Mobile Suit Gundam Century's Dawn
Koshiro Anaka and Lee Moshiro have traveled to the Mobile Suit facility called Anaheim on the moon in order to get their Mobile Suits repaired and upgraded. While they did that, Captain Lucas and Lieutenant Okawa discovered that the other Colonies had been forming an alliance to stop Govenor Martin, the leader of Side 6. Captain Lucas made an offer to the Colony leaders: if the Exalon would help them stop Govenor Martin, then they would agree to assist the Earth Federation in taking back Earth from AMEC.
[Episode 19: G-Mode]
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The B-Gundam and Starlight Guncannon floated away from the Moon. The B-Gundam's space apparatus (which were mainly vernier thrusters) had been removed and, according to Vic, the technician at Anaheim Electronics, disposed of. It was replaced with an AMBAC system. Vic said it would help Koshiro move about more freely than the apparatus.
Lee had her monitors rebuilt and better than ever. Sal, Vic's assistant, said she installed a new scanning system that, according to her, can cut through Minovsky interference.
Suddenly, blasts of energy wizzed by them. They turned and saw several Jegan Mobile Suits coming towards them. And they recognized them.
"It's Side 6's Mobile Suits," Lee realized.
"Something tells me they don't want to ask us for directions," Koshiro said as he put up his beam shield. "Lee, we can't kill them."
"Try telling that to them," Lee said as she raised Starlight's arm allowing the energy from a beam weapon to pass harmlessly by her. She turned and fired her cannons. The shafts of energy destroyed the arms on one Jegan and left it floating in deep space. The B-Gundam punched the face of another Jegan in, then threw it at two of its buddies.
As the B-Gundam grappled with a Jegan, Koshiro heard a voice over his contact link. "Gundam Mobile Suit, by order of Govenor Martin, we must bring you in."
"On what charges?"
"Conspiring with the enemy."
"What? That's ridiculous!" Koshiro grabbed his beam saber and stabbed the Jegan in the shoulder. "Tell Govenor Martin that we're not Colony citizens and therefore, not bound by her laws."
"Failure to comply will result in your destruction."
{This guy has a one-track mind,} Koshiro thought. He turned to Lee and found that she had finished off the others. Some of the Jegans were nothing but hunks of metal.
"I know, I know, you said not to kill them," Lee said sensing Koshiro's annoyance. "Well, it's not like I wanted to."
"I guess it can't be helped."
Suddenly a new Mobile Suit attached to a large jet that was similar-looking to a Core Fighter appeared. It had a Zaku design but bigger and broader. It had two spike-like fins on its forehead.
"That's one buffed-up Zaku," Lee said. She fired her cannons. The two shafts of energy just bounced off the large Mobile Suit's arms which it held up to block it. "It took a direct attack and doesn't even have singed armor!"
"Lee, let's get out of here." The B-Gundam grabbed Starlight by the hand and flew off. Beam energy strafed them as the large Mobile Suit gave chase. "We're approaching one of the Colonies."
"Let's hope it's friend and not foe." The B-Gundam and Starlight widened the distance between the enemy Mobile Suit and themselves. Suddenly, a familiar-looking ship rose in between them. It was the Exalon which fired its mega-
particle cannon that was situated in between the two launch bays. The Mobile Suit had a tough time trying to block it.
"B-Gundam, this is the Exalon." The voice was Keela Niyoko. "Stay at your current location, we'll take care of the Gelgoog." More ships appeared on the horizon. Some of them looked like the AMEC ship that
"The Gel-what?" Lee asked Koshiro who simply shrugged.
"Exalon, this is the B-Gundam. Acknowledge."
The Exalon fired its cannon again. This time, the blast sent the Gelgoog spinning out of control. The B-Gundam and Starlight were retrieved.
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When Koshiro and Lee arrived on the bridge, they saw a few new faces on the bridge including a woman in a space suit.
"Welcome back, Koshiro, Lee," Captain Noah Lucas greeted.
"Captain, who are your new friends?" Lee asked.
"It appears that Govenor Martin's uptightness is more than just a product of her upbringing," Captain Lucas replied.
"What do you mean?" Koshiro asked.
Captain Lucas looked in the direction of Lieutenant Rena Ishiyama, their liaison with the Colonies. She nodded.
Lucas called up, "Twins, play it."
"Yes, sir!" Tasha Benson and Victor Lenard agreed. On the overhead monitor was an image of a colony.
"This is one of Side 1's colony settlements," Ishiyama explained. Koshiro and Lee gasped as the large cylindrical structure exploded into nothingness. The picture switched to another settlement. For a moment, Koshiro thought that the tape was repeating itself, but then he saw that it turned and started to move in the direction of another settlement. The two settlements collided.
"It's pretty much the same thing," Lieutenant Ishiyama said. "An entire colony wiped out all because Govenor Martin couldn't get her way."
"Govenor Martin wiped out an entire colony?" Koshiro couldn't believe what he was hearing.
"Sad, but true," Captain Lucas confirmed. "She sent infiltrators to each settlement and either self-destruct it or,
failing that, ram it into other settlements."
"But why would she do something so horrible?" Lee asked.
"For a long time, Govenor Martin had been debating the option of having one Govenor ruling all the Colonies, but nobody would hear of it. They knew she was just trying to take over herself. But none of us thought she would stoop to such a means to get what she wants."
"Sounds like Martin's nothing more than a spoiled child," Lee said crossing her arms.
"Precisely," Ishiyama agreed.
"We agreed that if we were to capture Martin and bring her before a Tribunal, they will help us take care of AMEC,"
Captain Lucas threw in.
"Then let's do it," Koshiro said. "Captain, I'll gladly lend them the B-Gundam's aid if the Colonies need it."
"Starlight too," Lee threw in.
Lucas nodded. "Right, we'll need it. Get ready, you two. Our mission begins in three hours."
