Disclaimer: I want to own them, but alas, a frivolous demon known as legality prevents me from doing so. Ah well, I will merely take the characters and use them as I please in a non-profit manner. So there Ms. Takahashi, Mr. Asamiya, and um, all the people who own all the different Gundam series. (How many series are there? Lessee, MS, 8th, Wing, 79, 80, 83, X…)
Chapter 2:
“Vengeance is All I Have Left”
“It’s payback time you bastard!” Ranma growled out as he prepared to engage the winged Gundam that had haunted his dreams for so long. Ranma grimaced as he searched for some sort of thruster ignition that would send him into the air. Finding none, he groaned.
“Oh great, don’t tell me this is a land model…Argh! Damn it! Fine then, come and get me you son of a bitch!” He cried angrily, and waited for the Gundam pilot to make his move.
Up above, in the cockpit of Wing, Heero observed the mobile suit that had wiped out the entire Zaku squad in minutes. This was obviously no ordinary suit.
“Hmm, it seems to specialize in close-range combat. No visible weapons can be seen, although it could have a beam saber or something similar hidden within. But no long-range weapons can be found. Somewhat odd, but an enemy is an enemy.” He thought as he prepared to dive-bomb his opponent.
“I need to save the charges in my buster rifle for the base, so I’ll destroy him through melee combat…”
Ranma grimaced slightly as he saw his enemy approach.
“It’s just like one year ago…” His mind flashed to that time. When he had arrived in the Tokyo area from a training trip, only to find it under attack, and the winged Gundam, who had fled by the time he had made it into Nerima, haunting his mind ever since. He couldn’t even close his eyes without the image of it entering his mind.
“But it ends here…I’m going to annihilate you!” Ranma roars as he met the Gundam’s charge head on. The two grappled for a moment, before breaking apart and regarding each other warily.
“Hmm, he’s good…” Heero thinks, as he draws his beam saber. The potent weapon burns a greenish hue, and casts shadows of the two mobile suits in the night. Ranma curses as he realizes that his Aestivalis has no weaponry attached, but doesn’t let it bother him.
“Heh, I never needed weapons in training…” He muttered, before dodging the Gundam’s first strike, which was a downward chop that struck the ground hard, resulting in a deep indention. Spinning, the Gundam brought the saber up and swung it in a horizontal arc meant to cleave the head off of Ranma’s suit, if he had been there that is. Ranma leapt upwards, and mentally forced his suit to execute a spinning kick while in mid-air. The result was mixed. The Aestivalis was more maneuverable than a typical suit, but it was unable to completely execute the move. Instead, it spun in the air, and struck the Gundam with its leg, but landed poorly and fell on its back.
“Hmm, guess this thing needs some work, but at least I hit him. Now to finish the job…” Ranma muttered darkly as made the suit get to its feet. He automatically shifted into a combat stance in his mind, and the Aesti did the same. Several feet away, Heero got to his feet, and hastily re-evaluated the situation.
“This isn’t just some OZ crony, and it isn’t just the suit that’s behind all that power…this guy is really good…” He grudgingly admitted, before bringing his beam saber to bear, holding it in front of Wing in a defensive posture. The two pilots faced off for a few moments, searching for a possible opening to exploit. Finally, Heero charged, swinging the saber towards Ranma’s head, but at the last moment, he reversed, bringing it in the other direction. Ranma saw through the feint however, and ducked just in time. He then brought his suit up with stunning speed, and shoulder rammed Wing to the ground. Resting atop the Gundam, Ranma rained blows down upon its head mercilessly.
“Die you bastard!” Ranma cried. Within the cockpit of Wing, Heero grunted as it shook from the sheer power of the strikes. Ranma raised both hands in a hammer blow and smashed them down on Wing’s head. Heero cursed as his armor took a heavy blow from the strike, and decided that he didn’t like Ranma on top anymore. Though he had dropped the beam saber, he still had his shield, and brought it up, slamming the end of it into the Aesti’s head forcefully. This knocked it off of him, and he quickly rolled over to where his fallen saber was lying. Snatching it up, he ignited it once more and quickly charged his enemy before the pilot could get his bearings back. The saber cut into the arm of the Aestivalis and though it didn’t go all the way through, it left a large gash, weakening the arm severely. Ranma cursed and leapt back to re-orient himself.
