Mobile Suit Gundam Fan Fiction ❯ Gundam: Blood Chronicles ❯ Burning of the Cross ( Chapter 4 )

[ T - Teen: Not suitable for readers under 13 ]

Disclaimer: I dont own Gundam...if I did, would I be sitting here in a small house typing on a computer? Didn't think so. However all characters in this story are of my own creation, however thanks to INK for his creative talents: Enforcer, Sentinel, Siren, Shocktrooper, and Grunt are his and must have his permission to use. Thank you for your time and patience, please enjoy the story.


-U.C. 0089.10.06-
Air Base Cross: Kiev, Russia


Stars covered the horizon of the night sky over the Air Base. Lying in the grass of the air field was none other than Kenneth and Ashe. Both were rather quiet this night, they were satisfied with knowledge that they loved each other. Kenneth knew that Ashe was still going through with her plans and would stop at nothing to free the colonies...the same went with Kenneth defending the Earth against Zeon. It's was a love divided by war.
"Kenneth," whispered Ashe breaking the long silence,” You do know what will happen tomorrow?"
"Yeah, I do," Kenneth said as he looked down at Ashe, "I know that you still plan on going through with the attack."
Ashe nodded, she wasn’t happy with the decision herself, she only wished that there was a way for her to get out of this whole mess, but as a Zeon Officer, her choices were limited. Not to mention that she was an ace pilot, her face would have been plastered on every Federation facility. She knew the Federation wanted her dead, and at times, she thought it would be for the best if she was dead. The pain she caused when she aided Galven in the destruction of an entire Side was still within her, haunting her every night, she could imagine the screams of the people as their home was attacked and destroyed by the 'Savior of Space.'
"What a nick name...Savior of Space my ass!" Ashe was still in deep thought when Kenneth shook her shoulder
"I guess it's time we separated for the night," Kenneth said as he looked down at his watch,” The sun will be rising in a few hours.”
Ashe reluctantly nodded in agreement and both stood, embracing each other for the last time tonight. Both shared a good night kiss before taking off in two separate directions. The young captain stopped and looked back in the direction of Ashe and sighed, the next time they would meet would not as lovers, but as opposing ace pilots fighting for separate causes. Kenneth walked back to his room, ignoring the safe passage back.
"And what do we have here?" asked a feminine from behind.
"Who the...oh it's you Laura,” Kenneth had nearly jumped out of his skin when she snuck up on him," You scared the hell out of me! What are you doing out so late?"
"I was about to ask you he same thing," Laura said as she looked over Kenneth, but saw nothing out of place and shrugged off her uneasy feeling, "I was just doing a final check on systems, since Commander Johnson and Lee are gone. I still can’t believe they left that insufferable Captain Yan in charge; since then I have had to do everything from running errands to reconfiguring the missile system and other defense systems of this base.”
Kenneth saw the bags under her eyes and when she yawned, he smiled and knew it was time to play big brother.
"Sounds like you’re under a lot of stress, why don't you go get some sleep," suggested Kenneth.
He was slightly alerted by his sister’s actions during the last week, but of course would not bring it up. She had done things that normal civilians shouldn’t know, such as how to adjust the weapon output of a Gundam weapon, or reconfigure and entire weapons system for a base. He figured that she had a lot of help and maybe Johnson has taught her a thing or two.
“Ok,” Laura nodded with a yawn before slowly heading off toward her quarters.
She stopped momentarily and watched her brother enter his room. Once she heard his door lock, she quietly closed her door then turned on her laptop. Within in five minutes the symbol of Zeon appeared and it was soon followed by Galven's face.
"What do you have to report Spy 109?" asked Galven.
"I have done as you and Commander Ashe requested. The defenses of Cross will implode once the first wave arrives, I made it to look like an accident and not sabotage," Laura said as she began to open a folder and looked over the schematics of Zeta Gundam Mk 2 then said, " I also have found the read outs for a new mobile suit. The information states the possibility of another V Project and that means reconstruction of Gundam NT-1. I unfortunately failed to obtain information leading up to the special space operation being organized by the Federation."
