Chapter 7: The Form of Closeness
Blaze looked over the hanger as Mikazuki and Akihiro climbed out of their mobile suits. He leapt off rail and flew towards Akihiro, stopping himself on the Graze's head.
"Nice work out there against the red one." Blaze complimented Akihiro as the man looked up. Being the only one in a Graze meant that Akihiro was at a disadvantage since he didn't have the AV system in his suit like Mika did nor Al to help him like Blaze did. For him to have held up as well as he did... It was pretty impressive.
"Thanks. How'd you do against the purple suit?" he asked. Blaze smirked and held up a couple of fingers to signal how close he was to eliminating them. Akihiro nodded.
"Where's Orga?" Blaze asked.
"He took Kudeila and Biscuit to make a deal with the other ship." Nadi responded.
"I see. I'm going to the simulators for a bit, find me if I'm needed." Blaze called as he leapt away.
A few hours later...
Blaze grunted as he smashed another Graze to paste before chasing after the purple suit again. This time, he didn't let up, slamming the Barbatos's mace into the cockpit and firing off the pile bunker, destroying it yet again.
"That is the third time you have completed that simulation, Blaze. Please take a break." Al squawked into Blaze's ear. Blaze sighed and exited the simulation. Because he was unwilling to put the Trailblazer's data into the simulator, he was stuck using Barbatos' data instead since it was the closest thing to his Gundam as they had. He started flying towards the canteen. Chances are, there were leftovers that Atra probably would let him have. He spotted Mika and Akihiro and flew over to sit with them, grabbing a sandwich from the pile as he went. He saw Atra walk up to them and place a couple of drinks next to them.
"That was rough. I'm glad you're safe." she said to them. Blaze smirked and took a bite out of his sandwich.
"Yeah, thanks to Akihiro." Mika responded. He turned to Akihiro. "You're a really good pilot, man."
Akihiro gulped down what he was eating. "My machine was roughed up though." he admitted humbily.
"Could've been worse." Blaze shrugged. Akihiro and Mika turned to Blaze. "What? You see the state of purple guy when I was done with her?" he chuckled as he went back to eating.
"Maybe so, but mine got it even worse." Mika stated flatly. Blaze, Akihiro and Atra shared worried looks as Mika stood up and began to walk away.
"You want seconds? There's plenty left!" Atra called after him.
"Nah, I'm good."
"But you usually eat twice as much!"
Blaze shrugged. "Thanks Atra." he said as he stood up and began walking off.
"Don't you want seconds too?" she asked. Blaze shook his head and began walking to the direction of his room. Once there, he laid down on the bed.
"Al, status of Mikazuki?" he murmured.
"The boy is unharmed, but his body language suggests he is disappointed in himself for the damage Barbatos sustained." the AI replied. Blaze sighed. Nothing he could do then.
"What's Trailblazer's status?"
"The machine took a few knocks, but nothing serious. It'll be restocked soon."
"Good." Blaze suddenly remembered something. "Actually, I'm gonna suggest some equipment for you to have on standby. Don't equip it yet, just have it on standby for when I go on patrol." he ordered.
The door opened, causing Blaze to sit up. Takagi stood at the door.
"Mr Blaze, I thought you'd want to know Orga and the others are back." the boy stated. Blaze nodded.
"Alright, I'm on my way." Blaze stood up and walked through the door, patting Takagi on the head as he went. Knowing Orga and Biscuit, they had this under control, but he wanted to know what they were going to do next.
Blaze walked onto the bridge to see Orga and Biscuit addressing the people on the bridge. Fumitan seemed to pay it no mind as she worked away on her terminal.
"Well, we talked it over. Teiwaz has decided to let us speak with Mr Barriston, and if all goes well, we're as good as in!" Biscuit announced as the guys started cheering as Blaze shook his head. He doubted it was as easy as that. Orga seemed to have the same thought.
"Calm down. We aren't a division of Teiwaz yet, we gotta negotiate." he stated in a gruff voice, earning grumbles from the guys.
