Disclaimer: I do not own Gundam Seed. Never have never will. Thank God, because personally this series and Destiny have screwed up everything involving Gundam. Anyway this is an AU series of one shots that focus on characters Clotho, Orga, and Shani. Since they never had any character development that basically makes them easy to redefine in a sense. To do this I decided to use some characteristic from a few characters from IDW's Transformers: Spotlight series hope you like it.
Clotho Buer
The Kingdom of Scandinavia, three weeks ago the neutral nation was under attack by rogue members of the Atlantic Federation. The Federation claimed them to be traitors for their loss in the Second Battle of Jachin Due. With no real military power the Kingdom requested for assistance from Orb. More like begged for the 'great' Kira Yamato to save them. Instead Orb sent me to stop the take over. My so-called allies always ask me why I'm so willing to fight my former allies. I never gave them an answer, because why should I? I arrived at the Kingdom of Scandinavia in four days and engaged in battle by myself. In two hours I lay waste to the Atlantic forces Strike Daggers. They were shocked to see my mobile suit, the GAT-X370 code named Raider.
During the battle I used my Mjolnir hammer to tear through countless Strike Daggers with no remorse. I fired my dual 52mm hyper high velocity cannon at the new 105 Daggers in their cockpits making the fights short. I used my Zorn cannon at one of the rare Buster Dagger and demolished their battleships with the Ahura Mazda short-range energy cannons in Raider's claw in mobile armor mode. I hear the Captains of the remaining ships order their forces to retreat and I knew the battle was over. The battlefield grew quiet and I returned to Orb and place Raider in it's hangar right next to the Freedom, Strike Rouge, and a red Raider Full Specs that Orb acquired in one way or another. I head to the quarters that Orb's leader Cagalli Yula Athha or should I say Yamato since she and Kira Yamato are twins. I prefer to call them the 'twisted twins' after I found out that Cagalli had a crush on Kira before they found out they're siblings. Anyway I sit at my desk looking out the window, everything is quiet.
I hate the quiet. My name is Clotho Buer, actually I'm not sure if that's even my real name. I am a biological CPU made by Blue Cosmos as a weapon to kill the Coordinators during the Bloody Valentine War in CE 71. I still am a biological CPU, despite switching to Orb's side. The reason I switch was because a M1 pilot saved me from the GAT-X102 Dual near the end of the war. My teammates Orga Sabnak and Shani Andras also survived, but they left to do their own things. Last I've heard from either of them was that Orga joined the Junk Guild as an escort, because the Guild usually targeted by pirates during repair jobs. Shani apparently joined a mercenary group called "X" run by a Coordinator named Canard Pars. Even though the three of us were never close I feel more alone than ever. Despite the fact I'm now fighting for peace, I only feel happy in a battle where everything is fast and full of life. When I'm here on Orb soil waiting for the next skirmish…..
…….Time crawls.
My new allies the Orb soldiers avoid me. Shun me. I scare them, almost as much as I do to both the Earth Alliance and ZAFT. This happens whenever they turn me loose, because around me. There is always collateral damage. In the battlefield, there's nothing to distract me from the void I can never hope to fill. No rage, not duty. Hell not even a sense of self. It's not me staring into the Abyss that Orga, Shani and I fought in. I AM the Abyss now.
"Clotho. Is something wrong?" asked a female voice. I turned around to see who it is although I already know. Standing before me is a young blonde woman. She's in her late teens wearing that ridiculous Orb test pilot outfit. Her name is Asagi Caldwell, the same M1 pilot who save my life a year ago. Since then she has always been by my side when I'm back in Orb no matter how much I wish she wasn't. Hell she lives right next to my quarters. I think she's the reason why Cagalli let me live in Orb at all. It's not that I don't like her quite the opposite. She's the only person in Orb I actually tolerate. She's quite cute even though I would never admit it. She is also one of the few who even try to get to know me. Not even her own teammates and the 'twisted twins' want to be near me.
"No. I was just thinking," I say not really lying because I've been doing a lot of thinking.
"Oh… I've noticed your admirers aren't around," she teased. I knew who she was talking about. The only other form the comes close to being "company" comes in the shape of a three man MS team of the new model MVF-M11C Murasame who call themselves the Strike Raiders. They being Zephon Alastor, Abel Ifrit, and Noah Cerberus. Three young pilots whose first names are after three character from the epic poem Paradise Lost, yet their surnames are the names of demons. Kind of contradicting in a sense, yet the three of them shamelessly aspire to the sheer, unremitting level of destruction set by myself during my battles. It's strange though, despite the more I try to distance myself, the harder and tighter they cling to me. However, even they now appear to have deserted me like Orga and Shani. I've decided to find out why.
