SUPER ROBOT WARS S ZERO RELOAD
Welcome back, Super Robot fans, and I hope this new chapter isn't too late in the making! It's getting a little hard to balance things in my life, but I will manage to find some time to dedicate to you and to my writing!
In this new chapter, we get some more Gundam SEED and Dragonar action, as Heliopolis is attacked by the combined forces of ZAFT and Giganos Empire... and a group of teenagers stumbles upon what may just make the difference between death and survival! Which, of course, will lead to a lot of other developments... but let's not anticipate too many things, and let's get on with the story!
If you're ready, I guess we can begin with our new chapter! Fasten your seat belts, this is gonna be a bumpy ride!
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Chapter 5 - ZAFT Attacks!
"A warning to the attacking ZAFT and Giganos forces! You are acting counter to the peace treaty with our nation, the Orb Union!" A female voice, belonging to Heliopolis' security chief Aoi Wakaba, a woman in her early forties with short black hair and wearing a light blue uniform, blared from all Mobile Suits and Metal Armor communicators. "Hold your assault! I repeat, hold your assault! All ZAFT and Giganos cruisers, recall your troops and retreat at once..."
She never got to finish her sentence. An electrical interference from the enemy ships proceeded to scramble her attempt at negotiations, causing her voice to come out of the speakers as a barely comprehensible ripping sound. In the communication room of Heliopolis' security, Aoi backed away from her console in alarm and disappointment, as she realized that the enemy was simply refusing to listen to her!
"Dammit!" her colleague cursed, slamming the palm of his hand on the console. "We're detecting a powerful electric interference coming from the ZAFT and Giganos ships! They're refusing our warnings!"
"This is a clear act of war..." Aoi murmured. "This... will surely have serious consequences! But for now, this isn't what we need to worry about... we have to help evacuating the colony!"
"Right!" the man said, before switching frequency and issuing a communication to the colony. "To the civilian population of Heliopolis! We are under attack from a combined ZAFT and Giganos Empire fleet! Please, don't panic and follow the escape routes provided! All military personnel gather near Docks 3 and 4! This is urgent!"
"We also need to contact the Military Academy pupils... my son is among them!" Aoi stated, trying to keep her cool despite the dangerous situation they were in. Red emergency lights were lighting up al over the place in the communication room, and the blasts from outside could be heard more and more clearly from where she was standing... the enemy was getting closer, and if this kept up, Heliopolis would surely have been destroyed!
"Yes, I think it's a good idea..." her colleague answered, as he desperately tried to set up another communication before it was too late...
Outside of the colony, the Copernico-class ships had released a small number of pod-like modules, who silently flew to the colony's walls and began drilling their way through them...
oooooooooo
"Those Giganos and ZAFT bastards! They're coming here!" Kain swore as he and his friends rushed out of their hideout, leaving everything behind to rush to safety. "What the Hell is their problem?"
"I guess those Gundams are their problem, Kain... they must have found out that our colony was endorsing their creation, and now they want to take them for themselves!" Tapp answered. "In fact, I'd say they would be foolish to pass up such an opportunity..."
"This doesn't change the fact that they're attacking civilians, though!" Kain answered angrily. "Let's hurry up, guys! This is getting worse by the moment!"
"Alright!" Light and Tapp concluded. The three teens began running to the military area, hoping to get there in time to retrieve Kain's mother. It was far enough, but if they ran...
"Dammit... I can't believe we have been attacked like this!" Kain ranted angrily as the trio approached their objective. "I just hope Mom got to safety, this place is going to be overrun soon... Ack!"
The ground under their feet was suddenly shaken up by a series of tremors, and the teens were forced to hold tightly to something in order not to be thrown away by the force of the shaking. In front of their eyes, not a few hundred meters away from them, one of the modules had managed to dig its way up to that innermost part of the colony, its huge drill opening up a gaping rift in the ground before grinding to a halt. An hatch opened up in the module's side... and, with a deafening roar, four Metal Armors emerged from it: a group of Gandoras, blue robots who looked like a strange cross between a futuristic car and a huge motorbike, no less than ten meters long, with a pair of laser cannons mounted on top of them, one on each side of the cockpit - inside of which it was possible to make out, albeit barely, the figure of a Giganos soldier, with the standard helmet, the vision goggles and the oxygen mask who contributed to making them all look more terrifying. A black G on a dark yellow background, obviously the symbol of Giganos Empire, adorned the lower sides of all the strange machines. Kain, Tapp and Light remained on the ground and watched powerlessly as the Gandoras sped away with amazing speed, heading - alarmingly enough - to the military district!
"Dammit, Kain, you were right... this is getting worse by the minute!" Tapp murmured as he picked himself up.
"These guys sure aren't screwing around... they're going directly for the military district to get those Gundams!" Light exclaimed, the roar of the Gandoras' engines still loud enough to make it difficult to hear his voice. Kain grit his teeth, furiously trying to think of something to get out of that mess and find his mother... but the more he thought about it, the more it was obvious that there was really nothing they could do. They were powerless, and at the mercy of an enemy who didn't seem inclined to show any...
"Ugh... Damn you... you fucking bastards! I hope you crash and burn!" Kain called out indignantly to the uncaring Gandora squad.
Despite the mess they were in, Light managed to chuckle a little. "Heh, you sure are brave now that they cannot hear you..."
