So…I just wanna make a quick note here and once again apologize…though not for the same reason as last time. This time I thought and wrote it out quite well in my opinion…but it just may come around as being kinda confusing. Anyways, please enjoy the next chapter, and I hope soon we will have this story where I want it.
Noah groaned as he sat in the brig. Why? They thought he was lying to cover up for…well lying about not actually knowing how to fix his machine. Seriously? Who claims a 16 meter tall war machine is a plastic model?
He finally laid back on the bed and glanced over at the wall. He knew it was too good to be true he thought maybe they'd understand…but he also knew they more than likely would react exactly as they had.
*one hour earlier*
Mu, murrue, Murdoch, Nicol and Kira all had blank looks on their faces. Well not so much blank as looks of disbelief.
Noah had just finished trying to explain, in a very vague, round-about way, that this was all some sort of computer simulation of some cartoon in his world and that EX-caliber was a scanned copy of a plastic model he had built for some sort of game system where people fought with said models.
But…when they asked for proof this was all fiction to him he couldn't give any, sounding like some bad sci-fi vid actor stating he couldn't reveal the future for fear of making things worse.
So murrue dismissed everyone but Noah and had tried talking to him privately, hoping to get the truth from him.
"I'm telling the truth! With no way to access my gunpla I can't fix EX-caliber. It's impossible without also gaining access to the formula for E-carbon plating and condensed GN particles!" shouted Noah as he was nearly in tears. Any rapport he had gained with these people was being crushed. But he was desperate. He had hoped telling them everything would somehow end the simulation or something.
After all this was his masterpiece he was talking about here. And the sword just broke! The work he'd have to do to fix it! He was ready to just curl up in the cockpit and beg for it to be over.
Murrue slammed her fist down on her desk and glared at him. "THEN GIVE IT TO US DAMMIT! QUIT TELLING THESE LIES TO TRY AND HIDE "CONFIDENTIAL SECRETS" OR WHATEVER YOU WANNA CALL THEM!" she yelled right back at him.
She was beginning to tire of these lies. Except now these were blatant, outright lies, just to hide from having to fix his own machine. To think she had begun to actually trust him. The one thing keeping her from ordering him to hand over his login information for his GP-base and train mu on how to pilot EX-caliber if he wasn't going to fight was the conversation she had with the allster girl.
After she had woken up murrue had tried to get her to open up about what she and Noah spoke about but she was tight lipped for once. All she said was that Noah wasn't who he said he was, and that he'd save them all.
It somewhat added credibility to all this but still. What did that make them? It brought this all to too much of a philosophical level of thinking.
"Noah Carson! You are now confined to the brig until further notice….no…until you decide to hand over the necessary data to repair your machine. In all honesty I think the heat has simply gotten to you. Why don't you go cool off and we will see what you have to say later." She stated before pointing towards her door.
Noah blinked and looked like he was going to argue the point but instead his shoulders sunk and he hung his head as he left. He knew the way there after all. No need to get an escort.
*back to the current moment*
Noah sighed and closed his eyes, thinking back to the most recent fight, what the battlefield looked like when he surveyed it after he had landed.
He thought of fights he had in the past, gunpla battles to be exact. He remembered even though they were plastic he could hear metal straining, hear the sparks from broken limbs, the hiss of hydraulics when they stood or moved. He also remembered tearing the head off a custom zaku…
His eyes shot open when he remembered seeing the rubber/plastic PVC piece that held the head to the gunpla tear. It still sounded like metal being forced apart but one could clearly see the rubber tearing.
And he had seen footage from sei's first fights with the build strike. He remembered one chick had sabotaged his gunpla and it began to fall apart mid fight. The knee joint came apart….and it was still the same inner skeleton of a gunpla but again…it sounded and reacted like metal.
Could this scanned version of EX-caliber work in a similar manner?
And what happened to the large half of his blade when it fell? What if…since this was just a scanned machine when something broke it disappeared? It would explain why he was able to recover his shield even though he had ejected it!
Noah's faith in his own IQ was renewed as he shot up and rapped on the bars of his cell. "HEY! HEY IDIOT GUARD NUMBER 1! CALL THE CAPTAIN AND TELL HER I NEED ACCESS TO MY MACHINE. I THINK I KNOW HOW TO FIX IT!" he yelled. Oh he hadn't been this excited since he got the idea for this gunpla.
If it worked the way he thought it did, he could treat it like a model…but just with normal metal and such not plastic.
He didn't care that he likely just pissed off the guard and may wait even longer now…he once again had the inspiration to build.
Intermission 2.0
Noah stood quietly in the cockpit simulation of the gunpla battle arena. In the arena was his first new gunpla. A GM sniper variant based on the GM sniper K9 from the seventh world tournament. Currently he was hiding behind a building, waiting, two pistols modeled after the colt 1911 in his hands. This model was called the GM commando. It had a rack on its back for four weapon packs, similar to the kampfer amazing the meijin built but instead they were straight black cases, generated randomly by a device he built and filled with gunpla weapons.
The whole point of the model was to get him adjusted to how random a battle could be. The device could fill the cases with everything from a silly baton or fan to a copy of the twin buster rifle or even the kampfers chain mine whip. Anything was possible and he never knew what he would get till he found the cases.
Yes…found. Upon the matches beginning the four cases would launch off his back and the rack would fold up behind him. They would land randomly throughout the battle field and could only be accessed by him.
This was also to help him get over his anxiety when it came to being out maneuvered as he had to think on his feet more often than not.
The gunplas primary weapon load out was a pair of revolvers in lower leg holsters, the colts in hip holsters, a pair of knives in holsters just above his skirt armor, the same k-bar knife the K9 sniper had on his right shoulder, and usually in his hands to start was a heavy sniper rifle made by a company known as kotobukiya but it had a storage rack on his back skirt armor that replaced the beam sabers on the K9.
He also had a normal GM sniper backpack but it had its own secrets, like what appeared to be two beam sabers coming out just behind his shoulders…but there was no way to remove them.
