AN: [stage whisper] cue the music.
[Start "The Boys are Back in Town"]
AN: Ladies and Gentlemen, Bots and Cons, and all other lifeforms of all ages, give it up for the cast of Gundam SEED Prime!
[Kira, Optimus, Bumblebee, Arcee, Cagalli and Athrun come running onto the set]
Kira: Hey everybody it is good to be back!
Bumblebee: Man I am so pumped! I finally get to be in these things, its for the first chapter of the new story, and we're starting the sequel!
Optimus: The feeling is shared by all of us Bumblebee.
AN: And now joining us, is the first Authors Note special guest character for Gundam SEED Prime: Destiny Sentinels, Shinn Asuka!
Shinn: Hey everybody, Shinn is in the house!
Cagalli: Wait...waitwaitwait. Hold up a second. Is he seriously in this story too?
Shinn: Uh excuse me Princess. What would the SEED Destiny portion of the Gundam SEED Prime series be without...Shinn Asuka, pilot of the Destiny and first lead hero of Gundam SEED Destiny?
Cagalli: [Gives deadpan look]...A good story.
Shinn: Oh real mature bitch!
Cagalli: Like I need you to talk to me about maturity, bastard!
Shinn: Pathetic Politician!
Cagalli: Arrogant hot-shot!
AN: I thought you said that they'd be able to handle themselves if they were in a room together.
Athrun: [shrugs] Some things just never change.
AN: Well moving on, you've all waited patiently and now the wait is over!
Megatron: Enough pleasantries, let's get on with the show!
Arcee: What's he doing here?
AN: Uh Megatron. Yeah you're not in this chapter, or the next few chapters.
Megatron: I...I'm not?
AN: No you see the script here?
Megatron: Oh...well this is awkward.
AN: Come on let's go over here. You want a doughnut?
Megatron: Yum.
AN: Hey somebody get Megatron a doughnut!
Shinn: Ugh I can't work like this.
Bumblebee: Well, how about I do the disclaimer, since I can do that now cause I've got my pipes back! Whoo!
lyokoMARVELanime does not own anything from either the Gundam or Transformers franchises or any other franchise mentioned in this story.
Optimus: Before anyone forgets, any names that are in bold indicate a new Transformers character to the Cybertron Cosmic Era when they are first introduced in this story.
Chapter 1: A Nightmare's Comeback
It is the Earth year Cosmic Era 73. Two and a half years since the end of the conflict that the humans had called the Bloody Valentine War, and also two and a half years since humanity's first encounter with life beyond their world. Two and a half years since they encountered my kind and found themselves caught up in our war. I am Optimus Prime, leader of the Autobots, and since our arrival on Earth, we have fought to bring peace to the human's world and in the process, we brought our war against the Decepticons to a supposed end. With Megatron having fallen in battle, it seemed that our war had at long last come to an end at the very same moment that the humans' war had, but I know that the Decepticons still pose a threat and that they are still out there somewhere.
In the time that had passed since the end of the humans' war and the stand still of our own, a new peace was forged between Earth and the PLANTs, the home of the new breed of humans known as Coordinators, and the Autobots have sought to ensure it stays that way. We have since lived among humanity, hiding in plain sight as we patrol their world to ensure that we are ready should the Decepticons ever return, but now it seems that a new problem has arisen among the world we have come to call our new home.
Word has recently reached us that the PLANTs have been taking advantage of Orb human resources and technology that had arrived in their nation during the previous war, and the Orb government had yet to receive any response to their requests for the PLANTs to cease their utilization of them, but what concerns me are the other rumors that have begun to arise. It is now believed that the PLANTs are hiding Autobot refugees in Z.A.F.T. and are not allowing them to leave their homeland or even make contact with any other Autobots. I do not know if this is true or even if it is some form of Decepticon trap, but one thing is certain, we cannot allow any indication of other Autobot survivors to go unchecked. As a result of this, and in order to avoid causing a diplomatic disturbance, an old friend has decided to travel to the PLANT colony known as Armory One to meet with the new PLANT Supreme Chairman. I can only hope that whatever she and her escorts find will not lead to a reigniting of the dark blaze that humanity had just escaped from.
The hallways were rather quiet as the group that consisted of a Z.A.F.T. escort and the two representatives of Orb traveled to the waiting elevator that would take them out of the harbor, and it did not take long until the Orb chief representative's body guard, a familiar blue haired man that was wearing dark red sunglasses, black pants, a green shirt, and a black jacket, asked his charge, "Do you think that's the appropriate attire? Tell me you brought at least one dress with you."
