Gundam 00: Phoenix
Nena
Lagrange 5, March 15
"Once you finish your attack run regroup for another attack, no cowboys!" Willard shouted while manoeuvring through enemy fire while Ace exploded behind him; his fighter rattled slightly from the nearby shockwave.
This kind of attack with soft-skinned fighters that weren't primarily designed for space combat made it hard to get in close and without the ability to turn on a dime unlike mobile suits, they were stuck trying to do missile runs against carriers—it would work, but they were still at a disadvantage, especially while fighting mobile suits.
Upon closing, he noticed one of the Virginia-class carriers manoeuvring to face them, its launchers already going into action with its missile trailing towards them.
Activating countermeasure, large self-contained flares disconnected from the weapon pods which illuminated the darkness of space with near blinding light while Willard's Ace barrel rolled through the linear and sabot rounds heading his way before launching two missiles off at the Washington's engines—just teetering on the edge of effective range.
Already Willard began breaking off away from the engagement after the missiles had been released, engines at maximum as more and more missiles were launched from behind him and from the second squadron attacking the right flank.
One of the missiles detonated prematurely as a linear round hit it, but the other missile made it through the explosion of the previous one and slammed against the engines before it detonated, tearing a medium sized hole in the engine.
Several more missiles then followed causing the Washington to come to a standstill as additional missiles struck the engines from the rest of the squadron tearing a large section of the engine off and sending debris in all directions.
"Watch the shrapnel!" someone warned as the rest of the squadron pulled away from explosion and out of the enemies effective range to regroup.
"What's next, boss?" Carlos said, ready for the next target.
Willard glanced over his shoulder at the enemy formation before he looked straight and responded, "Falcon squadron, you'll hit the that Laohu near the left edge of their formation, the rest of us will cover you on your run," he said, hastily.
"Roger that Death Wing One, we're starting up our attack run now," a response came with Falcon squadron forming up nearby and preparing to move in.
The six Aces from Falcon squadron then raced in towards the next target, keeping their formation loose with Willard and the remaining four Aces moving ahead to draw the enemies fire.
"We've only got two anti-fighter missiles for emergencies, so rely on your auto cannons to down Enacts and Tierens," Willard told everyone.
"Roger that," came a reply from four separate voices.
Setting his sights on nearby Hellion heading straight towards Falcon squadron, Willard locked onto the incoming mobile suit fired a short burst from the auto cannons.
The hellion evaded the first several shots, but Willard's HUD still had the Hellion perfectly locked on and he fired again. This time his aim was true; the shells tore holes through the Hellion as it attempted to get behind him and exploded upon its torso being nearly severed from its waist.
His Ace then veered off to the right away avoiding the explosion before Willard took a second to check at his sensors for targets and decided another Hellion would be the next thing added to his already impressive amount of mobile suit kills.
As he chased the Hellion a transmission came through the channel. "This is Thunderbolt we are commencing the second stage of the attack. All cruise missile containers have their targets marked and are commencing launch sequence."
"Roger that, Thunderbolt." Willard then continued on chasing after his prey. It doesn't matter if the cruise missiles hit, as long as we can divert forces away from the debris field back to their base of operations.
He pursued his foe through the starry background of space attempting to get a lock, but the mobile used its mobility to get out of his sight by making a sharp turn to the right before it fired at him just as he went passing by.
Banking left to evade and get out of the mobile suits sights, he looked back at Falcon squadron, seeing them being tailed by a several machines that had managed to get past their screen.
Do I have to do everything myself? he thought, changing course to intercept the targets. They just could not afford too many casualties, not at a time like this, when they would be needed to back-up the Gundams later on.
Outside of Kati's bridge all hell had broken loose with linear and sabot rounds from their mobile suits flying in all directions trying to intercept five Aces that were distracting her defense teams from intercepting the true threat to the carrier formation.
"Ma'am, enemy fighters heading towards the Laohu One!" Kati was told.
She turned to the communications officer. "How long until Washington's mobile suits team return?"
"Thirty Seconds, ma'am!" came the immediate response.
"Have that unit intercept the first enemy squadron, our machines are to continue to engage the second enemy squadron, and tell them to keep together to avoid being picked off!" she ordered while the Manhattan let off a barrage of missiles towards the first enemy squadron.
The Manhattan then violently rattled from a missile that exploded against the hull of the ship with the offending Ace passing right by the bridge which then got struck by a Tieren shell and went violently out of control before it exploded.
A flash of light then entered the from the left side of the bridge causing Kati to turn and see Laohu One's two side containers explode, its twisted parts clearly visible which were being blown away from the ship.