“Damn it all! How the hell am I supposed to beat him if I don’t have any weaponry at all!” He grimaced and made a decision.
“Live or die, I’m going to kill him…”
Heero’s face remained expressionless as he watched his opponent approach him once again.
“Doesn’t know when to quit obviously. Since I have superior armaments he would be prudent to retreat, but instead he keeps coming, how foolish…” He said to himself as he hefted the beam saber and charged again, this time opening the attack with his shoulder cannons, which caught the enemy in the chest, but didn’t do much damage, but it did leave him open for his main attack, a downward cut from the saber. Heero blinked as he hit nothing but the ground, then he cursed as he realized his enemy had dodged to the side.
“His reflexes are impressive…” Heero thought as he took a punishing punch and kick to the side, that shook his cockpit violently.
“Glad it worked.” Ranma thought as he finished the combo with another punch. He could tell that his left arm was virtually useless since it had been almost severed from the earlier attack, but his right arm and legs were fine, so he wasn’t beaten yet.
“I will not lose…” He swore silently.
On the bridge of the Nadesico, Captain Yurika Misumaru watched the battle on the view screen intently.
“Captain! We’re almost ready for launch!” Comm. Officer Megumi informed her. Yurika nodded to her.
“Captain. It seems that though he is holding his own, pilot Saotome is weakening. He has already lost the use of one arm.” Ruri said in her cool, monotone voice. Yurika’s face fell, and she turned to Megumi.
“Isn’t there any way we can launch early? This is an emergency!” She asked desperately. Megumi seemed to listen to whoever was on the other end of her headset, before responding.
“Negative Captain! Launch preparations are still underway, and rushing them could be disastrous!” She said. Yurika bowed her head sadly. Minato saw this, and tried to comfort her.
“He only has to hold out a little longer Captain. I’m sure he’ll be fine.” She said, forcing a smile on her face. Yurika just nodded sadly.
Heero ducked a vicious strike with his shield, and gritted his teeth as it drove his suit to one knee anyway.
“Damn it, who is this pilot.” He muttered, before activating the Wing’s shoulder guns. Though they did little damage to his enemy’s extremely durable armor, they did make him back off, and enabled Heero to stand up again. Though his enemy no longer had use of one arm, he seemed to simply adapt around the disability and still fight almost as effectively as before. But while this enemy was skilled, Heero had been trained since birth to pilot, among other things, and he doubted that there was anyone out there better at MS combat than himself. And with that thought in mind, Heero thumbed the ignition of his thrusters, and took off into the air once more.
“To hell with saving my charges, I’ll destroy him with one blast from my rifle and still have two left for the base…” He thought as he pulled his Buster rifle out and took aim. Squinting to help himself line up the cross-hairs, Heero waited a moment before he achieved lock-on.
“Time to die…” He whispered, before he fired. The huge beam of pure destruction lanced out, and hurtled towards the Aestivalis at high speed, displacing the very air as it went. Within the cockpit of the black Aestivalis, Ranma cursed as he saw the blast heading for him, and moved to dodge it.
“I won’t die just yet! Not when I’m so close!” He thought, as he mentally forced the Aestivalis to dodge the beam through sheer willpower. Amazingly enough, the Aesti actually managed to leap away, though the resulting explosion threw the MS a ways away, and shook Ranma’s body painfully.
“Crap!” Ranma yelled. He gritted his teeth as he realized that he had probably cracked a rib or two. Upon seeing the MS dodge the blast, Heero grimaced slightly. But simply took aim once more.
“There’s no way he can dodge another, not in that suit’s condition.” He thought as he prepared to fire another shot. Ranma watched the Gundam take aim again, and bowed his head sadly.
“Forgive me everyone, I failed you…” He whispered quietly. Suddenly, multiple missiles impacted against Heero’s MS, causing his aim to be thrown off completely, and damaging the Gundam somewhat.
