ALTERNATE PAST CHAPTER 2

Previously from chapter 1:

An enormous white flame ignited right in front of my eyes. In less than a second, I watched as the solid, metallic wall dissolved in front of me. Burning, destructive flames lunged at me right after the wall collapsed, and grabbed Mr. Porter in an instant. The flame then subsided, along with scraps of dissolved metals. The force of the phenomenon was so powerful that it shot me backwards. It was like all of the energy that was in my body suddenly left me without a reason. Due to the force of the explosion, I ended up colliding onto another steel wall as a result.

Almost losing consciousness due to the collision, I knew that something bad had happened right at that moment. With all my strength, I pushed myself up, and rubbed my eyes. When I gained my consciousness back, I tried to comprehend what happened in front of me.

"What….happened?" I wondered.

Then it caught me. There was a giant hole in place of where the explosion had occurred. An expression of shock grafted my face, along with fear, not because of the hole, but more along the lines of the remains beneath the hole. Scraps of remaining metal around the newly formed hole uselessly fell on the floor, creating a small hill in the process. The face of satisfaction that I had a minute ago had completely disappeared, as it was replaced with a combination of sadness and fear.

"DR. PORTER!!!!" I screamed out, knowing that the doctor was trapped in the rubble.

Without a second to waste, I sprinted my way over to where Dr. Porter was, trapped inside the remains of the destroyed steel wall. Suddenly, a gust of wind blew in my direction, and pieces of metal started to fly towards me. Immediately, I ran over to the side, dodging the flying scraps of metal. After I ran over to a different wall to hide, I tried to peek through the hole in case there would be any more threats. After a couple of seconds, two slender blue mobile suits slowly flew near the hole. These mobile suits were not like the ones I saw that morning. They were much skinnier in girth, and instead of lances, they held a rifle instead.

"Son of a bitch, go to hell A-laws!" One of the pilots screamed out.

After the pilot screamed out, the Enact took out his rifle and shot another laser beam at the pile of rubble. This caused another explosion, causing all the pieces of metal to fly out in random directions. I crouched behind the side of the other wall, hoping to not get hit by flying debris. When the explosion settled down, the Enacts quickly left the area.

Without hesitation, I sprinted over to the rubble as fast as I could, praying that Dr. Porter was still alive. Images flowed through my mind like wildfire, as I start to remind myself of the past. This was just like when my parents were killed. Realizing that this attack was just like the terrorist attack back when I was younger, I could not forgive myself for witnessing something like this. Anger started to flow through my veins, and I clenched my fists tightly; blood dripped from my fists to the floor. After witnessing this, I could not forgive the people who attacked Mr. Porter.

When I finally arrived to where Dr. Porter was, I immediately halted. Pain stabbed me like a thousand knives to my chest. I could not describe the situation in mere words. The mere sight of Dr. Porter caused me to collapse onto my knees, trembling at the sight of the mutilated limbs and gore that was Dr. Porter. I slowly reached my hand out to his remains, trembling with sadness and regret. It was then Dr. Porter opened his eyes.

"It's you…" Dr. Porter slowly whispered. Blood dripped down from his mouth.

I was completely astonished that Dr. Porter was still alive, even after the explosion had occurred. Even though half of his body had been vaporized, it's a miracle that he was still alive, even for a second.

"Come here." Dr. Porter groaned weakly."

"Dr. Porter…. Why?" I asked. Tears started to drop down my face.

It was then Dr. Porter took out something in his pocket; a necklace. He then slowly opened it, revealing a small but a visible picture. In the picture, there was Dr. Porter; I recognized due to the same moustache that he had in the picture. There was one more person in that picture, but I couldn't make out who it was, except,

"Dad?" I stuttered.

"Yes, it's your dad boy." Mr. Porter added.

"Why is he in there?" I asked gently.

Mr. Porter then let out a slight smile, and closed his eyes. Just as when he was about to answer my question, he let out a pained groan. He then reached for my hand, and just as he was about to place the necklace on my hand, his body suddenly dropped. Dr. Porter, a man I was just starting to respect, had died right in front of my eyes.

