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Introduction
With
high hopes, human beings leave Earth to begin a new life in the
space colonies. But the United Earth Sphere Alliance gains
military power, and in the name of Justice and Peace, seizes
control of one colony after another. The year is After Colony
195. Operation Meteor. To counter the Alliance's tyranny, rebel
colonists bring new arsenals to the Earth, disguising them as
shooting stars. But the Alliance headquarters catches on to this
operation.
The
Gundam Deathscythe
Shinigami
to Yobareru Gandamu
Several students fence. Hiiro and a friend of Relena's walk in and put on their helmets.
"Hey, Hiiro. I hear you ripped up Relena's invitation yesterday. Why did you do that? I'm her classmate, so I'm choked you'd treat her that way. Aren't you ashamed of yourself as a gentleman?!"
They start fencing, exchanging a few hits. Relena's friend starts to lunge at Hiiro, but Hiiro goes straight at him and sends the kid's sword flying, while at the same time, breaking his own sword. That doesn't stop him from driving it into the helmet of Relena's friend, though. The kid drops to the ground.
"Tell me sooner next time," Hiiro says. "I'll give it to you instead."
The kid collapses, and Hiiro walks out. Relena's friends watch from afar.
"Was that Hiiro?"
"That's him alright. Then he's pretty strong. Sure doesn't look it."
Relena watches, silently.
A fleeet of battleships sails through the sea. Some marine mobile suits jump off the deck.
"What's taking you?!" the Captain asks.
"We can't deploy the suits," an officer explains. The carrier isn't equipped for them."
"Don't stop until all underwater mobile suits are deployed."
The communications officer interrupts them. "Captain, I have Lieutenant Zechs from Specials on the line."
"What does Treize's little pawn want now?"
Zechs, "Having some problems?"
"None of your business!"
"I know I may be out of line for saying so, but don't you think the time spent on this search will affect your evaluation by the Alliance headquarters?"
"Damn you!"
"Actually, we're having engine problems with our new submarine." Zechs' submarine glides through the water beneath the fleet.
"Hah! You're wasting the military's money."
"We'd like you to let us make some repairs to our submarine."
"You mean on MY ship?"
"Yes. And to return the favor, we'll lend your our latest underwater mobile suits: Pisces and Cancer."
"I read you. You'll give us a hand if we keep quiet about the engine problems."
"Do we have a deal?"
"You're on. Get over here!"
"Right!"
They break the connection, and one of Zechs' comments on the exchange.
"Lieutenant Zechs, there's nothing wrong with this sub."
"It's the only way he'd agree to help us out. We need to find what we're after."
Back at the school, one of Relena's friends is putting on her gloves when she looks out the window.
"Huh?"
A horse speeds by, leaping into the air, with Hiiro on its back.
"Wow!"
Hiiro continues on, apparently away from the horseback riding class.
Many students gather with their horses.
"I see that everybody's here," the instructor begins. "Let's begin our horsemanship class. Today, we'll practice some new maneuvers and I'll explain the main points."
One of Relena's friends comments, "Hey, Hiiro's not here."
"Huh? I'm sure he's around somewhere."
The one who had been putting on gloves walks up to them. She laughs. "That guy doesn't need to be taking any lessons."
Hiiro's horse sits motionless in front of a building. In a room on the third story, Hiiro sits alone at a computer. A map of the world with a wide, basic grid system is on screen. It dissolves into a picture of four torpedoes with a label over them: "TOP SECRET"
He scrolls through a list of armaments, stopping on "Air to Surface Missile." He scrolls through another list and stops on "Surface to Surface Missile." He scrolls through again, stopping on "Cruiser Missile."
"This'll destroy it."
He looks at some diagrams on screen. "Deep water torpedoes. Guiding functions installed. In the Marina weapons warehouse; that's not far!"
He types something else in. "And now for the minor revisions."
He puts a disk in the computer. "Hiiro Yuy, entrance fees unpaid... Cleared. Boarding unpaid... Cleared. Bursary funds... Cleared. Financial check on Hiiro Yuy: no problem."