“Huh!?” Ranma looked over, and was shocked to see the Nadesico in the air, and aiming its guns at the Gundam. Within Wing, Heero cursed, and decided to retreat. If he had all three shots in his rifle, he might have been able to destroy that battleship, but with only one, and having taken significant damage to his Gundam, he knew it would be foolish to attempt it.
“We’ll finish this later…” Heero thought while glancing at the fallen Aestivalis lying on the ground still, before igniting his thrusters and retreating the area. Ranma glared at him vehemently all the way.
“Are you alright Ranma!” Yurika’s voice came over the comm.
“Yes…I’m fine…” He responded emotionlessly.
“Just fine…”
The medical crew aboard the Nadesico was top of the line, and within moments of his damaged suit’s retrieval, Ranma was rushed to be examined by Ines and Tofu. Though he did hear the chief mechanic Seiya Uribatake throwing a fit about the damage to “his beautiful lil’ Aesti.” Ines and Tofu examined him, including his ribs, and determined that they were only bruised, and with his incredible healing, he would be fine within a day or two. Then it was off to be yelled at by the higher-officers on board for rushing off as he had.
“What were you thinking Saotome!” Mr. Hoary yelled as Ranma stood before him and the rest of the bridge with his head bowed slightly.
“Do you have any idea how foolhardy your actions were? Going up against a Gundam single-handedly without any training in how to use the Aestivalis is not why we hired you!” He said sternly, while Mr. Prospector adjusted his glasses and nodded in agreement.
“The cost of repairing the Aestivalis is quite high.” He said simply. Ranma said nothing. Mr. Hoary grew slightly angry.
“Well, what do you have to say for yourself Saotome!” He roared. Everyone watched as Ranma said nothing for several moments.
“I needed to destroy the Gundam…” He finally said. Everyone blinked in confusion.
“Destroy the Gundam?” Yurika questioned.
“Yes, I wasn’t sure if I would have another chance, so I decided to take it…” He then lifted his head, and his eyes were emotionless.
“It’s the only thing I live for anymore…” He whispered, though everyone heard him. He then walked out of the room. Mr. Hoary glared at his path for a moment, before tearing his head away and turning to the Captain. She sighed.
“While the pilot’s actions were irresponsible, it cannot be discounted that he was solely responsible for giving the Nadesico the valuable time it needed to launch, as well as defending the base.” She said, to which Mr. Hoary grunted and nodded his head in agreement after a moment. Yurika turned to the door Ranma had exited with a peculiar look on her face.
“Was that the same Ranma I met earlier? His eyes were so cold…”
Ranma walked down the halls of the ship, not really sure of where exactly he was going, and not really caring either.
“I was so close…Damn that bastard and his mobile suit…” He thought to himself. In his mind, he replayed the battle, making subtle adjustments to his strategy. Adjustments that would enable him to perform better next time.
“Next time…I will not fail…” He was so lost in his thoughts, he almost didn’t see the person he bumped into, but he recognized her from the bridge.
“Oh…I’m sorry…” He said in a monotone. The woman before him was tall, but not overly so, and had long chestnut hair, pouty lips, and a very “healthy” figure, he couldn’t help but notice.
“Oh, that’s alright…” She said, before her eyes widened at who it was she was talking to.
“You’re the pilot…” She started. He nodded.
“Yes, and you’re the…helmswoman?” He hazarded. She smiled.
“Yes, I’m Minato Haruka, nice to meet you.” She held out her hand, and he shook it firmly, though not too much, as she was a woman and even now he was gentle with women.
“Ranma Saotome…A pleasure.” He said automatically. She smiled again, this time a bit wider.
“Oh no, the pleasure is all mine. Though I’m curious, would you be willing to join me for a drink in the lounge?” She asked. He blinked in confusion, before shrugging.
“Sure, why not. Lead the way.” He said, and she did so.
“Hmm, this stuff is pretty good. I’ve never had it before.” Ranma said as he took another sip from his drink.
“Really? I thought everyone had champagne at least once in their life.” Minato said as she also took a long sip of the golden liquid.
