Mobile Suit Gundam SEED DESTINY

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Phase 49 - Solomon’s Sword

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The surface of the Moon shook as ten enormous feet slammed down into the dust and rock. As beams and missiles rained down from the ZAFT fleet, and a wall of firepower rose from the Alliance fleet to stop it, the mobile suits clashed. The ground shuddered again, and with a crash, five hangars opened, and from them emerged five towering, demonic Destroy Gundams.

On the bridge of the Megami, Murrue watched in disbelief as the five black behemoths slid forward, beams blazing from their massive backpacks and cutting down a wave of ZAFT mobile suits.

“Five?!” she exclaimed. Lacus narrowed her eyes at the rampaging monsters.

“Djibril,” she murmured, “this is absurd...”

“Lacus, we have to do something about those units,” Murrue pointed out grimly, as the Megami glided into battle. “Solomon’s Sword may be more threatening to everyone, but those Destroys are more threatening to us.”

“I agree,” Lacus said, “but for now, we should wait and see if ZAFT can handle them. If they cannot, then we will have to take down those units ourselves.”

She looked up towards the ZAFT fleet, as it inexorably pressed forward, and frowned. It was all going to be decided.

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Yzak clenched his teeth as the Calypso swung down into battle. A menagerie of ZAFT mobile suits, of every make and model, was charging forward. He angled down through a hail of beam fire and machinegun rounds, plowing through the beams with his beam shield and glancing up at Solomon’s Sword.

“I can’t get to it like this,” he growled. “Damn you! Get out of my way!”

The Calypso lined up its hyper impulse cannons and fired, blowing away a GuAIZ R and a Slash ZAKU Warrior before they could take cover. The mobile suits split up, showering the Calypso with firepower— Yzak ignored the machinegun rounds, focusing on the more dangerous beam rifle-wielding foes.

Behind the ZAFT squadron, Shiho’s eyes widened in surprise as the Savior Gundam shot forward, beam rifle armed. “Yzak!” she exclaimed. “Dammit…all units, hold fire!”

The ZAFT units pressed their attack. A GINN swept in behind the Calypso, heavy sword raised high over its head. Yzak scowled, firing both of his rocket anchors backward, plunging them into the GINN’s torso and hurling the sparking wreck down at an unsuspecting CGUE.

“Yzak!” Shiho shouted. “Stop this!” The Savior opened fire with its plasma cannons, blocking the Calypso’s shot as it leveled off its beam rifle to shoot down a dodging GuAIZ R.

“Shiho…!” Yzak growled, wheeling around to open fire on the Savior. Shiho skirted aside and returned fire, diving up into the sky over the Calypso’s head, as Yzak took cover behind his beam shield.

“The PLANTs have been destroyed, Yzak!” Shiho cried, sweeping in with a beam cannon blast. “What are you still fighting us for?! Your own people have been destroyed!”

Yzak fired off a beam rifle blast over the Savior’s head, forcing it to duck, and followed up with a hyper impulse cannon volley that sent the Savior spiraling aside desperately. He took off, drawing his beam saber. “And now you’re going to do the same thing!” he shouted. “Are you fighting the people who will destroy us all, or are you fighting the people who don’t have anything to do with it?!”

The Savior snapped its own saber out of its right-hand shoulder armor, and the two Gundams met with a crash. Yzak glared over his shoulder as a Blaze ZAKU Warrior lined up for a killing beam rifle shot, and somersaulted over the Savior’s head, hurling both his beam boomerangs and cutting the ZAKU in two.

“We’re avenging our people!” Shiho cried, whirling around and sniping at the Calypso with her plasma cannons. “How can you be so cruel as to tell me that’s not just?!”

“What right do you have to kill civilians the way Djibril did?!” Yzak screamed back, returning fire with his own beam cannons. The Savior backflipped into the air, as the Calypso’s beam boomerangs came arcing back. Yzak caught them on the rebound, taking off after the retreating Savior. “Come back here! I’m not through with you yet!”

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As the Chaos and Abyss Gundams came to life in the Girty Lue’s hangar, Sting cast a grim glance towards the Abyss. Auel nodded back, and as the two Gundams’ Phase Shift came to life, Auel let out a scream, smashing the blade of his lance into the inert Windams‘ cockpits. The mechanics fled in shock as the Chaos pointed its beam rifle towards the ship’s engines.

“Evacuate this ship!” Sting barked. “Evacuate it, or I shoot!”

On the bridge, the panicking bridge crew looked to Lee. He stared solemnly at the screen, and Sting’s scowling face.

“Captain! The Extended are rebelling!” one of the crew cried.

“Should we contact the Colonel?!” another asked.

Lee shook his head. “The Colonel is on a special assignment,” he said. “The Chaos and Abyss have put us in a difficult position. We cannot move if they are holding us hostage from within the ship.”

“But captain, we don’t— ” another crewman began.

Lee cut him off with a glare, standing up. “Signal the crew to abandon ship.”

“Captain!” the helmsman protested.

“That is an order!” Lee roared. “Get to the escape launches! I will remain here and try to talk the Extended down, and if I am successful, I will signal you to return! But if I fail, then it is only I who will die! Now go!”

He stared at the crew for a tense moment, before they finally acquiesced, filing out of the bridge. Lee watched them go dourly, taking a step forward as the door shut behind him. He looked up at Sting.

“Is this what you needed?” Sting asked. Lee took up his seat at the helm, reaching over to the weapons console to arm the Girty Lue’s weapons.

“Ensure that the crew clears the ship,” he instructed. “Once they have cleared, inform me.”

Sting nodded, and the screen went dark.

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Far ahead, Shinn squinted at the feeling of pressure— warped pressure, pressure of Extended. He magnified the image— a wing of purple mobile armors, armed with what appeared to be gunbarrels, the mobile armor that Neo Roanoke had been piloting. The squadron of Exus mobile armors charged forward— Shinn’s eyes widened in disbelief as he realized that they were all equipped with nuclear missiles.

