- - Author's Note: I didn't mean to leave the story hanging for so long, but it's back. Hope you guys enjoy it. I'm also going to try making the chapters longer from here on. And yes, Corsair Sky is a pirate pony... - -
Hayato led Fraw Bow away from the bridge and down the hallway. He turned his head towards her as he walked.
“I can’t help but feel bad for Bright, you know? Poor guy has to deal with so much.” He said, narrowly avoiding an open door as he went. Fraw only nodded.
Hayato turned his attention back to the hallway. “Oh, uh, here we are.” He stopped just outside of the infirmary. “Amuro should be right in here. Er… do you, uh, want me to go in with you?”
“I think I’ll go in by myself… thank you anyways, Hayato.” She replied as she opened the door. Hayato opened his mouth as though to object, but instead walked away with a defeated look on his face.
Fraw stepped into the infirmary as the door slid open. The room consisted of a few beds and little else. On the far end of the room stood a young medical officer from Luna 2, by the name of Roland Zeck. Fraw paused briefly before continuing across the room. Roland turned as he heard footsteps behind him and looked down to see the worried face of Fraw Bow.
“Oh, Miss Fraw, how can I help you?” The man said as he adjusted his glasses. He wore a kind smile that only one who truly wanted to help others could wear.
“I-is Amuro here? Hayato told me that he was here. I need to talk to him.” Fraw was still worried, but somehow Roland’s face eased her mind slightly. That is, until his smile turned south.
“Yes… Amuro is right over here, Miss Fraw.” He motioned to his right as he spoke, and they both walked over to Amuro’s bed.
Fraw’s face relaxed as she said,” Ah, he’s fine, probably just tired is all.”
“I’m afraid that isn’t so. It’s much worse than simple fatigue.” Roland spoke and Fraw turned to look at him, a worried look quickly forming on her face.
“Amuro’s body and mind have been under considerable stress ever since he began piloting the Gundam. This stress together with anxiety and fatigue finally took their toll on him… Fraw, Amuro is comatose. I don’t know how long he’ll be like this.” Roland explained. He then put his hand on Fraw’s shoulder and said, “Don’t worry, I’ve got this. I’ll be sure to take care of Amuro to the best of my abilities.” He once again wore a smile, yet it was somehow different than usual.
***
Slender fired his rifle at a fighter as it passed by him. Only one round hit, but that was enough to send it flying into the fortress wall. They had only been fighting for ten minutes, but they had already lost one Zaku to a suicide attack, and another to its own bazooka malfunctioning. The only suits left were Slender’s Zaku II and Kai’s Guncannon.
Suddenly a flare went off over A Baoa Qu. All of the fighters retreated, leaving Slender and Kai rather confused.
“Huh… what the hell is that?” Kai’s voice was barely coherent over the radio, the Minovsky particle density was still high. Slender turned towards where Kai was pointing. Something had just launched from the fortress. It looked like a mobile suit at first, but as it got closer they realized that it had four legs and wings instead of arms.
Slender shook his head a said, “Why is it that every time I go on a mission, my enemy has a new mobile weapon that we’ve never seen?” He then took a deep breath before addressing Kai. “We’re gonna focus on that new weapon until Char gets here. Get your cannons ready, I’m switching to my bazooka. I’m not taking any chances after what happened to Denim and Gene.”
The new machine descended to the ground as it got closer, its wing folded as it landed. It didn’t make a move; neither did the two suits before it.
Slender’s com screen flickered on as the pony suit’s pilot hailed him and Kai. A figure wearing a sky blue helmet appeared on both screens and spoke.
“Hey, you two humans in the mobile suits. I’m givin ye once chance to leave before I have this here Mequine shoot you out of the proverbial water, yar.” She said.
Slender would have burst out laughing had the situation not been so serious. They had no clue about the capabilities of this ‘Mequine’ or its pilot.
There was a pause before he finally replied. “I’m sorry, but we didn’t come all this way just to lose two good pilots and gain nothing from it! Just you try and shoot us down, you freakishly colored horse!” Taking advantage of the pony’s surprise at this outburst, Slender aimed and fired his bazooka.
Corsair Sky noticed the attack and dodged the shell almost too late. She used the force from the explosion behind her to propel herself at Slender. The Mequine’s right wing extended and one of the metallic feathers began to glow as it sliced through the Zaku’s bazooka.
Knowing what was about to happen, Slender let go of the bazooka and used his thrusters to fly away from the imminent explosion. The super-heated wing easily cut through the bazooka’s metal exterior, but also succeeded at setting it off. Corsair’s eyes grew wide as the crimson rose opened before her, engulfing the Mequine in fire.
“So that’s it then?” Kai asked himself.
Slender replied, “Don’t lower your guard. I think I got it, but the Gundam would have survived that explosion…”
The smoke began to settle and the Mequine burst out of the cloud. Corsair charged yet again at Slender, heat-wing extended.
It was Slender’s turn to be surprised as he took out his heat-hawk and braced for the impact.
Corsair yelled as they made contact. “I’m alive! How about that! It’ll take more than a bazooka to sink this ship!”
Kai watched, both combatants seemed to have forgotten that he was there, and he knew it. ‘Kai Shiden, it’s your time to shine’, he thought to himself. He checked his cannons; they still had about 50% of their ammo left, which was plenty. He reached back in the cockpit and positioned the targeting computer in front of him.
The Guncannon began to move in for a clear shot and stopped off to the left of the enemy.
Corsair felt a sudden chill as she fought to knock over the Zaku. She felt it again on her left wing and shifted her gaze.
“Enemy off to port!” She gasped. She quickly shifted her left wing, which moved the Mequine’s wing as well, and said, “Fire port cannons.”
Slender caught the wing motion out of the corner of his eye, and felt a thrill along his spine. He wasn’t sure how, but he knew that Kai was the target.
Still struggling to keep the Zaku upright against the other wing, he yelled into his helmet radio, “Kai, get out of there!”
A beam of light suddenly hit the Mequine’s left wing from above, knocking its aim down as it fired. Slender, Kai, and Corsair all looked up to see a pale red Zaku II flying towards them, a beam rifle in its grip.
“Commander Char!” Slender said, “So the Red Comet made it at last.”
Char’s masked face appeared of Slender’s com screen. He gave a slight smirk as he said, “I hope I didn’t keep you waiting.”