"Looks like we have play date with destiny, my friend," Kai Uchida
Due to the universal effect that the Sparkling Mirage particles do to all other mobile suits within its area of effect, this makes the Mirage Gundam a machine best fit for solo battles against mass numbers of enemies. Since this machine is equipped with a prototype energy shield system based off of stolen Eurasian technology, the Mirage features very few beam weapons to better conserve its battery power. Because of this lack of a shield, the Mirage is forced to dodge most manner of attacks that comes its way. The constant dodging not only aids in spreading the Sparkling Mirage particles through a much wider area, but when the particle density of a particular area is great enough it can cause a confusing trail of after-images. It is with these abilities that make the Mirage is a very deadly Gundam.
Mobile Suit Serial Number: ZGMF-X72S Mirage Gundam
Unit type: prototype assault mobile suit
Powerplant: ultracompact energy battery
Equipment and Design Features:
"Armure Lumiere" mono-phase Lightwave shield, mounted on wrists
Deuterium Beam Energy Supply System
Sensors, range unknown
Sparkling Mirage particle system
Variable Phase Shift (VPS) armor
Fixed Armaments:
2 x MMI-GAU26 17.5mm CIWS, fire-linked, mounted in head
2 x MMI-M16E2 "Deluge" hyper-velocity rail cannon, mounted on shoulders
2 x MMI-557 "Divum" 8-meter VPS anti-ship switchblade sword, mounted on forearms
4 x 2-barrel AGM138 "Firebee" guided missile launchers, stored in waist armor
2 x M71-AAK "Folding Razor" anti-armor knife, stored in hip armor
Optional Hand Armaments:
1 x MA-BAR72 high-energy beam rifle, stored on rear waist
2 x MMI-M555 beam pistol, stored on hips
Pilot: Kai Uchida
Colors: Brown (chest, shoulders, knees, backpack), black (torso), white (body)
Info: This machine was originally inspired from the Cherudim Gundam, but features the same Mirage Colloid visual/sensor-jamming technology as the GAT-X264 Twilight in Maileesaeya's 'Mobile Suit Gundam SEED Dauntless' story.
"Heheheheh! War has never been this fun before!!" Aleron Delahaye
Mobile Suit Serial Number: GAT-SO2R Fantôme Blitz
Unit type: special operations mobile suit
Powerplant: ultracompact nuclear fission reactor
Equipment and Design Features:
Mirage Colloid
Neutron Jammer Canceller
Sensors, range unknown
Variable Phase Shift (VPS) armor
Fixed Armaments:
1 x "Hakenfaust" piercer lock, stored on left forearm
1 x DFH-S2026 "Schildgewehr" offensive shield system, mounted on right arm
1 x 70mm high-energy blaster, mounted on "Schildgewehr"
2 x rocket anchor, mounted in hands
1 x Mk315 "Stiletto" rocket-propelled anti-armor penetrator, stored in left waist armor
Optional Hand Armaments:
2 x DES-G07D+ anti-beam sword ("Himmel" long sword, "Holle" short sword), stored on right waist armor
2 x ES04B beam saber, stored on shoulder
Pilot: EX-C0666 Aleron Delahaye
Colors: Dark gray (body), white (highlights), yellow (head crest)
Info: This machine is one of the very few produced units that not only possess an N-Jammer Canceller, but Mirage Colloid; both of which are in direct violation to the Junius Treaty. This particular unit has been assigned to EX-C0666 Aleron Delahaye, who has had it upgraded with VPS armor and rigorously fine-tuned to himself.
Gundam SEED Destiny
The Mirage
by: Tellemicus Sundance
Phase 2—Those Who Call For War
Armory One
The Specter rammed it's sword through the chest of a mobile suit, piercing the cockpit and the pilot. Treize kicked the GuAIZ off his sword and glanced at his nearby teammates, just as a strange white mobile suit appeared. These pitiful mobile suits were of no interest to him. But the white machine...Well, that looked like it was something much more interesting. He quickly checked the Specter's library. There was no match.
"Of course. Those bastards hid this one from us." Treize said to himself. "No matter."
The white mobile suit reminded him of the famed Strike of the last war. Treize briefly wondered if this machine's pilot was as good as the late Kira Yamato had been. It didn't matter. He had bested Yamato dozens of times in simulators and he would defeat this one as well.
"Why is this happening?" demanded the pilot of the new machine. "Are trying to start another one? Another war?!" With that, the white machine charged the Gaia with its double sword.
Starting another war? Was guy really that foolish? Treize laughed as Stella ducked under twin swings from the newcomer, leaping back and firing her CIWS at him. He didn't attempt to dodge or defend, letting his armor take it, and retaliated with a beam rifle.
Clearly, he wasn't nearly as good as Yamato had been.
"Start another war? Of course we are! We exist only to fight in wars and kill people like you Coordinator! Like all soldiers do! If you're too weak to understand that than you don't belong in that machine!" he replied. "Allow me to fix that!!"
The Specter raced forward, its sword raised. Shinn separated his swords and crossed them together, blocking Treize's attack.
"Not bad. You've got some skill." Treize commented. "But you're no match for me."
Treize activated the Specter's powerful Vernier boosters, propelling it forward and knocking the Impulse to the ground. Shinn quickly started to get up, but Treize appeared above him, swinging his Tempest sword down. Shinn swung his own swords up, forcing Treize to pull back or be impaled on his blades. This allowed Shinn to get back on his feet. However, the Abyss appeared, swinging its spear down on the Impulse. Shinn countered by delivering a kick to the Abyss' mid-section. The Gaia, in its mobile armor mode, lunged at Shinn. The Impulse jumped up, dodging the mobile suit.
"Sting, Stella, Auel, surround him." Treize ordered. "We'll overwhelm him and take him apart."
