What If?: Gundam 0083

Kou Uraki and Chuck Keith stared into the eyes of the older Lieutenant who crossed their path. He wore the Federation uniform and the badge that identified him as their superior. His long gray hair was tied back in a pony tail, and two pieces fell down over his sideburns on both sides of his head. Both rookie pilots kept their hands to their foreheads, showing him the proper respect as he crossed by them, admiring the two Gundam mobile suits.
He must admire mobile suits as much as we do, thought Kou, as he glanced at the lieutenant from the corner of his eye. He's the first officer I've seen in here to observe. Kou then moved his glance over to his friend, Chuck Keith. They removed their hands from their heads.
"Magnificent. It's a superb mobile suit." commented their superior. Kou looked up at the Gundam Unit 2, the target of the compliment.
"I think so too, sir," replied Uraki. The lieutenant lowered his head, and gazed back at the two ensigns.
"Have they finished loading the bazooka's warhead, Ensign?" he was asked.
Kou quickly found the answer. "Uh...yes sir!" He then noticed that the lieutenant once again gazed up at the Gundam Unit 2, Physalis.
"Then I'll try it out," he commented, as he moved forward. Kou became confused as he focused on the lieutenant who ran towards the lift.
So, he has the authority to test it? he asked himself. He turned to Keith, with the puzzled look on his face. Keith just shrugged as they both looked up.

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Nina leaned on the bar up on the catwalk where she and Mora were doing the check-ups on the Gundam Zephyrantes, Unit 1. Mora went down the checklist, and Nina tried to shug off the aggrivation of the two ensigns that had come in minutes ago. Suddenly, she heard the familiar sound of the lift operating.
"For heaven's sake, now what are those two up to?" she exclaimed. She turned around and aimed herself at the rising lift. "Would you..." she stopped. Nina gasped as she saw the cockpit to the Physalis open, and the back of what looked like a Federation officer in front of it. She could not shake the image of the gray hair in the ponytail. It was like she knew him. Suddenly, Nina snapped herself out of it. "What are you doing?! Shut that hatch and get down from there!" She yelled to the pilot, who only turned and glanced at her. The man gave a smirk, then climbed into the cockpit.
"Who the hell...?" she said to herself as she ran across the catwalk.

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Kou looked up at the Gundam Unit 2 as the lieutenant climbed in. He had entered the cockpit without consulting Nina first. If I had done that, he thought, I would've been court martialed. However, he also noticed that Nina was frantic now that she had seen him enter. Suddenly a voice entered his ear. Keith.
"What's up?" he asked as he joined Kou at his side.
"Something's wrong," Kou answered as he continued to observe.

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Nina reached the far end of the catwalk and hung over, aiming herself towards her precious Gundam Unit 2. "Get out of there!" she yelled once again. "Do you hear me?! Get out of there right now!" Nina felt her stomach churn and her fingers shaking against the metal of the catwalk. It was then she saw the eyes glow a bright green. It was too late.
The Physalis took a step forward, and all the cables and wires attached to it easily snapped off in a flash of sparks and electricity. Nina screamed and fell to her knees. She grasped the pole tightly with her fists, and frantically yelled out. "Somebody! Somebody stop Unit 2!"

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Kou looked back and forth between Nina and the Gundam Unit 2. Then, he glanced over at the Gundam Unit 1. His mind was made up. He would stop the lieutenant from taking the Gundam.
Keith continued to stare at the Physalis in awe. "What the..." he then heard Kou take off. "Kou, wait!"
Kou ran in front of the giant feet of the Physalis, narrowly avoiding being crushed by a step. The lift was right in front of him, however, it was not empty. Somebody was in it. Kou stood and stared at the man, who had curly brown hair, and was wearing a blue jacket. The man turned to him, and gave him a grin, before activating the lift. Kou only stared up. It looked like if he was going to help, it would not be in the prototype Gundam suit.

