The year is Comsic Era 71. Two superpowers collide in a full-scale conflict. On one side, the Earth Alliance and its O.M.N.I. Enforcers, comprised of 'Naturals', normal people of Earth who have taken up arms against the Zodiac Alliance of Freedom Treaty, or ZAFT, and its Coordinators, genetically modified human beings who have superior skills, physical or otherwise, to their 'Natural' counterparts. The conflict had escalated when the Earth Alliance launched a Nuclear Missile attack on the agricultural colony of ZAFT, Junius 7, on February 14, C.E. 70, later known as the Bloody Valentine incident, wherein 243,721 people, mostly civilians, lost their lives. Amidst all this war however, are some places which know peace among Naturals and Coordinators, a jewel amidst all the conflict. Orb is one such nation, one of those who choose to take a neutral stance in the war.
…
"Orb will not attack another nation, will not allow another nation to attack them, and will not intervene in the conflicts of other nations." – Motto of the Orb Union
…
The Orb Union, a small island nation to the east of New Guinea along the equatorial line, is a nation neutral to either side. The nation allows both Naturals and Coordinators alike to live in its territory. Along with its economic and political stability, as well as its neutral stance on the war, people have thus dubbed it the 'Land of Peace'. Even so, its peace cannot be kept without the reassurance of its ability to retaliate against those who would want to disturb it. It has a substantial military, capable of defending itself against both the Earth Alliance and the ZAFT military for a short amount of time. As of yet, neither military has taken any move to disturb Orb and its territory. However, with war comes uncertainty, and with everything escalating, the only way to hold on to one's ideals if they have the power to keep it.
January 28, C.E. 71
A large building loomed before the four of them. Well, not only the four of them, there were probably about forty or more possible candidates here, all to be evaluated for a chance to test out a new weapon, one that was said for the defense of Orb's neutrality. Whatever it was, it seemed to be causing a lot of commotion. Everyone knew what this building was.
One of the islands off the coast of Orb proper was the Ongoro islands, home to Morgenroete Inc., one of the top military contractors in the world, developing numerous weapons technologies that aided in Orb's military. Being here meant that it was a weapon they would be testing, and many had to wonder if it was related to what happened to Orb's resource satellite and civilian colony, Heliopolis, a few days ago. The recruits at the academy weren't all that riled up to start with, some of them had family living at the colony. They were almost just a month into the New Year, and already something had happened because of the war. But they had duties to attend to. The conflict was escalating, and if the destruction of Heliopolis told them anything, it was that it might come to them.
"C'mon, we're going to get left behind," a girl with curly, shoulder-length blonde hair urged her companions. While she was a little anxious because of the Heliopolis incident, she distracted herself by looking at the 'competition' they were going to have. All of the candidates that were chosen were the top recruits at the Academy, their ages ranging from fourteen to twenty years old. Most of them, their group included, were test-pilots of atmospheric fighters, basically upgraded jet-fighters, during their time at the Academy. With the skills each and every one of them had, they had to wonder what qualifications would get them accepted. Her light blue eyes glimmered with anticipation. "Mayura, tell Juri to hurry up or we'll be left behind!"
Mayura huffed, pushing the bangs of her short, brown hair aside from her face. It was a hot day today, and she was starting to sweat from the heat. It wasn't helping that her hair was getting into her eyes. "We're right behind you Asagi, geez," she shot Juri a glance, her violet eyes full of 'hurry the hell up, she's going to make a commotion.'
A girl with glasses quietly edged along the line as it moved towards the building. She tucked some of her neck-length dark-blue hair behind her left ear and adjusted her pink-framed glasses, trying to squint against the glare her glasses gave off. Juri looked back at their last companion, a boy their age of sixteen, just struggling along the throng of people they were a part of.
"You okay Ziek?" Juri asked, just loud enough so that he would look at her, breaking his blank stare towards nowhere in particular. His brown eyes locked on to her hazel ones. As he scratched the back of his head, he gave a slight smile.
"Just thinking of where I have to go later, I promised Mica I'd be at the entrance but…" He trailed off. She tugged at his unruly, dark-brown hair, earning her a slight growl of annoyance from him. "Ow, that hurts!"
"Just don't get lost here okay? We'll find…" Juri hesitated slightly, before continuing her statement, her words a sprinkled with slight distaste. "… that she-devil before you know it."
"You honestly don't like her that much huh…? And what the hell am I a kid? I won't get lost, I promise."
The way he said it so sarcastically made her laugh a little. Mayura looked back at the two of them and addressed Juri, who was tugging Ziek along by the arm.
"I bet this is all because of what happened to Heliopolis," she said within earshot. Ziek shifted uneasily. A friend of theirs was at the colony when the incident happened.
"Cagalli was there wasn't she? I hope she's alright."
"How cute, you're worried about her."
He narrowed his eyes at Mayura. "The entire colony was destroyed Mayura. I'm worried as hell."
Her eyes softened a little. She let it slip her mind Ziek naturally worried a lot. "I'm sure she's fine. It'd take the entire ZAFT and Earth Alliance military to take her out."
Ziek's features turned into a slight smile, which relieved her. She proceeded to look around. She saw some familiar faces from the Academy, including one guy she was quite interested in. She looked back to her companions and Juri was still clinging to Ziek's arm. "Could you stop flirting with the guy and concentrate? Asagi's way ahead of us already."
Juri adjusted her glasses again. It kept on shifting position as they bumped into other people. "I am not flirting,Mayura, he just might get lost. I bet you're a little high-strung because Ricard's somewhere around here," she teased. Mayura looked exasperated and just turned the other way.
When they finally got inside, they were greeted by a vast interior, with stairs and elevators careening off towards different areas, employees and what looked like mechanics all moving about. As they continued on, they had a view of rooms that ranged from offices to design labs with holograms and charts scattered around. As they got further back into the facility, they saw what looked like hangars of experimental weapons technology being fired and tested, though the sound proof glass kept things quiet. Ziek had seen some of these in their classes at the Academy. He saw turrets mounting anti-air weapons systems, missile launchers and various VTOL atmospheric fighter aircraft, most notably the newly developed FX-550 Skygrasper, which he, Asagi and the others had regularly tested since November of the year before, while it was still in its prototype stages. It was a capable fighter, based on its specs, but it seemed to also be a support aircraft for something else.