Shinn glanced over in alarm at the Infinite Justice Gundam, charging towards the battlefield next to him. “Athrun,” he said, “those mobile armors— ”

There was a flash of exhaust from the Exus squadron, as their missiles went streaking off into the distance. Up ahead, the massive ZAFT carrier Gondwana loomed with a vanguard of warships, hanging in space near the fortress Messiah. The missiles sliced through the battlefield, as CIWS rounds rose to chase them. There was a flash of light—

Shinn narrowed his eyes angrily as the Gondwana disappeared in a flash of nuclear fire.

“Shinn!” Athrun exclaimed. “They’re using nuclear weapons!”

“Those bastards are pulling out all the stops,” Shinn snarled. The Exus squadron wheeled around— Shinn tensed as he realized they were heading toward him.

“And now they’re coming towards us!” Athrun growled. “Shinn— ”

The Exus units deployed their gunbarrels, sending them streaking forward. Shinn scowled.

“I’ll handle this!” he shouted.

“Shinn— ” Athrun began. Shinn took off, activating his beam wings with a flash. The gunbarrels swarmed around him, their beam sabers blazing to life— Shinn spiraled through a web of beam fire, sending a swarm of afterimages clouding around him. The blasts sliced through nothing, piercing other gunbarrels, as Shinn smacked one charging pod aside and crushed it with his palm cannon. An Exus dropped in to fire its beam cannons— Shinn ducked aside, letting its gunbarrels spear another mobile armor’s hull and wipe it out— he fired up into the Exus’s underside with his beam rifle, and even as the impaled Exus exploded, whirled around again to send another wave of afterimages around another Exus. The gunbarrels swarmed around like vultures it as Shinn pulled away, tearing the unfortunate Exus to pieces.

A trio of beam shots came down from above, tearing down three more gunbarrels— Shinn dove through the empty space, letting more gunbarrels shoot each other down, as the Infinite Justice dropped in with a saber slash, cutting a fourth Exus in half. The remaining four Exus units pulled back, focusing their fire on the Infinite Justice— Athrun drew back with a frustrated grunt, taking cover behind his beam shield.

Shinn dove back into the fray with a scream, deflecting a wave of beam shots aimed at the Infinite Justice with his beam shield, and stormed forward with a trail of afterimages. Twisting through their desperate shots, Shinn slammed his palm cannon down into the fifth Exus, ripping it apart. Another Exus tried to line up behind the Destiny— the Infinite Justice’s Grapple Stinger slammed into its side, and Athrun yanked it back towards him, impaling it on his boomerang blade.

The final two Exus began to pull back, firing their beam cannons wildly. Shinn clenched his teeth, diving through their shots and swarming his afterimages around the seventh Exus. The eighth Exus’s gunbarrels tore apart the seventh with a flash of beam saber blades— with a scream, Athrun barreled through the lone survivor’s desperate fire and speared it on a shot from the Infinite Justice’s beam rifle.

As the last Exus erupted into a cloud of fire, Shinn glanced over at Athrun.

“You’re stronger than I thought,” he remarked. Athrun allowed himself a thin smile.

“I’m no weakling,” he insisted.

The two Gundams took off, angling towards Solomon’s Sword.

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His face twisted into a terrible scowl, Rey watched carefully as the Legend Gundam approached the Deliverance. The starboard METEOR unit was drifting nearby, open and ready, as Rey backed into the lock, swinging his backpack up to accommodate the METEOR.

“Rey,” Rau’s voice warned, “the METEOR will do you no good against a lone mobile suit. Use it against warships and mobile suit squadrons instead.”

“Understood,” Rey answered. The Legend shuddered as it connected with the METEOR, and Rey clenched his teeth, arming its weapons. He glanced over to the Deliverance’s port side, as the Strike Freedom backed into the ship’s other METEOR unit.

He looked up at the Alliance fleet, taking off with a roar. A squadron of Dagger Ls formed up in front of a Drake, outfitted with some kind of enormous emitter on its hull. Rey opened fire with a blazing volley of beam cannons— the shots ripped through the Alliance mobile suits, but slammed harmlessly against the positron reflector shield.

Rey scowled. “Merely against these things…” he snarled, igniting the beam swords and sliding past the shield and slashing the ship in half. “I have no time for you!”

The Legend lunged up over another ship, cleaving in two with a downward hack. Another battalion of mobile suits charged at him, spewing beam blasts— Rey’s eyes flashed, as he swung back, opening up with a barrage of missiles and smashing the Alliance mobile suits out of the sky.

“Shinn,” he growled, scanning the battlefield for the Destiny’s distinctive beam wings, “I’m coming for you…”

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“The crew is away!” Sting shouted. “Auel, let’s go!”

The Chaos and Abyss went rocketing out of the Girty Lue’s hangar, forming up in front of the ship. On the bridge, Lee smiled— their time to act had finally come.

“If you are going to destroy the Requiem,” Lee said, “then I will cover you.”

“But you’re the only one on there!” Auel protested. “How can you operate the whole ship by yourself?”

“I’ll manage,” Lee assured him. “But we have to act quickly, before Djibril can fire it again.”

The Girty Lue swung around ponderously, arming its Gottfrieds and missile launchers as it wheeled around towards the Requiem. The other ships around them watched in confusion as the Girty Lue turned, taking off towards their superweapon. The Chaos and Abyss rushed ahead, leveling off their weapons at the crater-shaped structure and opening fire.

The shots slammed against a positron reflector shield harmlessly— Sting and Auel cursed as they noticed the familiar flares of mobile suits engines down by the Requiem’s rim.

“They have it shielded!” Sting growled, as the Girty Lue ground forward behind them.

“I guessed as much,” grunted Lee. The Girty Lue fired a barrage from all six of its Gottfrieds, but the shots could not break through the positron shield. Lee scowled as he noted a squadron of mobile suits approaching from the Requiem. “They’re sending mobile suits!”

“We’ll take care of them!” Auel shouted. “Let’s show these guys who they’re fucking with!”

A volley of beam shots came streaming from the approaching mobile suits— Sting and Auel deflected the shots with their shields and charged back. Sting blinked in surprise as he noticed the approaching mobile suits— Windams, all equipped with Gunbarrel Striker packs.

“They’ve got gunbarrels!” he cried, as the gunbarrels came to life, rocketing away from the Windams and activating their railguns. “Auel!”

“They’re still just kinetic weapons!” Auel yelled, returning fire with his beam cannons. The Windams dove apart, their gunbarrels darting around the Chaos. “Bastards! You can’t stop me that easily!”

