Chap. 48
Outer Space…
Spikes of energy soared and exploded throughout space, trailing behind a sole figure attempting to escape from them. Tekkaman Sandrock continued to fly away from the relentless assault of the dark gundam tekkaman Shirken. Shirken repeatedly launched his energy spikes at Sandrock, preventing the desert gundam from doing anything else but retreat. As Sandrock flew away, Shirken went in pursuit, keeping up the continuous fire.
"Run if you like, but you'll never escape me."
Sandrock looked behind him and suddenly flashed in light. Reaching his crystal hawk form, Sandrock was able to fly away far from the energy spike, turn around and charge. Shirken stopped in his tracks and continued firing, but the beam deflected of the yellow crystal hawk coming at him. Seeing that his attacks are in vain, Shirken summoned his own crystal hawk and charged at Sandrock. The two clashed and flew away from each other. Shirken circled along with Sandrock and they struck each other again. This sequence went on for in flashes of light for a while, with each clash being stronger than the last. After the fifth exchange, they soaredbeside each other, coming out of their crystal hark forms. Sandrock summoned forth his curved lancer and slashed forward. Shirken blocked with his wrist blade arms and locked up, causing the armored warriors to twirl in space. Shirken backed away and his blade started to glow, but Sandrock shot forward, halting Shirken's attack and forcing him to defend once more.
"Why are you fighting me?" Sandrock questioned.
Shirken didn't answer and he kicked away, pushing Sandrock back quite a distance. Now free, Shirken's blade spike glowed again and he waved his arm forward, sending out the deadly energy against an open Sandrock. Sandrock raised his shield arm in defense, but the resulting impact and explosion caused Sandrock to fly back again. The desert tekkaman quickly recovered and held off the charging tekkaman with his lancers once again. But Shirken hadn't connected fully and continued on with a shrannggg before turning around for another assault. Seeing him returning, Sandrock held his lancers forward. They began to glow in crimson red and he tossed the lancers with deadly force and speed. Shirken looked in shock and veered off to the side, avoiding them. But one of the lancer cut through his shoulder armor and cut it clean off. Despite that, the dark gundam taunted.
"Your powers are meager compared to mine."
The dark gundam raised his arm and the blades glowed more brightly. Waving them both at once, Shirken sent a hailstorm of energy spikes at Sandrock. Sandrock crossed is arms and took the multiple hits and explosions caused by the spikes.
"Gggggghhhhhhhhhhhh!!!!"
Seeing a weakened Sandrock, Shirken charged for the kill when a beam of energy shot in between them. Shirken turned to the source and discovered that it came from the energy cannon of Noin's white Taurus Sol-Tekka.
"Quatre, are you okay?"
Shirken didn't wait for an answer to be heard as he swooped toward Noin instead. Noin fired on him, but the gundam was too fast and his arm ripped downward on the cannon, slicing it in half. Noin was pushed back by the momentum and Shirken wheeled around her and stabbed his clawed hand into the back of the Sol-Tekka, crushing the boosters in the process.
"Ahhh!!!"
"Miss Noin!"
Sandrock had recovered only to see Shirken hold on to the Sol-Tekka's back. Sparks were beginning to spring out, indicating that he was still crushing it, albeit slowly. If he kept that up, Noin would suffocate in the vacuum of space. Shirkne stopped for a moment and directed his attention to Sandrock.
"You want this woman to live? A life for a life then. Yours for hers. The choice is yours."
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Town
The town was beginning to show signs of damage from the battle between the two female tekkamen as they literally tore up the skies. Crowds of people scrambled away during the battle as Hiver and Slayer struck at each other. However, despite Hiver's increased power, it was the darker tekkaman that was gaining the advantage. The two soon lowered to ground level where Slayer charged in for an attack. Hiver met the clash, but the force of the strike knocked her back into one of the buildings, causing her to crash inside. Slayer hovered overhead as the building side crumbled.
"Aw, come on missy. It was just getting fun."
A sudden rush came out of the building as Hiver emerged in force and bashed into Slayer. Slayer gasped upon impact and Hiver punched forward, pushing her further through the air. As Slayer reeled, Hiver began to energize and she crossed her arms.
"Reactor…Voltekka!!!!!"
A swirling beam of energy flashed out of her arm and straight at Slayer. Slayer recovered just in time to see the beam come at her and shot away in a flash. The beam turned in kind and split up into five separate beams, all chasing after her. Slayer cut through the air once more, but the beams stayed tight on her trail. Slayer ignited into he crystal hawk form and bolted further, with Hiver's beam still giving chase. Slayer looked back for a moment and then zoomed away again in another direction. The reactor beam continued to follow, but Slayer had moved away fast enough to fly right at the source. Hiver herself.
'No!'
