Phase 5- Crying Skies

Another day of war, bloodshed, havoc, and death passed by across Earth, with dozens of battles taking place through the period of twenty-four hours. In some they drove off the Giyre forces or completely wiped them out, yet in others they were massacred, entire regiments of their military forces destroyed. Towns were ravaged, the once gorgeous country-sides were marred by the horrors of the fighting, the nature wrecked by the deadly weapons from both armies. It had been recorded that Giyre deployed even more troops from base, and set up bases on their landing, strengthening their grip of power of the Earth, while the people of the blue and green planet stayed firm in their cause to protect their homeland.

But it would remain to be just another day in the war.

Xigo opened up his locker, and threw in his red jacket with the rest of his items, both personal and military-associated. From the one side of it he took out a bottle filled with a deep blue beverage, a type of sports-drink. Slamming the door shut then, he leaned back against the lockers, taking a large gulp as well. With a big swallow, the young man sighed, leaning his head back and resting his eyes.

As she walked down the hallway, Jessa Rolander glanced into the room she passed by, and for a moment still kept walking before she stopped, noticing who was inside. She stepped into the doorway, a humored smile on her face.

"I've been wondering where you've been for the last day" she said. Keeping his usual calm attitude, Xigo only opened one for a moment to get a look at her, and see who it was.

"I've had a lot of work to do lately, pretty much all the procedures for getting into the military" he responded, then standing up from the lockers.

"So you've officially enlisted?" Jessa asked. Xigo shrugged, appearing a little disheartened.

"Damn right, got no where else to go really…". The young woman knew exactly what troubled him.

"I'm really sorry about what happened to your school" she explained. Xigo finished another sip of his drink.

"It's fine, I've started to get over it already" he said.

"Then…do you mind me asking how've you been?" Jessa asked, trying to smile. Xigo couldn't resist revealing one himself.

"I've been waiting for you to ask that honestly". Jessa chuckled as he smirked at her response to the remark. "But yeah, I've been fine. I'm really happy to be back here, I was excited to come and see everyone, especially the Alaska Base, even if I'm gonna probably be here now more than anything. But it's okay, I honestly love it here." Jessa smiled.

"Yeah, me too. That's why I try to help out wherever I can, and with following my dad around everywhere I actually get to work with a lot of things" the girl spoke.

"So you're in the military now too, huh?" Xigo asked. She nodded.

"I decided to start doing more when I was little younger than you, I only did a couple things with computers, but then as few years passed and I learned more, I started helping with Navigating Teams on the warships, like Jina and Iryn do in the bridge. Now since I was about sixteen, I've been able to start piloting some of the air-crafts" Jessa clarified. She quickly had Xigo's entire attention.

"Moebiuses and such?" he inquired.

"Yep, I decided to try it out after watching you at your school, it looked like fun, and I'm actually getting pretty good. Though, of course nothing to what you've been doing…" she began to say, and then started to giggle as Shigora smirked.

"You got it, I love that Gundam. Most important thing in my entire life" Xigo remarked. Jessa began to laugh now.

"You jerk!" she exclaimed. Xigo burst out laughing himself.

"Oh don't worry I still love all of you guys" he spat. Jessa was laughing even more now, putting her hand against the lockers and continuing her guffaw with Xigo still in it just from her amusement.

By now, he felt even happier being back on Earth.


"A full house!" Rodka exclaimed, slamming down his five cards onto the table. Taro and Logan both sighed at the sight of the three queens and two tens.

"Ugh, beats me" the Major groaned, throwing his quintet away.

"Same" Logan added. Gartol, on the other hand, grinned as he tried to contain a chuckle.

"Four of a kind!" the head-technician said, showing off a fabulous quartet of kings and one ace. Rodka's face bent.

"What the hell? Bullshit!" the young man shouted. Taro and Logan both laughed in their seats as Gartol gathered up all the chips from the pot. "Who loses with a full-house?".

"Hate to break it to ya…but you did!" Gartol teased, grinning wider as he stacked the many chips he just won. Rodka gave off a growling-like sound, leaned back in his chair.

"Just deal again" he muttered.

"Ahh shut it already Rodka, least you've won more than two hands" Logan said before drinking a large slug of his soda.

"Yeah man, you and me have really been the only ones gettin' stuff" Gartol added.

"Well, that's just 'cause you got a horseshoe up your ass Gartol" Taro commented, "but that's beside the point. If we were playing Hold 'Em it'd be different."

"Nah, Xigo would just dominate like he always does" Logan sighed, recalling some humiliating memories.

"So where's he been all day?" Rodka asked, taking his cards that Gartol dealt him.

"Well, Shirta told me he was with the Rolanders, I've been in here all day working on your Gundams" the man explained.

"I thought Desial and his team was taking care of that?" Taro said, glancing up at Gartol.

"He was. They're only mechanics, so they fix up any damage and stuff. I'm the Head Technician, so I gotta make sure other things like ammo and energy repletion is done. And that's pretty much what I was working on today. I had your grenade launcher and machine gun re-loaded Rodka, and Logan I got more rockets stashed into your battery, and your beam-rifle's almost done charging".

"Wow…thanks man" Logan said, surprised by the incredible work Gartol had completed all-day.

"Yeah really, that's a big help for me, I couldn't do all of that if I wanted to" Rodka added, throwing in a few chips to play his cards. Gartol smirked.

