Gundam 00 Frozen Ash

Co-Written with AzureKing.

Just to let you all know: A portion of this was based upon the work of WaveHarmonics' Technology of a Civilization. I suggest you check it out. It's a pretty good story so far.

Chapter 1: The Beginning

A young boy, no older than eleven years old, continued walking underneath the blazing sun across the barren landscape. He had nothing to shield him from the solar rays except for the clothes on his back, and the tattered cloak shading him. His throat was dry and his lips were cracked from lack of moisture. His stomach growled from hunger. It had been quite some time since he had last eaten, and his canteen was just about empty. Slung across his back was a semi automatic rifle, but no longer contained any bullets. Presently, it could only function as a makeshift club. Sheathed around his waist was a simple combat knife. He had been on this journey for days. He continued to trudge through the desolate earth, not knowing where the wind would take him. He was on his last legs, but his senses were not in tuned with his movements. Instead of being aware of what was around him, his mind was focused to the events not too long ago.

XXXXXXXXXX

The acrid scent of gunpowder and blood that lingered off the corpses of his comrades filled his nostrils. His face scrunched up by the foul odor. The deafening ringing of explosions and rapid gunfire pierced through the air. He ran across the crumbling ruins that were once his team's base. Death was all around him. There was no savior for him and his team as the enemy kept gunning them down, despite being children barely reaching their teenage years.

Their assailants were soldiers from the country, Azadistan, numbering to be 10 in all. They were all wearing mechanical armor, generally known to be a Mobile Suit; the models they were using were known as the MSER-04 Anf. Each of them was bronze-tan in color to blend in with the sandy and rocky landscape. A machine gun was mounted underneath the head, which was elongated, making it look like the form was hunched over. The hell the boy was experiencing was just another battle of the Solar Power Wars. But to him….it was a pseudo Holy War that was doomed to fail from the start.

The youth had taken shelter behind a broken stone wall to catch his breath. His body was trembling from fear and adrenaline; his eyes were closed in an attempt to steady himself. A second later, he felt something lightly touch foot. His eyes snapped open, only to find an old friend of his on the floor.

It was a girl around his age…..dying…

The boy's breath was hitched. Blood was splattered around her, more than what an eleven year old should have. Her left arm and leg were both gone from her elbow and knee, while her other leg was completely gone from her hip, and was lying a few feet away from her. But what was worse than that was her entire ribcage and stomach were exposed; blood, intestines, and stomach acids spilled out from her body. Most of her intestines weren't even directly beneath her; they left a long trail about a meter away. A sharp fragment of rubble was embedded into what appeared to have been her stomach and liver. Her ribs were broken as well, a few of them broke the skin.

The dark haired youth was trembling in shock as the near dead girl was looking at him with pleading eyes. She was crying and in utter agony as her mouth rapidly opened and closed, as if she were unable to breathe. Blood dripped from the corners of her lips and her mouth was foaming a bit.

She looked at him with a sad and begging look, as if he was her salvation from the pain. She slowly extended her remaining arm out in an attempt to reach out to him. The boy scrambled back.

"St-stay away…" His voice shook. The girl ignored him as she moved her lips in an attempt to speak out to him all the while crawling forth with non-existent strength with her remaining limb. A second later, the boy was able to understand what she was trying to say:

"It…hurts….P…pl…ea…se…help….me…So…Sor…" Tears were flooding from her eyes.

They boy was crying as well as he slowly raised his rifle and pointed it directly at the girls head; an action fueled by the stress, fear, and panic that infested his entire being. He was hesitating, but the girl in front of him closed her eyes tightly as more tears flowed out from her eyes.

With a shaking hand, he squeezed the trigger. The point blank shot splattered brain mass, skull fragments, and blood all around him; a small bit of the crimson liquid and gray matter landed on his cheek. Unable to mask his disgust, he hunched over and vomited. The putrid odor of bile now filled the bloody ruins. He wiped his mouth with his sleeve, also wiping the blood and pieces of brain from his cheek.

