Phase 2- Falling Star
The New Alaska Base was in a state of pandemonium, with sirens blaring at every corner of the entire area, as red lights flashed across the terrain. Soldiers of all ranks jumped into the suits and dashed to their specific military machine, whether they were the pilots of an aircraft, or lucky enough to be in charge of a Mobile Suit. Dozens of technicians and crewman made their way to the communication centers across the base, while many ran out to the main landing zone, where it was judged that the Gundam would land.
Nearly thirty soldiers, clad in their officer-uniforms, stood in large packs, fully-loaded sub machine guns in hand. Adding to that little defense were some ten other drone guns and manned-beam cannons all ready and charging to open fire. The docking bay doors all opened wide, and the large steel bars that held in the Mobile Suits in their compartments were removed, allowing the mechanical giants to be ready to take off out of the hall and head outside.
Many other workers of the New Alaska Base joined the crowd, waiting anxiously to see what would happen, as now a sixth M1 Astray came down in the landing zone, aiming its beam rifle high up into the sky.
All the while, Commander Cerrical, along with Logan the others, all stood together in front of the mass of Earth Alliance Personal. Saruma stared up into the clouds, her eyes narrowed even as her uniform-hat shaded her eyes from the sun's rays.
"Commander, are you sure you don't want me and Rodka to get into our Gundams and come out here as well?" Logan asked, slightly surprised by what had been so far from her, 'strange' commands. She shook her head.
"No, right now he's not posing much of a threat at all" she replied. Just then another young man, though nearly thirty years of age, came over to them, covered by a deep red suit for piloting. He removed his helmet, revealing a quite handsome face, and then shook his head of mid-length chestnut hair. This was one of the best Mobile Suit pilots the New Alaska Base had enlisted, and because of it he was given the reward of being the main pilot for the three different Strike Gundams. A top-gun, veteran, and skilled pilot; Major Taro Lanawor.
"How the hell do you figure that Commander?" he asked, apparently 'set off' by what she said, "we got an unknown Gundam heading into our base that's been shown to be loaded with a nasty array of weapons!". Without even turning to him, the Commander responded.
"Yes, and it's also been proven, Major Taro, that from our sky-cameras and infrared photos, that the Gundam is almost turned off completely, only running with the engine for flight-landing. We've also got a message from the pilot that he means no harm, and…"
"You're gonna just believe all of that stuff and take such minor precautions for protecting hundreds of lives and one of the biggest military bases on the Earth?" Taro interrupted.
"I wasn't finished" Cerrical quickly replied, startling the young man for a moment, "he's also someone we know, someone we can trust." Taro cocked an eyebrow.
"Okay, I'd be saying 'what the hell are you talking about?', but I think it's more fitting if I remind the amount of defenseless people around here who could be slaughtered if something doesn't go as planned" he challenged. The Commander now looked over at him, and smirked.
"I warned them all about the danger about being out there, they're staying on their own accord" she stated. Taro's eyes widened for a split second, as he once more got a jolt from her replies. Though within no more than five seconds, he began to chuckle, and smile just as she did.
"I don't know why I still stay here even when you're in charge Commander" he said. She grinned.
"Don't gimme that, you know you'd miss me too much". Taro simply laughed even more. But through his amused chortle, Jina only pointed up to the sky, slightly exhilarated.
"Here it comes!" she announced. In an instant all heads were turned to the clouds, where a fabulous Gundam was quickly making its descent to the ground. The crowds of people backed off several more meters, making more room for the massive machine that oddly had its arms held out, like a human showing pacifism. With the sunlight shining greatly upon it, the marvelous cobalt tone on it looked even more stunning, and the gold-like sternum and large shoulders glimmered as well. Rodka couldn't help himself but smirk.
"Man, that's one helluva good lookin' machine" the young man remarked aloud.
"Yeah, who the hell's in that thing?" Logan asserted. No one paid much attention, and instead kept their eyes on the Gundam as it then slowly came to its feet, landing softly and letting its boosters cool down. The arms fell to its sides, and quickly, the metallic giant was shut off. All the while, Commander Cerrical simply grinned.
The pilot-entrance door opened wide, and Xigo stepped out into the fresh Alaska air, holding tight onto his descent-cord. Still standing on the Gundam's chest, he looked out to the horizon with a smirk, a pair of semi-opaque sunglasses covering his eyes from the rays. And with his first steps out onto Earth, he jumped, and slowly came down to the ground.
Before he even set foot, the group of soldiers had him surrounded, and their guns aimed straight the young man, following him without taking their attention away for a split second. Once he was on the smooth grey asphalt of the landing zone, he gave an amused smile and raised his hands into the air.