The model was also colored in digital urban camouflage so it had red, black, gray and white all over it.
Finally he heard his opponent nearing. It wasn't hard too. It was a char's use Z-gok, no true customization but it was also a masterpiece. When the match began they had landed in a harbor map, so most people though the Z-gok would have the advantage….this was not the case.
As the marine mobile suit rounded the corner one could see its right arm was torn off and it had multiple bullet holes covering it. The arm had been taken off by a single shot from his sniper rifle which he quickly ditched afterwards.
The fighter seemed to think he was char. He wasn't trying to draw Noah into the water where he had the advantage. Instead he was trying to take Noah out on even terms….which Noah was fine to prove him wrong.
Noah silently began to move to the side. He had a weapon cache close by and he was curious as to what was inside. He hoped it was something that would end this quickly. After all he had spent both his revolvers on trying to end this in their first clash. The pilot may think he was char but for good reason. He seem to have fortified the model to handle fights like this
Finally the Z-gok turned the corner. And Noah rolled away to avoid a few beams fired from its remaining arm. When he came out of the roll he turned around and unloaded on the crimson machine with the custom pistols. The Z-gok was forced to hide back around the corner and Noah spun around, boosting up and away. When he landed he saw the weapon cache and smiled. It had landed on a small business building and stuck into the side.
He could hear the Z-gok getting close so he quickly opened it and beamed with pride as it opened up to reveal heavy arms EW chain gun and shield. Oh…this would do just fine.
He grabbed the heavy weapon and boosted back again to the end of the street. There he got on one knee and dug the heavy arms shield into the street like a gundam ground type shield. He then rested the chain gun's main ammo box on it so the barrel could begin spinning up. And just in time. The Z-gok came around the corner and Noah smiled. "Game over." Was all he said quietly before his screen lit up as he pulled the trigger.
For a good 2 minutes the Z-gok stood there being beaten and battered like some cartoon character and filled with lead. The plastic casing of its mono eye could be heard shattering as well as the eye. Its second arm was torn to pieces. The body itself was also shredded.
Finally Noah let off the trigger and watched as the marine mobile suit spazzed and sputtered and finally exploded.
"Battle ended" stated the combat system as the plavsky particles dispersed. Noah had a disappointed look on his face.
Since he had last been in a tournament they had multiple different types now, with the original style now being the "open" tournament, one meant for the best of the best. They had team tournaments, ones for under a certain age, racing tournaments for high speed gunpla.
They even now had a constantly changing one known as the "one year war" tournament. It wasn't UC mobile suit exclusive but it was a giant battleground and was open 24/7 and it would go for an entire year. It was like a constantly changing game of conquest from the game series battlefield.
And when the game had been going for a year whichever side had the most points won. The next day it would start again.
Noah thought about jumping in there. It wasn't really a tournament per say, no payouts or anything but since you could "drop in and out" of the fight to change gunpla, or replace one you lose as it was set to battle damage level a, aka if your gunpla got fucked up…it got fucked up. No simulated damage. When it was done it was done. And like any battlefield you couldn't retrieve it to fix so you had to sign a waiver stating the company that funded it was not responsible for any lost gunpla.
The destroyed models became part of the battlefield, the simulator even adding trees, or moss or whatever as time went on.
Of course rumor had it that at night, when most teams that fought in it, usually die hard, older gentlemen who used it to play out their fantasies of actually being Zeon or federation soldiers, said you could see remote controlled scale models of soldiers running clean-up crews so as to make it so the board didn't get cluttered.
As stated before though you weren't restricted to UC MS though again most people who played it played like they were actually fighting the one year war. So rx-78-2's and zaku's and gelgoogs, all the popular models were a dime a dozen on the field, same with weapons from fallen suits.
But you occasionally would find a garage kit made Leo from wing, or a Taurus. Or a "jinx". Then there were the kids who came in to try and survive as long as they could in their favorite or even custom gundam, thinking they could survive long enough to retrieve it. So you'd see age gundams, gat series, deathscythes appearing out of no-where, even the occasional sniper shot from a dynames or cherudim.
As Noah retrieved his gunpla he glanced at the crowd around him. Naturally he was in the open tournament. He wanted to fight the best of the best. But so far…no one in the qualifiers compared to his time with EX-caliber and facing off against Nina and Heine, hell even team council princess had yet to be topped.
He placed the weapons and their cases in his randomizer and closed it, listening to it cycle them in and prepare for when he next demanded more cases of it.
He was one match away from making it to the national tournament. This had been the semi-finals of the qualifiers. His next challenger would be a local kid with fiery red hair. He glanced over at his fight and smirked.
"Sekai kamiki….what challenge will you pose? You finally gonna give me the fight I'm seeking?" he thought as he watched the boy go at it with his kamiki burning gundam against an old man who was using a custom master gundam. They were going at it pretty hard, no clear winner yet, but he watched their fight for only a few minutes and he knew the burning boy would win.
He looked past him to see sei and china sitting in the crowd watching both him and sekai. After all, the up and coming builder and already proven fighter was using an upgraded version of a model sei built for his old friend reiji.
He decided to go work on his entry for the "one year war" when he beat sekai, and he would, the kid was good but he had a sword….that was it aside from his fists and legs…and martial arts. Noah already had multiple plans on how to fight him even in close quarters.
But when he beat him he'd have a couple months to kill so he planned to work on his intended "re-entry" gundam for operation spitbreak during the evenings, and during the day play out survival missions in the one year war building.
With another glance to his opponent's fight he left, his heart and soul still missing something….something only the cosmic era could return…well two things. A challenge…and the woman he longed for…and the one who set him up for Heine to "kill him"
Intermission 2.0
Murrue, Murdoch, mu, and Nicol all watched as Noah examined his gundam. They had no idea what he was searching for but he was not allowed access to his GP-base for the moment. He was currently looking at the joints of the machine, feeling them, pulling at certain panels. Murdoch thought he had lost his mind.
