Act II, Episode III: Aegis and Excalibur
"Zechs, don't do this. There's still time...!" Lucrezia Noin pleaded. With her hands pressed to the monitor in front of her, she tried in vain to hold onto the person on the other side of the image.
It had already been decided. "Be safe, Noin."
They had been in hiding for years. By the time Zechs and Lucrezia left the Earth to spearpoint Relena's Mars terraformation project, the Mars Space Republic was already in power. Martian delegates seemed friendly at first, but the two visitors quickly became fugitives once they learned of the revolution and the Republic's plans for war.
On the run, the two searched desperately for a way to contact ESUN, but the Martians had already dismantled any interplanetary communications systems not under their direct control. Now their only choice was to steal a ship and escape back to Earth.
Zechs felt a deep sorrow looking back at Lucrezia on the monitor, but he put on a brave face. That was what a decoy had to do. He led their pursuers in the opposite direction as she boarded the vessel alone. They allowed themselves one last talk as Zechs barricaded himself in a room on the opposite end of the facility.
Lucrezia gasped as she saw their pursuers break through the door behind Zechs. He shut off the feed so she would not have to see what would ensue.
"Zechs Merquise! You are under arrest," the man at the front of the crowd declared, a rifle cradled in his hands. There were four more soldiers behind him. Zechs was unarmed and hopelessly outnumbered, but he stood his ground and glared threateningly, not willing to give in to their demands.
A massive roar suddenly shook the whole facility. The startled soldiers struggled to keep their footing.
"They've taken a ship from the hangar!" One of the men shouted as he realized what was happening.
Zechs lunged forward, taking advantage of the distraction. His hands closed around the first soldier's arms and wrestled the rifle away. Zechs struck the man in the jaw with the butt of the weapon, knocking him down.
"Stop or I'll shoot!" Another soldier shouted, but he hesitated to fire his weapon in such close quarters. Zechs shared no such hesitation and put two rounds through the man's stomach. He stumbled back painfully and collapsed.
Zechs turned the rifle on the two remaining MSR soldiers, but they had already flanked him, one of them grabbing Zechs' captured weapon with both hands. The last soldier had his rifle trained on Zechs, but he could not fire in fear that he would hit his comrade by mistake.
The two men struggled desperately over the weapon, their nearly equal upper-body strength forcing the prize over their heads. The MSR soldier used the opening to land a solid stomp-kick on Zechs' center of gravity. The meaty blow tossed Zechs backward hard against a wall.
Zechs was already forcing himself up again, but he flinched as a gunshot went off, a hot flash of pain hitting his abdomen.
"That's enough, Lightning Count. Any more trouble and the next shot's going through your heart." The first MSR officer knocked down by Zechs before had drawn his pistol during the struggle.
For Zechs, the room was already spinning. This was the end for him. "Kill me," he said.
The officer looked down at Zechs coldly. He would have. At least to avenge the soldier Zechs had shot. But he had his orders. With a look of disgust on his face, he ordered the two remaining soldiers with him: "One of you go to the hangar and find out where that ship is going. Whoever else get some medics in here."
Zechs began to black out. Blood spilled freely from between his fingers as he pressed down on his wound. The soldiers spoke to him, but only clouded murmurs reached him. His heart was elsewhere.
As long as she gets away, it was all worth it.
His mind was in a haze. He knelt on the cold, dirty floor of a prisoner's cell. Heavy chains bound his hands above his head. He was shirtless and covered in bruises and scars.
Time escaped his grasp. The Martians had held him prisoner for months. He did not talk at first, but the savage beatings and torture eventually wore him down. The gunshot to his abdomen had been patched up, but it was now red and sore from infection.
He had long since run out of useful information to confess, but still his captors arrived daily to torment him. By now it was clear that they were no longer seeking information. There was an intoxication through the control and a glee through inflicting the blood-curdling pain. The Martians saw him as a tyrant from Earth, and it felt sweet to take their suffering and to turn it back on Zechs. In all his years as a soldier on Earth, for all the atrocities and blood spilled before him, he had never seen such cruelty as he saw on Mars.
