The steel titan hovered in silence.
Above the oceanic ruins of Sector Delta-14, the orb-shaped Gundam remained suspended in the sky—its armor still steaming from reentry, its V-fin gleaming like a blade of judgment.
Nura stared in stunned silence from his cockpit. Even without movement, the machine's presence was suffocating.
> "It hasn't made any aggressive move yet," Bloom whispered, scanning from the rear line.
"Maybe it's damaged—maybe it needs help."
> "Or maybe it's thinking," Cutter said coldly.
Nura zoomed in again.
The visor slit of the Gundam's head began to glow.
Faint at first—like a dying ember.
Then suddenly—
BRIGHT.
A core light surged from deep within the orb's chest. Energy pulses raced across its armor, feeding into a massive emitter beneath the front plate. Plates shifted. Panels unfolded.
Something was charging.
> "What is it doing?" Ghost asked.
"No response on radio or IFF ping. It's not broadcasting anything."
Nura's eyes widened. A warning flashed on his display:
> [WARNING: MASSIVE ENERGY BUILDUP DETECTED]
> "Captain!" Nura barked. "We need to move, now!"
Graven's voice cut in—sharp, instinctive.
> "Scatter! All units—BREAK FORMATION!"
The squad reacted on instinct.
Flare peeled left. Drift shot up. Cutter and Bloom pulled in opposite vectors. Ghost vanished beneath the cloud cover.
Nura yanked his controls and veered hard—
Just as the beam fired.
---
God's Wrath
The Gundam's chest exploded with light.
A massive concentrated beam—pure, silent, and horrifying—erupted downward like a divine lance. It wasn't a standard beam cannon. It wasn't even linear. It was something older. Something deeper.
The blast cut through the sky and slammed into the ruins below.
Entire submerged city-blocks evaporated in a split second.
Metal structures. Concrete foundations. Hundreds of tons of ocean water. All reduced to vapor and light. The shockwave tore across the sea like a hurricane—sending Nura's Scorpio unit into a destabilized spin before he regained control.
His ears rang.
His HUD blinked red across every edge.
> "Flare! Ghost! Status!" Nura shouted.
> "Here—barely!" Flare grunted. "Missed me by meters—shields melted!"
> "Alive," Ghost muttered. "Below cloud level. Lost visuals."
> "That beam…" Bloom said, her voice shaking. "That could've leveled an entire colony dome. What kind of weapon is that?"
> "That's not a weapon," Cutter said through clenched teeth. "That's a message."
Above them, the Gundam's core light dimmed.
But its head turned again—slowly—tracking the scattered Scorpio units like a predator choosing its next prey.
---
Inside the Gundam
The unknown pilot didn't speak.
He didn't need to.
The HUD in his cockpit showed a readout:
TARGETS – 7 UNITS DETECTED
BEHAVIOR – DEFENSIVE FORMATION
RESPONSE: INSUFFICIENT
He pressed his palm against the console.
More panels began shifting on the Gundam's surface—revealing additional energy channels, hidden beneath layers of armor that hadn't opened in centuries.
> "Phase Two," the pilot whispered.
---
Back to Nura
Nura finally stabilized his unit above the smoke-ridden cloud line, gasping for breath. The sea below was boiling from the impact zone. Lightning arced across the ionized air.
And above it all…
That thing still hovered.
Still watching.
His sensors beeped again—another spike.
Another charge.
> "It's going to fire again," he said. "This time it won't miss."
Graven's voice returned—hoarse but commanding:
> "Regroup at coordinates 042.5. No direct engagement. We're not equipped for this level of assault. We need authorization for—"
But she was cut off by the roar of the wind as the Gundam rotated again.
It was moving.
Descending.
Like a god taking its first step back to Earth.
---
Phase Two: Bird
Above the scorched sea, the sky cracked with thunder.
The mysterious Gundam—a massive steel orb with a humanoid head and a glowing V-fin—descended silently. The heat of its previous beam still shimmered in the clouds, but it was no longer idle.
It was moving.
And moving fast.
Inside its cockpit, the unknown pilot stared blankly ahead as his HUD confirmed:
> PHASE TWO: ENGAGE – CLEANSE FIELD
The Gundam's core dimmed. For a moment, it almost looked dead.
Then—
it vanished.
Not literally, but to the naked eye, the machine blurred—a massive shape moving like lightning. Thirty meters of solid armor blitzed through the sky faster than any Scorpio unit could track.
> "What the hell—?!" Drift yelped.
The Gundam appeared behind Ghost's Scorpio suit in less than a second.
A beam erupted point-blank.
Ghost never screamed.
Just a flash—then silence.
> "GHOST—!!" Nura shouted.
Another flash—this time behind Flare.
She tried to dodge, thrusters burning.
Too late.
The beam tore through her left wing unit. Her mobile suit spun out of control, screaming into the clouds like a broken comet.
> "Flare is hit! FLARE, respond!" Cutter roared.
> "She's falling! Her system's gone!" Bloom cried.
But the Gundam didn't stop.