"Anytime guys, that's what I'm here for. If ya ever need anything else just ask, I'm sure I could find time to give ya a hand." he replied, putting in the same amount.

"Well I can tell for ya for certain I appreciate that, but right now I need a different kind of 'hand'" Logan groaned, tossing his cards away. After Taro bet as well, Rodka showed his cards.

"Two pair". The Major quickly threw his hand away.

"Beats me again…". Gartol was grinning once more.

"Three of a kind" he said, putting his cards down and sweeping in the chips. Rodka's face twisted.

"Unbelievable!".


Within the main control center for the Atlantic Federation Headquarters, several computer technicians, communicators and cartographers sat within the room that was only lighted by whatever screens and monitors were active. Each worker for the paramount military base was seated before their control panel or separate computer, continuing the work they had to do just as they did for every other day.

Jina and Iryn were next to each other, aggravated and growing impatient as they both attempted several times to type in the correct password to log into the Headquarter's Mapping System, so they could both begin putting new locations onto the maps.

"Jeez! That's the tenth one I've tried so far!" Iryn shouted, ignoring the other workers in the room.

"Well I just went with my thirteen I think, and I still got nothing" Jina added with a sigh. Iryn leaned back in her chair.

"Come on! This is ridiculous!" she growled, how are we supposed to know the password for this thing if we weren't even told it?". Jina sighed again, thinking even more negatively.

"And now we'll probably get in trouble for not finishing our work…" the girl said.

From behind them, the other head-technician, Shirta, laughed as she walked down a short flight of stairs to get to where the girls were sitting.

"Calm down you two, I know what it is for the program you gotta use" the young woman stated. In an instant they spun around in their chairs, eyes beaming.

"You do?" they asked. Shirta nodded.

"Yep, it's 'Seraphim'" she whispered. Jina and Iryn turned back to their keyboards, and typed in the given password. With a push of the 'enter' key, they finally received a screen other than 'Access Denied', this one being the opening page for a program called Atlantic Cartography.

"Hey it worked!" Jina exclaimed.

"How did you know what it was?" Iryn asked, looking back up at Shirta.

"Administrator Jorno told me it before I went to work with installing this program and a few others onto the Order. I've been quite busy all day with these new things, and I still gotta come in later and do some tinkering in here with a bunch of the systems" the young woman explained.

"Are you going to be mostly in here now?" Jina added.

"So it seems, there's not much left to do with the Order, and I can't exactly do anything else with the Llongshot. Even Commander Cerrical agreed that I'd be best suited in here" Shirta clarified, then thinking of something, "say, you girls stationed in here too?". They both nodded.

"Yeah. At first they wanted us to do what we're doing now on some of the battleships, but then they just sent us here instead" Iryn said. Jina then smiled.

"So I guess we'll all be working together" the young girl commented. Shirta smiled back.

"Looks like it".

On their screens then appeared the actual opening page for the program Atlantic Cartography 5.5. The name quickly made the girls feel uneasy.

"Hey Jina…this isn't what we've always used at Alaska, or even on the Order…".

"Yeah you're right, we've always just have Five-Point O…" Crestal said. Shirta leaned onto the one panel, getting a good look at their screens.

"Yep, this is the one I worked with before. We only use Five-Point O because Alaska and the Order don't need such advanced mapping, but because this is the Headquarters for the entire Atlantic Federation, they need stuff like this for mapping all of the Hemisphere" she explained. Jina and Iryn were slightly wide-eyed by the explication.

"Umm, Shirta…do you know how to work this…?" Jina asked.

"Well, what are you working on?" .

"Plotting locations for battles, new bases and possible future locations for them both" Crestal answered. Shirta smiled.

"Sure, no problem" the young woman replied, grabbing a chair and pulling it to herself in between the teens. Iryn gave a sigh of a relief.

"Wow, you're a lifesaver Shirta".


High the sky, beyond the limits of human-sight, the great Giyre air-assault team flew on ahead, soaring within the white clouds and against the blue firmament. Large amounts of the jet-black Mobile Suits called Blackhawks and large air-crafts named Zephlers crowded together in one massive group, heading on towards the Atlantic Federation's Headquarters, and joined by four Gundams.

Alongside Nitras in the Double Edge, Uusiko sat in the cockpit of the Bloodfire Gundam, a machine with the frightening colors of blood red and black. Beside him was Sakara in the Titan Gundam, one with massive crimson shoulder pads, and a body mainly of goldenrod and navy tones. Then leading them, as well as the entire squadron was the Jet Gundam, piloted by the ace-veteran Sergeant Worlat. The machine was of fine colors, likely jet-black, but also a light grey to blend in with the clouds and sky. It was truly the perfect Gundam for the incredible officer.

Inside his cockpit, Worlat sat holding his control sticks as he had the Jet move ahead at a steady pace, keeping it ahead of the rest of the troops, though not by a great amount. Like the rest of the pilots, the Sergeant was in a black-leather jacket, which was the common attire while instead the military machines, much like Earth's troops. And even more like many of the Earth's soldiers, he felt he was too far skilled of a pilot to wear the full suit, which was actually hard to argue.

"Ahh, finally. Here it is boys, here she comes" he said on his radio, noticing a huge black mass coming into the center of the squadron.

