SD Gundam Force

Rising

Chapter 1

WARNING: The following fanfic will contain strong language, spoilers, OCs, possible SLIGHT blood, death and some possible sexual humor. Reader's discretion is advised.

How long had it been since that day, he wondered; the day when the Dark Axis finally fell. It had been so long, that Captain had nearly forgotten. Usually he wouldn't think of such things, but this was an important day. Today was the anniversary of the Gundam Force's last victory against the Dark Axis. As a reward for doing his part in that last battle, Captain was allowed to take the whole day off from his duty as a soldier of the SDG. And on that day for the past five years, Captain always spent it with his best friend, Shute. Once he landed on the roof of Shute's workshop, he knocked on it as if it were a door.

"It's open!" said a familiar voice.

As usual, Captain slowly descended down the hatch and into the cluttered work space that was Shute's workshop. A figure spun around in his chair to greet him. Sitting at a desk was none other than Shute himself. It was sad to think about it, but Shute had grown during those five years. But though his voice had matured (and his personality in some ways) and he looked different in appearance (aside from his hairstyle), he was still the same Shute that Captain had met long ago. And that would never change.

"Good afternoon there, Shute." said Captain, as he always did.

"Hey there, Captain," replied Shute cheerfully "It's been a while. How goes that secret training the SDG gave you?"

"You know I can't tell you about that yet."

"Aw, you're no fun."

"Sorry, but orders are orders, Shute."

"Yeah, yeah."

Shute chuckled while Captain just smiled. Captain wanted to tell Shute about his new training at the rebuilt Super Dimensional Guard base, but Chief Haro had forbid him from telling Shute about it. Captain didn't understand why; he felt that all of the SDG should know about the new challenges ahead of them. He hated keeping secrets from his friends, though. But, alas, he complied anyway. For it was his duty to do so. He decided to change the topic.

"How's your sister?" asked Captain.

"You mean Nana?" asked Shute "Oh she's great! She just started her first day of kindergarten."

Just then, they both heard a knock on the door. Shute went over and opened it.

"Shute," said a small, high pitched voice "I'm bored. Will you play with me?"

"Oh! Well, look who it is! Nana, come in! Guess who just arrived." replied Shute.

A small, five year old girl with blonde hair came in the room holding a stuffed brown teddy bear with a green bow around its neck. She looked up at Captain with innocent bright green eyes (surprisingly like Shute's). Captain was surprised by how much she had grown in the past week that he had been absent from Shute's life. He noticed that she had grown a few inches since last he had seen her.

"Hi, Mister Captain!" chirped a happy Nana.

"Hello, Nana," replied Captain as he kneeled down to her height "You've grown since I last saw you."

"Yeah! Mommy got me this pretty new dress yesterday, because I grew SO big!"

"I see. It looks lovely on you."

"See, Shute! Mister Captain says it looks lovely on me!"

"Yeah, I heard him," said Shute "Now what do you say, Nana?"

"Thank you!"

"You're welcome." replied Captain.

The room was covered in an eerie darkness, only illuminated by the light of a single giant computer screen. On the screen, there was an image of the skyline of Neotopia.

"Neotopia," muttered a smoothe, charismatic voice in the dark "What a truly peaceful place."

"Indeed," said another voice (one that was feminine and slightly sultry) "So peaceful it makes me sick."

Another voice merely grunted in agreement.

"Luckily, it is our duty to change that." a fourth voice (one that was venomous) chimed in.

"We must act now, if we are to take it by force." said the third (one that was deep and gruff) voice eagerly.

"Now, now, dear brother," replied the first voice "We must be patient. These things take time. Especially when there are more pressing matters at hand."

The computer screen image then changed to video footage of a Gundam and a teenage human talking to each other on the deck of a house as the sun was setting.

"Wait," spoke the third voice "Are those not remnants of the group that brought the destruction of General Zeong?"

"Yes," replied the first voice "However, I have heard rumors that they had disbanded shortly after the fall of the Dark Axis."

"Well!" commented the second voice "Then this shouldn't be too hard, with their guard dropped and all. Let us commence the first step, shall we?"

"Has it really been five years since then?" asked Captain, who spoke after Nana left to go inside and go to bed.

"I guess so," replied Shute "It's been so long... I wonder how the others are doing."

"I'm sure they're doing fine, but... I can't help but sense that something is approaching on the horizon for them."

"What do you mean by that?"

"Well... no... forget it."

"Aw, come on, Captain! We've been friends for a while now! You can tell me anything. So tell me, what's on your mind?"