Noah finally worked his way down the gundam and walked over under the stowed and broken GN sword three. His mind was racing. While he said nothing HE WAS RIGHT! The gundam sounded, reacted, and now was even made of metal…but the joints, the inner frame…it was all still the RG exia he used as a base for his masterpiece edition. While this meant it was just as intricate inside and out, it also meant it could be broken apart easier. Some changes obviously were made in the scanning to make things like how the GN sword/shield system was put together but he could still see how it could come apart. The issue though was still the cracks. He wouldn't lie, it was certainly nice that he now knew he actually COULD tear apart, clean, repair, and put it all back together in his sleep down to the RG-system inner skeleton…but he still had the issue of it being E-carbon armor…not normal metal. But he had an idea.
"I can't fix the sword…I mean I now know I CAN fix it…but we don't have the materials to make what I need." he stated. In truth he had an emergency gunpla repair kit on him at all times…but it was just a quick set resin mold casting kit to make replacement parts on the fly, barely enough to make even an inch of the giant gundam before him.
Everyone watching groaned and murrue got irritated. "So you dragged us all out here so you could examine your machine and say that you still can't fix it. Why?" she asked as she walked up, ready to slap him. Again. Noah turned to her and gave his best imitation of duo's shit eating grins.
"Not enough resin…"he stated before going back to examining his blade. The fact he had examined the neck piece and found it was indeed a rubber PVC piece used in all RG gunpla turned metal it was making him question just how legitimate this all was.
They all sweat dropped. "You really still think this is a plastic model don't you?" asked Murdoch as he walked up and put his hand on Noah's shoulder. The young man looked up at the grizzly mechanic and nodded. "Yeah. But after looking at this closer then I have since I got here I know I can fight just fine. I`ll have some issues but a few modifications to the OS and I should easily be able to compensate for any more damage. And yes it will take more. But once we get- I mean if we manage to maybe make a stop in orb I can use morgenroute's facilities to reproduce my emergency gunpla kit on a large enough scale to repair this thing. "He said right as Kisaka and the leader of the desert dawn ran over to them.
Murrue raised an eyebrow at this and turned to them. "Is something the matter?" she asked as the two men seemed worried. "It's time. Our scouts saw the lesseps begin heading in this direction as well as already launching bu-cues." said the older man and Kisaka just nodded. "If you will allow it, I and cagalli would like to accompany you as you leave. The desert dawn does not want their goddess of victory potentially hurt now that the tiger has found their main base." Stated kisaka.
Murrue mulled it over for a moment, remembering the fiery blonde's interactions with Noah and Kira. "Fine, I'll allow it, but have her try to keep her distance from my pilots or at least watch her tone with them." she stated as she turned to begin barking orders to everyone. As she did so Noah walked up and blatantly reached into her pocket, grabbed his GP base and ran over to the lift for EX-caliber. She began to shout at him but stopped and growled, knowing those two prototypes would be out on the field and Noah was their best hope against them. She just hoped he was right and he could overcome the issues with his damaged suit…
Intermission 2.0
A few hours earlier…
Waltfeld smirked as he looked up at the duel and buster. He had to admit if he saw the entire collection together it would seem like an impressive force. Though by his records the AEGIS was meant to be the unit's command suit. He mentally shook his head as he remembered his fight with the strike, even as yzak requested info on his fight with it and EX-caliber. To him the strike should have been the command unit. But then again they were never intended to be ground troops and the mobile armor mode of the aegis made it ideal for a commander's suit in space while the strike filled the role of the multi-purpose support suit.
He turned to the young pilots and frowned. "We fared about as well as the le creuset team. Our newest pilot and mobile suit, Nina engaged Noah and the EX-caliber. Suffice to say it still has more secrets hiding and so does the pilot. Also it seems Nicol has taken to their side. I hope that won't affect your performance if you're forced to engage him." Said Waltfeld, expecting looks of sorrow and sadness.
Dearka flashed a look of regret but quickly returned to his stoic nature. Yzak meanwhile just got angry. "No sir…it will not affect our performance on the battlefield. We actually fought against him in the orbital battle and confirmed he has become a traitor." said yzak though grinding teeth.
This just made Andrew grin. "Good. Eat up and try to relax, we'll be going after the legged ship once we have everyone onboard. Oh...and I'll give you your orders now since they are simple. When you launch your job will be to keep the blitz and their new fighter at bay. Leave the strike to me and Noah to Heine and Nina. And should you face Noah…then I wish you good luck." he stated before heading back into the Lesseps.
Yzak growled loudly. "How dare he! He may be higher ranked but the strike is my kill…I deserve payback for this scar!" he shouted as he threw his helmet on the ground. Dearka sighed though and picked the helmet up. "Chill out yzak. As much as I hate to say it, the commander will likely get killed in his new La-Gowe and the strike will be yours for the taking." He said, trying to play to the silver haired coordinators' anger to try and calm him down. Yzak nodded, silently agreeing with him and heading onto the land battleship to grab a bite to eat before they moved out.
Intermission 2.0
Noah sat patiently in the EX-calibers cockpit…well…mostly patiently…he was already on the catapult. Sinanju or the guaiz….which would come to face him first. Right now the desert dawn and the archangel sat right in the path of the desert tiger. A bold move, even if it was still straight from the anime. While he waited he had a program running in his gunpla OS to modify it and account for the damages and the broken sword.
"Just think like setsuna…just think like setsuna…"he kept repeating to himself. But at the same time something was bugging him. Like there was a part of this fight that would be an ambush…but what? Finally he overheard the statistics of what they were facing so far and smirked. It was the same as the anime aside from the two prototypes. This would be an easy fight once he…and just as he was thinking it the launch bay doors open and he was told to launch. "Noah Carson, EX-caliber…I AM GUNDAM!" he couldn't help but shout as he was thrown out of the ship. The moment he did so he found himself crushed between two objects. He groaned as his alarms blared about stress on the main gunpla body.
