Standard Disclaimer here: I do not own anything that is Gundam related.
Obnoxious Disclaimer: Because if I did, I would have used something other than stupid tactics to REALLY show off the Mobile Suit's prowess.
More than a hundred years have passed since Earth began to move into space. During this time, the conclusion of the Reconstruction War ended after the employment of Nuclear Weapons on the Kashmir Region of Asia. As a result of the Reconstruction War, the world's boundaries had changed as nations joined together or conquered their neighbors to expand their territories. With the conclusion of the war and the preceding years of debate and strife, the world was at peace.
It did not last.
With revelation of Coordinators and the growing dependence on space for both resources and to relocate burgeoning populations, trouble began to brew.
In Cosmic Era 48, the Republic of Zeon, made up of the group of space colonies furthest from Earth known as Side 3, was both founded and declared independence from the mother nations of Earth. Despite this, the Republic of Zeon maintained peaceful contact with the mother nations as it applied for permission to join the United Nations.
The United Nations saw no reason to deny Zeon its entry, despite pressure to prevent it. The United Nations formally recognized the Republic of Zeon and gave it admittance to the United Nations.
Then in CE 58, the PLANTS also attempted to declared independence and sovereignty. This was met with a major crackdown by Sponsor Nations. In protest, the fledgling Republic of Zeon deployed its own military forces into the PLANTS' airspace in order to protect the new nation coming to birth. The threat of war escalated until President Andrew Messa of the United Federal States of the Atlantic opted to not draw his nation into a pointless war over something as trivial as genetics.
Without the backing of the UFSA, the remaining powers were forced to begin to back down, save for the Union of Republics of the Eurasia Federation. The UREF attempted to even occupy the territory of other states, eventually bringing it close into conflict with the United States of South America whose colonies bordered the PLANTS' airspace.
With a shooting war possible, the United Nations convened and successfully negotiated an end to the brewing possibility of conflict in what became known as the Messa Accords. Though this act cost President Messa his life at the hands of the a Blue Cosmos assassin, he helped to prevent a war.
Regrettably, the word 'Postpone' should be used.
Following President Messa's death, the founder of Zeon, Zeon Zum Deikun, also passed from grave illness. On his deathbed, he uttered a single name, Degwin Zabi. It was believed at the time that Zeon Deikun was naming his successor. To this effect, Degwin Zabi took the title name of Degwin Sodo Zabi while his son Gihren Zabi purged Side 3 of all loyalists to the Deikun family.
Alarmed by the sudden shift in power and the purging, the United Nations demanded an explanation, but the Zabi Family merely ignored it. The PLANTS, who had become depended on Zeon for its shield, had no choice but to go along. The stage becoming set as Blue Cosmos used the purging and the Zeon nation's continued protection of the PLANTS as a means to covertly and quietly take over the government of the UFSA.
In the year CE 68, the Sponsor Nations returned to the PLANTS' airspace and attempted to blockade and re-occupy their territory. The local Zeon forces joined the newly reorganized PLANTS' militia, ZAFT, in defense of the colonies. This time neither side backed down and casualties occurred as both sides for the first time traded blows.
The United Nations attempted an emergency summit on the moon at the capital of the Confederation of City States of Luna, Copernicus City. The meeting never occurred, the meeting of the United Nations was bombed and nearly all members killed. Only Sigel Clyne, representing the PLANTS, had not arrived in time for the opening of the meeting due to a malfunctioning shuttle, but his brother, PLANTS Ambassador to the United Nations Olav Clyne, was killed.
It was suspected that Blue Cosmos was the party behind the attack, but they were able to use their control to make it appear that the PLANTS had and then created their own organization to replace the now defunct and decapitated UN with their Earth Alliance and its military arm, the Oppose Militancy and Neutralize Invasion Enforcer, OMNI Enforce.
They had no idea of what they had just committed humanity too.
In the following CE 69, the newly renamed Principality of Zeon declared once again its independence and war against the Earth Alliance. The Earth Alliance declared war right back and dispatched a fleet to attack the PLANTS while another deployed to attack Side 3.
Both sides opened up with a heavy exchange of conventional power, but at the Junius Cluster, Junius Seven was destroyed by a nuclear missile fired by a Blue Cosmos infiltrator. Had it been the only use, humanity might have condemned just the pilot and his parent organization. Unfortunately, Zeon was employing all forms of weapons of mass destruction early on, shocking the Alliance and Enforcers by the surprise use of such weapons.
The response was immediate as the Alliance responded in kind to those siding with the PLANTS and Zeon as well as attempting more use of such weapons.
In under a month, more than 30 percent of the human population was wiped out. More could have been lost had the PLANTS not deployed the Neutron Jammer that caused by sides to flounder. With the use of N-Jammer, only a specific type of nuclear reactor could be used and that was mostly controlled by Zeon and, by proxy, the PLANTS. This rendered most nuclear technology, especially weapons grade nuclear technology, useless.
Still, Zeon had Biological and Chemical Weapons, but the PLANTS refused to allow them to be used. Degwin Sodo Zabi agreed to the demands of the PLANTS Supreme Council and under his personal order, commanded that all Weapons of Mass Destruction be withdrawn from all bases and disposed of. The order was carried out at the losses in the war exceeded 40 percent several weeks into the war and were feared to continue to climb.
Thanks to that and the successful negotiation of the Antarctic Treaty, humanity avoided nearly destroying itself.
Nevertheless, the war continued on, grinding to a stalemate with a combined ZAFT/Zeon invasion of Earth failing to achieve the rapid victory that both hoped for. The key battles of Washington, Britain, France, and the African Line caused both sides to stop and regroup. The Moon itself was also split and the Luna Confederacy was no more as both sides waged war.
It is now January of Cosmic Era 71, the war continues with a death toll approaching 50 percent. The United Mars Federation has declared neutrality in the war and deployed its own vaunted fleets to defend itself. Among other neutrals was the Side 6 Colonies, the Union of Equatorial States, the United Emirates of Orb, the Kingdom of Scandinavia, and the more powerful Middle Eastern Nations.
The war has entered its 15th month of stalemate.
