The sky above Neo-Verdia, which had been a brilliant blue just hours ago during the sports festival, was now a suffocating shroud of iron and ash. The Saturnian fleet did not simply arrive; they colonized the atmosphere. Massive Arcania-class flagships, shaped like serrated blades of gold and silver, tore through the cloud layer, their descent creating sonic booms that shattered windows across the city's residential sectors. From the yawning hangars of these behemoths, hundreds of Mobile Suits began to drop. This was the "Iron Rainfall," a tactical deployment designed to overwhelm planetary defenses through sheer atmospheric pressure and numerical superiority.
Leading this vanguard was the pride of the Saturnian military: the Eagle Squadrons. These were high-mobility, aerial-optimized units equipped with variable-wing geometries that allowed them to dance through the turbulence of Earth's troposphere with predatory grace. And at the heart of this storm, bathed in a shimmering auric light, hovered the Arancia Gundam. Its armor, a composite of rare lunar titanium and Saturnian gold-plating, caught the setting sun, making it look like a vengeful star fallen to Earth.
Agnes Arbequs, the "Golden Rose of Saturn," sat encased in a cockpit that smelled of expensive synthetic jasmine and ozone. Her eyes, as cold as the rings of her home planet, scanned the city below through a 360-degree panoramic display. She tapped a command on her console, forcibly hijacking every public screen and emergency broadcast frequency in Neo-Verdia.
"Citizens of the lost territory," Agnes's voice echoed from giant billboards and personal comm-links, sounding like a sermon delivered from a mountaintop. "My father, King Stevan Arbequs, is a man of profound mercy. He looks upon your squalor and sees not enemies, but children who have wandered into the dark. We offer you the 'Golden Sanctuary.' Return to the fold of the Colonial Crown. Denounce the 'White Bird' and the Kimeza traitors who use your homes as a shield, and your lives will be spared. Do not let the history of this city end as a footnote of ash for the sake of a ghost."
On the streets below, the reaction was not what Agnes expected. There was no panicked stampede toward the "sanctuary" zones. Instead, a defiant silence gripped the crowd, followed by a low, rhythmic thrumming of feet. A young man, a student still wearing his sports festival jersey, looked up at the Arancia Gundam and spat on the ground. "We've seen 'mercy' from the stars before!" he roared. "It usually comes in the form of a beam cannon! We stand with the Bird!"
The chant grew, a tidal wave of human defiance that rattled the sensors of the invading fleet. Agnes's lip curled in a sneer of pure aristocratic disdain. "Stubborn rats. If you wish to die for a symbol, then you shall become part of the pavement." She shifted her controls, the Arancia Gundam's massive Beam Railgun—a weapon nearly as long as the Mobile Suit itself—unfolding from its shoulder mount and locking onto the crowded central plaza. The hum of charging capacitors vibrated through the air, a high-pitched whine that signaled impending slaughter.
THOOM!
A streak of sapphire light tore through the gray clouds, striking the barrel of the Railgun with surgical precision. The impact sent a shockwave through the Arancia Gundam, forcing Agnes to engage her thrusters to maintain altitude.
"Your aim is as poor as your fashion sense, Princess!" Augustina's voice crackled over the open channel. The Sunflower Gundam plummeted from the upper atmosphere, its legs folding out as it transitioned into a hovering sniper stance. The Beam Sniper Rifle in its hands was already cycling for a second shot.
"A Kimeza lapdog," Agnes hissed, righting her unit. "Eagle Squadrons! Peel that sunflower's petals!"
A dozen Eagle units broke formation, diving toward Augustina with their wing-mounted machine guns blazing. But Augustina didn't flinch. She performed a sharp barrel roll, the Sunflower Gundam's verniers firing in micro-bursts to weave through the lattice of incoming tracers. "Tasya, the ground is getting crowded! Sweep the porch!"
From behind a cluster of skyscrapers, the Lavender Gundam surged forward, its purple-and-silver armor reflecting the neon lights of the city. Tasya didn't hesitate. She launched her newly calibrated Pierce Funnel Missiles. These weren't standard beam bits; they were solid-state, rocket-assisted spikes designed to bypass electronic countermeasures. They swirled through the air like a lethal ballet, seeking out the legs and joints of the Saturnian heavy-type grunts attempting to breach the city gates. Metal shrieked as the spikes punched through thick plating, immobilizing the invaders and turning the gateway into a bottleneck of wreckage.
Meanwhile, at the perimeter, Feres and the Pioneer Squadron engaged the main infantry force. The Pioneers, now outfitted with the 'Mili-Spec' reinforced plating, held the line with grim determination. They weren't just soldiers anymore; they were the shield of Neo-Verdia.
