Man, they were right. Writer's block IS a bitch, even when you're effectively copy-pasting something
I apologize for the LONG pause, but life has been kinda...shit.
without further a-do, ON WITH THE STORY!
Copyright: Sunrise inc.
Gundam SEED: 2002, 2013
Gundam 00: 2007
Chapter 8.2
Lagrange 4, Asteroid field
Baikal-class cruiser, Baikal
Main bridge
As the commander of this squadron, Brigadier General Arthur Goodman, got into his seat on the bridge of his ship, he heard the status update reports from the CIC officers, updating him on their current position.
"Distance to Proud, 2300."
"GN Particle dispersion rate maintained at normal levels."
"General Zhejiang, I hear we've found one of Katharon's ships?" Arthur asked his XO, Lieutenant Colonel Lee Zhejiang.
"Yes sir, they were spotted by the advance recon team. We're already tracing their course."
He turned to look at the small display on his seat, showing the predicted route of the Katharon spaceship. "So, they're headed to Proud. Just as expected, huh?"
He turned back to his XO, and asked. "What's the operational status on the new model automatons?"
"All units are fully functional, sir."
Nodding in acknowledgment, he looked up, ready to issue the orders.
"All hands, we will now begin the clean-up operation of anti-Federation forces! Have the the first squad sortie!"
"Ahead first Squadron, stand by for sortie! I repeat: Ahead first Squadron, stand by for sortie!"
As the hatch to the hanger opened, the technicians were loading the Automaton container onto Barack's Ahead, which had by now been tuned to the Captain's preferred settings.
As soon as the container connected with the waist hard point, the onboard AI automatically began a diagnostic test on the automatons loaded in the container, and returned a "status: green" report to Barack's display just as quickly as it had started.
"Automaton container, attachment to the Ahead, complete. No anomalies with all units, systems all green."
As he closed the display, he received a transmission from the bridge. Just as quickly, he patched it through.
"Captain Zinin." On the line was Lieutenant Colonel Zhejiang, the XO, that was on the line.
"Sir."
"As you already know, this will be Unit 3's pilot, Warrant Officer Halevy's, first actual deployment. She's still green around the collar, so just give her a feel of the battlefield, no need to get her too involved."
'Thanks for reminding me about the babysitting.' He thought to himself sarcastically. "…Acknowledged."
As he finished, the platforms that held his squad's mobile suits in place have fully extended, and they were promptly given the green light for launch.
"Zinin Squadron, launching!"
With the timing transferred to the squad, they each released their platform's locks, and launched, heading towards Proud.
Lagrange 4, Colony Proud
High gravity industrial block, Refinery
It has been two days since the "arrest", and they've just processed Saji into the colony's Ore Refinery, putting him to work as one of the many prisoners moving the processed materials around.
In nothing but a heat-resistant normal suit.
"They're forcing us to work," Saji grunted to himself, as he and three other "inmates" pushed the huge cart forward "in this high gravity…without machines?"
It was extremely labor intensive, even compared to before, so it was no surprise when the already frail looking man next to him collapsed from exhaustion.
"A-are you alright?" Saji stopped and asked the man, concerned for his safety.
"Don't stop moving, R-081!" One of the guards in powered suits yelled at him.
"But-"
Before he could continue, one of the other two prisoners shouted backwards at him.
"Don't bother! If you value your life, shut your mouth and keep working!"
"You heard him. Back to work, R-081!"
Left with possibly being beaten to death as his only other option, he had no choice but to grit his teeth, and continue working.
'I'm sorry…' he thought to himself silently, before dragging himself back towards the cart he was pushing.
"This is Albert. I've got a prisoner down on the line at sector 4-6. Can you send someone over to clear him out?
"Ahh, just drag him off the track. Which cart was he from?"
"Cart eighteen."
"Got it, I'll send another one over."
"Got it. Albert, out."
Colony Proud
Maintenance hatch access 18-B
In an unseen section of the colony, a man entered the colony through an isolated access hatch, left practically untouched since that section of the colony was completed.