"Oh man! Is that the Roc?" Sakara asked, a wide grin on his face.

"Nothin' else. Everyone on the left side of the group move out of the way and let it get set in the middle of us" the Sergeant ordered. As the enormous craft began to steer into the center of them all, the Blackhawks and Zephlers near it moved from their positions, allowing for it to enter the area it needed to fly in.

"Damn, that's one hell of a jet there" Uusiko began, his eyes scanning the massive bomber, "the thing looks like it could take out the Headquarters without all those warheads." Worlat was amused by the comment.

"Thing probably can if we got close enough. Has more machine guns can we count and missile-launchers galore" he replied.

"Well then we can't let something of this beauty get shot down now" Uusiko added.

"Darn right, we gotta make sure this thing stays in the air long enough to drop the bombs at all costs" Nitras said, finally speaking during the flight.

"Hey kid, what's the distance for us from the place now?" Worlat asked. Nitras quickly pressed a button that gave him a screen with a map of the area on his main monitor.

"A little over ten miles from the dropping-point, approximately fifteen and a half from the Headquarters" the young Dolorga answered. Worlat smirked.

"Alright then, we're makin' good time. Nothing to worry about yet guys, let's just keep moving at the pace we are and get as far as possible before they notice us and send out their troops" he explained.


The Sound System went on in the Headquarters, and the person at the radio of it began announcing the current report-

"All personal to Battle Stations! Repeat, all personal to Battle Stations!"

The siren was blaring, getting the attention of every person inside the massive base, and signifying the seriousness of the situation. From wherever they were, all technicians, mechanics and pilots dashed to the where they had been placed for a battle, many to the Hangar were even more machines were docked than at the New Alaska Base.

Xigo, Logan, Rodka, Taro and even Treston all bolted into the Communications Center, where nearly every single seat was occupied by some kind of computer operator. Above the floor where they all were, the Administrator stood with General Toros, Commander Cerrical and Captain Arelie as they all stared up at the huge monitor was illuminated greatly.

"Hey what the hell's going on with this battle stations stuff?" Taro asked, the moment they got to the quartet of high officials.

"Look up on the screen" Cerrical answered, not moving to look at him whatsoever. The Major did, along with the other four, and like the others was shocked to see the enormous squadron of Giyre forces flying within the clouds. Even worse for them was to catch sight of the gigantic Roc in the center of it all.

"Good God, what is that thing?" Logan exclaimed.

"Looks like a bomber of some-type, just one specifically to carry warheads and let 'em unload…" Treston answered.

"And they're coming here to drop 'em on us…" Arelie finished. The group was silent for a moment as everyone still took in the disbelief from the terrifying thoughts of what was coming their way.

"Well can we stop it?" Rodka asked. Xigo nodded firmly.

"Of course, it's a pain, but if we got our Gundams close enough to it, blowing it apart shouldn't be hard. But usually things like that have a lot of defense weapons, and actually getting close to them can be a bit dangerous" Shigora explained.

"Well right now you five our are biggest chances of saving this place. We're getting ready to send out some Moebius Zeroes and M-One Astrays, so you guys get to the Hangars as quick as you can, get into your suits and fly out with your Gundams" General Torso declared, finally turning away from the screen.

"Yes sir!" they all replied with a salute, and just as they came, dashed away.

"And Logan, make sure you got an Oaro to fly up there with!" Toros added.

"Got it sir!" the young Dile answered from down the hall. A few moments later then, the Administrator looked away from the monitor, glancing at the General.

"Mister Toros, do you think it'd be a good time to use those missile batteries now?" he asked.

"I'd think so, they're only a few miles from us now, and those things travel fast" he responded.

"Yeah, and they won't even be able to pick them up on their radars until they're about a mile from them" Cerrical added.

"Oh, and why's that?" Jorno inquired.

"Special cloaking spray that's on the missiles themselves. Its strong stuff, makes 'em undetectable for most of their flight, but then after going for so long it kinda wears off from the velocity" Captain Arelie explained. Toros then glanced at the Administrator now.

"So, do I have your permission to launch them?". He nodded.

"Of course".

"Missile Batteries One through Twenty- Fire!".

Across the entire area of the Atlantic Federation Headquarters, all holders for these stealth missiles were raised up from their underground hiding compartments. The batteries aimed up to the sky, locking onto the squadron of Giyre forces, and letting the doors to the missile barrels open. And one by one, every second, they unleashed their armament.

As they blazed through the skies over the Rockies, they quickly made their way closer and closer to the oncoming enemies, which, just as Commander Cerrical suggested, didn't pick them up on their radars until they were barely a mile from meeting with them.

"Incoming missiles guys! Looks like around two-hundred or so!" Nitras exclaimed on his radio.

"It's the first assault only boys, so get yourselves ready for more hell after this! Shoot 'em down and protect the Roc!" Worlat shouted to all. All the Blackhawks raised their Machine Guns, and in an instant opened fire at the wave of rockets. Others unleashed their own missiles from bazookas, while the Zephlers added with their own weaponry. Dozens began to be shot down, but just as many made it past the attack from the Giyre troops, either blowing apart the Blackhawks and Zephlers, or moving in at the Roc.

Though just as Worlat had explained before, the enormous air-craft retaliated with its incredible amount of Anti-Air Guns, firing off at the incoming missiles in swarms of bullets. One by one the rockets were struck and blown apart, setting off others with their explosions, and the rest that still tried to make it in to the Roc were taken out by the many machine guns stored on the craft.