Zechs opened his eyes, staring weakly in front of him, his gaze directionless and lifeless. This pain was the price he owed for all his life's sins, he thought. He once tried to destroy the Earth, but now his captives would go on to accomplish what he failed to do. The irony was difficult to bear.
It was hard to imagine how quickly things spiraled out of control. Zechs had fought countless battles on Earth and survived the most dire odds, but now he was a lone captive in some Martian hell hole. A few short years ago he commanded the human race's most powerful and advanced military force. Today he was powerless to stop the few Martian soldiers who arrived daily to torment him.
The heavy steel door of his cell scraped across the floor and slammed open with a loud booming echo. An MSR soldier stood in the doorway, his face obscured by the glare of the bright light behind him.
"Lightning Count," he said ominously. "You're being taken to execution. Come with us."
That would be fine, Zechs thought. The will to fight back had already left him. He was resigned to his end.
Several men came into the room. Zechs collapsed as they undid the cuffs around his wrists. Being suspended for weeks at a time had weakened him horribly.
Before he knew what was happening, he was hit with a white-hot pain on the side of his jaw. A soldier knocked him out with a sharp blow. Then nothing.
Zechs groaned as he came to consciousness. He woke to a world of numb and indistinct soreness. The room was all white. Laying on his back, his head and shoulders were propped up on a pillow. An IV drip fed saline into one of his arms.
He shook his head as his vision focused, thinking he was being haunted by an old ghost.
"Zechs. You're awake," a voice said with concern. The other man was dressed neatly in military casual attire, his hair slicked back. He sat in a chair opposite of Zechs' hospital bed.
"Sage Schneider?" Zechs uttered weakly in disbelief.
"It's me," Sage answered with a small smile. "It's been a long time. We haven't talked since I retired from the OZ Specials. I see you've been getting yourself into trouble like always."
Sage stood up from his chair and approached Zechs. He removed one of his gloves and pressed the back of his hand to Zechs' forehead, his demeanor soft and clinical. "The fever from the infection is down. You were in terrible shape when my men found you. I was worried you wouldn't make it."
Being a stoic and detached soldier, Zechs ordinarily would never let anyone come too close, but he had known Sage for ages ever since their years at the academy. Sage's concern for others was always raw and genuine. If Treize had the mind of a king, and Zechs the soul of a soldier, then Sage's heart was radiant and golden like sunlight. That was how those three were the stars of OZ.
Zechs felt sudden pangs of regret. "Treize is dead," he confessed suddenly. "I-"
"I heard," Sage interrupted him. "You don't have to explain. Let the past be." Sage looked mournful but determined. "My concern is with the future. Can you walk? Time is short."
Sage led his guest down a corridor once Zechs was dressed. The facility was lightly staffed, but the soldiers and personnel present were hardworking and fiercely loyal. They wore the uniforms of the MSR military, but they were nothing like the scoundrels Zechs had fought before.
"Where are we?" Zechs asked.
"This is one of the Martian strongholds on the edge of the Republic's territory. My men intercepted your execution and brought you here, though you've been unconscious for a few weeks."
The mood between the two soldiers suddenly ran cold. "Sage, why is Mars preparing for war with Earth?" Zechs demanded. "Are you leading this travesty? You are the last person I expected to advocate for this level of bloodshed. There's no telling if either Mars or the Earth will survive another massacre!"
Sage looked regretful, but he did not falter under Zechs' criticism. "I did not want this, either. When the Alliance fell, I thought there would finally be peace for the Martian colonists. But the Martian people were fearful of another occupation from Earth. The militant factions seized the opportunity to assume power." A deep sadness overcame him. "I couldn't stop it."
Zechs could only imagine the ghastly burden on his old friend's shoulders.
