Old Friends Anew
Phase-1: A Stray Gundam
Disclaimers are so annoying: This is an original fanfiction based on Gundam Seed Destiny. The only ideas that are mine is of Adam and the Falcon.
"I don't think we have to worry much. You know?" A boy with orange hair spoke in a garden to his best friend. "Although my parents are making this huge deal about it."
"Yeah, if that time comes, what will you guys do?" A black haired boy smiled at him.
"We've got a bunker deep underground. We should be safe there until it's all over. You?"
"We'll probably be evacuating with the others. But it won't happen. No way ORB will get involved. We're neutral after all."
Both boys chuckled. "Well, I need to head back. Say hi to that cute sister of yours for me."
"Hey, Mayu is too young for you, Adam. Quit thinking you can hit on my little sis."
"Geez Shinn, take it easy. It's a joke."
The orange haired boy grabbed some sunglasses and slung a backpack over his shoulder. His mother snatched his other arm. "Adam, what do you think you're doing?!"
"I'm going out."
"You can't, it's not safe out there, not for Coordinators like us!"
"And how the hell would you know that?!" Adam broke from her grip. "We've been holed up down here since the attack on ORB. Ever since then we haven't been able to get any information from the outside because our information lines were cut. No Internet, no phones, nothing! Do you even know how long we've been down here? A year. A whole freaking year! I've read every single book in the databank three times already, even those medical journals about sex and reproduction! I need to get out there. I haven't heard from any of my friends for an entire year. The war could be over by now and we'd never know it!"
"But you don't understand!"
"I don't intend to stay in this pit forever and you can't stop me from going now!"
"Let him go, dear." His father sighed as he walked in with a cup of coffee.
"But…." She turned to him.
"What he says is true. We don't know what's going on. And teens like him need friends. Maybe we should have evacuated with the others, maybe not. Either way, it's like Adam says, he should go out and search." He put a hand on his son's shoulder. "I hope you find who and what you're looking for."
"Dad!" Adam said, looking like he was about to cry. "I'll do my best. Don't worry about me, because I'll be sure to come back. When I do, you'd better be ready to move out of this hole in the ground, because I intend to return with good news." He left the empty bunker.
Adam donned his sunglasses as the elevator returned to the surface. As the doors opened, he gasped. "No wonder we couldn't get any information. Our entire house is in ruins!" He made his way through the rubble and got out what was left of the front door.
In front of him lay an ocean view with the city dock just below it. "I used to hate this view. It never looked better to me than it does now. It looks like they rebuilt the city easily. I should call my friends up, see if they're still around somewhere." He whipped out a cell phone to match his hair and started dialing through the list as he walked towards the city. He got a ring only when he reached a certain name, Mayu Asuka. "All right, Mayu's phone is working. Damn good thing too. I hope Shinn is okay too."
"Hi, you've reached Mayu's cell. I'm not here right now, so leave a message after the beep and I'll get back to you as soon as I can. Buh-bye!" The voice-mail rang out.
"Um, hey Maya, it's me, Adam. You know, Adam Cancho, Shinn's friend? I was just calling on my old cell to check up on my friends. If you can, call me back okay? Thanks."
He hung up on the number and sighed. "Just my luck. I get an answering machine." He went through the list and still got no answer on the other lines. Just when he was about to give up, there was one number designated by a code name: ZRoyalPainZ. "I don't remember this one." He hit the button.
Cagalli was in her room in tears. "That bastard Yuna. He's such a manipulative smooth talker. How could I let him convince me? Now all ORB Coordinators are in danger." Her cell phone rang on the table in front of her. She sighed and picked it up. "Representative Attha."
"Woah! It actually worked, and I get through to you of all people. How's the Royal Pain doing?"
"'Royal Pain?' I haven't heard that name in a couple of years. Who is this?"
"What? You don't remember me? I'm hurt. Nah, not really. It's me, Adam Cancho."
"Cancho…Cancho." Cagalli searched her memory. "CANCHO! The Coordinator family that worked in the Astray R&D department?! You're that kid who was picked on for being a Coordinator by your peers, aren't you?!"
"Don't remind me." Adam grumbled. "You gave me this number if they ever tried it again so some political pressure could be put on them. You called it a bit of Royal Pain."
"I remember, but I thought your family was wiped out in the attack. I saw your house. It was completely leveled."
"Yeah, I just came out of there. We had a bunker hidden under the house. I've been stuck there for a year now, so I decided it was time for me to come out and get some fresh air for once. I'm a little out of date, could you fill me in?"
"It's a long story. VERY long and very sad." Cagalli leaned back on her bed and turned on her television.
"Please tell me that there's at least some good news. I've been waiting a year to hear some."
"Well I found out that I have a fraternal twin brother."
"Really? Well that's new. I'd like to meet him some time, who is he?"
"Kira Yamato."
"K…K…Kira? The pilot of Freedom? The one who scrambled to defend ORB during the attack?!"
"The same, although I don't think he wants to fight anymore. After the final battle he went into some severe depression."
"Hey…good news. I want good news, Cagalli."
"Oh, sorry." She chuckled. "One second."
She turned up the volume on the television. The newscaster reported the latest. "Early this morning, in an impromptu meeting of ORB Parliament, a law was passed banning all Coordinators from the country, effective immediately. All such people not complying will be subject to the fullest extent of the law."
"SO SOON?! I didn't put the 'effective immediately' clause in there! Yuna! That bastard did this!" She threw a fit.
"Hello? Cagalli? You okay over there?" Adam was still on the phone.
"This is bad!" She spoke into the receiver.
"Hey, I said I want good news." He joked.
"This isn't funny at all. Parliament just passed a law banning all Coordinators!"
"What the hell?! What's been going on since I've been under?"
"Let's see, the war ended and peace was signed at Junius 7. 3 new Gundams were stolen by an unknown group. What was left of Junius 7 crashed into Earth, the work of terrorists. Earth declared war on PLANT, and everyone forced me to hand ORB over to the Atlantic Alliance and join them. More importantly, where are you?! Can you get back to the bunker? If anyone finds out you're a Coordinator, they might kill you!"
"No. I'm not going back there. I promised I'd bring back news that we'd be able to come out to the surface safely. I won't go back until then, and that's final."
"Don't be an idiot. You'll be safer down there than it is in the open."
"I don't care. I promised my folks. If I go back, we'll never come out again. I just know it."
"Adam! Dammit, fine. Where are you? I'll come get you." Cagalli put on her jacket.
"I'm on what used to be and hoping still is Route 5. But what the hell are you going to do? Your father…."
"Is dead. I'm in charge now."
"I…I…." Adam went silent.
"It's okay. I'll pick you up and we'll find a way to get you to a safe place. Keep walking on Route 5. I'll be there in a few minutes." She hung up the phone. "If I can save just this one…."
"Dammit. The world's gone to hell once already, and now it's back there? This sucks." Adam kicked a rock as he had his hands in his pockets. "Not even a year after the war ended and we're back to where we started."
A police car drove past him, but it stopped and backed up, and it rolled with him as he walked. The first of two policemen rolled down his window and spoke to him. "Good morning!"
"Hey, how you doing, officer?" Adam took his hands out of his pockets and gave a slight wave.
"Out for a walk?"
"Yes sir. It's a nice day for one, don't you think?"
"I do, it's just that this road doesn't go anywhere anymore, and you're heading back from that abandoned lot. What were you doing there?"
"Like I said, I like to walk. My metabolism has slowed down recently, so I need to get more exercise. I figured it was a nice way to work off the pounds."
"What's in the backpack then?"
"You know, the usual. Snacks, water bottle, a spare change of clothes just incase I slip in some mud. Why do you want to know?"
"Oh, just wondering."
"Is there anything else you need, officer? I was enjoying the peace and quiet before you came around, no offense."
"None taken, but there is one thing."
"What then?" Adam smiled at the officer.
He smiled back then whipped out his pistol. "Stop where you are and keep your hands where I can see them." The car stopped and both police officers surrounded the boy, who instantly had his hands in the air.