Relena gets in her pink limo, her friends gathered around.
"See you, Miss Relena. We'll come over right away."
"Miss Relena?"
"Yes?"
"What's the matter, Miss Relena?"
"You'd never guess it was your birthday from that gloomy expression."
"Come on, Relena; show us your pretty smile!"
Relena smiles. "Thank you, everyone."
Hiiro Yuy clings to the undercarriage of a speeding truck. He drops into the middle of the freeway and rolls over to the side. He jumps up and runs off.
In her car, Relena ponders Hiiro. "He's so secretive..."
Hiiro breaks a lock with a crowbar at the weapons warehouse.
Relena, "He has many secrets; that's why..."
Hiiro raises torpedoes out of storage.
"I know his secret; that's why..."
Hiiro messes with the torpedoes from underneath.
"That's why he said he's gonna kill me!"
Relena's driver laughs. "Reading some kind of suspense thriller are you, Miss Relena?"
She smiles. "Yes."
Hiiro continues messing with the torpedoes. "Three torpedoes should trigger the self detonation device. I'll destroy this thing before OZ gets to it. I'll get rid of it."
Zech's submarine glides beneath the surface of the water.
"Lieutenant Zechs. The detector has picked up a trace of metal at point 5500."
"Good. Send the Cancer and Pisces."
An officer behind Zechs stands up. "Lieutenant, let me handle this one."
"Are you sure? This isn't like being in outer space."
"I know. Please leave this to me."
"Right. Move out."
The officer salutes him.
The Cancer and the Pisces are dropped out the back of Zechs' submarine.
"Pisces will be in the lead and Cancer will follow. I'll be giving orders."
The other pilots respond. "Roger."
Two Pisces and one Cancer suit move out.
On board the ship, Zechs and his crew monitor the mobile suits. "Lieutenant Zechs, I've got mobile suits from the Marina."
"Looks like that Captain's caught on to us."
A low rumbling.
Zechs, "An explosion!"
The officer reports to him. "Numerous mobile suits are being destroyed at this same depth."
"Stop engines! I don't understand!"
"How about the Pisces and Cancer?"
"Let them be. What in the world's going on?"
One of the Marina's mobile suits suddenly breaks in half and explodes. Another undergoes the same fate. Deathscythe flies through the debris. Another mobile suit meets the same end.
"We're under attack! But I can't see the enemy!!"
Duo destroys another mobile suit, belonging to the man who was reporting to the Marina that they're under attack.
Alarms sound among the ships up top. There's a lot of commotion on the bridge.
"We've lost contact with all of our mobile suits!"
"Launch torpedoes to those coordinates!"
"But Zechs' submarine is still in the area."
"Nevermind that! He could even be the enemy! Launch!"
Several torpedoes are shot out the side of the ship, and other ships nearby. Four torpedoes at once from each ship, with several sets shot out in quick succession. They sink towards Zechs' sub and explode around it. The sub struggles to get away with alarms going off on board.
An officer reports, "The Captain's ship has launched torpedoes!"
Zechs, "That fool."
One of Zechs' mobile suits checks in. "What's with all the commotion?"
Zechs, "Careful! Our enemy's close by."
"You don't suppose that Gundam pilot survived...?"
"I doubt it, but be cautious anyway."
On the bridge of the flagship, the captain leans over a computer console. "Try and survive THAT kind of torpedo shower!"
An explosion, and a bright light fills the bridge. "What's that?!"
A ship nearby breaks in half and sinks. Then another one, even closer.
Next to the Captain's ship, a large form emerges from the water. The Gundam Deathscythe. Duo lands on the ship's deck and looks straight in the bridge windows. The officers inside cower and shrink back. Duo raises his scythe and cuts the bridge cleanly in half with a diagonal slash. The top half slides down over the bottom and explodes. A helicopter flees, but Duo fires his arm projectile at it. Deathscythe stands in the flaming wreckage of the ship.
Duo looks at the havoc he's created. "You'll all die! Anyone who sees me has got a date with his maker!"
