Disclaimer: I don't own Gundam
I'm very sorry this hasn't been updated in a while, I have no intention of giving up this series, so I'm going to try and get updates up for this, Gundam Seed Purpose Renew and Lion's silence and especially Gundam Seed Destiny or Liberty.
Gundam Rise Purpose
Chapter 14: Gunpla of the week
Surprisingly Gekido found Gunpla building fun; it was like the times he had to tinker with the Purpose or the Nenshou. Even though his awakening had fully unveiled his cyborg enhancements, Gekido still considered himself human enough to enjoy some of the most basic things. Creativity was one of those things, after creating a few 'mutated' mobile suits utilising combination parts Gekido began drawing blue prints for a refined arc generator conduction and propulsion system, along with plans for an armour shroud he would have the 'Gundam experts' prepare for him, once he found them of course. He looked over his strands of hair and sighed. The dye he had bought was beginning to wear out and his roots were beginning to show. Once he was in deep space people seeing his face wouldn't be an issue, and he had hopefully formed enough of a respect with the Shrike team and Woolf to earn a place on the survey ship. As he drew his blue prints he also held a model instruction kit. The model would be for something called the Forever Gundam, apparently it was a model kit intended to honour all Gundams, though Gekido didn't know why somebody didn't produce it into an actual mobile suit. It looked like the First Gundam with extra armour and four funnel units. Taking a break from his planning, Gekido lost himself in making the Forever Gundam, even painting grey over the white and red areas of the armour. He placed the Gundam on the drying space and walked to the area of the workshop that Sei and Reiji worked at.
"There I did it, can I go now?" Reiji asked.
Sei wiped a bit of blue paint off of his cheek and turned to his best friend's work. Reiji had put together a basic model of what was called the Beginning Gundam. Some of the areas weren't filed down, in fact Reiji's work was kind of like Gekido's, basic, and he tore most of the parts of the packet rather than use cutters.
"Get the file and rub those parts down, and the stickers need some work," Sei said.
"I think next time I wont bother, the GP simulator mimics the glowing effect of the eyes anyway," Reiji huffed as he made his way to the door.
"Where are you going?" Sei asked.
"Out, I need some food," the red haired boy said.
"All you do is eat," Sei turned back to his work and picked up where he left off.
Reji grinned before walked out of the room. Gekido walked to Reiji's work desk and picked up the Beginning Gundam. The arm quickly fell off, showing that Reiji hadn't stuck the limbs together properly, forgoing being thorough so that he could get away quickly. Gekido rebuilt the arm and connected it to the main body. He then moved the other limbs and head around and tested the integrity of the Gunpla by giving the feet a light stomp on the desk, like how a child would play with their toy.
"Battle ready at least," he said.
"You could give it a try if you'd like," Sei said.
"Thanks, you're pretty eager to join Sensou aren't you?" Gekido asked.
"For all the talent their recruits have, they're just a small group," Sei lowered his head as he spoke, adjusting the wings of the flight pack he was making for his Strike. "They're fighting for a good cause but those willing to reinforce their beliefs against world powers must have an army in order to survive. My dad's going to build that army, and I'll build suits for Gundam pilots," he explained.
"Its good to know what you want to do," Gekido sighed.
"What are you aiming for?" Sei asked.
"Answers, to a lot of questions that people think don't matter, but over the past few days I'm starting to learn that they're more important than ever. I want to connect all the dots to all these mysteries I've been discovering, I want to find the connections, and then probably throw them in the faces of certain people that refuse to get involved like you do," Gekido explained.
"You know," Rinko spoke from the doorway, "Enjoying peace and living it isn't wrong," she said.
"Maybe if you weren't directly involved in making that peace, but keeping that peace, its your duty, your responsibility to keep it going."
"What about living a life?" Rinko asked.
'Problem is I wont have much of a life to live,' Gekido thought, touching his heart.
He had no idea how long his heart would keep beating before his body shut down like a machine that had reached its limit.
"Thanks for the hospitality," he said before turning to leave the workshop.
"Do you want to give that Gunpla a test run?" Mao asked.
Gekido looked at the model still in his hand and huffed.
"No thanks," he set it on the table and walked to the front door.
