I DO NOT OWN GUNDAM
James watched as the new G-unit ran right at the Gaia, swinging its massive sword. The Gaia leaped backwards, the blade hitting the ground, gravel flying everywhere. "CABAL, what is that?" James asked.
A computer console on his left turned on, data streaming so quickly, James wasn't even sure what it was. CABAL's deep voice filled his ears suddenly. "ZGMF-X56S/β Sword Impulse Gundam. Preliminary scans indicate it is ZAFT's equivalent of the GAT X-105 Strike, which Kira Yamato piloted in the early stages of the previous war," it informed him.
"Oh. Really?" James asked. He looked at the machine again, watching as the new model stood calmly, ignoring the CIWS rounds that were hitting it. In a split second, the Impulse raised its beam rifle and snapped off several shots, forcing the stolen ZGMF-X88S Gaia to break off. The Impulse followed, firing again when the machine landed on the ground. Stellar barely had time to respond, backing away once again as Impulse tried to blast the ground out from under her.
Not far away, Sting Oakley and Auel Neider were trying to make sense of the new threat. "Nobody said anything about a fourth unit!" Auel said.
"They didn't mention these things, either!" Sting replied, dodging the GM Cannon's shots as it tried to bring it down.
Inside the Minerva, Arthur Trine shook his head and contacted the Impulse as he watched the battle. "Shinn, those are units out there. Your objective is to capture them, not destroy them."
"It's not exactly gonna be easy!" The pilot said sharply. "How could these thigns have gotten stolen this easily?"
"You shouldn't be asking those questions in the middle of a battle," Captain Talia Gladys responded.
"She's right, Asuka. Right now, our only objectives are the retrival of the stolen units, and the safety of the Minerva."
The captain narrowed her eyes. "Who's on this frequency? Identify."
"This is James Daurio, of the Zacynthus. Sorry we have to meet this way."
Talia smiled, glad that her pilot wasn't on his own out there. "As am I. I'm surprised you're out there yourself, captain."
"Trust me, I didn't plan it that way. We were assigned to this job to help escort your ship on her maiden voyage. Good thing we've got our own units," James broadcast, his voice strained. "I've gotta cut this short. Little busy." The line disconnected abruptly. Arthur looked at Talia. "Should we confirm this, captain?"
"We'll get our confirmation soon enough," Talia replied. "Right now, we need all the help we can get."
In space, the Alliance battleship Girty Lue waited, hidden thanks to mirage colloid. The ship was the sister ship of the Ark, though Commander Neo Roanoke had no idea what had happened to that vessel after the war. He decided not to dwell on it. "Drop mirage colloid."
Girty Lue opened fire as its clocking device deactivated. The beams tore right through one of the Nazca class vessels. Neo noticed that one of the ships was a bit different. The Nazca furthest in front was black, making it almost impossible to see. The only way to see it other than by scanners was by its catapults, which were a bright gold.
"Well, well," Neo said. "I'd heard of a ship like that, but I never thought it existed. Its captain was a good friend of Alexander Kolodziej's. I wonder how he's feeling right now."
The Zacynthus fired its cannons, the beams narrowly missing the Girty Lue. Neo smiled again. "It appears they don't want to destroy us so that the debris doesn't damage their sister ships."
The Girty Lue sent a pair of Dagger L's towards Armory One's spaceport as it opened fire onto another Nazca class. The Dagger L's headed for the ZAFT vessels, dodging the incoming fire with ease. The two units came up behind the ships, targeting the engines. They fired together, reducing the ship's thrusters to molten slag. The ship started to drift to the left, slamming into the other forcefully. Armor ripped off violently as the vessels slowly came apart due to explosions.
The Abyss fired its triple beam cannons, catching one DINN in its chest, the other on fire and spiraling out of control due to a missing arm and wing. "Sting, we got the signal. Let's get out of here," Auel said.
In the ZAKU, Athrun's eyes widened as he remembered the disaster of Heliopolis. The GM Cannon turned to look at him quickly before returning to the task at hand. The Impulse swung again, now in a sword lock with the Gaia. The Chaos and Abyss landed behind him, and Abyss swung its beam lance. However, the pilot of Impulse had other ideas. Shinn pushed the sticks down, and Impulse ducked before slamming into Abyss's chest, forcing the unit back. The GM fired at Gaia, preventing it from attacking the ZAFT machine. It pulled out a beam saber while firing and swung to the right, blocking a blow from Chaos.
Athrun finally pushed ahead, knocking the Abyss away as it prepared to impale Impulse from behind. Without stopping, Athrun used the ZAKU's beam axe and hurled it at Gaia. The G-unit raised its shield, and the weapon harmlessly bounced off. The Abyss fired its chest cannon, taking the ZAKU's arm. Athrun groaned as the blast shook the unit, Cagalli crying out as her head hit the bulkhead. Athrun looked at her, noticing that she was bleeding. He grabbed the sticks and pulled back quickly.
"Athrun, what's wrong?" James asked.
"Cagalli's injured. I have to pull back," he said.
"You took her with you?! What the hell-"
"We had not time!" Athrun said hotly. "Just cover me as I get out!"
"Roger that."
The ZAKU turned around and started running. The Chaos landed behind it and took aim, only to have the GM blast it back with its cannons.
Meanwhile, Ray za Burrel waited as the workers cleared away the rubble covering the cockpit of his ZAKU Phantom. As soon as it was cleared, he rushed forward, climbing into it.
"Hey, wait a minute! We're not done yet!" One crew worker said. Rey ignored him, closing the cockpit. The men ran back as the grey machine slowly stood up, the remaining rubble falling to the ground. It reached down and started clearing away the rocks covering the ZAKU warrior.