Fireworks go off near a mansion. A large party is going on in a commons area. Everyone turns and coments as Relena appears.
"Thank you all for coming to my birthday party. I've never been so delighted."
Relena's friends are gathered at the foot of the stairway.
"Miss Relena! I'd like to wish you a happy birthday."
In unison, "Happy birthday!"
Relena, "Thank you."
Nearby, Relena's mother and father talk.
Mother, "Do you really have to leave so soon, darling?"
He nods.
"Couldn't you stay a bit longer for Relena?"
Relena, standing on the stairs, interrupts. "Father..."
They turn. "Relena, I'm terribly sorry."
"No need to apologize, Father. I'm old enough to understand how important your business is. Take care."
He walks up to her and she kisses him on the cheek. Some photo's drop out of the folders he's carrying. Pictures of "shooting stars."
Relena stares down at them. "Those pictures..."
A radio nearby interrupts her thoughts.
"And now for the news. According to a military announcement, the meteorites that entered the atmosphere at five locations disintegrated before reaching the ground. They were not manned spacecrafts, as previously rumored."
Relena flashes back to when she saw Hiiro's entry capsule explode, revealing Wing Bird mode. "That's a lie. Hiiro was in one of them. Then, what does that make Hiiro? Is he a 'Star Prince'?"
Hiiro speeds down the highway in his stolen ambulance, torpedoes safely tucked away in the back. The kid he'd been fencing with rides nearby on a red motorcyle, roses in hand.
The kid says to himself, "Darn. I'm gonna be late to Relena's party!" He nearly gets driven off the road by Hiiro's ambulance. "Whoa!"
He looks up inside, seeing Hiiro. "Huh?"
Hiiro continues on a different road and the kid stops. "That looked just like Hiiro. Couldn't be."
Hiiro continues on, having not even noticed the other person. "OZ is moving ahead with its plans. Will I make it in time?"
Applause at a circus. Backstage, the manager meets a new applicant.
"What's that? You want to join?"
A caged lion snarls at the applicant, who is none other than Trowa Barton.
"Any experience?"
Trowa hands him a sheet of paper with his picture and information on it, then walks over to the cage while the circus man peruses the resume.
"This doesn't tell me a bloody thing."
Trowa puts his hand in the cage, holding his arm out to the lion inside. The lion growls and Trowa softens his expression. He greets the lion. "Hi." The lion stops growling and walks up to Trowa. Trowa pats it on the head and the lion growls its approval.
"Hey! What's going on?"
"Beasts only bare their fangs at enemies," Trowa explains. "They are true to their feelings."
Catherine watches the goings on from the side. "Mysterious kid..."
Covered on the back of a truck in the forest behind the circus, Heavyarms lies idle. The crowd inside, unaware of the Gundam's presence, cheer and applaud the show inside.
In the desert, Quatre Raberba Winner and his Maguanak Corps have set up camp. Several Maguanak mobile suits guard the premises, protecting a ring of tents and a small lake. Inside, pilots check their meausres and guages, but nothing very exciting is going on.
Inside one of the tents, Quatre lies on his stomach, look out at the Earth through binoculars. A servant walks up to him. "Master Quatre, I've brought you some refreshments."
"Thanks a lot. Leave it there."
"How do you like the Earth?"
"It's beautiful. Very, very beautiful."
He peers through his binoculars out as his Sandrock Gundam, currently housing some birds. Another shot of the Gundam from outside the binoculars, then back to Quatre.
"The Earth... Do they know how beautiful Earth is?"
In a clearing of a forest, Wu Fei and several military-looking men have met. They stand between some large military trucks as they talk. Wu Fei presents them with a briefcase full of money as another truck pulls up. "This should help."
The truck driver stops and talks to the man negotiating with Wu Fei. "Where should I leave these?"
Wu Fei glares at him and the other man responds. "Right here."
The driver, "What? A place like this? Why are you handing a huge amount of explosives to a kid?"
"Mind your own business. He's paid in full for the truck, too." The man salutes Wu Fei. "Take care."