Sage continued, "I did everything I could to prevent the Republic from going to war, but my words fell on deaf ears. I thought that, if my people were going to war, then it was the right thing to do to support them, even if I disagreed." He started shaking his head regretfully. "But I cannot go through with this any further. Every fiber of my being opposes it. I can't let them continue this war, either Earth or Mars."
The two men stopped at their destination. It was a hangar with a mass driver.
"That's why I'm sending you back to Earth," Sage finished. "I wish we could wait for you to be in better health, but rival MSR factions could arrive at any moment."
"You can't be serious," Zechs retorted. He saw a high-speed interplanetary carrier on the mass driver's launch bay. Dozens of personnel scrambled throughout the hangar to prepare the vessel for deployment.
"But before you go," Sage said, pulling a heavy lever, "I want you to take this with you." The loud snap of spotlights echoed throughout the hangar as the rays illuminated the enormous form of a hallowed machine. Adorned in scales and white armor, the mobile suit's fierce expression triggered familiar flashbacks for the veteran pilot.
Zechs gasped, "This suit...!"
Sage explained, "We had this built based on the OZ's first blueprint. I was supposed to take it into battle against the Earth, but I wonder if the thought of me piloting that machine would make Treize laugh. I thought it only appropriate for you to take it, Zechs. If Mars thinks it is destiny to overthrow the Earth, then one measly Gundam should prove to be no obstacle."
The gravity of Sage's words bore down on Zechs. He could not deny that a Gundam was the most appropriate symbol for Sage's act of rebellion, but Zechs could not help but feel he would never be free of his own past. But there was no time to argue. There was much more at stake than the life of one Zechs Merquise.
"I know I am asking the world of you, old friend," Sage continued, "but in return for your life, please take this sword into battle."
The two could only share a soulful glance as Zechs agreed to escape to Earth.
As Zechs prepared for his long flight, Sage directed the hangar personnel to ready the carrier and load the mobile suit and supplies. Soon the crew strapped Zechs into the carrier's seat, and the mass driver hummed to life.
Suddenly there was a commotion outside the hangar, then shouting and gunshots. Without hesitation half the hangar crew went to defend the entrances, and the other half sent off Zechs' carrier through the mass driver without ceremony. The tremendous acceleration threatened to flatten Zechs, but he gritted his teeth and endured the massive forces.
The carrier cleared the mass driver and fired its interplanetary propulsion rockets, sending Zechs like a bullet in Earth's direction.
He made a promise through gritted teeth, "Wait for me, Noin...!"
Back in the hangar, MSR soldiers broke into the compound. The facility fell into chaos. "Bring us Zechs Merquise!" they shouted, "We know you are hiding him here."
Both factions shouted and cried out as they struggled against each other and exchanged small arms fire. The soldiers loyal to Sage resisted fiercely, but they were pushed back. Suddenly, Sage came forward with open palms, his hands raised. He was ever gallant and high-minded. No more soldiers would die in his name.
One of the officers came to apprehend him. "Sage Schneider, you are under arrest for suspicion of treason against the Republic. You have a lot of explaining to do!"
Even as he surrendered, his eyes pierced the opposing soldiers defiantly. The justice in his heart threatened to burn them all up. Sage answered sternly, "It is you warmongers who are guilty of treason."
In the depths of space, on the edge of the Earth Sphere, the Wing Gundam stood alone waiting for its prey. Its divinely beautiful form belied a terrible power capable of unspeakable mayhem and carnage. The crushing, razor-sharp aura it exuded seized and warped the surrounding space.
The Gundam's bone-chilling gaze pierced through the darkness. The machine's pilot exhaled a long, cold breath before leveling the enormous gun in the suit's right hand. An explosive golden beam erupted from the weapon's muzzle and tore into the distance.
An interplanetary carrier approached from the direction of Mars. In an instant a hellish explosion of light consumed the vessel and smashed it in two. The ship's remains burned and twisted, but an armored silhouette emerged from the immense blaze, spreading two dragon-like wings outward.
