Gundam SEED: The Keshitai
A Kido Senshi Gundam SEED Fan Fiction by Prayer Reverie
Contact: prayerreverie(at)yahoo(dot)com
Summary: The heroes of the war set off to stop a vicious group from starting another! The fate of the Earth and the Colonies rests on their shoulders. KL, DM, AC, Y … uh …
This will be AU, thanks to Destiny (Phase 7 has a new Lacus song 'Fields of Hope')however try to think of this story as a side-story, or a filler story much as Battlefield of Pacifists and Ground Zero was for Gundam Wing and Endless Waltz.
Disclaimer: I do not own Gundam SEED in any way (although some days I wish), but any Original Characters and Original Mobile Suits are mine.
Rating: PG-13. I don't plan on mincing words and there will probably be some descriptive scenes, but nothing outside of the rating boundaries. You have been warned.
Angel of Dreams: Thanks for the compliments; hopefully this chapter didn't take as long
C-town Chica: Yeah, Kuzzey was planned from Chapter 1
Chibi Fyrefly: Hehe, didn't think Kuzzey was going to cause so much confusion
cherri-chan: Yes, Kira is an idiot, but I didn't think romance was that easy … starts to write more romance … hopefully.
RVD: The next few chapters will most likely be intense, with all that needs to be done
Prince Takeru: well, the "two" referred to two urls that contained the specs, but apparently Fanfiction doesn't like links. I've reposted them at the end of this one. Mordecai is Hebrew meaning Warrior, or War-like, both suited to the War Gundam.
Firedude328: that was a short review, but it was positive. Thanks
Chapter 9: The Countdown Begins
CE 72, January 2nd
11 Hours Remaining
"Team Alpha, commence final checks for departure."
"This is Alpha Pilot, checks in progress, over."
"Alpha Gunner, checks in progress."
"Alpha Lead, all checks in progress."
The competent crew of the assault shuttle Star Hawk was finalizing their checklists, preparing to take their assault teams to board the enemy ship. Just the same, the all-volunteer assault units were conducting their final checks of their own equipment and weapons.
The battle armor issued to the team was the newest prototypes out of Armory One as well. Fully sealable in case of atmosphere venting accidents, the armor also had built-in communications systems, both voice and typed. The suits were gold with a blue trim around parts, such as some of the helmet, torso, arms and legs.
There were two pistol slots on the hips, a knife slot on the lower back and two rifle slots on the upper back/shoulders area. Thruster packs were standard and built in to provide less confusion and a smaller target during battle.
Possibly the only downside of the suits was the ability to easily distinguish between a grunt soldier and a high-ranked commander. Otto's suit, because he was the leader, had specialized forearm and shin guards.
Athrun was designated a squad leader, and his suit had the forearm guards. Yzak was another squad leader, and was set apart by the shin guards. All of the suits had a forearm mounted mini-keyboard, to silently type out commands or reports, which could alert the squad to any traps, but not risk their voices being overheard.
The standard weapons issued to the squads were an NC-MA1 Gauss Rifle, a TR-SA2 Repeater Pistol, a VS-SA0 Force Blade knife, 2 CP-SA3 Fragmentation Grenades and a VS-HA1 Lasher shotgun.
Of course, it would be Lacus' and Miriallia's first times firing live firearms, so the two ladies were given crash courses on how to handle weapons and where to aim on the enemy. The rest of the team familiarized themselves with the new weapons.
Finally, the assault team was assembled. Leading the platoon and the primary squad was Otto. The secondary squad was headed up by Yzak, and the tertiary squad was lead by Athrun. Each squad was 10 members, leader included, making a full platoon of 30 armed men and women.
Otto stepped in front of the assembled troops to speak.
"Our primary mission objective is the rescue of hostage Kira Yamato. Secondary objectives include the sabotage of the enemy ship and the mobile suits onboard, particularly the Apocalypse Gundam."
"Unfortunately we have no information of the capabilities and layout of the enemy ship. That is why squad one will attempt to hack into the computer's central database to pinpoint Kira's location. I expect heavy resistance every step of the way, and so should the rest of you."