That was when a loud cheer tore through the radio. It was a yell of pure exhilaration and excitement, one that Shinn had come quickly come to loathe for he knew what it meant. Seeing that the stolen quartet had also heard the cheer and were momentarily distracted, Shinn took advantage of this by jumping high into the air to put some distance between himself and the four thieves.
A second after he had done this, a shower of beams descended upon the four Gundams. The stolen machines were very quick to respond and shield themselves from the barrage, scattering into different directions in the process. Then, landing heavily upon the ground where the Impulse had formerly stood, a new Gundam appeared.
This new Gundam was a fairly simple in overall design. Its chest, shoulders, knees, and winged backpack were all a solid brown color with the rest of the machine the common white. Nestled on its backpack was a pair of rail cannons, which were folded back in standby mode. There was no visible shield attached to it anywhere, but in place of the missing shield were a pair of large switchblade swords. Gripped in its hands was a pair of beam pistols, both of which were aimed and quickly fired at the still-recovering Abyss.
"What's this?" Treize demanded irritably. He glanced at his machine's library, but there was no match. "Another new model? Our Intelligence division must be really lacking if they missed this one as well."
"Hey, buds, this is quite a party you've got going on here," the pilot called in a voice that was clearly mocking. "Mind if I join as well?"
"Damn you!!" Auel yelled as he blasted all his weapons towards the newcomer.
The new Gundam jumped back, but not quick enough to dodge the oncoming barrage. Just before the beams could incinerate the interloper, a wall of bright teal energy sprung to life from the machine's raised right wrist. After the attack had ceased, the thieves were able to get a quick glance at what the energy had been. It was some type of beam shield that strongly reminded them of the ones they'd once heard had been equipped to the Eurasian Hyperion mobile suits.
Dropping back to the ground, Shinn attempted to use the distraction provided to slice the Chaos apart with his Excalibur swords. However, it seemed that the pilot recovered quicker than he'd anticipated and dodged away.
"What took you so long, Kai?!" Shinn demanded hotly as he pursued the fleeing Chaos, with the Gaia lunging towards him from the side.
"Most people thank the person who'd just saved their lives," Kai pointed out nonchalantly as he pressed his assault on the Abyss while using his Armure Lumiere to block the Specter's shots.
"I didn't need your help!" Shinn cried, venting his anger and embarrassment by trying to kick away the persistent Gaia, and succeeded in knocking it off balance.
"Sure," his fellow Gundam pilot replied, drawling in a teasing manner. "You're welcome."
THE MIRAGE – Mobile Suit Gundam SEED Destiny – THE MIRAGE
Suiren groaned as she returned to consciousness. She opened her eyes and then blinked several times, bringing the world back into focus. Suiren then checked that she was still in one piece. Aside from some scrapes and bruises, she was fine. She got back up onto her feet and looked around.
The area was a warzone, complete with wreckage and bodies littering the area. But she could still hear the sounds of combat. The intruders will still inside Armory One. Suiren knew she needed to get to a mobile suit and help stop those bastards. After all, no one knew the Specter like she did.
She started running through the area, looking for a mobile suit that she could use. But the four intruders had been very efficient. Taking out many of the hangars before the pilots could even get to their machines.
'Come on! There has to be something they missed!' she thought as she desperately searched for a usable mobile suit. 'I'll take anything! Even an old GINN!'
That's when she saw it. One of the limited production ZAKU Phantom High Maneuver Types, lying half outside a ruined hangar. The ZAKU HM Types had been designed as a ZAKU variant for elite veteran combat units, chief among them being the 11th Autonomous Mobile Fleet. While they lacked the ability to mount Wizard Packs, like the normal ZAKU, they possessed a flightpack and the lightwave pulse thrusters of previous HM units instead.
Suiren climbed into the ZAKU's cockpit and started it up. Crossing her fingers and hoping that it hadn't been damaged internally. After a brief moment, the ZAKU had successfully powered up. Suiren pulled the mobile suit back onto its feet. Everything was working properly so far. She quickly checked all of her systems; all green. Next: weapons.
Unfortunately, that is where her luck ran out. The ZAKU's rifle had been badly damaged in the explosion and was useless. Leaving her with only the ZAKU's beam tomahawk and grenades.
"Still better than nothing." Suiren said as she started heading for where the mobile suits battling.
But she stopped when she spotted a group of ZAFT personnel trying to dig out a pair of ZAKUs from underneath a pile of debris. There were a semi-familiar pair of Red Coats were with them; Rey Za Burrel and Lunamaria Hawke, if she remembered correctly.
"Get out of the way," she said to the people on the ground. "I'll dig them out for you."
The crews quickly backed away from the two machines, allowing her to clear the debris off of them. Rey and Luna both quickly climbed into their machines and powered them up. "Thanks, Suiren." Rey politely said to her as his ZAKU Phantom stood up.
"Yeah. Thanks for helping us out," Luna added as her own red machine got off the ground.
"Don't mention it," Suiren replied as she grabbed a beam assault rifle from a half destroyed ZAKU. "Come on. We need to take these guys down before they can cause anymore damage."
"Right," both pilots said as they headed for the battle.
Suiren opened a private channel to Rey. "Rey, you might want to stay clear of the Specter. Its pilot has a presence that is...unpleasant."
Suiren had never felt anyone like that white haired intruder. She had never encountered anyone that felt so...so wrong. Like he was something that never should have been brought into existence. She didn't like the idea of being near him again. But he had stolen her machine right in front of her and Suiren couldn't let such an insult slide.
"I understand."