"Yes yes I know…wait…what no!" he shouted as his systems flashed…and died. Just before they did he saw what hit him. The Sinanju and GuAIZ had timed a dual shield bash, likely for whatever mobile suit launched first. Clever bastards, after all a good shield bash was an excellent opening move, it caused even Noah to falter…but this time they applied enough force that with his machine's weakened body it had caused his power supply to short out…or..
He brought up his diagnostics on his GP base as un-like the holographic cockpit of the battle arenas his went straight dark, not just faded.
"Shit…"he swore as he saw just what happened…his GN drive got knocked loose. Another example of the gundam being a model still. Since it was an RG model the GN drive was removable without removing the entire backing. This gave it better performance as a gunpla since…well it was a real grade…so when built right it functioned and reacted just like the originally intended model would.
He yelped in pain as he finally felt his machine hit the ground. His systems flashed on for a moment but as he sank into the sand they turned back off.
"Shit shit shit…no…it can't end here…"he grumbled as he tried to think of how to fix this. Luckily, well not for the enemy pilot, Nina and Heine had backed off and waited to let a couple bu-cues who rushed to try and take the glory of ending such an advanced mobile suit for themselves spring the usual surprise that EX-caliber pulled out of its pocket.
The canine-esque mobile suits quickly began bashing the gundam into the sand with their feet, wanting it stuck so they could back off and hit it with missiles before another machine would come to save it. Unfortunately…this helped Noah.
As he grumbled and endured the bashing of his cockpit door the gunpla's systems came back on and he finally got to see what was happening. He blinked when it was just a couple grunt suits trying to bury him. "get off me you stupid mutts!" he shouted.
Before the gundams eyes had been dull and lifeless, the bu-cues not noticing them flash to life. Thanks to that fact Noah was able to have his heat blades spring to life on his shield and brought up and around to the bu-cue directly on top of him. He shielded his eyes as the mobile armor tried to flee but only managed to have more of its side carved out and less of the heat blade actually dig into the suit as it tried to move away. As it exploded Noah closed his eyes and rolled the gundam to the right. The second Bu-cue attacking him jumped back and tried to open up with its beam cannons but it quickly exploded after a loud snap joined the sounds of the heavy battle.
Noah had activated his MAC cannon in the shield and hit it with a close range rail gun slug. He was lucky though as immediately after he began to rise out of the sand he had to boost to the left and his suit rolled in the sand, missing being impaled by the EFT Guaiz' beam saber. He used the effect of his GN particles to cause him to float up and right himself as the prototype quickly turned and its Artemis cannons dropped down on its shoulders and he fired a volley at him.
Noah raised his shield and blocked the shots while charging his rails for another shot. At that moment he looked around. Just like the anime the battle was less than five minutes old and already with everyone launched it was crazy. But unlike the anime he caught Nicol exchanging fire with Dearka and yzak while MU occasionally swooped in to get the two gat series prototypes to give Nicol some room.
As he maneuvered his left arm to take the rail shot he found himself forced to miss as the sinanju fired its new under barrel rocket launcher at him. "Shit…two on one…this may not bode too well unless I can get a good shot on either of them and force them back. "Guess I'll have to use my backup beam saber, keep this close quarters…"he said as he brought his shield up to block another volley from the Artemis cannons.
In truth all it would take was draining the EFT's battery and forcing it to go recharge. So…that's what he'd do. As the cannons and the flight unit fell back against its back Noah burst forward, a buildup of GN particles causing an almost sonic boom like ring behind him as he flew in and swung in a downward slash at the orange machine. This close the sinanju couldn't use its launcher and so as he blocked a slash from the mystery pilot Noah had the ability to shove the blade back and bring his sword arm around. He smiled as he activated the hidden beam saber and was able to dig it into the EFT's left shoulder.
He could feel the metal melting under the beam saber in the arm rake that controlled his right arm and with a swift flick of his wrist the gundam brought his right arm …well to the right and tore off the arm.
Oh it was game time. He felt better than ever even after his fluke beginning to this battle. As he brought his sword back for another attack the EFT opened up with its hip cannons and Noah grit his teeth as he was forced to take the hit.
But he wasn't beat even as the sides of his skirt armor smoked from the close range rail guns firing shells literally right against them. He brought his left arm up and thrust it forward. Oh how rewarding it was to hear the metal screeching and whining as he slowly but surely bashed the EFT's head off with his shield. At that point the pilot clearly knew this was now a CQB fight and a fist fight at that so it ditched the beam saber in its remaining hand and brought its fist up into EX-calibers gut.
Noah cried out as the cockpit door rang and so did his ears. Again he activated the hidden beam saber but this time the pilot was smart and side stepped the attack. Instead opting to bring its left leg up to try and kick Noah. All this accomplished was him bringing his beam saber down on it and severing the left leg.
Maimed and clearly beaten, the suit was forced to retreat, even after using its thrusters to stabilize itself and show it wanted to keep fighting.
As the battle raged around them the sinanju landed across from Noah and ditched the launcher and rifle combo and drew one of its beam sabers. It seemed the pilot learned last time just what Noah could do…or got a taste and knew the ranged assault was not an option.
As they stared each other down Noah took a deep breath. To have bested the EFT as quickly as he had he had faith he could beat this sinanju back. And after finding what he had about his gundam he had faith this was no different than a gunpla battle.
He gripped his controls and pushed the right ball forward just as the sinanju boosted forward and had the broken GN sword three swing out. He'd beat the wing series suit back with the very weapon they thought destroyed.
Intermission 2.0
Sekai had to blink as he watched the gunpla land across from him. It was different from what Mr. Carson had used in the past few matches. Sekai, now 16, had spent the past few years learning about gundam and gunpla. While he recognized his kamiki burning gundam was still nowhere near Noah or sei's building ability, he had improved it, tuned it, and with Shia's help originally built it himself.
