Houston hadn't warranted a large force of Zeppelins. Only a hundred of the inflated turd-like airships hovered in the sky, raining bombs on the city. They had started further South in Glaveston and come north, destroying much of the Oil Pipeline running along the Texas coast. The air and water were sickly black, one with oily black smoke and the other an as yet unignited oil slick. Connor arrived on the scene in his normal form, trying to assess the situation. Houston's Municipal Defender was doing her best, but her strength was a weakness too. The National Guard was on the scene evacuating the wounded while a division of tanks pounded away at the massive airships. The heavy cannon destroyed a number of ships, but lasers shot forth from the zeppelins bisecting a company of tanks in short order. The Squadron of F-22 Raptors dove amongst the ships, braving machinegun AA and veritable swarms of Missiles. They wheedled down the numbers, but there were still at least fifty of the massive airships by the time Connor arrived on the scene. He knew he should worry about the civilians, but at this point, his best bet was to help the Houston Tornado take the ships down.

He gathered his power and altered his form, becoming wholly machine and then going further and taking the actual form of Superior Gundam, The role that made him a star. He rocketed into the sky and through one of the blimps. Sword glowing hotly in one hand and beam rifle in the other, He swooped down like a rocket driven hawk amongs a flock of fat pigeons. He got three of them in rapid succession before the first wave of missiles slammed into his back. Metal melted and armor scorched, as he was blown through another dirigible by the impact. He tumbled through the aky a moment and then righted himself, just in time for the second wave of missiles. Acting reflexively, the golden energy shield hummed into being just in time to absorb the impacts of the missiles. From the cloud of smoke 6 different types of weapons fire emerged, coring into the surrounding ships.

Flaming debris rained down all around and too late Connor realized the danger. The first hunk of flaming debris struck the oil slick and it became as bright as noonday as hundreds of thousands of gallons of crude ignited. "Dammit." More missiles and laser cannons ranged in on him, but he simply wasn't there, having teleported next to the one of the Zeppelins. Unfortunately he teleported right in front of a large bore laser cannon. Coherent light bathed him completely. The top layer of his frontal armor was completely burned away, and for once he screamed in pain. not thinking he answered in kind with his own lethal energy attack. Metal vaporized under the onslaught as the corruscating beam broke down the metal of the ship at the atomic level. It cored straight through then cannon and into a fuel tank. The resulting explosion engulfed Connor and sent him back like a streaking comet into the bay. With his hearing attuned to the police and military bands, He could hear the panic in the voices of those trying to evacuate the city, he heard the sadness and anger as like him Houston Tornado finally fell to the combined assaults of the zeppelins. They spoke about a giant robot seeming appearing and slaying several zeppelins before it plunged into the bay smoking and badly damaged.

He knew he had to get up. His wounds had healed, or at least sealed up enough that he could continue. He wasn't burned out yet, but a couple of full salvos and he'd be close. "Got to try. can't let it end like this." The reactor that was his heart pulsed, and he found new strength, not much, but enough to continue. "For my home, for my friends." With that he stood and once again drew sword and gun. He shot out of the water and flew straight at the remaining Zeppelin formation. He flew around the missiles at twice the speed of sound, He struck out in all directions with sword and gun, barreling through and arround the zeppelins. More armor peeled away, indeed he could see the gundanium alloy of his left tibia and right forearm, yet he tamped down the pain and kept fighting. He could feel his reserves draining fast but there were only three more ships left in the air.

A squadron of Raptors descended and loosed a dozen sidewinder II's against one of the ships, which were all promptly shot from the sky. Where the others pulled out, one fighter dove in, dodging murderous AA and lasers until his aircraft slammed nose first into the bridge of the Zeppelin that they'd attacked. It didn't explode so much as lose control and begin an uncontrollable descent into the bay. It brough Mech screeching to a standstill. "To all US pilots, Stand to, I'll get these last ones, there's no need for any more you to pay that price. Not when I yet function.." Lasers and AA clawed at the squandron mercilessly, trying to shoo them away to keep them from repeating their bretheren's tactic. Mech saw his opening and Teleported righ in front of the bridge of the first of the last two Zeppelins. anti-aircraft machine cannon pelted him with candlepin sized shells but they all glanced off his field. He reached back with hiw sword and then swund the massive blade around viciously through the ships bridge destroying it and everything on it. He rockedt around the bridge and into a volley of missiles. His field faded out and a half dozen missiles got through to blast his chest and face. Armor flew in all directions, yet he pressed on through the pain annd came to hover right in front of the bridge of the last airship. without preamble the plate over the positron cannon opened up and spewed forth demolecularizing death into the bridge. Metal, circuitry and flesh simply ceased to exist. Without the control components to guide it the ship began it's descent like the others, even the blue flares at mech's back and feet cut out and he plumeted unceremoniously to the earth. He felt his left tibia break under the impact. The last remaining ergs of power he had he spent trying to at least seal his wounds and make one final broadcast. "If there's anyone still there,, I could use a medic at the intersection of Shaugnessy and Capricorn drive. just come to the crater.. can't miss it." He looked to his left and saw a young girl and a pair of twenty-something ladies peeking out of one of the alleys nearby. "We have women and children here, please hurry."

"Who is this? Are you the pilot of the giant robot we saw?"

Desipte his condition, Connor chuckled. "Yeah, you could definitely say that." He blacked out and with that his body reverted to it's normal size and composition compounding several wounds. He was near death when the EMT's arrived. The three women were clustered around him, trying to comfort the man who had been machine, who had fought so hard for them all. His face and chest were horrificly burned and much of the flesh in his left leg and right arm were missing. All the hair on his body had been singed away. There was no blood, and the way his chest heaved it was obvious he had multiple broken ribs. He wouldn't be fighting for awhile, even if he was a nova.