Endless Waltz Part Two: Operation Meteor

Duo recognized Trowa as the pilot of the new MS raining heavy gunfire on him. Meanwhile, Wufei attacked Heero with his Nataku Gundam, claiming that he had always wanted to fight with Heero.

Quatre and the Maganacs made haste to retrieve the Gundams. Nevertheless, the normal course would take them 5 days to reach the resource satellite. By then everything would be too late. Quatre calculated an alternate course to intercept the satellite via a shortcut. It would save them 80 hours. The catch was that they had only 5 seconds to reach the satellite. As the shuttle's acceleration and deceleration process would use up the fuel, Quatre planned to propel the satellite towards Earth by detonating its built-in fusion reactor, while making use of the gravity of Venus as a booster for the shuttle's return trip.

The Maganacs volunteered for the mission, declaring their willingness to die for Quatre, but he refused, stating that nothing was more important than life.

Quatre remembered his conversation with Professor H about the self-destruct device on Gundam Sandrock right before the start of Operation Meteor. The Professor informed him that the device was meant as a reminder of the amount of resolve required of those who were strong. He told Quatre to fight according to his own will and use the self-destruct button only when he deemed it necessary.

Wufei attacked Heero relentlessly, questioning the justice in his actions. Heero answered by telling Wufei to press the self-destruct button on his Gundam. Unable to withstand the fiery assault of the Nataku Gundam, the hatch of Heero's MS exploded. Heero stood at the hatch, repeating his demand that Wufei press his self-destruct button.

Duo's MS was knocked down by Trowa's Serpent. As Trowa took aim and fired missiles at him, Duo believed that he was going to die.

Right before the start of Operation Meteor, Duo had attempted to destroy his Gundam rather than allow it to become a weapon of mass destruction. However, the explosives he planted on his Gundam were sabotaged by Professor G who told him to steal Deathscythe and go to Earth without executing Operation Meteor. After the Professor's departure, Duo remarked to himself that being Death was far more appealing than becoming a hero of mass murder.

Trowa remembered his past as a nameless mercenary raised on the battlefield. Working as a technician in a secret base at L3, he met a man named Trowa Barton, the chosen pilot of Gundam Heavy Arms. While he was working on the Gundam, he overheard an argument between Doktor S and Trowa Barton. Instead of executing the original plan of Operation Meteor that would destroy the lives of 2.5 billion people, Doktor S had limited their target to OZ. As Trowa Barton was about to report the matter to his father Dekim Barton, Doktor S' assistant shot him. The sound of a falling work tool revealed the nameless boy's presence, but Doktor S stopped the assistant from killing him. The boy calmly proposed that he would assume Trowa Barton's identity and take over the mission.

The missiles fired by Trowa's MS deliberately missed Duo and tore a hole in the wall. The explosion temporarily distracted Wufei, and Heero used the opportunity to escape. When Duo opened his eyes, Trowa was nowhere to be found.

Tracking down the vanguard of the invasion forces, Sally and Noin realized that it was a bait to lure them away from the enemy's main forces.

At the Preventers' headquarters, Lady Une remarked that the common people still did not realize the threat posed by Mariemaia even though it would take less than 5 minutes for the political takeover to complete, as Earth had no means to defend against the invasion.

Just as Quatre and the Maganacs were about to rendezvous with the resource satellite, Mariemaia's forces, under Dekim Barton's command, were preparing for their descent to Earth on MO-III.

On colony L3-X18999, Mariemaia brought Relena with her on a helicopter. Their destination was the space port. Duo and Heero watched their departure from the rooftop of a building. Duo remarked that they seemed in quite a hurry. Heero replied that they were evacuating. He vowed to stop Dekim Barton from executing the original Operation Meteor.

After some death-defying maneuvers, Quatre succeeded in landing on the satellite.

On MO-III, the invasion forces were starting to descent on Earth when Zechs arrived on Tallgeese III. With the landing gear attached, the MS transportation vessels were easy prey. Zechs demanded Dekim's surrender, but the old man threatened to carry out the original Operation Meteor and drop the X18999 colony on Earth. Faced with the threat, Zechs could only watch as the invasion forces entered the atmosphere one after the other.

As Wufei escorted Mariemaia's shuttle towards Earth in his Nataku Gundam, the girl revealed the reasons for capturing Relena. She intended to make use of Relena's influence as former Queen of the World and her reputation as Deputy Foreign Minister among the colonies to facilitate the political transfer.

Quatre detonated the fusion reactor on the resource satellite and it sped towards Earth.

Heero and Duo fought their way towards the Colony's control center. Trowa had already begun his work on releasing the locked controls that would cause the colony to lose its balance and fall on Earth. The original plan of Operation Meteor was to drop a colony on Earth and use the Gundams for military takeover in the ensuing chaos.

Under the concerted efforts of the three pilots, they succeeded in releasing the controls, returning the colony to its normal operation mode. Duo contacted Noin and Sally, who in turn notified Zechs. However, it was already too late to stop the invasion. As Zechs destroyed MO-III with Tallgeese's Mega Cannon, Dekim had already left on a shuttle.

Back on X18999, Mariemaia's forces had surrounded the control room. Duo told the others of Quatre's mail informing them that the satellite carrying their Gundams would reach Earth within 24 hours. Heero asked Duo to send a message to Quatre, telling him to deliver Wing Zero to a rendezvous point in space. He then asked Duo to hit him. Duo smashed his fist in Heero's face, but Heero countered with a body blow that knocked him out. He handed Duo to Trowa, then lie on the floor face down, feigning unconsciousness. While the soldiers who burst in turned their attention to Trowa's explanation of how he subdued the attackers, Heero used the opportunity to escape.

On a snowy night, Mariemaia's forces took over the Presidential Residence of the Earth Sphere. As Quatre sent Wing Zero to the rendezvous point, Heero seized a shuttle at the hangar. Duo was locked in a prison cell, while Zechs and Wufei had landed on Earth and Lady Une prepared for action. As Mariemaia and Relena made their appearances in front of the Presidential Residence, Heero sped towards his Gundam.