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"Govenor Martin," one of her aides greeted.
"Has there been any word from the Gelgoog."
"Yes, ma'am. Before he was destroyed, the pilot reported through sub-relays that the Gundam-class Mobile Suit and the Guncannon that left Anaheim earlier today has rendezvous with the Exalon as well as ships belonging to other Colonies."
"I see, so even they're getting in. Very well then, it's time to show them once and for all. Prepare all our defenses."
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The forces of the other Colonies settled into orbit around Side 6. The Exalon, in addition to its two Mobile Suits, were carrying Lieutenant Ishiyama's Powered GM as well as several GS suits. Koshiro and Lee waited in their Mobile Suits to be launched. Meanwhile, the Colony leaders were broadcasting their plan to the forces from the safety of Side-3.
"Our Mobile Suits will act as our advance strike force and clear the way for our ships. Our primary task will be to find Martin and bring her in alive. Try to avoid civilian casualty if possible. Although knowing Martin, she will use them as shields."
"All right," Captain Lucas said once the Colony leaders were finished broadcasting to them. "Launch all Mobile Suits now!"
"Launch B-Gundam!" Koshiro shouted.
"Launch Starlight!"
"Launch GM Powered!"
Koshiro, Lee, Ishiyama, and the others were ejected into deep space. They advanced towards the first Colony of Side-6.
Suddenly a side panel opened up and an elongated tube was raised.
"A mass driver!" Ishiyama cried. "Everyone stay away from it!"
The mass driver launched an asteroid which collided with several GS suits and sent them spiraling.
"A mass driver?" Koshiro asked.
"In simplest terms, it's king of like a giant catapult," Ishiyama explained.
"I'll get it," Lee volunteered and fired her cannons. The cannons did little to damage the mass driver. "Wow, that thing's tough!"
"The best way to beat a mass driver is to stay as far away as possible. Everyone circle around. The MS force split up into two sections, each going around the mass driver.
But no sooner had they come across that, then they came upon another obsticle. A bulky red Mobile Suit with a giant gun."
"Is that a Gelgoog?" Koshiro asked.
"No, it's a Gerbera!" Ishiyama identified. "Those things were outlawed fifty years ago!"
"Try telling Martin that," Lee said.
"I'll take care of it," Koshiro volunteered. "Lee, you and Miss Ishiyama move in."
"Right. Let's go."
"Good luck, Koshiro. Please don't die on me."
"Don't worry, Lee, dying's not on my schedule today." The B-Gundam moved in. The Gerbera aimed its beam machine gun and fired. Koshiro banked the B-Gundam, grateful that Vic installed the AMBAC. He countered with his own vulcans but all they did was bounce off the Gerbera's armor. Koshiro fired his beam rifle but the Gerbera quickly dodged. Before Koshiro could draw another bead on it, it moved in close and slugged the B-Gundam in its stomach. "AAAAHHHHHH!" Koshiro yelled, surprised that for a large Mobile Suit, it was excellent at close-quarters combat. "Well... maybe I'll have to re-think my schedule."
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"Twins," Captain Lucas called. "Ready our main particle cannon! We'll blow that mass driver out of space!"
"Right," the Twins agreed.
"Wait," Commander Ming Xiao said. "What's that?" She pointed to several strange ships that were appearing in the distance.
Jeffrey Palmer, who was part of Ishiyama's liaison team to the Exalon, cried out, "They're Mobile Armors!"
"Mobile Armors? Are they anything like Mobile Suits?" Lucas asked.
"They're deadlier than Mobile Suits." He began pointing them out. "Bigro, Elmeth, Braw Bro, even a Zakrello! How did Martin get all of them? She must've been planning this for years!"
"Any way to stop them?" Lucas asked.
"Not that I know of."
"Change of plans," Lucas announced. "Shinji, aim our mega particle cannon at the nearest Mobile Armor and fire!"
The Zakrello moved in first, firing its scattered mega particle cannon. Muro Okawa, the helmswoman, jerked the Exalon to the right. The Exalon fired its mega particle cannon and destroyed the Zakrello. The others retaliated by ganging up on the Exalon, particularly the bridge.
The bridge shook so hard that even people who were sitting down fell to the floor. Victor lost his balance and fell to the floor hard, his head bleeding.
"Victor!" Tasha called out.
Tasha's scream caught Captain Lucas' attention and called out, "Keela, get a stretcher up here!"
Keela called the medical bay for a stretcher while Commander Xiao ran to attempt to stop the bleeding.
"Shinji, fire the cannon!" Lucas ordered. Shinji fired it and blew a hole in the side of the Braw Bro.
{I knew this wasn't going to be easy,} Captain Lucas thought. {But these guys are not like AMEC. They're more experienced with Mobile Suits, plus they have ones with more power and skill than even the B-Gundam! Think, Lucas,
remember what Grandpa wrote in his journal. These things must have a weakness somewhere.}
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The B-Gundam fell backwards from the assault made by the Gerbera's 110 milimeter machine cannon.
"If you think I'm going to fall that easy, you're sadly mistaken," Koshiro said. He fired his beam rifle. The blast bounced off some sort of forcefield. "No!" The Gerbera moved in again and this time, shoulder-charged the B-
Gundam. It gave the B-Gundam a one-two punch combo.
{This is insane!} Koshiro thought. {Despite being as big as a building, it's fast, and can fight well at close-
quarter. I'm going to have to figure out a new strategy to beat him.} The B-Gundam shook from an assault. {Problem is this guy isn't letting me.} "Fine," Koshiro said out loud. "You may be good at hand-to-hand..." He shouldered the beam rifle and put together his beam lance. "So let see how you do when it's lance-to-saber." The Gerbera drew a rather large beam saber. "So you think your sword is as big as mine? Well, let's see how you use it!" The two Mobile Suits moved in to close-quarter combat. The Gerbera brought its beam saber down in a verticle slice. Koshiro used the center of the lance to block then brought the underside of it up. The Gerbera flew back and made a stabbing movement with its saber. The B-Gundam twisted and mimiced the gesture with its lance. The two Mobile Suits mirrored strike for strike, block for block.
