To make it clear, this story begins 4 years after GSR.
There are a lot of references to two years before because it was a turning point where one event changed everything. This event effected the Peters brothers, Meiko and quite a few other characters, it will all be explained soon.
The story itself is set into 4 parts, the first part are the first 13 episodes that end heartbreakingly in my mind.
Now:
Opening Song for the next 13 eps: Brightdown by Tamaki Nami - the english translation and driving feeling are perfect for opening this series :D.
Phase 1: The X
"Operation in full swing," the voice of one of his operatives said. Ben Peters leaned back on his seat deep in the heart of the RFX nationalist base and smiled as he thought of the road that led him to this; if someone had told him that his brother would become the most powerful force in the world he would have said they were liars but it was true. Darren was the best asset RFX had and his skills in a mobile suit and in the fight were valuable.
RFX, a move to stop the government interventions in the X nation. Ben and Darren had lost everything because the UCN had instituted a policies of unfair brutality toward the X nation but he was here to make some changes and the government was starting to notice. He held in his hands the keys to the new weapon that his followers had built and today was the day he would enter the national stage of declaring who he was and what he wanted. In front of him Darren stood tall, holding his darkened helmet and staring at the screen in front of him; this mission would be hard for him because of his past but he was all in. They needed to make the world see them and they needed to show the world what the UCN was.
"Careful," the voice o Kyle Marise came from behind him and he turned to see his old friend, "we know Darren wants to do this but we don't know how everything will effect him. The incident almost two years ago was enough to show he's still affected by everything that the UCN did to us." Ben nodded, he understood Kyles warnings but he knew he could trust his brother.
"He's ready for this," Ben said confidently, "I believe he'd even face the Phoenix if the chance was given. I understand your concerns Kyle but your part in this mission is over now and the intelligence you gathered was valuable. It's all on Darren, Tabrett and the others now." Tabrett stood behind him breathing in, she would have to accomplish her part in the mission smoothly, X was getting more and more risky but now it was time for them to take it to the next level. No more hiding in the shadows.
Trey stood in front of Meiko with his arms crossed, the two UCN agents were enough to make his mind blow but her antics had been out of control. He had picked her up our of the base as soon as she had the book that she had gone in for so the mission was a success but the amount of collateral was insane, she had let Kiran know that her interventions ran deeper than just to find Leyas and she had almost compromised her cover by revealing her identity to Sharn, granted she shot him after he gave her the book but there were too many risks. She had also had used her super seed which was a definite no, number 6 needed to work with her and analyze before she could be sure that it was safe for her health to use. She was too out there sometimes and Trey wondered how long before she just let everything out and destroyed her life in the process.
"I know your upset but I had no choice," Meiko said walking toward the front of the bridge, the small ship was known as the Phantom and Trey was in charge of it and the intel that it carried. "I went in and left all doubts on the table, it was a job we needed done and I did it in the most efficient way I could." Trey understood why she did what she did, he only wished she wouldn't take so many risks with her life and the lives of those around her. She herself thought she did a good job, she secured 6's book and got Kiran and Oran out of what might have turned into a messy situation.
"In any case we need to get these two back to their base," Trey said motioning to Oran and Kiran. Meiko nodded, she understood they would have to go back and report that there was no information on the X rebels in the base; of course X wouldn't leave anything behind if they had been there.
"We would have gotten out of their ourselves but Meiko told us to run with her and we listened," Oran said to Trey holding his cover and knowing that Trey knew his identity on the squad. Meiko sat down on a nearby seat and removed her long gloves revealing a cut running down her good arm and showing them her fake arm. Kiran always shuddered when he saw it because it was a reminder of the past, the STING and everything that had happened with Uzumi and Yaro. He turned away breathing in as he thought of it all, they had defeated ROW in the end but the cost had been very high, he often wondered if things could have been different.
"We will drop you off at Carpenteria, that is where we are headed on course now," Trey responded to Oran, "we'll make sure you arrive their unharmed. Meiko reached for the first aid kit on the wall and near dropped it, Kiran was there fast and caught it for her, taking out the cleaning drugs he knew she wanted. She was used to these injuries and knew how to treat them best, once she made it back to Wings, the Phoenix Squads headquarters, she would get it properly fixed up then head out on the next mission but for now getting the two boys back to Carpenteria was priority.