The chief representative turned to reveal the amber eyed face of one Cagalli Yula Athha as she demanded, "What does it matter what I wear? Don't you think this is good enough?"
"For something like this, a little bit of acting never hurts. You know this already," her bodyguard then replied. "Look, don't pretend to be somebody you're not, but you don't want them to think you're an amateur. Although this is an unofficial visit, never forget for a moment that you are now a ruler of Orb."
"I know Alex," Cagalli replied. In the two years that had passed since the war, Cagalli had since assumed her father's previous position as chief representative of her nation, and since she was still young, being only eighteen years old, she still needed to be reminded from time to time that politics was a completely different battlefield compared to the ones from the previous war that she fought in.
A moment later, they had arrived in the elevator that would take them down to the street level where a car would be waiting for them. As they waited for the elevator to reach its destination, Cagalli pointed out, "So tomorrow's ceremony marks the first launch of new ship since the war ended. They're well aware of what I came here to discuss, so it's strange that they're holding the ceremony now in this place."
"That's true, but remember we were the ones that requested a meeting at their earliest convenience Representative Athha," Alex reminded the blonde. "I suspect that Chairman Durandal chose this location for our benefit. Perhaps he thought it would attract less attention than a visit to the PLANT homeland?"
Cagalli had to nod in consent of this as the elevator finally became illuminated by sunlight from outside the window. A moment later, they had come to a stop and their escorts led them to a waiting black car. Alex just waved his hand as he said, "We've already made arrangements of our own."
At their escorts' questioning looks, he simply pointed towards a nearby yellow sports car with black stripes that was parked a short distance away. The escorts then nodded and said that they would lead the way to the meeting place and Alex and Cagalli both moved to climb into the waiting car. Once they were in and on their way to the meeting place, Alex finally took off his sunglasses as he let out a sigh of relief. "Some days I wonder why I must always wear these things whenever we go out to deal with this kind of business," the emerald eyed man moaned.
"Hey you're the one who insists on going by a new identity, Athrun," Cagalli stated. It was true that shortly after Athrun had come to live with her and their other friends in Orb, the former Z.A.F.T. pilot had decided to change his name for reasons that only Cagalli seemed to know. Whenever their friends Kira and Lacus asked about it though, Athrun would just say he did not want to talk about it and just left it at that.
"Still, do you have any idea how irritating it is to wear these things when we're on a shuttle out in space," Athrun asked with a smirk.
"Hey can you guys flirt later? We are on the clock, and I can't exactly give my input on any conversations you two have when I feel it needs it right now, you know," a voice suddenly spoke out from the car's radio. The two instantly went silent and just sat in the car as they rode towards a large building where Chairman Durandal was waiting for them.
As this all this and the meeting that had begun as soon as the Orb representatives had arrived was going on, a group of two boys and a girl were walking along casually, clearly not showing any signs of being anything more than what they really were. The girl had only paused for a moment to gaze at her reflection in a nearby window and then, as one of the boys had stated, play the part of a ditzy airhead when she accidentally knocked into someone. "You okay," a male voice asked.
The girl looked to see a dark haired boy with crimson eyes looking at her worriedly before she glared at him and ran off. The boy only watched her go for a moment before he took off after his friend; both heading towards the shipyard where Cagalli's meeting was taking place, and neither one knowing that the girl and her friends were heading towards a similar location. As soon as the girl had caught up with her friends, they were picked up by a Z.A.F.T. jeep and driven to a hangar in Armory One and then simply let in with the swipe of a key card.
The three then pulled out weapons of their own and immediately charged in and killed anyone that was in the room with extreme precision and accuracy. Just when someone was about to strike them from behind, a large grenade landed in the room and sent their attackers flying. The three then looked to see a large red robot along with a white and brown one and a green one with a large claw on its back standing there as the red one said, "That should take care of any more resistance you encounter."
"Yeah assuming you didn't let everyone know we're here Stinger, yodel-yodel-le," the white and brown colored one commented.
"Will you shut it Snowcat," the green robot snarled. "You're yodeling is going to fry my processor one of these days."
"Bonecrusher, Snowcat, both of you shut it," a voice then said over their comm. link. "Just make sure that the Phantom Pain pilots get the suits and then go and do some damage to keep Z.A.F.T. and any possible enemy units busy."
