Disclaimer: See previous chapters

Chap. 53

"Miyuki!"

The utterance soon became an all-out cry as D-Boy rushed up to the glass chamber and proceeded to bash his fists against it. Noal had to pry D away from it before it started to crack.

"D, calm down!

D-Boy struggled in his now slipping grip, "Let me go!"

Noal continued to hold him, barely. "Stop it, D. You might do damage. We'll get her out, but not by cracking the glass and having her spill out on the floor."

D-Boy struggled a bit more before, but the words soon hit home and he settled down, nearly slumping to the floor. Noal released him and strode over to the terminal in front of the chamber.

"She's in some sort of status, but alive." he stated. He began reading over the log entries. "They've really done a number. Used her body in study to learn the secrets of the tekka-system."

D-Boy finally managed to come out of his despair and stand up. "How?" he whispered. "How is she…even still alive?"

Noal continued to look over the records, "It doesn't say. The furthest it goes is when she was brought in. It states that five scientists were the initial researchers and creators of the gundams."

D tentatively moved beside Noal, "Can we get her out of there?"

The blond knight turned an eye to him, "There's a way to turn off the status and bring her out, but I don't know. She might not wake up at all." He could practically feel D's frustration, "Hey, I'm not a doctor or…" A sudden rumble shook the satellite and D-Boy's forehead flashed with the symbol of his tekkaset crystal.

"What the…?" Noal checked the radar, confirming what D-Boy sensed. "Radham. Why do these guys always pick the worse possible moments to show up?"

Indeed, outside the satellite a swarm of Radham as well as Radham tekkamen were all flying toward them. Beam shot out and rattled the satellite further.

"We have to get her out now." D demanded.

Noal frowned as he got to work, "It will take some time before the status chamber shuts off properly. " Looking back at D-Boy, "Five minutes at least."

D-Boy nodded and began to move back to the airlock, "I'll buy you the time. Just get her out of here."

"Count on it."

With that acknowledgment, D-Boy quickly dashed back to the shuttlecraft. The satellite shook further, but that didn't stop him. Soon, he made it to the airlock and it was there that his crystal came into view in his hand.

"Tek-Setta!!!!!"

With the amazing power of his emerald tekka-set crystal, which calls on the universal forces of time and space, D-Boy undergoes his incredible transformation and is endowed with impenetrable armor, quantum energy weapons, and superhuman powers, transforming him into the legendary white tekkaman…

"Tekkaman Blade!!!!!!"

Romefeller

'Heero…'

'Relena…'

Unbeknownst to the audience, Relena was now staring down death, in the form of Heero Yuy with a gun trained on her. She initially began to wonder what he was doing here, but she would have been a fool not to realize it. As a figurehead for Romefeller, it would only be natural that Heero would come for her. It would seem that he intended to finish what he meant to do long ago. Lowering her eyes, she gazed down sadly.

'Go ahead Heero. Do it.'

As though he could hear her thoughts, he shut his eyes and began to squeeze the trigger. It didn't matter. She wouldn't move. She understood the position she was in. For Heero, this was the only logical course to take.

Until the clapping began…

Heero opened his eyes to the faint sound, only to hear it accompanied by several others. Soon the entire assembly was in applause and many of them even stood up to do so. Relena seemed surprised by this and looked at the audience. Even Dorothy was in applause, standing up from her seat up front. Several of the Romefeller leaders came up to the stage with smiles on their faces.

"Congratulations, Queen Relena. The Romefeller Foundation will adhere with your guidance and start anew."

Relena's gaze softened, "Thank you." It wasn't what she had expected and mentally, she thought she would have been happier now that Romefeller has decided to change for peace. But her gaze shifted back up to the dark balcony, but Heero had disappeared. Within the nearby area, the tekkaman in question strode away, giving one look back.

'Okay Relena. Let's see what you can do.'

He continued on until he was stopped by a sudden sensation. His tekka-set crystal had lit up briefly before fading away. Heero gave another look back, not understanding why but learning one thing.

There's another tekkaman…

Lunar orbit…

"Get out of my way!"

"Save your words! Show me your strength!"

Altron and Shirken continued their battle with a fervor not seen between tekkamen in a long time. Shirken charged at Altron, firing his energy dart all the while. Altron dashed back to dodge them and suddenly charged forward with his trident lancer. The lancer met with the bladed arms in a bright clash of power and force. But neither seemed affected by the shock and merely wheeled each other away to attack again. Altron growled. This wasn't supposed to happen. He wanted to get rid of the Lunar Base as well as the new battlestation. But this tekkaman was in his way. 'Who is he? How does her know me?' It didn't matter. The only thing that mattered right now was the fact that he was in the way.