"You could come there yourselves," Kiran spoke to Meiko now, he missed his older sister. After everything they had become sort of close but that dissolved when they went separate ways. "Carpenteria is unveiling new weapons soon and you could meet the entire team I'm on; perhaps even help father understand why I joined and what we're fighting for." Meiko looked into Kiran's eyes as he spoke and saw the same cocky attitude he had always possessed but she also saw much deeper than anyone else did, Kiran was looking for a chance to reconnect with everyone and running into Meiko here was that chance for him. Perhaps this reconnection was a good idea, Meiko never knew when she would need someone new to help her and having another in on the ZAFT division of the WMPO might be a good idea in the eventual future. She looked at Trey whose posture echoed that he did not want her to say yes. He was always wanting to get back to their main mission, to rescue Leyas and she understood that but there were no leads as of yet and she had number 5 searching for them at the moment.
"I don't see why not Kiran," Meiko said to her little brother, "we'll even bring Trey, he needs to get out more." Kiran laughed as Meiko smiled and Trey turned away rolling his eyes. He and Meiko had been together working toward an end for a long time, the original plan was just to find Leyas but the way the world was t seemed there was always something pulling them off that original path. He had agreed all in for the sake of the girl that he loved but they were no closer than they had been four years ago when she had been missing. He wondered if she was even still alive and refused to think of what would happen if they found she wasn't. He had promised himself he wouldn't let anything happen to her and even in the midst of it all he wondered that if he did find her would she still love him? Would she still be the same Leyas he remembered.
Meiko knew what he was thinking about but she also knew that she had done all she could to prepare him for the worst eventualities. No matter what Trey wanted there were no leads to follow, Meiko had to make decisions based on what was best for the world now and now she knew that it would be in her best interest to see what was up in Carpenteria for she felt that something was about to happen there.
"I must warn you the base isn't the safest place," Oran responded to the events, "the PLANT UCN representative is around and you'll have to make sure you have permission to be allowed in." Meiko wasn't phased as she wrapped a bandage around her arm.
"That's fine Oran," she said to him, "We'll get in." So it was confirmed by Oran that big things were about to take place in Carpenteria
He clenched his fists tightly as he looked into the glass in front of him; the scar across his eye showed his identity as a fighter and it echoed the scars across his heart. His brother was playing games with the world but he was serious about everything. Darren Peters had seen too much in his short life to posses the cocky confidence of Ben and he knew it was up to him to protect his brother from the situations he knew might be coming. This day was the day they would be feared but it was also the day where they were putting more on the line than ever before.
In the hangar was the Dawn, the mobile suit that had been with him since the death of those that saved him. There was a great Dawn coming for the world if they could resolve the X territory conflicts peacefully but he doubted that it was possible. Today he was in a calm state, trying not to think about the future or the past but he was focusing on the present and the things he knew he needed to do now. He would be sent his orders soon and he needed to remain as he had been for the past two years but he knew that every event brought back more of his mind and the more that came the harder it was. Sometimes he wondered what the past years would be like if he had chosen the obvious path, he might have had perfect peace despite all that already occurred. He by right had what many men would die for and he threw it all away to be here now because he saw something that he couldn't ignore, because by nature he had to try to change things.
He knew what was out there and what had happened to many of the people that he cared about in the aftermath of the destruction of one of the greatest cities within X territory. So what had happened? They had all been living in peace for two years after ROW was destroyed by what was known as the Phoenix's army since she led the battle. The X territory was split off but the government was cleaning it up so the people welcomed it, the city of Berliss in the Europe occupied area of X, and the government had promised they were close to ending it all. It seemed that they had been close but then it happened, there was an intervention from supposed terrorists but Darren and Ben knew the truth. The UCN had made a rash decision and sent the WMPO to kill as many suspected terrorists as they could, the problem is a lot of the suspects weren't given a chance to prove their innocence and many other innocent people were killed in the process of the mass elimination. It had caused a gas leak and the city was in critical condition, instead of taking responsibility for their misguided actions the government had released a virus to cover the evidence and destroy all life from the rest of the city and act like the city died in anarchy against itself. It didn't work so they attacked and that was when Darren boarded the Dawn and fought them off but he was too late to save very many of the people. The incident was unknown by many so it had been two years since then.