THE MIRAGE – Mobile Suit Gundam SEED Destiny – THE MIRAGE
Shinn grit his teeth as he blocked the descending spear of the Abyss with his swords. But the moment he blocked the shot, the Gaia tackled him, sending the Impulse to the ground. As he picked himself off the ground, the Abyss suddenly opened fire with its Callidus multi-phase cannon down upon him. At that close range, Shinn had no chance at dodging so he resorted to catching the attack on his shield. The force of the attack knocked the Impulse away, which Shinn capitalized on by boosting his engines and riding the large beam away from his opponents. Landing roughly in a kneeled position, he quickly surveyed the battle between the Chaos, Specter, and the Mirage.
The Mirage had holstered its left beam pistol and snapped its Divum switchblade forward. Now it was attempting to block the savage swings of the rampaging Specter's Tempest beam sword while sending an occasion shot towards the Chaos whenever the Specter pulled back far enough to allow Kai to make a clear shot.
Just from watching that battle, Shinn had to admit that while the pilots of the Gaia, the Chaos, and the Abyss were skilled, the Specter's pilot was on a whole other level. He had never fought someone, either in a simulator or training matches, with his level of skill. Kai was a…respectably good pilot, even if he was wild and undisciplined. But it was clear that he couldn't stand against the Specter's pilot for too long. Shinn hated to admit it, but he wasn't sure if he could beat him one on one. Much less take him when it was two against four.
Instantly returning his attention to the battlefield, Shinn once again rushed the Gaia with his Excalibur swords raised high. The two Gundams clashed together, saber and shield against beam sword and beam sword, in a clash of brute strength.
As that battle was taking place, things were taking a turn for the worst for the Mirage. The Specter had knocked its pistol from its hand and cleanly hacked off the entire left arm at the shoulder. Kai had immediately pulled the Mirage away, flying up into the air to better maneuver as he began blasting at the rogue Gundam with his Deluge rail cannons. But the Specter was a machine designed and built for high speed maneuvers; it easily dodged all of Kai's best shots and returned fire with its revolvers mercilessly.
Taking fire from the Specter was chore enough, but when the Chaos joined in, it took on a whole new level of difficulty. If not for his beam shield, several of those attacks would've killed Kai when he was unable to properly dodge. Then, as his attention shifted to the Chaos, the Specter raced forward and kicked the injured Gundam mightily to the ground below, causing the asphalt to crack and shatter beneath the heavy machine.
And Kai was loudly laughing throughout the entire ordeal.
While the Gaia and Impulse continued to clash and the Specter was descending upon the Mirage, a CGUE and a quartet DINNs appeared, firing on the stolen machines. The Chaos and the Abyss turned and engaged the mobile suits, quickly wiping them out while the Specter stood over the Mirage, its foot pinning the brown Gundam to the ground. Its Tempest sword was raised above the Mirage's chest, causing Kai's eyes to widen in anticipation while Treize smirked.
Suddenly, the one armed ZAKU Warrior lunged at the Specter with its tomahawk, allowing Kai to get back up. As Treize was forced to hurriedly deal with the unexpected threat, Kai moved his Gundam into an attack stance with its remaining Divum sword swinging forward in preparation.
Athrun swung his axe down. But Treize blocked it with his shield and before Athrun could react, thrust his sword into the side of the arm holding the axe, severing it. Treize then grabbed the ZAKU, turning it around and using it as a shield. Athrun swore as he tried to get them out of the Specter's grip, but there was little he could do. Cagalli, Flay, and himself were now little more than a human shield for the Specter.
"Are you really that desperate?" Kai asked in his usual unconcerned voice.
"Only cowards and weaklings don't use all resources on the battlefield," Treize said with a sneer. "What will it be? Gonna attack me at the cost of his life?"
"Hmmm," Kai answered, humming loudly over the radio in an exaggerated show of thinking it over. "…Maybe."
Despite himself, Treize found himself sneering at the unknown Gundam's pilot. If he didn't know any better, he'd almost call that guy an Extended if that was his normal attitude and response.
"Hey, I just got an idea!" the pilot exclaimed suddenly in an eager voice. "Let me show you why my machine is called the Mirage!"
A split second later, small vents that covered most of the armor and the winged backpack suddenly slid open. A high-pressured spray of dust-like particles that sparkled in the light spewed forth and filled the air around the Gundam. As he watched, the newly-named Mirage Gundam's outline on his monitor suddenly grew fuzzy as it ignited its engines and shot up into the air, a faint trail of the sparkling particles following it, filling the air like a dust. As the Mirage flew off in a large circle around the Specter, Treize immediately noticed something wrong.
The dust had quickly created a faint sparkling fog that filled the immediate area around the battling Gundams. The strange dust fogged up his machine's cameras and sensors, making it very difficult to see what was happening around him. In fact it was like trying to see through a pair of goggles that had been fogged up by humidity. The danger of this was made especially clear when his awareness roared to life, causing him to drop the captured ZAKU and jump backwards as a pair of railgun shots tore through the airspace that the Specter had formerly occupied.
Unprepared for the release, the ZAKU crashed to the ground. Athrun was fine in the pilot's chair and Flay managed to brace herself against the side of the cockpit, reducing the impact on her. But Cagalli wasn't so lucky. Her head slammed against the side of the cockpit and she fell onto Athrun.
"Cagalli!!" a worried Athrun shouted.
She was unconscious and bleeding from a head injury. He had to get her out of here now. He got the ZAKU back onto its feet and took off.
The ZAKU's departure didn't even register on the minds of Kai or the Extended. Growling angrily, Treize boosted his machine's powerful vernier thrusters to send him rocketing skywards out of the accursed particle dust.
As he exited the cloud, the Specter's cameras and sensors finally cleared themselves and he was able to see properly. Below him, he watched as the dust quickly began to settle and disappear, but nothing within the cloud had a clear image. He watched as the fuzzy white and brown silhouette below him suddenly charged out of the cloud, railguns flaring as it cocked its remaining arm back. It was child's play for Treize to dodge the railguns. But when he dodged the charging Mirage's slash, his Specter's cameras were once again fogged up by the particles. He watched as the blurry image of the Mirage swooped around and came back towards him, its pilot letting out an obnoxious cheer as it did so.