"DR. PORTER!!" I screamed out as tears now flowed down to my face.

Feeling deeply saddened, I grabbed the necklace that was on the floor. Clenching it, I thanked Dr. Porter. Even though my gratitude only fell on deaf ears, I had to thank him for what he did. I then turned over to the right, hoping to find something that I can use to get out of this room. It was then I realized that the mobile suit was still there on the hangar. I decided that the only way that I'll be able to get out of here alive, would be to use the mobile suit that was in front of me. Even though there is a chance that I might die trying to pilot it, I didn't have a choice. To me, this was the only way to get out of this place alive.

And for avenging Dr. Porter.

Without a moment's hesitation, I quickly ran over to where the mobile suit was, and stopped right in front of the mobile suit. Looking up, I wondered. If I piloted this mobile suit, would I have made the right choice? There is a chance that I might be instantly obliterated if I used this mobile suit.

Then my thoughts rushed back to my head.

Immediately, I realized again that if I wanted to survive, there would be no choice but to use this mobile suit. I sprinted my way over to the cockpit, and jumped in. Once I was in, I hurriedly started up the mobile suit I was in. Once the mobile suit was turned on, a small monitor popped up.

"GNX-810T Gread" The monitor read.

"Gread…" I thought.

Ignoring the message that the monitor showed me, I quickly started up the mobile suit. Even though it there was a chance that this mobile suit wasn't finished, I started the boosters. Soon, the mobile suit was fully ready for combat.

"Let's do this!" I said to myself.

I then took out a beam rifle out of my mobile suit, and shot it, causing an explosion in the wall that was in front of me. Placing my beam rifle down, I then took out a beam saber from the Gread's sheath, and sliced out the remains of the wall, completely destroying it in the process. At last, the wall that was in front of me was gone, which meant that I can head out of this damned hospital once and for all.

"Gread, launching!" I yelled out.

I then started the boosters, causing the thrusters at the back to slightly turn red. Quickly I activated the thrusters on my Gread, and with that, I finally took off. Going at incredible speed, I soared into the clear blue sky, doing somersaults and barrel rolls in the process.

Finally stabilizing my mobile suit to a stable position, I sped up to check if there were further damages around the city. Just as I was about to fly down to the building to check, I experienced a slight bump, causing me to move slightly backwards. Using my monitor, I tried to see who shot my Gread in the back. In my line of sight were three blue mobile suits. Unlike the Enacts, these mobile suits were slightly shorter, and were more bulky. With their bulkiness and their height, I instantly recognized those as Hellions. Before I could even react, the two mobile suits fired, sending an array of blue orbs in my way.

Quickly, I dodged the blue orbs, and took out my beam saber from the Gread's sheath. One of the Hellions took out a plasma saber, and engaged my Gread for a close combat duel. The other Hellions continuously fired their rifles, forcing me to evade. Without a moment's hesitation, I stabbed my beam saber deep into my opponent's cockpit, causing the blue mobile suit to explode. Using the strength of the Gread, I sliced my sword sideways, cutting the Hellion in half. This caused the rest of the Hellions to engage towards the Gread.

Quickly, I swapped my beam saber with my rifle. One of the Hellions took out a plasma blade, and attempted to swipe, but I sidestepped through the attack. I then used my thrusters to get behind the enemy Hellion and shot it, causing the Hellion to explode on contact. When the last Hellion saw this happening, it hurriedly turned around and started to boost away. Not content with leaving the Hellion intact, I aimed my rifle at the flying Hellion and fired it, destroying the last Hellion in the process.

Seeing that I destroyed the three Hellions, I was just about to put my rifle away until a warning sign appeared on my monitor.

"Warning, 7 enemy mobile suits in the middle of this area" The monitor read.

"Shit. 7 of them? That's where the other buildings are!" I swore out in frustration.

Knowing this, I quickly started to fly over to the middle of downtown. Before I did this, I took out my beam saber back from my sheath. Taking advantage of the speed provided by Gread, I swiftly soared over to the middle of downtown.

"I have to hurry. This city will get massacred if I don't do something." I thought to myself.

