This is the best Gundam fanfic you will ever read. (Tim
Seltzer, seltzer@seltzerbooks.com) Nightmare's Disclaimer: I don't own Gundam or any of the
other numerous anime series mentioned in this work-and there are a
bunch! Gundam W, 08th MS, Evangelion, Gundam 0083, Bubblegum
Crisis Tokyo 2040, Outlaw Star, even Tenchi Universe; anything and
anyone is fair game. I'm just a really big fan of anime with a lot
of free time on my hands to be working on this thing since late
2001! So please, don't sue me! This is one of the best things I've
ever written-I think-and I hope that no nit-picky person tries to
take it from me!
Anavel Gato was still scouring the area for
signs of his unit, when suddenly, his sensors picked up what
seemed to be a titanic clash between a Feddie GM, and a Gelgoog
Marine. The two units were engaged in one of the most
spectacular displays of swordsmanship Gato could recall seeing
in a very long time. As he let out his breath in a long, low
whistle, it was then that he knew beyond a shadow of a doubt
that the Gelgoog was-could be-none other than his CO, Commander
O'Rielly.
He sped off to see if he could be of any
assistance to her.
The Zeek struggled under Sanders' hold,
squirming to try and reach any of its weapons systems. He held
it tight, though, not allowing its arms to move an inch, but he
began to wonder how long he could keep it this way. With all the
action, he'd yet to reset his Mass-Balancer and the GM was
drifting about at crazy angles making his stomach heave. To make
matters worse, he glanced down at his HUD, he realised that he
was running dangerously low on propellant; soon his systems
would shut down and he'd be a sitting duck.
Just then, in a burst of static, the Zeon
pilot opened up a channel to him. She was beautiful, for a Zeon
woman, albeit a bit sweaty and bleeding from a huge gash on her
forehead. "Let…me…go" she said in a low, dangerous tone.
`The Black Lotus!' he realised why the battle
had been so difficult. Still, he wasn't used to tete-a-tete's
with people who were intent on trying to kill him, no matter who
they were. "I can't do that."
"Look you…" The Gelgoog grabbed at the GMs
arms, struggling to break free. "Let go of me now! You cannot
hold me for much longer anyway, can you? You are running low on
fuel and still have not reset your balancer. I can tell these
things. I on the other hand have a practically full tank and
several rounds left in my rifle."
"You're bluffing."
"Am I?"
Sanders knew she was not, and pretty soon, he
would indeed have to let go. Still, he still had rounds left in
his head-mounted vulcans-perhaps he could still deal some damage
before she broke free.
"I would not waste my ammo like that, if I
were you. You know your vulcans will not do enough damage to
stop me, so why even try?"
"How did you…?"
"I know many things, Terry Sanders, and I know
you cannot hold out much longer." Cirrus said in total
seriousness that belied her internal surprise. These Newtype
powers she possessed were phenomenal and they were still just
developing.
The ship was right there in front of her; what
could she do? That same smug little bastard Vincent was
obviously still at the helm. Any other real commander would be
fighting on the front lines, yet Vince remained here in the back
cowering like the weak dog he was.
There was only one option left to her, and she
took it. `Soon, my darling, we will be together again,' she
thought to herself as she fired up her thrusters one last time.
"What are you doing?" Sanders called out to
her.
"I am Commander Cirrus Hikari O'Rielly;
Defected Core Fighter pilot for the Federated Union of Earth and
commander of the elite Blood Drakes Squadron of the Independent
Duchy of Zeon. I fight for neither side now, but out of personal
vendetta that must be followed through." The Gelgoog and
attached GM picked up speed as they drew ever closer to the
battleship.
"Why are you doing this?" Sanders demanded.
Suddenly there was a bright flash of light,
and he witnessed a heart-wrenching scene. He saw the events of
that day back in January as clearly as if he had been there
himself. He saw the beam tear through the fighter, heard the
explosion, and felt the grief all as Cirrus had from the bridge
of the same battleship they were closing in on now. It was then
that he realized that she was a Newtype and was projecting the
images across the void between them so that he would understand
the reasoning behind her actions.