Ziek's mind wandered a bit, remembering how he had gotten to become a test-pilot in the first place. Ever since he was younger he had always been fascinated by the idea of piloting atmospheric fighters or mobile-armors, just like what the Earth Alliance used, mainly because his parents were part of the Earth Alliance military, even though they lived in a neutral country belonging to the Equatorial Union. He went to arcades a lot, always practicing with the flight simulators of various aircraft and mobile-armors, having the fourth or fifth highest score usually. In this aspect, score meant kills, accuracy, efficiency, and the like. He was a little disappointed in himself, thinking he had to be more like his parents.
He dedicated his spare time to studying machinery, mostly about their Operating Systems and how they worked, as well as how to pilot them. By the time he was thirteen he bought himself his own flight simulator to use, and he practiced on that thing for all it was worth. When his parents became a part of the elite Moebius Zero squadron, it gave him even more incentive to be like them. Becoming an ace pilot would have been nice, but not really an ace of the Alliance. Their whole racism thing didn't really entice him. ZAFT didn't appeal to him either. He found them pompous. Not saying that the people of either side were all the same, but still.
A few weeks after his parents had told him to move to Orb after the 'Bloody Valentine' incident, where he lived with a few relatives, he enrolled in a proper military academy. His relatives didn't mind, finding it admirable he wanted to follow in his parents' footsteps, but he never actually got a chance to tell them, as they were out fighting the war.
Ziek's reminiscing was thrown a little off track as they were ushered into different testing rooms. It made sense, since the male and female candidates would probably have to go through a physical exam. He lined up outside the testing room for what seemed like ages. Several more minutes after the one in front of him entered the room, it was Ziek's turn. He noticed the words Medical Examination on the clipboard the man had in his hand. So his hunch was right, go figure.
"Name?" the personnel asked him.
"Ziek Reahmiz Cleus Hona Strive. I put Ziek Hona Strive for short in the sheet they gave me before, so if you have any trouble finding it…"
"No no, here it is. Go on then, the doctor will be there to issue the examination."
Ziek entered the room. It was pure white and smelled of anesthetic and other clinic-y substances he couldn't exactly describe. He sat down on the chair in front of the man who was probably the medical examiner. He was a middle-aged man that had short, orange hair that was neatly trimmed, a slight tan, and glasses that hung low along the bridge of his nose. Then he recognized him, it was Mica's father, Thomas Amaran. The second the doctor recognized Ziek, he gave the boy a warm smile.
"Looks like you qualified for the program. Mica'll be rearing to check what you're made of."
"Oh gee, I can't wait…"
Ziek was a little apprehensive on the fact Mica being excited about something with him involved. She, along with Asagi and the others were people he had befriended during his time at the Academy, although anything involving Mica usually led to her challenging him every chance she could get. It ranged from simple card games and equations to arcade games and sparring. He won at least once, which was fine by him because it punched a hole in her perfectionist streak and made her pout like a little girl, because a Coordinator like her just lost to a 'Natural' like him. Ever since that one incident, she's been on his case. The voice of Mica's father brought him back from his 'pleasant' memories.
"Now this is just a medical exam, background check and the like. It's more of a formality for you, since I know you aren't a bad kid, but hey what can you do right?" he said. He readjusted his glasses and reached for the clipboard in front of him. "Let's see, born 'naturally' on June 18, 55, no exposure to drugs or the like, at least I hope, 170 centimeters tall as of your last checkup, mother was also born naturally, and your father… well this is something new to me. You never talked about your parents much did you?"
Ziek blinked. It wasn't that he wasn't proud of his parents. He loved and respected them to death… no pun intended. It never really came up in a conversation though. "I'm sorry. I guess I never mentioned it before."
"No no, it's alright, I guess it's just news to me that your father was a Coordinator like myself and my daughter."
It was another thing he took pride in about his parents, besides the fact that they were both of officers and ace pilots of the Earth Alliance. His mother was a 'Natural', but his father was a Coordinator. One would think with the known hostilities among the two 'genetic races' that he would have been denied entry to the military, but with his parents had enlisted within the Eurasian Federation, which unlike the Atlantic Federation were less strict about Coordinators within their ranks. Although this was true, there were still some people who were kept in the dark about his father being a Coordinator unless his father stated it outright, such as when his father told his squad-mates in the Moebius Zero squadron, who were comprised of both Eurasian and Atlantic Federation soldiers. At one point Ziek asked why his father didn't enroll with the ZAFT military. Ziek always remembered his father's wild brown hair, which he inherited, and slight stubble whenever he remembered how his father replied.
'I don't share their views on Coordinators being superior. Not that the Alliance is any different for hating Coordinators for their skills. On one side is pride, on the other side is envy. Neither side is justified. If there was any reason I joined the Alliance, it was that I wanted, in my own way, to somehow create understanding between one another. My squad could care less if I was a Coordinator or not. They trust me and I trust them. Now if only we could do that for the rest of humanity, things would be hell of a lot more peaceful around here. A guy can dream, I guess.'
Ziek knew that his father's squad trusted him wholeheartedly. He'd seen them the year his parents were promoted to the Moebius Zero squadron, and they all visited Ziek when he turned fourteen, during one of their leave days. His father revealed to them that he was a Coordinator that evening. At first some of them were a little rattled, but after a little philosophical debate about their views on the whole Coordinator deal, the others decided they didn't care. They poked at the fact that Ziek wasn't born a Coordinator though. There was a complication while he was still in his mother's womb, and his father's Coordinator genes weren't passed down to him. Long story short, he was born a 'Natural'. But his father didn't care; in fact, he took it as a sign
…
'Your mother's a feisty one that, probably why you turned out the way you did.' His father said with a smirk on his face while he was cutting up some ingredients. His parents were still preparing dinner, and his mother was obviously a little annoyed at how carefree his father's conversation in front of their guests was. She pushed the bangs of her jet-black hair aside as she clocked in the timer on the stove, while his father got the grill ready. Ziek looked at his father over the tabletop counter.