The dead girl's body was blown back a few feet from the force of the blast. He immediately dropped his rifle from shock and fell forward on his knees. His shakily raised his head, his vision locked on the corpse of his friend. Upon closer inspection, he noticed that her favorite doll was right beside her. He then remembered that the doll was a gift from her little brother, another one of his comrades killed in action.

The boy was unable to take it any longer. He brought his hands to his head, faced the heavens, and screamed. He did not know for how long he screamed, but he continued to cry out until his voice broke.

He fell silent as his despair died; he brought his knees closer to his chest. He no longer paid any mind to the sounds that were going around him or the Anf moving closer to his location.

"In this world, there is no God" he whispered to himself with a raspy voice.

An Anf then began to shoot were the boy was. The child guerilla soldier quickly ducked as large bullet holes were formed on the wall he was taking cover behind.

He immediately picked up his rifle and sprinted away. He didn't know where he was going, but he didn't care. All he wanted to do was to escape from the hell he was currently in.

"In this world, there is no God" he continued to say to himself as he sprinted, his feelings of anger, despair, sorrow, regret, and resentment increased with each passing minute.

He continued to run until an Anf appeared in front of him. The machine gun mounted on its head aimed at the boy before shooting. The boy evaded the bullets and took cover behind a wall to his right.

Then another Anf spotted him and closed in. The raven-haired youth looked at it with a sad, angry and hopeless expression. He knew that he would die now and yet he didn't mind it. The thought of death sounded like a release for him. A way to escape all this pain and suffering.

He now knows that God does not exist, so there was no hope in ever meeting his friends or family again. That all the people he killed was for nothing. That when he died, there would be nothing. But he found it comforting that he will be nothing. It would be much better then living the world as it is now. He hated the war. He hated the world. He hated everything.

The brown Mobile Suit aimed its machine gun at him. The boy slowly closed his eyes waiting for his end.

Then a loud sound was heard but it was not the sound of a gun. The youth opened his eyes and saw that the Anf in front of him was just destroyed.

He then heard the sound again. The boy's eyes looked around to witness each Anf be decimated by what appeared to be a pink linear light.

When all the Anfs were destroyed, he pointed his rifle around in various directions, questioning who had eliminated the mobile suits. He got his answer when he looked to the sky.

He could see the back of a bright white mobile suit gracefully floating in the air. Its back released streams of bright green particles to its sides that resembled wings.

The boy's eyes widened with shock due to the display of power and grace. It was something so powerful, so god-like that he couldn't help but be mesmerized by it.

The white mobile suit slowly turned around which showed its face and looked at the young boy below him who was hypnotized by its presence. It bright green particle wings expanding to which made it look like an angel.

Too shocked to speak or move with its display. The boy continued to stare at it with intensity and worship.

It was his savior. His angel. His God.

His eyes were locked on the celestial being's form. He pulled out a pair of binoculars that he kept inside his pocket to get a closer look. His line of vision was trained on the Mobile Suit's head. A single word was engraved on the forehead piece just above the visor…

"Gundam…" The boy whispered in awe he was unable to pry his eyes away from the wings of light around it. He was completely captivated by its presence. It was as if the entire world had faded away, himself and his savior being the only two in existence.

However, it was soon to be short lived as a large pillar of light rained down from the heavens and landed on the ground not too far away. The impact kicked up a dust cloud, blowing past the boy. He shielded his eyes with his arm, and when the dust had settled, he opened his eyes.

The raven-haired boy was awestruck by the sheer size of the invader. Its body was completely inhuman and seemed to have been composed of a gray metallic substance. It was nothing like the Mobile Weapon that saved him; it was monstrous. It stood several stories into the air, its size dwarfing both the boy and mobile suit. In the center of its chest was a glowing core. The boy's eyes were laid upon a NOVA. He had heard of these beings. They have been invaders of earth for years, causing destruction and death in their paths. Only the female warriors, the Pandora, along with their Limiters were able to defeat them. But even then the groups of Pandoras that are sent to destroy a NOVA suffer numerous casualties. That lone fact shows how powerful of a being NOVAs are.

