Welp, here we come to the end of the first arc of Shining Jewels of America. I hope you enjoy reading this as much as I enjoyed writing it!
In the depths of space, a great battle was being fought between the Principality of Zeon and Earth Federation Forces. The wreckage of numerous Zakus, Rick Doms, and GMs floated throughout space between a Musai cruiser and White Base, locked in a zero-G dogfight. In the center of the battlefield were three mobile suits: Char's Zaku, the Fullbody Gundam, and the RX-78-2 Gundam. Amuro, the pilot of the RX-78-2, was barely holding his foes off. Char on his own was a challenge, but this new unknown in an experimental gundam-type mobile suit was an absolute monster!
"Give up Amuro! Surrender the gundam and you and the soldiers of White Base will be treated fairly as our prisoners!" Char yelled over the com links.
"Yeah, give up already. Otherwise I'll bring your gundam back to Zeon in pieces. Then I'll feel bad for our engineers who will have to clean it out for your remains." the other MS pilot, Alan Hawk, cockily said.
Meanwhile, captain Bright Noa watched as Amuro was slowly overwhelmed by his opponents. "We don't have a choice. Launch the Tri-X!"
A mobile suit pilot grinned at the order over the intercoms and climbed into his cockpit. "And here I thought I would never hear that order." The man started up his own experimental gundam-type mobile suit before igniting its back-mounted thrusters. "Mathias Winns, Tri-X Gundam, ready to sortie!" The Tri-X Gundam leapt out of White Base's hangar, the thrusters launching it at speeds comparable to the linear accelerator on board. Immediately the twin beam cannons on the Tri-X's backpack folded over to lock onto the shoulder pads and fired off a massive pair of beams that the Fullbody and Zaku had to dodge. The Tri-X floated over next to Amuro and a second com opened, Mathias looking at Amuro with a Cheshire grin. "Looks like you could use some help Amuro."
Char watched with wide eyes while Alan gritted his teeth. "Another gundam!? How!?"
Amuro sighed and grinned. "Yeah. Now, let's finish this, right, Char!"
"Amuro!"
Char and Amuro charged towards each other, the Tri-X and Fullbody following suit.
"I will end you here and now Mathias!"
"Not on your life Alan!"
Right before the four mobile suits could collide, a loud ringing tore through the battlefield.
"What the-!" Mathias suddenly launched himself back, tipping his chair and crashing his head to the floor. He curled up and clutched the back of his head. "Owwww." Eventually, Mathias groggily stood up to stare at his incomplete gunpla before fumbling for his desk clock, still ringing loudly. "What time is it?" Bleary eyes stared at the digital screen. "11:15 huh?" The clock was slowly set down, and for a few moments, everything was calm. Then Mathias let out a scream. "11:15! Shit, I'm late for class!" With the rapid pace of a panicking student, Mathias stored the various parts of his new gunpla and his tools into an expanded gunpla case before changing clothes and rushing out of his room, down the stairs, and out of the 'Winning Streak' gunpla arcade in a mad dash for school, backpack and case in tow.
Rose stared at the now complete Tri-X Gundam on the table in the clubhouse, Adrian fiddling with the battle system and Mathias smoothing out the remaining weapons. "So, this is your new gunpla?"
"Yep, I call it the Tri-X Gundam. It is a fusion of the Gundam Double X and the Crossbone Gundam Maoh. It is fully capable of using its three satellite cannons singularly or in combination. The charging system is also altered to allow for more diverse charging. With it, I can still use the cannons without the lunar satellite system by utilizing solar energy, though it is still capable of being charged by the satellite system."
"Wow, that is pretty impressive."
"It is, but, for some reason, it still feels incomplete. It feels like I'm missing something, but I can't imagine what."
"It'll come to you."
Adrian stood up and closed the cover for the battle system's OS. "Indeed. Now, shall we test both your gunpla and our teamwork? I just upgraded the AI for the mocks based on our previous fights."
A smirk grew on both Rose and Mathias's faces. "Hell yes."
The three team members stood before the machine. "Gunpla Battle simulation mode, startup. Model damage level, set to C. Please set your GP Base." The three set their GP bases as the Plavsky Particles once more formed the battlefield they would train in. "Beginning Plavsky particle dispersal. Field 1, Space." An asteroid field took form, a UC-era colony right at the edge of the field, and a sliver of a sun at the 'roof' of the stage. "Please set your Gunpla." The three gunpla were placed on the machine, and the battle began.
"Mathias Winns, Tri-X Gundam, ready to sortie!"
"Rose Fayre, Burning Gundam Beta, let's fight!"
"Adrian Brown, Deathscythe EW Variant, launching."