It was the Gundam Epyon birthed again in fire with Zechs Merquise at its helm. Unharmed by the explosion, the mobile suit's white armor glimmered without blemish. Its deep-violet eyes flashed to life with a wicked light.
Zechs was impressed by the range and accuracy of the beam weapon that destroyed his mobile suit carrier. He could only think of one man who was capable of doing such a thing. A fiery green blade burst to life as the Epyon drew its beam sword. Zechs surged forward to return the kind greeting he received.
In the distance, Heero lowered the Wing Gundam's hi-buster rifle, the surrounding space still crackling with lightning and burning plasma. He waited for the Epyon to come close before wordlessly pulling the trigger again. An unspeakable torrent of gold plasma blasted past the other mobile suit which juked hard right to avoid the attack. Zechs barely managed to respond in time thanks to his Gundam's computer predicting his enemy's aim and firepower.
The Wing Gundam rushed to close distance, and the Epyon came close enough to use its beam sword, but the two Gundams circled around each other with immense tension, weapons at the ready.
Zechs called out over short-range radio, "Heero Yuy! It's you, isn't it?"
He didn't answer. Heero raised his Gundam's rifle again, but the Epyon instantly flicked its whip-like heat rod and knocked away Heero's weapon.
Zechs continued, "Did you not receive our distress calls? Our warnings? Mars plans on waging all-out war with the Earth! Why are you stopping me?"
The front of the Wing Gundam's shield cracked open, revealing a long beam saber hilt. The Gundam drew the blade and ignited the lengthy sapphire beam.
"You're too late, Zechs. We've been fighting off the Martian invasion for months. But that's what you've always wanted, right? To see the Earth in ruins?!" There was anger in Heero's voice. He charged right at Zechs with a saber slash, but the blow was deflected by the other suit's sword as they blew past each other.
Zechs' heart sank. He couldn't stop the war. But now he had to fend for his own life. The Epyon parried another beam saber strike, this one coming dangerously close to slashing its face.
"You've got the wrong idea," Zechs said. "Noin and I have been trying to warn ESUN about Mars. But I was captured! Let me pass, Heero!"
"There's no way I'm letting you through," Heero growled. "It's clear whose side you're on." Zechs recoiled at the accusation. Heero continued, "Mars uses ZERO system to control its mobile dolls, just like you did on Libra. I wonder how the Martians got such a clever idea!"
The Wing Gundam barreled down on its opponent. It feinted with a weak slash before its sword hand shot out again with an explosively quick thrust. The Epyon deflected the first attack but took a cut across the side of its torso from the stab. Zechs spun away from the blade to avoid a fatal blow. It was clear Heero meant to fight to the death.
"I was captured," Zechs repeated. "I….I broke and told them everything. But I'm here to make things right. Let me atone for my mistakes, Heero," Zechs pleaded.
"You'll have atoned when I kill you. Or if you want to pass, you'll have to kill me first."
Zechs was enraged. He was given no choice. And the aggravation of facing his old nemesis again made his blood boil. He gave into the tragedy of his blood-stained past.
He cried out, "So be it!"
The Epyon's heat rod charged up with a red-hot glow. The Gundam winded back its left arm and flung the massive burning flail at its opponent. Heero avoided the whip narrowly by twisting over the weapon's arc. He deflected another heat rod slash with his beam saber. A following meaty blow struck the Wing Gundam's shield so hard the mobile suit was thrown off balance.
Zechs took the opening to charge in with his mobile suit's powerful beam sword. Increasing the blade's power output, he expected to blow through Heero's guard with a titanic thrust, but the Wing Gundam's beam saber held together. The azure blade was more intense and focused than a standard saber, allowing it to deflect the Epyon's fiery emerald beam sword.
The Wing Gundam fully stopped the Epyon's thrust and pushed its opponent away with an impressive show of strength. Zechs readied another swing of the Epyon's heat rod, but Heero shot forward and cut through the whip at one of its joints. The severed weapon's red glow dissipated as it was flung limply into the distance.
