Disclaimer: See previous chapters.

Chap. 55

Romefeller Foundation

Trieze entered the marbled hall of the Romefeller Foundation, readying to make his address with the World Nation's leaders. The seats were packed as he strode up to the podium to speak. As he stood before them, his eyes swept over them, trying to determine how they were feeling. He knew this wasn't what many of these people wanted, but there was no other option. Milliardo had declared war on the Earth and they had to respond. It was something he had to do, just as he had told his most faithful servant.

Lady Une...

Flashback, one hour ago...

Trieze strode into the medical ward in the hospital near a naval base. A few hours ago, he had been informed of a ship that had managed to escape the Lunar Base takeover and had made it all the way to Earth. But what made it important was what it was carrying. The unconscious, yet still alive, body of Lady Une. Trieze came immediately when he heard, forestalling his announcement to the world of his plans for the White Fang and their new leader, Milliardo. The doctors, upon seeing him, left the room and closed the door behind him. Trieze gazed down at her softly. Aside from the steady rising and falling of her chest, she remained motionless. Moving over to her, he removed one of his gloves and gently placed his hand on her forehead.

"My dear Lady..." he said quietly. "Times have almost come to the full at last. I'm sorry that you are not awake to see this. I have much to thank you for. I guess a sense of irony could be felt that Milliardo is to be my opponent, but I can't see it any other way. If peace is to come, then I must stop him."

Trieze stood in silence for a bit longer and then he moved away. Putting his glove back on, he exited the room, but not before giving her one last look.

Present...

Trieze refocused on the crowd before him. Each one of them, members and leaders of former countries, were now intently looking at the new leader of the World Nation. Trieze allowed his eyes to sweep across them once more and then he spoke aloud.

"People of the World Nation, hear me. We have finally achieved what has never before happened in the history of mankind. We have achieved true peace. But now that precious peace has been threatened by the White Fang. As the new leader of Romefeller, I am asking for the leaders of the world to unite with me to stop them." His voice and tone rose, "Fight with me and open in a new chapter for the future of all mankind."

As soon as he finished, a crowd of claps echoed throughout the hall followed by the members standing up from their seats to show their support. Trieze nodded to them all and turned away to prepare things. There was much to do now and a lot to plan out. But there was no turning back now. Now mankind would grasp their future. History and fate will determine the victors.

Space Knight Command Center

Aki paced in around in the medical room that now served as her prison. She was really annoyed with Dontello's attitude. His pride had been lost when he lost control of the situation in the battle with the Radham. But frankly, Aki didn't care. Lives had to be saved and she did what she could, managing to repel the dark tekkaman Shirken. But all of it seemed for naught, for now she was imprisoned in her own command center. She moved over to the window and though about jumping out, but the disruptor crystal humming nearby would prevent her from transforming and she would wind up getting killed from the height of the fall. But she couldn't stay there. It would only be a matter of time before they were attacked again and next time, it will be twice as bad. Her thoughts soon shifted as she looked up in the sky, thinking about the others that were out there and the white tekkaman in particular.

"D…"

"Hey Chief."

Aki blinked and looked back over at the door to see Honda standing in the doorway, waving at her to come. Aki was surprised. As far as sh knew, her comrades were prohibited from coming to see her.

"Honda. What are you doing here?"

He placed a finger on his lip and looked back out the door, "What else? Getting you out."

"No." Aki replied after awhile. "I can't leave."

"Huh?"

"Dontello can't remain in charge here." she answered his unspoken question. "If he does, he'll wind up killing us all."

"That's true." Honda agreed shortly. But then he said, "But nothing will come from you confronting him now. The best thing you can do is leave." He held up a hand as soon as her mouth began to open, "And before you say anything, don't worry about it. I'll keep the place in shape until you guys come back."

Aki stood looking at the elder man quietly. Leaving the base was the furthest thing from her mind and even if she was leaving, she certainly didn't want to leave her friends behind. But desperate times called for desperate situations.

"…Okay. I'll go."

"Alright." He backed away from the door and pointed down the hall, "Hanger 7 is still wrecked from the last attack, so you can take the shuttle and get out through there. Milla already has it prepped and ready to go."

Aki blinked again, "She's staying too?"

Honda shrugged, "You know how stubborn she could be at times. Anyway, I could use the company once you're gone. Now get moving. Security patrol will be down the hallway in a couple of minutes."

"Thanks." she nodded as she made her way down the hall

"Sure thing, Chief."