As soon as he was through the hatch the led to the inner part of the colony, he closed and re-locked the hatch before he moved off, heading towards where A-LAWS was holding the suspected fugitives: the high-gravity block.
'Are they targeted this place too?'
As he moved, following the map on the heads-up display of his helmet, he had flashbacks of what happened to the last Katharon base that was attacked by the ruthless soldiers of A-LAWS.
'I'd better hurry'
'I can't let this beat me! As long as I stay in space, one day, I will see Louise again…'
Saji could only continue to work, sure that as long as he survived for long enough, he will be able to prove his innocence.
As he kept encouraging himself with his promise with Louise, he continued working, and trying not to incur the wrath of the guards.
As he pushed the next cart he was "assigned" to, the man next to him, the one that shouted out to him earlier, began to talk.
"Hey, kid."
Sure that the man was addressing him, he turned his head to face him.
"You don't look ex-military. You a part of Katharon too?"
Feeling a little insulted at the accusation from another prisoner, he retorted with indignation in his voice.
"I'm not with them!"
"So you just got caught up in all this, huh? I feel sorry for ya. But still, you've got some great luck."
"How is this a good thing?" Saji asked, wondering how this man could stay positive in a situation like this.
"Oh, you'll see. Soon."
The cryptic reply only made Saji more curious.
'What in the world is about to happen?'
As the black-clad man dropped dropped down from the ceiling hatch, he braced himself for the landing, feeling the slight strain from the high gravity pull.
As he stood up, getting used to the gravity, he heard the distinct sound generated by the motors of a powered suit rolling down the hallway.
"Hurry up with the evacuation! The operation is about to start soon!"
Open channel. No need to tap into their comms, then.
"I got it, I got it! Damn, this thing is REALLY acting up today…"
A stroke of luck for the man, as one of the guards was moving slower than the rest. As soon as the lagging guard was past the walkway he was hiding in, and out of sight of his faster colleagues, he walked out and took aim at the power pack of the guard's suit, and fired a charged round from his custom handgun, piercing the armored cover of the power pack, and rendering the suit immobile.
The guard could only look around, confused by both the impact in the back, and the sudden failure of his suit, bringing him to his knees.
As he struggled, the black-clad man jogged up to him from behind, and knelt beside him, his helmet coming into contact with the man's own tinted helmet.
"What this about an operation?" The man asked the guard.
"W-who the hell are you?!"
Not missing a beat, he raised his pistol up to the guard's helmet, clearly intending to threaten the helpless man.
"Answer me."
"Geh! L-look, I don't know the details, either! We were just told to evacuate. That's all I know, honest!"
Having gotten an answer from the guard, he stood up, and continued down the corridor, leaving the helpless guard to his fate.
"H-hey! Wait! You're just gonna leave me here?!"
But before he could get any further, a rumble shook throughout the colony, he getting the man's attention.
"What the…?"
Outside Proud
Colony defense perimeter
A Virginia class cruiser, along with its escort mobile suits, began its assault on the colony. While the ship provided long range covering fire and support, the escorting mobile suits quickly took out the unmanned defence turrets, clearing out any opposition to their plan.
"The Realdo teams have completed their initial objectives" one of the CIC operators called out to the Captain from his seat.
"Good. Proceed with the rescue operation!" "Yes, sir!"
As soon as the helmsman acknowledged the order, he moved the ship towards the open loading bay. With barely any warning given to them, the workers in the dock just barely managed to get out of the way, and into the safety of the inner corridors.
"Hack into the colony controls, and take over the gravity controls for block 7!"
"Yes, sir!"
As soon as he had begun, the officer at the front console used the remote access code leaked to them by their collaborator, and gained access to the High Gravity Block's controls.
'Too easy.' He thought to himself, with a smirk on his face. "Jacking the block controls now!"
As soon as he jacked the controls, he activated the thrusters on the rotating block, and slowed its rotation down. Reducing the gravity to the colony standard of 0.98G.
Following the tremors from earlier, the entire block suffered a sudden, massive shock, not unlike an earthquake, causing the carts to topple over, and knocking many of the prisoners off their feet.
