Chapter 12: Decimation

The pilot of Slayer emerged from his Shadow Gundam. He climbed down onto the ground and walked to the broken Phoenix Gundam. Climbing into the hatch he saw the female pilot.

“Who are you?” it asked. Mika stared at the humanoid like being. It looked humanoid and was covered in a dark material.

“That isn’t any of your business.” she said fiercely.

“What happened to the last pilot?”

“He isn’t here anymore. He is out in space dealing with your other Shadow Gundam friends.” she said smiling. Even though she was in pain and danger, she couldn’t help but smile.

The pilot hit the wall and screamed. “They won’t defeat him...he is mine to kill. And you...you are worthless. A worse pilot than he was.”

Mika stared at him as anger boiled within her. She screamed, “Worthless? I am not worthless!” Grabbing her energy pistol she shot at the Shadowscythe pilot. However he dodged her attack and fired at her with one of his own.

“You are a fool. And do not worry about your shoulder, I only shot a corruption dart inside. You deserve to suffer while you see the truth.”

With that he left and she felt scared. She could not move and she felt an odd energy travel through her body. As Slayer took off, she saw two figures in the distance as her vision began to darken. Mika fainted right before she noticed the two figures were the ones who built the destroyed Gundam-Eater.

Meanwhile in space the battle raged on. The dragonoid fired its attacks upon the Shadow Gundams causing them to move directly into firing range of Guardian Spirit, Swordmagi, and the fighter ships of Odessa and Starbuck.

Omicron, piloting Guardian Spirit, locked onto Charon and sniped the shoulder damaging it. Ryukai moved in and stuck with his heat saber. “Dragonoid, how long until the Decoy System is ready for use again?”

“The Gundam Boost Systems typically take an hour to recharge.”

“This would be much easier if they didn’t need to recharge...” Omicron added.

The dragonoid snorted as it moved in and crushed the immobile Charon. Swordmagi launched its Purity Nexus cannon at Abyssal Flare which dodged and created guns out of the shadows and fired upon Swordmagi. The Gundam was hit and retreated while Guardian Spirit moved in and fired its cannon on Abyssal Flare. The weak Gundam exploded as it was finished off by Starbuck.

“Are they all gone?” Ryukai asked.

“No, the one called Slayer is here...”

Slayer could be seen rapidly approaching from Zargon. Starbuck and Odessa flew towards the Gundam and fired at it. Slayer dodged every energy blast and rocketed toward’s Odessa’s ship. Using its sword it sliced the ship in half.

“You aren’t who I am looking for.” he said turning towards Starbuck.

“Odessa!” he screamed. Starbuck dodged the sword strike from Slayer and quickly turning around fired on the Shadow Gundam. “You again! Why are you looking for me?”

“You abandoned your Gundam...we were equally matched and I looked forward to seeing who would be victorious.” the pilot said “But now it is too late. I will just have to kill you.”

As they began to battle, Starbuck saw Omicron take Odessa into Guardian Spirit. “Don’t worry Starbuck, she is still alive!” he exclaimed.

Starbuck dodged the continued attacks by Slayer and Guardian Spirit attempted to shoot Slayer, however the unit was dodging every attack.

“How is Slayer dodging all of our attacks?” Ryukai yelled angrily as he shot the Purity Nexus Cannon.

“It is the head.” the dragonoid responded. “It is able to predict your movements. I suggest doing something unpredictable.”

Omicron smiled and locked onto Swordmagi and fired. Slayer turned to see what happened and Starbuck fired on the head damaging the link between it and the body. “Grah! You disgusting humans...”

“You are the disgusting one. Every time we gain an advantage you curse us because you know you are weak. We are stronger than the darkness and you know it.”

“Then prove it!” Slayer yelled.

From behind Slayer a beam fired from Swordmagi’s Purity Nexus Cannon, creating a hole in the middle of the mech. The purity particles moved throughout the mech stripping away the layers of shadow to reveal a weak metal frame.

“Done.” Omicron said triumphantly. “All three Shadow Gundams destroyed. Did we win?”

The dragonoid smiled. “No, we have not. The Shadow Gundams are as they say they are. Only a fraction of the might of the Shadowscythe. It is time we took the fight to them. While EbilCorp and the fleets here war with each other, we will strike at the center of their existence.”

“The center? The Shadowscythe galaxy?” Ryukai asked surprised.

“No, the Shadowscythe do not originate from a galaxy, but from another world completely. We are going to strike at their only way to cross over into this world. It is a large facility between the two accessed by a portal located on the edge of this galaxy.”

“This is a dangerous mission.” Odessa said, now having woken up. “Are you sure about this?”

“Yes. My sensors indicate Mika is okay, as is her Gundam and Gundam-Eater. The Paladin is under repairs as we speak. We will return to Zargon once more to prepare for the journey. I warn you that this will be a mission most consider impossible.”

“We have no other choice.” Starbuck said gravely.

“I would tell you this is the Point of No Return, but it is not. That point lies through the portal...because once we step through we may never step back out.”

Everyone acknowledged this and the group returned to the surface of Zargon. There they met with Mika Ray, Selena, Billy, Tek, Lisa, and Maria. All of the Gundams and ships were repaired and everyone prepared for the journey. The mood was very serious and they all spoke little of what they knew was coming.

After a day of rest they all took off into space once again. The Dragonoid, the Dragonguard Gundams, and the Paladin. They all trusted the dragonoid knew what he was doing, but still worried as they headed towards the edge of the galaxy.

Tomorrow in Gundam: Shadow...the Point of No Return! The forces of light head towards the portal to darkness. With hope they can overcome the Shadowscythe they prepare a dangerous and foolish mission to the heart of Shadowscythe territory.