"We have been armed and armored with the latest weapons and armor developed. The egg-heads back at Armory One are anxious to see their suits and weapons in combat. As much as I hate to field-test everything, these new inventions may give us the edge we need. Any questions?"
The soldiers from the Chon-Ji Tul had none to ask, the same with the ZAFT veterans. Otto looked at Lacus, Miriallia and Cagalli almost expectantly, and after a few seconds, moved on.
"These people have declared a genocidal war on all humankind, whether they meant to or not. It's up to us to stop them, and we will not fail!"
Cheers erupted from the assembled troops. The order to board the shuttle was given, and they ran, still cheering.
"Star Hawk, you are cleared for launch. Good luck and Godsend, to you all."
"This is Star Hawk, launching now."
The black assault shuttle launched, followed quickly by the four custom GuAIZ units.
-
10 Hours Remaining
It had taken the crew of the Star Hawk 30 minutes to locate their target, and another 15 minutes to decide the best way to approach it. In the end, it was decided that the Star Hawk and their escorts would hide in the shadow of a large asteroid, and attack when the ship passed over them.
Everyone was apprehensive as the enemy ship seemingly inched closer. Finally, the time was almost right.
"They'll spot our heat corona soon." Shiho warned as the ship passed overhead, blocking out the sun.
"No, they won't have a chance." The pilot responded.
Otto opened a line to the GuAIZ. "Hit it!"
In response the four custom GuAIZ ignited their banks of verniers and quickly rushed past the close-in weapons systems mounted on the enemy ship. Precision bursts of fire knocked sensors and weapons systems.
The Star Hawk accelerated after the ship, sneaking in through the large blind spots in the sensor grid. The assault shuttle matched velocities with the carrier and fired off docking clamps and a boarding tube.
"Pressure equalized, assault teams are a go!"
Charges blew the hatch off its hinges, allowing the 30 elite troops to spill into the ship. Crewmembers rushing to their stations paused as intruders boarded their ship and opened fire.
"There! Terminal, no more than 5 meters to the left." Otto called out.
Two electronics specialists came forward, nimbly avoiding the bodies, and started to hack into the central database. 30 seconds passed and there was an audible ping as the computer opened its secrets for all to see.
They wasted no time in downloading the locations of Kira's cell, the engines, power generators and the full specifications of the enemy's Gundams. Yzak took his squad to destroy, damage or disable the engines as soon as they got the information.
"Athrun, take your squad to get Kira. I'll lead mine to take out the generators. Remember that you'll likely meet heavy resistance." Otto ordered, splitting off from Athrun's group to head down a different corridor.
Athrun's squad consisted of himself, Shiho, Dearka, Cagalli, Lacus, Miriallia and four former covert ops soldiers. He never did get quite adjusted to the fact that Lacus was wearing combat armor instead of a dress and wielding a high-powered rifle instead of a microphone.
From a distance, they all looked the same, but up close; you could see the differences in height and build. But no one really had to worry about telling the soldiers apart, the new radar system kept tabs of who was where and how their armor was doing.
The face-plate on the helmet was small enough that it covered the eyes and the bridge of the nose and not much else. The rest was all densely-packed armor and equipment.
Athrun's squad rounded a corner, jetting away and moving to find the cell block Kira was in. Unfortunately Milly took a wrong turn was didn't check her radar to find out where the rest of her squad was. She heard footsteps from down the corridor and sighed in relief.
But it wasn't Athrun, or Dearka, or even Lacus. It was five of the ship's crewmen, all carrying pistol side-arms. Both Milly and the five men paused in surprise at the sight of each other. Something clicked in Miriallia's mind, and she swung her Gauss rifle up and pulled the trigger. The kickback was more than she was ready for, and the laws of physics propelled her backwards. Miraculously she held onto the powerful rifle, still holding the trigger to send out magnetically-accelerated rounds that indiscriminately hit the walls and crewmen.
