TrowaTrowa’s Battle By, Michael DeFreest Libra is defeated. A time of peace is at hand. The five rebel soldiers known as Gundam pilots rest for the time, but they are always ready. Ready for future conflicts. This story’s conflict isn’t brewing between the colonies and Earth, but with the pilots themselves. One such pilot is Trowa Barton… Part I – Fallen and Confused Trowa stared out the window. He stared out into the cold blackness that was space. “Outer space is calm isn’t it?” Trowa turned around to see Heero standing behind him. Trowa replied, “yes it is, it’s too quiet.” Things were calm for the time, but Trowa didn’t believe that would last. He walked out of the room past Heero. Heero stood silently while Trowa closed the door “Hmm,” whispered Heero. As Trowa walked through the corridors of the base he came to the hanger bay where his gundam was being repaired. Howard, the head mechanic, turned from the Heavyarms cockpit and waved to Trowa. Trowa waved back. He noticed the immense chain gun on the left arm of the gundam. He remembered his time back on Earth when he had destroyed countless suits with that gun. He thought of the wreckage after his battles. “Hey Howard” he said, his mind suddenly flashed back “When will my gundam be prepared?” Howard replied, “very soon, we’re loading the ammo now.” Trowa waved to Howard once again and continued through the hall. As he walked he came to Duo’s room, He opened the door, but Duo was gone. He didn’t remember seeing the Deathscythe in the hanger. Then he remembered Duo took his gundam to go find Wu Fei. He had been gone for quite a while. Trowa decided he would leave the ship as well. He ran back to the hanger where Howard was reading diagnostic data. Trowa slipped into his uniform and jumped into the Heavyarms cockpit. “Hey Howard, I’m going to go help Duo.” Howard replied, “That's fine, but watch your cooling vents, they’ve been acting up.” Trowa nodded in reply. The cockpit closed and the gundam’s eyes glowed green. Trowa maneuvered his suit out the bay door where he blasted off into the emptiness of space. Trowa watched the radar. He noticed a large stealth gundam on his scanner. “Duo.” He thought, but instead of meeting with him he flew the other way. “Duo should be fine, besides, we’re covering more ground this way.” He continued flying until he came to the wreckage of what looked like a colony. “The cost of war.” He thought. Just as he entered the wreckage a burst of fire blasted him. It pushed him back against a large piece of the metal. Once he regained control, Trowa looked up to see the Alto-long standing before him. “Wu Fei,” Trowa yelled. “What are you doing?” Before he could speak again Wu Fei extended his dragon arm and in a swift move, thrusted it towards Trowa. Trowa bursted up but to no avail. The arm latched on to his gundam’s leg and pulled him into Wu Fei’s sight. Trowa knew he was now in a fight for his life. He pulled out his chain gun from his back and repeatedly fired at the threatening suit. Alto-Long detached from Trowa's leg and blasted around in circles, dodging every bullet Trowa fired. “He clearly has the advantage with his superior speed and strength,” Trowa thought but this was no time for tactical thinking. In desperation he threw his chain gun away and brought out the blade attached to his arm. He flew towards Alto-long. In the commotion Trowa tried to stay calm and composed. Wu Fei stopped his dodging and realized Trowa’s next move. In retaliation, Wu Fei whipped out a beam trident and prepared for close range battle. As Trowa flew relentlessly towards the Alto-long he tried to communicate with Wu Fei, but he wouldn’t respond. In a flash of light, Trowa and Wu Fei’s weapons clashed. The arm circuit on the Heavyarms immediately started to overheat. Trowa had to think quickly before it was too late. Just then he opened up the shoulder rockets on his gundam. Wu Fei saw this move but it was to late to escape. Rockets began to bombard Wu Fei and he was forced to back away from the fight. Trowa had precious time before Alto-long was on the attack again. “I hope they can get here in time,” Trowa said as he sent a message to all of the comrades in the area. Trowa’s best hope was Duo who was in the vicinity of the wrecked colony. Now that the message was sent, Trowa had to somehow stall Wu Fei and try to survive. Wu Fei was known for rushing into battles so Trowa decided to take the tactical approach. Trowa thrusted his gundam deep into the wreckage just as Wu Fei regained control and activated his tail laser. Trowa maneuvered his suit behind a large piece of the wreckage and shut down. Wu Fei began blasting around the entire area searching for Trowa. Suddenly a transmission came on to the Alto-Long. It was Quatre. “Wu Fei what happened? where’s the enemy?” As Wu Fei replied Quatre appeared before him in his Sandrock gundam. “I’m not sure,” said Wu Fei, “He’s hiding out somewhere.” “Ok well where’s Trowa, he sent me the distress call” Quatre asked. “He was badly damaged and was drifting somewhere in the wreckage.” Wu Fei exclaimed. As this was happening Trowa was silent in hiding. All systems were shutdown so he couldn’t see or hear anything. He decided to make a run for it. As he turned the screen back on a black shadow stood before him. “Trowa desperately thrusted his blade at the shadow but to no avail. Suddenly the shadow became a figure of the Deathscythe Hell. “What the hell are you