Glaven was silent for a moment as his computer received the schematics. Laura was worried, she saw how serious his face was, but hopefully the information she was able to obtain would be sufficient enough.
"Is that all?" asked Galven.
"Yes sir," responded Laura.
"Good. As of tomorrow the Black Luna Team will have another member, Xenol X, a Cyber NewType from the NewType Labs at the Lunar City, Von Braun." Galven said with a smile, "He will be joining the battle in a Messala...as for your mission, once you have the chance, return to us and if possible, cause some damage to that ship...and any of its officers...Hail Zeon!"
"Hail Zeon," Laura saluted and then proceeded to turn off the laptop.
She lay back on her bed, a grin appearing on her face.
"Oh, brother...soon you will see that I am better than you in everything, including piloting a Mobile Suit," Laura said as she closed her eyes.
She slowly drifted off to sleep and smiled when she imagined destroying Kenneth and his mobile suit with her own.
Ashe had returned to her Musai Battleship in time for Xenol's arrival. She and a few other soldiers waited until the hatch to her ship opened up and a figure entered her ship. He was tall and well built, however his right eye had been replaced with a cybernetic eye, this enhancement also made him a slightly better pilot. Xenol X stepped in completely and greeted Ashe.
"Commander Ashe, I am Xenol X," stated the large Cyber NewType.
"Welcome sir to the Black Luna Team, it is a pleasure to have on board," Ashe said as she walked to Xenol's left side, "Now let us discuss our plans for our assault later today, I imagine you have some plans of you own?"
Xenol and Ashe walked into a room inside the ship, it was obviously the War Room. Maps of the surrounding area covered the large table in the middle; a small cluster of screens covered the wall, each one displayed tactical information on the location of the base.
"What is the estimated force at Cross?" asked Xenol.
"As we have discovered as of late yesterday, there are three Gundam pilots, two of which are NewTypes. There are also thirty GM II's and twenty Galbaldy Beta's. Fortunately, the base is lacking in experienced pilots, so we have nothing but an army of recruits to fight against. Our current forces consist of 40 Hizack's, 20 Gaplant's and of course 40 newly commissioned Grunt's. We also have the Neue Ziel and of course you’re Messala to combat this pathetic army."
Ashe then began to type something into the nearby computer console and brought up a holographic map of the defense area around Cross.
"As you can see, even with their limited number of experience pilot's, it would be hard for a highly experienced team to infiltrate their defense grid, but thanks to Spy 109, she had disabled the network and infiltration will be easily accomplished," Ashe said.
"That’s good to hear, when do we attack?" Xenol asked as he cracked his neck and knuckles.
"We attack at first light," said Ashe, but kept her face emotionless.
Deep down inside she was fighting an inner battle. Join the one she loves, or kill him in combat? Her decision would have to be made soon, and so would his.

-U.C. 0089.10.07-
Air Base: Cross

Kenneth groaned as he slowly opened his eyes and saw Callum and Hito towering over him with wide smiles.
“Morning captain,” they said.
Kenneth slowly sat up and growled angrily and he began to rub his head.
“Sorry if we woke you sir,” Callum said.
“No…it’s not that,” Kenneth said in a groggy manner.
It wasn't the fact he had been woken up, it was the fact he knew that Ashe would be attacking and he hadn't bothered to warn Captain Yan or anyone about this information.
"Have I lost my mind?!" thought Kenneth, "In more than one way I have aided Ashe. I didn't report her; I didn't inform anyone of the attack...I could get everyone killed?! Damn it!"
Kenneth stopped and looked down at his watch and saw it was 9 a.m. then said beneath his breath, "Hell, she will be attacking soon."
“What was that sir,” Hito said.
Before he could say anything, sirens suddenly went off as explosions littered the bases air field.
"Shit!" Kenneth shouted as he quickly jumped out of bed.
"What the hell is going on?!" asked Hito over the sirens.
Callum looked out the door and saw a Musai overhead.