Captain stared on into the horizon as the sun melted into the mountains. Should he tell him, he wondered? Should he go against orders and tell his closest friend what has been happening in his life? Captain was feeling hesitant for the first time since God knows when. In fact, for Captain, this may have been the first time he had ever felt hesitant. Just before he could say anything, the sound of a large crash echoed throughout the yard.

"Whoa!" shouted a surprised Shute "What was that?!"

The alarm on Captain's brow blinked red.

"What is it, Captain?!" asked Shute "It can't be the Dark Axis, can it?!"

"Impossible..." whispered Captain to himself "They gave us a deadline..."

"Huh? Who did?"

Captain looked to Shute.

"I'll explain everything later. Right now, we should investigate."

"Right!"

As the sky began to darken with night's approach, Shute and the re-equipped Captain approached the scene of the crash silently. They laid themselves down on the ground and crawled towards the edge of a cliff. At the edge, they saw a strange ship lying in a crater though it seemed to be undamaged. The ship was large enough to carry a whole battalion but it was hard to determine what type it was. The large gold emblem on its side seemed to represent a few arrows, none of them the same length, Neither of them had ever seen it before; it was practically foreign. The ship opened its hatch and out of it, came a squad of unexpected soldiers.

"What? Zako soldiers?" asked Shute "I thought they were sent back to their dimension or something."

But what was even more shocking was who their squad leader was. It was a red and yellow armored warrior armed with two sub-machine guns and a turret gun on his back. He stepped out of the ship with a cocky smirk on his face and a look in his eye that said the words "get in my way, and I'll slaughter you like a lamb." A look that was all too familiar.

"Zapper Zaku?!" whispered Captain sharply "But what is he doing with them?!"

"And wasn't he supposed to be defending Ark?!" added Shute, who then changed the topic "Wait, who's them?"

"Alright, boys!" shouted Zapper Zaku "Listen up! You know what to do. So let's get out there and blow shit up!!

"Zako!!" cheered the Zako soldiers

The Zako soldiers proceeded to set up what appeared to be a small cannon. The cannon didn't seem to be a threat at first glance, but in Captain's scanners, they contained a lot of energy. And judging by what the squad leader said, he knew they were up to no good. As much as it pained him to do so, he had no choice but to stop them. He quietly pulled out his rifle while still keeping an eye out on the strange weapon. He was waiting for the opportune moment to strike; when the Zako soldiers were distracted. And usually, that happened very quickly. When Captain noticed that about five soldiers grouped together to start a conversation (he couldn't tell what they were talking about, as he wasn't paying attention to that), he made his move. Captain jumped down from his hiding spot and aimed his weapon.

"Stop where you are, Zapper Zaku!" ordered Captain.

"What?!" said a very shocked Zapper Zaku "Captain?! I thought you and your little posse were retired!!"

"Even when there is peace, I'll keep fighting for the SDG till my very last breath."

"Heh, still the same old thorn in the side of my ass, I see."

"Why do this? Did you not swear to protect Ark?"

"Ark? Pfft! Don't even get me started on that dump."

Zapper Zaku raised his sub-machine guns at Captain.

"But enough chit-chat! Try and stop us if you can!"

With that, Zapper Zaku fired his weapons. But Captain dodged the bullets with the help of the jets on his pack. With the help of said pack, he managed to jump over the former Dark Axis squad leader and fire a few shots at the group of Zako soldiers who were setting up the cannon. Some of them were shot, but others just avoided the oncoming bullets out of panic. Before Captain could continue firing and make his way towards the cannon, he heard the sound of Zapper Zaku's gattling gun fire. He turned and blocked the attacks with his shield.

"What're ya waiting for, dumbasses?!" snapped Zapper Zaku to his Zako soldiers "Do I need to destroy you as well?! Finish starting up that cannon! You five! We'll hold him off! But keep in mind that his head is mine!"

"I'll give you one last chance!" shouted Captain who afterwards barrel-rolled out of his opponent's line of fire "Surrender and return to Ark! I don't want to harm an ally."

"An ally?!" asked Zapper Zaku "Don't make me laugh!"

Shute watched from the cliff above as the Zako soldiers and Zapper Zaku gained up on Captain. Captain blocked their attacks and shot back, taking out the five Zako soldiers that gained up on him. Though he felt powerless to help him (a feeling he hadn't felt in so long), Shute had faith in his old friend, as he always did. However, as a member of the SDG, he felt obligated to help at least a little. Shute knew he couldn't just sit there and do nothing while Captain risked his life on the battlefield. Then, he had an idea. He could just cheer on Captain to help activate his Soul Drive like he always did. He mentally slapped himself for not thinking of it before. But before he could cheer on for his friend, he got a call on his cell phone*. He growled.