Zechs brought the full weight of the Epyon's beam sword down on his opponent, but the other Gundam raised its large shield. The large blade glanced off the shield's electromagnetic barrier. Two guns on the shield snapped forward and let loose several beam blasts as the Wing Gundam backed away.
The Epyon pivoted and ducked under the beam bolts as Zechs saw several white fins on Heero's shield fan out and separate in every direction. He recognized instantly what they were, seeing the fins encased in an electromagnetic barrier: they were remote-controlled planet defensers. Several of the defensers hurled themselves at the Epyon like large darts. Zechs avoided them handily, still keeping an eye on the Wing Gundam, before the defensers surrounded him and formed a barrier behind the Epyon.
With the Epyon's retreat path blocked, the Wing Gundam closed distance and laid on tremendous pressure with a sequence of saber attacks. Zechs grimaced as he deflected the blows using his Gundam's beam blade and arm shield. For mobile suits, melee combat in space could be equated to jousting where flight speed, reach, and accuracy determined the winner. However, Heero forced the battle into very tight distances where they would duel like two fencers. At this range the victor would be the combatant with the better striking power, reaction time, and technique.
The last time they fought, years ago, Zechs had actually powered down the Epyon's beam sword in order to match his opponent's speed, but now Zechs fought with the blade on high output. The Epyon heaved through the Wing Gundam's guard, but the block slowed the attack enough to allow the other machine to side-step the blow.
Heero noticed a faint glow on the Epyon's right wrist. Zechs made a horizontal swipe aimed to decapitate the Wing Gundam. Heero deflected the Epyon's blade upward, but the sword came down again unnaturally fast. Heero was ready and allowed the downward slash to glance off his shield. Zechs continued with an onslaught of powerful blows, each faster than the last.
As he suspected, the Epyon's sword arm was augmented with an electromagnetic anchor. Based on the planet defenser, the technology used an electric field to boost the speed, power, and control of a mobile suit's sword arm. Forcing Zechs into close combat may prove to be a fatal mistake.
Having revealed his hand, Zechs pressured with rapid and explosively powerful strikes, seeking victory before his opponent could respond. For Heero, it was like trying to deflect rapid-fire cannon blasts with just a sword. Heero adjusted his defensive timing and brought his mobile suit's arms in closer to its torso so he could respond faster to the blows.
The Wing Gundam deflected the Epyon's attacks with tight, fast movements, but with each blade impact it took another superficial cut to its wings or shoulders. Suddenly, the Wing Gundam punched the point of its shield forward at the same time the Epyon lashed out with its blade. The shield point intercepted the Epyon's upper arm, stealing all the power from its stroke and making the attack impossible.
In one motion, the Wing Gundam pushed the Epyon's sword arm away and slashed downwards with its own beam saber, following through the entire attack uninterrupted. Shocked by the blow, Zechs reflexively swiped with his blade and retreated a few steps back. The Wing Gundam leaned backward just out of reach of the cut.
Something was terribly wrong, but Zechs didn't know what. His cut should have reached. And Heero's attack? He could feel no damage feedback from the Epyon's computer. Then he realized: Heero's target wasn't the Epyon's vitals. Heero's cut severed the power cable for the Epyon's beam sword. It was an incredibly risky opening to target, but it negated one of the assets giving Zechs an edge, and only Heero could have pulled it off.
Heero wasted no time. He opened up on Zechs with a series of saber strikes and pummeling shield strikes. The Epyon parried and blocked blow for blow, but the other Gundam's superior strength was beginning to overtake the Epyon's defenses.
The Wing Gundam spun away from a parry and walloped the Epyon with a roundhouse kick. Zechs reeled from the blow, already seeing Heero closing to finish him. He had one last ace up his sleeve.
The azure blade came down to finish Zechs. In an instant the Epyon drew a metallic blade from its side and blocked the Wing Gundam's saber. The short sword resisted the other weapon's superheated plasma, to Heero's surprise, but he paid it no mind. Heero retracted his sword to prepare another attack, but his weapon wouldn't budge. His saber was somehow caught in a bind with his opponent's sidearm.