Kati gritted her teeth. Their four ships were just getting hammered out here, only Laohu Two had gone unscathed, but that would soon change if additional support did not get out here to fight the over fourteen Aces which were using their speed advantage to continue with the quick bombardment strikes.
Suddenly, at least a dozen objects came up on the long-range sensors coming into the combat zone even faster than an Ace. The designation then came up causing Kati to give a growl—they were long-range anti-ship cruise missile.
"Order the returning units to intercept those missiles!" she ordered, raising her arm at the screen.
"Yes, Ma'am!"
This battle was getting more and more intense by the second, and if Sergei did not find those Gundams with his team, they may have all died for nothing.
Lagrange 5, March 15, Debris Belt
Two squadrons each consisting of three GN-Xs and three Tierens circled around the debris belt, searching to see if there was anyone around before they risked moving into the field of debris where they couldn't manoeuvre to search for targets.
Sergei knew they needed to finish this once and for all like they did to Celestial Being because if they lost here there was no telling what might happen with the loss of both Kati and himself. Very few have actually fought the Gundams and survived to learn from it. If the Gundams did get away, they needed to at least be knocked out of commission for some time.
"Colonel, I'm detecting heat signatures from two vessels, one of them appears to be a Godwind-class command shuttle," Soma told him as the shuttle then came into his sensor range.
If they have a command shuttle all the way out here to coordinate their forces I'll bet their carrier isn't around to monitor the area, he thought to himself before he responded back to his team to issue out orders. "Second team, move in on the enemy command shuttle, it should draw out the Gundams and we have a chance to cripple their ability to coordinate." Sergei ordered.
"Roger that, Colonel!" the leader of the second team responded as his squadron began to race of towards the enemies' location.
Soon enough as the second team headed out towards the command shuttle's location, a powerful particle beam cut through the debris field and caused the second team to take evasive action. Moments later, a second, less powerful particle beam flew out of debris belt which stuck the torso of a Tieren, cutting it in half.
After the destruction of the single Tieren, the Zesus, Variant, and Drei appeared, their entrance causing the destruction of another Tieren which couldn't escape the heavy particle fire from the three Gundams.
"All units engage the Gundams; keep them separated from each other as the mission planned! Kati's forces will deal with the one in the debris field!" Sergei announced as his team then began to close in on the three Gundams.
As expected, the Gundam hiding inside the debris field was keeping his own troops from regrouping and allowing the three Gundams to pick off the second team one at a time–it needed to end.
"First team, engage the purple one!" Instantaneously Sergei's team began to fire the Variant forcing it to evade while the second team continued to engage the other two machines.
As his team's fire intensified, the Variant, with a quick flicker of energy, disappeared off his scopes and sensors.
"Colonel, it just disappeared, orders?"
"Shift fire towards the other two machines, but stay mobile, that thing could reappear any second," he replied back through the comm. as he shifted his sights towards the Drei which was firing away at a GN-X.
As his squadron shifted to engage their new targets, Sergei noticed that the particle fire coming out of the debris belt had stopped, Patrick's team must have found it and were currently engaging it.
Soon enough the voice of Patrick Colasour came in confirming his thoughts. "We've just found the shooter and we're closing in on it," Patrick said, his voice filled with both confidence and his ego. "Now just sit back and let me and my team handle handle this! The rest of you go help support our HRL friends."
"Just why does he have to say that on an open channel?" Sergei muttered while narrowing his eyes, not amused by Patrick's arrogance, although he did appreciate the support as he saw seven Enacts heading his way.
A high pitched scream suddenly came through the channel. Sergei instantly turned to his left to suddenly see the a GN-X explode after being impaled right through the center of its chest by the Variant's beam saber before the Gundam disappeared into the nearby explosion.
With a scowl, Sergei fired several shots through the explosion only to reveal nothing once the explosion settled but the destroyed remains of the GN-X that had once been there–the Gundam must of entered back into its optical camouflage.
"This is going to get alot more difficult if we can't hit it before it disappears," Sergei muttered to himself. "All units from second team regroup with my team immediately. Tierens are to guard the rear and keep an eye out for that purple Gundam."
"Roger that, sir, returning to formation immediately," a response quickly came as the team ahead began to return while Sergei and his team provided covering fire against the two visible Gundams.
As his team returned he thought to himself, Second Lieutenant Colasour better get that Gundam in the debris, we'll need his help against these three, he then continued firing at the Gundams until a particle disruption pod exploded nearby masking the area his team was in forcing them to move.
