Disclaimer: I do not own the copyrights to Gundam Wing, Endless Waltz, Sailor Moon, Trigun, Evangelion, Lupin the Third, Outlaw Star, Rurouni Kenshin, G-Gundam, any other Gundam Series, Stephen King's The Dark Tower series, any movies, books, or any songs that are used in this story. All copyrights belong to their respective owners.
Notice to Readers: To understand certain parts of this story, you'll have to read the other stories before this one. It is recommended by not required.
The DarkTower
Anime's Unite
Chapter 22: The War for the Tower
000
Preventer Report:
Officer: Heero Yuy
Code-name: Perfect Soldier
Date: June 25, A.C. 216 (according to onboard clocks)
Report: The time has arrived; all of our preparations have been done. All the Gundams belonging to Preventer and the Shuffle Alliance have been given fine tunings. The Outlaw Star is repaired and the Novastorm is complete.
The Tensions among us all have grown thick with the time of our attack drawing closer. Even though we all have faced great dangers before, nothing can prepare us for what will lie ahead in this our greatest battle.
Yet, the King of this world has absolute confidence in us all for the abilities that we all have and share. I may not be sure about everyone else, but I know that I will complete this mission, even if it means die trying. This has been my way and I will continue with it.
000
Deep underground in the Northern Wastelands inside the Rabbit Hole, the Fellowship of the One were preparing for the war that would come on that day. Everything was setup for it, the Novastorm was moved to the launch bay, which was the one of the closest rooms to the surface itself.
The ship had already been loaded with the mobile suits, the Arrowheads, and the Outlaw Star. Most of all, the shuttle craft called the Defiant was loaded in, the very one that would serve as the first blow in the war against the Obsessed. While everyone took their places, either boarding the Outlaw Star for the Outlaw Six, getting into the cockpits of the Gundams, or boarding the defiant, the mood amongst the Fellowship was very quiet. Then again, perhaps no one could blame them because in less than one hour they would be charging into battle. Yet, one thing was certain; they were definitely not going in alone. Every member of the Fellowship had friends with them, in that time in the Rabbit Hole, every group had come to know each other, and the bonds between them grew stronger. Even amongst the couples of the Fellowship, such as Vash and Meryl, Wolfwood and Millie, Gene and Melphina, Lupin and Fujiko, Heero and Relena, Johan and Haruka, Asuka, Misato, and Shinji. All of them felt closer after enduring all of this, while others wondered if they would come out of the coming great battle alive, but the more battle hardened of the Fellowship knew that was the risk involved.
Onboard the bridge of the Novastorm, Misato Katsuragi sat in the captains' chair of the circular room with stations all around her. Though as Talbot explained to her, that not very many controllers would be needed, since some members of the Shuffle Alliance stayed onboard (Namely Chibodee Crocket's crew). They would be the operators, Bunny was in charge of operations, Janet for tactical, Cathy for Navigation, and Shirley was Misato's second-in-command.
"Bunny." Misato called to her chief of operations, "Have all ships and suits been loaded?"
"Yes, Ma'am." Bunny reported as she read the smooth glass-like display of her station, "Reports have just come in that all mobile suits and ships have been loaded. We are ready for launch."
"Open the launch doors." Misato ordered
"Opening the launch doors." Bunny announced as she followed the order given to her.
Directly above the Novastorm, the doors to the launch bay began to shudder as they opened sending down rain of dust and sand as well as beams of light that sparkled off of the Novastorm's smooth hull. Yet, as the dust came down onto the hull, it rolled off as if the hull was rejecting it altogether in order for its shimmering glory to remain like the pride of an avid collector.
Onboard the bridge, Misato and the operators looked to see the sunlight, real sunlight that they hadn't seen in at least a week. A sight that made Misato smile, thinking back to her earlier life, when it seemed to be so much better, before she became part of the Second Impact generation.
"Ma'am?" Bunny asked
Misato snapped back to reality, she cleared her throat, "Begin Vertical Launch Sequence."
"Beginning vertical launch sequence." Bunny announced as she and Cathy began to work simultaneously in starting up the Novastorm.
Outside along the bottom of the Novastorm, small hatches began to open and blue flames ignited sending up the dust, dirt, and smoke as it rose up and out of the launch bay to the blue skies above.
"Engage cloak." Misato ordered
Bunny immediately followed the order and the cloaking device activated sending its effects across the smooth hull of the Novastorm. It was already fifty feet off the ground when it became completely invisible leaving only the illusion of a strong win blowing through the launch bay with the force of a tornado. Within a few minutes the doors to the Rabbit Hole closed underneath the invisible Novastorm.
"We have cleared the Launch Bay." Bunny Reported
"Now to start the first part of Operation Trojan." Misato told her small bridge cew, "Open outer doors to Catapult One."
"Aye." Janet acknowledged, "Opening outer door to catapult one. Catapult one door open."
"Load the Defiant for launch."
"Defiant loaded."
Below in the bowels of the ship, the system of the Catapult worked by the use of platforms. The platforms themselves worked with a vertical conveyer system loading and each ship or suit in place. Once a ship is launched, the vertical conveyer moves loading in its next ship for launch. It was there at the beginning of Catapult One that the Defiant waited. Its engines had already started as it moved into place of the magnetic accelerators. The accelerators were rings that were placed inline down the inner tube of the Catapult to the outside world. Each ring would use a magnetic field that would engage its ship or suit and accelerate its momentum until it is launched. The defiant sat hovering in the first accelerator ring already cloaked for its mission.
On board, the members of the Earth Forces were scared as well as nervous and excited at the same time, which is why the whole experience was so weird to them. All of those intense feelings brewing, stewing, and colliding with one another so much that they weren't even sure what to feel.
On the bridge, Misato gave the order as soon as she heard the news that the Defiant was cloaked, loaded, and ready.
"Here we go." She whispered as she commanded, "Launch the Defiant."
"Aye, Launching." Janet reported
Below in Catapult one, the accelerator ring released and the Defiant sped, and sped, and sped with the ring around it pushing it faster until it exited out of the tube like a bullet out of a gun. And so, off it went to the City of Nash where Operation Trojan would start phase 1.
"Close Catapult One door." Misato ordered as she them commented to her crew, "Now, we wait, again."
