Valkyrie's Flight: The Lost Sagas: Mobile Suit Zeta Gundam
The Year is Cosmic Era 86. Ronald Pinkerton has suffered his greatest defeat at the hands of Admirals William Adama and Kira Yamato, and is thought dead by both. But the Colonel survived, and entered an alternate Universal Century. By their reckoning, the year is Universal Century 0086, and the Earth Sphere is in the grip of the Titans. With that, the Anti-Earth Union Group and Karaba fight against them, with limited success. A year into the AEUG/Titans War, the AEUG receive help from a legendary ace: Ronald Pinkerton.
AEUG flagship Argama: in Lunar orbit
"Captain, there's a Mobile Suit inbound. Unknown type and classification!"
"Contact it." "Unidentified Mobile Suit, this is Anti Earth Union Group vessel Argama. Identify yourself!"
"Colonel Ronald Pinkerton, Colonial Corp of Engineers. I'm friendly."
Torres chuckled.
"Ronald? That's a man's name."
"It's a long story. Just let me on board; I'm leaking."
"Leaking?"
"My suit's punctured, dumbass! Don't be perverted!"
"We're sending out Lieutenant Quattro Bajeena to pick you up."
"No problems here."
The Rick Dias launched and recovered the Mobile Suit.
"That looks a lot like-"
"The Gundam! I'm going down there to speak with the pilot. Torres, you have the bridge until I get back."
Argama hanger
"You must be the pilot we rescued. I'm Henken Bekkener, captain of the Argama."
"Colonel Ronald Pinkerton, Twelve Colonies of Kobol."
"Kobol?" "It's a long story. Do you have anyone with Mobile Suit construction capabilities?" "Anaheim Electronics. Why? You've got a good Mobile Suit right over there."
"The Dart is the most basic of all Colonial Mobile Suits. It's a mass produced MS."
"Mass production? But-"
"I fight better in a customized suit. My personal design: the ADF-XXX Morgan series."
"Morgan? Sounds feminine."
"Make no mistake. Where I'm from, the name 'ADF-X01 Morgan' brings fear and respect, mostly the former. I'm designing the A3 in my head as I speak. I'll put it on paper and give it to Anaheim."
"He's not lying. Plus we could use a new pilot."
"I've got 19 years of MS piloting under my belt. I'm the best pilot you could ask for."
Ron got back into the Dart and pulled out a disk.
"This is the data on every type of MS I've seen or designed. Take it."
"Sure. We'll get your flight suit patched up."
Ron took the suit off and got into his Colonial uniform, something he hadn't worn in a long time. "Here."
One of the techs caught the suit.
The navy blue Colonial uniform was almost one size too big for Ron's female frame.
Still, the body was close to adult size, and would be there in less then a year.
"So, where's your next operation?"
"A minor Titans base."
"And where would that be?"
"Side 7, the old factory where the Gundam-"
"I know the place. I'll be back."
"What? But your suit-"
"My body's modified with cybernetic technology I designed myself. I can survive without oxygen, but it's not a nice feeling."
He got back in the Dart.
"Get me to the catapult, or my FTL drive is going to damage your ship!"
"FTL what?"
"Get that Mobile Suit on the catapult!"
The Dart was moved into the launch zone.
"Ronald Pinkerton, CDF-01 Dart, taking off!"
The Dart was launched quickly from the Argama and jumped away seconds later.
"What was that?"
"I think that was that FTL drive he spoke of."
Meanwhile, Ron had entered the colony and spotted the base.
A few RGM-179 GM IIs were protecting the base, but they were cannon fodder to a Dart.
Hell, they were cannon fodder for a GINN.
A few beam rounds were enough to kill all of them.
"I miss the Morgan."
Then the base came into view.
"It's a factory."
And Ron had little else to do but blow it up.
He took aim and fired, destroying the factory and the adjoining base.
"Too easy."
He jumped back to the Argama.
AEUG flagship Argama: in Lunar orbit
"Contact on the scope. It's the Dart."
"Damn, he's fast."
"This is Colonel Pinkerton. Target destroyed."
"Colonel Ron-"
"Pinkerton. I, unlike the rest of you, follow military protocol. Surname, or Colonel."
"Colonel Pinkerton, what was that about an 'FTL drive'?"
"It's a faster then light drive. It creates a fold in space/time, and you end up a number of lightyears away."
"Amazing! We could use this technology!"