Sting growled, firing with his beam rifle at a Windam as it came streaking in, rifle blazing, surrounding the Chaos with railgun shells. “You’re not the only one who can do that!” he shouted back— with a flash, the Chaos’s own weapon pods lifted off, activating and returning fire with a beam rifle volley. He cut down two gunbarrels with a beam cannon volley of his own, deflecting the Windam’s saber strike with his shield and kicking it in the chest. Another Windam swung in from behind him, gunbarrels blazing— Sting cut two of its gunbarrels down with his own weapon pods and whirled around, activating the beam claw on the Chaos’s right foot and slashing the Windam’s rifle in two. He somersaulted up over the Windams’ heads, as a third one fired off a rifle shot that went sailing by under the Chaos’s feet.

In front of the Girty Lue, Auel took cover behind the Abyss’s shoulder shells, snarling. “Coming back for more, assholes?!” he screamed, opening fire with a beam cannon volley, tearing down three gunbarrels and forcing the attacking three Windams back behind their shields. Auel activated his beam lance with a flash, charging and twirling the lance over his head. The lead Windam drew its beam saber— the two weapons met in a shower of sparks. “Too slow, asshole!” Auel shouted with a grin— a moment later, he kicked off from the Windam’s shield and fired his Callidus cannon. The Windam ducked aside, but two of its gunbarrels vanished in the blast. Another gunbarrel snaked around him for a shot at his back— Auel smirked and stabbed over his shoulder with his lance, spearing the gunbarrel and wiping it out on the beam tip.

Behind the dueling mobile suits, Lee scowled as he fired the Girty Lue’s Gottfrieds again. The shots slammed once more against the positron reflector. He looked up dourly at the Chaos and Abyss.

And this, he thought, is where we part ways.

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“There’s no reason for us to fight each other!” Shiho shouted, as the Savior swung around, beam saber armed, and brought it down with a crash on the Calypso’s beam shield. “The Alliance is a bigger threat to all of us than anyone else!”

“But they have nothing left to destroy!” Yzak shot back, pushing the Savior away and blasting back with its hyper impulse cannons. The Savior transformed and took off— the Calypso followed with a blast of exhaust. “ZAFT does! They’ll destroy the world, and regardless of the Alliance’s crimes, I won’t let ZAFT commit the same one!”

The Savior slammed on the brakes, reverting to its mobile suit mode and drawing its saber with a flash, bringing it down on the Calypso’s. The Calypso surged forward, slamming the Savior back with a devastating kick to the face.

“How can you fight like this, for an army that will kill everyone just like the Alliance?!” Yzak cried, charging forward and kicking the Savior in the chest. “How can you fight to commit the same crime they did?! Is this what you really want!?”

“Yzak!” Shiho shouted back, taking off as the Calypso came down with another saber slash. “I— ”

“I’ll fight you as long as you fight for ZAFT!” Yzak screamed. “I’ll fight you as long as it takes to make you understand!”

The Savior and Calypso came together with a crash, beam sabers slammed against each other.

“How many more of my friends do I have to fight?!” Yzak shouted. “How many more of my people do I have to kill to make them understand?!” His eyes flashed as he pushed the Savior away. “Coordinators and Naturals are the same thing! They’re both humans! How many more of us have to die before we can finally see that?!”

“The Alliance has always been the aggressor— ” Shiho protested.

“And the Coordinators have always done the same things they did!” Yzak snapped. “What do you think I’m fighting for!? I’m fighting for a future where we can get along! I’m fighting for a future where people won’t have to fight! And that thing,” the Calypso pointed angrily at Solomon’s Sword, “is not going to bring peace!”

“Yzak…” Shiho began.

“I’m sick of this!” yelled Yzak, drawing his rifle and pointing it at the Savior. “Make up your mind, Shiho! What kind of world do you want?!”

Shiho stared in disbelief at the Calypso, its rifle pointed straight at her cockpit. Yzak glared at her.

The Calypso lurched forward as a pair of railgun shells slammed into its back. Shiho looked up in surprise— behind the staggering Calypso, a GuAIZ R dropped in, beam saber ignited. Yzak turned in shock as the mobile suit swept in for the kill—

A moment later, a beam shot speared it through its cockpit, wiping it out in a place. Yzak looked over at the attacker— the Savior lowered its beam rifle.

In the cockpit, Shiho closed her eyes.

“Is that your choice?” Yzak asked.

Shiho nodded. Yzak paused for a moment, and then glanced over at the Megami.

“Come on, then,” he said. The Calypso turned towards the Megami. “We have a future to fight for.”

Shiho looked up at last, tears in her eyes, and smiled sadly, taking off after the Calypso.

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Neo laughed as the Apocalypse tore forward, through a wave of beam fire from a squadron of ZAKUs. The shots bounced harmlessly off his shimmering positron reflector field, and he activated his myriad of beam cannons, returning fire and tearing the ZAKUs apart.

“You’re not the only ones with power!” Neo cackled, taking off again, towards the dim shape of ZAFT’s Neutron Stampeder. A GOUF Ignited charged towards him, sword drawn— laughing, Neo drew a beam saber with his left hand, parrying the GOUF’s first blow and skirting around the second. As the GOUF swung around, activating its heat rod, Neo cut the GOUF in two at the waist, and, still laughing, took off as it exploded.

Up ahead, the ZAFT mobile suits opened fire again, but their shots bounced harmlessly away from the Apocalypse.

“See just how powerless you are!” Neo laughed, plunging through their desperate shots, down towards the Neutron Stampeder. The ship opened fire with a handful of CIWS guns— Neo cackled gleefully as he plowed through the rain of bullets, activating all his weapons with a flash and pounding a volley of beam cannon shots through the Neutron Stampeder. The Nazca it was attached to erupted in a cloud of fire, and the Neutron Stampeder vanished.

Neo smiled, admiring his handiwork as the Nazca exploded. He glanced over his shoulder at a familiar presence, and magnified the image, finding the crimson Mustang Gundam and the golden Akatsuki charging towards him.

“He’s your old Mobius Zero commander?” Andy asked dubiously, as the Mustang leveled off its beam rifle and opened fire. “Is he a Newtype too?”