Their swords clashed once again as Treize was forced to reevaluate his opinion of that unknown machine. The pilot had called it the Mirage. An aptly named mobile suit if this strange particle effect was its purpose and special weapon system. This Gundam would most definitely be worth the effort of capturing, once he and the Second Generation Extended had fulfilled their current mission of course.
Meanwhile, Shinn drew his rifle and fired at the Chaos. Sting fired up his engines and launched himself higher into the air. Most of Shinn's shots missed, while the few that did find their mark hit his shield. As Shinn flew up to engage the Chaos at close range, the Abyss fired its Callidus beam cannon again from the side. Shinn jumped back, narrowly missing the beam. As the Impulse landed, the Gaia appeared with its beam rifle firing at the Impulse. Shinn struggled to dodge his shots.
Auel fired his shoulder fin cannons at the white machine, causing Shinn to dive to the right to avoid the strafing beams. But as he did, Sting fired in his path. The beam hit the ground in front of Shinn. The explosion knocked the Impulse back and knocked away its rifle. This caused Sting and Auel to snicker.
"You're not too smart, are you? You stupid rookie," Sting barked arrogantly. "I knew that if I fired at you, you would most likely move to your right to dodge it. Quite predictable. Your machine might be an excellent mobile suit. But it's clearly wasted on an inferior pilot like yourself."
"Shut up!" Shinn shouted as he stood back up, grabbing the beam boomerangs from his Silhouette and hurled them towards the green Gundam.
As Treize was rushing forward to cleave the Mirage in half with his Tempest sword, he suddenly stopped as he felt a pair of pulses and a trio of beams shot pass him. Had he been moving forward, the beams would have hit him. Both pilots, as well the other Extended, turned towards the source of the beams.
"Hey, thief! You have something that belongs to me!" Suiren shouted, firing at the Specter as Luna and Rey fired on other stolen mobile suits. "And I want it back!"
"Patience, girl. I will get to you in good time." Treize said, dodging her shots and drawing one of his beam revolvers.
Sting and Stella quickly joined him up in the air, firing back at their new opponents with their beam rifles. Auel was busy keeping the white Gundam pinned down by firing the beam guns mounted on the Abyss' shoulder fins. Suiren, Luna and Rey evaded the shots as they returned fire with their beam assault rifles at the four.
As this was going on, Shinn rushed towards where he had accidentally dropped one of the Impulse's swords earlier as he dodged the Abyss' attacks. Treize glanced at the Impulse.
"Sorry. I can't allow you to do that, inferior one." he said, rushing after Shinn and raising his sword.
But just as he reached the Impulse, Shinn grabbed his swords and spun around. Two blades met one. Shinn and Treize battled to overpower the other. As they clashed, Suiren drew her tomahawk and rushed towards the Specter. Just as she reached him, Treize hit the Specter's verniers and shot up into the air. Suiren swore as she stopped her charge. Treize kicked Suiren's ZAKU from behind, slamming it into the Impulse.
Auel fired his beam guns at Rey's ZAKU, forcing Rey to duck under his shots, drawing his tomahawk as he did. Rey lunged forward, swinging his axe. Auel blocked Rey's attack with his spear, and then followed up with a knee into the ZAKU's chest. Elsewhere, Sting and Stella traded shots with Luna. The beams from the Extended forced Luna to take cover behind the wreckage of a hangar. Luna reached for one of her ZAKU's grenades.
"Let's see how you like this!" Luna said, tossing the grenade at the pair.
The grenade landed between the Chaos and the Gaia. The two pilots dove away just as it went off, allowing Luna to fire back at them.
"Luna!" Kai cried out happily, the Mirage (no longer emitting the disruptive particles) dropped down next to the red ZAKU. "How are you doing on this beautiful day?"
"Shut up, Kai, and keep your mind on the mission!" Luna yelled angrily as she ducked behind another building when the Chaos and Gaia opened fire again.
"Aw, don't be like that, sweetie," Kai pouted, as he absentmindedly activated his beam shield to catch the barrage. "It's not good to stress over such minor things as this, you know?"
THE MIRAGE – Mobile Suit Gundam SEED Destiny – THE MIRAGE
Outside Armory One
Unbeknownst to the ZAFT forces at Armory One, the Girty Lue, cloaked under its Mirage Colloid, closed in on the ZAFT spaceport and nearby vessels. Its hangars open. A Blu Duel, a Fantôme Blitz, a Rosso Aegis, a Strike Noir, and a Verde Buster were launched. The Strike, the Buster, and the Blitz slowly headed for the spaceport while the Duel and the Aegis were headed towards one of the patrol ships.
The trio of mobile suits slowly headed for the dock, undetected by any of the ZAFT ship or those in the spaceport command center. Mariemaia Zabiarov grinned as she piloted her Strike Noir towards the unsuspecting Coordinators. She glanced over the Fantôme Blitz that was at her side, and then back at the lagging Verde Buster. She stopped and grabbed the Buster's arm, opening a private contact channel. "Come on, Rezin! Hurry up! I wanna hear the beautiful music...of dying Coordinators!"
"Don't worry Maia. We'll make it in time to start the attack. And we'll make a lot of music." Rezin replied, glancing out at the PLANTs. "Shame we can't stay to crush the Patchworkers' feeble hourglasses as well."
Inside the Blitz, Aleron grinned with dark anticipation. "There's going to be a war soon," he muttered to himself. "A war on a gigantic scale, I can't wait!"
The three Extended reached the dock, keeping out of sight. Three Laurasia-class warships were inside. All unaware of what was about to happen.
