port section!"
"Engine room reports another 35 percent drop in the left rudder!"
"We're taking on mass casualties!"
"Our runway's been damaged, we can't take off or land!"
"Damn, can't anyone give me any good news?" Harrington muttered. "Communication officer, any luck getting through the
minovsky intererence?"
"None, Captain. They're jamming us on all frequencies!"
Harrington, despite himself, smiled. "Well, looks like this is the end."
"Captain! Radar's detecting the approach of an unknown object."
"I wonder why they're calling in reinforcements when they can just finish us themselves."
"Incoming!" Captain Harrington's head snapped up. A large white robot with cannon barrels on each shoulder flew down and
landed on the Enterprise's deck. The bridge crew stared at it in horror. Suddenly it turned and faced the attacking
aircrafts. The barrels both fired a burst of energy that each destroyed a bunch of Desert Dictator aircraft.
"What the hell?" Harrington asked. "That robot's defending us. Isn't it part of the enemy?"
"The interference has stopped," the communication officer announced. "We're receiving a transmission from the approaching
vessel."
"On screen," Harrington ordered. On the monitor was an image of Commander Lucas.
"I am Commander Noah Lucas of the Earth Federation ship Exalon."
"The EF flagship," Harrington heard an officer gasped.
"Richard Harrington, Captain of the Enterprise. Commander, mind telling me what the hell this thing on my deck is?"
"It's a Gundam," Lucas explained. "More specifically, a Guncannon. It's twin beam cannons along with vulcan gataling guns
in its head make it a perfect long-range weapon." The Guncannon used the vulcans to destroy the other aircrafts then
assaulted the AMEC battleships with the cannons.
"Captain, tell us what happened to Washington," Commander Lucas asked. "We arrive expecting to find EFHQ but
instead found a siege line. What gives?"
"We'll tell you, but only if you tell us how you got this Guncannon."
"Captain, perhaps it would be best if we talked face-to-face."
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The Exalon pulled up along side the Enterprise. A metallic bridge extended from the upper deck to the upper deck of the
Enterprise. Commander Lucas, Lieutenant Commmander Okawa, and Chief Engineer Henry Kazuko were about ready to cross over.
"Commander! Commander!" It was Ray and the other children. "Commander, can we come along?"
"Sorry, kids, not this time."
"Awww," Ray, Sonya, and Christopher said.
Muro bent down and patted Ray on the head. "We need someone to stay behind and watch things here. Can you do that?"
Ray eagerly saluted. "You can count on us."
"You're pretty good with children, Muro," commander Lucas commented as they proceeded across the plank.
"I have eight brothers and sisters, Commander, it just come natural."
Approaching the hull of the Enterprise, they were met by Captain Harrington and two of his officers: a petite Asian
woman and an overly-muscular male.
"Good afternoon, Captain Harrington," Lucas greeted.
"Commander Lucas, welcome aboard," Harrington returned. "Let me present my XOs. Commander Ming Xiao and
Commander Harland Foster."
"Lieutenant Commander Muro Okawa and Lieutenant Henry Kozuko. Well, Captain, I think we should get this meeting
started." The group went into the Enterprise and proceeded to the mission room. Lee was already sitting at a meeting
table. The walls were all decorated with one of three picture: a map of the world, a diagram of the ship, and
(perhaps a painful reminder of the war) a list of casualties. But the casualty list was from three weeks ago so either
the Enterprise was really behind or Commander Lucas' fears were realized.
Lee rised from her seat as the group walked in. "At ease, Lieutenant," both Captain Harrington and Commander Lucas said
at the same time. Lee was surprised, but sat down anyway.
"Captain, I'd like to know how Washington fell to AMEC," Commander Lucas began. "We've captured the batallion from the
siege line who gave us an uncredable story. I'd like to hear it from one of our side."
"Very well. At ten-hundred hours last Friday, Washington's defenses were overpowered by an invading AMEC force. They
then proceeded across the city destroying everything in their path. Six thousand people inhabited the city, now only
a fifth remain.
"My God," Henry gasped.
"Our fleets were summoned to defend our outpost in Ireland," Commander Xiao, in her soft nearly perfect English-speaking
voice, took over. "Over five battle fleets remained. Us, along with three other ships were the only ones who survived."
"Was the distress call for real?" Muro asked.
"We're not sure," said Hunter, an Australian from the accent. "None of our fleets returned or even checked in."
"What about the Earth Federation Council?" Lucas asked calmly, although Harrington, being a more experienced officer,
could see that Lucas was barely containing his anger.
"Fortunately, they were able to escape through the underground catacombs and escape to a safe place. Sorry, but I can't
divulge their location for now."
"I understand."
"Now, Commander, I indulged your curiosity, it's only fair that you do the same to me. Where did you get this...
Guncannon."
"The Guncannon was a piece of ancient technology," Henry began. "It's design is like the Zaku-type Mobile Suit used by
the AMEC organization, but in fact it's specifically designed to counteract the Zaku. It's armor can withstand attacks
from the Zaku and can counterattack with deadly force. It's a variation of the Gundam."
"What makes this Gundam different from the others is its G-System, an artificial intelligence program that can
understand, copy, and even counteract enemy's movements," Lee explained.
"Lee here was one of the ones who discovered it in the mountains of Eastern Europe."
"Commander, tell him about Koshiro," Muro whispered.
"Captain Harrington, Koshiro Anaka, the Gundam Pilot, has fallen ill with decompression sickness. Do you have a
chamber we can place him in?"
"Yes we do. You may use it if you wish."
"Thank you. In return, we'll give you all technical information regarding the Gundam as well as data obtained from all
battles the Gundam has been in up until now. We were planning on sharing this information with the EF Council, but since
they are unreachable at the moment."
"Get him ready," Captain Harrington ordered. "It takes twenty-four hours for someone with the bends to fully recover."
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Captain Harrington returned with Commander Lucas and the Exalon crew to prepare Koshiro to transfer to the Enterprise.
Lee asked to stay on the Enterprise until Koshiro was out of the critical zone. As Koshiro was brought across on a
stretcher, Commander Xiao oversaw it through the bridge's internal security camera.
"I can't believe that such a sophisticated piece of machinery is being piloted by a child," she said. Captain Harrington
stepped up besides her.
"Commander Lucas told me that he is not an ordinary child," he commented. "He says he possesses abnormal reflexes and
ingenuity. He managed to detonate an old underwater mine field to call the Exalon to the rescue."