It blinked again—its propulsion system letting out a sharp, thunderous pulse. A sonic crack followed each shift. It zipped toward Cutter next, trailing a burning arc behind its colossal form.
Cutter raised his beam carbine to fire.
The Gundam didn't care.
It fired mid-charge.
Cutter's MS exploded in mid-air. Not clean—shattered.
> "It's eliminating us one by one—like it's cleansing the sky," Drift said, trembling. "No wasted movement—none."
---
Unfamiliar Weapons
Then, something new happened.
Panels on the Gundam's back and shoulders opened.
Small, circular devices—six in total—detached and hovered around it, each glowing faintly. They didn't match any known weapon system. No heat signature. No propulsion trails.
Nura's scanner tried to identify them.
> [ANOMALY DETECTED – UNREGISTERED OBJECT TYPE]
The six orbs scattered.
Then, in complete silence—
They began to fire.
Beams. Thin, slicing, perfect.
One Scorpio unit from Uranus Squad, who had just arrived in support, was sliced in half at the waist before he could even speak.
Another screamed:
> "What are those?! They're—they're moving on their own!"
> "Are they drones?! Funnels?!" Bloom panicked.
> "We don't have countermeasures! I repeat—we don't have—"
A beam pierced her cockpit.
The scream cut short.
Nura watched in disbelief.
> "They're… autonomous," he said, breath catching. "They're targeting based on movement and heat. They don't miss."
Graven's voice came through—loud, furious:
> "All remaining units—retreat! Evade and fall back to low-altitude cloud cover! We are not fighting this thing head-on!"
> "We can't!" Drift shouted. "It's faster than us—it's tracking every move!"
> "It's like fighting a god," Lars muttered. "A god with six eyes and a million bullets."
Nura's Scorpio unit twisted violently to avoid a sweeping beam from one of the floating drones—one of the funnels. His shield vaporized. Alarms rang in his cockpit.
> [WARNING: ARMOR COMPROMISED – LEFT STABILIZER OFFLINE]
> "We're going to die," Drift whispered. "All of us…"
But Nura's eyes narrowed.
Something inside him refused to give up.
---
A Flicker of Resistance
He pulled hard, descending into the vapor and ruined sky below. The clouds burned with the aftermath of the Gundam's assault. His thrusters strained to keep level.
Only he, Graven, and Drift were still flying.
The others were either dead… or falling.
> "Nura," Graven's voice came through—steady, but cold. "If we survive this—if even one of us does—this machine must not vanish again. You understand?"
> "Understood."
The Gundam hovered above them now—silent again. Watching. The funnels returned to its sides like birds to a roost.
It had made its move.
And now it waited.
---
POV: Unknown Pilot
He watched the battlefield with cold, clinical focus.
Through the narrow slit of the Gundam's visor, a panoramic HUD fed him all data: movement vectors, heat signatures, projectile paths.
Four kills. Two downed.
Only two Mobile Suits still flying.
He blinked. For the first time in years, perhaps…
> "Still alive…?"
"You persist. Unusual."
He touched a glowing sigil embedded in his control console. The six autonomous funnels responded—pulling back, forming formation zero around the Gundam's flanks.
> "Resistance on this level… is rare."
"Let's test it."
He leaned forward.
And the Gundam moved.
---
POV: Nura Elvarn
Nura barely had time to react.
A thunderous crack burst through the sky—then the Gundam charged again, a thirty-meter monster flashing across the cloudbank like a demon of steel.
> "It's coming straight for me—!" he yelled, jerking his thrusters hard to the side.
The air screamed. Alarms flared red.
A violet beam scorched past his cockpit, slicing through air like it didn't exist.
> "Shit—almost grazed me—"
The Gundam was too fast. Too large. It didn't move like a heavy mobile suit—it moved like lightning.
> "Nura, break away!" Graven shouted.
> "No time—!"
Then, an idea sparked.
Something reckless.
Something stupid.
> "If I can't outrun it…"
Nura suddenly cut his forward thrusters, allowing the Gundam to overshoot slightly.
Mid-spin, he pulled his MS into a roll, flipping up and over, using the Gundam's own speed to slingshot behind it.
The massive machine hesitated for a fraction of a second.
And that was all Nura needed.
He aimed.
Point-blank at the Gundam's back.
Pulled the trigger.
Beam shots exploded out.
One. Two. Three. Four.
Direct hits.
> "Got you—!"
The light cleared.
And then—
Nothing.
The beams left no damage.
No scorch.
No cracking.
Not even a scratch.
Nura's eyes widened.
> "What…?"
He checked the HUD. His readings were clean. The beam strength was normal. The shots landed perfectly.
But the Gundam… didn't even react.
Its back armor was like stone forged in a star. Untouched.
> "That was point-blank," he muttered.
Graven's voice came through, filled with rare alarm.
> "Nura—pull back. That armor… it's not standard material. It's resisting direct plasma contact."
> "What kind armour is that," Nura whispered. "Damn it!."