"Roger that," Stinger replied. "You get that Sting?"
"Yeah, we're already on it," the green haired boy replied as he and his two friends jumped into the mobile suits and started them up, making the necessary system adjustments as they did. The moment the three mobile suits were standing upright, they activated the Phase Shift armor and began to move them out. None of them noticed that one of the technicians had survived just enough to crawl over to a console and sound the alarm until it was too late.
At some point while all of this was happening, Cagalli's meeting with Chairman Durandal, who turned out to be a very tall man with shoulder length black hair and a kind, understanding face that wore a long white, black, and purple colored coat over his usual clothes, had moved from a small meeting room to roaming around outside among the hangars of Armory One, which were abuzz with activity in preparation for the launch of the new Z.A.F.T. ship. "You're a woman of courage princess, and you know what it's like to pilot a mobile suit in a real battle," Durandal complimented as they walked. "And you're the successor to the lion of Orb. Lord Uzumi defended the ideals of his nation to the end. He refused to bow to pressure, so how should we act, considering the current state of the world? I'm sure you already know the answer to that question."
As he said this, Athrun had noticed the familiar form of a Zaku sitting in one of the hangars, and was immediately reminded of his fallen comrade, Jaylen Westenfluss, who had been the pilot for the very first Zaku mobile suit. Athrun continued to glance around the Z.A.F.T. facility as Cagalli responded to the Chairman, "We will protect and maintain the ideals of our nation. It's as simple as that."
"You will not attack another nation, will not allow another nation to attack you, and will not intervene in the conflicts of other nations," Durandal recited, clearly knowing the Orb ideals very well. "Then we believe in the same noble sentiments. If possible that would be the best way, but it is not possible without power. I'm sure that you in particular can understand this Princess. Isn't that the reason Orb maintains full military facilities?"
Cagalli could see what the Chairman of the PLANTs was doing, and was quick to shake it off by asking him, "Please do me a favor and stop calling me 'Princess'."
Durandal gave a quick bow in apology before continuing. "Representative Athha, please forgive me; however, I have to wonder what exactly are you afraid of Representative? Pressure from the Atlantic Federation? Are they accusing you of giving us military aid contrary to the treaty?"
Cagalli discreetly clenched her fist at this because that was exactly what was happening, and Durandal had phrased that question almost as though he knew the answer already. "But of course there is no evidence that you've done so," Durandal continued on. "It's common knowledge that we welcomed refugees from Orb with open arms after the battle for your homeland. It shouldn't be a surprise to anyone that in order to make a living here they had to apply their technical skills. What else could they do?"
"But still," Cagalli then argued as she came to a stop in front of Durandal. "Too much strength will only invite another war."
"No Princess. Strength is a necessity. There will always be conflict," Durandal argued.
"Does that include strength from another world," Cagalli then demanded.
"Whatever do you mean by that," Durandal asked, honestly confused by that particular question.
"I'm talking about the rumors involving Autobots in the PLANTs," Cagalli stated.
"Autobots," Durandal asked.
"Please Chairman; don't try to pretend like you don't know. You and I are both well aware that every government leader is made fully aware of the Autobots' presence on Earth and of their conflict with the Decepticons and how it had ended up tying into the previous war," Cagalli then told him.
Durandal simply shrugged, having truly gotten so used to pretending as such for the benefit of keeping the Transformers' existence a secret that he was not all that familiar with openly talking about them with someone else who knew that they existed. "My apologies, Representative Athha. I must ask though what rumors are you referring to?"
"The ones that say that you are holding Autobot refugees from Cybertron here against their will and that you are taking advantage of their technical expertise and resources for the benefit of the PLANTs."
Durandal simply chuckled a bit in response as he replied, "I assure you Representative Athha, we are not holding any Autobots here against their will. If there truly are any Autobots here in the PLANTs I assure you that they only remain here because they want to be here, and if their existence here has not been made well known to the others then I can only assume it is because they don't want it to be."
Before anymore could be said by either side though, the alarms went off, and a nearby hangar was blasted open from the inside. Athrun and the Z.A.F.T. guards quickly pushed Cagalli and Durandal to cover as quickly as they could as chaos began to erupt all throughout the complex and three mobile suits burst forth and started destroying the other hangars before the mobile suits in them could deploy. "It's Chaos, Gaia, and Abyss! Someone's taken them," someone shouted.
"They what," Durandal shouted in shock.
