The Amazing Miniature Mobile Suit

&

Gundam

Tournament

I ran along the sidewalk, my backpack bouncing on my back. It was a warm day, but a light breeze kept it from becoming too warm. It was the sort of day that people liked to spend outside, and the parks I passed were filled with laughing people. It was the kind of day that people called perfect, and held other days against for comparison. I knew that this day was good; today was the day that I would beat his high score.

I was late. Ordinarily, I wouldn't have run to the arcade after school; I wasn't quite that big of a geek. But, of course, this day that I was destined to reach my goal, I got into trouble at school. I had been caught during reading time with a magazine about the MS Mini Tournament when I should have been reading in my textbook. I had managed to talk my teacher out of a full detention, but she still insisted that I stay after for half an hour. Half an hour was a much better alternative to two and a half, but still much too long. Rather than spend that time reading what I should have in class, I restlessly thumbed through the pages of the textbook, pretending ineffectually to read. I had sprinted away from the school when it was time, but realized quickly I couldn't keep that up for long. I slowed to a quick jog, one that would take me to the arcade in just over fifteen minutes. And, fifteen minutes later, I arrived at the arcade out of breath.

I moved into the arcade, and walked quickly down the aisles past the numerous machines. In the front were older machines, and the simple, originals; pinball and other such were found here. Past those machines were classic arcade games, and then the realm of light gun shooters. Past the light gun shooters were a few rows of racers, and sharing the back wall with a few dancing machines was the machine I was here for; MS Mini Tournament: The Game. As I walked over to the machine, I slowed, and then stopped. The relatively new, yet well-worn and often used machine I was used to was gone. Instead, the familiar chair and control lay out were replaced by a dual set-up cockpit. Was this the new machine I had been heard about, the one equipped so that a pair could play? I leaned my head in and saw that the cockpit had been redone to make it slightly smaller. The dual set up occupied the space of one full machine from the last generation. The controls seemed revised as well, the vertical joystick replaced by a horizontal yoke-like instrument much truer to the real controls.

"Hey, Lit, check these out!" I looked through the cockpit at the partner's side and found myself looking at a close friend, Kali. Her long brown hair drifted into her face as the cockpit shuddered. I quickly moved over to her setup and brushed the hair from her eyes, preventing her from needing to remove her hands from the controls. "They're the new machines we've heard about!" I glanced up at the viewing panel and saw a severe graphical improvement. The mobile suits flying about in front of Kali looked lifelike. And so did the beams flying at her.

"Behind you!" I said, noticing a mobile suit taking aim behind her. She started to turn, but something changed and her movement slowed.

"They took out my boosters!" She shouted as her mobile suit plummeted. I stepped back from the cockpit as it shook once more. I knelt down in a position where I could get a nearly full view of the screen and watched. As she hit the ground, the screen flashed red, and my eyes wandered to the bottom left corner. A front and rear view of the mobile suit she piloted flashed red in its back quadrants, as well as the legs. "The crash landing did some bad damage to my legs." She explained as she slowly moved to take cover.

"This is amazing! I didn't think it could get better than the last machine, but this is just…phenomenal!" I could scarcely contain my excitement.

"I know, tell me about it." The cockpit shuddered violently as a beam hit her in the chest. "Annoying flies!" She shouted. Her voice didn't carry far in the noisy arcade, but it was loud to me beside her. Caught in the game, she didn't care how foolish she looked to someone watching her play.

Abruptly, the screen flashed white and then began to flicker. The cockpit began to shake steadily. "Kali…you didn't break this, did you?'

"They shot me in the head, idiot! You should know that's where the main camera is." She shouted. "The damage level is at 90! I can't keep this up much-There, see! I'm dead." She pulled her hands off the yokes and crossed her arms. "Thanks for distracting me."

I laughed. "C'mon, Kali, you know you were going down before that."

She laughed as well. "Yeah, good point. Hop in the other machine, take it for a test run."

"Alright," I said, climbing into the partner cockpit after swiping my prepaid card. As the machine automatically credited the playtime from my account, the screen displayed a message. 'Creating Pilot Data: Please wait…' After a moment, the screen brought up a picture of my face and displayed my name at the top. I looked above the screen and found a camera, the one which had moments ago taken a picture of me. The image lingered on the screen for a moment and then went to the menu. I sat back in the seat, pressing the start button just below the right yoke.

The seat felt familiar, but as I placed my hands on the controls, I realized they didn't. "Uh, Kali, these controls are different."

"Don't worry, you'll get used to them quickly." She said as a screen with portraits of numerous mobile suits appeared. "Select your mobile suit with the left yoke."

I moved the left stick experimentally and found that the on screen cursor moved. The stick moved both forwards and backwards, but a spring kept it oriented in the center. Gentle pressure urged it forward against my movements as I held it down. The cursor quickly flicked through the numerous mobile suits available. "Kali, this is amazing! Look at all these mobile suits! I think they have every series!"