The Deathscythe and Burning Gundam, having engaged hyper mode in order to better operate in zero G's, darted between the asteroids towards the colony, but the Tri-X seemed to flit between the gaps like a hummingbird. "Haha! This thing reacts like a dream!" The Tri-X then darted straight up out of the asteroid field and engaged the panels on its limbs and backpack. Sunlight seemed to pool around the gundam as the lower pair of back panels began to glow. "And the solar charge system is operating at full capacity!" Immediately after the bottom pair were fully glowing, Mathias closed the panels and darted back to fly next to his teammates while opening a com. "The Tri-X is operating at peak efficiency, so how about we put your mock upgrades to the test Adrian. By the way, what exactly are we fighting?"
Suddenly, the three fighters had to dart to the sides as a purple, lightning covered energy blast tore through an asteroid and past them. Turning to look, Mathias felt his blood freeze. Floating in space before him were three mobile suits. The center one was white with a gold V-fin, a glowing pink inner frame shining through gaps in the armor. It had a massive shield on its left arm, and a beam rifle with an energy pack magazine in its right. To its right was a blue and white mobile suit with a backpack mounted shield on its left shoulder, detachable bits covering it. A green edged gun was held in its right hand, and a flick of its wrist shifted the gun into a sword. Green particles were flowing out of an exhaust on its back. And finally, on the white MS's left was the most terrifying of all, a rounded white Gundam with a blue and red chest. An oval shield was on its left arm, and the suit looked like it had an exaggerated mustache attached.
"Oh shit, I thought we were fighting upgraded mocks, not three of the more deadly gundams of the entire franchise! What the hell possessed you to set these three against us Adrian?!" Mathias yelled as he dodged a second beam blast from the NT-D mode Unicorn Gundam, pulling the bone shaped weapons from the Tri-X's hips and returning fire.
"I agree with Mathias, what the fuck Adrian!?" Rose added as the Qan[T] darted through her machine gun fire and forced her to dodge its sword swings, throwing in punches whenever she had the chance, though they were nimbly dodged by her opponent.
The Deathscythe EW Variant cloaked to avoid the Turn A's energy mace. The Turn A quickly raised its shield behind it to block Adrian's de-cloaked energy scythe. "I apologize. I may have gone a bit overboard in programming our opponents. Thankfully I did not program them to act like their pilots would."
"That is a shame, I would have loved to battle such icons like Setsuna or Banagher." Mathias said (1). "Still, we can't beat them alone, they are too skilled. We need to divide and conquer, and I know just how to do it. Rose, Adrian, focus on the Turn A! It's the most dangerous if it gets the chance to activate Moonlight Butterfly!" The skull on the Tri-X's chest opened to reveal a miniature satellite cannon. A massive beam of blue energy fired out, forcing the Unicorn and Qan[T] to dodge right while the Turn A dodged left. Immediately the Burning Gundam Beta's beam saber pierced the Turn A's head while its body was impaled on the Deathscythe's energy scythe. The two quickly disengaged as the Turn A exploded.
Immediately the Tri-X opened the panels along its body, gathering energy as it took potshots at the Unicorn and Qan[T]. "Alright, I need time to charge up to full blast in order to overpower the Unicorn. I can hold it off long enough to do so, but you two need to take care of the Qan[T]! If you can't defeat it, then make sure it can't go Trans-Am, or we are screwed!"
The Tri-X then focused fire purely on the Unicorn, forcing it to forego attack in order to avoid destruction. Seeing the opening, the Qan[T] darted forward to destroy the Tri-X. Immediately, the Burning Gundam Beta interposed itself between them, glowing with power as it fired off an energy blast from its exposed core. The Qan[T] dodged, beginning to glow red as it launched its six GN sword bits. The glow immediately died as the Deathscythe EW Variant appeared behind it and sliced upwards, severing its backpack, and the twin GN drives stored in the backpack and shield, from the Qan[T]. The Qan[T] turned and launched its GN bits towards the Deathscythe EW Variant, but the bits stalled in space as the Burning Gundam Beta's fist erupted from the Qan[T]'s chest. The Qan[T] jerked as Rose pulled her gundam's fist out, and both her and Adrian returned to Mathias's side as the Qan[T] detonated. Four of the panels on the Tri-X's backpack were glowing as Adrian and Rose added their ranged weapons to the effort of pinning the Unicorn down. Eventually, the Tri-X became a beacon of light while the Unicorn was unable to escape the the beam barrage it was shielding against.
Mathias grinned upon noticing the state of his gundam, which was glowing from every panel on it, including the arm and leg mounted panels. "I'm fully charged! Now, let's test this little system I made."
The Tri-X locked its backpack mounted beam cannons to its shoulders as the skull on its chest opened once more. Finally, two cords extended from hidden panels on its forearms and connected to its crossbone sword/guns. Immediately, all five beam weapons began glowing blue.
"Tri-X satellite cannon system, full burst mode, FIRE!"
All five of the Tri-X's beam weapons fired out massive beams that consumed the Unicorn and blinded all three fighters. When the light died down, all three bore witness to pure destruction. A wide path was carved through the asteroid belt, and even pierced a hole through the distant colony, and there was absolutely nothing left of any of the three mocks they were fighting. If it were not for the damage to the belt and colony, then there would have been no evidence a fight had occurred. The Tri-X closed its charging panels and sheathed its weapons as several vents began releasing steam to cool the gundam after its massive attack. Rose, Adrian, and Mathias caught their gunplas as the battle system shut down.