"FTL technology is easy to make and maintain, but you have to be accurate with your calculations, otherwise you end end up inside an asteroid, a star or a planet."
"We've made contact with Anaheim Electronics. They've agreed to supply you with new Mobile Suits."
"I'll send the designs over. The Morgan A3 is first in line, but if they can, I could use something a little more advanced then this Dart."
"What Mobile Suit are you thinking of, Colonel?"
"ZAFT's ZGMF-X23S Saviour...Gundam."
Several days later
The Saviour landed on the deck of the Argama. Ron chuckled.
"So, Char, take to give the Dart a try?"
"What?"
"There's a Titans fleet nearby, and I haven't had a chance to fly the Saviour yet."
"I'm still wondering why you called the Saviour a Gundam. It just looks like a fighter."
"You'll find out soon."
Ron walked up to the Saviour and got in.
He took a breath.
"Why are you doing that?"
"It's that new cockpit smell. And built to my exact specifications."
"You'll have a hard time fighting without a 360-degree cockpit."
"All my Mobile Suits use this cockpit. Novelties like that 360 screen? Useless to me, as I use DRADIS and E-sensors to pick up enemy targets. And, by the look of things, Anaheim perfectly reproduced them."
Ron put on his helmet, now bearing the markings of the 807th Fighter Squadron: the squadron he once commanded, but was disbanded after the First Cylon War.
The Saviour was moved onto the catapult.
"Ronald Pinkerton, ZGMF-X23S Saviour Gundam, launching out!"
The Saviour launched out, followed by the Dart.
Ron transformed the Saviour into its' MS mode. "My God! That looks like-"
"The RX-78-2 Gundam. Hence, Saviour Gundam. The Morgan's just like it, only I don't like calling these MSs Gundams. To me, Gundam stands for either A) General Unilateral Neuro - Link Dispersive Autonomic Maneuver, B) Gigantic Unilateral Numerous Dominating Ammunition, C) Generation Unsubdued Nuclear Drive Assault Module, D) Generation Unrestricted Network Drive Assault Module, or E) Guider Unmanned Deployment Autonomic Manipulation. And all of those are OSs." Then a group of Titans vessels were visible: 10 Salamis-Class cruisers, 6 Dogosse Gier-Class battlecruisers and 15 Magellan-class battleships, all with Zaku-type MSs.
"Can't ID those Suits, but I've taken out advanced prototypes in Darts."
"Those are RMS-106 Hizacks. Deadly, but only to inexperienced pilots."
"If an ace is piloting it, even a Zaku I is deadly. Isn't that right, Red Comet?"
"Quit calling me that."
"It's true, through."
Ron charged in, planning one of his most insulting attacks ever.
"I've got an idea. Char, I'm going to destroy all but one Mobile Suit. Let them warn the Titans that the Red Comet is back."
"Colonel?"
"Your trademark color is red, right? Let them think that I'm the Red Comet."
"The AEUG doesn't know who I am, Colonel!"
"And I don't give a flying fuck."
Ron charged in, seeing that his specialized Saviour had an extra feature: a GN Tau drive. It was the Tau equivalent of one of his Mk Vs, and so, Ron's plan took a more...evil turn. (AN: First time we've seen one of these in a while...Oh, yeah, I remember! What was the GNX-Y901W Susanowo's first connection to the Gundams in Gundam 00? There's a hint in that.)
"Trans-Am!"
The Saviour's red VPSA darkened.
"Time to pull a Char Aznable out of my ass!"
Ron had three problems: one, unlike ESF GNT drives, his GNTs could use Trans-Am three times. (AN: Saying something about his engineering skills, but that isn't the point.)
Two, only the speed, not the firepower, were increased, as the Saviour wasn't built to use GNT particles as a weapon.
Three, Ron was a great pilot, besting 9 of the top pilots from 4 universes, but his MS had limits, and one of those was that he was too fast for the MS's targeting computers.
All in the past now.
'Use the speed, strike with the beam saber and take out those Zakus.'
18 of them were shooting at the Saviour.
The wireless intercepted all of their transmissions.
"What the hell?"
"It's a Gundam!"
"A RED Gundam?"
"It's the Red Comet!"
"Take out that Gundam, NOW! If the Red Comet is piloting it, we are screwed!"
'You aren't fighting Char; you're fighting someone much, much worse.'
5 minutes was all he had in Trans-Am.
