You know what, I do own Gundam. All of it. Really. You don't believe me. Fine. I'm lying. Now I'm sad.
Legal Disclaimer- Gundam Seed, Mobile Suit Gundam, Gundam Seed Destiny, Zeta Gundam, and any other Gundam material that I may inadvertently use are the property of Sunrise, not myself.
After the shocking confrontation in the convenience store, Kei and Santino stood, stunned, outside in the alley. A light rain had started while they were inside. Kei spoke, desperate to break the silence, "It isn't scheduled to rain today, is it?" Santino looked up, the small droplets obviously irritating him.
"No. It isn't."
"Perhaps they're doing maintenance on the computers, and are having difficulties?" Kei hypothesized, not really sure, trying to puzzle out the disturbing phenomena himself. On Earth, a light rain on a beautiful night would be considered unfortunate, or frustrating. Here it was cause for alarm. As he thought to himself, thinking carefully of the safeguards on the system that he had examined before, he concluded that this would almost have had to have been deliberate. The storm, seemingly benign at first turned sinister as the it intensified, hail pelting the ground. Kei, raised in the colonies since a very young age had never seen hail before, had no idea how to react, especially since it wasn't programmed into the central management system. "Something is very wrong. We should get home, fast," Kei spoke, his voice barely audible over the wind and rain, worry still evident on his voice. "Come on!" Santino followed his friend, who had broke into a jog. A flash illuminated the sky, further confusing Kei. Lightning? Lightning in a colony. What in God's name is going on here?
Santino spoke, clearly distressed, though his words were lost in the rain. Another flash cast its shadows across the artificial dome that served as there sky, and for a second Kei thought he had seen… seen what? Santino, yelling at the top of his breath, caught Kei's attention, "SOMETHING IS WRONG HERE! I CAN FEEL IT." Kei looked back at him, and nodded, his affirmation calming his distressed friend slightly. They had finally reached an open store, and both went inside. The owner was conspicuously absent. A viewer, across from the checkout counter, flashed an emergency message over and over again, its harsh red tone casting a sinister relief across the room. "All colony residents are to evacuate to the escape pods. The colony integrity has been compromised. Repeat, all colony residents are to…"
A scowl crossed Kei's face as he thought of venturing outside. Kei's thoughts had taken a more morbid tone, What if this colony is under attack. Fears spawned by the recent global conflict left Kei feeling slightly ill. His worst fears were confirmed when he heard a massive explosion, its message of pain and death ringing throughout the colony. A piece of shrapnel, presumably from the explosion above smashed the roof of the building that they had taken refuge in with tremendous force, sending concrete hurtling down towards them. With lightning speed, Kei ran, grabbed his friend, and tossed him to the ground, near the door. After the roof had stopped collapsing the two bolted into the night. To Kei's chagrin, the remnants of one the CIS's mainstay mobile suits, a GATX 105 Strike was lying on top of the decimated building. Above flashes of fire illuminated the sky, and another MS plummeted to the ground, destroying an apartment building. "This way!" Kei screamed, pointing towards an industrial complex. He started to run towards the reinforced building, Santino lagging behind him. With abrupt force an explosion from behind Kei threw him to the several meters, and he landed heavily. He looked at the smouldering fire behind him, and to his shock there was no sign of Santino. With heavy heart he continued his desperate run for the industrial facilities.