"Zeon is attacking!" yelled Callum, "How in the hell did they find the base?!"
Kenneth didn't waste any time, he grabbed his jacket and ran out the door.
“Get a move on,” Kenneth snapped back at Callum and Hito.
"Wait for us!" Callum and Hito said as they slowly followed closely behind.
Occasionally, they covered their faces as more explosions covered the ground sending parts of buildings and concrete in the air. All three pilots arrived at the hangar where their Gundam's had been kept. Hito finally got to see Mk 2 and was in pure awe. It retained the typical Gundam shape, doing away with the transformable part of the design. Also a large beam weapon was attached to the right arm. This unit also came with a standard saber that was stored in the left leg. As an added bonus this unit comes equipped with a shoulder mounted missile launcher. In many ways some would say this is a scaled down version of the ZZ Gundam, yet it is named Zeta Gundam Mark 2.
“Wow,” Hito said.
“Hito,” Kenneth shouted angrily,” You can drool later; get inside that bucket of bolts now!”
"Gundam's are ready to launch sir," a young Federation soldier said into a comlink.
The large doors to the outside opened slowly; as they did a spectacular scene appeared before them, spectacular and horrifying. Kenneth estimated there were around 100 mobile suits attacking the base along with the Musai using it's turrets as cover fire.
"Liuetenant Callum, Ensign Hito, follow me!" Kenneth shouted as he flipped a few switches and suddenly his thrusters roared to life as he and the other two Gundam pilots flew into the battlefield. Immediately Kenneth fired off a few rounds of his energy gatling gun, the rounds easily pierced through the Hizack's armor. He then used the thrusters to further engage the Hizack, going into close combat Kenneth used his saber to counter the attack the Hizack's Heat Hawk.
“You’ll have to do better than that,” Kenneth said with a smirk.
Using his skills, the captain used his thrusters to launch himself into the air and he followed by impaling the Hizack in the chest causing the mobile suit to explode.
Callum in the Gundam Sentinel fired off a shot from his shoulder cannon; the shell hit a Gaplant and then exploded sending shrapnel into the cockpit, killing the pilot instantly.
“Now that’s what I call fire power,” Callum said with a smile.
Hito in the Zeta Gundam Mk 2 went in close range and decapitated two Hizack's and then followed up by firing his beam weapon into the torso of a Gaplant.
“Wow,” Hito said,” This Gundam is amazing!”
"Hito! Callum!” Kenneth shouted,” Spread out and offer support to the GM units! We need to repel these Zeon bastards!"
"Yes sir!" Callum and Hito said as their Gundam's took off in opposite directions. Kenneth brought his shield out in time to block a stray Stun Grenade. After the explosion was over, Kenneth dropped the shield and drove the Gundam's fist into the chest of the opposing Hizack and caused an internal explosion.
"Captain Kenneth, this is Cross Command, we need you to take out the Musai Cruiser above the base," Captain Yan shouted.
Kenneth grumbled, he had wanted to engage Ashe, but she wasn't here yet.
“Where are you,” Kenneth thought.“Kenneth,” Yan shouted angrily.
“On my way,” Kenneth snapped.
He complied and used the venrier mode on his Gundam and took off into the air. Flying up the right side he fired his Gatling gun into the hull of the ship, he followed up by firing his shoulder cannon from a longer distance. The Musai suffered severe damage yet was still firing into the base.
“Persistent bastard,” Kenneth said.
"Captain!” Yan shouted in a worried tone,” We have an unidentified mobile suit inbound...wait...we have two...what the hell is that?!"
Kenneth turned the Gundam around in time to see the command tower explode in flames. From the wreckage emerged a Messala, yet this one was green instead of blue. The new mobile suit fired its two massive ion cannons at Kenneth.
“Holy shit,” Kenneth shouted.
In direct response, he disengaged the venrier mode and landed on the ground as the beams hit the Musai destroying the entire mid section of the ship, the ship soon was engulfed in a serious of explosions.
"What the hell is that?!" asked Callum when he saw the explosions.
It was then that he sensed something he hadn't felt before, something that both he and Hito were able to sense.
