Disclaimer: I don't own Gundam
Sorry for how late this update has been, held up with other things. Anyway here it is. And I know I said I wouldn't physically change the Purpose, but because of a sudden thought I had I've decided to change that plan. Plus more Omakes :)
Gundam Rise Purpose
Chapter 10: Its name is Zero
General Legacy walked through the corridors of the Romefellar foundation base. The soldiers patrolling often looked at him in fear, something Legacy was thankful for. In his eyes it was better to be feared than respected. He crossed the corner and walked into the medical bay. Several Romefellar soldiers saluted before they left their post. The masked man entered the room, standing over the wounded soldier's hospital bed. The patient looked at him in horror as air hissed from the mask.
"You were part of the defence force?" Legacy asked.
"No sir, I just operate a Mistral, we were digging materials from the natural rock around the colony, there was only a small population…"
"There were no civilian casualties were there?" Legacy cut the man off, bringing his masked visage close to the man's cowering face.
"No sir, there wasn't, there was no community, only a military presence," he explained.
"And what pray tell was the federation researching?"
"I don't know sir, I have no idea," the man said.
"You were a contractor then, civilian yes?" Legacy asked.
"Yes sir, those who work for my company are considered civilian."
"Yet you said no civilian casualties," Legacy said.
"Well…"
Legacy suddenly lifted the man off the bed, holding him with his legs dangling off the floor.
"What was the federation doing spy?" he demanded.
"It was a lab, we were mass producing the Strike model G-Weapon," the man explained.
"Mass production of an obsolete machine, and I suppose Treize wanted a part of that deal didn't he?" Legacy asked.
"Yes he did, but in the middle of the project we were asked to switch construction to a gundanium type suit, everything was going fine until the attack," sweat dripped from the man's head and panic had frozen his eyes in a wide angle.
"Describe the attack to me," Legacy said.
"It was an ordinary day, until command centre spotted an object flying into our space, some of the Taurus mobile suits went out to greet it, it was a shuttle but it wasn't…the shuttle changed into a mobile suit, the senior officers screamed 'GUNDAM' and then all hell broke loose, it dispatched the suits with a beam sabre and then just blew up the whole colony with a single shot, I'd never seen a more powerful beam weapon."
"The machine, did it have a green crystal on its chest?"
"Yes it did sir, it did, you believe me don't you?" the man asked.
"Of course, I was counting on it being there, but I wasn't counting on it wasting a shot on a target I wasn't counting on it destroying," Legacy explained.
"I'm sorry sir, what are you talking about?"
"You weren't the initial target, I was counting on the boy to shoot down a colony, after all I had manipulated him into using that system."
"System? What System?"
"You don't need to worry about that anymore," Legacy tightened his grip around the man's neck, continuing to squeeze until his victim stopped moving.
The masked man dropped the soldier and just as casually as he entered left the medical bay. He walked past a nurse, his expression unreadable as the woman screamed at the body on the floor. Security guards moved to investigate but ignored him walking past them. Legacy moved up a floor and relieved the prison guards again. He slid the small hatch on the door opened and looked in at the two prisoners. They returned his gaze, one glaring with a dog's ferocity.
"You again, come back to beat on us?" the boy asked.
He was a teenager, dressed in black clothing with a white priest collar on his shirt. His brown hair was tied into a braid and he had a cocky tone to his voice. The boy beside him was dressed in a black vest with a gold dragon symbol on the chest. He also wore a pair of black armbands and white martial art slacks.
"I have come to see if you are still alive, if you haven't killed yourselves trying to escape, I realise now you already have a plan for escape and that is why your professors have been late in my request for them," Legacy explained.
"That and they're trying to delay whatever comic book plan you've got brewing," the brown haired boy said.
Legacy tilted his head back and laughed.
"Duo Maxwell, I don't need to do anything, your friend is already doing the hard work for me," he chuckled as Duo and Chang Wufei widened their eyes.
"What are you talking about?" Wufei demanded.