Aki dashed through the hall and just ducked the second patrol of soldier that marched past her. As soon as they left, she ran off again, reaching the stairway and descending downward. Instead of exit out of the stairway, she opened a nearby ventilation shaft and crawled in. She moved as best as she could without making too much noise. Finally, she reached the opening she was looking for and jumped out. In front of her was the doorway to hanger 7. She opened the door and peered in, seeing the lone shuttle as well as the damage to the hanger itself that left it opened and exposed. Aki dashed to the shuttle and entered inside, heading to the cockpit immediately. She found Milla in the seat, but as she drew near, she found that she wasn't alone.

"Sorry Chief. They got here right after I did."

Rotating the seat, Aki saw that Milla had her hands raised with an OZ soldier holding a gun on her. From behind, more soldiers poured in and surrounded Aki from behind. Aki sighed and raised her hands.

"It was worth a try."

Space

The regrouped Space Knights were now well out into space in a shuttle heading back to the Peacemillion. Connected to the shuttle were the two starjets, Alpha and Beta. Inside, the team sat silently in the cockpit with Anita flying the ship, Hayato in the co-pilot seat, Yumi looking out the window bored and David, with the bandages just hidden underneath his clothes. The silence came from the fact that no one wanted to bring up the subject of Dead End and his actions. Even though David believed what he said earlier, the others weren't as understanding. Yumi accepted it even if she didn't understand it fully. Anita reserved her judgment since she didn't know Dead all that well, but his change of alliances would make her suspicious. Hayato was still angry at what Dead did and as such, his thoughts on the matter were less transparent. But for the moment, he kept it to himself. It was as tense as it was when D-Boy was seriously injured by Dead End when they first fought. And like before, it was Yumi that broke up the silence.

"I'm picking up another shuttle on radar." she announced. "It's heading right for us."

The group suddenly became active as they peered out and saw the lone shuttle approaching from afar. As it came closer, David's and Yumi's tekka-set crystals lit up on their foreheads. Anita grew tense when she saw this, hoping that it wasn't another attack from the dark tekkamen, but Yumi happily beamed.

"It's D-Boy!"

The communication line opened up and Noal's smiling face came up on the screen.

"Hey kids. How's it going?"

A few minutes later, the two groups met aboard D-Boy's shuttle. The Space Knight leader was informed of what had happened to the teens, right up to the desertion of Dead to the dark tekkamen.

"I'm sure Dead has a good reason." Yumi meekly excused.

"Regardless of whatever the reason may be, Dead has put you all in a dangerous position." D replied darkly. Through his shades, he glanced over at David. "You all will have to be careful meeting him next time.

David however, saw the glance and looked down. A short silence followed before Anita broke in. "Anyway, we should head to the Peacemillion to regroup."

"Good idea." Noal agreed. "The Space Knights and the gundams must come together if we are to face whatever is going on out there. There is a lot more to worry about than the White Fang.

Anita sighed, "Let me guess. Those tekkamen that's been attacking us."

D nodded, "I fear they are just the envoys of a greater danger. We will be in the fight of our lives."

Noal slumped back against the wall, "Story of our lives."

Meanwhile, Yumi had moved away from the group awhile ago and wandered. Earlier, she had caught a brief glimpse of what looked like a woman's body and she wanted to check up on it to make sure it wasn't her imagination. To her surprise, it wasn't. Lying in a cot in the room was a young woman under a sheet, apparently asleep. As Yumi crept beside her, a bunch of question flooded her mind, with the most prominent on being…

'Who is she?'

"Yumi."

Yumi half jumped and turned to see D-Boy standing in the doorway. Stammering, "Hey D. Uhh…" Deciding to get an answer for her question, she asked simply, "Who's your friend?"

D moved over to cot and Yumi and looked down ant the unconscious body, "This is Miyuki, Yumi. My little sister."

At this, Yumi's eyes went wide with surprise. "You have a sister?" She cried, looking back and forth between them to look for a resemblance, "Wow!" She then stopped short, "But…I thought…your family was…well…you know…"

D-Boy continued to look down at his sister as he quietly answered her. "Yes. Miyuki –Tekkaman Rapier – was captured by the Radham the same as I and like me she had managed to escape before the process was complete. But her early emergence came with a cost." His eyes closed, "Her body began to reject the system and she started dying."

Yumi had learned awhile ago about the fate of D-Boy's family from Aki. But she had never heard the details of it and the pain that underlined his voice made it all too much for her. "How awful…"

D continued, "In the end though, she self-detonated in order to save us from a Radham attack." Opening his eyes, "I don't know how she is alive now."

"Self-detonated?" Yumi repeated. She then added, "You mean like what Heero did?"

