Chapter.09 Fight to the Death on the Burning Sand

Having reunited, the Gundam team heads for Dakar. Judau accepted Bright’s order to race across the desert to invade. Two things were a challenge, though: the never-ending fine sand and a Ple.

Ple had locked herself in the cockpit of the Mega Rider, bathing in glee in a simple plastic pool filled with water. Yes, their precious water. Judau and the others had tried to stop her to no avail. Ple had told them that if they stayed (in the desert) every day, then they’d have to take a bath. That meant that Judau and the others wouldn’t get a lick of water since it was all locked in the cockpit of the Mega Rider.

Meanwhile, Elle and the others who were working on the Hyaku Shiki and the MK-II, were growing irritated. Not only was every armor plate on the suits filled with sand, but they were also baking in the sun, AND they were thirsty. Ple was just wasting water.

Elle wanted to drag Ple out, but Judau said he’d head off and find them an oasis to bring them some water. Roux yells at him to use the Double Zeta, but he says it’s messed up and that the Wave Rider has more maneuverability. The Zeta transforms, and he sets off on his search.

Concerned, Ple wonders where Judau is headed off to. Since she wasn’t with him, she kicks the Mega Rider into high gear, sweeping Roux off the unit as it takes off. As the dust settles around them, a question arises.

“Who told us to take Ple?”
“That would’ve been Amuro.”

For a while after that, no one spoke. A mirage wavered on the horizon.

All the while, a Zaku Recon and a Geze were hiding behind a nearby hill. Niki was using a super-telephoto camera to take photos of the Gundam team while Mashmyre was staring at them through his binoculars. He curses the AEUG, thinking that they sent four Gundams out in separate directions to track them. Niki is astounded by the Hyaku Shiki’s golden color, to which Mashymyre says that it’s fairly common nowadays. He laments in his own mind about showing him The O or Baund Doc, confident that he’d be stunned by them. Back at the oasis, Rommel received a black and white photo of the Gundam team, saying the same thing as Niki. They were going to make their move and ambush the Gundams.

Ple, in the meantime, had caught up to Judau. The Zeta boarded the Mega Rider, and the two took off towards the oasis. Naturally, Ple headed for the cockpit to be with Judau. Since the air conditioning wasn’t working, it was quite humid with two people in the cockpit. Ple was wearing a frilly slip, which she tried taking off. Judau scolded her, telling he she can’t take it off and be naked. Irritated, Ple demands that he turn up the AC. Ple takes a paper cup out of the portable cooker, sticks a straw in it, and starts drinking. Judau grumbles that they’ve been going and going, and all they see is sand and thinks they must’ve gotten turned around somewhere. Judau and Ple start conversing. He tells her that Elle and the others are likely roughing it right now, to which Ple replies that she doesn’t care. Judau reminds her that if she doesn’t fix what she’s done, then people won’t like her. She says she doesn’t care and that she only needs him to like her before latching onto him in a bear hug. He yells at her to get off him that it’s too hot, but she says she loves him and rubs her cheek against his.

Just as they were about to pass over a rise, a hand pops up from the sand, yanking on the Mega Rider’s landing gear. It was a Rommel Team Desert Zaku. The Mega Rider loses its balance and topples over. As it was falling, Judau barely dodged a heat tomahawk blade. It was Niki. Recovering, Judau is astounded that they’ve been hiding in the sand. The Desert Zaku fires off its machine gun wildly, and the Zeta blocks it with its shield. Before he can attack, the Zaku darts away before jetting off on sand hover over its feet. Judau begins his pursuit, digging the Mega Rider out of the sand. Niki taunts the Mega Rider to catch up with him, something he couldn’t help but do since it was his first real battle in eight years.

Ahead, at the intercept point, A Dwadge and eight Desert Zaku were hiding in the sand. Rommel’s team held their breaths as they waited for the Gundam team. A short distance away, Yazan, Gemon, and Mashmyre were on a small hill, their Geze buried in the sand behind them. They were gazing out over the landscape through binoculars. Rommel had told them that he didn’t need their help, that he’d show them precisely what they were capable of. Mashmyre tried to object, but Yazan and Gemon readily accepted his rejection. Yazan took his eyes off his binoculars and told them that they don’t stand a chance anyway, but it’s a good way to see just what the Gundam team is capable of. Gemon is perplexed by this. Yazan explains that you can’t win a battle by guts alone and that three things must be combined to win: the machine’s performance, the skill of the pilot, and the determination to win.

Mashmyre says that fortune decides the outcome of a battle and that he’d rather bet on Rommel’s experience. Yazan chides him for always being one for spiritualism, to which he responds that they’ll know soon enough the outcome. In the distance was the faint wavering of dust beyond shimmering flames.