"Don't start with me, you!" Kain snapped... before Tapp saw something out of the corner of his eye, and motioned to his friends to take a look at it as well.
"Hey, guys, what's going on there?" the boy of color exclaimed. "Looks to me like there's someone there!"
Kain and Light turned that way in alarm... and a thin, dark-skinned man in a blue suit staggered out of a group of bushes, his breath labored and his right hand tightly pressed against his left side. Before any of the teens could do anything, the man groaned and limply fell to his knees, before slumping to the ground! Immediately, Kain and his friends were by his side, trying to support him... but that was when they noticed the large bloodstain of the man's coat, right where his hand was holding his side!
"Sir! Sir, are you alright?" Tapp called out to him, as the man began breathing more shallowly.
"I'm afraid he won't be... somebody shot him!" Light said, noticing the bullet wound on the mysterious man's side. Light was no medic, but from the looks of it, the man didn't have long left to live... he had lost too much blood already.
However, feeling somebody hold him seemed to give the man a last flicker of hope, and after coughing a couple times, he raised his head and spoke to the teens. "Ugh... k-kids... please, listen up... this is important..." he murmured weakly. His hand reached into an hidden pocket in his suit and produced what looked like a bunch of CD-Roms in a featureless black case, and the man unsteadily handed it to Kain. "Take this... secret weapon... Giganos..."
With these last words, the man slumped down in Light's arms and breathed his last.
"C'mon, sir, don't give up now..." Kain said, holding the man's free hand. "We'll take you to an hospital and..."
Light pressed his hand o the man's neck and shook his head sadly. "I'm sorry, Kain... he's gone." he murmured sadly. "He was talking of a secret weapon... for Giganos Empire?"
"I guess these things are what the poor guy was talking about..." Tapp said, opening the case and looking at its contents - in fact, it was three disc-shaped devices adorned with the Giganos symbol. "Maybe these CDs contain the instructions for using this weapon... whatever it is."
"If that is the case..." Kain concluded, laying down the dead man and piteously closing his eyes. "Then we have one more reason to rush to the military district. We can't have these fall in Giganos' hands..."
"Right..." Light answered, as the three boys continued on their way. "I just hope it's not too late when we get there... those Gandoras will surely be wreaking havoc there!"
oooooooooo
"Propellant refueling 80 per cent complete. Squad 16, begin loading operations. Activation voltage, stable." a voice blared from the speakers of the battleship Archangel, first in a new line of Earth Union space crafts, as a group of ZAFT soldiers glided through the gravity-less environment in search for the G-Weapons. As soon as the operator said that, he turned to a pair of officers standing behind him - a rather non descript man with short blueish hair, and a midnight-black-haired, rather stern-looking woman with pale skin and brown eyes. Both were wearing a light grey uniform with black shoulder pads, and the woman also wore a grey officer's hat, with a golden emblem on its front, which partly concealed her short, neatly-combed hair.
"Watch Lieutenant Ramius at once! We have to make it out of here with the G-Weapons!" he ordered, to which both officers gave a salute.
"Yes, sir!" the dark-haired woman exclaimed, before both of them floated away, hoping to reach Lieutenant Ramius before it was too late...
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On the outside of the colony, as a group of GINNs and Draus was floating within dangerous distance of the colony, they were greeted by a group of TS-MA2 Moebiuses and MAW-01 Mistrals flying out of the colony's hangars, their guns blazing in a desperate attempt to fend off the attack. However, the stocky Moebiuses and the Mistrals were both no match for the agile ZAFT Mobile Suits, who proceeded to shred through their ranks with ridiculous ease. A few Draus were caught by the Moebiuses' and Mistrals' respective fire and were destroyed, but the enemy attack line was still mostly intact.
A lone Mobile Armor, distinguished by its orange color and the four wired gunbarrels mounted on its body - the distinguishing features of the superior TS-MA2mod.00 Moebius Zero - was holding its own with admirable ease, thanks to its pilot's experience. Lieutenant Mu La Flaga of the Earth Alliance Forces was among the defenders of the colony alongside Moebius pilots Luke and Gale, and seemed to be doing a good job fending for himself, at least until then. However, he knew all too well that it wasn't going to last. The other Moebiuses were getting decimated; exploding in rapid succession all around him, and it was only a matter of time before they were completely wiped out.
"Tch... that's only to be expected. Our Moebiuses are way too outdated to hold a candle to those new Mobile Suits..." he murmured to himself. "I just hope we can buy enough time for the ship to get launched..."
A series of explosions along the colony's walls caused his eyes to widen in alarm, and he muttered a curse. ZAFT had used bunker busters to force the Archangel out of its hiding place... things were quickly spiraling out of control!
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The bunker busters' detonation and the subsequent collapse had thrown the colony into panic... and now, Kira and his friends were finding themselves in the midst of all the confusion without even having had the time to realize what was going on. Kira had barely managed to hold tightly to a desk, as Tolle held his girlfriend Miriallia to keep her from falling, while the scared Sai and Kuzzey were looking around in an attempt to find an escape route. Which is when they saw the mysterious blond haired individual from earlier tense up, his fist gripped tightly beside him.
"This is bad, guys... we need to get out of here!" Sai exclaimed, leading the group towards an emergency exit leading to the bunkers. A long queue of people, some of them injured and being helped along by the others, was trying to make their way to the upper floors.
