SD Gundam Force GF
An SD Gundam Force fanfiction by Preventer Void
Episode 3: Clashing Swords - Arrival of the Knight Gundams!

The wind howled menacingly as the two armies faced each other across the plain. The sky was dark with unfallen rain, as if it were mirroring the tension between the two nations. On both sides, the commanders raised their swords, then pointed them down with a slashing motion. As the two infantries charged each other, the archers let loose with their arrows and the mages released their spells, summoning forth great fireballs and bolts of lightning upon each other. The sound of the two armies clashing was like a clap of thunder. Metal met metal, sparks flew, and shouts filled the air.

Across the field, the two commanders stared each other down. One drew his sword out of a shield-mounted scabbard. The other waved his hand, summoning a massive two-handed sword, buckler and a blue cape into being. Ignoring everything else, they charged straight towards each other. A soldier jumped up to attack one of them, only to be swatted aside easily. Arrows streamed towards the other, but he blocked them with his wide-bladed weapon. Finally, they met in the center of the battlefield and swung their swords at each other.

And with a deafening roar and a burst of surging energy, the world around them melted away.

"We are not pleased, General."

Haro sighed within his mask. Somehow, he didn't think that anything he did would satisfy the strict Secretary of Defense. Now, he would have to wait to learn what transgression he had made.

"We were hoping that knowledge of the Gundam Force's existence would remain privileged information," Hymem continued. "Unfortunately, in your latest battle..."

"But sir," Haro interrupted, "if the Gundam Force members hadn't used their Soul Drive abilities, they probably would have been destroyed, and then there would have been nothing standing between them and Neotopia City."

"Regardless, we feel you could have handled the situation with more...discression. We don't need the general populace learning about what we're doing here. I must warn you, if anything else like this happens, there WILL be repercussions."

Ensign X shook his head as he looked out the wide windows and into the bright blue sky. "I don't get it. We were just doing our job, so why'd they reprimand the General?"

Alise put her hand to the window as a bird flew by. "They want to keep our existence as much a secret as possible. That's why they tell us not to carry weapons outside unless there's a threat announced. That way, they can just pass us off as extremely fancy Mobile Citizens."

"That's not the only reason," Ensign V remarked as he entered the room. "I've never trusted the Secretary or his assistant. It's just...it seems like they have other things in mind than the general welfare of Neotopia. As for the Captain..."

"What about him?" asked X and Alise in the same instant.

V looked around furtively, as if checking for spies, before answering. "The story I've heard is that Captain Nu hasn't trusted the Secretary since the experimental dimensional travel tests over ten years ago."

X interrupted. "You mean the tests that lead to Captain F91's disappearance?"

"The very same," V replied with a nod. "From what I hear, Captain Nu thinks that they gave up too readily, as if they had a chance at saving him but just didn't bother doing anything for some reason."

The clouds rolled by as the three Gundams contemplated in silence.

A black cloud opened up above Neotopia City, looking as if a miniature thunderstorm had suddenly sprung into being. Although it discharged a couple of bolts of lightning, no rain fell from the cloud during its brief stay of existence. It was too high up for any of the citizens to see, but two figures emerged from the inky mass just before it disappeared. One of the figures righted itself in mid-air, floating lazily. The other fell like a stone until a surge of magical energy surrounded it. When the energy faded, the figure flew up to where the other was hovering.

"What kind of trick is this! You're trying to confuse me, aren't you!" demanded the first figure as he pointed his sword at the other.

The second figure snorted in contempt. "What are you talking about? I'm not the one who uses magic to fight his battles for him!"

"Why you!"

The two launched themselves at each other and began clashing.

Looking out the observation deck window, X caught an odd movement in the distance.

"Hey, what's..."

Before he could finish, a beam of white light shot out of one of the miniature figures and started tracing its way towards the other, tearing up everything that got in its way.

"Holy cow!" yelled Alise. "Did Dark Axis teleport their forces right into the city!"

V shook his head. "No, there are only two of them and they're fighting each other. We need to go stop them."

"You may want to wait on that."

The three turned towards the door and saw Captain Nu as he walked in. "The General is trying to make Mr. Hymem see things from our point of view..."

"Get out there and take care of those two menaces immediately!" Jamitov screamed through the video phone.

"But sir," Haro replied calmly, "you told me not to draw attention to the Gundam Force. If I send them out now..."

The Secretary of Defense gnashed his teeth. "So, you want to play it that way, do you? ...Fine. I'll take care of the public. Just stop those two maniacs from destroying everything!"