Elsewhere, the Blu Duel and Rosso Aegis silently approached the underside of a patrolling Nazca-class.
"How typical of the Coordinators to rely upon their technology and distance from Earth to protect them," Reccoa commented. "How fitting that we should kill them where they feel safest."
Aboard the hidden Girty Lue, Captain Neo Roanoke glanced at his watch. By now, the Lieutenant and the others should have stolen the machines and would soon be making their escape. "Sir, the mobile suit team is in position." one of the Girty Lue's officers said.
Neo nodded. "Activate Gottfrieds. Load missile tubes with Sledgehammers. Target the port Nazca-classes. Fire!"
The Girty Lue's Gottfrieds fired. The beams tore the first Nazca-class. The Girty Lue's Mirage Colloid deactivated as it let loose a barrage of missiles at the second ZAFT warship, destroying it too.
Gyunei grinned, igniting his arm mounted beam sabers. "Time to cast you out into the void, Space Aliens!" he yelled, moving in front of the warship.
He roared, charging at the ship's hangar. He drove the blades into the hangar, cutting a strip out of it. Gyunei pushed the Rosso Aegis's chest up against the hole. He fired several beams from his Scylla II cannon into the hangar. Explosions blossomed across the ship's hull. A moment later, the ship exploded.
Alarms went off in the spaceport control room. The Laurasia-class ships started to leave the dock, heading to attack the intruder. "Let's get it started!" Rezin shouted. "For the Preservation of our Blue and Pure World!!"
"Yeah!!" Maia shouted, hitting a button on her console. Rock music blared into her cockpit and every channel. "For the Preservation of our Blue and Pure World!!"
"Let the war begin!" Aleron roared as his machine dropped its own Mirage Colloid and he opened fire on the Laurasia's bridge.
Confusion reigned across the ZAFT forces in the dock and nearby it. An unknown ship had just appeared and destroyed two ZAFT vessels while a third had been taken down by a mobile suit. And now the comm channels were all filled with music preventing them from effectively communicating with the nearby ZAFT vessels and even those within Armory One.
Before those inside the warships and the dock itself could react, beams and missiles tore through the hangar. A beam tore through the bridge of the first Laurasia-class, sending it crashing into the dock floor. Several of the Verde Buster's beams and missiles tore through the thrusters of the second Laurasia-class, causing it to crash into the spaceport control room. Beams from the Fantôme Blitz reduced the last Laurasia's engines and hull to Swish cheese, moments before it was engulfed in a large explosion.
THE MIRAGE – Mobile Suit Gundam SEED Destiny – THE MIRAGE
Armory One
Everyone stopped as they felt the vibrations from the battle outside the colony. "Damn." Treize said, glancing up. "Sting, Stella, Auel. We're leaving."
"Aw... Already?" Auel whined. "What about those two?"
"Leave them. Our orders are to take these machines back to the ship. We can deal with that one at a later date." Trezie replied. "It's time to leave."
The Specter, the Gaia, the Abyss and the Chaos took off, heading towards a distant section of the colony wall. "Come on. We're not going to let these guys escape." Suiren said, taking off after them.
Shinn, Rey, and Luna followed her, firing at the fleeing Extended. But a few moments after they took to the air, one of the thrusters on her ZAKU, exploded.
"Lunamaria! Are you alright?" Rey called out as Luna's ZAKU started falling back.
"I'm fine. But I can't sustain my altitude."
"There's nothing you can do. Fallback to the Minerva." Rey said.
"Right," Luna said as her red ZAKU pulled away from the group.
"I'll go with you," Kai suggested, sounding a little too eager as the Mirage flew up to the ZAKU, carrying its bisected arm as if to prove the blatantly obvious statement. "I'm low on power and my Gundam's rather banged up."
"Hurry up, you two," Suiren barked, cutting off any type of reply that Lunamaria might've had in response, her eyes never leaving her target.
A warning light went off in Shinn's cockpit. The Impulse was running low on power. Fortunately, running low on power wasn't a serious problem for the Impulse. So long as it wasn't cut off from the Minerva anyway. "Meyrin. Launch the Force Silhouette." Shinn said, calling the warship.
"Roger. Launching Force Silhouette now."
A moment later, a flyer was launched from Minerva. Shinn detached the Sword Silhouette and deactivated Impulse's phase shift. The Force Silhouette then attached itself to the Impulse back, boosting the Impulse's battery. Its gray armor turned white and blue.
'Interesting. So that machine is indeed heavily modeled after the GAT-X105 Strike.' Treize thought as he watched the Impulse. 'Figures. One of the best weapons the Coordinators have is ripped off from one of our original machines.'
The Impulse and the ZAKUs started firing at them. The four Extended evaded the shots as they continued towards the colony wall. A beam from the Impulse narrowly missed the Gaia's side. Stella let out a frustrated growl as she turned around and fired on the Impulse. Shinn sidestepped her shots and continued to fire on her.
THE MIRAGE – Mobile Suit Gundam SEED Destiny – THE MIRAGE
Outside Armory One
"C'mon Coordinators! Dance to my music!" Maia said as she fired on a pair of GuAIZ Rs, destroying them. "No, no, no. That was terrible."
Another GuAIZ appeared, firing on her. Maia sidestepped the beams. "Okay. Once more. With feeling this time." she said, firing back on the mobile suit.
A beam tore through the GuAIZ's right knee. Another beam severed its left shoulder. The damaged GuAIZ staggered back. But Maia didn't let up. She continued to fire on the ZAFT machine. Blowing off its head and remaining limbs. "That's better. Still not good, but better." the Extended said, aiming at the GuAIZ's torso. A shot rang out and a GuAIZ exploded.