'Don't you ever wish I was born a Coordinator?'
He stopped chopping a few slices of meat to look at his son. 'Ha! Of course not!' he laughed while patting Ziek on the head.
'But then I would probably be able to be with you guys piloting mobile armors by now!'
Ziek's father gave his son a solemn look. 'You're still too young for that Ziek, even if you were a Coordinator. But you know, Coordinators aren't really that much different. We can just absorb information faster, get a hold of things a lot more easily. But even non-Coordinators can do what we can.'
'You make it sound easy pops, come to think of it, now I get why you don't get heart attacks running marathons with us… well, the others anyway,' one of his squad-mates, a young man with short black hair called out over his drink.
'Can it Lindgren, maybe you're one of the people who can't because you're so damn lazy, and don't call me pops! I'm trying to give an emotional heart-to-heart here!' Ziek's father replied. As he finished saying it though, they all laughed, as did Ziek's father. He turned back to his son. 'Anyway, whether you're a Coordinator or not, it's just a label. There's this one kid in our squad, over there, the blonde who can't hold down his alcohol. His name's Mu. Best Zero pilot we have. That bastard could beat me in a dogfight any day.'
'Kiel! Watch your language when you talk to our son!' Ziek's mother reprimanded while she was setting the table.
His father let out a booming laugh. 'Sorry Atla, but you babying him won't do the kid any favors you know.'
'But it's true you know, Mu can beat your old man's ass any day,' another one of his father's squad members said. He was a man with ashen hair and a matching beard. His name kind of matched his description, ironically.
'Yeah yeah he gets it and who you callin' old man, Winters? You're old enough to retire that's what you are!' the entire group laughed, along with Ziek and his mother, who just finished setting the table. As his father finished placing the food, along with Ziek's cake, the other members of the squad sat with his family.
Ziek received scaled replicas of Earth Alliance warships and mobile armors. When he slept, he put them right above his bed, dreaming of the day when he would be able to pilot something, whether it was a mobile armor, or if it were possible, a mobile suit, even if they were said to be too complicated for 'Naturals'. A guy can dream, right?
…
His parents died the year after on June 2nd, C.E. 70, during what was now known as the 'Battle of Endymion'. He was informed and received their medals of valor a few weeks later, on his birthday nonetheless.
Awarded to Ezekiel Reahmiz Strive and Atlasia Cleuz Hona Strive for their services in the Earth Alliance.
The details were never fully explained to him. Now here he was, reminiscing his past as the last part of the medical exam was finished. Thomas said his daughter was waiting for Ziek somewhere down the hall, so off he went.
"Now was it go left… then a right or was it head straight then turn…?"
While he wondered if he was actually going to get lost, he started to space out. All that he noticed around him were the clear, glass windows that showed the hangars just beyond the walls. He saw a Skygrasper unit again. He recited its armaments in his head.
Four machine guns, two machine cannons, one beam cannon positioned on a turret right above the cockpit and two missile bays…
As he looked at more of the equipment being tested, he noticed a giant shape covered by a huge insulating sheet. He had only glimpsed it before it was moved somewhere. He barely made out the shape of a head… part of the sheet drooped down and formed what seemed like a V. The shoulder armor barely poking out, while the last piece he could remember were both of its feet that poked out at the base. It was a mobile suit, something like the ones ZAFT had developed. It definitely didn't look like a GINN though. Someone was about to bump into him, and usually you'd expect someone who spaced out to not notice. But he noticed things, small things, like he felt ripples of movement around him. He stepped deftly to the side as a streak of red hair grazed his cheek. His assailant however didn't even slip or falter. This time he couldn't react fast enough, the hunter had found its target and just followed up with a fluid motion to wrap her arms around his neck… and began strangling the life out of him. That was one to nothing for today.
"You took your sweet time," the girl whispered calmly, with a hint of icy contempt. Such a charmer she was.
"Mica, you're a wonderful person and all, but alas I cannot accept you right now," he tried to say as playfully as he could muster. It was hard given his life was being slowly and methodically forced out of him. Immediately after she let go, her face, gracefully framed with her short, poofy, orange hair, became a little distorted with annoyance and a tinge of embarrassment that you could just barely make out. Her bright blue eyes could pierce your soul.
"Don't flatter yourself 'Natural',"
Ziek tried to have a feel if any of the bones in his neck broke due to her vice-grip. All seemed to be well. He saw her in full now, clad in what looked like a pilot suit. It managed to outline her curves quite well. He mentally punched himself. "Good to see you too."
Mica Amaran, the prodigal yet prodigious Coordinator Academy recruit of Orb. She was his age, but she was a lot more advanced than him or the other three girls. With all that skill she had a little bit of an attitude problem, mostly her pseudo-superiority complex. She seemed like how the Earth Alliance labeled Coordinators, stereotypically conceited and arrogant of their own abilities. But she had nothing but respect for the ones she saw fit. Many test-pilots, like Ziek and the other recruits, were non-Coordinators. The ones who stood out, particularly the older members of the Orb military, had her unbridled reverence, wanting to know their tricks of the trade. Anyone else however, Coordinator or not… well, she wasn't that much of a people person outside learning how to shoot down a target a few kilometers off. How she found Ziek to be a person worthy of her interest after that one little incident was beyond him. Mica composed herself, breathing in deeply and addressing Ziek again.
"So you're going to be a test pilot too, correct?"
"I'm thinking 'yes', but then I have no idea what we'll be testing… was it the mobile suit that just got transported?" He asked as calmly as possible. The idea of piloting a mobile suit… it was the feeling he had when he began using his flight simulator, utterly ecstatic. He saw Mica looking at him indifferently before she spoke again.