Further away, onboard the bridge of Yagami,
Captain Langley was hit by the same images and collapsed in his
chair, wheezing in agony.
"So, this is really how you felt then, eh
Cirrus?" he finally managed under his breath.
"Captain, sir, are you all right?" one of the
crew members-whom he could not tell-had rushed to his side.
"Call the medic!"
"No!" Langley shook off the officer's grip and
forced himself to stand. "Everyone," he began in his booming
Austrian voice, "you must get to the evacuation pods. I repeat;
get off this ship! Don't argue with me, do it now!"
The helmsman hit the emergency switch and
immediately the bridge and the rest of the ship became a
pandemonium of escaping soldiers and flashing red lights.
As the sirens blared and everyone else rushed
for safety, Langley walked forward to the window and continued
his vigil of the curtain-call of both his and Cirrus' lives.
Sanders tried to stop the advance, but by then
it was already too late. The two mobile suits were moving too
fast, the ship, too near. The only thing left for him to do was
to let go-just as she predicted he would-and watch.
Suddenly, the ship began radiating thousands
of little white lights. "Escape pods," the two combatants
noticed simultaneously.
"Perhaps, Vince," Cirrus thought, her suit
still ripping through space towards the bridge of the cruiser,
"You were not as totally cold-hearted as I believed you to be."
"Cirrus, stop!" Sanders called out, "You don't
have to do this! Don't kill yourself!"
A flood of emotions swelled over her, "I have
been dead for some time now," she said with a melancholy smile
of acceptance, "I am only completing what started back then.
Good-bye, Terry, you are an excellent soldier. And don't worry
about Shiro, I believe he's just fine."
"What?" Sanders was shocked to hear mention of
the Commander he so admired. "Wait, Cirrus, what does that
mean?"
"Good-bye," she whispered, her voice barely
intelligible from the static of the ship's Minovsky field.
"Good-bye…"
The approaching MS was growing larger by the
second, filling the window before him. Still, Langley did not
shy away. He'd been running for so long, he had to stay and
finish this once and for all.
"Cirrus," he said, placing a hand on the
armourglass that separated the two of them, "I am sorry about
Brian, although I know you do not believe me. Indeed, he was my
friend too-a very close friend I might add. I am not, however,
sorry for falling in love with you, nor will I even pretend to
be. You changed something inside of me, Cirrus; you brought out
the very best in me, as well as the very worst. Never was I
happier than in the moments I spent holding your hand or
listening to you sing, and conversely, never was I more
distraught, enraged, and embittered, than when I saw you sharing
those bonds with Brian.
"I know I am not perfect, Cirrus. I am but a
man, fallible and jealous. I wanted to be with you more than
anything in the world, but when I could not…I…I…if I could not
be happy, then I felt as though no one had the right to be.
Foolish, eh Beautiful?"
Langley removed his hand and gave a regal
salute.
"As much as I hated him, as much as I hated
myself, I never once, ever stopped caring about you, and I hope
that you can find it within you to forgive me, someday. Cirrus
Hikari O'Rielly, I salute you and accept my fate. May God have
mercy upon the three of us."
"Brian and Vince," Cirrus thought as she
closed her eyes and smiled. "It has been far too long…"
There was a small initial explosion as the two
objects collided. The bridge was instantly destroyed as was
Cirrus' mobile suit, but it was the later blast, the one of the
whole ship being ripped apart that really made the magnitude of
her sacrifice hit home.
Seconds later, as the light from the
explosions was dying out, Gato's Gelgoog arrived at the scene.
He was stunned into silence as he saw what had happened; all he
was able to do was stare blankly forward at his viewscreen at
the point where his commander had been last. Every one of his
compatriots had died in the battle today, and Cirrus, the one
person he knew that would survive to fight with him again in
spite of it all, she had joined them too.
Sanders was equally shocked. The irony of what
had happened, her drive to settle the score, her sacrifice…it
was all almost too much to handle.
