Forewarning…I halfassed my wrap up of orb…I'm sorry…I have just been ITCHING to write this chapter for so long now…please…enjoy EX-calibers final fight…
The day the world burned
Nina had to stop herself from gasping as her eyes shot open. She immediately had to close them and groaned quietly. She had a raging headache. A hangover….that's what this was. But…she had what? a glass of whiskey…and a few sips of a martini…that…
She internally sweat dropped. Was she that much of a lightweight?
No…that was hours before she ended up here...
Wait…where was here? Last she remembered was…
She gasped and in an instant was on her feet and had her side arm from her bedside table in her hand, safety off and aimed at her bedmate….who was sound asleep. Snoring slightly…sprawled out...while a moment ago she had been cuddled up as close to him as possible.
Noah Carson. Pilot of EX-caliber, and technically her rival….
She had slept with him. Wait…really? But…she had only come in to talk…
It was then she noticed the empty bottle of wine on the table.
That was right…they had ordered wine and stayed up late talking. Talking about life, about his models, and after the wine she had found out…well first off he was definitely a light weight. 2 glasses had him buzzed and he began to talk about EX-caliber. She had of course been tipsy and stopped committing it all to memory but once the hang over was gone she knew she'd recall it all. Something about alternate universes, his mobile suit was actually a plastic model…she would remember it later.
Finally after debating putting two in his chest she flicked her safety back on and moved over to the counter where the hotel room's coffee maker was. It was then she realized she was naked. She blushed and glanced to Noah. He was still out cold. She couldn't help but smile and blush more. He had a gun on him, hell the safety click would wake most soldier up…but he was still passed out in bed.
She began making a cup of coffee, not for her. No with her coordinator body her hangover was already fading to where she was at least able to think about what to do now.
They had slept together…she wasn't too worried about pregnancy, it was hard enough for two coordinators these days to naturally conceive though that was for third generation coordinators mostly. But still that was hard enough let alone her and a natural.
Still when she saw the open rubber wrapper on Noah's table it helped ease her.
While the coffee was brewing she went into the bathroom and showered and when she came out Noah was still out cold so she poured herself a cup and sat at the table, looking at him, watching him sleep.
It still disturbed her, that feeling of comfort, of peace his presence gave her. It was then remembered the one serious thing he said before finally it went black even without her hangover.
"The next time we meet Nina…it has to be the last. One of us has to be destroyed" he had said, looking so sad as he continued. "After meeting like this…I can't see myself fighting you again and again and again…one of us has to be ended the next time we meet."
That was when Nina had let herself go, dragged him into bed…and then woke up with all this.
Finally she sighed and decided she had waited long enough for him to wake up. She got up, got dressed, and quickly wrote down a note for him. She then left, leaving the blonde passed out in bed, also deciding not to mention this to Heine when she found him.
The day the world burned
Noah sighed as he tugged on his celestial being jacket. The mobile suits were being taken back to the archangel and he was in charge of moving EX-caliber. When he saw the gunpla he had frowned. It had so many spot repairs and panels replaced…god he was gonna have a lot of repair work to do. Still it was all phase shift armor and he already had re-written his OS to accommodate for it to run power aka GN particles to the panels to power the armor.
As they were leaving he left Erica a gift, something he hoped she could work on while they made their way to josh-a. In his GP-base he already had their originally agreed upon project. While not a physicist or rocket scientist the talented engineer had helped him isolate the zero systems code breaks that may have caused this. She was the first person aside from flay to hear the whole story. And his reaction had made it sound like she believed him…but wanted to see this for herself.
So as he rode in the truck that had EX-caliber on it, it's active camouflage active and disguising it as crates that were under it, he could only try to remember the night before.
48 hours…maybe it was after josh-a that they spent a month here? Still with the impending battle coming he was bracing himself. It was him or Nina…no other options were presenting themselves thus far.
With that he rode back in silence.
The day the world burned
Dearka sat in the cockpit of the buster and was making sure everything was in order. They had just gotten word from their scouts that the legged ship was being moved out of orb. So…their fearless leader had been right. The question was…was his plan correct as well…
Athrun had handed them each a task in order to make this ambush go smoothly. It would be his job to try and disable to ships weapons and make it easier for them to sink it. Yzak and shiho would be tasked with taking on Nicol and the blitz and keeping it busy. And as usual their leader would be tasked with taking down the strike.
Of course Nina and Heine had finally joined them. They were going after EX-caliber. The EFT guaiz that Heine piloted had received an upgraded backpack with an enhanced battery to help it last longer, while Nina's paladin had a new version of her prototype equipment installed to help stabilize whatever her power source was.
