Disclaimer: I do not own the copyrights to Gundam Wing, Endless Waltz, Outlaw Star, or any songs that are used in this story. All copyrights belong to their respective owners.
Readers Note: This contains some spoilers for Outlaw Star, so if you haven't seen the whole series I wouldn't recommend reading this.
Gundam Wing
&
Outlaw Star
Gundam Outlaw
Chapter 5: To Venus
Q
"Welcome back." Gilliam greeted from the Outlaw Stars external speakers.
The Outlaw Six as well as Haruka and Johan had come back to the mobile suit bay. They all saw the newly built Gundam Nemesis; it stood in all of its glory that once stood all those years ago in the Eve wars. It was just like the Gundam Epyon, except with it's long barrel gun and its black and white paint job. It had wings just like the Epyon that made it look like a Gundanium devil. Its heat rod tapered from the shield attached to its right arm down to the floor.
There was one persistent question on both Haruka and Johan's mind that could only be answered by Gilliam himself.
"Gilliam." Haruka called
"I already know what you're going to ask." Gilliam asserted, "The new operating system has been created and uploaded into the Gundam Nemesis. I've made some adjustments to it. Such as I've noticed that the Vindicators operating system could allow just about anyone to pilot it. So I've upgraded its security system to match only voice print recognition, retinal eye patterns, and fingerprint analysis. Also, I've created a helmet for the pilot to use for easier usage. Since I've created this system I've given it a new name, I've called it Hal. On a side note, if you want to use the Zero system the cockpit will require a code, which Lady Une will provide."
Haruka looked at her Gundam and knew deep within her a certain satisfaction that she is now a Preventer pilot. She wanted to test it, she looked over to the stairs that came down to the floor of the mobile suit bay. She walked down to the oil stained steel floor with her husband diligently walking along side her past the Outlaw Star, the Gundam Mobile suits, until they reached their destination. The Gundam Nemesis, from the catwalk it seemed so much smaller, reality is always within grasp when it's towering 56 feet high and weighing in at 18 tons.
The cockpit door was open and the lift cable was there at the Nemesis feet waiting for Haruka to come to it. She walked over to it and tugged it and she was lifted up to the cockpit. She climbed in. The cockpit was saturated with the smell of new plastic, new metal and new leather. She looked and there on the leather cockpit seat was the helmet that Gilliam has spoke of with its oxygen intake valve on it's side so the pilot could breathe.
She took the helmet away from the seat and sat down, with the lift cable reeling itself in and the cockpit door closing in on her, sealing her within the darkness. Soon the darkness became light with all the warmth of all the technology that surrounded her. There were different shades of colors, blues, yellows, reds, and amber coming from all the panels around her. Then a few mellow males voice came from within the cockpit.
"PLEASE, STATE YOUR NAME FOR VOICE RECOGNITION." It stated
Haruka knew that this was Hal that Gilliam was talking about, "Haruka Tenou Rodriguez." She stated
"STATE PREVENTER CODE NAME."
"Preventer Sky King."
There was a moments pause; Haruka didn't know what was going to happen next yet it felt familiar. It was similar to when she first became the designated pilot of the Gundam Vindicator. She waited, anticipating the next command.
"SCANNING RETINAL EYE PATTERN."
Haruka looked to the front of the cockpit and there it came out, a red light that was shinning into her eye. When it did, it only hurt because of the pure blinding power in the red light. She knew that the computer was scanning the retinal blood vessel patterns in the back of her eye. An essential. A fingerprint for the eye.
"PLACE YOUR HANDS UPON THE CONTROLS."
Haruka looked down and found the control sticks for this Gundam. They were just like they were when she first built this machine, horizontal. Her hands slipped over the fresh plastic, feeling the coolness as well as its newness. Under the cool of the fresh plastic she felt warmth, she knew immediately she was being scanned. So the control sticks were not only used to control the Gundam but also to verify if the pilot in the seat is the real person.
"REGISTRATION COMPLETE."
"Who are you?" Haruka asked
"MY NAME IS HAL. I AM THE OFFSPRING OF THE OUTLAW STAR OPERATING SYSTEM, GILLIAM TWO."
"Gilliam told me that I could use the Zero system."
