Author's Note: A few things happening in this chapter. Other than that, Gundam makes the world go 'round!

Phase 02

Fallen Star

The space around the Black Pearl was filled with debris after the battle. The large ship had taken heavy damage during the battle, much of the armor having scores and ripped panels.

They had survived...but just barely.

Fumina had piloted her Gundam to the best of her abilities. But the girl had never been inside of a war machine such as the one she had built with her own two hands. She knew all that it was capable of, and she knew it's limits.

But for a girl that had never been out in the cold abyss of space, piloting her Gundam had not been easy. And in the time that she had taken to get used to the movements of the machine, the Gafrans had torn her Shining Star to pieces. True to her word, she had never used the Trans-Am system. She wished that she had. Her precious Gundam was a mess.

Kid had nearly had a fit when she had crashed into the hangar with an arm and leg unit missing while the head was half-blown off. Fumina hadn't come away unharmed either. Her injuries were only minor, but they did find out something odd.

Fumina had a deep gash on shoulder. And it bled blue.

Techcs was quick to put a sample under the microscope, and found that, while nothing was actually wrong with her, she did have tiny, microscopic machines inside of her body. And they seemed to help with the healing process. Fumina, personally, was more freaked out than she would later think possible. Her mother was less freaked out than she was at the time.

Later, Techcs would take blood samples from the crew, starting with Marika, and himself, finding that all of them had blue blood that was filled with nanomachines.

Now, with Fumina on bedrest after the calamitous battle, Marika and her crew were meeting in the hangar to observe the full extent of the damage.

Akihiro summed it up the best. "It's trashed." He sighed as Kid and a few of the younger Tekaden members were working on repairing it.

Marika nodded, "And we don't have the parts to repair it completely," she sighed, resting her head in her palm, "Taking parts away from the other mobile suits would only hurt us in the long run of things."

Yuri sighed, "I agree with you there." He said, "This was a good machine, I'll admit that, but mixing two different Gundam types from two different Eras had a negative effect. Ranka already said as much when she said that cannon on its back would drain all the power."

Akane shook her head, "That wasn't the problem Fumina was having out there." She said, "The problem was she didn't have any support." She looked over at the half-finished frame of one of the new machines. "As much as Kid and Orga's boys worked to get this one up and running, it wasn't enough to help that poor girl." She looked over at the girl's mother, "How's she doing, by the way? Are her injuries healing properly?"

Marika nodded, "Thanks to the nanomachines the doctor found, she's healing a great deal faster than she would normally," she said with a hint of worry in her voice, "That isn't the problem though. She's depressed that she couldn't do more for us."

"But she did the best that she could given the situation!" Allenby shouted, "I mean, you said that she's never flown in combat, before?"

Orga looked at the blue-haired fighter, "In her world, Gundams are nothing but children's toys used for games and stuff. She's never even set foot on an actual battlefield like we have."

Marika was itching to slap him, but Yuri took that opportunity for himself and smacked the younger man upside the head, "Could you be anymore of an ass, kid?" He demanded, "If you're such a great fighter, then next time you can get your ass out there, and show us rookies how it's done."

"He's got more experience with mobile workers," Marika told the man, half-defending the boy, "But he's never stepped into a mobile suit for battle before."

Before Orga's temper got the better of him, Heero stepped up, "Regardless of who can do what, we're in trouble." He said, looking at the poor state of the Gundam, "This thing won't be battle-ready for a while, if ever again, and the only other mobile suits we have are still being built, or in pieces."

Kid came floating down to the group, "I hate to say it, Captain, but this poor old girl's had it." He said with a jerk of his thumb at the Shining Star, "The power source, the GN Drive, I think you called it(?), took some damage in that battle, so even if I did get the arm and leg replaced, and repaired the armor, that reactor could go down in the middle of the fight, or even blow the whole thing to kingdom come." He shook his head sadly, "It's just not safe."

"For the Ensign, or in general?" Kou asked under his breath and received a slap from Annerose who was standing behind him. "Hey, watch it, Zabi!"

"You watch it, big mouth," she said with a flat look, "That A.I. said it would've been best that Fumina piloted the Gundam, but not that it was impossible to pilot the thing ourselves." She looked down at the floor with shame clear on her face, "I don't like working with a Fedy, but just sitting by while that little girl tried to protect us felt just so wrong! Yet none of us made her get out of that machine so that we could take her place."