Today was the day. They all could feel it. It was their last chance to sink the ship. So…either both the ship and its MS compliment went down…including Nicol…or they all did. That was what they were laying on the line…and they all planned to come back.
The day the world burned
Nicol sat in the blitz's cockpit. As soon as they were free of orbs territory he had orders from Noah with captain Ramius' permission to launch and land atop one of the archangels legs. He would leave his phase shift armor deactivated but otherwise he would be prepared to help fend off the opening volley from his former team.
"If Noah is right and they show up…" he muttered as he went over his final launch preparations. His commander was in his mobile suit as well though he knew he had his arms over his chest, eyes closed, almost meditating. They all knew what this fight would be like. Zafts last attempt to sink the archangel.
His former teammates would be out for blood, willing to do whatever it took to bring down the ship. Today would be the day…both sides would see loss.
Finally a moment later he received the signal to launch. Closing the blitz's cockpit he opened a communication with Noah.
"As soon as they attack focus on the duel, the buster will likely be mainly intent on taking out our engines or weapons with its superior firepower so I wanna single it out. Athrun will go after Kira, I'll handle the prototypes. Leave Dearka to mu and Tolle." commanded Noah before he nodded and closed the channel. As the blitz reached the catapult he took a deep breath. He felt the ship rise from the water, watched the catapult doors open…and soon he was forced from the ship, quickly using his thrusts to maneuver onto one of the legs.
If yzak was his target then he already knew how to keep him busy. A pot shot here and there, firing his glepnir rocket anchor, the easiest way to get him to back off or even better, ground him, would be to take out his flight platform.
Noah would be next to launch followed by Kira when they showed up. The green haired coordinator was worried about Tolle. He had gotten to know the tech students a bit and hoped the boy understood the risks of flying around mobile suits, especially when three of them would be at Noah's skill level, one of those three being Noah. The slightest wrong move and he could get caught in the cross fire.
Nicol closed his eyes and prayed that the boy made it out alive…though he had a sinking feeling he wouldn't.
The day the world burned
The battle that followed quickly turned into a dog fight.
The moment the 6 mobile suits were on radar everyone went to high alert and Noah rocketed out of the hangar. Not wasting a moment of time he had hit trans-am and completely bypassed the three gat series machines, even tearing off the remains of his cloak before bashing the white prototype with his shield and then kicking it down. It was like he had some sort of vendetta against it.
Originally everyone had been confused by the 6th machine due to Nicol being on the archangel but before they deployed the smoke screen, which Nicol took to his advantage to continue waiting for them to close in, he had spotted a new machine. A prototype CGUE. Which was just what they needed…another prototype…
But this one stuck close to yzak as the skygraspers launched, mu taking the aile striker pack for more speed while Tolle had been equipped with the sword pack.
Kira was hooked up to auxiliary power with the launcher pack and stood by in the launch tube while awaiting firing coordinates.
While the gat series got into a dog fight, Kira even launching and using the strikes basic thrusters to combat the four mobile suits, Noah dragged the two prototypes onto a nearby island where they began fighting.
While normally Nicol would be worried about the fact it was a two on one fight, Noah's head seemed to be more in the here and now than ever. While still in trans-am he had quickly forced the two prototypes to revert to sword and shield fighting, keeping them grounded and to close to use their guns.
Though in his time noticing his commanders fight he had missed Kira change packs…and yzak and the new machine close in. "shit…gotta activate my phase shift armor…" he stated and did so just in time to raised his trikeros shield and block two beams from the new machines cannons.
"So that's what it is…wait what…"he was surprised when he was forced back, activating the beam saber on his shield to block the beam claws of the new machine. "Shit…it's strong." He said as he had to boost back onto the middle portion of the archangels hull.
He then had to block a shot from yzak before again blocking those claws. No one had ever thought to land on the archangel since he did back before Noah captured him. This pilot was smart. Tag team him and get rid of one of the archangel's primary defenses.
The machine jumped back up onto the top of one of the legs and raised its cannons. "No you don't!" yelled Nicol and he fired his retractable lancer dart. The kinetic weapon struck the left shoulder and pierced the armor, tearing the limb off and throwing off the shots so that the beam that was able to fire was forced to be aimed into the water.
"So it doesn't have phase shift armor…that's good to know." Stated Nicol as he pulled the weapon back, the arm his lancer dart had hit tearing off and hitting the deck of the ship.
The young pilot had to raise his shield once again as yzak fired and as soon as he brought it down cried out in pain as the beam claws raked the torso of the blitz and he had to shield himself from the broken bits of metal and glass. Thankfully he was able to react just soon enough to step back slightly, but still the claws left three big gashes which began sparking within the torso and left Nicol visible as the door to his cockpit was sliced open.