"But still, is it really wise to trust a military weapon in the hands of a child?"
"Truthfully, no, but I wasn't the one who found it so by the rights of salvage, I have no power over what is done."
Ming's brow scrunched up. True, she hasn't seen this Koshiro in action but she still thought it was a bad idea to put a
child in danger.
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Captain Garrett was receiving a status report. He was nonplussed (to say the least) when he heard about what Captain
Raven's unit did.
"So Raven has failed to hold our place in Washington. I guess it was to be expected."
Leaning against a wall, Ben Hoshum, the Dark Messiah, humphed. "Trust military men to screw up a good plan. No wonder
we've been losing so many battles, the help is incompetent."
"Watch it, you two-bit space junkie, you just happen to serve under a military man."
Ben was getting extremely irritated at Captain Garrett's insulting. All he did was state his opinion and Garrett jumped
right down his throat. Well it's time for Garrett to get a taste of his own medicine.
"Look, Garrett, I'm not a soldier. I'm only here because your boys promised good money. I've humored you with your plans
and your strategies but even I have my limits. I'm sick of always losing to that mobile suit because of your commands.
If this keeps up, I'm going to get out of here and leave you at the mercy of that EF ship."
Garrett was ready to slap Ben Hoshum all the way back to the Side Wars but thought better of it. Whether he liked it or
not, this boy was the only thing between him and EF prison and Hoshum knew that. That's why he was acting so smug.
Ben turned around and started to leave the room.
"Where are you going, Dark Messiah?"
"To check my Mobile Suit. Someone tampered with it last time and I just want to make sure theydon't do that again."
Captain Garrett looked indifferently at the boy and wondered how a kid turned out like such a badass.
His pondering was interrupted by his terminal. He activated it and read the message that was for him. It was one line
because that's the maximum length they can get out before the Earth Federation can intercept them. The fact that it
was all in capital letters meant the message was one of importance.
To: Garrett, F. Capt.
From: AMEC Headquarters
Re: Orders
DELTA SOURCE HAS CONFIRMED EXISTENCE OF NEW FEDERATION MOBILE SUIT. WAIT FOR REINFORCEMENTS.
"Wait for reinforcements," Captain Garrett repeated. "Like hell." Garrett activated the intercom. "This is Garrett, we
have received orders to attack the Earth Federation, prepare to move out. Activate Battle Conditions." Garrett was
feeling pretty lucky, he had a feeling that this time, the Federation Mobile Suit and Pegasus-Class will go down.
In the cargo bay, Ben heard the warning lights go off. A technician called out to him, "Get into your Mobile Suit, we're
going into battle."
"Once more into the inferno," Ben sighed then climbed into Archangel.
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Eighteen hours have passed since Koshiro was placed into the decompression chamber. The crews of the Exalon and Enterprise were given a chance to relax and gather their strength. Lee had lowered the Guncannon's hand to the water and now the children were taking turns jumping off of it into the ocean. They had no worries about drowning, considering how the
Guncannon could catch them just as soon as they went under. Lee herself was sitting on the hand.
"Hey," Muro called.
Lee waved her to come down. Muro grabbed the wire that was normally used to lower the pilot of the Guncannon to the
ground when the Guncannon was in standing position and slid down the arm into the hand. Once there, she quickly dipped
her hands in the water to ease the rope burn. "Is it all right that you're doing this?"
"Captain Harrington said he would warn us ahead of time if an attack came."
Muro leaned against the Guncannon's middle cannon and watched as the children played in the ocean. "I'm surprised that
you're here."
"Well I'm not much of a swimmer."
"No, no, I mean I'm surprised you're not with Koshiro."
Lee blushed. "I... I'm sure the Enterprise's decompression chamber will do its job."
Muro leaned against the Guncannon's middle finger, "You know, I'm worried about him."
"You're worried about Koshiro?"
Muro nodded. "With the exception of the children Keela takes care of, he's the youngest one on the Exalon. I'm afraid
that we might be having a bad influence on him."
Lee looked down at her feet. "Koshiro once told me that he was getting sick and tired of all the battling we had to do."
"I don't blame him, it seems like we've been fighting this war forever."
Lee nodded. "When I first met, Koshiro was so pissed that he was ready to fight me right there in the cave because of our
part in the destruction of Scatterhaven."
"Henry told me that when they first met, Koshiro threatened to squish the Commander with the B-Gundam."
Lee stared at the older woman in shock. Then she burst into laughter which prompted a crossed look from Muro. "I'm sorry,
Muro, it's just that under any other circumstances, that would actually be funny."
Muro decided to change the subject, "I think I understand what you're saying. You're saying that we have only ourselves to
blame for Koshiro's current situation."
Lee nodded. "That's why I'm trying to be Koshiro's friend, to make up for all that we've put him through."
Lee and Muro watched as Ray started waving his arms wildly. "Hey, something's got me, something's got me!" He cried.
Sonya poked her head out from under water and started laughing. Ray lunged at her and she dodged. Lee and Muro laughed
at there frolicking when a siren started blaring.
"What's that?" Muro asked.
"An intruder alarm!" Lee cried as she rode the wire up to the Guncannon's cockpit.
"Children, over here!" Muro called. The children swam onto the Guncannon's hand and Lee lifted them back onto the
aircraft carrier.
"Hurry and get inside," Lee ordered.
Captain Harrington's face appeared on a side monitor. "Our sensor buoys have detected unidentified objects entering our
viscinity. They haven't answered our hails so we're forced to consider them enemies."
"Here they come!" A bridge officer called out. Lee turned the Guncannon towards the sky. As the afternoon clouds cleared,
a team of eight Zakus plus Archangel descended from a zenith point.
"Oh, no you don't," Lee said pulling the target scope over her eyes. Her main cannons fired and caught a Zaku in the leg.
The Zaku fell into the ocean. Lee fired her cannons a few more times but they all missed.
Archangel landed first and swung a left hook at the Guncannon. The Guncannon, in turn,blocked and countered with
a spinning backfist that Archangel blocked. From there, the battle erupted into a slugfest.
"This new Mobile Suit is tough, I'll give him that," Ben commented. "But I am the DarkMessiah, and for the preservation of
my forces, I will kill everyone in the Earth Federation if necessary!" Ben fired his shoulder cables which wrapped around
the Guncannon's legs and dragged it down. Ben fired a series of slow but powerful punches to the Guncannon's mid-section.