"That's funny guys. You're good at pranking. You can drop the act now." The boy put on a half-hearted laugh.
"This isn't an act, Coordinator."
"Huh? Coordinator? I'm no Coordinator."
The second police officer leveled a shotgun. "Don't play dumb with me. I know a Coordinator when I see one. One raped and murdered my daughter, and I got a good look into his eyes before he finally bit the dust. You have the same type of eyes as he did."
"That doesn't prove a thing. I'm telling you I'm no Coordinator, and I wouldn't want to be. Who would want to be one of those filthy pieces of space slag? They're the ones that dropped Junius 7 on us!"
"Shut up!" The first cop said. "You Coordinators would say anything to get off scot free. Your hair gives it away that you're a Coordinator. No Natural has orange hair."
Adam took a quick look at both their weapon hands. Their fingers were twitching on the trigger, ready to shoot. 'They're serious. It looks like I won't be able to get out of this so easily.' "Look officers, this hair is a new kind of dye. It looks natural, but the roots are my normal black color. Have a look." He put his hands on his head and spread out a spot. Adam walked over to the officer with the pistol and bent over, lifting one heel out of his shoe. He showed his hair to the dangerous man. "See? It's black at the roots."
"I only see orange."
"Well maybe you need a closer look!" Adam slammed his head into the officer's face. Everything moved in slow motion as the man fell backwards. The shotgun toting officer lined up a shot, but Adam kicked his shoe at the man and the impact knocked the gun off course before it fired, causing the bullet to miss. Adam swung his leg and tripped up the first officer as he turned to the second and kicked him hard in the cheek as he cocked the second shot.
"Die Coordinator!" The first man started to level his pistol.
'If I don't do something quick I'll die!' Adam thought. Survival was the only thing left in his mind as he grabbed the shotgun and pulled the trigger.
The second man hit the ground with a sickening crunch as the echo of the shot died down. The first officer's face had received the bullet, and his body fell backwards. The blood pooled around the dead man's head. Adam panted heavily, his dark brown eyes in total shock. He brought the weapon up to eye level and his hands began to shake. He dropped it and turned away in disgust as he made eye contact with the second man. It was obvious that he wouldn't need tying up, for his head was at an odd angle. His neck was broken by the kick.
"Dead!" Adam whispered as he fell to his knees. "I…they…." He fell silent as tears ran from his shocked eyes and joined the blood on the pavement.
Cagalli flew over Route 5. Instead of taking a limo, she hopped into the pilot seat of a hoverjet, not taking a co-pilot with her. She scanned the view below her and saw a police car and three people, two of them lying down. "What the hell?!"
Cagalli quickly landed the craft off to the side of the road. From the air she couldn't see it, but now she saw the blood and she could hardly find her voice. Then she saw a person with a bunch of orange hair sitting motionless. "A…Adam. ADAM!" She raced towards him. The boy made no move to recognize her voice. She panted as she stopped next to him. "Adam. Adam!" She looked into his unblinking eyes, and turned away.
"I…I…." Adam started to stutter.
Cagalli whipped her head back and went to his eye level. "You're alive!"
"Men…" he sobbed, "tried…guns…Coordinators…Naturals…dead."
"Hey, it's okay. Take it easy. Try not to think about it too much."
"I…I…oh God. Cagalli, I killed them! They were going to shoot me and I…just…." He collapsed forward onto Cagalli's shoulder, letting all the tears flow. "I killed. I killed. I killed."
The princess did the only thing she could do, she held him and rubbed his back. "Shh. It'll be okay. It'll be okay." Her mind was racing though. 'He did all this? When did he get so strong?'
After a few moments she let go and stood him up. "Okay, that's enough for now. Someone might come by and see us if we don't get out of here. Also, those two will have to report in soon, so someone will be out searching for them before long. I'll take you to a place where we can get you away from all of this." He stood completely motionless. She slapped him. "Snap out of it! This is no time for feeling sorry! In case you haven't noticed, but this is a part of war, even if you aren't military, you were drawn in anyway. I thought you would have understood that by now. Now get moving!"
The hit woke him from his stupor and he nodded. He mounted the copilot's chair in the hovercraft. "Is this a new model?" He asked trying to take his mind off of the pain.
"Yes it is." Cagalli tossed him back a helmet as she donned her own in the pilot seat. "You should recognize the shape. It was originally your father's design. Hang on, we're going to lift off."
Once in the air, Adam looked out the window. "The landscape sure has changed."
Cagalli inputted some coordinates and turned the ship on autopilot. She leaned back and sighed. "It's hard."
"What is? Being the leader of your country? How old are you now? 18? I'd imagine it would be."
"No, I mean the first kill." She looked out the window.
"Cagalli, you…." Adam was stunned.
"Killed? Yes, many times. During the first war I joined up with the Desert Dawn resistance and I even piloted a mobile suit during the final battle in the first war. But the first kill is very hard."
"How'd…you deal with it?"
"I realized that it is what war is all about. No one has time for remorse for your actions. That's what it is to be a soldier. I know you're not a soldier, but even so, you've gotten involved on the home front."
"Will the hurt ever go away?"
She shook her head. "Sometimes when I close my eyes, I still see his face. He was about your age."
"I had no idea. Thank you." He whispered. As Cagalli smiled softly, he spoke again. "So what's the plan?"
"Well it goes like this…." The console beeped in front of her. "We're nearing the landing point. I'll explain when we get there." She took the controls again.
The landing area was actually hidden in the cliffs behind the city overlooking the ocean. The cliff opened up a hatch and Cagalli expertly flew it in. As the hatch closed behind the hoverjet, the lights turned on inside the cave. It was a big hangar. The princess landed it in a corner helipad. "We're here." She said as she took off her helmet and shook her hair out. Adam hopped out and took off his helmet as well. "Keep that helmet with you, you'll need it."
"I will?" He tilted his head.
The Royal Pain motioned for him to follow her. "Remember when your parents let you visit the lab they worked in? You came up with some very interesting ideas. Some of them we've actually used."
"I hope I get royalties."
"We'll work on that once the war is over, okay?" She giggled at his small joke. They stopped in front of a massive fighter jet, its angles sharp on its gray finish. She patted its side. "This was your mother's dream realized."
"A jet? I thought my mom was developing mobile suits. Wait, don't tell me this…."
"This is the Prototype M-3 Astray, code name Falcon. It comes fully equipped for both space and atmospheric travel. In this form it houses two Vulcan cannons in the nose, a beam saber in each wing, and a rear buster cannon. In its mobile suit state, you'll also find two sonic cutlasses, a beam rifle, and a positron shield. But the big thing is that it has Phase Shift armor."
"Phase Shift!? But the only mobile suits that have that kind of power are Gundams!"
"Right again, Adam. This is the Falcon Gundam. The only one of its kind so far. You'll find the flight suit on the seat. I'll wait until you get changed."
"Wait, what?! Flight suit? Am I taking this thing out for a test run or something?"
"No, I'm giving it to you."
"Um…why?"
"Currently, this model is too powerful for the intensity of battle we're facing. In the wrong hands, it would be disastrous. I know that ORB is not the right hands right now. Everything has gone out of my control here. The only person I trust right now is you. That's why I want you to have the Falcon."
"But Cagalli…."
"This world isn't safe for Coordinators right now. This will protect you. There are coordinates uploaded to a place where you can be relatively safe, the ZAFT battleship Minerva."
"Cagalli, I don't know what to say."
"Thank you would work."
"Yeah, OK, thank you."
"Now hurry up and get changed."
Adam changed into a white and yellow flight suit, and sealed on his helmet. He walked back to where the blonde Representative stood and saluted. "Gundam pilot Adam Cancho reporting for duty, ma'am."
She saluted back and smiled at his antics. "Very well, pilot. Here is your first mission." She pulled out a small gunlike electronic device with two nodes sticking out and handed it to him. After he took it, she spoke. "I want you to use that tazer on me."
"What?!"
"A raging Coordinator broke into this facility during my routine check on the Astray project. Attempting to disable him with a tazer, he managed to get it from me. The last thing I knew was waking up and Falcon was gone." She sighed. "That's what the story will be."