Woolf was waiting on the other side, leaning against the wall beside the door. Gekido paid him only a moment's notice before walking forward.
"What exactly are you running from kid?" the white haired man asked.
"I'm not running," Gekido retorted.
"You talk about how your friends are living in the peace that people died to protect, that they should be living to protect it, but what are you doing, sure you've gotten involved when the opportunity has come around, but is this search for your answers really helping Sensou's cause?"
"I'm not out there looking for answers to a few meaningless questions, something tells me that my past is also connected to the deeper secrets of the cosmic era, including the corruption at the heart of not only the Earth Alliance but ZAFT as well," Gekido explained.
"So go to your friends, tell them about this feeling you have, wouldn't it be better for you to seek answers out on a ship that you're familiar with, with a crew that you consider family?" Woolf asked.
"They are not my family, I don't even know who my genetic template is," Gekido said.
"You do this lone wolf thing, but listen up one eyed dragon you've got a lot of people willing to be your right eye," Woolf said.
"Cute," Gekido huffed.
Woolf sighed as Gekido kept on walking. He saw a lot of Flit in the young man, both were consumed by an obsession with a single cause and were even willing to push away their family for it. Gekido walked towards the nearby market place, keeping an eye on the Alliance soldiers walking amongst the crowds. The Build colony relied on machines for the economy, at every store Gekido went to he saw something based upon technology, the public Gunpla battle stations, shops that sold Haro's, music and game stores, hardware stores as well as a multitude of garages for automobiles and mobile suits. Then there was the giant amongst them, PPSE, the company that served as the primary source of income for the colony.
'Although there are some good restaurants,' Gekido thought as he eyed the nearby meat bun stand.
He regarded the stand curiously as a white haired girl walked out of the paying area. Reiji was beginning a silent pursuit behind her. Out of mere curiosity Gekido watched the two teens, the girl was also dressed in white clothes that included a top, elbow length gloves and boots. Reiji had a look in his eyes, one Gekido recognised from seeing the boy's reaction to Rinko's cooking.
"I see he hasn't reached the stage where he thinks with what's below his stomach," Gekido huffed.
He looked past where Reiji and the girl walked to and saw two men also watching the teens. Both had sunglasses on, one had silver hair and the other had brown hair set into a familiar hairstyle. Gekido widened his eyes slightly, recognising that hairstyle almost immediately. He began running past Aila and Reiji, towards the two men, whom retreated into one of the nearby studios. Just as Gekido passed them, Reiji reached his hand into the girl's bag and pulled out the meat bun she had bought.
"Hmmm," Reiji sniffed the bun before putting it in his mouth.
"HEY!" the girl yelled.
"I owed you after losing that last meat bun," Reiji said.
"I didn't lose it, you knocked it out of my hand," Aila retorted.
"Only because you wouldn't give it to me!"
"You're insufferable," Aila growled.
"Then why do you hang out with me?" Reiji asked, shrugging his shoulders.
He looked towards Gekido, who had continued following the two men. The mercenary followed them into the studio, once he walked inside he began to regret it. Music was coming out of the speakers, music that Gekido didn't want to hear.
Rie Tanaka-Fields of Hope
"Lacus," Gekido whispered, then shook his head and began walking down the steps towards the stage.
As he walked, Gekido remembered, his life, or at least what little of a life he had lived. He remembered what had bought him here, he remembered those friends he had made along the way. Lacus's smiling face, the tears in her eyes when she wanted him to comfort her, over the death of her father. The tears she had in her eyes when she wanted to comfort him for the deaths of his adopted family members. Those same adopted family members, his siblings whom died tragically when their escape shuttle was destroyed. Yamato, his adopted father, the second person to show him kindness, to see him as more than just a fake.
Further away from the studio, Flit stood watching his troops shake down several businesses. He lowered his head slightly, seeing a young boy trying to help his father off the ground. Several people were dragged out of their homes and put onto the sidewalk. Flit's expression turned hard as his second officer told them where they had been hiding. The soldiers immediately began to take the people and drag them onto trucks. The scene had been witnessed by a horrified Mao, as well as Fellini and an American boy, Nils Nielson.
