"You need to hurry and destroy the Crucifix!" Xero yelled, flying towards the Paladin. Garret took a second to catch his breath before responding.
"Why? What is this count down for?" Garret asked as the two of them headed towards the massive ship.
"It will trigger the Purifiers. A series of beam cannons like the Requiem used in the last war. They are all aimed at the PLANTs and will go off when that timer hits zero. The only way to stop the countdown is to destroy the Crucifix, if you don't do that in time every single one of the PLANTs will be annihilated!" Xero explained.
"You've got be kidding me… how long do we have?" Garret asked.
"I'm not entirely sure. I think the countdown is set for ten minutes to give the Purifiers enough time to charge" Xero replied. "I'm sorry Garret, I had no idea the countdown would be triggered when the Prejudice was destroyed" the Tyranny pilot said sadly.
"It's not your fault, you're making up for it now" Garret said as the two reached the Ceres. "Captain Phillips, we need to destroy the Crucifix now! We have about nine minutes before a series of beam cannons fire and destroy the PLANTs and the only way to stop it is to destroy this thing!" Garret called, heading towards the Crucifix with Xero.
"Is he serious? All ships and mobile suits, concentrate all fire on the Crucifix!" Richard ordered. The three ships began firing their guns and the mobile suits began attacking the dreadnaught.
"Can't you just get inside and make it self-destruct?" Garret asked Xero.
"The Crucifix has been locked down, we have to try and get through the armour. This thing is being powered by six nuclear engines, destroy them and the whole ship goes" Xero explained.
The Saviour and Perfect Strike flew towards the ship. Hilde transformed into her mobile armour form and flew along its length firing her cannons into the side. Victoria floated just above the main deck and fired her Agni into the main body. The attacks left marks on the Crucifix's strong armour but were unable to pierce it. "Even the Agni can't break through?" Victoria commented as she fired again and again.
The ZAKU and GuAIZ R from the Bayonet flew towards the Crucifix. The ZAKU fired it's shoulder-mounted gatling guns while the GuAIZ fired it's beam rifle and railguns. The two kept up a constant fire, trying to break the dreadnaught's armour. "Keep up, the barrage. We'll get through eventually!" Terrance ordered.
Lucian's DOM Trooper flew back and forwards along the underside of the Crucifix firing both barrels of his bazooka simultaneously as he went. Elisa flew beside him, firing her Slaughter Dagger's rifle, both weapons doing no damage. "Dammit! What is it gonna take to break through this thing?" Lucian roared.
Dante's GOUF landed on the ship's hull and he began repeatedly swinging his sword back and forth across the armour. Atticus looked through the scope of his sniper rifle, rapidly scanning the ship, looking for any gaps in the armour. He clenched his fist and began firing into the armour near Dante. "There has to be a way…" he said angrily.
"It's impossible, the PLANTs are going to be destroyed!" Victoria said, breaking out into tears as her Agni stopped firing. The Paladin came down next to her and placed it's hand on the Perfect Strike's shoulder.
"Nothing is impossible. We're going home to the PLANTs together, no matter what" Garret said. He raised his SMG and Moralltach, firing both repeatedly into the spot where Victoria had been firing.
"We didn't come this far just to be stopped by some damn countdown!" Aston called, flying at the Crucifix with his one armed Sword Calamity. He began firing the Scylla repeatedly at the hull. Xero, watching everyone's determination joined in the attack, flying around the ship, shooting at it repeatedly with his beam rifle.
"Ceres, send out the Aphrodite, I have a plan!" Marcel called, deploying his mirrors. The massive gatling cannon was launched from the ship's catapult and he grabbed hold as it reached him. He connected the power cables to the Rebound's battery and sent out his mirrors. He made a small dome with twenty-nine of the mirrors over the rear of the ship. He pointed the Aphrodite at the mirror he kept and held in the trigger. He watched the green beams fly into the mirror and cascade out the others like rain, pelting the ship.
"Everyone, concentrate your fire on that one spot!" Garret ordered, flying to where the mirrors were. Everyone obeyed and began firing into the rear of the ship. Garret looked at the time on his console, two minutes. When the timer clicked to one minute and thirty seconds the armour gave way.
"Garret, throw my Tyranny inside the ship and destroy it, the nuclear engine will set off a chain reaction!" Xero called, moving over to the Paladin.
"I'm not going to kill you like that!" Garret roared, almost slapping the Tyranny with his Gundam.
"Not with me in it you moron, I'm not that stupid" Xero said, putting on a helmet and ejecting from his Gundam.
"Oh… right" Garret said. "Everyone stop your fire!" he called. As the guns stopped, Garret forced the Tyranny through the holes in the armour and aimed his Moralltach. He reached out with his free hand and grabbed Xero, clenching the Paladin's fist enough to shield him. He fired the Valiant and let go of his sword. "Everybody move it!" he screamed, turning and flying at full speed.
"All ships retreat immediately!" Captain Phillips ordered. He noted the Rebound and Sword Calamity had returned to the ship and swiftly turned and flew away, leaving the others. The Strike grabbed onto the Saviour and the two flew away together as the Crucifix began exploding. Terrance and Raquel made it back to the Bayonet as it left. Atticus had made it back to the Tsukoyomi. The Paladin, Slaughter Dagger and DOM all flew together at top speed as the Crucifix was enveloped in a blinding light and then a massive explosion.
As the explosion ended, the remaining Purity forces began surrendering. The Ceres, Bayonet and Tsukoyomi all stopped next to each other and waited for their pilots to catch up. "Is everyone still alive?" Mu asked, scanning the suits that arrived.
"We seem to be" Lucian panted, his DOM going limp as his hands left the controls.
"Congratulations everyone, we won" Richard said to all of the allied forces. Garret landed in the Ceres' hangar and got out of the cockpit as Xero floated over to him. As the airlock closed the two removed their helmets and joined the other pilots gathered at the Paladin's feet. Victoria immediately crashed into Garret and pushed him against the Gundam as she put her arms around him.
"I'm back" he said with a smile.
"Xero, so you helped us huh?" Hilde asked, floating over to the Tyranny pilot.
"Seems that way" Xero replied, rubbing his eyes.
"You did well out there Marcel" Aston said, placing his hand on the boy's shoulder.
"Thanks Aston" Marcel said, trying to smile even though he was exhausted. Everyone except for Xero moved into a line as Richard came into the hangar and approached them.
"Well done everyone. The remaining Purity forces are surrendering and all allied forces are leaving the area. The war is over and it is thanks to all of you. Purity is destroyed, their leader gone and the PLANTs saved. It couldn't have been done without you" Richard spoke, saluting the pilots. They all returned the gesture. "I don't know about anyone else, but I say we should head home" the Captain said with a smile. Everyone cheered loudly and the Ceres began heading back to the PLANTs.