"The one downside to phase shift armor…"he grumbled as the new machine raised its beam rifle. He tried to raise his right arm but it wouldn't budge. He looked to his right and found that the gash not only left his cockpit open but also had caught his shoulder and the limb was just barely hanging on.
"Damn it…I can't die here…not after everything I've gone through, everything I've sacrificed…" he stated and grit his teeth.
It was then that it happened, right as he could see the green beam begin to form in the barrel of his opponent's rifle. In his mind he could see a seed burst and he felt completely in control.
He quickly boost to the left, off the archangel but fired his glepnir at the new machine just as its rifle went off. Caught by surprise by the move the pilot couldn't react fast enough and the anchor opened and grabbed their leg.
Nicols plan was risky, and relied on the fact his pilots suit was sealed. As he fell off the archangel he used his momentum and boosters to climb above the falling suit. Quickly he spun around and as the suit tried to fight gravity Nicol used the rockets on his anchor to force the machine down into the water…which he followed. Too deep and his suit would crush itself, even less deep and he'd be crushed before he could run out of air.
His plan was simple but double edged if it failed.
As he fell into the water it quickly filled his cockpit. Retracting the rocket anchor he had to move quickly. He boosted towards the sinking machine as the impact with the water knocked out its thrusters. Quickly he batted the pilots remaining arm away and grabbed the sword he saw at its waist from the sheath. Not noticing the beam capabilities it had he quickly plunged it into the torso of his opponent and boosted away, the force and speed of his own thrusters tearing off what remained of his arm.
With little time left as he could hear his helmet creaking and ready to break he boosted up and out of the water, quickly followed by the explosion of the enemy mobile suit. The cracks had begun to allow water in his helmet so while he was in the air he quickly unsealed his suit and threw his helmet off, gasping for breath
The problem with what he had just done and he had not taken into account…well there were two. One was brought to his attention as over an open radio yzak yelled "SHIHO! NICOL YOU'RE A DEAD MAN!" and proceeded to grab the sparking and nearly disabled blitz and threw it, physically with his machine after dropping his shield and rifle, THREW the blitz towards the island where the three super powered machines were still going at it, though at this point Noah was out of trans-am and had beaten down the prototype guaiz but was still in a deadly match with the unknown mobile suit.
As the blitz hit the ground and slid Nicol could hear the sparks and sizzle of the controls being fried, from the water though some were obviously hardened and would still react but barely the machine itself on death row. But he knew yzak would be along shortly so he quickly got what little of the blitz that still worked to work and somehow got it on its feet….just in time to be knocked back down as yzak came in and kicked the blitz after jumping off his flight platform.
No one seemed to be paying attention to Dearka aside from mu and Tolle but even then they were basically flies compared to him in the buster, even with help from the archangel.
"Yzak I'm sorry…I didn't know…but still. You know as well as I do…it was me or her…"said Nicol over the same channel.
"Doesn't matter Amalfi! Your still gonna die." Yzak replied as the duel slowly walked over to the kneeling blitz. It couldn't seem to find the strength in its right leg to fully stand. "Accept your death with dignity you traitor…"he said as the duel activated a beam saber and came down for the killing blow.
It was at that moment though that Nicol saw one of Noah's beam sabers laying on the ground by his intact left arm. Quickly he grabbed it, activated it and pierced the duels torso just above the cockpit.
Astounded by the move the duel stumbled back…and exploded. But not before Nicol caught yzak ditching the doomed machine.
Nicol was panting at that point and glanced at his commander's battle…only to see the worst case scenario.
EX-caliber was barely in a better position than the blitz. It had a mangled leg, both arms were missing, the head was crushed but intact. And it's opponent, the white prototype he had called a…tallgeese…it had ditched it's heavy weapon pack, was missing a thruster pod, again a mangled leg and it only had one arm…but it seemed hesitant to finish Noah for some reason.
But then the most horrible thing came over the emergency frequency as the blitz had self-adjusted to that channel due to its damage.
"Hey Noah…you're not the only one with tricks up his sleeve." It was Heine….and right after saying that, his mangled flight pack that sat behind EX-caliber raised its remaining Artemis cannon…and fired straight through the GN drive.
A moment later the once legendary machine, the god of war, angel of death…exploded into a mass of red GN particles.
Nicol was horrified. His commander…had been shot down. Noah's machine was no more. The entire battlefield seemed to stop until Tolle made the biggest mistake he could have.
Everyone was surprised though by what came over the radio next…
"NOAH!" screamed a woman over the open comms. Shortly after the tallgeese fell to its knees and turned grey, the pilot seeming to shut it down as Noah's death had somehow affected her.