Patrick and his team could not fail because if they did, then they were going to be forced to pull out of the engagement and continue the endless cycle of trying to defeat the Gundams.
"Lets get him, boys!" Patrick shouted as two GN-Xs and three Enacts manoeuvred through the debris towards the Lancaster.
The GN-Xs rapidly fired their rifles causing Daveral to move the Lancaster behind the debris for protection against the hail of particle beams.
Daveral tightened his grip around the controls. "That was a quick response, much sooner than I expected," he murmured. The Lancaster then spun around and momentarily charged its beam cannon before firing through the piece of debris, using his sensors as an indication to where then enemy was.
The particle pierced through the large piece of debris and vaporized nearly everything in its path that included a single Enact that tried to back away, out of the path of the beam only to find there was no room to escape .
"That's one," Daveral remarked, only for the cockpit to violently rattle as he turned towards an incoming GN-X that continued to close in. "At this rate he'll–" He did not finish as he drew his Gundam's beam saber to counter the GN-X's own beam saber while locking the beam cannon in stand-by behind the Lancaster's shoulder–he did not need it getting sliced apart by a beam saber. "Great, he's already in close!" he then said before pushing the GN-X back with the Lancaster's saber.
The GN-Xs then lashed at him with the beam saber again after he deflected the first blow causing Daveral to grit his teeth seeing that he would be stuck on the defensive if this kept up and it would allow more time for the other GN-Xs to line up a good shot at him.
"You're definitely aren't as tough as the last Gundams, but at least I'll get my kiss from the colonel if I beat you!" Patrick smirked as his GN-X continued to slash out at the Lancaster.
Upon deflecting the GN-Xs blade once more, the Lancaster quickly moved back, far enough for it to be able launch several missiles at the pseudo Gundam forcing the GN-X to back off and intercept allowing Daveral enough time to disappear behind another large piece of debris from the other GN-X which began to open up along with the remaining two Enacts.
The GN-X that he had engaged quickly came after him, speeding through the debris field towards him. "Get back here Gundam!" Patrick roared, his GN-X now firing its rifle and blowing away the cover the Lancaster hid behind.
As the final shot blew away the chunk that was left, a brilliant bluish particle beam came roaring towards Patrick and his small team. Patrick's GN-X immediately took evasive action upon seeing the blast, but the two Enacts in the rear were not as fortunate; a piece of debris that had been sent flying from the blast collided with one of them while the other violently exploded as the beam seared through its torso.
"You'll pay for that that; it won't save you Gundam!" Patrick then screamed in anger, his GN-X drawing its beam saber once more as it raced down the cleared path the Lancaster had created.
Daveral had a slightly shocked expression as the GN-X that was about to attack him. It had already closed the distance and was just about on top of him–maybe blowing away a straight line in front of him had not been the best idea after all.
Now backing away, the Lancaster opened fired with all three weapons to destroy the two remaining GN-Xs. Missiles and particle beams then flew through the debris field causing a series of miniature explosion to rupture throughout this section of the debris field.
Twisted pieces of scrap metal was sent showering in all directions behind the GN-Xs which continued to close in though at a reduced speed to avoid pieces of debris heading towards them.
"Just hurry up and go down so I can help the others," Daveral said in annoyance, his eyes shifting between the two GN-Xs as he fired with the carbine and beam cannons to save what missiles he had left.
The two GN-Xs continued to weave through the debris and particle beams that came towards them and each passing second they got and Daveral began to realize, he was moving abit to close to the edge of the debris field where the rest of the fighting was taking place. If he went any further he would be caught in the open and right in the middle of a fight, a place his Gundam was never intended to operate.
Stopping the Lancaster, he decided here he would hold his ground and try to defeat his opponent. Taking careful aim, he zeroed in on the GN-X that was closest to him and aimed for the chest. If he missed the next couple shots, then he would probably be in trouble once one of the machines locked him into close-combat.
Firing off a single concentrated shot to start with caused both GN-Xs to evade, but managed to take the right leg of the rear one off, causing it to slow for a moment. Daveral then quickly fired again, this time with the carbine and two GN Missiles.
The first GN-X evaded once more, but several shots from particle beams that struck the machine caused it to slow and raise its limited shield as more shots followed and then, the two missiles finally struck, plunging into the GN-Xs before both detonated in a shower of particles blowing off the left forearm and right leg. A follow up from the beam cannon then took off the other leg as the machine attempted to evade by moving back after just being stunned for a second.
Daveral nearly let out a sigh of relief, but the second GN-X instantly caught his attention as it moved in to support the first GN-X that had been recently damaged causing him to quickly train his eyes back onto the target.