"Men, women, children! No Earth Federation dog shall escape my wraith!"
Lee actually felt the armor of the Guncannon pushed in by the assault. Lee knew she had to do something, but what? By
pure accident, her hand pressed down on a red button on the side control panel. Immediately, the Guncannon was covered in
an electrical field. Because Archangel's cables were attached to it, it received the electrical field too, but the wrong
end.
Ben quickly released the cables and retracted them. "You bastaard!" He cried as he drew his double-ended spear.
"Commander, I could really use a weapon about now!"
"We'd loved to give you one, Lee, but we have our own problems," Commander Lucas said.
On the bridge, Commander Lucas grunted from another Zaku hit and turned to Shinji and Henry. "Where's that new weapon
you promised me?"
"It's ready, but..." Shinji paused.
Henry took over. "If we use it, the Enterprise could be caught in the blast. We'll lose them, the Guncannon, Lee, and
Koshiro."
"Damn! Get me a line to Harrington." Immediately, the Enterprise Captain appeared on the screen. "Harrington, you must
abandon ship! Evacuate your people to the Exalon."
"Never! I'll protect this ship to the end!"
"Damn it, Harrington, this is no time for dramatics! You must abandon ship now! I..." Commander Lucas' eyes widened.
"Captain, your starboard flank! A Zaku is about to..." The screen winked out. Commander Lucas looked out the window
to see a Zaku blow half the bridge away. Lucas wanted to mourn their loss but he couldn't now, not when there was still
a chance that some people could be saved. "Shinji, Tasha, Henry, get over there now and start evacuating the survivors to
the Exalon."
"Right," the three said.
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The evacuation plan started smoothly. The survivors of the Enterprise began evacuating to the Exalon vie the bridge
between the two ships.
Commander Xiao had just evacuated the Medical Bay and was not going to check to see if there were any stragglers.
Suddenly she hear a hoarse voice call out, "Help, me!" She looked around. A boy in a jumpsuit staggered into the
hallway. Ming immediately realized it was the Gundam Pilot, Koshiro she thought he was called.
"I... must get... to Gundam," he said.
"We're evacuating the ship," she said matter-of-factly.
"I must get to the Gundam," he repeated.
Tasha came running around the corner. "Koshiro! What are you doing up?"
"He just zombied into the hallway," Commander Xiao said.
"Tasha... please, take me to the Gundam," Koshiro requested as Tasha draped one of his arms across her shoulders.
"You're in no position to pilot anything," Tasha scolded.
"There's a... Zaku attack, isn't it?"
"Yes, Lee's taking care of it in the Guncannon."
"Lee?" Koshiro pulled away from Tasha and began running down the hallway, or a weaker version of a run.
Tasha huffed. "Men, they think they need to do everything. Oh, all right, let's go. Commander, can you help me?"
Together, the two women began dragging the boy down the hallway. They managed to get up and started across the bridge
when the trouble happened. First of all, they weren't alone, men and women were dashing across the bridge. Ming and
Tasha struggled to bring Koshiro across when a Zaku started heading there.
"Go, go, go!" Tasha cried. In a show of strength that didn't match her size, Ming lifted Koshiro onto her back and ran
to the Exalon. Tasha drew her weapon and fired point blank at the Zaku's mono-eye. Of course, the bullets had no affect
on it. The Zaku raised its heat hawk and sliced the bridge in half. Crew members began falling into the ocean.
Commander Xiao literally took a flying leap and was caught by several crewmembers who had formed a human chain.
Ming and Koshiro watched as Tasha plummeted down.
"Tasha!" Koshiro shouted.
To everyone's surprise, a cable lashed out and grabbed Tasha's waist. The cable retracted, and Tasha fell into Archangel's
hand.
Archangel held out Tasha to the Guncannon. It was clear what it was saying, let yourself get beat up or beat up
by Archangel or the human might be hurt.
"I have to get to the Gundam," Koshiro said. "Only then will I be able to save her."
"Fine, but I don't know where it is, you'll have to tell me."
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Lee saw what Archangel was planning. She didn't know what she could do. She stood down.
Archangel actually placed Tasha down on the ground. Then started swinging at the Guncannon. Lee held her arms up in
defense but no defense could prepare her for the kick Archangel landed square in her chest. If Lee wasn't wearing a
harness, she would've probably been slammed right out of the Guncannon but as it was, she only bobbled around a bit.
Lee started to take a step in to attack Archangel head on when she remembered Tasha, she looked down and saw the
operator standing slightly to the left of the Guncannon's left hoot. One wrong step and Tasha could be crushed.
Archangel didn't have any reservations, he continued pummeling the Guncannon like there was no tomorrow.
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Inside the Exalon, Commander Lucas cursed. "There must be something we could do."
"Commander," Victor called. "The Gundam's launch bay is opening!"
"What?!" Sure enough, the two bay doors parted revealing the insides.
Lucas scrambled to the communication consol, Lee's usual station. "Launch Bay, what's going on down there? Why have you
opened?"
"The B-Gundam is getting ready to launch," an engineer replied. "We have to open them up otherwise the B-Gundam
could be irrepairably dammaged."
Lucas swore again and opened another channel. "B-Gundam, you do not have authorization to launch. Shut down
immediately! You do not have the skills!"
"Yes I do." Commander Lucas was shocked. The voice was Koshiro!
"Koshiro, what are you doing out of the decom chamber.
"I promised that I would protect the Exalon and her crew and that's what I'm going to do."
"But you still have decom sickness," Muro said joining the Commander.
"I'll just have to live with it," Koshiro said.
"Fine," Commander Lucas grumbled. "But don't expect any backup and if you get killed, you'll have noone to blame but
yourself."
"I know. I'll get Lee and Tasha then hurry back as quickly as I could."
"Good luck, kid," Commander Lucas said quietly, then louder, "Launch B-Gundam now!"
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Lee and Ben also paused to see the bay doors open.
{Why are they launching the B-Gundam?} Lee thought.
"All units converge on that hangar," Ben ordered. "Don't let anything get out." Four Zakus hovered near the entrance
way...
And were promptly slice to pieces by an energy blade.
The B-Gundam was catapulted out and slammed into Archangel throwing both Mobile Suits off the Enterprise. Lee, knowing a
chance when she sees it, scooped up Tasha and jumped into the B-Gundam's launch bay.
Archangel activated its thrusters and manage to return to the Enterprise's deck with the B-Gundam.
