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Mobile Suit Hanger
Midway Atoll HQ
One Week Later
Xander's POV
"So how's it looking Doc?" He asked watching from a safe distance as the combined forces of their science and engineering division worked on the Freedom and the Unicorn.
"More of a challenge than we'd thought at first but I'm confident that we'll be able done before you need to leave with pilot Rosenberg." Doctor J replied sounding oddly interested in his work, "We've already finished sifting through the various technologies we have at our disposal and now all that is left is to incorporate them into the Freedom and Unicorn without any system conflicts."
"System conflicts?" He asked looking away from the work being done.
"Each of the systems we selected for this mission came from different realities with similar but not identical levels of technology." Doctor J replied sounding like this was what had him interested, "As a result they don't quite fit together like puzzle pieces that are meant to fit together. We will need to make adjustments, manufacture connections from scratch in some cases, in order to ensure everything will work. We'll do our best to determine what fixes we need to make before the actual work begins of course."
"Of course." He said understanding that putting He-Man's head on a G.I Joe figure and making it work wasn't easy.
He should know.
He'd done it with his own action figures as a kid since it was the only way he could have a whole figure thanks to Tony's habit of breaking most of them.
Of course when he tried to share his success with Willow and her Barbie dolls…well…he learned he should keep that part of his brilliance to himself.
"So howsabout you give me the rundown on the changes you'll be making." He said deciding that he could program a few training sims with the info.
"Well in the case of both the Freedom and the Unicorn we're installing Hyper Jammers. They scatter jamming particles throughout the immediate vicinity scrambling enemy radar and cameras. We've had to up the range of effect and that's led to changes to both the rate of emission as well as particle generation but we don't expect there to be any problems." Doctor J said pointing to the work being done on the shoulders of both units, "We've tweaked the main power generator of the Unicorn to emit an energy field to further hide it from sensors. It gets weaker the further away from the Unicorn the enemy unit is but we estimate that it will remain effective until just outside the Federation's sensor range."
Good with two means of hiding from the locals the odds of Willow being spotted would be pretty small especially with the natural snow cover and Unicorn Gundam's armour colouring. Unlike the rest of the Gundam pilots Willow had a pretty level head and wasn't prone to just diving into trouble either by accident or on purpose. The only way that she'd need to start shooting would be if someone somehow managed to eyeball her through a pair of binoculars by sheer chance or if those Aerogators decided to crash the party. While Tina might've managed to get them info on the Federation's tech the same couldn't be said about the aliens attacking the planet. Most of the salvaged Aerogator tech was in pieces and the test results on the pieces that were good had been put on offline databases.
He seriously hoped that they didn't get blindsided by a lack of intel on the .
"We're also modifying the phase shift armour on your Freedom to make adjustments in colouring to better blend into the Antarctica environment. A minor piece of work but it will increase the odds of the Freedom remaining anonymous." Doctor J said even as a segment of the Freedom's armour changed from blue to snow white before shifting back.
"What's that thing they're trying to attach to the Unicorn?" He asked pointing at the mess of tech being maneuvered into position behind Willow's Gundam.
"THAT my friend is our best shot at granting the Unicorn Gundam long range flight capability." Doctor J said sounding particularly satisfied with this solution, "We originally considered simply replacing its back thrusters with engines similar to your Freedom but then a very serious problem popped up namely the transformative ability of the Unicorn. From what we can tell in its default state the Unicorn Gundam is superior to most Federation Personal Troopers however when its NT-D system is activated it's power output and capabilities are greatly enhanced for a short period of time."
"So you guys were worried that directly changing the back would muck up the NT-D transformation?" He asked getting an idea of what was going on.
"Indeed we were concerned. If we had more time and access to more resources we could probably make enough modifications to outright replace the back thrusters without interfering with the transformation but since we didn't we had to improvise." Doctor J said sounding like he had the broad strokes mapped out in his head for those future upgrades, "We decided to take elements from the ZGMF-X11A Regenerate Gundam and the GAT-X105 Strike Gundam's Aile Striker backpack. Instead of incorporating flight engines directly into the Gundam we intend to make it so that the engines will be attached to the Unicorn's back via clamps at both the waist as well as the shoulders."
"But…you have a 'but' face. What's the problem?" He asked picking up on what he thought was a tell.
"Due to the transformative nature of the NT-D system if it were to be engaged with the flight pack on there would be significant damage." Doctor J said sounding annoyed at being found out, "As such should pilot Rosenberg require the power of the NT-D system she will need to trigger the detaching system for the flight pack reducing her back to her original back thrusters. It is doubtful that the flight pack will be capable of being reattached in the field so we intend to insert self-destruct explosives next to key components. They will be set to detonate five seconds after the flight pack has separated from the Unicorn."
So if the shit hits the fan it'll be up to me to get both of us out of there. He thought grimacing a little at how hard that'd be.
Most flight capable mobile suits were only designed with engines capable of carrying the individual suit's weight at acceptable combat speeds. While it was possible to carry another mobile suit it would cut the flight speed of the mobile suit in half not to mention impair its maneuverability. Neither hindrance was wanted in a combat situation so he seriously hoped that this turned out to be a quiet mission.
"As far as weapons are concerned you'll both retain your built in armaments and beam sabres but you'll also go equipped with MA-20 'Lupus' beam rifles." Doctor J said pointing to the rifles hanging on the nearby wall, "They have sufficient power to pierce armoured opponents and since they derive their power from the Gundam itself rather than from ammunition clips or power packs. This should provide you with the advantage in longer battles."
"And they're removing the Freedom's railguns why exactly?" He asked wondering what could be the benefit of eliminating the Gundam's most powerful weapons.
The plasma beam cannons, the beam sabre and beam rifle might be nice and all but the railguns were damn useful when the enemy had strong defences against beam weaponry. Considering the fact that the Aerogator intel said that the enemy preferred energy weapons and proved susceptible to Personal Trooper weapons the railguns would be damn effective.
"Let's just say that while I respect the efforts of ZAFT to produce a Gundam superior to those built by the Earth Alliance their scientists were at best average." Doctor J replied grinning like only a gleeful old coot could grin, "Trust me when I say that what we're going to replace the railguns with will have you smiling like a certain ponytailed Gundam pilot I knew in my last life."
That mollified him for the most part since Gundam pilots had certain consistent personality traits so anything that'd put a smile on their face was definitely a good thing.
The Freedom's burst mode was excellent when you needed to take on a large number of enemy mobile suits at once. If the situation in Antarctica went bad then that kind of firepower would be needed even if he had to adjust the targeting parameters of the Freedom to disable rather than destroy. The locals would just be responding like anyone would to two unknowns in a top secret and secure territory so he couldn't justify killing them for it. Take out their head cameras and their primary weapons and they'd have no choice but to withdraw and wait for reinforcements.
They were here to save these people from the Einst.
He wouldn't rack up a bodycount unless the lives of the people he cared about were staring death in the face and only he could could save their lives.