He could not understand, after fighting so many opponents who used the same gunpla over and over, who put their heart and soul into it, Noah could be constantly switching gunpla between fights.
The gunpla he was looking at appeared to be a CQB enhanced sword impulse gundam…that was provided his all-nighters watching the gundam series and trying to know as much as he could was serving him right.
The color scheme was right, as were the twin "Excalibur '' anti-ship swords though they seemed to be modified. On its legs though seemed to be holsters similar to the ones on a…gouf? Yeah a gouf he had seen in Mr. Ral's collection, but the heat machete handles were painted red and didn't have the large broadsword hand guards.
Along with the twin blades on its back appeared to be modified beam boomerangs, the pack made able to hold four of them in a star pattern. It seemed he had modified a pair of destiny arms, noticing the handles for two more beam boomerangs in the shoulders and the beam shield emitters in the arms.
The torso was different as well but he couldn't quite put his finger on the base model.
He didn't have time to wrack his mind with the base model of the gundams torso as he was assaulted with bullets. It seemed he had modified the head of the impulse to hold ciw's.
Sekai raised his arms to block the barrage but right as he did so it stopped. As he lowered his arms he was forced to jump to the left as one of the twin anti-ship swords came crashing down right where he was. He quickly jumped back to avoid Noah's quick side chop of the second blade.
It appeared the model was designed to be quick as he had faced other impulse gundams and they were not as fast, even more so the blast impulses. He drew his sword as he didn't see the point in ending this fight quickly. Noah was a skilled fighter and after speaking with sei about this fight the night prior he was grinning as it seemed Noah intended to go all out.
Sekai had been spending time with the builder of the build burning, learning about reiji, the intended pilot of the gundam and how while reiji had been fine at any range, he had been his most devastating close up and with his fists.
He also learned for today's fight that Noah was a tactical genius, he usually thought 5 moves ahead minimum. And he had more back up plans then he could ever imagine. It was a different strategy then sekai, who usually lived in the moment, not planning like Noah clearly had.
As he blocked one of the anti-ship swords with his own he could feel Noah's determination to win. It was rare to find a fighter like him who could feel his emotions though his gunpla. Sei had said sekai was like a living domon kasshu, the protagonist of g gundam and pilot of the burning gundam. He had to admit it made him feel honored to be using the suit as a basis for his own.
Sekai grit his teeth as he was forced back by the strength of the gunpla and finally jumped back and closed his eyes, taking a breath he assimilated with his gunpla, the motion easily triggered now without him having to be "in the fight". As the gunplas extra armor was discarded he sheathed his sword and gripped his fist, side stepping a horizontal slash.
"jigen haoh: Seiken zuki!" he shouted and punched at the gunpla, his right fist glowing with the martial arts power. He was met with a beam barrier and for a moment it held but soon the emitter cracked and he made contact with the armor, bending it and melting it as the impulse gundam slid back with the power of the punch.
He smirked as he noticed the left arm of his opponent was rendered useless, the limb falling limply to the side. It was then he noticed though the beam boomerang from that shoulder was missing. His eyes went wide and he turned to the left just in time to watch as the previously mentioned weapon came around at him. He quickly swatted it away like so many others before and chuckled.
"You think that's going to surprise me?" he asked as he turned back to face his opponent only to have his face grabbed by the working arm.
"No but this should!" he heard Noah shout as soon his main camera went dark as a couple explosions rocked his gunpla. He grit his teeth and switched to one of his alternate cameras.
Noah had jumped back out of his reach. It seemed it all had been an attempt to get his gunpla close enough to use what the burning boy had read on forums as "shin finger" and knock out his camera.
Oh he was fired up. Noah had exploited his attack as a chance to throw the distraction boomerang and then used his moment of pride to get in and hit him. The man was a genius even if his left arm was no longer usable.
But with his main camera out of use he had to use that one technique. Summoning all his will he brought his right fist back. As he did so flames began to surround it and slowly take shape. He closed his eyes and with a deep breath he thrust his arm forward, bringing his left up to block any attack as he sent off the fiery phoenix that had ended many gunpla battles.
He heard it go and go and hit something and destroy it….but no "battle ended" chime from the arena's "announcer" he opened his eyes and saw that the impulse gundam was gone. Blinking he looked around trying to find it and shouted in pain as in his assimilated state his right arm was assaulted by a feeling of heat and flames as Noah revealed himself. He had moved to his right, Noah's left and dodged the phoenix before hitting him with a beam of some sort.
But he had no guns…so where did the beams come from? Finally it ended and sekai looked to see what it was with the camera he had switched to. Noah's chest was smoking….it seemed he had the chest from the strike freedom and had hit the kamiki burning gundam with the cannon in its gut.
He tried to move the arm but it refused to respond…it was gone. He sighed and got ready to use his attack once again but instead found Noah once again in his face and he couldn't help but scream as he felt heat and pain run across his gut.
Noah had taken his moment of surprise and floored it over to him before digging one of the Excalibur swords into his waist and dragging it through. Sekai vision went black though as he felt the same heat hit his skull and begin to drag downwards as Noah brought his second blade to cleave the kamiki burning gundam from 2 pieces into 4.
Intermission 2.0
Noah panted as the plavsky particles around him faded away. He had done it. He won. And with his "EX-caliber imposter" gundam. But when he saw the "burning boy" collapse he realized he may have over done it by cleaving the gundam into four sections when the kid was assimilated. Oh he hoped he didn't do any permanent damage.
Quickly he ran around the arena and watched as the medic's checked on the kid. Ever since his run through with team try fighters "assimilation" was becoming more and more common with passionate fighters who were using specially treated "plavsky particle" parts to bond with their models so medics were mandatory at the tournaments in case something like this happened.
He looked up to see the kamiki burning gundam in four pieces, with it being the open tournament the battle damage level was set to A, any and all damage would be inflicted on the mobile suit, no simulated damage.