Two of them went down immediately while the other three dived for cover. The sounds of bullets being fired stopped and only a faint clicking sound was heard. She realized it was herself pulling the trigger repeatedly in a vain attempt to fire more bullets.
The three surviving crewmen smiled at each other and grabbed their pistols. Slowly and deliberately, they took aim at her, taking their time to finish off their helpless prey. Everything went in slow-motion as three shots were fired, one from each man.
Something gold and blue intersected itself between her and the bullets, firing in return and downing the men. Finally, she looked at the small radar screen on the upper-right hand portion of her helmet.
"Dearka!" she almost screamed.
He turned around to face her, showing her his now cracked faceplate. Grunting, he pulled it off. It was then she saw the impact spots of the other two bullets, both centered in his chest armor. She pulled off her own helmet to make sure what she was seeing was true.
"Whew, this armor is better than I gave it credit for. Are you alright?" he asked her, complementing the armor.
She stood stunned for several seconds, and then pulled him in close to kiss him full on the lips.
-
This certainly wasn't the best week of Yzak's life, but it wasn't necessarily the worst either. Nothing came to mind immediately about what could be worse than finding out some genocidal bastard wanted to nuke all Coordinators and had the power to do so, but Yzak was sure that something worse had happened before.
Not that he cared much in his current situation. His squad had barely made it down three levels when they ran into some fierce opposition, led by one of the Gundam pilots. Judging from the 20 minutes he had watched them beat the living crap out of Kira, it was Gideon, the Islamic pilot.
Just as the Conquest Gundam featured two large shotels, Gideon himself wielded dual blades, which most likely explained why he was assigned to his unit. Not that that mattered either. After trading rounds with each other with no effect, Yzak finally grew tired of it all.
Stepping back, he threw his Gauss rifle away and swung his Lasher around. There was a distinct cocking sound as Yzak screamed in rage and opened fire on his enemy, pumping the semi-automatic. It seemed like a wall of shotgun fire formed in the air, thanks to the rapid-firing shotgun. Those not able to duck fast enough were blown back by the powerful weapon Yzak wielded.
Not wanting to accidentally hit their own leader, the rest of Yzak's squad resumed firing with their more accurate Gauss rifles, sending more rounds flying. They moved forwards as one, slowly but surely gaining territory.
Finally, the resistance ended, giving the squad a quick respite as Gideon ordered a temporary retreat to meet up with reinforcements. They quickly reloaded their weapons and pressed forward once more, seeking to finish their mission as quickly as possible.
On the way down, Yzak sent out a typed message to the rest of the platoon, warning them about the possibility of the other Gundam pilots leading squads as well. Two short affirmatives came back, one from Otto, the other from Athrun.
-
Shortly after Yzak's warning came through, Otto found out first hand the ferocity of fighting against a Gundam pilot. The pilot of the Death Gundam, younger brother to Hiroto Syuu, was leading the squad that Otto's squad stopped cold in their tracks.
It was an even fight, 10 versus 10, but the defenders had a territorial advantage, and they could call in more troops to help. But the generator room was within their grasp, barely 30 meters beyond the defenders.
Then he noticed three defenders holed up in a doorway. It was the perfect opportunity for grenades to shine. Or explode. He type out a message.
Three, four, arm grenades, target is doorway on the left. Two acknowledgments came back as two fragmentation grenades went sailing past the bulk of the people fighting and detonated less than a foot from the huddled defenders. The explosion killed the three and sent at least three more flying.
Otto's team began to push forward again, gaining meters and approaching their objective. Syuu's squad seemed to disappear as Otto and his men entered the generator room.
They all paused at the sight of 20 armed men pointing rifles at them.
"Oh shit."
-
Athrun had gotten Yzak's warning about the Gundam pilots leading resistance squads, but he had yet to encounter any resistance. Dearka had gone off to save Miriallia, but it had cost him his tactical helmet. The brunette natural was still a little scared but otherwise unharmed.
Surprisingly there were no guards stationed at the brig, despite Kira being held there. Athrun would have assumed that Hiroto would have posted at least one, but perhaps the leader felt secure that Kira couldn't escape in his condition.