However, as the Gundam was within proximity of the invader, the NOVA began to thrash about. It appeared as if the particles from the wings of light of the Gundam were what were causing the NOVA to go berserk.

The Extraterrestrial being shot out laser after laser into the desolate area, forming explosion after explosion. The boy barely had time to shield his ears to try and protect his hearing from the deafining blasts.

The Gundam evaded the rays of light that were aimed in its direction and charged in toward the Invade. The NOVA screeched as it emitted a field of sorts in an attempted to paralyze the machine's movements. The young observer felt its effects as he was unable to move, the intense pressure leaving being barely able to breathe. However, the green particles being produced seemed to have nullified its effects as the Mobile Suit continued to fly unimpeded.

The NOVA then changed its line of vision away from the mechanical humanoid and toward the struggling boy on his knees. The child slowly looked up, the Extraterrestrial charging up another destructive beam aimed at his direction. He then realized that it was the end for him.

However, fate had things planned differently. Before the NOVA could fire, the Gundam fired another blast from its rifle that made a direct hit at the head, throwing its aim upward from the force of the beam. The Gundam then landed directly in front of the boy, who gazed upon its majestic form in absolute awe. The Humanoid looked over its shoulder at the youth and nodded, as if understanding him, before returning his sights toward the Monstrosity before them. While the Type-R NOVA is still in disarray, the Mobile Suit chose to take its chance.

It threw away its shield and pulled out the handle attached to its back, allowing a blade of pink light to erupt from the end. It ran quickly in a straight line toward the Invader, jumped up, and stabbed the glowing pink blade into the creature's chest.

When he saw his soaring savior take down the beast, his admiration skyrocketed to new heights. It turned to look at him one last time before retrieving its shield and flying away. The Type R-NOVA continued to spasm from the damage it sustained before it stood still. A second later, it exploded. A dense cloud of particles blew up from its body.

The boy covered his mouth and closed his eyes as the cloud blew past him. After a few minutes, he looked up. The stream of particles from the NOVA remained.

XXXXXXXXXX

The boy's mind refocused as he realized he was several meters away from a road, the black line of asphalt sticking out of the brown, rocky terrain. His body was starting to give in to malnutrition and dehydration as his senses grew dull. He had heard a noise coming from his left and turned his head. A delivery truck was approaching.

All of a sudden, the truck stopped before him. He wasn't sure if it was real or merely a hallucination. He could no longer be aware as exhaustion finally overpowered him. Before he fell to the depths of unconsciousness, he could have sworn he saw a redheaded girl a bit older than him and a middle aged man with dark hair step out of the vehicle and run toward him.

Then all fell black.

XXXXXXXXXX

The raven-haired boy stirred slowly. His mind questioning if he was dead or not. His eyes creaked open, taking in the unfamiliar room he was in. It seemed that he was in a motel of some sorts. The ceiling was colored light beige with a ceiling fan in the center. The blades spun around, blowing cool air upon him. He slowly pushed himself up, his body tired and weak. It wasn't until a moment later he noticed another presence close by. He turned to come face to face with a red haired girl who looked to be a tad older than him.

The young girl soon shifted a bit from the movements the boy made upon awakening. Her eyes slowly opened. She propped herself upright, rubbing the drowsiness from her eyes. She soon stopped and focused her attention on the conscious boy, who was looking at her in confusion.

"Papa! He's awake!" The red haired girl called out. A moment later, a middle aged man with short dark hair came in through the open doorway carrying a tray of food in his hands.

"Yes, yes…I'm coming Arnett." The man chuckled in response to his daughter. He then approached the raven haired youth.

"Here, you must be hungry." Upon closer inspection, the boy saw that the food on the tray was a large bowl of chowder, loaf of bread, and a glass of water. The sight of it all made his mouth water. The man gently placed the tray on the boy's lap. The child soldier looked up at the adult, wondering if it was alright to eat. He knew he should be suspicious of what was given to him, but after days worth of hunger and thirst, his rationale was diminished.