000
On board the Defiant, as it jetted its way over the lands of Mydar, the crew waited in silent anticipation. At the controls flying the Defiant was Talbot Kyros who looked ahead seeing the Dark Tower approaching, with the goal beyond, the City of Nash. He passed the time by running through his crew complement in his head. There was the Sailor Senshi, the Peace Guns, the Lupin Crew, the Kenshin Gumi, the Gunsmith Cats, the Elvish Warrior Link, Gandalf the White, Draco the Beast Master, Armand, and Loki. The idea of if it was too much did come across his mind, but then he thought that with the Obsessed no one could be too careful.
With the Dark Tower coming closer Talbot was still a little paranoid that soon they would be found. He tried to reassure himself that Dark Eagle wouldn't expect him to use such technology or tricks.
As his thoughts wandered, a set of footsteps came up from behind him. He set the ship to autopilot and turned to look at who was approaching him. Immediately as his eyes looked in that direction he saw red and knew right away who it was, Vash the Stampede.
"What is it, Vash?" Talbot asked with a smile on his face and in his voice
"I'm sure you probably know that many of us were wondering what you plan to do once you face Dark Eagle." Vash explained his voice sounding serious and not brining up that goof-ball front that he did in the past.
"You're wondering if I'm going to kill him, Vash." Talbot said even though he never listened in on the conversations because his mind was preoccupied with thoughts of the mission, the ship, and the Obsessed.
"In a word, yes." Vash answered, his bright blue eyes looking down at Talbot asking for the answer to his question.
"Despite your fight against Legato and your brother you still hold up the idea of not killing." Talbot said with a great smile, "I do admire that in you, Vash, but this is a fight I have to fight and win on my own terms."
"No one has the right to take the life of another." Vash said his stare becoming grave
Talbot knew all too well of the very person who gave Vash that sentiment, so much so that he couldn't help but smile at him.
"I didn't even say I would." Talbot refuted, "But I still have to face him to truly gain back my freedom and dignity."
BEEP! BEEP!
Talbot turned to his console, "We're nearing out landing point. I suggest you wait with the others Vash, we are about to start our surprise attack."
Vash left Talbot's company and rejoined the others who were still silent about the matter at hand. That being that anyone of them could die at any second of the whole plan. With the support that they had they had a faint glimmer of hope that they will get through this alive and in one piece. The invisible Defiant flew over the City of Nash and came into the skyline where there was the Troy Tower. The very place that they would strike, Talbot took the controls to manual and began to set the Defiant down on the streets.
000
Amongst the Earth Forces, they felt a slight bump saying that they landed shortly after Vash had told them that they were about to land. After that the Decoy team (The Kenshin Gumi, The Sailor Senshi, and Draco the Beast Master) stood up waiting for the orders.
"Decoy team." Talbot called out, "Ready to transport."
"Ready!" They replied back
Talbot activated the transporter that sent the Decoy Team out into the streets of Nash. It truly was the first time that any of them had seen it. Everything was in ruin, cars piled up and rusting away into nothingness, the streets cracked in their need of repair, and the air so dense, dirty, and acrid like being in a field that was already burnt to ash. Above them they saw the buildings that stretched upward like trees of a forest, with their glass windows dirty, dingy, and cracked.
Draco brought their attention back, "Let's start." He said
Sanosuke Sagara cracked his knuckles, "I'll take that pleasure." He smirked
He looked around, not really caring what he got to demolish with his attack, just as long as he did since it had been so long since he did anything like it. At last he set his sights upon an old rusting car; he smiled devilishly as he drew back his fist and made the attack.
"FUTAI NO KIWAMI!" He shouted which sent the car directly to dust on the cracked sidewalk. Sanosuke wiped his hands as he smiled, "Damn that felt good to do."
Yet, Sanosuke would have had time to bask in the fact that there was action going on but all around them, alarms began to sound, and there were even the sounds of sirens as they drew closer and closer to them. At first they panicked but it was set aside as it was part of the plan.
"Time for us to entertain them." Draco smiled as he began to strip naked in the street and make his transformation into his dragon form.
The first round of cars sped around the corner directly to them at speeds that would equal or even rival those of drag racers.
"My turn." Sailor Neptune said as she brought her hands together interlocking her fingers as the water spurted out of them like a highly pressured leak. She opened up her hands and a small tidal wave of water washed over the coming cars sweeping them away like spiders down the kitchen sink. The flow of water from Sailor Neptune's hands stopped and the waters receded leaving the cars toppled and piled upon one another.
"And a little something to slow them down." Sailor Mercury stepped up to the challenge. She laid her hand into the waters and as instantly as they had appeared, the waters turned into ice. It began to spread outward to the cars that Neptune had toppled and with the coming ice they froze into place. Mercury took her hand away from the newly formed ice admiring her own powers as the Obsessed tried to get free of their icy prison.
"Let's keep going." Draco said as the Decoy Team ran through the streets with the Obsessed at their heels not knowing at all what they were going up against.
000
Back inside the Defiant, Talbot Kyros came down to meet the rest of the Earth Forces. He gave them all a short once-over glance as he asked a simply question to them all.
"You all know what to do, right?" He asked to them
"Yes." They all answered back with great confidence
"Then let's go for it." Talbot said as he waved his hand and the back door of the Defiant opened. As it did the remaining members of the Earth Forces caught a very good and strong whiff of the polluted city air. It was something that they only had a small scent of when they waited in the doll factory on the cities outskirts, but the potency was staggering as it filled their noses.
They all piled out onto the street in front of the Troy Tower. Instinctively as well as on a collective mentality they all looked up at the marvelous height and stature of the building. Even the Peace Guns had to marvel at it because they had never seen anything like it, not even the Project Seeds ships were like them. After a moments stare and gawk they brought their attention down to Talbot who stood in the center of them like a fire surrounded by campers.
"Good luck to all of you." He said as he squatted downward as if he had just landed upon his two feet and quickly stood back up again and it was with that motion that Talbot Kyros rocketed upward to the sky. He flew around like a distant bird until he vanished from sight.
On the ground, the Earth Forces proceeded with their plan. Wolfwood already brought out his famous Cross-Punisher weapon into its gatling gun position, while Millie brought out her stun-gun, Meryl with her Derringers, Vash and Knives with their guns. Even the Lupin Crew got out their guns and weapons ready for what they would face in the Tower.
