Chapter 4: Revolution

While everyone was stunned by the Gundam’s entrace, the prisoners turned on the guards. Starbuck turned around and elbowed the guard in the entrance and then jumped on him, smashing the helmet. The energy cuffs broke from the energy released from the visor.

With his hands free, he grabbed a small energy dagger and broke the cuffs on his ankles. Starbuck turned on the other guards and in a few moments they were on the ground and everyone freed. They seemed to be weakened by the transformation which made them easy to overcome.

“Starbuck, go and get the Phoenix. I’ll pilot the other Dragonguard Gundam.” Odessa commanded and she and Starbuck ran back towards the passage they entered through. Tek and Ensign Lisa followed them too to provide support from the Carrier of Hope.

Arriving at the hangar, Odessa and Starbuck entered the Dragonguard Gundams. Starbuck and Odessa took off and headed outside where they found the Kingadent and Maria-5 preparing to fight in the courtyard.

“Three Dragonguard Gundams against a mobile suit...this is hardly a fair fight.” the Kingadent exclaimed.

“It was never meant to be.” Maria-5 cried out. Her hate for the Kingadent was evident and she felt strongly betrayed. She wondered: How many years has he been a traitor? Have all of Loreon’s economy and government declines been caused by him? Was there a chance of winning any of the fights against the Shadowscythe? All these thoughts fueled her rage.

“Well then, let us begin!” he said as a lance of energy erupted from his mobile suit’s arm. He lunged towards the Dragonguard Gundam which dodged. Maria 5 aimed the chain gun that was part of the left arm at the Kingadent. She began firing at the Kingadent and making contact with his mobile suit, the energy penetrated the armor and began to cause serious damage.

The Kingadent responded by turning the spear into a large shield. The other Gundams approached and attempted to attack him from the other side. Using the other hand equipped with a gun he aimed and pointed at the other Gundams, shooting to keep them away.

The Kingadent knew it was hopeless to fight back. A mobile suit had no hopes of winning against a Gundam let alone three, so he initiated his escape plan. Transferring all energy to the head of the mobile suit, he pressed a large red button. The mobile suit exploded and the head shot upwards towards space.

“He’s escaping!” warned Starbuck.

“Maria 5, your unit appears to be based on ranged combat.” Odessa advised. “Activate the rifle!”

Maria 5 took control and aimed at the head. “Locking on to target!” she proclaimed. Steadying the rifle she fired. The first shot grazed the side of the head, but did not slow it down. She aimed again and fired, piercing the top of the head. Energy began leaking out.

Everyone watched as the head exploded. “He is finally dead.” Maria 5 said.

“Maria, you seem to have operated that Gundam like a professional.” Starbuck complimented.

“Have you received any military training?” asked Odessa.

Maria smiled. “No, it just felt...natural.” After saying she screamed as memories came rushing into her head. She saw a large facility, then a pair of red eyes, and finally a gigantic black hole. Her last sight was the other two Gundams rushing towards her.

---

Maria 5 awoke and looked around. She was in a hospital bed in a large spacious room. Gigantic windows lined the room and she saw Soluna City.

“This must be GEARS University.” she thought.

A man in black armor turned around. He saw he begin to get up. “Don’t rush in getting up, Maria.” he said.

“Who are you? Do you know what happened to me?”

“I work here at GEARS and I am guarding you while Nurse Helia goes and gets some supplies. And yes I do know. What happened to you is simple, but after that...is very complicated. Right now you are under the protection of Dean Warlic. The police have charged you with assassinating the Kingadent.”

Maris 5 looked at the man. Instantly she became frightened. “Please, tell me!” she begged.

“After you were brought here by Captain Starbuck and Admiral Pureheart, Helia examined you. It seems you received a flood of repressed memories causing your body to go into shock. These memories caused very abnormal brain waves unlike anything the nurse had ever seen. She was able to shut them off, but it seems getting rid of them also deleted the memories, as your brain activity was very minimal after the incident.”

Maria tried to remember, but realized the man was right. She couldn’t remember anything. It felt as if nothing happened after she destroyed the Kingadent’s escape pod.

“Now on to what happened after...”

---

“What do you think happened, Admiral?” Starbuck asked watching Maria lie in the hospital bed.

“Nurse Helia just explained it. A flood of repressed memories.”

“No, but what triggered them? I can’t imagine she has ever done anything as big as killing a Kingadent in her past. Why would that be the trigger?”

Odessa began to think. It was quite strange, but there was only one explanation she could think of. “She said it felt natural. Perhaps she did have some sort of training and using it again brought back the memories.”

Odessa’s phone beeped in her pocket. “Oh, that must be Tek.” she said taking the phone out and answering it.

“Tek, what have you found?”

“I have found everything that could have possibly helped us in this war.” she said angry. “We have evidence of broadcasts from other planets. They all talk about superweapons they have developed against the Shadowscythe. From a planet called Zargon, a woman named Starstorm created a gigantic mobile suit. From a planet simply called 51, a bomb that can destroy an entire planet. As well as various distress calls, it is all here.”

“Then that is where we must go from here.” Odessa said gravely. “The people of this planet are in a state of rage due to the assassination of the Kingadent. The Dragonguard Gundams are their enemy. How foolish these people are.”

“We can show them the truth!”

“No, it won’t do any good. They are out of hope, and knowing hope lies just out of reach on other planets won’t help. The Dragonguard Gundams were the hope they needed, but now they are the symbol of their hate.”

Tek was silent, so Odessa continued on. “Can you find the co-ordinates of these places?”
“I can only get the location of Zargon. It is the closest and actually not that far away. If we can break through the Shadowscythe forces, we can initiate a warp jump and be there in a few minutes.”

“Prepare the Carrier of Hope.” she then turned to Starbuck.

“Where do we go next, Admiral?”

“We are heading for another planet. One called Zargon where they have developed a weapon against the Shadowscythe. It is a gigantic mobile suit.”

“I will go alert the Dean.” Starbuck said as he left. As he walked towards the top of the university he reflected on the day. Fighting the Shadowscythe to defend LOS-7, killing their Kingadent, and now heading to an alien planet. They were desperate to defeat the Shadowscythe and now amazing opportunities were arising to do so. It was almost too much to handle.

Upon exiting the elevator and checking in with the secretary, he proceeded into the room where he saw the Dean sitting in his chair facing the window.

“Dean Warlic, I have news on our situation.” he said. There was no response. He walked around to face the dean and found him dead. He was bleeding from a hole in his forehead. There were scorch marks which meant it was an energy weapon. In his hand was a note.

“My father did not see the truth. I have come to save this world, and take what does not belong here off this planet and back to its owner.”

Starbuck ran back down to Odessa. Upon arriving he found Odessa and Maria gone. On the floor was a phone. He picked it up and called Tek.

“Admiral?” Tek asked.

“No, this is Captain Starbuck. We have a problem.”

Next Time in Gundam: Shadow......Control. The murder of Dean Warlic and the kidnapping of Maria and Odessa will bring about a great change on Loreon that no one saw coming. We are all manipulated by the shadows.