Episode 5 continued...
“Jolie! Jonah!” Traci exults.
The twin Centurion Gundams form a defensive barrier between their comrades and Bolochov’s Dworvak. Both Centurion Gundams draw their beam sabers, crossing them in the Dworvak’s path, blocking access to their comrades.
While all this has been going on, Athena has not been idle. Soaring in with the Cour de Leon in Waverider mode, she abruptly transforms the mecha into mobile suit configuration as she arrives at street level. With a single, cat-quick motion, the Cour de Leon neutralizes the nearest enemy Geara Doga mobile suit with a deft beam saber slash, seizes the enemy mecha’s beam rifle out of its malfunctioning armored hand, and turns the commandeered beam rifle upon additional enemy mobile suits in the area, quickly immolating four of them.
Seeing that her subordinates are standing around gaping at her and Jolie and Jonah’s actions rather than carrying out her duties, Athena snaps them out of their momentary shock by briskly issuing new orders, “All units: deploy in squads of three onto 5th, 6th, and 7th Streets. Heavy artillery units take up position at the ends of Grand Avenue, Broadway, and Main Street. The remaining enemy units, eleven total, are concentrated on those segments of the city grid. Sweep them out of the colony’s northern terminus, now!”
In the days before the Special Forces arrived at Frontier 8, Athena had each and every one of them study the city map grids of each of the inhabited colonies of Frontier 8…literally thousands of streets. Many of them had doubted at the time the wisdom of wasting time and energy in such a seemingly pointless brain-busting exercise. Now, they realize how useful that exercise was as they deploy precisely to the spots where Athena had ordered them.
“Take all of them down,” Athena commands with cold, efficient certitude, “No prisoners.”
The Federal Forces mobile suits deploy their weapons systems; their coordinated firepower sanitizes Freemont Colony of Zeon mobile suits.
…save one.
Spark! Flash!
The two Centurion Gundams move in unison to dodge the Dworvak’s beam mace.
The massive weapon misses them by centimeters. Jolie is exhilarated by the danger; Jonah, not so much.
But they are of one mind as to how to respond to it.
Coordinating the movements of their beam saber slashes as if part of some elaborate dance, the beam energy of the two Gundams’ beam sabers coil around the emitter shaft of the Dworvak’s beam mace, separating the emitter of the weapon from its power source in the lower part of the shaft. The fearsome beam mace of the Dworvak is now useless, melted metal components.
Having eliminated the Dworvak’s primary melee weapon, however, Jolie and Jonah must now contend with its hyper beam rifle…within the close confines of the space colony, still filled with helpless civilians taking refuge in shelters.
This is what they have been training for. Fail here, and not only do Jolie and Jonah die, but perhaps thousands who live in this space colony as well.
Jonah sees an image of the Hans…Adrian and his wife, Christine, and their children Kirby and Jocelyn. He remembers how they died.
Jolie sees an image of her parents and brother…Dominic, Lucie, and Jean. She remembers how they died.
The nightmare would not repeat itself today. Not here. Not now.
Not ever again, if they could help it.
Colonel Leonid Bolochov levels the hyper beam rifle of the Dworvak at the twin Centurion Gundams. Within the confined space of the colony interior, they are unlikely to be able to avoid its deadly beam, however swift and nimble they might be.
The colony would suffer some damage. Civilians would likely be killed. Such is the price of war. The Imperator would understand.
The energy charge of the hyper beam rifle builds rapidly. Eighty percent. Ninety percent. One-hundred percent.
The beam energy erupts forward with tremendous kinetic force, the shockwave knocking down nearby buildings and mobile suits alike.
Spark! Flash!
Powerful energies erupt forward from the centers of Jolie and Jonah’s minds, from the core of their beings. The energy coalesces and expands, enveloping their two Centurion Gundams in a bubble of silvery energy.
The blood red energy of the hyper beam beam cannon strikes the silvery energy generated by Jolie and Jonah, and is harmlessly absorbed into the amplified psyche energy. Force adequate to blow apart a space colony is instead harmlessly absorbed.
Bolochov’s eyes go wide in disbelief; his mouth gapes in shock, “T-that’s impossible! How could that…?! I-I can’t believe…!”
The energy shield around Jolie and Jonah’s Centurion Gundams dissipate. The arms of the Centurion Gundam Unit 2 reach up, boosting its twin into a flying leap.
“Go!” Jonah yells.
The two Centurion Gundams descend upon the Dworvak like angry birds of prey, their beam sabers extended. The dual blades penetrate the Dworvak through its cockpit, instantly disintegrating Colonel Bolochov.
These two…they’re Newtypes! Bolochov realizes in his final moment of consciousness before eternal oblivion.
The Dworvak falls on its back. The two Gundams withdraw and deactivate their beam sabers. The explosions fall silent.
Fires continue to burn throughout the colony city. Buildings are wrecked as far as the eye can see. On the streets, beneath collapsed buildings, and even under the wreckage of fallen mobile suits lie the dead…men, women, children.
Inside the cockpit of the Centurion Gundam Unit 1, Jolie pants rapidly, fighting for breath. She opens the visor of her helmet, desperately needing fresh air.
Aboard the Centurion Gundam Unit 2, Jonah does likewise.
Jolie expected a feeling of exhilaration upon defeating the enemy. Instead, she feels an emptiness, a mounting despair as she looks at the burning, collapsed buildings and the many bodies strewn in the streets, “T-this….this doesn’t feel like victory.”
“Because it’s not,” Jonah snaps, “How can anyone call it a ‘victory’ when so many lie dead?!”
“M-maybe we could have prevented this if we came sooner,” Jolie says, “If only the council on Earth had listened to General Noah and Athena when they first requested permission to deploy out here months ago…”
“But they never do,” Athena says ruefully as her Cour de Leon approaches, “We should have been here months ago to prevent this from happening. Now all we can do is minimize the damage as we try to end the Zeon threat to this community.”
Athena looks sadly at the scene of ruin. There is so much work to be done, and not even she can be sure that she and her people, for all their talents and training, are up to the task.
“We’ll come back here to help coordinate rescue and recovery efforts in a little while,” Athena tells her two subordinates, “but for now, the battle isn’t over.”
Jolie and Jonah nod. There is still the armada outside the colony to contend with.
“Captain Beecher and the rest of our fleet will be arriving in about ninety seconds,” Athena says, “we’ll coordinate the last phase of the counterattack with them.”
“Yes, ma’am!” Jolie and Jonah reply, launching ahead of their commanding officer.
Athena transforms the Cour de Leon to Waverider mode, quickly catching up to and soaring past her two subordinates. She spares a moment’s thought for the phenomenon she witnessed the two of them generating just minutes ago, There can no longer be any doubt: Jolie and Jonah are the most powerful Newtypes I’ve ever encountered…more powerful even than Haman, Char, Camille Vidan, and Judau Ashta. Definitely more powerful than Hathaway or me.
The power to do the impossible…to create miracles.
A power that could be extremely dangerous if used without principle or discipline.
That discussion would be broached when the battle is over.
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1Lt. Jolie Minh, as seen on cockpit recorder camera aboard her Centurion Gundam, during the Battle of Frontier 8 at the beginning of the Phobos War.
Episode 5 to be continued...