Hiver had been stationary from using the Reactor long enough for Slayer to collide into her forcefully.
"Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"
Hiver was blasted away and skid across the ground. Without her focus, the Reactor Voltekka ceased and Slayer shot at Hiver and held her lancer on her.
"You played a great game. Such a shame such spirit will be snuffed out, but that's the way it is."
Slayer raised her lancer and set it to stab down when a couple of energy beams caught her attention and caused her to leap away. Looking up, she saw the Alpha starjet flying overhead, sending continuous fire her way, driving her away from Hiver.
"Foolish brat. You can't save her…or yourself."
Slayer jetted into the air, ready to tear the jet in half when another object shot in front of her, stopping her attack.
Tekkaman Dead…
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Space KnightCommandCenter
Aki strode toward the command chamber after Dontello had summoned her. The door opened before her and she entered inside, finding the man in question sitting in her old position in the center of the room. Aki stood before the general as he folded his hands on the table and addressed her.
"Chief Aki."
He pressed a key and a monitor lit up, showing the various activities taking place around the world.
"With the coming of the World Nation, there should be a strong force to protect it, don't you agree?"
"Would it mean anything if I agreed or not?" Aki replied neutrally.
The general gave a light chuckle, "No. But an air of civility is needed between us at least. The point is that change is never easy. There will be many rebellions to deal with."
Aki frowned slightly, "What does this have to do with the Space Knights?"
Dontello folded his finger together, "We need a strong defense to deal with such rebellions. The Space Knight would suit that purpose perfectly."
"Our mandate is to combat the Radham. Anything else..."
"I'm changing that mandate." Dontello cut her off. "Remember, you are under OZ control and as such, you will do as we say."
The Space Knight Chief stared hard at the general, "We may be under your control now, but if you continue with such actions, the first rebellion may begin here."
The hard stare was returned, "Is that a threat, Chief?"
"No. That...is just a possible result."
His stare turned cold as he sat back in the seat, "I'll keep that in mind. Dismissed."
Aki walked away in silence. The OZ general was already beginning to assert his authority. It would only be a matter of time before they came to blows in the worse way, within the command center. As the door closed behind her, she let out a sigh and gazed at her palm. A red object materialized in her hand briefly before it faded away.
It was a tekka-set crystal...
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Sandrock looked on in horror as Shirken continued to hold Noin hostage He couldn't risk attacking for fear Shirken would tear a hole out and kill Noin. But if he surrendered, there was no guarantee that Shirken would release her. In fact, he was almost certain that Shirken would kill her regardless. But he wasn't completely sure of that. What could he do?
"Quatre...attack..."
Shirken tightened his grip, causing her to be silent again. As more sparks flew out, Shirken mocked, "He won't attack. He won't risk your safety. I've studied you gundams and you are by far the weakest, Sandrock. Weak because of your compassion and kindness. Now surrender to me or she dies now."
Sandrock was frozen solid, trying to find a way through this. If he didn't attack, Noin would die. If he surrendered, both would die. Logic shows that he had to attack, despite the risk.
'But...I...must...but... I...'
Shirken waved the Sol-Tekka, "Your time is up, Snadrock." His grip tightened, "As is hers!"
"No!"
Suddenly, both Sandrock's and Shirken's head gems shimmered and glowed. Both tekkamen looked up to see a shuttle flying toward them. As it continued to come, a flash of emerald light shot out from it and came directly at them; a glow that could only be recognize as the transformation of a tekkaman. As the glow dimmed, white armor emerged from the light and green eyes flashed out. Shirken gasped in surprise, unexpectedly releasing Noin and allowing Sandrock to reach her. The Sol-Tekka was damaged, but luckily it wasn't too serious. Sandrock looked back up as the tekkaman revealed himself.
"Tekkaman Blade!"
Shirken growled and zoomed at Blade. Blade's lancer came to form and Skirken rushed past him with a clash, but Blade didn't stagger. Blade then followed him through space and slashed out. Shirken blocked, but the force of the blow caused him to falter backward. The two dashed at each other through space repeatedly, streaking across the blackness of space. Shirken's arm blades shimmered and he flashed them out in a wide arc of projectiles. Blade dodged the majority of the beams while a few hit him and exploded. But that didn't stop Blade from coming in close and striking out, locking blades once again. Shirken back out and away from Blade. He knew he was no match for a warrior like Blade. He would have to wait another time.
"I will deal with you another time, Sandrock. As well as you, Blade."
Another flash and Shirken flew off into space in retreat. The shuttle pulled by as Sandrock moved with the damaged Taurus Sol-Tekka.
"Miss Noin, are you alright?"
A moan echoed out before she answered him, "Yeah. Somehow or other. That guy came close, whoever he was."