Finally one of the medics looked up to him and nodded. "He'll be ok...he will need some more advanced care though to ensure no damage was done to the brain. But he`ll be fine. "Said the medic as they got sekai on a stretcher and moved him away from the arena.
Noah knew why they mentioned that, the kid's body reacted as if it were the model, if its arm broke then the kid's arm would hurt like all hell as if it got broke. So to have his body cleaved in four…well…Noah knew he had yet to experience such damage and he hoped the boy was ok.
Not wasting any time though he collected his model as well as sekai and left, sadly not even stopping to thank sei and china for cheering him on. He had work to do….
Intermission 2.0
Nina grit her teeth as her and EX-caliber crossed swords. His fighting style was way different than before. He wasn't holding back. He was giving it his all. But why change? Was it the broken sword? Was it the fact he had shown them everything he could do? She was confused by this rapid change and as they both jumped back she only became more annoyed with the pilot. Who did he think he was? He first shows up and smoothly waits till the last second to dodge fire from a zaft capital ship before nearly crippling it.
Now he no longer just stood there. He acted. He was aggressive. He was FAST!
The last part she had to admit as she boosted to the side to dodge one of his rail gun shots but soon found herself blocking another strike from that broken sword. She growled and pushed her thrusters forward, actually having to step, physically with her paladin's feet, forward in order to start pushing him back as the amount of particles his engine put out grew.
Finally she gasped as he pushed off with his feet and did a front flip over her. She spun around and went to bring her shield up but instead found it no longer there and his sword arm raised.
Her eyes went wide as she stared into the mismatched colored eyes of the mobile suit, hearing her left arm crash into the sand. Her paladin gundam took a step back and she screamed as his machine spun around and with a cross slash he left a large gash in her torso and cut her right arm off before a second spin had him kicking her back, sending her machine into the sand.
She was panicking, he was faster than they thought. And he hadn't even turned red…what the hell!?
Finally she got DaCosta over the radio after the battle started to calm around them. It was a retreat order. She ground her teeth together. She had no choice. She couldn't keep fighting. She used her maneuvering jets to get back on her feet then took off, flying back towards the Lesseps.
As she did so she caught the angel of death look to the legged ship before flying away, likely having his own retreat orders. But not before he grabbed her shield arm off the ground. A trophy? Was it a new pilot?
Nina decided she'd think about it over a glass of whiskey later. Another defeat, and this time her machine was trashed as was Heine's EFT Guaiz.
As she landed her machine in the Lesseps and walked it to its berth she sighed. This was going to only complicate things…
Intermission 2.0
Noah sighed as he stood before the massive arena. He could hear the telltale signs of battles going on, he smirked as not too far away he also could hear a group of 'pilots' chatting as they waited to ambush another group, like sitting around a campfire. Just recently in fact a small motel was added to the arena, as some people came in groups with multiple gunpla to fight with, fighting in teams, heading to bed at times to regroup and strategize. It was perfectly legal even to hide your gunpla and leave it in the arena, disconnecting from it. But it left it vulnerable while you were away to an enemy finding it and destroying it.
Noah held up his first machine for his first time in this war. A custom zaku warrior phantom. As usual it had some inspirations by former world series fighters gunpla, with heat machete sheaths on its legs like the famous blue giants "gouf r35", and a pair of revolvers replacing the zaku's grenades though those had been moved to the back skirt armor. These though were more like hand cannons, not the zaku amazing's snub nose pistols. They had longer barrels and were more along the lines of the famous "peacemaker"
The zaku was painted black and had a modified command antennae that was longer and segmented by blocks. It also did not hold the standard beam carbine. Instead it had a special dual barreled beam cannon attached to its right arm which had a blade sticking out of the back end but not like an exia's blade. No something was different about it. And people would learn soon enough.
In its left hand was a custom "tommy gun". The zaku phantoms shields on its shoulders still held the two beam tomahawks within but the four spare magazines for its original beam rifle had been modified. They were smaller and white, and the spikes on the outside had small round bases two them before the spike began.
On its back though was its crown jewel of customization. A zaku blaze wizard pack with a variety of missile types available, but it also had been modified to account for the buster's anti-armor shotgun and beam rifle attachments.
This zaku warrior was armed to the teeth, certainly more than ready for war though Noah was concerned it was overweight. But the spikes would balance that out.
He had signed up on the federation side. It was part of his plan, as all but the last machine he had planned, if he lost any here, were technically Zeon or zaft based mobile suits. As he put the zaku phantom down on the launcher tray and it was scanned, its snow white mono-eye lit up and it prepared for launch.
"Noah Carson, phantom pain, launching!" he said loudly and the zaku rocketed out the simulated catapult.
As it showed where his machine had been deposited he found himself landing in a smoke filled former battle field. No…he looked around. Not battlefield. Ambush site. He quickly spun around and the twin beam cannons spun in their mounting rack on his arm to plant the sword on the back end deep within a goufs torso. It had been covered in an active camouflage cloak. Noah withdrew the sword and jumped back, the two shields swinging forwards to block the explosion, and the sniper round that bounced off them as it pierced the explosion.
He grit his teeth as he quickly found out where the shot came from. He had to boost to the side to dodge a second shot but he opened up his arsenal on his control ball and raised his right arm, the twin cannon spinning back to face in front of him. His shields blocked a third shot as the cannons charged up and finally a torrent of green energy flew from them.
A moment later an explosion rang off in the distance. Not wasting time Noah ditched the one shot cannon, a modified pair of godfrieds off of an archangel model. From those though the sword ejected and he caught it in a reverse grip.
He was only in the match for barely 2 minutes and already had 2 kills to his name. He had to give thanks to the council princess team…they made for great battle practice. His reflexes were as fast as ever, his "battle sense" sharp and ready to read any situation. He felt alive again for that moment, that hole was filled that sekai even had only filled for a moment. He was at war again. Normally he'd worry…he wasn't a soldier, why should he feel so at home just because he had destroyed two MS?