"Not to give a stereotypical greeting, but I come in peace" he first said. The crowd all laughed, while Logan, Taro and the others were all completely taken aback by who it was.
"No way!" the Major exclaimed.
"Holy crap you've gotta be kidding me!" Rodka laughed. Jina and Iryn's eyes were almost literally glowing as they stared at Xigo.
"Please search him, just for safety" Commander Cerrical declared. Xigo looked over at her and smirked.
"Oh come on, you know who I am, all's that different is I got a new Gundam this time" Xigo said back. The young woman smirked himself now.
"Yeah, and you scared the life out of us for a few minutes because of that, before I then noticed your message that you sent us. I can tell who you are instantly by how you write" she said back. Once again, everyone chuckled.
"Of course, none of us would ever forget Xigo" Iryn remarked. By then the soldiers were done checking Xigo for any weapons, and stepped back to give him space. He lowered his arms, and then removed his sunglasses as he came to the Commander.
"Pleasure to meet you again, as you may expect, I'm the new exchange-pilot from the Tokayo Military School again" he stated, and then reached into his pocket. Upon pulling out his wallet, he opened it and revealed a special card that he handed to Miss Saruma. "Just in case you need any identification, again" the young man explained. She smiled herself as he glanced over it briefly, then handing it back to him.
"I don't need any proof that it's you. Welcome to the New Alaska Base again, I'm surprised that it turned out to be you her, but I think I can speak on behalf on most of the people here that we're happy" she said as he held out her hand. He smiled back and shook it.
By noon Xigo leaned on the balcony railing of the one of the large buildings at the base. Logan, Rodka, Iryn and Jina had joined him, the five all lined up on the metal bar, standing and enjoying the fresh, cool air as they talked amongst themselves, mainly with the young Shigora.
As it turned out, a few months ago the New Alaska Base took part in the Exchange-pilot Organization, taking in a young ZAFT soldier and having him stay at the base for four weeks. With this the pilot would get to see new types of training, but as well be able to learn about the Earth Alliance's way of life, and how they managed with their military. More importantly, this also was considered a small help in completely patching up relations to the once bitter-enemies.
Xigo was the exchange-pilot at that time, and he came instead with a DINN suit instead of the new Gundam he had entered with today. His personality and attitude had quickly made him get on good terms with all the people at the base, especially Major Taro and Commander Cerrical. Then after two weeks of getting to know them better, Xigo had become quite good friends with Logan and the others, and then even closer to them by the time his month-long stay was complete. He had promised he'd come back, and try to make it as the next exchange-pilot again, and with luck, he somehow managed to succeed in doing that.
"So how did you actually get to be the one who'd come here again? We had been told it was some other guy" Rodka stated as he continued the conversation with the quintet. Xigo smiled as he looked back out to the horizon.
"It was a pain, but I pretty much bugged and begged the hell outta all of my instructors, and I rambled off all these reasons why about five times. I highly doubt they felt it was good for me to come back, but I guess they got annoyed that they sent me just so I'd leave" he replied. The group all chuckled. Jina then placed her hand over Xigo's.
"Well I'm glad you did, we all really missed you once you had left" the girl said. For a moment the ZAFT pilot glanced down at her hand, and then looked back at her with a smirk.
"I missed you guys too" he began, and looked away again, "that place actually gets really boring, they didn't have any more lessons for me to learn, so all the time I was just training or developing other weapons and prototypes. Though every guy I ever dueled with just got annihilated. I did the math one day, and only thirteen percent of the time did I actually ever get hit". While everyone laughed, Iryn seemed to find it the funniest.
"You're still that good with those things 'eh?" Tarob asked. Xigo snickered as he nodded.
"Yep, and with that new Gundam I have I'm probably the best pilot ZAFT has" he answered.
"Yeah that one looks sweet, what the hell is it?" Rodka added.
"That's the one I told you I had been working on while I was still at my school, developing all the weapons and modifications to it. It's called the Valor Gundam, but it's just known as the Valor. It took me a ton of work, but I've made that thing the strongest suit ZAFT currently holds. Great set of weapons, some of the best engines they had, compatible in water, hell the thing has a collection of boosters that gives it complete flight". Jina's eyes widened.
"Without a flight-pack or even a Mobile Armor transformation?" she asked. Xigo nodded.
"Yep, doesn't need them". While her, Iryn and Rodka all thought over the amazing explanation, Logan simply chuckled.
"Sounds like you've got a beast of a machine on your hands Xigo, we gotta have another duel sometime and see whose the man this time" Dile stated. Shigora glanced over at him.
