Kido Senshi Gundam SEED: The sixth Gundam.
By: Prayer Reverie
Contact: prayerreverie(at)yahoo(dot)com
Summary: A sixth Gundam was developed at Heliopolis, unbeknownst to the Earth Alliance, Orb or ZAFT. AU for changing the SEED storyline and because of Destiny's confirmation.
Disclaimer: I do not own Gundam SEED in any which way (although some days I wish).
RVD: True both units took damage, but yes, I would award Ian the victory. Slayer still had the railguns left, being that they fire solid rounds and not beam rounds.
FreedomGundam: Sorry about the confusion, I was working on my new Gundam universe music video, which included an audio sequence of "Athrun Zala, Justice, Launching!". I added a memo at the end of the newly revised Chapter 4
Lipana: No, unfortunately the Archangel didn't land in the desert. However there is still plenty of time for events to play out. Besides, this is an AU (alternate Universe) fic.
Chapter 5: Unexpected Victories
C.E. 71, February 15th
"Transport A-1, this is Carpentaria Control, you are cleared to land in Bay 2-C."
"Roger that Control, landing in Bay 2-C."
The bulky ZAFT supply ship set sound with a heavy sigh, and then opened the large cargo bay doors. Ian was waiting on the bridge, to see what his orders were.
"Mister Temk, you can offload your Gundam now. The Gool units will be offloaded right after." said the Captain.
"Thank you sir!" Ian saluted and left for the cargo bay.
So this is Earth ... again. It's going to be a little different fighting in gravity. Ian thought.
The offloading process went smoothly, Ian was directed towards the bay where Duel and Buster were, while the Gool sub-flight lifter units were taken to the maintenance hangar for inspections.
The ZAFT technicians in space didn't have the knowledge to create another shot lancer to replace Ian's lost weapon, so they installed a beam saber with its own battery for emergencies.
Ian preferred his shot lancer to the new saber because the lancer was better for stealth operations. Having no choice at this time, he relented and agreed to the saber. Shutting down his Slayer, Ian exited and rappelled down the suit, where Yzak and Dearka were waiting.
"So Strike got away from you too." that was no question from Yzak.
"The pilot of Strike has more skill than I gave him credit for, but I managed to damage that Gundam." Ian replied.
"So I heard. Now we have to finish him off before the Alliance decides to attack."
"Oh sure, the three of us will invade Alaska, attack their primary terrestrial headquarters, and find and destroy Strike. Good plan." said Dearka sarcastically.
"Athrun and Nichol will be descending later today, and they're bringing Commander Le Creuset with them." Ian said, breaking the stares between Yzak and Dearka.
"So they're really going to go through with Operation Spit-Break and attack Panama." Dearka said.
"Looks like it. C'mon, I'm starving, let's get some chow." Ian suggested. The others nodded and they started off for the cafeteria.
The cafeteria was empty when they arrived, so they got their food and sat down at the nearest table. Not five minutes later a group of pilots, barely 18, entered. They stopped when they saw Yzak and Dearka, but they didn't know who Ian was.
"So this is who you picked to replace Rusty?" said one of the boys, sneering.
"I heard you let the enemy get away ... again." said another.
"So the rumors are true, Yzak got hurt. You got what you deserved you momma's boy!" a third said.
Yzak continued to eat, attempting to ignore the comments. Ian was looking around at the group while Dearka was fuming with anger.
The first boy who spoke leaned in close to whisper to Yzak.
"It's pretty sad when you can't win with 4 to 1 odds against a natural!"
Yzak snapped. He grabbed the boy by his hair and belt and flipped him onto the table.
"Don't ever talk to me!" he growled while standing up. The rest of the group assumed fighting positions. Ian and Dearka stood up to support Yzak.
"Poor baby, are the mobile suits to much to handle?" said another boy teasingly.
Yzak threw the punch that started it all.
-
"I am very disappointed in all of you." said Captain Morassim.
The five boys were standing in a line with Yzak, Dearka and Ian.
"Our enemies are the Naturals, not each other!" he continued.
The five boys were all injured and three of them had broken bones.
"I realize we've had fewer victories here on Earth than anticipated, but that is no reason to fight each other."
The three Gundam pilots were breathing hard, but were barely bruised at all.
"Commander Creuset has 'bailed' you three out, or so to speak. But you five, from all reports, started the incident."
"Yzak hit me first!" whined the first boy to be punched.
"And when I walked in, scant five minutes later, the three of them were beating the crap out of the five of you."
The boy fell silent, his cheeks burning with rage and humiliation.
"Let that be your lesson. No matter how good you are, there is always someone better." Captain Morassim dismissed the five beaten boys.
"However you three should know more self-restraint, especially you Yzak, and you Dearka. As for you Ian, you must learn." Finally finished, he dismissed the three pilots.
"Well that was fun actually. Let's go find some more." Yzak said cheerfully.
Dearka looked at his friend in horror. Ian rolled his eyes and sighed.