As the screen winked off, General Haro stood and looked at the assembled Gundam Force. "You heard the Secretary, everyone. We have to stop those two unidentified characters. Don't just rush in guns blazing, if they're not from Dark Axis we need to figure out why they're here."

Captain Nu smiled. "Sounds good to me. Everyone, let's go!"

In the city, the citizens scrambled around in a general chaos as the battle raged around them. One of the fighters landed and, in a burst of magic, produced an enormous cannon, leveled it at his opponent, and began imbuing it with magical energies.

"This is your end!"

He fired the cannon in the same instant his opponent released a wide beam of magical power from his sword. The two mystical attacks clashed for a split-second before exploding, sending wild tendrils of energy in every direction. One of those errant beams almost struck Zeta as the flight-capable members of the SDG raced to the city.

"What the heck are throwing around out there? It doesn't seem like regular beam weapons," he commented as he returned to formation with the others.

Ensign X shrugged. "Maybe it's magic?"

"You need to stop reading those comic books," said Double-Zeta as he increased his speed towards the fight.

Cursing as he dodged another stray bolt of energy, Captain Nu came upon the grounded warrior, who was lining up an arrow in his bow again.

"So how the heck do we stop these guys?" asked Leopard as he rolled along next to the Captain, thanks to his foot-mounted wheels.

"I have a few ideas," Sil replied as she lined up a shot with her VSBRs towards the unidentified figure.

Nu reached over and lowered her weapon. "No, we're bringing these guys in alive. Let's settle for a warning shot first."

The sound of Leopard's gatling firing drew their attention over. When greeted by their questioning glares, he pointed at the figure. "He was about to fire again."

Captain Nu sighed, then raised his beam rifle. "Alright, drop your weapons and surrender."

"Have you no sense of honor?" questioned the figure as he turned to face the Gundams. To their surprise, other than his elaborate armor and mideval weaponry, he looked just like a Gundam. "I'm in the middle of a duel with the leader of the enemy army, and..."

"AND you're in the middle of a city!" interrupted Sil with a tone of annoyance in her voice. "Didn't you notice all the people running away?"

The mystery Gundam blinked in surprise. "This is a city? Are you saying that people actually live in these square mountains?"

The three Gundams looked at each other in mild confusion. Shaking his head, Nu turned back to the other Gundam. "Look, for now, you and your opponent should come with us by the authority of the local defense force."

A brief wave of magical power washed over the Gundam, causing his weapons and cape to disappear. "As you wish."

General Haro paced back and forth in front of the holding cells on Blanc Base, two of which now had occupants. Even though he had managed to get Jamitov and his cronies to back off, the situation wasn't good any way you looked at it. He turned to the two Gundams.

"On the positive side, there were no casualties as a result of your actions. However, people were still hurt, and now there is going to be a massive backlash. We'll be lucky if the people don't ask us to disband."

"But sir..."

"No buts!" he interrupted. "While I am inclined to treat guests with respect, you two have shown that you can't be trusted to be within arm's reach of one another. Until you decide to behave more rationally, you will remain here. Is that understood?"

Without waiting for a reply from either of them, the General stormed out of the room.

Zako...Zako...Zako...

It's the Zako Zako Hour!

Zako 1: Ladies and gentle-bots, welcome to the Zako Zako Hour! Today's subject is...

Zakos: (together) "Important People of the Dark Axis!"

Zako 3: Wait a second!

Zako 1: What's the problem, zako?

Zako 3: Shouldn't we talk about those new Gundams?

Zako 2: We're saving that for another episode, so we don't spoil any of the surprise!

Zako 3: That makes sense, I guess...

Zako 1: Anyway, on with the show. The first important person in Dark Axis is...

Voice: Hold it right there!

Zako 1: Huh?

(Two shadowy figures come from the wings of the stage; only their glowing green eyes are visible.)

Figure 1: You won't need to worry about your commanders just yet.

Zako 2: Why's that, zako?

Figure 2: Because the two of us will be taking temporary command of Dark Axis' excursionary forces while your leaders recuperate from their last battle with the Gundam Force.

Zako 3: Who are you?

Figure 1: You'll just have to wait and see...

Zako 1: Oh well...I guess there's nothing else left to say, except...

For the future of the Dark Axis, ZAKO SOLDIERS, FIGHT!

(Fade out, leaving nothing but the figures' eyes and their laughter.)