"New models," Cagalli exclaimed. She and Athrun then looked towards the source of a series of explosions, and gasped in shock at the sight of the machine. It was a blue and grey colored mobile suit that carried a large lance in one hand and had a large pair of extensions on each shoulder and a cannon in its chest, but the one thing that stood out the most to Athrun and Cagalli was the configuration of the suit's head. It was a configuration that they were all too familiar with.
"That's a…" Athrun started.
"A Gundam," Cagalli then finished.
Looking around, the two saw that all three of the stolen mobile suits were actually Gundams, but they did not have time to stand around and watch as the destruction unfolded around them. Instantly, one of Durandal's men began to lead them to a nearby shelter, but before they got very far, an explosion had separated them from the green uniformed Z.A.F.T. soldier, and a more horrifying sight greeted their eyes. A large, red robot that was clearly a Cybertronian which held a striking resemblance to one of their Autobot friends was now standing before them and shooting at everything in sight, along with another pair or Cybertronians that were close by.
"Are those Decepticons," Cagalli shouted over the explosions.
"But why appear now of all times," Athrun asked. Neither one of them had time to think further on the matter, as the white and brown Cybertronian suddenly spotted them and used a pair of cannons on his back to shoot a large pair of ice beams directly at them. Athrun was quick to pull Cagalli behind some fallen debris, but it did not stop them from having to endure their attacker's incessant yodeling. Along with that annoyance and the obvious devastation that was happening around them, Athrun had no reason to hesitate as he told Cagalli, "Call him now!"
Cagalli did not hesitate for a second after that as she spun around and shouted out at the top of her lungs, "BUMBLEBEE!"
Her cry instantly drove the attention of the three attacking Cybertronians onto the two of them, and they all moved to fire their weapons on them, when suddenly, the sound of a radio playing the song "Dare" by Stan Bush reached their audio sensors. The three attackers turned to the source and saw the same sports car that Athrun and Cagalli had rode to their meeting in racing onto the battle field, just before it slammed into one of them. A minute later, the sports car swerved around and leapt into the air, transforming into the familiar gold and black striped form of the Autobot Scout that had been the first Autobot humanity had ever encountered; Bumblebee.
Bumblebee was quick to roll to his feet the minute he hit the ground and slammed a hard fist into the green Cybertronian with a claw on its back before landing a hard kick on the red one. "You know, all those times I complained about not getting all that much action, I never once meant this kind of thing," Bumblebee commented as he switched his right arm to its blaster mode and quickly moved over to Athrun and Cagalli's position. Bumblebee then looked towards his current charge's bodyguard and said, "There's a downed Zaku nearby with its hatch open. Get Cagalli into it and then head straight for the Z.A.F.T. ship. It's our best bet of getting you guys to safety at this point."
"Roger that," Athrun replied. He then grabbed Cagalli's hand and did as Bumblebee told him to. As they went Athrun saw Cagalli was throwing a worried look towards her Autobot friend. "Don't worry Cagalli. It's Bumblebee, he's not about to get beaten by three 'Cons and some stolen mobile suits."
Cagalli nodded in consent at this, knowing Athrun was right and then asked him, "Are you sure that you know how to even pilot one of those Zakus though?"
Athrun just smirked in response and stated, "Once a mobile suit pilot, always a mobile suit pilot, and don't forget that one of my fallen comrades was the pilot of the very first Zaku."
Bumblebee watched the two go for another moment until they were inside the green mobile suit and started it up. The scout then returned his attention to his opponents as he aimed his blaster towards them, taking a moment to study them as he did, until he exclaimed, "Well, well. Stinger, Snowcat, and Bonecrusher of the Eradicons. Didn't think I'd see you guys around this corner of the galaxy."
"Laugh all you want cadet, because you won't be laughing when I'm done with you," Stinger snarled.
"Hate to burst your bubble Stinger…actually, no I don't…but its scout now," Bumblebee snarled, and he then charged towards the three, firing some shots that would not damage the colony from his blaster as he did. Once he was close enough he was quick to knock Snowcat and Bonecrusher away, but found that Stinger would be more of a problem as his red look-a-like was able to match him nearly move for move and blow for blow. Whenever Bumblebee threw a punch, Stinger was able to counter with just the right jab, and it continued this way until Bumblebee finally broke the pattern and switched his fist into a blaster at the last minute before firing it directly into Stinger's face right as he threw a hard punch.