"I don't want you to kill anyone!" Vash said to Wolfwood hoping his request would reach the others.
"Is he serious?" Lupin asked
"I'm afraid he is." Wolfwood moaned
"In that case, shoot to wound." Gandalf advised, "if one of the Obsessed is wounded they won't become an agent, which would be quite a bother for us. And if they're not killed they won't become a wraith either."
"Let's go in." Wolfwood said as he stepped up to the front revolving door of the Troy Tower. After stepping through the door he saw a security screening area with metal detectors. He stood there waiting for everyone else to catch up with him as he held his Cross-punisher over his shoulder.
Armand came up to Wolfwood's side along with the Gunsmith Cats. The four of them looked to the metal detectors as well as the security guards around them.
"Wait here." He said to the others and stepped through the screening area.
The soft buzzer of the detector sounded and one of the security guards came over to Wolfwood with a small plastic bin and a metal detector wand and said to Wolfwood in a very bored tone:
"Please remove any small metal items your carrying, keys, loose change…"
Wolfwood took the triggering mechanism to where it opened up his hand gun storage compartments in the horizontal bars. In a swift blurred motion, Wolfwood pulled out one of his guns and aimed it straight at the pudgy security guard who uttered in his shocked amazement.
"Holy shit…"
"Close enough." Wolfwood answered back as he shot him but he was careful that time to only wound them so that he wouldn't be too much of a bother.
With the other security guards watching, Wolfwood turned and fired a few more shots at the remaining few. Of course, there was one that had gotten away. He dodged behind one of the pillars with his two-way radio to his lips gasping for help.
"Backup." He uttered hoping that he wouldn't be spotted by the insane gunmen, but his hopes were shattered when the metal detector buzzed again and in came another man. The guard didn't even have a good look at him as he made the shot.
All the guards were out of the way as Wolfwood got his Cross-punisher back onto his shoulder and Armand rearmed himself.
"Simple enough." Wolfwood commended.
"Too simple." Armand answered back, as he loaded up his gun
A nearby door slammed open with a rush of footsteps coming from it like water out of a flood gate. Armand and Wolfwood looked and saw men dressed in heavy armor and artillery. They stampeded like cattle to their positions behind the pillars of the main hall of the Troy Tower. They cocked their guns giving Wolfwood and Armand one and only one ultimatum.
"Freeze!" One of the Swat members shouted at them.
Wolfwood switched his Cross-punisher to its Gattling Gun position and from behind his black lens sunglasses he gave his answer back to the Swat Team.
"No." He smirked as he and Armand dashed behind the pillars and conducted their barrage. Their bullets flying out and hitting their targets dead on, but amazingly enough (like Vash the Stampede before them) no one had died from their great attack. The two of them were like juggernauts with their guns, completely unstoppable. It was only less than a minute when all was quiet once again. All that was left in that hall were bullet casings, shattered marble tiling, and the guards with the Swat injured on the messy floor.
Wolfwood and Armand stepped over them and back to the metal detectors, all the while, checking on their guns.
"It's all clear now." Wolfwood called as the rest of the Earth Forces came through the metal detectors and stepped gingerly over the debris and injured men.
"Was all that really necessary?" Vash asked as they headed for the elevator.
Boarding it Loki answered back, "I know one thing, the janitor's gonna be pissed."
000
On board the elevator, Armand, Wolfwood, as well as Minnie-May of the Gunsmith Cats were preparing for their task that awaited them on the forty-fifth floor. Armand and Wolfwood were simply reloading their weapons, but May was constructing a "small" bomb. Small is usually a very loose tem when it comes to the Gunsmith Cat Minnie-May Hopkins. The phrase of self-control doesn't seem to be practical to her, that when she uses her bombs a little more bang is always a good thing. That was except for the poor bastard on the receiving end of it. So, Armand had to continually remind Minnie-May of what their target is like telling a psychotic hunter to kill one deer and not the whole heard.
As those three prepared, Loki began to tear at his shirt. Of course, it did attract a lot of attention, at least form those who didn't know the warrior thoroughly.
"Hey, I'm all for a guy taking his shirt off" Fujiko began, "but I hardly think that this is the right time."
"That's not what I'm doing." Loki said slightly annoyed at Fujiko's assumptions, "I'm preparing for my turn."
He ripped his shirt completely off to reveal golden armor underneath. It was tempered to fit the muscular physique of the man underneath. With metallic shoulder plates that seemed to have a small resemblance to claws and a chain mail that wrapped around his neck. Then to top it all off, Loki made a position that looked like he was stretching the muscles in his back, but that was when something sprouted. From Loki's back came a pair of wings, white feathered angel wings that spread outward from one side of the elevator to the next, that was until Loki brought them back to a relaxed position.
"I knew you had the face of an angel" Fujiko gawked at Loki, "But I had no idea."
"Neither did any of us, Fuji." Lupin agreed
"Oh, we knew." Gandalf said, "Loki as well as Bartleby have those wings."
"Yup." Loki agreed, "But its like Armand once said, how did that one go? Not all angels have wings…"
"Some of them have great legs." Armand finished Loki's quotation as he cocked his reloaded guns.
"Oh yeah, I'll agree to that." Lupin said as his eyes slowly ogled Fujiko's figure
"Let's stay focused, shall we?" Loki asked as he looked up at the dial as it slowly approached forty-five, floor by floor. Armand had opened up his small guitar case and handed Loki one of his guns he had. However, Loki wasn't exactly satisfied with it since the gun was about the size of one of Meryl's Derringers.
"This one isn't exactly me, Armand." Loki shook his head, "It may be a little more compact than my flaming sword but it doesn't have that wrathful edge to it. How'd you expect me to fight the Agents with this little thing?"
"Hmm," Armand said to himself as he rooted around in his guitar case and brought out two enormous looking guns. They were the kind of models that rivaled Vash and Knives revolvers, but instead of a six-bullet chamber it had a twenty-bullet clip.
"Now, that's more like it." Loki smiled as he stuffed the guns into his pants belt.
"You might also want to take this." Armand advised as he gave Loki one beam saber
Loki took it and slipped it down into his pocket and looked back up at the dial to see that it was about to start a new round once they reached the forty-fifth floor. By the time that the dial had reached forty nearly all the members of the team squeezed to either side of the elevator car. That was with the exception of Loki who took out his guns from his belt, cocked them both, and held them at his side as the elevator reached its destination.