"Report seems that missiles took down five Blackhawk Mobile Suits, and three Zephler Aircrafts. No hits reported on the big one" a man reported from his radio. Jorno and the others all gasped, frozen for a moment by the news.

"What? None hit it?" Toros shouted.

"That's what I got sir" the man answered. The General sighed, trying to refrain from gritting his teeth.

"God, how are we gonna stop them…?" he whispered.

"We put our faith in the Gundams" the Administrator strongly replied.


The sirens went off in the hangar as the launch-pads were prepared to send the mighty Gundams out into the sky, and onto their path for battle in the clouds. Mechanics and technicians were running all about, either out of the way of where the Gundams would soar out, or to another place to continue their work in this very severe time.

"Let's do this! Aile Strike launching!" Taro shouted from his cockpit, and then was released from the docking bay to the outside.

"Right behind ya man!" Rodka yelled, and then left with the Blaze. Meanwhile Logan was still getting suited up, nearly ready to take off.

"Hey there" Gartol greeted as a screen of him appeared on the cockpit's monitor. "Your Oaro's all ready to go when you are. I had the beam cannons on it charged up too". Logan smiled as he strapped in his last seat-buckle.

"Thanks man, I appreciate that" he replied.

"You be careful out there!" Gartol added, smirking. Logan seemed confident in himself.

"Trust me man, so long as the Thunder stays in tact, you got nothing to worry about with me" the young man answered. And with another second, his flight-pad was on, and his bulky machine soared out of the hangar with it. As he left, in the other hangar, Xigo was patiently awaiting for his signal to go. The young man had calm eyes as he was seated within his cockpit, and an easy expression to go with it. He knew there was a chance that he'd meet with Nitras within the skies, and that he may have to fight against him. Even more, he knew that if the huge aircraft heading for the base wasn't stopped, the entire place and all people in it would be wiped off the face of the Earth.

But he wouldn't let that burden him.

"Alright kid, you're clear to launch" Desial said over the radio, "I got your entire suit repaired, and I think with the stuff we sprayed on the chest that it's even stronger than before." Xigo felt cheerful by hearing the mechanic talk to him.

"Thanks a ton again Desial, you gotta show me that thing when I get back". On the other end of the line, the man smirked.

"Heh, well make sure you kick some ass out there and make sure you get back alive" Desial replied. Xigo tightened his grip on his control sticks.

"You betcha!". With that he leaned back into his seat, adjusting to the thrust as the Valor was sent flying on the rails, and launched into the air. The boosters on the back on the Gundam sent it soaring behind the others, and in a moment another beautiful Gundam was flying alongside it. It was a machine nearly the same build of the Valor, and with an array of fine timberwolf and charcoal colors about its thick body. Xigo swiftly noticed it, and had to chuckle slightly from so.

"Ha, good to see you've still got the Emperor Mister Treston" Shigora commented. Rolander smiled from the remark.

"Yep, I'll be using this guy until it crumbles apart. This thing can still pack one helluva wallop" Treston answered back.

"Heh, I don't doubt that. If it's as powerful as it was the last time you performed with it at my school then that thing's gonna be the nastiest weapon in this war for us" Xigo said. Treston wasn't even able to hold back a genuine laugh.

"Well you all have nothing to worry about then. With a couple of the new upgrades it has, it's the best Gundam we've got".

"I can't wait to see it in action now. You ready to unload on these jackasses?".

"Ready? Heh, I've been dying to do this!".

And with that the Emperor Gundam set its boosters to a higher speed, moving it ahead with even more velocity, and the Valor was quick to repeat and follow behind it. They soon caught up with Taro, Logan and Rodka, and then were joined by a wave of soaring M1 Astrays, along with a squadron of the deadly Moebius Zeroes.

The Atlantic Federation Troops would fly out together as one unit.

By no more than ten minutes passing, they came to the Giyre forces, and like two waves they smashed into each other with terrible force and brutality. The Blackhawks opened fire with their machine guns and rocket launchers, taking first blood by blowing apart a pair of M1 Astrays. But the Moebius Zeroes quickly let their Gunbarrels free, and created a storm of fire that wiped out more Blackhawks, even destroying two Zephlers. The Emperor was fighting in an instant, releasing its own longsword from its back. In seconds the blade was engulfed by an orange flame, just like the Valor's sword, and with two swift strokes sliced apart a pair of Blackhawks. A small group of Moebius Zeroes were the first to make it into enemy territory, flying at the Roc and firing off their weapons. Though unfortunately for them, none of their attacks made attacks, and in no more than ten seconds they were all destroyed by rockets or machine gun fire from the massive craft.

"It's their main force guys! Defend the Roc and hold off those Gundams!" Nitras shouted. With that the Double Edge let loose its curved blades mounted on its wrists, and flew at the Valor full force. Xigo narrowed his eyes as he unsheathed his mighty blade, gleaming brightly. "You're mine Xigo!" Nitras shouted.

"Bring it on!" Shigora cried back. The two Gundams lashed out with their blades, and upon connection became caught in a struggle of power.