"What's going on here?" Kira exclaimed, still shocked. "Why are ZAFT and Giganos attacking us?"
"We... we don't know yet..." one of the survivors answered with a cough. "But... they used the bunker busters... which means that they wanted to flush something out of this colony's hangars... there must be something of interest to them here..."
The blond guy with the beret frowned and immediately broke in a run, getting away from the rest of the crowd... and Kira, alarmed by such behavior, ran after him, ignoring his friends' warning. However, the mysterious blond was quite fast, and it took Kira a while to catch up to him.
"Wait! Wait up!" the brown-haired boy exclaimed, finally managing to get a hold of the mysterious person's shoulder. "Where are you going? It's too dangerous down there!"
The boy turned to him, annoyance evident on his surprisingly feminine features, and jerked himself away from Kira. "What do you care? Just go back and stay with your friends, if you wanna live!" he shouted back. However, even if he wanted to, Kira was prevented from doing so by the ceiling collapsing behind the two of them! Kira and the blond let out a brief alarmed scream and were thrown backwards a little bit... which knocked the beret off of the stranger's head, revealing shoulder-length blond hair framing a cute, while hardened, face with light brown eyes. Kira's purple eyes widened a little, as he realized that he was not talking with a boy...
"You... you're a girl?" he asked sheepishly.
This, of course, did nothing but further annoy the blonde. "Yes, I'm a girl! Why? What did you think I was? Let's hear it!" she snapped. As another section of the corridor crumbled behind her and Kira, she shook her head and turned back to her original objective. "Hmph, just forget about it! I still have something to do here, so..."
"And... where are you going?" Kira asked. "Now we can't go back anymore... let's have a look... this way!"
In a burst of initiative that surprised himself as well, Kira grabbed the girl's wrist and ran into a corridor on his left, dragging the protesting girl along with him. "Hey! Let go of me, you jerk! Ugh... And to think that in such a mess, I still have to..."
"Don't worry; we'll get out of here... one way or the other!" Kira tried to reassure her. "We just need to reach the factory district; there should be more shelters there!"
The girl gritted her teeth in a mix of anger, annoyance and worry. Shelters were the last of her thoughts at the moment...
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"Well, one way or another... we seem to have gotten here!" was all Kain could say as he and his best friends reached the military area and, after hiding themselves behind the wall of one of the largest buildings, tried to catch their breath. However, the background cacophony of explosions, shooting, giant robot steps on the ground and whatever else the ill-fated teens could think of made it clear that it was only a temporary shelter... and, sooner or later, it would have been overtaken by the invaders. They only had a few seconds at best...
"Alright, Kain, now that we've made it... how exactly do you propose to find your Mom in this mess? It's not like we can start asking around..." Tapp said, keeping his voice high enough to let his friends hear him.
Kain was beginning to lose his patience. As if that was a question to ask in such a situation! "And how the Hell am I supposed to know that, for crying out loud?" he ranted. "I just know that Mom is around here... and I will find her, one way or another!"
"A very detailed answer, my friend..." Tapp deadpanned.
Light quickly reminded the two of the dire situation they were in. "There's no time to antagonize each other over this stuff, guys!" he exclaimed, wincing as a shot from a GINN's bazooka exploded dangerously close to their improvised shelter, causing the very ground to shake! "Ugh... these guys are getting too close for comfort! We need to find a more stable shelter, before they..."
"Oh, fuck!" Kain suddenly swore as a couple of Gandoras sped by, shooting missiles towards the very same building the boys were trying to use as a cover! "Guys, everybody down! Now!"
The three immediately hit the ground as the missiles struck the roof of the building, causing an immediate explosion and opening huge cracks on the structure, even causing a section of the wall to collapse in a pile of rubble! Luckily, Kain and his friends were quick to get to a relatively safe place, and the explosion did nothing but knock them off their feet, bruising them a little but otherwise doing no real harm.
"D... Dammit... that was a close one..." Tapp murmured, coughing from the dust kicked up by the explosion as the Gandoras continued on their rampage throughout the colony. "We need to get out of here pronto and... huh? Hey, guys, will you look at that!"
"What?" Light inquired... just before he looked at the wall they were standing next to, and noticing the huge, gaping hole blown through it. It was large enough for a human-sized person to fit comfortably, and if they were lucky, maybe it could have taken them to a relatively safer place... "Well, that's our luck changing... hopefully. Come on, everybody, let's get in there! At least the mobile weapons won't be able to get to us..."
The other two had no objection to that, and all three carefully entered the building, finding themselves in a corridor that quickly winded down to what looked like a huge hangar, which seemed to have held up rather well, considering all the abuse the colony had taken from both the outside attackers and the bunker busters.
"Well, looks like we're in luck for once..." Tapp commented as he exited the corridor first and stopped to catch his breath and calm himself down a little. The boys were now standing on a tall walkway, from which it was possible to see the whole hangar from above - especially the large battleship that was stationed in the middle of the ground floor, its engines shut down. It was a large space battleship, a white and red color all over, with three huge cylindrical cistern-like objects attached to the main body. It was imposing yet sleek-looking, and while it had obviously taken some abuse, it was still space worthy. "Huh? Hey, and what's that ship doing in here? Doesn't it look like..."