Agnes, frustrated by the stubborn resistance, ignored the others and re-centered her sights on Augustina. "Enough games! I will burn you out of the sky myself!"
But as she prepared to fire, the air in front of her began to ripple and distort. It was an optical illusion caused by extreme heat and high-frequency active camouflage. Then, the veil shattered.
The Full Armor White Gundam (Eagle) emerged like a titan rising from the depths. It was a massive silhouette that redefined the space around it. The once-graceful "White Ghost" was now a "Heavy Fortress." Its limbs were bulked out with Anti-Beam Composite Armor, and the new 2-Barrel Beam Rifle it carried looked capable of sinking a battleship.
Zaki and Maki sat in a cockpit that had been redesigned for high-load combat. The "Eagle" system's interface glowed with a deep emerald hue, reflecting in their determined eyes. AIRIS, her consciousness intertwined with the Gundam's core processors, monitored thousands of data streams per second.
"Target identified: Arancia Gundam," AIRIS reported, her voice steady despite the chaos. "Zaki, Maki, the 'Emerald Pulse' is at 100%. Engaging Heavy Combat Mode."
Agnes stared at the new form of her nemesis. "So... the Ghost has grown a shell. It doesn't matter. Gold always crushes lead!" She squeezed the trigger of her Railgun.
"Maki, dual-sync!" Zaki shouted.
Maki pulled the twin triggers of the new rifle. Two massive, rotating beams erupted from the barrels, spiraling around each other to form a singular, devastating lance of energy. The beam collided with Agnes's Railgun shot mid-air, the resulting explosion creating a localized vacuum that sucked in nearby clouds before detonating in a blinding sphere of white light. The Arancia Gundam's Railgun was vaporized in the exchange, the feedback nearly overloading Agnes's systems.
"My weapon!" Agnes screamed, her composure finally breaking. "You dare... you dare touch the regalia of Saturn?!"
She slammed her controls forward. The "Saturn Ring" wings on the Arancia's back began to spin with terrifying velocity, generating a shimmering golden aura. "Anti-Beam Dispersion Field: MAX OUTPUT!" Agnes roared. A cloud of metallic, ionized particles erupted from the wings, forming a literal halo around the unit.
Maki fired a follow-up volley, but the beams simply hit the golden cloud and refracted harmlessly, scattering into thousands of tiny sparks. It was like trying to shoot a ghost with a flashlight.
"It's no use, Zaki!" Maki cried out. "The beams are just sliding off!"
"Then we stop playing at a distance," Zaki replied, his voice dropping into a register of pure focus. "AIRIS, purge the rifle's safety locks. We're going in."
The White Gundam ditched the massive rifle, the weapon docking onto its back skirt. From its hip armor, Zaki snatched two Beam Saber hilts. As he ignited them, the blades didn't just glow; they roared, the emerald energy flickering with the intensity of a solar flare.
Zaki engaged the "Eagle" thrusters. The two massive fuel tanks on the Gundam's back ignited, propelling the heavy machine forward with the force of a falling meteor. The Arancia Gundam met the charge, drawing its Two-Handed Beam Great Axe. The weapon was a relic of ancient knightly designs, updated with modern plasma-cutting technology.
The collision was seismic. The emerald blades of the White Gundam clashed against the golden plasma of the Arancia's axe. The air between them ionized, creating a localized lightning storm that arced across their armors.
"You Earth-bound filth!" Agnes spat, her face twisted in a mask of rage. "You think a bit of extra iron makes you our equal? We are the Kings of the High Heaven! You are merely dust!"
"Then this dust is going to choke you!" Zaki retorted.
He used the White Gundam's superior weight to his advantage, leaning into the bind. The Arancia Gundam groaned under the pressure, its servos whining in protest. This was no longer a dance of shadows; this was a wrestling match between gods. Every movement of the White Gundam felt deliberate, heavy, and final.
Maki, monitoring the structural integrity, saw an opening. "Zaki! The shield! Use the Pierce Missiles while we're locked!"
Zaki didn't hesitate. While holding the Arancia's axe at bay with his right arm, he slammed the massive reinforced shield on his left arm into the Arancia's chest.
CLANG!
The impact staggered Agnes. In that split second, the eight bays on the shield hissed open. "Eat this!" Maki shouted, slamming the launch button.
Ninety-six micro-missiles erupted at point-blank range. Because they were physical projectiles, the Anti-Beam Dispersion Field was useless. They swarmed over the Arancia Gundam like angry hornets, exploding against its golden joints and sensor arrays.
Smoke and fire enveloped both units as they tumbled through the air, locked in a deadly embrace of "Heavy vs Heavy." Below them, the city of Neo-Verdia watched, held in a collective gasp, as their protectors fought to keep the sky from falling.
To be continued...