"From this point, we will be heading out to Seisei accompanied by the Turbines."
"Seisei?"
"Yeah. It's a massive spaceship that Teiwaz uses as their main headquaters. According to them, it isn't far from here." Biscuit explained. Blaze shrugged.
"If that's everything, I'm heading out on patrol." Blaze commented, causing Biscuit and Orga to turn around. Orga gave him a brief nod to confirm it.
"Alright. I'll give the mechanics a heads up so you can use the airlock." Biscuit replied. Blaze nodded and began to walk off towards the hanger.
He needed to contact Portman and give him a status update.
"Al, launch the Trailblazer and have it wait near the airlock. We're going on patrol." Blaze muttered as he swung by his room to grab his space suit. He quickly threw it on, fastening his helmet over his head as he headed towards the airlock. Blaze quickly engaged the air lock and easily landed in Ipos, performing his usual routine.
"Welcome aboard, Agent Blaze." Al said.
"Are you gonna do that every time I board?" Blaze asked the AI.
"Yes, it is part of the security for this system. It ensures I have not been hijacked or altered in any way. It is my code phrase much like yours."
"I see. Al, plot a patrol route and call up Agent Portman. We need to relay our report."
"Yes sir." Ipos began moving as the screen above Blaze flickered to life, showing it was attempting to connect to someone.
"Agent Blaze, you have something to report?" Sounded like he had been expecting this call.
"Relaying a status report, sir. We have linked up with the Turbines and are en route to Seisei." Blaze responded.
"Very good, agent. Anything else?" the man asked. Blaze had a few questions.
"Yes, sir. Why did I get given an assignment involving time travel? Isn't it a bit dangerous?" he asked.
Portman cocked an eyebrow. "Getting worried about causing paradoxes now?" he asked. Blaze shook his head.
"...No sir. Just wondering why I've been given a time traveling machine and allowed to go here rather than be ordered to go to an apocalyptic future."
"Because there is no apocalyptic future right now."
Blaze blinked. "Pardon sir?"
"Agent Blaze, do you really believe Nibella would just randomly let people take Trailblazers and do whatever?"
"No, sir."
"We have plenty of agents in the field. There's an agent undergoing his High Vuutar initiation where he's assisting a group known as Celestial Being against an alien invasion as we speak." Blaze remembered that event from his history lessons. It was where they had developed the technology that had made time travel much easier for Nibella. "Must be trying to protect Aker." Blaze thought.
"Quite simply, there is no apocalyptic future in any of the timelines that require urgent attention right now because we either have agents there working to fix it or agents in the past working to stop it from happening. And since your record shows you had an extensive interest in the Post Disaster Era, as well as your high success rate in stealth and subterfuge missions, you were allowed to do this specific mission because you would be able to work best when you have your passion driving you to save them. You don't become a Vuutar agent by simply working in the present like you did when you were still an initiate." Portman finished. Blaze was speechless for a moment.
"So, why again am I here?" he asked.
"Because you chose to be there. If you mess up the timeline, then another agent undergoing his Vuutar initiation will choose to come back and stop you." Portman answered.
"So what's stopping them now?"
"Each Trailblazer and agent is tethered to the era they launched from. The Trailblazers' AIs will recognise each other and know to avoid the era the suit has launched to as someone is working there. Having multiple suits working in the same era has proven to be difficult. Think of it as like a bungee cord. You can see the cable, you might not be able to see the person yet but at some point, they'll come back up into view and you'll know they are there. So you aren't going to bungee jump there until the person is finished." Portman took a breath as Blaze remained silent, musing over what he had just learnt.
"Agent, if you wish to quit you can return now. We'll send someone back to eliminate you from the timeline and it'll be like nothing happened. You can return to your home and pursue a less risky career. No one will blame you if you do, getting a chance to become an agent is an achievement in itself." Portman said gently. Blaze shook his head.
"No. I want to do this." he responded with determination in his voice. Portman nodded.
"Very well. Was there anything else?" he asked.
"No sir."