Preparing to fire again, a warning unexpectedly came flashing through his systems drawing his attention. Facing in the signals direction, he saw eight small objects speed towards him and instantly he knew what they were–GN Fangs.
Immediately he out his full attention towards the Fangs, it didn't matter if the GN-Xs attacked him if the Fangs impaled themselves into his machine first before he could finish them off.
As the GN Fangs came in Daveral began to move back in the direction of the GN-Xs, hoping maybe the GN-Xs would either shoot them down for him or the Fangs went after them instead.
The GN-Xs fired at him upon seeing him coming their way, but the first few shots that hit the Lancaster only dispersed off the machine's armour allowing him to get through them just as the Fangs began to open fire at both him and the GN-Xs.
The badly GN-X dodged the particle beams and moved out of the way behind some debris for cover against the crimson red particle beams, but the second GN-X got hit by the a few particle beams that caused it to stagger before one of the Fangs impaled the GN-X through the its core before it could react causing the machine to spark for several moments before it exploded just after the Fangs dislodged itself and continued after the Lancaster.
The remaining GN-X then attempted to escape, pulling away from the combat zone in the direction of the UN Transports from the GN Fangs only to suddenly have its head taken off by a separate GN Fang which had used the GN-Xs own piece of debris as a shield.
"Oh, damn it!" Patrick shouted as he gritted his teeth before having his GN-X race out of the debris field.
Upon seeing the GN-X disappear, the Lancaster turned around, ready to intercept. The Gundam then opened fire at the GN Fangs with everything it had.
Three Fangs were instantly obliterated by the first opening salvo from the Lancaster, but the remaining five dove through the explosion of the first three for cover before re-emerging, tips ignited.
"Oh, son of a bitch!" Daveral cursed as the Lancaster instantly drew its beam saber and sliced two GN Fangs that had gotten in too close to use the cannon.
He then cut down one more with one swift stroke before one of the Fangs impaled itself through the Lancaster's beam cannon and the other through its head before he could even move. Before the Fangs could even detonate to cause massive damage a sudden flash from a particle beam cut through the Lancaster left shoulder detonating the remaining missiles.
Daveral let out a scream as his machine was blown away from the explosion, numerous parts being ripped off from the various sections of the Gundam by the explosion.
Smashing through various bits of debris the Lancaster finally came to a grinding halt upon slamming into a large panel that didn't shatter upon impact.
With a groan Daveral looked up only to suddenly hold his head. The inside of his head painfully pulsed at regular intervals before the pain began to dim to the point where he could finally concentrate, although the dulling headache still remained.
He also felt a something poking against his side as he looked to see a piece of shrapnel had partially gone through his suit. Immediately he pulled it out and gave a sigh of relief; the piece of shrapnel hadn't gone in far enough to harm him.
Now slowly scanning over the Lancaster's system, he let out another weak groan upon the headache pulsing again before he then growled upon the damage he saw up on screen. He had lost the entire left arm, head, beam cannon and critical damage around the entire mobile suit had been done leaving very little armour left; even worse, his communication and sensor systems had been knocked out.
He just did not know what to do at the moment. A machine this damaged would barely put up a fight, but he couldn't stay here lest he get left behind and abandoned.
With a quick shift of the throttle he was relieved his Gundam could still move as it moved in the direction he desired and decided he would have to find the Thunderbolt after he hid for the time being. There was just no telling when he might be hit again like that and if his guesses were correct, he wouldn't survive if he was found.
It was just fortunate the explosion had blown him a considerably deeper into the debris field, now he just needed to make sure he made it far enough to escape his attacker.
"Daveral, come in, do you copy?" Flint said through the comm. after his Zesus cut down a Tieren. "Are you really that busy?"
The Zesus then nearly got hit by a beam saber if it weren't for a timely shot from Nena.
Nena looked at the Zesus. "Be careful Flint. We can worry about Daveral after we finish these guys."
The Zesus then charged at the GN-X causing saber and blade to lock before the Zesus then backed away as the Variant appeared and fired its rifle, managing to destroy the machines right arm before it had to back off with its shield raised as the seven Enacts from the AEU open fired with their linear guns.
The Drei scattered the Enact formation with several shots with its GN Handgun before launching several missiles from its shield pod only to be forced to evade particle beams from two GN-Xs.
"There's just too many of them!" Nena exclaimed as she weaved her Drei through the particle beams, returning fire. "Helana, I think it's time you used the Fangs!"
"Negative on that," Helana replied reluctantly. "They get deployed now, they'll be shredded before I can control them. They can't cloak on their own."