She looked at the group, "From what I understand, there's not just one or two Gundam pilots among us, are there?"

"There are five of us," Heero said, looking toward Akihiro and Norba, "Six if you count the missing pilot."

While they bickered, Marika was looking at the Gundam her daughter had taken weeks to build, "There's really no hope?"

Kid shook his head, "I'm really sorry, Captain, but it's done for."

She took a deep breath, "Ranka?"

The hologram flickered to life beside her, "Yes, Ma'am?"

"Is there anything you can do for it?" She asked, indicating the Gundam, "I mean could you fix it?"

Ranka sighed and shook her head slowly, "The very best I could do is trade it for it's current worth in BP, and that right now wouldn't be much given its current condition." She said, "I have a repair system in my Shop that'll give this ship an entire squad of repair Haros, but that still wouldn't do any good with nothing to repair the Shining Star Gundam."

"I see," Marika sighed, "Alright, what if I use some BP to purchase the base model for the this machine?"

Ranka cocked her head, "I will be honest with you, Captain; the GN Drive that the CB-001.5 1.5 Gundam uses is incompatible with the parts that come from the Satellite Cannon that Ensign Fumina attempted to use during the battle. I noticed it, but felt it better to let her focus on the battle instead of distracting her from the task, and potentially harming her."

Kid looked at the machine, "Honestly, I noticed that, too," he sighed, "I'm sure it would have worked for what you intended it to do in your Era, Captain, but here? That cannon would have blown the Gundam to bits if it activated properly. The GN Drive is an amazing power source, and while the body was designed to accept such a power source, the main weapon wasn't. Sure I've seen a Satellite Cannon put out some amazing power, but the circuitry that the cannon was built with isn't designed to use the same type of energy that the GN Drive puts through the machine."

Marika palmed her face, "So even if we did get another 'Eyes' Gundam, it wouldn't be the same as this one since we can't use half of the weapons." She surmised, "Alright, how long until we have a functioning mobile suit?"

Kid turned around to the works in progress. There stood four frames. "We managed to get these frames put together pretty quickly, but now that that's out of the way, we're going to focus on them one at a time. Doing more than that has risks to the crew, so I'd rather keep it to one machine per order."

Marika looked at the boy, and saw the beginnings of dark circles under his eyes, "Kid, please don't overwork yourself. Or the others. I know that we need the firepower, but my ship is not totally defenseless."

"That's another thing," Yuri sighed, "We took some serious damage in that fight, and the outer hull is pretty banged up." He looked at Orga and his crew of children, "We're gonna need someone to get out their and do some repair work, too."

"That won't be necessary," Ranka said, "Remember that I said I had a repair system for sale in my Shop? The little Haros could easily repair most damaged points on a ship or mobile suit unless it's too extensive, and even then they would make construction on a machine far faster since they can work around the clock without rest."

Marika nodded, "Alright, do I have the proper amount to make that purchase?"

"Fumina managed to destroy ten Gafrans, while the ship destroyed an additional six, which would normally be worth 8000 BP, but you used some of the DLC vouchers to gain additional BP which brings your total up 308,000 BP." She said, before thinking a bit longer, "Before I allow you to make any purchases, however, I should also tell you that while you can't purchase mobile suits and armors from any other Era aside from Cosmic and Anno Domini Eras, you can purchase technology. For example, I have the AGE Builder in my files. Along with various weaponry from different mobile suits that could be modified to accept the GN Drive."

Marika smiled, "Thank you for telling me that, but for now, I'd like to go ahead and make the purchase for those Haros." She said as a small screen popped up in front of her. It showed a little round robot sitting in a "Karel". "How many come with this order?"

"Twenty of the little Haro units along with their Karels will be provided. Each set is 2000 BP, so I would recommend purchasing three sets for now, that way you'll have plenty of them in case you need to spread them out, or even use one inside of a mobile armor or a mobile suit."

"I'll do that," she said as she pressed in the number of sets she wanted, bring it up to four, instead of three, thinking that some may get destroyed during repairs if there were enemies around as there seemed to be.