"It's alright. Just dig in." The man smiled.

Without waiting a second later, the boy tore into his food. The hearty soup and warm, crisp bread helped quench his dry throat and appease his ravenous appetite. In a matter of seconds, his bowl was polished clean. He downed the glass of water afterward.

"Well, someone was hungry." The man chuckled lightheartedly as he cleared the tray. The girl beside him also giggled.

"Now then." The man pulled up a chair and sat beside the youth. His face set in concern. "If it's not too much to ask, will you tell us your name?"

"…" The boy remained silent, unsure whether he should be trusting of the strangers, despite the act of kindness they gave him.

"….I see." The man closed his eyes and nodded in understanding. "I see your point, being wary of strangers such as us."

The boy's eyes widened, not believing someone would be sympathetic to his situation. Especially since he was a stranger to them.

"By chance, do you know where your parents or family may be?" He asked.

"…M-my...parents?" The boy repeated. He stayed silent for a moment, and recalled the sin he had committed years ago. The terror and sorrow of his mother's face when he trained his gun at her was fresh in his mind. His father lay dead beside her, with an expression of shock and despair forever etched onto his face. The young boy remained stoic as he pulled the trigger, a loud bang echoing throughout his former home.

As he was indulged in his horrific episode, his clenched the bed sheets. Despite the pain he felt from the memory, his face remained neutral. However, his inner emotions had breached the surface as a few tears cascaded down his cheeks, but he was unaware.

"Th-they...I-I..." His voice trailed off as he tried to come up with an answer.

Not even a moment later, he felt a pair of arms wrap around his shoulders. He looked up to see Arnett hugging him, a look of concern on her face.

"Huh?" The boy looked at her in confusion.

"It's alright. There is no need to cry." She spoke softly. The boy's eyes widened.

"Crying? But I'm not..." His voice trailed off as he felt his damp cheek with his free hand. Slowly, he pulled his hand away, his attention focused on the liquid on his fingertips. "…Tears?"

The boy was confused by this. He had not remembered the last time he cried, so the act was very odd to him.

"It's alright, son." The man placed a hand on the boy's shoulder. "You don't have to act tough. If you wish to cry, then go ahead." He spoke those kind words with a smile.

The boy just looked down and closed his eyes, more tears flowing.

"Tell us, what is your name, son?" The adult asked after the child calmed down a bit.

"…Soran…Soran Ibrahim."

The conversations between the boy and Arnett made the latter smile, something that caught the eye of Keith.

XXXXXXXXXX

Later that night, after the three had talked a while longer, they all went to sleep.

It was little bit after midnight, and the slow breathing the room's inhabitants filled the air. All except for Soran, who lay down on his side, eyes wide open. He was kept awake by the thoughts running within his mind.

He would've died in the wasteland if it weren't for Keith and Arnett. Did they help him out of pity due to his critical situation? Did they not realize how dangerous he is? Heck….did they not notice the empty rifle on his back…

At that moment, Soran shot up in bed, just realizing that his firearm was missing, as well as his supplies. His eyes scanned the darkness of the room, slowly becoming accustomed to the blackness. After a few moments of searching, he saw his gun, combat knife, canteen, and other tools piled up in the corner. He quietly crawled out of bed, to prevent alerting the other two inhabitants. He crept to the occupied spot and slowly re-equipped himself. As he did so several more thoughts occupied his head.

'….Maybe it's for the best if I leave…' He knew the Solar Power Wars was still active, and he being a resident of the Republic of Krugis would just create complications. For one, if they entered Azadistan, they would be treated with hostility because of him. '…It's because of me…..It's because of everyone like me….Krugis has fallen…' Then his mind recalled that one man. The man that led him and the other children into KPSA. The man truly responsible for Krugis's demise.