"Yeah, they do." Kali said. "Every series that's represented in the tournament, anyways." I leaned over to watch what mobile suit Kali picked, and found that she had decided on an MFB-M1 Astray. I too selected a mobile suit from the Cosmic Era timeline, but decided instead on a ZGMF-1000 ZAKU Warrior. Across from me, Kali scoffed. "You're going to take me on in a ZAKU Warrior?"

"This is adversarial?!" I tried to go back, but my screen was already asking me to wait while Kali selected an arena.

"Idiot. This is the MS Mini Tournament! It's last man standing!" She picked an arena and both our screens switched to a loading screen. "Prepare to be shot down!"

Abruptly, my screen switched to a cockpit view of a hillside. Experimentally, I tried moving the ZAKU and found that it did so, making the cockpit shudder as it took a few steps. Already, the sounds of fighting reached my ears, quietly from my speakers, and louder from Kali's beside me. "Kali, how does this thing work?"

"Figure it out for yourself, I had to!" I glanced over and saw her cockpit shake violently. I laughed to myself already.

"Getting shot down already? We haven't even fought yet!" I taunted.

"You!" She shouted, and my cockpit abruptly began to shake. The sounds of fighting coming from my speakers matched hers for volume. The battle had come to me.

"Let's see what you're made of, ZAKU," I muttered to myself. It was time to fight.

The mobile suit lurched forward as I attempted to manipulate the controls. Beams flew about all around me, the display almost covered in blasts of green energy. This was no good; I had to get out of the way while I figured out how to do what I needed to. I glanced down at the controls and saw a panel with weapons. The buttons were backlit and a few glowed red. I punched the one that read "Beam Rifle" and saw on the display an aiming cursor appear. I looked about and then figured out where the booster controls were. I switched them on as I ran forward, and flew out of the battle.

"You won't get away that easily!" The cockpit shuddered violently, and I turned to the left. The cockpit was rocked, but as I glanced at my damage readings, I saw that I hadn't incurred very much damage.

"My shield!" It occurred to me suddenly that the ZAKU Warrior bore a shield on its left shoulder. I grinned broadly. "Time for some action!" I caught another beam on the shield and then turned suddenly. "Take this!" I swung the cursor onto the mobile suit in front of me and pulled the trigger. The ZAKU began to fire at once, rapidly shooting out beams of hot, green energy. Without a lock, the beams began to quickly spread out from the mobile suit in the middle of the screen.

"Ha-ha! You fool, have you forgotten how to aim?!" Kali taunted. The Astray before me fired a few quick bolts of green energy. Quickly, I turned to catch them on the shield, but one managed to clip my right shoulder. The cockpit shook roughly, and a glance at my damage reading showed that I was at 16.

I cursed, and turned up my booster. I flew rapidly from the battle, turning my back on it. Beam shots flew past the mobile suit as I fled, and it appeared that Kali was following and shooting rather than taking the time to aim. An idea began to sprout in my head, and I eased off the boosters slightly. Abruptly, I killed them completely and dropped. Kali continued overhead, and I opened fire on her mobile suit's unprotected chest. She started to raise her shield, but was unable to get it up before the beam shots tore through her mobile suit. Beside me, Kali shouted and I heard the cockpit shaking violently. I turned the boosters back up as the altitude dropped, and regained control of the mobile suit. In front of me, Kali's Astray dropped rapidly and exploded as it hit the ground.

"That was awesome! Did you see that destruction animation?!" I shouted.

"Nice move," Kali commented sullenly. I looked over and saw her climbing from the cockpit. "Watch out! You idiot! Don't use your boosters like that, you're wasting energy!" I turned as beam shots began to hit the ground around me. I killed the boosters and landed. "As if I got shot down by someone like you," She muttered, but I ignored her as I quickly turned on the boosters to quickly lunge away from a few beam shots. I neared the mobile suit, another Astray. A quick spurt from the boosters threw my mobile suit into the enemy, and we both fell to the ground. I struggled to get the mobile suit back on its feet as the Astray stood, but the controls resisted me. My damage reading was nearing 25, but the ZAKU still had plenty of fight left in it, I knew. Abruptly, the damage reading shot upward, and the cockpit shuddered. Kali took a step away from the violent machine, and I turned to see this new attacker. A barrage of bullets slammed into my shield as I turned, and I quickly threw the boosters all the way up.

I gained altitude quickly, and spun in a quick circle. Astray, 6 o'clock; GINN, 9 o'clock. I aimed at the GINN and locked on. The GINN was reduced to a flaming pile of scrap after a few seconds and I turned to engage the Astray. Abruptly, the cockpit shook much more violently and the screen flashed pink. Still shaking, the view switched to third person, and I watched an instant replay of my mobile suit's destruction; the Astray, beam saber out, lunged at me from the left and sliced my mobile suit cleanly through the middle.

"You paid too much attention to the GINN," Someone said from outside the cockpit. "When there's something on your six, you can't just turn away form it and expect nothing to happen."

"I know that!" I snapped, climbing from the cockpit.