"So you've finally decided to show yourself, Federation Mobile Suit," Ben said. "To tell the truth, I've prepared for
your arrival, with a little surprise." Archangel's chest opened up and a cannon barrel poked out. A shaft of energy
lanced out.
"Beam shield!" Koshiro quickly activated the beam shield but it wasn't long before the blast destroyed the energy shield.
The B-Gundam quickly twirled as the blast disintegrated the upper decks of the Enterprise.
"That blast defeated the beam shield!" Henry gasped. Tasha came onto the bridge and took her station.
"Welcome back," Victor whispered.
"Thanks," she whispered back.
"Tasha, Victor," Commander Lucas called. "Analyze that energy, I want to know what kind of weapon can overpower a beam
shield!"
"Right," they both said. And went about their work.
Koshiro tried desperately to avoid the shafts of energy that emitted from Archangel's cannon.
"Twins, what do you got?" Commander Lucas asked.
"The beam shield is designed to repel bullets and minovsky particle weapons," Victor began.
Tasha continued, "but that energy is neither bullet or MP weapon, it's using some other source of energy."
"It's hard to figure out what it is though,it doesn't match anything in the database."
"The G-System didn't realize that and therefore, couldn't defend against it."
"Koshiro isn't strong enough to withstand against that sort of firepower," Muro commented.
"Maybe he is," Henry said. "The G-armor, it might be strong enough to do that."
"But I thought you said in your report that the thing was too heavy," Commander Lucas pointed out.
"To move around, yes, but as a point defense, no problem."
"So how do we get it to him?"
"Duh!" Shinji cried. Lucas, Muro, and Henry all looked at him. "Henry, does the armor have laser lock systems?"
"Yes, it does, that's how it's able to stay on the B-Gundam."
Shinji turned rapidly to Tasha. "Tasha, can the locks be boosted somehow."
Tasha put on that smile she was famous for, the smile that came just before she got a brainstorm. "If we take
minovsky particles, use the transformers to turn them into electro-magnetic energy... yes, yes, YES! It could work."
"What's your plan, Shinji?" Commander Lucas asked.
"If we could control the locking mechanisms from here, we could send the armor to him through the catapult."
"That's brilliant, Shinji," Muro commented. "But the trick is to distract that enemy Mobile Suit long enough for it to
work."
"Looks like we'll just have to tempt fate on this one," Commander Lucas said and opened a communication line to Koshiro.
"Koshiro, we need to buy time for us to work out this little project we're cooking up. Could you..."
"Sure," Koshiro said getting at what the Commander wanted done. He ducked low and tackled Archangel, throwing him
into the water. "Hurry up, I don't know how long he can stay under there."
"Just so it's long enough," Henry said making a few more adjustments to the catapult. "Ready whenever you are, Commander."
Commander Lucas paused for just a second as Commander Xiao entered the bridge. "Launch G-Armor!"
The catapult launched an armored package at the B-Gundam. The package separated and revealed itself to be a set of
armor. A helmet, chest plate with broad shoulder plates, gloves, one with a big shield attached to it, and two tubes
that fittedover the B-Gundam's legs. With abnormal precision, the armor fitted itself onto the B-Gundam. The chest
plate blocked the entry hatch but Koshiro was fine with that. The V-shape spikes could be seen sticking out of
the helmet.
"Wow!" Ray gasped. He and the others had been standing quietly at the back of the bridge, but now they rushed forward
to look at the B-Gundam's new look.
"Hey, who let you children up on the bridge?" Commander Xiao asked harshly.
"We're part of the crew," Sonya said proudly.
"Crew?"
"Of course," Muro said winking at the Enterprise's former XO. "They have an important role, they take care of the ship
while we're away." Ming didn't understand the crypticity behind that.
"It's so cool," Christopher said.
"It looks like a knight," Sonya commented.
"A knight," Ray parroted. "Hey, I just thought of a cool name for it: The Beam-Knight Gundam."
Outside, Archangel leaped out of the water. Ben was seriously pissed off, not only at falling into the water, but that he
fell for one of the oldest tricks in the book. He then noticed the B-Gundam's new look.
"So that's why you did that, you wanted to get some more protection. Well, it won't do you any good." Archangel's stomach
cannon fired again. The Beam-Knight Gundam held out its shield and, ducked behind it. The blast hit the shield, but
unlike the beam shield, it didn't disintegrate, rather it began pushing the Beam-Knight Gundam back into the ruins of
the Enterprise's tower.
"You... won't... stop... me," Ben said. Suddenly an alarm sounded inside his cockpit. The constant firing was overloading
Archangel's systems. Continuing firing could result in Archangel's destruction. Ben let out a curse and retracted the
cannon. But it was too late, an explosion raked Archangel's insides. Archangel dropped to one knee.
"All units, retreat," one of the surviving Zakus cried. Two more Zakus picked up the fallen Archangel and they all
retreated.
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The B-Gundam was retracted into the Exalon and the armor lifted from it. Koshiro climbed out of the cockpit and onto the
upper catwalk. Lee was already there. She ran up to him and embraced him firmly.
"Koshiro, I can't believe you went out there in your condition, you had me worried sick!"
"Erk... Lee, your crushing me."
"Oh, sorry." Lee released him. "But seriously, what you did was very dangerous... and very brave." Koshiro blushed and
looked at the ground.
Commander Lucas and Muro came in.
"Welcome back to the land of the walking, Koshiro," Muro greeted.
Commander Lucas said to him firmly, "You had us all worried, young man. You were lucky this time, but the next time I see
you in that machine without confirmation from a Doctor, I'll boot you faster than you could say Gundam. Do I make myself
clear?"
"Clear... ergh..." Koshiro clenched his hip and smiled embarrassingly. "Clear as crystal, sir." The four laughed,
mostly at Koshiro's flustered look.
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The Exalon crew take on a new first officer as they get ready to travel again. However, the leader of AMEC believes that
Captain Garrett is a loose cannon, and scheme to have him killed with the help of Ben Hoshum.
Next episode: Conspiracy.
Who will die?
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When the Exalon arrived in Washington D.C., they discovered it devastated by AMEC. With Koshiro suffering from
decompression sickness, it was up to Lee in the Guncannon to take out the siege line. When confronted Captain Raven,
the commanding officer of the siege line, he revealed that Washington was easy picking for them. He also revered Lee
by calling her 'My Lady' before killing himself. Now the Exalon is on its way to help an Earth Federation ship in trouble.