"I can't do that. I'll hurt you."
"Trust me, I've been through a lot worse. But you know this has to be done. So please, do it."
Adam sighed and pointed the weapon at her. "I'm sorry." He pulled the trigger and the two nodes launched at her. They both stuck and electricity coursed through her for a few seconds. As she fell, the boy caught her and dragged her to a safe spot.
He quickly jumped into the cockpit and closed the hatch. "Brakes, check. Engine, started. Rudder, check. Wings, check. Weapons, check. G-System, online. Last but not least, Phase Shift armor. Let's see what this baby looks like." He turned on the ability. The jet was dark blue with brown trim. He turned it off again not to waste power. "Nice. Time to take off." He steered the powerful ship into a runway of sorts, and the bay doors opened, giving a perfect view of the sea.
"Adam Cancho, Falcon, heading out!" He pushed his left hand slider up and the jet ran out of runway. Adam pulled up, and soon he was airborne. "Yahoo! Yeah! Now this is the way to fly!"
Falcon circled around the island once while the GPS located the Minerva. "Mom, Dad, I'll be back some day. And when I do, it will be the day of celebration for both Naturals and Coordinators."
The GPS beeped and found the Minerva's location. Adam hit the throttle and went to it.
Kira sat on the shoulder of Freedom as it knelt on the cliff where the house used to be. He looked up into the sky, at first just watching the clouds, but as a large jet moved across his line of sight, his eyes moved to follow it. "What is that?" The craft did a few stunts as it went out of sight beyond the mountain. He smiled softly. "I see."
"Kira." Lacus' soft voice rang perfectly in the 18 year-old's ear from the ground. The boy swung himself down to her by grabbing onto every little jut in the metal surface with his hands and feet. He still had the smile on his face when he embraced her. "That's a nice smile Kira. What's the occasion?" She said as she traced his lips with her finger.
"New hope."
"Huh?" She tilted her head to the side. Kira looked up again, and his love followed his gaze. The massive jet barrel rolled as it shot out to sea straight above them. "I see. Is that so, Kira?"
"Ah. Isn't this a perfect photo opportunity?" A man with a cane stopped a few feet behind them.
"Good morning Watfield-san." Kira greeted the man.
"How would you like your coffee this morning?"
"You know that Kira-kun doesn't drink coffee, Andrew." A woman stopped next to him. "He gets all hyper."
"The one time you made me try some, I instantly went into Berserker mode. Ah, you're up too, Murrue-san?" Kira also greeted the lady.
"I placed the call. They will all be here tonight." She said.
"Ah. I suppose it was inevitable." Kira sighed and looked to the clouds again.
"It has to be done, Kira. Someone wants Lacus dead, and we can't protect her like this." Ms. Ramias spoke.
"I understand that, Murrue-san." Kira still stared up into the sky. "There are some things worth protecting."
"Athrun Zala, Savior, launching!" The blue haired Coordinator launched from PLANT in his new Aegis modeled Gundam.
The words the Chairman said before he left ran through his head. "I want you to meet up with the Minerva. I have high hopes for that ship, just like the Archangel before it."
'Cagalli, I'm sorry that I have to make you, my fiancée, my enemy. I'll find a way to end this for good so we can be together. Until then, please wait for me.' He prayed as he plotted a re-entry course.
The black haired, red-eyed ace Coordinator locked into place his last clip. He set the targets to moving ones. "GRRRRRAAAAHHHHH!!!" He psyched himself up as the simulator started. He emptied his entire clip into the targets in rapid succession. He breathed heavily as the simulator ended and checked his stats. "Damn it."
He took off his visor and earmuffs and shook his hair back into place. He returned those items, plus gun, to the armory sign-out closet. His roommate, Ray, entered. "Any luck, Shinn?" He said as he signed out his own equipment for target practice.
"No. My usual score is all I get. I just can't seem to duplicate what happened to me in the battle with the EAF fleet."
"I see. Well perhaps it was a one time thing, or maybe you're missing something. Whatever it is, I'm sure you'll find out at some point." The long-blonde Coordinator inspected his weapon.
"Yeah, you're right." Shinn yawned. "I'm beat. I'm gonna take a nap. Wake me for lunch okay?"
"Certainly." Ray stopped for a moment. "I had something to tell you, but I seem to have forgotten what it was."
"Ah, no matter. If it's important, you'll remember it or I'll find out about it from someone else." He waved it off and turned towards the door. "Enjoy your target practice." The door closed behind him.
Shinn yawned again as he walked down the hall. "Woah, Shinn! Save some air for the rest of us!" Two Coordinator teens walked down the hall, the Hawke sisters. The one with purple-red hair, and the older one spoke.
"If we were in space, that would be valid, Lunamaria. But guess what? We're on Earth, so HA!"
Meyrin, the pink-redhead giggled as she hid behind her big sister. "He's got you there, Lumi."
Lunamaria scratched her head. "I keep forgetting that. It's like it's natural to be here. I've even gotten used to the gravity."
"Really? How do you know?" Shinn winked at Meyrin, who blushed for a second before nodding and holding back a giggle.
"Well it took a while to get used to the resistance with my ZA…" Meyrin pushed her from behind and she fell forward and onto her hands.
Meyrin and Shinn slapped hands. "Gravity prevails again!" They spoke in unison while flashing the V-for-victory sign.
"Ha. Ha." Lunamaria stood up. "Very funny."
"Yes it was." Shinn was still grinning. "But I'm gonna head back to my room. See you two later."
"Yeah yeah, just get out of here you prankster." The older girl waved him on as he laughed. Meyrin watched motionless as he went out of sight. Lunamaria didn't let that go untouched, after all, turnabout is fair play. "Did I just see you checking out Shinn?"
"What? No! No!" Meyrin shook her head fiercely, swatting her nose with her pigtails in the process.
"I can't believe you like that meathead."
"I don't! I don't!"
"Good. Then you won't mind me setting you up on a date with Youlan."
Meyrin fell over. "Wh…what?!"
"Oooh, looks like gravity prevails again. Relax, I just wanted to set you off balance. It worked. There's no date."
"And I thought it was nice having an older sister." Meyrin grumbled as she dusted herself off.
Shinn heard none of this as he flopped down on his bed, soon fast asleep.
Adam yawned. "Wow. Where did that come from? I guess I'm just not used to piloting anything more than a simulator. And I have been at the controls for a couple of hours. I'll just hit the autopilot." With a quick input on the keyboard, he programmed the position of Minerva and let it fly itself. "I wonder what the catalog specs for this baby are. Knowing Mom, she'll have an owner's manual programmed into the OS." He popped the window up and started reading. "Deuterium Beam recharge system? Universal equipment adapters? I've never heard of any of this!"
After a few minutes of reading, he yawned again. "Why can't they ever make this stuff entertaining, or at least funny?" He asked no one in particular.
After a few more minutes, he nodded off in his seat.
His proximity alarm blared as he woke up nearly an hour later. "What? What is that?!"
A shadow covered his craft and he looked up. "Oh crap!" A space battleship was re-entering right on top of him, preparing for splash-down. He got off the autopilot and banked hard to the right, trying to get away from the rapidly descending mass. "Come on, come on, come on!"
The grey battleship cut through the air. The Falcon had cleared most of the shadow other than its left wing tip. "I'm going to make it!"
As he cleared the shadow, the battleship started to extend stabilizer wings. The craft's wing dropped on him like a stone. "Gyyaaaaahhhhh!!!" He cried as he did the only thing he could think of, turning on the Phase Shift armor.
The two ships' wings collided just as the armor finished coloring itself, and Falcon was sent into a diving tailspin. Adam tried every pilot control on his interface to get his craft under control as the battleship went past him. In one of his passes along the craft, he saw three people looking out of a porthole at him. A part of him registered their hair colors being lime-green, sky-blue, and golden-blonde, but he was too busy failing at stabilizing.