“Something like that,” Mwu answered, arming the Akatsuki’s remote turrets. “Don’t take him lightly.”

Neo grinned as he swung into battle, firing a wave of beam cannon shots at the two charging mobile suits. “Ironic that you finally come to face me as the world ends!” he laughed. “You never understood before, Mwu, but maybe now you finally will!”

The Akatsuki’s remote turrets flashed around the Apocalypse, opening fire— Mwu’s eyes widened in disbelief as the volley of shots landed harmlessly against the Apocalypse’s positron reflector.

“He can deflect beams?!” Mwu exclaimed.

The Mustang swept in over the Apocalypse, drawing its anti-ship swords. “He can’t deflect everything!” The Mustang came down with a crash on the Apocalypse’s beam shield— Neo grunted in frustration as the Mustang surged forward, pushing the Apocalypse back.

“And what do you think you’re doing?!” Neo snapped, somersaulting over the Mustang’s head and drawing a beam saber with its left hand. The Akatsuki swept in, its own twin beam saber drawn, thrusting the blade into the Apocalypse’s path and blocking its killing swing at the Mustang’s exposed back.

The Mustang came down with both swords drawn, slamming the blades down on the positron shield. “Don’t tell me we’re going to sit here arguing philosophy!” Andy grunted. “If you have to shout your motivations at me, you must not really believe them yourself!”

“You think I’m that petty?!” Neo shot back, lunging up and showering the two mobile suits with beam shots. Mwu snapped his remote turrets around the Akatsuki, deflecting the beam shots with a translucent defensive screen and the Akatsuki’s anti-beam armor. “We have the power that the Coordinators tried and failed to give themselves!” The Apocalypse opened fire again— Mwu deflected the brunt of the attack, while the Mustang leapt up over the Akatsuki’s head, hurling both of its beam boomerangs at the Apocalypse. Neo scowled, shooting them both down with a beam cannon volley— the Mustang lunged up from out of the smoke, wielding both its anti-ship swords.

The Akatsuki lined up behind the Apocalypse for another attack, but its beams bounced uselessly off the Apocalypse’s positron reflector. Neo smirked, ignoring the Akatsuki and surging forwards towards the Mustang. Andy scowled, charging back and deploying both of the Mustang’s rocket anchors— laughing, Neo cut them both in two with his saber.

“Andy!” Mwu shouted, dropping in from behind with a saber slash. The Apocalypse darted aside, pummeling the Akatsuki with a beam cannon barrage and knocking it away. “Dammit…let me handle him!”

The Mustang drew a pair of beam knives, activating the blades and hurling them up at the Apocalypse. Neo grinned and smacked them aside with his beam shield, returning fire with a wave of beam cannon blasts.

“You can’t even beat me!” he cried. “You don’t deserve that perfect set of genes!”

Mwu lunged towards Neo, beam saber drawn and pointed at the Apocalypse’s cockpit— Neo swung back, pushing the Akatsuki’s saber aside, but Mwu rocketed away before Neo could follow up with a beam cannon barrage. He glanced over his shoulder, a familiar sensation of danger springing into his mind— the Mustang lunged over his head, but before it could move again, Neo slashed off its left leg at the knee and its left arm at the shoulder with a scything upward hack, and with a final devastating kick, sent the Mustang spiraling away, spewing smoke and sparks.

“Andy!” Mwu screamed.

“Don’t worry about me!” Andy’s garbled voice shot back. “You have— ”

The line went dead— Mwu’s eyes flashed furiously, as the Akatsuki charged, brandishing its saber.

“You bastard!” he shouted. Neo grinned ferociously back. “Whatever it takes, I swear, I’ll take you down!”

The two mobile suits met with a crash and a cascade of sparks.

“We’ll see, little Mwu!” Neo laughed.

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With a scream, Auel drove the beam blade of his lance into the Gunbarrel Windam’s cockpit, and before it could explode, he kicked the sparking remains towards another Windam. The third Windam lunged up over its dying comrade, beam saber raised— Auel deflected it with the staff of his lance, and grinned.

“Too slow, bitch!” he shouted, firing the Callidus cannon and spearing it through the Windam’s torso. He lunged up over the fireball, firing at the remaining Windam with a beam cannon barrage. It drew back behind its shield— Auel laughed victoriously as he swept in, and before the Windam could react, slashed it in half with his beam lance.

Nearby, Sting grunted in annoyance, spiraling through a volley of beam rifle shots and railgun shells, and swung his weapon pods around to shower his opponents with missiles. They drew back behind their shields— Sting lunged up into the face of the first Windam. It raised its rifle towards his torso— he tore its arm off with a beam claw-assisted kick, and as it struggled to regain its balance, Sting wiped it out with a beam rifle shot. The remaining two Windams arced in, beam sabers drawn— Sting pulled back.

“I don’t think so!” he yelled, eyes flashing. The mobile weapon pods arced in behind the second Windam, tearing it apart with a pair of beam blasts. The last Windam began to pull back, firing its beam rifle desperately. Sting smirked, hedging it in with beams from the weapon pods, before he finally leveled off his own rifle and fired.

One thunderous explosion later, the Chaos and Abyss glanced back at the Girty Lue.

“W-What the hell happened?!” Auel exclaimed. The Girty Lue, pitted and smoldering and spewing columns of smoke, came rumbling down towards the Requiem. It fired its three remaining Gottfried cannons again, but the shots again had no effect.

“Sting, Auel,” Lee’s garbled, broken voice said through the Chaos and Abyss’s cockpits, “the ship’s weapons can’t punch through that positron reflector.”

“Then what are you going to do?!” Auel demanded.

There was a pause.

“I’ll ram the Girty Lue into the Requiem,” Lee said.

“What?!” Sting exclaimed. “That’s suicide!”

Lee looked at them grimly— their eyes fell. The Girty Lue rumbled forward.

“I’m a bitter old man with nothing to return to,” Lee said, as the Girty Lue shook. “The most I can do for you now is give my life for you, so that you won’t end up like me.”

A squadron of Doppelhorn Daggers came charging up towards the Girty Lue— Auel lunged into their path, beating them back with a beam cannon barrage. Sting finished them off with his weapon pods, and they both darted aside as the Girty Lue’s engines roared to life.