"Battle ended."
Rose turned to stare at Mathias in shock. "Holy shit. What the fuck was that!"
"That, like I said before, was my improved satellite cannon system. I modified it for variable power. I can use one, two, or all three of my satellite cannons depending on the amount of charge my gundam has, and when overwhelming power is needed, I can overclock the system and channel energy through my beam weapons alongside the beam cannons for what I affectionately call full burst mode. Rather powerful, don't you think?"
"It was rather powerful. Now, how about we start another ma-" Adrian was cut off as an exhausted 10-year old girl busted into the clubhouse.
"Messenger scout Murray, what are you doing here?" At Rose's and Adrian's looks, Mathias elaborated. "The AUF is mainly for teens and adults, but we do allow younger children, especially relatives of our members, on as messengers amongst factions, mainly used during our faction duels and other inter/intra-group activities. Claire Murray here is the younger sister of private Gary Murray, one of the Astray fighters we fought. Now that that has been explained," Mathias turned back to Claire, "what is going on that required the AUF to contact me?"
"They sent me to tell you to return to the 'Winning Streak' immediately, and that the Zeon High Council has returned."
Mathias's face paled instantly and he rushed out of the clubhouse, Rose and Adrian sharing a look before following.
Mathias burst into the 'Winning Streak' to see a scene he had only experienced once before; a war between gunpla groups. Every battle system in the arcade was pushed together to generate the massive battlefield that included every variant of the fields. Two armies of gunpla were fighting, in space, in the sky, on the ground, and even underwater. Several had the shooting star symbol of the AUF somewhere on them, but the vast majority had the Zeon symbol. Mathias could also see there were clustered areas in the battlefield, and he spotted several of the AUF's best fighters being surrounded. Dolohov and the Dark Tri-Stars were holed up in a forest that was being destroyed by waves of beam fire, Alice was slicing through an endless wave of enemies while her teammates provided support, several others were completely surrounded but holding their own, and in the sky, locked in a two-on-two battle, were four gunpla Mathias recognized.
On the AUF side were Adam and Lilith, the paired gunpla of his parents that were only brought out for special AUF events (2). Adam was based on the RX-78NT-1 Gundam "Alex", though it was given equipment from several other models. Instead of the standard backpack, it had the wing-styled funnel binders of the Hi-Nu Gundam, and several panels along its body opened to reveal the inner psycoframe inherent to the Unicorn as it deflected a beam saber with its own and fired a shot from its beam magnum, also from the Unicorn. The Lilith was built from the Gundam Astraea, though like the Adam, it was modified. It was equipped with twin shields from the Reborns Gundam as well as the GN sword III of the Gundam 00. It's backpack was a modified Raiser unit, a gold color replacing the normal blue, with a somewhat bulky box in the place of its cockpit. The purpose of the box was revealed when Lilith's left arm was sliced off. Hundreds of Karel units flew out and grabbed the wayward arm, quickly reattaching it and returning to their container (3).
On the side of the Zeon High Council were two gunpla Mathias had hoped not to see again for a while. The leader of the Council was piloting a fusion of the Sazabi and Sinanju, its twin beam axes trying to tear the Lilith to shreds while its twin sets of funnels, doubling the original six of the Sazabi, were holding off the funnels and GN fangs of both Adam and Lilith, and facing against the Adam was the cloaked form of the Fullbody Gundam.
"Alan, it wasn't enough to try and break me, now you are trying to take away what my family worked so hard on to make?" Mathias muttered to himself before turning to Adrian and Rose. "Alright, quick explanation. The Zeon High Council are nothing more than gunpla-using thugs and criminals that want the East coast of America under their thumb before they move on westward. We need to stop them and send them packing. I'll explain better afterwards. However, if you want to help, you will need to join the AUF to do so, as this is an inter-group conflict. Here." Mathias tossed them each a small sticker of the AUF symbol before putting one on the armor piece of the Tri-X's right forearm. "If you want to join, slap that sticker on your gunpla and jump in."
Mathias slapped his GP Base and gunpla down before charging into battle with grim-faced determination. Rose thought for a moment before slapping the sticker onto the left front skirt armor of the Burning Gundam Beta and launching out next to Mathias, followed right behind by Adrian, who had taken the time to neatly place the sticker on his Deathscythe EW Variant's right wing.
The three fighters charged through the enemy, every mobile suit that stood against them falling to their onslaught like wheat before a scythe, literally in the case of those defeated by Adrian. Mobile suits from every evil faction of the Gundam multiverse charged forward, only to be sliced up, pummeled, shot at, and outright obliterated. Finally, the three came to a lull in the fighting, and Mathias quickly took charge.