D nodded to her and then his eyes widen suddenly. 'Exactly like that.' His mind recalled the moment when Miyuki self-destructed, intending to take the tekkamen under Omega's control with her. It was the same thing Heero had done. The parallels were unmistakable. 'And Heero survived as well. How is that possible?'

"D?"

D blinked out of his thoughts and turned to her, "I think we better save the questions for until another time."

"Okay."

Libra Battlestation

Milliardo entered the bridge of the mighty battlestation where he found it full of activity. Officers have been working around the clock to get the battlestation ready and operable according to schedule. Quinze was busy giving out directions and orders as Millardo took his seat in command.

"How are things going?"

Quinze answered, "Everything's going according to schedule. Libra should be at full capacity in an hour at the most."

Millardo nodded, but just then one of the communication's officers turned around and called out, "There is a shuttle approaching the Libra, asking to speak with Commander Milliardo"

The viewscreen flashed, showing that indeed, a small shuttle was rapidly approaching the Libra. Quinze took a closer look at the vehicle. "That's a Romefeller shuttle. Send out the Dolls to apprehend it."

"Wait." Milliardo ordered. "Who's on board?"

"Dorothy Catalonia."

"Duke Dermail's granddaughter." Quinze confirm. He was about to continue his previous order when Milliardo spoke in, "Put her on."

The screen change and Dorothy's face flickered in view, "Mr. Milliardo."

But Milliardo skipped the pleasantries, "What do you want?"

'Right to the point' Dorothy thought, holding face still to prevent herself from smiling. Answering his question, "I wish to join your cause in the war."

"I find that hard to believe." Milliardo retorted. He wasn't a fool. He knew that Duke Dermail had been killed in the early part of their war by the White Fang. He didn't have time for young girls with thoughts of revenge. "Especially coming from a representative of Romefeller."

Now Dorothy allowed her smile to show, "On the contrary, this is what I have longed to see come to pass. A war to end all wars and reveal the truth to all of mankind in one grand display."

Milliardo examined her thoroughly, both her answer and her face. Though he figured she could have been deceiving him, her eyes showed sincerity in what she had said. 'She really believes it. And she understands.'

"Let her aboard."

Quinze was greatly surprised, "Sir?"

Milliardo stood up and continued to look at Dorothy, who hadn't done anything aside from smiling. "We have the same goals after all."

""It will be a pleasure, I'm sure." Dorothy responded.

Space Knight Command Center

Aki and Milla were escorted to the command room by a troop of OZ soldiers. As they approached the doorway, they were accompanied by Honda, who was also being escorted by a troop of soldiers. All three of them were handcuffed and the escort soldiers were armed and they all entered into the room and stood in the center, with Colonel Dontello sitting in the command seat. His gazed directly at Aki and showed a small grin.

"Escape, Chief? That's more than enough to put you and your compatriots in the brig for a long time." He stood up from the seat and moved over before them, "But I guess I can't blame you. You Knights are such cowards after all."

"Take that back!" Milla shouted. "You're the coward! Aki had to risk her life to safe your ungrateful life.

"Quiet!" his hand whipped across the young woman's cheek, causing her head to snap to the side. Luckily, she didn't fall from it and she glared venomously at him as he continued, "I will not tolerate backtalk!"

"What's the matter, Dontello?" Milla sneered. "The truth hurts, doesn't it?"

Dontello was about to give her another slap when Aki broke in, "You are a commander in charge of soldiers. Soldiers who rely on you to keep them alive as much as you rely on them to do likewise."

"Hah!" Dontello spat back, "The only soldiers I need are the Dolls. They are far more effective than any human soldier alive is. Even better than a bunch of kiddy tekkamen led by an outclassed one."

"How dare you insult her that way!" Honda exploded, out of character for him. "Your Dolls weren't any help when they turned against you. If not for her, you wouldn't even be alive right now."

The colonel shrugged, "That may be true, but all that does is justify what kind of force the Sol-Tekka Dolls are."

"Dontello…" Aki warned.

Unknown to Dontello, his subordinates were listening to every word he had said. Many of them felt betrayed and even outraged by the colonel's words, but no one spoke up against him since he was their commanding officer. Dontello moved back over to the seat and linked his fingers together in a smug position.

"You three are hereby detained in the brig until I see fit…"

Before he could finish, one of the communication officers called to him. "Colonel. Priority one alert from HQ." His eyes widened, "It's Master Trieze."

"Really?" Like everyone else, Dontello had learned of Trieze's retake on Romefeller. Personally, he was glad for it, for now he could stop sitting around and do some active work against the White Fang with the Sol-Tekka Dolls at his command. Nodding, he ordered, "Put him on."

