A Traitor's Sword
Shikamaru tried to calm himself before speaking. "Sir, the last mobile suit, it's the Raven."
Silence followed the black haired boy's words. All of the soldiers at the bridge knew what the boy meant. "Do you think…?" Lee asked quietly. "I don't know, but it highly probable." Kakashi responded.
The silver haired captain looked at the image but, unlike everybody else in the room, it wasn't the first time that Kakashi saw the mobile suit. Still, just like the other two, seeing it activated was a completely different experience. This Gundam, just like the Luster, was mostly black, but this one had navy blue outlines, also it had something that resembled wings on its back, though they were different form the Demon's.
"What's going on?" Sakura asked, she had waited patiently but curiosity had gotten the better of her. "That…" Kakashi started. "Is the third Gundam." The captain finished. The girl stood quite on her place; she couldn't believe that they were about to be attacked by their own weapon. Somewhere alone those thought, Sakura mind drifted back to the conversation she just had with Naruto. "Is that boy the pilot?" The girl wondered.
Kakashi opened a come link with the hangar. "Neji, are you ready?" the silver haired man asked. Immediately Neji's image appeared on the bridge's screen, the black haired pilot seemed to be in the Luster's cockpit. "Yes sir." The boy answered. "Neji, you know what this could mean, right?" The captain asked. The boy just nodded, Sakura had only seen such seriousness on the boy's face when he told her what happened on Kirigakure.
"Ok" the captain began. "Remember, ZGY-X78 Raven specializes in close range combat, its primary weapons are its heat rod on its left arm, and the beam sword, though not as powerful at the Demon's long sword, it's still at the same level as the Luster's, the sword would normally be use on the Raven's right arm. The Raven also has the standard beam rifle, and as a long range weapon it has a chest cannon, it's as powerful as the Demon's plasma beam cannon." Kakashi said; Neji just nodded again as he set the Luster on the launching platform.
"All system check" Tenten said once the platform was clear. "ZGY-X77 Luster, Clear to launch." Tenten finished. "Hyuuga Neji, Luster taking off."
The Luster flew off the Raikiri accelerating towards the enemy mobile suits. The Ginns started shooting the incoming Gundam, Neji dodge all of the attacks gracefully. The three Ginns started towards the Luster, none of them had stop shooting; Neji activated both of the Luster's beam sabers.
The black haired teen dodged the Ginns' attacks and swung the Luster right arm, slashing one of the Ginn's chest, with his left saber Neji stabbed the second Ginn through the chest, both SOUND mobile suits exploded. "Bastard!" Third SOUND soldier screamed as he continued shooting at the Gundam.
Neji changed the Luster's arms to blaster mode; the teenager dodged the last barrage of blast before firing three of his own, on blast destroyed the Ginn's rifle and the other two landed on it's chest, the SOUND mobile suit exploded immediately afterwards. Neji looked towards his last opponent of a few seconds before starting towards him.
Naruto sat on his cell looking at the opposite wall. "I know it's you, I can fell it" The blond said clenching his fist and looking up at the ceiling. "Neji, don't hesitate" Naruto finished. Inside the Luster Neji tightened his grip on the controls as he switched his Gundam to saber mode.
Both Gundams stoop in the middle of space looking at each other. "Why?" Neji asked in an unreadable tone. "You know why." Responded a voice that Sakura had never heard before, the voice sounded distant, remote, detach. "Is this all because of your brother?" The Hyuuga asked. An image appeared in both the Luster cockpit, and the Raikiri's bridge. Sakura immediately recognized the person on the screen; it was the same boy that she had seen on Naruto's picture, just a couple of years older and wearing a SOUND space suit.
"This goes far beyond my brother." Sasuke said in a monotonous voice. "Does it?" Neji asked looking straight at the screen. "Does it matter?" The Uchiha shot back as he released his heat rod and attack the Luster. Neji had seen the attack coming and evaded it; the Hyuuga attacked with his sword but was blocked by the Raven's.
Both Gundam moved away form each other. "I won't hesitate on destroying you." Neji said as he changed the Luster's left arm into blaster mode and shot towards the Raven. "I never expected you." Sasuke said as he dodged the blast and attacked with his heat rod.