Mobile Suit Gundam SEED: Zeonic Front
Chapter One
Gundam Rising
Kira Yamato limped down the stairs, using both the rails and his cane. He would one day heal, but that was a long time off for him. The brown haired youth was currently leaving his temporary residence to head out to work. At age 15, soon to be 16, he was young to hold his job as a computer software specialist, but he was also bright enough to get it.
He also needed the money and badly.
His medical bills aside, they were actually being covered by his employer, but he had been too reckless and the results had made him a young father with a young wife back at home. Then there was his mother, his father having divorced her and left, she hadn't worked in years and changes -the war notwithstanding- had occurred in the working world since then. Now she was unable to get work that really pulled in the income needed and with his own wife unable find employ herself, that left him as the sole breadwinner of their family.
He arrived in his dining room to smell food already prepared and looked to see his house guest was responsible.
"Princess," he protested immediately to the knee length long haired young woman, "Next time wake me sooner! I'll make the meal."
First Princess Royal of the Kingdom of Azadistan turned to see Kira limp into the kitchen area, the young man's coffee brown hair neatly combed, but naturally spiked downwards at its ends, his face still held his baby fat making his cheeks slightly round, his often gentle and shy looking face filled with pain as he bumped his injured leg. The dark haired, blue eyed Middle Eastern beauty with sharp, but soft features simply smiled as she shook her head, her long hair dancing slightly with the movement. She wasn't about to force a man still recovering to perform such a task as she was fit and able to do. It wasn't like she had always been the princess of her nation and she knew Kira from when he had wandered into her kingdom with the injuries of what ailed him. So she knew how extensive he had been hurt and paid, out of her own pocket no less, for some of the things he needed so he could send more to his family and she even helped around his home, temporary as it was.
Besides that, they were related by blood, though distantly, much to their surprise.
She also felt comfortable with Kira, comfortable enough that she was dressed in a pair of short shorts with a short sleeve shirt that barely reached her midriff. She had on ankle high socks to pad around in as well. Though she was also wearing a cooking apron right now, but it felt nice to be just another person and not her royal heritage.
It had been Kira's wife that suggested that she sometimes find a place to just be herself. It just so happened that she chose to do so around Kira, because he saw her only as Marina Ismail. Plus, since they were related, they would tease one another like they were more closely related. It was a warm feeling for the two that had developed over the time they had been together.
Though Shirin Bakhtiar sometimes admonished her about such casual dress, she did so only as a reminder to not get caught. The Conservatives back in their homeland would have an endless fit over it. Yet, Shirin was there, clad in a pair of tight shorts and an even shorter top than what Marina wore, showing of nearly her whole mid section with apparent little regard to the lone male or her nation's attitudes to such a thing.
"You know that Marina likes doing this Kira," the woman giggled behind a hand, trying to look demure, but failing as the smile on her own beautiful face which was slightly round from being flatter and short compared to Marina's longer and thinner look, "You're the only one who would let her be Marina and today we're going to be heading back to our homeland," the short cut chestnut brown woman said, Kira noting again how her large glasses only enhanced her beauty, though it also made her face look a bit rounder at the same time.
As Shirin pulled out a chair for Kira to limp into and sit down, he looked up to her, "So the trade agreements worked out then?"
Marina was the one who answered, "Yes, Sovereign Degwin Sodo Zabi agreed to ship the necessary equipment and send the the needed technicians for us to build our own Minovsky Power Plants, giving our nation safe, clean energy again," the Princess Royal was simply aglow with the good news she could give to her people.
"Of course the charge, if his son Girhen had his way, would have been our siding with the Spacenoids," Shirin added with a tone of disgust, "Fortunately, he's now in command of operations on the Earth like Admiral Garma Zabi is, and he only stated that our ports be open for ZAFT and Zeon ships to enter in cases of emergencies, such as if they are suddenly taking on water or have a medical emergency beyond their ability to handle."
"We would have done so regardless," Marina chastised her aide before turning to Kira again, "Although the Conservatives wanted something more, I was able to get an agreement that any ZAFT or Zeon ship and/or personnel that entered fleeing a battle or simply entering without permission may be detained held until the conclusion of the war or until negotiations are agreed too."
"Smart," Kira nodded as Marina placed his breakfast before him and kissed him on the cheek, something he returned on her own, "Now both sides have to be careful around Azadistan and the nation itself can maintain it independence from the war raging around it."
Kira personally knew what the Middle East looked like now. It hadn't been that bad since the Federation of Israel States and the United Islamic Theocratic Republic had their throw down in 2131 AD back before the Reconstruction Wars. With half the Middle East either under the Star of David or the Islamic Crescent, both sides had gone to war and for the first time in its history, the Jewish state had been able to trade blow for blow, but in the end they had been able to deliver the better blows that utterly crushed the UITR. When the smoke had cleared cleared, the Israelis, ironically made up of not just Jews, but Israeli Christians and Muslims too, had emerged victorious with standing bordering with the Independent Muslim Republic of Pakistan and with United Republic of Libya and south into Central Africa, north to Russia, and that was it.
Though, as Kira knew, the Israelis withdrew to their own territory after the war, the Republics of Krugis and Azadistan along with the Kingdom of Suille had come into being with smaller nations around them, none large enough to challenge the Israeli nation again nor the will to do so with a shaken faith in religion and leadership from the defeats and heavy losses, most of the two caused by their own side rather than the Israelis.
The Israeli Federation, like all the nations from the AD Calendar, was lost in the Reconstruction Wars. It was a sad end to those nations, but in today's world, it was probably for the best. At least they would not be soiled by the likes of Blue Cosmos.
Kira though turned his attention from history to his food and his guests. The three sat together, laughing and joking as they ate. It was more like a family get together than the end of a business trip for them both. Kira's items were already packed and moved to be taken away, this was the last of the food for the time he had spent in Side 7. Now once his dishes were done, they'd be packed and shipped as well with the rest of his belongings. Then he'll be onto work and from there, finish any small detail and then head back to Heliopolis in time to celebrate Saint Valentine's Day with his wife and that was still a couple of weeks away.
'I wonder if she will be able to walk later?' he idly thought to himself with nothing showing on his face, save that he was for a moment in thought, as he thought about how he missed his wife.