Family was everything to him and the Scoobies were his chosen family so he'd march right into hell dripping blood if that's what it took to keep them safe.
If things got that dire he wouldn't much care whose blood he wound up getting drenched in.
The Izu Federation Base
The Hallways Leading Away From the Briefing Room
One Month Later
Major Ingram Prisken's POV
Things are proceeding apace. He thought as he left the SRX team to digest what he'd told them, However the level of control is less than I would prefer.
Indeed things had been proceeding quite smoothly in the beginning but then the unknown faction with their unique Personal Trooper appeared. It'd been an oddity and one that required investigation in light of the Aerogator threat but he'd considered it more of a side project rather than a priority problem. One Personal Trooper and a small number of support infantry were hardly going to be enough to be classified a serious threat. He'd already devised a few strategies to subdue it that could be carried out with existing Personal Trooper models and they could be expanded in order to incorporate other Federation military assets if needed.
Then the detonation of a weapon of unknown type occurred at Bodie forcing him to reclassify the unknowns as genuine threats with unknown intentions.
The analysis of the area had been both puzzling as well as troubling.
From what could be determined from the radius of the damage and how the area had been affected by the blast it'd been the preliminary conclusion that a nuclear bomb had been detonated either on the surface or deep within the mine. Not an unreasonable theory given the signs of extreme heat as well as the amount of energy needed to displace so much earth but one piece of evidence glaringly contradicted this theory. No matter what equipment was used and how sensitive it was no one was able to detect even the faintest amount of radiation whether it was in the air, water or soil. The scientists balked at the idea of a clean nuclear weapon but at the same time they'd been unable to come up with an alternative possibility. He had examined the data himself as well but the only conclusion he could come up with was one that almost had him considering calling in a few important favours.
What was the conclusion?
That the explosion that destroyed Bodie was not the limit of what this unknown faction was capable of.
A weapon of the same sort that destroyed Bodie could easily decimate any major city on Earth and given that it didn't leave behind radiation had him believing that conventional precautions against nukes would be pointless. With the advancement of technology and the unification of the planet it had become possible to detect and track troubling radiation signatures from satellites in orbit. Coupled with sensors placed at the edges of the most important cities, military bases and infrastructure points the government had been confident that any nuclear weapon they didn't own would be easy to find. However upon checking the records of such sensors and satellites he'd been unable to find any sign of a radiation signature approaching Bodie going back to the hack on the Tesla Leicht Institute. A more comforting conclusion might simply have been that whatever vehicle had been used to transport the bomb had been sufficiently shielded to mask it from detection but he didn't think so.
As soon as keeping track of and locating unauthorized nuclear weapons had become a priority efforts had also been made to determine just how unlawful parties might escape detection. What materials could block the sensors and the satellites? Could these materials be used in the construction of a vehicle or a container? As soon as it was concluded that these questions had been sufficiently answered the Federation had immediately seen to strictly regulating the materials as well as the technology needed to covertly make and transport nuclear weapons. A severe sentence was attached to the crime of even attempting it without the knowledge and permission of the Federation government in the hopes that it would discourage all but the mentally ill members of the criminal community.
All in all the odds that such a simple solution had been used to conceal the placing of the weapons in Bodie leaving all clueless until detonation were small.
There was a far more likely possibility even if at the moment he didn't have the evidence to support it.
Another alien race might well be active on Earth besides the Aerogators.
All the research and favours he'd called in to locate terrestrial culprits for the unique Personal Trooper and then later the destruction of Bodie had turned up nothing of significance. True they'd managed to locate and apprehend a few small time anti-Federation terrorist groups but none of the operations had provided evidence to suggest a large scale operation. Certainly nothing on the scale needed to secretly design and construct a Personal Trooper matching the one that Major Zonvolt had fought.
Eliminate the impossible and whatever is left, however improbable, must be the truth.
If he could not find a terrestrial source for the two anomalies then logic would dictate that the source had to be extra-terrestrial in origin.
This however only bothered him for many reasons chief among them the fact that he lacked sufficient knowledge of the intergalactic landscape to theorize as to who the unknowns could be. To date the only alien race to have interacted with Earth was the Aerogators and even then only through the meteors they'd likely sent as well as their robotic insect drones. This new group employed piloted machines similar in many ways to Personal Troopers as well as support operatives equipped with weapons quite close to native Earth designs. He'd spent a few hours a day since their first appearance trying to theorize possible objectives for the group but the truth of the matter was that he had too little information to work with. By and large all he had was their technological level and their combat prowess but that did little to hint at what it was they were doing on Earth.
It tested his composure sometimes when he thought he'd come up with a feasible framework for the group only to have one or two facts invalidate the theory.
The one hope he had also threatened to be the cause of significant complications down the road given the nature of the Antarctica mission. Officially it was stated to be the unveiling of the Shirogane and the Granzon but unofficially it was a mission between Federation delegates and another party of extreme significance. Significance enough to warrant many Personal Trooper teams to provide security and for the Shirogane to be fully combat ready. While some might have trouble discerning the truth he was a great deal more perceptive than most members of the Federation military.
This was a meeting between top Federation officials and representatives of the Aerogators.
There was no other 'party' on Earth that could be important enough to warrant such secretive measures and for top Federation officials to be involved it meant the meeting was being taken VERY seriously. Only a meeting between Earth and the Aerogators explained everything to his satisfaction but as to the goal of the meeting he presumed it was an effort to diplomatically defuse the growing friction between the two parties. It was a fact that despite their best efforts their military strength had not grown so far that they could conclusively say that they stood a chance if open conflict were to erupt. His project as well as a few others held promise but they were all still in development with prototypes barely ready for testing. If the matter could be resolved with a peaceful meeting and negotiated terms then the entire conflict could be avoided.
He knew that he wasn't the only one who'd likely connected the dots and he knew of one group who would not approve of the talks in the least.
EOTI, also known as the Extra Over Technology Institute, had made it clear that in their eyes the only path ahead was one of a struggle against the Aerogators for the right of Humanity to exist as well as the Earth. Indeed the head of the Institute, Doctor Bian Zoldark, had been quite vocal any time the question came up that what the Earth needed was a sword strong enough as well as sharp enough to strike down the Aerogator threat. It was a very real possibility that behind closed doors they were quite angry at the idea of negotiating with the Aerogators and might well be upset enough to make a statement in Antarctica. What that statement would be he was not certain but it would be strong and it would make it clear to the Aerogators that not everyone on Earth supported a nonviolent resolution to the situation.
If for some reason the unknowns behind Bodie and the unique Personal Trooper chose to appear there as well they could very well be the lit torch tossed into a munitions truck.
One way or another he doubted very much that the events in Antarctica would go according to anyone's plan.
A Little Over Twenty-Four Hours Later
The Launch Hanger of the Macross Quarter
Willow's POV
"How long do you think it'll be before the grease monkey's and eggheads finish those other support ships?" Xander asked through the com-connection between their Gundams, "I mean sure the Macross Quarter is awesome especially since it's been upgraded from how it was originally but it can't be everywhere at once. Push comes to shove we're going to need more options."