"Well, do you think Willard and his guys could get over here and help us?" Flint then said as his Zesus was forced to pull away from the UN forces which had regrouped again, away from him.
The commander of the Thunderbolt then spoke through the channel. "Willard and his forces are already on their way, the UN carriers were not destroyed, but they'll be forced to pull out of the area due to the damage they've sustained. Sadly the cruise missile strike did not finish their carriers off due to Enacts in the area."
"I can live with that! Just tell Willard to get his engines in gear or you'll be going down with us!" Flint replied back impatiently, the Zesus drawing its carbine to return fire. "At this rate, we won't be able to keep them away from you guys!" he then added as the three Gundams were forced to pull back, closer in the direction of the Thunderbolt.
As they were pushed back, the Variant then disappeared causing one of the GN-Xs tracking it to begin shifting its aim only to get hit several times by the Drei as it readjusted. The particle beams managed to cause the area right below the GN Drive Core to give away just enough to cause the machine to lose control as it went spiralling backwards lifelessly before it exploded.
"Four more GN-Xs and alot of mobile suits," Nena muttered, keeping track of all the machines infront of her.
"Enemy approaching, enemy approaching!" she then heard her Haro alert her to see a GN-X moving up under the cover of its allies which were not too far behind.
She could see the Zesus moving in to intercept to her left which drew its sword, but a sudden hail of linear rounds pushed the Zesus back letting the GN-X get closer which then brandished its beam saber from its holder signalling what its intentions were.
In return, the Drei drew its own beam saber and quickly got locked in combat with the GN-X forcing its allies to cease fire and watch as both suits duelled each other, both machines moving far too quickly and unpredictably to get a clear shot.
The sudden reappearance of the Variant nearby which nearly impaled one of the remaining GN-X only to be hit by a instantaneous roundhouse quick to the head caused the UN to redirect their fire once more between the Variant and Zesus that attempted to close, using its smoke launchers this time on its approach towards the targets.
In her cockpit, Soma watched the sparks fly as the beam sabers collided, both her and her opponent trying to find a weakness in each other's defenses. "You won't get away this time, Gundam!" she shouted, the GN-Xs saber coming down once more.
Nena scowled before she attempted to block only for her machine to suddenly be hit by a lightning fast kick send her machine back as the GN-X then closed in to get her while she still reeling from the blow.
Just as the beam saber was about to make contact with the Drei's cockpit, her machine then quickly backed away at the last moment and then fired at the GN-X which brought its small shield up to defend itself from the particle beams.
"Thanks, Haro," she said with a quick smile towards the round robot which had taken control of her machine during those precious seconds.
"No problem, no problem," it replied back with a wave.
Turning her attention back to the GN-X, firing the GN Handgun.
The GN-X skirted to the right to evade before it stored its beam saber and redrew its rifle to return fire.
The two machines continued their shoot-out, but the remaining Tierens and GN-Xs soon joined in while the Enacts kept the Zesus distracted, at the cost of two of their number due to the Zesus throwing one its beam sabers into one before slicing down another.
The amount of tracers coming towards her made it almost like a light show, a very dangerous one as the fire intensified with the GN-X even using their GN Vulcans to wear the Drei down–just where was Helana when you needed her?
Her prayers were answered almost immediately as the Variant reappeared and this time it deployed its set of Fangs into combat. The Variant quickly downed one of the Tierens with an accurate shot before the Fangs went in causing the GN-Xs to shield the remaining Tierens against enemy fire as their Vulcans went into action.
Four GN-Xs trying their best to down about ten GN Fags and evade particle fire from both the Variant and Drei made it extremely difficult for the four machines to protect the two remaining Tierens as the machines were forced to pull away from their defensive formation, and regretfully leaving the remaining two Tierens to be destroyed by the barrage of particle beams lest the rest of them be killed.
The tide just seemed to be turning for the better and with reinforcements on the way, they might just be able to hold before they took too much damage and this took much weight off Nena's mind and made her realize just how skilled Helana actually was–this was one of the few times she actually saw her during a fight.
Suddenly a garbled transmission came from Thunderbolt caught her attention. "Gundam... us...we've...abandon...." the line then went dead causing Nena to spin around to see two large explosions in the background where the two ships had been.
The sight shocked her, not only was the Thunderbolt but the ship that she and her brothers had lived on. Anger immediately began to build up as memories of the ship flashed into her mind before disappearing in a flash as if they too had been destroyed.
The anger was so great that Nena barely caught on to a transmission that just came through–it was Willard.