He felt really bad taking a job so far away, practically on the other side of the Earth Sphere. That made Direct Line of Sight Communications impossible and he only had her letters to get him by. The money he sent back was what was important and he learned that it had helped a lot to keep them going. That made all the hardship worthwhile and his last letter said that he would be returning in a couple weeks time no less and that the last day had finally arrived, he was ready to wrap up his programming and go home to Heliopolis.
As soon as breakfast had been eaten, the three heard the door chime alert them to someone being at the door. Kira frowned as he looked at his watch, the old antique display informing him that he wasn't due in for another hour and a half. The door chime sounded again and Kira got himself up, taking a pistol with him just in case, much to Marina's surprise. She hadn't known he was even armed, let alone had a gun under the dining table! She saw him cautiously approach the door and look through.
It was just a neighbor.
He sighed as he carefully opened the door, just in case the girl was here under duress.
She wasn't, but given how close his employment was to finishing, he had to be extra careful. This was the time where it all that could go wrong, would go wrong. Something he hadn't spent so much time away from his family to just die, especially after promising to be home soon.
"Hello Mister Yamato," the Germanic brunette greeted him.
The older male took a moment to blink at his surprise visitor. Frau was a year younger than Kira and despite that, she was a very mature young lady. Her face looked a bit younger than she was actually, still carrying much of her baby fat, giving her a fuller looking round face. Her eyes were red, but she was a Natural, Kira saw that sometimes, already an oddity before the CE calendar, it became more common after the Recon Wars and the heavy use of WMDs. Fraw stood a bit shorter than one of his friends and was clad in a single piece green dress that went to her knees and she wore white shin high socks with brown shoes as well. Her own chestnut brown hair was in a short cut and Kira was sometimes reminded of some old fashion helmet for whatever reason.
One thing though was clear...
"Hello Fraw, how are you today?" Kira returned, hiding the pistol off to the side so not scare her with his own paranoia, even if she already knew about the weapon.
"I was wondering if you've seen Amuro today?" the teenage girl asked him, even as she eyed him up and down, she had heard about Coordinators being different, but with his cane, Kira looked no different from anyone else, but it went against what her parents said and it always left her confused.
"Not today Fraw," Kira chuckled, the boy was like Athrun or like how he had been before, "But I'll wager a good guess he's probably lightly clad and still tinkering with something, you know he does that."
Fraw's pretty face became flushed as she knew what Kira was referring too. Amuro had the bad habit of allowing himself to forget to even dress at times. She still remembered the time she had first introduced Kira to Amuro only to find the boy not even dressed. Though Kira had taken it in stride, remembering his friend had a similar habit as did he once.
Poor Amuro hadn't been able to escape that lecture for the rest of the day.
"I'd better go find him and make sure he knows we need to get to a shelter now," the girl stated as she turned to leave, only to find her movement arrested when Kira reached out and grabbed her arm.
"I thought the evacuation wasn't due for another two hours?" Kira looked at her sternly, surprised by the change of events.
"It was Mister Yamato, it was," both turned to see a military officer hurry over to the two of them, "Things have changed and not for the better."
Cursing lightly in a Pacific Islander language Kira released Fraw and sent her to find Amuro and get to a shelter. The officer then tried to hurry Kira to a waiting vehicle, but Kira indicated he had to see his guests off and grab his work. The officer was surprised, he'd heard nothing about guests. Though the situation was defused as Shirin exited, fully dressed in her light green and black with gold trim formal clothing.
"Greetings, um?"
"Lieutenant Brubaker ma'am," the man tipped his hat lightly with a slight nod of his head, "May I ask who you are and why you're here?"
"Certainly Lieutenant Brubaker," Shirin agreed with a small curtsy, "My name is Shirin Bakhtiar and I am the aide to the Princess Royal of Azadistan, Princess Marina Ismail, cousin to Lord Yamato here."
The officer looked taken back by both who she said she was, who Kira was related to, and her address of Kira and he spoke it, "I'm afraid you leave me confused ma'am?"
"Kira Yamato is a relation of Princess Marina, though admittedly with some distance, but a relation nonetheless," she indicated Kira who only nodded to the officer in confirmation, "Some refer to him as a lord as such, though admittedly only by those who hold such matters as important."
Brubaker translated, "So he's a foreigner and doesn't actually hold the title of lord per se, understandable, my name isn't exactly something you'll find in uptown Lancaster," Shirin thought he had had a Lancastrian accent.
Kira then spoke up, worried about something, "What about ships? Any leaving Lieutenant?"
Turning, the dark haired lieutenant shook his head. He then informed them all ships were ordered not to leave since a Zeon ship was spotted though they feared there were more. As such, they could not open the harbor as it would give easy access to the colony's interior. It was a safety measure as well as a defensive measure. If the Zeon seized the harbor they had easy entrance, but if a missile passed through the harbor entrance, it could vent the entire colony and even propel it like a missile itself out of placement and into another colony or worse.
"So they can't leave, despite their level of diplomacy?" Kira inquired though he already knew the truth.
"Unfortunately," Brubaker looked nervous, "It's the Red Comet we're talking about."
Kira just stared at Brubaker. How would they be worried about the port? Then he remembered that most were recent recruits and garrison troops. They had almost no combat experience against the ZAFT and Zeon forces, but this was the Red Comet.
"Lieutenant," Kira said evenly, "They're likely already inside the colony after using a side entrance."
Brubaker blinked, then blinked again, and finally cursed himself just as Marina exited the house in her official traveling outfit of a white blouse with a white sweater and a knee length black skirt and in black high heels.
"Something wrong?" she asked, curious at hearing Brubaker rant through a few curses and just about grab Kira to start running when Kira shouted at the man to calm down and help him get his papers as Shirin turned to Marina.
"Zeon is outside," the brown haired woman grimaced as she fixed her glasses, "A battle is likely and there's a chance they're already inside the colony."
Marina brought her hands up to her face in surprise, confusion, and fear. She knew that so far, surviving in a colony's shelters was mixed at best. Most of the human cost thus far had been colonies. Since she was from Earth, it was even worse for her.