"It's better than sitting on our butts all day long. We haven't been allowed any missions since we landed days ago!" Yzak argued.
"Probably because we're waiting for Athrun and Nichol. When we're all assembled I'm sure we'll get a challenging mission." Ian said.
Yzak was apparently satisfied with that answer. He nodded and walked off in a random direction.
"Is he alright?" Ian asked.
"He gets like this. He's an only child and never got out much before the war started." Dearka answered.
-
Athrun and Nichol landed that night with Aegis, Blitz and Commander Creuset. Their units were offloaded and placed in the same hangar as Slayer, Duel and Buster. Creuset went off to find Captain Morassim.
Yzak and Dearka were somewhere else, and only Ian greeted the other two Gundam pilots.
"Good to see there were no complications on the descent. How was your leave?" Ian asked.
"It was enjoyable." Nichol said, smiling.
"That it was. How's Yzak?" Athrun asked.
"Moody. Dearka's trying to contain him, but you know Yzak." Ian replied, shrugging.
They started walking towards their rooms while continuing to talk.
"So we'll have to use the Gool lifter units while on Earth I suppose." said Ian.
"None of our units were made with terrestrial combat in mind. We don't have the power necessary to generate enough thrust to actually fly. We can hover, but not a lot else."
"I heard you three got into a fight earlier." Nichol said suddenly, after Athrun finished explaining.
"Well, yeah, but we were provoked." Ian said, somewhat defensively.
"You don't look like you were in a fight." Nichol said, a little confused.
"I guess we're just that good." Ian said.
They parted ways and crashed into their bunks.
-
C.E. 71, March 3rd
All in all, Yzak was going insane with boredom. So was Dearka. And Ian. Even Athrun and Nichol were tiring of the repeated events. Almost a month had passed since they had regrouped on Earth at the Carpentaria base, and they had seen no action with the Earth Alliance forces. Only a routine patrol every three days with the Gool units kept them from going completely insane.
There was no word on Strike's status, or on the current whereabouts of the Archangel. Reports from spies within the Alliance mention something about a mass produced mobile suit variant, but nothing concrete.
Preparations for Operation Spit-Break continued unabated.
-
C.E. 71, March 15th
"Incoming enemy units! All pilots report to your suits! Repeat incoming Earth Alliance craft, all pilots report to your suits!" the battle alarm was sounded.
"What? Where? Who?" Ian rubbed sleep out of his eyes as he sat up.
Yzak was already putting his ZAFT Elite pilot's suit on while Dearka and Athrun were getting theirs. Nichol was running off to hangar bay.
"The Earth Alliance is attacking. All units have been ordered to defend." Athrun explained, sealing his suit.
"Damn." Ian swore, getting out of bed and grabbing his suit.
It was just a few minutes later when they were all in their Gundams, preparing to launch.
"Gundams, we have spotted 12, repeat one two, Skygrasper units. Profile and speed suggests packs have been loaded on. Assess their strength cautiously." explained Captain Morassim.
One by one, they mounted their Gool lifters and rose out of the base.
"Enemy spotted 6 o'clock!" Dearka reported.
He armed his hyper-rifle and fired. The enemy broke from their formation and dodged the blast.
"Several Skygraspers have been loaded with the Impulse Cannon pack, similar to Strike's!" Ian reported.
"Spread out, they'll have less shots than we will!" ordered Athrun.
The pilots flew off in directions away from each other. Ian fired his railguns, rotating to track one of the enemy fighter planes.
"Damn, they're fast, even with the unbalanced gun." Ian muttered.
"Yzak, move hard to port!" screamed Nichol. Yzak moved right away and two of the multi-colored beams crackled through the air.
"It's no good; we can't hit them sitting still!" Dearka complained.
"Follow your targets, coordinate with the others." cut in Le Creuset.
Two DINNs were attempting to launch when a Skygrasper equipped with a Sword Striker pack sliced them in half, its anti-ship sword cocked vertically. A GINN OCHER started firing, but was damaged by fire from the machine-cannons from another Skygrasper.
Ian started after one of the Launcher-Grasper, maneuvering onto the pilot's tail and firing his beam rifle twice. The first shot damaged the weapon pod mounted on the right wing, and the second missed.
Ejecting the damaged pod, the pilot banked sharply, attempting to pull an Immelman and end up behind Ian. Ian allowed the pilot to complete the maneuver and simply rotated himself 90 degrees and reversed his thrust.
The pilot was stunned at this maneuver, he held off his fire for several seconds. Ian took advantage of this and fired his railguns simultaneously. The plane exploded, leaving nothing but minor scrap metal behind.
"One down!" he said victoriously.
Another explosion caught his attention. He turned to see the Aegis crash to the ground, followed by the burning wreckage of his Gool. Arming the Gool's missile launchers, he took off towards Athrun.
Dearka downed another Launcher-Grasper, using the 'you-can't-dodge-if-there's-nowhere-to-dodge' pattern of attack. He combined his gun-launcher with the beam rifle and fired several times, creating a literal wall of fire.