Meanwhile, the Jet Gundam was wielding a deadly heat-Hyup Do, the curved spear flashing in the sky as it soared past unfortunate M1 Astrays and sliced them clear in two. And with the expert skills of its pilot, the machine was now a major enemy for the Earth soldiers. Though Worlat had other ideas on his mind.

"Where is he?" he said to himself, turning the Gundam to get better glimpses of the area, "what in God's name is that…". He then grinned upon catching sight of the Aile Strike. "There he is…". In an instant he flew towards Strike Gundam, the hands on the Jet gripped tightly about the rod of the heat-spear. He began to snicker. "You're mine Taro Lanawor!". From his own cockpit, Major Taro was just able to notice the machine in time to raise up his beam sabers and block a mighty slash from the spear, but at the same time in shock of what he heard.

"What the hell? Is that you Worlat?" he yelled. On his monitor, a small, live image of the Giyre Air-Pilot appeared, showing off his grinning face.

"It is indeed me Taro, long time no see" Worlat replied.

"Wh-what are you doing here? Did you join Giyre?".

"I did. Not long after I was kicked out of the Atlantic Air-Combat Base you and I both attended. Some of the top representatives of Giyre had noticed my skill through some of our test-missions, and after learning that I left, they offered me a high-rank in their army. I won't lie, I wanted, and I still do for nothing but revenge against you all!". The Jet then pulled its spear back and performed an even more powerful swipe in a split moment, one that Taro couldn't follow and resulted in cutting through the armor on the sternum of the Aile Strike. Quickly the Major pulled back, getting space between him and Worlat.

"You're a fool! You're only helping them create mass hell and destruction across the entire galaxy!" he shouted.

"Maybe that's true, but I'll do anything to make you all in the military pay for your disrespect to me!" Worlat replied, and pressed a button on the side of his control panel. In doing so, two thin holes opened up on the shoulders of the Jet, and from them poured out three rockets each. In reply, the Aile Strike opened up its own compartments to release a twin 120mm Machine Guns, which instantly opened fire. With ease the rockets were all shot in mid-air, and blown apart to create one giant explosion.

"Aw crap, maybe that wasn't such a good idea…" Taro spluttered as his Gundam rocked. Even more, it made vision worse for him, with a cloud of smoke blocking his view of the Jet. Though it wasn't long before the black and grey machine came soaring out through the mass of it, and just missing with another slash of his spear which the Strike dodged.

"I've waited so long to especially fight you Taro! You'll be sorry for deserting me when the General had me released! You just left me like that and stuck like a dog to those fools!" Worlat said. Taro simply narrowed his eyes and swung the Aile Strike around, batting the Jet away as one of his beam sabers tore into its shoulder.

"Man you're frigged up now! I'm gonna be glad when I kill you!".


The Blaze soared all about, its chains lashing back and forth, ripping through Blackhawks one by one with blinding speed of the attacks. Then the twin extensions on his flight pack glowed red, and from the tops of them flew out a burning blast of energy. The streams tore through clouds, blasting apart more Giyre Mobile Suits in its way until they both struck one of the Zephlers, destroying it in a fiery blast.

The Thunder came roaring in, bulling through a trio of Blackhawks and cutting them down with powerful blows from its Battle Axe. After taking care of them, it aimed its Oaro cannons down at a Zephler below it, and fired off four green beams. It was all that was needed.

"Woo! These guys may be harder than the last ones, but they're still pretty easy! I wanna get a freakin' challenge for once!" Logan yelled.

"Well we may get one now, check out those two!" Rodka replied, the Blaze pointing at the oncoming Titan and Bloodfire on their Lavos. The Titan aimed the massive rocket launcher on its shoulder, firing off a quartet of massive missiles that spiraled their way to four M1 Astrays and blew them to pieces. Alongside it, the Bloodfire managed to slice clear through two Moebius Zeros, using a pair of frightening white-hot beam sabers. Logan's eyes widened for a moment.

"Holy crap! Those are some mean Gundams!". Inside their cockpits, Uusiko and Sakara both smirked, mostly from the remark the young Earth soldier had just made.

"Hey Uusiko, these guys don't seem like a bunch of pushovers either, think we'll get our hands full over this?" Sakara asked.

"We might, the both of 'em got some nasty firepower after all" Uusiko replied.

"I'll get the yellow one, I think the Titan will have fun with him".

"Then the red one's mine then!". With that the Bloodfire shot off a blast from its Flare Rifle, narrowly missing the shoulder of the Blaze and instead blowing apart another Moebius Zero.

"Let's take these two down Logan!" Rodka yelled, pulling out his Napalm Grenade Launcher and reloading his machine gun.

"Way ahead of ya!" he responded as the Thunder soared at the Titan on its Oaro.


The 170mm Long Range Railgun attached to the Jet's arm was nearly burning hot from the continuous fire it unleashed upon the Aile Strike, which swiftly flew all about in the air as it avoided the bullets and tried to fire back with its pair of Beam Rifles. Though in time the tactic proved to be futile, when it was eventually caught by the Railgun and pounded with a brief spray of ammunition. Worlat grinned.