In a small burst of green a data pad appeared in front of her, as well as four sets of Karels, and four sets of Haros floating around and flapping their little ears. "Awe, cute!" Akane squealed as a pink one floated near her.

Marika handed off the pad to Kid, "There, hopefully this makes your job slightly easier."

Kid nodded as he turned to get to work. "We'll have one Gundam done soon, and then we'll start on the Jinxes."

ガンダムシリーズ

Fumina sat in her room, her knees curled up to her chest as the battle replayed itself in her head. Sixteen mobile suits had attacked them, and while she had managed to destroy over half of them, her fighting had been sloppy. [I should have been able to control it better,] she thought, her mind going back to all the Gunpla battles she had been in. [But these battles aren't just for fun, or for trophies anymore,] she buried her face in her knees while tears stung her eyes as flashes of the Black Pearl being attacked came to her mind.

[Thank goodness the bridge crew was able to use the ship's weapons.] She thought as the phantom feeling of her panic returned when she thought of the Gafrans opening fire on the ship. The Black Pearl's base Minerva design had been enough to deal with most of the attacks. The ship was beaten and battered, but intact.

A knock came to her door as Yuri came into the room, a somber smile on his face, "How you doin', kid?"

Fumina snorted, "You should know, you saw what happened out there." She made a gestured to indicate the battle, "I was terrible." She rested her chin on her knees, "How am I supposed to protect everyone if I can't even protect myself?"

"Now, don't go taking that all on yourself," he admonished lightly. He came into her room and leaned against the wall opposite of her, "I know that where you come from, simulation battles are what you're good at, but a simulation is nothing compared to the real thing."

Fumina shook her head, "I still should've been able to - "

"If you'd been able to pilot the Gundam how you meant it to be piloted when you built it, it would have been perfect," Yuri told her, "But here, in this new Era?" He shook his head, "The tech from the two machines aren't compatible. Kid said that the power source was close to overloading a lot of the weapons systems. If you'd used the cannon, you'd be space dust."

The girl gave a humorless laugh, "So instead of poor piloting skills, I have poor design skill?" She asked as the man smacked his forehead, "It's not your fault. Back where I come from it's common to mix and match parts from different mobile suits and mobile armors to create something that looks good and could kick ass in our battles. We never really had to worry about compatibility."

"Well, you won't have to worry about that anymore," Yuri said, "Your mother's having a new Gundam built alongside one of those Jinx things. And some of the girls are helping Pala put one of the mobile armors together. They should be done within a day or so."

Fumina sighed, "And in the meantime we're without any defenses if more of those mobile dolls show up."

"Mobile dolls?" Yuri asked.

"Mobile suits that function without a pilot." Fumina said, "They were really dangerous since they couldn't tell friend from foe."

Yuri nodded in understanding, "I get it." He pushed off the wall and moved to sit next to her, "But you still shouldn't beat yourself up about any of this." He gave the girl a soft smile, "War isn't something a kid like you should ever experience, yet here you are trying to take it all on by yourself."

Fumina nodded, "I have to." She muttered, "I...I'm the reason we're all here...I have to make sure - " Yuri reached over and flicked her forehead, "Ow!" She looked at him tearfully as she rubbed her head, "Why?"

"None of us are expecting you to do all the work, Ensign," the man said with a huge grin on his face, "As soon as you get a new Gundam, we know you'll be right back out there. And as soon as we can, the next person to pilot will be right there with you."

"What if they don't want to fight?" Fumina asked, remembering how upset Orga had been with them.

Yuri adopted a thinking pose for a moment, then snapped his fingers with a grin, "Oh, I know! I'll blow them out the nearest airlock!"

"Mister Kellerne!" Fumina squawked. Yuri just threw his head back and laughed at her expression. "At least throw them in the brig." She said a moment later, her lips twitching with humor.

Yuri chuckled and reached over to ruffle her hair, "I'm not gonna blow anyone out into space, Fumina, I'm not that kind'a guy." He smiled and rose, "But at least I got you to smile again." He stepped out into the hall and started floating away, "Just remember, kiddo, you're not alone out there."

Fumina wiped her eyes and got up from her bed as the door closed then went over to her closet where her new uniform was hanging. A few minutes later she came out and floated toward the hangar.