The facilities door was unlocked, sounding alarms in Kei's mind. He slipped in, only to discover the bodies of three murdered security guards, blood and bullet holes splayed all around the room. With a start he realized that the dead men were wearing Coalition military uniforms, not those of the Internal Security Forces. He was about to turn around, when another explosion from behind him changed his mind. Seeing a computer terminal located at what was presumably a secretaries desk, he rushed over and accessed the mainframe with ease, the amateurish security systems on the computer proving no match for his prowess. He downloaded a blueprint for the factory, and fortunately discovered that an escape pod was located on the western most edge. Grabbing a gun off one of the corpses, the scent of the blood thick enough in the air to cause him to wretch, he proceeded deeper into the labyrinthine factory. Accessing his blueprint, he discovered that the pod was on the far side of… a hangar? He entered the hangar, to discover an ongoing massacre. Nearly two dozen people lay dead on the ground, and six men, wearing ZAFT commando uniforms were shooting from cover at a group of nearly thrity more CIS soldier who were exposed on open ground. The ground was littered with blood and body parts. Three MS, clearly visible from his angle stood motionless, surveying the battle with a sort of crude satisfaction. Rage welled up in Kei's heart, as he realized that the CIS, had, once again, in violation of the Night of Tears Treaty,been manufacturing weapons in civilian districts. He threw himself behind a damaged crane, narrowly dodging a volley of bullets from one of the ZAFT soldiers. The Coalition's soldiers continued to drop like so much ripe wheat, there blood littering the ground and staining the feet of the MS they were trying so desperately to protect. With an agility borne of desperation Kei ran, threw himself upwards, and swung on the damaged pilot access wire to the cockpit of one of the MS, with the intention of using its weaponry to help the beleaguered defenders. He easily accessed the cockpit, it wasn't even locked, and threw himself in. Familiarizing himself with the system as well as he was able, he started to try and start the machine. Before he was successful, the last CIS soldier spilled his blood on the floor. The Coordinator soldiers immediately started to move, one of them firing a spray across the ground where the CIS soldiers bodies were huddled, sending flesh and bone splattering across the ground. The others started to move for the cockpits of the MS. Kei hastily locked the cockpit he was in, but to his horror the man in the white mask who was leading the attack seemed to know exactly where he was. No pilot attempted to enter his unit. He finally managed to start up his unit, and with a vengeance pulled the 2nd triggers on both of his joysticks. A volley of missiles rocketed out of his suit's shoulder and wing mounted lauchers, incinerating all the ZAFT commandos except the two that had already made their way into the MS's cockpits. The two survivors were the masked man, and a young woman with vividly blonde hair. He started to panic as the TransPhase Shift armour of the other two suits came online.
With this development he had a chance to better examine the suits. One was a deep crimson in colour, bearing a dark resemblance to the ZAFT MS Providence, with the exception that it had two arm mounted shields, each with both a laser rifle and plasma claw built in, and a chest mounted buster cannon. The other was thinner, with an enormous shields covering each of its arm, extending from below the hand to well above the shoulder. On the shoulder were a pair of mounted high energy rail cannons, and the shields were obviously equipped with beam sabres. A beam rifle was attached to each of the suits hips, and the head was equipped with Vulcan's below the chin and above the forehead. Panicking, he hit the boosters on his newly acquired MS, rocketing through the roof of the factory. The other two suits did not pursue, but he had found himself in yet another battle.
There were five MS battling inside the colony, 4 GoUF, and two remaining Strike. The Strike peeled off, obviously intending to take cover in the nearby residential districts, while three of the GoUF gave chase. The remaining one opened a comn to him. As the incoming line opened, he was startled to see that the woman confronting him was a young girl with pale green hair, a softly chiselled face and piercing cobalt eyes. She looked no more like a soldier then him. Never the less he knew enough about ZAFT to realize that the red Elite's uniform she wore meant that this had instantly become deadly serious. "This is Lieutenant Shila Amafi, contacting unconfirmed MS. Broadcast IFF, or be classified as hostile. Kei had no idea what to do. She waited for five seconds, matching him move for move as he tried desperately to evade her, then she opened fire with the high energy particle machine cannon on her suits arm, a veritable rain of energy screaming needle-like towards him. He closed his eyes and prepared to die. The blasts ricocheted off his armour, knocking him off course, and causing the green schematic of his suit in the top left of the cockpit to change to yellow in several place, except for in the shoulders which turned black. The missile launchers! The only weapon he knew how to use! She jetted forward, drawing her sabre, and ferally slashed at him, simultaneously screaming into the comn, "FOR ZAFT!"
"Leave me alone!" Kei shouted back, trying and failing to put as much feeling into his voice as she had, and started pressing as many buttons on his joystick as he could at once. The beam rifle his suit was holding shock off in a completely random direction, obliterating the convenience store that he had once sought refuge in; the Vulcans on his head striking her suit's camera; and the shotgun like particle cannon mounted on his other arm taking the GoUF from the torso down. She screamed desperately into the intercom, and the remaining pieces of her suit plummeted towards the ground. The other two prototypes took this opportunity to join the fray., the suit with the DRAGOON backpack catching the plummeting GoUF, and the other suit firing its beam rifles at Kei, who jetted up to evade them. Finally figuring out the controls he swung up his rifle and fired, and to his surprise hit the enemy MS straight in the cockpit. He winced as he saw an explosion, and the severed and burned arm of the woman he had just killed being propelled heavenward. The remaining three GoUF were now approaching him, so he kicked his boosters into overdrive, jetting out of the colony through the breach that the ZAFT had came in.