"You're finished now!" he shouted, and fired off a large green blast of energy from the Jet's Concentrated Hyper Beam Rifle. Taro growled

"Guess I gotta use this now…" he grunted to himself. The Strike then threw one of its rifles away, and instantly covered itself up with its shield. Though, the blast of energy still proved to have incredible power, knocking the entire Gundam back upon impact. Once Taro got his composure back, he straightened out the Strike and smirked. "I'm not done yet Worlat!". The beam rifle he still had in possession then fired a single blast, which moved to the Jet in a split second and blasted it in the shoulder. The Giyre Gundam was sent sprawling in the air as Worlat cried out, giving Taro the chance to attack again.

Instead of firing his beam rifle again though, the young man chose to pull out the twin beam sabers he had, and fly down at the Jet for one final strike.

"Die Worlat!" he yelled, so caught up in the moment that he didn't he even catch on when the Jet was turning back to him, and fired off another blast from its Concentrated Hyper Beam Rifle. The shot of energy struck the Aile Strike on the right hip, blowing apart its last remaining beam rifle as well as a part of the flight pack and its side. Taro grunted aloud as he tried to get it back under control from the attack, succeeding in doing so, but realizing how much damage he had truly taken. Worlat laughed contently from inside his cockpit.

"You're still as foolish as you were back then Taro, it's no wonder why I'm such a better pilot then you. The Earth military made a very crucial mistake when kicking me out, because I'm now with Giyre, and I'll be their deadliest foe. Too bad they overlooked my superiority and only got mad over their petty rules and my conduct!" he shouted, and sent the Jet flying at the Aile Strike, its Hyup Do ready for a mighty slash.

But when it performed it, Taro caught it in between his beam sabers, holding it with them at the metal rod. Worlat's eyes widened as the Major grinned for himself.

"You're saying I'm foolish when you leave the vulnerable part of your weapon out in the open like that? You've lost it Worlat" Taro mocked, and with that the Strike applied a pinch more pressure, completely severing the metal rod of the Heat Hyup Do into two with his beam sabers. The Air Combat Sergeant nearly screamed in disbelief, and then screamed for another reason when the Aile Strike attacked.

With three slashes of blinding speed, the Jet's right arm was completely cut off, the head was sliced in half, and the legs were cut from the rest of the body. The Jet began to fly backwards from the force of the one hit, the machine barely half intact.

"Noooo!" Worlat bellowed. Then just before Taro would fly out and finish the job, a Zephler flew by, catching the Jet with a grappling hook and beginning to soar away as it reeled it in.

"Hey! Get your butt back here!" Taro yelled. Two more Zephlers came by through, and slowed down as they began to unloading their armaments of machine guns and missiles. Even though he desired to fly off after Worlat, Taro now knew he couldn't end the fight today. Lifting up his shield again, he stood in place and began to block the attacks.


The Double Edge and Valor were flying back and forth to and from each other, their blades connecting with every pass and creating a near-orchestra of clashing metal. Sparks flew as their weapons smashed against one another, the two Gundams using full force in their attacks as their pilots tried with everything in their power to strike the other down.

But at the same time, the two old friends also took part in an emotional conversation, one as powerful as their combat.

"Xigo, I'll give you one more chance now to surrender and leave the Earth Alliance. I'll let you live and come to Giyre, we'd gladly let you into our military and recreate this world!" Nitras shouted.

"I have no intentions of joining that wicked organization! Even if you've blindly enlisted it!" Xigo replied.

"I joined them because they're working to unite all humanity across the galaxy, to end all this garbage with Zaft and the Earth, and Naturals and Coordinators".

"Bullshit! Balador proclaimed nothing but pure domination of the universe so Giyre can rule over all of us!".

"That's because in order to reach our goal for bringing all people together, we must use our military to first conquer all those who are ignorant, and from there we'll make them realize how wrong they are for the division between people. Zaft can't do that on its own, the Earth can't do that on its own, hell they can't do it together! But we can!".

"And you think you're doing it the moral way by unleashing mass military upon us? By completely taking over Zaft and causing complete terror throughout space?".

"This is a very serious and complicated mission Xigo, there's gonna be times where we have to do things we don't want to in order to make the galaxy a better place to live in! If we can bring unity without war then we would, but the fact is the people of the Earth and Zaft are too arrogant to even attempt something, they completely feel right with the bias towards one kind of human than the other. That entire idea of there being two different types of human is disgusting! We'll bring order to humanity!".

"You cannot achieve that be creating rivers of blood Nitras! Giyre is a militaristic nation that's grown in power and now desires galactic domination!".

"What do you know? Are you a member of Giyre? Are you experiencing what it's all about first hand? No! You only see our military, you don't know anything of our politics and society. Giyre is a nation of Coordinators and Naturals living in harmony, the perfect example of what the rest of the universe should be. I joined Giyre because I was welcomed in, I made friends here in mere days, many being Naturals, something I never thought I'd experience. You wouldn't understand being able to able to befriend someone you've grown up seeing as a different being, because you've joined Earth."

"I could give a care! I joined Earth just as you say you joined Giyre because here I was accepted for whatever the hell I was and treated like a true friend by everyone at the Alaska Base! Now as I meet more of the military and politics I find myself in the same position! They don't care if I came from a Zaft school, they trust me and care about me just as you did!".

"You don't belong there Xigo! If there's one place in the world that's worse being there for you than Zaft, it's the Earth! Those Naturals down there think all Coordinators like me are evil spawns of Satan, because I was genetically enhanced against my will! Because I wasn't 'born', I was created! All Naturals from Earth are worthless!". Xigo's eyes widened with fury for a moment, and the teen's body shook as he felt all anger and intensity within him augment. In doing so, the Valor flew backwards, away from the Double Edge, and fired off a pair of red Fullmetal Missiles from an opened compartment on its left arm.