Fortunately Kira had a set of wheels still and threw Shirin the keys as he loaded up his stuff and left in a hurry with the soldiers.
Inside the colony's military command center, the garrison commander moved toward a viewing site into space. He could hear the orders and commands being issued to move equipment and the new V-Project Prototypes to get them ready for loading. Then as he arrived, he couldn't help hearing a comment about White Base leading a Zeon ship to them. Nevertheless he alighted near another officer to observe the White Base's approach.
"So is this it?" he inquired, almost disbelieving the site of the new warship.
"Yes sir," one of his officers responded.
"The Federation has a fine new warship it can be proud of lieutenant!" the commander couldn't help but feel like a child watching a new toy coming to him, "With the strength and firepower of the new Gundam combined with this new warship we shall finally be able to break the Zeon easily!"
As he said that, the mighty new warship began its approach. It was a truly magnificent ship, her beauty not seen since the American Great White Fleet of the early 20th Century AD. She looked like a white winged horse, befitting the class name of Pegasus and the meaning that the Pegasus-class shall bring them to victory in the long war. He couldn't help but admire the ship's quiet beauty as the men and women around him did as well.
Though deep inside the ship, in one of the crew quarters, the occupant heard a knock, "Come in," the man called and the door opened to reveal a younger man, barely out of his teens as he entered and saluted.
"Excuse me, Lieutenant Ray sir, we've just docked, please report to the bridge at once" the dark haired man with a handsome face said and the Lieutenant Ray turned to him, noting it was a young officer. The tall and lanky, but military built young man cut a good look in the fledgling Earth Federation Military tan coat with black trim, white trousers, the mid-shin high length brown boots. His red cuffs and collar were still clean as the golden belt buckle shined in the light of the room. His dark eyes were low cut, but wide beside his nose and he had a strong look about him, but he was untried in war, still only a few months in and young.
"I'll be right there, thank you," Lieutenant (Senior Grade) Tem Ray responded as he closed the design book to his creation, "Mister Bright, is it?"
"Yes sir," the reply from the man came.
"And how many months in the military, Mister Bright?" Tem asked of the man that wasn't all that old in comparison to himself, having turned to face the man half-way, head completely facing him.
"Six months, sir," Bright Noa replied to the question, stock-still as he was before.
"You're about nineteen years old, right?" Tem continued asking the young officer.
"Yes, sir," Bright answered again.
Tem, having turned his head to a picture of his only child, he said, "Once we start mass-producing the Gundam, as I've planned," only to turn to face Bright again, "we can probably end this terrible war without sending kids like you into battle."
Bright, looking at the picture on the desk, asked curiously, "Is that your son, sir?"
"Yes," Tem answered, taking a moment to look at the picture of his son. "I hear that there are even kids his age fighting as guerrillas in this war." Turning to face Bright again, he asked in a tone befit of trying to torture someone for information, "Is that true, Bright?"
"Y-yes, I believe so, sir," Bright answered as he moved to let Tem out of the room. "That's what they say."
Tem summed up his thoughts with two words as he walked out of the room, turned left, and walked over to the bridge, with Bright closing the door behind him. "It's horrible."
Already the events were in motion as alarms blared through the base. Kira and Brubaker had informed the base defense commander of the possibility that Zeon was already in the colony. The commander, fearing that possibility and thinking about who they were up against, had already issued the ordered for his defense personnel to make ready for battle. He then alerted his superior who was in charge of the defense of the colony and the man decided to test that theory with a group of their precious few space fighters and mobile armor.
"They're sorting to meet us?" Char Anzable frowned as the masked and helmeted blond man dressed in a personalized red Zeon officer's uniform turned to his ship's captain.
"Yes sir," Captain Erich Wolfenstein Dren nodded as he rubbed his chin, his gloved fingers brushing against the bottoms of his thick, black sideburns, "I've already ordered the Holstein and Schleswig to maneuver themselves and launch mobile suits, but as you know they only have eight Zaku's between them at this time."
"Of which," Char spoke without missing a beat, "three are down for maintenance, two have irreparable battle damage, and three piloted by green rookies fresh from the academy back in the Vaterland," Char then looked up from the holographic situation map to his longtime friend, "Launch them, they can get their baptism by fire today."
"Yes sir," Dren ordered the comms officer to make it so and the three accompanying Laurasia-class Frigates launched the three mobile suits they could.
The Battle of Side 7 began at once when the two sides deployed forces met...
...but not in space.
Eager for victory glories and sick of waiting around, especially since he believed -somewhat true- that the Federation forces knew they were in the colony, Korporal Mathias Gene, chose to recklessly assault the Federation base as they began to load up the V-Project Prototypes despite orders to the contrary.
Oberfeldwebal Richter Denim tried to stop his wayward charge, but the damage had literally been done. Joining in on the assault himself, they began to sweep the colony of anything Federation. Only the fire they were getting indicated that the Federation knew in advance their general location. It was something Denim cursed about as he destroyed a Federation M61 Tank, only to have to duck when a Mobile Suit Destroyer rolled around from behind a building and fired. Denim had caught visual of the MS Killer vehicle just a scant second before it fired and had not only been able to dodge, but counterfire, though he missed.
Seeing Gene fire off to the side, he traced it, expecting Federation forces to be over there. Instead, he only destroyed a single Federation jeep before his fire tore into increasing lines of civilians. Denim only cursed and immediately closed the distanced to backhand Gene's Zaku II.
"You idiot!" the obelfeldbwal shouted at the korporal, "Check your targets! Those were civilians!"
Machine cannon fire cut off any further argument and both went back to the business of destroying Federation military vehicles and defense points.
Kira and several engineers were desperately trying to get the final unit ready for shipment. As the first units had been already loaded up and one full combat ready unit had been removed on its trailer. Kira was in the cockpit, a pretty technician about eight years his senior in age with him as they both added finishing touches. The poor technician had been called right on over and instead of the usual slacks she wore, she was wearing a skirt that had fallen down over her bent over form as she frantically tried to finish connecting various components and then add new ones in for her to wire as Kira worked hard to get the various systems to work together in the mobile suit's OS.