Four years since the end of ROW, and two years since the end of peace. That was why he couldn't leave and go to a place of peace, because he felt guilt for not being able to protect all who had died. Over the two years he had been trying to convince himself that there was nothing else out there for him but he knew in his mind that he could live a good life if he tried.
"Just don't think about it," he heard the voice of his brother and turned to see Ben entering the room and walking toward a nearby window which showed only the ocean water which they were in now. "The operation is poised and ready to commence once we get the signal from our spies. You made the right choice Darren and if you doubt yourself now then there will be no point to the past two years." Darren nodded but did not say anything. "We're both going to survive through this, we're going to change the world for the better then we are going to go back to our peaceful lives." This is what Darren was uncomfortable with. What life was beyond this? He knew that in taking this step he was leaving any chance behind, there was no way out now that he was all in.
"Just keep telling yourself that it will all end up right in the end," Darren responded to Ben looking down now, "that lie is enough to keep you going. Even if we succeed we're taking the blame for so many things upon ourselves and in the end we'll pay the price for it." Ben did not understand why Darren felt that way, he himself fully believed that in the end they would all make it out alright because they were doing the right thing. It was only Darren who understood that underneath all the pretense they were making mistakes as well.
"We're going to make it out in the end," Ben said defiantly, he could only keep fighting because he believed that.
"Just keep saying that," Darren replied standing up and pulling on his gloves then taking his helmet, "i'm sure the last person who did the same thing as us said that as well. It's what they all start out saying but there's no easy way out." With that he left the room leaving Ben unsure of what he had just dealt with. Darren was always so cold and quiet now, there was something clearly wrong with him.
Meiko stepped off the small ship as it landed in the airfield of the Carpenteria base which had changed quite a bit since the WMPO took it over. It was larger and held many different WMPO divisions, she was happy to see that everything was well organized and that Kiran was stationed in one of the top PLANT division bases. Kiran was already a few feet ahead of her with Trey but Oran was beside her. He had seen her fight many times now but he'd never forget the first time he saw it as the Phoenix defeated enemy after enemy in the battle against ROW four years before. Oran had lost his brother in that battle and it was something that he didn't let go of; it drove him to near madness but Meiko was right there to give him purpose again. It seemed that was what she did best now, for the entirety of the Phoenix squad was made of people who were broken in so many ways, Meiko brought them together and helped them through. It was honorable of her but at the same time it was what needed to be done.
"The consulate is there," Oran said pointing out the upcoming car to Meiko, "they will want to meet you, even they know of your heroism four years ago." She nodded, her identity of Phoenix was no secret to the UCN, but to the terrorists within X territory it was something she had over them. Many high government officials knowing was no longer a big deal, but if people who were dangerous knew they could target her family which would place too many innocents in danger so she was just Phoenix on the field.
"Let's hope there is a warm welcome," Meiko mumbled but Oran heard her, he was sure they would welcome her warmly. They would probably try to recruit her as a field agent but she would undoubtedly refuse, her line of work was too messy to be involved with the government. Trey seemed uncomfortable as he and Kiran stopped at the meeting area, but he was always uncomfortable around government officials. Meiko walked over to them and stood beside Trey hoping her presence near would reassure him that she knew what she was doing in coming here. The disagreed so much lately she wondered if that would even help.
It was then that the PLANT representative Sinae Cherran exited the car with armed guards and assistants. He bowed and Meiko and her group bowed back.
"It is good to finally meet you Meiko Virea," the Cherran said with a smile, "I've heard so many great things about you and what you've done for the world that it warms my heart to see that you are real." She smiled at that last comment, it was true that she felt some of her life was unrealistic but she and many others were witness to the many things that had happened, both good and bad.
"Yes," Meiko responded, "I am glad to meet you as well. I assure you that I am real and everything that you've heard about me is most likely true." He laughed at that making her wonder exactly what he had heard. She kept her smile but she realized now that it was hard to think he had heard much good, the way she evaluated it she had not had a real victory ever in her entire life so when people spoke of her like she was so powerful she felt odd about it. She was no longer piloting mobile suits a she vowed to never again step inside of one but she also vowed never to cry again which was harder than the other vow but she had kept both.