By now, as she entered, the first new Gundam that was being built was taking shape as Kid and the boys were putting the armor into place. Helping them were dozens of little Haros and Karels. She smiled when she saw what it was; a GN-001 Gundam Exia. She had always admired the design of the Celestial Being Gundams, but seeing one now in real life, she realized that the Gundam was not only impressive but beautiful as well.

One of the younger kids saw her, Embi she remembered since he was wearing a red cap, "Hi, Miss Fumina!" The child called out as she floated closer to the construction zone.

"Hello, Embi," she smiled at the boy as he came over to her, "I hope you're not working too hard?"

He shook his head, "Nah, this is nothing compared to what we used to go through," he grinned as his brother floated up behind him, "Kid's a really picky guy, but he doesn't smack us around like - " Elgar grabbed him in a headlock, "GAGH!"

"Quit squawking! We've got work to do!" He hauled his brother back, "Sorry for bugging you, Ma'am, we'll have the new suit up and running soon!" He promised as Fumina giggled, giving poor Embi a friendly wave.

Kid and the others were far too busy to notice her as she floated by, admiring the work they were all doing. The Exia was almost half-done with its armor being in place. Only part of the head and the torso were left. She then floated next to the Jinx that was being armored by Haros. The large mobile suit was going to be a force to be reckoned with once it was done.

She glanced over to where she could Pala and several others working on a new mobile armor. When they had found enough vouchers, her mother had chosen five FXet-565 Cosmograsper units. They were already running low on space, however. What with eight mobile suits to build and five mobile armors, the ports were getting tight already. Then there was her own unit...or what was left of it.

She felt her heart clench painfully as she came to a halt in front of her Gundam.

The half-shredded face of the machine seemed sad to her, exactly had she felt at the moment in seeing the Gundam that she had worked so hard to build utterly wrecked. They had won their first battle, but it had cost them both. She could no longer pilot the once beautiful machine. She reached out and touched to cool metal of the E-Carbon leg that still remained, "I'm sorry," she said to the Gundam, "I should have taken better care when I built you...now look at you."

Of course, the Gundam said nothing.

"It may take a while, but I'll make you better," she said with a look toward the machine's ruined face, "We'll fight together again someday." She said with determination in her voice, "And we will win."

ガンダムシリーズ

Marika was once again in the captain's seat on the bridge as she looked down at a data pad, the designs of a new mobile suit on display. "This will take some time to build," she muttered to herself, "Even if we did have all the components needed, the construction time would be - "

The hall door swished open as Yuri came up onto the bridge, "Captain?" He floated over to her, "Have I mentioned that that tone of red looks very nice on you?"

"And have I told you that my late husband also liked to butter me up by praising my fashion sense?" Marika countered as Christina snickered from her CIC seat, "What did you do, Commander?"

Yuri sighed and rubbed the back of his neck bashfully, "I should've known," he chuckled, "I know it wasn't my place, but I sort'a gave Ensign Hoshino a little pep talk." She looked at him with a hint of shock, "Sorry. I know that's probably your thing, but - "

"No, no, I don't mind," she frowned as she set the pad on her console, "Honestly...it should have been me doing that, but I was too preoccupied with - "

"Keeping us moving?" Yuri suggested, "Don't worry about that, you've got a lot on your plate, just like the kid does."

Eugene looked over his shoulder at the man, "Tsk, someone's trying to steal first."

"Hey, now!" The bridge erupted into laughter at the man's outburst. Even Marika was giggling to herself. "Well, at least I'm good for something around here." The man chuckled, "So what's the plan now, Captain?"

Marika sat back in her seat, "We need to find Mikazuki," she said, "But Ranka can't get a lock on him, and she's our only lead to finding him. Wherever he is, though, we know he's alive." She sighed with relief, "That's the only good news we have at the moment."

"Oh, come on, Ma'am, it's not the only good news," Christina said, "The Gundam might've been trashed, but at least your daughter's okay. And the repairs to the ship should be done really soon, so we can get moving."

Lasse nodded, "She's right," he said, "And if we're looking for a missing crewmember, then we should check the colonies. Ranka might be able to pick up a signal, or something?"

"I already thought of that, but Ranka told me that she'd have been able to pick up something if he were in any of the colonies, even a ZAFT colony." Marika frowned, looking ahead of them and out of the windows, "That means he has to be on Earth."