"A military cruiser, that's for sure..." Light commented, feeling that his previous suspicions were being proved with every passing moment. "And not just a battleship, an Earth Union battleship... it is obvious, to me at least, that our ZAFT and Giganos friends somehow knew about that and the five Gundams I spoke of earlier... and now they've staged this attack under the pretense that our colony is violating its own neutrality."
"Whatever, that's one more place we can hide in!" Kain cut the discussion right there, but the revelation had startled him quite a bit, though he tried not to show. So, in other words, Heliopolis was being used in one of the Earth Union's power trips, with all of its inhabitants being none the wiser? The mere thought disgusted him...
However, there was no time to think about that. Taking advantage of the lowered gravity, Kain, Tapp and Light jumped down from the balcony and gently floated to the battleship's roof, landing on their feet atop one of the cylinder-shaped containers. Quickly noticing a rather large fissure in the metal plating, doubtlessly a result of the battles the cruiser had lived through, the boys lowered themselves down through it, and entered the container, their eyes quickly adapting to the dim illumination.
"Okay, guys, it seems that we'll be safe here... at least for a while..." Light commented. "Let's take a look around, maybe we can find something of use."
"Alright..." Kain and Tapp answered almost in unison. Taking extra care not to bump or trip on something in the darkness, the three Heliopolis civilians quickly tried to assess their situation - they were standing on top of an elevated platform, with the floor of the container a good twenty meters or so below them... and, even in the diminishing light, it was plain to see that there was something quite unusual in the hangar, a little below them: through a few gaps large enough to fit an adult human, three large humanoid shapes, standing on the deck and seemingly inactive, were visible... and from their elevated position, the boys could see that they were standing quite a few feet above the heads of these giants, with nothing to possibly stop them from approaching...
"Hey, guys, have you seen those? It's just crazy..." Tapp commented, as they slowly approached the nearest of the three giant shapes, all standing side by side.
Kain and Light were in awe as well: those giant shapes were obviously robots, and were quite similar to the Mobile Suits used in the One Year War or during the war against the Titans... in fact, at first glance; one might even have mistaken one of them for a Gundam, were it not for a few important cosmetic differences!
The first machine was a pure white, with red highlight on the front of its head and around its neck, and its large chest plate was decorated with a golden three-pointed star. The legs were quite large in comparison with the body, with a red and a blue stripe running around its calves, and it was carrying a large blue and white shield, with a golden number 1 emblazoned upon it, in one hand; and a heavy hand railgun in the other, with a pair of beam sword hoisted at its sides. A pair of golden antennae, similar but not quite identical to those of a Gundam, and a pair of thrusters on its shoulder pads, completed its overall appearance. It did look like a Gundam, in fact, but it seemed to be somehow taller, sleeker and more dynamic.
The second one looked more of a ranged combat unit, thanks to a pair of large cannons mounted on a spherical support unit on its back and raising themselves upon its shoulders: it was a dark blue color all over, except for a few red stripes on its wrists, calves and feet, and it lacked the dynamic, agile appearance of a more traditional Mobile Suit - also thanks to its protruding chest plate and its almost spherical head. Other than the obvious cannons, it was carrying a railgun in its right hand, and a few missile dispensers were mounted on various parts of its body.
The third one was possibly the strangest of all: it was slightly taller than the others, but it didn't look quite as threatening, especially thanks to its peculiar disc-shaped head and the rather unbalancing armor mounted on its arms and legs. Its chest sported what looked like a bunch of small green and yellow searchlights, and it was carrying a light railgun in its hands. It looked more like a reconnaissance unit than a straight-out fighter, and Light was quick to point out the fact.
"Hmm.. that's really interesting." the blond said, looking at the disc-shaped head of the third unit. "You see that, guys? That's a BX-3 all-range sensor... and that unit must have been created for electronic warfare."
"Heh, what do you know, guys... we've stumbled upon a really cool discovery!" Kain commented, the seriousness of the situation set aside for a moment. "Don't they look like those robot we used to watch in cartoons when we were kids? You know, like Gekiganger and the like?"
"You sure had strange tastes even as a kid, Kain... I was never into that kinda stuff!" Light chuckled, allowing himself a moment of levity before it was time to once again face the seriousness of the situation. "Alright, I guess these are the secret weapon that guy spoke of before he died... and that's another thing the ZAFT guys and the Giganos are gunning for... but now, the impeding question is, how are we going to get out of this mess?"
Kain seemed to think about that for a few seconds, his eyes affixed upon the immobile forms of the three robots... then, he grinned like a cunning fox and glanced upwards to his friends...
"Y'know, guys..." he said, rubbing his own chin. "I think I have half a mind on how we do that..."
A stunned silence followed for the whole of two seconds... before Light answered back, frowning with worry. "Hold... hold your horses, Kain! You're NOT thinking what I think you're thinking, are you?" he questioned, dreading the answer already.
"You wanna say... we climb onboard these machines and fight our way out?" Tapp followed as he glanced to the dark-colored robot with the twin cannons.
"Do you have any better ideas than that?" Kain answered back, holding the CD case they had gotten earlier in his hand. He opened it and took out the three small disc-shaped devices, small enough to fit comfortably in the palm of each boy's hand, before handing two of them to his friends. "Dunno about you, but I'm really sick and tired of running away from those guys! So I say, we go out there and wreck their little toys a little! How about it, guys?"
Light inspected the activation key he had just received... and then, much to Tapp's consternation, he cracked a small grin. "Tell you what, Kain, that's actually not a halfway bad idea! I'm all for it!"