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Nina turned as she heard the sound of the lift. She did not recognize the occupant, only a young man. Mora's voice suddenly erupted. "Please, we'll call for help! Don't do this! You're putting yourself in danger!" That only made Nina tremble more than she already was. Her prized works were being taken, most likely to end up destroying each other. And for some reason, she held extreme anger towards the young man who was taking out the Unit 1. She did not know who he was, however he was taking her suit out, risking his own life to stop a Gundam-Jack.
Mora shouted to the pilot who was entering the Zephyrantes cockpit. "We haven't finished loading the ammunition yet!" The man's hand remained on top, and he looked up, staring at her straight in the eyes.
"How much is currently loaded?" asked the man. Mora took a second, then responded.
"72% of the maximum."
The brown-haired man stared back towards the cockpit. "That'll do just fine. I'm going to get the suit back for you."
Nina calmed herself down, before picking up a headset from her console. She had the exact frequency of her suit, and she took a deep breath before speaking into it. "You, the pilot in Unit 2. I know you can hear me. If you get out now, we'll go easy on you. Get out of Unit 2 at once!" She waited for the response from the pilot, yet, nobody answered. Instead, the Gundam Unit 2 ejected its beam saber, and the suit activated it. Then, Nina got her answer.
"I claim this mobile suit and its nuclear warhead. Zeon will rise again!" The eerie voice spelled their deepest fears. The Zeon remnants, who still believe the battles are not over, have possession of a nuclear warhead. The Gundam Physalis plunged the energy blade of the beam saber through the hull of the Albion, and easily made itself an exit. It jumped out, and the pilot prepared to bring it back to the rendevouz point.

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Anavel Gato, known as the Nightmare of Solomon, and who posed as a Federation lieutenant laughed to himself as he moved the nuclear-equipped Gundam towards an adequate area to take off. It was all too easy to evade any form of security. The federation had become too relaxed, too confident. That was going to change in Operation Stardust.
"I'll be damned if I let an old man like you revive Zeon." Gato quickly stopped his laughter and leaned forward. The voice had come from the communication system. Once again, the male voice came through. "All ideals of the Zabi family were destroyed for good reason. They are all dead, and with them Zeon shall rest."
Gato let the man finish before responding. "And who the hell might you be? A test pilot? An ensign? Do you really think somebody like you can stop me?"
"I'm no test pilot. Currently, I hold no rank. I'm no soldier anymore," came the voice.
"Even better. A civilian, piloting a mobile suit against me? Hell, I might feel empty after I finish with you, but that'll soon change after we have claimed our vengeance."
Gato charged forward in the Gundam. The Zephyrantes moved a hand back, grasping onto one of two beam sabers located in its backpack. It came out, and activated in a purplish-reddish beam. The two energy blades met, as sparks flew, clashing in bright flashes. The Physalis then brought up its heavy foot and gave the Zephyrantes a large kick, sending it stumbling back. However, the pilot activated the vernier boosters, and the GP01 launched itself into the air. Gato aimed the camera up, yet caught nothing. It was completely out of sight. The minovsky particles were too dense to use radar, so he would have to rely on his eyes. He moved his suit backwards, keeping his eyes open.
Suddenly, the Zephyrantes dropped from the sky and landed right in front of the Physalis. Gato fired the vulcan cannons, but the Zephyrantes once again took to the sky, however this time only using a short boost. The other pilot brought it down right onto the shoulders of the Physalis, then boosting again, pushing great force onto the GP02. This sent the suit stumbling back a few steps. When Gato looked for the Unit 1 again, it was gone.
"What game is this pilot trying to play? Where did he go?!" Gato yelled to himself. At this time, his camera picked up the GMs and refit Zaku II's moving out from the hangars. So, the feddies are going to join the battle after all... he thought.