DING!
The elevator doors opened to a long hallway with its economy carpet, minimal fluorescent lighting, evenly spaced doors, and three agents guarding the door at eh end of the hallway. All three of them dressed in exactly the same suits, hair cuts, sunglasses, and ear pieces. If they Lupin Crew were looking out and down the hallway they would have recognized one of them immediately. For it was the very agent who wanted to bring them to his master, alive, Agent Smith who looked down the hallway to the one standing inside the elevator. He grimaced angrily at him thinking back to all those failures that the Seven Guards slipped through his fingers.
"Hiya fellas." Loki smiled as he opened fire on the Agents. Of course the agents dodged the bullets leaving them to hit nothing but the walls and door behind them. As they dodged Loki called out to them in a half-laughing and almost maniacal manner, "Don't dodge! Don't dodge!"
He approached the Agents with one step after another sending out his bullets against them. Still, it seemed useless since they were hitting everything else except his desired targets. Yet, Loki knew better than this, he wasn't about to waste any of his bullets, and with the agents dodging Loki looked to the door at his right. He slammed his shoulder into it, breaking his way into the empty room as he called out to the others.
"Your turn, Gandalf!" Loki shouted.
The Agents paused and looked at one another, thinking that someone would have some kind of information. As they looked to each other, the lights in the hallway dimmed as something moved out of the elevator. They looked from behind their darkly tinted sunglasses to see a blinding light coming from the elevator that seemed to have a small resemblance to a person. The head of the trio, Agent Smith, took off his sunglasses to see the radiant personage of one of the Seven Guards, Gandalf the White.
"…No…" Smith grimaced again
Gandalf raised his white staff over his head that sent out an even brighter white light like the beam that goes round and round from a light house. The agents felt their eyes begin to burn within their sockets despite the sunglasses and no matter how painful it was or how much they wanted, they couldn't turn away from it. They felt like moths being drawn into a bug-zapper on someone's porch in summer about to be fried to a crisp.
"You may precede, my friend." Gandalf spoke aloud to his friend Loki who was still hiding in that empty room while Gandalf was working his magic. He knew that he had at least three bullets left, which should be enough for that triad in the hallway. Loki got back to his feet and went back into the hallway where Gandalf's spell made all the other lights in the hallway seem dim. He wasted no time as he made the shot, one…two…three. The Agents dropped straight tot the floor, their visage fading away to security guards like the ones that were injured down in the main hall, all three of them nursing the wounds that they had.
"All clear!" Loki called out as Gandalf's spell dimmed, the lights returned to normal, and the rest of the Earth Forces came out of the Elevator. They approached Gandalf and Loki who went to the door that the Agents were guarding, which was riddled with bullet holes like the walls around it that exposed its dry wall underneath its paint. Loki reached out and turned the door knob, but it was locked, despite the damage that he inflicted upon it during the attack.
"I believe this is where you come in." Loki smiled referring to the Lupin Crew
Lupin looked at the door then to the Samurai, Goemon Ishikawa, "I think this is more your forte," Lupin smiled as he bowed presenting the door to Goemon like a squire presenting his knight to the royal court.
Goemon looked at the door and took his stance, "Stand back, everyone."
No one asked any questions as to why; they simply took those few steps back to allow Goemon to do what he does best, the art of Iai or Samurai Quick-Draw. He took the stance he almost always takes and in lightning quick speeds he had already drawn his sword, the Zantetsuken, hacked through the door, and was sheathing it. As his sword clicked back into its wooden casing, the door fell away into pieces as if it were made of flimsy cardboard. Goemon stood back up admiring that his blade and his skills never seem to loose their edge.
The Earth Forces stepped over the injured security men, cut pieces of the door, and into a darkened room that was said to be the Communication Hub. Inside the room they saw a massive confusion of technological chaos. Wires ran from one side of the room to the other, sometimes straight and other times swerving and entangling each other like snakes during mating season. While along the walls were tall boxes strewn with wires each one having iridescent colors of blue, green, amber, and red. In the center there were piles of televisions stacked upon one another like the pyramids of Egypt. Every single screen was showing something different as if they were eyes that saw different places at the same time.
"So, now it's my turn." Minnie-May said as she brought out the bomb that she was constructing back inside the elevator. It wasn't anything really fancy especially for a job like this, just some plastic explosives with a remote detonator on it. She set the bomb to arm and held the detonator in her hand, "Let's move." She said to the others.
They walked as far away from the Hub room as possible, which was to the end of the hall and down into the emergency stair well. They went down an extra floor just to be safe from the coming explosion. No one said a word as Minnie-May Hopkins flipped the switch of her remote detonator. They felt a sharp blast followed by a rough rumble as the shockwave washed over them.
"Alright, Gandalf." Loki spoke, "I think its time to begin Phase 2."
Gandalf stood up and raised his staff high above his head where the head of it began to blaze with a bright green color like a neon sign in Las Vegas. It grew and grew until like a bullet, the light fired straight upward through the staircase, out of the building, and to the sky.
000
Out over the putrid and murky lake that surrounded the island where the Dark Tower stood. The still cloaked Novastorm hovered waiting for the sign to come. It was nerve wracking for the bridge crew because the possibility of being spotted was still very real. That's one thing Misato learned in her combat experience, that nothing is invulnerable or is an ultimate weapon. There is always a snag somewhere.
As Misato sat waiting, her heart pounding, she thought to herself that more than anything she could have used a beer. Just one can would have been nice, just to take the edge off of all the waiting. The again, the pilots sitting inside their Gundams on the platform system felt the agonizing annoyance of waiting. It seemed that the battle would be so much better if the waiting were cut out of it. Those usually are the worst things to go through in life, being rushed and waiting.
Bunny, the Operations Manager felt herself starting to drift into sleep but she then saw something in the distance on the screen. Her control panels began to beep at her and she knew what it all meant.
"Major Katsuragi!" Bunny called, "I got light, I see green light! The Earth Forces have completed their mission!"
"Open both Catapult doors!" Misato quickly ordered
"Aye!" Janet acknowledged, "Opening both Catapult doors!...Doors opened!"