A Sword-Grasper flew in front of Ian, so he changed course to follow. Gaining a weapon lock, he fired several missiles at the Natural. The pilot was better than Ian could have anticipated, dodging three missiles, but his luck ran out and the remaining active missiles impacted just behind the cockpit, send the Skygrasper burning towards the coastline.
Turning to find more targets, he saw Yzak high above in the sky, apparently waiting. With no warning, he jumped off the Gool and landed on a Launcher-Grasper that was flying by. Yzak fired his beam rifle once at the cockpit.
Inexplicably, the remaining pilots retreated. No one gave chase to the retreating fighters. Pondering for a moment, Athrun was about to speak up when their proximity alarms went off, alerting them to incoming VTOL fighters.
Which made no sense; why send in a dozen Skygraspers to get chewed up then send in VTOL fighters? The question was confusing enough to keep most of the base personnel occupied for crucial seconds. The incoming VTOL fighters were equipped with high-yield bombs and nothing else.
They began their attack run, starting the drop at the edge of the base walls. Explosions trailed behind the Alliance bombers as they continued unabated. Dearka got his act together first, getting out from underneath the bombs and then firing at the VTOLs.
Athrun had no Gool unit, so he used the Aegis' engines to boost him upwards where Nichol and Yzak caught and supported him. Ian pulled out also, and began firing at the falling bombs. There wasn't much time from when they were dropped to when they hit the ground and exploded, the VTOL fighters were flying low enough for that.
One by one they were shot down; the pilots never attempted evasive maneuvers at all. Carpentaria base was in flames, most of its buildings were now leveled and few suits survived the attack run.
Miraculously the command center escaped the brunt of it all. There was damage, but the building was intact and upright, and attempting to find out what had just happened. The Gundams set down on a relatively intact piece of concrete, and then began to offer ideas on the attack,
While they were talking, Ian reviewed his gun-footage of the battle. It had seemed like the Skygraspers were missing a lot of their shots, as if the defending mobile suits were never their target.
One clip caught his attention; it was a Launcher-Grasper firing at Nichol, who managed to dodge. Except the shot wasn't that accurate at all, and it hit one of the radar stations. Ian was willing to chalk the inaccuracy up to Natural deficiencies, but the destruction of a radar station was almost too coincidental.
Not long after, a Sword-Grasper attacked a ZuOOT and missed, but the extended sword breached several meter-thick conductor cables.
"It was a setup!" Ian said and banged his fist against the viewscreen displaying the two clips again and again.
"What was?" growled Yzak.
"The attack was; the Skygraspers came in to soften up the static defenses: power, radar, sentry turrets etc. Then the VTOL fighters came in after the hornet's nest had been stirred. Most of the ground units didn't know what had happened, so they were easy bait for the bombs. They've obviously been tracking unit movement." Ian explained.
"That would explain the sudden retreat and lack of numbers." Dearka added.
"So what happens now? Will Carpentaria shut down?" asked Nichol.
"For now yes. Effective immediate, we are transferred to Captain Morassim's unit. The Cousteau will be here in two hours." Commander Creuset put in.
Le Creuset signed off, leaving behind cursing pilots.
-
C.E. 71, March 28th
The remaining ZAFT forces from Carpentaria were transferred to the other major bases on Earth. Punitive missions were carried out to exact revenge on the Earth Alliance. The Vosgulov-class submarine carrier Cousteau picked up the five Gundams and several Gool units.
Near the end of the month, brief sightings of the Archangel carrier were running rampart around the submarine. Terrestrial Command was shifted to the Victoria base, due mainly to the mass driver located there.
Orders from the new Headquarters came down.
"We've been assigned the honor and duty of destroying the Archangel. The last sighting reported the ship in the Indian Ocean. That's where we're going." said Morassim.
"How many suits are we fielding?" asked Athrun.
"Two DINN Aerial Combat Mobile Suits, two GOOhN Amphibious Mobile Suits and the five Gundams; Aegis, Blitz, Buster, Duel and Slayer." Creuset tallied off.
"Do we know the current armaments of the Archangel?" Nichol inquired.
"Other than the Strike Gundam, no."
"Briefing Room, Bridge, we've sighted our target. Range is 2500 meters and closing." reported the sensor officer.
"Bridge, Briefing Room, roger that. I'm on my way." Morassim replied. He turned to the pilots before he left.
"Get ready."
"All mobile suits are cleared for launch!"
The two GOOhN suits launched out of the bow doors, transforming and jetting off towards the target. The Gundams and DINNs launched from the ventral doors, shooting through the water like rockets then bursting out from the surface.
"Target sighted, they're opening the hangar doors!" Dearka said.
"Strike Gundam sighted!" Yzak said happily.
"And a Skygrasper with the Launcher pack." Nichol added.
The battle was about to begin.
A/N: I think this chapter was a little longer, but that shouldn't be a problem. I hope. But there's something about the Indian Ocean .... Until next time!