"Pretty sharp aren't you? You're correct. I can't tell you much else, so just come along with me to the testing area. Ms. Erica will be in charge of everything that follows."
Ziek merely nodded and started to go after Mica, who had started to walk at a quick pace towards the hangar he'd just peered into. They reached an elevator and they both stepped inside. Mica pushed some buttons on the panel and a secret compartment popped open, and she pressed on the button that looked like it would take them below the facility. Top secret things are about to happen, he thought. Elevator music played as they journeyed downwards, and it was getting all but awkward. He tried to start a conversation.
"So," Ziek started. "How are you today?"
"Fine."
Such a ray of sunshine, Ziek thought. "Were you here for the examination too or…?"
"I was already accepted. I came to find you, since you were being slow."
"Uh, okay…"
A few more grueling moments passed and the elevator let out that god-sent ding that told them they'd arrived. Mica went ahead and Ziek had to move forward to acknowledge where they had ended up. They were inside a giant hangar, a wide space in the middle as large as a few football fields in terms of length and width, and on one end of the facility were the covered mobile suits he'd seen before. Before he could gawk at it anymore Mica ushered him towards what looked like a command center. Given they were underground, this place was pretty amazing. He was afraid the entire roof would fall on them though. As they entered the facility they weaved their way through more corridors until Ziek heard a commotion getting louder. The candidates he'd seen at the entrance to Morgenroete were right in front of a long corridor with large, clear, glass windows on one side, displaying the hangar before them. In front of all the candidates was a woman with slightly curly, light-brown hair. She began to address the eager young people before her.
"I'm sure you're all wondering what you're all here for. I won't beat around the bush. I am Erica Simmons, senior engineer here at Morgenroete. You are all here to be evaluated on your abilities to become a part of what we call the 'Astray Project'," as if on cue, the sheets covering the six lined-up mobile suits were removed. What lay underneath made the entire hallway fall to a hushed silence. In red, black, and white colors, a giant looked back at them. It must've been around eighteen meters tall, with green 'eyes', a peculiar looking mouth-plate, and a red 'V' on its forehead, the shape that Ziek had noticed before. It was a mobile suit, similar but at the same time unlike the GINN units of ZAFT. Erica began to speak again, breaking the silence that had ensued.
"As you all know, Orb's resource satellite, Heliopolis, was destroyed just a few days ago in an attack by ZAFT against Earth Alliance forces. Although we stand neutral in this war, the fact remains that Earth Alliance forces were found stationed at Heliopolis. This may lead to accusations that Orb has allied itself with the Earth Alliance, forcing us to engage ZAFT if they choose to attack. At present, our military does not have the strength to withstand a full-scale assault. However, with your cooperation, this project aims to defend the ideals that Orb had always stood for."
What was this feeling? You could call it being eager, but the old axiom 'like a kid in a candy store' fit best for Ziek. Someone slap me, I must be dreaming. No wait, don't slap me, if this is a dream I don't want to wake up, he thought. His heart raced. The anticipation was all but showing, he was already twitching with excitement. Mobile-armors and fighters were one thing, but to pilot a piece of art like a mobile suit was beyond his wildest imaginings. Mica saw how riled up he was and she lightly flicked him on the back of his head to calm him down. Erica had been continuing her speech when his attention came crashing back.
"Each one of you will perform a test run. Your performance will be evaluated and you will all be grouped according to aptitude. Results will be given tomorrow. Good luck to you all."
As she finished, personnel began corralling them towards another area. It felt like déjà vu. Another throng of lively young aspirants began to mobilize itself. Ziek bumped into someone, but before he could apologize, he saw that it was Asagi, who had her hands on his shoulders and began shaking him like a ragdoll.
"Can you believe this? A mobile suit! Oh my god oh my god oh my god…!"
"I-I know, you may w-want to c-calm down now, p-please?"
Mica suddenly yanked Asagi's arms off of Ziek. It looked like she overdid it a little.
"Ow! Hey that hurt!" Asagi cried out. Mica however ignored her.
"I'll be going with Ms. Erica. Good luck."
Mica spun on her heel and left. Asagi was scowling when Juri and Mayura finally appeared beside her.
"The she-devil?" Juri asked, shooting a glance over at Mica as she walked away.
"Nah, it's alright. I guess I wasroughing this guy up a little too much," Asagi gestured to Ziek. He had a sheepish smile on his face.
"No no, I'm good. Sorry about your arm," Ziek took Asagi's arm in his hand. It had a little graze on it. "Must've been a tight grip when she yanked it away."
Slightly flustered, Asagi snatched her hand back. "Little-Ms.-Coordinator prodigy can wait. Right now we've something bigger on our hands."
Mayura smirked to the other three. "Those spots are ours, we've totally got this."
Ziek took a look back at the mobile suits that waited for them. He hoped the OS was a little like a mobile armor or an atmospheric fighter. Realistically, that was rather impossible. It must've been a lot more complicated than that. Even so, he was going to figure out some way to make that thing move. If ever ZAFT or the Alliance attacked, he would be able among those who would lay their lives down to protect other people. He thought back at how his father might've handled a situation like this. He could only think of three words. As plain as day, he could imagine his father looking back at him through the glass windows, with a hearty grin on his face and a thumbs-up directed at him, something he imagined his father had said when he first piloted the Skygrasper.
"Just wing it."
-0-0-0-0-0-
The waiting area was air-conditioned, basically a square room large enough for forty or so people, with benches placed all around. A large mechanical screen was mounted on one side, displaying figures of the unit, called the M1 Astray, as well as the cockpit and its controls. They'd been given a quick run-through on how to start the unit up, basic control commands, what to and what not to touch, as the other command consoles aboard the machine were still experimental and were not to be tampered with. Ziek thought about 'winging it' a while back. Now he was pretty sure winging would probably set the thing to self-destruct.