Fortunately, the carts fell on their sides, and no one was seriously injured.
"W-What the…?" Saji asked, as he picked himself up, rubbing the back of his head.
It was then that the familiar feeling of normal gravity hit him.
"The gravity is…!"
"THEY'RE HERE!" Saji heard the man shouting. "It's my comrades!"
"W-was this what you meant?"
"Yeah. Now come on, kid! Stop dawdling around, and let's get the hell outta here!"
"Wha-HEY!" Saji barely has the chance to finish, before the man pulled him up on his feet.
As they both headed for the exit with the other prisoners, he saw a group gang up on the guards, overpowering them with their numbers.
'What the hell is going on?'
"Block 7's gravity has been normalized, sir!"
"Good! Send out the rescue teams!"
"Acknowledged. Opening hatches!"
As soon as the hatches of the cruiser had fully opened, the men and women of Katharon's rescue force, wearing heir various normal suits, quickly disembarked, and headed for the loading bay's doors and control room. As they proceeded, they had to get the remaining civilians in the bay area to get to safety.
"Hurry up, people…" the captain muttered to himself, as more and more of their comrades quickly left the loading bay.
But then, one of the radar operators called out an alert.
"Sir! There are mobile suits approaching from above us!"
'Shit, that was fast.' "Is it the Federation?"
"There's a new model amongst them!"
"Tch. A-LAWS, huh?"
"What do we do, sir?"
"Close up the hatches, and activate the reverse thrusters! Get us out of the bay at the very least!"
"Yes, sir!"
"Enemy ship sighted, Captain."
"I see it, Lieutenant."
In the time it took the Katharon ship to overwrite the gravitational controls, the three A-LAWS mobile suits had already caught up, and were just about in range.
"Looks like they're about to leave the loading bay."
"looks like it." Barack replied, as he aimed his Ahead's GN Long rifle.
"But that's if we let them."
He took the shot, and it hit the back end of the bridge.
The loading bay was soon engulfed in a massive fireball.
As the prisoners made their escape, with some taking on the guards still equipped with their powered suits, the entire block shook.
"Tch! The enemy's here, huh?"
"Eh?" Saji could only reply, shocked by what the man said.
"…We can't waste any more time. C'mon, move it!" The man said, as he pushed Saji's back.
'Oh god, what in the world is happening?' Saji thought to himself, as he continued following the stream of people trying to make their exit.
"Lieutenant Alagga, take care of the remaining enemies!"
"Acknowledged."
"Warrant Officer Halevy, you are to remain on standby at this point. I'll proceed with the tests of the new model Automatons."
"Yes, sir."
'Good. Now stay out of the way.' Barack quietly thought to himself, as he approached the pre-designated hanger, nimbly dodging the shots from the enemy Realdos.
"Arrival at designated point, confirmed. Detaching container."
As he said it for the mission recorder to hear, he purged to container unit attached to his unit, and the onboard navigational computer guided the container into the hanger. As soon as it landed, the magnetic grips activated, and anchored the container to the floor of the hanger.
"Container secured. Now beginning the performance test of the new model Automatons."
As he pressed the switch on his controller that linked his unit to the Automatons, the container opened, and all the Automatons came online. Two by two, the Automatons began to move out from the hanger bay, and spread throughout the entire block.
Industrial Block
"Shit! The prisoners are getting out of hand!"
"God dammit! Where the hell is that backup?"
The two guards standing at the entrance to the cell blocks had realized quite early on that they were outnumbered, and were just about to be over-run in a few minutes. They had called the control room for backup, but there hasn't been any response from them.
As they stood their ground at their post, the first group of escapees rounded the corner, and were charging them. Fortunately, thanks to the gate, they were holding them back for a bit. Their only hope to get out of this in one piece is to wait for backup to arrive (assuming those lazy bastards even HEARD their call).
As they pushed the prisoners back, they heard a sound coming from behind them. A set of crawling steps that was very clearly mechanical.
As one of the guards turned his head back to see the source of that sound, he was greeted with the sight of an Automaton; one he had clearly never seen on this colony before.