Neji moved out of the heat rod's reach and changed into launcher move, the Hyuuga send a barrage of missiles towards his former friend. Sasuke use his heat rod to destroy all of the incoming missiles and charged towards the Luster. Neji change both his arms into saber mode to stop the Raven's sword. "I don't know if you care but I thought you should know, Naruto is in trouble, he's in criminal status at the council's eyes." The Hyuuga said, for a moment Neji thought that the Raven's movements slowed down, but it was for less than a second.
"It just proves how wrong LEAF is." Sasuke said as he tried to slash the Luster. Neji use his left arm to block the heat rod and tried to attack Sasuke with his right saber, but the attack was blocked by the Raven's sword.
Everybody in the bridge watched the battle in awe. One Gundam attacks and the other evades or blocks, the display of power was unbelievable. "Good thing Naruto isn't here right now." Shikamaru commented with a smirk on his face. Sakura couldn't help to feel a little angry towards the teen because of his words. "He would have disobeyed the council again and taken the Demon just to join the battle." The lazy teen said. A giggle escaped the pink haired girl after the boy's explanation.
The Raven took out its blaster on his left hand and started shooting at the Luster, Neji backed away and change his left arm into blaster mode, retaliating fire. "I don't care if you believe me or not." Sasuke started. "Buy it really pains me going against you, both you and Naruto were me best friends. You accepted me beyond my last name, and never compare me to anyone else." The Uchiha said as he put away his blaster. "But now, I won't hesitate in destroying you either." Sasuke finished as he attacked the Luster with his heat rod.
"Damn it" escaped Neji's lips when the Raven's heat rod wrapped itself on the Luster's left arm, damaging its blaster and saber, and leaving only the missile launcher. Sasuke started to charge the Raven's chest cannon, The Hyuuga saw this and cut the heat rod with his right saber, and was able to move away less than a second before the Raven's blast was fire. Both Gundams charged at each other, a sword in their right arms.
An image appeared in the bridge. It was a young man, around his twenties, with gray hair and glasses, he was seating in the captain's chair. "Kabuto, I should have know it was you." Kakashi said, this only caused the young man to smirk. "It's a pleasure meeting you again, Kakashi-san." Kabuto began. "I hope you're enjoying the show as much as I am." The SOUND captain finished. "Sadly, I doubt it'll last any longer." The gray haired man added before cutting the transmission.
Neji send a barrage of missile at Raven. Sasuke us his sword to destroy must of the projectiles but some damaged his Gundam's 'wings'. The Uchiha charge towards the Luster with his sword, but the attack was blocked by Neji's saber, both Gundams held their ground while trying to push each other.
"Sasuke, that's enough." Kabuto said. The Uchiha frowned but still backed away. "We would have to finish this some other time." Sasuke said looking at Neji on the screen. "For what it's worth, I am sorry of what happened to Naruto, he doesn't deserve that." Sasuke finished before turning away towards the SOUND ship.
Neji stood still watching the retreating Gundam for a couple of seconds before starting towards the Raikiri. "You did great." Lee said the moment the Hyuuga pilot stepped out of his cockpit. "That was and awesome battle." Kiba said. Neji gave his friends half a smile before they all started out of the hangar.
Kakashi was waiting in the hall; the captain grinned and congratulated the young pilot. Immediately his face changed to a mixture of seriousness and sadness. "I've receive words for the council, they want us to take Naruto to the space station Kumogakure, on our way to Earth." The captain said.
"What for?" Ino asked, Kakashi looked at the ground for a couple of seconds before responding. "To face trial."
ZGY-X78 Raven – Inspired on OZ-13MS Epyon, the difference are the chest cannon, the color, and this one can't change into a mobile armor or bird mode.
A/N: Sorry it took so long, I don't know how long will it take me for the next chapter, I have two more fics I've been working on. But here's a question for you, what do you think is better the ZERO System or SEED Mode? This is completely irrelevant to the story, I'm just curious of what you think; I'll post my own opinion on the next chapter. Thanks for reading, please review.