The Road: Case 1 Philip Hughes
Predators and prey
By Talonblade
Disclaimer: I don't own Gundam blah, blah, blah...
Two weeks after the attempted theft of the Gundam Zephyranthes that left its first pilot Yu Kajima hospitalized replacement pilot Philip Hughes was finishing up the final tests before the GP01 would be declared ready for combat. Ever sense the Gundam was so nearly stolen security had been tightened dramatically. This time the testing was conducted much closer to Von Braun and a force of Federation ships waited nearby.
One of the last tests was a dual. Philip and the Gundam Prototype squared off against a group of Federation aces piloting the most advanced Zeon MS the Federation had managed to capture. Although all the mobile suits were armed with non-lethal ammo the battle was intense and both sides held nothing back. After several minutes of furious combat only the Gundam and one other mobile suit had not been eliminated.
Facing the Zephyranthes was a captured MS-18E Kampfer piloted by Federation test pilot Lt. South Burning. The Kampfer was painted white and blue and carried a shotgun. With numerous thrusters across its body the Kampfer had speed and maneuverability equal to any mobile suit.
South blasted away with his shotgun and Philip dodged just in time as the Kampfer rocketed by the Gundam. For the test the GP01 had traded in its beam rifle for a 90mm rifle with paint ammunition and Philip opened up on Lt. Burning as he flew past. However, the Kampfer was too agile and twisted out of the way of every round.
After another few minutes of dodging each other's fire both mobile suits had exhausted their ammo. Tossing their weapons aside each pilot drew a beam saber, except instead of extending a blade of energy each saber extended a metallic poll with enough electricity coursing through it to disable a mobile suit. The suits rushed towards each other and clashed sabers with incredible force.
Punching his thrusters Philip pressed hard against the Kampfer's saber, hoping to overpower his opponent's suit. Suddenly the Kampfer moved to the side and the Gundam scraped past leaving its back exposed. South lunged at the Gundam with his saber.
Philip pulled back hard on the controls flipping the Gundam back and over the Kampfer. As he did so Philip lashed out with his own saber striking the Kampfer on the back of the head. Electricity tore through the Kampfer knocking out most of its systems and leaving it lifeless. Victory went to Philip.
"That concludes the test. Return to the ship," a voice said over the comm. system.
Philip grabbed South's Kampfer and carried it back to the Albion. In the launch bays Philip climbed out of the Gundam and made his was towards the exit. Before he left Lt. Burning caught up to him. A tall man in his early thirties, South was a seasoned veteran who had been a pilot for the Federation sense before the war began.
"Nice job out there Hughes" he said.
"Thanks" said Philip, feeling some pride after being complimented by such a skilled pilot, but he still didn't feel completely comfortable as the Gundam's new master.
Philip headed for his quarters, somewhat tired after the dual. No sooner had he reached the door than Jacqueline Simon came running up to him.
"Sir, we just received a transmission for you. Please come with me."
Philip wondered what this could be about as he followed Jacqueline down the ship's corridors. She led him to a small room with a monitor then closed the door behind him. A moment later the monitor flickered to life revealing the face of a man that Philip recognized as Admiral John Kowen, head of the Gundam Development Plan.
"Congratulations Lieutenant. The Captain has informed me that today's test was a complete success," the Admiral said.
"Thank you sir."
"I wanted to inform you that testing of the Gundam Prototype Unit One is officially over as of today."
Philip was surprised. Testing wasn't due to end for another three days and there were two more tests scheduled.
"Changing circumstances in the war have forced us to step up our timetable. I'm confident that the GP01 is combat ready."
"I understand sir."
"All that's left is the selection of a permanent pilot. As the active pilot with the most experience piloting the Zephyranthes I've decided to offer you the job Lt. Hughes."
Philip was too shocked to speak. He had never considered this a possibility.
"Of course you would also be promoted to reflect your new responsibilities. This would be a great boast to your career, most pilots would jump at the opportunity."
"Y-Yes sir! I'd be honored sir!"
"Very good then. Report to the office of Colonel Une tomorrow at nine hundred hours for further instructions."
Before long the Albion had returned to Von Braun and Philip had gotten permission to leave the ship. The initial shock of the Admirals offer had worn off and Philip began to question his decision. He couldn't shake the notion that the Zephyranthes was really Yu's suit and he had been feeling sort of like a vulture feeding off of Yu's misfortune ever sense he started piloting it. Now those feelings were amplified.