{I hope Lee's having better luck than me.}
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{I hope Koshiro's having more fun than me,} Lee thought. She, Ishiyama, and their squadrons of GS came across another hazard: the Side 6's Jegan force. Over 80 Jegans had cut them off from the rest.
She moved in for close-quarters combat. She grappled with a Jegan as a voice came over her contact link (another feature that Sal installed).
"Exalon Guncannon, please desist this attack at once! I don't want to destroy you." Lee recognized the voice. It was Mister Nicholson, the man who helped them against the Marasai.
"Mister Nicholson?"
"I like you guys, really," Nicholson said as he put pressure on Starlight's hands. "But I must defend Side-6 no matter the cost."
"I thought you didn't like Govenor Martin."
"Believe me, I'm not very fond of her, but I am a soldier and a soldier must follow orders. I'm sorry."
Despite herself, Lee chuckled. "You're right,a soldier must follow orders. And my orders are to capture Govenor Martin.
I'm sorry too."
"It's obvious that one of us will die this day, so do me a favor. Make me work for it. Fight at your very hardest."
"Right." Ishiyama took a beam saber from an enemy Jegan and threw it to Starlight. Starlight caught it and ignited it.
The two clashed their sabers then clashed again.
"You're not bad," Nicholson commented.
"Right back at you," Lee returned. The two kept clashing, neither one letting up. Finally, as Nicholson raised his beam saber over his head, Lee thrust her own beam saber forward and stabbed Nicholson's Jegan in the chest. Sparks began flying out of it.
"Well-done, Guncannon. I knew you were no ordinary pilot. You're someone special."
["You are more important to this war than any soldier."] Lee gasped. The AMEC Captain Raven said something along those same lines. It was like total strangers knew a secret about her that not even she knew.
"Never lose that fire, that passion," Nicholson coached. "That fire is what separates the victors from the defeated.
Go ahead, Starlight Guncannon, be a victor." The Jegan fell away before exploding.
{I'm sorry, Mister Nicholson,} Lee wanted to say. {But I'll keep what you said in my heart and I'll do it, I'll never lose my fire.} With her silent vow made, she returned to battle, using her newly-aquired beam saber to slice up enemy Jegans.
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The Gerbera pushed the B-Gundam into the side of one of the Side-6 colony settlements, making a Gundam-size imprint in the gleeming hull. According to the system readout, the B-Gundam was losing power with each attack the Gerbera made. Koshiro fired the vulcans again but just like before, they just bounced off the Gerbera's armor.
{This can't end like this!} Koshiro cried out in his mind. {I can't be destroyed. There's still so much I want to do. I want to be with my friends. I want to look out at the stars with Lee, play card games with Henry and hide-and-
seek with the children. I want to learn more about the Colonies from Keela. I want to pay back AMEC for their hand in destroying Scatterhaven! I want to see Paiyako again, even if it's only for an instant, even if it's in the heat of battle.} The Gerbera started to crush the B-Gundam's head. What about you, B-Gundam?" Koshiro asked. "I know you don't want to give up." The meters were holding at 35%. "All right, if I'm going down, I'm taking this joker with me. We may be destroyed, but we will make this a battle they will never forget." The Gerbera knocked the beam lance out of the B-Gundam's hand. "We'll make every single surviving pilot we come across look back on this battle and say 'that Gundam Pilot was the toughest pilot I ever came across.' Win or lose, we're both going down fighting! B-Gundam,
this may be our final hour, but I swear on the graves of everyone who was killed at Scatterhaven that I will not give up,
not until the very end!"
The cockpit began glowing. Koshiro felt energy coarsing through his body but at the same time he felt the energy drawing out of him. It didn't feel like he was controlling the B-Gundam, he felt like he was the B-Gundam.
"Is... is this what Vic was talking about?"
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"A psy-com system?"
"Psycommu," Vic corrected. "In simplest terms, it's like a mind interface between the Mobile Suit and the pilot.
The G-System, as you call it, operates on the same principles. However, a psycommu system can only be used by Newtypes."
"So you think I'm one of these... Newtypes?"
"No, but I think your Gundam is."
"Huh?"
Vic held out a graph. "While I was analyzing your Gundam, I noticed that certain numbers kept appearing in certain places. When graphed out, they look like brainwaves. What's more, the brainwaves match those that are normally emitted by a Newtype."
"Wait a second, Vic, you're not saying..."
Vic tipped his hat. "You got it, kid. It's not the pilot that's the Newtype, it's the Gundam! The G-System is actually the digitized brain patterns of a Newtype."
"So my skills in piloting... they actually come from the G-System?"
"There's more. Under normal circumstances, a Newtype who's in perfect harmony with his Mobile Suit can achieve almost God-like potential with it. Since the Newtype and the Mobile Suit are one and the same, the mental energies emitted by the Newtype would need to expel to something... or someone else."
"That explains the visions I've been having, and the ease I have in operating my Mobile Suit. The G-System has been helping me."
"If you could somehow make your thoughts in synch with that of the G-System, then you would be able to achieve a mode that hasn't been seen in over two hundred years. Kind of like a G-Mode."
"G-Mode, huh? Thanks for the info, Vic, I'll have to chew on it for a while."
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"This must be the G-Mode that Vic was talking about earlier. Now, I'm joined with the G-System."
It grabbed the extinguished beam lance. Two metal spikes came out of the top of it. A double-edged blade lit up and stood almost as tall as the B-Gundam itself. "Now, let's go, B-Gundam!" The B-Gundam's eyes changed from blue to green.