At the Iori garage, Sei looked up at the Purpose Gundam in awe. Takeshi hung off of a harness on the ceiling, looking at the Purpose's chest, making adjustments with his tools. He wiped a bit of sweat off of his brow and smiled down at Sei. The boy had begun to work on the machine's legs, examining the wear on the armour. Rinko walked into the room, holding a tray with coffee and marshmallows in. Taking a break from work, the family sat together and ate, with Sei showing off his new Gunpla to his parents.
Woolf rubbed the back of his head as he walked into the Kousaka cafe. There, the Shrike team stood around Trowa and Quatre. A strong expression crossed Woolf's face as he looked around, checking to see if there were any Earth Alliance personnel in the area. When he was satisfied, he sat down and told the pilots about what had happened on the streets.
Gekido continued walking towards the stage, thinking of the Archangel and its crew, those first few friends he had made. Kira and Flay, both probably together now and happy. Cagalli, the self righteous girl who would always step up to people to try and make her point. He remembered the way he chewed her and her desert fighter friends out. Even Athrun, whom he repeatedly fought, became a comrade. Two more faces flashed before his eyes as he stepped onto the stage, Canard Pars and Miguel Aiman, his best friend and rival. He lowered his head and smiled sadly, then an excruciating pain consumed his body. Gekido fell to his knees, gripping his heart and gritting his teeth together. It felt like his entire body was cramped, his legs and hands were difficult to move, then there was the migraine.
End OST
"I see its begun," a voice spoke from the shadows.
Gekido raised his head, widening his eyes slightly as the two men he had been following, revealed themselves. One by one they took off their glasses, the brown haired one smirking at Gekido.
"Gud Vair, and...Kira," Gekido looked at both men in confusion.
"Hey old friend, how are you doing?" the Kira lookalike asked.
"Now I know you're not Kira, too informal, Killer I presume?" Gekido asked, standing up.
"You remember me, I didn't think you'd recognise me," Killer said.
"General Memory, Killer Memory, and this must be a clone," Gekido snarled, looking at the Gud copy.
"We refer to him as Dug Raiv," Killer said.
"You both work for that masked man don't you?" Gekido asked.
"Naturally, it seems like destiny for you to interfere with his plans," Dug Raiv said, his voice emotionless, a contrast to the emotions Gekido remembered from the original.
"What exactly is he planning here?"
"He hasn't really had to do that much planning, just one little attack with Vagan suits and Flit Asuno rushes in, he's so eager to kill Vagan's you know, he makes me rather jealous," Killer explained.
"What do you mean?" Gekido asked, raising his eyebrows, he had to remember he wasn't talking to Kira.
"Well he can argue an excuse to his superiors, he can throw in their faces every time he kills, the reason why he hates the Vagan so much, because that movement killed his parents, he's consumed by the desire to get revenge. If only I had something to avenge, my superiors would let me kill whenever I wanted to...which is all the time," Killer laughed, swinging his head back.
Gekido squeezed his hands into fists and took a step forward. As soon as he did, the section of floor he stood on slid further away from the two men. Taking on a defensive stance, Gekido narrowed his eyes as a board rose from the floor, a Gunpla battle board.
"Behold, the latest thing to turn killing into a sport," Killer said.
"It's a game," Gekido huffed.
"Yeah, but every game seems to involve some kind of killing, why? Because deep down inside, humanity wants to kill, it wants to be violent," Killer explained.
"I see, you're one of those people huh, justifying his own sick mind by comparing himself to humanity, trying to make himself seem less evil in comparison to society as a whole, seen that and already bored with it," Gekido said.
He drew a pistol from his pocket, shocking Killer with his action.
"Wait, we're supposed to kill one another in mobile suits," he said.
"Yeah, figured I should cut the whole 'wait until they're in a mobile suit' cliché, you two are clearly up to no good," Gekido stated, pulling off the safety and aiming at Killer.
"You could kill us, but where would the fun in that be, besides," Killer said, as Dug drew his own pistol, pointing it at the two teenagers standing at the spectator chairs.
Gekido followed his gaze to Reiji and Aila. Cursing underneath his breath, he focused on Killer again.
"Can you really risk Gud shooting those two innocent kids? Just to stop us?" Killer asked.