"Thanks for your help."
Meanwhile, Shenlong Nataku sits hidden underwater.
Relena stares sadly at her birthday cake, candles still glowing.
"Blow them out, Miss Relena."
"Yeah, Miss Relena!"
Relena suddenly drops back to reality. "Huh?"
"The candles."
"Oh, that's right."
Just then, her friend, the very same guy that fenced with Hiiro and saw him on the highway, walks in. "Good. I didn't miss the main event. Happy birthday, Relena."
"Thank you."
He looks around. "So it looks like Hiiro's not here after all. Then maybe that was Hiiro that I saw..."
Relena stands up. "Did you see Hiiro?"
"Yeah, along the coastal road. But the funny thing is, he was driving an ambulance. Must have been someone else."
Relena thinks to herself, "An ambulance! That's him alright!"
"Which direction was that amublance headed for?"
"Hm? For the military port."
She runs out, and her friends stay back and question her.
"Miss Relena, where are you going?"
"Please continue the party without me. I'll be right back."
The kid who saw Hiiro on the highway, "If you're going to the port, then at least let me give you a ride."
"Let us go with you."
"No! You say here!"
They all look surprised.
"Excuse me, everyone."
Relena runs out just as her mother runs in. "Wait a minute, Relena! What's gotten into her? I've never seen such a severe expression."
Relena rides toward the port. "Hiiro. What are you planning to do? Who are you going to kill?"
Cancer and Pisces approach a mobile suit on the ocean floor.
"I've found the Leo."
Cancer shines its spot light on the Leo's head.
"But where's the Gundam? Doesn't make sense. There's no other metal being detected."
Pisces comes in over the radio. "I can see it!"
The two Pisces suits float on opposite sides of the Gundam, shining their lights on it.
Cancer, "Let's inform Lieutenant Zechs."
Zechs, "Good job. You've found it."
"Yeah, but it's amazing. There's not even a scratch!"
"I must say our enemies have built an impressive beast. However, now that we have it in our grasp, we'll be fierce beasts ourselves. Watch out for the current. We'll wait at this depth."
The three mobile suits prepare to salvage the Gundam. "Okay, get the cables and floats ready."
"Yes sir!" Pisces begins to extend its arm out. An alarm blares and a yellow/orange light flashes on and of inside the Gundam.
"Hey, what's with the noise? Is it self detonating?"
A small object drops down between the mobile suits and explodes, bathing the area in a bright white light.
"What is this?!"
Deathscythe drops down.
Pisces, "Where's this light coming from?!"
Duo slices Pisces in half and continues on.
The other pisces begins firing off torpedoes at random. "It's the enemy!"
Duo turns toward it and chases after it. He slices hit cleanly through the middle, horizontally, and Pisces explodes.
Cancer, "Impossible! How can he use a thermal energy weapon underwater?! I'LL GET YOU!"
He catches Deathscythe between the Cancer's arms and begins firing missiles straight into the face plate. Seven hits, and the Gundam's grip begins to loosen on the scythe. One more hit, and Cancer lets it fall.
"I defeated it, Lieutenant Zechs!"
Deathscythe fires its arm projectile straight into the middle of Cancer and starts drilling. Cancer fills with water and the pilot lets out a scream before his death. Deathscythe regains its balance. Inside, Duo clutches his head with one hand.
"OZ's new armor is pretty tough!" He looks down at his view screen and sees Gundam Wing on the ocean floor. "So that's what they were searching for." He examines it. "It's on self detonate mode... It's identical to mine!" He finds the self detonation mechanism. "Even the location of the self detonation device!" He turns the scythe vertically and changes it to more of a drill than a scythe. He pushes it down into the back of Wing and shuts off the self detonation. "No sense destroying it. I'll use it for parts." He grabs Wing in his arms and starts to lift off from the ocean floor.
At the ocean port, sirens are going off. An explosion, then two more in quick succession. Relena pulls up on a bluff overlooking the port. She runs to the edge and looks down on the port, where explosions continue going off. Soldiers are confused, but one of them is able to bark orders.