"Why?" Gato demanded of the vacuum. "Why do
all of us end up dying like this? Isn't our cause just? Our
struggle noble? And why am I left behind?"
He turned on the GM, his eyes ablaze and his
spirit aflame. "If they all died, then I have no choice but to
join them."
The Gelgoog threw itself at the GM, but
Sanders was in no condition to fight back for very long, having
exhausted his suit in the previous battle. Also, he still had to
find Trowa.
"Oh no you don't, you mother fucking son of a
bitch! You're not leaving without fighting me. You'll have to
kill me just like you did Cirrus, you bastard!" The Zeon suit
opened up a round of its assault rifle as the GM tried in vain
to flee.
"Whoa now, buddy! You got some nerve picking
on an beat up old suit like that!"
"Trowa!" relief washed over Sanders as his
compatriot and two other Fed suits showed up just in time.
"No thanks necessary, commander; I'm just
doin' my job. But hey, you'd better haul ass out of here.
They're gonna use the solar ray to vaporize the fortress!"
"What?"
Karen and Duo were squaring off against the
Zeek, but they were both having difficulty containing him.
"Cut the chatter Barton, we've gotta go, now!"
Duo yelled back at the other two pilots.
"Roger that."
Yet as the units were pulling out, the lone
Zeon warrior followed in hot pursuit taking pot-shots at the
fleeing Feds.
"Shit, doesn't this guy know when to quit?"
Duo demanded. Then, over the radio, "I hope you guys know where
we're going. Between the Zeeks mobile armour, our own solar ray,
and this freak that's tailin' us, I'd like to have some idea
here!"
Karen was feeling the same sense of urgency
too. That and the fact that the damn marine type kept following
them, increasing the pressure…
"All right you bastard! You still wanna fight,
huh? Then, here I come!"
"Don't do it Karen!" Sanders called out to her
as she broke formation and headed back to face him down.
"Yeah, you're headed back into the blast zone
for the Solar Ray!" Trowa called after her.
"About time one of you cowards decided to
fight," Gato growled.
The two units exchanged blasts from their
rifles as the manoeuvred around to try and pick the other one
off. As on would take a shot, the other would pull a thrust in
the opposite direction and avoid the blast.
"Commander, come on! There's no time for
this!" Duo pleaded with her. Then he turned to Sanders and
Trowa. "It's not looking like she's gonna listen. You two go on
ahead and meet us at point 35, 16. It's in the back of our line,
so resistance should be minimal. We're gonna escape to Yagami."
"Scratch that order, soldier." Sanders said in
a calm manner. "Your cruiser was just destroyed in a kamikaze
run."
"What? Are you serious?" Duo demanded over the
radio. The magnitude of what he had just learned hit him like a
freight train. All those people on board-all his friends on
board-had just vanished forever. All the mechanics, the captain,
everybody…gone. And just because he and the rest of the 107th
had wasted so much time trying to take out that mobile armour!
"Were there any survivors?" he asked,
hopefully.
"I saw escape pods; I think most of the crew
managed to escape," Sanders replied. He continued over the
broadband, "We'll rendezvous at the medical vessel, Valkyrie at
2055. That's where one of our comrades is and most likely where
your man has been taken also."
"Okay…" Duo still sounded slightly rattled,
but nevertheless took off to help Karen.
"This guy is really good!" Karen was thinking
as she dodged another round from the enemy's rifle. "I don't
know how much longer I can keep up these acrobatics. If we were
back on ground, though…"
Suddenly a massive wave of nausea swept over
her and she froze at the controls. The whole cockpit seemed to
be spinning around and around. She became totally disoriented.
Which way was up? Where was that stupid Zeek bastard hiding?
Gato noticed that the GM had stopped fighting
back and had doubled-over on itself in almost a fetal position.
He smiled grimly. "Now you Feds are gonna pay for what happened
to the Commander!"
He unsheathed his beam sabre and charged the
crippled GM in an effort to finish it off in one blow. Suddenly,
just as he was preparing to strike, another Fed suit appeared
before him and the two locked blades.
