Ayashi no Yuugi II: The Final Sunrise
Disclaimer: Standard Disclaimers apply.
Serenity Maxwell: Thank you for your compliments! In fact, I get the vague feeling that if I only had more reviewers like you, more of my fics would get finished! ;; Hehe…
Mitsuki Cosmos: Anyway, I was going through all the reviews for the Ayashi no Yuugi stories, and I think we get the most reviews out of you. :Lowers voice to a whisper: And look what you've done! We're not even done with the Final Sunrise, and you've got Kamui Gaia 07 ready to write a sequel for this fic!
Kamui Gaia 07:Squashes Mitsuki Cosmos with a giant world encyclopedia: Don't listen to her, she's just exaggerating.
Misuki Cosmos:Muffled by giant encyclopedia: No I'm not!
Kamui Gaia 07:Waves hand at readers: Why are you still up here? Read on:Yelps and jumps to the side as a very disgruntled Mitsuki Cosmos comes out from under the giant encyclopedia and chases her around the computer, waving Wufei's katana:
Wufei:Chases after Mitsuki Cosmos: Onna! Give me back my katana!
Duo:Sweatdrops: And I thought I was insane… Read on!
Chapter 11: Symphony
The quality of mercy is not strain'd ---
It droppeth as the gentle rain from heaven
Upon the place beneath; it is twice blest,---
It blesseth him that gives, and him that takes:
'Tis mightiest in the mightiest: it becomes
The throned monarch better than his crown;
His sceptre shows the force of temporal power,
The attribute to awe and majesty,
Wherein doth sit the dread and fear of kings;
But mercy is above this sceptred sway,---
It is enthroned in the hearts of kings,
It is an attribute to God himself;
An earthly power doth then show likest God's
When mercy seasons justice. Therefore, Jew,
Though justice be thy plea, consider this,---
That, in the course of justice, none of us
Should see salvation: we do pray for mercy;
And that same prayer doth teach us all to render
The deeds of mercy. I have spoke thus much
To mitigate the justice of thy plea;
Which if thou follow, this strict court of Venice
Must needs give sentence 'gainst the merchant there.
--The Merchant of Venice, Act IV, Scene I—
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April 6, 200 AC; 3:43 AM
CSA L5 Orbital Base, Ambriel
Admiral Dorothy Catalonia, Third Class, Type Four Unlimited, Pilot 02 of Gundam Team Hamied (GTH), Commander of CSA L5 Orbital Base, Ambriel, was by no means a happy woman. She was once more under attack, and there was another breach in the base's outer wall, this time, in the D-ring.
"Prepare the Faulkner Units!" she snapped.
"But Admiral," her aide, Elise Conners, said, "If we use the Faulkner Units, The blasts will damage the C-ring to the point where we'll have to jettison the entire Ring itself!"
Dorothy closed her eyes and said, "We only have two choices, Elise, use the Faulkner Units, and live to fight another day, or don't use the Units and die. I don't know about you, but I'm not going to back down simply because we'll be one Ring short of a full defense if we fire the Faulkner Units."
"But, Admiral--"
Dorothy's eyes snapped open, and she snarled, "I don't have time for this, Elise! Fire the Faulkner Units!"
Elise flinched and turned back to her console and began typing in orders. A moment later, she said, "Activating Faulkner Units."
The base lurched violently and started to drift out of orbit. Dorothy's eyes narrowed dangerously.
"Firing all thrusters in E-ring!"
The base stopped moving, and straightened out in orbit.
"This is Admiral Dorothy Catalonia speaking. All personnel please evacuate the C-ring!" Dorothy called into the speaker, which allowed her to page the entire base. "I repeat, all personnel please evacuate the C-ring!"
The words on the monitor in front of Elise stopped scrolling and the words 'CHECK COMPLETE' appeared on the screen in green.
"System wide check complete, Faulkner Unit, all systems green."
"All pilots, return to base and Carrier at once, repeat, all pilots return to base and carrier at once!"
"Attention, all carriers and battleships please raise fission shields, repeat, all carriers and battleships, please raise fission shields!"
Outside the base, all along the C-ring, square portions of the C-ring, 20x20 meters, each spaced fifty meters apart, opened outward, and the muzzles of several cannons moved up, and out of the square openings.
"Powering up Faulkner Units!"
Energy began to collect at the mouth of each cannon. Like with the forces at the Remliel Base, the enemy began to pull back.