"I was glad to hear that you safely got our operatives out of that Aeolus base," Cherran said with a sigh, "too bad the operation did fail and nothing more was discovered about the rebels. But enough bout that, in Oran's message he said you wanted to see more of the base and what we've been doing here. I assure you we are completely dedicated to protecting the peace in this world." Meiko nodded, this was going to be a long tour, he would no doubt brag and give some sort of speech on what they had achieved for the world. She knew how it went with politicians and she knew how to properly humor them but she wasn't sure this was a good day for her. She would have to be careful to bite her tongue and keep silent about things that she wasn't supposed to know and things she didn't want them to know.
"Positions prepared, Dawn loading into dock," The loudspeaker rang as Ben walked onto the bridge of the X ship and took his seat on the Captains chair, he was currently training for combat in mobile suits and he had been for two years but he did not want to enter that field until Darren declared he was ready. He leaned back and Tabrett walked behind him and held her hands out.
"I am ready," she said to him, "Darren isn't the only one gunning for justice today. I need the keys Ben." He held out the keys to her and she took them; she had been valuable to X for the past year and a half and her joining in was good for the team. She had extreme skills in hand to hand combat and good skills in a mobile suit. It was rumored that she had a past with ROW and that she escaped them at the age 19 but no one was absolutely sure that was true. Darren seemed to believe it and Ben wasn't sure what to think; ROW training would probably explain everything that she was able to do and why she was so driven but the probability of escaping from ROW was not high. In X territory they knew everything about what ROW was because they were once occupied by the organization. They understood how ruthless it was, not only to the people around it but to the people in the organization. No stories of escape were heard of until Meiko Virea gave her life to destroy the STING and set Trey Likra Day free. That story was insane to the people of the X nation because they had always feared Trey and Meiko as a team; seeing them as heros was always hard but it was true.
"Just hang tight and back up the Dawn," Ben said to her, "we can let them see the Covenant but don't let them get full specs on it, don't use the main weapons and don't get shot down." She smirked on his last remark, she would never get shot down; she had trained with the best of them and she had standards to uphold. Today was to be the first day she fought in one of X's custom mobile suits and the work that was put into the Covenant's designs was extensive. Her part in this battle would be minimal and mostly up to the X operatives that were going in, she hoped there were no problems getting their target.
"Are you certain the aces are in this base?" Kyle asked Ben who was staring at the data and Ben nodded.
"One just returned," he responded, "but they are both there, we'll have to take them before they get to their mobile suits but that should not be a problem. Be ready to move out in the next few minutes."
"So as you see our facilities are the best in the world," Cherran said to Meiko and the group as they continued to walk, "we have been conducting anti rebel operations now for the past two years and we are the only base that has successfully countered many of their operations." Meiko smiled faintly at that, she had countered rebel operations on her own with her team and had no problem, the beauty of the Phoenix squad were that the operatives were all top notch and she got things done better than the government. Cherran's bragging meant nothing to her.
"Very impressive," she lied with a smile, "it seems everything here runs very smoothly. I've heard a lot about your aces though, I assume Kiran is one but whos the other?" Her main concern was this, who were the UCN's top pilots and would she have to ever face them in battle? She was of the opinion that the UCN was generally the one of the best things that had happened to the earth, all nations combined under one banner and all coordinator and natural prejudices aside. The world had come a long way since the valentine wars but despite everything good Meiko was aware of a growing unrest because of the rebels and she had yet to decide what to do. Leyas was still missing and the idea that Cerrian had survived her attack four years before led her to believe that it was not over yet. That was why she had taken up arms and found the 7 best people for her team, they had to understand everything in the world before she decided what side to fight on.
"Kiran Yamato is one yes," Cherran replied looking toward the hangar, "and we are unveiling our new mobile suits soon enough. When that happens our second ace will have his name spoken all over the world for Skye Bushra is a rare pilot indeed, he fights with heart and strength! I'm sure you Meiko will be impressed, perhaps we should introduce you to him." Meiko smiled at that.
"I would love to meet him after your glowing praise of his abilities," Meiko gave her reply with a patronizing tone.
"Well he should be around here somewhere," Cherran looked toward the hangar and back to his assistants, "does anyone know where we can find him." It was then that a blast was heard somewhere from the south side of the base and Meiko's warrior instincts kicked in. Her hands were near her weapons as she looked toward where smoke was coming and an alarm sounded through the base. Kiran and Oran moved fast running toward the hangar in front of them then Meiko saw a boy with auburn hair running toward the hangar as well and she assumed by the way he carried himself that she was seeing Skye Bushra for the first time.