'….I'll find him….and make him pay…!' Internally, he knew such action would be useless given that the adult was much more skilled than he was. But at that point….he didn't care what happened to his life.

With this idea driving him. He made his way to the door, unaware that his actions had awoken one of the sleeping individuals.

"What are you doing?" Soran froze his hand on the knob. He turned around to see Arnett, who had just woken up, looking at him with a drowsy expression.

The raven haired youth turned to face the door. "…I must leave. If I do, I won't cause trouble for you and your father. It wouldn't be fair to do that to you for all the kindness you have given me."

Arnett just shook her head at his response. "But I want you to stay."

"But that's….I'll just be a burden to the both of you." He argued.

"You won't be a burden at all." Keith joined them, his voice kind. "I don't mind you staying with us. And I'm sure Arnett won't either."

"B-but…if you knew my past…you would definitely discard me….Besides…why do you want to help me, a stranger…?" Soran replied in sorrow.

"That won't happen." Keith responded firmly. "It doesn't matter who you are. You are only a child, and I will not allow you to go and fend for yourself in this cruel world of ours. The Solar Power Wars are still going on, and I do not wish for you to suffer."

When Soran still remained silent, his hand on the doorknob, Keith crouched down to his height; he placed a reassuring hand on the boy's shoulder. "Son…You have made my little girl smile for the first time since her mother passed away, may God rest her soul, so I would be glad to welcome you to our family.

Soran's resolution for leaving was breaking. Family…he had not experienced the true meaning of the word since before he became a soldier. He has not experienced such benevolence since…his own parents…

"That's right." Arnett spoke, her tone laced with conviction. "We won't leave you alone anymore."

Soran, unable to restrain the joy he felt from their kindness, cried. He slowly dropped his hand from the door handle.

"So, will you stay?" Arnett asked in a hopeful tone.

Soran turned to face them, tears spilling from his eyes, but a grateful smile on his face, nods. "Yes. I must repay you for what you have done for me. Thank you…"

XXXXXXXXXX

1 Year later….

"Well son, what do you think?" Keith asked the young, raven haired boy sitting behind him.

Soran said nothing as his eyes were glued to the scenery through the window. In all his life, he had never seen such Urban development. The McMillian family was currently in San Francisco, California, undergoing another one of their deliveries.

"I think he's too captivated by the buildings to answer, Dad." Arnett laughed at her surrogate brother's expression.

"Haha….is that right?" Keith laughed along with his daughter, but then turned back to Soran. "Well, we'll be seeing a lot more buildings like this, so make sure you keep your eyes open, alright?"

"Alright….Dad…." Soran nodded.

It had been several months since the McMillian's found Soran by the roadside, and they welcomed him into their family, as he had none left.

They cared for Soran, however, they realized it would be difficult for him to revert back into normal society. From what they could tell from him…..he was a child soldier.

The rifle, combat knife, survival supplies, and hardened look in his eyes said it all. However, whenever they tried to get him to talk….he would fall silent. Keith then realized that it was a harsh subject for the boy, and backed away from it. Arnett did the same.

He was fortunate that they had found him in the middle of one of their deliveries. If they hadn't...he had no idea where he would be to this day. But most likely, he would've been dead.

Despite being late, he was enrolled in an elementary school that gave him a quality education. However, he was taken out several times due to trauma. He always had terrible flashbacks of his dying comrades. Oddly enough, Arnett was the only one who had the ability to calm him down from his episodes.

He wasn't completely uneducated, Keith was able to get a laptop for Soran to homeschool the boy who took the plan well.

In fact, the boy was incredibly smart barely any missed assignments and he excelled through his online classes with flying colors. Though Soran learn how the world beyond his original homeland was really like...and the reason for all of this was SPW'S, or the Solar Power Wars.

It had been a few months since the conclusion of the Solar Power Wars, and From Keith, Soran had learned more regarding the Three Major World Powers of the world, and the group, Chevalier.

The three Major World Powers are the Union, or UN, the Advanced European Union, or AEU, and the Human Reform League, or HRL.