"I'M SORRY, HARUKA. I'M AFRAID I CAN'T DO THAT. THE USE OF THE ZERO SYSTEM REQUIRES A VOICE COMMAND. PREVENTER OFFICER REPRESENTATIVE UNE WILL GIVE THIS TO YOU, BUT YOU CAN USE IT. HOWEVER WHEN YOU DO, MY PROGRAM WILL BE SHUT DOWN IN FAVOR OF THE ZERO SYSTEM."
"So, if I use the Zero system, I won't hear anything from you?"
"CORRECT".
It was an interesting problem to Haruka, if she used the Zero system then Hal wouldn't be working so that meant she would be on her own. She has already seen the horrors that the Zero system could do, she watched as Quatre went insane from his own grief mixed with that system. She couldn't fathom what could happen if she used it and there was no one to snap her out of it. As Johan said there's only one alternative, master the Zero system.
Q
In a meeting with the Preventers and the Outlaw Six a plan of attack had to be devised. One of the reasons for this was because of some data that came in. The officers of Preventer and the Outlaw Six sat around the meeting table watching the data on the screen was a small resource satellite with Venus as it's background.
"This is where he is." Lady Une stated
Duo stood in his assertiveness, "Let's go get him."
"Hold it." Johan halted, "last time we went up against this guy we lost one mobile suit. We need to think of a plan to go after him. Since he's a Tao Master we're going to need to use Gene's Caster Shells. He's more than likely going to merge his magic with our technology."
Heero stared at Johan, "Are you suggesting we load the shells into our Gundams?"
"I think we should."
Gene shook his head, "That won't work. Only a caster gun can fire a caster shell."
Lady Une nodded, "So, that means one of you is going to have to get in close enough to use it."
Gene looked to Lady Une who was standing at the head of the table like King Arthur and his knights.
"I'll do it." He said
Jim reached to Gene's shoulder and pulled him down to say, "We need you go fly the Outlaw Star, Gene."
Gene sulked, "One of the Gundams are going to have to use my caster."
There was silence among those around the table. They were waiting for some fool who'd be crazy enough to take on such a dangerous task.
"I'll do it." Heero Volunteered
Heero's Prussian blue eyes met Gene's pale blue eyes. The two knew what had to be done. Gene couldn't fire the caster at Hotana while flying the Outlaw Star. It would be as practical as trying to be in two places at once. Heero would have to be that one to take on this task, otherwise the mission wouldn't work.
"There's something else." Lady Une added crossing her arms, "our sensors are detecting activity inside. So we have to assume this enemy has a mobile suit, we don't have enough information on its specifics or its weapons. Nor do we have anyway to find out."
The worst possible scenario had been made. An unknown suit with whatever kids of weapons Hotana could get his hands on. There was only one way to proceed.
"So," Duo postulated, "You want us to go to the resource satellite and draw him out and not know what he could do to us?"
"It's the only option that can be thought of without risking innocent lives."
Duo shrugged, "Sounds like a really crappy plan, but alright."
Gene stood up and walked over to Heero slowly he reached into his coat as if reaching for a gun. As a matter of fact he was, he pulled out his caster gun. He let go of its handle yet still holding onto the trigger. He allowed the weight to shift so that it's nozzle pointed down and the handle was within Heero's reach.
Heero reached for the odd gun, he felt its weight and examined its odd shape. He looked back up at Gene as if either asking how the hell it's loaded or saying; you've got to be kidding me.
Gene reached into his gun belt to where the enormous caster shells were held. He pulled out five shells that looked like a bullet for a .45 magnum but enlarged for a shotgun. Gene laid his hand to the table and allowed them to roll out onto the table.
"These are caster shells number 19, 20, 4, 9, and 13." Gene explained
Heero took the number 4 shell and looked at it meticulously. He looked at the golden colored case and the strange markings on its side and along its flat bottom.
"There's one warning I'd like to give you, Heero." Gene warned
Heero looked at him coldly.
"The number 4, 9 and 13 shells are special. But try not to fire them consecutively. The shells will drain your life away, fire once you'll be woozy, fire twice, you'll be half dead, and the third time you'll be completely dead."
Heero collected all the caster shells and shoved them into his pocket, "I'll try and be careful, but it's not this gun I'm worried about, it's that unknown mobile suit."