"I'll be back," I say as I leave the room heading to MS squadron building.
"Will you be back for dinner? I'm making roast beef tonight," she asked me.
"That depends on what I find out, but I'll hold you up on that offer," I tell her and she seems happy with my response. What can I say? That girl has won my heart even though she had no competition to claim it.
I entered the squadron building and I grabbed the first person I saw. I could tell he was scared. They all are, because I never enter the building unless I've been ordered to for a mission.
"The Strike Raiders. Where ARE they?" I demanded catching everyone's attention.
"The who? Oh, y-you mean Alastor's team. I don't…." the comm. member started saying but stopped when I glared at him. "Ah, er… Let me see what I c-can find out…" he added as I let him go to search for them.
I convince myself that this is merely a way of filling the yawning emptiness that is currently threatening to overwhelm me. Nothing more, nothing less.
"Alright! There they are. The Strike Raiders are at Debris Belt," said the comm. member.
"The Debris Belt?" I asked.
"Yeah, there's been reports of strange activity going on there. So they've been sent to investigate, but haven't return. Since then all recon missions there have been halted. Word is the Debris Belt is under the control of The Wraiths!" answered the comm. member.
Looks like I'm not gonna have dinner with Asagi after all. I headed to the MS hangar and got in Raider and demanded for a sortie no questions asked. I got my wish as the tech heads cleared the area. Before I could take off Asagi open comm. link to give me a piece of her mind.
"Where the Hell do you think you're going Clotho Buer?" she demanded.
"I told you that your dinner plans depend on what I find out so I'm going to find out where those fools are," I answered as I took off. "Don't follow me," I ordered as I transformed Raider into it's mobile armor mode.
Wraiths. In that single word I find all the motivation I need. I've searched through every scrap of known information, which sadly amounts to less than nothing. Nearly all the data has one thing in common, there are only three members. Each were originally criminals from the Earth Alliance, ZAFT, and Orb who went rogue. They appear to be the closest thing to boogeymen, created by frightened soldiers used to control other frightened soldiers. But I know that within every myth and legend lies a nub of hard fact. So I set out with the sole purpose of separating the truth from the fiction.
As I arrived at the Debris Belt, I briefly consider the fate of the Strike Raiders, most likely dead. If it is the Wraiths and if they amount to even half of the stories told about them. They take no prisoners as I have read. Raider's alarm warns me of anti-MS missiles heading towards me. I see them on the monitor and there were a lot of them and no way around them. So instead I'll go through! I fired the machine guns at the missiles and they explode before they can even touch me. The alarm goes off again warning me about beam cannon hidden inside the debris around me. It seems that the Wraiths leave no room for errors in their defenses. In so many ways I can't help but applaud them for their cunning. They remind me of Azrael that it scares me. I dodged the cannons and entered the area they are guarding.
I remember back at Orb how Asagi would always stick up for me whenever her teammates or others call me an apt pupil to some gospel called "Apocalypse of Mark xiii" or something like that. If what they say is true, then the Wraiths wrote the original covenant. As I searched the area I found three Mobile Suits, two of them I recognized as the CAT1-X3/3 Hyperion and one of the two missing Astrays, the MBF-P05 Silver Frame. The third one I don't, it was red in color and bares a passing resemblance to the Astray with elements of the Freedom, no doubt a ZAFT unit. Despite being from different sides these three unified by a single common purpose to ravage and to destroy. Like me in the past and still now here in the present.
"At long last we meet. Welcome Clotho Buer, the infamous Falcon of Death. Welcome to our realm," greeted the Hyperion pilot.
"Uh-huh. Well, that's really nice of you. Care to go one step further and tell me if the Strike Raiders are still alive?" I asked out of curiosity more than anything else.
"They are. All you have to do to claim them…is to go through us!" answered the pilot of the red Mobile Suit. I knew then that the 'gauntlet' was thrown down. And I willingly picked it up.
"Fine with me," I said as I fired my dual hyper high velocity cannon at the Hyperion only for the pilot to use his light wave shield to block my shots.
No big deal, I've worked with Shani before so I know a trick or two around that. I transformed Raider to get more speed to take the Astray down first. I noticed that the Hyperion and the red one were shooting at me with beam weapons. To show them that I'm not going down I fire my energy cannons at them forgetting about the silver mech. The red unit switched from his beam hand guns to his beam sabers and rushed me while at the same time the Silver Frame charged me from the rear with it's sabers drawn. I broke off from my previous attack and change targets back to the Hyperion. This cause the other two to nearly collide with each other.