With that said, I adjusted the Gread's boosters to full speed. Immediately, I soared over to where the middle of city was. Quickly, I readied my beam saber, and as I took sight of another blue mobile suit, cut it in half. I then continued on.

After arriving to my destination, I took out my beam rifle, searching for any enemy mobile suits that might attack me and my Gread. Slowly navigating through the buildings, I soon noticed more blue-coloured mobile suits firing at something; buildings. Immediately knowing that these were enemy mobile suits, I fired at them. Unlike the last mobile suits I encountered, these ones managed to deflect my rifle beam. These mobile suits were skinny like the Enacts, but they were bigger and were equipped with various types of weapons. I knew that by their shape and structure, these were Flags. The problem was, there were 7 them. Getting worried, I was just about to plan a surprise attack, until the Flags noticed where I was, forcing me to aim my rifle. The Flags reacted by readying their weapons as well.

"All Flags, form up and attack the enemy mobile suit." One of the pilots in the flag ordered.

Instantly, the seven Flags formed together. Aiming their rifles at my mobile suit, they fired without hesitation. A swarm of blue bullets quickly approached the Gread, forcing me to fall back to a nearby building in the process. Quickly, I pulled out the scope of my rifle, and aimed it at one of the Flags. I fired at the Flag group, causing the Flag group to split into two. I then took out my beam saber, and flew over to one of the separated Flag groups.

"You bastards! How dare you bastards do this to the city?" I screamed out.

I charged over to a Flag and sliced it in half, and shot another Flag with my rifle. Both of the Flags were destroyed immediately. Seeing this, the rest of the Flags recklessly charged. Taking out their plasma blades, the Flags quickly engaged my unit. With my beam saber in hand, I clashed against the Flags. I then shot my rifle at one of the Flags, causing it to explode. Quickly, I then charged towards the other Flags with my beam saber, killing off all of the Flags in the process.

"So, is that all?" I asked myself.

Just as I was about to drop my guard, a black-colored Flag descended out of nowhere. I noticed that this machine was different from the ones that I faced from before. I unsheathed my beam saber, just in case.

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"I'm impressed." The pilot of the black-colored Flag said.

He then took out his plasma blade, and readied for combat.

"Are you the leader of this whole group?" I questioned the other pilot.

"Yea! But you don't need to know, because you'll die here right now!" The pilot of the Flag answered arrogantly.

The leader of the group then charged at me with his plasma blade in hand. He then raised his blade, and went for a slice. Evading the Flag's slash, I swiped my beam saber at the Flag, hoping to take out the black machine. Surprisingly, the opponent also blocked my attack, causing both of us to move backwards. I quickly fired my rifle at my opponent's Flag, but it swiftly dodged the incoming round as well. The Flag then took out is blade-rifle and shot my Gread, causing me to tumble backwards. Fortunately, the rifle did not seem to damage my mobile suit.

"Heh! It's the first time anyone's ever survived a rifle from my Overflag." The leader sneered.

"Overflag? Well you're going to have to do better than that to beat me." I mocked back.

My opponent then charged at me again with his plasma blade. Instead of using my beam saber this time, I held my rifle tightly clutched. Just before my opponent struck me with his beam saber, I sidestepped through his attack. Moving quickly sideways, I fired my beam rifle at the Overflag's shoulders, taking out its right arm.

"Tch. How dare you damage my Flag? A common soldier?" The leader screamed out.

With the Flag missing its right arm, I fired at my rifle again at the opponent's Flag to cause further damage. The Flag raised its shield to deflect my beam rifle, and charged at me again. This time though, it used its blade rifle to attack. I took out my beam saber again, and deflected the incoming attack from the Overflag. Quickly, I aimed my rifle at the Overflag's face, and fired it. The overflag dodged my rifle, and sliced my Gread. It then hastily backed away, dodging the attack from my beam saber.

"Shit, that unit's really fast." I scowled.

Quickly, I put my rifle away, and charged at the leader's Overflag. I quickly swiped at the Overflag, hoping for a decent hit. Instead of deflecting my attack, it sidestepped away from my slash and flew behind me.