The Verde Buster fired its beam cannon and gun launcher at a Nazca-class, hitting the warship's hangar as a GuAIZ R was about to launch. Rezin laughed as a fireball consumed the entire hangar and its mobile suits. The Rosso Aegis, in its mobile armor mode, grabbed a CGUE in its limbs. Gyunei smirked as he squeezed the mobile suit, crushing its body.
"Oops... I broke this one." he said, laughing. "Someone bring me another one!"
A pair of GuAIZs fired at him. "You'll do!"
He fired his Scylla II cannon. The beam pierced one GuAIZ as the other tried to dodge it. But he was unprepared for the curving nature of the beam and was hit too.
More ZAFT mobile suits approached the five Extended pilots. Reccoa fired her beam guns, taking down a trio of GuAIZs and a CGUE. "Pathetic." she said. "These Coordinators are utterly hopeless."
"Heheheheh! War has never been this fun before!" Aleron roared gleefully. He launched his Hakenfaust into the cockpit of a GuAIZ R, gutting it as he yanked on the cable and retrieved the weapon. At the same time, he aimed his Schildgewehr's beam rifle to the other side and blew apart a Blaze ZAKU as it tried to launch its missiles at him. Spinning around, he charged a pair of Gunner ZAKUs as he drew his Fantôme Blitz's Himmel sword.
"What's taking them so long?" Gyunei impatiently asked, slicing a pair of GuAIZs in two. "I thought this was supposed to be a quick grab and run. Don't tell that Big Bad Treize is losing his touch."
"Hey! You better watch your mouth." Maia shot back, firing her rifles' grenades at Laurasia-class. "Big brother won't like hearing that. He'll kill you for saying that."
Elsewhere, aboard the Girty Lue, Neo was growing impatient as well. He had expected better of Treize. Out of all of the Extended, Treize was the best and normally the most reliable of all three generations that had come out of the labs. Even an unexpected problem shouldn't have kept him busy for long.
While the combat abilities of the Extended were incredibly high, even they would eventually be overwhelmed by the sheer numbers of the ZAFT forces undoubtedly heading to aid the surviving forces of Armory One.
"Have my Exus prepped for launch." he said, rising from his seat.
THE MIRAGE – Mobile Suit Gundam SEED Destiny – THE MIRAGE
The Extended were finally nearing the colony wall. Unfortunately, Stella had become obsessed with destroying the Impulse. As a result, she was dangerously lagging behind. "Come on, Stella!" Sting called out as he fired at Rey's ZAKU. "We need to get out of here!"
"No! I can beat him! I will beat him!!" Stella yelled back as she swung a beam saber at the Impulse.
Shinn blocked the saber with one of his own and then slammed his shield into the Gaia's chest. Knocking the black machine back. "Fine then." Auel said with a smirk. "I'll guess you'll just stay here and die!"
Stella froze. Her eyes widened as her body trembled. "Die... Am I going to die? NO!!! I don't want to die!!" she screamed, rushing towards the colony wall.
"Idiot!!!" Treize shouted as he fired his beam revolvers at Suiren. "Why the hell did you use her block word?!"
"Hey. It got her moving, didn't it?" Auel replied in his defense.
As the ZAFT pilots and the three remaining Extended pilots battled, Stella reached the colony, firing at it. Desperate to get back to the Girty Lue. Back to Neo. Back to where she'd be safe. Her beams slammed into the wall, damaging it. She continued to fire.
"Dammit." Shinn swore as he watched the Gaia fire upon the colony wall. He had to stop them from damaging the colony any further. He raced toward the Gaia, when the Specter shot out in front of him.
Treize fired at him, forcing Shinn back. "Not so fast, inferior one. You have to get through me first."
Suddenly, a beam tomahawk flew towards the Specter, forcing to dive out of the way. "I don't think so." Suiren said, bringing her ZAKU Phantom towards the pair. "Shinn, stop the Gaia. I'll deal with--"
She was cut off as the Chaos's mobile weapon pods fired on her. But Suiren managed to evade Sting's shots. "You seem to have forgotten that there's three of us here." Sting said, firing his rifle and pods on her.
Suiren swore as she dodged his beams. She wasn't a big fan of DRAGOONs and similar weapons. They were a pain in the ass to fight against. Even for one with her level of awareness. Though luckily for her, she could tell that this pilot lacked the level of awareness that would enable him to use it to the maximum potential. If the pilot had been like her or Rey or the white haired pilot, she would have been in serious trouble. She could handle this guy one on one.
THE MIRAGE – Mobile Suit Gundam SEED Destiny – THE MIRAGE
ZAFT Aid Station
"Who's in charge here?!" Durandal asked as he and his bodyguards approached. "I need a status report now!"
Ian Kessel and a ZAFT officer approached the group. "Chairman, it's not safe here." Ian said. "Please sir, get to a shelter."
"How can I head for shelter when I don't even know what's going on?!" Durandal argued.
Ian sighed. He opened his mouth to say something, when a ZAFT officer approached the group. "Sirs. We still can't reach Dock Control or the outside."
Ian shook his head. "You want to know what's happening, everything's gone south. Our GuAIZs and older mobile suits are torn apart by the stolen prototypes while most of our ZAKUs were either destroyed or badly damaged in the first minutes of the attack. And we have no idea what's happening outside the colony." he explained. "Now please sir, at least get to the Minerva. There's not much you can do here and if worse comes to worse, the Minerva will be able to get you to safety."
Durandal scowled as he glanced at the docked warship. "Fine."
THE MIRAGE – Mobile Suit Gundam SEED Destiny – THE MIRAGE
Outside Armory One
A trio of GuAIZs headed for the five Extended pilots, only to be suddenly cut down by three barrages of shots from three different directions, destroying all of them. Neo recalled his Exus's gun pods as he glanced at Armory One, looking for some sign of the other team.