Heero's blood ran cold. With his sword locked, Heero was wide open. The Epyon unceremoniously punched its fiery blade forward. The blow was partly deflected by the Wing Gundam's shield, but it completely crushed the armor on the mobile suit's right shoulder.
The Epyon readied another lethal strike, but the Wing Gundam derezzed its beam saber, freeing itself from the bind, and backed off. A bead of sweat rolled down Heero's jaw, his eyes tense from having narrowly avoided death.
That short blade in the Epyon's left hand…. It was similar to an A.S. defenser, but it used an inverted electromagnetic field. Instead of deflecting beam sabers, it trapped them like a magnet. Heero could break the bind by deactivating his beam saber, but that would leave him open. Avoiding a bind altogether was his best option.
Heero mounted his shield onto his mobile suit's forearm and shifted into a two-handed grip for his sword, the azure beam blade sprouting back to life. The Epyon surged forward, a blade in each hand.
The Wing Gundam made a two-handed thrust for the Epyon's face, but the Epyon side-stepped it. Zechs countered with a slash from his beam sword. Heero deflected it upward. Zechs stepped forward to bring his sidearm into range, but his opponent backed away to the side.
Heero used his superior reach and legwork to probe his opponent's complicated defensive stance. He sniped at different targets from various angles and pulled his blade away every time Zechs attempted a bind.
The Epyon rushed forward, both its weapons flashing viciously. The Gundam's combat computer howled and screamed commands directly into Zechs' mind, blurring his vision with a spectrum of potential futures. Zechs had to choose the truest vision and execute with absolute perfection. A single mistake could leave him dead or mutilated.
He gritted his teeth as he rained down attacks with a complicated fencing form. Both blades came in simultaneously from different angles, or they attacked and defended together in the same moment. His opponent expertly parried or blocked his beam blade while avoiding the reach of his sidearm.
Zechs suddenly stepped into one of his strikes, simultaneously bringing Heero into a saber bind and bringing his sidearm into measure. He purposefully crossed the metallic blade over his other arm to lock his opponent's weapon, freeing his main sword for a strike.
Heero instantly responded by deactivating his saber to free it and reignited the blade in another fraction of a second-just barely fast enough to respond to Zechs' riposte. But he wasn't able to push Zechs back.
They traded like this in rapid bouts, trapping each other's weapons and fighting for an opening in a deadly and blindingly complicated dance.
At last Zechs trapped Heero's blade with his sidearm and pulled it aside, leaving the Wing Gundam wide open. The Epyon's sword reared back to punch through its opponent with a massive thrust, but Heero was ready.
The Wing Gundam stepped forward into the thrust and trapped the Epyon's sword arm under the Wing Gundam's shield arm. Zechs tried to respond with his metallic side blade, but it was already locked with his opponent's beam saber. The bind technically disabled both of their weapons.
With both of the Epyon's arms locked, the Wing Gundam opened up with its head vulcans and machinecannons at point-blank range. What ensued could be likened to the sound of four chainsaws grinding through a wall of steel.
Zechs braced himself as the Gundanium-tipped rounds drilled into his mobile suit's face and chest. The armor could only endure so much before it was chewed up by the intense automatic fire. Damage alerts blanketed the screens in his cockpit.
In a fit of desperation, the Epyon's knee came up and slammed into the Wing Gundam's stomach, stopping the onslaught of machinegun fire. The white-armored mobile suit backed away from its opponent. Its right hand was empty, having lost the beam sword during the grapple. The Gundam's face was completely destroyed, save for one eye, which glowed with a bead of eerie violet light.
Zechs readied himself to re-engage, this time armed only with the short metallic blade in his left hand. He was ready to fight to the end.
Heero commented on the wretched sight, his saber poised for another go. "You never give up do you? How did someone so vile and traitorous live so long through the wars? Sparing you back on Libra was a mistake. The sooner you disappear the sooner the Earth can go on in peace."
