Here's the cleaned-up and edited Chapter 4. Sorry I was so lazy and slow in getting to it.
Mobile Suit Gundam SEED: A Twisted Universe
Chapter 4: The First Step of the Journey
Written by Skywalker6119
Disclaimer: Gundam is owned by Bandai and not by me.
Introduction: The AFLA has attacked Onogoro, desperate to capture or destroy the Alliance's G-Weapons; but ZAFT has beaten them to the punch. Now locked in a desperate three-way battle, Kira and the rebels of AFLA must alter their goals to simply survive.
>Note: Since this is a Twisted Universe, some names will be wrong or mixed up, along with certain character's personalities
Natarle Bagiruel staggered to her feet, coughing as smoke filled the transport. Around her, the bodies of her crewmates, riddled with bullet holes. As she staggered towards the door, a pain shot through her entire body. She looked down, and saw the blood coming from the wound on her thigh. Damn it, she thought as she pushed at the hatch on the roof, the pain making the job harder then necessary. What idiot decided that you to make this dumb hatch so hard to open? First I have to pull this pin, then pull that red handle, then unlock the clasps! Then I still have to push the damn thing open! Struggling, she finally pushed the hatch open, as the smoke rushed past her out the escape hatch, up into the sky.
She clambered up onto the roof of the transport, as the sounds of gunfire sounded out over the harbor. Around her, the other vehicles of the convoy, still lying there in the road and pointing towards the harbor, lay about in various stages of destruction. But what caught her focus was the fire that raged from the lead truck, now a piece of shattered metal. Captain…the test pilots…A cry penetrated the haze that surrounded her mind. "Ensign! Ensign Bagiruel! Are you alright?" Arnold Neumann stepped around the wreck of an escort truck, looking a little worse for the wear. Behind him, another voice called out, asking for help. "Here's another survivor! I think it's Pal! Gimme a hand here!"
She looked down at Arnold, dubiously looking at her wound, then the ground, which seemed a rather far fall now, then back to Neumann. "Um, Petty Officer, I'm a little worried about how I'm going to get down, with this…wound, and all…"
"Huh? Don't worry, commander, I'll catch you before you hit the ground." He held out his arms. "Now, please jump, ma'am. We have to hurry, and figure out what we're going to do next."
Well, okay. Here goes nothing… Natarle closed her eyes, and, stood up, very slowly, and jumped. Well, it was more like a fall. Thankfully, Arnold caught her just in time. She felt his arms enwrap her, and for a second, it seemed to be a little more then a simple catch. She reacted like she normally would.
"Thank you, Petty Officer. Could you put me down now? I'm not your girlfriend, and I can walk just fine." The helmsman blushed, and gently put down his superior officer. "Ma'am, the rest of us are over there," he said, pointing towards a small cluster of rocks on the ruined hill, made by a missile explosion. They both made their way towards the rocks, careful to look for any survivors.
Only a small fraction of the people in the convoy were gathered around the rocks. Chief Murdoch waved them over. "Ensign, Petty Officer, good to see ya." His face was set in a hard frown, and he met them outside of the circle of crewmen. "We only found about 120 survivors, Ma'am. You're the most senior officer around now, so you gotta make a decision. We could stay here, but I'm a little worried 'bout those rebels, not to mention ZAFT."
Natarle looked down at the ground, thinking. Great, my first command. What am I going to do? I won't let their deaths be in vain.
She looked up, and sighed. She had to be strong. "Alright. Listen up everyone!" The heads of the crew all turned to look at her. It was a little disconcerting, having people follow her orders for once. "Umm…the senior crew are dead. That makes me commanding officer," she mumbled. She gulped, and continued. "The rebels and ZAFT knew that the Archangel and G-weapons were arriving today. That said, they'll be making for the docks. We have to beat them to the punch. We're going to start up the Archangel and make for the spaceport. Move out!" For a moment, everyone just sat there, stunned as the realization of what had happened sank in. Then the Chief took charge. "You heard her! Let's get a move on!"