As the phantom pain faded from sight, literally becoming invisible once he decided no one else was around after he made one last sweep with the mono-eye. No one was around, it seemed likely the team he just killed had been a one two punch. The amount of GM models that were in pieces on the ground proved they had been an effective team…till they came against an actual gundam pilot.
He activated his hover mode and moved away from the site, his model invisible to the naked eye, even the hover mode was concealed as he moved through the trees to confirm his sniper kill…
Intermission 2.0
Murdoch sighed as he looked at the arm sitting in his hangar. Noah had brought it back and told him to find a way to remove the remaining beam saber, charge it, and mount it to the strike. Then melt the rest of the shield and arm down and call him when it was done as he went off to find something to eat.
He looked at the shield and the rectangular beam saber handle and sighed. That would be easy to do…but why couldn't he be an engineer. Yes he was one technically, but not the kind that could replicate it. In all honesty the bar shape the beam saber handle had would go perfectly as a replacement to the armor Schneider in its waist. But he only had access to one beam saber…why didn't Noah grab the other arm, or at least the saber? He growled and sighed as he got to work. Why did these pilots have to be so…snobbish?
Intermission 2.0
Noah grinned as he dug into his food. He was sitting with Nicol while they both ate. Nicol had only played a small part in the fight earlier, so he had come in once the archangel was on the move once again. Though once Dearka and yzak had jumped into the sand, he had openly admitted to Noah he had wished his new CO had been available. He could have captured them. Then it was only a matter of time till they had athrun. And Nicol knew that zala would easily join celestial being. After all, their mission…he could see it in his friend's eyes, it was what he wanted, especially once he had found out Kira was the pilot of the strike.
"So…let me get this straight. In our next series of fights you want to try and run operations at the same time to capture the rest of your former unit? What happened to understanding you are a traitor to them? They would rather kill you than join us. And you swore to leave them behind when you joined celestial being." stated Noah as he held his fork up and pointed it to the green haired coordinator.
Nicol gave him a dead glare. "I actually didn't…unless it was in the fine print. And celestial being, not to mention this ship, needs more mobile suits if we are gonna stand a chance against zaft AND the earth alliance…well us anyways. Who better than my former unit? We are all good friends, I don't have to shoot them down, and zaft loses its biggest advantage now over the earth alliance. I think it's a sound idea." Stated Nicol as he ate. He was wearing his blue earth alliance uniform though Noah wouldn't be surprised if he wore his zaft red one the crew wouldn't give him a second glance. Most of them were used to him by now.
"You're serious? "He asked, raising an eyebrow as he took another bite of his food. The military rations were crap…but he was starving after that fight. He really was slowly learning to live like a soldier. But now that they were out of Africa he knew they would easily have a few days before zaft attacked again. He was wondering though if offering one of his beam sabers to Kira would be a good idea or not. As long as they got into their docks now and then to recharge they would work anywhere, after all the GN particles worked different then thermal weapons…especially for when Kira took on the gogg wanna-bes
Nicol nodded. "Dead serious. Yzak yes he will be trigger happy as can be when we catch him, and Dearka…well…he`ll be himself. But after seeing what you could do to that new model, there's no telling how easy it would be for you to capture them. And after them Athrun will join us once he sees…well even Dearka working with us. Plus if it means he won't have to fight Kira anymore…."Nicol left that last sentence open as they both knew obviously how close Kira and Athrun are. Noah himself, while never voicing it to the green haired coordinator, was still unsure as to Kira's true sexuality.
The gunpla battler sighed and set his fork down. Putting his chin on his now folded hands. "What if…hypothetically I told you I already knew that we will capture Dearka…and that it is my own personal opinion that we leave them be for now. The gat series can't fly, hell Kira can somewhat but that's nothing like myself. To have the full gat series aboard this ship as it stands now…would be pointless. Yes it takes them out of zafts hands and yes you get your friends back…but ultimately their machines would just take up hangar space. If we get the chance to catch them we will, if not…then there's nothing we can do but shoot them down." he stated as he went back to eating.
Nicol could only stare at him. What…hypothetically? He…the man was only becoming more and more of a mystery wrapped up inside an enigma and filled with questions. He finally gave up on the subject and returned to his own food. At least he had proven to himself Noah would listen and was open to ideas.
Intermission 2.0
Kira sighed as he reached the airlock for the aft exterior airlock. It felt odd, being on earth and all, but to think he had told flay he had needed some air when she tried again to get him into bed. Especially after that time she disappeared on him back in the desert after they landed on earth she seemed…less conflicted…but also didn't seem any happier about sleeping with him.
He shook his head. Why was he even worrying about why the girl of his dreams was sleeping with him? He was 16, he had a super crush on her, and she regularly wanted him in bed…but…was that really what was on his mind?
He opened the door and had to raise his hand as he stepped outside. It was so bright…but the moment he felt the sea air on his face he felt himself relax. He had his ensign jacket in his arm behind him as he walked out to the center of the deck. He closed his eyes and thought back to his discussion and fight with waltfeld…and Noah.
He laid his coat down and sighed as he laid his coat out on the likely warm metal deck and then laid down on it, looking up at the sky as he thought about everything so far.
He remembered Waltfeld asking him and Noah how you knew who won a war. As he said there were no points. It wasn't a sports game one could win or lose. Then came Noah's rant about how people needed to get over themselves and put their weapons down…he nodded as he thought about that. While he knew that until they, him and his friends, got to orb finally, till he no longer had to pilot the strike to keep them safe….he could never put down his weapons.
He thought back to his fight with Waltfeld and how he had stated he wouldn't give up until one of them was destroyed. It made him think about how easy it was to forget that humans piloted mobile suits and mobile armors. Mechanized warfare made it easy to just go on a killing spree on a battlefield and not realize how many people you had killed.
But the same went for just acting on orders. He knew there were likely zaft soldiers who went about attacking towns and destroying convoy's that had no idea just what was inside. He had spoken to Nicol finally earlier, his first real talk with the fellow coordinator.