With one gigantic slice, it cleaved the Gerbera in half. It exploded and the B-Gundam flew through the fire and came out the other side.
"C... Captain Lucas," Tasha called shakily. She was still having trouble accepting that her other half was down in the medical bay right now being attended to. "Sensors are detecting massive power fluxuations coming... from the B-
Gundam."
"What?! What's the readings on it?"
"Well..." Tasha did some calculations and her face became so white it was almost albino-like. "The levels are currently reading at 120%!"
"My God!" Captain Lucas gasped. "What the hell's going on with Koshiro?" The bridge shook again.
"Captain!" Muro called. She pointed to a blue and white blur that was slicing through enemy Jegans like there was no tomorrow. Nobody could even see the slices being made.
"I've never seen anything like that before," Keela said. "It's almost... supernatural." The blue and white blur twirled and stabbed a Jegan that was approaching from behind. Continuing its twirl, it sliced an enemy Jegan in half.
It moved so fast that it was like a beam of light. It bore through holes of the remaining Mobile Armors then went for the Mass Driver, slicing it off the Colony it was hooked on.
Koshiro felt the energy leaving him. All of a sudden, he felt tired, like he just ran a ten mile marathon in under five minutes. He felt himself losing consciousness. The last thing he saw before losing consciousness was Starlight coming for him.
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"It's okay, Koshiro, I have you," Lee said Starlight wrapped her arms around the B-Gundam's waist. She didn't hear anything in reply. "Koshiro? Koshiro! Tasha, can you scan for Koshiro's vitals."
"Yeah. Don't worry, he's still alive. He's probably just unconscious. He was literally moving at the speed of light."
"Thank goodness," Lee said. She then looked towards one of the Side-6 settlements, the one that spawned the Mass Driver. A shuttle was quickly departing it. "Hey, what's that?"
"It's Govenor Martin's escort shuttle," Ishiyama realized. "She's making a break for it. She's heading for Earth!"
"If she gets into Earth's orbit, we'll never catch her," Lee said. "I'm shooting it down."
"Wait, Lee, we'll take care of Martin," Captain Lucas volunteered. "You just hold onto the B-Gundam."
"Understood."
"Henry, full power to engines! We must get her before she enters Earth's orbit."
"I'm giving her all she's got, Captain," Henry said almost comically. "But it's not like we have a tractor beam to grab her in."
"I understand. Tasha, open up the starboard launch bay and ready the emergency net." Normally, the emergency net was used to catch aircrafts that were making a too forceful entry into the Exalon. But Lucas found another use for it.
"Muro, keep our nose above Earth so that we'll skim off the outer atmosphere." The Exalon accelerated. The docking bay that normally housed Starlight opened up. It swallowed up the shuttle. "Raise net now!" A large black net was raised in front of the shuttle. No matter how hard the shuttle tried, it couldn't break through. Finally, the shuttle was forced to set down. Captain Lucas breathed a sigh of relief. "Good job, everybody. Muro, bring us about, we have a couple of Mobile Suits to retrieve."
"Yes, sir," Muro said thankful that the battle was over.
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Koshiro felt comfortable, more comfortable than he ever had before. But that didn't make any sense, it was hard to feel comfortable inside a giant robot in the middle of a space battle. Which meant that he was no longer in that scenario. He opened his eyes.
Koshiro found himself in a bed in the medical bay. His flight suit had been removed and replaced with a cloth hospital gown. Sitting up, he said, "How did I get here?"
"Glad to see you're awake," a voice came from next to him. Koshiro saw Victor sitting up in a bed next to him. He was also in a hospital gown and his head was bandaged.
"Victor? What are you doing here... for that matter, what am I doing here?"
"Well I'm here after taking a nose-dive from my seat. I thought it was a fifteen foot drop, turned out to only be ten."
He chuckled. "And as for you being here, well Lee said she found you unconscious in your Mobile Suit again."
"Lee... found me?"
"Hell yeah, who do you think kept you from tumbling into Earth's orbit."
"So, did we win? Did we capture Govenor Martin."
"Oh yeah, Tash told me we snared her in our own ship. She's in our brig right now. Tash also told me she's been whining ever since. Good thing we're down here, though I feel sorry for the poor stiff who drew the short straw in guard duty."
Koshiro laughed as the sound of the door opening filled his ears.
"Koshiro!" Koshiro turned and saw Lee floating in the open doorway along with Keela, Henry, Shinji, and the children.
She pushed off from the wall and flew like Superman towards him. Her eyes were overflowing with happy tears.
"Lee," Koshiro returned floating out of bed. The two met in a life-saving embrace. The momentum causes them to roll around the room as they laughed.
"Koshiro, you were fantastic out there," Lee said. "I never saw you fight with such intensity. It's like you were a completely different person."
"I can't take all the credit," Koshiro said. "It was the G-System. Somehow, it allowed me to fuse with the B-Gundam to become more powerful."
Lee looked at him with a shocked look. "Is... is that what you and Vic were talking about at Anaheim?"
"Yup," Koshiro admitted.
"Koshiro, I was so afraid that I lost you."
"Hey, what about me?" Victor spoke up. "I'm here too."
Lee gave the operator a foolish grin. "Don't worry, Victor, I'm glad you're all right too."
"Well, gee, you don't sound like it." The three had a good laugh as Keela, Henry and the children watched.
"At last, it's finally over," Keela said watching Koshiro and Lee in their strange little wrestling match.
"Yup, it's over," Henry confirmed.
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The Exalon arrives at Keela's home colony of Side 7 to get repairs for their trip back to Earth as well as observe the trial of Govenor Martin. As Keela shows them around her home, a pair of thugs kidnapp Sonya. It's up to Koshiro,
Keela, and Benny to save her.
Next episode: Homeward Bound
Be it ever so humble...