Chad groaned, "I hate Earth," he grumbled, "Every time we go anywhere near it, we end up up the creek."

Yuri chuckled while Marika sighed, "I won't argue with you on that point," she said, "Right now, Earth is ruled by fear of Coordinators when the Coordinators are just trying to live their lives in peace." She looked at the young man, "Earth is a pretty xenophobic place right now, and if it were found out that we have blue blood, human or not, we'd be hunted down and destroyed like plague rats."

Eugene winced, "Let's up Mikazuki can handle himself." He frowned as something blipped on his radar, "Hey, I'm getting a signal here!" He called out, "It looks like it's a single mobile suit."

"What's the code?" Chad asked. "I can't get a read on it!"

"Hang on..." Eugene frowned as he searched through the Black Pearl's system, and found it, "I've got a match...it's...it's a Gafran! Readings show that its a single ovv-f Gafran!"

Marika frowned at that, "It's alone?" She pondered that for a moment, "It must be a scout. Is it in range of the Tristans?"

"No, Ma'am, it's staying just out of range." Chad said, "We could reach it if it would stay still long enough fire the main cannon."

Yuri considered that, "If we move, then it'll probably turn tail and run back to the rest of its group, and then will have a fight on our hands." He said before he saw Marika smirking, "Got something in mind, Captain?"

"Lasse, switch out the Tristans for the secondary artillery cannons." Marika said without hesitation. She looked at her commander, "I modified this ship with a very special artillery system. The Tristans are for closer ranged combat, but in the event that we need a more long range attack, I installed two railguns each from the Flauros!"

Eugene and Chad turned to her with huge grins on their faces, "Oh, hell yeah!"

"Initiating change out program," Lasse's fingers were flying across the console, "Decativation of Tristans confirmed, lowering now."

Outside the ship, the two dual cannons were retracted inside the hull. "Railgun system activated, moving into position." Two new cannons moved into place, each one with twin barrels just like the Tristans, only these were not beam weapons.

"Hand targeting over to Ensign Sevenstark," Marika said, entering her captain's mode. "Prepare to fire single volley. All hands, brace for recoil!"

Lasse was finishing the activation sequence, "Railguns locked into position, switching targeting over to portside CIC, it's all yours, Eugene!"

Eugene grinned as he started locking in the target's range, "I've got a lock on it, ready to fire when you are!"

Marika nodded, "Make sure you don't miss," she told him, "Fire!"

Eugen grabbed a switch and punched it forward, "Firing!"

The cannons opened fire, letting loose two shots. The ship rocked as the force of the recoil sent it sideways. The shock was shortlived, however, as the shells fired from the cannons sped toward their target. The first shot blew through the Gafran's torso, destroying it completely as it exploded.

"Got it!" Eugene threw his hands up, "That was awesome!"

A notification popped up showing the destruction of...two mobile suits. "Wait a minute; two?" Yuri said as he read the notice, "Those shells must've hit something behind that Gafran!"

Marika read the second line below it, "You're right, it says here that there was a more advanced Baqto somewhere behind it. A shell must've clipped it by chance," she looked down at Lechty, "Helmsman, get us out of here, now!"

"Aye, aye, Captain!" The boy said, "What's our heading!?"

Marika thought for a moment, "We don't have a choice; set course for Mars."

Yuri looked at her, "Are you kidding?! You said that that was Orb territory!"

Marika looked at him, "Yes, they do have a colony near the planet, but the planet itself if open range. Remember, we have a terraforming system to make use of?"

"You're planning to make a base!" Chad figured, "That means we can rest and maybe plan on how to find Mikazuki without having to worry about being attacked!"

An alert popped up on Eugene's consol, "Uh, Captain, I'm getting more readings from those Baqto things!" He yelled, "Ah, man, there's a lot of them!"

"How many is a lot!?" Yuri demanded.

"Nineteen," Chad said, "And that's just the Baqtos! I've got nineteen other signals coming from Gafrans!"