He wasn't wasting it.
He was moving fast enough to destroy not only the Hizacks, but he went through 5 Salamis-class cruisers as well.
One Hizack retreated, not seeing the point in getting killed and to get reinforcements.
Ron uploaded ZAFT and EA MS designs into the computers of the Hizack.
He wanted a challenge.
At the end of Trans-Am Alpha, as Ron called the first use, every Salamis, 9 Magellans and two Dogosse Giers were destroyed, along with all but one Hizack.
"Now for the two minute recharge. Hey, Char! After this, I'm giving you this Mobile Suit! It matches you perfectly!"
"No thanks. Anaheim's building one for me."
"How ironic! Time's up! Trans-Am!"
His speed tripled, and the remaining ships were little more then overgrown cannon fodder.
"Nice! Time to head back, Colonel!"
Trans-Am Beta shut down, and Ron grabbed the Dart.
"Last shot, Casval! Trans-Am!"
Trans-Am Gamma launched them back toward the Argama.
Then, the drive finally shut down.
The Saviour landed on the deck and shut down.
One month later
Ron finally finished the design for the A3 and A4 Morgans.
The A3 would be upgraded into the A4 within six months.
He'd sent the basic frame design over 3 weeks before, along with instructions to make the materials needed (I.e. Titanium-A and Diamond Carbon) and Ron was finalizing the design of the new weapons systems.
He was including the DRAGOONs and Ultra Fangs, along with the Universal Century's Funnels, which were inside the wings.
It was different from the one he supplied Char in that it didn't have a nuclear reactor, just the same battery used by the Colonial Fleet.
"We're attacking Gryps 2 to get our hands on the Mk II Gundam. I'd like you to be in on it, Colonel."
"I'll take the Saviour. Take it out for a spin."
"That the final design for the A3 Morgan?"
"That's the A4. The A3 is the first one. I'll upgrade it to the A4 in a few months. What's the status on its construction?"
"They're finishing the frame, but they're having a hard time with the-what did you call it? Daze Shift Armor?"
"Phase Shift Armor. All Gundam-type MSs have it."
"Not ours."
"Well, they are mainly made of ceramic and carbon composite with a metal covering. Mine's made of E-carbon, Diamond Carbon, Titanium-A and Gundanium, making it tougher then others."
"And that's why it's taking so long to build! How the hell are we going to mass produce the Morgan-"
"You aren't. The Morgan is my MS, and you aren't mass producing it. Get that through your head...Or I'll bash it in."
The AEUG had learnt three things about Ronald Pinkerton: One, call him a girl and his vibroblade will castrate you and make it worse by burning you, mainly because the damn thing will make something akin to a beam saber. (AN: The SVMS-01 Union Flag has one, and the physics are sound)
Two, he knows how to kill silently, and with everyone in sight.
They learned that when a Titans officer came on board and refused to answer any questions.
He killed him with a simple touch.
The third? Even though his Dart was a mass produced suit, it could kick even Quattro's ass.
"Captain, a contact is inbound."
"That would be the Morgan."
"You told me it wasn't finished."
"The basic frame is done, along with the controls. It's only got basic weapons, but it'll do until the reactor's done and the rest of the frame is complete."
"Wait, what?"
"The Freedom-style wings will be welded on by me personally. The rest can be handled by Anaheim's people."
Ron got to the hanger, where the Morgan A3, minus the wings, was standing.
It looked like a combination of the Strike with the Exia's GN Sword and GN Beam Pistol. The rest of the weapons were in a large container.
"Looks like I'll be piloting the Morgan instead."
"It's not finished!"
"I'm not going up against a fleet; just a minor base."
"It's a major base!"
"Do they have a heavy positron cannon?"
"No."
"Then I'm the only one you need to send."
"I'll send our Rick Dias squadron with you. I'm not sure about the Morgan's abilities when it's like this."
"As long as I have a beam saber, and a lightwave shield, I'll be fine."
"Making those GN drive things was a pain, but we got them ready. And your Chaos 0 XN Raiser's done."
"We'll worry about that later. For now, I've got a Morgan to test."
Ron got in and saw the GN drive stats.
"Almost perfect."
"Almost?"
"You nearly perfected the conditions at Jupiter, but you missed a few things. I'll equip the Argama with an FTL drive, jump us to Jupiter and fix the damn thing properly after the mission."
"A what?"
"You've never explained it to us, either."