The day the world burned
*back in the build fighters universe*
It had been almost 3 months since Noah had come out of the simulator and Luke had come back to check on him and hear the rest of his tale. From what he saw Noah seemed to be in good spirits, still determined to go back, but he had clearly gotten back to his original weight, he had cut his hair…he looked like the old Noah.
But Noah's tale had finally come to an end, Noah currently on a pregnant pause after mentioning the archangel going on alert from the zala team's ambush.
"So…what happened next?" asked Luke, enthralled by this tale after finally giving up on trying to explain it all. Noah's new attitude, his reflexes, his knowledge of gundams…hell even his skills in a gunpla battle…there was no mistaking it…especially when he had seen him in town one day and followed him to the one year war arena. They had tablets you could rent for an hour or more and chairs to sit and watch certain fighters. So he had watched Noah as he fought in a gunpla he had never seen him use.
It had been a custom kampfer. And he was fighting on the federation side but Luke didn't bother question that. Noah had always stood by the fact that Zeon was based on the Nazi's and so Noah disliked them by default…but he loved their mobile suits.
What he had seen…it had him convinced Noah was a different person, even if he now looked like he did before the simulator. He tore through Zeon like they were nothing but flies.
Noah took a deep breath and sighed.
"My final and greatest fight in the cosmic era began. Well what I thought would be my final fight…"
The day the world burned
As soon as it was confirmed that the tallgeese and GuAIZ were on the field Noah told miriallia to forget the catapult. He pushed his accelerator to the max and shot out of the launch tunnel, the moment he passed the doors he activated his trans-am, ignoring the groan he heard as the phase shift replacement panels and the spot welds were put to the test with the G's he pulled in trans-am.
He flew right past the zala team even as he saw the CGUE deep arms type and wanted to warn Nicol. No…he had someone he had to beat.
In his cockpit sat Nina's note, her request of him…
"Sorry for just walking out on you…I should warn you I pulled a gun on you while you slept. I could have killed you…should have killed you. But I couldn't. There's this…attachment I seem to have to you. I can't explain it. But while I showered I thought about what you said…that one of us had to be destroyed. Noah…I can't kill you. This…link between us…I don't think I could go on without you. So you damn well better pull out all the stops…and you better kill me. Because if I kill you…I will never forgive you…cause it means you went easy on me…"
With that note in mind Noah flew right to her and before she could even raise her Agni cannon he rammed into her with his shield, forcing her and her back before boosting after her and kicking her right in her cockpit door.
Kill her…how could he? He would not hold back but if he can save Nicol…he can save her.
As Nina flew down to one of the islands below Noah was reminded of Heine as he opened up with barrage attack on him. With his trans-am Noah quickly dodged between all the shots and boosted to him. He also kicked Heine but away from the island.
Deciding Heine was best to get rid of first he raised his left arm and his heat sabers opened slightly, letting fly a flurry of rockets which turned to fly right to the machine. He had to thank Erica for resupplying him with missiles….especially managing to make micro missiles in 48 hours.
As Heine raised his shield to block the ones he couldn't shoot down Noah took advantage of his trans-am still in effect and floored it right to him. The moment he lower his shield Noah brought up his new "GN short saber" a sharpened and rapidly repaired version of his broken blade.
Lacking phase shift armor the powerful physical blade cut the shield in half and the zaft red raised his rifle and hip based railguns, hoping to get Noah to back off.
Instead he fired at the after image of EX-caliber, the machine going behind him to kick him off his backpack-turned flight platform. The lucky thing about it was as he flew towards the island he recalled the backpack and it attached to his back, allowing him to turn around only to have his head grabbed as Noah boosted towards the island.
The Guaiz shook violently as Noah dragged it along the ground. And threw it into a large rock, breaking it with the machine.
By now Nina had recovered and a crimson beam quickly kept Noah from continuing his assault.
Suddenly Noah found himself being pinged on comms by the archangel "WHAT!?" he yelled at murrue from her personal terminal. His adrenaline had forced him into somewhat of a rage. or so he thought.
Murrue gasped, never expecting such a reaction, "I was just checking to see if you're ok, you're hitting them pretty hard but…what's wrong with your eyes?" she asked, looking at him and noticing something odd…his eyes…they were glowing, his iris' now a golden color.
Noah blinked. "w-what do you mean?" he asked. That one distraction had him crying out in pain as he was hit by another barrage from Heine. It seemed Nina had fallen back, once again insisting on supporting Heine.
Noah growled and cut the communication. It could wait till later. But his eyes were glowing? That…was a symbol of an innovator…
He shook his head as he raised his shield to block a shot from Heine before the prototype boosted towards him, dropping the rifle in favor of a beam saber.