A small blast occurred near a corner and the tech yelped as she righted herself suddenly, banging her head on a part of the roof and promptly fell across Kira, disrupting his work.
"Angie?!" Kira gently turned the woman over to find she was still breathing, but she had a nasty cut on her head.
"What happened?" a guard stuck his head in and saw a bit of smoke suddenly appearing, "SMOKE!" he went at it, with Kira helping.
The smoke was several things at once. A soldering tool that Angie had been using had fallen, still on, and was trying to burn through some material. That material then melted a little, catching some exposed wiring and shortening them out in a couple of places. The last was Angie herself that was slightly smoking.
Kira used a fire extinguisher to attack the material and shorted wiring, preventing a fire. He also shut off the soldering tool and placed it safely up and away from anything else. With that taken care of, he turned to find that the guard had torn away Angie's skirt and was ruthlessly beating it with his foot as it had lit up a little.
"I got it!" the guard moved back as Kira hit it with the extinguisher, putting out what was left of Angie's skirt.
"What happened?" another guard had run up followed by a couple of mechanics.
"Shrapnel," the first guard replied, getting the piece of metal out of the remains.
Kira checked Angie for injury and winced when he saw that her bottom had been more or less slapped by the shrapnel, burning her flesh after tearing the seat of her panties. Kira did not look forward to hearing that explanation when her compensation showed up on the desk of whoever would have to sign off.
Garments, yeah, understandable.
A piece of shrapnel to the ass, leaving only both a welt and a burn, that was going to require some fast talking.
"It'd be easier for her if it had been-" a burst of fire tore into the building from close range and the guards and mechanics dropped to the catwalk while Kira shielded Angie from even more shrapnel.
When the five looked up, where the four outside the mobile suit had originally been for each, was now shot -literally!- to hell. Dead and wounded lay all about, some of the latter quiet while others screamed themselves hoarse. It was the worst thing any of them had seen, well, Kira had seen worse, but this was still bad.
"I need help," Kira stated and the two mechanics called for another tech, Angie's lover no less, and the woman stormed up the stairs to see Angie getting passed out, gauze on her head and bottom and simply froze at the sight of the unconscious woman.
"Rebecca now!" Kira yanked the woman into the mobile suit as Angie joined the other wounded heading for White Base, the safest point on the battlefield at this point.
In the space outside of Side 7, the two sides collided with an exchange of gunfire. The Federation's FF-S3 Saberfish space fighters and TS-MA2 Moebius Mobile Armor versus the Zeon MS-06F Zaku II. There were twelve fighters, four Mobile Armor, and then the three Zakus going at it at the moment.
The two sides passed by at high speed, exchanging fire resulting in a Saberfish being destroyed, but the pilot was able to eject and was quickly rescued by a rescue boat. Then the two sides turned and came back at one another, but here, the fighters broke up as the mobile armor stayed in loose formation, wary of the Red Comet suddenly joining. The three Zakus made the mistake of trying to go after one of the prongs and instead found themselves surrounded, one nearly being caught in a deadly crossfire of 25mm and 40mm cannon fire. Then as the pilot started to go after a Moebius that got too close, she failed to see the Saberfish come up from 'below' her and fire a pair of missiles into the now briefly exposed leg joints.
The young woman screamed as her mobile suit was rocked by the twin explosions that tore the lower half of the Zaku to pieces in a fiery blast even as she managed to reach for and grab the eject handle and she was flung from her mobile suit seconds before the cockpit was turned into an incinerator.
She too was rescued by a rescue boat, this one belonging to the Zeon side.
The two remaining Zakus pulled back, surprised by what had happened, though they were able to avoid the fatal mistake by the timely arrival of a fourth Zaku, still missing his shoulder armor and shield and pieces of the hip and skirt armor. The unfinished Zaku came in with a slashing attack, but three Saberfish had hung back and alerted their comrades to the new unit. The remaining twelve pilots immediately dodged the infamous Heat Hawk and the Zaku's machine gun. While the pilot hadn't gotten a kill in, one of the Saberfish made the mistake of getting too close to the Schleswig. The ship's anti-aircraft guns came to life and this one being a Zeon Laurasia-class, that meant additional emplacements on its board back and open ventral.
The pilot was smashed through the heart by a heavy caliber slug that killed him instantly even as his fighter was reduced to high speed confetti.
Another Zaku then launched from the Holstein, this one completed.
The leading fighter pilot simply snorted as they managed to snuff out that unfinished Zaku with a three way pincer.
On his ship, Char noted the improved tactics and coordination among the Federation pilots.
Back in Side 7...
Gene and Denim were firing their machine guns, both of them having different styles of combat in this entirely one-sided affair. Gene was firing recklessly, while Denim had the decency and discipline towards the civilian lives by firing at those that were guilty of combat. It was a big deal for Denim to avoid the fleeing civilians, though Gene had no such reservations, none whatsoever.
As they shot at Missile Cars, the prototypes of Mobile Suits, and even things that they shouldn't in Gene's case, Amuro was busy paying the battlefield no attention while reading a manual for a new model Mobile Suit, though he was brought back to reality with the arrival of his friend Fraw.
"Amuro?!" Fraw had separated from her family to run over to the boy. She could see where a hanger lift had been, but only a blacken mess remained, though the lift itself was still intact miraculously. At least he was responding to her as he stood up, tucking some kind of book away, "We have to hurry up and get out of here!" she grabbed him by the arm and began to lead him away.
Meanwhile, a light MLRS launched a tow missile at the Zakus. Both had advanced into the research base's perimeter, one standing near some debris of what had been a prototype and the other on a small hill. The missile, despite the tracker's best ability was simply ducked and he failed to hit either as the missile crashed to crater the base. Counter fire came at once from the Zaku on the hill.
The shots were wide, missing vehicles, buildings, and even the wrecked and intact prototypes, but various personnel and even civilians were not so lucky.
Many civilians had dropped down, some finding some form of cover as explosions tore apart the area and hurled debris into the air. A child then stood up and shouted at the Zakus to 'stop it.' It was unlikely that they heard him.