"It's an acronym. It means Faster Then Light drive."
Ron closed the cockpit and activated the OS. It read 'MOBILE SUIT NEO OPERATION SYSTEM: Generation Unsubdued Nuclear Drive Assault Module G.U.N.D.A.M Complex Series CDF-101-O1 MSF A3 C.D.F.'
"All available weapons systems are online. GN drive Mk VI online and running at 43%. Trans-Am System operational. Ultracompact Hyper-Deuterion Nuclear Reactor online and operational at 100%. Variable Phase Shift Armor and Trans Phase Armor online. Get me out there!"
The Morgan was moved onto the launch catapult.
Then the suit rocked.
The computer detected three more weapons systems: DRAGOONs, Fangs and Funnels.
"Who put that on my MS?"
Then the DRADIS detected one Rick Dias.
"I did, Colonel."
The wings were permanently fixed to the frame, thanks to nanomachines created by Anaheim.
"Lieutenant Bajeena, I'm going to kill you later. All systems online. Colonel Ronald Pinkerton, ADF-X01A3 Morgan, taking off!"
The Morgan A3 flew off from the Argama, heading toward Green Noa 2.
Then the GN drive started up.
"Trans-Am!"
The Morgan grabbed the red Rick Dias and sped toward the colony now known as Gryps.
Well, I said I'd make one, so here it is. I recycled parts from Valkyrie's Flight's chapters, making my job easier.
Mobile Suits of the Chapter:
CDF-01D Dart
Overall Height: 17.91 meters
Empty Weight: 40.65 metric tons
Power-plant: Ultracompact Near-Nuclear Energy Battery
Accommodation: Pilot only, Cockpit in Chest
Striker Pack usage: Yes: AQM/E-X01 Aile Striker, AQM/E-X02 Sword Striker, and AQM/E-X 03 Launcher Striker
Developed from: MVF-M11C Murasame, GAT-X105 Strike, GAT-04 Windam
Built by the 12 Colonies of Kobol, it was the first mass production MS used by the Colonials. The first one was the YCDF-01/CDF-X01 Proto-Dart, piloted by Colonial MS ace Ronald Pinkerton. The Dart is still in service with the Colonial Fleet as of CE 115, as the CDF-01E/F Dart II, CDF-01G Dragon Dart and CDF-L201 Civilian Dart.
ZGMF-X23S Saviour
Overall Height: 18.61 meters
Empty Weight: 77.13 metric tons
Armor: Variable Phase Shift armor
Power-plant: Ultracompact Near-Nuclear Energy Battery (standard) and GN Tau drive (Ronald Pinkerton Customized model)
Armaments:
2 x MMI-GAU25A 20mm CIWS
MMI-RD11 aerodynamic shield
2 x M106 "Amfortas" plasma beam cannon
2 x MMI-GAU2 "Picus" 76mm machine gun
2 x MA-7B "Super Fortis" beam cannon
2 x MA-M941 "Vajra" beam saber
Optional Equipment:
MA-BAR70 high-energy beam rifle
Originally piloted by Athrun Zala, this unit was deadly to all but the most elite pilots. Pilots included Char Aznable and Ronald Pinkerton.
RMS-106 Hizack
Overall Height: 20.6 meters
Head Height: 18.0 meters
Max Weight: 59.6 metric tons
Mass Ratio: 1.33
Empty Weight: 38.7 metric tons
Power Plant: Ultracompact Minovsky Fusion Reactor; (Standard units) Mk IV GN Tau Drive
Power Ouput: 1428 kW
Propulsion: Rocket thrusters: 4 x 16200 kg
Vernier thrusters/apogee motors: 10
Sensor Range: 8900 meters
Max Acceleration: 1.09 G
Accommodation: Pilot only, cockpit in chest
Armor:Titanium Alloy/Ceramic Composite
Armaments: Beam Saber
Optional Equipment: 2 x 3-tube Missile Pod, Shield, (BOWA) BR-87A Beam Rifle, 120mm Machine Gun.
Called the 'Beam Zaku' by Colonial personnel, the Hizack is a deadly MS in the hands of a skilled pilot, as proven by Axis Zeon pilots, but normally piloted by incompetent pilots. Upgrades include a Mk VI GN Tau drive and, in the case of Colonial units, Striker Park hardpoints.
More are to be added.
Next Time: the Journals of Ronald Pinkerton.
Ja Ne!