Koshiro Anaka and Lee Moshiro have traveled to the Mobile Suit facility called Anaheim on the moon in order to get their Mobile Suits repaired and upgraded. While they did that, Captain Lucas and Lieutenant Okawa discovered that the other Colonies had been forming an alliance to stop Govenor Martin, the leader of Side 6. Captain Lucas made an offer to the Colony leaders: if the Exalon would help them stop Govenor Martin, then they would agree to assist the Earth Federation in taking back Earth from AMEC.
[Episode 19: G-Mode]
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The B-Gundam and Starlight Guncannon floated away from the Moon. The B-Gundam's space apparatus (which were mainly vernier thrusters) had been removed and, according to Vic, the technician at Anaheim Electronics, disposed of. It was replaced with an AMBAC system. Vic said it would help Koshiro move about more freely than the apparatus.
Lee had her monitors rebuilt and better than ever. Sal, Vic's assistant, said she installed a new scanning system that, according to her, can cut through Minovsky interference.
Suddenly, blasts of energy wizzed by them. They turned and saw several Jegan Mobile Suits coming towards them. And they recognized them.
"It's Side 6's Mobile Suits," Lee realized.
"Something tells me they don't want to ask us for directions," Koshiro said as he put up his beam shield. "Lee, we can't kill them."
"Try telling that to them," Lee said as she raised Starlight's arm allowing the energy from a beam weapon to pass harmlessly by her. She turned and fired her cannons. The shafts of energy destroyed the arms on one Jegan and left it floating in deep space. The B-Gundam punched the face of another Jegan in, then threw it at two of its buddies.
As the B-Gundam grappled with a Jegan, Koshiro heard a voice over his contact link. "Gundam Mobile Suit, by order of Govenor Martin, we must bring you in."
"On what charges?"
"Conspiring with the enemy."
"What? That's ridiculous!" Koshiro grabbed his beam saber and stabbed the Jegan in the shoulder. "Tell Govenor Martin that we're not Colony citizens and therefore, not bound by her laws."
"Failure to comply will result in your destruction."
{This guy has a one-track mind,} Koshiro thought. He turned to Lee and found that she had finished off the others. Some of the Jegans were nothing but hunks of metal.
"I know, I know, you said not to kill them," Lee said sensing Koshiro's annoyance. "Well, it's not like I wanted to."
"I guess it can't be helped."
Suddenly a new Mobile Suit attached to a large jet that was similar-looking to a Core Fighter appeared. It had a Zaku design but bigger and broader. It had two spike-like fins on its forehead.
"That's one buffed-up Zaku," Lee said. She fired her cannons. The two shafts of energy just bounced off the large Mobile Suit's arms which it held up to block it. "It took a direct attack and doesn't even have singed armor!"
"Lee, let's get out of here." The B-Gundam grabbed Starlight by the hand and flew off. Beam energy strafed them as the large Mobile Suit gave chase. "We're approaching one of the Colonies."
"Let's hope it's friend and not foe." The B-Gundam and Starlight widened the distance between the enemy Mobile Suit and themselves. Suddenly, a familiar-looking ship rose in between them. It was the Exalon which fired its mega-
particle cannon that was situated in between the two launch bays. The Mobile Suit had a tough time trying to block it.
"B-Gundam, this is the Exalon." The voice was Keela Niyoko. "Stay at your current location, we'll take care of the Gelgoog." More ships appeared on the horizon. Some of them looked like the AMEC ship that
"The Gel-what?" Lee asked Koshiro who simply shrugged.
"Exalon, this is the B-Gundam. Acknowledge."
The Exalon fired its cannon again. This time, the blast sent the Gelgoog spinning out of control. The B-Gundam and Starlight were retrieved.
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When Koshiro and Lee arrived on the bridge, they saw a few new faces on the bridge including a woman in a space suit.
"Welcome back, Koshiro, Lee," Captain Noah Lucas greeted.
"Captain, who are your new friends?" Lee asked.
"It appears that Govenor Martin's uptightness is more than just a product of her upbringing," Captain Lucas replied.
"What do you mean?" Koshiro asked.
Captain Lucas looked in the direction of Lieutenant Rena Ishiyama, their liaison with the Colonies. She nodded.
Lucas called up, "Twins, play it."
"Yes, sir!" Tasha Benson and Victor Lenard agreed. On the overhead monitor was an image of a colony.
"This is one of Side 1's colony settlements," Ishiyama explained. Koshiro and Lee gasped as the large cylindrical structure exploded into nothingness. The picture switched to another settlement. For a moment, Koshiro thought that the tape was repeating itself, but then he saw that it turned and started to move in the direction of another settlement. The two settlements collided.
"It's pretty much the same thing," Lieutenant Ishiyama said. "An entire colony wiped out all because Govenor Martin couldn't get her way."
"Govenor Martin wiped out an entire colony?" Koshiro couldn't believe what he was hearing.
"Sad, but true," Captain Lucas confirmed. "She sent infiltrators to each settlement and either self-destruct it or,
failing that, ram it into other settlements."
"But why would she do something so horrible?" Lee asked.
"For a long time, Govenor Martin had been debating the option of having one Govenor ruling all the Colonies, but nobody would hear of it. They knew she was just trying to take over herself. But none of us thought she would stoop to such a means to get what she wants."
"Sounds like Martin's nothing more than a spoiled child," Lee said crossing her arms.
"Precisely," Ishiyama agreed.
"We agreed that if we were to capture Martin and bring her before a Tribunal, they will help us take care of AMEC,"
Captain Lucas threw in.
"Then let's do it," Koshiro said. "Captain, I'll gladly lend them the B-Gundam's aid if the Colonies need it."
"Starlight too," Lee threw in.
Lucas nodded. "Right, we'll need it. Get ready, you two. Our mission begins in three hours."