Every ounce of color drained from the woman's face. "That's thirty-eight mobile suits in all," she whimpered, before shaking herself out of her stupor, "Set the armaments to auto-target and firing. Ready anit-beam measures. Ship-wide broadcast to level-two battle stations. Have all crew climb into normal suits!" She shouted as she reached for the compartment on her chair that held her own. "And someone get Kid on the line! I want to know how long until we have a working mobile suit!"

"Ma'am," Anew shouted, "Petty Officer Sasamile says that he has one Gundam that's sound, but some of the armor still needs to be placed!"

"Mobile armors?" Marika asked.

"One, they've just finished it," Anew said as she gave the woman a look, "Ensign Sys says that's she's ready to launch at any time!"

Marika sighed in relief, "Alright, keep her on standby for now, we'll only launch at the last possible second." She said as she thought about the Gundam, "Do we have a willing pilot for the Gundam?"

Anew waited for a moment, then she turned and looked at the captain, "I have Ensign Hoshino waiting in the cockpit."

Marika's face fell, "Put her on screen, please."

Anew did as she was asked and Fumina's face popped up on the monitor, "Don't try to stop me, Mom."

"We have other pilots," Marika reminded her.

"There's no one else here that knows this machine better than I do aside from Miss Returner," Fumina argued, "And I will not ask her to pilot this Gundam. Not after what happened to her." She said as Anew looked at the girl with surprise, "And you need Mister Aeon in the CIC. I'm going, end of discussion." The feed was cut off.

Marika palmed her face, "She gets that from her father," she mumbled, making Yuri laugh, "Commander Kellerne, would you take up a gunner position, please?"

"With pleasure, Captain," Yuri smiled, "Anew, have Officer Sasamile finish up the Gundam as best he can, but be ready to launch as soon as we give the go-ahead!"

"Yes, Sir."

ガンダムシリーズ

"How much longer?" Fumina asked as she strapped herself into the Gundam's cockpit while Kid was working quickly to install a dock for a Haro unit.

"Just a few more seconds," the boy ground out, "The armor should be almost finished. We have all the weapons in place, and Pala should be waiting in her mobile armor to follow you right out."

Fumina nodded gratefully, "Thanks, Mr. Sasamile, I know I'm asking a lot of you and the boys - "

"Not another word," the boy snapped, "I wouldn't do anything less for my own crew, and right now, you are part of my crew!" He continued working, "Done! I need a Haro up here!"

"Here!" Elgar shouted and tossed up one of the round robots.

"Haro! Pick me! Haro!" It was a light blue unit, "Fumina! Pick me! Fumina!" Kid caught it and fished a small chip out of his pocket, Haro opened up and let him install it. "Haro! Ready to go! Haro! Ready to go!" It flapped its ears happily while Kid placed it in the dock.

"Right, it's ready," Kid said, looking at the girl, "This Haro will help you out there like a copilot. It'll warn you if anything goes wrong, too. Your reaction time should be better, too."

Fumina smiled and reached out so that she could pull him in. "Thank you." She kissed the younger boy on his head.

"Haro! WooWoo! Haro!" Haro said in a laughing tone. Right before Kid bopped it. "Geh!"

"Shut up, and keep her alive!" He snapped and looked at her with a red face, "And don't you go getting yourself killed!"

Fumina gave him a small salute, "Yes, Petty Officer Sasamile!" She giggled as the boy floated down and placed her helmet on. She closed up her cockpit as Pala appeared on her monitor, "Miss Sys?"

"Just call me Pala, Fumina," the girl said with a small smile, "You gonna be okay?"

Fumina nodded, "Yeah, I think so," she said, even though her hands were once again shaking on the controls, "Plus, you'll be out there with me, right?" She gave the older girl a weak smile, "So I'll have the best mobile armor pilot watching my back, right?"

"Am I really the best?" Pala asked with a blush on her cheeks.

"Well, you're the best female pilot," she reiterated with Pala laughing right behind her, "Seriously, though, you don't have - "

Pala looked at her through the screen, "You're not the only one that has someone to protect, you know," Pala smiled at her, "You may be trying to protect all of us, but I'm looking out for Kid and Techcs." She reminded her and Fumina fell silent, "So what can you tell me about what we're gonna be fighting?"