"Take this ya bastard!" The leader yelled out as he readied his blade rifle.

As soon as the leader was about to stab me using his blade rifle, I quickly ducked sideways, evading the Overflag's attack. I then sliced my beam saber against the Overflag. Taking the hit, the Overflag also fired its blade rifle, causing both of us to soar in reverse directions from each other.

We both stood still, waiting to see who would drop their guard first. Just as we were about to charge again, the Overflag's left arm exploded. It then fell backwards, squishing a few cars and critically damaging a building in the process. The Overflag then sputtered, and a small explosion occurred inside the Flag. Fortunately for me, my Gread once again avoided taking damage.

"Shit! How the hell can I lose?" The leader screamed out in frustration.

The Overflag then stood back up, and quickly used its thrusters to escape. I watched as the black mobile suit distanced itself further and further away from the city. Feeling relieved, I sheathed my beam saber away, and put down my beam rifle. Even though I could have killed the pilot of the Overflag in an instant, I didn't bother.

"Thank god." I sighed out in relief.

I then checked the surroundings of the city. I noticed a few dead people along with destroyed buildings, but it seemed that most of the city was still intact. Suddenly, people came out of nowhere to where my mobile suit was, cheering loudly. I guessed that they must have been happy that I drove away the Kataron forces.

"YES! YES! WE'RE SAVED!" A group of people screamed out in joy. A few people even ended up crying.

With a smile on my face, I lowered my Gread, and opened the cockpit. When I got out of the cockpit, the cheers of the people that surrounded me made me feel happy. Even though I couldn't save Dr. Porter, I felt glad that I saved the people here in this city, who could have easily died without my intervention.

"Everyone! Thank you!" I cheerfully yelled out at the crowd.

I then climbed down of my Gread, hoping for a bit more appreciation from the crowd. After I safely landed on the floor, people crowded themselves towards me. I didn't know how to manage a giant crowd at that time, but I was just glad that all of these people were still alive. Before I could bathe in my glory anymore though, a boy with a red hat looked up, and yelled out.

"Mom! Look!" The little boy yelled out.

"What is it dear?" The mother asked.

Suddenly, there was a bunch of red dots coming down from the horizon. It was too far away for me to see what they were, so I couldn't tell at the time. It was then someone with a pair of binoculars noticed something. With a tone of anxiety, he then screamed out.

"A-LAWS FORCES!!!" The man screamed out feverously.

Suddenly, the cheering from the crowd turned into mumbles. Hearing the varied mumbles, I knew that this wasn't an exactly favorable sight to these people. Worried, I tried to get back into my mobile suit.

"No! Don't attack those guys. They're part of the Earth Federation Army!" One of the people called out.

After hearing that, I reconsidered my decision about going into my mobile suit, and stood my ground. I locked the password for my Gread beforehand, in case something like this happened.

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"Hey! I need to borrow those binoculars for a second." I asked a middle-aged man.

"Here, use it. I'm dying to know what those red dots are." The man complied as he handed me his binoculars.

After obtaining the binoculars, I turned the binoculars on to see what all the fuss was about. Looking in the binoculars, I identified 4 red mobile suits. Judging by their appearance, they had bright red armor in some areas, but mostly they were white in color. All four of these mobile suits carried a red lance that seemed to match the color of their armor. When I was just about to turn off the binoculars, the 4 mobile suits pointed their lances forward, probably indicating that they were going to attack. Considering that the 4 mobile suits in sight were GN-XIIIes, I felt immensely threatened by their presences.

"EVERYONE! HIDE IMMEDIATELY! NOW!!" I screamed out as loud as I could, believing that everyone was in danger.

As expected, the majority of the crowd screamed, running away from my mobile suit, probably in order to hide. I quickly climbed onto the Gread's cockpit, and jumped in. Quickly, I started up the Gread's thrusters and weapon systems, just in case the GN-XIIIs started to attack the city.

"This isn't good. Turning on weapons system and thrusters now!" I ordered the machine as soon as I was inside Gread's cockpit.