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"Govenor Martin," one of her aides greeted.
"Has there been any word from the Gelgoog."
"Yes, ma'am. Before he was destroyed, the pilot reported through sub-relays that the Gundam-class Mobile Suit and the Guncannon that left Anaheim earlier today has rendezvous with the Exalon as well as ships belonging to other Colonies."
"I see, so even they're getting in. Very well then, it's time to show them once and for all. Prepare all our defenses."
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The forces of the other Colonies settled into orbit around Side 6. The Exalon, in addition to its two Mobile Suits, were carrying Lieutenant Ishiyama's Powered GM as well as several GS suits. Koshiro and Lee waited in their Mobile Suits to be launched. Meanwhile, the Colony leaders were broadcasting their plan to the forces from the safety of Side-3.
"Our Mobile Suits will act as our advance strike force and clear the way for our ships. Our primary task will be to find Martin and bring her in alive. Try to avoid civilian casualty if possible. Although knowing Martin, she will use them as shields."
"All right," Captain Lucas said once the Colony leaders were finished broadcasting to them. "Launch all Mobile Suits now!"
"Launch B-Gundam!" Koshiro shouted.
"Launch Starlight!"
"Launch GM Powered!"
Koshiro, Lee, Ishiyama, and the others were ejected into deep space. They advanced towards the first Colony of Side-6.
Suddenly a side panel opened up and an elongated tube was raised.
"A mass driver!" Ishiyama cried. "Everyone stay away from it!"
The mass driver launched an asteroid which collided with several GS suits and sent them spiraling.
"A mass driver?" Koshiro asked.
"In simplest terms, it's king of like a giant catapult," Ishiyama explained.
"I'll get it," Lee volunteered and fired her cannons. The cannons did little to damage the mass driver. "Wow, that thing's tough!"
"The best way to beat a mass driver is to stay as far away as possible. Everyone circle around. The MS force split up into two sections, each going around the mass driver.
But no sooner had they come across that, then they came upon another obsticle. A bulky red Mobile Suit with a giant gun."
"Is that a Gelgoog?" Koshiro asked.
"No, it's a Gerbera!" Ishiyama identified. "Those things were outlawed fifty years ago!"
"Try telling Martin that," Lee said.
"I'll take care of it," Koshiro volunteered. "Lee, you and Miss Ishiyama move in."
"Right. Let's go."
"Good luck, Koshiro. Please don't die on me."
"Don't worry, Lee, dying's not on my schedule today." The B-Gundam moved in. The Gerbera aimed its beam machine gun and fired. Koshiro banked the B-Gundam, grateful that Vic installed the AMBAC. He countered with his own vulcans but all they did was bounce off the Gerbera's armor. Koshiro fired his beam rifle but the Gerbera quickly dodged. Before Koshiro could draw another bead on it, it moved in close and slugged the B-Gundam in its stomach. "AAAAHHHHHH!" Koshiro yelled, surprised that for a large Mobile Suit, it was excellent at close-quarters combat. "Well... maybe I'll have to re-think my schedule."
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"Twins," Captain Lucas called. "Ready our main particle cannon! We'll blow that mass driver out of space!"
"Right," the Twins agreed.
"Wait," Commander Ming Xiao said. "What's that?" She pointed to several strange ships that were appearing in the distance.
Jeffrey Palmer, who was part of Ishiyama's liaison team to the Exalon, cried out, "They're Mobile Armors!"
"Mobile Armors? Are they anything like Mobile Suits?" Lucas asked.
"They're deadlier than Mobile Suits." He began pointing them out. "Bigro, Elmeth, Braw Bro, even a Zakrello! How did Martin get all of them? She must've been planning this for years!"
"Any way to stop them?" Lucas asked.
"Not that I know of."
"Change of plans," Lucas announced. "Shinji, aim our mega particle cannon at the nearest Mobile Armor and fire!"
The Zakrello moved in first, firing its scattered mega particle cannon. Muro Okawa, the helmswoman, jerked the Exalon to the right. The Exalon fired its mega particle cannon and destroyed the Zakrello. The others retaliated by ganging up on the Exalon, particularly the bridge.
The bridge shook so hard that even people who were sitting down fell to the floor. Victor lost his balance and fell to the floor hard, his head bleeding.
"Victor!" Tasha called out.
Tasha's scream caught Captain Lucas' attention and called out, "Keela, get a stretcher up here!"
Keela called the medical bay for a stretcher while Commander Xiao ran to attempt to stop the bleeding.
"Shinji, fire the cannon!" Lucas ordered. Shinji fired it and blew a hole in the side of the Braw Bro.
{I knew this wasn't going to be easy,} Captain Lucas thought. {But these guys are not like AMEC. They're more experienced with Mobile Suits, plus they have ones with more power and skill than even the B-Gundam! Think, Lucas,
remember what Grandpa wrote in his journal. These things must have a weakness somewhere.}
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The B-Gundam fell backwards from the assault made by the Gerbera's 110 milimeter machine cannon.
"If you think I'm going to fall that easy, you're sadly mistaken," Koshiro said. He fired his beam rifle. The blast bounced off some sort of forcefield. "No!" The Gerbera moved in again and this time, shoulder-charged the B-
Gundam. It gave the B-Gundam a one-two punch combo.
{This is insane!} Koshiro thought. {Despite being as big as a building, it's fast, and can fight well at close-
quarter. I'm going to have to figure out a new strategy to beat him.} The B-Gundam shook from an assault. {Problem is this guy isn't letting me.} "Fine," Koshiro said out loud. "You may be good at hand-to-hand..." He shouldered the beam rifle and put together his beam lance. "So let see how you do when it's lance-to-saber." The Gerbera drew a rather large beam saber. "So you think your sword is as big as mine? Well, let's see how you use it!" The two Mobile Suits moved in to close-quarter combat. The Gerbera brought its beam saber down in a verticle slice. Koshiro used the center of the lance to block then brought the underside of it up. The Gerbera flew back and made a stabbing movement with its saber. The B-Gundam twisted and mimiced the gesture with its lance. The two Mobile Suits mirrored strike for strike, block for block.