As he was fleeing, Niki tossed a cracker behind him, causing a series of explosions. The Mega Rider dodged the explosions and continued closing the distance. Niki curses that he can’t possibly be caught, he has a wife and kids after all before cresting the hill in front of him. He was panicking. As he launched himself over the hill, he landed right in front of the Gundam team. Beecha and the others were absolutely dumbfounded at the sight. Just then, the Mega Rider with the Zeta launched itself over the hill. Judau calls out to the team over the radio that it’s the enemy and that they should go after it. Everyone scrambles to their units and takes off.

Just as Judau was about to catch up to Niki, the Desert Zaku veers off and dives for cover before a volley of rockets started raining down around the pursuing Gundam team. The Zeta got knocked off the Mega Rider. Judau orders everyone to spread out. Ple was holding her forehead like she hit it on a console or something, but Judau didn’t have time to deal with her. As soon as their team scattered, the surrounding area began to explode. It was a minefield. The Dodai Kai plunged into a pillar of sand from the explosion and bounced back, Iino and Mondo lost consciousness. The rockets were being fired off from two Desert Zaku from a platform high above. Behind them, a Zaku Tanker was waiting to replenish their weapons. Behind that was another Desert Zaku loading rockets into a hyper bazooka.

Judau tells them that they have to force their way through as he rushed to the front. As the others fell in line behind them, Rommel’s Dwadge suddenly popped out in front, catching the Zeta off guard. Judau screams out that it’s a trap, but three other Desert Zaku’s pop up from the sand. From the sand beneath the high platform, two more mid-range support Desert Zaku appeared, holding hyper machine guns. Niki’s Desert Zaku moved to join them all. An intense cloud of dust had split the Gundam team apart. The screams from the others broke in over the radio, but Judau was unable to help them.

Angered, he shouts at the enemy, asking if their Neo Zeon. His beam saber clashes against the Dwadge’s heat tomahawk. Rommel tells them that they’re from the Principality of Zeon’s African Front under the direct command of the former Garma Zabi. He says that Neo Zeon is the new Zeon that is led by Princess Mineva, Garma’s niece. Judau says he doesn’t know who Garma or Mineva is, but asks why they’re attacking them. Rommel says they’ve been waiting for eight years in the barren lands and that the Gundam is their enemy that must be defeated. Judau fires off his verniers, jumping backward and kicking up a cloud of dust that enveloped them both.

On the hill, the trio continued watching the battle. Mashymyre is impressed by the ferocity of the battle. Yazan, however, isn’t buying it. He says that Gundam team is just confused by the unfamiliarity of desert combat and caught up in the enemy’s pace. Mashmyre snaps at him, asking him whether he wants Rommel to be defeated, but he insists that he’s just making an objective analysis of the battle. This was the first time he’d been able to say such a thing.

As the dust was swirling around them, Judau made contact with the Mk-II. Elle asked him if he was doing okay. She then whispers that they’re going to be killed due to the attack they’re in. Ple asks why they’re fighting on the ground. As if they’d been dumb and forgot they could fly, Elle launched the Mk-II into the air while the Zeta transformed into Wave Rider mode and soared upwards. Rommel was stunned, asking whether it’s the variable mobile suit they’d heard about. The Mk-II fired off a volley of beam rifle blasts, and a mid-range Desert Zaku took a hit and toppled over. Their thin armor was easily pierced. Lacking the ability to fly, the Mk-II started to descend. The Wave Rider took advantage of its ability to fly and fired off a volley of blasts towards the long-range support units that had the higher ground. They were taken out one after another and the tanker was blown to pieces too, having been caught in an ammo explosion.

The Hyaku Shiki also catapulted itself into the air. The Desert Zaku, one pushed around by Karahan’s Desert Zaku, suddenly separated, its Core Fighter blasting off in front of a stunned Karahan. The mobile suits were coming apart. Karahan wasn’t the only one stunned by the situation unfolding, everyone in the team was. Roux’s Core Fighter launched a missile that struck Niki’s Desert Zaku in its mono eye. With his main camera taken out, Niki panicked, and he moved the controls recklessly. His Desert Zaku wobbled, stepping into the minefield. Explosions plumed one after another and the suit scattered like a desert flower. Right before he died, beyond the flash of light, Niki saw the smiling faces of his wife and child and his home of Side 3.

Mashmyre shudders at the scene, calling it the “beauty of ruination” (or, alt. beauty of defeat/aesthetics of ruin). Yazan says that they’ve (the G-Team) have won. Mashmyre says that this (the scene) is what he’s been looking for as he jumps up and runs for his Geze. He says that if they’re to perish together, it is their destiny. He launches his Geze from the sand. Yazan is peeved and tells Gemon that they’re going after him. But, Gemon had no desire to get taken out, so he chose to stay behind.