Bumblebee paused for a moment to see if any other enemies were about to attack him when he saw that Athrun and Cagalli's Zaku was being attacked by the Gaia and the Chaos. He was about to move to help them when suddenly, Bonecrusher attacked him from behind with his large claw. Before he could counteract this attack, Bumblebee suddenly found his leg frozen in a block of ice, courtesy of Snowcat. Bumblebee was afraid for a moment that he would have to just stand there and watch his friends get torn apart while Bonecrusher and Snowcat blasted him to bits when suddenly, Bonecrusher was hit in the back by an energon blast.
Turning to the source, all the three Eradicons and Bumblebee could see for a moment was a white blur of another Cybertronian that seemed to hit something on his arm before jumping through a building like a ghost through a wall. The moment he came out the other side, he was had transformed into an Indy Five Hundred car with double thirty eights on his sides and a white and blue paint job. He did not stay this way for long as he raced up to Bonecrusher and transformed back to robot mode to land a hard kick onto the former Constructicon. Once he landed on the ground, he spun his blaster towards Snowcat and Stinger and drove them back long enough to for Bumblebee to pull himself free from Snowcat's ice.
The white and blue colored Cybertronian then shifted his blaster back into a hand and stood at attention as he saluted and declared, "Cybertron Elite Guard Graduate Smokescreen, at your service sir." Smokescreen's eyes then widened the minute he realized who he was speaking to. "By the AllSpark…You're Bumblebee! It is an honor to meet you sir, though I wish it was under better circumstances."
"Uh thanks," Bumblebee replied. "But two things. One, don't call me sir, and two, Smokescreen was it?"
"Yes sir…I mean Bumblebee," Smokescreen asked eagerly.
Bumblebee pointed in Bonecrusher's direction as he stated, "He and his pals are getting back up again."
Smokescreen looked to see that Bumblebee was correct and immediately assumed a fighting stance alongside Bumblebee. "This is so awesome! I'm now fighting alongside Bumblebee," Smokescreen practically squealed in joy.
"Focus kid," Bumblebee reprimanded, feeling a bit weird at being on the other end of this kind of thing. "We've still got hostiles aiding an unknown human terrorist group and the people I'm supposed to be protecting are in that Zaku that the stolen Z.A.F.T. mobile suits are currently attacking."
"Don't worry, my commander and the rest of my unit are already on the case, along with one of Z.A.F.T.'s top pilots," Smokescreen immediately replied.
"What? Who're you talking about," Bumblebee asked. The minute he asked that, an explosion sounded in the direction of the Chaos, and Stinger was immediately assaulted by a barrage as well. Bumblebee looked towards the source of what had attacked Stinger to see a large, red and black fire truck rolling onto the scene at full speed, and what appeared to be a small, blue and white fighter plane flying in as well.
A moment later, the plane folded up and connected to another pair of flying machines that unfolded to reveal another Gundam that was all grey. Just before Bumblebee could gasp in shock at this development, a fourth flyer detached a large, red piece of equipment that seemed to have a large pair of swords on the back, and the equipment instantly attached to the recently arrived Gundam, which quickly activated its Phase Shift armor and turned red and white as it did. The red and white Gundam then landed next to Athrun and Cagalli's Zaku and whipped out a pair of anti-ship swords before connecting the two blades together for a massive double bladed sword.
Bumblebee and everyone else on the battlefield other than Smokescreen could only stare in awe at the sight of the new arrival, but Bumblebee found something to be an even greater shock when the fire truck had finally rolled to a stop after slamming Stinger aside. The next minute, the fire truck began to transform and revealed itself to be a large Cybertronian that was almost the same height as Optimus, with broad shoulders and a face that appeared to have a bit of a goatee on it. The red Cybertronian then pulled out a double bladed sword of his own that was similar to the new Gundam's while Bumblebee could only gasp in shock at the revelation of who this particular Cybertronian was. "Sentinel," Bumblebee exclaimed. "Sentinel Prime?!"
Sentinel looked towards Bumblebee and simply requested, "Name and rank soldier."
Bumblebee instantly stood at attention himself and replied, "Sir! Autobot Scout Bumblebee of the unit Team Prime at your service sir."
Sentinel raised an eyebrow in confusion for a moment. "I think I would remember having the Autobots' legendary scout in my unit sir."
"Uh sorry for the confusion sir, but I'm part of the new Team Prime," Bumblebee quickly corrected.