"Fire Faulkner Units!"
Like at the Remliel Base, the enemy realized their danger far too late, and the Faulkner Units fired a blast of silver and grey energy at the enemy, destroying any MS, MD, carrier, or battleship that was not safely ensconced within a fission shield.
The strain of firing the Faulkner Units was too much for the C-ring, and the hulls buckled and broke open.
"C-ring hull has been breached!"
"Sensors indicate that the Faulkner Units took out 80 percent of the enemy!"
"C-ring equipment is malfunctioning!"
"Jettison the C-ring!" Dorothy called.
"Releasing Ring clamps!" an officer called.
Explosions were running through the C-ring at an impossible rate. Then the ring split into four, and they floated off the Base.
"C-ring has been jettisoned!"
"Switching to remote control of C-ring functions!"
"C-ring thrusters online!"
The thrusters on the four portions of the C-ring flared to life, propelling the self-destructing Ring away from the base. Each quarter plowed towards the enemy at a steady rate.
"Activating C-ring self destruct!"
Once each quarter of the C-ring had plowed into the remaining enemy ranks, they self destructed.
"Sensors show that the C-ring's self destruct took out sixty percent of the remaining enemy!"
Dorothy nodded her approval. "Have the MST and GT follow through. We will not allow any of the enemy to leave this Sector alive."
"Yes ma'am!"
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April 7, 200 AC; 5:37 PM
CSA Colony L3 Orbital Base, Bethor
Shinn Asuka, age 20, violet eyes and brown haired, a CSA Admiral, First Class, Type Two Unlimited, Pilot 02 of the GTK, Preventor Agent Shinigami, and Pilot 02 of Gundam Deathscythe Hell, Codenamed Duo Maxwell, was not at all a happy teenage Gundam Pilot and God of Death.
His beam saber was almost out of juice, the thermal scythe was useless, and his Gundam's enormous artillery, reminiscent of Trowa's Heavyarms, was almost out of ammo.
Fortunately, the battle, which lasted fifty-nine hours, forty-seven minutes, and thirty-two seconds, was over. He sighed as he steered the Gundam Eclipse XD into the hanger of the Orbital Base for reload, recharge, and a quick once over.
If he was lucky, he might be able to get some sleep before taking off to deal with his next mission.
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April 10, 200 AC; 6:56 AM
Colony L2 Shuttle; Destination, Colony L1 VX392870
The four remaining Gundam Pilots' vacation had finally come to an end. With Duo's departure on a mission, Lady Une had given them four more days of rest before taking them off the reserve lists.
Currently, the four were on a shuttle, on their way to the Preventors L1 headquarters for a mission debriefing. They would be on the colony for two days.
6:34 AM
CSA L1 Orbital Base, Artemis
Shinn sighed in relief as he boarded the CSA Transfer Shuttle Capricorn along with the thirteen other CSA Agents, who had also been given the day off by the Triad. They were going to the Colony L1 VX392870 for a nice relaxing day of not worrying about whether or not there was an enemy MS behind them, ready to rip them to pieces.
7:57 AM
Colony Cluster L1, Colony VX392870; Saceport
Quatre thought he saw a familiar chestnut braid as he disembarked the shuttle, but when he looked again, the figure was gone.
9:23 PM
CSA Transfer Shuttle Capricorn
Shinn allowed his lips to curve into a contented almost-smile. He had seen his friends, even if they hadn't seen him. Quatre might have caught a glimpse, but Shinn wasn't quite sure. He had a suspicion that the others were here for a mission, which was partially why he hadn't approached them, although he'd had more than one opportunity to do so.
It might not exactly have been a very relaxing day off, but it had been an acceptable one.
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April 12, 200 AC; 4:23 PM
CSA L1 Orbital Base Jeanne
Shinn's Gundam blasted through the enemy MS with well placed missiles with ruthless efficiency. Suddenly, he was thrown against his harness and he growled as his half healed ribs protested the abuse.
Why was he always the one who got rammed?
His beam saber cut through the MS and the Eclipse XD spun around in time to cut apart the MD that had been sneaking up on him. He felt something warm run down his side, and he knew instantly that he had reopened an old wound. Shinn's eyes narrowed and the Eclipse lifted the Vulcan guns and fired off a well placed shot, effectively frying the annoying little asses of the last five Nautilus MS.