"This isn't working! I can't stabilize myself in this state. I have to switch to mobile suit!" He hit the toggle as fast as he could. The rear base of the craft opened up and two robotic legs extended from it. The flaps rotated to become leg guards. The wings folded upwards and back as two robotic arms extended from the space where they were before. The Vulcan cannons in the nose of the plane retracted, and the entire nose flew off, revealing the head of the Falcon, with yellow eyes, the standard Astray shaped points on the forehead colored brown, and a blue "mouth". The rest of the head was white, aside from the yellow Vulcan cannons. The nose split off into two parts and magnetically sealed themselves to the shoulders. On the left side slid out a blue shield with a gold four point cross, which the hand grabbed, and out of the right was a buster rifle. The last point was that the wings split in half lengthwise, adding extra stability.
Adam adjusted to his new orientation and used Falcon's thrusters to counter the spin. "Haaaaaaahhhh!" He cried as the spin stopped, but he still plummeted. Falcon flipped onto its back and all engines went to full power. It skidded along the water until it rose into the sky. "Yes!" Adam put the Gundam into a vertical spin, then stopped it with a spread of his wings, and ended it with a classic aim of the rifle.
The mysterious battleship splashed down and took a very long time to stop. Adam panted as he flew up to it. "What was up with that? They didn't even warn me before dropping on me!" He set the computer to attempt to identify it. No entries were found. "No data?! It's just a bogey? That's one formidable looking ship."
Adam sighed. "That evade really threw me off course. I may as well get back to traveling." Falcon reversed the transformation process as his Phase Shift armor shimmered back to gray. He flew away towards the Minerva again. "Geez, what a pain."
Inside the unknown battleship, after splashdown, the masked Colonel was taken by surprise by the three special pilots as they entered the bridge. "Commander!" The one with green hair called out to him.
The mysterious man stood up and turned to them. "Sting, Auel, Stellar, what is the meaning of this?"
"Did you see it, sir? We hit something with the right wing during splashdown!" The blue haired Auel asked everyone on the bridge.
"That's confirmed!" One of the bridge hands called towards them. "Minor damage to the right wing."
"What did we hit?" The captain of the ship asked the three. The Colonel nodded his approval to answer the question.
The blonde girl, Stellar, answered. "It was a small jet aircraft."
"Well, I guess we won't have to worry about that then, now will we? Getting hit with something at our speed would have totaled nearly anything." The captain said again.
"It stayed in one piece after the hit, sir. It just started spiraling out of control."
"That's impossible!" The colonel was in complete disbelief.
The radar screen operator turned around. "Sir. Unidentified mobile suit at Indigo 55 high. Distance: 110."
"Show me!" The Colonel turned to the main screen, and it viewed a framed Falcon Gundam, transformed and with its rifle pointed towards the camera. "Identify it!"
"Unknown. No similar models in the database." Alarms went off. "It's scanning us!"
Stellar cocked her head and she scanned it with her violet eyes. "That thing…."
"Could it really be…." Auel added his thoughts.
"Another Gundam? Just how many of those things do they have?!" Sting snarled.
Falcon turned away and reverted to its gray jet form and flew away. The Colonel smiled. "It appears they're full of surprises, aren't they? Where is that suit headed?"
"Calculating trajectory….It's heading for our target sir! The Minerva!" A bridge hand said.
"So it was a scout ship?" The Captain asked rhetorically.
"All hands to battle stations! We can't let that suit warn the enemy of our presence. Engines to full throttle!"
Adam re-established the autopilot and slumped back into his seat. He took off his helmet and sighed. "Geez, what a day. First I find out my house is totaled, then I hear the war has restarted, I get jumped by too murderous Naturals…." He paused as he shuddered at the thought. "Then Cagalli tells me that Orb is falling to pieces, hands me this mobile suit, and makes me zap her. THEN I get a battleship dropped on my head!"
He pinched the bridge of his nose. "And all of this in the morning hours too. Just how long will it take me to meet up with the Minerva anyway?" He pulled out his keyboard and started working through the equations.
He groaned as he leaned back in his seat again. "Man, I'm gonna miss lunch!" He sighed. "Two hours. Around lunchtime I should be in radio transmission range, and that's in another hour. Maybe I can get them to turn around and scoop me up before lunch is over."
He drummed his fingers as the autopilot continued. He opened up his backpack, which he stowed under his seat, and plugged in his cell phone into an outlet and started charging. "Hey, why is there a charger in a mobile suit?" He shrugged and moved back to drumming his fingers. "Man I'm bored. Maybe I should have brought my GameBoy. I could be playing Gundam Seed right now. Hey cool, I just made a product placement. You're welcome Bandai!" He pulled out the keyboard again. "There's gotta be something in here that I can do." Within a few seconds, he smiled. "Hey cool! Solitaire, the ultimate time-killer!" He shuffled and dealt the virtual deck.
Shinn groaned. Ray shook him. "Five more minutes. We're not going into battle." He mumbled before he fell asleep again.
"Very well, but Meyrin wanted to talk to you. Something about a date. I'll tell her you're busy." Rey slit his eyes.
"Meyrin?" He echoed. His eyes snapped open and he shot up straight. "I'm awake!"
Ray hid a smile and a chuckle behind his fist and cough. "I will have to use her to wake you up every morning. Lunch is in fifteen minutes."
"Ok, thanks. Well, go ahead and send Meyrin in now." He yawned and rubbed the sleep from his eyes. Ray just stared at him in disbelief. "She was never here, was she?" Ray shook his head and his long hair soon followed. "I'll get angry at you later."
Shinn put a hand on his night table and bumped the pink cell phone he kept there. Ray noticed the movement and he straightened a little. "I just remembered what I wanted to tell you."
"Well out with it already." Shinn stretched. "I want to get to the mess hall before all the good rations are gone."
"You call our rations good?"
"Point for Ray. So what's that thing you wanted to tell me?"
"That oddly colored phone of yours was ringing at around 7 AM. I was tempted to answer it, but the voice mail took care of it."
"What?!" Shinn's head whipped back and forth between the phone and Ray. "Ray, I hate to say this, but I need you to leave."
"I understand. A personal matter."
"Exactly, I may not be able to get to lunch. Doggie bag some for me please."
"I always do." Ray left quickly and Shinn snatched up the phone and opened it up as fast as he could. It read: 1 MISSED CALL from ADAM CANCHO. Once he read it he went completely rigid. "Ca…Cancho?"
He quickly went through the key controls to listen to the voice-mail. "Um, hey Maya, it's me, Adam. You know, Adam Cancho, Shinn's friend? I was just calling on my old cell to check up on my friends. If you can, call me back okay? Thanks."
Shinn trembled as the phone dropped to his bed. Tears began to sting his eyes. "Cancho. Adam Cancho." He smiled as he looked to the ceiling. "He's alive. He's really alive." The black haired boy recalled his best friend's number and dialed it.
Adam finished his 50th round of Solitaire when his danger alarm went off. "What now?" His screen pulled up the mysterious battleship. "What the heck? That's one fast ship. Why'd it catch up to me?" The monitor zoomed in on its two main Godfried cannons, which moved to point towards the camera. "Oh hell no!" He pulled out of the autopilot and dove as 4 beams of green light erupted from the cannons, missing him by a meter. "Okay, that settles it. This just isn't my day."
He feigned getting hit and went into a tailspin. Adam turned on the Phase Shift armor as he threw the switch to switch to mobile suit mode. The transformation completed and he spun upwards and posed his gun when he stopped. "Woah!" He cried and put the burners to max. Two Godfried beams coated the air where he was only a second before. "Note to self, don't pose if you're getting shot at."
He opened a channel to the offending ship. "Calling unknown battleship, hold your fire! I have made no offensive against your ship, please call off your assault!" The only response was a barrage of 4 Warthog missiles. "I said hold your freaking fire!" He put all engines in reverse as he shot down one with his buster rifle and two with his Vulcan cannons. The fourth impacted his shield. "I have no quarrel with you. I ask you again to leave me be."
Adam weighed his options as he evaded another beam attack. 'There's no way I can take out something that big on my own, and in a ship I'm not used to yet.' Suddenly his cell phone rang. He looked at the ID as it slid into view as he shot another volley down: MAYU ASUKA. Against his better judgment, he flipped it open and tucked it between his shoulder and cheek. "Hey, Mayu. Glad to see you're still around, but I can't…."