"Heero and the nameless one are with the Treize faction, working towards your eventual escape, but there is one of you five pilots unaccounted for, one whose family suffered a tragic loss," Legacy sighed, a mocking notion.
"Quatre," Duo gasped.
"The only son of the Winner family, his father recently died when he attempted to destroy barge. You five pilots were assigned to operation meteor, a plan to strike out against the federation, both as a pre-emptive strike if the Alliance ever turned their nukes against the colonies as they did the Plants and as revenge for the assassination of activist Heero Yuy. But ZAFT launched their N-Jammer cancellers and after much political debate the colony nations decided to support the ever-growing Alliance. The war ended and you were all branded renegades, not even Quatre could take that," Legacy began laughing as Wufei and Duo glared at him.
He turned on his heel and walked out of the room. Once he was gone, Wufie and Duo turned the wall. Duo pressed a button on a small device he held, creating a projection of two mobile suits.
"Keep laughing you freak, we'll have the last laugh," Duo smirked.
The pair continued sitting in their cell like good prisoners, biding their time.
The Treize faction had begun their 'occupation' of the Mukured workshop. Gekido slowly exited the GM, raising his hands as the black uniformed soldiers raised their guns at him. He looked through the crowd and saw Treize himself standing beside Colonel Une. The man clapped his hands, causing Gekido to growl.
"Gekido Jaeger I assume, you've remade yourself I see," he said.
Arthur climbed out of his mobile suit the Wing Knight and looked towards Gekido. He watched the young man shove the soldiers approaching him and glare at Treize.
"You were with the forces that occupied the Lunar city, all hell broke loose there under your watch, what brings you here?" Gekido asked.
"When Colonel Une told me you were there, I knew that I simply had to meet you…that's all!"
Gekido widened his eyes at the blonde haired man. He'd stated a fact, one that seemed simple to him.
"You recently associated yourself with Sensou, what happened?" Gekido asked.
"As you've probably heard, the mobile dolls employed by the Romefellar foundation have been declared illegal, I wonder what Sensou's stance on your machine would be," Treize explained.
"YOU DON'T BRING MY FRIENDS INTO THIS!" Gekido yelled.
The soldiers raised their guns and Une put a hand to her pistol. Treize raised his hand, signalling his bodyguards to calm down.
"I had no intention of offending you, and know that I'm not threatening Sensou, they and I have a very healthy work relationship," he explained.
"That's not what I'm getting at, you don't threaten the Purpose," Gekido growled.
"That machine is simply a more advanced mobile doll," Une said.
"Its more than that," Gekido retorted.
"Colonel Une, please oversee the rearming of our troops and take any messages that come, I wish to speak with Gekido and Mukured alone," Treize explained.
"But your excellency."
"Please Colonel Une!"
Gekido narrowed his eyes at Treize as the man gestured for him to follow. The Zalam infiltrators were quickly rounded up and placed in the brig. Une trusted Treize to come up with an effective method of disposing of them. She looked to his Excellency as he walked with Gekido down the hallway, past the mobile suits that towered over them.
"I greatly admire what you were able to do at Jachin Due, records are sealed but one can not stop hundreds of soldiers from talking about the 'miracle' you performed, that's what they call it you see, and I do suppose modern science has enabled us humans to perform a great many of things that would have been called miracles, the advancement of human evolution for one and of course the creation of an artificial life form, " Treize smiled as Gekido widened his eyes slightly.
"How do you…"
"I have information, from a source that not even Sensou can secure, an Uragiri defector…actually she could be considered the leader of a revolt," Treize explained.
"She? A revolt?" Gekido widened his eyes in both confusion and shock.
Treize stopped and looked up at the Purpose. Mukured and Rody had climbed onto its shoulders and looked at the damage done to the head. Gekido grit his teeth together, wondering why the two mechanics hadn't gotten to work on repairing his suit. He was also concerned over the fact Treize, one of the most powerful men on the Earth had on his side an Uragiri revolutionist.