Noah brought op his GN short saber and blocked the saber, pushing the Guaiz back before it lowered its Artemis cannons and brought out the xiphias railguns and fired.
Noah boosted to the left, moments left in his trans-am, and dodged them before flying at the GuAIZ. "Heine westenfluss…this is where you die!" he shouted as he activated his beam saber in his GN sword three system and moved for a downward slash.
Instead of bisecting the machine he met his right shoulder, cutting its arm off but he quickly brought his shield back around and bashed the EFT in the head, this time not connecting long enough to take its head off.
But still he cracked the main camera systems lens, practically disabling it.
As his trans-am faded he took the stunned moment as Heine adapted to the lost screen and disengaged both his sword and shield system and his shield with a shower of sparks, opting to grapple the zaft prototype.
As Heine tried to get him to release him Noah pushed him back but turned him at the same time. "I don't think you need this anymore!" he exclaimed, again grappling the machine before grabbing its right Artemis cannon. He grunted as with all his machines might he pulled on the cannon till he forced the pack off, hearing the metal groan and break the locking system.
Before Heine could try to take control of its flight system Noah jumped off him and did a front flip over it, as he arched over it he used his wrist beam Vulcans to destroy the thrusters on the pack, disabling its flight capabilities.
Heine seemed to glance at Nina though, obviously concerned she wasn't helping him. Which she wasn't she was too torn with fighting Noah and just letting him end her.
In that moment of distraction Noah boosted once more at him and kneed him in the back. His machine would be slow for a bit so he had to make every boost count.
Angling around him as he tried to turn around and hit him with the xiphias railguns. Instead as they folded out Noah grabbed them with both hands, the gundams fingers slowly crushing the barrels before he again kneed him back.
The EFT guaiz was now defenseless. No weapons, one arm…and a beam saber! Noah had forgotten about it and as he closed in on it the desperate pilot didn't even bother getting up from where he lay. He grabbed his beam saber, ignited it and threw it at Noah. A simply turn to the side and the saber flew past him.
Reaching behind his left arm Noah pulled one of EX-calibers spare beam sabers. "Time to end this pointless game…"he said coldly as he spun the blade in his hand and raised his arm.
Just as he was about to bring the blade down on Heine's cockpit his screen was filled with white and the arm bashed aside by a familiar shield. The beam saber flew out of Noah's hand and off to the right into an open area.
Noah quickly boosted back and growled. "Guess it's time for this fight….Nina yong..."he said in a cold, emotionless voice. Quickly he rose off the ground, his GN drive recharged and boosted to the side as she raised her Agni cannon and fired.
Swiftly he flew to where he had dropped his equipment and scooped it up in his hands, reequipping it and raising his left arm to block another Agni shot. He had to grit his teeth as his shield took the full brunt of the shot. When it ended he found his shield sparking, the metal having been fragile and unrepaired from the start of this fight. He quickly ditched the shield and boosted to his right to dodge another shot.
Raising his left arm his sword locked into its stowed position and he unleashed a flurry of red death from his GN repeater at Nina. She merely raised her shield and blocked them. But while blocking them she ditched her Agni pack and boosted at him, pulling a beam saber from her shield and raising her arm.
As the brought it down Noah blocked it with his sword and shield system, pushing her away before reaching under his right arm with his left and pulling out another beam saber.
As she attacked him relentlessly with the beam saber he blocked with his shield, parried, countered. It was a dance.
But soon it ended as he blocked one last time with his shield and she managed to cut it in half. He threw it to the side and it exploded. He then boosted back to dodge another strike and dropped his beam saber, reaching behind his waist and pulling out his two beam throwing daggers.
But Nina blocked them after he threw them, one on his shield, and another with her beam saber.
It was coming down to the wire and Noah knew this was going to play out just as they both wanted. One of them would die…but in EX-calibers state he wasn't sure if he'd be the one to live.
Sure enough he found her once again on a slashing streak. He dodged one, two, three, but finally he ignited a beam saber from his left beam emitter in his wrist and blocked it. The beam wasn't as strong as hers sadly but he was able to push her's back.
As he raised his right arm she brought her shield up to block what she thought was a volley from his beam Vulcans but instead she found him grabbing her head, igniting the second saber as the left wrist was turned off and he brought his right arm down at her shoulder, the beam briefly being resisted by her phase shift armor but it quickly cut her right arm off.
Taking a few steps back Noah panted as this fight was beginning to take its toll on him for some reason. Was it that glow in his eyes?
Again a moment of distraction found her beam saber cutting through his left arm before she dropped her own saber and tore his arm off her face.