Fumina nodded, "Gafrans are fast, but they're nothing special. You shouldn't have any trouble with them," she promised, "But they are fast, so watch your six. The Baqtos are just the opposite. They're heavily armored, and sluggish on the ground, but in space, they're just as fast as the Gafrans. Steer clear of them if you can, but use heavy artillery if you can't avoid them. They have a really powerful beam cannon in their chest, and beam sabers in their palms. The heads on both of them are the weakest points because that's where the control units are."

"So look out for the big guys, and aim for their heads," Pala smiled, "Good to know. I think I can handle that."

Explosions suddenly rocked the ship. Fumina shivered, [They must've come close enough for the cannons.] She thought as she made sure once more that she was completely strapped in and her helmet was airtight.

Lasse was suddenly speaking to her, "We're moving you to catapult two, Ensign," he said to the nervous pilot, "Ensign Sys will be moved to catapult one and be launched ahead of you to clear the way."

"Okay," she nodded.

"Be advised that we have close to forty mobile suits in pursuit." Lasse continued, "We'll keep you guys covered as best we can with the ship's guns, but don't go too far out this time. We can't help you if we can't reach you."

"Right," Fumina muttered as the Exia was moved toward catapult two.

On her monitors she could see the little ones cheering for her from below. [I'll do better this time.] Her determination reignited as she gripped the controls.

"FXet-565 Cosmograsper in position on catapult one," She heard Christina say, "GN-01 Exia Gundam in position on catapult two."

"This is Pala Sys, Five-six-five Cosmograsper, launching!"

Fumina braced herself as the mobile armor was sent out into space, "They are not going to touch this ship ever again," Fumina promised, "Fumina Hoshino, GN-01 Exia, launching!"

She was flung back against her seat even with the straps keeping her in place. The Exia was flung out into space in its maiden battle, and this time, Fumina knew what to expect. She used her GN verniers to balance herself out and looked around for Pala's mobile armor. She caught sight of a flash of white off to her right and homed in on it. The Cosmograsper was engaged with a group of Gafrans and one Baqto.

She easily picked off one of the Gafrans while another was hit by a beam from the Black Pearl. Fumina sped up and pushed her Exia into the fight, aiming straight for the Baqto, "Haro, engage GN Sword!"

"Engaging! Engaging!" Haro flapped.

The sword extended from the right arm of the Gundam as she neared her target. The Baqto turned to face her and fired at her with its chest cannon. Fumina had expected that. The Exia moved around the beams, avoiding each shot as she sped toward the machine, sword at the ready. The Baqto ignited its beam sabers and moved in.

[A dual downward slash,] she thought as the enemy mobile suit made the necessary movements. As the Baqto was about to attack, the Exia halted meters from the machine as it made its move, missing her completely while the Exia easily slashed off the Baqto's head.

She kicked the downed machine into a Grafran that Pala was leading toward her. Pala whipped around to avoid the incoming debris as it crashed into the Gafran chasing her, fished tailed around and fired her main guns into the Baqto, and the Gafran. The large of the two exploded first, taking the other with it.

"Woohoo! Atta girl!" Pala shouted from the comms., "Now keep on your toes, we've got more incoming!" She said as another group broke off from attacking the Pearl and beelined for them. Two Baqtos and three Gafrans.

"Haro, I need the GN Sword switched to Rifle Mode," Fumina said as the sword on her Gundam's arm contracted, revealing a rifle barrel. "Target incoming Baqtos' head units."

"Targeted! Targeted!" Haro chirped.

She fired. Two Baqtos down. She switched back to Sword Mode and went after one of the Gafrans.

Meanwhile the bridge was quiet save for the explosions and gunfire going on outside of the ship, "Reprot on the pilots?" Marika said as the Cosmograpser flew by a window with a Gafran hot on her tail. "And take out that Gafran!"

"Got it!" Christina yelled as the starboard CIWs took out the pursuing mobile suit. "Pala reports zero damage on the mobile armor. Fumina reports slight damage on the Exia."

"Shipwide damage report," she said, "Where is Orga!?"

"Here!" The boy said as he floated onto the bridge, "The ship's doing fine, we haven't taken any hits yet except for some debris." He said.

She gestured for him to sit beside her, "You're to be my second." She told him, "Someone tell me we have another mobile suit near ready?!"

"Ma'am, Kid says that the Jinx is nowhere near ready!" Chad shouted, "But Dante tells me that the girls are close to getting another mobile armor ready!"