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"Ugh! This stupid door won't open! Kisaka, none of the codes that I have will work!" Cagalli struck the cold metal with her fist, glaring at the security keypad. Around the dock, the members of AFLA tried to get into any opening the ship might've had, making sure that they were careful to not draw the attention of the base by accidentally triggering alarms. That was one good thing that came of the ZAFT attack, at least. The attention of the Alliance's officers was focused on the base perimeter, not it's interior.
It was a blow to learn that three of the prototypes had been taken by ZAFT. At least Kira had grabbed one of them, though, with Sherry dead, killed by The Hawk, the other one was probably controlled by ZAFT as well.
BLAM! A gunshot rang out! Cagalli turned around, pulling her gun out of it's holster. Ahmed rushed to her, his gun held out in front of him. "Cagalli! It sounds like the crew of the ship has caught up with us! We're pulling out!"
"Damn it! I thought we took care of 'em!" Cagalli fumed at the airlock door, staring at the damned keypad, silently shouting at it. The only reason that the crew had caught up was because she hadn't been able to open the door in time.
A sudden motion caught her eye, behind a bunch of ammo crates. She motioned to Ahmed, and they crept silently around, circling the crates. Behind them, the sounds of battle continued, along with the occasional pained scream or choked cry as each side lost a valued friend in the fierce fire.
Unnoticed in the confusion, Natarle and Arnold had crept around the perimeter of the battle, until they reached a maintenance hatch under the ship's main body. They threaded their way through the numerous power cables, followed from afar by Cagalli and Ahmed.
"Okay, this one isn't locked down right now. We'll come in from here, and head for the bridge. After that…" Natarle shrugged. "…We'll see what happens after we get this ship up and running. Most likely, we'll swing by the…" The sound of a gun being cocked put her mouth to rest. Turning, the two Alliance crewmen saw two teens, barely sixteen years old, aiming pistols at their heads.
"We'll take over from here."
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Standing, facing each other across a gulf of fire, the Aegis and the Strike. Neither moved, they simply stared down one another. Within the Aegis, Athrun worked at the console, hastily jury-rigging a flawed system. Murrue Ramius stared at the complex controls within the Strike, trying to learn how to pilot such a complex machine in a few minutes what had taken it's assigned pilot three years to simply understand.
In the skies above, Mwu La Flaga rocketed through the blue skies, observing the unfolding story below. I can't be sure whether the ground crew managed to save the last G-Weapon, so I'll have to take both of them out. The Aegis is more of a threat, so I'll take that one out first. Swooping down, the experimental Peregrine living up to it's name; a loud shriek echoing across the sound barrier, it broke out of it's dive at the edge of the small island, it's wide profile and barrels pointed at the G-Weapon.
But the clash to come was interrupted by a tremendous explosion, a huge dust cloud coming up from the hidden docks beneath the installation. Forced aside, the Peregrine broke out of it's attack run at a wild kilt, and began to barrel roll uncontrollably. In the chaos, the Strike was knocked over, landing hard; while the Aegis fled into the skies, turning towards Vesuvius base.
Within the cockpit of the Strike, the com screen flashed on, revealing to Murrue Ramius an unfamiliar face. "Kira! Are you there?"
Shoved behind the pilot seat, Kira had to struggle unceremoniously to turn around to respond. "I'm here, Cagalli. What's going on? I take it you already took over the Archangel without my help." Took over the Archangel? Was that ship really their goal all along? Murrue Ramius mulled over this thought for a brief moment, before the girl's next statement interrupted her.
"We've got bigger problems. ZAFT's launched an attack against our base back on Uroboros! If we don't get back soon, they'll be wiped out!"
Well, that's chapter four. Not too great, even after editing, but I've suffered a brain drain from schoolwork recently. I'm still editing Chapter 5, so just wait for that.