"You did well," Kali said. "For a first timer, that is."

"You and I both know it wasn't my first time playing a Mini MS Tournament game." I replied.

"The controls on this particular machine are drastically different from the machine I'm told was previously here. You did excellent for a first timer." A man said. He appeared to be the man whom had given me the advice about enemies at the rear. He was of average height, and appeared average in every way but apparel; he wore a business type suit.

"I told you, I'm not a first timer." I snapped.

"My apologies. I seem to have forgotten to introduce myself. I'm Martin Shinota." He said, producing a business card and extending a hand. I took the card and his hand, shaking as I read it.

"Hobbyist Industries, incorporated? That sounds familiar." I said as he shook hands with Kali.

"We sponsor mobile suits in the MS Mini Tournament, and often run advertisements during tournament matches." He explained.

"That would explain it," Kali suggested. "Lit here is obsessed with the Tournament."

"Am not," I shot back. "I just happen to be a bit interested."

"How interested?" Mr. Shinota asked.

"He stops by the arcade on a daily basis and obsesses over beating the high score of someone whose initials are JLZ. He also watches every match, every time it's aired on TV and subscribes to the three magazines about mobile suits, one of which is about the show rather then the tournament. I'm sure now that there are new machines here and JLZ's score is gone, he'll lose his purpose and no longer have a goal in life." Kali explained.

"I'll get over it," I said, leaning in to admire the cockpit once more. I was slowly beginning to figure out how it worked, and was confident that I'd be able to be the last person standing in the next match. "Kali, you want to have another go?"

"Sure," She replied. "Excuse us for a moment?" The man nodded and moved in between the two cockpits. He knelt down in a position where he could clearly see both displays as we set up the match. This time, rather than a ZAKU Warrior, I chose instead a ZGMF-1001 ZAKU Phantom. "No excuses this time, Lit. You know it's adversarial, and you still chose a ZAKU."

I laughed. "You say it like it's a bad thing. I'm getting a feel for how they handle, I'll get you this time." I glanced at her display and saw that she had picked an urban arena. I quickly returned my attention to my own display as the game loaded up. Suddenly, the display switched to a cockpit perspective from my mobile suit, and I began to move at once.

We were in a city, I saw, and I quickly ran down a street. The buildings were a few stories tall, and just over the ZAKU's head. Reduced visibility for me meant reduced visibility for the enemy as well, I duly noted. I quickly found my way out of the maze of the streets and on the border of the map. An opaque red barrier separated my mobile suit and I from the green hills outside of the city. I quickly turned around and examined the area. The urban map seemed to be in the shape of a large square, and I enjoyed a long sight line to the other side of the map. A series of streets crisscrossed the map, leading from side to side, and I ran along the outer streets, looking in towards the city's center.

Abruptly, I found myself face to face with a Strike Dagger mobile suit of the variety used by the Earth Forces from Gundam Seed. It immediately opened fire on me with CIWS guns on its head, but I lunged forward, manipulating my ZAKU's arms. I bashed it roughly with my shields, and it fell to the ground. It started to get up, but I quickly ran over to it and pointed my gun down at it. "Oh, no you don't!" I shouted, and opened fire on its cockpit. I quickly boosted backwards as it exploded.

"I heard that!" Kali said. Suddenly, an Astray ran into view. I quickly boosted into a street running parallel to its path, just before it glanced over. It continued past, having missed me.

My cockpit shook violently, and I boosted backwards, looking for the source of the fire. A barrage of missiles hit the ground in front of me, and I traced the lines of white smoke upwards. Abruptly, a mobile suit dropped into view directly in front of me. I changed direction and rammed into it. It staggered backwards, the shots it began to fire from its machine gun thrown off target. I boosted backwards, opening fire on it as I did so. The mobile suit, an ASH, exploded, but something stopped me from boosting backwards.

"There you are!" Kali shouted from beside me.

I quickly reversed direction and lunged forward. I started to turn, but the boosters abruptly went out. Surprised, I looked all around the display but before finding that my energy levels were low, desperately low. Landing awkwardly, the mobile suit tipped and fell over.

"What'd I tell you about wasting energy?!" Kali shouted, shooting at my downed mobile suit.

"C'mon!" I drained the remaining energy in a quick burst to get out of the way of her shots. I landed the suit on its feet, and turned towards Kali. She was lunging forward in an attack and slammed into me. I pulled the trigger, but the shots were blocked easily by her shield as my mobile suit fell onto its back. Abruptly, Kali's suit was hit and stumbled forward. I forced my mobile suit to its feet as Kali was shot repeatedly in the back with hot green bolts of energy. Abruptly, her suit exploded, catching me in the explosion as well. My damage readings jumped dangerously high, and another beam from the Astray at the far end of the street pushed them over the edge. My mobile suit exploded, switching to a third person view to give me a nice view of the two mounds of smoldering scrap. A third one was visible a short distance away.

"I HAD YOU!" Kali shouted, climbing from the machine.