Altron shot upward and a serpentine extension came up from his back. Beams of energy shot out of them, but Shirken nimbly evaded each and every one as he closed in. When he was close enough, Shirken flailed his arm, releasing another salvo of energy shards. But rather than avoid them, Altron dove right in, letting the shards rip up across his armor as he charged with a roar.

"RRRRAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!"

Another clash, although this time, Shirken was forced back. With a shove, Altron push him back into space and charged again. But Shirken had had enough and ignited his crystal hawk form; flying up into the stars. But he wasn't retreating. Instead, he whirled around and came straight for Altron. From within the energy wing, shards of energy flew out. Altron whirled his lancer to deflect them, but could only put up a weak defense as the crystal hawk itself slammed into him.

"Grrrrrrrrrrrrr!!!!!!"

The energy past on, leaving a sizzling Altron behind. But the dragon gundam wasn't out yet and watched as the crystal hawk swooped back. He relinquished his lancer and put both his arms together. Energy cells formed and his arms changed into a form like the two heads of dragons. Energy built up in them as he raised his voltekka to the crystal hawk.

"Volt…!!!!!"

But suddenly, the crystal hawk swooped upward and away into space. Altron halted his attack in confusion until he felt a slight energy from behind. Turning around, he saw lights glitter from the battlestation, meaning only one thing. Laser cannons!

Tzzzzzzhhhhhhhh!!!!! Tzzzzzzhhhhhhhh!!!!! Tzzzzzzhhhhhhhh!!!!! Tzzzzzzhhhhhhhh!!!!!

Altron couldn't escape the rain of energy beam as it tore and blasted his armor and the space around him was filled with explosion.

'I…will…not…die…now…!!!'

Meanwhile within the battlestation, Quinze looked on and the laser cannon defeated the gundam tekkaman.

"We did it." One of the soldiers announced, "There's no trace of either of the gundams."

Quinze gave a simple mod, "It's strange. I thought the gundams fought for outer space, not against it. It doesn't make any sense them to be so hostile toward us."

From behind him, a dark form approached him, well hidden in the shadows, "That's because the gundams are now fighting for Earth, and Earth itself is the enemy of the colonies. You must declare war on the Earth."

Quinze turned to the mysterious figure, "We had hoped to purify space by getting rid of the OZ space force. A task force is on the way to deal with them as we speak."

The figure seemed to nod, but answered, "The actions of the White Fang still don't reflect the feelings of the colony citizens. This will be a perfect opportunity to motivate the hearts of the people."

The sentence was ended with a brief grin…

Resource Satellite

-"One minute until status shutdown."-

Noal waited while the computer went to work on the status chamber. Unfortunately for him, patience wasn't one of his better virtues. And what little he had was breaking down as the satellite rocked again.

"Come on." he said annoyed. He looked back into the chamber were Miyuki remained immobile. He then shook his head and turned his attention to the radar screen displaying the approaching enemy outside.

'Get a move on it, Blade.'

"Haaaaaaaaahhhhhh!!!!!!!!!!!!!"

Blade soared through the space with amazing speed, heading straight for the Radham horde. Halfway through, Blade burst into his crystal hawk form and tore through the Radham, incinerating all that was in his path. He then flew up into the sky and began to circle back, but he dispelled his energy, seeing that the Radham were too close to the satellite for him to risk using his crystal hawk. So he simply soared into the thick of the Radham and let his lancer go to work. Not a single slash was wasted and each cut severed and hacked a Radham or two into pieces. One of the Radham tekkamen approached him from behind while he was slashing, , but Blade noticed his approach and disconnected his lancer into two separate blades. With now a second weapon, Blade hurled it at the alien tekkaman, running him and the few behind him through. Blade then shot out his energy wire and hooked his weapon to in. But instead of bringing it back instantly, he flicked his arm and let the lancer sail through the open, slicing another Radham apart. A shriek caught his attention and Blade turned back forward to see a Radham right in his face. Reacting on instinct, Blade shot back and flicked the first half of his lancer. But he didn't release it. Rather, the sharp edges of the lancer detached and soared at the enemy, cutting it to ribbons. The triangular boomerangs then returned and hinged themselves back onto the lancer. At the same time, Blade brought the other lancer half back and reconnected the two into a single lancer. With most of the Radham gone, Blade looked for the remaining one.

'What?'