"Launch Preventer Gundams!" Misato ordered
"Launching Preventer Gundams! Aye!" Janet Acknowledged as she sent the control commands down through the bowels of the ship and to the catapults.
Outside the doors to the Catapults opened and the Preventer Gundams launched like cannon balls out into the air above the Dark Tower. While the more aerial of them flew above and around it, the heavier ones stayed on the ground of the Dark Towers Island as they waited for the battle to begin.
From the sour lake around the Dark Tower, came mobile suits. They rose out from under the water like zombies rising out of a swamp in some horror movie. The Preventers managed to get a very good look at them all and they saw that they were painted a dull green and were oddly shaped. Particularly around the head that was domed with one single red camera lens for an eye that made them look like a legion of Cyclopes. Yet, as they rose out they were only armed with machine guns, the Preventers already felt victorious as the attack began with the Gundam Wing Zero and Ryu attacking them with swift and deadly force.
Except the Tallgeese III, inside Zechs Marquise looked among the oddly shaped mobile suits and saw one that was painted red. He couldn't explain it at first but he felt himself become compelled to fight. He felt compelled to fight that red one amongst the other dull green mobile suits, until a transmission came in for all the Preventer mobile suits. It came in on a small window on their MTS screens; they saw a man dressed in a highly clad red, black, and gold uniform, which had the same shade of red as the red mobile suit on the battlefield. Yet, the thing that struck the deepest chord with Zech's was what this man was wearing. Upon the man's face was a mask, one that was both oddly shaped like a battle helmet with horns that looked like the antennas of a Gundam as well as the mask that Zech's Marquise wore back in the year A.C. 195. He felt a deeper burning sensation to fight this man and Zechs already knew that this masked man was piloting the red mobile suit.
"This is Char Anzabar," the masked man spoke to the Preventer Gundams, "of the Obsessed Mobile Suit Army. Surrender now and give up your Gundams or die!"
Zechs Marquise saw Char Anzabar as a cocky upstart, especially from behind that mask he had. He narrowed his eyes at him and gave the answer that spoke for all the Preventers.
"Never…" Zechs snarled as he pushed his body and the Tallgeese III across the lake where he engaged the red mobile suit. The two of them took to the sky while the other Preventers on the ground and over the lake fought the Obsessed Mobile Suit Army.
As Char fought Zechs, he had something to say to him, "The art of war is deception. First, you must strike when your opponent least expects; in a place where he believes is strong, but is in fact weak; with an army he believes he has already vanquished."
"I disagree." Zechs said back as he wrapped the heat rod around Char's mobile suit, "I am not weak anywhere because I am a strong soldier, while you are weak hiding behind that mask! Only one man could wear that mask and his name is Zechs Marquise!"
"We'll see about that!" Char answered back but did it too zoon as Zech's used his heat rod to throw the red mobile suit to the waters below.
000
Back on the Novastorm, the bridge crew saw that they could begin their own part of Operation Trojan.
"Begin Orbital Launch Sequence!" Misato ordered
"Starting Orbital Launch." Bunny acknowledged
"All engines to maximum thrust." Cathy reported
On the main screen the bridge crew watched as they felt the Novastorm take a high angle and pierced through the clouds. Beyond the clouds they saw the blue sky and with each step of elevation they took, Bunny announced where they were.
"Passing through the ionosphere." She announced as the Novastorm continued to climb upward through the blue sky that slowly turned black, "Passing through outer ionosphere."
Just then everything seemed to feel so much lighter to the crew as if they had just gone into water and were starting to feel the floating effects of it.
"Entering orbital space." Bunny reported, "Activating artificial gravity."
And just like that, the crew felt their own body weight returning to them as if the water underneath them had been taken away and gravity took its place.
BEEP! BEEP!
"Major!" Janet called out, "Multiple enemy ships off the port bow."
"Let's see it." Misato quickly ordered and the main screen switched from empty black space to an area filled with all kinds of ships. They couldn't see the smaller ones, but what they saw were large triangular shaped ships surrounding a great gray cube that had spherical indentations on every face of its surface as it spun in the emptiness of space.
"Major." Janet called, "The computer has identified the enemy ships. There are fifteen Star Destroyers, three super Star Destroyers, and the Cube is the Central Obsessed Space Station. According to the records, Star Destroyers can hold a complement of two-hundred small fighters each, while the Super Star Destroyers can hold six-hundred."
Bunny spoke up, "It seems that we're severely outnumbered. It'd take an act of God to help us."
"Acts of men are better than acts of God." Misato refuted, "Prepare all Novastorm weapons and begin to fire on my command. Prep our remaining complement of ships and mobile suits. Then open both catapult doors and launch everything we have left."
"Yes, ma'am." Janet smiled knowing that she liked Misato even more with how fiery her spirit was, just like Shirley.
"All remaining ships and mobiles suits are ready, Ma'am." Janet reported, "Catapult doors one and two open and ready to launch, all weapons are ready waiting for your command."
Misato didn't hesitate, "Launch ships and mobile suits!"
"Launching, Aye!" Janet acknowledged as the command was sent down to the Catapults.
Of course, those who were down there were certainly ready for the coming battle. Even though Shinji and Asuka were piloting two of the Arrowhead fighters, there were still the remaining twenty, which they would also pilot. When they were briefed about this, the two of them had to ask how could they pilot the other twenty if they were already piloting two of them? It was explained that the two of them would wear a special device that would synchronize with their brainwaves. Similar to the sync-nodes that they used for the Eva's but unlike the Eva, the flight-sync will send the brainwaves on a wireless network to the other ships set to said pilots brainwaves. This would allow the pilot to fly their own ship as well as fly the other ships as well. The only catch is that depending upon the strength of the pilots brainwaves it would dictate how many ships can be sustained. In the case of Asuka and Shinji, they can both handle ten Arrowhead fighters each.
With the command sent the remaining mobile suits and ships launched; the Shuffle Alliance Gundams, the Preventer Teen Gundams, the Outlaw Star, and the Arrowhead Fighters. As they jetted out each of them looked at the number of enemies that they had to fight.
"Dear God," Leto Rodriguez uttered over the COM link in his Gundam Fox, "There are so many of them."
"Don't loose faith." William Maxwell advised his friend, "When there's a will, there's a way, and our will is too hardened to give up this easily."