"I'm half Natural!" he roared, as Nitras was stricken with disbelief, and was only able to block the missiles with his blades. The explosion shattered the swords, and sent his Gundam flying backwards from the force, where it eventually stopped in mid-air as he stared at the screen with a seething Xigo.

"Wh-what…?" he flatly asked, due to his state of shock. Xigo took a moment before answering, apparently preparing for his loud tone.

"You heard me! I'm half Natural! I'm not full Coordinator! There's a part of me that's just like every Natural in existence! Hell, I'm more like the ones here on Earth which you seem to hate so much, because I was born on this planet!". Nitras's eyes bulged as he felt his body grow cold. The young man's mind had literally been overtaken by thoughts of what Xigo had just told him. It was a truth that he never knew, and never in his wildest dreams to learn.

But before he could do much more thinking, the Valor was flying towards him, Xigo preparing his longsword for strong attack. Quickly the Double Edge released its second pair of blades, and in a moment had them attached to the sides of its wrists. Just as the Valor brought its sword down in a vertical motion, the Double Edge caught it between his blades, and struggled with the Earth Alliance's Gundam in a test of power.

"This is Treston in the Emperor! Requesting help at the big one! I can't handle this thing on my own!" Mr. Rolander then yelled as he flew all about the massive craft, avoiding fire and trying to retaliate. Xigo received the message, and still while in the grapple with the Double Edge, decided to end their duel abruptly.

"We'll finish our fight another day if it comes to it, but I hope we do not meet again" he said, and with that the Valor flew away, off to the Roc. For a moment Nitras was surprised, but the fury still in him quickly took over.

"Don't think you're getting away like that! Get back here and fight me Xigo!" he cried, sending the Double Edge in hot pursuit. Knowing he was now being followed, and not wanting to waste any more time holding him off, Xigo went to his radio.

"This is Valor! I need a few of you guys to hold off the Double Edge behind me, I've gotta go help out against the Roc!" Shigora reported. In mere seconds, four Moebius Zeroes came flying in by him, instantly opening fire upon Nitras.

"Get going kid, we'll take on this dude" one of the pilots replied. The Double Edge stopped in mid air, blocking some of the shots with his twin blades, and firing back with streams of red rockets from the black Gundam's shoulders, quickly blowing apart one fighter craft.

"Dammit Xigo…" Nitras whispered to himself.

The Roc was picking up speed, moving in closer and closer to its destination where it would release the many warheads held underneath the craft. Barely anything had even touched the jet surface of it, and whatever weapon that did proved unsuccessful in dealing much damage. Mobile Suits and Aircrafts from the Earth Alliance had fought full force to hold it off, but the majority of those that tried only received death in return.

As Treston had the Emperor flying about, evading endless missile and machine gun fire, two M1 Astrays flew overhead, firing off their beam rifles. The blasts hit the Roc, though failed to even make a dent. A few of the many drone guns quickly aimed at the Mobile Suits, and before they even passed over the aircraft they were shot down. Treston then took his opportunity.

"Take this!" he cried, halting his flight and opening up two compartments on the Emperor's shoulders. Two Six-Barrel Rocket Launcher were revealed, and quickly began to fire off, alongside the pair of Wrist-Attached Twin Beam Shooters that were aimed and let off torrents of red energy blasts. All the fire struck one area of the Roc, blowing apart a couple turrets and blasting away a fine spot of the ship.

But even while under that, it didn't even slow down, and it retaliated with blast from two of its Beam Cannons. The shots both struck the Emperor, exploding upon the fine machine and sending it lurching in the air. Treston grunted as he lasted against the rumbling inside his cockpit, and soon had it upright as he regained his control. And just then the Valor soared in, stopping right beside the Emperor.

"Hey Mister Treston!" Xigo greeted.

"Oh good some backup, even better hat it's you" Mr. Rolander said, "look Xigo, I can't get enough good shots in before I'll be blown apart. There's just too many weapons on there for me to attack back against and avoid. And even worse I doubt we'll be able to take it down with any of our weapons. It's just too well defended and large to break down."

"So…what do we do?" the teen pilot asked.

"Well, I do have something that would destroy it, but the risk of using it out in the open is far too great, the explosion would massacre everything in the area. I need something to distract most of its guns upon, but also to create enough of a hole or rip in it so I can fire this thing actually into the jet" Treston explained. Xigo smirked.

"That's all? I can handle that easy, just get that weapon ready now" he stated, and in an instant sent the Valor flying down towards the Roc, longsword firm in hand. Treston's eyes widened as he watched the Gundam soar straight into a hail of fire.

"What the hell are you doing? You could get killed!" he shouted. Xigo's eyes narrowed as he focused his sight completely on the craft.

"I'll be fine! Just get that weapon ready!" he yelled back, dodging all streams of bullets and rockets. Treston sighed angrily inside his cockpit as he flipped a switch to the side of him. From the Emperor's left shoulder then came out a large goldenrod bomb, which slid down on his arm on a rail, stopping on top of its wrist. It then aimed its arm at the Roc, and Treston held it there as he waited.