"No one betrays Uragiri and lives to tell about it," Mukured stated.
"Why aren't you two getting to work on the Purpose?" Gekido asked.
"We're assessing the damage Gekido, but we're not so sure repairing the head is the best idea," Rody said.
"Why not?"
"As we've seen in the past few hours the Purpose's AI is unique, its developing personality which is a direct contradiction of the function of a mobile doll. Its not a doll but it cant be described as completely alive, not yet," the purple haired boy explained.
"He is alive," Gekido retorted.
"And it could very well lose that life if you keep using it," Mukured growled.
"What?"
"The outer damage to the head we can repair but I am not confident in repairing the internal damage to the machine's neural network. There's never been a machine like the Purpose before Gekido, I cant repair the inner damage without completely replacing the parts, if they aren't fixed manually then the data the Purpose has acquired could be lost," the older man explained.
"So your basically saying he could go brain dead?" Gekido asked.
"Stop doing that, stop calling it he, this machine is not yet sentient," Mukured shot back.
"YOU'RE WRONG! HE'S ALIVE!" Gekido yelled.
Mukured looked down at Gekido in shock. The young man had his fists squeezing his palms, his eyes shining slightly. Treize noted the passion Gekido had spoken with and compared it to loyalty to a friend.
"I see, either you have gone insane or the rumours surrounding this machine are true, I think I'll choose to believe the rumours," Treize smiled.
"What do you mean?" Gekido asked.
"It means I'll give you a shuttle to reach the one person who may be able to repair the Purpose, her name is Excella," Treize said.
"Excella Hannigan? The mobile suit surgeon? The one who established the deep space colony 'Rise' before she disappeared?" Rody asked.
"Excella as in the researcher who puts her humanity before professional curiosity?" Lalapaly widened her eyes slightly.
"Hannigan, the myth and legend that apparently served as Aeolia Schenberg's assistant and confidante alongside E.A Ray. If she does exist then she's older than these sunglasses," Mukured huffed as he removed his glasses.
"Oh my god…you actually do have eyes," Gekido quipped.
Mukured growled in annoyance as his wife and son laughed at the joke. He put his sunglasses back on and used a line to zip down the Purpose.
"Excella Hannigan is a myth kid, a ghost of the past most choose to ignore. She and Schenberg were apparently good friends, but after his deep space mission she disappeared and was apparently last seen by a deep space satellite building a colony round about the time George Glen launched his exploration mission. She's just one of numerous figures created by conspiracy theorists, like the grinning man, the grey aliens, Santa Claus," Mukured laughed.
"What name did they have for Excella?" Gekido asked.
"Lady Eternity!"
Mukured began laughing at what he thought was something absurd. He stopped however, widening his eyes as everyone present did. Time seemed to slow as they watched Gekido fall face first to the floor.
"GEKIDO!"
It was the Agamemnon class vessel Matilda's routine patrol. With the war over, the ship had taken to patrolling the borders of the colonies, the ones financed by Earth corporations. The crewmembers were more relaxed than they had ever been and they had every right to be. This was just a routine mission in a peaceful area of the colonies. The captain leant back in his chair, reading a sports magazine he had imported from Earth. He yawned slightly as he listened in on a conversation about Sensou.
"So this Southern African town declares its independence, but then it lets Sensou set up a base there, kind of a contradiction right?" the crew member asked.
"They probably realised independence wasn't worth shit if they didn't have an army to protect them."
Just as he began to think of this mission as an easy job, the captain noticed an alert symbol at one of the radar workstations.
"Someone check the radar, we have an incoming heat source," he ordered.
"Sir, I've got it on mine, it looks like a shuttle of some kind, heavily modified," one of the crewmembers said.
"Incoming shuttle, divert your course, if you have business in the nearby colony please state it now," the captain said over the radio.
The captain narrowed his eyes at the shuttle, a white jet like mobile armour with a red nose cone.
"Have the mobile suit pilots prepare for launch, just in case," he said cautiously.