It didn't take him long. He spotted a portion of the colony wall glowing red from weapons fire. They were blasting through the colony. "Rezin." Neo called out. "Have you ever blown a hole in a colony?"
"No, sir, not yet," came her reply.
"Well, now's your chance. Treize's team is trying to punch out a hole for their escape. These are their coordinates. Use your remaining missiles and help them out." he ordered. "Everyone else head back to the ship."
"With pleasure, sir." Rezin said, heading for the site as the Strike Noir, Blu Duel, Fantôme Blitz, and Rosso Aegis returned to the Girty Lue.
When Rezin reached the site, she unloaded her missiles. They hit the already weakened wall as Stella fired another barrage. It was too much for much for the wall. It exploded.
The ZAFT pilots all gasped as an explosion tore through the colony wall. An instant later, air started being sucked into space. Pulling the Gaia outside the colony. Treize smirked as he pulled away from the Impulse. "Sting, Auel, the door's been opened. Let's go."
The Chaos's pods reattached themselves. "Roger. Withdrawing."
Rey and Auel clashed. Tomahawk met spear. But Auel won. Cutting through the handle of the tomahawk, just above the ZAKU's hand. Auel grinned, spinning his spear. The butt of the weapon hit the white mobile suit, knocking it aside and allowing Auel to regroup with his teammates. "I'm coming."
The trio fled into the gaping hole, escaping into space.
"Shinn, Rey, come on. We're not gonna let these bastards go home after all they've done." Suiren said, racing after them.
"But we're running low on power. We may not be able to chase after them for much longer." Rey argued. "Plus we don't know what's happening outside. We could be walking into a trap."
Shinn shook his head and followed Suiren. "We can't just let them escape. Not after what's happened."
"One thing you need to learn about being a combat pilot Rey, taking risks is part of our job. There's a time for playing it safe and there's time for taking risks." Suiren said. "And this is a time to take a risk. If we let them get away here, we may not ever catch them again."
Rey sighed. But ultimately, he followed after his comrades.
THE MIRAGE – Mobile Suit Gundam SEED Destiny – THE MIRAGE
The Minerva's Bridge
Talia Gladys, Captain of the Minerva, scowled as they watched the Impulse and the ZAKUs fly through the hole in the colony.
"Captain!" Meyrin Hawke, the Minerva's Combat Information Control Officer, called out. "The Impulse is running low on power! Only three hundred seconds at most!"
Talia stood up from her chair. "We cannot afford to lose the Impulse as well. Prepare the Minerva for launch." She turned to the ship's guest. "I trust you don't have a problem with that, Chairman."
"No." Durandal quietly replied. "We really have no other choice at this point."
"Commence Minerva launch sequence." the Minerva's XO, Arthur Trine said over the intercom. "The ship is now switching to combat status."
"Gunnery crews, FCS contact. All personnel set all projectile weapons to Grade One."
Talia turned to Durandal again. "Mr. Chairman, please disembark now."
"No, Talia. This is not a situation where I can just stay behind and wait for reports." he replied. "I have duties along with my authority. I will accompany this vessel. Please allow it."
Talia just shook her head. There was little she could. If he wished to stay on board, she didn't have the authority to stop him.
THE MIRAGE – Mobile Suit Gundam SEED Destiny – THE MIRAGE
Athrun landed the damaged ZAKU onto the open catapult of the new ZAFT warship. Cagalli had regained consciousness, but was still in a daze and possibly had a concussion. Athrun parked the ZAKU in the Minerva's hangar and opened its cockpit hatch. He and Cagalli left first, riding the cable down to the ground.
"You there! Don't move." a violet haired girl in a Red Coat uniform ordered, a gun trained on them. "Who are you? And how did you get aboard that ZAKU?"
More ZAFT soldiers, as well as members of the hangar crew and five regular ZAFT pilots gathered around her, unsure of what was going on.
"Hey, calm down, Luna," a navy-haired Green Coat said in a nonchalant voice. "No need to go—"
"Shut up, Kai!" the Red Coat barked, her gaze not leaving the intruding trio.
"Lower your weapon," Athrun replied, bringing the slight spectacle that the Green Coat was causing to a premature end and stepping forward slightly. "This is the Chief Representative of Orb. Cagalli Yula Athha. I am one of her attendants, Alex Dino." He then gestured at Flay, who had reached the ground. "And this is her assistant, Flay Allster. We were caught up in the commotion during our meeting with Chairman Durandal. And since we were unable to find shelter, we were forced to borrow this machine to protect ourselves."
Luna and the soldiers lowered their weapons. "Orb's Chief Representative?" a very confused Luna asked. "But why would she be here?"
"The Representative has been injured!" Athrun said. "She needs medical attention. And is the Chairman aboard this ship? If so, we need to see him immediately."
Luna nodded. She wasn't really sure what to do. So she figured that she would have to take them to the Captain to get this all sorted out.
THE MIRAGE – Mobile Suit Gundam SEED Destiny – THE MIRAGE
Outside Armory One
As the three ZAFT pilots entered space through the hole, both Rey and Suiren felt a presence. Suiren's eyes widened. "Look out!" she shouted.
Beams rained down on them from a number of different angles. A beam blasted the Impluse's shield from its hand. Another grazed the left side of Rey's Phantom, carving a gash on its head. A third beam severed the right shield of Suiren's ZAKU But thanks to her warning, those were the only beams that hit them.
"So this is what was keeping Treize and the others busy." Neo said as he continued his attack. "It's my fault. I should have expected there to be more prototypes we weren't aware of."
Shinn, Suiren and Rey struggled to evade the beams from the Exus' gunbarrels. They had all seen the intruders' ship. But there was little they could do while they fought just to evade the beams. "Dammit! Where the hell are all these beams coming from?" exclaimed Shinn.