Noah grit his teeth as she punched his gunplas head, physically punched it, the strength of the wing series machine causing the head to push in on itself, essentially crushing it. As she moved to grab it to tear it off Noah boosted around her right side and quickly grabbed one of her thruster pods right as it opened with his remaining hand. "No you don't" he yelled as with her trying to boost away and his grip it tore the booster off, causing her to instead boost up and into a cliff that led to a forested part of the island.
The tallgeese hit the cliff and fell, landing on its right knee as Nina tried to right herself. With the weight of the machine on it the knee crumpled and it didn't help when as she stood Noah boosted over and kicked her knee, nearly crushing the joint but still she was able to stand, carefully.
She returned the blow in kind though as Noah tried to boosted back but she grabbed the stub of his left arm and forced him to the ground, carefully taking a step forward and bringing her uninjured leg down on his right knee.
Thankfully the GN particles in his gundam kept the knee somewhat intact but it would need repaired.
Now it was Nina's turn to jump back, falling to one knee though as she had to slowly get back up to stabilize herself.
As Noah got up she seemed to be as desperate to live…oddly…as Heine as she grabbed one of her two heavy DINN swords mounted over her left shoulder and threw it at him, seeming to have not known about her machines inner strength till she punched EX-calibers head.
The blade caught Noah's right arm and had enough inertia to cause Noah to have to turn right in order to simply keep it dug into his arm. But Nina used that moment to boost towards him. She grabbed the sword and dragged it through his arm at the elbow before slashing at EX-caliber torso, causing it to stumble back and land on its back.
Now Noah was in Heine's position. Defenseless, literally….waiting for the end as he decided to at least try and live, using his GN drive to lift himself up and right himself.
Though just as he did a new, open comm line opened up with him and everyone on the field.
It was Heine, "hey Noah…guess what, you're not the only one with tricks up your sleeve." And before Noah could wonder what he meant his world went dark.
The day the world burned
Murrue grit her teeth as the buster landed another hit on them. At least 4 different battles were all going on at once…no 3…she recounted as she saw an explosion off to her left by the island.
Flay, now under Noah orders having taken Sai's place as electronic warfare and enemy detection in the CIC, called out a response to the explosion, "the duel has been destroyed by Nicol!"
Murrue silently felt relieved. One down, four to go. "What's the blitz's status?" she called out. She had seen it take heavy damage before it dove off the ship.
"Nicol is broadcasting an SOS but it's coming from the blitz…its damaged ma'am but still here." Replied flay. Her tone was serious. Whatever had her…well had her desert the earth alliance and join celestial being. Seemed to have changed her. She assumed it had something to do with Noah's talk with her back in Africa and her visit with her father.
Murrue hadn't mentioned to her anything about her lack of uniform…but she was technically, according to Noah and nicol's new outfits wearing celestial beings uniform. The pink accents likely having to do with her gender whereas nicol's black and Noah's red likely were a sign of which suit they piloted.
Murrue groaned as she ship shook again, but more violently.
"The buster just took out our port valiant...it took our levitator with it…we can't hold our current lift…"called out Ensign Neumann as he tried to keep the ship steady.
"Run emergency power to the backup levitator!" called out natarle.
"No good! We can't stay in the air much longer!" called out the ensign.
Murrue bit her lip. If they made a c rash landing they would be sitting ducks…especially if Noah didn't finish his battle soon.
That was when things hit the fan in a massive turn of events. As she was about to call for an emergency landing a bright green flash went off and everyone looked to the island where Noah and the porotypes were fighting.
Murrue's heart sank in fear….EX-caliber….it had been destroyed. "E-emergency landing! Put us down on that island!" she called out and the ensign began to maneuver them over the island
"The buster is moving to attack the other valiant!" called out flay.
"Aim godfrieds and valiant, shoot down the buster!" called out natarle.
Just at that moment they finally crashed down, everyone gripping their seats as the ship slid along the ground, making a massive trench in its wake.
Murrue looked out the main window and saw the buster lining up for another shot…it combined its guns and prepared a fire…
Out of the sky a green beam came down and hit the buster's flight platform. Soon after Tolle came down, the sword pack still attached. Utilizing the cables that held the anti-ship sword too his fighter he swung it out and just before he began to climb back up he caught the buster as it jumped off the platform, cutting its beam rifles barrel in half.
Just as that exploded and Tolle flew off to help Kira as the duel with the aegis seemed to be getting hairy another shot came from the sky, this one a crimson blast which hit the busters left arm, taking the shoulder, the arm, even the side skirt holding his anti-armor shotgun in place…but not before he got one last shot off which connected with Mu's left wing.