"Adam! It really is you!" Shinn screamed into his ear.
"Shinn? Hey, buddy, what are you doing with Mayu's cell?"
"It's a long story. Where are you? I haven't heard from you for a year."
"Well currently I'm flying solo in the middle of the Pacific Ocean, trying not to get shot down by this psycho battleship that won't even answer my hails, so I'm really busy right now. Can we talk after I shake this guy off?"
"The Pacific? That's…."
Adam stared at the ship as two large hatches opened in the front. "Linear Catapults? Oh crap, Shinn I gotta go, they're launching mobile suits at me!" He flipped the phone shut and let it drop to the floor. In the lull in the action, he quickly sealed his helmet back on and flipped the visor shut. "I hate it when they get all serious."
Gaia, Abyss, and Chaos, the three stolen Gundams, were launched from the confusing battleship. "Three? Do they think I'm some sort of ace pilot or something?" Once their colors changed to black, blue, and green respectively, Adam hissed. "Phase Shift? They're sending freaking Gundams at me?"
"I like this one. Think we might be able to have some fun, Sting?" Auel spoke to his comrade.
"Yeah, we'll take this one's head for sure." He started in.
Auel shook his head and sighed. "Still in bad taste. Stellar, watch his movements and attack if you see an opening."
"Understood." The oddly quiet girl spoke. All three of the Gundams started to close in.
"This is bad. I can't handle this alone. I need backup." Adam whirled around and put his engines to full burn.
"He's running!" Auel smirked.
"Cowardly." Was Stellar's emotionless statement.
Adam boosted his signal and started doing the only thing he could do. "Calling ZAFT battleship Minerva, this is a mayday. I'm under attack by unknown assailants. Requesting immediate assistance! I repeat, this is a mayday, I am under attack by an unmarked battleship and three mobile suits with Phase Shift armor. I won't be able to hold them off. I really need assistaaaggggghhhhh!" Abyss fired off its chest cannon and a red and blue laser launched at Falcon, which turned the shield to deflect the hit.
Falcon was blown back. "Now it's my turn strange Gundam." Sting and the Chaos slid up next to him. He drew a beam saber.
"Nani?!" Adam reversed and drew his own saber from a compartment on his wing. "This is so not good odds!" He drove forward preparing his sword for the strike.
The two machines clashed as their energy swords met. Both pilots gritted their teeth and strained against their controls. Sting barked "Auel!"
"That's right, just keep him there." The Abyss opened its wings up.
The proximity alarm rang on Adam's right side. "The other one? There's gotta be something I can use to protect myself." He used the keyboard with one hand. "That's it!"
"Hey, you'd better not hit me in the process!" Sting went wide eyed.
"Don't worry. He's a sitting duck." Auel sneered as he fired 6 green beams and his central cannon. Falcon's shield opened around the 4 point star and began to shimmer. The central beam and one of the green ones hit the shield and deflected down into the ocean. "What the heck is that?!"
"Positron deflector shield. It takes a lot of power, but I have no choice but to use it." Adam said as he broke away from the Chaos. He switched to a buster rifle and started firing at the two attackers.
Chaos barrel rolled around the shots and disconnected its shoulder packs. The guns it housed opened up and started firing from different directions. "This guy is a lot more trouble than he's worth."
"Damn it. That one moves like a mobile armor!" Adam snarled as he tried to shoot the two rapidly moving targets while blocking with the shield and also taking shots at the Abyss as well. "Minerva, this is an emergency. I need help now. I've been given a mission to dock with your ship, and am currently under attack by unknown forces. Come on people, I'm up against Gundams here!"
Auel gritted his teeth. "You're mine!" He flew in and leveled his oversized shoulder shields at him. Abyss fired two thick cables with spears on the ends at him.
Adam gasped as his proximity alarm went off. He spun around in-between the cables as he still attempted to shoot the remote blasters. Stellar held back with a beam saber in hand, examining the battle from below. "His weakness is…his weakness is…his flank!" The beautiful but crazy girl hit the throttle.
"This sucks. I'm really at a firepower disadvantage here. And with those remote cannons, it's like I'm fighting four of them. Wait, four? So far I've only fought the blue and green ones. Where's that black one?" His proximity alarm went off on both sides. "Behind?"
"Reeeeeaaaaaahhhhh!" Stellar thrust her glowing sword forward, aiming towards the Falcon's back.
"Hmph." Adam smiled. He hit a button on his side panel and the wings lifted up slightly, revealing a cannon port. "TEI!" Adam hit the firing controls and an orange beam erupted from the Gundam's back, targeting the Gaia.
"Nani?!" The girl said as she put her shield in place just as the beam hit it. "This !" She cried as she was blown back.
"You're the weakest, so I'll take you down!" Adam whirled around fired his buster rifle as he jetted towards her. "Grrraaaaahhhhh!!!"
"I won't die here! I'm going to be alright!" Stellar toggled the transformation into BaCOE mode and charged in the same way.
Adam went wide eyed and put his shield up in front of him. Gaia slammed into Falcon flipped over him. She fired her shoulder beam cannons at him. As the green beams raced towards him, he spun back into jet mode and tilted to the side as the beam scorched the base of his craft. "TEI!" He fired his cannon backwards damaging Gaia's buster cannon on the right side.
"Aaaahhhhh!!!" Stellar screamed as her buster shorted.
"Why you!" Sting fired off some missiles from his shoulder packs.
"MINERVA, IS ANYONE EVEN LISTENING OVER THERE?!" Adam fired his Vulcans at the missiles, taking out about 5 of them, but there were 3 left. "Gyaaaahhhhh!" He cried when he saw them closing in on him.
A red and blue beam fired from below, through a low lying cloud, intersecting the three missiles. They exploded in front of him as Adam, Stellar, and Sting gasped. Sting turned angry. "Auel, what did you do that for?!"
"It wasn't me, honest!" He said back.
The cloud dispersed, revealing a large battleship floating on the water below. A red Zaku was perched on top of it with a Gunner pack. Its gun was still smoking. A pink-haired girl appeared on Adam's communication screen. "This is the battleship Minerva. Identify yourself."
"Hello? Adam? ADAM!" Shinn yelled into the phone, but there was silence on the other end. He shut it and spoke to himself. "The Pacific Ocean? Mobile suits? What has that moron gotten himself into this time?"
The lighting changed, and alarms sounded. Meyrin's voice broadcasted over the com system. "All hands, condition yellow. Repeat, all hands, condition yellow. Pilots report to the briefing room."
"Condition yellow?! The EAF isn't supposed to be anywhere near here!" Shinn ran out of his room quickly.
"Shinn!" Lunamaria caught up with him. "What's going on? There wasn't a drill scheduled today was there?"
"No, something's up, and I have a very bad feeling about it. Come on."
They dove into the briefing room together and got into their flight suits in their changing rooms. Ray was already seated in his suit. When the others plopped down next to him, the video screen in front of them turned on. Captain Talia Gladys was on the screen. All three stood up and saluted. She did so back. "As you were." They plopped down again. "The reason we are on alert is because of a mysterious distress signal we have just received. Meyrin, could you please play it back?"
"Hai!" The girl said offscreen.
The audio played out. "Calling ZAFT battleship Minerva, this is a mayday. I'm under attack by unknown assailants. Requesting immediate assistance! I repeat, this is a mayday, I am under attack by an unmarked battleship and three mobile suits with Phase Shift armor. I won't be able to hold them off. I really need assistaaaggggghhhhh!"
"ADAM?!" Shinn stood up.
All others turned to him. The captain spoke again. "I take it you know this person?"
"Yes ma'am. When back in ORB we were best friends. I haven't heard from him unt…."
"Incoming transmission!" Meyrin interrupted. "It's from the same person!"
"Put it through." The captain said without looking at her.
"Minerva, this is an emergency. I need help now. I've been given a mission to dock with your ship, and am currently under attack by unknown forces. Come on people, I'm up against Gundams here!"