"Hito…is that what I think it is," Callum said.
"Yeah...it’s a NewType...and it seems like he’s been enhanced," Hito said then snapped, "Captain! We will handle this NewType, find the Neue Ziel and end this battle!"
Kenneth was about to protest when suddenly the Gundam's warning signals went off. It picked up a large energy emission from behind. Kenneth reacted as quickly as possible, however his shoulder cannon was hit and destroyed, followed by a series of facilities. He knew there was only one person who could have done this.
“What kept you,” Kenneth said as his Gundam turned to face the Neue Ziel.
"Here I come Kenneth!" Ashe yelled from her cockpit.
Her wire guided claws engaged Gundam Enforcer with its saber’s. Kenneth drew his saber and blocked Ashe’s attacks. The massive mobile armor disengaged and flew off quickly and fired off a two dozen rounds of missiles followed by a series of laser blasts from the claws.
"Shit," Kenneth shouted.
He then slammed his fists onto the console of his Gundam and the Venrier mode kicked in. He took off toward the sky; using his momentum he engaged the mobile armor in hand to hand combat again.
"Ashe! You don't have to do this!" Kenneth struggled to say as he continued to stave off Ashe’s attack.
However his pleas went unheard as she fired off more missiles. Kenneth launched a dozen decoys which successfully caught the approaching missiles, the explosion created forced Kenneth to cover his eyes. When he opened them, he saw Neue Ziel flying through the flames and smoke with the sabers drawn. The two fighters clashed once again in the mid-air battle.
"Callum follow behind me!" Hito said sternly as they approached the Messala.
Both NewType pilots sensed the enemy was about to move. They were right, however they didn't expect the mobile suit to transform into a Mobile Armor mode.
"Shit! We got a flier!” Hito shouted,” Switch to Venrier Mode!"
"Right!" Callum responded.
He then engaged his venrier mode and followed the Messala, which stopped and did a 360 and fired a round of missiles off and then flew off again with great speeds.
"Shit!" Callum cursed as he dodged the missiles.
From behind came Hito and his Gundam, breaking through the smoke, he raised his beam cannon and fired.
"Gotcha,” Hito said with a smile but that faded,” What the hell?!"
Hito was in utter shock as the Messala dodged his attack and then stopped in mid air.
"Here he comes!" Callum shouted.
The Messala went back into Mobile Suit mode and flew downward firing the two ion cannons causing Hito and Callum to split into two directions.
"How the hell are we supposed to beat this guy?!" Hito shouted.
Ashe could no longer control her tears which cascaded down her face as the battle continued. She no longer wanted to fight; she could see the damage she had already caused. GM II's lied on the ground destroyed, the pilots most likely dead or dying. Then there were her comrades who were already dead or dying in their burning mobile suits. No more, the carnage and destruction was just too much for her to handle.
“NO MORE!” Ashe shouted.
“Ashe,” Kenneth said.
Kenneth noticed the Neue Ziel had stopped and landed on the air field. Kenneth quickly landed behind the mobile armor, but didn’t drop his guard. He wasn't sure that Ashe would attack or not, but he suddenly heard her voice as she managed to tap into his frequency.
"Kenneth...I'm sorry," she cried into the headset.
He could tell war had finally gotten to her and sighed. Kenneth saw that the Neue Ziel deactivated and hit the ground. He then maneuvered the Gundam to the front of the Neue Ziel to see the cockpit open and Ashe standing there.
“Ashe,” he asked.
"I need to know...do you...love me?" Ashe said looking up at the Gundam, but was really looking at Kenneth.
"What? You need to know this right now?!" asked Kenneth, he was slightly dumbfounded by this question.
"Yes!" she cried, "Tell me so I can know the truth! I want to know...I…I need to know!"
"I never stopped,” Kenneth said as he closed his eyes and clenched his fists.
As he looked back up into the screen, he saw that she had removed her helmet. In response Kenneth moved the Gundam into kneeling position and opened the hatch to his cockpit.