{I hope Lee's having better luck than me.}
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{I hope Koshiro's having more fun than me,} Lee thought. She, Ishiyama, and their squadrons of GS came across another hazard: the Side 6's Jegan force. Over 80 Jegans had cut them off from the rest.
She moved in for close-quarters combat. She grappled with a Jegan as a voice came over her contact link (another feature that Sal installed).
"Exalon Guncannon, please desist this attack at once! I don't want to destroy you." Lee recognized the voice. It was Mister Nicholson, the man who helped them against the Marasai.
"Mister Nicholson?"
"I like you guys, really," Nicholson said as he put pressure on Starlight's hands. "But I must defend Side-6 no matter the cost."
"I thought you didn't like Govenor Martin."
"Believe me, I'm not very fond of her, but I am a soldier and a soldier must follow orders. I'm sorry."
Despite herself, Lee chuckled. "You're right,a soldier must follow orders. And my orders are to capture Govenor Martin.
I'm sorry too."
"It's obvious that one of us will die this day, so do me a favor. Make me work for it. Fight at your very hardest."
"Right." Ishiyama took a beam saber from an enemy Jegan and threw it to Starlight. Starlight caught it and ignited it.
The two clashed their sabers then clashed again.
"You're not bad," Nicholson commented.
"Right back at you," Lee returned. The two kept clashing, neither one letting up. Finally, as Nicholson raised his beam saber over his head, Lee thrust her own beam saber forward and stabbed Nicholson's Jegan in the chest. Sparks began flying out of it.
"Well-done, Guncannon. I knew you were no ordinary pilot. You're someone special."
["You are more important to this war than any soldier."] Lee gasped. The AMEC Captain Raven said something along those same lines. It was like total strangers knew a secret about her that not even she knew.
"Never lose that fire, that passion," Nicholson coached. "That fire is what separates the victors from the defeated.
Go ahead, Starlight Guncannon, be a victor." The Jegan fell away before exploding.
{I'm sorry, Mister Nicholson,} Lee wanted to say. {But I'll keep what you said in my heart and I'll do it, I'll never lose my fire.} With her silent vow made, she returned to battle, using her newly-aquired beam saber to slice up enemy Jegans.
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The Gerbera pushed the B-Gundam into the side of one of the Side-6 colony settlements, making a Gundam-size imprint in the gleeming hull. According to the system readout, the B-Gundam was losing power with each attack the Gerbera made. Koshiro fired the vulcans again but just like before, they just bounced off the Gerbera's armor.
{This can't end like this!} Koshiro cried out in his mind. {I can't be destroyed. There's still so much I want to do. I want to be with my friends. I want to look out at the stars with Lee, play card games with Henry and hide-and-
seek with the children. I want to learn more about the Colonies from Keela. I want to pay back AMEC for their hand in destroying Scatterhaven! I want to see Paiyako again, even if it's only for an instant, even if it's in the heat of battle.} The Gerbera started to crush the B-Gundam's head. What about you, B-Gundam?" Koshiro asked. "I know you don't want to give up." The meters were holding at 35%. "All right, if I'm going down, I'm taking this joker with me. We may be destroyed, but we will make this a battle they will never forget." The Gerbera knocked the beam lance out of the B-Gundam's hand. "We'll make every single surviving pilot we come across look back on this battle and say 'that Gundam Pilot was the toughest pilot I ever came across.' Win or lose, we're both going down fighting! B-Gundam,
this may be our final hour, but I swear on the graves of everyone who was killed at Scatterhaven that I will not give up,
not until the very end!"
The cockpit began glowing. Koshiro felt energy coarsing through his body but at the same time he felt the energy drawing out of him. It didn't feel like he was controlling the B-Gundam, he felt like he was the B-Gundam.
"Is... is this what Vic was talking about?"
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"A psy-com system?"
"Psycommu," Vic corrected. "In simplest terms, it's like a mind interface between the Mobile Suit and the pilot.
The G-System, as you call it, operates on the same principles. However, a psycommu system can only be used by Newtypes."
"So you think I'm one of these... Newtypes?"
"No, but I think your Gundam is."
"Huh?"
Vic held out a graph. "While I was analyzing your Gundam, I noticed that certain numbers kept appearing in certain places. When graphed out, they look like brainwaves. What's more, the brainwaves match those that are normally emitted by a Newtype."
"Wait a second, Vic, you're not saying..."
Vic tipped his hat. "You got it, kid. It's not the pilot that's the Newtype, it's the Gundam! The G-System is actually the digitized brain patterns of a Newtype."
"So my skills in piloting... they actually come from the G-System?"
"There's more. Under normal circumstances, a Newtype who's in perfect harmony with his Mobile Suit can achieve almost God-like potential with it. Since the Newtype and the Mobile Suit are one and the same, the mental energies emitted by the Newtype would need to expel to something... or someone else."
"That explains the visions I've been having, and the ease I have in operating my Mobile Suit. The G-System has been helping me."
"If you could somehow make your thoughts in synch with that of the G-System, then you would be able to achieve a mode that hasn't been seen in over two hundred years. Kind of like a G-Mode."
"G-Mode, huh? Thanks for the info, Vic, I'll have to chew on it for a while."
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"This must be the G-Mode that Vic was talking about earlier. Now, I'm joined with the G-System."
It grabbed the extinguished beam lance. Two metal spikes came out of the top of it. A double-edged blade lit up and stood almost as tall as the B-Gundam itself. "Now, let's go, B-Gundam!" The B-Gundam's eyes changed from blue to green.