“Captain…” Sting started.

“We can get you out of there!” Auel protested. “You don’t have to die!”

“Without someone to guide the ship, they might knock it off course,” Lee responded. “This is the last thing I can do for you. Now go, find Stella, and find some reason to live outside of the Alliance’s grip.” He narrowed his eyes at the ominous pit of the Requiem. “I’ll give my life so that you can have your own!”

Sting and Auel watched, tears in their eyes, as the Girty Lue plowed forward, disregarding desperate mobile suits in front of it. Sting squeezed his eyes shut— the Chaos offered a grim salute.

On the bridge, Lee saluted back, and smiled.

The Girty Lue slammed into the positron shield, bursting through with a crash and a shriek of twisting metal. It burst down into the depths of the cannon— on the bridge, as sparks and smoke filled the air, Lee’s eyes flashed.

“For everything you took from me, Neo,” he shouted, “I’ll take it all back!”

The Girty Lue fired its Gottfrieds. The Requiem exploded— Lee smiled as he vanished in the blast.

——————————————————————————————————————————

The remote turrets streaked around the battlefield, firing helplessly at the Apocalypse as it stormed forward, unstoppable, brandishing its beam saber and charging towards the Akatsuki. Neo laughed victoriously, coming down with a powerful downward hack. Mwu grunted angrily, stopping it with his twin saber’s bottom blade.

“Too late!” Neo laughed, raising his beam rifle. Mwu’s eyes flashed— with a surge of strength, he shoved the Apocalypse’s saber aside, sawing its beam rifle in half. Neo growled, backing away and drawing his second beam saber, pushing the Akatsuki back with a barrage of beam cannon shots.

“You son of a bitch!” Mwu snarled. “You killed Andy! I swear I’ll tear you apart!”

“I’d like to see you try!” Neo shot back, pounding the Akatsuki with another beam volley. Mwu struggled to return fire with his remote turrets, but the Apocalypse’s positron shield shrugged it all off, charging forward, raising both beam sabers. “You always came close but not close enough! And that’s how you’ll die, Mwu— close, but not close enough!”

The Apocalypse slammed into the Akatsuki, throwing it back. Neo grinned, lining up for a finishing beam cannon volley—

A red mobile suit’s arm clamped down diagonally over the Apocalypse’s torso, and with a crash, the maimed, sparking Mustang latched onto the Apocalypse from behind.

“What?!” Neo screamed in disbelief.

“Mwu!” Andy shouted, a triumphant grin on his scarred face. “You’re not the only one who makes the impossible possible!”

There was a flash of light, and a moment later, the Mustang exploded.

Instinct took over, guiding Mwu’s hands, as he saw the blast rip the Apocalypse’s two backpack binders off, and send both of its arms and its right leg flying. The Akatsuki charged, brandishing its twin saber.

“Dammit!” Neo snapped, tugging at the controls. “He took out the reflector array!” He looked up at a familiar sensation, a white bolt of energy crackling in the air before him.

He never had time to scream before the Akatsuki’s beam saber blasted through the cockpit.

Scowling viciously, Mwu slashed the Apocalypse in half and took cover behind his shield as his gutted opponent exploded into a dazzling fireball. He backed away, staring mournfully at it.

“Andy…”

Mwu looked up furiously at Solomon’s Sword.

“It won’t be in vain,” he said.

The Akatsuki took off with a flash.

——————————————————————————————————————————

As a GuAIZ R exploded, a beam shot torn through its chest, Shinn backed away, scanning the battlefield. He was still no closer to Solomon’s Sword, and he was making no progress on his own.

Another GINN went down in flames and smoke, and from the debris, the Strike Rouge lunged up, shouldering its bazooka and squeezing off a shot to slam into the cockpit of an unsuspecting Blaze ZAKU Warrior.

“Luna!” Shinn exclaimed, throwing the Destiny towards the Strike Rouge and deflecting a Slash ZAKU Warrior’s beam Gatling burst with his beam shield. Luna returned fire with her bazooka, blowing the ZAKU apart. “Save some shells for later!”

“I know that!” Luna shot back, blocking a beam shot with her shield. Shinn returned fire with his own rifle, cutting down a GuAIZ R before it could fire again.

Shinn turned his burning eyes towards the imposing form of Messiah up ahead, protected by its shimmering beam shield. He could sense the Chairman there— he could sense evil emanating from there. It would not be enough to destroy Solomon’s Sword— he had to destroy Chairman Dullindal as well.

“Come with me,” he said to Luna. “We’re heading after the Chairman.”

The Destiny and Strike Rouge took off together.

Across the battlefield, in front of Messiah, nestled in the protective confines of his METEOR, Rey scowled as he felt Shinn approach. He armed the METEOR’s weapons, charging towards the Destiny and Strike Rouge. The crosshairs passed over them both— he opened fire. Shinn’s eyes flashed, his beam shields springing to life to deflect the shots.

“Rey!” he shouted.

“That’s Rey?!” Luna exclaimed. The Destiny took off, activating its beam wings.

“I’ll handle him!” Shinn yelled back.

Rey sneered, firing his beam cannons and a cloud of missiles again. “I will not let you reach Messiah!” he said, igniting both of his beam swords. Shinn narrowed his eyes, Newtype energy flashing— the missiles arced around him, disappearing into space. Rey scowled, charging, and swung his swords horizontally— Shinn somersaulted effortlessly over them, ducking aside as Rey followed up with another beam cannon volley.

“You think you can beat me with that thing?!” Shinn growled. “It’s all bulk!”

With a snarl, Rey returned fire again— Shinn ducked aside again, afterimages flashing around him. The Legend pulled back as Shinn squeezed off a beam cannon blast of his own, narrowly missing the METEOR. Rey swung both of his swords up, bringing them down on the Destiny— Shinn blocked them both with his beam shields, sliding down under the blades and slamming his hands into the swords, tearing them apart with his palm cannons.

“Dammit,” Rey snarled, abandoning the beam swords and pulling back with a beam cannon barrage. Shinn slalomed aside it, and the Destiny raised its hand. Rey looked over his shoulder in disbelief, as the METEOR’s own missiles slammed into him from behind, wiping out the METEOR’s engine array.