Zechs spat back, "What about you? I entrusted the future to you! But look at you now. All I see is a mad dog hungry for blood!"
The tired and miserable look in Heero's eyes did not lie. But he was not here for a lecture.
"Any last words?" Heero asked coldly.
"None." Zechs growled.
The Wing Gundam raised its sword over its head, taking the grip into both hands, ready to end the bout with a single strike. The Epyon reared back with the metal blade in its left hand.
The two Gundams charged each other viciously. Just as they brought their swords down on each other, a beam blast flashed between the two mobile suits. Heero and Zechs both instinctively recoiled away from the path of the beam, abandoning their murderous charge.
"That's enough!" A voice called over the radio.
Heero and Zechs still had their sights locked on each other, their murderous eyes sharp with a simmering rage. But in their peripheral vision they saw a white taurus approach with a beam rifle in its hands. It was Lucrezia Noin.
"Stand down, Heero," she called out. "I have orders to take Zechs into ESDF custody."
Heero responded after a moment, a cold annoyance in his voice. "Is that wise? We can put him down right here. That would stop all the betrayal and carnage that follow this man wherever he goes."
Noin had to acknowledge the other man's history, but she called out to him, "Zechs, surrender peacefully, and we will guarantee your safety. Things are looking grim, but the ESDF will take you in for questions if you cooperate."
The Epyon's cockpit hatch creaked open, barely functioning after the brutal melee. Zechs stepped out with both hands raised. Heero was already standing over him with a pistol trained on the other man.
Zechs looked up at the two Gundam mobile suits, their armor chewed up and ruined in the earlier battle. Even after all this time, the arms race between different peoples continued at light speed, he thought.
"The Wing Zero is even more monstrous than it was the last time we fought," Zechs offered out loud to Heero.
"Epyon got a lot stronger with all that Martian technology," Heero said, not lowering his gun. "But this isn't Zero. This mobile suit doesn't use ZERO system," Heero corrected.
It took Zechs a moment to understand, but it dawned on him that while he had given the battle his all, Heero had just fought evenly with him and Epyon without the support of a telepathic combat computer. The skill and technology gap between the two pilots had widened in incredible and bewildering ways. Zechs could only lament the carnage that would ensue as the contest between Earth and Mars continued.
"I'm ready," Zechs said, offering his surrender. "I won't resist."
Noin breathed a sigh of relief. She apprehended Zechs, and her taurus towed the Epyon along with anchor cables.
Holding her composure despite all her heartache, she whispered quietly to Zechs, "I've been worried sick about you. I knew you would make it. I waited all these months…."
Zechs was sorrowful to see that, again, he was the person to cause her the most pain. "I'm sorry, Noin," he said. "I'm here now."
Noin's taurus went ahead as it towed the captured Epyon back to base.
Heero silently returned to his Gundam and recovered his rifle and planet defensers. Closing the hatch to the control chamber, he removed his helmet. The mobile suit transformed into neo-bird mode and cruised at a pace behind Noin's taurus.
He said nothing. But the prior battle and the heated argument with Zechs played over in his mind. He had tried so hard to put an end to things, but he was stuck in an endless cycle of the past-fighting the same wars-making the same enemies-sacrificing for nothing. Where was that future that was entrusted to him?
Frustration consumed him. Years later and nothing changed, except that he was being worn down even more savagely than before. He had already given everything he had. Was it his fault the promised future was nowhere to be seen? Was it because of the world he was born into?
He was beginning to see that nothing would be different without a new step. If the world could not change-if HE could not change, then they all would never escape the past.
Act II, Episode III: Aegis and Excalibur, End
-seraphic
A squad of Martian pilots makes landfall on Earth. An encounter with an enemy they were always taught as evil. A reunion with the home they never knew. What dreams may bloom on the battlefield? Next time on New Mobile History Gundam Wing: The Sword,
Act II, Episode IV: Cradle