The main screen flickered before them and soon, Trieze's image loomed on the screen. Dontello stood up and gave a firm salute.

"Master Trieze, sir."

"Colonel Dontello. In preparation for the upcoming fight against the White Fang, you and all your men are recalled back to base."

Dontello face shifted. This wasn't exactly what he expected. Though he wanted to fight against the White Fang, he had wanted to do it at the Command Center, where he could keep a firm grip on it.

"But…what about the Command Center and the Space Knights?"

Trieze face remained passive, "As of this moment, you are to hereby relinquish control of the Command Center back to Chief Commander Aki."

Now that really wasn't what he expected. "What?!"

"Aki will resume control of her command center and the Space Knights will continue with their previous activities."

Dontello couldn't believe what he was hearing. 'This is an outrage.' Remaining calm, he tried to persuade Trieze, "But sir, it would be dangerous to allow this. The Space Knights could very well turn against us."

"The mission of the Space Knights has always been against the Radham." Trieze replied. "To that end, I'll trust that they will make no hostile moves against us."

"But sir…?"

Trieze's voice and face remained neutral, but it was clear to everyone that the colonel was foolishly overstepping his boundaries with him. "This is a direct order, understand?" Trieze finished, leaving no room for argument.

"Yes…sir…"

The screen cut off and Dontello looked down and his tightly clenched fist. 'No. I won't give this up to these rebels. I refuse to.' Looking back up, he commanded, "Put the Chief and her compatriots in the brig."

The lead soldier that was guarding them looked up in puzzlement, "Sir?"

But the colonel bellowed, "Do it! That is my order!"

"But…Master Trieze…"

"The hell with him!" he roared. "He doesn't know what he's talking about. I am you commanding officer. Do as I say!"

The officers began to look at each other in puzzlement and confusion until the guard soldier lowered his gun. On this, the others did the same, leaving Dontello puzzled.

"No. Master Trieze gave a direct order." The soldier then pointed his gun at Dontello and ordered the others, "Restrain Colonel Dontello. He has been found unfit for duty."

Dontello glared at him but that glare was replaced with shock as the other soldiers followed the command and grabbed hold of him. Dontello struggled in their grip, but didn't escape. "How dare you!"

The former colonel was dragged away, leaving Aki and her group with the remaining soldiers. The lead soldier looked at Aki and soon un-cuffed her and the others saying, "We will follow Master Trieze orders." He then moved to leave, but then turned back and gave her a salute, a show of respect for the Space Knight Commander.

"Chief. The Command Center is yours."

Space

After picking up Altron/Wufei, the shuttle continued on its way through space toward the Peacemillion. Inside the shuttle, Wufei managed to revive and entered the main area with the others.

"Feeling better?" Sally called out to him from up front.

"I'm fine." he replied sharply. He then looked over at Heero, "What are you doing here, Heero?"

"Zechs and the White Fang must be stopped." Heero replied simply.

Wufei furrowed his brow. That wasn't exactly what he meant. He wanted to know what he was doing with the others. Last he heard, Heero was fighting for the Peacecraft monarchy and Wufei now wondered what he was doing now. That was when Sally intervened with an answer.

"We need your help. We plan on reuniting the gundams with the Space Knights in order to fight the White Fang."

Wufei was a bit surprised by this, but kept it hidden. "I fight alone."

"And where has that gotten you?" Natasha questioned. "Come on face it. It's better if we fight together."

"I don't need advice from a woman." Wufei snapped back.

Natasha growled and was about to retort when Goliate stepped in front of her to stop her. "Hey, watch it." he warned. When Wufei didn't respond, he continued, "Be honest. Do you really think you can handle the White Fang alone, not to mention those dark tekkamen roaming around here in space?"

"Hmph." Despite his insistence, they were right. His solo battles haven't done any good and he only wound up spending his energies and getting hammered. If they hadn't found him, he wasn't sure he would have been able to continue fighting. The silence hung between them for awhile and Sally broke it with an announcement.

"I have objects on radar." Her eyes narrowed in confusion. "This doesn't make sense."

"What is it?"

Her eyes wavered to double check, "The signatures are Radham…and Sol-Tekkas. But if I'm not mistaken, they're moving in one group."

"Together?" Natasha blinked. "That doesn't make sense."

Wufei shook his head and began to walk away, "I'll deal with them."

"You're in no position to fight."