"New Team Prime? What do you mean by that," Sentinel requested.
"With all due respect sir, I think it would probably be better if we discussed this conversation at another time," Bumblebee pointed out, nodding in the direction of the mobile suits that were currently in a stand-off and the Eradicons.
Sentinel nodded in agreement at this and quickly tapped his comm. link. "Protectobots, status report."
"Evac here sir," was the reply he received. "We've nearly evacuated everyone to safety, and Prowl's just reported that Chairman Durandal has boarded the Minerva. Also, Red Alert just went to assist the Z.A.F.T. pilots Lunamaria Hawke and Ray Za Burrel in freeing their mobile suits from some fallen rumble."
"Understood. Have Red Alert inform the two pilots to make their way here as soon as they are able to," Sentinel then ordered. "Xanthium, status report."
"Blaster here yo. We're ready to roll and are now just waitin' for your say so," came a reply in rap form.
"Excellent. Are there any other forces you can send our way as backup," Sentinel then asked.
"No problem there Sentinel Prime, sir. Backup's already headed your way in the form of a blur."
Sentinel groaned in annoyance at Blaster's rapping and simply said roger before he cut communication and assumed a fighting stance alongside Bumblebee and Smokescreen. As he did, he heard the pilot of the red and white Gundam call out, "Why're you doing this? Why now? Are you trying to start another war?!"
The sword wielding Gundam then charged directly at the Gaia and engaged the black machine in sword combat. The Chaos then raised its rifle in an attempt to help its ally when it was suddenly shoulder jacked by Athrun and Cagalli's Zaku. When Bumblebee saw this, it ended up being the moment of hesitation that the Eradicons were waiting for, and Stinger immediately acted on it. Before the red 'Con could get close enough to land a hit, Smokescreen intervened and kneed Stinger in his gut before kicking him away. "Whoa. I just saved Bumblebee," Smokescreen whispered. He then excitedly shouted, "I just saved Bumblebee!"
"Don't let it go to your head rookie, but…thanks all the same," Bumblebee then told Smokescreen.
"Why are you so distracted soldier," Sentinel asked.
"I was on assignment here as a temporary Guardian for the Orb chief representative when this happened, and she and her human bodyguard are the ones currently inside of that Zaku," Bumblebee stated.
Sentinel looked towards the Zaku that Bumblebee had mentioned and immediately detected a pair of human life signs inside of it. "I understand," Sentinel stated as he tapped his comm. link again. "Roadblock, Inferno, I need you two at my location now. I have a soldier here who will need some covering fire as he evacuates his human charges to safety aboard the Minerva."
"Understood sir," were the replies, which almost sounded like the same voice was saying it in stereo. Bumblebee nodded in thanks to Sentinel and immediately raced over to the Zaku, blasting anything in his way as he went.
Suddenly, all of Armory One shook under the force of an explosion, disorienting everyone, and giving the three stolen Gundams the opening they needed on the mystery one. The Gaia quickly rushed in, causing the pilot to lose one of his swords, and the Chaos and Abyss were about to follow up when a pair of beam blasts suddenly came at them from out of nowhere. Bumblebee and the three thieves looked to see that two Zakus, one white and one red, were racing onto the battlefield to support their ally.
The two teams of three mobile suits were soon engaged in evenly matched combat, but it was clear that the Chaos, Gaia, and Abyss were running low on power and it seemed that only the Gaia was willing to keep fighting. Just when it seemed that it could really go either way, the Gaia suddenly froze in midair, just floating where it was. Seeing his chance, the pilot of the red and white Gundam quickly tossed a beam boomerang at the Gaia, only for it to be knocked away by the Chaos as it returned fire. A moment later, the three stolen machines were racing off in a full retreat, and the three Z.A.F.T. suits were quickly moving to pursue them.
Seeing that the Z.A.F.T. suits and Sentinel's team were able to deal with the retreating stolen machines, Bumblebee was quick to start escorting the Zaku that Athrun and Cagalli were in towards the large, black Z.A.F.T. warship that was still docked nearby, which he assumed was the Minerva. Suddenly, Bumblebee heard another explosion, and he quickly turned to see that the red Zaku was beginning to fall out of the sky, heading towards the Minerva. The problem was it did not seem like it would make it on its own. Then suddenly, a yellow blur swooped in and launched a pair of cables that quickly attached to the red mobile suit.