"I've just lost contact with Thunderbolt, can you please confirm that over?" came the transmission, Willard's voice unsure what had just happened.
"That's right," she replied back simply before taking off towards the direction where the Thunderbolt had once been. She just could not control herself; the person who just did this had to pay and she had a fine guess to who it was.
The Variant quickly turned in the direction to where the Drei went off. "Where're you going, Nena?" Helana began, surprised by Nena's sudden actions before being forced to focus on the UN forces firing at her.
Regrouping beside the Variant, the Zesus let off a burst with its carbine at the Enacts that closed in who in return, fired their linear guns at both machines "Where's Nena going off to?" Flint then asked Helana.
"She heading to where the Thunderbolt used to be," Helana responded back before shooting at one of the Enacts–only for a GN-X to ruin her shot at the last moment with rifle fire which soon found itself under fire from multiple GN Fangs.
"When Willard gets here I'm going off to help her, we could have another repeat of the time when she went berserk," he stated to her. "Or she could get killed before then."
Helana nodded her head. "Alright, let's just hope Nena can last that long until Willard gets here then."
The Variant then drew its beam saber with the Zesus right behind which used the Variant as cover before it soared over the Variant and into the GN-X that had previously been damaged.
The Zesus swung its blade which caused the GN-X to pull back only to immediately be speared through the centre by a beam rifle shot from the Variant when the Zesus had quickly moved out of the way.
"Three more and we'll–" Flint couldn't finish as one of the remaining GN-X had quickly come into his path when he had moved for the Variant and it fired its rifle rapidly at point-blank range.
The first set of particle beams tore through the side of the Zesus' torso before it could react can bring up its GN Field which caused a detonation of one of the Zesus' condensers sending a mist of bluish particles everywhere.
Helana heard Flint cry out as he Gundam was sent floating away from the explosion lifelessly.
The Variant quickly went to the Zesus' aid, firing several shots from its beam rifle to drive away the GN-X while the Fangs kept the Enacts distracted and unable to close in.
"I'm okay, I'm okay" Helana heard Flint say in an assuring tone before she heard him groan. "That last hit just damaged out Zesus' systems. GN Drive has been damaged causing main thrusters to be fucked up and I'm losing particle output. I'm effectively stuck to shooting if I want to get at them."
Helana glanced over in Nena's direction. "Damn you, Nena, just when we need you, you run off. You better come to your sense before we die," she murmured to herself before turning back towards the enemies which were on her screen.
This would be tough for her to handle effectively alone, but she couldn't back down, or she may find herself the only one left.
"This is Willard," then came a voice. "We've been delayed!" he said causing some of the colour in Helana's face to disappear at the news. "They've set up a mine field and alot of us just ran right into it. I've just lost a third of our fighting force and that's not including damaged aircraft. We're still going to try and reach you, but it will take time to get to you, even I've been hit by this thing."
The news could not get any worse as Helana tightened her grip around the controls and pray that she was strong enough to do this.
Nena looked through the wreckage of both the Thunderbolt and Trinity Mother ship which was not far from the battle. If Ali wasn't here anymore she would head back to help the others as the anger began to die away and instead it was replaced by a deep sadness that the home she once knew no longer existed except in the remains of the destroyed ship.
Carefully scanning for the debris she saw no trace of the Ares or any particle trails that may have signalled where it went as if to spite here.
She slammed her hand on the side of her seat. "Can't I keep anything that once belonged to me?" she bitterly said, her fist shaking before she quickly calmed down.
Now she felt disgusted at herself for what she had just done. Wesker was right, about her endangering the team and she did not want to be responsible for it. Daveral may have died in the debris field where she wasn't there to stop it, but Flint and Helana she could save and keep alive, at least.
Scanning through the area one last time, she saw nothing more than pieces of various material floating around and prepared to head back to support the others. Hopefully they would forgive her for abandoning them.
The Drei began to head back towards the battle, the tracers from both sides clearly visible in the distance.
Everything seemed alright, Nena detecting nothing until a signature appeared out of the nearby debris field; it was the Ares.
Almost instantly the Drei spun around in the Ares' direction before firing several shots from its GN Handgun.
The Ares raised its blade as a shield before releasing two GN Fangs that began making very rapid, unpredictable movement before they opened fired on the Drei.
The Drei evaded the Fangs before it was forced to draw its beam saber as the Ares slammed into it.
"Still as reckless as ever, I see!" Ali laughed before the Ares' blade pushed the Drei's beam saber aside before his machine made a hard blow at the Drei's head with the Ares' fist. "You should know better that you can't fight me alone!"