"Two kids against possibly the whole colony, and a whole a lot more after that? Damn right I should risk it, if those two are the last people you kill, then I'll pay that price, I'm on borrowed time anyway," Gekido explained.
"Aaah, but there's something else too, do you recall our first fight, that damage you applied to my machine?"
"I just wasn't thorough enough," Gekido said.
"Oh but you were Gekido, believe me, I was dead as a Dodo, so why do you think I'm alive now?"
"I don't really care," Gekido retorted.
"Then allow me to show you," Killer grinned as he took Dug's gun.
He put the gun the clone's head and pulled the trigger. Reiji put his hands to his mouth, looking at the brain matter that had spread across the floor. Killer laughed at the shocked expression on Gekido's face, he continued laughing, the sound getting muffled as he put the gun in his mouth. Gekido frowned as the man pulled the trigger, Reiji closed his eyes, but Aila didn't. The Gunpla board suddenly lit up, displaying a holographic version of Killer, in a black version of Kira's flight suit.
"Hello Gekido, surprised? With enough money, the right technology, and the right amount of sacrifice, immortality is possible, well, a form of immortality at least. You see Dug and I, we're fakes like you. But unlike you, we have spare bodies, our digital consciousnesses, our memories, personality, etc can be transferred to these spare bodies through the computers built into each brain," Killer explained.
"I'm not a fake," Gekido said.
"Of course you are, you were created artificially just like us, you don't have memories of a past because that past doesn't exist, only the memories that Uragiri programmed into you!"
"You have more in common with Le Crescet than with me," Gekido snarled.
"True, although our creator the good Doktor would be severely angry if his work was to be compared with La Flaga's, we don't suffer from degeneration. The argument could be made that our minds are unstable, but let's face it our originals weren't the most stable guys anyway," Killer shrugged his shoulders.
"Tell me, is it coincidence that I keep ending up in the exact place you try to cause trouble at?" Gekido asked.
"I did say it was destiny, and that's all I will leave you with, that and this, I'd start running," Killer grinned before disappearing.
A timer suddenly appeared on the holographic display. Counting down from ten seconds.
"YOU TWO MOVE NOW!" Gekido yelled at Aila and Reiji.
He broke off into a sprint, stepping off of the audience chairs and grabbing both teens. Gekido dived, shielding Aila and Reiji as the board blew up. The shockwave from the explosion threw the three of them out of the studio. Gekido rolled across the floor, both Aila and Reiji bouncing off of him.
"Damn it," Gekido growled, clicking his neck into place and looking towards the teens.
He grabbed Reiji, shaking him slightly. The boy's clothes were coated in dust, even the gold band across his wrist was dirty. Reiji coughed as he woke up, looking towards the crumbling studio in shock. Gekido checked Aila's pulse, and sighed in relief. Both only had a few scrapes and cuts, but the explosion had drawn attention. Unfortunately, some of those passersby were Earth Alliance soldiers.
"What happened here?" one asked.
"Stay where you are," another said.
Gekido felt several guns aim at him. He casually reached into his jacket, pulling the pin out of a smoke grenade. Taking a deep breath and closing his eye, Gekido set the smoke loose as the soldiers picked him up. He punched two across their faces and threw another to the ground. As the soldiers tripper over one another, Gekido jumped out of the smoke and broke off into a run. Gekido reached into his bag, pulling out a cap and a pair of sunglasses. He threw his jacket into a bin, as well as his eye patch.
'I'll have to apologise to the Shrike team later,' he thought.
Smoke rose from what was left of the studio. The sight was so conspicuous that most people were distracted. That allowed Gekido to grab a change of clothes from one of the market stalls. Going into one of the public toilets, Gekido stripped and put the old clothes into one of the sinks. Running the water through his hair, Gekido washed away the dye, and cut a few strands of his hair with a knife. After a few minutes he emerged from the toilets wearing his new clothes and a cap over his old silver hair, sunglasses concealing his eyes. He reached into his bag and took out his phone.
"Come on Sei, somebody pick up!" he whispered.
Turning on the streets, Gekido went into one of the alleyways and leant up against the wall.
"Rinko Iori, Iori hobbies and craft, what can I do for you?"
"Mrs Iori, is anyone using those Gunpla board things at the moment?" Gekido asked.