As the pilots climbed into their Daggers, the captain resumed his attempts to establish contact with the unknown shuttle.
"Unidentified shuttle, state your business in the colony, identify yourself or we will fire on you," the captain frowned, as once again the pilot seemed to ignore his demand. "Load missile tubes," he ordered.
"Sir we're getting some form of activity from the shuttle!"
The crew widened their eyes as the shuttle began to fold and twist, hands shooting out of its arms and pulling the cannons of its shield. It linked the cannons together, forming a rifle and attaching the shield to its arm. The machine revealed its head, the face of a Gundam as the green crystal in the centre of its chest glowed.
"Its, it's a Gundam," one of the radar operators gasped.
"ALL UNITS LAUNCH! ASSUME HOSTILITY!" the captain yelled.
The Gundam raised its rifle, aiming at the Matilda. Six daggers launched from the ship, each armed with standard equipment. Missiles flew from the Matilda, darting towards the mobile suit. The Gundam opened the white hunches between its head and shoulders, revealing a pair of Gatling guns. Each missile was cut apart by the flurry of bullets the Gundam fired. It turned to the approaching mobile suits, attaching its rifle to its shield. The Gundam drew its sabre as one of the Daggers fired its rifle. After blocking the shot, the Gundam moved forward, stabbing the Dagger in the chest. Its pilot screamed as the cockpit was consumed by the beam.
"BASTARD!" one of the other pilots yelled.
The Dagger drew its sabre, swinging it at the Gundam. But the Gundam quickly blocked the sabre with its own and crushed the Dagger's visor with it shield. It then fired several bullets into the Dagger's cockpit, shredding the pilot inside. Beams flew from the Matilda, but the Gundam dodged the shots with seemingly little effort. It swung around, slashing one of the Daggers across the chest. Another Dagger flew at the Gundam, firing shot after shot from its rifle. But the Gundam turned again and fired several more bullets, shredding through the Daggers head before hitting the cockpit.
"Damn it, this thing's performance is demonic," one of the pilots said.
He screamed as the Gundam stabbed the Dagger in the chest. The Gundam then grabbed its Buster rifle and targeted the enemy ship.
"MOVE INTO EVASIVE POSITION!" the captain yelled.
He widened his eyes as the Gundam fired its rifle. A yellow beam erupted from the rifle's barrel, expanding as it travelled towards the ship. The crew of the ship screamed, the armour around them melting under the heat of the beam. The Gundam lowered its arm as the beam consumed its target. Inside the white machine, its pilot huffed and puffed out heavy breaths. He looked at his monitor, seeing the destination of his target and the designation of his machine: Zero.
He slowly opened his eyes, widening his eyes at his surroundings. It was the clear liquid of his pod, he was back where he began, aware yet incapable of doing anything. Gekido looked at the world outside the glass and saw his creator Uragiri looking back at him. Or she had at least authorised and financed his creation; he had no idea who actually invented the process that created him.
"Doktor Zed, there's a problem with my dog," Uragiri smiled wickedly as she walked around Gekido's containment pod.
A grey haired man pushed his glasses up his nose. The lenses of his glasses shined, completely obscuring his eyes as he read from a clipboard.
"He's what you wanted, a dog to be unleashed, don't feel bad that he killed several of our allies Extended children and traumatised another, from what I've heard they were able to suppress her fear of death with a code word and have begun using code words in their other subjects," the man explained, his voice indicated that he was obviously over fifty years old.
Uragiri sighed, running a hand through her platinum blonde hair.
"I wanted him to be perfect, to obey me, to kill for me, to die for me, to love only me, but he's too unpredictable…I think Akushi is altering his education routine," she turned to the Doktor, a dark anger spreading across her face.
"You were trying to replace him, what did you expect, its not the first time its been done. But I wonder Lady Uragiri, are you trying to create a lover because you know your fellow perfect coordinator will reject you, Kira Yamato has lived a normal life, whilst you are the pawn of the organisation which is in turn an arm of the system," Zed laughed as Uragiri slammed her fist against the glass.