"Good. Keep me posted." the screen turned off as Blaze led back in his seat, rubbing his head.
"Is everything okay, Agent Blaze?" Al asked.
"Yeah, yeah. Everything's fine." Blaze responded. He spotted a asteroid near the Hammerhead and had a thought.
"Al, have the resupply ship launch the Gerbera Straight out here. I see a rock I wanna test it on." Blaze ordered. He saw the katana soar towards him, catching it in his hand before mounting it on the hard point on Ipos' back. He flew towards the asteroid and unsheathed and struck the asteroid in one fluid move before flying over the asteroid towards the opposite side and performing a slashing motion. Blaze smirked as the asteroid split into even quarters.
"When you are done showing off, can you get back to patrolling?" the suave voice called through Blaze's earpiece. Blaze quickly stopped smirking and flew off back to patrolling, sheathing his sword as he went. He continued on his patrol, musing over what Portman had said.
"Hey, Blaze, it's the Turbines' turn to patrol now. You can come back to base now." Biscuit called.
"Understood." Blaze responded. He began flying towards the ship. Then he had a thought. He quickly put a call through to Nadi. The older man picked up.
"Nadi, may I keep Ipos on board the Isaribi? She doesn't need fuel or repairs." he asked.
"Er, sure. Is something wrong?" the mechanic asked. Usually, Blaze kept his suit hidden away.
"No, I just figured it'd make for easy access to it since I'm mostly on board the Isaribi anyway." he replied.
"I see. Yes, we'll have the mechanics help you secure it." Nadi finished. Blaze smiled and closed the call, before pulling the keyboard across his lap and typing quickly.
"Self destruct protocol offline. In the event of an unknown person gaining control of the suit, the suit will not activate under any circumstances." Al squwaked. Blaze smirked.
"Al, remember not to talk in the cockpit unless the hatch is shut." he ordered.
"Yes sir."
Ten days later...
"...And that was the history of Gjallahorn. Would you like me to continue?" Al asked. Blaze shook his head. He opened the cockpit hatch and hopped out of the suit, just in time to see Atra and Kudelia heading for a shuttle.
"Where are you two off to?" he asked.
"We're going to the Hammerhead. Wanna come with?" Atra asked. Blaze shrugged a yes and hopped aboard the shuttle with them.
"So what are we doing?" he asked. Kudelia just gave him a confused look as Atra giggled to herself.
"You'll just have to wait and see." the younger child said. Blaze rolled his eyes.
"If this turns out to be another lecture on being careful when I fly, I'm telling Mika you were the one who ate those Mars Palms. Ipos didn't even take that much damage from the crash!" Blaze complained. Atra started laughing as Kudelia looked at them with a frown.
"It was supposed to be a friendly sparring match between you and Azee and that crash split that asteroid in half. It was twice the size of the Hammerhead, Blaze!" Kudelia replied. Blaze pouted as they continued on their way to the Hammerhead. They landed in the hanger and met up with Lafter and Amida.
"Hey Blaze. How's Ipos?" Lafter asked, prompting Atra to start giggling again as Blaze frowned.
"Azee told that story to everyone, didn't she?" he asked. Amida shook her head.
"We saw it from the bridge. Gotta say, that's a powerful suit if it's able to do that to a rock that size." Blaze just shook his head.
"Now we are done mocking my piloting skills, can we get on to whatever we were supposed to be doing?" he asked. Amida turned around and started walking with Lafter, Kudelia and Atra behind her.
"Mental note, find some dirt on Azee to get back at her for this." Blaze thought as he followed the ladies to a room covered in bunting and flowers.
"This is different..." he thought until he looked in front of him and saw why the room was like that.
Brown skin.
Brown hair.
A light blue outfit.
Babies. This was a nursery.
Blaze almost ran out of the room, barely stopping himself. He was trained in multiple ways of eliminating enemies lethally and non lethally. He could negotiate his way out of a hostage situation. He was even able to impersonate hostile forces to get enemies to ease off him in combat.