"Refocus all efforts on that plane!" Marika shouted, "Yuri, on the main cannon! Lechty, bring the ship about ninety degrees!"

Lechty nodded, "Aye, aye, coming about ninety!"

"Ready on the gun, Captain!" Yuri shouted.

"Alert pilots Hoshino and Sys that we're preparing to fire the Tannhäuser! Lure as many enemy machines in front of the ship as possible, and be ready to get the hell outta there!"

Eugene goggled at her before picking up the comms, "Guys, Mom says she's firing the big gun, get those bastards in front of the ship, and move your asses!"

"Call me captain, Ensign Sevenstark!" She yelled only half-angry with him while Orga just chuckled, "That had better become a thing!"

"Oh, it's gonna stick," Yuri grinned.

"Captain, I have at least twenty mobile suits within range of the cannon!" Chad shouted.

Marika nodded, "Open a channel to the pilots," a moment later, Pala and Fumina appeared on the main monitor. "Yuri, on my mark, Exia and Cosmograsper one will move as you fire. Understood?"

"Yeah!"

"Got it!"

"Okay, Mom!"

"CAPTAIN!" Marika shouted. "Ensign Chadden, how many more are left?"

"There's twenty-five now, Ma'am, Fumina and Pala took out a couple more, but that looks like it's all of them."

Marika nodded, "Commander, fire in three...two...one! FIRE!"

"Better move, kids!" He shouted and fired the main cannon. The beam of red and white positron energy burst forth from the cannon. Pala peeled out of the dogfight as soon as she was warned, while Fumina flew directly toward the incoming beam. "Ensign Hoshino, get your ass outta there!" Yuri roared as the beam neared the Gundam and the pursuing mobile suits. Suddenly, Fumina dove beneath the beam, and the pursuing Gafrans and Baqtos were engulfed.

Marika had risen from her seat in fear as the beam passed over her daughter, but breathed a sigh of relief when she saw the Gundam appear right as the beam dissipated. "Oh, you...you scared me out of ten years of my life!" She shouted at the girl as she appeared on the screen again, "Wait 'til you get back on board! You're gonna get the spanking of a lifetime, you little imp!"

"They would've scattered if I didn't lead them in!" Fumina yelped, not wanting to face her mother's wrath.

"I'd rather that they did than having you pull such a dangerous maneuver!" She shouted at her, "This isn't a game! I can't lose you, t - !"

An alarm sounded from Christina's console, "Captain, I have a really large energy reading off the starboard side," she said, "I mean it's huge! Bigger than the ship!"

Marika looked at her and then at Fumina, "Get back to the ship, you, too, Pala! Helmsman, maximum thrust!" She turned to Lasse, "Open up the hangars and get ready to retrieve our pilots!"

"Yes, Ma' - " Lasse spoke up before Christina screamed, "Incoming beam!"

"Fire anti-beam depth charges!" Marika shouted just in time as the missiles launched and a gigantic beam exploded into the chaff. "Someone tell me what the hell just shot at us!" She demanded.

Lasse was getting some code on his screen, "Ma'am, I'm reading a...it's a mobile armor, a big one! The numbers are identifying it as...Hashmal, whatever that is."

Marika had gone pale again while Orga was staring at Lasse with disbelief, "You're kidding...you've got to be kidding!" Orga shouted.

"Get our pilots back here, now!" Marika ordered, "Eugene, Lasse, bring out the railguns! Keep the the anti-beam charges going! Do not let up for anything!" She looked down at Lechty, "Get us out of here, now!"

"Right!"

Yuri was looking at her with surprise all over his face, "Does someone wanna let me in on the secret here!?" He demanded, "What the hell's a Hashmal?"

"A monster," Orga frowned, "A monster from my Era. It nearly killed my best friend, and crippled him for life after he just barely beat the damned thing!" He growled and slammed his fist down on the arm of his seat just as Chad confirmed the return of the Cosmograsper and the Exia. Once they were safely tucked away into the ship, Lechty pushed the thrusters to their limits and sped the ship toward Mars.

ガンダムシリーズ

Author's Note: A GN-001 Exia vs. A Hashmal. Who would win?

Thoughts por favor!

Adios Amigos!