---
The Gundam Turns
Above him, the Gundam twisted its massive body, slowly turning its head toward Nura.
The funnels began to rotate around it again—six glowing eyes of death.
> "Not bad..." the pilot murmured.
But before it could activate—
---
POV: Unknown Gundam Pilot
The Gundam suddenly stopped.
Silence reigned within the cockpit—until a soft chime echoed across the control panel.
> [Mission Parameters Updated.]
New Directive: Eliminate Target Zone – Valkiron City.
The pilot blinked once. Calm. Focused.
> "Mission change..."
"Target is Valkiron City."
Without hesitation, he gripped the twin throttle sticks.
The Gundam shifted—rising upward like a god returning to its throne. Then in a burst of kinetic force, it vanished into the sky with a booming shockwave, tearing through the clouds toward the northeast.
Toward Valkiron.
---
POV: Nura Elvarn
> "Wait—!" Nura shouted, punching his thrusters to full.
But it was already too late.
The Gundam was accelerating too fast, a burning trail of red thunder in the clouds as it sped toward the horizon.
> "Where the hell is it going?!"
A flash of data appeared on his monitor—detected vector.
The target was Valkiron City.
Nura's heart stopped.
His mind raced.
> "Valkiron…?"
Then it hit him.
His eyes widened. His chest went cold.
> "No. No no no—today is the Unity Event. My parents—they're there—they're there!"
---
Above Valkiron City
The sky split open.
The Gundam appeared, hovering above the city's towering skyline. The crowd below, unaware of the nightmare forming in the heavens.
Within the cockpit, the pilot gave no emotion.
> "Initiating Primary Cannon."
"Target: Population Center."
Panels along the Gundam's arms and back split open—
glowing reactors emerged, charged with furious light.
The sky turned white.
Wind screamed in reverse.
The Gundam raised its arm.
---
POV: Nura – Chasing
> "STOP—!!" Nura yelled.
He could see the Gundam now.
His Mobile Suit shook from atmospheric friction, pushing itself to the redline just to keep up.
> "No, don't—DON'T DO IT—!"
He screamed into the comms. But there was no response.
Just blinding light gathering at the Gundam's palm.
He could see the beam charging.
A weapon larger than anything he had ever witnessed. More massive than the one that destroyed the squad before.
Then—his radar pinged.
Too late.
> "STOPPP ITTTTTTTTT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" Nura screamed—
And the beam fired.
---
The Beam
A column of white annihilation erupted from the Gundam's palm—
Ten kilometers wide.
It didn't fire down.
It fell like judgment.
Everything turned to white.
The buildings. The streets. The people.
And then—silence.
---
From Orbit
An explosion bloomed like a burning flower, vaporizing Valkiron City in seconds.
A shockwave spread like ripples across the land, flattening forests, bending clouds, and rupturing the sky.
From the heavens, it looked like a miniature sun had ignited upon Earth.
---
POV: Nura
His Mobile Suit was flung back from the shockwave.
Systems red-lined.
Screens shattered.
His hands trembled.
And in the horizon—nothing remained.
No city.
No tower.
No parents.
Just a smoking, scorched crater.
He couldn't speak.
He couldn't scream.
He could only fall back into the pilot seat, mouth open, eyes wide in silent horror.
---
Valkiron City vanished.
Everything—stone, steel, glass, flesh—
erased.
A mushroom of white-hot energy rose into the sky.
Then silence.
Not even echoes remained.
Nura's Scorpio Mobile Suit tumbled through the air, thrown back by the shockwave.
Systems cracked.
His screen sparked.
But none of that mattered anymore.
He stared at the crater where his home once stood.
His vision blurred—not from damage.
From tears.
> "No... no… they were there… I—I couldn't—"
His fists trembled on the controls.
The comms hissed.
Then—
A strange whirring sound echoed above.
---
The Transformation
The Gundam hovered, steam and heat swirling around it.
Then—
With a blast of pressure, panels exploded off its body.
The thick armor—the bulky chump-like steel shell—
fell away, piece by piece.
Beneath the artificial weight…
A sleek, divine machine stood tall.
Its design—like a holy knight of judgment.
Armor white as moonlight, with gold linings that gleamed like royal blood.
A flowing cape of plated light spread behind it, glimmering in the sun.
This was no ordinary weapon.
This… was the true form of the Gundam.
Nura could only stare—broken, shaking, silent.
Then—
The Gundam turned its head.
Its eyes glowed like dying stars.
And a voice entered Nura's comm channel—clear, calm, cold.
> "I will remember you."
Then it rose.
A sonic burst echoed through the sky as the knight-like Gundam launched upward—
vanishing into the stratosphere.
---
Nura's Grief
Nura's Mobile Suit dropped to its knees.
Inside the cockpit, Nura bit his lower lip so hard it bled.
He gritted his teeth—tears streaming down his cheeks, lips stained with crimson.
He whispered—
> "Gundam…"
Then he screamed—
> "GUNDAMMMMMMM!!!!!!"
The sky did not answer.
Only the wind.