"Gunbarrels," Suiren replied. "Just like our DRAGOON system. Only wire-guided. One guy can attack from multiple directions at once. Making it difficult to fight such machines. Especially against someone that can use them to their maximum potential. Just focus on staying alive."
Suiren took aim as she continued to dodge Neo's shots. This was the tricky part: trying to track something that was almost always moving while having to dodge the shots of the gunbarrels. It required a great deal of skill and luck. She fired. A beam pierced a gunbarrel. But just after she fired, another gunbarrel fired at her, hitting her rifle. Suiren swore as Rey and Shinn fired their own rifles at the mobile weapons. Shinn's shots were too slow. Utterly missing his targets. Rey did a bit better. Able to better predict where the weapons were going, but he still missed his targets.
Neo smirked. "Not bad, but not good enough. Now I'll take that fifth one if you don't mind."
But at that moment, a massive set of doors on Armory One started to open. Everyone stopped and turned to the doors. The doors finished opening, revealing the Minerva. The dock clamps detached themselves from the ship. The Minerva took off, its wings unfolding.
(Author's Note) Well, here it is. The grand unveiling of the two new Gundams in my version of this story.
Although I understand Maileesaeya and Akatsuki Leader13's likely reasons for not using it, it has always annoyed me that they didn't include a Blitz-type mobile suit with the rest of the G-Weapon successor units. So here's the one I decided to use, I hope I can use it and its pilot appropriately in the coming chapters. And I wonder what your all opinions are of my beloved Mirage Gundam?
"I wanna hear the beautiful music...of dying Coordinators!" Mariemaia 'Maia' Zabiarov
Mobile Suit Serial Number: GAT-X105E+AQM/E-X09S 'Strike Noir'
Unit Type: prototype all-purpose multi-mode mobile suit
Powerplant: Ultracompact energy battery
Equipment and Design Features:
Variable Phase Shift (VPS) Armor
Enhanced power unit
Hard points, for mounting Striker packs
Armaments:
2 x M2M5 "Todesschrecken" 12.5mm automatic CIWS, fire-linked, mounted in head
4 x EQS1358 rocket anchor, mounted in hands and feet
2 x M8F-SB1 "Shorty" beam rifle, stored on hips
2 x MR-Q10 "Fragarach" 3 beam blade, mounted on Noir
1 x EQS1358T rocket anchor, mounted on Noir Striker
2 x MAU-M3E42 linked linear gun, mounted on Noir Striker
2 x 57mm high-energy beam rifle, with 175mm grenade launcher
Pilot: EX-C1004 Mariemaia Zabiarov
Color: Default colors
Info: The successor of the famed X105 Strike of the Blood Valentine War. This particular unit has been assigned to EX-C1004 Mariemaia Zabiarov. The youngest of the surviving Third Generation Extended and little 'sister' of Treize Zabiarov.
"Shame we can't stay to crush the Patchworkers' feeble hourglasses as well." Rezin Bidan
Mobile Suit Serial Number: GAT-X103AP 'Verde Buster'
Unit Type: Prototype artillery mobile suit
Powerplant: Ultracompact energy battery
Equipment and Design Features:
Variable Phase Shift (VPS) armor
Armaments:
1 x 94mm high-energy beam cannon, mounted on backpack over left shoulder
1 x 350mm gun launcher, mounted on backpack over right shoulder
2 x 6-tube 220mm multipurpose missile launcher, mounted on shoulders
2 x M9009B composite bayonet-equipped beam rifle, can be combined into one rifle
Pilot: EX-C0607 Rezin Bidan
Color: Default colors
Info: The successor of the X103 Buster of the Blood Valentine War. This particular unit has been assigned to EX-C0607 Rezin Bidan.
"How typical of the Coordinators to rely upon their technology and distance from Earth to protect them. How fitting that we should kill them where they feel safest." Reccoa Schnyder
Mobile Suit Serial Number: GAT-X1022 'Blu Duel'
Unit Type: Prototype close combat mobile suit
Powerplant: Ultracompact energy battery
Equipment and Design Features:
Variable Phase Shift (VPS) armor
Armaments:
2 x M2M5 "Todesschrecken" 12.5mm automatic CIWS, fire-linked, mounted in head
3 x Mk315 "Stiletto" rocket-propelled anti-armor penetrator, stored in shoulders
2 x M7G2 retractable beam gun, mounted on forearms
2 x ES05A beam saber, mounted on legs
1 x shield, mounts M443 "Scorpion" mobile railgun, mounted on right arm
Pilot: EX-C0801 Reccoa Schnyder
Color: Default colors
Info: The successor of the X102 Duel of the Blood Valentine War. This particular unit has been assigned to EX-C0801 Reccoa Schnyder.
"Oops. I broke this one. Ha, ha, ha, ha! Someone bring me another one!" Gyunei Ridden
Mobile Suit Serial Number: GAT-X303AA 'Rosso Aegis'
Unit Type: Prototype transformable mobile suit
Powerplant: Ultracompact energy battery
Equipment and Design Features:
Transformable Structure
Variable Phase Shift (VPS) armor
Armaments:
2 x M2M5 "Todesschrecken" 12.5mm automatic CIWS, fire-linked, mounted in head
4 x beam saber, 1 mounted on each arm and leg
1 x shield
1 x 60mm beam rifle
1 x 'Scylla II' 580mm energy cannon
Pilot: EX-C0311 Gyunei Ridden
Color: Default colors
Info: The successor of the X303 Aegis of the Blood Valentine War. This particular unit has been assigned to EX-C0311 Gyunei Ridden. On a side note, a particular improvement from its predecessor, the Rosso Aegis is capable of firing it's Scylla II cannon in both modes and the beam possess the same beam bending technology as the GAT-X252 Forbidden.