"With the work on the base pretty much done they can focus on other projects but they'll still need resources for anything big." She replied as she continued going through the preflight check for her Gundam, "We've already gone through half of what the Quarter had in its cargo bays with the base work and modifying our Gundams. It might be smarter to wait until we've found more resources."
"Kinda hard to do with all the good spots already staked out by the Federation." He pointed out as the lights of the catapult began to turn on signifying the beginning of the pre-launch process, "We'd have to get pretty damn lucky to find a deposit of metal ore big enough to do us any good."
"That would be the safest route." She said agreeing with her longtime friend, "But it's not the only one. Now let's focus on the mission Xander. Last thing we need is to give ourselves away because one of us got careless."
"Roger that." He said his voice becoming more professional, "Freedom out."
The other routes she was talking about though were riskier and weren't what you could call legal.
No matter how united the Federation might appear on the outside there were always going to be splinter groups and people who refused to go with the flow. Some would be people who simply preferred the old way of doing things while others had a bone to pick with the way the Federation came to power. The people that might be able to help them though were the ones who didn't much care who was in the big chair of planet Earth so long as there was profit to be had.
The criminals and the shady corporate types.
She had little doubt that somewhere on Earth there were people buying and selling materials that according to Federation law were illegal to get or give. It was with them that she thought that their group might be able to acquire the raw materials they needed to further flesh out their options in preparation for the time when what they had currently wasn't enough. The problem with doing business with people who didn't exactly respect the law was that they often didn't respect the sanctity of a deal done in good faith. Greed was at the core of everything they did and with those people they often tried to take what they promised you even after you gave them what they wanted. They 'changed the deal' and made sure you couldn't do much more than grind your teeth in anger. To deal with people like that they'd need to plan thoroughly, anticipate twists as well as turns to the point of paranoia, and have their own trump card at the ready.
In short it'd be something she'd leave to Giles as well as any other crew member of the Quarter who had experience dealing with scumbags and swindlers.
"We've arrived at the disembarkation point." Giles said as the com-system came alive, "This is the closest we dare get to the Antarctica base where the meeting is being held. Even with the new stealth enhancements in place we'd still be noticeable if only due to the air or water we displaced with our passing.
"Now remember: your only mission is to get as close as you dare to the base and observe what transpires." Giles declared firmly, "You are not to become involved if anything should transpire and once you have learned enough withdraw to Point Beta. We'll be waiting for you. Understood?"
"Understood." She said even as she felt the Unicorn rise a few feet off the floor of the catapult, "RX-0 Unicorn Gundam, launching!"
With that the EM propulsion of the catapult flung her forward and the moment she was far enough from the ship she engaged the new engines on the back of her Gundam. From the moment they'd been decided upon the data had been added to the training simulator so she and Xander could get used to the new features. While her inherited memories might have given her a good grasp of maneuvering in the cold vacuum of space flying in Earth's atmosphere was a whole other ballgame. Fortunately Xander had given her a few pointers and with time she'd mastered it enough to meet with Giles' approval as being good enough to go ahead with the mission.
She wouldn't be calling herself a flying ace anytime soon but since this wasn't a combat mission she wouldn't need to be one.
"Engaging Hyper Jammers. Initiating power core protocols." She said with the com-line still open, "How's it look?"
"Like I should commend Doctor J and the rest of the staff on a job well done." Giles replied sounding pleased, "You have almost completely disappeared from the Quarter's sensors and what is there is not all that noticeable. If it wasn't for the external cameras we would not know you were there."
"Then we're good to go." She said utilizing her navigation systems to plot a course for the Antarctica base, "See you soon Giles."
"See you soon Willow." She said before severing the connection.
Focus on what was in front of her both figuratively as well as literally she made sure to keep her Gundam close to the ground to minimize the odds of being visually spotted. In the hours before the launch they'd done the best they could to map out an approach that would maximize the cover they could use to hid behind as well as possible patrol routes for the Federation. Despite the best efforts of Christina they hadn't been able to find out precisely what the Federation was doing to keep the unveiling of their new Personal Trooper secure. They had a decent grasp of the numbers and hardware being assigned to the task but they didn't have intel on how they'd be employed. As a result all they'd been able to do was use tactical logic with the end goal being to provide the best security for the base and the unveiling possible. It'd taken three hours to nail down the most likely scenario but once they had a safe route was plotted for her and Xander to take that would allow them to evade discovery by the naked eye.
Glancing to her left she saw Xander's Freedom flying alongside her with his beam rifle in a stronger position as though he expected them to have to fight sooner rather than later.
It was just like Xander.
Then again considering the sort of luck he tended to have it was perhaps wise.
Even when you do all that you can to prepare for something the possibility of failure was still very real. When considering how Buffy's mission had gone in spite of adequate planning being ready for a fight from the beginning would ensure that they were not caught unprepared. Besides that being ready for a fight was Xander's role for this mission so it was good that he was taking the matter seriously.
It would be her job to collect information but it was his job to be ready to bail her out if she got into trouble. As such he would be taking up a position a bit away from where she'd be surveying the base dividing his attention between the base and the area around each of their locations. If it looked like they'd been discovered or part of the Federation security forces were heading their way he'd try to quietly neutralize them but if not he'd go loud to provide her with a chance to withdraw. Between the two of them the Freedom had the superior firepower unless she was willing to ditch the flight pack clamped to the Unicorn but that'd be self defeating. Even though Doctor J had managed to rig it so that the Unicorn's original back thrusters would remain her Gundam wasn't very fast planetside and often needed some sort of transport to get to far off places. If they came under attack from Federation forces things would get complicated and make getting back to the Quarter much harder.
So like Giles told her she'd stick to the plan including the contingencies that'd been thought up for successfully escaping and evading Federation forces.
In the end it took a little over an hour of flying the complicated route of secrecy before the two of them reached the divergence point to their two respective destinations. With a half-assed salute Xander piloted his Freedom Gundam towards his destination leaving her alone to reach hers. It was a short while later that she arrived and with a landing that was a bit better than what she'd managed in the simulator. Making her Gundam crouch as low as possible she crept up to the top of the mountain that'd be her lookout point waiting until she had a clear field of vision of both the base and the area immediately surrounding it.
Looks like we got here just in time. She thought as she took in the moving Personal Troopers as well as the slowly advancing warship, They're still in the process of setting up.
With that being the case it'd probably still be a bit before they calibrated their sensors for a more thorough scan of the area so she had time to hedge her bets even further. With the same care she'd used with Xander back when they were kids and she wanted to build the tallest house of cards possible she began to gather the surrounding dirt and snow to cover her Gundam. It wasn't easy since the Unicorn was built for battle not making snowmen but fortunately it was designed to be able to move close to how the human body could so she was able to make do. Nevertheless with what limits to her range of movement she did have as well as the fact that her Gundam was not designed with being partially buried in mind it was anyone's guess how successful she'd be.
