Chapter XIII: Endgame, Part I
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Space Station Penta,
April 4, UC 0088
The final check up was almost complete. Armus Gray stood still on an overhead ramp, overseeing the main hangar of Space Station Penta. Lynn and the other 2 GraveWalkers supervised the technicians mounting up armor plating and ammunitions using any spare parts they could scavenge in the station. Torque wrenches flew here and there, and sparks from electric welders blossomed all along the mobile suits. The Xeku Zwei, Josh Offshore's blue mobile suit, monopolized two spaces and drew twice as many technicians than those for a single Z Plus. The azure monstrosity towered over anything else in the hangar; but even its one-of-its-kind feature could not wipe away the anxiety that fired on the eyes of every soldiers. In 12 hours, the New Desides - X Divisional Fleet force would strike Earth Federation senate on Dakar.
"I talked to the chief tech," Josh Offshore came in. "EFF took almost everything from Penta, but the leftovers are more than enough to refurbish our mobile suits to nominal conditions. The techs found some cryogenic systems to replace your busted ones, so you're good to go. Admiral Aeno found a stash of Gundarium plating on the warehouse. Not enough for Bull Run, but plenty for the mobile suits. Weapons, ammunitions and food were also contained. We practically robbed this place."
"Will it make a difference?" Armus huffed.
"What do you mean 'will it make a difference'? Don't tell me you're afraid of dying!"
"I'm not afraid of dying," Armus cocked his rifle. "I'm afraid of the future. What's next after this? Suppose we accomplish our mission... will the Earth Federation change? Will corruption stop? Will Earthnoids split from Spacenoids? And if they do, will it make any difference to us? And then, what will become of us?"
"Clearly you have forgotten of what it takes to be a soldier," Josh smiled.
"Have I?" Armus scoffed.
"Yes you have. We were Earth Federation once, you and me. We soldiers were never trained to second-guess our judgment. We're not bred to think. We're made to one and only one purpose: to accomplish our mission. Second-guessing leads to hesitation, hesitation leads to death, or losing a war for that matter. You're thinking too much, Armus."
"How come loosing most of your men doesn't make you think about these things?"
"Because nothing is cheap," Josh threw his eyes toward the hangar. "We have to pay for everything we want. Nine years ago EFF made a mistake for letting the Spacenoids grow into a military power as Principality of Zeon. The EFF built Titans to correct this mistake, but somehow the Spacenoids managed to poison the Earth Federation Senate to kill their own brainchildren. Now people seem to forget Zeon and start to embrace the Spacenoids. We are trying to remind people about the danger of living with Spacenoids. The death of our comrades, and possibly our own, is the price we have to pay to make people remember. Death is not something you want to remember your comrades by, but if we accomplish this mission, then death is our glory. Now come on. It's time."
It was a difficult point of view for Armus to palate, but he thought it was not the right time to ponder about philosophy. He followed Josh Offshore to descend to the hangar, then walked by his mobile suit. Lynn greeted him with a small smile, giving him a sense of readiness. Armus nodded his approval, then rallied his troops for what seemed to be the last time.
"This is our last battle together. We might not make it to see the end, and even if we do, the end might not be the ones we always imagine. But for all it's worth, I am proud to be a GraveWalker. I am honored to fight with a dozen of troops that give their hearts and souls for the glory of the true Earth Federation Force. I wish our fallen comrades were still here for our last stand. Now get to your mobile suits and make yourself proud."
Armus ended his speech with a salute. Lynn and the other 2 crews returned it with gusto. They didn't say anything, but their enthusiastic gestures were answer enough. They were ready to follow Armus to go wherever he wanted.
Armus dismissed them and climbed the ladder to the cockpit. He commenced the ritual: strapping himself to the command couch and punching the start button. The whirring sound at the back of his head told him about the eagerness of his Z Plus to follow his command. Seconds later his console sprouted information about the status of his mobile suits. Satisfied, Armus spoke to his comlink, "Alpha One, this is Gamma One. All system nominal."
"Very good, Lieutenant," Tosh Cray's voice crackled through his speaker. "Now listen to me. Your job is very simple. Clear my back from any bogeys until I bomb the Earth Federation Senate. I believe your Z Plus has the capability for atmospheric entry on your own, so keep the formation tight, but break off formation and fire at will if you feel it's necessary. I'll wait for you to regroup outside."