"Need a lift,” Kenneth said with a warm smile and extend his hand to her.
The young Zeon officer leapt across into the cockpit of Gundam Enforcer and landed in Kenneth's lap. Before closing the hatch to his cockpit, he threw two grenades into the cockpit of the Neue Ziel. Holding Ashe tightly, Kenneth took off just as the Neue Ziel exploded, thus ending the terror of the Harbinger of Death.
Not far away, Callum and Hito were still fighting desperately against the Messala and the mysterious pilot.
“We can’t give up,” Callum said.
“What do you sugge…”
There was suddenly a large explosion, the Gundams turned to see Neue Ziel explode in a ball of fire.
“Captain did it,” Callum said.
The opposing NewType took this as his cue to leave. The Messala turned into Mobile Armor mode and took off leaving the rest of the Black Luna Team to fend for themselves. With the defeat of the Neue Ziel, it seemed all the other Zeon mobile suits gave up, dropping their weapons and deactivating their mobile suits. Kenneth landed and the both Callum and Hito landed near him immediately jumping out of their Gundams. They saw steam escape from Kenneth’s Gundam as the hatch opened.
“Hey captain,” Callum shouted,” You did it.”
“Yeah captain,” Hito added,” way to…”
They both stopped when Kenneth stepped out carrying a young woman in his arms, but she bore the uniform of one of the Zeon fighters.
“Ca…captain,” Hito started.
“She a prisoner,” Callum asked.
Kenneth sighed and said,” I guess I have some explaining to do.”
"Ah, I see..." said Hito.
"Don't sweat it Captain, your secret is safe with us,” Callum added.
The battlefield had quieted down quickly after the Messala departed. The Federation soldiers rounded up the Zeon pilots and put them in a make shift brig until the Alexander returned. Unfortunately it was four hours after the battle ended.
“Here comes the Calvary,” Callum said.
“Perfect timing,” Hito joked.
As the Alexander landed, it was evident that the ship had been repaired. The landing ramp dropped quickly with troops pouring out into the open air field, soon followed by Johnson and Lee. Johnson looked around at the destruction of the base and sighed, he knew exactly who did this. Lee however was glaring at the one woman dressed in Zeon uniform, he rushed toward her and grabbed her by her neck and began to squeeze with every once of strength in his body.
“Stupid Zeon bitch,” Lee snapped.
Kenneth punched Commander Lee away and pulled Ashe back to his side. Ashe coughed violently as she grabbed her sore throat and remained behind Kenneth.
“I’ll see that you’re court-martialed for that,” Lee snapped as he wiped the blood away from the side of his mouth.
“Don’t you touch her,” Kenneth snapped as he cracked his knuckles.
"You better have a damn good explanation for what happened here! And why the hell is that…that bitch not with the rest of the prisoner?!" Lee spat.
"She is my adopted daughter," Johnson said confidently as he stepped up toward Kenneth's side, "She was on special assignment as a spy within the Zeon forces elite unit, Black Luna. As you can see, her information led to our victory over the Zeon forces here at Cross."
Commander Lee turned a variety of colors before finally turned red then shouted, "Victory? Victory! You call this a victory?! They destroyed Air Base Cross! There is nothing but ruins left!"
"Then we will rebuild it better than before, I imagine Zeon will be launching another offensive seeing that the Commander of the base is still alive and well," Johnson smirked as he watched Lee squirm.
Soon Commander Lee gave up and went to search the remains of the base for any survivors.
"You can thank me later," Johnson elbowed Kenneth in the side before he took off and began helping with the injured,” Callum, Hito, follow me and give me a hand.”
“Yes sir,” both soldiers said as they followed Johnson.
Kenneth smiled
"You owe a lot to Johnson...it seems he’s always saving your ass," said Ashe smiling.
"Yeah I do the same for him," Kenneth said as he wrapped her left arm around his neck and helped support her as they walked forward, "So what does the ex-Harbinger of Death plan now?"
Ashe thought for a moment and smiled, then kissed Kenneth on the cheek and said, "I will become…the Messenger of Life.”