"Where's the Novastorm?" Gene Starwind asked aboard the Outlaw Star
"They must still be cloaked." Jim deduced, "And that'll give us an edge."
"In that case," Asuka smirked from her Arrowhead, like she did before in her Eva Unit 02, "Let's go in there and defeat them!"
"I like this girls way of thinking." Asia grinned, "She could easily pass for a Ctarl-Ctarl."
"Then it's settled." Domon Kasshu finalized, "All forces attack!"
Yet, the attack didn't truly begin until Misato gave her first battle order back on the bridge of the Novastorm.
"Janet." She called, "Fire at will."
000
Back down on the planet in the clouds over the lands of Mydar, Talbot Kyros flew his way to the Dark Tower. As he passed over the lake he could clearly see the battle starting between the Preventer Gundams and the Obsessed mobile suits that were called, "Zakus".
"Typical Dark Eagle." He muttered to himself as he went along his way back to the Dark Tower where his enemy was.
On his approach he didn't waste time as he came to the balcony of his won workroom. It must have been years since that day long ago when Dark Eagle came to his tower saying how much he admired his work. Vanity, it seems to be the greatest flaw to being an author, at least that's what Talbot thought when he entered the workroom seeing that it was empty. He thought back to how Dark Eagle sprung his trap over him under the guise of admiration. As he went back to his desk where the chains he wore for decades still sat, the hatred that he had burned even deeper into him like a case of heartburn that he didn't want to stop.
He sat down in his chair and looked to his left to see the pile of black pages that sat at the far left side of the desk and his breathing peeling away more of the blackened paper. The very story that Dark Eagle asked…no, asked seems to be too gentle of a word…Dark Eagle forced him to write it, like the countless others he forced Talbot to do. Taking his attention away from it for a moment, he looked into the top right hand drawer of the small filing cabinet of the desk and pulled out stacks of paper he called his "originals".
They were stories that would hopefully bring him fame, bring him up to the level of his masters before him, the ones who had achieved their fame through their great craft. As they thought about his imprisonment, he tried to think of how many years he had been in the tower as he flipped through the pages of his originals.
"Seventy years." Talbot said to himself as he restacked his originals and slipped them back into the filing drawers.
"Seventy years?" A voice behind him asked
Talbot bolted right up and out from his chair with a look and posture of a man about to take on a fight. He looked and there he was, the man that he wanted to face, Dark Eagle. His clothes were a stark contrast to what he wore the day Talbot escaped. He was wearing a suit, one that was half black and half white, both colors alternating from one side to the other form the jacket, to the shirt, to the tie, and to the pants. It was also a stark contrast to what Talbot had a black suit with a long jacket that reached down to his knees. Talbot looked at Dark Eagle with such contemptible hatred for him.
"That's right." Talbot repeated himself, "You've kept me prisoner here in my own home for seventy years. Do you have the faintest idea of how long that is? DO YOU!? Of course not, because you've been living comfortably off of my home, my lands, and my talent, like a parasitic leech never being satisfied. All because you said you were my biggest fan and the fact you couldn't do any of it yourself. But it's changed now, I'm rising up against you, right now my army is taking down yours and I must say that they're doing a wonderful job of it."
"You…" Dark Eagle was about to speak, his eyes filled with rage and hatred. Especially when Dark Eagle reminded himself that Talbot burned the only copy of the story he forced him to write.
"Don't try any of your tricks on me now!" Talbot snarled, "They won't work on me anymore!"
Talbot reached under his coat for the very weapon that he had asked his guard Armand to build. He brought it out and displayed it in his fighting posture. It was a double-ended beam saber or saber staff. As he held it in that position he extended both beams that shimmered in green.
"Still using that rip-off." Dark Eagle grimaced
"Your one to talk, with the rip-offs you've done." Talbot answered back, "Then again, that's how I got the drop on you."
Dark Eagle looked confused at him, "How?"
"Cloaking devices." Talbot answered with such a great grin on his face as if the war had already won in his favor, "I knew you would never expect me to do that. Now, if you don't mind, I'd like to free my world…by killing you."
Dark Eagle narrowed his eyes at Talbot as he reached into his coat and pulled out his own beam saber, he extended its red blade at Talbot, but the king was much cleverer than that. He dashed and flipped over his desks to the balcony where he waited for his nemesis.
"Come and fight me out here, Dark Eagle!" Talbot challenged, "Unless you need someone to do it for you!"
Dark Eagle roared as he jumped over the balcony and met with Talbot's terms. Floating in the air the two of them began to fight back and forth exchanging blows with their beam sabers as they flew into the skies over Mydar.
000
The war for the Tower raged on in the streets of Nash, above the great lake, in the clouds, and among the stars. All of them fighting furiously to achieve their won victory. For the Earth Forces in Nash, it seemed hopeless until from the west came the entire Fremin army ready to take down the Obsessed with the weapons that they had. From the east came the Elvish warriors of Riverden, and they too were ready to aid the Fellowship of the One in their struggle against the Obsessed.
The struggle over the lake was continuing on as well, yet when it seemed that the Preventers were winning more of the Zaku mobile suits kept coming out of the lake. The fight itself seemed to be taking one step forward and two steps back, but they couldn't loose hope that the battle and the war would soon be won.
In space though, the battle there seemed more and more bleak. At first the Space Forces felt confident about their fight against the Obsessed in space. Yet, they met them with swift and very resistant force. The only thing that really gave balance to the battle was the cloaked Novastorm, which with some technological enhancements could fire its weapons while cloaked. In the short time that the battle had begun, the Novastorm had managed to take out seven of the Star Destroyers and two of the Super Star Destroyers. Yet, it was the forces that were going up against the fighters; there must have been thousands of them. The Arrowheads piloted by Shinji and Asuka managed about half of them, but the other half were quite slippery in their tactics.
Then something happened, the Space Forces looked in horror as the cube floating in the center of the Obsessed forces began to glow. It was starting to gather white light in one of the spherical indentations on one of its faces. That's when it occurred to everyone that those indentations on the cube were large cannons, but the even more terrifying unknown factor was where it was aiming. The answer was quickly given after the cube had fired. IT didn't hit any of the Space Forces, but their eyes followed the beam to its impact where they saw sparks going across a non-existent hull.
"They've hit the Novastorm!" Jim shouted
Back on the bridge of the Novastorm, the effects of the attack were far, far worse.