The Valor was now flying over the massive plane, blade in front of it and spinning around rapidly to create a shield against all the attacks. Innumerable bullets were deflected off the metallic weapon, rockets exploded uselessly against it, and even small energy blasts were held off as the mighty Gundam flew on. As it moved on, Xigo then spotted a thick, open-area in the middle of the Roc.

"Perfect place". Two energy blasts then came the Valor's way, exploding upon the spinning sword and slowing down the Gundam. Xigo gritted his teeth as he held it up in its flight, not allowing for it to stagger any more than it had.

He then came to the part of the craft he saw before, and turned on the energy output for his longsword, allowing for it to be engulfed by a massive blue flame. The Valor drove it into the Roc, penetrating with ease and continuing to soar ahead, bringing the blade with it as it cut a great gash in the process. Once the explosions cleared from the start of the line, Treston got perfect aim for the bomb.

"Alright!". The was then fired off from the Emperor's wrist, flying straight into the Roc through its deep wound the Valor had made with ease. Knowing the dangerous power of the explosive, he instantly sent the Emperor flying off. "Come on Xigo we gotta get outta here now!".

"Wh-what? What's going on Mister Treston?" the boy questioned, but began following behind him.

"I sent an A-Class Warhead into that thing, it'll detonate in thirty seconds" Rolander grimly answered. Shigora's eyes bulged in his state of shock.

"Holy God are you serious?" the young man screamed. Treston's eyes hardened.

"Yeah, and that's why we all gotta get the hell outta here as quick as possible!" he said, then grabbing his main microphone for his radio, and setting it to reach all other machines in the area.

"Attention! This is Treston Rolander in the Emperor; I report that I have launched an A-Class Warhead into the main craft! It will explode in thirty seconds! All pilots leave the area and get as far as you possibly can! Don't stop for any reason!" he cried as the Emperor and Valor soared overhead. All fighting stopped in an instant, and fear seemed to wash over the battlefield like a plague.

"Holy crap that's not good at all…" Rodka remarked from the Blaze. From within the Aile Strike, Major Taro felt his body freeze.

"Alright people we gotta get outta here, so let's go!" he said, and quickly took off with his Gundam. All Moebius Zeroes, M1 Astrays, and the Thunder and Blaze were soon to follow, all flying at full speed in one giant group in their escape. The Giyre troops all still were behind, not bothering to attack just yet as they tried to make sense of the situation.

"What the hell's going on here? Are we supposed to just believe them?" Sakara questioned.

"I'm not sure…but I don't see why they'd just be retreating like that…" Uusiko answered. Just then a message from the Roc was relayed to all Giyre machines in area as the machine blazed with a great fire from where Xigo cut it open.

"All Giyre troops retreat as well! They were not lying, a warhead is inside this craft as we speak and is ready to explode at any second! Leave at once and get clear of the blast!" a member of the crew shouted. And now even more fear was present in the skies.

"Fly as fast as you can! We gotta get away now!" Nitras screamed, sending the Double Edge soaring away at maximum speed. Just like the with Earth forces, all Giyre machines followed behind the black Gundam, moving as fast as their boosters would allow them. They flew in the opposite direction, but just like the Atlantic Troops were going full speed in their ultimate efforts to escape to imminent explosion.

Three…two…one…zero…

The Roc glowed with a red light for a split second, and with that a massive orb of fire overwhelmed the entire jet. Mere seconds afterward a detonation of frightening size blew it apart, and a monstrous wave of fire spread in all directions in the skies. Like a sandstorm, it blazed through the clouds at amazing speed, creating a mind-blowing sight in the sky as it moved closer and closer to the retreating military forces. Giyre and Earth machines were going past their limits as they soared ahead in their directions, trying at all costs to keep ahead of the wave and escape its fury.

And with luck, they did.


Nearly twenty minutes after the blast, the Earth Forces had stopped in mid air, lower in altitude than before and now moving at a far slower space as they neared the Headquarters on the mountains. All the Mobile Suits, aircrafts and Gundams leisurely hovered ahead, their engines nearly burnt out completely and unable to push them any faster after their out-flying of the explosion. The detonation had left a massive circle of smoke in the sky, though fitting in as all the clouds around it began to darken.

"Man, we're a bunch of lucky fools to escape that one" Taro joked, trying to ease the rather quiet and solemn mood around the pilots. His words quickly changed it.

"Yeah, but hey, it's because we're that awesome" Logan replied with a smile. All the other soldiers began to chuckle and smirk themselves, amused by what they heard. "I still can't believe you actually did that Mister Treston" Logan added. Rolander chuckled quietly to himself inside his cockpit, still a bit embarrassed by his actions.

"I know, I can't believe I actually pulled it off either. But hey, we all survived didn't we? And we also took out the Roc and made all of their troops retreat" he replied. Taro grinned.

"Something tells me though that's still not gonna go well with the General and the Administrator" Lanawor commented. Treston was laughing out loud in a second, and behind him were all the other pilots, creating one big, carefree guffaw amongst themselves.

But Xigo was the only one not to laugh, or even have the slightest hint of happiness in his eyes. His face was flat, devoid of any emotion as he stared off into the distance, but not truly looking at anything. His mind was only on his thoughts of the battle with Nitras, and any other ideas he had about his old friend, who was now his deadliest enemy.

The sky opened up, and poured down rain onto the Earth.