"Alright, we are gonna need to free up our best. Adrian," the Tri-X pointed to the slowly deteriorating forest, "go assist the Dark Tri-Stars. Rose," the Tri-X then turned to gesture at the veritable mosh pit nearby, "clear a way for Alice and her team. I will go assist my parents." His orders given, Mathias launched upwards towards the four-way battle, solar panels opening to gather energy. Adrian and Rose looked at each other and nodded before heading off to their respective targets.
Mathias stopped the Tri-X just outside the sensor range of the four gundams ahead and checked his power supply. Seeing four panels charged, Mathias unfolded the back-mounted satellite cannons and fired. The four gundams immediately disengaged to evade the blast, but the funnels and GN fangs were all obliterated.
Alan quickly opened a com to identify who was piloting this new gundam, only to grin evilly at seeing Mathias. "Well, I'm surprised you managed to snap back Mathias! I figured you would still be crying over the remnants of your poor little gunpla. Did you move on already? Maybe I was wrong. Maybe you're more cold-hearted than I thought." Suddenly, a beam shot erupted from the crossbone gunsword the Tri-X just detached from its waist and blasted off the clasp holding the Fullbody's cloak, causing it to blow away in the wind. 'I didn't even see that. What kind of gunpla did he make?' Alan thought.
"I'll say this once, give up or I will personally tear you apart." Mathias said in a steely tone, glaring at Alan, who merely scoffed at the threat.
Suddenly, a second com opened, revealing the image of a 23 year old with several facial piercings and a spiked blond mohawk. He was wearing a white sleeveless shirt with a black overcoat with torn sleeves. "You really think you can stand against us a second time?! How about you do us a favor, and surrender! Maybe I'll let you have a higher rank in the Council's forces than lackey!" The figure was Azrael Stevens, one of the founders and leader of the Zeon High Council.
"It's been awhile Azrael. Tell me, when was the last time we saw each other? Oh yeah, you and your gang were running with your tails between your legs after I reduced your gunpla to swiss cheese." Mathias snidely remarked. "We aren't joining you. I thought we made it clear last time. Guess we just need to hammer the lesson in. However, that's not my job. Mom, dad," Mathias turned to look at the com he opened with his parents, "do you mind handling Azrael, because Alan is mine." he finished coldly.
Michael merely turned and charged forward at Azrael's MS. "Give 'em hell son."
Hannah stared at Mathias before her kind face turned steely. "Show him why one doesn't mess with our family." That said, Hannah joined her husband in combat.
The Tri-X and Fullbody floated in midair, facing one another. "So you got a new gunpla. Don't think that it's gonna make a-" Alan launched his gundam backwards in order to dodge a swipe from the beam blade from the Tri-X's weapon, though the gash on the Fullbody's chest showed he hadn't dodged fast enough.
"Shut up and fight."
Alan was put on the defensive as the Tri-X let loose a barrage of attacks, the beam blades and heated edges of its weapons damaging the Fullbody no matter how quickly it dodged. Finally, the Fullbody got enough distance to draw its three beam sabers in a claw like fashion in its right hand and lunged forward, only for the attack to be dodged and the beam sabers sliced in two, before the Tri-X shifted its weapon to beam gun mode and blasted the Fullbody's right arm off.
"Shit!"
The Fullbody suddenly vibrated before fading away, the upper layer of paint having peeled off to form an afterimage. The Fullbody then reappeared behind the Tri-X. It folded its left hand into a spiked fist and engaged the thruster on its left elbow. The arm launched forwards to blow right through the Tri-X's chest. Moments before impact the Tri-X turned and backhanded the Fullbody's arm away and opened the skull mounted on its chest, all six panels on its backpack glowing, the Tri-X having been charging its satellite cannons throughout the fight. Alan only had the time to widen his eyes before the Fullbody was consumed in the massive energy blast, the top two panels losing their glow as they folded up to storage mode. Alan scowled and walked away from the battle station as the remnants of the Fullbody fell to the simulated ground below. Mathias watched as Alan left the building before flying off to assist some of the other aces in the AUF.
Unseen by everyone, the invisible Deathscythe EW Variant darted into the forest the Dark Tri-Stars were in and decloaked before approaching the three, who were huddled together in their generated I-field dome while they came up with a plan to counterattack. Immediately a com opened between Dolohov and Adrian.
"It is good to see you again Adrian, and good to see you have joined the AUF. I guess I should call you comrade now." The other two members of the Dark Tri-Stars jerked at the sudden conversation before opening a com with Adrian.
"It is good to see you too Dolohov. Mathias sent me to assist you. Do you have any plans currently?"
Dolohov developed a mischievous grin that was soon shared by his teammates. "We had a plan, but I think we have come up with an even better one."
One of the members of the Zeon force, specifically a GINN MS user, stopped firing on the forest the Dark Tri-Stars were in. "Man, it's like shooting fish in a barrel! I remember these guys were trouble last time, but now they're a joke!"