"What? Are you guys off your rocker?" Tapp exclaimed in wide-eyed shock. "These are freaking secret weapons! We'll end up cracking our heads open!"
"Oh, give it a rest, worrywart!" Kain shot back as he leapt towards the square-shaped hole hosting the white-and-red machine. "Okay, guys, I'm picking this one! Which do you choose?"
"I've always been good with computers and that kinda stuff... so I'm picking the third one!" Light answered, pointing to the robot with the disc-shaped head. "That just leaves you, Tapp... you get the one with the big cannons! Aren't you happy with that?"
"I'm so happy I could cry..." Tapp murmured sarcastically, his hand nervously rubbing the back of his head. "Oh, well, what can you do..."
As Tapp and Light got ready to take their places onboard the strange machines, Kain lowered himself through the opening corresponding to the white-and-red Gundam-like robot, and nimbly slid inside of it through an opening placed on the back of the machine's neck and a narrow chute, finally leading to a rather large cockpit filled with a dim red light. Luckily, the machine's automatic systems seemed to acknowledge the presence of a human being inside the cockpit, and the main lights flickered on a moment later, allowing the Heliopolis teen to take a good look at his surroundings.
"Well, geez, I guess the difficult part comes... woah!" Kain's musings were interrupted as the chute's end closed abruptly behind him, pushing him forward and almost causing him to comically hit his face on the control interfaces! "Owww... seriously, whoever thinks this shit up? Such rude manners... anyway, now I'm in! Let's see what I have to do to make this thing work..."
The control interface was somewhat reminiscent of that of a fighter plane, but there were some things that blatantly stood out: in particular, a blinking yellow button bearing the Giganos symbol upon it, with a small opening right beside it, which was just the right size for the activation disc. It took barely a second for the Heliopolis resident to put two and two together. "Heh, bingo! Now let's get to work!" Kain commented to himself, before sliding the disc into the opening. Immediately, the interfaces lit up, and a robotic, yet distinctly female voice came from the cockpit speakers.
"Welcome onboard the Dragonar D-1 unit. This is the onboard computer Cray-9000, codename Clair. Please vocally enter your name and ID number."
"A computer working on vocal commands? They sure don't half-ass things..." Kain mused. "Oh, well. The name is Kain Wakaba, and my ID code is... 1234567! And make sure you don't forget it!"
A quick succession of yellow light shone through the cockpit, going through Kain's body, and the boy frowned in confusion as the onboard computer completed its analysis. Finally, the strange display of colorful lights ceased, and the piloting interface activated again, finally allowing him to start maneuvering!
"ID code 1234567. Name: Kain Wakaba. Registration complete. You have been identified as the exclusive pilot for the Dragonar D-1 unit. Pilot is not equipped with a piloting suit. Unit under restraint."
Kain only half-listened to this part, so hyped up he was about paying back ZAFT and Giganos for the unprovoked attack. "Hehehee... and now we really get going! Who knows how those two scoundrels are faring, by the way...?" he asked himself. Then, he searched around on the interface a little, until he came across the communications. "Oh, here it is! Hey, Tapp! Light! How's it going?"
"It's unreal, Kain! It's a whole other world compared with the Academy's simulations!" Light answered from the disc-headed robot's cockpit. "It almost feels like I'm inside a computer!"
Kain laughed jovially at that. "Heheheee... and you're a sucker for those kinda things, aren't you? And what about you, Tapp? How does it feel to pilot the latest secret weapon?"
"It's just amazing, man!" Tapp exclaimed, his previous misgivings seemingly vanished. "This baby feels like it could split the freaking Moon in half!"
"And about the ID code? What have you invented for that?" Kain asked, out of curiosity more than anything else.
The boy of color winked and tapped his head with an index finger. "I used my credit card's ID number, so I'm sure to remember it! Smart idea, huh?"
"Hahahaa, nice idea indeed, pal!" Kain laughed. "And now that we're all set, let's go kick some ass! C'mon... Clair, you said? C'mon, Clair, let's get this show going!"
"Acknowledge. Removing restraints. Units ready for departure." the onboard computer answered. The restraints on the Dragonar units were lifted, and the D-1 lead the others, as Kain and his friends began their counterattack against the invading ZAFT and Giganos forces...
oooooooooo
"Well, guys? What's the situation here?" Dearka asked as he stood together with his teammates of the Le Creuset Team and a group of ZAFT Greencoats upon a small rocky hilltop, not too distant from the road upon which a group of military vehicles was travelling. Nicol was busy looking at those same vehicles with a binocular... and, just as he imagined, there were a few Mobile Suits being carried upon those trucks: judging from their shapes and faceplates, they were obviously Gundams, though their featureless grey coloration was making it a little hard to distinguish between one another. Anyway, that wasn't the point, at the moment. The point was, that now they knew where their objective was headed and could strike unimpeded!
"Just as planned." the green-haired boy answered, taking his eyes off the binocular. "The bunker busters have done their job, and now the Heliopolis military is transferring the Gundams to another location. They're just where we need them."
"We just had to shake them up a little, and out they come." Shiho commented. She sounded almost disappointed that it had been so easy to get their targets to come out of hiding.