Bumblebee then looked towards the source of the cables and saw a yellow helicopter flying overhead which had the Autobot insignia on its side. "I can't get you all the way there Miss Lunamaria," the helicopter stated.
Lunamaria was about to say to just get her close enough the Minerva when both she and the helicopter both heard a horn blaring. They looked to see Bumblebee in his vehicle mode racing towards the Minerva along their path and the helicopter Autobot knew exactly what the scout was planning, so he moved towards the black and red ship as quickly as he could and then released the red Zaku when he was as close as he could go. Lunamaria was starting to panic from inside her mobile suit, and tried desperately to fire the thruster, but a loud thud showed her that she did not have to worry. Bumblebee had raced up a piece of rumble that had ended up in the perfect position to be a make-shift ramp and transformed to his robot mode in mid-air to catch the red mobile suit just before he landed on the Minerva himself.
Bumblebee then helped guide the red machine into the hangar of the new Z.A.F.T. ship and once they were inside he stepped back so that he could be as out of the way as possible, ignoring all the looks and gasps of awe from the deck crew as he did. Not a minute later, the pilot of the red Zaku climbed out, revealing Lunamaria to be a young girl with violet-red hair and indigo eyes dressed in a red Z.A.F.T. uniform, a pink skirt, black leggings, and white boots. To be honest, she looked to be only a year younger than Kira and the others to Bumblebee.
He did not have much more time to dwell on this as the familiar form of the Zaku that Athrun and Cagalli had borrowed suddenly came aboard the ship as well, with the two descending from the cockpit a moment later. Bumblebee was instantly worried when he saw that Cagalli was holding her head almost like she was nursing an injury and was quick to rush over when he heard Lunamaria shout out, "Hold it you two!"
Bumblebee looked to see that the violet-red haired girl had already moved to pull a gun on Athrun and Cagalli along with two other Z.A.F.T. soldiers and he was instantly reminded of when Arcee had told him about how Athrun and Cagalli first met. Knowing this, the scout shook his helm as he thought to himself, Athrun just can't seem to meet any girls without the girl pointing a gun at him can he?
Suddenly, everyone's attention was diverted for a moment as an announcement went out saying that the Minerva was preparing to take off, but it was only for a moment until Lunamaria quickly drove everyone's attention back to the three supposed intruders aboard the ship. "Identify yourselves now. You're not in the military are you, so what were you doing in that machine, and what's the story with your big friend there?"
"Is that really how you thank someone who helped save your life," Bumblebee asked as he readied his own blaster. "Oh and before you go saying I shouldn't be using a Cybertronian weapon aboard a human vessel, you should know, this isn't the first time I've pulled my blaster on one, so don't think I won't use it here."
"Lower your weapons," Athrun then calmly ordered. "This is Miss Cagalli Yula Athha, a representative of the Orb Union. I'm her attendant, Alex Dino, and our 'big friend' is the Autobot scout Bumblebee. We were meeting with the chairman when we were caught up in the commotion, and our only option was to take this machine and defend ourselves since Bumblebee was handling the unknown Decepticons that were attacking."
"Eradicons," Bumblebee corrected, getting everyone's attention. "I'll explain later."
Athrun then brought everyone's attention back on track as Lunamaria lowered her gun. "The representative has been injured. The chairman is aboard this ship isn't he? We need to see him immediately."
Then Bumblebee's expression became somewhat panicked. "Wait. Did you say that Cagalli was injured," Bumblebee demanded. "How…when…Argh! A…lex did you forget that we promised both Kira and Arcee that we would keep her from getting so much as one scratch on her on this visit?! What part of that did you forget out there?!"
Before Bumblebee could continue to rant any further, a silver-blue blur cut him off and nearly sent him crashing into the wall had he not caught himself in time. Looking towards the source, Bumblebee saw a sports car of the same color as the blur that had knocked him over and glared towards it, knowing it was an Autobot and snarled, "What was that for? Do you realize you could've gotten someone killed doing that zippy?"