As I fight them I remind myself that I know absolutely nothing about them. So nothing fancy, just get the job done. This battle was unlike the others I've recently been in. it reminds me of my bouts with the Freedom and Justice and I feel thrilled by the battle. As I hurl the Mjolnir hammer at the Hyperion which successfully knocked the Eurasian MS off balance. The alarms in Raider warn me that the other two were closing in and I'm low on ammo and my battery is now in the half way mark. I start to realize, grudgingly, that these guys were toying with me. Or, perhaps they were actually testing me. Whatever the reasons, the battle appears to be over.
Suddenly I noticed as the debris started to move that I finally saw the Strike Raiders in the Murasames were at. Somehow though I figured there's no easy way out for them or me with these guys. So I figured I try to find out what they're after.
"So that's it? C'mon I know you guys want something, because there's no shortcut home for them. So what are you want?" I demanded tired of their games.
"You. We are or rather were the same as you Clotho. All of us compelled by unnatural instincts. Locked in a endless cycle of destruction, isolation, desperation and almost inevitably….madness," said the pilot of the red ZAFT MS. "We are determined to break that cycle. Redirect our murderous proclivities.
"And now?" I question captivated by this pilots logic.
"Now, instead of waging war. We seek to END it. Forever," answered the Astray pilot who sounds female.
"Aaand…. This is how you go about it. Eh? I gotta tell ya, this noble plan of yours or whatever it is, seems to have a few, ah, rough edges," I commented as I survey the battlefield.
"You don't UNDERSTAND!!!!" shouted the Hyperion pilot. "How can you when all you see is what others tell you to see? What we do is merely cauterize one of many of our solar systems many bleeding wounds. This system has been fought over for centuries costing billions of lives. Better to surely take it out of the equation entirely than to let it continue to be the spur for perpetual bloodshed and carnage. Everything we've done is mercy," explained the Hyperion pilot.
"Join us Clotho. We offer you a cause. A focus. We offer you a home," said the pilot of the Astray.
"Yes all you have to do to prove you have truly cast off the 'shackles' of your previous life is to eliminate these three," added the red MS pilot.
"Who? US?!" yelled a panicked Abel as I looked at them and considered the offer. On one hand I will finally be free to do what I truly enjoy. Or I could stay with Orb and continue to feel empty inside. I've made my decision and advance towards my 'fans' that scares them.
"What? NO.. you wouldn't!" panicked Zephon as he and the others start to cower inside their Gundam wannabe MS. "Clotho, c'mon man! We… have a bond. You don't need these misfits. You've already got…er…." he continued.
"Us misfits," added Noah trying to help Zephon.
"Yeah, right. Right?" asked Zephon hoping that will convince me. Instead I answer by launching Raider away from them and fired all my guns at them. "CLOTHO! No!" he yelled.
I fired everywhere causing a lot of destruction. Dust and debris flew everywhere which is weird in zero gravity. When the dust and debris cleared the Strike Raiders were seen unharmed. Apparently I've been around Yamato to long, I've gotten soft for sparing them. Damn you Yamato. I looked at the Wraith to see them leave. Then the Hyperion turned to face me as if feeling disappointed in me.
"When the ties that bind finally, irrevocably, snap… we will find you again. And on that day, let the Warmongers of humanity tremble by our might," said the pilot.
With that they depart, and a part of me goes with them. I feel the seeds of desire seep all the way down to the center of my soul. Yet, I feel as if I was wrong about myself. I'm not a lost cause, not quite. I am a necessary evil and that odd individual or should I say group still stirs something in me. It is enough for now……
"Hey Clotho?" said Abel still shaken up. I turn to face the Strike Raiders. "Were you really gonna go through with it?" he asked.
"Now if I did that then whose gonna try to impress me by trying cause enough pointless destruction in battle," I answered calming their rapid beating hearts. "Besides I think Clotho's Strike Raiders sounds a lot more cooler that the 'Falcon of Death' don't you three agree?" I asked. I can tell that made them happy.
"Really?" asked Noah who sounded excited.
"Of course now let's go home I promised Asagi I'd have dinner with her and hate to disappoint her," I said as the four of us headed back to one of Orb's space station nearby. I can tell when I get back I gonna get one Hell of a scolding from Asagi, but I can't help but hope for a little action in bed after dinner though.
THE END
And that is the end for Clotho's spotlight story. Tell if you like it and who you want to read about next and I'll see if I can get to it. It will be tough thought between this, my Naruto story and my job as a Security Forces officer but I'll find a way. Sadly my stories will take a long time to update because of my job, but I'll try to update no promises thought.