The door to Kira's cell slid open. Kira was shackled to a wall, his face bloodied from repeated beatings.
"Kira!" Athrun called out.
Kira flinched at the sound of his name. Looking up, he saw soldiers in gold and blue combat armor, wielding unknown weapons. Then one of the shorter men stepped forward and removed his helmet.
Long pink hair spilled out from underneath the helmet, and Kira realized it was Lacus. She stepped forward, slinging her rifle behind her, and looked for a way to release Kira. Finding none, Athrun grabbed his Repeater pistol, warned Kira and Lacus and fired two shots, one for each chain, and leaving Kira only with bindings on his wrists.
He floated in the zero gravity, now free of his bindings. Lacus gently hugged him, squeezing her eyes shut in an attempt to hold in her tears. Finally, Kira reacted to Lacus' presence and gingerly moved his arms and returned her hug.
Athrun smiled as the two lovers were reunited and happy again. An explosion rocked the ship and the words 'Secondary Mission Objective Complete'flashed on their helmet screens.
"We've got to go; Yzak has taken out the engines on this ship." Athrun ordered, holstering his pistol and grabbing his Gauss rifle.
"We're going home now Kira." Lacus whispered, smiling as she supported Kira. Cagalli put Kira's other arm over her and they started out of the cell.
-
'Tertiary Mission Objective Complete'. Athrun's squad had found and rescued Kira. Only Otto's squad had yet to report in. Making his mind up, Yzak opened a channel to Athrun.
"I'm taking my squad to find out what happened to Otto. Get your squad back to the exit point and secure it until we rendezvous with you." Yzak ordered, signaling his men to move onto the generator room.
"Roger that, and good luck." Athrun cut the link and informed his own squad of the changes.
It concerned Yzak greatly that Athrun's mission had been so easy, while Otto was missing and four Gundam-pilot led squads were on the loose. His squad was the closest to Otto's last known position, and was the least burdened between his and Athrun's squad.
They neared the generator room, and Yzak saw ten golden numbers appear on his proximity radar. Halting his squad, he listened carefully for any signs of opposition. What he heard came from inside the room.
"Coordinators are the bane of all humankind. They are nothing more than weakness incarnate." A man was saying.
"That is why we chose to purify as many as possible. We do so with a heavy heart, sending so many to their graves without a chance at redemption."
What the hell is this guy spouting off? Yzak wondered.
"You're all nothing more than sick, demented bastards!" Otto angrily replied.
"Such language Mister Dallas is neither needed nor wanted." The first voice said.
They know his full alias, but I wonder if they know his true identity?
"Bite me."
Peering past the corner, Yzak saw Otto's squad arranged in a 5x2 arrangement, five wide and two deep, standing in front of at least 20 armed men, arranged in a semi-circle for more angles of fire.
Otto's squad was still in possession of their weapons, a mistake the crewmen would soon regret. Yzak's squad switched their Gauss rifles to semi-automatic and spread out quietly, taking aim at the people pinning Otto's squad down.
Yzak began a quick countdown.
5
"If there truly is a god that you all believe in, then he will never forgive you." Otto warned.
4
"We are prepared to pay any price necessary to ensure the survival of humanity." The man replied with no conviction in his voice.
3
"Then I hope you'll enjoy your early flight to hell."
2
"What?"
NOW!
Gunfire erupted from Yzak's squad as Otto's squad dived to the floor for cover. From their new positions, they joined in and opened fire, downing the remaining men. Yzak's squad moved forward, guns trained on the floating bodies just in case some were pretending. Otto stood up and turned to face Yzak.
"Thanks." He said.
"We've got to get back to the Star Hawk; Zala's team is already on their way back."
"Well, at least you got the engines on this ship." Otto said, turning.
"Back to the Star Hawk!" he ordered.
-
8Hours Remaining
"How is he doing?" Athrun asked, referring to Kira now strapped to a medical bed with Lacus sitting near him.
"Recovering slowly. Most of his ribs are cracked or broken, he has numerous cuts and bruises and he has a concussion." Lacus replied, gently stroking Kira's face as he slept on.