With that hit the buster was forced to the ground…
The day the world burned
Dearka groaned as he moved his controls. After the assault from the two fighters he had been grounded. "Hydraulics aren't responding, drive pull is decreasing…crap!" he shouted as he slammed his fists on his controls. He looked up though when his alarm rang out that he was being targeted. He activated the command to show him what was targeting him and it zoomed in on the legged ships heavy guns.
"Damn it…" he grumbled as he opened his cockpit…to the click of a safety…
As Dearka slowly stood up in his cockpit and climbed out he found Nicol standing on the buster's torso, his standard issue zaft flight pack active. It seemed his must have used it to follow his descent.
At that moment he sighed and held his hands up. "Why did you have to kill yzak? Can I at least have that answered?" He said quietly as Nicol kept his side arm trained on him.
"Normally I'd say the usually line of it was me or him…but I didn't kill him. I destroyed the duel yes…but I watched him escape. He's alive, somewhere, likely licking his wounds and waiting for the battle to be over to call for help. But I will say that shiho…I didn't want to kill her…but she had every intent to kill me…"said Nicol as he lowered his gun. "guess I wasn't worth rescuing huh…"stated Nicol as Dearka kept his hands up, knowing Nicol was likely expendable to the legged ship this close to Alaska and if he tried anything their heavy guns would open up on them.
The day the world burned
Tolle circled the battle between Kira and the aegis. The two seemed to be going at it pretty hard, more so then usual.
He watched as they traded blows, neither one giving in or leaving any openings. He had learned a few things about these machines though while on the bridge. This much fighting…they were both likely nearly out of power.
With that in mind he watched as a thunder storm slowly rolled in. " I need to try and give Kira some room…maybe I can give him the sword pack for more battery power…" he thought as he made one more circle around and went into a dive…
As he came back up, level with their machines he opened a channel to Kira. "Kira get back, I'm gonna get you some space so you can change equipment!" said Tolle as he fired a few lasers at the aegis.
"Tolle no stay back!" cried Kira but it was too late. The brunette coordinator had to watch as even for Tolle, as he let a missile loose the aegis jumped out of the way…and threw its shield.
In that moment Tolle could only pray miriallia found someone nice to be with…someone who treated her as well as he did.
After that thought the sharp end of the shield pierced his canopy and the large object proceeded to crush his cockpit…and him.
The day the world burned
Kira was just…he was…there was no way to describe the way he felt as a bolt of lightning struck between him and athrun once the aegis landed.
Noah was dead…Tolle was dead…
And yet him and athrun promised to kill each other in space and neither one had had to heart to finish things…till now.
Kira's mind went blank as he watched a seed burst in his mind's eye.
"Athrun! I`m going to kill you!" her yelled as he boosted at the aegis and swung his beam saber.
It didn't connect, instead the aegis jumped and front flipped over him, firing his head Vulcans as he did so.
In an act similar but opposite to Noah and Nina in Africa Kira spun the strike around but instead of slicing off athruns arm like Noah did he dropped his shield and grabbed his second beam saber, bringing it up as the aegis landed in a upward slash/jab and it found it's mark, taking the aegis' head with it.
A moment later athrun replied in kind by bringing his right arm up, slicing off Kira's left arm, forcing the arm, saber and his own head to fall to the ground.
Another flash of lightning came between them and as Kira tried to boost back athrun boosted towards him, slashing at his torso. It connected and Kira had to look away to keep glass and metal from hitting his helmet.
When he turned back he brought his right arm up and moved away from the aegis. Just as he predicted somehow the aegis turned and tried to take another slash at him with its left arm.
This time Kira took his shield arm.
Neither of them were looking to their battery's thought as athrun cried out and jumped up, transforming the aegis and grappling the strike.
"This is for yzak!" he cried out as Kira's eyes went wide, seeing his Scylla cannon charging up. Sadly at that moment the aegis ran out of power and the charge faded.
Thinking quickly and seeing the strike begin to move and try to get him off he opened his self-destruct code keypad. Putting in the number he set the aegis to blow up, opening the cockpit and ditching with the flight pack built into his flight suit.
With tears in his eyes athrun tried to get away from the exploding machine but he felt silent karma and retribution as the gundams exploded and the shockwave flung him across the island, blacking out when he hit the ground.
The day the world burned
As the thunder storm settled on the island murrue tried to calm her heart. The heavy beating not stopping even as the fighting ended. Well…somewhat. The two prototypes were still out there. Beaten, battered…but they were still active.
Flay though reported, through miriallia's cries to skygraspers two/Tolle, to the strike/Kira…trying to disprove their destruction, that neither prototype was moving in any way. That was one blessing.