[Title: Gundam's Return]
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The Enterprise was the oldest and largest ship in the Earth Federation fleet. Standing the length of a football stadium
(not field, stadium) and containing an arsenal enough to level a small town, it has earned its place as the most powerful
aircraft carrier ever to serve. But now, it was under attack by a group of AMEC aircrafts.
Captain Richard Harrington grunted as another barrage of missiles struck. Damage reports seemed to be the only thing he
could hear right now.
"Fire on E-deck, port section!"
"Engine room reports another 35 percent drop in the left rudder!"
"We're taking on mass casualties!"
"Our runway's been damaged, we can't take off or land!"
"Damn, can't anyone give me any good news?" Harrington muttered. "Communication officer, any luck getting through the
minovsky intererence?"
"None, Captain. They're jamming us on all frequencies!"
Harrington, despite himself, smiled. "Well, looks like this is the end."
"Captain! Radar's detecting the approach of an unknown object."
"I wonder why they're calling in reinforcements when they can just finish us themselves."
"Incoming!" Captain Harrington's head snapped up. A large white robot with cannon barrels on each shoulder flew down and
landed on the Enterprise's deck. The bridge crew stared at it in horror. Suddenly it turned and faced the attacking
aircrafts. The barrels both fired a burst of energy that each destroyed a bunch of Desert Dictator aircraft.
"What the hell?" Harrington asked. "That robot's defending us. Isn't it part of the enemy?"
"The interference has stopped," the communication officer announced. "We're receiving a transmission from the approaching
vessel."
"On screen," Harrington ordered. On the monitor was an image of Commander Lucas.
"I am Commander Noah Lucas of the Earth Federation ship Exalon."
"The EF flagship," Harrington heard an officer gasped.
"Richard Harrington, Captain of the Enterprise. Commander, mind telling me what the hell this thing on my deck is?"
"It's a Gundam," Lucas explained. "More specifically, a Guncannon. It's twin beam cannons along with vulcan gataling guns
in its head make it a perfect long-range weapon." The Guncannon used the vulcans to destroy the other aircrafts then
assaulted the AMEC battleships with the cannons.
"Captain, tell us what happened to Washington," Commander Lucas asked. "We arrive expecting to find EFHQ but
instead found a siege line. What gives?"
"We'll tell you, but only if you tell us how you got this Guncannon."
"Captain, perhaps it would be best if we talked face-to-face."
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The Exalon pulled up along side the Enterprise. A metallic bridge extended from the upper deck to the upper deck of the
Enterprise. Commander Lucas, Lieutenant Commmander Okawa, and Chief Engineer Henry Kazuko were about ready to cross over.
"Commander! Commander!" It was Ray and the other children. "Commander, can we come along?"
"Sorry, kids, not this time."
"Awww," Ray, Sonya, and Christopher said.
Muro bent down and patted Ray on the head. "We need someone to stay behind and watch things here. Can you do that?"
Ray eagerly saluted. "You can count on us."
"You're pretty good with children, Muro," commander Lucas commented as they proceeded across the plank.
"I have eight brothers and sisters, Commander, it just come natural."
Approaching the hull of the Enterprise, they were met by Captain Harrington and two of his officers: a petite Asian
woman and an overly-muscular male.
"Good afternoon, Captain Harrington," Lucas greeted.
"Commander Lucas, welcome aboard," Harrington returned. "Let me present my XOs. Commander Ming Xiao and
Commander Harland Foster."
"Lieutenant Commander Muro Okawa and Lieutenant Henry Kozuko. Well, Captain, I think we should get this meeting
started." The group went into the Enterprise and proceeded to the mission room. Lee was already sitting at a meeting
table. The walls were all decorated with one of three picture: a map of the world, a diagram of the ship, and
(perhaps a painful reminder of the war) a list of casualties. But the casualty list was from three weeks ago so either
the Enterprise was really behind or Commander Lucas' fears were realized.
Lee rised from her seat as the group walked in. "At ease, Lieutenant," both Captain Harrington and Commander Lucas said
at the same time. Lee was surprised, but sat down anyway.
"Captain, I'd like to know how Washington fell to AMEC," Commander Lucas began. "We've captured the batallion from the
siege line who gave us an uncredable story. I'd like to hear it from one of our side."
"Very well. At ten-hundred hours last Friday, Washington's defenses were overpowered by an invading AMEC force. They
then proceeded across the city destroying everything in their path. Six thousand people inhabited the city, now only
a fifth remain.
"My God," Henry gasped.
"Our fleets were summoned to defend our outpost in Ireland," Commander Xiao, in her soft nearly perfect English-speaking
voice, took over. "Over five battle fleets remained. Us, along with three other ships were the only ones who survived."
"Was the distress call for real?" Muro asked.
"We're not sure," said Hunter, an Australian from the accent. "None of our fleets returned or even checked in."
"What about the Earth Federation Council?" Lucas asked calmly, although Harrington, being a more experienced officer,
could see that Lucas was barely containing his anger.
"Fortunately, they were able to escape through the underground catacombs and escape to a safe place. Sorry, but I can't
divulge their location for now."
"I understand."
"Now, Commander, I indulged your curiosity, it's only fair that you do the same to me. Where did you get this...
Guncannon."
"The Guncannon was a piece of ancient technology," Henry began. "It's design is like the Zaku-type Mobile Suit used by
the AMEC organization, but in fact it's specifically designed to counteract the Zaku. It's armor can withstand attacks
from the Zaku and can counterattack with deadly force. It's a variation of the Gundam."
"What makes this Gundam different from the others is its G-System, an artificial intelligence program that can
understand, copy, and even counteract enemy's movements," Lee explained.
"Lee here was one of the ones who discovered it in the mountains of Eastern Europe."
"Commander, tell him about Koshiro," Muro whispered.
"Captain Harrington, Koshiro Anaka, the Gundam Pilot, has fallen ill with decompression sickness. Do you have a
chamber we can place him in?"
"Yes we do. You may use it if you wish."
"Thank you. In return, we'll give you all technical information regarding the Gundam as well as data obtained from all
battles the Gundam has been in up until now. We were planning on sharing this information with the EF Council, but since
they are unreachable at the moment."
"Get him ready," Captain Harrington ordered. "It takes twenty-four hours for someone with the bends to fully recover."
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Captain Harrington returned with Commander Lucas and the Exalon crew to prepare Koshiro to transfer to the Enterprise.