Philip left Von Braun's port area and headed for his previously planned visit with Yu at the hospital. All the while he thought of how to break the news to his friend. When Philip reached Yu's room he found him awake and watching television. He looked a thousand times better than the night he was brought in two weeks before.
"Philip! Come in," Yu greeted him warmly.
"Hey buddy. How's it going," Philip said taking a seat.
"Can't complain. Samana came by earlier."
"Feeling any better?"
"I'm feeling fine now but they say I can't pilot for another week. How did the big test go today?"
The question sent a sting of guilt through Philip and it took a moment for him to answer. Yu looked concerned.
"Well, fine, but I just found out that the testing is over. They think that the Gundam is ready."
Philip hesitated and Yu waited for him to finish.
"They asked me to be the Gundam's assigned pilot and I said yes."
"That's great Philip!"
Philip didn't seem so sure.
"I've always wanted something like this, to be a Federation hero and all, but now I don't know how to feel. It should be you out there piloting the Gundam."
"Listen Philip. You severed your time in a GM. You earned this as much as anyone."
"Thanks Yu."
The next morning Philip headed for his appointment with the Colonel. Following the directions given to him he made his way through the Federation military's massive facilities on the moon finally coming to the door of Colonel Une. Philip knocked on the door and a woman's voice from inside said to enter.
Inside the room there was a desk with a computer, two small chairs in front of the desk and sitting in a large chair behind the desk was a thin, attractive woman with braided light-brown hair and thin-rimmed glasses. She wore the uniform of an officer in the Specials.
Philip's hart sank to his feet. He had thought the name sounded familiar and now he remembered where he heard it. Colonel Une had a reputation as a ruthless enforcer for the leader of the Specials, Treize Khushrenada.
All members of the Specials made Philip nervous. They were a bunch of snobby, militaristic freaks as far as he was concerned. Now he found himself in the office of the most unstable one.
"Have a seat Lt. Hughes," Une said.
Philip sat down in one of the empty chairs.
"Your first mission as the pilot of the Gundam Zephyranthes will be to lay an ambush. For the past month an unknown force has harassed the supply lines to Von Braun. A significant amount of Gundalium alloy has been lost in these attacks causing a delay in the production of the Gundam Prototype Units Two and Three. This is not acceptable. So a bait convoy has been set up to lure out the raiders for an ambush," Une explained.
"So what's so dangerous about this enemy that you want to send the Gundam after it?"
"We sent the standard escorts with each convoy that was attacked. There have been no survivors. Every one has been completely wiped out. Trust me, the Gundam's use is justified. You will be fully briefed on your way to the target area. You leave this afternoon."
"I wasn't aware that I would be working under the Specials."
"You're not."
After that Philip and the Unit One were sent off to join up with the false convoy that would then head back to Von Braun hoping to trick this elusive enemy into attacking. As Philip waited on board a Salamis Class Kai Cruiser many questions about the mission still bothered him. Why were the Specials involved? And why would the Federation risk losing their newest Gundam by sending it against an unknown enemy of still undetermined strength?
"Think of it as showing our faith in your abilities" is what Une had told him when Philip asked her the second question.
Philip ran his fingers along the two studs on his collar than showed his knew rank of first lieutenant. He wished they really thought he was that good, but he didn't believe it. The Specials knew more than they were telling him.
Philip headed for the launch bay. They were nearing an area where other convoys had been attacked and Philip was to stand by in the Gundam. He took a moment to admire the machine before climbing in. It was still awe inspiring to Philip.
Eighteen meters tall and weighing almost 40 tons it was made of Gundalium and armed with the most advanced weaponry available. The GP01 was the pentacle of military technology. Philip hated that he was fighting blind on this mission but just seeing the Gundam reminded him why he agreed to it.
Philip didn't have long to wait inside the Zephyranthes. A half-hour hadn't pasted before alarms could be heard sounding throughout the ship and he received the order to launch. Philip flipped the switches bringing the Gundam to life as he checked in with the ship's Captain.
"Where is the attack coming from?" Philip asked.
"Something's coming in fast from the port side. They won't respond to any of our hails."
"Ok people, hang on to your butts" Philip said.
Philip was the only pilot to launch. He was to intercept any attackers alone while the rest of decoy's escort was only to attack as a last resort. This was another detail of mission that bothered him.