Utilizing the busters still working comm system Nicol reported in, stating he had a Dearka elsman tied up by the buster and was currently making rapid, quick repairs to the buster to try and get it moveable.
He also stated the blitz was nearly toast.
So…Noah was gone, the blitz was barely holding together, they had the buster but it was in barely any better condition than the blitz but it sounded like should, by all things unholy and god damn unlucky, zaft attack again, Nicol could pilot the buster as a backup.
Mu had been shot down but not destroyed.
Skygraspers 2 was gone even if miriallia wouldn't accept it…
And the strike…for all it survived, for all Kira survived…the strike was gone.
And Kira with it….
"Get the most necessary repairs done to get us in the air, leave skygraspers one where it is but recover lieutenant commander la flaga, recover the Nicol and the blitz along with the buster and its pilot. Put mister elsman in the brig…"that was all she said before getting out of her chair and leaving the bridge, not even stating who had the bridge but it was obvious. Natarle as her XO would be taking over for at least a 6 hour shift or till murrue came back.
Murrue…she…so much loss…so much death…
Tears flowed down her cheeks as she couldn't held them back anymore.
"Noah…you said you`d protect us…and you did but…what will we do now?" she whispered. Even if they were not far from the Alaskan air defenses still…the ship suddenly felt like it was in far more danger without the angel of death onboard…and knowing it never would be again.
The day the world burned
SO….. I know I promised 2 chapters in orb…well you tell me…do you really wanna read a likely shitty, short chapter about murrue and mu? I mean I could make it longer and include plenty of filler about Erica repairing EX-caliber, Nicol and Kira interacting over repairing the code for the astrays…
But do you really wanna read that….or did you wanna read this chapter full of epicenes?
Also I hope you liked the fights…I tried my best to follow my own path of what weapons they used, damages they took…all that. But we will see
Anyways if you guys really want another chapter in orb I will need 19 more reviews FROM DIFFERENT PEOPLE, 19 separate reviews…demanding a lemon scene or more orb content.
Next chapter we get to see Noah start his time in the world championship…and by the end of that chapter you will meet...the Gabriel gundam.
Oh one more thing…well two in one. Three…lol just here...
I`m aware the CGUE deep arms does not have any beam claws…call it authors creativity or whatever…deal with it.
I`m aware that Nicols cockpit should have been fried in the water and he likely should not have been able to breath or see or whatever…I'm being creative for good action…sue me if it matters that much or don't read it…cause it's gonna happen more often….it's gundam.
I`m aware Tolle and…well Nicol…but Tolle and him die in different episodes, different battles AND that Kira did not kill yzak in here but I wanted to wrap it all up in one battle. Again…don't like it don't read it.
So as always, don't forget to review, always want feedback, keeps me writing, and keeps me inspired.
P.S. a small sneak peek for their return to orb and to make up for halfassing the wrap up of orb…don't hate me cause I'm lazy, it's 2 am, and I don't wanna fix that..
Erica sat at her desk and sighed. The archangel just left. Along with the infamous EX-caliber. So much technology she could design just off that, let alone the little bit of technology Noah let her see.
At least she had his gift for her. Maybe it was information on how to make that "GN drive" as he called it.
She lifted the tablet he had left behind that he said held her surprise and activate it, putting in the password he left her.
The moment she did so it began opening files, showing schematics for a new mobile suit, a striker pack…even a theoretical equation to make an alloy known as "gundanium" and a way to make an "ultra-compact fission reactor".
The most surprising part, was a theory that, by encasing the reactor in gundanium, it would block out the N-jammers and allow a battery to be hooked up to it. From there it could constantly feed the battery with power, making the battery unable to run out of power.
There was only one problem…"gundanium alloy can only be manufactured in space…" she said quietly.
Mulling over the thought of sharing this data she found he had included a way to transfer the data to her private terminal and then send it to who she needed to.
In minutes she put a highly classified data packet out to one of their other colonies with instructions to make just enough of this…gundanium…if possible, to make this casing.
In the meantime she began to go over this mobile suit design…
"Build strike full package...2.0?" she said quietly.
End spoiler
Don't judge me on using the build strike. It's a present for mu after they find the strikes remains and go to rebuild it. Same with the gundanium stuff, as stated he sent her theories that he has researched as well as a theory on how to get that whole set up to work…
Also since it is a present for mu I have a surprise way to include the full package build booster's ability to disengage from the build strike and be an independent fighter…but you`ll just have to wait to find out…
Or not if this potentially ruins the story for you. And no…I will not suddenly have orb roll out a whole series of nuclear powered mobile suits made of gundanium…chill your boots Erica isn't stupid, that would grab too much attention.