Near the satellite, a group of Radham tekkamen was all aligned and charging the voltekkas. Only they weren't targeting Blade. They were aiming for the satellite.

"No!"

Blade shot back toward the satellite and just managed to reach it. But he would be able to do much else since the charged attack was now complete and the Radham tekkamen all fired their deadly rays, at the satellite and Blade, creating on massive beam of energy.

'No choice.'

Blade hovered just before the satellite and opened his voltekka cells. But rather than charge them, he held them forward and awaited the incoming blast.

'This is going to hurt.'

The blast was about to make contact with Blade when the cells lit up. The blast stopped right on Blade, causing him to roar in pain. But he continued on, using the cells to divert the power of the voltekka beam away from the satellite. Not yet finished, Blade flew into the beam and allowed it to engulf him. But this also allowed him to control the massive power and Blade was heading straight for the source. The Radham tekkamen.

"Rhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhaaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"

The alien tekkamen stood no chance against the onslaught of their own energy as they were incinerated by the blast. His work completed, Blade exited the energy stream and let it drift away into space. The white tekkaman sustain several injuries and his armor was torn apart, but other than that, he was alright. Until his tekka-set shimmered.

'No!'

From the far side area of the satellite, a second group of Radham tekkamen flew in. Like the group before, they were charging their voltekkas together for one big attack. Only this time, Blade wouldn't be able to stop them.

"NOOOO!!!!!!"

Blade rushed in to stop it, but he was too late as the massive beam flashed forth and ripped right into the satellite. Everything seemed to still and then the satellite exploded in several areas.

"Noal!!! Miyuki!!! NOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!"

Blade clenched his fisted with a combination of sorrow, despair and rage. But just before the final explosion, an object shot out of the doomed satellite. It was the shuttle. That meant…

"Blade, I got her. Finish them off!"

Blade couldn't have agreed more and decided to charge his voltekka cells this time. The tekkamen all looked at they were suddenly engulfed with a wave of blue quantum energy and became no more. Blade was breathing heavily and propelled himself back to the shuttle where he stumbled out of the airlock, still in his armored form. Noal turned to him as Blade moved over to his still unconscious sister, who was laying down on a nearby flat with a blanket over her. Blade bent down and held her hand, slowly reverting back into his human form. D-Boy gave a small smile, but failed to realize how much he had been drained in the fight and pretty soon, he slumped down unconscious next to her. Noal shook his head in amusement and put the ship on a brief autopilot. He then grabbed a nearby blanket and tossed it over the naked young man, leaving him right were he was.

'Ah, what can I say? I'm a sucker for family reunions.'

Peacemillion…

"Quatre!"

The gundam group had just arrived on the majestic ship where they were greeting by the knights that were there. Mostly Yumi, who dashed at Quatre and embraced him.

"Getting sweet on the ladies, Q-man?" Duo joked.

Quatre gave a slight blush, "It's nice to see you again, Yumi."

Yumi let him go, blushing herself, "I'm sorry. It's just that the last time we saw you, you…well…I was worried."

Quatre nodded solemnly, knowing exactly what she was talking about. The Zero crystal… Nevertheless, he suppressed his downhearted mood and smiled, "I'm sorry to worry you. I'm alright now."

Howard soon entered the hanger as well with the others, "Nice to see you guys made it in one piece. With all the chaos going on out there, I was getting worried."

"It's that bad?" Hayato blinked.

"Just about." Howard answered. "The White Fang have been causing all kinds of tension. Not to mention that Radham attacks seemed to be increasing."

"We have to find the remaining gundams, as well as the Space Knights." Quatre replied.

"We're way ahead of you. We just located Tekkaman Sommer. He's residing somewhere within colony L4. I can get a shuttle prepped and ready to go within a few minutes."

"That's a big help, Howard." Quatre said gratefully. "Thanks."

"Howard." Duo interceded darkly. "I'm having a pretty hard time trying to figure you out, or what you plan to do with this battlestation."

Howard scratched the back of his head, "Actually, I'm not too sure about the ship myself…"

Duo's face dropped in disbelief, "You got to be kidding me."

Howard continued, "But as for the reason I'm helping you guys, it's to fulfill my obligation as someone who's been saved by the Space Knights. I even helped create the Tallgeese Sol-Tekka."

"Really?" Yumi exclaimed. "Incredible."

"Are you sure you haven't heard any word from Zechs?" Noin asked.

Howard shook his head. "Not since he went to Earth. He's not your average person, so I'm sure he's alive and well."

At that moment, one of the workers on the ship ran up to the group, "Howard. There's a broadcast coming in from the White Fang. I think it's a declaration of war."