"You sure? Last time I was here I nearly destroyed you with a regular DINN, I don't even wanna see what I could do with the Valor now" the young man challenged. Rodka and the two girls both tried to hold back a humored smile from the brazen statement by Xigo, while Logan stood off from the railing, appearing unfazed.
"Oh don't worry, I've gotten at least three-times as good since then, I'll be glad to return the favor" Dile boldly struck back. Xigo smirked.
"You've gotten me excited now" Shigora responded. Logan gave a smirk back.
Inside the ZAFT Headquarters Council Hall, the pair of main doors lay open as several Giyre soldiers and officials walked in and out, or stayed within the room and worked on setting up several video cameras and sound-machines. A few large lights were also placed with the rest of the equipment, plugged it and positioned correctly. Their bright illuminations all combined created a great area of lighting, all around Balador and the long desk which he stood in front of, as if they were all setting up for a broadcast.
And that's what they were doing.
"Sir, we have the cameras now hooked up to the computers in the communications department to show the footage of the incoming troops and ships" a soldier announced with a salute to Varo. The leader of the sinister organization nodded.
"Perfect, I'm glad to here that will all work out" Balador replied.
"Almost done here with the rest of the equipment sir!" one of the technicians yelled as he untangled a mess of wires. Balador smirked, appearing amused.
"Take your time, you still have several minutes before we need to get this thing going" the man said back.
For a few moments Balador simply gazed out one of the large windows in the room, staring into the blackness of space silently, until his brief thoughtful time was interrupted by a low groan. Slightly surprised, though not showing it, Balador glanced out of the corner of his eye, and managed to catch Chairman Delara, very weak-looking and a bloody mess, but somehow alive and moving.
"I didn't expect for you to live through that Mister Delara, you're a very strong-willed man" Balador commented. The Chairman slowly began to lift himself up as he tried to grasp the edge of the large table, but only collapsed back into a small pool of blood with a deep moan. Balador's eyes nearly lit up. "I think this actually works out better this way…"
"That's one hell of a beautiful machine ya got there kid!" the head mechanic of the New Alaska Base exclaimed as he stood with Xigo, gazing up the Valor in the docking bay. The young man chuckled.
"You don't know how much of that I hear Desial" he replied. The near-fifty year old man laughed as he scratched his black goatee.
"Well no matter how much ya get it, there's no doubting that it's all true. I've never seen anything like this baby" Desial added as his eyes moved all across the body of the Gundam, "a perfect set of boosters for regular flight, some of the toughest armor I've seen in my life, and some of the coolest weapons possible attached to that thing!". Xigo smirked from the mechanic's remarks.
"If you like it that much then I'll arrange for it that you'll be my top repairman for it" Shigora replied. Desial's face lit up.
"Ya will? Aw man thanks kid! I'd love to work on this sucker!" the man shouted, making Xigo even more amused.
"Calm down Desial, sadly Xigo will only be here for a month or two" a voice from behind them interrupted. The two of them glanced back, noticing Commander Cerrical, and another young woman next to her, dressed by the same military suit, although with shoulder-length ocher hair, the one who had spoken. Xigo smiled.
"Hey! Captain Arelie! Good to see ya!" the teen greeted. The military official smiled back and nodded.
"Same here Xigo" Arelie began, "I didn't quite believe that it was you here at first, until Commander Cerrical here convinced me to come see you, and unless I'm blind that's you for sure". Xigo couldn't manage to hamper a guffaw.
"Ha! Still exactly the way you are when I was here last time!" he commented. Instantly everyone around chuckled, as the Captain cocked an eyebrow.
"What's that supposed to mean?" she shot back. The entire group laughed harder and louder, especially Xigo, whose face became a light shade of 'pink' as he took part in the chortle.
And then the noise of the Sound System turning on over-powered it.
"Attention all in the base, report to the Docking Bay at once for an urgent television broadcast! Personal in the bays, please turn on the main monitor!" the man over the speaker announced. Gasps and murmurs spread all across the hangar, all wondering what was currently happening as many more soldiers, officers, technicians and mechanics poured into the bays.
"What in hell is going on?" Major Taro yelled as he ran from the entrance and towards Commander Cerrical.
"Someone get the monitor on!" the woman shouted over the crowds.
"I got it!" Gartol yelled back as he dashed into the one AV room. In a few seconds he had the enormous screen on the South Wall of the Docking Bay lit up, and before he could even set the channel, everyone watching got the wicked sight of Balador Varo standing, grinning demonically. Xigo froze.