Fraw was practically molding herself into Amuro in fear as she spoke his name in fear, but he didn't hear her. Instead he spotted a trailer with a white and blue painted mobile suit on it and three armored suited men standing near the vehicle and its cargo. One was trying to direct the situation and that was the one he focused on.
"Go to the spaceport and take your family," he told Fraw as he took off.
"Amuro!" Fraw's cry was heard by Shirin and she came to a stop, Marina also stopping and turning to see her aide start heading to a young girl she had seen speak to Kira on several occasions, so she followed as well.
Then Fraw heard her mother as the two women arrived and began to lead her off with the rest of the civilians.
As Amuro neared his father talking to a soldier, he could hear what they were saying. He heard his father inquire about an elevator and was told it was for evacuees, but he started to argue. He pretty much demanded that one of his mobile suits take priority. That way they could take it to White Base and prepare to fight back against the Zeon. The soldier acknowledged and saluted and moved to get the trailer started.
"Come on dad can't you hear me!" Amuro shouted and Tem Ray turned in surprise to see his son running to him.
"Huh? Amuro?!" the man couldn't understand why his son was there, "Why aren't you evacuating?"
Amuro didn't even stop for breath, "Listen dad! Are mobile suits more important than human beings?"
Turning away, Lt. Ray simply said, "Get a move on," it was unknown whether it was to his son or the soldier.
"Dad stop!" Amuro demanded.
Turning back to his son, "I want you to get up to White Base now!" he growled out the order.
Amuro leaned back more in confusion than shock or surprise, "What is White Base dad?"
"It's the new warship that just docked," Tem said as he faced forward, before turning and snapping at the soldier, "What's taking so long!"
The soldier was trying everything before he reported, "The engine won't start!" he looked more exacerbated than scared.
Stepping forward, but turning back to his son briefly, "Get to White Base immediately," he told Amuro before turning back to the soldier, "I'll find a tractor," and took off running to find one.
"But dad I..." Amuro trailed off, seeing his father's running form leaving as Amuro turned to leave, he saw the soldier jump out and quickly chase after his father as distant explosions and gunfire crackled, but then stopped cold at seeing the mobile suit's head, "So this is... their secret weapon," and he reopened the book and began going through pages, not hearing a shell closing in close until an explosion a few meters away occurred, knocking him off his feet and showering him in debris and dirt as he struggled to get back up once it was over.
"Amuro! Hurry!" he suddenly heard Fraw through the pain and looked up to see her jump a guard rail with the basketball sized green ball form of Haro following her and two women seemed to see her take off after him and chased after her as well, "Amuro!" the four hadn't gotten halfway down the embankment when an explosion threw them the rest of the way down, crashing and rolling after the explosion behind them.
Amuro gasped as he launched himself up, "FRAW BOW!" Haro rolling by him unharmed, as Fraw and the two women covered their heads and moved into the fetal position as he raced over to his longtime friend.
Debris continued to rain, but Amuro intrepidly used the manual as a makeshift shield against it as he rushed to Fraw's side, calling her name and gently shaking the frightened teenage girl.
"Fraw Bow! Please can you hear me?! Fraw Bow!" Amuro shouted in panic and then... she moved under her own power, "Amuro?" she said, frightened and shaken.
"Are you two alright?" Shirin and Marina were by the two's side, having grown up with the occasional conflict in the Middle East, for whatever reason, they were more used to explosions and how to survive unharmed from nearby ones.
"I'm alright," Amuro replied turning to her before going back to Fraw, "Can you stand?"
"Yeah," the girl replied weakly, preparing to turn to look, only to see Marina blocking her view, the dark haired princess shaking her head, "Mom? Grandfather?" she still looked, as though looking through Marina to see their still forms laying with others.
Amuro didn't know if he was lucky or not. Shirin saw that he had an unobstructed view of the carnage and immediately pulled the shocked boy to her, hiding his face from the devastation.
Fraw nevertheless got up and ran past Marina who tried to stop the Germanic girl, but Fraw would not be stopped. She soon was past and ran over to her mother's still form, collapsing atop her and crying out once she saw that both her grandfather and mother were both dead.
Amuro walked over to her, "Come on Fraw, you need to go before they get you too," he pulled the protesting girl to her feet.
"NOOO!" she shouted, but then Amuro slapped her a couple of times.
"Get a grip, you're stronger than that," he held the crying girl up as Marina and Shirin walked up, their four bodyguards groaning and somehow getting up, one holding a shell shocked little girl as two wounded groaned.
"We need to leave Princess Marina," the detail leader emerged from some debris, his arm bent at an angle it wasn't meant to, "Don't worry, we won't leave the living, but we need to also survive ourselves."
"Yes..." Marina swallowed bile that had built up in her throat, this was why she hated war and promoted peace so passionately, "Come now, we can make it to the spaceport from here," she took Fraw by the arm and began to lead her off, the poor crying teenager barely able to step at all, let alone run, but she was managing, "Good girl, let's go."
"Fraw Bow I'll be there soon, run quickly!" tears in his eyes as they then hardened into determination, Amuro took off before anyone could stop him, heading straight for the mobile suit on its trailer.
He arrived quickly and just as quickly clambered up the ladder to board the trailer. Then he climbed up onto the prone mobile suit, sporting a tan tarp over the central torso. He pulled it back and looked inside to see lights on and the cockpit waiting for a pilot.
"Can you believe that? It's on," he said to himself as he jumped in, taking the pilot seat, before standing back up and retrieving the manual and then following it, he brought the machine of war online as the seat reclined and rotated, the hatch sealing now in front of him as the cockpit displays activated and he could see outside into the colony.
"Right, what next?" he began to flip through the manual.
Kira cursed as he sent Rebecca away. The guards had left and then returned with an armored suit for her. The bulky affair at least provided very good protection against shrapnel. The three then left as soon as Kira was sure they were done.
Another explosion and he heard over the comms that a Regina Launcher and its crew had been killed followed by a heavy machine gun and its crew too.
Kira heard someone tell him it was time to go and Kira responded, "Kira Yamato, Gundam Striker, moving out!"