"Heh, what did you expect, Shiho? Naturals are idiots after all." Yzak sneered contemptuously. It was no secret that the white-haired redcoat never cared much about Naturals, though most pilots of the Le Creuset Team didn't really share this way of thinking.
"Though, personally, I do feel a little bit sorry for the citizens of Heliopolis. I mean, of course we have to do this for the sake of our country, but they sure have no idea why all this is happening to them." answered Rusty McKenzie, a young male Redcoat with longish orange hair who seemed to be just a little older than Athrun. "I mean should we really carry on a mission like this against a neutral colony?"
"If this colony was so neutral, Rusty… Then why are they secretly manufacturing weapons for the Earth Forces?" asked Yzak, with a scoff at hearing Rusty even ask such a question. "Besides, they sure can talk a big deal about their neutrality, but the truth is, they are building those things."
Rusty shook his head; Yzak did make a good point on the matter because Orb was apparently adding the Earth Alliance despite its status as a neutral nation. "I know, you're right that's unacceptable" he replied to his silver-haired friend after a small chuckle.
"Anyway, we have to get going now." Athrun said, taking charge of the situation. "Remember what Commander Le Creuset said; do not stay here longer than necessary. The backup team should be here soon, and will cover our escape. Now, let's go."
oooooooooo
"So, Captain Ades. How are the operations going?" Rau Le Creuset asked as he arrived on the Vesalius' main bridge. Captain Frederik Ades, a 28-year old ZAFT captain with a somewhat tan complexion and long light brown sideburns on the sides of his head, looked up at his commanding officer and nodded an affirmative.
"So far, no problems, Commander Le Creuset. The Gamow has just sent a backup team, led by our ace pilots Miguel Aiman, Olor Kudenbru and Matthew... and our own forces plus our Giganos allies are keeping Heliopolis' defenses busy." Ades answered.
"Furthermore, the small team of pilots has managed to infiltrate the colony, and they are now on their way to capture the G-Weapons. Barring exceptional circumstances, they should be able to head back shortly."
"I see." Le Creuset continued. "And what about the Dragonar modules? Have they been located already?"
"It doesn't seem so, Commander. It seems that the Idaho, the battleship carrying them, had been elsewhere, but the Gandorah squads should be closing in on their position by now. We should have them delivered to us in a matter of time."
"Excellent." Rau nodded, before frowning in a barely noticeable way behind his silver mask. The familiar feeling he was having at the moment confirmed him that, just as he suspected, there was someone out there who could cause problems... and problems needed to be solved as soon as possible. "I knew I'd find you here, Mu La Flaga... well, we had to settle our score sooner or later. Now is as good as time as any."
"Very well, then, Captain Ades... By the way, is my CGUE ready to sortie?" he asked, referring to his ZGMF-515 CGUE.
"Yes, Commander Le Creuset... do you plan on going out yourself?" Ades asked, somewhat surprised by his superior's request. The tide of the battle seemed to be firmly in ZAFT and Giganos' favor, so Ades couldn't see why Le Creuset felt the need to go out there and fight himself... but then again, Le Creuset's methods were quite unconventional, though he still remained the most skilled space commander in ZAFT's military.
"I suppose I should do my part in this, that's all." Le Creuset answered to Ades' unspoken question. "Furthermore, this might well be my chance to settle some old scores. Therefore, Captain Ades, I'm temporarily leaving you in charge of the operations here. Inform Captain Zelman that I'll heading out."
"Affirmative, Commander Le Creuset. I wish you the best of luck out there." Ades answered, and the two men exchanged a military salute before the masked man headed to the Vesalius' hangar...
oooooooooo
Among the many ZAFT Mobile Suits advancing on Heliopolis and fighting their way in, a trio of GINNs descending towards the area where Athrun and his comrades were about to hijack the G-Weapons, intent on giving support to the ace pilot team.
"Alright... Matthew, Olor, we're in!" the leader of the group, ace pilot Miguel Aiman aka the Magic Bullet of Dusk, told his wingmen, as the three Mobile Suits used their verniers to slow down their descent. "I don't think Athrun and the other will need much of an assistance, but stay sharp, just in case. You never know what might happen in a war zone... which this colony just became!"
"And now I wish my customized GINN was in operating conditions… but what can you do?" Miguel thought bitterly to himself, feeling a bit sore prior to the operation as his customized orange GINN had lost an arm in a previous battle against a custom GINN belonging to Serpent Tail mercenary Gai Murakumo . Since there wouldn't be enough time to repair his orange GINN, he was to use a standard GINN under Rau's recommendation for the mission at Heliopolis.
"Acknowledge, sir!" his wingmen answered. Miguel, a young man with dirty blond hair combed in a fringe in front of him, nodded to himself and readied his GINN's weapons, getting ready for anything that might have happened...
oooooooooo
The ZAFT elite team had wasted no time, assaulting the convoys as soon as they had them where they wanted them... and now, a hectic gunfight had broken out between them and the remaining soldiers, with the Heliopolis defenders quickly finding themselves at a disadvantage. Athrun took a grenade out of one of his belts and chucked it in the middle of a formation of soldiers, causing a huge explosion that killed most of them on impact... and those who hadn't been hit by the blast were quickly gunned down by Nicol, Dearka, Rusty, Yzak and Shiho, leaving the G-Weapons mostly defenseless.