"No, it's a pretty slow day, what with what's gone on in town," Rinko said, and Gekido could hear the sadness in her voice.
"It's too early for it to have spread, what are you talking about Iori?"
"The Earth Alliance took in refugees from Mars, just gathered them up and placed them onto trucks to go to PPSE, the EA are using the main building there as a temporary base," Rinko explained.
"Okay listen to me, you need to close up shop for the day, there's been a bombing in the recreational district, no one is to go near that Gunpla simulator in your shop all right, get your family into the garage and keep working on the Purpose. If the EA show up to ask you questions, hand over the Purpose and tell them that I had threatened you into helping me," Gekido explained.
"Gekido what's wrong?" Rinko asked.
"Get Sei to call his friends right now, he needs to tell them not to go near the simulators and to tell their friends too," Gekido said.
"What's wrong?"
"The bomb was in a Gunpla battle board, whatever you call them, where's your husband and Sei?" Gekido asked.
"In the garage," Rinko said.
"Do as I said and stay with them!"
Before Rinko could even ask another question, Gekido hung up and began typing in Woolf's number. He climbed up to the rooftops of one of the buildings, keeping his phone pushed against his ear.
"Woolf here," the old racer said.
"There are bombs in the Gunpla simulators, get in contact with the Earth Alliance commander and invoke Sensou authority, begin bomb containment procedures and send some of your people to the PPSE building," Gekido explained.
"Gekido? Does this have anything to do with that explosion?" Woolf asked.
"It's those bastards from the Lunar colony, they were also responsible for the incident with the Wing Zero. Flit Asano is looking for Vagan terrorists, he thinks he's caught a break with the Mars refugees, but those people are here legally, they only hid because word spread from PPSE that it was Flit, a vocal opponent of Mars colonisation rights, who was in charge of the occupation. These people are trying to keep themselves anonymous to the organisations that can actually take them down, they've planned months for this, right now we have to assume that PPSE is working with them."
"I know Flit, he's set on revenge, but he won't ignore Intel, this may be what we need to get him to change perspective," Woolf said.
"Hope for it, don't count on it," Gekido said.
He hung up again and again began to put in a new number. As the phone rang, Gekido got to an old building with a view of the PPSE building.
"Chairman Yashita's office," a voice said on the other end.
"I need you to put the Chairman on the line now," Gekido said.
"I'm sorry but the Chairman is in a very important meeting at the moment, he can't be disturbed," the assistant said.
"Wait don't..." Gekido paused, his eyebrow twitching as he was put on hold. "Bitch put me on hold," he muttered.
He typed out the number again, tapping the side of the window patiently.
"Okay bitch, don't put me on hold because I am trying to save some lives here!"
"I'm sorry but Miss Blake and the Chairman can't answer your calls right now, but I'm more than happy to answer them for you," a voice said over the phone.
The voice was calm, collected, and Gekido could just make out whimpering in the background. Inside chairman Yashita's office, a brown haired man sat on Chairman Yashita's desk, pointing a gun at Yashita and Miss Baker. His eyes gave off the yellow glow of an Innovade, before fading to reveal his blue eyes.
"Am I talking to the asshole whose made the past few days shitty?" Gekido asked.
"No, but I do work for him, the names Eins, sorry I can't meet you face to face like Killer and Dug have," the man said.
"Oh trust me you don't want to meet me face to face," Gekido retorted.
"If you were whole, it would have been a good fight, but your beginning to suffer the effects of the degeneration aren't you?" Eins asked.
"I can still kill you!"
"I'd look forward to it, though I confess I don't have the advantage that the fakes do, I'd rather not die, but I suppose if I have to go home..."
"What are you babbling about?"
"Don't worry about it, tell me Gekido how much do you know about Innovades?"
"That they're an attempt to mimic what people think an evolved being would be, fake Innovators/Newtypes," Gekido said.
"To me they're people who look like women, even the male ones look like women, especially those stupid frilly white shirts that they wear. That's the only reason I left them, I hated being made to wear those," Eins's voice suddenly took on a fierce tone. "That and they had the most severe god complexes, like you wouldn't believe, oh but it was nothing in comparison to their boss's, god he was something else, they flock to him, worship him, those effeminate ASSHOLES!" Eins yelled, causing Mashita to whimper and crawl into Miss Baker's arms.
