Chapter 203: Accelerating the Storyline I
"The world is already undergoing drastic changes. The main reason behind this battle is simply that the Romefeller Foundation has grown impatient.
This world is evolving toward complete pacifism.
But you must also understand Noin's perspective—right now, we still need defensive strength.
That kind of power exists so we can preserve the time needed for dialogue and negotiation."
As soon as he finished speaking, Heero turned and began to walk away.
Seeing that Heero was leaving, Relena called out to him reluctantly, "Heero, where are you going?"
"I've already repaid my debt to Dorothy for helping in the search. Now, I want to act according to my own will." He turned back and shouted to her, "There's no such thing as pacifism in my mind. Gundams exist for battle."
When Relena saw Heero turn around and was finally willing to talk, she quickly asked, hoping to persuade him to stay, "If it were you, what would you have the Kingdom of Sanc do?"
"Same as Noin—organize a defense force. That's the only way right now to deal with the Romefeller Foundation."
To stop Heero from leaving, Relena agreed with him. "Heero, Miss Noin, I hereby authorize the establishment of a defensive unit in the Kingdom of Sanc. Please act as you see fit."
Hearing Relena finally relent and permit her to form a unit, Noin answered excitedly,
"Miss Relena, if even those closest to me can't share my ideals, then I certainly can't expect the whole world to. So I'll do everything in my power to protect the Kingdom of Sanc."
Although Relena had been willing to listen to Heero, she didn't appreciate Noin's tone. With a serious look, she said, "Someday, I'll uncover the real reason why people are so drawn to war."
Tolle wanted to interject—It's always because of profit. But he couldn't be bothered to argue with them.
Meanwhile, forces in the space colonies leaning toward Treize's faction captured the Wing Zero Gundam while searching for the five scientists.
They conducted repeated combat experiments in an attempt to fully analyze the Zero System, but they were misled by the combat prediction hallucinations it produced.
After many failed tests, they grew desperate for a Gundam pilot's combat data—and set their sights on Duo, who was active in space.
Duo had been drifting through space in the still-incomplete Gundam Deathscythe Hell. To fully repair it, he frequently attacked Romefeller's supply convoys that supported the colonies.
With Hilde's help, the repair work on Deathscythe Hell went smoothly. But under Treize faction pressure—and for Hilde's safety and career—Duo was forced to participate in combat experiments.
Inside the cockpit of the Wing Zero, Duo witnessed visions of his enemies' future actions and even saw illusions of himself destroying a colony. He realized that this machine was something beyond human control.
But fate was cruel—the colony, refusing to bow to Romefeller's control, was surrounded by a massive drone fleet.
A satellite officer, piloting the Wing Zero and activating the Zero System, annihilated Romefeller's pursuing forces—but went insane from the hallucinations it created.
Duo, piloting Deathscythe Hell, fought desperately to stop him. Though the difference in machine performance was vast, the gap in pilot skill was even greater. In the end, Duo used his beam scythe and destructive shield to send Wing Zero hurtling into the depths of space.
At the same time, Lady Une commanded large numbers of Virgo II units to deploy to Treize's Earth bases. What had been a one-sided battle finally began to stabilize.
Those bases held firm against Romefeller's attacks and began converting their ground-type Leos into Virgo IIs.
However, Romefeller also accelerated its production of unmanned Virgo units. For the moment, both sides reached a temporary stalemate—but this fleeting calm only foreshadowed an even greater storm to come.
In space, Milliardo continued to fight under the name Zechs to protect Relena and the Kingdom of Sanc.
Having grown accustomed to the patterns of the mobile doll systems, Zechs easily destroyed the swarm of drones that came his way with his superior piloting skill.
Yet he felt dissatisfied. The Tallgeese's performance could no longer keep up with his abilities.
Once Romefeller completed mass production of its MD drones, it launched a full-scale assault on Treize's headquarters in Luxembourg.
Deploying vast numbers of unmanned Taurus and Virgo units, they aimed to capture Luxembourg as a stepping stone toward global conquest.
Fortunately, Treize's side had already prepared large numbers of Virgo IIs for battle. They also had the Tallgeese II provided by Tolle, and a new Gundam—Epyon—developed using data from Wing Zero. This fight would not be a hopeless one.
Hearing the news, both Tolle and Heero rushed to the battlefield to intercept the enemy.
But on the way, Heero's Wing Gundam encountered Romefeller's drone forces.
Even a Gundam could not stand against such overwhelming numbers.
As Wing Gundam began to fall into a disadvantage, Heero suddenly heard Treize's voice over the communicator.
Treize's soldiers, piloting Virgo IIs, covered Heero's retreat and brought him safely back to the Luxembourg base.
Recognizing Heero's resolve and methods, Treize entrusted him with his newly developed Gundam—Epyon.
Epyon possessed combat capabilities equal to Wing Zero. In battle, Heero quickly annihilated the incoming enemy forces.
However, once again, Heero was overwhelmed by the illusions induced by the Zero System, losing all sense of friend and foe, and began launching indiscriminate attacks—even on allied reinforcements.
At that moment, Tolle arrived on the battlefield in the Tallgeese equipped with the Wing Zero system. Seeing the Epyon attacking the Virgo IIs, he immediately realized that Heero had lost control under the Zero System's influence.
Tolle sighed. "This world's already crazy enough. And now they've gone and built something even worse—a machine that manufactures lunatics."
He vowed that until his mind became strong enough, he would never use that cursed system.
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Epyon Gundam
Grade: B+
Terrain Adaptability: Sea B / Land A / Air A / Space A
Fixed Armaments: Large Beam Saber ×1, Epyon Shield ×1, Heat Whip ×1 (integrated with Epyon Shield), Head Vulcan Guns ×2
Special Systems: Transformable Frame; Zero System