Everyone on the briefing room and bridge gasped. "Gundams?" Lunamaria was stunned.
"Could it be the same three that were stolen from PLANT?" Ray balled his fist.
"Captain! We've got to help him!" Shinn twitched in frustration.
"Negative. We don't know the situation. For all we know this could be a trap, and that isn't your friend speaking." The captain shook her head.
"What?! You can't be serious! What if he's really in danger, huh? HUH?!"
"Compose yourself pilot! I will not have this ship be drawn into another trap so easily."
"But Cap…" Shinn bit his lip and spat to the side.
"Captain." Ray stood up. "If I may, if this statement is true, then this may be the best opportunity to repossess or destroy the stolen mobile suits."
Lunamaria also added in. "And if this is the real deal, then the pilot may not have that much experience. He wouldn't last long in even a one on one fight."
Gladys put her thumb to her lower lip. "And then there's the factor that he said it was a mission he was given. You all make valid points. Very well, we'll take the risk. Meyrin, go to condition red. Helm, rotate 170 degrees and head on yellow alpha."
Alarms blared and the lighting changed once again. Meyrin came on the speaker. "All hands, Condition Red. Condition Red. This is not a drill, all hands to battle stations."
"Impulse will prep to launch with the Force Silhouette, but will not go out until my express word is given, is that clear?"
"Hell, I'm just glad we're going." Shinn saluted.
"Lunamaria, you will mount on the ship with your gunner pack and assume an anti-aircraft defensive. Ray, you will be on the warrior pack and prepped for launch after Shinn."
"Understood." Both of the other pilots said. They raced out to the door to the docking bay.
Meyrin called out on the intercom. "All pilots prepare for battle. Impulse pilot to Core Splendor." Shinn jumped in and saluted as the cockpit closed. "Preparing Force Silhouette on platform two." The second jet slid into place as well as all the other pieces. "Closing airtight shutter. Maintenance teams on standby. Raising elevator to Central Catapult." Shinn's Core Splendor raised to the encapsulated runway. "Impulse, launch standby."
Lunamaria jumped into her red Zaku and Ray slipped into his white one. Meyrin spoke again. "Lunamaria unit, Zaku gunner, proceed to Linear Catapult." Her one-eyed mobile suit was given a buster cannon pack and dropped onto the runway launcher. "Lunamaria unit cleared for launch. Go ahead."
Lunamaria flipped her visor down. "Lunamaria Hawke, Zaku, heading out!" The launcher skids drove her unit forward as she hit the engines. The power cable pulled out and she was airborne. She landed on a flat spot of the hull and cocked her weapon.
Meyrin continued on. "Ray unit, Zaku warrior, launch standby. Proceed to Linear Catapult." The white Zaku was given standard equipment and planted onto the second catapult.
The captain spoke. "Shield the bridge and prepare for battle." The bridge slid down into an armored and enclosed area.
Arthur, the second in command, took his seat. "Activate all weapons. Prepare for combat. Radar readings."
One of the bridge hands turned towards them. "I'm getting four mobile suit echoes at 1 o'clock high. Wait, now three mobile suits and an aircraft. What in the world?"
"Lunamaria." The captain called out to her.
"Checking." She looked into the sky. "Confirmed, three mobile suits and an aircraft. Scanning identity in the database…confirmed! Chaos, Abyss, and Gaia all engaging an unknown aircraft."
"Captain!" Shinn yelled.
"Not yet! We don't know who the pilot is of that craft." She returned.
"Captain, we've got a large heat source just coming onto screen." The radar hand said. "Analyzing signature…this is…Bogey-1!"
"Lunamaria, feel free to make our presence known." The captain said. "All hands prepare for battleship combat."
"Understood." She lifted her weapon and aimed at the group in the sky. In the scope she saw some missiles heading towards the aircraft as a cloud obscured her view. "Oh no you don't!" She discharged her weapon through the cloud, and she saw three bright flashes of light. As the cloud dispersed, everyone above was looking at the source.
"Meyrin, hail that jet!" Gladys broke the pause.
"Hai!" Meyrin turned to the screen. "This is the battleship Minerva. Identify yourself." A boy with orange hair hidden under a yellow helmet appeared on the screen.
"Wow, cute." Meyrin raised an eyebrow and Adam coughed. "I mean, I am Adam Cancho, flying the Falcon. Boy am I glad to see you!"
Sting sneered. "It's that ship again!"
"That thing…him…this time…." Stellar sputtered her usual nonsense.
"Well I guess there's no use hiding it anymore. May as well go all out, right Sting?" Auel smirked.
"Yeah. No more games." He leveled his blaster at Falcon.
"State your purpose. Why were you attempting to contact us?" Meyrin asked authoritatively.
"I was sent by the Princess of ORB, Cagalli Yula Athha, for protection from the Naturals, and given this prototype unit to keep it from falling into the wrong hands." His proximity alarm blared. "Woah!" He dived as Chaos' blaster scorched the top of his left wing. "Can we talk about this after these guys stop shooting at me?! Geez, this isn't my day!"
Shinn laughed. "That's Adam for you, sucker for the cuties and the permanent jokester."
Meyrin's eyes and the captain's met. The woman in authority nodded and the girl turned back to her station. "Welcome aboard pilot, help is on the way." She switched channels. "Shinn, standby is lifted. Central Catapult cleared. Dozo!"
Shinn flipped his visor shut. "Shinn Asuka, Core Splendor, here we go!" He hit the throttle and he was airborne, doing a barrel roll each way.
"Continuing, Silhouette Flyer cleared. Dozo!" The automated ship shot out like a rocket as its wings unfolded. "Platform 3, Chest Flyer cleared. Dozo!" The Gundam's torso and shield flew off. "Moving into position, Leg Flyer cleared. Dozo!" The Impulse's lower half shot out. "Ray unit, Zaku warrior cleared. Dozo!"
"Zaku, heading out!" Ray said as the catapult launched his white Zaku into the air.
"Lunamaria, lifting off!" The red Zaku pilot said.
Shinn took the lead as all of his parts went into the sky. Adam was dodging every which way firing off Vulcan and buster rounds as the other three assaulted him. "Oh no you don't!" He said as Abyss opened up for a 7 beam attack. Shinn fired three blasts into it as the core passed.
"Nani?" Auel said as Core Splendor flew past him.
"That guy…this time…." Stellar got a look at the ship. Her proximity alarm went off.
The red Zaku fired a shot at the black Gundam which dodged quickly. "What do you say we make this a catfight, huh girl?" Lunamaria was itching to fight the girl after what happened in the Heliopolis debris field.
"Stellar, Auel!" His own alarm rang as he dodged to the right.
The white Zaku missed Chaos with his shield charge. "Your opponent is me!"
"Yeah! The first rule of computers and combat, backup!" Adam would have been jumping out of his seat if he could.
"Adam! Don't just float there, you moron! Get out of the way and follow me!" Shinn called out to him as he closed in.
"Shinn? Is that you Shinn?!"
"The one and only. Now hurry up!" Shinn pulled straight up.
"Right behind you!" Adam pulled upwards as well. They paralleled each other with their cockpits facing one another. "You've sure got a dinky ship there."
"It's more than it looks. Check behind you." He pointed to the other 3 parts following him.
"What the heck is that stuff?"
"I'll show you. Initializing linkup system. Adam you might want to veer off a bit."
"Roger." He pushed on the stick and put a little bit of distance between them.
Shinn decreased his speed as the jet's nose folded down and the wings folded in. Laser guides initialized on the Leg Flyer, and the two docked. The gray robotic legs extended out to their full length.
"That thing is a mobile suit? Well I'll just have to show him myself." Adam toggled the switch to his transformation. The hatch in the lower half of his craft opened up and the legs folded out. The hatch doors rotated around and created hip shields.
"Looks like you're full of surprises today, Adam. Don't stall on me now!" Shinn accelerated as the next two laser markers in the Chest Flyer turned on. He docked with the section, and the arms extended and the head popped out.