He used the Gundam's cameras to scan the area of space were the boggy was coming from. Philip noticed a small glint the distance. As it got closer he could make out the shape of a jet. Philip readied his mobile suit's beam rifle.
"Is that it? This won't take five minutes." Philip grinned.
His smile quickly disappeared as the craft approached the convoy and its structure began to reconfigure. Soon it had clearly taken on the shape of a mobile suit. Philip cursed and jetted out to intercept this strange suit before it got close enough to attack the convoy.
Philip's eyes widened as he got a better look at the thing. This was no Zeon suit. In fact it had a strange resemblance to the Federation's series of Gundam's, right down to the distinctive V-shaped antennas on its forehead. The main difference between it and the suit Philip was piloting was the pair of large wings the mysterious suit had on its back.
For a moment Philip wondered if this was an enemy at all. That question was soon laid to rest as the winged Gundam raised what appeared to be a very large beam rifle. Philip was snapped out of his surprised state by the enemy's aggressive movement. He took careful aim with is own beam rifle as an orange glow began to emanate from inside the barrel of the enemy weapon and a vortex of energy began to swirl slowly around the muzzle.
Philip fired his shot first but his enemy didn't even move. Instead the mysterious Gundam simply raised the large shield attached to its left arm. To Philip's astonishment his beam shot was deflected off the shield with little damage. At the same moment a torrent of plasma ripped forth from the barrel of the winged Gundam's weapon. Philip punched his control sticks forward and the Zephyranthes jetted out of the way just in time as a river of crackling energy tore through the space where he had just been.
"...Shit!"
Philip knew that he couldn't allow his enemy to use that weapon again. He drew his mobile suit's beam saber and charged but the attacker drew its own beam saber and blocked the strike. Philip swung his saber again but the winged mobile suit rocketed up and out of the way.
"No you don't!" Philip shouted as he gave chase.
Philip's GP01 darted after the other Gundam throughout space, often drawing close to clash sabers before jetting apart again. Philip made sure that his enemy never had enough time to charge up its long-range weapon.
He took a second shot with his beam rifle but the rouge Gundam dodged it and Hughes closed in for another saber attack, but this time disaster struck as a slight miscalculation by Philip allowed the winged Gundam's blade to slip past his. The enemy's saber sliced right through the Unit One's right arm just above the wrist, severing the hand that held its beam rifle.
Panicked, Philip activated the vernier thrusters on his Gundam's chest, engulfing his enemy in blue flame. Unfazed, the other Gundam delivered a vicious kick to the mid-section of Philip's suit. The Zephyranthes was sent tumbling end over end backwards through space.
Finally Philip regained control some distance away from the winged mobile suit. To his horror when he found it again on his view screen the enemy was charging up its massive plasma weapon. As the energy began to swirl around the barrel of the rogue Gundam's weapon Philip knew there was no time for a charge with his beam saber and not enough distance to dodge the attack.
There was only one chance, taking careful aim Philip said a silent prayer and threw his beam saber. The saber was sent spinning through space towards the winged Gundam and the red energy blade cut into the barrel of the enemy's weapon. The last thing Philip saw was the other Gundam being consumed by a rapidly expanding sphere of white light that rushed towards Philip right before everything went black.
After a long moment Philip was bathed in red light as the emergency lights turned on. Philip quickly checked his control panel. Weapons and propulsion systems were out and all cameras were non-functional, the core fighter system was damaged as well, fortunately was life-support was still on-line. The other guy must be in at least as bad shape Philip told himself, maybe even dead, he allowed himself to hope. He switched on the Gundam's emergency beacon. There was nothing to do now but wait for the convoy to pick him up.
Author's notes: Sorry it took me so long to finish this chapter, but I wasn't exactly getting much feedback or encouragement. Come on people! Two reviews?! I know you can do better than that! You give me reviews, I give you more chapters, that's the way it works. Anyway, expect to see more famous faces from UC and Wing including some of LC Wolf's favorites (see what happens when you write reviews). Sorry if the plot seems slow right now far. Stick around and I promise the pace with pick up as the story goes on. If anyone was wondering why I added "Case 1 Philip Hughes" to the title it's because I plan on writing other stories that take place within the same alternate "The Road" universe as this story. For now I plan on making Case 2 about Yu Kajima. Any suggestions for Case 3?