Nena scowled before she moved the Drei away from the Ares, firing the GN handgun only for the weapon to be torn from the Drei's wrist by the Ares' blade.
The Ares then lashed at the Drei again, only for a quick draw of the Drei's saber to block the blade just in the nick of time.
"Look on the bright side of this, you can finally join your brothers once this is over," Ali said before the Ares' armour began to spark, preparing to generate its energy field. "Now be a good girl and die!"
She could barely let out a gasp before it turned into an uncontrollable, deafening scream. Her world began to blur out and she could think of nothing but of the pain. This would be the end if she couldn't do anything but scream in pain.
"System damage, system damage!" her Haro said, its voice box uncontrollably changing as the electricity damaged the Haro's fragile systems.
Trying to keep eyes focused she painfully looked at her controls and slowly attempted to press down on the second trigger of the Drei's controls. She couldn't miss, not at this close range because if she did, she would be dead.
The Drei's shield pod opened and fired its missiles causing small series of explosions flashed through the screens of Nena's cockpit causing the electrical surge to finally coming to sudden halt; however, the Drei's cockpit shook and rattled violently from the explosions signifying the Drei had been blown back by the explosion.
Nena trembled from the aftermath left by the electrical assault while her muscles twitched, but she managed to move the Drei further away from the Ares which had been also sent back some ways by the explosion.
Moving away toward Helana, she noticed the sections of the Ares' armour had been damaged and certain areas sparked uncontrollably on the Gundam.
"If you won't let me take your precious mobile suit then I guess I'll just have to gut you instead!" Ali screamed at her; the Ares beginning to close in once again.
She needed to get away from the Ares, but at this rate it was more likely that trying to destroy it would be the better option. "Helana, are you there?" Nena said through the channel, desperate for help.
"I'm here and so is Flint. It's about time you came back and helped us!" Helana replied with a growl and a glare. "I can see you coming towards us and that you've brought him along. Are you trying to get us killed?"
"Can you just help me?" Nena shouted back as the Drei sped towards its allies.
"I can delay him with the Fangs if I can divert them to you, but we've got to deal–" Nena didn't hear the rest of Helana sentence as she found herself once again locked in combat with the Ares that had attempted to sneak up on her–just how fast was this thing?
"Think you can run? I think not!" Ali screamed at her through the comm. "I'm getting sick of trying to kill you, you're nearly as annoying as that Krugis brat!" Ali then spat out in frustration before the Ares swung its blade only for the Drei to back off.
The Drei then immediately drew its second beam saber, using the first saber to block the Ares' blade before attempting to use the other beam saber to deliver the killing blow. The Ares, however, ignited its forearm blade blocking the second beam saber which was just over the Ares' head.
The Drei then spun in a whirlwind fashion forcing the Ares to back off; the beam saber nearly cutting a gash through the cockpit. "Just why do you enjoy this so damn much?" Nena screamed at him.
"It's because I'm a goddamn mercenary, that's why!" Ali shouted back, the Ares firing several shots from its own GN Handgun to try and keep the Drei pinned down.
"You mean you don't feel any guilt over what you've done?" The Drei raced towards the Ares, deploying particle disruption smoke while it closed in. "You're a sick man!"
Ali gritted his teeth before swinging the Ares' Buster sword at the Drei. "Do you think I really care?" Ali retorted, the Buster blade making contact with one of the Drei's sabers. "I may have when I when I was alot younger, but the exhilaration from battle is just much more tempting to follow then crying like some baby over a dead corpse! Besides, I've seen what you've done so don't think we're much different from each other!"
"I now regret it and I know it's my fault." The Drei then had its two sabers strike the Buster sword in its mid section. The power from the two beam sabers then began to melt through the GN Buster blade before cutting the blade clean in two. "At least I can change and know what I've caused is wrong!"
The Ares did not falter at the loss of its blade, instead, it ignited its second wrist blade and then slashed at the Drei's right forearm, taking off that entire section and reducing the Drei back to one beam saber.
"It doesn't matter, people will still now you for who you were! They won't care that you've changed, they'll only see you as a murder and a terrorist!" Ali then yelled in a gleeful tone to spite her.
The determination to kill Ali in Nena grew beyond just simple revenge upon hearing those words. If he kept existing more terrible things would happen because of him. He wouldn't change nor would he ever regret his own decisions and he would be an instrument which would cause war, the very thing that a Gundam Meister had to stand against, even if what they did contradicted their intended purpose. She had to beat him not for herself, but for everyone else who had suffered and would suffer from this man.