As the Dwadge stood surrounded by smoke, Rommel couldn’t believe the scene unfolding in front of him. All of the Desert Zaku in his squad had been taken out, their corpses exposed to the scorching sand. The Zeta, Mk-II, and Hyaku Shiki surrounded his unit as the Core Fighter circled overhead. Rommel laments that they’d been training until today and that he can’t believe they were all wiped out. Just then, the cockpit of the Zeta opened up, and Judau and Ple appeared. Rommel was even more stunned by the fact that children were in the cockpit. Judau tells him to stop his fight and that he’ll only die in vain if he continues. Ple echoes his sentiments. Rommel was appalled, but he couldn’t help but laugh. It was a self-mocking laugh. He realizes that while the desert around them had remained the same, they had been left behind by the times. Nonetheless, he wasn’t about to take this lying down. The Dwadge readied its head tomahawk and dashed towards the Zeta.

Shocked, Judau jumped back into the cockpit with Ple. The Mk-II and Hyaku Shiki fired their beam rifles at the charging Dwadge. The Core Fighter fired its Vulcan guns at the same time. Judau took up an intercepting stance, drawing its beam saber as the Dwadge brought down its heat tomahawk. Ple closed her eyes involuntarily. Just then, out of fear, she opened them and saw the Zeta’s beam saber bounce off the Dwadge’s tomahawk and pierce the cockpit area. Rommel’s face could be seen through the damage. He looked like a demon.

Defiant, Rommel says that he won’t let them get to Dakar, that he won’t let them impede Lady Mineva. The Dwadge didn’t have the strength to fight anymore. The suit fell backward, the impact causing flames to burst out from the cockpit area. Ple was horrified, screaming at the old man to get out of the cockpit. The next moment, the cockpit area exploded with a loud bang, and the two swore they heard Rommel’s desperate cry. But, there was no time to cry over the loss as Mashmyre arrived on the scene. He jabs at the Zeta with three of its arms before using a stick in the fourth to poke the Zeta in the shoulder and knock him down to one knee. Judau is irritated by the unprovoked attack since it seems like childs play after the fierce battle they had just fought.

Judau says that if he wants to die so badly, then he can as he launches the grenade launcher from both arms of the Zeta. The shots struck the cockpit of the Geze, which was already coming down fast. Mashmyre, along with the rose on his chest, was scattered to the Earth. The stick that was in his suit’s hand was blown away by the blast and landed at Yazan’s Geze’s feet. Peeved, Yazan swung it around as he approached the Zeta. By this point, Ple is scared of Judau, who has now taken on a defiant attitude towards the approaching Yazan. He managed to hold the Geze at bay, bringing the muzzle of his beam rifle to center on the cockpit. Realizing he was about to be toast, Yazan opened the cockpit and jumped out. Just as Judau fired, the blast sent him flying backward. He was surrounded by a flash of explosions and disappeared into the desert.

Beecha asked Judau if he was okay. As he wiped the sweat from his brow, Judau says that he is before looking out over the remains of the deadly battle. Black smoke was rising up out of the wreckage of suits around them. He asks why Rommel, Mashmyre and Yazan were so obsessed with fighting like they were. Yet, there was no one across the vast land that could give them an answer. The team returned to where they originally started out, having retrieved Iino and Mondo from the damaged Dodai Kai, and then set off for Dakar. On their way, they stopped at an oasis, but no one noticed that it was the garrison of Rommel’s unit. The people of the oasis, including Niki’s wife, showed no emotion as they shared water with Judau and the others. The Gundam team thanked them and left. Judau was struck by the sight of a boy staring at them with a resentful look in his eyes.

On the outskirts of the oasis, a cross cast a long shadow over the desert. Crossing the shadow, Gemon made his way to the oasis. All that was left was his single Geze. He laments that he can’t possibly run a junk shop in a place like this. Just then, a voice says that he isn’t looking well. Shocked, Gemon turns around and sees a man standing in the setting sun. It’s Yazan. He’s shocked, and Yazan tells him that he’s immortal, that he can’t die even if he’s killed. Happy, Gemon says that he’ll buy him a drink. Before that, though, Yazan says they have work to do. Confused, Gemon asks what that is. Yazan says that they have to erect graves for Mashmyre, Rommel, and the others.

As he walks off with Gemon into the sunset, he thinks to himself that it’s not a bad thing to live as a deserter for a bit. He tells Gemon that he thinks he’s been fighting a little too hard and that he needs to get a little rest. He doesn’t want to end up like Rommel, after all. And so, Yazan Gable, feared beast of the Titans, rested his bloody fangs at the bottom of a gravity well.