In front of one of the new Mobile Suits, a pretty brown-haired woman in a yellow suit was trying to do what she could to stop the ZAFT forces from taking the new weapons, but it was obvious that she couldn't last long on her own, and now Yzak and Dearka were taking possession on the first two Mobile Suits...
And that was when a couple of teenagers, a brown-haired boy with bright purple eyes, and a rather tomboyish-looking blond girl, rushed out of a corridor and into an elevated walkway, dangerously close to the zone where the gunfight was taking place! Kira and the blond girl were looking in wide-eyed horror at the violence, and the bodies that now littered the ground... but perhaps more shocking than that, were the five slate-grey Mobile Suits that now lied in front of them... the obvious target of the ZAFT forces, who were making more and more of an headway getting there!
"Mobile... Suits? Here... in Heliopolis? How... how is that possible?" Kira murmured, as the blond girl slumped to her knees, tears of powerless fury in her eyes.
"I knew it..." she hissed. "The new Earth Forces' prototype mobile weapons... I knew this was going to happen! Father, how could you? You betrayed us all!"
The last part came out in a furious scream which alerted Lieutenant Murrue Ramius, of the Earth Alliance Forces and the aforementioned brunette gunner, to the teens' presence. In a knee-jerk reaction, she pointed her machine gun to Kira and the blond, which caused Kira to jump up in fear and quickly get out of the way, dragging the girl by the hand as he did so.
"Th... this is crazy!" Kira exclaimed as he tried to get out of the way. Unfortunately, the ZAFT redcoats had not slowed down on their attempts to take the new Earth Alliance machines... and in fact, Yzak Joule and Dearka Elsman had managed to climb onboard two of them, and were not activating them! The GAT-X102 Duel Gundam and GAT-X103 Buster Gundam freed themselves of their restraints and stood up, as their pilots appraised their capabilities...
"This machine is quite impressive!" Yzak commented, sitting in the Duel Gundam's cockpit. "What about yours, Dearka?"
"Doing okay!" the dark-skinned blond answered. "Update activated, nerve link reconstructed... calibration complete! I can move out! What about you, Nicol?"
The green-haired boy's finger rapidly danced on the keyboard of the GAT-X207 Blitz Gundam's OS, trying to reprogram it on the fly. "I'm coming, everybody! I just need a moment..." he answered, before punching in one last instruction. "There! I'm good to go!" And the Blitz Gundam finally stood up, joining the Buster and the Duel.
"Where are Athrun, Rusty and Shiho? They are late..." Dearka commented, his eyes darting around the battlefield as he searched for his team leader, their fellow male Recoat and the only female soldier of the group.
"They'll manage. For the moment, we are to retreat with these three models." Yzak concluded. "Take care not to damage them before we have delivered them to Commander Le Creuset."
"Acknowledge!" Nicol and Dearka replied, and the three Gundams activated their verniers and took flight, leaving the wrecked factory district behind... and in the meanwhile, Murrue and her remaining allies were still desperately fighting to at least stop the ZAFT soldiers from getting the last two Gundams...
Fortunately Kira and the mysterious girl managed to reach one of the last remaining shelters much to their relief. "See? Some people have already evacuated here" he reassured the blonde-haired girl with a smile on his face, though she didn't seem to pay it any mind and seemed lost in thought, a distressed and pensive expression were cleared on her features. The elevator's communicator beeped to life.
"Is there still someone out there?" a male voice called out.
"Yes!" Kira was quick to respond to the older man, placing his finger on the intercom to answer back. "A friend and I need to get in! Can you let us in?"
"The two of you?" the man asked Kira, confused by the question asked of him though the brown-haired teenager slowly nodded his head to confirm his answer.
"Yes!"
"I'm sorry, but we're full up here!" the man replied to Kira with some slight concern since most of the shelters were already filled to maximum capacity by this point especially as another explosion occurred and he didn't want the two to perish in the destruction of the factory district. "There are thirty-seven shelters on the left block, can't you make it there?"
Kira frowned, hoping there would at least be room for the girl he brought with him and he took a brief glance towards the destroyed area surrounding him, including the fire fight currently raging bellow. "Can you at least take my friend?" he pleaded, hoping that it wasn't too much of a hassle for the girl to be put into the shelter. "She's just a girl!"
The blonde-haired female got a little aggravated at hearing Kira's remark about her and for him thinking she needed to be looked after. "Oh, okay… sorry…" the man answered before finally deciding to open the hatch so that the male teen could push the girl with him into the shelter, especially for her own safety since there was another shelter nearby that he could go into.
"Get in; I'll go to the other side…" said Kira as he saw she's struggling not to get into the shelter though it seemed his strength proved to be a bit superior and managed to successfully push her inside. "Don't worry, about me okay? Hurry!"
"Wait, don't do it!" she pleaded but it was too late as the door immediately slid shut and she went down the shaft to the shelter while Kira made his way towards the other side in order to find the last shelter available yet the fierce combat was getting more intense with the ZAFT and EA forces trying their hardest to decide who will get the remaining G-Weapons.
"Lieutenant Ramius!"
"Hamana! Brian! Quick, we have to activate the GAT-X105 Strike and the GAT-X303 Aegis!" Murrue ordered, failing to see an enemy soldier on a walkway above, aiming a rifle at her! Luckily for her, Kira did see that, and managed to warn her in time!