"Major!" Bunny called out, "They've made a direct hit! Hull breeches on decks fourteen and fifteen! Our cloak is failing!"
"Disengage the cloaking device!" Misato ordered, "Raise the shields and continue to fire! We may have lost our edge but we won't loose the battle or the war!"
From the outside, the Space Forces watched as the Novastorm lost its cloak and was fully exposed to the enemy. To Domon Kasshu, he decided that it was time to take out the Obsessed edge.
"Outlaw Star! Arrowheads!" He called, "Can you hold off the Obsessed for a while on your own?"
"How long of a while are we talking?" Shinji asked
"Ten minutes." Domon estimated
"You have five!" Gene Starwind compromised, "Now, go do what you plan to do!"
"Right." Domon said back, "All Gundams follow me!"
The Shuffle Alliance and the Preventer Teens followed Domon's God Gundam over the battlefield, past the Star Destroyers and directly to the cube itself. Domon only had one reason for this, it was the idea that loosing the battle, the war, and the way home were very real.
"What do you plan to do, Domon?" Chibodee asked
"We're gonna blow up the cube from the inside." Domon explained
"I get it." Hikaru agreed, "Since we've lost the cloaking device on the Novastorm, we'll take out their best weapon."
"Exactly." Domon confirmed, "We've just got to get inside."
"Leave that to me." Julia volunteered, "They'll never catch me, because I'm the Star Arrow!"
The Gundam Falcon that Julia piloted transformed into its bird mode and jetted its way across the face of the cube in a great blur like a shooting star. The rest of the Gundams were shocked and surprised at the great speeds she moved. Going across the cubes surface and no one being able to keep up with her, she truly did live up to her own boast of being the unmatchable Star Arrow.
By the time that the Shuffle Alliance and the rest of the Preventer Teens reached the cube, Julia had returned.
She quickly said, "I found a way! Follow me!"
No one had asked any questions, they simply followed the Gundam Falcon to a great exhaust vent at the top of the cube. Some of the little fighters that the Star Destroyers launched tried to keep up with them, even inside the inner bowels of the cube with all the pipes and wires. Sometimes they would crash into the walls and pipes while others simply crashed into each other. None of it was any concern to those Gundams going in, because they knew that it would be the greatest blow that they could strike.
After minutes of going through the maze of pipes, they had finally come to their goal. They came to a great area where all the pipes were coming to meet each other like two halves of an hour glass meeting together. It was clear to them that it was the reactor, the very source of energy for the great weapon that was used on the Novastorm.
"Everyone!" Domon called, "Send your attacks against that generator in the center!"
"No problem." Hikaru acknowledged as the barrage of attacks began, "PHEONIX FLAME!"
"DEATHS HAND!" William Maxwell called
"HAIL STORM!" Paul Marquise shouted
"FALCON'S ARROW!" Julia Rodriguez screamed
"FOX MIRAGE!" Leto cried out
"ANGEL'S FURY!" Kaworu Nagisa shouted
"BAKANETSU GOD FINGER!" Domon Kasshu called for his attack
"BURSTING MACHINE GUN PUNCH!" Chibodee shouted as he punched
"ROSE HURRICANE!" George DeSand called
"GAEA CRUSHER!" Argo Gulski cried out as he threw his gravitron hammer
"SHIN RYUUSEI KOCHOUKEN!" Sai-Saici called as the Butterfly Wings appeared
"BEAUTIFUL DANGEROUS HOOP!" Allenby announced as she cracked her beam whip.
All the attacks came down upon the reactor and the chain reaction began to start. With that the Shuffle Alliance and the Preventer Teens made their way out leaving the Obsessed Space Station to explode to scrap. While down below on the lands of Mydar everyone got a chance to witness another blow against the Obsessed.
000
The battle field over the waters of the lake that surrounded the Dark Tower Island saw the explosion in the sky. It was so much that all of them had stopped in the middle of their fights; just to look up to the sky to see it happen.
The fight between Zechs Marquise and Char Anzabar had raged on for a full fifteen minutes, both of them fighting their hardest against one another. Only that their skills were such that for the whole battle they simply equaled one another. It had become frustrating for them both wanting to vanquish the other but getting no closer to the goal; a true Sisyphean battle.
Though as the battle raged, the Gundam pilot, Johan Peacecraft Rodriguez felt very, very different, he knew that whatever powers Talbot had had spilled into him but in his fight against the Zaku's, his senses felt different.
"I can feel them." He said to himself, but as he did he rose the Gundam Ryu above the battle, with his friends shouting wondering just what in the hell he was doing. Yet, their pleas were blocked out by the new sensations that Johan was feeling. To him, the Zaku mobile suits were like stones that he could pick up and throw away; at least that's what it was starting to feel like to him. He reached out his hand with the Zaku's battling his friends below. With his mind stretched out to new levels on consciousness and the force of his will, the Zaku's stopped dead, not a single one of them could move.
Even Char Anzabar in his red Zaku furiously tried to move the controls, but it was of no use, they were unresponsive.
"What the hell just happened?" He asked furiously hoping that it was just a small glitch in his mobile suit. To him, he always felt invincible, that there was no enemy that he couldn't take down, until these Gundams came along. Just like being the neighborhood bully or thug and then someone else moves in and starts to do a hostile takeover with their fists. That was something that Char wasn't going to stand for, he'd be damned if he was going to loose to this asshole named Zechs Marquise. He shook the controls even harder but his mobile suit still didn't move.
"Damn you!" Char cursed
"Now's your chance, everyone!" Johan called out to the other Preventers, "Attack with all you have!"
"Works for me!" Duo cried out as he began his attack on the Zaku's with his beam scythe, along with the others. Heero you vaporized them with his buster rifle, Trowa firing out his bullets and missiles at the enemy, and all the Preventers came down on the Obsessed Mobile Suit with force they hadn't felt in so long since they began the quest. As the Preventers went to work on the Zaku's, Zechs decided to finish his bout with Char Anzabar. He brought about his mega cannon and aimed it directly at the floating and paralyzed red Zaku.
"Char Anzabar." Zechs sneered as he called out to his worthy foe, "You've waged a valiant fight, but only one man could wear that Mask of Shame…and his name was Zech's Marquise…Good-bye Char."