Q
Back in the vicinity of Venus, Hotana had don't it, the Gundam Violator had been completed. The suit was just like a Virgo mobile doll except it was designed with a manned cockpit. It had the enlarged shoulders that housed the shields in the left shoulder while it held the powerhouse for the beam cannon in the other. While on it's left arm was the shield of the Epyon and it's head rod coiled up inside the shield ready to strike at anyone who came close to it.
Hotana stood at its feet and marveled at its power as well as the idea of using the Tao as its power. Looking at this robot, he felt an immense feeling of pride and power, just as he did when the Ki was built, a ship that was a duplicate of the Outlaw Star but made more for him. This was his plan; he would pilot the Violator while the Ki would pilot itself. That way it could keep the Outlaw Star busy. It was such a wonderful idea that Hotana had to laugh at his own evilness. He stopped laughing and wanted to get to the operation
"Shin!" He summoned.
"Yes master?" Shin answered
"Are you ready to pilot on your own?"
The answer came quickly, "Yes, my flight circuits are functioning normally."
"Then we shall begin operation."
Q
The Preventer Ship Tabris was already making its way to the attack point. The journey wasn't as long as it may have appeared to be. Thanks to high-tech engines within the Tabris they could travel faster than in Peace Million. It would have taken Peace Million several days to reach Venus at full speed, but it would only take Tabris several hours to get there. However there is that possibility that Hotana could come out and meet them somewhere in between their current position and Venus.
In the few hours that they had the officers or Preventer were all getting prepared for this battle. There was tension among the crew of the Outlaw Star as well as the Preventers. This mission was just like trying to traverse a minefield with no map, that is how frightening the whole situation was to them.
In open part of the mobile suit bay, the Gundam Clockwork and the Gundam DeathScythe stood side by side with Duo and Alexandria working together to make sure that their suits work well.
"Everything's real Horrorshow here, Duo." Alexandria smiled
"Same here." Duo smirked, "DeathScythe's ready to go."
"Goody Gumdrops."
While Duo and Alexandria were talking about the kind of firepower that each of them would have, Quatre was talking with Jim Hawking. Quatre was sitting on the cockpit platform while Jim was talking to him from the steel floor. Quatre didn't want to leave his dear Sandrock, he felt that at times like these he wanted to be close to the mobile suit.
"Tell me." Jim called, "Are all of you pilots close to your suits as you are?"
Quatre simply shrugged, "It may seem unusual for a pilot to bond to their suit, but its no different then a car enthusiast to bond with their prized car."
Jim thought back to his hot rod of a car back in the city of Locus on Sentinel 3. Quatre was right; Jim treated that car as if it were his child. Then again that car is a classic, even though he keeps telling Gene not to fix up a classic like that and then drive it all around town. Jim suddenly saw something about all these Gundams, he saw that the mobile suit was just as unique as the person was. He wouldn't have been surprised that if the mobile suit had a mind of its own it would act like the pilot. Jim headed back into the Outlaw Star to update the crew on the data he collected on the Ki.
Over near the Wing Zero Heero was getting ready, he was already in his form fitting space suit. Around his belt was the caster belt that Gene had given him, in this holster was the caster and in the belt were the shells. Heero took out the Caster again and opened it, he took out a number 20 shell and shoved it into the gun and closed it up. He felt that once he was on the battlefield he had no time to load the gun, so it would be best to load it now and then when the time comes, he'd use it. Yet after he loaded the caster he took out the number 4 shell, he gazed at it unknowing of the power that is encased within this single cartridge. He slipped it back into the belt and sat back calmly in the pilots seat.
Within the Outlaw Star, Jim was briefing his crew on the Ki. He stood at the front of the cockpit with the data on the Ki rolling by like pages in a word processor. While next to it, pictures and schematics of the Ki were being displayed slowly.
"It seems," Jim stated, "That the Ki is very much like the Outlaw Star with only a few minor differences so that means we're going to have to use a different technique in order to beat it. I suggest that we use the same technique that we used on that split grappler ship we encountered, with one person controlling one arm."
Asia nodded, "It'll be like a game, again." She sniggered
"Keep in mind," Gene warned, "That there'll be no reset button in this game, again. But once we capture Hotana, we take him back to our own Universe and get that huge bounty."
Jim shrugged as he sat down in his seat, "Sounds great Gene, but one question, how do we get back to our own Universe."
"I don't know. All I know is that this pirate is the solution to all our problems."