doing Trowa?” Duo yelled to him. “Duo” Trowa replied, “you scared me, I thought you were him.” “You mean the enemy, yeah where is he, I’ll take care of him” Duo said. Trowa yelled back “No Duo it’s Wu Fei.” “Wu Fei?” Duo replied, “You mean you found him?” “No I mean he’s the enemy!” Trowa said desperately, but his point wasn’t getting across to Duo. “Duo is anyone else coming?” Trowa asked and while still looking puzzled, Duo replied, “yeah, Quatre should be approaching right now.” Trowa’s face froze. “Quatre!” Trowa rapidly flew down from the wreckage with the Deathscythe close behind. As Trowa approached the area he saw the Sandrock and the Altron-long behind it. “Hey Trowa!” Quatre yelled. Then suddenly from behind Wu Fei latched on to the Sandrock’s head and preceded to thrust his trident into his back. “Quatre, nooooo!!” Both Trowa and Duo screamed as they raced towards their fallen friend. Suddenly in one quick movement Wu Fei looked up from the damaged Sandrock and charged the Heavyarms. The force of the impact combined with the fact that the Heavyarms was severely damaged, caused Trowa and his suit to go flying into space. Trowa quickly drifted away with no control over his gundam. A heavy battle ensued between the Alto-long and the Deathscythe Hell, but Trowa could not see this. Everything had happened so quickly, Trowa was confused. Was Quatre still alive? Would Duo survive the battle? What future did the gundam pilots have now? Trowa tried to comprehend his situation. He suddenly began to feel dizzy. Then it was black… Part II – Warrior Reborn Light shined through the window on to Trowa’s face. Trowa suddenly woke up in a confused rage. “Where am I?” He ran to the door. Just as he opened it Catherine walked in with a glass of water. “Trowa you’re awake, I started to worry about you.” Trowa, still wondering what was happening, slowly sat down to try to figure things out. “Catherine, what happened, where am I?” “Oh Trowa,” Catherine replied. “Your safe now.” Trowa began to remember the incident. “So, it looks like I cheated death again.” “So Catherine, are we at the circus?” “No,” Catherine replied. “We’re out on one of the colonies. I left the circus and came here when a man called telling me you were in trouble. I came here to find you unconscious in this room.” Trowa sat puzzled. “Catherine, what did the man look like?” “Oh” Catherine tried to remember. “He was an older man with white clothes and he had something over his face.” Trowa’s eyes opened wide in a mesmerizing gaze. “He’s still alive.” Trowa whispered to himself. Trowa thought back. Suddenly he had a flashback of when he was younger. His instructor who built his gundam. Doktor S. “Doktor S, do you know where he went Catherine?” “He mentioned a lab farther out on the construction center of the colony.” Catherine replied. “Good,” Trowa said, “thank you for your kindness Catherine, I owe you so much. I’ll return shortly.” Trowa walked out of the room leaving Catherine, still holding the glass of water. “I have to get to that lab,” Trowa thought to himself. “My gundam should be there.” Trowa saw a jeep with the keys in the ignition waiting for him outside. “Catherine” he thought. Trowa hoped into the jeep and drove as fast as he could. When he came to the construction center, he saw a small building with a service truck parked outside. The truck had something with a tarp over it. Heavyarms. Trowa raced to the building. As he opened the door a bright light came on. Trowa put his hand over his brow to see more clearly. In the distance he saw the figure of a man walking. Upon closer evaluation he realized it was Doktor S. “Doktor, your alive, I can’t believe it,” Trowa said as Doktor S walked forward. “Well hello to you too Trowa” the Doktor greeted Trowa. “I see my Heavyarms hasn’t been holding up to well.” Trowa thought about the damage to his suit. “Do you want me to repair it Trowa?” the Doktor asked. Trowa replied, “do what ever you want, I’m not using it.” “What!?” Doktor S became puzzled. Trowa began thinking about the battle. In mere moments his life had been changed, and for the worse. “I said I’m not using it, I’m worthless.” Trowa began to slowly walk away. “What if I made some modifications to it Trowa?” “Like I said,” replied Trowa, “do whatever you want.” As Trowa walked out the door he turned around to see a large cargo door labeled: CUSTOM ARMAMENTS, then he walked out. Trowa took a deep breath. He began to think about his past. Operation M, the four other pilots, all up to his battle with Wu Fei, and far as Trowa was concerned, his last battle. “I’ve lost my will to fight.” Catherine watched as Trowa slowly walked into his room. “He needs time alone,” Catherine thought to herself. Trowa laid down on his bed. He tried to make sense of everything. After trying to comprehend his current situation Trowa gave up. He decided to let time sort it self out. His eyes slowly closed and he fell asleep. Trowa abruptly woke up to the smell of smoke and the sound of screaming. Trowa ran outside to find wreckage all around. In the distance he saw a fleet of mobile suits destroying the city. Flames were bursting out everywhere. “Are those Virgos?” Trowa asked himself. “No, those are controlled by humans.” He continued to look on, he saw the suits resembled Taurus’s only with large beam axes and colored in red and gray. “Whatever they are,” Trowa paused, “they’re a threat to this colony!” Trowa yelled