"WHAT?!" the speaker was a soldier still in the hanger, "Kira! You're not a-"
"I am a mobile suit pilot," Kira retorted, cutting the man off, "Probably the only experienced pilot on the colony no less," he declared as he brought the Gundam Striker to full power and moved it forward, stepping out its cradle as remaining personnel scrambled to get out of the way as Kira piloted the Gundam to the damaged and ajar twin doors.
"Kira!" the soldier tried in vain to stop the young man, "There's a battle going on out there! You can't risk the Striker!"
Kira didn't answer as he brought up the Gundam's hands, fingers finding purchase in between the open spaces. Kira then gave the command and the Gundam began to pull and though there was a moment of resistance, that's all there was. The Striker literally forced the doors open with the ear splitting sounds of screeching metal that warped and bent, but otherwise slid open to reveal the battlefield beyond.
Finishing pushing the doors open, Kira released them and walked the Striker out into the open artificial light of the colony refracting the real light of the Sol System's only star. It was painted primarily White with a Cobalt Blue torso with areas of Crimson Red. The paint scheme closely mimicked a few other Gundams, save for darker shades of blue and red as the RX-79S Gundam Striker stood glistening in the light as its purple eyes glowed briefly.
Denim immediately noticed the second mobile suit exit the hangar it was in. He was awed by the sheer strength of the mobile suit as it forced the badly damaged doors opened. The obelfeldbwal knew this was going bad as he slid down to Gene who was firing on what was thought to be another incomplete mobile suit.
Again Denim was startled to see that the 120mm machine gun rounds were doing nothing. It didn't even look like the paint was being scraped off either. He quickly reached out and grabbed Gene's weapon and forced it away as the other pilot stopped firing.
"We need to leave now!" Denim commanded, "Our mission was only recon and now we have two enemy mobile suits to worry about."
"What?! A second enemy!?" Korporal Gene responded with some panic.
Spotting the mobile suit laying down on its back suddenly begin to stand, shakely at first, but it quickly began to find its footing. Gene didn't hesitate and started firing again, explosions rocking the mobile suit as it stood as rounds bounced -literally no less!- off the armor. Then Gene eased up to hurriedly reload a fresh drum magazine.
"We need to leave now Gene!" Denim tried to pull the insubordinate pilot's Zaku away, but Gene wasn't leaving.
"We can't leave now!" the younger pilot shouted back irate and Denim could detect the sudden fear in the man's voice, "We let them get away now, we may end up losing the war!"
Gene returned to firing, but by this time, the RX-78-2 Gundam was fully standing as a few rounds burst -literally again!- against the armor. Then the eyes flashed suddenly as inside Amuro brought a targeting system from standby around before him and he took careful aim, waiting and then...
"Take this you Zeon rats!"
He returned fire, a burst grazing the top of Gene's Zaku, ripping at the shoulders and the head, shearing pieces of metal away as he had been slow to dodge the burst of return fire.
Denim escaped unharmed having been quicker, but he could only growl as Gene began to engage again. The two suits trading 120mm and 76mm rounds between one another. The trading lasted only a few seconds as Amuro missed largely after the initial burst, but Gene's shots simply failed to do anything against the Gundam's tough armor. Then it was over, Amuro having inadvertently exhausted his CIWS ammo.
"He's out of ammo Gene, let's go!" Denim tried again to pull Gene away, but the korporal was too frightened to listen and again shrugged off his superior and began to walk slowly forward towards the Gundam.
"Yeah, you're out of ammo aren't you, hehe," Gene was sweating as badly, if not more so than Amuro was right now, "I don't care here thick your armor is, hehe," Zaku was soon before the Gundam, "At this range I'll defeat you," he aimed the machine gun to point blank range and was about to pickle the trigger when the Gundam suddenly put a hand flush against the tip of the barrel and then used its other hand to punch the weapon into the air much to Gene's sudden surprise and terror.
"I've got you now!" Amuro shouted as he piloted Gundam to lash out and grab the Zaku by the face mounted extended ventilator on the head, just below the mono-eye sensor and then with a powerful punch from the free hand, hit the Zaku with incredible force, the metal failing under the force of the blow as the armor buckled and cracked as the Zaku was forced flying back, Gene screaming the whole way, as the distinctive piece of his Zaku's head was literally torn off, the terrifying mono-eye falling out of place to smash into the ground, breaking up and shattering on impact.
The Zaku flew back, trailing debris from damaged areas before crashing into a building, the building collapsing due to battle damage and the sudden kinetic transfer of energy from the uncontrolled flight plus the sheer 60 tons of Zaku that crashed into it.
"Gene!" Denim began to move forward when he detected something off to his right and barely dodged the incoming 76mm rounds from the Striker, "Damn! The other one!"
Dodging the fire and curious as to why when he saw the weapon in its hand, but saving it for later, Denim reached the downed Zaku as he tossed a Smoke Grenade. The smoke wouldn't last for long as he helped to pull the Zaku of Gene back onto its feet. He sighed with relief that Gene was only battered and bruised at worse as he opened a comlink to the younger pilot as he provided cover fire against both Gundams.
"Are you alright Gene? Can you get back to the ship on your own?"
"Yeah, I can still see with the back up camera, I'll be fine," and with that Gene engaged his vernier and began to jump away, but Amuro was having none of it.
"There's got to be another weapon, come on!" he flipped through the manual and looked at the controls, "This should work," he activated the beam sabers.
The Gundam reached up and grabbed a beam saber and then began a running charge as Denim turned back to the suddenly charging white mobile suit.
"I don't think so!" Denim opened fire, but the Gundam then leaped into the air, passing easily over Denim who could only stare up in shock as he couldn't bring his weapon to follow the Federation mobile suit in time.
Gene heard the proximity detector and looked behind him with one of the rear mounted cameras and he could only scream in terror as Gundam closed the distance easily to slash through the Zaku, bisecting the mobile suit, but also the Minovsky Fusion Reactor by mistake.
Moments after the Gundam had landed in a low crouch, sword still outstretched, Gene's bisected Zaku began to fall, but then exploded from the badly damaged reactor. The explosion was so powerful that the ground burst into flame seconds before the colony's hide was breached by the same explosion. Immediately, the surrounding area began to depressurize as equipment and wreckage was sucked out into space, along with Tem Ray and the soldier that had been with him much to Amuro's later mortification.