“They have a lot of it on hand since the Nadesico was launched and all.” She said to fill the awkward silence that followed. Ranma nodded. Other than a few misc. members of the crew, they were the only ones in the lounge, and while Ranma was not allowed, being a pilot and all, Minato had gotten him in easily enough. And he could care less at this point. Following rules and regulations had never been his strong suit, even back in school…
“God why can’t I ever go an hour or two without having to remember the “good old days” and getting depressed because of it?” He thought with a slight grimace. Minato noticed it.
“Don’t like it anymore? I can get you another drink if you want.” She said concernedly. He waved her suggestion off.
“No no, it’s not that. I was just thinking about my past, nothing important.” He said, to which she frowned slightly.
“So, what is your past Ranma. Why do you seem to hate the Gundams so much? We heard all of what you said while you were in that fight.” She peered at his face intently, trying to ignore its handsomeness, while he stared into his drink with an unreadable expression on his face. He then got up, and made to leave, causing her to grow slightly bewildered.
“I will say this…Don’t try to get too close to me, for your own good…” He then left the lounge, leaving her to blink multiple times in confusion.
“What on earth did he mean I wonder…”
Once again he was wandering the halls. It was quite late now, and to be honest, he should have been in bed, or at least in his room, but his mind was much too turbulent to even attempt sleep or rest of any kind at this point. Finally, he walked into the “meditation room” as it was called, and let a humorless smile grace his lips. Meditating had never been his thing. Better suited to “wimpy” arts like Tai Chi his Father had said, and he, in his ignorance, had agreed with the man. That was then though, this was now. He sat himself down, and began to clear his mind. After several moments of strain, he blew out a breath of annoyance and quit. Ever since the…incident, it had been impossible to cleanse his thoughts, because every time he closed his eyes, every time he delved into his own sub-consciousness, he saw it. The winged Gundam that had destroyed his life. The image of it, hovering over the destruction, and then flying away, was permanently burned in his mind just as the homes and people who had lived in Nerima Ward were burned in the flames of war and destruction. Clenching his fist, Ranma ignored the massive dark blue aura that had erupted around his body, and burned and crackled with power. His eyes were dark, like his aura. And they seemed to be lit with an unholy light as he let the anger, the sheer hatred engulf and envelope him like the presence of a familiar lover. And then the door opened. His aura winked out of existence, and he came back to himself. He turned and saw a shocked Yurika Misumaru staring at him with her jaw open. He sighed and got up.
“Did you need something Captain?” He asked. She gaped for a few more moments.
“How, how did you…” She stuttered out finally. He sighed again.
“You mean the aura?” He asked plainly. She just nodded. He closed his eyes.
“Well, to make it simple, it’s a physical manifestation of my innate skill in the art and more specifically, my soul…” He trailed off at the strange look in her eyes.
“What is it?” He asked curiously.
“It was dark, and, angry…” She whispered. He blinked, but nodded his head.
“Yes, yes it was.” He said. She looked him in the eyes.
“If it was a manifestation of your soul…” She left the statement unfinished. He closed his eyes again.
“Yes…now what was it that you needed?” He asked. She seemed to come back to herself.
“I was just wondering if you were alright…” She answered him. He shrugged.
“So I risked a court-martial. Big deal…I’m fine.” She didn’t look convinced. He finally relented at her look.
“Fine, fine, no I’m not okay. I…I didn’t destroy the Gundam.” He said as if that answered everything. Yurika’s eyebrows knitted together.
“But why? Why do you have to destroy the Gundam so badly?” She asked. He groaned.
“What is this? Everyone’s asking me that.” He said. She grew a slightly more concerned look on her face.
“That’s because you’re a member of this crew, and like it or not, that means something.” His eyes blinked at her statement, but he said nothing. He turned to go. Leaving her there. Just after the door opened, he paused and said one last thing.
“It used to be clear and sky blue…”
This piece of writing is dedicated all those affected by the tragic and horrifying events of Tuesday, September 11, 2001. The victims, the families, and everyone else, my prayers and thoughts are with you.
God bless America.