"Meiko!" Trey exclaimed, "we have to get back to the ship!" But Meiko held up her hand for him to be quite.
"I need to get a car now!" Cherran said as a van drove up, "we need to get to the command center!" He turned to Meiko.
"I'm so sorry miss, but this is the best of times to see us do our work," he spoke to her now with the authority of a leader, "get to safety and we'll have everything calmed down soon." With that him and his assistants entered the van and Meiko turned around to calm Trey down.
"X wouldn't attack here unless they were confident, this base is not ready for that," Meiko spoke to him in an urgent tone, "they are after something and it's up to us to intervene now, call in 3 and let 5 know what's going on so he can monitor." Trey moved to get back to the Phantom when Meiko stopped him for a moment, "and ask 4 for the details." He smiled at that and kept running, having people on the inside of everything was Meiko's genius, she was never unprepared.
She turned and ran for the hangar as her instincts dictated, something was leading her there, something was changing. She clipped on her earpiece and turned on her communicator. She then drew her guns, she was ready for anything.
"Dawn launching!" Darren was out of the ship right before it submerged, they had successfully blown the side of the base and it's defenses so he could get in safely, now he was covering a small ship of X operatives and dropping them off before he went for the bases nuclear reactor. It was time to destroy Carpenteria once and for all, but only after the UCN's aces were captured.
He flew quickly and fired on the mobile suits he saw trying to get off the ground, many of them went down quickly cause their armor wasn't up. He spun around the back side of a line of them and fired a large blast then he moved back into position shielding the X operative's shuttle from a blast. To him they were not moving fast enough so he grabbed ahold of the ship and flew at a high speed toward the main hangar and dropped the ship off there, then he spun around to face off with incoming machines.
Meiko entered the hangar and was shocked by what she found, there were four high tech gundams in front of her and they were all outfitted to fight at the moment. She saw Kiran, Skye and Oran entering three of them; obviously their tour had given them greater proximity to the hangar which allowed them to enter the mobile suits faster than they would have if they were across base.
Meiko then heard a gun go off and she instinctively jumped for cover then whirled around and fired on the oncoming enemies, they were X operatives.
"What can you get me Trey?" She asked into her communicator as he worked tirelessly on the main controls of the Phantom and increased it's range to contact everyone on their team. He quickly called up the specks and outlined the information number 4 had given him for today, it was a grim mission for X but it was well planned. The only thing they had not counted in today was Meiko's presence and her tour with the representative. If they had known this they would have realized it would not take the aces long to get the gundam's off the ground. They had also underestimated the completeness of the new gundam series, it was ready for battle.
"The plan is to destroy the Carpenteria base," Trey relayed to her, "but only after capturing the aces, everything is on a strict time frame and if anyone strays from that time they are set to die as well. The machine that leads the attack is the Dawn and in five minutes he is going to destroy the nuclear reactor that powers the base!" That did not shock Meiko too much, the X would do well to get rid of Carpenteria as it was the strongest base against them.
"How fast can I get to the reactor from my current position?" Meiko asked him.
"Seconds in a mobile suit but running about 3 to 4 minutes!" He exclaimed, "just break your rule for now, we have to save the base." Meiko shook her head, she wouldn't break it but the X operatives were in her way.
"Have 7 hold the Dawn back," Meiko said to Trey, "have him buy me more time! I'm going on foot."
"And what are you going to do when you get their?" Trey asked angrily, "fight off the Dawn with a handgun?"
"I'll figure that out when I'm there!" Meiko yelled jumping over the barrier and firing on the guards. She moved as fast as possible into the group, shooting and fighting them back. She then broke through the pack into an all out run.
Skye's mobile suit took off into the air and he knew Kiran and Oran were right behind them. He flew the Cronus, Kiran flew the Ares and Oran flew the Aether; together they made up the new WMPO's elite Gundam force, there was one other machine but there was yet to be a pilot selected for it. He had orders from base to take down the incoming mobile suits and defend the turrets.