Still if she could at least cover herself up enough that anyone who visually spotted her would have trouble identifying just what they were looking at then she'd have a few more seconds to take action than she otherwise would. Time she could use to come up with a plan B or develop a decent head start on any forces sent her way.
Hope I can at least get some kind of readings on the new Personal Trooper model before running. She thought before beginning to power down some systems and bring others online, It'd be a waste of a trip if I didn't.
The systems she was bringing online were some adjustments that Doctor J had made to the Unicorn's already existing sensors aboard the Quarter. While a Gundam did already possess a means of perceiving and in some cases analyzing the world outside its cockpit they were focused more location and recognizing known technology from a tactical point of view. If they were going to know just how powerful the new model was and what sort of weapons it had then the engineering and science divisions were going to need more information in order to devise effective upgrades.
As a result they'd modified the Unicorn's sensors and even added a few more that could be removed easily after the mission to collect as much data as possible. There'd been a worry though that such scans might give away her presence but Doctor J had assured everyone that they'd taken steps to ensure that the scans would blend into the natural background EM field of the location. Naturally any focused scans would stand out more than ones meant to take in a general area but she'd wait until the pilot left the new Personal Trooper before trying one of those. It was likely after all that once the new mech was put through a demonstration that the pilot would get out to speak with the gathered representatives in person. Even if they had some sort of system that'd notify the pilot remotely she doubted that any detailed information on her scan would be possible without someone in the cockpit to operate the controls directly. Even then with all the steps that'd been taken to keep her undetected the most the pilot would learn would be the general direction that the focused scan came from.
Definitely enough room for her to relocate without being seen and conceal herself until anyone who came to look about left.
Another system she brought online was a custom made communication system that would allow her and Xander to communicate with minimal chance of being picked up. It worked by them talking, the audio being converted and condensed into as small a data packet as possible then sent in a burst transmission to the target. Since both she and Xander knew where the other one was it was easy enough to aim the transmission well enough for it to be received but it'd need to be adjusted if one of them wound up having to move. The conversations would also not be as smooth as they normally would since there would be a delay between their message being recorded, condensed, transmitted, received and then expanded in order to be heard on the other end. With both of them having to wait for this process to occur it was estimated that there could be anywhere from a ten to a twenty second delay between sending a message and receiving a reply.
Outside of a fight this wouldn't be a problem since they wouldn't be going anywhere anytime soon but in a fight it could be enough of a delay to be devastating.
Okay…area of focus scans initiated. She thought beginning the scans of the base and everything in it, Data flow stable and being written to the hard drives. Looking good and no sign that they've picked anything up. Let's hope it stays that way.
Unlike back at Sunnydale High School this time she actually wanted to be overlooked and ignored.
Mid-Day
Just Outside the Federation Antarctica Base
Xander's POV
Something's definitely up. He thought even as he checked the positions and manner of the Personal Troopers as well as the warship hovering overhead, No way does a simple Personal Trooper model unveiling deserve this much security.
He knew he was probably repeating himself but there was an itch just under his skin that refused to leave him alone and it had nothing to do with a rash. Since he'd arrived at his position he'd been giving the security a thorough examination to judge just how bad things would get if the presence of the Freedom and Unicorn became known. From the placement of the base's local defences to the positions of every Personal Trooper team and where the warship chose to float ominously above them all. He analyzed their patrol patterns as well as how much scrutiny they were giving the area before them as they passed as well as watching to see if any of them directed their attention beyond the base's perimeter. While he'd admit that there was a limit to how much he could figure out without anything to draw out their true skill or combat capabilities it gave him something to do.
It'd distract hm until the new model of Personal Trooper was revealed.
What he'd been able to discern so far was that aside from one particular group of three the people behind the security of the base weren't inexperienced. They had experience working with one another and made sure to keep all zones covered with their Trooper's optics and not showing signs of slacking off. As for the anomaly unit from what he could see it only had one weak link and that was the pilot who had set his Personal Trooper in disembarkation position. He couldn't fathom a reason for it but he did know that with the pilot exposed all it'd take would be a single shot from a gun with the needed range to kill him. Either the drill sergeant in charge of the pilot's training had been lax in instilling the proper discipline in the pilot or the pilot was just a fool.
Personally he hoped that it was a case of the former because he seriously didn't want to think that the Federation military was in the habit of making fools into pilots.
It was then though that he noticed a shift in activity in the base causing him to sharpen his focus so as not to miss a thing.
"Looks like it's about to start." Willow said via burst transmission, "Here's hoping it's not too impressive."
"Don't worry. It can't be too far ahead of what they have now." He said after preparing to send a burst transmission in reply, "At best it might be fifteen to twenty percent stronger than anything they have out now. This isn't some cartoon where the new robot is two or three times as powerful as the one that came before."
Indeed it was only in the comics, cartoons or sci-fi movies where massive leaps in technology and strength happened. In reality advances were made in fits and spurts with no way of assuring that it would be great or small consistently. However the odds of them having made a big leap, even with the looming Aerogator threat, were small so he wasn't too worried.
"Don't get cocky Xander." Willow said after a minute, "That might've been the case with things back home but we're in a whole different reality now. It wouldn't be smart to think that the same rules apply."
"This world might be a bit different from home but it's close enough that I don't see anything too nuts happening." He said before something caught his attention, "Check it out. Looks like the entrance to a sub-level is opening up."
A tad dramatic but he supposed it'd be better than simply having it walk out of a hangar or drop from the warship above.
The first thing that came to mind as something emerged from the revealed entrance was 'sharp and pointy' but he wasn't too concerned since every Gundam designer knew that how a mobile suit looked could affect how its enemies perceived it. However as more of the new unit revealed itself he began to think that whoever had designed its appearance had made sure that the central theme was 'predator' or 'demonic'. Primarily blue in colour with some black mixed in the new Personal Trooper model looked to be following the same path as the one that Buffy had faced in terms of size. It was easily head and shoulders taller than the Personal Troopers in charge of security and with things that might be wings sticking out from the shoulders and knees it might be flight capable. It was also power oriented if he was any judge since if speed and agility were the goals it'd be less bulky in appearance.
"What are the sensors saying?" He asked before sending the burst transmission to Willow.
"That there are times when I hate being right." She replied after a minute, "Even without doing a focused scan sensors are saying it's putting out a lot of power. The last pilot of the Unicorn never saw anything like it and none of the templates Doctor J put into the system are coming up as a solid match either."
"What's the closest match?" He asked not liking the lack of defining.
"The closest match is the template for an antimatter annihilation engine but the template says that such a thing is entirely theoretical with none of the Gundam universes having anything like it." She replied not sounding happy in the least, "If the Federation have managed it then this Personal Trooper model is going to be an absolute monster to put down."
Not good.
Willow might occasionally let her worries and concerns cause her to exaggerate a situation but most of the time the Scoobies could rely on what she said. If the new unit really had that kind of power then they needed to gain as much data on it as possible in order to protect themselves against it.
