Chapter 174: The Tragic Duel (Part 1)
However, Lucrezia Noin's piloting skills far surpassed those of her opponents. She quickly destroyed two Aries units and crippled the engine of another transport plane.
Noin's companion refused to be outdone and charged into the enemy formation, firing his rifle in quick succession and taking down two more Aries units in an instant.
But because he acted too rashly, one of the investigation team's Aries managed to hit his thruster, sending him crashing down onto the Antarctic ice.
After shooting down the Aries that had struck her comrade, Noin rushed to his side. But soon, their MS radar was filled with dense clusters of mobile suit readings—followed by a large number of Leo and Aries suits deployed by the investigation team.
They intended to use Noin and her ally as bait to lure Zechs out. Concentrating their fire on the areas around the pilots' cockpits, they unleashed a fierce barrage that formed a massive web of gunfire, leaving Noin and her partner unable to move.
With no other choice, Noin dropped her weapon and surrendered to the investigation team.
"Abatt, we've thrown down our weapons and are surrendering now. Please—stop the attack immediately."
The investigator, Abatt, grinned lewdly and replied, "Do you think such rules apply to those who've betrayed the Romefeller Foundation? If you hand over a Gundam that can serve as proof of Zechs's betrayal, that might be a different story."
"What?"
"But even then, Zechs's fate won't change. We'll take care of him here in Antarctica. If anyone deserves credit, it'll be whoever takes him down—strength counts most when it comes to recognition."
Hearing that they intended to eliminate Zechs no matter what, Noin shouted at Abatt furiously, "Don't you dare! I will never let you get to Zechs!"
"Oh? So Zechs really is here."
Having drawn the information out of her, Abatt turned to his subordinates with excitement. "All right—these two are useless now. Wipe them out."
Just as the Leos were about to attack, the transport plane carrying the Gundam Heavyarms returned. It fired laser beams, cannons, and vulcan rounds at several Leos, blasting them into pieces.
Unfortunately, it was hit by return fire from a Leo's cannon—though the shell struck only the rear cargo door, leaving its flight intact.
At that moment, Trowa Barton launched in the Heavyarms, dropping from the shuttle to attack the Romefeller Foundation's mobile suits.
Trowa opened fire first with his handheld gatling cannon, then followed up with a sweeping barrage from the chest-mounted gatling guns and the head vulcans.
The nearby OZ mobile suits were torn apart, one after another erupting into bursts of flame and debris.
When his ammunition finally ran out, Trowa faced the last Aries and raised the military blade on Heavyarms's right arm.
He spun the Gundam's body rapidly—like a whirling top—and struck with a simplified version of the Cyclone Slash.
However, this attack put tremendous strain on Trowa's own body and wrist; after the maneuver, his right hand went numb, unable to grip the control stick.
Forcing his fingers apart, he opened the cockpit hatch, lost his balance, and collapsed to the ground.
Seeing Trowa convulsing on the ice, Noin rushed forward. "Are you all right?"
But Trowa, ignoring his pain, was only concerned about whether Heero could use Heavyarms to duel Zechs. Enduring the agony, he said, "My name's Trowa Barton. Lieutenant Noin, could I ask you to handle Heero's ammunition resupply?"
Noin, visibly anxious, replied, "Now's not the time to worry about that—you should be thinking about your own injuries."
She immediately helped Trowa back aboard the shuttle so he could rest, while Heero Yuy piloted the Heavyarms back into the shuttle as well.
Together aboard the shuttle, they headed toward Zechs's Antarctic base.
When they arrived, on the freezing wind-swept tarmac, Noin turned to Zechs and reported, "Colonel Zechs, I've brought Heero and Trowa with me."
"Thank you," Zechs nodded to Noin, then turned to Heero and introduced himself. "Hello. I'm Zechs Merquise."
Trowa, standing in the biting cold, asked casually, "Do you want to shake hands?"
Caught off guard by the question, Zechs glanced between Trowa and Heero—both stone-faced and distant—and replied with a wry smile, "No… I don't think that's necessary."
He led them into the base. As they walked down one of the corridors, Zechs asked curiously, "Heero Yuy? Your name is the same as the leader of the old colony movement. Is that your real name?"
Expressionless, Heero countered, "I should be asking you the same—Is your name real?"
Zechs was momentarily stunned, then gave a resigned smile. "I'm sorry. For people like us, names have lost all meaning."
"We've prepared the best accommodations we could. Please, make yourselves at home."
Zechs then brought Heero and the others to the hangar where the Wing Gundam was stored. Heero's eyes widened in surprise as he saw the Gundam completely restored. "That's my mobile suit."
Watching Heero's astonishment, Zechs smiled in satisfaction and asked, "Does this make you a little happier?"
At that moment, a maintenance engineer named Messer spotted Zechs and ran over. "Colonel Zechs, Unit 01 is fully repaired—only minor cockpit control adjustments remain."
Zechs turned to Heero and introduced him. "This is Messer. He's in charge of tuning your Gundam. Once he's adjusted the cockpit to match your specs, it'll be ready. He's young, but very skilled."
Hearing that the Wing Gundam was fully restored, Heero couldn't wait to get it moving. "When can we start?"
"How about tomorrow morning?"
"No problem."
Noin, helplessly watching Heero's eyes fixed only on the Wing Gundam, asked, "Heero Yuy, before that—don't you have anything to say to Colonel Zechs?"
"Yes. I'll thank him… in my own way." Heero turned to Zechs and continued, "Killing you—that's how I'll show my gratitude."
He extended his hand toward Zechs. As they shook hands, Heero said, "I've… never done this before, but I'll give everything I've got to kill you."
Meanwhile, Relena Peacecraft had also located the base where Zechs had once been stationed and asked about his whereabouts, but the soldiers there refused to answer.
Through her butler's secret intelligence network, however, Relena soon learned that Zechs was at the Antarctic base.
Anxious, Relena boarded a shuttle and set out for the Antarctic, determined to find Heero.