Lee asked to stay on the Enterprise until Koshiro was out of the critical zone. As Koshiro was brought across on a
stretcher, Commander Xiao oversaw it through the bridge's internal security camera.
"I can't believe that such a sophisticated piece of machinery is being piloted by a child," she said. Captain Harrington
stepped up besides her.
"Commander Lucas told me that he is not an ordinary child," he commented. "He says he possesses abnormal reflexes and
ingenuity. He managed to detonate an old underwater mine field to call the Exalon to the rescue."
"But still, is it really wise to trust a military weapon in the hands of a child?"
"Truthfully, no, but I wasn't the one who found it so by the rights of salvage, I have no power over what is done."
Ming's brow scrunched up. True, she hasn't seen this Koshiro in action but she still thought it was a bad idea to put a
child in danger.
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Captain Garrett was receiving a status report. He was nonplussed (to say the least) when he heard about what Captain
Raven's unit did.
"So Raven has failed to hold our place in Washington. I guess it was to be expected."
Leaning against a wall, Ben Hoshum, the Dark Messiah, humphed. "Trust military men to screw up a good plan. No wonder
we've been losing so many battles, the help is incompetent."
"Watch it, you two-bit space junkie, you just happen to serve under a military man."
Ben was getting extremely irritated at Captain Garrett's insulting. All he did was state his opinion and Garrett jumped
right down his throat. Well it's time for Garrett to get a taste of his own medicine.
"Look, Garrett, I'm not a soldier. I'm only here because your boys promised good money. I've humored you with your plans
and your strategies but even I have my limits. I'm sick of always losing to that mobile suit because of your commands.
If this keeps up, I'm going to get out of here and leave you at the mercy of that EF ship."
Garrett was ready to slap Ben Hoshum all the way back to the Side Wars but thought better of it. Whether he liked it or
not, this boy was the only thing between him and EF prison and Hoshum knew that. That's why he was acting so smug.
Ben turned around and started to leave the room.
"Where are you going, Dark Messiah?"
"To check my Mobile Suit. Someone tampered with it last time and I just want to make sure theydon't do that again."
Captain Garrett looked indifferently at the boy and wondered how a kid turned out like such a badass.
His pondering was interrupted by his terminal. He activated it and read the message that was for him. It was one line
because that's the maximum length they can get out before the Earth Federation can intercept them. The fact that it
was all in capital letters meant the message was one of importance.
To: Garrett, F. Capt.
From: AMEC Headquarters
Re: Orders
DELTA SOURCE HAS CONFIRMED EXISTENCE OF NEW FEDERATION MOBILE SUIT. WAIT FOR REINFORCEMENTS.
"Wait for reinforcements," Captain Garrett repeated. "Like hell." Garrett activated the intercom. "This is Garrett, we
have received orders to attack the Earth Federation, prepare to move out. Activate Battle Conditions." Garrett was
feeling pretty lucky, he had a feeling that this time, the Federation Mobile Suit and Pegasus-Class will go down.
In the cargo bay, Ben heard the warning lights go off. A technician called out to him, "Get into your Mobile Suit, we're
going into battle."
"Once more into the inferno," Ben sighed then climbed into Archangel.
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Eighteen hours have passed since Koshiro was placed into the decompression chamber. The crews of the Exalon and Enterprise were given a chance to relax and gather their strength. Lee had lowered the Guncannon's hand to the water and now the children were taking turns jumping off of it into the ocean. They had no worries about drowning, considering how the
Guncannon could catch them just as soon as they went under. Lee herself was sitting on the hand.
"Hey," Muro called.
Lee waved her to come down. Muro grabbed the wire that was normally used to lower the pilot of the Guncannon to the
ground when the Guncannon was in standing position and slid down the arm into the hand. Once there, she quickly dipped
her hands in the water to ease the rope burn. "Is it all right that you're doing this?"
"Captain Harrington said he would warn us ahead of time if an attack came."
Muro leaned against the Guncannon's middle cannon and watched as the children played in the ocean. "I'm surprised that
you're here."
"Well I'm not much of a swimmer."
"No, no, I mean I'm surprised you're not with Koshiro."
Lee blushed. "I... I'm sure the Enterprise's decompression chamber will do its job."
Muro leaned against the Guncannon's middle finger, "You know, I'm worried about him."
"You're worried about Koshiro?"
Muro nodded. "With the exception of the children Keela takes care of, he's the youngest one on the Exalon. I'm afraid
that we might be having a bad influence on him."
Lee looked down at her feet. "Koshiro once told me that he was getting sick and tired of all the battling we had to do."
"I don't blame him, it seems like we've been fighting this war forever."
Lee nodded. "When I first met, Koshiro was so pissed that he was ready to fight me right there in the cave because of our
part in the destruction of Scatterhaven."
"Henry told me that when they first met, Koshiro threatened to squish the Commander with the B-Gundam."
Lee stared at the older woman in shock. Then she burst into laughter which prompted a crossed look from Muro. "I'm sorry,
Muro, it's just that under any other circumstances, that would actually be funny."
Muro decided to change the subject, "I think I understand what you're saying. You're saying that we have only ourselves to
blame for Koshiro's current situation."
Lee nodded. "That's why I'm trying to be Koshiro's friend, to make up for all that we've put him through."
Lee and Muro watched as Ray started waving his arms wildly. "Hey, something's got me, something's got me!" He cried.
Sonya poked her head out from under water and started laughing. Ray lunged at her and she dodged. Lee and Muro laughed
at there frolicking when a siren started blaring.
"What's that?" Muro asked.
"An intruder alarm!" Lee cried as she rode the wire up to the Guncannon's cockpit.
"Children, over here!" Muro called. The children swam onto the Guncannon's hand and Lee lifted them back onto the
aircraft carrier.
"Hurry and get inside," Lee ordered.
Captain Harrington's face appeared on a side monitor. "Our sensor buoys have detected unidentified objects entering our
viscinity. They haven't answered our hails so we're forced to consider them enemies."
"Here they come!" A bridge officer called out. Lee turned the Guncannon towards the sky. As the afternoon clouds cleared,
a team of eight Zakus plus Archangel descended from a zenith point.
"Oh, no you don't," Lee said pulling the target scope over her eyes. Her main cannons fired and caught a Zaku in the leg.
The Zaku fell into the ocean. Lee fired her cannons a few more times but they all missed.
Archangel landed first and swung a left hook at the Guncannon. The Guncannon, in turn,blocked and countered with
a spinning backfist that Archangel blocked. From there, the battle erupted into a slugfest.