After the discussion he and the girls found a little corner of the room. The candidates were being called in groups of three, and while the first few people went out, the room was a little cluttered with people trying to find their own space. The corner they were in managed to have a clear view of the large flat-screen monitor that was set up though. It was on another side of the room broadcasting a newsfeed as candidates were continually called on. Most of the reports were on the present state of the world, things like economy, about the Earth Alliance, propaganda about Anti-Coordinator sentiments. A stray commercial about random items kept things from getting mundane popped up here and there too. They had probably been there for almost two hours, and around ten or so candidates were left. Ziek wasn't sure, he wasn't really paying much attention to anything other than the news and the small talk he was having with the girls.
He paid more attention to the television when news that reviewed the Heliopolis incident started. Some of the satellites around the colony had caught pictures of the incident. The reporter did the regular 'the following images and videos may be too graphic for some audiences'. Obviously all of them still looked. This was war, a war that they may one day get caught up in. It was a war that took lives. Even if it was reported that most of the evacuation vessels made it out, there was still uncertainty. Not everyone can be saved. It was a grim reality that Ziek understood. They saw images of the mobile suits, the GINN units of ZAFT, along with a red mobile suit, speeding towards the colony. The cameras failed just as Heliopolis collapsed, and they had barely glimpsed the Earth Alliance battleship, a giant, white, 'two-legged' behemoth. It was reported that the central axial shaft was damaged and eventually gave out as the firefight between the Earth Alliance and ZAFT forces raged on. It was all too surreal.
Ziek's nerves rattled him. It gave him goose bumps just watching the footage. He had to wonder what it felt like actually being in the thick of it all. He couldn't imagine it. What would he have done? Would he have done anything? He shook those kinds of thoughts out of his head. It's either kill, or be killed, he mused. But then nothing in the Academy, not even the simulations, would probably ever prepare him for a real battle, emotionally anyway. He'd lived a pretty sheltered life, and if he became a mobile suit pilot, there would be no turning back. Any sort of 'death' that he'd seen was in front of a simulator. He wondered how his parents felt when they first pulled the trigger on another machine, knowing full well that there was a person piloting it. Maybe they didn't care, because they were fighting for a cause. But he was part of a neutral nation's militia. Out there, they may as well end up fighting Coordinators and 'Naturals' alike, with no particular 'cause' other than to defend Orb's neutrality. It was stupid, he thought. He wanted to believe that maybe if both 'races' just understood each other like they did here in Orb, the war would end.
Asagi leaned back onto Ziek. The Heliopolis incident came as a shock to her too, but it didn't affect her as much as it did some people. Her family lived in Orb, so they were safe. Mayura and Juri were in a similar situation, but none of them could let the injustice of ZAFT pass. Whether it was on the new mobile suits or supporting the chosen pilots on Skygrasper units, they would fight for their homeland. Ziek noticed Asagi looking a little dazed.
"You okay?"
She shifted a little, then leaned forward and started to stretch her arms. They were starting to get numb from all the waiting. "Yeah, just some pins and needles. That and my butt is starting feel numb," she stood up and stretched her legs too. Mayura was looking at someone in the distance, and Asagi noticed. She looked towards Mayura's general line of sight, and she saw what had been occupying her. During the broadcast a few more recruits had been called, and by now there were only five of them left. Mayura's gaze was directed at the only other person in the room besides their group, Ricard Andras, one of the older recruits of the Academy. In terms of skill, he was probably one of the best 'Natural' pilots Orb had. At 19 he was tall, towering over even Ziek by at least half a foot. His dark green hair was slicked back slightly, which let just a few bangs fall over the right side of his face. His violet eyes were focused on the newsfeed. Mayura unconsciously sighed. Ziek had to stifle a laugh.
"You look like you want to eat him or something. You're drooling."
Mayura recomposed herself and shot Ziek a venomous look. She was obviously embarrassed. "Sh-shut up, I wasn't doing anything wrong!" she spat. He smirked, which sent a warning signal up Mayura's spine. He got up and stretched as well, before turning around. Now she was getting really suspicious. "Wh-what are you doing?"
"Nothing, just gonna say hi to Ricard over there."
"What? No! You can't!" she tried to muffle her shout. It came out like a squeal, and Ricard seemed to notice. Her face heated up in an instant. "Oh do what you want," she spat then went to a corner to pout. Ziek dismissed it and went over to Ricard. He was one of those people who just befriended everyone around him. He'd given Ziek pointers about a lot of things during their Academy days, and was generally there to help anyone. For that Ziek treated him like an older brother. He smiled as Ziek approached.
"So you made it in too."
Ziek sat down beside him, resting his forearms on his legs. "Guess so. You look occupied. Did you have family in Heliopolis?"
Ricard's smile faltered a little, but it remained there. He merely shook his head.
"Ah, sorry, is it a sensitive subject?" Ziek asked, noticing Ricard's reaction.
"Nah, it's alright," just as he was about to say anything else, the intercom inside the room blared out Ricard's name, along with Mayura and Juri's. "I guess that'd be me," He started to walk towards the exit and gave Ziek a wave without looking back. Ziek stood up himself and went back to his group in the corner as the two who were called stood up as well. As he wished Juri good luck, he turned to Mayura and saw her staring daggers into him. He couldn't help but laugh though.
"I didn't say anything to him. C'mon, focus, mobile suit, test-piloting, chance of a lifetime, remember?" he urged. Mayura headed towards the exit, but she turned around and managed a little grin. She ran after Juri, and Ziek went back to Asagi and sat down behind her. She leaned back on him again. She was tracing little circles on the floor with her finger when she spoke.
"She's a mess with that kind of thing."
"Mobile suits?"
After that wonderfully intelligent statement, Asagi proceeded to smack Ziek upside the head.
-0-0-0-0-0-
The command center was busy taking care of the adjustments each time a recruit was finished with the test. Rows of computers and terminals were lined up, all of them emitting data and logistics at breakneck speeds that only the ones who were manning them could understand. Erica herself was busy reviewing the results that she'd collected from most of the recruits that had already been tested. Based on what she had seen and what was recorded, it was turning out better than expected, mainly due to the impromptu improvements Mica had done to the Operating System.