"Who could possibly be calling at a time like this?!" Shute asked with frustration as he opened up his cell phone and answered it "Umm... hello?"

"Special Member Shute? This is Chief Haro of the SDG," said a familiar voice on the other line "We have received an unidentified signal coming from the forest near your neighborhood. Assuming you and Captain are already at the scene, tell me, what's happening?"

"Chief Haro!" said Shute, surprised "It's kind of hard to tell exactly what's happening, but it looks like these guys are setting up a cannon or something."

"A cannon? Who are they?"

"They were former members of the Dark Axis: Zapper Zaku and his Zako goons."

There was a small pause.

"I see... Shute, you must help Captain fend off these intruders."

"Understood, sir."

Shute hung up and stood up on the cliff. Like Captain, he didn't want to harm the ones he called former allies. But if his friends, family and beloved city were threatened by them, he knew he didn't have a choice. It was a hard thing to accept, but it had to be done.

"Go Captain!" cheered Shute "You can do it!!"

At the sound of Shute's voice, both Captain and Zapper Zaku turned to see him cheering on the former.

"Ugh, great," Zapper Zaku muttered "That brat again? When are you ever going to learn to shut up?!"

At that moment, Zapper Zaku fired one of the missiles from a secret compartment on his head at the base of the cliff that Shute was standing on.

"No!" exclaimed Captain.

As the cliff began to fall, so did Shute. And of course, Captain didn't hesitate for a second to save his friend. Using the jets on his pack, he flew towards the falling debris and used his beam sword to cut the chunks that fell on him or stood in his way in half. Soon enough he caught Shute and set him down on a near the pile of fallen rocks.

"Are you alright?" asked Captain.

"Yeah," nodded Shute "Thanks, Captain."

"Stay here." replied Captain.

Captain then took off to fight once more. As he was closing in on Zapper Zaku, the latter pulled out his heat axe and engaged Captain in sword-to-axe combat. The two fought fiercely; blocking each other's swings and lunges. Zapper Zaku then swung overhead with all of his strength, attempting to cleave Captain in two. But Captain managed to block it, but that block turned into a hold. For a long time, Captain held the block, struggling not to let the axe fall on him. He then heard a voice.

"Come on, Captain!" shouted Shute "Give it all you've got!"

Immediately, Captain felt his Soul Drive race within; the Soul Drive was activating. He felt that sense of warmth and gentleness that he had forgotten for so long. His right fist glowed golden and his blue eyes began emit tiny flames, though they didn't harm him at all. Captain held the block with one hand and prepared to punch with the other.

"Captain Punch!!!" roared Captain as he punched Zapper Zaku.

The power from the punch sent Zapper Zaku flying into midair. As he screamed, he flew many meters away from the site of the battle. Shocked, the Zako soldiers immediately stopped what they were doing and stared at Captain with horror. Captain looked at the Zako soldier, getting ready to attack them too. However, the Zako soldiers ran away out of fear of the wrath of the Captain Punch. Shute then ran over once the battle had subsided and the Soul Drive went back to its normal capacity.

"You okay, Captain?" asked Shute

"I'm fine," said Captain, who then looked to the cannon "My sensors indicate that the cannon was not fully charged by the time that the battle ended."

Shute sighed with relief.

"That's a relief. What were they aiming for?"

"It was pointed northwest, so I'm assuming that it was aimed for Neotopia."

Shute laughed.

"What? That thing? Attack Neotopia? I bet that it could even put a dent in a concrete road!"

"Despite its appearance, my scanners told me that it had critically high power levels."

Shute's laugh faded and his expression became more stern.

"Really?"

That was right when a small fleet of SDG ships arrived. Captain suspected that they were to be taken right to base to report to Chief Haro. He would want to know who it was that attacked them. Hopefully, the attack wasn't planned by the same people he thought. For all he knew, that ship could have been stolen by Zapper Zaku and his Zako soldiers. But then again, what were the chances of that?

Author's Notes:

*cell phone: I actually had no idea what that device was. Basically, it's the same device that Shute used to make his roller skates go faster (seen in the first episode). It looked like a cell phone to me, so I assumed it was one.

Also, I've noticed that I've been losing my touch when it comes to writing out battle scenes. If someone could give me some advice, that'd be great. Thank you for reading!