Escaping the battle wasn't that simple. An orb Kusanagi class battle cruiser was being mercilessly battered by three ZAFT Nazca class warhips, while another Nazca was engaged with a ship of indeterminate model at a distance. The ZAFT GoUF mobile suits were swarming the Kusanagi, battering its defences, but where were the Strikes? The Kusanagi carried a complement of fifteen MS, and six Skygrasper support vehicles. There was only one orb unit on the radar, wait no, two, the other at extreme distance. What was going on here? The unidentified cruiser fired a volley of energy, destroying the Nazca opposing it He also detected the launch of several units from the unidentified, most streaking in his direction. Two units, one mobile armour, and a the other a GuAIZ entered the colony, while one of the units, a MS Kei didn't recognize jetted towards the Kusangi at tremendous speed, vivisecting a GoUF with a vast, two handed plasma blade on its way. The final MS, a Germanic Federation Crusader, flew straight towards him. The Crusader is based off of Raider, an EAF prototype, equipped for high speed melee combat. The suit gave no warning, and discharged its short-range cannons immediately upon getting close to Kei, who panicked and jammed a switch on his console, not knowing what it would do. The blast struck his suit, disabling Kei's verniers, while his own suit merely displayed a message on his console, 'Confirm nuclear launch sequence.' He stared at it in disbelief. Was this thing was equipped with nuclear weapons! The enemy suit, sensing its opponents weakness pressed home, using its hammer to crush the camera of Kei's MS's head. Kei tried to open a comn line, but found he didn't know how. He couldn't even surrender! He once again fired his laser rifle, but this pilot skilfully evaded the blast, and swung in for another pass, smashing the joints on Kei's left arm. Kei fired his spread rifle, yet the pilot dodged that too, and spun around for another pass, discharging a blast of plasma into the damaged MS's back. Kei could only stare in horror as his cockpit started to fill with smoke, his controls unresponsive, the enemy MS moving in for the kill…
"This way!" Kei screamed, pointing towards an industrial complex. He started to run towards the reinforced building, Santino lagging behind him. A sudden burst of insight intruded in Santino's consciousness, and he threw himself backwards to the ground, covering his head and neck with his hands, seconds before the shockwave of a massive explosion propelled him backwards, flames engulfing the spot where he had just stood. Santino couldn't see Kei through the raging inferno, and he made his way back through the commercial district, hoping to find shelter there. Tears welled up in Santino's eyes, "Stupid Kei! How dare you get yourself killed!" He staggered through the blinding hail, and within ten minutes was within the residential section, where he spotted a shelter entrance. Another explosion filled the sky, and pieces of scrap metal rained down on the residential district. The illuminating flashes of weapon fire showed three GoUF fighting two Strike. The Strike were in fast retreat, coming right towards him and bring the GoUF with him. He pounded wildly on the shelter entrance, "LET ME IN! PLEASE, SOMEONE HELP ME!"
The speaker beside him responded. "I can't do that. There's no room."
"Please I'm going to die out here!"
"Sorry no exceptions. Why aren't you already in a shelter, there was plenty of warning?"
"I, I didn't see the message. That's no reason for me to die is it?"
"Sorry, rules are rules. For the safety of the other occupants I cannot permit this shelter to be…"
Santino smashed the comm. line in rage, silencing the callous official. The explosion were getting ever closer, and as he looked a massively bright flash illuminated the sky. Santino took off at a run, another burst of insight saving him from the misaimed Vulcan fire of the remaining Strike, forcing him to take cover behind a dumpster. He felt the vibration of his cell phone, and habit compelled him to answer it before he thought of the situation he was in.
Rena's melodic voice chirped across the line, "Are you okay Santino?"
"No, I'm not okay, I'm far from okay! I'm going to die out here, there no more shelters, and they won't take me in. I'm far to young to die! Help me, Rena, you've got to-"
"Calm down Santino. Look I know someone that can help you. Where are you?"
"Wait what are you talking about? How can you know someone who can help me through this!"
"Just trust me. Where are you?"
"Corner of 4th and Hampshire. Rena what is going on here?" Santino asked, doubt clearly evident in his voice.
"Just trust me. Stay put. Someone will be there to pick you up soon, alright." With that she signed off, leaving Santino cowering behind a dumpster, alone. To his amazement within several minutes a mobile armour landed in the alley. It was coloured a bright orange, with a host of variable weaponry tacked on, but as far as Santino could see it was just an antique Moebius. The cockpit opened up, and the blonde haired man who had confronted them earlier yelled to Santino "Get in!" Not willing to question his salvation, Santino climbed in, wedging himself in behind the seat in the cramped cockpit. The pilot expertly launched the unit into the sky again, and started making his way towards the industrial district.