As the METEOR exploded, the Destiny and the Strike Rouge took off. The Destiny used its beam shields to force open a hole in Messiah’s shining protective barrier— the two mobile suits slipped through.

And as Rey pulled himself from the wreckage of his METEOR, drawing his beam rifle, he scowled, watching them go. The Legend took off after them.

——————————————————————————————————————————

Up ahead loomed Solomon’s Sword— Stella glared at it. It was something scary— she had to destroy it. Otherwise, the war wouldn’t end, and Shinn would never be happy.

She glanced over her shoulder, finding two mobile suits approaching— and Stella's eyes lit up as she discovered the Chaos and the Abyss falling into formation next to her.

"This is more like it," Sting said with a sad smile.

"We're on the same side now," Auel added. "So let's end this fucking war."

At the Gaia’s side, the Chaos and Abyss glanced up ahead. “Are you going after that thing?” Sting asked, the Chaos gesturing towards Solomon’s Sword. Stella nodded grimly.

“Wait!” Auel shouted. The three Gundams jetted apart as a beam shot sliced by them— Stella’s eyes flashed, scanning the black sky for their attacker.

Inside the Providence ZAKU, beam rifle drawn, Valentine smirked.

“Three annoying little Extended,” she said sardonically. “I hope you enjoyed your lease on those machines.” The Providence ZAKU’s DRAGOONs lifted off with a flash. “Now you are no longer useful!”

The DRAGOONs took off. Sting and Auel backed away behind their shields, as Stella lunged forward, diving effortlessly through the DRAGOON shots and charging towards the Providence ZAKU. Valentine grinned, opening fire with her beam rifle as the DRAGOONs swarmed around the Chaos and Abyss, throwing them back.

“You are someone scary,” Stella snarled, dodging the Providence ZAKU’s fire and squeezing off a shot of her own. The Providence ZAKU slapped it aside with its left-hand shield, skirting aside as the Gaia tried to flank it. “You shouldn’t exist!”

“Come and get me, little girl!” Valentine laughed, firing again at the Gaia and forcing it to spiral around her shots. Stella glanced over urgently at the Chaos and Abyss.

“Don’t worry about us!” Sting snapped, as a volley of beam shots slammed against his shield and drove him backward. The Abyss opened fire with a beam cannon barrage of its own, but the DRAGOONs darted away, unharmed.

Stella ducked aside from another rifle shot and switched to her beam saber, rocketing up behind the Providence ZAKU. Valentine whirled around angrily, bringing her rifle to bear, but an instant later, Stella hacked it in two.

“Damn you!” Valentine growled, throwing the rifle’s sparking half back into the Gaia’s face and pulling back. Stella batted the ruined beam rifle aside with her shield— the Providence ZAKU drew a double-bladed beam axe from its rear skirt armor, twirling it over its head and bringing the activated blade down with a crash onto the Gaia’s beam saber. The Providence ZAKU jetted backward, then charged forward again with another overhead swing. Stella dove aside, moving in behind the Providence ZAKU, beam saber raised— Valentine whirled around to block Stella’s saber strike with her beam axe.

Nearby, Sting scowled ferociously as he veered through the DRAGOON fire.

“I can do that too, bastard!” he shouted, as the Chaos’s weapon pods lifted off and returned fire. A swarm of missiles went streaking across the battlefield, catching one of the DRAGOONs and wiping it out. Sting somersaulted up over another DRAGOON, picking it off with his rifle, and went back on the defensive as the DRAGOONs tightened their formation. One of the larger DRAGOON units came racing in from behind, beam spike activated— Sting’s eyes flashed, as he batted it aside with his shield and shot it down with his beam rifle. Up above, another DRAGOON lined up for a killing shot from above— Sting jetted aside, dodging its shot and firing back, spearing the remote weapon and blowing it apart. He pulled his weapon pods back around him, unleashing a spray of missiles across the battlefield and taking down another DRAGOON.

Beam shots streaked around the Abyss as Auel spiraled out of harm’s way, scowling.

“No you don’t!” he screamed, taking cover behind his shoulder shells. “Damn you…!” The beam spike DRAGOON came streaking in— with a scream, Auel snapped open the Abyss’s shoulder shells, knocking the DRAGOON back, and slashed it in half with his beam lance. Another DRAGOON lined up in front of him to open fire— Auel cut it down with a Callidus shot. “These things aren’t so tough!” he cried, whirling around and dodging another beam volley. He somersaulted up above a trio of beam shots, firing back with a beam cannon barrage that took down another DRAGOON. The final two DRAGOONs charged towards him, beam cannons blazing— Auel snarled a curse, deflecting their shots with his shoulder shells. At last, as they came close enough, he snapped the shells open, knocking them both back, and fired his shell cannons to take them both out.

The Chaos and Abyss both looked up, as the Providence ZAKU and Gaia dueled overhead.

“We don’t have time to play these fucking games,” Auel said, frowning.

Sting raised his beam rifle. “Then let’s go help Stella,” he said.

The two Gundams took off with a flash.

——————————————————————————————————————————

“We have to take out the Chairman,” Shinn explained urgently, as the Destiny and Strike Rouge blasted forward, towards Messiah. “He’s the one who built that thing. He’s the one who will use it. If we don’t kill him here, he’ll just build another weapon.”

“I understand that,” Luna said testily, “but if he’s inside that fortress, how the hell are we going to get to him?”

Shinn scowled. “We’ll find a way,” he insisted. “We— ”

A flurry of beam shots cut him off— the two mobile suits rocketed apart as a wave of green bolts slashed between them. Shinn looked back towards their attacker—

“It’s Rey!” Luna exclaimed, taking cover behind her shield.

Behind the Destiny and Strike Rouge, the Legend Gundam came charging forward, beam rifle drawn.

Shinn leapt out in front of the Strike Rouge, arming his beam rifle. “You can‘t keep up with him in the Rouge!” he shouted. “I’ll take care of him!”

Before Luna could protest, the Destiny took off, firing down at the Legend. Inside the cockpit, Rey scowled, ducking around the Destiny’s shots and launching his DRAGOONs.