"You chose the perfect being as your leader, so she should have a perfect commander, a perfect enforcer, a perfect lover…if I have to kill hundreds to achieve perfection, if I have to dispose of more than one subject before the perfect one is made then so be it," she snapped.
Doktor Zed laughed, lowering his clipboard to look at Uragiri.
"I suppose putting him to a different use is out of the question, his berserker capabilities while unpredictable are useful as is his ability to interface with the machines he pilots. If you must achieve perfection then use him as the perfect bomb, all of the destruction and none of the fall out," the man explained, once again pushing the bridge of his glasses.
Gekido suddenly felt a swell of uncontrollable anger. He crashed his hands against the glass and let out a bestial growl.
Gekido's eyes snapped open as he gasped for air. Lalapaly and Rody moved instantly to the sofa they had placed him on. The boy had a glass of water ready, whilst Lalapaly felt Gekido's forehead with the back of her hand.
"You were sweating earlier, most people only have a warm sweat in space during re-entry," Rody said.
The one eyed man looked at his surroundings more. A brown haired teen in and OZ uniform sat on the sofa opposite. Behind him, under the supervision of two armed OZ soldiers was another brown haired boy. Whilst the one in the OZ uniform had longer brown hair with a bang over his eye, the other had shorter and lighter brown hair. He wore a pair of black shirts and a green tank top, his arms were bound and he had an emotionless expression on his face.
"Gekido Jaeger I presume," the boy in the uniform said.
"Yeah that's me, how long was I out?" Gekido asked, taking the water Rody offered.
"About an hour, my husband was going to get a doctor but Treize's medic checked you over," Lalapaly explained.
Gekido rubbed his patch in frustration and tilted the water down his throat.
"What happened?" Rody asked.
"Nothing, I haven't been sleeping very well that's all, I guess fatigue caught up with me," Gekido sighed.
"You're lying!" the boy in the handcuffs spoke up for the first time.
He sounded more mature than he was supposed to be, more like an adult than a sixteen year old. Gekido looked into the boy's eyes, holding his gaze in a staring contest. The one eyed pilot twitched as his 'opponents' eyes remained still. Gekido strained to keep his eye open and his determination and frustration seemed to form an aura as heavy as the artificial gravity. Rody and Lalapaly retreated to the corner, both shaking in fear.
"Ahem!" the boy in the uniform cleared his throat and Gekido lowered his head in defeat.
'And I thought the Exia's pilot was bad,' Gekido sighed.
"I'm Trowa Barton, the prisoner behind me is Heero Yuy, a codename I assure you," the young soldier explained.
"Do you have any connection to the Barton family?" Gekido asked.
He felt like giving Trowa credit as the young man simply shook his head, his expression betrayed no hint of suspicion. Trowa also looked comfortable in the uniform, there were two kinds of people uncomfortable in uniforms, people who found it genuinely uncomfortable and spies. But there was something off about him, something Gekido couldn't place. It was the feeling that Trowa didn't belong in OZ. He looked Heero over and huffed.
"Heero Yuy huh? I've heard vague things about that pacifist, he was as famous as Zeon Deikun," Gekido said.
"He was assassinated last year," Heero said.
"And Deikun was apparently killed by the first person to be imprisoned on the Prometheus station," Trowa added.
"I've heard of the Prometheus station, it was apparently abandoned last year and decommissioned," Rody said.
"So how come I've got the escort?" Gekido finally cut to the heart of the matter.
"Treize wanted us to meet, I'm the pilot of the Vayaete, Heero is piloting the Mercurious," Trowa stated.
"I get it, he wants to set me up into a fight with you guys," Gekido grinned.
"He would probably like to test which of our mobile suits is better," Trowa sighed.
"Which do you think is better?" Gekido asked Heero.