The fighter next to him, piloting a Barzam, continued shooting. "It may be easy now, but these guys are top fighters here, so don't give them an inch or they'll take a mile." When he got no retort, the Barzam pilot looked over to see the GINN having a hole in its chest before it blew up, launching the Barzam and other mobile suits near it to the ground. Immediately after, similar explosions began cropping up throughout the Zeon forces. Eventually the Deathscythe EW Variant appeared in an open area of the Zeon forces before drawing its twin beam pistols and began performing a beam shot variant of Reaper's ultimate from Overwatch.
"Shit! Where the hell did this guy come from?!"
A GM Quel pilot, who was hiding behind his shield from Adrian's assault, scowled before pulling up his rifle and aiming at the Deathscythe EW Variant. "I don't care where he came from! Take him out befo-!" The pilot was cut off as his GM was blown up. The Zeon forces turned to see the Dark Tri-Stars standing at the edge of the forest, one of which was holding up a smoking Raketen bazooka. The enemy pilots had only a moment to panic before they were pinned between the Dark Tri-Stars and Adrian. After a few minutes, the four AUF fighters were standing in the middle of the battlefield, destroyed mobile suits surrounding them.
"Haha! We showed these Zeon High Council members not to fight with us!" Dolohov then looked at Adrian. "Now, we shall go free up more of our allies. Will you join us?"
Adrian merely pushed his glasses up. "Of course Dolohov." With that said, the four mobile suits launched off in search of more enemies.
Rose charged right into the horde of enemies and began clearing a path towards Team Nobel, enemies either reeling back with severe damage from her gundam's devastating punches and kicks, or, if they were lucky, reduced to scrap by said attacks.
However, all good things must end, and this one ended with the Burning Gundam Beta being Char Kicked the remaining distance to Team Nobel by a red Union Flag. The Burning Gundam Beta was caught by the Gundam Nobel before it had to deploy its built-in beam shield to protect the two from the ranged onslaught pinning the team down, the Nobel Gyan and Nobel Z'Gok forming a triangle around the Burning Gundam Beta.
"It's good to see you again Miss Rose, but I'm afraid you caught us at a bad time!"
Rose immediately raised her gunpla's built in machine guns and opened fire through gaps in the beam shield wall, taking down several mobile suits. Suddenly, a pair of funnels fired through the same gaps and destroyed the machine guns, leaving Rose with only the head vulcans for range. "What the heck was that?!"
Alice grimaced before launching her beam saber out with her wire mounted arm, only to quickly retract it before it hit anything when a RF Zaku swung its beam hawk down to try and sever the cord. "We are facing the High Council's Counter Squad. They are a group of skilled fighters that work alongside the mooks. They generally pilot mass-produced suits like the rest, but they design them better. They are also skilled tacticians who use the troops around them as cannon fodder to study the enemy's style and secrets before diving in, disabling strengths and exploiting weaknesses. That is why we are still pinned down. They're countering everything we have."
"Well, do you have anything in reserve?"
"One thing, but it's not guaranteed to get us out, and if it doesn't, we will be sitting ducks."
"What is it?"
"Pseudo Trans-Am built through a combination of the EXAM and ZERO systems. Boosts our gunpla's capabilities and gives us a much higher combat skill by identifying all sorts of weak spots on the enemy, but greatly wears down the gunpla and gives us a massive headache when it shuts down due to all the information it throws in our face."
"Alright, I'll clear out a gap, and you guys use that to plow right through. With luck, we can reach another AUF group that has cleared out their area and can strike back fast and hard." With that said, Rose connected her beam sabers and jumped up into the air before flinging them in a spin, thrusters launching her right behind them. The dual ended beam saber, now a beam buzzsaw, cut through several enemies on the front line, including the RF Zaku that was caught off guard by the unorthodox attack. The Burning Gundam Beta then dived down so it landed under the still flying beam saber and grabbed it, splitting it back in two and cutting a large hole in the enemy forces. Eventually a Qubeley stepped forward, its funnels fanning out and blasting off the Burning Gundam Beta's left arm. Rose merely set her Gundam into a low spin kick, launching the falling arm, and its ignited beam saber, into the Qubeley. A short dash let her reclaim the beam saber by connecting it to the one in her right hand and set forth into a dizzying set of twirls to destroy the enemies around her. She was quickly joined by the Nobel team, their mobile suit's visors tinged red and bows expanded to reveal vents as they darted around, taking huge chunks of the enemy forces out at once. After a couple of minutes the quartet burst through the lines, and just in time too, as the Nobel mobile suits toppled over as their visors lost their red glow and the bows closed up after releasing a final blast of steam.
"Shit, I hoped that would have lasted longer!" Rose shouted while the Nobel team cradled their heads from their massive headaches before turning to see the remnants of the Zeon high Council's Counter Squad approaching.