"Wait, why are you wearing your flight suit?" Lacus asked, noticing that Athrun was wearing the black and beige flight suit.
"The rest of us are going out to finish off that ship and the enemy Gundams. That was the plan, to disable the ship and take out the Apocalypse before it could reach firing range of the PLANTs." Athrun replied.
"Now?" she asked, plainly distressed.
"We're going to launch and then Ron is pulling back to form up with the remnants of the fleet. I don't know if we'll be able to stop them in time, but I'll be damned if I don't try." He turned to leave.
"Athrun!" she cried out.
He turned to face her again.
"Ki wo tsukette." She said quietly. He nodded in return and left.
-
"There you are Zala!" Yzak called out, tossing Athrun his helmet.
"Thanks." He said, catching the helmet and securing it on his head.
"We sortie in two minutes. Be ready." Yzak warned, and floated off to the Matrix Gundam.
"Don't worry, I am." He muttered quietly.
Athrun checked a few gauges and readouts before he heard the order to launch. Kira was usually up first, but he was too injured to fight. Yzak's voice rang in loud and clear.
"Yzak Jule! Matrix, IKUZO!"
"Angel Gundam, launching!"
"Dearka Elsman, Veritas, going out!"
"Athrun Zala! Aequitas, making a sortie!"
The four Gundams launched in a do or die mission to save all Coordinators.
-
If there was one thing Dearka absolutely hated, it was the spare time before a fight started. It left too much time for brooding and negative thoughts. Or at the very least, it allowed distracting thoughts into his head.
Such as the events that happened during the escape from the enemy ship.
Lacus and Cagalli continued to carry Kira along. It seemed that wherever they touched him, he was in pain. The beatings he had endured in his short time aboard this ship were astounding. Dearka trailed behind them, keeping an eye on their retreat, ensuring that no one tried to sneak up on them.
But even from behind, he could see several of Kira's internal injuries; just from the way he tried to shift himself into a less painful position. Several of his ribs were either cracked or broken, probably resulting in a bit of internal bleeding as well.
Whenever he tried to speak, his voice would literally croak out the words, his throat was so parched and sore, most likely from the torture sessions he had endured.
Finally, several words formed a cohesive sentence.
"Milly … there's something … you" he paused as he gathered his breath and strength. Even talking caused him pain, and he coughed up some blood before attempting to continue.
"What is it Kira?" Milly asked, concerned.
"It's … Kuzzey. He's … one of … them." He finally managed to say.
The entire squad paused as this news hit them. The four covert ops soldiers didn't know the significance of that sentence, but the rest of them did.
Dearka had seen the little kid while he was an Earth Alliance prisoner. Kira and Miriallia knew him from their youths. Cagalli had met him after the Archangel landed in the desert. Athrun had heard a few stories from various crewmen about the kid.
"He's … a Keshitai?" she asked, not really wanting to know the answer.
"The pilot … of the … War." Kira replied before coughing up more blood.
"Rest easy pal, you've had a rough time." Dearka said, putting his hand on Kira's shoulder.
"Conserve your strength Kira, we don't know how badly injured you are." Lacus agreed.
Miriallia had brooded on the Star Hawk as it flew back to the Chon-Ji Tul. Dearka finally confronted her about it just after everyone else had exited.
"So … did you want to talk about it?" he asked her. Initiating conversations about a friend-turned-traitor was a little harder than it seemed.
"About what? The fact that one of my last surviving friends decided to join a group bent on wiping out all known Coordinators, starting with another one of my friends?" she spat out, her voice raised in anger and confusion.
"Fine, I'm sorry." He replied back sharply and turned on his heel.
"Dearka wait!" she said, grabbing his wrist and pulling him back to her.
She hugged his neck tightly before continuing.
"He's never like Coordinators that much, and he never trusted Kira too much after finding out about his origins, but I'd never thought he'd go this far."
"He's chosen a path that will only lead to his own death; it's not your fault."
She held onto him until he had to launch.