He had expected something to happen today, he usually had a sixth sense when danger was around. He was initially worried that it came with Meiko Virea but after she came it didn't spike and he knew something else was coming. He grabbed the controls to his mobile suit as it circled back around and he fired on the first enemy unit he saw. He moved in for close combat as it was his specialty and what his mobile suit was built for. He transformed the arms of his mobile suits into swords and used his controls to make them glow with nuclear powered beams. He moved quickly behind a unit and slammed his sword arm into the middle of the suit and pulled it up then jumped back before it could explode. When it did he smiled, one down many more to go.
Just then the Ares flew beside him, he had never fought beside Kiran Yamato before and today he would get to understand why people referred to him as the number one here in the base. Before he could move to another enemy, Kiran moved fast with his all around mobile suit. He shot a large beam taking out a mobile suits camera, sliced through another's arm with his beam saber then launched a missile taking out a third. X was getting more than they bargained for in this mission. It was then that a different sort of mobile suit appeared, it was a gundam type.
"Sir the aces are off the ground! They've launched in three new suits," Ben gritted his teeth, his informant had said those mobile suits were unfinished. "Have the Covenant distract them! Tell Darren to move the Dawn in now and take out that reactor!"
"Sir the Dawn is engaged with the third suit!" Kyle said to Ben. This was getting to be different than the plan had expected, X attacks were always fashioned to move in quickly and pull back just as quickly. They knew if they got sucked into a full on battle with Carpenteria they would be done for and the way he judged it they had only two more minutes before they had to disappear. He wondered at this moment if he should just pull his forces back or trust that Darren would get there on time.
Oran attacked the Dawn full on with his mobile suit and at first he thought he could hold the machine back but the Dawn stepped up and met his attack strongly. Darren was getting upset with how things had turned around, the aces were not supposed to be near enough to the hangar to response as quickly as they did, whoever fed the information had fed it falsely but Darren was determined to have some victory. He docked his energy surge cannon quickly and fired a long shot moving it through the base. It destroyed a large number of mobile suits and buildings. He then turned back and fought off the Aether then caused a distraction and moved past it at a high speed and toward the reactor.
"Meiko the Dawn is moving in your direction!" Trey yelled urgently to her, "you've got to get out of there if you're still not planning on using a mobile suit!" Meiko ignored his words and stood her ground right in front of the reactor, she then prepared her mind for what she knew she had to do. No matter what Trey and 6 said about her, drastic times called for drastic measures.
"I'm not fighting in a mobile suit!" Meiko exclaimed to him, "I made a vow that I will not break."
"To yourself!" Trey countered, "surely you can forgive yourself for breaking a vow to yourself at this point! We need to stop the Dawn before it kills everyone in this base!" Meiko understood that and she knew Trey knew that she knew that. Some times he did not understand her planning which was good for her. If he figured out what she was going to do now he would surely freak but she had no other option at this point. She would not break her vow, she could not!"
Kiran fought harder when he noticed some of his own units attacking him. He moved into defense mode and searched for Skye then saw the mobile suit move beside him.
"They've captured some of our units!" Skye declared to him, "including the fifth gundam, Athena!"
"What there was a fifth?" Kiran asked. He knew about the four elite weapons but he didn't know they had created a fifth, but then he realized what it must have been for. The UCN had been trying to recruit Meiko Virea for a long time, a new elite gundam would have been made in secret for the purpose of outfitting her should she choose to join. He then realized that his meeting with her in the Aeolus base was not on accident, it had also been set up to get her to come here today. He wondered what else was going on in the world that was planned by those that were above him politically. Right now he couldn't think about it though, he had to focus on stopping the X in their tracks.
"Skye!" Kiran yelled his new partners name, "I think we should…" But he was cut off by another gundam style mobile suit that flew at a very high speed toward the battlefield and attacked the Covenant.
"The Solemnity!" Skye declared. He recognized the angel of light rom the Gibraltar base, but what was it doing here and how did it arrive so fast.
"Move!" Kiran yelled jumping into the battlefield alongside the solemnity.
"3 has just entered the battlefield," Trey spoke with an edge in his voice to Oran, "Virea instructs that you back her up and get the enemies off the field." He then disappeared from the screen and Oran shook his head, this was getting too close to a team reunion for his taste but he did as he was told.
Darren flew over the reactor, he was here and now was the time to end this base. This would surely be a blow in the eyes of the WMPO and the UCN; they would start taking X seriously after this move. He hesitated for a second as he stared at the reactor and let memories and ideals of his life fill him. He wondered what his father would have done in this situation. Would this count as vengeance or justice? At this point he was loosing sight of everything that he knew was truth.