Rose stood between the Nobel team and the High Council's forces in a last stand scenario, only for a pair of mobile suits to land in front of her. The first was covered in white armor segments that looked like a blend of cyborg and samurai, covered with what looked like monoeyes, and silver tendrils extended out the back of the head to its waist in a semblance of hair. A long sheath was attached to its back, which Rose only noticed when the mobile suit, a gundam-style one she realized on seeing its twin horn-like v-fin mounted on the featureless helmet that formed its face as it turned to 'look' at the four and drew its sword, revealing it to be only a hilt before a beam blade ignited, turning it into an extended beam katana. The mobile suit next to it was also very interesting as its features from the back were concealed by a yellow cloak with black patterns. Its arms were wrapped in black coils that suddenly dropped off to form chain whips, green beam energy coiling around the chains at the end to form snake-shaped hooks. It also turned to look at Rose and the Nobel team to reveal a single yellow eye, the rest of its head hidden in the hood of its cloak. The two then turned towards the incoming Zeon High Council forces. The second mobile suit's chains wrapped around the first before they were engulfed in green and black energy. When the light show died down, there was only one mobile suit. It primarily looked like the first, only its armor and 'hair' was bulkier and black with glowing green lining, its hands were now clawed and a tail extended from the armor, which had more aesthetic changes. The shoulder pads took on the look of snarling wolf heads and its legs became more animalistic, but perhaps the biggest change was its face. Where before it was featureless, it now had a mouth of sharp teeth and glowing green eyes, the horns now giving off the impression of fox ears. It raised its beam katana, which turned into a massive black and green beam sword that it then swung through the enemy force, slicing a quarter of them into pieces. The sword shrunk down to a more normal size as it dived in, shredding through the enemy (4).
"I am very thankful they are on our side." Rose said after a pause from watching the carnage. The Nobel Gyan managed to turn itself into its back before Alice spoke up, nursing her throbbing forehead.
"Yeah, that's Terry and Isaiah for you (5). Out of gunpla, they are always arguing and fighting, but throw them into battle and they are unstoppable. They also have a love for that Japanese fighting game that was rather popular before gunpla called Blazblue, and their gunplas are direct references to three of the characters, though their names escape me."
"Well, they came at the right time." Rose then stared down at the Burning Gundam Beta. "After this I am going to invest in some ranged capability. So, can you guys move yet?" Rose was answered as the Nobel team slowly stood their mobile suits back up. "Excellent, if you can still fight after using that system, let's see if there is anyone we can help out." With that, Rose set her gundam into flight, the Nobel team following behind.
Azrael started to sweat as he used his beam axes and shields to deflect the attacks from the Adam and Lilith, this pattern having been occurring for the past two minutes, neither side gaining an edge. Suddenly he smirked and lunged forward, his left mounted shield activating a beam blade to impale the Lilith, hoping to take it out as its repair Karels kept him from winning earlier during the two-on-two fight. Unfortunately for him, he forgot this fight was two-on-one. The Adam dove in a sliced the shield, and Azrael's gundam's left arm, in half. Before he could react, the Lilith dived in and removed the right arm before both gundams sliced off the legs, leaving Azrael's gundam a floating body. Soon after this, Mathias, Rose, and Adrian joined Mathias's parents in front of Azrael.
"So Azrael, ready to admit defeat?" Mathias smirked.
"Fuck you!" was Azrael's response.
(Start playing G Gundam OST-Shining Finger)
Mathias's smirk widened. "Very well then, guess we need a show of force." The two energy cables in the Tri-X's arms extended and Mathias slung them over to the Burning Gundam Beta and Deathscythe EW Variant. "Rose, Adrian, mind transferring over some power?" His only answer was the Burning Gundam Beta going into hyper mode and plugging the cord into its core while the Deathscythe EW Variant attached the cord to itself. The two cords began glowing gold and blue respectively as power transferred from the two gundams to the Tri-X. The cords detached as the Tri-X began glowing a blinding gold before it raised its beam swords to the sky, cords reconnecting to them. Immediately the glow died as a massive pillar of Plavsky particles, not the standard beam, erupted from the weapons. All fighting throughout the field stopped as everyone turned to see the massive attack coming from the Tri-X.
"Behold the power of my gundam, and of my team! This right here is the complete skill and power of the three of us gathered into one mighty attack, an attack so powerful it tears the very heavens asunder! Get ready Azrael, because here I come! Shining Satellite Sword!"
With those words shouted to the heavens, the Tri-X swung the massive pillar towards Azrael. Azrael was frozen before an instinctive flight or fight response had him gunning his gundam's thrusters, narrowly dodging the attack. A sadistic smirk formed on his face as a cover on his waist armor opened to reveal a high mega cannon. "Ha, so much for that Mathias! Now die!" However, before the cannon could fire, Azrael's gundam began to disintegrate. "Wha-what the fuck?!" Mathias, Rose, and Adrian smirked at Azrael's panic.
"You don't quite get it, do you. The Tri-X got more than just energy from my teammates." Mathias calmly stated.
"It also got the hyper mode and sheer power output of the Burning Gundam Beta." Rose continued.
"But how the fuck did it hit me?! I fucking dodged it!" Azrael was then shocked as the pillar of particles expanded to reveal part of it going through the entirety of his gundam.