Not far away, Durandal was arguing with his guards. "Sir, it's best for you to be in a shelter."
"Not until I've learned more about the situation," Durandal said stubbornly.
Inside Impulse, Shinn activated the beam boomerang. The Impulse threw it up towards Gaia, the black mobile suit reeling as it blocked the forceful blow with its shield.
Auel activated his comm as he kept his eyes on the two ZAKUs that had finally gotten out of the rubble. "Stellar, we need to retreat."
Stellar kept attacking the Impulse, ignoring Auel's words. "Well, okay, if that's how you feel about it, then go ahead and die."
The Gaia suddenly stopped in the middle of an attack, and Shinn used the break to pull Impulse back. The Gaia, Abyss, and Chaos flew off before any more reinforcements could come. "Where the hell are you guys going?!" Shinn snarled, the Impulse following. Rey and Lunamaria Hawke followed in their suits.
"The Gunner ZAKU's thrusters are about to fail," CABAL said.
"What?" James asked. He looked up as heard an explosion. Sure enough, the ZAKU's engines had gone out and it was now falling. The GM moved forward and James pushed down on the pedals, the GM leaping into the air, catching the ZAKU. James groaned as the machine landed hard on the ground, crushing the concrete beneath it.
Athrun watched as medical teams scrambled to help the wounded. James set the GM down next to his ZAKU and got out, watching as Athrun helped Cagalli out. "What were you thinking? You should have stayed back instead of coming with me," Athrun said.
"Hey, you were the one who dragged me with you!" Cagalli answered.
"She's got you there," James said, grinning. "You alright, Cagalli?"
Neo looked at his crew. "Any word on our pilots?"
"No, sir."
"Prepare my Exus," he said, walking out.
In the PLANT, Shinn watched as the stolen G-units continued to evade them. "Can't believe these guys can fight so well in units they've just stolen," he said.
James's GM headed for the Minerva. "Don't be so amazed, Asuka. The guys from the Ark, two years ago? They didn't have any piloting experience, either, and they got quite good real fast. And there was one guy Alexander Kolodziej met, too. He was even more amazing. Alex said it himself that he looked like a rookie, compared to that guy."
Neo's Exus finally entered battle, and Five, now aboard Minerva, was amazed at what he saw. So the bastards mass produced Zero's mobile armor. How unoriginal. He watched as the Exus detached its wireless gunbarrels, destroying several CGUEs and GuAIZ Rs.
Back in the colony, Rey felt a slight tingling in his head. Lunamaria's ZAKU landed on the Minerva's deck as the Chairman's shuttle docked.
Shinn thumbed the triggers, and the Impulse threw two beam boomerangs at the Gaia. "I don't think so!" Auel said, firing his phase beam cannon, blasting the weapons out of the sky.
"Minerva! Send out the Force Silhouette!" Shinn yelled.
James shook his head. Yeah, scream at your superiors, that'll help. He knew where the kid was coming from, but protocol had its place, too. He thumbed the triggers, the GM Cannon firing again. The Chaos launched its gunbarrels, the remote weapons firing at the Impulse. The gundam pulled its weapons up, but the beams struck the swords so hard, the blades shattered and exploded, blinding Shinn temporarily.
James looked at his scanners, noticing a bogey that was rapidly approaching. "Hey, Impulse pilot, is that-"
"Yes. It is."
The Impulse leaped into the air, the Sword pack detaching from its back. The suit turned gray for several seconds before the Force Silhouette docked with it. The Impulse's color returned, though it was now blue and white instead of red.
"Definitely a Strike rip-off," James muttered. He'd checked the Strike and Strike Rouge's stats after the war to help with the design of the GM units. The Force Impulse rocketed towards the retreating units, whose pilots were surprised.
"He can change his armaments in the middle of a battle?!" Auel screeched. The Impulse struck Abyss on its side, and Auel fired the cannons again. The beams went past Shinn, striking the colony wall so hard a hole was torn open. Shinn pushed the Impulse forward, Rey's ZAKU trailing behind him.
"Shinn, you only have 300 seconds of power left!" Meyrin Hawke's voice came through loud and clear.
"Well, I guess we don't have a choice. Launch the Minerva!" Talia said.
Lunamaria was looking over her ZAKU when Athrun's and James's mobile suits landed. She grabbed a submachine gun and walked over, followed by several guards. James got down and checked his gun. After the events of the last war, he was prepared for any eventuality. He grabbed Cagalli as Athrun brought her down. Lunamaria walked up behind them, gun raised. "Who are you? How did you get those units?"
"Oh, come on," James said, hands raised is disbelief. "You think an enemy is dumb enough to come onto a warship alone, with a wounded representative trailing behind him?"
"My name is Alex Dino," Athrun said, standing in front of Cagalli. "This is Chief Representative Attha. The loudmouth next to me is James Daurio."
"Hey!" James said, looking at him. "Captain James Daurio."
"Where's your ship?" Lunamaria asked, looking at him suspiciously.
"Zacynthus. It's outside the colony, with the other vessels. No radio contact, though. My guess is the enemy blocked them."
"We were meeting with the chairman, and I'd like to speak to him," Athrun said. Lunamaria led them out of the hangar, keeping a close eye on them. James leaned in close to Athrun. "Alex Dino?" He snickered.
"Shut up, Daurio," Athrun said. "You didn't have any better ideas."
They made their way to the bridge as the Minerva launched.
AUTHOR'S NOTE: Done. Ahead of schedule again. Hopefully, I'll be able to pull off weekly updates. I also hope that this chapter was satisfactory.