Immediately, automatic systems engaged and emergency sealant balls were released to be sucked into the gaping hole and plug it up. The damage for the time being, was averted from being the death of the colony. Nevertheless, the colony was severely damaged and had lost considerable amounts of air before the emergency system had kicked and this was further delayed as a result of battle damage. The resulting damage though, wasn't so severe that the colony couldn't eventually be fully repaired, though it would take years to achieve that.
That wasn't on the mind of Denim as he cursed. Gene was dead, killed by what was clearly becoming an inhuman monster, but Denim felt he could still win. If the Zaku machine gun wasn't working, the Heat Hawk would as he drew his Zaku's melee weapon, intent on charging the new Federation mobile suit.
"I'll get you!" Denim charged, not because he was mad or angry, but because he felt the need to avenge his comrade's death. Gene had stopped being a threat, so he should have been left alone, that was what ran through Denim's mind. It was how he was understood how to fight a war, and given the heavily Central European, especially Prussian, heritage of Zeon, many thought that way. He would avenge Gene's death and still achieve a victory here.
"The other one!" Amuro looked on in terror at the charging Zaku, "Can I hit it without completely destroying it?" Amuro was beginning to suffer a full blown panic attack as he tried to bring the Gundam's beam saber around, "Can I disable it by just hitting the cockpit?" he was doubting himself as the sweat covered his face, running from his brow to his chin, he ignored the stinging sensation to his eyes from the salt laden water as he took careful aim, he had only one chance to do this right.
As Denim's Zaku closed in, Amuro waited, trying to calm down, but so intently focused that he ignored everything around him...
"THERE!" Amuro thrust forward and in another world, he would have succeeded, but here Denim had already guessed Amuro's move and immediately jetted back and Amuro missed completely and was suddenly off balance and vulnerable, "NO!"
"I've got you!" Denim snarled before he heard the proximity alarm from behind him, "THE SECOND ONE!" he suddenly remembered too late as a beam spear stabbed into the Zaku's back, running out through the front, right through the cockpit as Denim's last thoughts came to mind before he was incinerated by the magnetically contained raw energy, 'Slender, get the data back to the commander and hurry!'
Kira only looked at the sight before him. That had been one of the honorable Zeon pilots, likely a sergeant of some years. It was a sad thing, as he was able to confirm that most of the damage had been the other pilot's doing, not this one, but he had to protect the Gundam, the colony, and finally all the civilians fleeing to their one sanctuary, EFS White Base.
"Such is war," the battle hardened Akira Yamashiro stated as he pulled his weapon back, the Zaku collapsing, effectively dead as Kira Yamato looked to the Gundam that held Amuro, still extended, but at least not sprawled like so many others as it drew itself back up to its full height, weapon deactivating as the saber was stored away.
Kira stored away the spear, the weapon collapsing for easy storage on the back.
Bright Noa watched the civilians were placed with-in the lift and spoke to a man off to his side, "Is that the last of them?"
"For here yes sir," the man replied before he checked something.
"How's the colony doing?" Bright asked next, wondering if they still had time.
"The emergency systems have kicked and the colony has stopped losing air," the man replied again, checking and triple checking all the readings, "Though I don't want to be around forever until that's fixed either."
"Same here," then he turned as he felt the trembling thumps of the two gundams approaching, "Have the two gundams assist as well with moving personnel and equipment."
"Sir?" the man looked confused.
"We've suffered heavy losses, we'll need the help of whoever is piloting those suits," Bright stated as he stepped out of the ruined lift area, careful to avoid the charred remains of an officer, "We got a long way yet to go, hmm?" his attention was suddenly averted by a light quaking feel.
Amuro blinked and also looked in the same direction confused while Kira already knew what it was.
Out in space, two missiles streaked in, destroying the command area of the colony. Several men and women were first tossed back and then their remains sucked out by the vacuum of space. The control area of the docking control was simply a mess and the outer colony command center was a darkened mess of bodies and dead equipment.
Meanwhile, on his ship, Char bit his upper lip in annoyance. This short recon had turned into a costly battle. He had lost no less than six Zakus so far for only twenty enemy fighters and mobile armor. He couldn't believe what had happened and knew he had only himself to blame for the losses.
"Only an amatuer makes mistakes, but this time I can't deny that's what I've done," as behind him he heard the report as two missiles left his ship, Musai-class CC-102 FZMS Falmel.
The missiles streaked in followed by four more missiles from the two accompanying frigates.
Thrown back into war, Kira Yamato decides to keep hidden his identity as Akira Yamashiro. His war is over, but he is clearly a well taught and experienced pilot as he helps guides the nervous Amuro Ray into war against the feared Red Comet. Can he keep his secret and return home, protecting the ship and its inexperienced crew of misfits and remaining personnel while facing an enemy he has never personally fought?
Char on the other hand refuses to let the White Base and its Gundams escape from Side 7. He endeavors to throw everything he has into this fight to stop the Federation's new mobile suits and ship from escaping. Can he succeed? Or will he fail against the awesome might of the Federation's newests weapons?
The ultimate question remaining...
Who will survive?
Come to life and fight back Gundam!
A/N:
And I'm back to my solo work!
Sorry for the long wait, but I've been working double time on things. Now I'm back in the game and this is one of them!
Now this isn't going to be easy as any of you can probably guess. On top of that, my Net at home is down again, so already I'm way behind, but this makes it worse. Hopefully I can get back into the swing of things.
Also, to the fella out there I promised a story to: this isn't it. I'm working on that, had to throw out everything in order to compensate for changes, sorry. Hopefully I'll have something soon.
Now, I've already gotten questions about Marina and Shirin and Azadistan. I'm writing the story so I'm coming up with the ideas, plus there will be a larger role here for Azadistan. So please hold off.
I will spoil you all though: Relena Peacecraft/Darlan will also be apart of the story. She'll be from the KoS naturally.
Also, like I've been doing a LOT lately, expect a taddy bit more realism in all this.
As for Kira: Those who know something, keep it to yerselves!
Right-o!
Now for the posting!
Specs to follow.