Sandrock moved toward the approaching shuttle while Blade had returned and followed them in. Noin was settled into the docking port while Blade and Sandrock reverted back to their normal forms. Quatre stayed in the back for a while in order to change while D-Boy was already clothed. Coming out into the bridge, Quatre and Noin met up with their saviors, D-Boy and Noal.
"Well fancy meeting you out here. So this is a gundam."
"My name is Quatre." he introduced himself. "Quatre Rabaera Winner."
"Lucrezia Noin."
Noal nodded, "Noin...ah yeah, I remember you. I heard about you when you were a cadet in the Lake Victoria base. One of the high-ranked students."
"That was a long time ago, Commodore Noal." she replied.
"So you recognize me."
Noin folded her arms and smiled, "You left quite an impression during your visit. Especially in your pilot tutorial. But after that, you disappeared."
Giving a light shrug, Noal answered, "Yet another long story. So what were you guys doing out here anyway, aside from fighting with that tekkaman?"
"Well, ever since the Sank Kingdom's collapse, we had to regroup somewhere." Quatre answered. "We decided to go to the colonies."
"Well, we were heading that way ourselves. The Command Center has been taken over as well."
Quatre gasped in shock, "What?!"
D-Boy finally decided to speak, "Romefeller is in control, but the knights are still active. We were heading the L4 colony to find some answers."
"Answers?"
Noal spun around in his seat, "We'll explain it on the way. We can't stay here any longer. OZ will be on its way here so we better get moving."
"Right."
===========================
"It's about time you showed up, little one."
Dead made no reply at first and then spoke, "Sister, stop this."
Slayer looked over to the side, "Why should I? It is of no consequence." Looking back at Dead, "Join with me, little one. You do not need the Space Knights. They are now dust in the wind. You do not need to die with them and the rest of this pathetic world."
On the ground below, Hiver managed to recover and looked up at the exchange. Dead had been silent for a good bit, causing her to worry. She flew up behind him to check.
"Dead?"
"Quiet, child!" Slayer snapped at Hiver before addressing Dead once again. "Leave the Space Knights."
"I..." Dead felt helpless once again. He had to make a decision, but he didn't know which the right one was. Would he fight his sister, just to protect people who would easily turn against him? His glance turned to Hiver and then back to Slayer.
"I am a Space Knight."
Slayer's grip on her lancer tightened slightly before it loosened. An eerie chuckle came from her dark presence. "I can see that you are still confused, so I'll offer you a choice." She pointed her lancer at him, "You will join me, willingly or otherwise." Her shoulders suddenly shimmered with energy as the sphere on them began to glow. Dead and Hiver looked on and prepared themselves as they watched. Dark lightning crackled around her as she continued speaking.
"And this is the offer!"
She shot up high into the air and turned around in a graceful spin. The dark energy crackled violently as Slayer cried out.
"Voltekka!!!!!!!"
A purple beam blasted out downward, but not at the Space Knights. Rather, it flew into the center of the town and exploded in a maelstrom of darkness. The building shatter instantly and the shockwave ripped through the town, causing the other buildings to topple as well. Hiver and Hayato looked on in horror at the devastation that had been made.
"No! The people!"
Dead was in shock as well. He never though she would fire on the people. They had nothing to do with the fight at all. Looking up at Slayer, he watched as she chuckled more.
"That is the choice, Kenji. I will return to you later. If you are still confused, then perhaps the deaths of more will suffice in making your decision. Until then, little one."
With those last words, Slayer turned around, shot into the air and disappeared. The trio landed on the ground, but there was nothing that could be done. The entire town was completely destroyed. All that was left behind were broken building and shattered rubble. There were no sign of survivors. None at all.
"We can't stay here." Dead said after a moment of silence. "OZ will come looking. We better go."
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Unknown
A streak of blue energy soared over the skies above a small town. Falling into shrubbery nearby, the light energy dematerialized into the form of Heero Yuy. His clothes were absent from his body with the exception of his pants, which was more than enough for the gundam tekkaman. Looking out of the shrubbery, Heero saw the movement of OZ forces entering the town. Their intention seemed non-violent, but he didn't go for it for a second. He knew that the so-called peace was just a way for Romefeller to gain control of the world. And on top of that was their queen, Relenea. She was just a figurehead in this; used by Romefeller to gain control over the populace. Heero had to stop this before it grew too powerful. And there was only one way to do it.
'Relena...Omae no korosu...'
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Natasha and Goliate head for Natasha's isolated mansion home, only to find the stay short when her father, the former general P finds her as well. As he tries to convince his daughter to work with OZ, a Radham attack causes her to spring into action. Duo discovers that Quatre has returned to space and heads out to meet him. Also, the White Fang begins to move throughout the colonies, strengthening itself as well. Next on Gundam Tekkaman: Homecoming.