He should not be near babies. He was a soldier, not a parent.
"Something wrong, tough guy?" Amida asked, seeing Blaze's apprehension.
"No no, just... Not used to babies." he admitted truthfully. Amida smiled a bit.
"Don't worry, you'll get used to them after a while." she said. Blaze put on a small smile.
"So... all the children here are Mr Naze's right?" Atra asked.
"Yep! But each one has a different mother. Our darling stays pretty busy!" Lafter responded. Blaze cringed at the thought of how Naze must've dealt with having multiple kids from different mothers. He shot a sympathetic smile at Atra, as judging from her look of embarrassment, she must've had the same thought as he did.
"We keep all of the infants here on the ship with us." Amida continued. This got Atra's attention, as she turned towards Amida now.
"You mean there are others?" she asked.
"Yeah. The older ones are attending school on the surface." Lafter finished as she pulled one of the babies in front of her. She turned to ask if Blaze wanted to hold one, but found he had vanished.
_
"...Nope, nope, nope. Not dealing with kids today." Blaze thought as he walked away from the room. He continue walking deep in his thoughts until he crashed into someone.
"Hey Blaze! Mind paying attention to where you are going?" Blaze turned around to see Azee glaring at him. He sighed.
"Sorry Azee. Just... thinking." he replied, which caused Azee to walk towards him. Great. Like he needed an interrogation now.
"Talk, then. What's the issue?" she asked. Blaze just shrugged. "Rather not talk about it."
"Did you eat Mika's Mars Palms again?"
"That was one time, Azee! And no, I didn't." Azee continued to scrutinze him, trying to figure out what the problem was. Blaze sighed. If anything, Azee was persistant and probably wouldn't let this slide.
"Kids. Not a fan."
"What, Mr I-Have-A-Gundam is scared of little babies?"
"Not helping."
"You'll get used to them." Azee turned to walk away, and then stopped.
"I never liked kids much myself. Hang around with Naze and his crew long enough and you'll be fine with them." she continued walking away. Then she stopped again.
"Forgotten how to walk, lady? You put your left foot forward, then your right..." Blaze snarked, earning a snort from Azee.
"Akihiro and Mika are training in the simulators again. You can come and join them. I'd recommend it, considering how you fly." she snarked back at him. Blaze opened his mouth to complain and saw her walking off again. He quickly shut it and ran after her.
A few hours later...
"So what did you get up to after you ran off?" Atra asked Blaze.
"Ran into Azee, did training with her and Lafter." he replied. Both ladies were dangerous in their own right, yet he seemed to tie with Azee whenever they fought. He listened to the others discuss training and babies as he thought to himself about everything that had been going on the last few days. The talk with Portman, the rematch with Azee, meeting Naze's kids (Blaze shuddered at that), facing Lafter in the simulator. It seemed that everything was going well with his mission as well as Tekkadan's mission. He hoped it would stay that way, as it would make this journey a lot more fun.
"You can change your destiny beyond the time..." Blaze quitely sang to himself. Then cursed himself for getting that song stuck back in his head again.
This was gonna be a long trip back.
_
Author's note: Thank you to those of you who have reviewed my story so far. I'm glad to see that people are taking notice of it.
Fortresshunter, thank you for your kind words. I hope you continue to enjoy the story.
Janshal, I'm glad to see you enjoyed the plot armour. I was worried I had gone about that a bit too blatantly, but it seems to have worked.
And to the guest reviewer, thank you for your advice. This is my first ever story and I'm attempting to stay as close to the canon story as I can as due to the time traveling element, as with anything involving time travel, messing with the past can cause issues in the future. Now, Blaze can't really be everywhere at once so certain bits may get skipped over, which is why there may be pacing issues as well as length issues.
As for the lore around Blaze's situation and Nibella, we will be covering that as we go, as well as the reasoning behind Nibella's Vuutar initiation process.
I think that should be all. Stay tuned for more of Blaze's adventures and be sure to leave a review telling me what you think, I'm always open to feedback :)