"They are all good for machines built for specific styles of fighting, the Mercurious and the Vayaete are supposed to work together, the Purpose personifies the aspects of both machines without the need of a partner, it is capable of simultaneous attack and defence, in the end it will come down to who has the better pilot."
Rody and Lalapaly blinked in confusion before sweat drops ran down their heads, that was the most Heero had said all day. A beeping sound on the monitor alerted Trowa and he moved to pick it up.
"How often do you have these black outs?" Lalapaly asked as she checked Gekido's temperature.
"Cut it out already, I'm fine," he growled.
"We're worried all right? You did just collapse a few hours ago," Rody said.
"Leave him be," Heero said.
The pair looked at Heero, shocked again as he spoke, without even looking at them.
"He'll tell you when he's ready," he said.
"What?"
They looked to Trowa and saw that he had a look of shock across his usually stoic face.
"What's wrong?" Heero asked.
"We need to go and see Treize right away," Trowa said.
"Wait, I'm going with you, this is the old man's station anyway so Treize just cant take it like its his," Gekido put on his helmet and walked up behind Heero.
"You just leave, as soon as you can," Heero warned the pilot.
"Maybe I will, once I find out what Treize really wanted," Gekido retorted.
"We don't have time for this, come on," Trowa motioned to the door.
The two-armed guards walked past Gekido and began pushing Heero towards the door. Gekido followed behind them, putting his hood over his head. Treize and Une were already in Mukured's office, which they had converted into a makeshift command centre. The holographic display that had once shown off mobile suit parts had been turned into a map display, showing a colony and its defence force. Gekido widened his eye when saw the display of the map.
"Ah Gekido, we were worried about you, but I'm afraid we'll have to cut our conversation short, we seem to be having a little crisis here," Treize said.
"What's going on?" Gekido asked.
"A few hours ago we received a message from a Gundam pilot, claiming that he would destroy a colony and that it should be evacuated immediately," Une explained.
"There are only two Gundam pilots that we know of that would stand to profit from attacking an OZ occupied colony, the other three are accounted for, one stands before you and two more have been captured by people we know to be working under Uragiri," Trowa explained, although his heart didn't seem to be into the briefing.
"How exactly does he intend to destroy a whole colony?" Gekido asked.
"The same way he destroyed the defence force, a buster rifle that has the equivalent power of a battleship's main gun," Heero said.
"How would you know that?"
"My Gundam had a similar weapon, the powers limited so it only possesses a few shots, but the idea is to use the weapon to bust a bunker or eliminate en entire squadron of enemy forces, its essentially so powerful you wont need extra ammo," the stoic pilot explained.
"I get it, this Gundam pilot, can he be negotiated with?" Gekido asked.
"It's a possible option your Excellency," Trowa said.
"I doubt it, he's intent on his goal, he's already killed to get to the colony, fighting him may be the only solution," Treize said.
Gekido narrowed his eyes slightly at the design of the Gundam that appeared on the screen. It seemed almost angelic in appearance, which was probably what made it all the more terrifying. He grit his teeth together, angered by the actions of the Gundam pilot. His eyes turned to Heero and Trowa, they were very subtle but he could tell that they knew the pilot.
"Our response should be quick and immediate, intercept the Gundam before it reaches the colony," Treize said.
Trowa saluted, whilst the soldiers dragged Heero to the door. Gekido turned to Treize as the man approached him.
"We would be happy to provide you with a suit so you can aid us, I know it must be hard to stay on the side lines," Treize explained.
"I don't need charity Treize, I'll make my own way to the battlefield," Gekido said.
Treize nodded his head and smiled, perhaps suspecting what Gekido already had planned. Gekido continued looking at the image of the Gundam, until he heard a gasp behind him. Mukured stood staring at the Gundam with horror in his eyes. Gekido then narrowed his eyes and turned to the engineer.
"You know what it is don't you?" he asked.
He grabbed Mukured by the collar of his shirt and dragged him out of the room. First checking to see if Treize or Une were watching, when Gekido saw that neither they nor their men were anywhere to be seen he slapped Mukured across the face.