"Retreat! Load the injured! Hey, meds! Move your butts! Hurry up!" He looks back at Hiiro's ambulance and finds it empty. "Huh? Where'd they go?!"
A small object drops down into a submarine between two soldiers. Apparently, a bomb. It explodes, killing the Alliance soldiers. Hiiro rises out of the submarine and lowers his torpedoes.
"Hiiro! So it IS you, Hiiro." Relena steps onto the sub, and Hiiro ignores her. He brings a control board up and prepares to launch his torpedoes. She looks over and sees the torpedoes. "No, Hiiro." He continues working and she walks closer. "Hiiro, what are you doing? Tell me! Who are you, anyway? Those are torpedoes, right? I can tell! I want to know who you are! Talk to me, Hiiro!"
He turns to face her. "Relena..."
Her expression softens a bit. "Hiiro..."
He turns and points a gun at her. "You're in too deep." She gasps and draws back. "Goodbye, Relena." He starts to squeeze the trigger, but before he does, another shot rings out. A bullet flies straight at Hiiro, hitting him in the arm. Relena ducks. Hiiro gets thrown by the hit and loses his gun.
Relena looks up. "Hiiro!"
Hiiro holds his bleeding arm. "Who are you?!"
A man in all very dark blue, whose face his hardly visible, stands, gun aimed at Hiiro. "It's pretty obvoius that you're the bad guy here. Are you alright, Lady?"
Duo Maxwell looks up a little higher and Relena runs over to Hiiro. "Hiiro! Are you okay?!" Hiiro dives for his gun again, and Duo shoots him in the knee.
"Don't overdo it. Remember, you're injured."
Hiiro struggles to his feet and Relena runs over to him, jumping between Hiiro and Duo to shield Hiiro. "Stop it! Why do you want to shoot him?!"
"Wait a minute..."
Relena tears off pieces of her dress and wraps them around Hiiro's wounds. Hiiro looks at her with an odd expression on his face. Surprised is not quite the right word. More like quizzical.
Duo, "Great! How did I end up the bad guy here?" His watch beeps and he looks down at it. "It's already risen this high. Must have miscalculated the tide."
Gundam Wing and Gundam Deathscythe break the surface of the water. Relena looks out at them. "What in the world is that?"
Duo holds out a flare, causing Relena to shield her eyes. "Don't look. Lady, I'm sure you have your reasons for being here, but you'd better just leave. Do yourself a favor."
Hiiro leaps to his torpedoes.
"Haven't had enough?!" Duo fires at Hiiro again, but misses, hitting the torpedoes instead. Hiiro looks out at the Gundams in the water.
"So it is my mobile suit!" He hits the control panel and the torpedoes jet off over the water. As they drop into the water, Hiiro gets thrown off.
"What are you doing, fool?!"
As Hiiro falls to the water below, he watches the torpedoes speed toward the Gundams. "Finally, everything is finished. Mission complete." He passes out.
The torpedoes hit Wing and Deathscythe, but don't destroy them. The tremendous explosion shoots up a mountain of water, ad the mobile suits begin to sink again. Duo and Relena watch the explosion, and Hiiro lies motionless in the water nearby.
Duo looks away. "Damn it. He knows Gundanium's impact tolerance. Which means he's the pilot of the mobile suit." Duo looks down at the unconscious Hiiro.
Relena watches everything from a few feet away. "Who are these guys?"
Zechs' sub continues through the water.
"Lieutenant Zechs. I've lost all communication with the Cancer and Pisces."
"I see... They say you won't live once you see a Gundam. I hope that's not true."
Hiiro lies in the water, still unconscious.
Next
Time
Hiiro is restrained in the medical treatment room of the
Alliance Military. Duo, in the meantime, plans Hiiro's escape.
Zechs predicts that a Gundam will be attacking the Aries at the
Alliance Military Base of the Mediterranean Sea. It's there that
Zechs is introduced to a new weapon.
Next, on Gundam Wing, Episode 3: Five Gundams Confirmed.
Written by Dash