"Initiate a focused scan of the new unit." He said not wanting to waste time, "We need to know more."
"No. I'll wait until the pilot gets out." She said choosing a different tactic, "It'll take them longer to figure out what's going on and let the Unicorn get more data."
He didn't say anything more knowing that Willow would do what she thought was best no matter what he said one way or another. As it turned out his best bud had chosen the right call since a few minutes later something that resembled a construction lift drove out to the new unit before raising its basket up to the chest area. Not more than a moment after the lift stopped did the unit open up to reveal the cockpit and immediately he magnified what the Freedom's external cameras showed him.
The pilot had purple hair of all things and was dressed in robes that were a mix of what you'd see a priest wear and a traditional scientist's lab coat. It definitely wasn't like any of the flight suits you'd expect a soldier to wear making him wonder if this was in fact the person behind the new unit's development. Did this mean that the controls weren't quite finished enough for a soldier to operate? Or did this simply mean that the scientist wanted everyone to know it was he who created the new unit? Tapping away at the controls of the Freedom he took a snapshot of the scientist for them to compare to what Christina had managed to hack out of the Federation's databases.
Sometimes it wasn't the soldiers you needed to keep an eye on or the leaders but rather the scientists responsible for inventing the weapons both used.
"Xander! Look up!" Willow exclaimed through a burst communication.
Immediately directing his gaze that way it took him less than a second to see what had his friend so concerned and it made him wary as well. Minutes ago the skies had been crystal clear allowing the sun's light to reflect off of the snow and ice. Now though storm clouds could be seen gathering at an alarming rate quickly blocking out the sun and then around a single section of the cloud cover arcs of electricity began to dance. Was this an attack? No. One of the requirements of any effective weapon was that it could be used swiftly enough that the target wouldn't have a chance to dodge or block it. What he was seeing was taking too much time so he dismissed the possibility of this being the build up to a weapon discharge.
"What are the sensors saying Willow? Are you getting anything?" He asked hoping the sensors of the Unicorn would be able to give them some sort of answer.
"Nothing definite. I'm seriously HATING the fact that we're getting hit with so many unknowns but it looks like some sort of spatial distortion field." She replied sounding frustrated and at work, "It LOOSELY resembles the space fold effect that the Macross Quarter uses when travelling long distances."
"So someone with advanced technology is on the way." He said recording his response, "This NOT some sort of big unveiling."
"No shit! Keep your eyes on it while I try to get more info." Willow said her frustration overriding her tendency to avoid swearing, "It looks like something might be coming through."
Doing as asked so that his best bud could focus on her sensor scans he focused entirely on the most relevant part of the cloud cover just in time to see a seed shaped ship descend from a pool of light that'd formed. He didn't need templates or files to know that its design completely diverged from what the Federation used and if Willow was right about how it'd arrived then it wasn't of Earthly origin. The ship descended only a short distance more before stopping to hover in place but that was not the end of it. Moments later a much smaller craft, a shuttle most likely, left the larger alien ship descending towards the base like a winged demon.
There was only one conclusion he could come to.
"It's the Aerogators. It has to be." He said before transmitting his words to Willow.
"But why're they here? Is this some kind of meeting between them and the Federation?" She asked before hesitating somewhat, "Should I power down the scans? We might have the tech to hide from the Federation but the Aerogators are a whole other issue."
He wanted to know more, information was power whether you were dealing with demons or aliens, but his friend raised a valid point. Attracting the attention of the Aerogators at this point would likely make it almost impossible for them to deal with the Einst threat. They'd been counting on the alien threat distracting the Federation so that they could work unimpeded and there was no way of knowing how they'd react to the existence of the Scoobies and their allies.
"Shut down everything but the weakest scanners." He said making a decision to direct his friend, "Just because the Aerogators aren't our enemies now doesn't mean they won't be later."
"Got it. Shutting down all but the tertiary sensors." Willow said key taps being barely heard, "This is definitely a lot more than we expected coming up here."
"They day's still young Willow." He muttered as an instinct deep within him warned him to be ready for anything, "The day is still young."
He was seriously hoping that this wasn't the beginning of a trend where all their missions started out smoothly only for something to happen to mess it all up.
If it was then he had a feeling ALL of them would need stress relief on a regular basis.
He didn't even know if this reality had TWINKIES!
Twenty Minutes Later
Willow's POV
What is going on?
It was something she'd been trying to figure out from the moment she'd seen the alien ship appear but so far there were too many possibilities and too little information to support any of them. Considering that the Federation military had deployed resources to secure this base and the fact that the Aerogators, if that was who the new arrivals were, hadn't come in weapons firing the intentions of both parties looked to be peaceful. Indeed her theory about this being a possible meeting between the Earth and the aliens that'd been randomly attacking the planet seemed valid. This could very well be the beginning of official diplomatic negotiations and the location was probably an effort to continue concealing the truth from the citizens of the world.
The only things that kept her from hoping for a peaceful resolution to the conflict between this Earth and the Aerogators was the loss of a distraction for the local military and an itch that wouldn't go away.
The itch that asked her 'why would technologically superior aliens deign to enter into talks with a race they could crush with little effort?'.
The Aerogators up until now had only committed acts of aggression when the humanity of this Earth met them either in space or with their attacks on various locations on Earth. No attempt had been made at discussion or a peaceful resolution. So why now? Why were they trying for peace NOW? Were the earlier attacks merely meant to intimidate the Federation government so that when the talks began they could dictate terms rather than come to a mutually beneficial arrangement? It would be more in keeping with what was known about the Aerogators but then what role did the new model of Personal Trooper play in the game. Was it meant to convey that Earth wouldn't be the easy mark the Aerogators thought it was or was it meant to symbolize how useful Earth could be to the aliens?
ARGH! This is driving me up the wall! She thought with frustration at her inability to come up with definitive answers, Not just 'cause I don't know what they're doing but also because it's interfering with the mission!
The mission had been to watch the big gathering of the Federation and to gain data on the new model in case it was used against them in the future. She might've managed to get some information on the new model but with the Aerogators here she'd been forced to power down the more powerful sensors to keep from being detected. Even with only the tertiary sensors online she wasn't sure if she was truly invisible to the aliens but so far nothing violent had happened.
Hopefully that was a good sign.
BE-BEEP!
Of course something had to change. She thought with a growl as the Unicorn's sensors notified her of a power increase, I've got to stop being so optimistic.
Focusing the cameras and the tertiary sensors on the source of the spike she was surprised and worried to find out that the new Personal Trooper model was powering up. This of course contradicted her concept of logic since she'd clearly seen the pilot exit the mech to enter the main building where the meeting between the Federation and Aerogator delegations were taking place. A malfunction? Not likely. Malfunctions tended to be chaotic and without purpose plus she hadn't read anything about the Federation trying to invent some sort of autonomous mode for their Personal Troopers. A second person in the cockpit? Possible. While most of the Personal Trooper schematics only had room enough for a single pilot that didn't mean it couldn't be otherwise. She hadn't been able to tell from her position if there'd been another person in the new model but it was the only possibility that made sense to her.