But they were not alone. For all across the Earth were television screens and radios now being switched from their normal programs to this mysterious frequency, which showed the leader of Giyre still standing in the ZAFT Council Hall. People in their homes, at their working place, inside stores and restaurants, even in the middle of a town or city square stopped to watch or listen to the unusual program, not able to fathom what it would herald…
"Citizens of the planet Earth" the devilish man began, stretching out his arms, "I am Balador Varo, President of the once neutral colony Giyre, which has now blossomed into the most powerful empire in this universe. For years my peaceful, quiet home to millions kept a dark secret that stayed only within the confines of our colony walls, and our military bases on the surface of Mars. The untold truth that we've actually been a militaristic nation for decades, focusing on our major goal being the strongest in the known world. We centered our labors to training our people, both Natural and Coordinator, to be the most skillful pilots and soldiers to grace this era. To creating the most powerful and deadly military machines and vehicles used only for destruction. To establishing barracks, bases, and armories all across the galaxy to aid in making our army the strongest ever seen in time. We've begun a campaign to take over all nations, planets, and colonies, to build an empire under us, for we are the Galactic Invasion Regime." Balador then stopped, allowing for all people on Earth to take in what they just heard, but in a state of utter disbelief and fear.
"And in doing that, we've begun slowly chipping away at the power nation of ZAFT here in space, until we finally hit the jackpot. For the last months, all those reports of destroyed bases, and robberies of Mobile Suits have been the Galactic Invasion Regime's doing. It was us that destroyed so many communication centers, cutting off much contact between ZAFT within itself, and even those organizations that keep in touch with them from your Earth. But now, that is no longer needed to be kept a secret, as with a little luck, but absolute genius, Giyre has taken over the ZAFT Headquarters". Balador then stopped speaking away, and turned his body to reveal the sickening sight of the ZAFT Council, laying dead in pools of their own blood. Only Chairman Delara was alive, crawling at the slowest speeds and breathing heavily in his extreme state of pain. All across the Earth, innumerable gasps came from the people; as some millions of men, women, and children were petrified in shock of the unbelievable sight that was on the screens before them. Balador then stepped back in front of the camera.
"We've now taken complete control of the ZAFT Headquarters, as well as the Gundams and all Mobile Suits contained here. And I can firmly say, that at this very moment, more and more PLANTS, and military bases of ZAFT are being taken over by Giyre forces, slowly conquering the entire empire that stretches from one end of this galaxy to the next." The camera then cut to several live images of ships and war crafts descending from space, entering through the atmosphere, or landing on Earth soil, though still with Balador's voice speaking. "Though, if we want our goals of complete Galactic domination, we must have your 'blue and pure world' as you call it. That is why we've sent numerous armies down to Earth, to destroy your military forces, and take control of your entire planet, completing our desires. After all, right now, you're our one, sole, but powerful target". The camera then switched back to Balador, whose smirk had grown.
"And before I end this message, I'd like to make a statement loud and clear to a certain young man who now resides on your planet. That young man being- Xigo Shigora."
At the base, Xigo's eyes widened, and his heart beat like a bongo drum as every single person in the Docking Bay turned towards him, and gazed at the young man in bemusement. Several more gasps could be heard throughout the hangar, notably from Jina and Iryn, who were almost frozen in place upon hearing Balador say his name.
"Xigo, we know you're alive and down there" Varo continued, "and we're disappointed that you've chosen this path. Your friend from your school happily joined us, we were hoping we could have your talents on the side of Giyre. But alas, we've known that you somehow learned of our motives before this proclamation, and saw what happened at your station. You were smart though for your choice, taking the Valor and escaping before we could have any chance of chasing you down. You see, after we found out of your departure to Earth, we stole all the Mobile Suits and military equipment at your school, and then blew it to pieces, with the rest of the instructors and students there that defied us. You may be with the Earth now, but let me tell you, we'll make our attempts to bring you to us, and if you do not choose to join Giyre; we'll destroy along with the rest of that planet…". As Xigo became even more nervous from hearing Balador speak, more eyes widened inside the Docking Bay, as the people there all stood in disbelief. Especially Logan, Rodka, Jina and Iryn, who could not take in what they heard about their friend.
"Now then, I have no more to say. So with that, I bid you all of Earth goodbye, as well as to your home…" Balador finished.
The transmission ended across the world, and all over Earth were people beginning to chatter over what they just witnessed, while many were speechless from the proclamation. But if there was one thing they all had in common, it was their feeling of horror.
Though, at the New Alaska Base, the main concern was the shocking words about Xigo, who had now become calmer as he stood in place, glancing around at all the people around the hangar. He felt as if all eyes were upon him, and for good reason at that. Knowing that everyone there was most affected by the speaking about himself, Shigora understood what he was in for.
"I guess I got some explaining to do…" he then stated as he tried to smile through his embarrassment.