It was then as his hands brushed over the controls that he noticed something on his screen, he zoomed in and he saw her. A woman standing in front of the reactor, dangerously close from what he could tell. She had striking violet eyes and red hair but it was the look in her eyes that captured his attention. There was focus and strength but behind it all were the scars of pain that he recognized in his own life. Meiko stared up as the Dawn stopped before her and landed right in front of her, anger masked what was there before and it was like he could see a coldness inside her heart. She was playing her strength so well but at the same time there was buried there a tender weakness he knew that very many people could not see but he saw it so very clearly. This woman was angry and strong but she was also in pain.
"Move now and I won't fire," he announced to her, "just get out of here." He knew he was running out of time but he couldn't bring himself to destroy her, not like this.
Meiko looked up at the mobile suit and felt like it was easy as she reached deep into the recesses of her mind, pulling up feelings of things she had left so far behind and letting it consume her. She raised her head higher as the seed exploded in the back of her mind and igniting in a violent glow, she stared up at him and sent her thoughts into his mind.
"Why are you here?" She asked angrily. His instincts caused him to close his mind off before she could see too much but she attacked stronger, he had never felt anyone so anything like this before. He pushed back with a force and cried out for a moment as pain filled his mind but she released. He looked up to see her.
Meiko grasped her head and fell to her knees breathing hard and reeling from the pain as her mind felt like it had just been violently attacked, he was too strong for her. She was going to loose here, the super seed faded and her breathing still remained heavy as the machine backed a few inches. She closed her eyes and waited for a blast that never came as she heard a loud noised and a crash. She opened her eyes to see a mobile suit had come between her and the Dawn, something that she had never seen before. It glowed, almost as if it was on fire and it had a violent light to it as it stood there protecting and shielding her and the reactor from the Dawn.
Darren knew now he was too late as this new machine attacked him strongly, he defended and looked for an attack point. This machine was powerful in looks and as he analyzed it seemed to have a great many weapons on it's side.
"Pull back Darren," Ben's face appeared on his screen, "we failed in our main objective but we've captured enough enemy units now to make it worthwhile if we get out of here soon! Pull back!" Darren nodded and moved his machine out of the new suits range then turned at a high speed and fled. Meiko stood up from the ground as the flaming mobile suit still hovered nearby. The colors reminded her of the phoenix except this one's structure was nothing like the bird styled mobile suit she piloted. It turned for a second and seemed to look directly at her, then it turned and flew away from the base, disappearing completely.
"Who was that?" she heard Trey's voice but she was still awestruck.
"I don't know," Meiko responded to him staring after the machine, "but whoever it was I am sure we will be seeing more of them soon."
Kiran, Oran and Skye stood on the ground now as they had been commanded to get out of their mobile suits and wait for further orders from Cherran. The representative arrived to them with a girl following him and another pilot whose face was hidden by their helmet but Skye recognized the colors as the pilot of the Solemnity. Kiran then turned to see Meiko and Trey coming from the other side of the base, she seemed weaker than before but they were both alright. He wanted to move to see how his sister was after everything but he knew his place. Cherran paced before them, clearly distressed.
"You did good work today team," Cherran said, "good work considering the lack of warning. We suspect they did not meet their real objective because of a few different factors, but we are certain that they meant to level this base by destroying our nuclear reactor. Because of how fast to move everyone was that did not happen once again confirming that you are our top pilots. Besides how you reacted the WMPO earth division sent in their top pilot as you witnessed the Solemnity and we're getting ready to send a team after the X ship before it reaches X territroy." He then held up an electronic device, "this is it's projected path based on the tracers in the Athena mobile suit."
"If I would sir," the voice came from the WMPO pilot that still had a helmet on but the higher pitch confirmed her identity as a girl, "I would like to join your pilots on this mission." Meiko crossed her arms at this, wasn't three enough?
"That would be good," Cherran said to her he then motioned for the other girl, "this is the one we've appointed the pilot of the fourth elite mobile suit the Rhea, her name is Herai Overa." She smiled and bowed slightly. "She will stay and defend Carpenteria while pilot Dero will go with you." Kiran's head shot up at the name, Dero. It was then that she took her helmet off and let her short hair fall out of it.