"This new Mobile Suit is tough, I'll give him that," Ben commented. "But I am the DarkMessiah, and for the preservation of
my forces, I will kill everyone in the Earth Federation if necessary!" Ben fired his shoulder cables which wrapped around
the Guncannon's legs and dragged it down. Ben fired a series of slow but powerful punches to the Guncannon's mid-section.
"Men, women, children! No Earth Federation dog shall escape my wraith!"
Lee actually felt the armor of the Guncannon pushed in by the assault. Lee knew she had to do something, but what? By
pure accident, her hand pressed down on a red button on the side control panel. Immediately, the Guncannon was covered in
an electrical field. Because Archangel's cables were attached to it, it received the electrical field too, but the wrong
end.
Ben quickly released the cables and retracted them. "You bastaard!" He cried as he drew his double-ended spear.
"Commander, I could really use a weapon about now!"
"We'd loved to give you one, Lee, but we have our own problems," Commander Lucas said.
On the bridge, Commander Lucas grunted from another Zaku hit and turned to Shinji and Henry. "Where's that new weapon
you promised me?"
"It's ready, but..." Shinji paused.
Henry took over. "If we use it, the Enterprise could be caught in the blast. We'll lose them, the Guncannon, Lee, and
Koshiro."
"Damn! Get me a line to Harrington." Immediately, the Enterprise Captain appeared on the screen. "Harrington, you must
abandon ship! Evacuate your people to the Exalon."
"Never! I'll protect this ship to the end!"
"Damn it, Harrington, this is no time for dramatics! You must abandon ship now! I..." Commander Lucas' eyes widened.
"Captain, your starboard flank! A Zaku is about to..." The screen winked out. Commander Lucas looked out the window
to see a Zaku blow half the bridge away. Lucas wanted to mourn their loss but he couldn't now, not when there was still
a chance that some people could be saved. "Shinji, Tasha, Henry, get over there now and start evacuating the survivors to
the Exalon."
"Right," the three said.
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The evacuation plan started smoothly. The survivors of the Enterprise began evacuating to the Exalon vie the bridge
between the two ships.
Commander Xiao had just evacuated the Medical Bay and was not going to check to see if there were any stragglers.
Suddenly she hear a hoarse voice call out, "Help, me!" She looked around. A boy in a jumpsuit staggered into the
hallway. Ming immediately realized it was the Gundam Pilot, Koshiro she thought he was called.
"I... must get... to Gundam," he said.
"We're evacuating the ship," she said matter-of-factly.
"I must get to the Gundam," he repeated.
Tasha came running around the corner. "Koshiro! What are you doing up?"
"He just zombied into the hallway," Commander Xiao said.
"Tasha... please, take me to the Gundam," Koshiro requested as Tasha draped one of his arms across her shoulders.
"You're in no position to pilot anything," Tasha scolded.
"There's a... Zaku attack, isn't it?"
"Yes, Lee's taking care of it in the Guncannon."
"Lee?" Koshiro pulled away from Tasha and began running down the hallway, or a weaker version of a run.
Tasha huffed. "Men, they think they need to do everything. Oh, all right, let's go. Commander, can you help me?"
Together, the two women began dragging the boy down the hallway. They managed to get up and started across the bridge
when the trouble happened. First of all, they weren't alone, men and women were dashing across the bridge. Ming and
Tasha struggled to bring Koshiro across when a Zaku started heading there.
"Go, go, go!" Tasha cried. In a show of strength that didn't match her size, Ming lifted Koshiro onto her back and ran
to the Exalon. Tasha drew her weapon and fired point blank at the Zaku's mono-eye. Of course, the bullets had no affect
on it. The Zaku raised its heat hawk and sliced the bridge in half. Crew members began falling into the ocean.
Commander Xiao literally took a flying leap and was caught by several crewmembers who had formed a human chain.
Ming and Koshiro watched as Tasha plummeted down.
"Tasha!" Koshiro shouted.
To everyone's surprise, a cable lashed out and grabbed Tasha's waist. The cable retracted, and Tasha fell into Archangel's
hand.
Archangel held out Tasha to the Guncannon. It was clear what it was saying, let yourself get beat up or beat up
by Archangel or the human might be hurt.
"I have to get to the Gundam," Koshiro said. "Only then will I be able to save her."
"Fine, but I don't know where it is, you'll have to tell me."
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Lee saw what Archangel was planning. She didn't know what she could do. She stood down.
Archangel actually placed Tasha down on the ground. Then started swinging at the Guncannon. Lee held her arms up in
defense but no defense could prepare her for the kick Archangel landed square in her chest. If Lee wasn't wearing a
harness, she would've probably been slammed right out of the Guncannon but as it was, she only bobbled around a bit.
Lee started to take a step in to attack Archangel head on when she remembered Tasha, she looked down and saw the
operator standing slightly to the left of the Guncannon's left hoot. One wrong step and Tasha could be crushed.
Archangel didn't have any reservations, he continued pummeling the Guncannon like there was no tomorrow.
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Inside the Exalon, Commander Lucas cursed. "There must be something we could do."
"Commander," Victor called. "The Gundam's launch bay is opening!"
"What?!" Sure enough, the two bay doors parted revealing the insides.
Lucas scrambled to the communication consol, Lee's usual station. "Launch Bay, what's going on down there? Why have you
opened?"
"The B-Gundam is getting ready to launch," an engineer replied. "We have to open them up otherwise the B-Gundam
could be irrepairably dammaged."
Lucas swore again and opened another channel. "B-Gundam, you do not have authorization to launch. Shut down
immediately! You do not have the skills!"
"Yes I do." Commander Lucas was shocked. The voice was Koshiro!
"Koshiro, what are you doing out of the decom chamber.
"I promised that I would protect the Exalon and her crew and that's what I'm going to do."
"But you still have decom sickness," Muro said joining the Commander.
"I'll just have to live with it," Koshiro said.
"Fine," Commander Lucas grumbled. "But don't expect any backup and if you get killed, you'll have noone to blame but
yourself."
"I know. I'll get Lee and Tasha then hurry back as quickly as I could."
"Good luck, kid," Commander Lucas said quietly, then louder, "Launch B-Gundam now!"
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Lee and Ben also paused to see the bay doors open.
{Why are they launching the B-Gundam?} Lee thought.
"All units converge on that hangar," Ben ordered. "Don't let anything get out." Four Zakus hovered near the entrance
way...