"Yes sir. Activating weapons systems and thrusters." The machine answered.

As soon as my Gread was fully activated, the GN-XIIIs arrived. I prepared for the worst that was about to happen, as I clearly remember that the last time I faced mobile suits like these 5 years go, it was pure hell. Quickly I took out my rifle, suspicious that the GN-XIIIs might attack. Before I was about to shoot, a transmission was sent from one of the GN-XIIIs.

"We mean no harm. Please put your gun down." The transmission said.

"Don't kill the people here in this city. I mean it." I scowled back.

"We're the A-LAWS special forces! We work with the Earth Federation." One of the GN-XIII pilots answered.

"We ask that you and your machine come along with us." The same pilot requested.

I felt reluctant about the offer from the A-laws, but instead of fighting the GN-Xs and getting myself killed in the process, I decided to go along with them. I will likely be stripped of my mobile suit, but I won't die without a fight. The A-laws forces will never get their hands on my Gread. I then made my decision.

"All right. I'll go along with you." I answered as I accepted the pilot's offer.

After accepting the offer from one of the GN-XIII's pilots, I took off with the 4 GN-XIIIs. Wondering where the group was taking me, I switched my machine to autopilot mode. This gave me a sense of relief, as I suddenly felt tired shortly after the GN-XIIIs arrived. I soon fell asleep.

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A few hours had passed…..

"Wake up you bastard!" Someone angrily called out.

Suddenly, I was yanked by my collar. Almost losing my balance, I tried to pull back away from the stranger's direction. Unfortunately, it didn't really work, as the stranger dragged me off my pilot seat. Feeling sour due to the rude awakening, I quickly shook him off without hesitation.

"Who the hell are you?" I scowled.

Suddenly, the stranger stopped. Just before I tried to walk away from him, he tightly grabbed my shoulders, forcing me to halt. The stranger then punched me in the face, causing me to instantly fly backwards to the floor on contact.

"How dare you greet me that way?" The stranger asked.

"Just who are you anyways?" I questioned back, trying to restrain my anger.

I quickly stood up, ignoring the stranger's face expression. Looking at him, the man had a large, muscular figure. His golden-blonde hair was bleached backwards, and he had a slender body. His darker skin contrasted to my own. It was then I noticed that this man had the same uniform that I was wearing right now. Quickly, the stranger then walked over to me, and grabbed me by the arms.

"Stop this right now Barrack!" A stern, commanding voice called out.

Suddenly, the large blonde man stopped dead in its tracks. He then raised his hands to his forehead, and then saluted.

"Yes commander!" Barrack obliged.

"A woman?" I thought.

After managing to stop Barrack, the woman approached me. With a calm, stern look on her face, she offered me a hand.

"Here. Get up." She ordered.

I could have acted stubborn and refused her order, but in this case, I had no choice but to listen to this woman. Quickly, I stood up in front of the woman. Looking at her, she had a tall slim body, with tied up hair and round glasses. She then ordered me to follow her, and I immediately obliged.

Looking at my surroundings, the first thing that I observed was the design of the hangar. Instead of being empty, it was full of equipment. Federation mobile suits were stationed at every area, and mechanics along with the crew members started maintenance on the suits. Without much time to waste, I quickly followed the woman that was in front of me. We both then exited the maintenance room through the door that was in front of us.

After leaving the maintenance room, I asked what her name was, hoping for an answer.

"Call me Colonel Mannequin." The woman answered.

"Name's Earl Grieves." I answered back.

"So, why am I here?" I asked politely.

Kati then stroked her hair, and wiped her glasses with her uniform. She then placed her glasses back on.

"You'll see soon enough." Mannequin answered.

After a moment of walking, Mannequin suddenly stopped, and turned around to what appeared to be another door.

"We're here." Mannequin notified.

Looking at the door that was in front of me, Mannequin walked through the door. Wondering to know where she was leading me to, I hurriedly followed inside, knowing that it lead to another room. I tried to think that everything would be fine, and I would get through this meeting, and I would soon leave with my Gread. When I finally arrived to the room though, I did not once think that it would come to something like this.

I gulped, slowly.