"I don't care if the I'm seen as a terrorist by most!" The Drei, in one blinding motion, sliced off one of the Ares' arm that mounted its GN Handgun. "I can change and I'll fight for a better world to make up for the things I've done!" she then screamed as the Ares blocked her beam saber.
"That's if I let you live!" Ali sneered as the Ares then kicked the Drei away and then charged in, throwing its two remaining Fangs at the Drei.
Racing towards the Drei, the Fangs open fired causing the Drei to evade while the Fangs then ignited themselves, just seconds away from the Drei with the Ares itself not far behind.
Upon seeing the Fangs ignite themselves, the Drei threw its beam saber at one of them causing the Fang to explode before drawing its last beam saber from the shield pod that was meant solely for emergencies such as this.
The Drei then attempted to hit the incoming GN Fang with its beam saber, though Nena ended up missing, the GN Fang veering off at the last moment and ended up impaling the Drei right between the right shoulder joint before detonating. The resulting explosion ended up taking the entire right arm off and part of the right side of the Drei's head.
"Gotcha ya!" Ali eyes widened with glee upon seeing that sight with the Ares raising its forearm beam blade like a lance for the killing blow.
Nena could only make a weak smile upon the Ares closing in on her blurry screen before she thrust the Drei's beam saber through the gap in the Ares' defenses.
What Nena then saw was a bright light as both Gundams impaled each other before a massive explosion followed from strike which sent Nena's world into darkness but not before muttering, "I will change.".
"Nena!" Helana shouted in surprise and horror as she saw an explosion in the background of space behind her before a glancing shot forced her back into the current situation.
She then saw a particle pass her and hit the Zesus which was behind her which took off the crippled Gundams head.
"This really sucks that they're gunning for the cripple!" Flint stated angry that he couldn't do anything other than shoot, something the Zesus wasn't intended to do. "Just how much of a bastard can these guys be?" He then let out a yelp of surprise as the Zesus took another shot, this time causing it to lose the right arm and its carbine. "Oh, c'mon, at least let me die fighting!"
Helana gritted her teeth. Willard wasn't here yet and she had to handle three GN-X and five Enacts all in near perfect condition. There was no way she could handle all this alone.
The Gundams then formed a circle around her and then closed in, all of them firing all the weapons they had at the two Gundams.
The Variant raised its shield and set its rifle up to defend while the Zesus behind her activated its forward facing GN Field to try and stop what shots it could. The Fangs which she had been using to help even the odds by acting as a defensive screen did not last long in the firestorm and those that did survive were forced to reattach to the Variant to recharge themselves.
Staring down at the face of their enemies, Helana prepared to squeeze down on the trigger in hopes of taking as many of the enemies down with them as possible.
Before she could press on the trigger to commence the final shots, a trail of particle beams ripped through the Enact ahead of her from the debris field causing one of the GN-X heading her way to turn to see who the attacker was before Helana fired several particle beams which struck the GN-X in its left shoulder taking off the entire arm and forcing it to pull back.
Shots from the debris field continued and this seemed to cause the enemy to withdraw as one of the GN-Xs launched a retreat flare causing the entire mobile suit team to retreat.
Helana, after a moment, then gave a sigh of relief and sat back in her seat before she saw a mangled Lancaster slowly come out of the debris field. Initially she tried to make contact with Daveral, but the transmission did not seem to go through as she got no response, but she knew he was okay if he could still move his machine and aim properly.
Looking over the other two she looked in the direction where the explosions had occurred and took off to see what had happened to Nena.
Nena slowly breathed in and out upon awaking to see the cockpit screens of the Drei replaced by holes opening into space while nearly all the controls were no longer functional.
She then looked to see her Haro floating lifelessly around in the cockpit, with part of it cracked open revealing its badly damaged circuitry.
Seeing how she couldn't do anything, she thought to herself what would happen next. Just what did her future have in store for her? Was what she had just done right and what a Gundam Meister was suppose to do?
Attempting to move, her body tensed and her muscles and nerves twitched in pain making it nearly impossible to move. Only now was she feeling the full after affect of the shock.
All she could do was stare out into space and hope someone would find her before either she ran out of oxygen or eventually froze out here.
She prepared to close her eyes and hoped that when she woke up she would no longer be out here until she saw the an object coming towards her with a blue trail of light behind it.
Smiling, she made the V-sign signalling she was okay as she reminisced on all the things she's been through ever since she joined the Phoenix's crew.
Even if the results weren't as what she expected, she knew it was worth it and realizing what she had done gave her a purpose. She would become a true Gundam Meister and prove that she would change not just this world, but herself as well.