“How dare you, Shinn,” he growled, as the DRAGOONs blazed around the Destiny. Shinn activated his beam wings with a flash, afterimages swarming around him. “How dare you stand between us and justice!” The DRAGOONs stormed in, pounding the Destiny’s beam shields with a wave of green beam fire. “The PLANTs have been destroyed! Our people our gone! And yet you still defy us, when it cannot be clearer that it is Lord Djibril who must be stopped if there is to be peace!”

Shinn scowled back, diving through the Legend’s DRAGOON fire and squeezing off three shots at the Legend itself. “You’re going to do the same thing he did!” Shinn snapped. The Legend somersaulted over the Destiny’s shots, returning fire with its rifle and DRAGOONs and forcing Shinn back on the defensive. “I’m not going to let you destroy the entire world to ease your pain!” He dove through another web of beams, pursuing the Legend with a beam cannon blast that the Legend easily skirted. “What Djibril did was bad enough! I’m not going to let you do something worse!”

“You fool!” Rey shot back, the DRAGOONs punctuating his words. He drew a beam javelin from the Legend’s left leg with a snap of his wrist, bringing it down on the Destiny’s beam shield. “You would dare deny these soldiers, bereft of home and family, their justice?!”

The Destiny surged, drawing its anti-ship sword with a flourish and charging, surrounded by afterimages. “Justice is not killing more people!” Shinn screamed. “I thought you were a Newtype, Rey! Don’t you feel it when people die?! Don’t you care!?”

The Legend came down with a harrowing overhead javelin hack that Shinn stopped horizontally with his sword. “Of course I feel it!” Rey cried. “I feel every death you feel! I felt the pain of watching the PLANTs collapse! I felt them all die!” The Legend surged forward, throwing the Destiny back, and forcing Shinn back on the defensive with another wave of DRAGOON fire. “Why do you think I’m fighting to realize Gil’s new world?!” The Legend pursued with a beam rifle blast— Shinn darted aside, as he spiraled his way through the Legend’s DRAGOON volleys and left a shimmering trail of afterimages behind him. “I’m fighting for a world where people don’t have to fight these pointless wars and die, so that we Newtypes don’t have to feel the pain of their deaths!” The Legend rocketed up after the Destiny, firing its beam rifle madly. “I would carry that banner myself if I could, but my body is betraying me! I gave that dream to you, so that you could build that world for us!” Shinn ground his teeth as the Legend lunged up, coming back down with another javelin hack that Shinn stopped with his sword. “You betrayed me too!” Rey shouted. “And now, after we of ZAFT have lost everything, even now you and your sanctimonious leader come before us, telling us that we have no right to seek revenge! Your people have been destroyed, Shinn! Does that not move you to pity?!”

“You IDIOT!” Shinn screamed, charging and pushing the Legend back with his sword. “What do you think will happen if you fire that thing at the Earth?! People will die! And we’ll both have to feel it and suffer through it! What the hell did you think would happen?!”

“That is a pain I am willing to endure!” Rey replied, boosting backward and letting his DRAGOONs go back on the attack. “The Earth has started the last two wars, not the PLANTs! They are the source of our pain— if they will not be accommodated, they will be eradicated!”

The Legend charged back towards the Destiny, beam blades clashing and showering each other with sparks.

“I thought you were a Newtype, Rey!” Shinn snarled. “Where are your powers of understanding?! Why don’t you understand?!”

“You have no right to question my understanding!” Rey shot back. The Legend surged again, shoving the Destiny back and swarming its DRAGOONs through the Destiny’s translucent afterimages. “Even now, with all of our pain, you tell us that we cannot have revenge, the only thing we have left!”

“You’re not after revenge!” screamed Shinn, diving through the DRAGOON fire and lunging up towards the Legend. “You’re after genocide!”

The Legend raged forward again, slamming into the Destiny and shoving it back. “Enough of this!” he snapped. “Your intransigence is your undoing!” He swung up his beam rifle to fire—

Another beam blast cut him off, forcing him back. Rey dove upwards, keeping his DRAGOONs focused on the Destiny— his eyes widened in surprise.

“Lunamaria!”

Inside the Strike Rouge, beam rifle pointed up at the Legend, Luna scowled determinedly at the Legend.

“I won’t let Shinn fight alone,” she said. “Even if I can only distract you, I’ll do it!” The Strike Rouge roared up towards the Legend, firing again and forcing it back. “I have power too!”

“Luna!” Shinn cried, desperately dodging Rey’s DRAGOON fire. “Don’t! You can’t handle him!”

“You are always here…” Rey snarled, returning fire with his own rifle and dodging the Strike Rouge’s shots. “You are always the weakest link…”

The DRAGOONs vanished— Shinn realized in horror that they were no longer aiming for him.

“I’ll take you down, Rey!” Luna yelled, raising her beam rifle.

Rey’s eyes flashed furiously. “Disappear!”

Shinn reached up in horror. “Luna!”

The DRAGOONs opened fire— a barrage of beams slammed into the Strike Rouge, blowing off its limbs and its Aile Striker and halting the maimed mobile suit in its tracks. Rey leveled off his beam rifle and fired—

The final beam shot speared the Strike Rouge in the chest, and Shinn’s eyes widened in horror.

“Shinn,” he heard Luna’s voice say, “tell Athrun I’m sorry...I couldn‘t keep my promise...”

“Luna…” Shinn whispered.

The Strike Rouge exploded.

“LUNA!”

Inside the Legend, Rey narrowed his eyes at the Destiny.

“Shinn,” he said, as the fireball faded, “Lunamaria was a traitor.” There was no response. “You are a traitor as well. This is the fate that you have chosen for yourself.”

The Destiny was silent. Rey assembled the DRAGOONs and launched them forward—

And then there was a slicing, burning flash of pressure in his mind. The DRAGOONs were wrenched from his mind’s grip; he watched them reassemble themselves around the Destiny. It pointed at the Legend; they charged back at Rey; Rey’s eyes widened in disbelief—

A moment later, Rey found himself dodging fire from his own DRAGOONs.

A blaze of beam shots ripped by the Legend; Rey activated his beam shields and pulled back. More beam shots flashed around the Legend; Rey tried to fire back with his beam rifle, but the DRAGOONs were faster than he had ever seen them, and he was put back on a desperate defensive.