The next question became 'what did this second person intend to do?'.
With steady strides that looked like they shook the ground beneath it the new model walked forward and changed its position until it directly faced the Aerogator ship hovering just below the dark cloud cover. At once a possibility came to mind but she felt compelled to dismiss it due to the sheer lack of logic or reason behind such a move.
They wouldn't…they're not that stupid… she thought recalling all she knew about the current Federation military strength, They're not ready yet!
However fate chose to prove her estimation of the Federation's intelligence to be false as the chest plate of the new model opened up and dark energy began to amass in front of its centre. Bringing up the data being acquired by the tertiary sensors she tried to make sense of what was happening but only succeeded in prompting her jaw to drop in shock.
It defied everything she knew about Federation technology as well as every other source she had but the data she was seeing all pointed to just one thing.
The new model was creating a miniature black hole!
More than that by some unknown means it was managing to keep the gravitational effects of the black hole contained via some sort of energy being generated by its hands.
It was ridiculous! It made her feel like they were in some sort of cartoon world where the laws of science only mattered if the writer wanted them to!
Then she had no more time to think before seeing the boulder sized blackhole be thrown through the air to impact on the large Aerogator ship. However instead of being sucked into the phenomena now that the hands no longer contained the natural effects explosions began to erupt all over the hull. In under a minute the damage became so severe that the ship was no longer capable of keeping itself aloft resulting in it crashing into the snow in no time at all.
All this told her one thing: whoever was piloting the new model was violently opposed to any possibility for a peaceful resolution between Earth and the Aerogators. By launching this unprovoked attack on the Aerogator delegation the aliens would likely interpret the entire meeting as an elaborate trap or perhaps a sign that Earth was not unified in its desire for peace. Whatever the particulars turned out to be if there was anyone still alive aboard the Aerogator ship there was only one response to give and her tertiary sensors confirmed it seconds later.
Dozens of the mechanical bug drones that the Aerogators had been sending to Earth to attack were pouring out of the downed ship and their target looked to be anything human in origin. Buildings, people, vehicles and Personal Troopers were all acceptable targets in the eyes of the drones and were attacked with great aggression.
We…we should help them. She thought her hands moving to the controls to bring the Unicorn up to full strength, They weren't prepared to fight the Aerogators. These were just peace talks!
The only thing that stayed her hand was her wondering what Giles would want them to do.
Thinking of the ex-Watcher and current commanding officer she imagined that he would tell her and Xander to remain hidden. The man would say that as terrible as it was they had their own mission to fulfill and couldn't do it if they drew too much attention to themselves. They knew that after Exia's exposure and the destruction of Bodie the Federation was definitely looking for them if only as a side thing to the looming threat of the Aerogators.
The aliens on the other hand possessed technology superior to what the Federation possessed and was likely to have a better chance of finding their base and the Macross Quarter. The only way they might stay out of this new conflict would be if they did everything they could to keep the Aerogators from considering them another target to be destroyed.
She knew this and could understand the reasoning behind it but at the same time her heart told her it was wrong to leave the people before her to fend for themselves. She was a Gundam pilot damn it! With the Unicorn she had the power to help them if only to reduce the casualties as much as she could.
"Willow." Xander said through burst transmission, "It's time to stop thinking with our heads and listen to our hearts. You know what we need to do."
Hearing her best friend's voice she knew in an instant what he wanted to do if his past acts as a Scooby were anything to go by. Xander was never one to think things through but rather acted based on what his heart commanded him to do even if he knew he'd only get hurt. In the face of all this the only thing left for her to do was decide whether or not to follow his lead.
What am I saying? I already know the answer. She thought before saying, "Yeah. Let's make it quick though. You clear out as much of the bug bots as you can while I give whoever's piloting the new model something else to think about."
"On it! Just watch yourself." Xander said once he had a chance to respond, "That thing's packing a lot of power."
Tapping at the controls to bring the Unicorn's systems fully online she prepared herself for her first real battle.
"I'm a Gundam pilot Xander." She said solidifying her resolve and putting on what Xander'd come to call her 'game face', "I'm no weakling. Not anymore."
As a Gundam pilot she was not limited by her body anymore like she'd been back home in Sunnydale. Here and now her greatest strengths were her mind and the speed at which her body could act on the tactics she came up with.
Thanks to hours spent in the simulators and what she'd inherited from her Gundam's previous pilot she had quite a few tactics in mind.
Now it was time to put them to use.
Inside the Granzon
Doctor Shu Shirakawa's POV
The Balmarians are responding as expected. He thought as he watched the various drones attack the Federation forces in retaliation for his attack on the mothership, However it would be best if they did not succeed in destroying everything and everyone. For Bian Zoldark's plan to proceed at least a few survivors will be needed.
As a result he began to employ the Worm Smasher attack whenever it looked as though the defences of the Federation might be wiped out in short order. Not enough of course to make it look like he was an ally since that would not do for the plans he supported but rather he timed it so that his actions could be misconstrued as retaliation for attacks on the Granzon's shield. Once the number of drones had been reduced to little more than a handful he would deliver the finale of this little performance before retreating back to meet with Zoldark. The man's role in all this was clear as well as his destiny but his own goals would require that everything occur according to schedule so there was purpose in remaining allied with the man for the foreseeable future.
It was when he was about to once more unleash Worm Smasher when the sensors alerted him to two anomalies to the script he'd planned out for the day. This was enough to pique his interest but not enough to cause concern since it was unlikely that anything capable of remaining unknown to him on Earth would be powerful enough to harm Granzon. Looking towards the location of the anomalies he only had a second to take both of them in before they made their presence felt across the battlefield. In a show of power that he hadn't expected blasts of crimson and jade energy struck in the blink of an eye piercing the Balmarian drones in a single shot doing enough damage to result in detonation. With little more than a second or two of delay the shots continued with chance playing more of a factor as to why some drones managed to avoid instant destruction instead of precise maneuvering.
Interesting. He thought focusing the Granzon's sensors more on the two causes of the attacks rather than the drones that received them.
The first thing that he noticed was that while humanoid like most Personal Troopers the two unknowns were less bulky and looked more human rather than tanks configured to look like men. A blue and black torso, white limbs and blue-black coloured wings on its back it was certainly more aesthetically pleasing than most Personal Trooper models. The fact that it was clearly capable of independent flight though struck him as odd since as far as he knew only Zoldark's forces should have access to that sort of technology. With weapons mounted on its shoulders, its head and an energy rifle in its right hand it struck with impressive accuracy shot after shot. Normally such repetitive fire would result in overheating but either the Antarctica temperatures were delaying this or the unknown had some manner of system to counter the heat.
What caught his interest specifically though were the two weapons attached to the unknown's waist that for some reason or another were not being employed. It was clear that the pilot wished to destroy as many of the Balmarian drones as possible in an effort to protect the Federation forces so it was odd that two weapons were not being brought into play. Did they require the employment of the unknown's robotic hands in order to be used or had something caused them to be non-functional?