With the help of Erica's close friend, who liked to be called 'The Professor', an eccentric woman who was a member of the Junk Guild, they had acquired the cockpit of a functional GINN, ZAFT's mainstay mobile suit. From there, with Mica's help, they reverse engineered the O.S. from the GINN and tried to use that as basis for a support O.S. to be used for the M1 Astrays, which ran on a system that was based on the Earth Alliance's G – Project but was far too incomplete. Based on the results gathered from usage of the infant O.S., the recruits would be divided into Corps, collecting the more skillful candidates into one Corps, who will probably receive combat training at once if all goes well. Obviously, since not all of them will be able to pilot a mobile suit efficiently at this time, older and more experienced pilots, who as they were conducting the tests were already being briefed to use the Astrays, will be the ones manning the other machines. The skills of the recruits she had sent for varied greatly, only reinforcing the previous inevitability. Some were able to make it walk, albeit at a sluggish pace; others could only get the arms to move or fidget the legs slightly, before the entire unit fell over. In those cases, Mica, who stood by inside the testing area, had to stand the suit upright again.
Because of the results, it was a given the O.S. was far from perfect. Mica had tried to calibrate it to suit a Natural's aptitude, but it was a little taxing on her part. As a Coordinator she didn't know how much she had to modify it to actually suit a 'Natural'. Erica, being a Coordinator herself, tried to give the O.S. a few tweaks before the test itself had started, but with the Heliopolis incident, and still no word from The Professor about the Astray prototypes, they had to hurry and make modifications as they went. The next few candidates entered, namely Ricard Andras, Mayura Labatt, and Juri Wu Nien. The boy seemed like a promising young individual. The other two girls were one of the top candidates as well, and she had high hopes for both of them. Erica stood up and went to the observation deck where a giant glass window separated the testing area from the command center. The three black, red and white 17.53 meter tall mobile suits stood there with the retractable tether that was attached to the cockpit, awaiting their pilots. The three recruits mounted the tethers and started to ascend. Once they all managed to get inside the cockpit, Erica spoke through her earpiece, activating their mobile-suits' com-links.
"Think you three can get it going without our help?"
Mayura's voice chimed in her earpiece. "You kidding? We got this."
At once, the three units' green 'eyes' glowed with light.
"Let's see what the three of you can do then. Mica, you're on standby."
Mica raised her hand as she went to a safe corner and spoke through her own earpiece. "Roger."
Erica turned back to the recruits. "Let's see, Mayura is it? You're up first."
"Roger!" she replied excitedly. Before she did anything, she took a quick glance at the testing area. It was reinforced with metal walls all around, save for the long glass window that showed the observation deck from the command center. She recalled the illustrations and took both motion-controllers and pushed them all the way. Her Astray started running, a little erratically, but it managed quite a distance… before it tripped. Mayura cussed under her breath and began to pull back on the controls, all the while adjusting a few switches. She didn't manage to stop the fall, but her suit's left arm and leg stopped it from stumbling over completely, and it ended up in a crouch. Mayura's Astray got up slowly. She was supposed to do a sort of stance but decided against it and turned to face the red circles. At once a loud and rapid clicking sound, like an empty machine-gun, filled the air. Mayura looked expectantly at her targeting system. However it registered she had missed all of them. "Ah dammit."
To say the least, it seems these last few recruits that she'd called in were giving excellent results. "Not bad Mayura, but that was a little reckless. Please be careful with the unit next time."
"… Yes ma'am," she replied dejectedly.
"That'll be all then. Juri, you're next."
"Y-yes ma'am," In the cockpit, Juri was having a little trouble discerning a few things. She adjusted her glasses. Focus Juri, she thought to herself. She barely remembered the illustration, but she had a general feel of it. She recited the drills she had to perform in her head. She flipped a few switches, and held the two motion-controllers on either side. She slowly eased them forward, and her Astray began to walk. It was a little sluggish, and she almost toppled over, but she managed to get back in control after she made some adjustments. The mobile-suit's arms rose and it assumed a fighting stance, the one that Mayura had skipped. It looked a little awkward, but it was better than what the previous recruits had attempted. Her unit eased back into a standing position. Erica spoke into her earpiece again."
"What about the Igellstellungs?" she asked. Juri stopped and looked at the targets Mayura had attempted to fire at.
"Um, sorry, but I don't remember how to activate them," she replied sheepishly.
"Just click first red switch on the right-hand control-grip, in front of the motion controls. Just aim and fire."
"A-alright." Her machine turned a little to face the targets, lining up her reticule on one of them. Juri looked at her right hand and took it off the motion-controller and set it on the cylindrical grip in front of it, similar to a bike pedal. She pushed the button that rested underneath her index finger, and that same, empty clicking sound started up. Like Mayura however, she missed all of them. "Oops…"
"That's alright, you've done great," Erica turned to face the last Astray standing ready. "Anytime, Ricard."
"Roger," Ricard's Astray moved its arms. It assumed the same fighting stance that Juri had attempted, although his was more precise, if only by a little. After, his unit started walking at a normal pace, until it broke out into a steady run. Ricard tried to ease the unit back into a walking motion, but it started to stagger. He decided to use the momentum, managing to land one leg forward, before turning quickly to face the red targets. Click-click-click. Two out of five targets. Not bad, he thought. As his Astray went back to standby, he heard Erica's voice over his com-link.
"That was quite impressive Ricard."
He removed the buckles that strapped him in and pushed a button to respond. "Thank you ma'am."
Erica took a moment and gathered the data from one of the main terminals while the recruits were easing their machines back into their starting position. Mayura opened communications with Juri.
"Not bad, four-eyes," the brunette teased.
"At least I didn't trip over myself."
"You were just walking, I mean come on-"
Before she finished the sentence, Ricard had turned on his own com-link to join their conversation. Mayura shrunk back a bit, slightly at a loss for words. It was just his image through the on-board cameras but she couldn't help it. He gave off one of his, in Mayura's thoughts, prize-winning smiles.