Jet engine screeched as WaveRiders blasted out of the hangar, slitting the dark space with their long, white trails. Armus lined up with Bull Run and orchestrated his squadron into a wedge formation. Tosh Cray followed suit in his Zodiac, with Josh Offshore closing the formation in his Xeku Zwei. Bull Run led the convoy toward Earth, and was about to engage atmospheric entry when proximity alarm roared through the bridge.
"All units, this is Bull Run. Two MSZ006-C1 Z Plus and the S Gundam are latching onto us, 2 minutes away and closing," the tactical officer of Bull Run stated. "Task Force Alpha's Pegasus III is 5 minutes away and closing."
"These guys don't know when to quit!" Tosh Cray grunted. "Lieutenant Gray, take'em out!"
Armus yanked his joystick hard, bringing his WaveRider pitch up 180 degree until he faced the opposite direction. Jiggling the stick a little, he lined up with one of the C1 Z Plus and waited for the hard lock. His heart pounding in his ears, he rubbed the trigger with his thumb as the targeting reticule sprung bright yellow. And when the reticule turned blood red, Armus mashed the trigger, spitting multiple blasts toward the C1 Z Plus. At the same time, his console screamed bloody murder, declaring the enemy was doing the same thing. Armus jerked his joystick hard to the left, missing a twin beam attack by the inches. Armus completed his roll, and cursed knowing the C1 Z Plus pulled the same stunt, dodging his attack.
Meanwhile, Lynn and the other 2 GraveWalkers lunged toward the S Gundam, paying little homage to the other C1 Z Plus. They knew that the C1 Z Plus was only a different variant from their mobile suit. The S Gundam, however, was the crown jewel of Task Force Alpha. Lynn switched to mobile suit mode and took a good aim at the center of the S Gundam. The other 2 WaveRiders swung to the left and right while throwing everything they've got at the S Gundam. Lynn waited until she had a lock, then fire 3 rounds of sharp attacks at the Gundam. But almost inhumanely the S Gundam rolled, pitched, yawed, and flinched to dodge every single attack. Goosebumps struck Lynn and her face went pale, as if she was looking at the devil itself. Mesmerized, she launched her second vain attack, totally oblivious to the other C1 Z Plus that lined up with one of the GraveWalker. A short burst from its rifle awakened her from her trance, but it was too late. She could only watch as one of her wingmen spun uncontrollably with smoking fuselage, before ended up in a brilliant explosion.
"Oh... crap! Lieutenant, we lost..."
"Keep your eyes on the S Gundam!" Armus quickly interjected, knowing how easy Lynn was distracted over a fallen comrade. "I'll take care of the C1's!"
Still in WaveRider mode, Armus pumped up his beam rifle, peppering the back of the C1 Z Plus, but the EFF mobile suit rolled back and forth. The C1 Z Plus tried to return fire, but Armus deftly swung to the mobile suit's blind spot, keeping it from unleashing its firepower. Desperate, the C1 Z Plus switched to WaveRider mode and blasted its afterburner, trying to get a better angle of attack. Armus banked hard to the right and quickly attacked the other C1 Z Plus that just fried his teammate. His cannon belched, spitting beam strands at the EFF mobile suit. The unwary C1 Z Plus was caught off guard. It managed to recoil, but one beam grazed the outer shell of its right leg. Sparks and smoke gushed out of the wound, and the hapless mobile suit staggered to maintain balance. Armus lined up with the failing mobile suit for the kill, but the other C1 Z Plus lined up with his tail. Armus quickly banked to the left as two strands of light swooshed just below his fuselage. A second too late, and he was toast.
Lynn yelled in frustration as the S Gundam continued to jeer at her attack, dancing left and right while starting to return fire. One shot almost got her on the torso if she was not quick enough to flinch. The other GraveWalker used his superior agility to get a good position and score a hit at the S Gundam, but even the vaguest hit was impossible. The S Gundam was simply too powerful for the GraveWalkers. With a quick swing, the S Gundam lined up its nozzle with the WaveRider, and a blinding light burst from the tip of the gun. Seconds later the WaveRider breached into two parts, gutted by the razor-sharp assault of the S Gundam. The two parts then exploded, sending cloud of flare and dust into the space.
"Sonofabitch!" Armus yelped, seeing his second wingman was butchered by the EFF ensemble. He quickly hailed his mother ship, "Bull Run, we can't hold on! We need immediate cover fire!"
To his dismay, a large commotion bantered his call for help, and after several seconds of inactivity, Aeno's reply came in like a dagger through his throat, "Lieutenant, Bull Run has lost 80 of her combat capability. She is no use for you. I will concede to the Earth Federation Force."