"What the hell is going on!" Santino demanded, "How do you know Rena, and how do you have a mobile armour, and what is going on out here."
"Look kid, I'll answer these when we're safe, but we're not out of the woods yet. With that Kyle kicked the after burner on the Moebius, narrowly evading fire from an incoming GoUF. He threw the MA into a loop, causing Santino's stomach to heave unpleasantly, and fired all three of the customized MA's magnetic rail guns, connecting solidly with the GoUF and sending it careening into a large house. The remaining two GoUF circled warily, obviously intending to use their manoeuvrability to corner the snub fighter. Kyle grinned as an extensional arrestor, the multipurpose weapon of ZAFT's old GuAIZ model smashed through the cockpit of GoUF flying towards Kyle. Santino screamed as Kyle dropped all power from the MA's thrusters and plummeted towards the ground, again narrowly dodging a hail of streaking energy bolts. Reactivating his thrusters, Kyle also opened a comn to the nearby GuAIZ. "Jace, it took you long enough to get here."
Jace replied laconically, "Perhaps if you had just waited for the rest of us I wouldn't have to bail you out again, mate." The remaining GoUF started to retreat, but Kyle launched a volley of missiles, catching the enemy MS just above the reactor, and causing it to explode into a ball of fire. "I think we missed the boat. Looks like those birds have already found their wings." Jace said, his thick Australian accent coming clear through the intercom.
"We saw one of them on the way in. Betcha Vanessa has it taken care of already." Kyle said. Santino stared in disbelief. First this guy had gone into combat with him crammed in the cockpit, now he was talking about more?
"Whoa. Whoa! WHOA! Santino yelled, worry showing in his voice. "Perhaps you should put me down first, you know, before you start shooting things again!"
Kyle merely grinned at the horrified college student, and, patting Santino on the shoulder said, "Non-stop trip." The expression on Santino's face was priceless, a mixture of shock, self-pity and fear. The Moebius once again accelerated under Kyle's expert touch, going out through a hole in the colony. Two ZAFT Nazca cruiser, and nearly seven GoUF were engaging one MS in combat, which seemed to have no problem evading their desperate attacks. The Moebius, chose not to engage itself in the pitched battle, instead veered for the cruiser that was not engaging in combat. It was instead watching the unfolding battle intently . Kyle's Moebius, closely followed by Jace's GuAIZ, docked with the waiting crusier, which fired off signal flares the instant the two units were inside. The unidentified MS outside destroyed the last of the GoUF, and engaged its massive deutronium powered thrusters, the exhaust from the engines giving it the illusion of having gigantic wings, and in an instant was docked safely aboard the cruiser that Santino had found himself on. The cockpit of the Moebius opened, and Santino jumped up, extremely grateful to be out of the dank hole that he thought that he would die in. His eye was immediately drawn to the MS across the hangar. It was scorched and burned with numerous pieces seeming to have been blown off. Though it looked like it might still be hot from the impact, crews were already looking over it, inspecting the damage and planning what they would fix first.
Kyle placed an arm on Santino's arm, and firmly led him across the hangar. Kyle's unkempt hair obscured his eyes, and Santino couldn't help but feel a little terrified of what was going to happen to him. Kyle led him to a small room, sat him down, and told him to wait. Nearly ten minutes passed before the door started to open. Kei, escorted by the diminutive Rena, entered. She didn't look nearly the same as before. Her hair pulled back in a pair of pig tails, and she was wearing a black jacket with a short, elongated cross with jagged ends prominently visible on the lapel. She was wearing a short skirt just like before. In fact, it was the same colour and fabric as before, and its colour complimented the military style jacket and formal shoes she was wearing, giving her a vaguely military appearance. Kei ran over and gripped his friend in a fearsome hug, one which Santino immediately tried to break. "Come on man, what are you doing!" Santino whispered awkwardly, and attempted to pry Kei off of him.
Kei looked at Santino, very seriously, and said " I thought you were dead."
Chapter 2 done. Chapter three's on the way. Keep on reading. That went a little longer than I thought it would. This is looking like it might get out of hand, lengthwise. I intend to put up two chapters a week, so check back often. Meyrin shows up again next chapter, so keep on reading and reviewing. I apologize in advance for the distinct resemblance it bears to Gundam Seeds beginning. Bear with me, things change quick.