And were promptly slice to pieces by an energy blade.
The B-Gundam was catapulted out and slammed into Archangel throwing both Mobile Suits off the Enterprise. Lee, knowing a
chance when she sees it, scooped up Tasha and jumped into the B-Gundam's launch bay.
Archangel activated its thrusters and manage to return to the Enterprise's deck with the B-Gundam.
"So you've finally decided to show yourself, Federation Mobile Suit," Ben said. "To tell the truth, I've prepared for
your arrival, with a little surprise." Archangel's chest opened up and a cannon barrel poked out. A shaft of energy
lanced out.
"Beam shield!" Koshiro quickly activated the beam shield but it wasn't long before the blast destroyed the energy shield.
The B-Gundam quickly twirled as the blast disintegrated the upper decks of the Enterprise.
"That blast defeated the beam shield!" Henry gasped. Tasha came onto the bridge and took her station.
"Welcome back," Victor whispered.
"Thanks," she whispered back.
"Tasha, Victor," Commander Lucas called. "Analyze that energy, I want to know what kind of weapon can overpower a beam
shield!"
"Right," they both said. And went about their work.
Koshiro tried desperately to avoid the shafts of energy that emitted from Archangel's cannon.
"Twins, what do you got?" Commander Lucas asked.
"The beam shield is designed to repel bullets and minovsky particle weapons," Victor began.
Tasha continued, "but that energy is neither bullet or MP weapon, it's using some other source of energy."
"It's hard to figure out what it is though,it doesn't match anything in the database."
"The G-System didn't realize that and therefore, couldn't defend against it."
"Koshiro isn't strong enough to withstand against that sort of firepower," Muro commented.
"Maybe he is," Henry said. "The G-armor, it might be strong enough to do that."
"But I thought you said in your report that the thing was too heavy," Commander Lucas pointed out.
"To move around, yes, but as a point defense, no problem."
"So how do we get it to him?"
"Duh!" Shinji cried. Lucas, Muro, and Henry all looked at him. "Henry, does the armor have laser lock systems?"
"Yes, it does, that's how it's able to stay on the B-Gundam."
Shinji turned rapidly to Tasha. "Tasha, can the locks be boosted somehow."
Tasha put on that smile she was famous for, the smile that came just before she got a brainstorm. "If we take
minovsky particles, use the transformers to turn them into electro-magnetic energy... yes, yes, YES! It could work."
"What's your plan, Shinji?" Commander Lucas asked.
"If we could control the locking mechanisms from here, we could send the armor to him through the catapult."
"That's brilliant, Shinji," Muro commented. "But the trick is to distract that enemy Mobile Suit long enough for it to
work."
"Looks like we'll just have to tempt fate on this one," Commander Lucas said and opened a communication line to Koshiro.
"Koshiro, we need to buy time for us to work out this little project we're cooking up. Could you..."
"Sure," Koshiro said getting at what the Commander wanted done. He ducked low and tackled Archangel, throwing him
into the water. "Hurry up, I don't know how long he can stay under there."
"Just so it's long enough," Henry said making a few more adjustments to the catapult. "Ready whenever you are, Commander."
Commander Lucas paused for just a second as Commander Xiao entered the bridge. "Launch G-Armor!"
The catapult launched an armored package at the B-Gundam. The package separated and revealed itself to be a set of
armor. A helmet, chest plate with broad shoulder plates, gloves, one with a big shield attached to it, and two tubes
that fittedover the B-Gundam's legs. With abnormal precision, the armor fitted itself onto the B-Gundam. The chest
plate blocked the entry hatch but Koshiro was fine with that. The V-shape spikes could be seen sticking out of
the helmet.
"Wow!" Ray gasped. He and the others had been standing quietly at the back of the bridge, but now they rushed forward
to look at the B-Gundam's new look.
"Hey, who let you children up on the bridge?" Commander Xiao asked harshly.
"We're part of the crew," Sonya said proudly.
"Crew?"
"Of course," Muro said winking at the Enterprise's former XO. "They have an important role, they take care of the ship
while we're away." Ming didn't understand the crypticity behind that.
"It's so cool," Christopher said.
"It looks like a knight," Sonya commented.
"A knight," Ray parroted. "Hey, I just thought of a cool name for it: The Beam-Knight Gundam."
Outside, Archangel leaped out of the water. Ben was seriously pissed off, not only at falling into the water, but that he
fell for one of the oldest tricks in the book. He then noticed the B-Gundam's new look.
"So that's why you did that, you wanted to get some more protection. Well, it won't do you any good." Archangel's stomach
cannon fired again. The Beam-Knight Gundam held out its shield and, ducked behind it. The blast hit the shield, but
unlike the beam shield, it didn't disintegrate, rather it began pushing the Beam-Knight Gundam back into the ruins of
the Enterprise's tower.
"You... won't... stop... me," Ben said. Suddenly an alarm sounded inside his cockpit. The constant firing was overloading
Archangel's systems. Continuing firing could result in Archangel's destruction. Ben let out a curse and retracted the
cannon. But it was too late, an explosion raked Archangel's insides. Archangel dropped to one knee.
"All units, retreat," one of the surviving Zakus cried. Two more Zakus picked up the fallen Archangel and they all
retreated.
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The B-Gundam was retracted into the Exalon and the armor lifted from it. Koshiro climbed out of the cockpit and onto the
upper catwalk. Lee was already there. She ran up to him and embraced him firmly.
"Koshiro, I can't believe you went out there in your condition, you had me worried sick!"
"Erk... Lee, your crushing me."
"Oh, sorry." Lee released him. "But seriously, what you did was very dangerous... and very brave." Koshiro blushed and
looked at the ground.
Commander Lucas and Muro came in.
"Welcome back to the land of the walking, Koshiro," Muro greeted.
Commander Lucas said to him firmly, "You had us all worried, young man. You were lucky this time, but the next time I see
you in that machine without confirmation from a Doctor, I'll boot you faster than you could say Gundam. Do I make myself
clear?"
"Clear... ergh..." Koshiro clenched his hip and smiled embarrassingly. "Clear as crystal, sir." The four laughed,
mostly at Koshiro's flustered look.
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The Exalon crew take on a new first officer as they get ready to travel again. However, the leader of AMEC believes that
Captain Garrett is a loose cannon, and scheme to have him killed with the help of Ben Hoshum.
Next episode: Conspiracy.
Who will die?