His computer beeped.
Shinn sighed.
He already knew what the beep signified.
It was another mission.
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April 15, 200 AC; 3:23 AM
On Route to CSA UK Base: The Cockpit of Gundam Eclipse XD
Shinn, on route to the UK, was enjoying a brief rest. The attacks had just kept coming, and he had been forced to dart from Lestrange Point to Lestrange Point, then from Lestrange Point to Earth, then from one pat of the planet to the other, and back. It was a vicious cycle, and there was little time for rest. Therefore, while he could, Shinn dozed in the cockpit of the Gundam, trusting in the autopilot to get him safely to the CSA UK Base without any mishaps.
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April 30, 200 AC, 9:23 AM
CSA Colony L3 Orbital Base, Nemamaih
Shinn Asuka, age 20, violet eyes and brown haired, a CSA Admiral, First Class, Type Two Unlimited, Pilot 02 of the GTK, Preventor Agent Shinigami, and Pilot 02 of Gundam Deathscythe Hell, Codenamed Duo Maxwell, tired, cranky, sore, his arm now in a sling (He'd broken it when his suit malfunctioned and he crashed landed in the hanger, his safety harness snapped and threw him out of the cockpit), rushed to the hanger where his Gundam was waiting.
Repairs had been finished, and the time he had been unconscious had put him really far behind schedule. Of course, a good thing had come out of his injury, he had gotten several hours of much needed rest, and he had been fed as well.
Five minutes later, he had finished the power up sequence, and the Eclipse XD was launched into space once more.
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May 5, 200 AC; 6:43 PM
Colony L2; Asuka Residence
Where in the past, it had been Quatre who was providing the pilots with a roof over their heads; it was now Duo who was their host.
The Gundam Pilots had taken Duo up on his word when he had said that they could use his house if necessary, and had literally moved into the American's small but comfortable estate. Quatre had abandoned his own estates for Duo's in order to be closer to the braided pilot during his long absence.
The cook and maid who had been there during Duo's short recovery period had returned to their original employer's home, and the Manguanacs had taken over their duties.
More than once, they (the pilots) had looked at the CSA vid-phone and wondered where the Deathscythe Hell Pilot was, and if he was alright, and more than once, a disgruntled voice would mutter about wringing the American's neck if he didn't return home soon.
Despite the many missions the pilots had been given, they had never taken too long, and the pilots had always a week or two between each mission. Duo, according to Lady Une, was taking care of mission after mission, since the CSA was under constant attack, and as a CSA Admiral, and one of their best pilots, the American was under obligation to take on the missions as they came. This reminded the Gundam Pilots rather forcefully of one point in time during the Eve Wars, when they had been put under similar pressure by the scientists, who had sent them to destroy base after base, and to intercept supply ship after supply ship, without a single moments rest.
If the CSA was under attack and if Duo was under obligation to answer and accept every mission as it came, the other pilots knew that it would be a long time before they saw their braided friend again.
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May 25, 200 AC; 11:45 PM
CSA Colony L5 Orbital Base Shekinah
The Eclipse XD blew apart masses of enemy MS and MD with well placed missiles. When the occasional enemy got close enough for the close range combat, the thermal scythe or the beam saber ripped them apart, but the Gundam's movements were slightly sluggish, a manifestation of the pilot's condition.
Shinn was utterly exhausted. His braid had come undone sometime in the last ten days, and he'd no longer had time to even eat. As a result, he was not only exhausted, but he was also lightheaded from hunger.
The last suit was destroyed, and Shinn's computer beeped.
He sighed and opened the file, and found a mission he wholeheartedly welcomed.
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Admiral Shinn Asuka, First Class, Type Two Unlimited
You have done well. Your next mission is simple. Go home. Rest. You have earned it.
Triad.
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May 26, 200 AC; 7:23 AM
Colony L2, Asuka Residence
Shinn had not bothered to take his time to rest after he had gotten his latest communication from the Triad. Instead, he had rushed straight home.
After leaving his Gundam in the hanger under the house, Shinn had staggered out of the tunnel and around the house and up the front steps. He fumbled with the key for a while before finally managing to get it into the lock, and the door swung open.
He staggered into the living room, and four pairs of eyes stared at him in shock.
"Duo!"
Shinn's lips twitched and he gasped, "Tadaima…" (I'm home) and collapsed.
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A/N: Review!
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