as he planed his next move. The city looked to be evacuated, so Trowa saw it was safe to fight. Trowa jumped into Catherine’s jeep but just before he started the ignition he began to think. “What can I do? My Heavyarms couldn’t even handle this.” As Trowa contemplated the situation a huge bird-like aircraft flew over him. “Heero?!” Trowa watched as the Wing Zero flew into the battle. Following behind Heero the Deathscythe flew overhead to battle as well. “What’s happening?” Trowa wondered. Suddenly Catherine came running to Trowa. “Trowa, you have to help, the enemy is…” Catherine was suddenly knocked over by the falling debris. “Catherine!” Trowa ran to help her. “Trowa the gundams….” Catherine passed out before she could finish. Trowa took Catherine into his room where she’d be safe. “I’ll come back for you.” With the fear of Catherine’s safety and the hate of the destruction, Trowa only had one-way to turn. He sped his jeep over to the lab where an eager Doktor S was waiting. Your gundam is fully optimized to your customized preferences. “Preferences? I never told you how to modify my gundam”. The Doktor smirked, “Trust me, you’ll like it.” Trowa had no more time to talk. He uncovered the tarp to see his new suit. Trowa boarded and headed out to battle. In the city an immense conflict was underway. The Wing Zero and Deathscythe Hell were fending off the new mysterious suits. These suits were incredible with amazing speed and power. “We can’t take this many!’ Duo screamed to Heero. Heero just kept on attacking. Duo hacked away at suits as fast as he could with his scythe but they kept coming. Heero, fearing endangering the city, used his sword rather than the beam cannon. Each was forced to short-range combat practically fighting back to back. Suddenly a sound came ripping through the air. A sound that screamed like a bat out of hell. A sound that was fierce and relentless. Then the battlefield became covered in a thick smoke. The mobile suits began to fall rapidly. Each becoming riddled with bullets in mere seconds. Duo and Heero immediately flew away from the battlefield fearing for their own lives. Hundreds of suits, each falling one after another. “Is this another army?” Duo panicked as he watched the massacre. Suddenly the scream of bullets became louder and the smoke turned to flames. The attack did not stop until every suit was destroyed. The sound of screaming bullets slowly stopped, until there was complete silence. The smoke began to clear and Duo looked down upon a green figure standing in the flames. The figure took the shape of a suit. Duo and Heero prepared for a battle. As the smoke finished clearing, Trowa and his Heavyarms custom stood in the still wind. His chain guns still spinning. “Is that…? Trowa?” The Heavyarms looked up at the other two gundams. Suddenly a transmission came on in Heero’s cockpit. “Is Quatre alive?” “It’s Trowa!’ Heero flew down followed by Duo. “Is Quatre still alive?” “Yeah, he’s back at the base resting” Trowa sighed, “and what about Wu Fei?” Duo replied, "yeah well that’s why we were here but….” Duo was cut off when the Alto-long slowly came down to the colony surface. Trowa stared at Wu Fei in a silent rage. His new teal paint was glistening in the sun. The rubble burning behind him cast a dark shadow over Trowa. Wu Fei sent a transmission, “ Do you want your revenge? Then duel me.” Trowa still stood silent, while Heero and Duo looked on. Trowa sat in his cockpit giving Wu Fei a cold stare that he could not see. “Do you accept?” Wu Fei was getting impatient. He drew his trident as Trowa made his decision. Trowa still stood silent in the flames. Wu Fei grew angry. “If you’re not going to settle this than I will!” Wu Fei abruptly charged the Heavyarms, but Trowa stood calm. “Fool!” Wu Fei came in for his kill. In a flash Trowa threw down his chain guns and drew his blade. In a flash of light the two collided. With weapons clashing Trowa pushed Wu Fei back with his superior strength. “This time I have the advantage Wu Fei, and this time I shall win.” In an incredible burst of speed Trowa grabbed on to the Altron-Long. Holding on tightly, Trowa saw his victory. With chest guns opened and rockets armed, Trowa delivered a crushing blow from point blank range. Smoke filled the air once more but as Trowa continued his relentless assault. The smoke finally cleared to unveil the Alto-Long, not even able to stand, and Heavyarms, not even scratched. “One should never give up until the end, that’s what Heavyarms has taught me.” Wu Fei sat in his cockpit. Blood poured from a gash in his head and he was barely able to stay conscious. With a look of fear and hate in his eyes, he admitted his defeat. “Me and Nataku will become stronger, and we will defeat you!” Wu Fei blasted off into space. Heero contemplated following, but decided against it. “We’ll finish you next time.” Heero whispered. Duo and Trowa opened their cockpits to greet one another. “Trowa, is that the Heavyarms?” Trowa replied, “Yes Duo, my custom Gundam.” Duo, Trowa and Heero began to help the survivors. “The cost of war, right Trowa.” Heero said. Trowa nodded to Heero. Then he began to think. What were those new suits? What are Wu Fei's intentions? Trowa saw a new war brewing on the horizon, a war that he was ready for. But for now, there was peace. THE END? We are soldiers. We enjoy this time of peace, For we know tomorrow, May not be peaceful. By, Michael DeFreest