"As Mathias said, the Tri-X got more than energy from our gundams. From my Deathscythe EW Variant, he gained the control necessary to even use the attack, as well as my gundam's cloaking ability." came Adrian's cold response, light glinting as he pushed his glasses up.
Azrael panicked as his gundam finished disintegrating and ran from the shop. The remaining members of the Zeon High Council looked between them and had their gunplas launch out of the stage and to their hands before following their 'fearless leader'.
(End OST if it isn't already over)
Mathias watched as the last enemy left the arcade before he sagged forward and released a massive sigh. "Holy shit I can't believe that actually worked."
Rose looked shocked at Mathias's statement. "Wait, you mean you had no idea if that would even work?!"
"Nope!"
Rose rushed over and began shaking Mathias by his t-shirt's neckline while Adrian stood quietly to the side.
"That is quite amazing, your energy transfer system being capable of more than you assumed. We will have to test the actual limits at a later time. Regardless, I believe you had an explanation for us."
Mathias pushed Rose away and moved to pick up the only remaining enemy gunpla on the battle stations: the Fullbody Gundam. "You're right Adrian. Follow me up to my workshop and I'll give you the full story as I know it, as well as your new responsibilities as members of the AUF." Mathias walked upstairs to his family's home area, Adrian and Rose following.
Mathias set the Fullbody Gundam on top of his work table before turning to Adrian and Rose, who were sitting in his work chair and on his bed respectively, and leaned against his work table. "Alright then, allow me to give you the in-depth explanation on the Zeon High Council I promised you before that big battle." Mathias took a deep breath. "From what I know, the Zeon High Council started as a small group of thugs and thieves up in New York. I don't know exactly what started things, but I do know at some point they started a mass forced recruitment drive, going up against several gunpla groups and battling them and press ganging the losers into their group. Their growing influence drew more scum like them to their banner, and they moved up towards Maine, and afterwards they headed straight down along the coast. Currently the only areas they don't have an influence in is D.C., Georgia, and here. D.C. has some serious police forces, for obvious reasons, and from what I heard, Georgia was the first place they had major trouble. Apparently they steamrolled most groups they faced through either skill or cheating, but Georgia had a group of four people who called themselves the Neo Shuffle Alliance, on account of piloting custom gunpla built by combining the Shuffle Alliance gundams with other sets. Their top fighter was named Vincent V. Seiei, and yes, he does have the same last name as Setsuna. He pilots the 00 Heartful, a Shuffle Heart Gundam with the Dual GN Drive system and GN sword bits of the Qan[T], alongside other modifications I probably don't know of, and I couldn't find much on his teammates, most stuff on the group focused on him. Anyway, the Zeon High Council weren't having luck against the Neo Shuffle Alliance, so they decided to bypass them, head for Florida, and come back for payback when they have better fighters. So far, they have a hold everywhere above Orlando, but we in the AUF have stopped them from going further. Hopefully they will give up and move on, but I doubt this is the last we will see of them. Now then, with that explanation out of the way, let's get into what will happen for you guys now that you are part of the AUF." Mathias pushed off his work table and stood before Adrian and Rose. "First off, we need to decide on a faction to represent within the AUF. You can join an existing faction, or you can represent a new one. Since we are a team, how about we start a new one?" Upon seeing Adrian and Rose nod, Mathias began to think. "Alright, the only faction off the top of my head that has no representatives amongst the AUF is Tekkadan. So, shall we form the AUF branch of Tekkadan?" Once more, Adrian and Rose nodded. "Excellent! I will be the leader of the faction, given that I'm the highest ranked member, but that really won't be important since there are only three members. With that taken care of, the next order of business is uniforms. Each faction has their own official outfits worn during AUF events, though you can wear them whenever you like outside of them. These outfits generally resemble the uniforms of the faction they represent, though you can add your own flair. My mom is friends with the owner of a nearby clothing store, and they are our main source for our uniforms. I'll give you the address and you can head there to drop off your own designs when you have them. Now then, I'd say this has been an action-packed day, and tomorrow is the school tournament, so how about we head home and rest. Besides," Mathias turned to look at the Fullbody Gundam, "I have something to take care of." Adrian and Rose stood up and headed for the door, but Rose hung behind. "Is there something you need Rose?"
"Yeah. Do you have any recommendations on how to upgrade my gunpla? I need some more ranged combat."
"Well, as I said back during our first team battle, the 00 series have excellent balanced designs. From your fighting style, I would suggest either the Susanowo or one of Setsuna's. The Exia and 00 variants are both well built gundams with a focus for high speed combat like the way you fight, and so is the Susanowo, so perhaps a mix build of those would do well for you. Truthfully, I'd suggest asking either Alice or Dolohov. They are both very good at designing gunpla based on varying styles. I'm not saying that I'm not, but I put in a lot of time and focus into my designs, and if you want it ready for the school tournament, you'd be better off asking one of them. And before you point out that the Tri-X was done in less than a day, I have various paces. The Tri-X was a spur-of-the-moment build, but normally I will spend weeks, even months just on drawing up blueprints, custom making the pieces, building the gunpla, coding the various systems, and working out all bugs and glitches. They will get you just as good results in a quicker time. I like to get things just perfect."