The Union, or the The World Economic Union, is a supranational politico-economic community consisting of the Organization of American States, Australasia, and Japan. It controls the first-completed of the three orbital elevators, located in South America. Each member nation retains political autonomy and decisions in the Union are made by a parliament of representatives; however the United States is the Union's effective leader controlling the distribution of solar energy and the majority of the Union's military. Each member nation is allowed to maintain their own military force within their borders.

The AEU is a supranational politico-economic community consisting of Iceland, the islands of the Barents Sea, Greenland, Anatolia, European Russia and most of the traditional continent of Europe. Despite the AEU's control of the presently incomplete orbital elevator tower in Africa, it possesses no member states on the continent. The community operates under the arbitration of a parliamentary body.A member of the AEU is the Republic of Moralia, which PMC Trust, a private military contractor, is stationed outside of. It is used to benefit the local economy.

The HRL is is a supranational politico-economic community consisting of China, Russia, the nations of South Asia (India and Bangladesh, with the exception of Afghanistan and Pakistan), Mongolia, the member states of the ASEAN, Timor Leste, Papua New Guinea, the Korean Peninsula, and Taiwan. It controls the second-completed of the three orbital elevators. The chairperson who serves as the head of government resides in the capital, which is located somewhere in China.

Even though these World Powers don't possess Pandora, the World's saviors, they have the next best thing: Mobile Suits. These mechanical human sized suits that have the potential to rival a Pandora in strength, but as they currently stand, they are not capable of defeating a NOVA one on one. It would take a full squadron just to combat one. The UN is the top in development of Mobile Suits; the HRL comes second, then finally the AEU. The manufacture companies of these Mobile Suits are going to make a Limiter Mobile Suit contract where all Limiters have to use Mobile while assisting their Pandora's.

The Chevalier was founded in several years ago. It is composed of many countries united in their mission to defend humanity against the invading Nova. With the help of a man named Gengo Aoi, it developed the Pandora, Limiter, and Stigmata, to effectively combat the Nova, as well as being the founder of the Genetics academies. After graduating from a Genetics Academy, Pandora can choose to become active duty Chevalier and continue service, become an instructor at an academy, or retire from the military all together.

The organization itself is a military and political entity that makes important decisions regarding the Pandora project. The Chevalier has worldwide influence as many people who stood against suddenly vanished a few days later. It's power is uncontested, as it is considered the best hope humanity has in the face of the Nova threat. Despite this, they are very concerned with public approval and support, to the point they will spend large sums of money and man power to appease the public's concerns. Which is why that even though they have made progress their less than questionable actions hasn't made them into a World Power.

Chevalier is the only group that primarily focuses on Nova eradication while the World Powers work to maintain the Orbital Elevator and Space Colony development which will go into effect in a few years where human can live in space. However, in dire situations, each of the world powers will deploy their own mobile suits to combat any NOVA that invades their jurisdiction. Despite this, the mobile suits are not as durable as Pandora in their current stages and, at best, can only stall for time until the Chevalier sends in Pandora.

This information had integrated itself into Soran's mind. It was necessary in order to fully understand the current situation of the World. Since it was a main effect to making his homeland fight a war that all but kill many of the Krugish people.

The sun had finally set over the horizon as they drove on the black, asphalt road. As the last rays of light dimmed, Soran looked up to the night sky. All he saw was the vast space darkening with stars slowly appearing one by one. However...suddenly a trail of green light caught his eye. He pressed his face closer to the window to get a batter look. It was definitely a trail of green, glowing particles, the very same light that was emitted by his savior just the Year Prior.

The light of a Gundam...A Mobile Suit that can destroy a NOVA...

Soran slowly open the window and reach towards the sky and close his hand as if to catch the beautiful trail of light. He smile as he feel that one day...he might be able to get his savoir.

He decided to go to sleep early. For some reason he felt like something big will happen soon...and it wasn't a good thing.

To be continued...