The other unknown was completely white with a more blocky composition and a horn sticking out of its forehead much like one would see in a Unicorn. With emerald optics it looked to prefer a more precise approach to the current situation if not quite foolhardy since it was evident that the pilot had chosen him as its primary target.
How amusing.
With a rifle identical to the one the first unknown wielded it shot at him but he had little reason to be concerned. Unlike some designers he had created the Granzon to possess overwhelming offensive capabilities and a defence as unbreakable as the oldest mountain. Indeed several of the Balmarian drones had attacked him already only for their weapons to do little more than dissipate against the spherical barrier surrounding the Granzon. In the case of the jade beams they faired somewhat better if only because they did not dissipate instantly upon contact but according to his instruments they did not constitute a threat to him. When no new attacks were shown he decided to pursue his curiosity by using Worm Smasher to see how the second unknown's defences faired.
The fact that it did not suffer the same fate as the Balmarian drones with a single shot implied much of its speed and maneuverability not to mention the skill of the pilot.
From what he could see it looked as though the technology responsible for its independent flight was not a part of the main unit but rather was attached to it via clamps. This division of technology did not seem to cause a significant delay between the pilot's commands and the propulsion engines telling him that the engineers behind the unknown were not incompetents. He also had his suspicions that whoever was piloting the second unknown had experience in defending themselves from rapid attacks from multiple directions at once. Another oddity since he did not know of another weapon or weapon system here on Earth capable of doing such a thing. Did its creators create such a system to train the pilot? Doing so would imply that the unknown was designed with the intention of taking on multiple opponents at the same time.
Intriguing as well as ominous.
During his time with Bian Zoldark he'd had the opportunity to work with several engineers and review all of the existing models of Personal Trooper. Almost without exception the Personal Troopers were designed from the perspective of amassing a large force rather than focusing resources into creating a handful of exceptional units piloted by elite soldiers. The exceptions of course were such units as the Grungust model, the Alt Eisen model and the Weiss Ritter model. However they were expensive to make and no doubt the Federation had already vetoed the idea of mass producing them even if they were superior to the more conventional model.
The more he thought of it the more he was forced to conclude that whoever was behind the two unknowns they had nothing to do with either the Federation or Bian Zoldark. This however led to the mystery of who could be responsible for their creation as well as the training of the two pilots. Between the two known factions they controlled the vast majority of the resources needed for the development of such units. Whatever might be left was paltry by comparison and would require quite a bit of effort to gather in order to produce something substantial.
That left only one other possibility.
It appears that I will have more to entertain myself than I'd originally expected. He thought as the second unknown closed the distance between the two of them a fist brought back for a blow, I should however make it clear to them where their place is.
Allowing the punch to land he watched content in his invulnerability before employing the Grazon's power to create a hyper-gravity field within a seventy yard radius. So intense was it that it created a crater with only the ground he stood on at the same elevation it'd started at leaving him free to observe how the second unknown responded. He was impressed to see that despite the forces pressing down on it the Granzon's sensors could not detect any significant signs of stress either on the surface of the second unknown or in its internal structure. Considering that a conventional Personal Trooper used by the Federation military would be crushed flat within five minutes of exposure the metal the second unknown was made out of must be much stronger.
Or so it seemed until the pack responsible for its independent flight proved to be weaker than the material used in the main unit.
Up until then the pilot of the second unknown had stubbornly forcefully kept its unit from being forced to its knees but at just over a minute into exposure the clamps that attached the pack broke. With a thump it impacted on the ground and before too much longer began to crumple under the force of his enhanced gravity bubble.
Hmmm…as much as I would like to study this unit further its existence is an unexpected anomaly in both my plans as well as Bian Zoldark's. He thought raising the Granzon's Granworm Sword to deliver a decisive blow, Better to be rid of it before it can interfere further.
Swinging down with the strength he estimated would be needed he was taken by surprise when with strength he had not seen before the second unknown managed to raise its right arm to catch the Granzon's arm by the wrist. More than that it proved to be enough to actually stay his blow if only just as evidenced by the shaking conflict at the point of contact. He barely considered this worthy of note since all he'd need to do was increase the power in the sword arm but that was when he received an even bigger surprise.
In a move that he had not expected the second unit began to undergo a transformation as the frame began to expand, its armour seams separating before locking down at set hard points, exposing a material that glowed red. It was not however the physical change that caused him to be surprised but rather the drastic increase in the second unknown's capabilities. More specifically its physical strength increased to the point where the effects of the enhanced gravity field were negated almost by half and it became possible for the pilot of the second unknown to push back his sword arm if only slowly.
These readings… he thought taking in what his sensors were telling him, An amateur might mistake them as being similar to the system invented by that old crone but I can see the truth. The unit's entire frame is composed of a material that appears to be enhancing psionic energy even as it responds to it.
This was beyond anything the people of Earth were capable of!
It was even something he'd never heard of the Balmarians employing in their machines.
Before he could think on the matter more though the second unknown reached with its free arm to one of the rods sticking out above its shoulders. Sensing a potential threat he engaged the wing thrusters on the Granzon to pull away yanking his sword arm free at the same time in order to parry the possible attack. When the rod was separated from the main unit he was puzzled when nothing dangerous was unveiled but this was dispelled moments later when a blade of white energy erupted from it. Measuring long enough for the weapon to be considered a sword rather than something smaller like a dagger the second unknown swung its weapon.
The timing was uncanny though because in order to evade the attack and free his arm he'd been forced to divert power away from the enhanced gravity field thus weakening it. Thus while there was some distortion in the blade showing it was not designed to operate in intense gravity it still retained enough of its shape to clash with his own sword.
Clash and begin to heat the metal his sword was made out of to the point where it began to glow.
With skill he'd honed over many years he parried the energy blade off to the side before it could inflict any permanent damage to his sword.
There are too many unexpected developments manifesting from this unit. He thought before taking in the rest of the battlefield, And the other one appears to be equally concerning. Better to bring this Act to an end before I become inconvenienced.
Firing his Gran beam at the second unknown in order to prevent it from pursuing him he waited until he judged he had sufficient distance before enacting his final performance. Opening the chest compartment of the Granzon he began amassing gravitational energy at a central point even as the hands of his creation generated a containment field strong enough to control the energy. With time not his ally in this instance he knew he would need to throw the orb the moment sufficient energy had been harnessed if he wanted to achieve his final goal for this event.
He did not need to destroy it all and its captain was a pawn with value.
All he needed to do was destroy enough of it to impress upon the Federation just how weak they truly were and how much stronger they would need to become in order to survive in the future.
His plans depended on the people of Earth being suitably 'motivated' after all.
Xander's POV
He's going to… he thought as he watched the new model of Personal Trooper prepare to unleash another ball of dark energy upon the only untouched ship left.