"Yes Kiran," she said to him with a smile.
"Alicesia!" he exclaimed.
"You will leave soon," Cherran said to them all then turning to Kiran, "you two will have time to catch up then. Dismissed!" Cherran then walked toward Meiko and Trey as a flurry of activity stirred and everyone rushed to make things ready.
"I'm sorry you two had to experience all that but you see now what brutality we are up against," Cherran addressed to Meiko.
"it was no trouble sir I assure you," she responded, "we got to see the base in action and you have left me assured that you are doing everything you can to handle the threats. Everything ran efficiently and your plan to apprehend the enemy is good."
"It would be better if we could have you along Meiko," he spoke to her now in a more calmed and less formal tone, "we have no mobile suit for you…" She cut him off there.
"Sir I have not piloted one of those things in four years," She spoke directly as she remembered her feelings when she made her vow, "that being the case along with many other reasons I will forgo any offers to join the chase for X. I am heading home for I have not been there in too long and there are people awaiting my return." Cherran seemed disappointed by this but he knew what to expect from her.
"It's alright," he reassured her, "but if you ever do change your mind, no matter what the UCN seems like I am one of your people Meiko. I am a representative of the PLANTs and the nation of coordinators. If you ever need anything, any help just ask me and I will be there as you were today when you called in that flaming mobile suit." Meiko was taken aback by this but she understood, of course he thought that machine belonged to her based on it's color scheme. The flaming mobile suit seemed like it would go well with the Phoenix squad but she couldn't take any real credit for it's appearing. She had never seen it before in her life.
"I understand sir," she responded letting herself lie about it. Of course she would have to cover for the suit, anyone who was rogue out there was sure to be accused of something. These were dangerous times and she could not be too careful.
So the first chapter of GSI is officially done. I am excited about this story even if this has started out with action, rest assured once the story gets into swing I will develop the characters along. A lot happened in this chapter but I think it was all for a good set up. We had a lot of character introductions really crammed into here and I hope to explore them all deeply in the future.
Now I have set so many things up that I expect long reviews on what you all expect to happen within this story.
Survivor18 suggested I design my mobile suits so I am trying. Here are the first two, the Dawn and the Covenant. The others will follow in future chapters.
Dawn
Pilot - Darren Peters
Model Number: RFXM - 1D
Unit Power: Crystal+Medi-Nuclear Reactor
Armor/Color: Titanum Steel plates in Black, built up as primary defense, followed by another layer of strong defensive shields inside the shell of the mobile suit.
Equipment: Extreme Range Sensors, Special hacking system, Light Protected Armor barrier, Backup Berserk System known as X-Destroy
Weapons:
2 Beam sabers in the sides
4 armed beam sabers; two in each hand
6 Crystal Beam cannons in the forearms; 3 in each
2 Plasma heat beam canons in the hips
2 Missile launchers in the shoulders; 2 on each
Back Weapons Design:
1 Crystaline Energy surge cannon
Dragoon positive system with 8 cannons
Armed Weapons:
Shey Cannon
Covenant
Pilot - Tabrett Myra
Model Number: RFXM - 9F
Unit Power: Crystal+Medi-Nuclear Reactor
Armor/Color: Titanum Steel plates in Blue underneath a light phase armor, followed by another layer of strong defensive shields inside the shell of the mobile suit. Detailing is done in the color green.
Equipment: Extreme Range Sensors, Multi-light mirage system, Light Protected Armor barrier and heat absorbent armaments
Weapons:
2 Beam sabers in the sides
4 Light Beam cannons in the forearms; 2 in each
4 Plasma heat beam canons in the hips
2 Missile launchers in the shoulders; 2 on each
Back Weapons Design:
Specialized speed wings
Heavy artillery cannon to be armed
So that's that for now! REVEIW, REVIEW, REVIEW, REVIEW, REVIEW, REVIEW, REVIEW, REVIEW, REVIEW, REVIEW, REVIEW, REVIEW, REVIEW, REVIEW, REVIEW, REVIEW, REVIEW, REVIEW, REVIEW, REVIEW, REVIEW, REVIEW, REVIEW, REVIEW, REVIEW, REVIEW, REVIEW, REVIEW, REVIEW, REVIEW, REVIEW!
And thanks to all who have been reviewing
-WinterChill