"Miss! Behind you!" he shouted. Murrue quickly darted around and shot her machine gun, taking out the sniper... but bit back a curse as she realized that her weapon had jammed. She quickly hid behind one of the remaining MSs, just in time to see her two remaining allies getting gunned down by the ZAFT soldiers. Her teeth gritted in anger and frustration, Murrue shot the nearest attacker dead, before turning to the teen, who was still dangerously close to the fighting.
"That kid again, why is he?" she asked herself, unfortunately she needed to keep ZAFT from mistaking him for an Alliance Officer and she despite being down to a handgun due to her machine gun being out of ammo plus unless the Strike Gundam and the Aegis Gundam were activated by the Alliance, they would be in a lot of trouble if ZAFT had all five machines. "Come here!"
"Thanks but I'm off to the shelter on the left block, never mind me!" Kira anticipated her.
"There's nothing left behind that door!" she answered, Kira looked confused for a second... but then an explosion took place where he originally entered the district and he realized there was no way to get to the last shelter now. Without any other choice, he decided to follow the young woman's advice and descended the walkway he was on, just as the three remaining ZAFT Redcoats took shelter behind an overturned van. "Get down here, quick!"
As Kira made his way towards the Earth Forces' Lieutenant, who was trying her absolute best to keep the Strike from falling into the enemy's possession, he saw something that caught his attention. "Behind you, watch out!" he warned Murrue, hoping he'd be able to alert the brown-haired woman of the ZAFT soldier targeting her on time.
"What?" she exclaimed, turning around to the place where Rusty was hiding. The young ZAFT recruit had managed to sneak by unseen and had reached a place where he could ambush the Earth Forces soldiers... but just as he stepped out of his ambush place and fired, Murrue shot reflexively and struck Rusty in the chest! With a look of horror and disbelief in his eyes, Rusty staggered backwards, placing a hand on the bullet wound on his chest
"Rusty!" Athrun exclaimed in dismay, kneeling near his fallen comrade. "Dammit! They got Rusty… Shiho, I'll try to get Rusty to safety! Try to cover me!"
"Will do! Try to get rusty away from here and call a medical team!" Shiho said, firing back at the Earth Union soldiers.
"N-no… don't worry about me… Athrun… I'm done for anyway…" Rusty murmured, as he felt life deserting him. "J-just… complete the mission… for me as well… okay? This is… for our home country… for ZAFT… good luck… Athrun…"
With that, Rusty closed his eyes, fading away in Athrun's arms. With an heavy heart, the blue-haired ZAFT soldier laid down his fallen comrade and took his weapon again, determined to avenge Rusty and carry out the mission…
"This is bad… we're stuck here!" Shiho murmured, wincing as a hail of bullets struck the side of the vehicle with an enervating metallic noise. The girl took the opportunity to return fire, dropping the offending Earth Alliance soldier, while Athrun gritted his teeth as he came out from the other side of the improvised protection and gunned down another opponent before aiming his gun at Murrue. The brown-haired woman dove to the floor, in a desperate attempt to avoid the volley of bullets, but a lucky shot hit her in the shoulder, causing her to cry out in pain and drop on the plating of the Mobile Suit she was trying to defend. Kira gasped in horror, while Athrun discarded his jammed machine gun and grabbed a combat knife, using his jetpacks to reach Murrue and try to finish her off...
Kira gritted his teeth and, determined to avoid any more deaths, jumped from the stairs and onto the Mobile Suit! Before Athrun could reach Murrue and avenge Rusty's death, Kira stood in front of Murrue in an attempt to hold him off...
And that was when their eyes met, and both teens froze in horror!
"Ki... Kira?" Athrun murmured, stopping dead in his tracks, his combat knife still held high.
"Athrun?" Kira stammered. "Athrun... is... is that... really you?"
Kira and Athrun, even as they stood up, continued staring at each other in disbelief... until Murrue, getting a measure of her strength back, raised her gun and aimed it at Athrun! The blue-haired boy gritted his teeth and backed away, using his jetpacks to hop on the nearby Aegis and climb into the cockpit, while Murrue quickly stood up and pushed the still-stunned Kira into the Strike's cockpit, before climbing in herself and closing the hatch behind herself. "Move back behind the seat!" she told him, needing some space in order to properly get the mobile suit ready for action. "At least we can save this one, even I should be able to operate it."
Kira remained silent, still massively shaken by his encounter with Athrun, wondering if it really was him and why would he ever join ZAFT… and at the same time, the Mobile Suit he and Murrue had climbed on activated, as he saw something appearing on the startup menu.
General
Unilateral
Neruo-Link
Dispersive
Automatic
Maneuver
"Gundam?" he asked himself, the GAT-X105 Strike Gundam slowly rose up, grabbing its 57mm High Energy Beam rifle with one hand and its red shield with another. The Aegis and the Strike stood up a few moments later; Shiho bit back a curse as she realized that she had failed her mission. There was not much more she could do there, so she opted to fall back and call for backup.
"Tch, I let that escape... and now Rusty's dead…" she muttered, as the two steel titans stood up, almost as if they were sizing each other, and explosions destroyed more and more of the military facilities...
oooooooooo
TO BE CONTINUED...
Aaaand so, the events of Metal Armor Dragonar and Gundam SEED begin! I told you it would be a bumpy ride... and the action continues next chapter, when Kain, Tapp, Light and Kira get their first taste of a real battle!
Be patient, I'll update as soon as I can! See you soon!