The stealth pilot was more than happy to discuss Athrun's life in the plants and Kira was happy to hear things were going well for him. He asked about the rest of his former unit, what the other 2 pilots were like. It was then he learned the name of the duel's pilot, yzak joule. A hot headed kid who fought with his hatred over the bloody valentine event fueling him. Kira told him about how he nearly shot down that shuttle and he remembered hearing nicol's reaction.
It was so sad. He had stated he was glad Noah stopped him. Yzak was a military man obviously…well boy, but still he also followed the general standing rule of women, children, and civilians in general were not ok to mercilessly slaughter unless they had intent to kill you as then it was self-defense. Had that shot connected and he learned of the military shuttles true occupants…well whoever told him may have well have given him a pile driver to his gut.
Kira closed his eyes then and remembered the few moments of Noah's last fight he caught. How he had moved so swiftly, so fluidly, not a single twitch of his controls was meant to be lethal as he disarmed, literally, his opponent and then kicked them back. He likely would have used his thrusters to perform a killing strike but fate intervened and they were called back for a retreat. If only the strike moved like that. Sure when he went into this "berserk" mode, when he saw that seed burst he couldn't control himself, but still his actions were no less precise then Noah's, not a single ounce of energy that he used, either his own or the strikes was wasted…to his ability. Were he able to use that machine better he may have been able to save Mr. Waltfeld and still gotten away with the archangel.
Just as he heard the deck door open he realized he had been crying this whole time. He quickly stood and wiped away his tears, hoping it wasn't Noah or cagalli, knowing they both likely would lecture him. He was a sensitive guy…or so his parents said. Nothing was wrong with crying….
Right as he thought it he heard Nicol chuckle. "Nothing wrong with crying. I can come see the Indian Ocean another time if you need some space. "Said the green haired coordinator as he stood behind Kira, careful not to step on his jacket.
Kira turned around and bent down to get his jacket. "I wasn't crying. "He said defensively but as he left Nicol's hand jumped out and grabbed his wrist. "Stay. You certainly need the fresh air more than me. I`m sure it's tough on you…"he said, leaving that sentence open for the obvious reaction…
"What's tough on me? I'm fine. "Stated Kira, his eyes already threatening to tear up again as he was worried he'd get lectured. Another pilot on the ship, another person for him to hear tips about being a man or a soldier from.
"Being a soldier. You're just a tech student. You just happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time. Before Athrun left in the aegis I had been about to take his place and fight murrue in the blitz so he could go get that unit back to our ship. It's because of him telling me to continue as planned that you're likely even alive." Said Nicol as he walked to the railing and leaned on it, closing his eyes as he took in a deep breath.
"And now you`ve had the same misfortune as he has ever since Heliopolis…knowing your opponent face to face and becoming friends with them." Said the coordinator somberly as he turned around. "But you…you had the even worse misfortune of knowing YOU killed him. Knowing his face, his voice, his name…it makes it all harder. It's easier to just shoot down a MS…but when you know them personally…"
Kira's eyes went wide. He had never realized it…Nicol knew exactly what he was going through…well…sort of. He didn't have the burden of knowing…no…Kira's view of the coordinator shifting immensely as it occurred to him he knew EVERY pilot or at least knew the general id's of everyone he had had to shoot down since he joined them.
"I'm sorry I…"Kira started but Nicol held up his hand. "It's fine…I understood what it meant when I joined Noah, and I know that they knew what they were signing up for when they joined zaft. "said Nicol as he glanced at the door and they both saw cagalli walk out. They both audibly gulped. As they both realized they had red eyes from shedding a few tears.
The blonde rebel quickly noticed and put her hands on her hips. "I'm not even gonna ask…"she said before walking out and wrapping her arms around them both. "I'm so sorry…to both of you…" she whispered as they all silently began to cry…it was time they all had had a moment to just let it out.
Intermission 2.0
OK! So…to keep my writing a bit spiced up and my interest going I'm gonna be doing these kinda chapters. Confusing I know, but they won't all be this long or ramble or have so much explanation. Also I know this may bring up questions as to just how long this is after the original build fighters and after try…well if china being married and pregnant didn't give it away it's been at least a couple years since try, I'm not sure how old the try fighters were but I know celestial sphere and that group that the guy with the custom double zeta helped were in their last year of what here in the US/ Washington cause I know some other states still use "junior school" or whatever, anyways they were in their last years of middle or high school, with saga and the blonde builder of the transient being at least late teens. Anyways, I assume 3-4 years would easily put sekai around 16.
Anyways tell me what you think…and yes…you say anything I will find a way to ban you from reading my stories. But I gave Nicol, Cagalli and Kira a moment to cry…seriously…Nicol is fighting his own people who he once fought for and he's even killing them, no one goes forever doing that without breaking down or becoming a pure psychopath.
Then we have Kira…yeah he just needed a moment to cry with EVERYTHING that has gone on since his last cry time XP yes I will laugh at him but that's cause I find him to be a pathetic main character for a gundam series. Even quatre had more balls than him and he was quite adamant he hated killing
And cagalli…well…she lost the guy she had a crush on, she nearly died a few times…and now she's with two guys who are crying…why not take a moment to let it all out?
Anyways again, tell me what you think, if you like this, getting glimpses of what happens after Noah "dies" yeah…kinda let that one out of the bag, as it all converges on that it`ll limit how many chapters of filler I need before I can have him jump back in to operation spitbreak. Also when I switch to Nina during the "future flashes" as I'm gonna call them, you`ll get a few good ideas as to what's gonna happen with her.
OH! And shin will be making an appearance, like Barry Allen on arrow he'll make an appearance which will shoot off into its own story that will converge with my intended sequel, oh and just before things get too confusing, this story will have two spin offs before the story ends, with one ending well before that, and another ending with the opening of my sequel that takes place during destiny.
Lol ok…Annnd…read and review…hope you're still enjoying it.