"Move it Karen!"
It was Duo's voice over the radio. Why was he
yelling at her? Instinctively she grabbed for the "barf bag"
below her chair and let loose again; and two more times after
that.
Yet as she looked up, she noticed the timer
she'd set up on the HUD of the GM. The timer that was counting
down the minutes until the Solar Ray was fired. The timer that
now read 00:00:15.
"Holy shit! Only fifteen seconds? Duo come
on!"
"Bout time you started listening to someone
other than yourself, commander," came the response, thick with
insubordination. It really didn't matter though, and the two of
them took off at incredible speed, pushing the thrusters way
past red-line.
"Where do you think your going? Come back and
finish this you cowards!" Gato yelled in vain after the
retreating Feds.
Deep inside, however, he knew it was hopeless.
He'd lost everything in one battle; his unit, his commander, the
fortress, and now, even his customized mobile suit was a wreck.
It was all over.
The words "Total Defeat" played with his mind
as the blinding light suddenly filled the cockpit interior.
Should he dodge the pure solar energy he knew
was only seconds away from his location? Did he really care if
he survived?
Just then, as if caused by the intensity of
the Solar Blast, he thought he saw the silhouette of Cirrus,
sitting with her legs crossed on his HUD". "Major?" he asked
tentatively.
Time seemed to slow as he began talking with
her.
She nodded and smiled. It was funny, but he
couldn't remember ever seeing her smile when she was alive; it
made her look only that much more radiant.
"Anavel, what are you doing?" she asked him,
plaintively.
"I have nothing left to fight for. You and
everybody else are dead and the base is only seconds away from
being destroyed. Why should I bother to go on?"
"That is ridiculous!" she laughed, "there is
always something left to fight for. Even when you are at `Total
Defeat'. I was a Newtype and I still have a great deal of my
powers left. I see great things ahead for you. Do not qive up
now! Your side still needs you. In the days and years ahead,
Zeon will need champions like you to finish the battle and
guarantee colonial independence."
"Really?"
"Yep! Now, hurry. You only have a few seconds
until the blast hits you and you are unable to continue the
fight. Approximately two clicks from your starboard side, there
is a Musai Battleship called the Doroai. Go to it quickly."
She winked as her form began to fade. "And
don't forget me! You can bet I won't forget you and what a
gentleman you were. Sieg Zeon!"
He saluted as he fired up his thrusters. "Sieg
Zeon, Major O'Rielly, and may you rest in peace!"
---Report---
The Solar energy reflected and focused from
the powerful Solar Ray was far more than enough to totally wipe
out the remainder of Solomon's defenses. A second wave of mobile
suits was dispatched to finally capture it and secure it as a
new Federation stronghold, dubbed Conpey Island.
The Big Zam was destroyed by the co-operative
efforts of Core Fighter pilot, Lt. J.G. Slegger Law (KIA), and
Gundam Pilot, Amuro Ray. The toll it took on the Federation's
Armada before it was finally wiped out was truly impressive,
though. Losses included nine capital ships, seven frigates, five
companies of GMs, and the life of Lt. Slegger Law.
Also note that the work of two Zeon Gelgoog
Marine-types was almost equally impressive. Major Cirrus
O'Rielly (KIA) accumulated seventeen kills and destroyed one
Federation Magellan-class Battle ship, Yagami. This act, thanks
to early evacuation procedures resulted in only one casualty,
Captain Vincent Langley. Cirrus' partner-in-arms, and
subordinate, Captain Anavel Gato (promoted to Lieutenant
Commander), meanwhile, was able to score twenty-eight kills and
destroy three capital ships and two salamis-class battleships
single handily (casualties were total on all ships). He was
received by cheering throngs aboard the Zeon Assault Weapons
Carrier Doroai by his new nom d'guerre, the Nightmare of
Solomon…
" Situations like this are not uncommon in
Mobile Suit Gundam; Newtypes always have powers like this. Go
figure.