"For younger recruits you two did pretty well," he told them. Mayura just gave an appreciative, albeit awkward smile, while Juri thanked him properly. A few moments of small talk between the three of them passed when they heard Erica's voice through their com-links.
"Good job you three, we'll contact you tomorrow for the results. For now head back to the dorms and rest up, you may have a long week ahead of you."
With that foreshadowing on their minds, they deactivated their suits and used the tethers to get down from their machines. As the three exited the testing area, Erica went back to her terminal. As she inputted the data of the three pilots, one of the personnel called her.
"Ms. Erica?"
She looked away from her records for a moment. "What is it?"
"Colonel Kisaka would like to speak to you."
Colonel Kisaka? Is it about Cagalli…? "Patch him through," Erica heard a distinctive buzz in her earpiece. A deep yet gentle voice began to speak.
"Ms. Erica, the lifeboats from Heliopolis were retrieved from the ocean not too long ago. Cagalli has returned from the one that had been taken to the Onogoro military port, and the guards say she insisted on speaking to you. I think she's heading to the underground facility."
No doubt she knows what's happening by now, Erica thought. This might be a good time to try and persuade her about the mobile suits… "I'll be sure to meet her at the entrance then."
"I'll be leaving her in your hands then. The collection of the lifeboats are still underway, and my unit still has its hands full. Kisaka out."
Ever the busy-body, Erica thought humorously. She knew she would be getting an earful from Cagalli when she speaks to her. She paused for a moment. There were still two other recruits who were due to be tested. "Tell the remaining recruits to standby for further instructions."
-0-0-0-0-0-
"Standby?" Asagi asked out loud. It wasn't like anyone was going to reply to her anyway. "We've been waiting for hours!"
She let out an exasperated sigh. Unlike her, Ziek was still calmly sitting in place despite being disappointed about the announcement. He found her pacing back and forth like a child that couldn't wait anymore entertaining though. The news on television was now about the escape shuttles from Heliopolis being retrieved from their atmospheric descent after their almost three day journey. He instantly remembered Cagalli.
"You think she's there?"
"Who?" Asagi asked, her mind still a little preoccupied.
"Cagalli."
Asagi looked at the news and realized what he was talking about. She sighed and saw that Ziek looked worried. She gave him a light punch on the arm. "C'mon, I bet she's fine," she reassured him. He felt his anxiety start to kick in and got up. No, scratch that, he felt his stomach growling.
"You think we have time to look for a vending machine or something here? I'm hungry."
Asagi blinked. She couldn't help but laugh a little though. He liked to jump from one topic to another. "Why not, I think we'll hear the announcement anyway."
There were intercoms littered around the entire facility, so if they were called they'd hear it. The two of them exited the room in search for something that could settle Ziek's stomach. They arrived there some time after lunch, and now it was sometime in the afternoon already. He was a heavy eater, and Asagi would always joke about him having the appetite of a black hole. They wandered around for a little bit, stopping and admiring the facility here and there. Before long, they found another one of the hangars. They noticed someone was in front of the viewing window, wearing what looked like short, brown trench-coat. The person had bright blonde hair like that reached just past the neck like Asagi's.
That guy looks familiar, Ziek thought. Then, when the 'guy' turned around, the guy turned out to be a she. Ziek had to hold himself back a bit, but he took a few steps forward to make sure he wasn't hallucinating. Maybe he was imagining but it looked like…
"Ms. Cagalli!" came Asagi's voice booming from behind. The blonde in the distance turned around and his assumption was right. Cagalli Yula Atha, the prodigal 'princess' of the Orb Union, has returned. To say he was relieved was understating it. He saw Cagalli's expression though, and she looked… something like irritated, but then he couldn't quite describe it. Her fierce hazel eyes darted their way, and her features softened somewhat upon seeing them. Ziek ran to her side.
"Well at least you're not dead," he said light-heartedly.
Cagalli laughed, but it was devoid of any positive emotion. "Very funny. Where's Ms. Erica? I have to speak with her," almost immediately, they heard the hiss of a mechanical door opening.
"I told you to wait for me at the entrance. But I think I can take your eagerness as a sign," a voice called out to their side. Stepping out of a doorway, Erica quickly went towards Cagalli. Immediately, the latter pushed Ziek aside lightly and stared daggers at the senior engineer. He took the signal and backed off a little, and Asagi went to stand by his side.
"What the hell is all of this?" Cagalli demanded.
"I think you should calm down for a moment."
"Calm down? Heliopolis was destroyed because these things were being produced by Orb and you want me to calm down?" Cagalli's fists were clenched tight. She took a few deep breaths before continuing. "What about my father? Did he know anything about this?"
Erica sighed. "I can assure you that Lord Uzumi didn't know anything about the G-Project being produced in Heliopolis."
"Like I can believe that!"
As their argument dragged on, something dawned on Ziek. The Earth Alliance mobiles suits were made by Orb? He thought. "Does that mean Orb made these from data they got from the Alliance suits?"
The two of them stopped arguing for a moment, and Erica turned to answer. "Well you're quite the sharp one," she paused for a moment, realizing she didn't know who Ziek was. "What was your name?"
Ziek straightened himself out. "Ziek Hona Strive, a recruit from the Academy, ma'am."
Erica looked at Ziek then her gaze shifted towards the blonde girl just behind him. "I take it the other one is Asagi Caldwell? What are you doing out of the waiting area? We put you two on standby."
"I was hungry," he said flatly.
An awkward silence filled the air. Cagalli cracked a smile and looked at Ziek with a gaze of amusement. Erica herself scratched her head in a sort of fascination. The last few candidates seemed to be very interesting. For a moment Cagalli seemed to forget what she had come there for. However, the effects of Ziek's reply didn't last long, but before she could say anything, Erica held her hand in front of her, signaling for Cagalli not to say anything for now. "These two still need to have their evaluations finished. You're welcome to join them if you'd like."