Rose thought it over before nodding. "Alright, I'll talk to Dolohov, then check with Alice. Thanks for the advice!" Rose then rushed out of the room to find Dolohov. Mathias sniggered before turning to the Fullbody Gundam.
"Now then, you are in much better condition than the others. Let's get you with your brothers." Mathias picked up the Fullbody and opened the bottom cupboards to reveal an entire display case. The uniqueness of this case was that all the gunpla were in extreme disrepair, some held together by glue and wires and others missing parts completely. Mathias opened the case and placed the Fullbody next to a mixed build of the Exia and Epyon that was heavily damaged, the chest being glued together, the left arm held on by some wires, and the entire thing on a stand because the lower half was missing. Mathias then closed the case and wiped off the dusty plaque which read 'The many gunpla of Alan Hawk'. Mathias then closed the cupboard and pulled out his sketchbook, determined to design a new outfit for his place in the AUF and made before the tournament. Mathias smiled as he began drawing. He always was a fan of Orga Itsuka from IBO.
And that's a wrap! This chapter is one I had planned for a while. Like I said at the top, this is the end of arc 1 of this story, the Team Formation/Mathias Arc. Next arc is gonna be the school tournament and the opening half of the state competition as well as backstory on Rose. Each arc is gonna focus mainly on one member of the group, introducing their story and resolving something about them. I can't wait to get started, especially the half with the state tournament will feature the full rival team, and Rose's rival plays a big part with her. I won't say anymore because ~spoilers~! I hope you liked the musical suggestion in this chapter. I just couldn't help but think of that particular scene from G Gundam while writing that segment, and listening to it just gives that extra oomph. I don't think I will be doing stuff like that often, but I will make sure that when I do so, the music is perfect for that scene, at least in my opinion. Also, I hope some of you were touched at the ending scene. While Alan has no care for gunpla outside of victory, Mathias believes gunpla must be cared for. As such, whenever Alan abandons the gunpla after losing or drawing in one of his battles against Mathias, Mathias will take the gunpla and repair it as best he can to display it as a sort of memorial. Now then, let's get onto the references.
(1) This is direct reference to the first episode of Gundam Build Fighters: Battlogue, where Tatsuya Yuuki and Allan Adams have their gunpla show off a new feature of the battle systems: AI pilots based off the characters of Gundam.
(2) Yes, Mathias's parents do battle, and they pilot paired gunpla. The Adam and Lilith are named after a little unknown bit of trivia. There are some variants of the Bible that have the first humans being Adam and Lilith, both made from God. However, Lilith proved unwilling to act subservient to Adam and left, and then Eve was made from Adam to act as the lesser sex. Just another example of how the older cultures justified their sexism and misogyny.
(3) This is done on another trivia from Christianity. Lilith is also sometimes used in media as the name for the queen of Succubi, originally dream demons that were turned into sex demons. The white and gold backpack with the healing Karels represent Lilith's 'good' human side, while Hannah has a second backpack painted black and red to represent the 'evil' demon side of Lilith, and while it also has Karels, those ones are built for combat, and pretty much act like piranhas, tearing the enemy to shreds. Normally she uses the healing one, but trust me, Hannah has steel in her, I only gave you a taste with her comment to Mathias in the big match. Michael would not have married her otherwise.
(4) I have been on a Blazblue binge, that is my only justification here. The three gunpla here, in order of appearance, represent Hakumen, Terumi, and Susanooh. The third member of that particular team is a GN sword bit focused one based on Nu-13. When those three combine it's the Black Beast, made from the Plavsky particles, that comes into play.
(5) For those that don't know what these names reference, look up Swagger vs Bear Glove. Hilarious commercials.
And that's it for the references! On to the appearing gunpla in this chapter. None of the newly introduced mix gunpla are buildable to my knowledge, but the straight build ones are if they actually have sets. Before I head off, let's give a big shoutout to jmasta32 with his OC submission, the first one of the story! Yes, Vincent V. Seiei (V is short for Valentine) and the 00 Heartful are the creations of jmasta32. Sorry J, but he is only a cameo here, but he will be quite the fun character to write out for nationals! Yes I have plans to go all the way to nationals, but the world tournament will be in a sequel story. That's right, I'm planning that far ahead people! Granted, I only have an outline for the future, but this will be a big story. And don't forget, I'm still accepting OCs, this will stay true all the way to nationals. After the nationals start, I will be closing OC submissions for Shining Jewels of America, and will instead be opening submissions for the sequel. The Japanese team will of course be Team Try Fighters, so no submission of characters from Japan unless given a justifiable excuse. Outside of that, anything goes! Welp, that's all I have to say folks, so I'll be seeing you guys in the next chapter! JA NE!