"I assume you're holding those two hostage," Gekido said.
"Not at all, I fully intend on killing them, I won't enjoy it but I have orders," Eins said.
"Are all of the people following that man psychotic?" Gekido asked.
"A term used by people with limited understanding, you should drop the whole nomad thing and join up, the boss gives us just enough boundaries for us to remain who we want to be. Now if you think the whole plan is to bomb the colony, then you're not as smart as I hoped, there's a little more brute force involved," Eins smirked.
Gekido widened his eyes as he heard one gunshot over the phone.
"CHAIRMAN! CHAIRMAN!" Miss Baker screamed.
BLAM!
Gritting his teeth together, Gekido slammed his fist into the window and looked towards the PPSE building, taking off his glasses. He hoped he would see Clandest Eins, or that the Innovade would at least see him. Eins looked at Gekido, satisfied with how much he had angered him. He placed the Martian developed pistol on the table and left the bodies of Miss Baker and the Chairman to continue bleeding. Gekido looked out of the window in horror, seeing numerous buildings, even whole houses explode.
"No, NO!" he yelled.
Running out onto the streets, Gekido shook his head in defeat as people walked out, some confused, others wounded, most calling for help. That help came in the form of Alliance personnel.
"Damn it, damn it," Gekido cursed, leaning against a wall and hitting his head against it.
He narrowed his eye, squeezed his hand into a fist, and took off down the street.
Flit stepped onto the bridge of the Dyaus class battleship. He had put on his purple flight suit.
"Agamemnon class vessels assume defensive formation around the colony, drake class ships block off all ports, do not let anyone leave the Build colony," Flit commanded his troops as he took a seat on the CO's chair.
He inwardly cursed, believing that he should have known better than to have trusted Woolf and Sensou. Woolf's information about the bombs had been true, but he tried to divert his attention away from the Martian refugees. The Vagans were involved, there was irrefutable proof now. Anyone who would look out of the observation deck of the colony could see, the Vagan Fa Bose Class mother ship heading towards the colony. It had already released a platoon of Gafrans, Baqtos and Dorados.
"Sir, we're being hailed," the communication officer said.
"On the main screen," Flit said.
He kept his composure, but when he saw the normal suit of a Vagan officer, he wanted to glare at the man.
"You are keeping our people prisoner Earth Alliance, today's attacks are the price you pay, turn over our people, or we will attack in full force and take them back," the Vagan explained. "This, is your only warning!"
Flit grit his teeth together as the line was cut. All eyes turned to him for a response, and a plan of attack. The EA, nor the independent colonies would ever bow to the demands of terrorists.
"All hands, level one battle stations," he said, putting on his helmet and sliding the visor over his face. "Prepare the Age!"
Across on the 'Vagan' side, the commander of the enemy forces removed his helmet and smirked at his guest. Meijin Kawaguchi didn't smirk and kept his arms crossed as he looked at the Earth Alliance forces.
"How was my performance?" the officer asked.
"Flawless, enough to start a battle, I'll be heading out!"
"But, wont your presence bring up suspicions?"
"Commander, a battlefield is a confusing place, one customised Tallgeese amongst an army of Vagan suits, I doubt it'll make that fool Asano even pause," Meijin said.
He took an elevator down to the hanger, where hundreds of staff in Vagan clothes were applying patchwork repairs to already damaged Vagan units. Standing out amongst all the dragon like mobile suits was a customised unit. A white machine, a Tallgeese. But this one lacked the round shoulder shield and rifle, and instead had two long black and gold shoulder shields, extra layers of black and gold armour had been placed on the Tallgeese's waist, its feet and its roman styled helmet had been replaced. It instead wore a black helmet with a red visor, and a purple dragon with its wings spread out over its head.
"Amongst warriors Lu Bu," Meijin began to chant. "Amongst horses, Red Hare, amongst pilots, Meijin Kawaguchi, amongst mobile suits, Ryofu Tallgeese!"
The battle for the build colony, was about to begin.
Next Chapter 15: Power Resonance
No Mech action this chapter, but next chapter I promise