"Tell me what you know and stop hiding things from me," he growled.
"Okay, listen I know what it is but I had nothing to do with it going after the colonies, round about the time Hunter was looking to create the Gundam he went through several initial plans, two of those plans involved a transformation process but both plans for scrapped for separate reasons, the Zeta was scrapped because the suit was too complicated to create in the time Hunter had and the Zero was scrapped because of the computer system it had built into it," Mukured explained.
"What was so complicated about its computer system?" Gekido asked.
"The Zero system was designed to bring out the potential of the pilot but forcing probabilities into the pilot's mind, as soon as the machine goes on the system activates and bombards the pilot with scenarios, to put it short the machine very subtly tells the future!"
"A system that sees potential futures, why cant you scientists leave well enough alone?"
"It was never built, the Wing Zero was replaced with the Wing, which didn't have the Zero system implanted on it," Mukured said.
"I get it now, the Wing Zero's blue prints still remained, so someone obviously got their hands on it and built the Gundam themselves," Gekido sighed and let go of Mukured.
"Anyone tell you that you jump to conclusions too much?" Mukured asked.
"Maybe, one thing I do know is that those two will regret killing him," Gekido said.
"What do you mean?" Mukured raised his eyebrows in confusion.
"Trowa and Heero, I need to stop them from killing their friend and I need to stop that guy from becoming irredeemable," Gekido explained.
Mukured put a hand to his chin and nodded his head.
"I don't completely understand what you're saying but it sounds like you've decided what you're going to do," he sighed.
Gekido looked the engineer as he smiled.
"It's a good thing I had some equipment retrofitted onto the Purpose whilst you were out," Mukured said.
Mukured led Gekido into the hanger, where his mechanics had just finished working on some changes to the Purpose. Gekido widened his eyes at the Purpose, its sniper rifle and hyper bazooka had been scrapped and replaced with a mega cannon on the right shoulder. Grey armoured plates had been placed on its legs, shoulders, and its chest area and over the face, but leaving the V-fin exposed.
"Incredible," Gekido smiled.
"The Gundam Purpose Shroud type, just in case you run into anyone else who will recognise you," Mukured said.
"I see, can I still move as fast as I did before and change into jet form?" Gekido asked.
"Yes, it was difficult but we left the speed and transformation abilities intact," Rody said, floating past the Purpose.
"All right, I've got a plan and I need your help," Gekido said.
Mukured and Rody listened closely as Gekido recounted his plans to the family of engineers.
Heero sat inside the Mercurios, dressed in an OZ flight suit but far from loyal to the organisation. He sat with his arms crossed thinking over the situation. Quatre must have been the pilot. The young man was a nice guy, a gentle soul who didn't like fighting. But that didn't matter to Heero anymore, if Quatre had become his enemy he would kill him, he wouldn't like it but there were certain things he had do to. Trowa however had a greater internal struggle. Quatre had been one of the first Gundam pilots he met and was probably the only person he could consider a friend.
'Quatre, what happened?' Trowa wondered.
Une stood on the command bridge of her small shuttle. Treize insisted on bringing small and simple designed carriers, not the grand ships ZAFT and the Earth Alliance had created.
"His Excellency will not accept failure, we will protect that colony no matter the cost," Une said.
"Roger that," Heero said, more to himself than the colonel.
"Ma'am, we have a heat source coming in from the direction of the mobile suit factory," one of the CIC staff reported.
Une raised her eyebrows in confusion.
"I think… it's the Purpose ma'am!"
"Message incoming from the factory!"
"On screen," Une said.
A screen appeared in front of Une, showing a crying Lalapaly.
"Oh Colonel Une its terrible, we upgraded the Purpose as Gekido asked but he refused to pay us, he knocked Mukured out cold and said he would destroy the whole station if we didn't let him out," the woman cried.
Une grit her teeth together in frustration. Lalapaly cut the line with Une and turned to her husband and son, giving them both the thumbs up.