“Impossible,” he grunted, as the shots slammed against the Legend’s beam shields. “Is he such a powerful Newtype that he can use the Legend’s DRAGOON system when I’m in the Legend’s cockpit?!” More beam shots singed the surface of the Legend‘s armor. “That’s impossible!”

“I won’t forgive you, Rey!” Shinn screamed, tears stinging his dull, angry eyes. “I won’t let you live! I won’t let Dullindal make his new world! I’LL KILL YOU BOTH FIRST!"

Rey’s eyes widened in disbelief as the beam spike DRAGOONs charged and slashed through his beam rifle, forcing him to abandon it. He drew the Legend’s beam javelins, activating them to desperately use the blades to parry the beam shots.

"I won't forgive you!" Shinn shrieked; the DRAGOONs punctuated his words with a flurry of beam shots.

“How powerful can he be?!” Rey hissed under his breath, as he twisted and dove through more beam fire. The pressure flashed through Rey’s mind, and the DRAGOONs fired simultaneously—

The Legend was pummeled by beam shots, and with a shudder, its left leg, left arm, left hip armor, and right shoulder armor went spiraling away. He dove out of the path of more beam shots, igniting his remaining beam javelin and bursting up over the Destiny, javelin raised.

“Stop this! SHINN!”

Another blaze of pressure ripped into Rey’s mind; the Destiny’s hand shot up; it tore the Legend’s right arm off at the elbow with its palm cannon, and forced the Legend back with a kick to the chest.

"I WON'T FORGIVE YOU!" Shinn screamed; the DRAGOONs came blazing in; Rey dove out of the way desperately. The DRAGOONs followed Rey as he tried to retreat; Rey stared in disbelief at Shinn.

"DIE!" Shinn shrieked; the DRAGOONs flashed in again.

Rey’s eyes went wide in shock; Shinn scowled; the beam spike DRAGOONs came flashing in from behind—

An instant later, the DRAGOONs impaled the Legend‘s cockpit. Rey’s pressure disappeared; the Legend exploded.

Shinn watched, trembling, struggling not to cry.

——————————————————————————————————————————

Valentine winced as she felt herself lose another DRAGOON. She had underestimated the Chaos and Abyss, but that meant little. She could still take on the Gaia.

The Providence ZAKU brought its beam axe down with a crash, slamming the blade into the Gaia’s shield and knocking it back. Valentine laughed triumphantly, drawing a beam tomahawk and hurling it down towards the Gaia— Stella’s eyes flashed, and she somersaulted over the spiraling weapon, slashing it in half with her saber and charging up towards the Providence ZAKU. The two mobile suits met with a thunderous crash.

“I’ll tear you apart!” Stella screamed.

The Providence ZAKU put all its force behind its beam axe, shoving the Gaia away, and stormed forward again, twirling the axe at its side.

“You’re just a shadow of a soldier!” Valentine cried. “You can’t beat me!”

The Providence ZAKU lunged up, bringing its axe down— the Gaia swung back, stopping the blade with its beam saber. Stella let out a scream, charging forward, shoving the axe aside, and slashing it in two. Valentine’s eyes widened in disbelief— she realized in horror that her DRAGOONs were gone, and a moment later, a barrage of beam cannon blasts slammed into the Providence ZAKU. The machine’s right leg, left arm, and backpack went spiraling away, spewing smoke and sparks— Valentine’s eyes widened in disbelief as she glanced down at the Chaos and Abyss.

“Now GO AWAY!” Stella shrieked.

The Gaia swept down into the Providence ZAKU’s face, impaling its head on its beam saber, and with a jarring kick, sent the ruined mobile suit streaking away.

Inside the sparking, broken Providence ZAKU, Valentine fired the machine’s remaining engines and angled towards Messiah, scowling.

Stella replaced her beam saber and switched back to her beam rifle, glancing back at Sting and Auel. They looked down towards the Moon— the four remaining Destroy Gundams were beginning to blast their way up towards the space fleet, and it would only be a matter of time before they reached the Megami.

Stella looked over at Sting and Auel. They both nodded, and the three Gundams took off towards the Destroys.

——————————————————————————————————————————

“The NEO-GENESIS system is at 87% charge, sir,” one of the deckhands reported.

Sitting in his chair, Gilbert Dullindal scowled ferociously. He saw up ahead the wreckage of the Legend Gundam— even Rey had fallen.

“Horatio,” he said, glancing at the towering National Defense Council chairman, “I will leave command of Messiah to you. I will transfer to the Minerva.”

“Understood,” Horatio said, saluting sharply. Gilbert rose and turned to leave.

As long as I still have the Sword, he told himself, as he headed down the corridors towards his shuttle, I haven’t lost everything.

——————————————————————————————————————————

The guns blazed desperately as the unstoppable Destiny Gundam raged forward, armed with the Strike Rouge’s fallen bazooka. Inside the cockpit, Shinn’s eyes flashed, furious, dull, and lightless. Luna had died here with him— he would not let that death be for nothing.

A squadron of ZAFT mobile suits rose up before him, beam rifles blazing— Shinn ground his teeth, charging towards them, and cut two of them in half with his beam wings. The ZAFT units split up— Shinn ducked around their shots, an army of afterimages in his wake, and whirled around to fire a bazooka shell at a GuAIZ R following too closely. He stormed down towards the massive dish-shaped construct on the surface of Messiah.

“Dullindal,” he growled, “I’ll stop you, somehow, I swear!”

The Destiny rocketed past another desperate squadron of mobile suits, ripping them apart with his beam wings, and armed the bazooka.

In the Messiah control room, Horatio’s eye widened in disbelief.

“Destiny approaching!” one of the soldiers cried. “He’s heading for the NEO-GENESIS array!”

“Stop him!” Horatio roared.

The Destiny‘s eyes flashed, diving through the last vestige of beam rifle fire from the last desperate defenders, and with a final scream, he slammed his bazooka down into the center of the NEO-GENESIS array, pumping shells into it.

Fire erupted out of the array— Shinn backed away and took off, a cloud of afterimages following him. He whirled around, watching emotionlessly as the NEO-GENESIS array exploded. Messiah was wracked by explosions and staggered back, out of the fight.

Shinn turned his furious eyes towards Solomon’s Sword.

——————————————————————————————————————————

To be concluded…