"Hey, John..."
"What!? I'm a little busy!"
"Did the boss man ever tell you about us getting new Automatons up in here?"
"No," John replied, knocking aside another prisoner "why?"
"Then where the hell did THAT thing come from?"
"What thi-"
But before he could finish, the Automaton had open fire on the large crowd, including the two hapless guards who were caught up in the machine's gunfire.
As the second group reached the large exit, they were greeted with the sound of gunfire, and people getting mowed down by machine gun fire. Soon, panic set in, and they, and all those who were right behind them, started running in the other direction.
As the first group fell, those who were at the front of the second group caught sight of who, or rather, what, had mowed down the first group of escapees.
"What the hell is that?!"
"Military Automatons?! What the hell is that kinda thing doing here?!"
As the last bodies of the first group collapsed, the Automaton began scanning around its vicinity for targets. As it laid its mechanical eye on the fleeing group, the AI took aim and quickly made the adjustments for the range, and opened fire, filling the air in the industrial block with more screams of pain and despair.
It took him a few extra minutes, but he finally found an unused access door into the refinery area. the lock was easy to crack, and soon, the heavy door slid opened.
What greeted the man on the other side of the door was a literal hellscape, as unarmed personnel were being gunned down by the dozens. And the one responsible was a machine.
A few of the survivors made a run while the machine's guns cooled down, with some running further inwards, or taking cover behind some of the toppled carts.
"Anti-Personnel weapons? This is A-LAWS's doing!"
As he moved forward to try helping as many people as he could, he pressed a switch on his helmet, remotely activating his mobile suit that was hidden within his shuttle.
As both Saji and the other man hid behind a wall under the pipes, he witnessed another prisoner being gunned down by the Automatons. Though a few rounds were all that's needed to kill a person, the Automatons mercilessly riddled the poor man, and many others before him, with bullets, until they were practically filled with lead.
They didn't know whose handiwork it was, but the emergency exits have all been opened, and several of the lucky ones had long since escaped into the evacuation tunnels.
Unfortunately, Saji, and the man he was with, were stuck on the wrong side of an open corridor, and had little to no cover between them and the automaton.
The man looked towards Saji's direction, but the other side was a dead end. With no other choice, the man waited for the moment he believed the Automaton was facing away, and made a run for the exit.
But the machine was too quick; it took aim, and rapidly fired it's machine guns, all while tracking the man's inertia and movement. And it calculated all this in a single second. Soon, the man was also riddled with bullets, and fell to the floor in a bloody mess.
Seeing the man gunned down, Saji could only fearfully hide back behind the wall, as the Automaton continued moving forward, looking for more targets.
'Oh god…this isn't happening. Am I going to die here?'
As the Automaton's "footsteps" got louder, he could only think about Louise, and being unable to see her again.
'Louise, Nee-san…I'm sorry!'
But right as the Automaton was about to get close, the distinct sound of gunfire rang out from the other side of the corridor, and he could hear the bullets ricocheting off the Automaton's steel shell. From the direction of the gunshots was a man clad in an all-black pilot suit.
"GET DOWN!" The man shouted, as he threw something at the Automaton, before he himself took cover behind one of the toppled carts.
The white, Plasticine-like object the man threw had hit, and stuck onto, the Automaton. As the compound started to darken, Saji realized what that compound was, and quickly tried to shield himself, but was a little slow as the blast knocked him off his feet, sending him right onto the floor.
As the dust settled, all that was left of the Automaton was a pile of scrap. And as Saji was trying to regain his bearings, the black-clad man had approached him.
"Are you alright?" the man asked, extending his hand out.
"Y-yeah. Thank you." Saji replied, taking the man's hand, and was helped up. 'Wait, that voice…where have I heard it…?'
As he stood up, Saji was able to take a closer look at the man who saved him, and saw a familiar looking face.
"Erm…sorry, but could you by chance be…Setsuna F. Seiei?"
"…Saji Crossroad…"
And that's it for the second half...of episode 1's Part-A.
As usual, please leave a review, and enjoy!
Updated:11/10/2019