"Milly" he said to no one, "I know he's your friend, but if he tries to hurt you, I will kill him."
"Dearka!" Yzak's voice broke into his thoughts, and he was grateful.
"What?" he snapped irritably.
"Just making sure you're concentrating on the proper things."
In reality, Yzak was trying to focus his mind as well. His thoughts wandered and usually ended up at the same place.
Yzak was walking out of the change room and he was alone. Shiho exited hers, now in her standard uniform. He felt a little bad that she wasn't going out with them, but she adamantly refused to touch the Eternal Gundam, and there were no other unclaimed suits onboard.
"I do wish you'd reconsider Shiho. It helps when you have a teammate who can anticipate other people's moves." Yzak said, trying one last time.
"Dearka can anticipate you well enough, the same with Athrun, and I'm sure Cagalli can anticipate his moves. I'd say your team is solid." She declined again.
"There's another reason you aren't going to come along." Yzak said, narrowing his eyes at her.
She laughed and moved closer to him. "Maybe there is, but I won't tell either way."
They slowly inched together, bringing their faces mere inches apart. Speaking of anticipating moves Yzak thought. Before the moment could disappear, Yzak closed the gap and kissed her on her lips. His council-aide and former war-time subordinate returned his kiss.
Yzak was interrupted by the noise of his proximity alarm and an incoming message from Athrun.
"They've launched all five of them. Orders?"
"Stick together, and don't get separated from each other. The main target is still the Apocalypse, everything else is gravy." Yzak reminded them.
Four magnified images popped up on his HUD. Yzak noted that the Death Gundam was missing his mega beam cannon and beam-claw shield and instead held its dual beam scythe.
Yzak grabbed both of his beam sabers, but didn't ignite them. He quickly performed one last check of the XML system, and then shifted his full attention to the oncoming suits.
"Attack!"
-
The battle was shown all throughout the Chon-Ji Tul, because it was a battle that could easily decided the fate of Coordinator society. Milly, Lacus and Shiho were on a couch in one of the pilot's briefing rooms watching it all play out.
The enemy ship was faintly visible in the far background, but it was silhouetted when it fired its several banks of Gottfried cannons. The destructive energy beams completely missed the fighting mobile suits. Shiho suddenly gasped.
"Get down! Those shots are aimed at us!" she warned.
Too late, the beams impacted on the ship's armor and a few other ships close by. The Chon-Ji Tul rocked before the pilot stabilized their course. Lacus got up with an alarmed look on her face.
"Lacus, where are you going?" Miriallia asked, still on the floor.
"To Kira." Was her reply before the doors shut.
She made it just outside the medical bay before another salvo of beams impacted, sending her flying. Lacus finally stopped and righted herself. Stepping in front of the door again, she opened it and ducked inside to get to Kira.
Lacus stopped several feet from his bed. He wasn't there.
"Oh no." she said quietly.
More beams hit the carrier ship, delaying her actions. I've got to get to the hangar bay, I'll bet anything that he's there now. She thought.
Finally the rocking lessened as Ron ordered the fleet to disperse formation and take on a wider form. Shots from the ZAFT ships could be seen from the viewports and vidscreens. Hopefully the enemy ship would back off or at least lessen its assault.
The hangar bay was devoid of people, with the mechanics and technicians sent to other areas of the ship to help with damage control. Lacus was about to turn and leave, figuring Kira was possibly on the bridge when she noticed something. And it wasn't a good thing either.
The SF-99-X01 Eternal Gundam was gone.
A/N: Well, did that take longer, or was it sooner? Good number of reviews despite the bad days FF had. If anyone bought WoW retail, I'm playing on the Eastern Coast server Earthen Ring, it's an RP server. Add 'Syuu' to your friends. Please Read and Review!
(re-post of those Gundam spec urls)
http:(slash)(slash)www(dot)geocities(dot)com/prayerreverie/FHA(dot)html
http:(slash)(slash)www(dot)geocities(dot)com/prayerreverie/SF99X(dot)html
change the (dot) to '.' and(slash) to '/'and enter that in your browser's address bar.