Cagalli seemed apprehensive, but her temper from before had died down a little. It wasn't like she didn't understand that her nation had to do things to keep its neutrality. But the destruction of Heliopolis was indirectly caused by Orb assisting the Earth Alliance. If her father really didn't know anything about it, wasn't it his job to find out and take action? Of course she knew it was all in the past, however. None of her griping would bring Heliopolis or the lives that had been lost back. She remembered the boy she met on the colony. I hope he made it out of there, she thought.
As they walked alongside Erica, Asagi tried to initiate small talk. "So what happened Ms. Cagalli? Did you get to see the Earth Alliance's mobile suits?"
"Hm? Oh, yeah, I did," she replied absentmindedly. Asagi frowned a little at how she wasn't paying much attention.
"I don't think now's a good time for her, Asagi. She's probably tired… and cranky," Ziek said, trying to get Cagalli to laugh or something. She still had her head down, but she seemed to let out a contented sigh.
"I'm sorry, I'm just… I don't know…"
They finally reached the testing area, with Mica waiting just outside. She saw Cagalli and did a curtsy despite her pilot suit. Ziek raised his eyebrows. That sort of action didn't seem to suit someone like her. "Miss Athha," she said, a smirk playing at her lips.
"Mica, I told you to stop that."
"My apologies, Cagalli. May I borrow Ziek for a moment?" she asked, but she didn't wait for a reply. Asagi called out after them, but Mica had already dragged Ziek around the corner before he could do anything about it.
"We'll be going ahead then," Erica called out from behind them. Mica heard the doors open and close with that distinct hissing. She turned to face Ziek, who had no idea what was going on.
"Yes m'lady?" he asked mockingly.
"Do you really want to go through with this?"
Ziek looked puzzled. "What do you mean?"
Mica huffed, putting her hands on her hips. "If and when you actually pilot a mobile suit, you have to kill whoever gets in your way to survive. Do you understand that?"
At first Ziek didn't get what she was saying. It might have been about fighting Naturals and Coordinators alike, which clashed with his idea of them understanding each other. It was true, he knew that both 'races' wouldn't be able to settle their differences in one instant. Moreover maybe it was impossible, but he always had the idea that one day it could happen. Right now though, if he had to fight, he would. He was an optimist, but he understood the reality of most situations. He would fight if he had to, as that was his immediate priority. Understanding one another would take time.
"I do, Mica. It's why I accepted in the first place."
She stopped and analyzed him for a moment. This was the same guy who managed to match and eventually top her performance in a flight-simulator at the Academy, after his first two weeks of enrolling. What's more, he was a Natural. Something like that, even if it was petty, seemed like it was an insult to her, a Coordinator, someone who was supposed to be superior to them in every way. Even though he had told her that he had practice from flight simulators before, she still couldn't accept it. But as she continued to harass him with her ridiculous challenges, and she was beaten every so often, she slowly understood. Maybe Naturals and Coordinators can stand on equal ground. Hell, sometimes it was because she helped him understand some things that he became better than her at it.
All that aside however, she meant her question in an entirely different manner as to how he had understood it. But right now, she didn't want to think on it. He gave her a satisfactory answer, and she would leave it at that.
"Alright then, good luck," she said, seeming content.
"Er, thanks?"
He followed her towards the testing area. They entered through the door, and Ziek was greeted by three looming giants. The M1 Astrays were right in front of him, waiting to be tested out. Unable to contain his enthusiasm, he launched himself onto one of them. "So awesome," he said with glee as he hugged the foot of 'his' unit. Asagi and Cagalli watched him awkwardly from a distance. He turned when he noticed Cagalli was mounting a tether.
"You're testing it out too?" he asked, raising his eyebrows. It struck him as odd, seeing as she was fuming about them not too long ago.
Cagalli looked at him seriously. She wasn't going to make any excuses. "If we have power like this it means we can share it with other people. There are others who can't protect their homes like they want to."
Her 'family' in the Desert Dawn resistance group immediately came to mind. It wasn't a secret that the princess of Orb had her own agenda, at least not to people she knew personally. He'd never accompanied her before, but how she spoke of them told a lot about her care for them.
In northern Africa there was a place occupied by ZAFT, controlled by the renowned 'Desert Tiger', Andrew Waltfeld. Since ZAFT had started gaining territory within northern Africa since the Desert Tiger led its forces there, resistance fighters have tried in earnest to oppose ZAFT's rule. The leader of Desert Dawn, Sahib Ashman, was old friends with the Athha family, as well as Cagalli's 'bodyguard', Ledonir Kisaka, who was born in Tassil, a town that was now under ZAFT's control. That was the gist of whatever Cagalli let him know, and that she'd been there many times before, whenever she went missing for days or weeks on end.
He went up to her and put his face right beside hers. "Are you planning to get use these suits to sneak out again?"
She looked a little apprehensive. When she didn't reply, it was all Ziek needed to confirm it. He went back to his mobile suit, mounted the tether, and, once he was there, strapped himself inside the cockpit. As the hatch closed, he flicked the switches on the dashboard, and the HUD came to life.
"General Unilateral Neuro-link Dispersive Autonomic Maneuver… GUNDAM…" he adjusted a few more switches as he gripped the controls. "I'm liking the name. Let's see what you can do then."
Author's Notes: Apologies to whoever read the previous first chapter of this. I felt like it was still lacking, but I'd jumped the gun and submitted it out of excitement. I made some adjustments to the one that had already been posted before, as well as made it longer overall, because I wanted to imagine its events like how it would happen in an 'episode' of the anime, but at the same time, still make it seem like an actual 'novel' of sorts.
I also changed some minor details about the conversations and about some characters, if you didn't catch them, then just don't mind it, all the better. I want to stick to this for now, so the PASWG stories I've been making might be put on temporary hiatus. Apologies again, and please comment as you see fit, just don't be too rude, if ever you have any constructive complaints ^_^
That's all for now then~