"Taurus unit intercept immediately," the colonel commanded.
"Belay that order," a voice said over the radio.
The Purpose flew past the shuttle containing the Mercurious and Vayaete. The Tallgeese 2 floated in the path of the Purpose, its arms crossed the same as its pilot. Treize smiled as Gekido flew past him.
"As much as I want to see the Gundam fight our own suits, I think I'd much rather witness a battle between two true Gundams," Treize explained.
"Your Excellency!"
"Don't worry Colonel Une, I saw the look in that man's eye, he refuses to fail again!"
The Purpose's wings shined a red colour as it left a trail of energy behind it. Gekido sat inside the suit wearing his cyber suit; only his eye could be seen in the darkness of his faceplate.
"Gekido Kuzunagi, Shrouded Purpose heading out!"
Next Chapter 11: Zero vs. Purpose
Omake 3
Biggs's Data book
Biggs: Hello readers, I'm back with more knowledge on Gundams. This time I explore the main five Gundams of the Wing series.
Duo: Actually I think you can leave that to us.
Biggs: Nani? This is my Omake!
Heero: We begin with Gundam unit 01, Wing Gundam, built by Doctor J the Wing Gundam is built as the most agile of the Gundams, with a bird mode capable of atmospheric flight. The Gundam also possesses an advanced buster rifle capable of eliminating massive number of enemy forces, however it has the drawback of only having three shots before it has to recharge. Reveal that weakness and I will kill you!
Biggs: That statement doesn't have the same effect on an AI.
Duo: My turn, Gundam unit 02, the Deathscythe of the Shinigami, built by Professor G as a close quarters combat suit, the only long range weapons the Deathscythe has are its Vulcans and its buster shield, which can be sent flying into an enemy with messy effects. While the beam scythe is the Gundam's deadliest weapon, its also equipped with a hyper jammer ECM system that renders the suit invisible to electronic sensors, battleships wont see this suit coming unless they look out the window.
Trowa: I don't see the point of this but here it goes, Gundam Unit 03, the Heavyarms built by Doktor S. Armed with heavy gatling guns and missiles launchers built into its body, the Heavyarms is built to hold its own against and army and to quickly dominate single opponents. Though it uses solid shell ammo that it can run out of, the Heavyarms has a blade built onto its right forearm and can eject its arm to reveal a beam sabre, ensuring that Heavyarms never goes down without a fight.
Biggs: Interesting, Akushi Thanos's Massacre Gundam and its successors seem to be based on the Heavyarms, with more close quarters weapons built into them.
Quatre: Sandrock doesn't seem to have inspired any other Gundam designs; I suppose Instructor H would have wanted it that way, Unit 04 is built as the most durable of the Gundams, able to withstand not just harsh gunfire but harsh environments too. Its also capable of bearing the most weight, wielding two massive heat blades into battle that it can also attach to its shield to form a pincer type weapon. Topped with its Vulcan and twin missile launchers, Sandrock is tough through and through.
Wufei: Nataku is classed as Unit 05 by OZ, Master O and others call it Shenlong, meaning god dragon, but only I can called it Nataku. Built as a close quarters combat suit, Nataku is as agile as the Wing Gundam and its beam glaive strikes targets faster than the Deathscythe. Living up to its name, the Gundam's main weapon is the dragon fang on the right arm; it can stretch to crush and grapple enemies from afar and is resistant to beam weapons, and for that extra kick to live up to the dragon name it has a pair of flame throwers built into it.
Biggs: Something else to note, famous pilot Sakon Date's suit the Dokuganryu also possesses a dragon fang, except this one is built into the suit's back, giving it a deformed appearance when in use and is built specifically for crushing. The Five Gundams are incredible machines when alone, but what would happen to an army if all five were brought together? Such an option however is not possible, as some of the machines have disappeared or been destroyed!
Gekido: It'll be good to see them in action again, that's the system of Gundam, the suits are as resilient as the pilots and you can bet you'll see them again better than ever.