Falcon's wings flipped to the back and the arms extended out of the body where the wings were. The Vulcan cannons retracted from the nose as the nose popped off and the head was revealed.
The Silhouette Flyer's jet portion detached and the laser markers guided the rest of it to the back, attaching the wings, shield, and blaster rifle to Impulse.
The nose split in two and attached to Falcon's shoulders. The shield slid onto its right hand and blaster rifle onto the left. The wings split in two, to create more stability.
Both of them went back to back and spun around once, opening their shields and pointing their rifles. "Impulse Gundam, pilot Shinn Asuka!"
"Falcon Gundam, pilot Adam Cancho!"
The two looked at each other's suits out of the corners of their eyes. "Not bad Adam. Didn't expect to see you in a mobile suit, let alone a Gundam."
"Same goes to you. I missed you pal." Abyss fired its 7 beam cannons at them. The two Gundams covered themselves with the shields as the energy beams bounced off them. "Let's save the reunion for later okay?"
"Got it. Break on three. Ready?"
Adam nodded. They said it at the same time. "Three!"
The mysterious battleship observed the skies the three Gundams fought off the unidentified mobile suit. Colonel Neo smirked. "This new unit is giving us quite a hard time."
"Sir, shouldn't we strike along with them?" The captain of the unnamed ship asked him.
"No, let them handle this. This pilot is new. His fighting is filled with unnecessary movements. Even though he's a scout, he's good practice for those three as long as they don't get too frustrated."
"Hai."
A red and blue beam cut through the middle of the battle, taking out the three remaining missiles in the air. "Nani?!" The Colonel hissed.
"Sir. We've got a heat source on radar. Matching the data. It's the Minerva, sir!"
Both commanding men spat. "Well this eliminates our element of surprise."
"I'm detecting two, no, three readings from the Minerva ascending to the battle."
"Our pilots will be at a disadvantage now. What do you recommend, sir?" The captain asked the wiser man. "Should we withdraw?"
"Not just yet. Considering they have not launched any more forces, we can assume that they don't have that many pilots left. If we get rid of at least some of these pests now, they'll be at a disadvantage later. Engage the Minerva, and I'll go out to give our pilots a hand." He moved towards the elevator.
"Hai! Did you hear that down there, launch bay? Prepare Exas. The Colonel is going out."
"Three!" Adam and Shinn said at the same time as they kicked off from one another just as another blast from Abyss came their way. Impulse dove to the left down to the side of Abyss while Falcon dove to the right and headed to assist Ray in the fight with Chaos.
Auel whipped out his scythe and started going one on one with Impulse. "You know, you're a real pain in the ass!"
Shinn blocked it with his beam saber. "You're the ones that keep attacking! If you hadn't stolen your suits in the first place, this wouldn't be happening!" He punched his shield into the robot and the impact rippled the air.
Electricity crackled around Auel and Abyss as it started to float backwards. "What is with that shield of his? This happened last time too!"
"You won't live long enough to find out!" Shinn switched to his blaster and fired.
Abyss blocked with its shoulder shield and the beam dispersed around it. "I won't go down that easy!"
Stellar was compensating for her bad cannon and protecting her right side. Even so, she corrected her course and fired each time as she and Lunamaria circled each other. "You won't kill me!"
"Looks like the new kid roughed you up a bit. I'll finish the job!" Luna smirked. Her red Zaku pulled out its beam axe. She charged.
Stellar squinted as she flipped her Gaia into BaCOE mode. She stretched out its wings and engaged beam sabers on them. "You're mine!" She charged as well.
Luna gasped as she started to swing her shield to block. Gaia's right saberwing sliced it in half. She swung her axe and countered the opposite saberwing.
Ray was protecting with both his shields as Chaos was able to launch a missile barrage at him. He still continued firing at the Gundam while doing so. They were at a stalemate.
"Hey White Guy, need a hand?" Adam said as he fired at the enemy from above.
Chaos's alarm went off and Sting pulled back as the beam slid past him. "Dammit! You again?!"
Adam hovered slightly ahead of the white Zaku. Ray sent him a communicay. "I suppose any assistance is appreciated, and the name is Ray. Now move, you're in the line of fire."
Adam skitted away and huffed. "Great, I chose to help the stick-in-the-mud of the group. Oh well." He pulled out his beam saber and throttled towards the green Gundam, ignoring the beeps from his power screen.
Chaos switched into Mobile Armor form and launched its pods. As it reversed, Sting fired at the approaching Gundam with its main cannon. Falcon dodged one and blocked the other two with its special shield. Ray slid to the side and pulled out both of his boomerang axes and threw them at the enemy as he reversed. Sting snarled as he just slid between them, shaving off a bit of his armor in the process. In one of his corner sensors, he saw his ship's catapult open. "What in the…."
A red ship with 4 cannons attached to it launched from the catapult. The person sitting behind the target screen was Colonel Neo. "Sting!"
"Commander?!" Sting went wide eyed. "What are you…."
"Neo! You're out here?!" Auel sneered.
Stellar smiled sweetly. "Neo." But her face turned fearful. "No, you can't be out here! I don't want you to die, Neo!"
"I'll be just fine. Sting, lend me your pods would you?" The commander said. "If we can even take one of them out, it will be to our advantage later on!"
"Right!" Sting linked his ship's computer to Neo's Exas. "You can take over with this. Can you handle 6 pods?"
"Who do you think I am?" Neo smirked as his 4 pods broke away from the ship and opened its cannons. He drove for Falcon. "You should never have gotten into that mobile suit!"
Ray's senses tingled. "This is…." He saw the Exas heading towards Adam. "Look out!" He said as he kicked him out of the way.
"What?" Adam snarled as he recovered. Exas' pods hurtled towards him and started firing. "This really stinks!" He said as he switched to his blaster and blocked with his shield. As Adam fired, all of the pods started moving randomly and in rapid movements at that. All of his shots were wasted. "Crap."
"Break off! You can't handle him!" Ray said as he shielded Adam. He spiraled around and fired a shot at a red one, clipping it. "He's more my tastes. Go for Chaos!"
"Okay, I got it." Adam said as he flew off to find the green Gundam.
"I won't let you!" Neo took one of his red pods and both of Chaos' green ones and attacked Adam with them while the other three targeted Ray. "You don't think I can handle two targets at once White Boy? You're wrong!"
Arthur was barking orders to the weaponsmasters on Minerva. "Ports 1, 2, 5, and 6, load breaker charges. Tristan 1, lock on to the enemy's portside. Tei!" The Minerva fired shots at the battleship, along with two beams of green energy.
"Evade!" The captain of the other ship demanded. "Ports 1 and 2 fire countermeasures! Godfrieds 1 and 2 target starboard. Tei!" The battleship slid to the side as the Tristan beams missed. Two missiles launched from the ship and broke apart in midair launching shrapnel into the barrage, exploding the missiles besides 1, which exploded in the water next to the ship. 4 green beams erupted from the ship's main cannons.
Captain Gladys stepped in. "Kaihee! Hard to port! Anti-beam launchers 3 and 4, tei!" The massive battleship slid to the side as two explosions surrounded the air right by it. The beams broke apart on them and did no damage, the other two hit the sea, sending a wave crashing into the ship. "Arthur, make a smokescreen!"
"Hai! All ports, depth charges set to 10 meters, target the starboard side of the ship 5 meters away from it. Tei!" Arthur called into his headset. The Minerva fired 8 missiles into the water ahead of the mysterious ship. They exploded and shot water up high, blocking the view.
The captain of the other ship gasped. "Hard to port! They'll be attacking us from that screen! Godfrieds aim in the center of it!"
Gladys leaned forward. "Hard to starboard! Tristan 1 fire into the center of the screen. Tei! Projectile cannons and Tristan 2 target the edge of the screen." She squinted as she waited. The tip of Bogey-1 emerged from the screen. "TEI!"
The captain of the other ship smiled as the Tristan beams dove into the water through the center of the screen. "Prepare the counterattack. Aim the cannons into the center of the screen and fire once you see the ship. All missile ports at medium yield." They waited as they pulled aside from the screen, only to see a red tip of the Minerva. "Starboard now!" He screamed. Minerva's projectile cannons went off and one of them came within a meter of the ship. One of the Tristan cannons impacted the side of the ship, taking out one beam of Godfried 1.