That came from Heero and at this, Wufei stopped shortly. He was expecting to hear that, but not from Heero. Strangely enough, this brought him back to the reality of the truth. His body was still fatigued from his earlier battle and any further stress may result in serious injury. Despite this, Wufei would have gone, but Heero continued.

"I'll deal with them."

Heero soon walked past him en route to the airlock. Natasha rose up from her seat

"I'll go with you."

His only reply was a short gruff, but nothing that indicated that he didn't want her to come. Goliate followed her to the airlock where Gamma was connected. Meanwhile, Heero entered the separate airlock and shut the hatch behind him. Gamma disconnected from the shuttle and rocketed off toward the enemy. As soon as they were disconnected, Natasha summoned her crystal while in the airlock, Heero had done the same.

"Zero…Tek-Setta!!!!"

"Tek-Setta!!!!"

A blue-white burst shot out of the shuttle and into space while a reddish one flashed out of the Gamma starjet and circled back. Heero flew beside it and Natasha landed on top, now fully transformed.

"Tekkaman Vesna!"

"Tekkaman Zero!"

They streaked across space toward their foe. Just as Sally said, it was Radham, with a small group of Sol-Tekka Dolls within them. The Dolls fired on them, causing them to split away. Gamma soared into the throng and fired, damaging a couple of Radham and Dolls. When close enough, Vesna detached from the starjet and stabbed her lancer in the first target, a Radham. She then flipped away as it exploded and slashed down her next prey, which was a Sol-Tekka Doll. As that one was destroyed, some of the Dolls turned on her and fired. Vesna latched out her energy-wire as Gamma soared past behind her, pulling her out of the line of fire. Then she used the momentum to swing back around them and attack, stabbing in two Dolls at once.

During this, Zero was doing more than his share of damage. He had started off with his crystal hawk form, annihilating dozens of them in one go. He then shut it off and with his lancer, he dove in for a more direct assault. The Radham and the Dolls came at him all at once, yet none of them were a match for the hyper-powered tekkaman. Zero rushed through them and in one cut, slashed them in half. The two tekkamen were rapidly decimating the enemy forces while everyone in the shuttle looked on. Particularly, Wufei, who saw the strength and advantages they had in the fight. Despite the number and oddity of the enemy force, that did little to slow down Zero and Vesna.

'Perhaps…there's something to this teamwork after all.'

Zero re-ignited his crystal hawk and shot through the few remaining enemy forces. All of them were completely demolished by the energy wave as Zero blasted through. Those that remained were scattered all over the place, preparing to retreat. But they would get no such chance, for Vesna was already powering up, the energy spheres already formed around her.

"Pulse...Voltekka!!!!!!!!!!"

The beam flashed forth, followed by multiple smaller beams of energy that cleared away all the rest of the Radham and Dolls, leaving behind alien parts and debris floating in space. Wufei nodded to himself and turned around to walk away, but not before quietly announcing to the others.

"Alright. I'm in."

Libra Battlestation

"Commander Millardo. All systems and command stations are ready. Libra is on-line."

Millardo nodded. The time had come for them to act in full now. "Send out an open broadcast to the colonies and Earth."

The officer got to work and soon the transmission clicked to life. "Channel open, sir."

Standing from his seat, the White Fang leader spoke out, "This is Milliardo Peacecraft, commander of White Fang. War is a creature that exists in the hearts of all mankind. A creature that has reared its head, especially in the past 200 years and had killed millions. In order to stop the endless cycle of war and fighting that has plagued us is to have one final war against the source. The Earth and its World Nation will be destroyed and all war along with it. We of the White Fang will be the ones to carry out this task. And this battlestation - Libra - will be the weapon to complete it."

Nearby, Dorothy, who was now wearing a White Fang uniform, smiled, "And now it begins."

Meanwhile on the surface of the Moon, Tekkaman Dead watched silently as the Libra began to fly away. Coming up to him, Slayer placed a clawed hand on his shoulder.

"The time is coming, little one. Soon everything will be just right."

They soon moved away into darkness, flanked by hordes of Sol-Tekka Dolls...

As the final battle draws near, it seems that only D-Boy and the Space Knights are concerned with the threat of the Radham. However, Heero's arrival to the Peacemillion reveals an even greater threat; that many of the Sol-Tekka Dolls are under the control of the Radham. However, this causes a division between the gundams and the Space Knights, who are after different enemies. At the same time, Relena tries to persuade her brother to stop fighting against the Earth. Dead End is brought in before their leader and ordered to prove his loyalty by destroying the Command Center. But he is unaware that Shirken is to follow him and destroy him should he falter. Next on Gundam Tekkaman: Target, Earth.