"Just as I expected." Howard replied. "They're making their move."

The group moved over to the vid-screen where an image of Quinze was showing.

"The space colonies had hoped to self-govern itself in peace, but the Earth has ruled over us with its military power. This was true in the days of the Alliance and OZ and it is true now that the Earth has formed the World Nation. We had hoped to unify the people of outer space when the Earth attacked us with the gundams, using them as their pawns."

The screen switched to the fight Altron was in a moment ago when he came to attack the Libra, destroying the Sol-Tekka Dolls. Romefeller, who was watching the broadcast as well, were dumbfounded and appalled by the accusations.

"That's not true." Relena whispered

"That's absurd. It a lie." A representative agreed.

From elsewhere, Heero was watching the same broadcast. "They've been using you, Wufei."

Quinze continued, "As I speak, a large-scale attack force is heading out to destroy the OZ space force. Outer space belongs to us colony citizens."

At that moment in outer space, the OZ convoy was still en route toward Barge when twinkles of light appeared behind them. Within the lead ship, the alarm lit up and Duke Dermail rushed up to the cockpit.

"What's going on?"

The co-pilot checked the radar, "A troop of Sol-Tekka Dolls are coming in. White Fang!"

The sparkles of light soon began beams of energy that ripped across space and into the convoy. The last ships were torn apart and the objects soon flew in, revealing themselves as Taurus Dolls, equipped with quantum cannons. The mechanized Sol-Tekka launched an all out assault on the unsuspecting convoy, destroying ship by ship. The few remaining ships released their own Sol-Tekkas, but they were easily targeted and destroyed before they could do anything. As the massacre continued, the lead ship, with Dermail in it, tried to escape the onslaught

"Full speed. We'll escape into Barge."

"Too late!"

From the battle behind them, a trio of Taurus Sol-Tekkas broke off from the main group and flew past the ship. When they reached a distance, they wheeled around and aimed their cannons at the sole ship. The weapon began charging up, ready to destroy the helpless ship. Dermail was stunned by this development.

"No. Why must I die like this?"

The cannons fired a collective blast, annihilating the ship in a flash. The people in Romefeller saw this, most notable being Dorothy Catalona.

"Grandfather!" she cried. She then turned around and held her arms together. "No. I won't cry, dear grandfather, because in the end you died a heroic soldier in battle."

The transmission switched back to Quinze, "When the space colonies are unified, the only enemy left is the Earth. We have a righteous cause. And we have a new leader that will help us realize our goal."

"A new leader?" Relena replied in question.

The screen switched once again to a shadowed screen. A lone figure stood within it and the light began to drift over to him. "Earth and space. The two exist together and form a pattern of confrontation." His eyes opened, "My name is Millardo Peacecraft. I declare that we will eliminate the Earth, the force that conflicts with space."

"What?" Howard exclaimed. "No way!"

Noin was equally as shocked, "What are you saying Zechs?"

From Romefeller, Relena looked in dismay, "My own brother?"

"Oh, but why?" One of the Romefeller executives muttered, "Even Romefeller is making changes for peace."

From not far away, Heero stared at the screen. "So that's what the Epyon crystal showed you Zechs? So then, I will make the choice the Zero crystal revealed to me."

With that, he raised his hand and pointed with a gun-like gesture and his tekka-set shimmered brightly, both signs indicating what he now had to do now.

Meanwhile, from an unknown location, Trieze Khusrenda witnessed these events and made his way to the door. The time had now come…for him to return to the stage.

Unknown…

"Slayer, Shirken, Sliver, Sharpnel. Come before me

In the darkness, the four tekkamen appeared before their leader, kneeling down. Shirken was still partially damaged from his fight against Altron, but he remained as imposing as ever.

"The time has come to reveal ourselves to all. While the humans fight their pathetic war with one another, they have given us the opportunity to take all that they possess. And we will take it. Earth. The colonies. All of it."

Slayer, who was before the other three, spoke "We are your servants, my lord. Let your will be done."

The war between the White Fang and Earth explodes as the two sides fight for control of outer space, but all are unaware of the looming shadow that threatens them all. Noin and the gundam go to the battlefield to talk to Zechs, but he fights against them as well. Yumi, Dead and Hayato go to the L4 colony to look for David and Anita, but are once again confronted by Tekkaman Slayer, who repeats her demand to Dead to join them, holding the colony hostage in the process. There, Dead makes a dramatic decision. Next on Gundam Tekkaman: Devils and Dead