"That's a hit!" Arthur said.
"Don't celebrate yet, she's still afloat." The captain turned to Meyrin. "How are our pilots doing?"
"No weapons requests have been sent as of yet. All of their power levels are fine."
"What about the new one?"
"One moment." She brought his stats up on her screen. "His power is near the red line! Doesn't he notice?"
"He's new, he couldn't know about the power limit. Hail him!"
"Hai!" Meyrin turned to the controls. "Falcon, your power has become dangerously low, disengage. I repeat, disengage!"
Adam looked up into his communications screen. "Cute." His thought was ripped out of him when he got hit by Chaos' pod cannons. "I mean I would if I could, but I'm trapped!" He fired wildly, trying to hit the pods.
Chaos pulled out a beam saber. "Your head is mine!" He charged.
Adam's power dipped down into the red and a long beep sounded. His phase shift armor shimmered off and his shield lost power. "What's going on?!" His alarm went off and he pulled up. Chaos sliced Falcon's legs like they were butter and the pod cannons hit his shield and blew him down, pitfalling towards the ocean. "Aaaaaaggggggghhhh!"
"Adam!" Shinn broke away from Abyss, who he was locked in sword-to-shield combat with and dove for the damaged Gundam. "I'm not gonna make it in time! Adam, pull up!"
The Exas cannons bore down on the wounded Falcon. "Die plebe!" Neo fired.
Adam's mind was racing through what happened that day. "This is…this is…this is really starting to tick me off!" A purple football shaped object fell in front of his eyes and exploded into billions of crystals of light and color. His eyes became solid brown except the small black pupil. He turned his jets to maximum and flew away from the beams, towards the Minerva. He looked at the port side of the ship and typed quickly into his keyboard. "Minerva! I'm guessing that's a Deuterium Beam outfitted on your ship?"
The bridge crew gasped. Meyrin stuttered. "Y…yes it is."
"I need a recharge. Target my ship."
"Wh…what?"
"Don't question me right now. You are able to do this, right?"
"Um, yes." Meyrin said after the captain nodded to her.
"Then light me up. Also, send me one of Shinn's Leg Flyer things afterwards. I need a new pair of pants."
"But the equipment is completely different than your shi…."
"Just leave that to me. Hurry up with that beam!"
"Hai!" She switched channels. "Deuterium team, charge the Deuterium chamber. Targets lock onto Falcon. Deuterium Beam ready to fire." Adam flew the falcon straight up and hovered in front of Minerva. "Deuterium Beam, irradiate!" The yellow beam struck the powerless Gundam in the forehead spikes, and they rippled in power as they transferred it to the main batteries. Falcon's power came back up to full and the phase shift armor kicked in again.
"Yes! Have the legs on standby!" Adam turned around and flew towards the action, right past the still diving Impulse.
"Adam?" Shinn was flabbergasted as he pulled out of his dive only to get caught in the fight between Exas and Ray. "Aaaagghhh! Since when was a mobile armor like this outfitted for atmospheric flight?!" He spun around with Ray and tried to shoot down the pods. Ray picked off one of them as six green beams impacted both of their shields. Abyss had joined the fight.
Lunamaria and Stellar were grappling as Adam approached. "Red Chick, don't move!" Adam said.
"Huh?" Luna looked at his approaching mobile suit as it fired its Vulcans.
"Nani?!" Stellar cried as the shots hit her shield as she broke away from Luna. None of the shots hit the Zaku. As she tried to whip out her beam saber, Adam's Gundam flew up and gave the Gaia's head a strong uppercut. "Coitsu!!" She cried as she fell backwards.
Adam caught the battle with Exas in the corner of his completely brown eyes. "I've had about enough of this!" He went into jet mode and zoomed into the fray. "Shinn!"
"Adam? No! Stay away! These guys are way above your level. Besides, what can you do in that form?"
Adam didn't answer as he typed away on his keyboard like a madman. Both of the beam sabers flipped out from Falcon's wings. With a few more keystrokes he straightened them out and aligned them with the wings, creating wingsabers. "How about this?!" Falcon went to full throttle. Exas targeted him with 3 of the pods and commenced firing. Adam maneuvered the plane into a barrel roll and pulled an Immelleman Turn, firing into the pod on his tail with his vulcans, forcing it to explode. "Next!" He banked hard as a green pod dropped down on him. Adam tilted to the side as it fired and slashed it in half with its wingsaber.
Shinn's eyes quivered as he watched Adam take out another red pod by firing off its rear cannon. "What…what is he?!" His alarm beeped.
Auel gritted his teeth. "You don't have time to look away!" He fired off one of his harpoon cables. Shinn dodged to the other side. "Gotcha!" He launched the other harpoon.
"What?!" Shinn was caught off guard. The harpoon pierced through his blaster and exploded, the shockwave sending him flying. "Aaaggghhhh!"
Adam hissed as his eyes turned to the action. He flipped his jet over and went towards them. "Stop this now! Minerva! Launch the legs!"
"Catapult cleared! Leg Flyer, dozo!" Meyrin gave the go ahead, and the legs flew out of the central catapult.
Falcon opened its leg hatch. Adam was typing away at the keyboard again. His damaged legs ejected from its housing and dropped down onto Bogey-1, piercing a wing. "Here, why don't you salute those shorts." He established a computer link to the leg flyer. As he decelerated, the laser pointers turned on on the legs. Normally, the legs would have locked in exactly to the back of the Core Splendor, but in this case, Adam pulled up at the last second, pulled the legs under him, and slammed it into his ship's leg housing, making sure the connectors held.
With its new legs, the Falcon transformed into its robotic self once again. Adam pulled out a beam saber and aimed for the Abyss as it got a bead on Impulse with its cannon lock. "No more!" He backhanded his beam saber into the Abyss' arm. The purple beam stuck out the other end. Adam pulled out his blaster and fired at the saber, making its core rupture and explode, taking the arm with it. Abyss was sent careening.
"Auel!" Sting said as he watched the blue Gundam fall from the sky. Suddenly, his Gundam's left leg wasn't there anymore. An axe boomerang cut through it.
Ray's Zaku caught the returning weapon. "You should not have looked away."
"Just who are these kids?!" Neo sneered as he tried targeting Falcon. Adam sneered as he hit the firing controls. An orange beam erupted from his suit's back, clipping the Exas main. The man behind the mask hissed. "Everyone withdraw! We'll take these guys down another day." He maneuvered his damaged ship towards the battleship.
"I'll take you all down right now!" Stellar had gone nuts again. She had a beam saber in each hand yelling a battle cry and trying to attack anything that moved.
"Stellar, that's enough. Neo calls you. Come home quickly." The Colonel said to her.
Her eyes changed from pure rage into a slight joy. "Understood." She and the others withdrew into the ship.
"All pilots return to the ship." Meyrin called.
"Are we going to pursue them?" Ray asked as he went for his docking run.
"Negative." The captain was the one to answer. "Our priority is to get to Carpentaria. We'll see them again though, I'm sure."
"Yeah, no kidding." Shinn said as he also began to dock.
"Falcon, return to aircraft form before landing please."
"Hai!" He said, his eyes still completely brown as he entered the docking bay behind Impulse. He shut down the engines and turned off the phase shift armor as he was wheeled into the bay.
Adam panted heavily out of relief and removed his helmet. The hatch opened up, and Shinn looked in. "Dude, you okay?"
Adam opened his eyes, and they were back to normal. He looked at his onboard clock. "Aw man!" He threw his hands up in the air, startling Shinn onto is butt and making everyone look his way. "I missed lunch!"
Author's Note: Welcome to Old Friends Anew a parallel to Gundam Seed Destiny and will continue to follow as the show goes on. Please note that you're new favorite character, the joking orange-haired Adam is NOT the guy pictured on the second season intro theme. That dude will come later, and he pilots a new model Zaku with an Epyon-like whip.