In the blink of an eye his mind was treated to a highlight reel of how similar ships in Kira Yamato's reality had been sunk and the number of dead that went with such an outcome. Most people when they watched a sci-fi movie or TV show knew in an abstract manner that when a spaceship blew up a lot of people were dead. However not every show bothered to actually mention the exact number of people who'd lost their lives so it was difficult to judge the weight of the dead. In his case though his inherited knowledge let him grasp in a much more real way just how many people would lose their lives if the ruthless Personal Trooper model was allowed to act.
For a ship the size of the Shirogane he wouldn't be surprised if their total crew compliment was over three hundred.
Even if the ship wasn't obliterated outright by the orb the damage done would be critical almost certainly causing it to drop from the sky. The impact, the damage and the explosions that followed would only add to the body count making the number of survivors small indeed.
Images of the ships that had been destroyed in Kira Yamato's life, faces belonging to people he knew that had died aboard them, engulfed his mind all in the space of three seconds.
I'm not going to let this happen! He thought breaking off his attack on the Aerogator drones and focusing entirely on the path he'd chosen.
However he knew that he couldn't just blast either the new model or the attack itself since that would be pointless. He'd already seen how the Personal Trooper was protected by an energy field capable of standing up to multiple blasts from a beam rifle. He was also pretty sure that much like the energy of the beam rifle had curved when it'd first been used on Earth with the Strike Gundam the gravitational forces of the orb would likely deflect all but the strongest of energy attacks.
However there was a detail, a single fact, that he was certain that everyone else including the pilot had overlooked and it would be the key to his victory.
From what he could tell the new model took energy directly from its core and using a containment field of some sort generated by its hands to squeeze in as such as possible into a sphere. While he would hesitate to say that it even came close to approaching the same levels as a genuine black hole was definitely a good effort on the part of the designer. However if he was right then the moment the energy left the Personal Trooper's hands the containment field should collapse without the generators in the hands to maintain it. Just like the water in a water balloon wouldn't maintain its spherical once the balloon component was removed neither should the energy from the new model keep its shape without the containment field.
The only possibility that satisfied him was that one of the systems built into the new model calculated the distance between it and a designated target. Once it had this information it calculated how strong it would need to make the containment field so that it would dissipate right as it impacted on the selected target. Once this strength level was ascertained the attack would begin to form and when ready it could be 'thrown' at the target so it could achieve the desired end result.
That would be what he struck at.
Not the energy but rather at the containment field keeping it in one piece.
If he could get the containment field to collapse before the sphere could reach the Shirogane he could save the ship and everyone on it!
With the drive of a person who would not be denied he worked the controls of the Freedom at a feverish pace and pushed his mind even harder to make sure he got this right. If he'd been the same person he'd been back in Sunnydale he'd never be able to pull this off even if he could see now that he WAS smart enough to keep his place in many if the high school's advanced courses. However he was no longer that Xander Harris but rather one who now lived in the body of a Coordinator with the mental baggage of one Kira Yamato connected to his own. Thanks to that he was working the science of what he wanted to do inside his head even as he made the necessary preparations with the Freedom.
He hooked his beam rifle onto the 'skirt' of the Freedom and with precision pulled the two new weapons that Doctor J had replaced the Freedom's railguns with. The moment they were free a pistol grip as well as trigger was deployed from the bottom of each piece of hardware even as scopes emerged on the top. Stocks extended into place even as the barrel of each weapon extended conclusively proving that both weapons were in fact expandable rifles that could be condensed and attached to the Freedom's waist.
However that was not the end of it because as powerful as the rifles were according to Doctor J there was a way to maximize the output to truly impressive levels.
Working the controls of the Freedom even as he was reaching the end of the calculations and adjustments he'd need to make this work he watched as various slots on the inside of each rifle opened up. Seemingly focused on the strongest structural points of the rifles once the last was opened he brought the two together and like clockwork they joined together. One after another from the location of each slot a small puff of steam could be seen as the connections were completely secured and when the screen to his right confirmed completion a unique crosshairs manifested on the centre screen.
Plotting most likely flight path…speed of previous throw estimated…distance between new model and target calculated… he thought even as he watched the Personal Trooper rear back for the throw, …scans of containment field complete…field strength calculated…contact time…calculated…taking aim…target LOCKED!
Whether by luck or skill he knew when to fire and before the sphere even got two feet from the hands generating the containment field a golden blast of energy erupted from the twin barrels of his combined rifle crackling arcs of blue lightning wrapped around it. With a speed only possible for energy based attacks the blast crossed the gap of space before slamming into the sphere almost succeeding in completely engulfing it. According to Doctor J the twin buster rifle could be set to a wide dispersal in order to catch as many targets in its path as possible or narrowed to focus its power on a single target.
In this case the only thing he wanted to destroy was the sphere so naturally he had the weapon set narrowly enough to achieve maximum effect on the orb of darkness.
He'd expected though that it'd take more than just a second or two of contact to destabilize the containment field and the orb was hardly going to sit still for him to accomplish his goal. That was why he'd calculated the flight path it'd take towards the Shirogane as well as how fast it'd travel through the open Antarctic air. With skill, precision and speed no ordinary human could match he followed the path of the sphere with the energy from his twin rifle overriding the natural cut off point to keep it going. As a result he kept the orb in the centre of the energy onslaught with only a little wavering due to the incalculable factors inherent in reality.
Nevertheless all his hard work paid off for just as the orb of gravitational force was two thirds of the way to its target the containment field around it collapsed.
However instead of dissipating like the one that'd taken down the Aerogator main ship it instead expanded outwards to nearly ten times its original size. He held his breath even as the energy from the twin buster rifle ceased to flow, afraid that even his one attempt to help the Shirogane had failed miserably. It was only seconds later when the expanded orb of darkness shrunk to the size of a pebble before winking out of existence that reality chose to reassure him.
The Shirogane still flew.
Oh there was damage to the hull as a result of the dark energy but from what he could see only two or three decks were exposed to open air with the opening big enough for a tank to drive through if only just. If the designers of the spaceship had any sense they would've made emergency bulkheads mandatory for every section in order to deal with hull breaches in space.
The ship was safe.
Now to make sure it stays that way. He thought before piloting the Freedom to a spot close enough to make it clear that he intended to protect the Shirogane but far enough from the new model for his idea to work a second time.
He hoped.
Even as he waited for the pilot of the new model of Personal Trooper to make his decision he skimmed the data that his Gundam was providing him with. The twin buster rifle was still largely operational with the only downside that he'd need to wait for the Antarctic temperatures to cool some of its systems as well as the barrels before he could fire again. Overriding the natural cutoffs for the rifle had caused the barrel to push its heat tolerance levels a bit and trying to pull off an encore too soon would likely damage it. Would it cause another assault on a dark orb's containment field to fail?
Would probably have the same odds as Willow becoming Miss America. He thought with wariness.
Not impossible, his best bud was prettier than she thought, but the number of hurdles to be overcome would make it a risky bet.
Alright pal. He thought looking at the new model shown on the Freedom's central screen, Your move.