At that last word, the Autobot transformed into a slim figure with a triangular head and stated in a very fast voice, "First of all, the name's not Zippy. In fact I can't recall a 'Bot ever being named Zippy so one can only assume that you came up with Zippy as a reference to my speed, which may be accurate but a lacks a certain creativity. More to the point, the name's Blur. I'm the Autobot Chief Operations officer of the Xanthium under the direct command Sentinel Prime. Our ship was in the area monitoring the situation and was about to move to help when we came under attack by Lockdown and his Eradicon forces at which point we had Eradicons on the ground, Eradicons in the air, Eradicons on the deck, Eradicons, Eradicons, Eradicons! If we shoot them off the ground, they're still in the air, and if we shoot them out of the air, they're still on the deck, so where did that lead us? Nowhere, that's where but then-"
"Whoa stop," Bumblebee hollered, and it was at that point Blur noticed that everyone was gawking at him weirdly. Bumblebee then coughed and then asked, "Sorry Blur, but can you repeat that last part?"
"Which last part?"
"Uh, let's start with everything after 'The name's not Zippy' and go from there."
Everyone suddenly felt the ship shake, indicating it was about to head out into space, when suddenly a red alert started to sound throughout the ship. "Is this ship about to go into battle," Athrun asked.
"Looks that way pal," Bumblebee replied.
"Athrun," Cagalli then said worriedly, leading Bumblebee to slap his forehead at the blonde's moment of forgetfulness.
Lunamaria and every Z.A.F.T. soldier that heard her gasped in shock as the haired pilot looked at the blue haired man and exclaimed, "Athrun? As in Athrun Zala?!"
Blur then suddenly looked to Bumblebee and stated, "Sir, Sentinel Prime says that the Xanthium is on its way to backup the Impulse and the Zaku Phantom which have currently engaged what is believed to be the human's command enemy force along with Lockdown's ship, Tidal Wave."
Bumblebee silently snarled as he realized in that moment that the fact Lockdown's mother ship was here was definitely a bad sign.
Outside of Armory One, the Impulse Gundam and the Zaku Phantom had just lost sight of the three stolen Gundams and needless to say, Shinn Asuka was not a happy about that. That was when he suddenly received an alert right before he had to block a beam blast with the Impulse's shield. Ray was about to move to help his friend when he spotted both the Minerva heading out and what was obviously the enemy ship approaching from nearby. The next thing that he saw though was a sight that anyone would find greatly horrifying if they knew of the terrors that came after it.
It was a massive Cybertronian ship with a dark emerald and silver color scheme with lightning patterns on the sides and it clearly had seriously heavy armaments on it. On the side of the ship, one could see what looked like a silver, modified version of the Decepticon insignia, but the horns on the top of the head seemed to curve outward and the bottom of the head had a pointed pair of extensions that seemed to emphasize greater deviousness. On the bridge, was the ship's commander, Lockdown, leader of the Eradicons, and he was prepared to give the order to open fire on the two mobile suits and the Z.A.F.T. ship that was just emerging from the PLANT when suddenly the ship was bombarded by a series of explosions.
Looking to the source of the attack on Lockdown's ship, everyone could see a slightly smaller Cybertronian ship that was reminiscent of an Earth space shuttle when it was prepared for lift off. The ship itself had a silver and red color scheme and on the sides and front of the ship was the Autobot insignia in a shinning, gold color.
Everyone who was able to see these two massive ships, was able to tell instantly, that a new chapter had just begun in the nightmare that was the war for Cybertron.
AN: Okay that should take care of Megatron for a while. Seriously how can you forget that you were killed in a previous story?
Shinn: Hey I feel like I should complain about my lack of screen time in this story.
AN: Uh Shinn, I hate to tell you this man, but your end of the story pretty much went the same way so we figured we focus on the Transformers side of the story since more changed their than anywhere else.
Cagalli: Hmph, serves you right brat.
Shinn: You want to go another round?
Cagalli: Just show me someone who can actually be a challenge and I'll go anytime pal!
Kira: Aaaaaaand there they go again.
Bumblebee: Yep.
AN: We'll let them deal with it. Anyhow, moving on. I hope you all enjoyed the first chapter of Gundam SEED Prime: Destiny Sentinels, and are eager for more to come. Now with that said, onto the preview!...
The Minerva and the Xanthium rendezvous with one and other before beginning pursuit of the Earth Forces vessel, Girty Lue, while Athrun, Cagalli, and Bumblebee become better acquainted with some of the mystery Autobots that they had encountered in Armory One. Just who else is on Team Sentinel Prime, and what other terrors await them all in the upcoming battle between the new Z.A.F.T. ship and the long lost Autobot vessel? Next time on Mobile Suit Gundam SEED Prime: Destiny Sentinels…Chapter 2: Facing the Phantoms. Strike hard against your new foes Impulse and Sentinel!
Please read and review, and we'll see you next time!