It was rather two faced that Zechs seemed to both hate as well as have respect for Char. It seemed to be very much in the same way that Zechs respected Heero Yuy, but then again Heero never wore a mask like his. Without hesitation, Zechs pulled the trigger for his Mega cannon sending out the destructive beam, destroying the red Zaku, and killing the pilot named Char Anzabar.
000
In the blue skies over Mydar among the white clouds that swirled high above the Dark Tower, the last battle still wore on between Talbot Kyros and Dark Eagle. The two of them flying over the clouds like supermen and swinging their beam sabers at one another like samurai. Though, Dark Eagle knew that Talbot had the upper hand since he was using the saber staff which allowed him to make extra swipes. It meant that Dark Eagle would have to stay on his toes even more than before and he was well aware of what was at stake for him, not only his life but the talents of Talbot which were as a valuable commodity as gold. Thinking of loosing Talbot wasn't something he was going to allow. As Dark Eagle fought back, there was a great rumble above them, and the two of them stopped to look and they saw a great fireball starting to dissipate in the blue sky.
Talbot smiled as he looked back at his enemy, "What's wrong, Dark Eagle?" He asked rather mockingly, "Can't you hear your spies telling you your loosing the war?"
Dark Eagle floated in front of him, "I can't hear them. What are you doing up there?"
"From the size of the explosion, I would say that they blew up that rip-off cube of yours." Talbot assessed as he looked at Dark Eagle whose face crinkled with such anger and fury. Even his face was becoming red like the blade he had in his hands.
"Damn you." Dark Eagle cursed as he took up his beam saber and started his attack back on Talbot Kyros.
The King of Mydar grinned as they locked together in their fight of sabers.
"If I had my cyborgs, Terminators, and Techno-Wraiths here, they'd put you in your place." Dark Eagle spat
"Yeah, always depending on others to do what you want to do." Talbot refuted, "And where would they put me? Back as your slave? I don't think so, not this time…but it's rather funny because I should thank you, because I've grown so much stronger over the past seventy years in my craft because of your imprisonment over me."
"Then why are you fighting me?" Dark Eagle grunted slashing and hacking his blade at his enemy.
"Because, I would never become my own author being a ghost writer for you" Talbot Explained. "I just want…to be free."
With the two of them in a saber lock, Talbot pushed hard against Dark Eagle. The Obsessed Lord was off balance for a moment, nearly loosing his grip upon his flight abilities. It was then that Talbot saw his opportunity with Dark Eagle flailing his arms around, he raised his saber staff and struck down upon his enemies arm. The arm, hand, and saber came off and fell down to the ground where the mobile suit battle was still being fought. With Dark Eagle disarmed (in more ways than one) Talbot saw his freedom within his reach. He deactivated one end of his saber staff so that he would need only one blade.
He did give Dark Eagle one last look to see how truly pitiful he was, and without any further hesitation, Talbot Kyros struck. His beam saber came through Dark Eagles neck and out the other side. The Obsessed Lords head came cleanly off of his neck when the blade came out the other side. Both head and body fell down, down, down through the clouds to whatever grave awaited him below.
Talbot looked down, deactivated his beam staff, and holstered it back underneath his knee-length coat. He allowed himself to float down through the clouds and down to the lands of Mydar. He saw the Dark Tower was close by and the war amongst the mobile suits was still on, as well as the battle in the City of Nash. In his descent, he came down to the balcony of his workroom. Looking to the south he knew what this called for.
"I'll need a very special spell for this one." He said to himself as he went to his desk
He rummaged through the drawers of blank paper until he came to a small box, at the very bottom of the top left drawer of his desk. The box itself was old and dusty; Talbot gave the dust a solid blow sending the dust into the air and all over the desk. He held it by its sides and allowed the bottom half to slip and fall softly onto his desk. Inside the dusty box was paper, but not just any paper, but golden paper that shimmered as he took out a single sheet. He looked at it for a single moment and got to work with the sounds of explosions in the distance. Reaching up he pulled out a special ink pot and a black and gold trimmed fountain pen. He dipped the pen into it and allowed the pen to soak and suck up the ink.
With the ink in his pen, he proceeded to write the spell. As he wrote, the ink blazed as if the ink were made out of sunlight until it faded and became the words that Talbot desired much like how ink dries on paper. The page was already full with the words that Talbot inscribed; he got out of his chair with the pen and paper in his hand. He walked out to the stone balcony and set the paper down with its blank unwritten side up. He took the pen and made that curly-q symbol on the gold sheets back. The ink blazed for a moment and then dried until all the ink on the page began to glow and like water, it puddle in the center of the page.
Talbot allowed the wind to carry the paper up to the sky and the clouds where it grew brighter and brighter like a miniature sun. There amongst the clouds, it exploded into a great tear where its diamond shape sharply contrasted in its black center against the blue sky. Inside there was a swirling like a whirlpool of black and white clouds.
"Go back home." Talbot whispered
He stood on his balcony as he witnessed his very special spell work its magic. From all around, things were being pulled into the black tear. The mobile suits from the lake both the damaged and brand-new, they flew up into the tear and were swallowed by its darkness. All of them swirling round and round and round into nothingness. Even though Talbot never saw it with his limited vision, but he knew that there were people going into the tear. It was pulling in all of the Obsessed into itself, the machines, the people, and creatures that they brought with them. It even brought down the ships from space into its very depths, like the mouth of a ravenous monster that had the greatest appetite in all creation. Until the tear closed in upon itself like a door that was being shut forever, it shrunk and closed leaving behind just the blue sky, but Talbot knew that this was only half of the spell.
The best place to see the rest of the spell do its work would have been anywhere in Mydar, as long as it could see the Tower itself. Either on the island itself, in the City of Nash, or at the tops of the Misty Mountains, but it was from those vantage points that anyone could see the exterior of the Tower change. The black shell was chipping away like old paint and falling to the ground like rain revealing the true form of the tower underneath. Under the black crust of the Dark Tower was a bright radiance like coral in the tropical sun under the surface of the shallow waters. For the Dark Tower, the effects can be seen from all around as well as up close, where it was being restored to its old glory…the glory that was the Ivory Tower.
With the restoration of the tower, everyone who could see it knew that all would be well once again in the lands of Mydar, because the Obsessed were banished, and the true king had returned.
To be continued…