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Kou waited in his Zaku II, alongside Chuck Keith, and the other pilots. Lt. Burning was in the head, with his superior GM, waiting until the missle fire would clear up temporarily. His dream of piloting the Gundam fell within those seconds of reaching the lift, and seeing the other person take it up. Perhaps he's a new test pilot?, he thought. Then Kou gasped. What if it was another Zeon soldier, stealing that one too? We can't afford to let Zeon possess two Gundam-type mobile suits, especially if they already have the one with the nuke! Kou shook his head. A light flashed in his cockpit as he saw the other suits in his team start moving out. One was ambushed suddenly by a Rick Dom, and cut in half. The large explosion blinded Kou as he continued to move forward. As he prepared to enter the battle, he could not shake the fact that the brown-haired man who grinned at him was familiar.
"Uraki, Keith, stay with me. We're heading to take out the Gundam Unit 2! Alda, take the others and try to take out the Rick Doms and those Zakus. We'll work from there. Remember, communicate and keep moving! If you exhaust your firepower, fall back into groups and attack that way. We don't want any more deaths out here! Let's move out, men!"
Burning's GM activated its thrusters and went out into the battlefield. Keith and Uraki both did the same and followed closely to their instructor. Kou looked down at the battlefield to see several GMs engaging in combat with various Zeon suits. He had a clear view of the Albion, which was taking potshots with its laser cannons when it got the chance. Static suddenly buzzed in over the commmunication channel as a message came in.
"This is Zephyrantes. I appreciate your kindness, but in all honesty Lt., I think your efforts would be better suited to help your comrades with the other Zeon. Things are all fine over here."
Burning was puzzled. He did not know what type of pilot this guy was, but he was obviously nuts to think he would be able to handle the pilot of that suit. Burning had been told prior to his departure the Zeon pilot's identity was none other than Anavel Gato, the Nightmare of Solomon from the One Year War. He responded, "We really should help take this guy down. I've got two others with me, and..."
"With all due respect, you and your pilots would just get in the way. Stay away from my coordinates." The male pilot voiced. Burning slammed his fist on the side of his cockpit.
"Damn cocky idiot!" he shouted. Burning quickly cooled himself down and mapped out a new plan. "Uraki, Keith, we're heading to the source of those missles. Follow me!"

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Gato was furious at the remarks of the other Gundam pilot. He acted so calm, so reassured that he was to be the victor. I'll tear that suit back into scrap metal, he thought. It was then he got the alert he needed. Several vulcan shots missed his suit and landed on the ground next to it. Gato fired the thrusters and sent the Physalis straight up. Quickly moving the controls, he angled the Physalis' hands to point the beam saber straight down. He let his suit fall and took a large swipe at the Zephyrantes. The tip caught its shoulder plate, slicing off the corner, however doing no serious damage. However, Gato was far from finished, as he charged straight at the Unit 1, unloading his vulcans straight at the suit. The high-density bullets easily began to dent in the armor of the suit, and since the Zephyrantes was fairly close to the Physalis, the damage would get worse. So the brown-haired pilot made a decision.
He aimed the Zephyrantes' body at a 75 degree angle, and quickly launched the upper body section off the legs of the suit. The upper body section came flying through the air and smashed itself right into the Physalis, the force toppling the massive suit over. The Zephyrantes hands were then moved towards the vulcan cannons. The pilot made a fist of the Gundam's hands, with the pinky extended. He then shoved them straight into the vulcans in the suit's head, and with a quick side movement, broke off the fingers, leaving them in. Minor sparks and surges came from the broken areas as the pilot fired the thrusters and moved backwards, and without any targeting, perfectly landed and locked with the suit's legs.
Gato boosted the Physalis to its feet, and not knowing the latest trick, tried to fire the vulcan cannons. Nothing happened, until the cannons suddenly backfired and exploded at the top of the head. Gato's camera fizzled and the suit almost lost its balance as the head caught a mini fire. Gato quickly activated the coolant before staring at the almost untouched Zephyrantes, with the most damage being some vulcan dents.
"You...you are no test pilot! You're, you're like one of those NewTypes!"
The other pilot let out a laugh. "Correct, Nightmare of Solomon! That's right, your anger and fear made your mind easy to probe. Anavel Gato, let me introduce myself. I am Amuro Ray, and by the hands of this Gundam, Zeon shall fall before it rises again!"

Chapter 2 coming soon!