"What...."
"Bull Run surrenders to the Earth Federation Force. I'm sorry, Son. You're on your own."
Armus felt like a hammer fell onto his head. He knew Aeno was a coward, but he would never see this one coming. He felt his stomach gurgled, and he gulped hard to keep him from vomiting. Now he was down to 2 choices: follow Aeno and live, or continue fighting and die. If he followed Aeno, he could at least save Lynn, but Josh Offshore and Tosh Cray would die like idiots. The other way guaranteed his death, but the chance that everything they fought for would materialize. Tosh Cray descended to Earth and made his point clear by bombing the senate. Armus never agreed with Tosh Cray's plan, but giving up was a far, far worse act than terrorism. He couldn't do it to Jack and the other GraveWalkers that fell victim to his decision.
Armed with newfound wrath, Armus cranked up his reactor to maximum and charged the two C1 Z Plus, but the twin mobile suits backed away, regrouping and launching themselves toward the Zodiac and the Xeku Zwei that started to make atmospheric reentry. With Aeno changing allegiance (again) and the GraveWalkers down to 2 mobile suits, Task Force Alpha must've felt comfortable leaving the S Gundam fighting the GraveWalkers and sending the fast C1 Z Plus to deal with Tosh Cray and Josh Offshore. Armus turned back to face the S Gundam, but the scene was almost unbearable.
Lynn's Z Plus was floating numbingly. Sparks blossomed from every part of her mobile suit. Flaming fluid from her cryogenic system spilled into the vast space. Armor was almost non existent, and her jet nozzles were gushing smoke. The S Gundam perched proudly with its long beam rifle squarely against Lynn's cockpit.
"Lynn, get out of there!" Armus screamed from the top of his lung. "Bail out! Bail out!"
"I can't! Ejection system malfunctioned!" Lynn's terrified voice came in through the comlink. "Lieutenant... I don't want to die..."
"No! Hey! Hey you Feddie scumbag!" Armus did everything in his power to distract the S Gundam, but he couldn't shot it. He knew the S Gundam would flinch, and his shot might be the one that took Lynn away. "Godammit Ryu Roots! Leave her alone and get me!"
But it was not meant to be. The S Gundam's rifle bloomed with light, and a hot strand of energy incised the Z Plus right in the midst, cleanly went out through its back. Three consecutive explosions ripped the Z Plus from the inside, ending with a massive fireball that took it out of sight.
Now Armus stood alone.
Memories of Lynn's life flashed inside his head like a slide projector, from the moment she entered the academy up till she opened up her dreams of having a family. To Armus' eyes, the blue-white mobile suit in front of him bore every responsibility of Lynn's crushed dreams. He felt his blood boiling to feverish pitch, and he quickly switched to mobile suit mode and charged the S Gundam, which started to turn back to face him in a duel.
"Now you die, Ryu Roots!"
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Next, on "I, Feddie" Chapter XIV:
"I'll give you a chance to have mercy on your own soul. Surrender and your life will be spared."
"I need no mercy."
"Look at yourself. Look at your force. Bull Run and Seikyou had already conceded. My comrade was within striking distance with your attacking force. You've lost, and you are surrounded. There's no shame in giving it up!"
"Never! Not until you die!"
Armus pumped his beam rifle several times with no avail, and his console screamed and blinked, pronouncing that his energy pack was 20 effective. Armus knew that he had only several shots left. He pumped his rifle, spreading reddish strands whose gleam illuminated the dark void. The S Gundam took this lightly; it changed the energy pack on his rifle, then charged forward and hurled anything in his inventory. Traces of light from its vulcan and beam rifle raced toward the Z Plus. Armus blasted his jets, bringing his mobile suit away from the deadly volley, but S Gundam burst its vulcan at Armus's head. At point blank range, the vulcan's punching power was enough to grind half of Z Plus' head into scrap metal.
Armus groaned in frustration and whipped his beam saber wildly, but the S Gundam drew its beam saber. It thrust the beam blade into the Z Plus' torso, and only Armus's quick reflex saved him from total destruction. The beam saber, however, sank into the Z Plus' right shoulder and walloped the internal structures. A brilliant explosion ensued, breaching one-third of the Z Plus' torso along with its right arm. The drab mobile suit turned gray from the internal fire and smoke from broiled machinery, and floated haplessly.
I, Feddie, and this is my last stand...