With one gigantic slice, it cleaved the Gerbera in half. It exploded and the B-Gundam flew through the fire and came out the other side.
"C... Captain Lucas," Tasha called shakily. She was still having trouble accepting that her other half was down in the medical bay right now being attended to. "Sensors are detecting massive power fluxuations coming... from the B-
Gundam."
"What?! What's the readings on it?"
"Well..." Tasha did some calculations and her face became so white it was almost albino-like. "The levels are currently reading at 120%!"
"My God!" Captain Lucas gasped. "What the hell's going on with Koshiro?" The bridge shook again.
"Captain!" Muro called. She pointed to a blue and white blur that was slicing through enemy Jegans like there was no tomorrow. Nobody could even see the slices being made.
"I've never seen anything like that before," Keela said. "It's almost... supernatural." The blue and white blur twirled and stabbed a Jegan that was approaching from behind. Continuing its twirl, it sliced an enemy Jegan in half.
It moved so fast that it was like a beam of light. It bore through holes of the remaining Mobile Armors then went for the Mass Driver, slicing it off the Colony it was hooked on.
Koshiro felt the energy leaving him. All of a sudden, he felt tired, like he just ran a ten mile marathon in under five minutes. He felt himself losing consciousness. The last thing he saw before losing consciousness was Starlight coming for him.
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"It's okay, Koshiro, I have you," Lee said Starlight wrapped her arms around the B-Gundam's waist. She didn't hear anything in reply. "Koshiro? Koshiro! Tasha, can you scan for Koshiro's vitals."
"Yeah. Don't worry, he's still alive. He's probably just unconscious. He was literally moving at the speed of light."
"Thank goodness," Lee said. She then looked towards one of the Side-6 settlements, the one that spawned the Mass Driver. A shuttle was quickly departing it. "Hey, what's that?"
"It's Govenor Martin's escort shuttle," Ishiyama realized. "She's making a break for it. She's heading for Earth!"
"If she gets into Earth's orbit, we'll never catch her," Lee said. "I'm shooting it down."
"Wait, Lee, we'll take care of Martin," Captain Lucas volunteered. "You just hold onto the B-Gundam."
"Understood."
"Henry, full power to engines! We must get her before she enters Earth's orbit."
"I'm giving her all she's got, Captain," Henry said almost comically. "But it's not like we have a tractor beam to grab her in."
"I understand. Tasha, open up the starboard launch bay and ready the emergency net." Normally, the emergency net was used to catch aircrafts that were making a too forceful entry into the Exalon. But Lucas found another use for it.
"Muro, keep our nose above Earth so that we'll skim off the outer atmosphere." The Exalon accelerated. The docking bay that normally housed Starlight opened up. It swallowed up the shuttle. "Raise net now!" A large black net was raised in front of the shuttle. No matter how hard the shuttle tried, it couldn't break through. Finally, the shuttle was forced to set down. Captain Lucas breathed a sigh of relief. "Good job, everybody. Muro, bring us about, we have a couple of Mobile Suits to retrieve."
"Yes, sir," Muro said thankful that the battle was over.
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Koshiro felt comfortable, more comfortable than he ever had before. But that didn't make any sense, it was hard to feel comfortable inside a giant robot in the middle of a space battle. Which meant that he was no longer in that scenario. He opened his eyes.
Koshiro found himself in a bed in the medical bay. His flight suit had been removed and replaced with a cloth hospital gown. Sitting up, he said, "How did I get here?"
"Glad to see you're awake," a voice came from next to him. Koshiro saw Victor sitting up in a bed next to him. He was also in a hospital gown and his head was bandaged.
"Victor? What are you doing here... for that matter, what am I doing here?"
"Well I'm here after taking a nose-dive from my seat. I thought it was a fifteen foot drop, turned out to only be ten."
He chuckled. "And as for you being here, well Lee said she found you unconscious in your Mobile Suit again."
"Lee... found me?"
"Hell yeah, who do you think kept you from tumbling into Earth's orbit."
"So, did we win? Did we capture Govenor Martin."
"Oh yeah, Tash told me we snared her in our own ship. She's in our brig right now. Tash also told me she's been whining ever since. Good thing we're down here, though I feel sorry for the poor stiff who drew the short straw in guard duty."
Koshiro laughed as the sound of the door opening filled his ears.
"Koshiro!" Koshiro turned and saw Lee floating in the open doorway along with Keela, Henry, Shinji, and the children.
She pushed off from the wall and flew like Superman towards him. Her eyes were overflowing with happy tears.
"Lee," Koshiro returned floating out of bed. The two met in a life-saving embrace. The momentum causes them to roll around the room as they laughed.
"Koshiro, you were fantastic out there," Lee said. "I never saw you fight with such intensity. It's like you were a completely different person."
"I can't take all the credit," Koshiro said. "It was the G-System. Somehow, it allowed me to fuse with the B-Gundam to become more powerful."
Lee looked at him with a shocked look. "Is... is that what you and Vic were talking about at Anaheim?"
"Yup," Koshiro admitted.
"Koshiro, I was so afraid that I lost you."
"Hey, what about me?" Victor spoke up. "I'm here too."
Lee gave the operator a foolish grin. "Don't worry, Victor, I'm glad you're all right too."
"Well, gee, you don't sound like it." The three had a good laugh as Keela, Henry and the children watched.
"At last, it's finally over," Keela said watching Koshiro and Lee in their strange little wrestling match.
"Yup, it's over," Henry confirmed.
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The Exalon arrives at Keela's home colony of Side 7 to get repairs for their trip back to Earth as well as observe the trial of Govenor Martin. As Keela shows them around her home, a pair of thugs kidnapp Sonya. It's up to Koshiro,
Keela, and Benny to save her.
Next episode: Homeward Bound
Be it ever so humble...