"Except your problem of never planning ahead."
Gene didn't want to start another argument with Jim about his own weaknesses, because this was definitely not the place to do it. There were bigger things to concentrate on and one of them was surviving the upcoming battle. He simply had to swallow his own pride to get through this.
Outside in the mobile suit bay, the Gundam Ryu and the Gundam Nemesis stood read for the battle. Haruka had already received her voice command to use the Zero system and she knew that if worse came to worse then she would have to use this system in order to win the fight. She learned that from her husband who used the system several times in order to win battles.
She looked over to Johan who was diligently typing at a small computer, either inputting data into the Gundam Ryu or perhaps making sure that the Gundam was in great working order. Knowing Johan he had to make sure that there was no margin for error when it came to battles. The time was close.
Suddenly over the speakers a whistle came blaring out, "Now hear this." Lady Une's voice called out, "Our E.T.A. to the attack point is 4 minutes. All Preventer pilots to your mobile suits, Outlaw Star, you may launch whenever ready."
The crew of the Outlaw Star was ready, Melphina was already in the navigation tube, Gene was at the controls, Jim, Asia and Sazuka were in their seats. All of them were ready to launch.
"This is the Outlaw Star." Gene stated, "Ready to launch."
Outside in the mobile suit bay, all of the Preventer officers were already suited up for space. Each of them was breathing in the artificial air from their air tanks. The air in the mobile suit was already sucked out to prevent any one person from being blown out into space.
The enormous doors of the mobile suit bay were opening; they opened with the speed of a fast moving great tortoise. Beyond the doors all that looked saw the planet Venus, a gaseous planet with the name of a Roman Love Goddess. Ironic that such an uninhabitable planet would be given such a beautiful name. The Outlaw Star started its engines and headed out into space with its engines burning past the mobile suit bay and into cold space.
The Gundams got to their suits and headed into space to meet whatever kind of dangers that were out there. In their sights they saw the resource satellite that they all had seen in the briefing room. From a distance the satellite looked like a small rock found on the slopes of some distant mountain. It had sharp edges, rough surfaces, and smooth parts. From this satellite came two objects, the came out looking like twin comets coming at untold speeds and unknown destinations.
The computers onboard the Gundams and the Outlaw Star were beginning to identify the objects. The objects were magnified ten-fold within the screens of the Gundam Cockpits as well as Outlaw Stars bridge. One object was identified as the Ki, that dark grappler ship, it had its arms stretched out waiting to engage in combat with another grappler ship or anything that crossed its path.
"Gene." Jim called, "Here comes the Ki."
"My sights are set." Gene smiled, "Going to grappler combat mode."
Gene strapped on a small eyepiece that fit snuggly over his right ear and had a small rod extending out and then making a ninety-degree angle towards Gene's right eye. Yet the rod never touched Gene's eye, it only projected the grappler combat data straight into his eye. So much that in Gene's right eye that was all he could see, except out of his left he could still see the controls. Meanwhile Asia and Sazuka were strapping on similar eyewear for the grappler combat.
The other object that was coming towards them was what the Gundams had identified. Their computers magnified it just enough to make out its shape. It looked just like a Virgo mobile doll, if there were an army of them then the Gundams wouldn't have anything to fear since they've had experience in fighting Virgo mobile dolls. This time it's different, it was a solitary suit, except it had a shield that looked something close to the Epyon as well as the Tallgeese III.
The computer identified it as an Unknown mobile suit, this is what they all feared an unknown suit with unknown weapons and characteristics. Still none of them should show fear to the enemy for that would show weaknesses.
Heero and Johan were stating the same phrase as they looked at the Unknown suit.
"Suit confirmed." They said, "Tactics level cleared. Commence battle."
To be continued . . .
Author's Notes: This is something I like to do is to show what happens before the big fight, sort of like in baseball movies where we see the baseball players are preparing for their big game. Not only that but in this chapter we have seen the long awaited newest version of the Gundam Nemesis, a mobile suit that was once built during the Eve wars and now it's resurrected in the name of Preventer. Now that I look back on this story a little bit I think it's a bit like the Mel Brooks movie Spaceballs, in which the Outlaws continually search for more money. But this bounty will finally end all debts for the Outlaw Crew.
Come back soon for the conclusion of Gundam Outlaw