Copyright: Sunrise inc.
Gundam SEED: 2002, 2013
Gundam 00: 2007
Chapter 8.5
'No way, it's really him.' He was surprised. Even in his current situation, to see a familiar face all the way out here. He hadn't seen Setsuna ever since he mysteriously disappeared 4 years ago. According to the Repo agents who came to claim the unit back then(he remembered that very clearly; he had just returned home from his part-time job when he saw the estate manager opening the door for a couple of people in suits), it could barely be called a home, and the only thing they needed to clear out was a single mattress.
But before he could get a chance to ask his old neighbor about where he had been, an Automaton had jumped down from the pipes overhead, its microjets firing off to slow it's descent.
And before he could say anything else, Setsuna grabbed his arm. "We're leaving!" he said, as he dragged him out of the Automaton's firing line, the bullets hitting where he had been earlier.
Meanwhile, outside the colony
"Fucking Federation piece of shits!" Stuart said to no one in particular, as he fought one of the three A-LAWS mobile suits.
Excluding the landing teams who had barely escaped the Granada's destruction, He and three others were all that's left of the rescue operation. The mobile suit escort was originally a six-man team, but two of them were shot down by one of the two GN-XIIIs that were deployed along side that new model. Even when they surrounded and outnumbered that lone unit 5-to-one, the bastard was tricky.
All Stuart wanted was to have this bastard dealt with quickly, so he could focus on that new model. When it entered their E-Sensor's range, the IFF detection had marked the three A-LAWS machines, identifying the new machine as the same one that attacked Resolus. Ever since then, He's been itching for a chance at paying the bastard back for it. Instead, all he got was the bastard's lackey. Said "lackey" was starting to get on his nerves.
"Damn Federation mutt, why won't you die already?!" Stuart exclaimed, as the GN-X took out another one of his comrades.
Unfortunately, his rage had blinded him, and he had forgot about the OTHER GN-X that was still in the airspace. And it costed him dearly, when that very GN-X shot him down from his blind spot.
"Unit 3?" Alagga exclaimed in surprise, when the Realdo that was shooting at him was suddenly shot down from behind, with the beam having come from Warrant Officer Halevy's GN-XIII.
And he wasn't the only one who saw it, with Captain Zinin having returned to the battle from dropping his payload. "Unit 3, that was a good judgment call. Good job."
Unbeknownst to the two veterans, Louise was still reeling from her first kill on the battlefield. Despite what they told her, shooting down an enemy in a simulator, and shooting someone down for real, were two completely different things. And with that one shot alone, memories from "That day" were surfacing again, and she kept taking heavy breaths to calm herself down.
As the Captain Zinin took down another Realdo, their E-Sensors detected something, and went off.
"A reading on the E-sensor? Is it the enemy's reinforcement?" Louise heard Captain Zinin over the comms, right as last surviving Realdo took another shot at Lieutenant Alagga's unit. As Louise looked towards the direction indicated by E-Sensor, but saw nothing.
"Sir," Lieutenant Alagga called out, as he engaged the last Realdo. "Did you see that?"
"Just barely. Let's wrap things up here first, we've wasted far too much time with these rebels."
Saji and Setsuna had just ducked into one of the narrow access corridors, after running for a few minutes, and Setsuna having taken down two more Automaton on the way. Saji was barely able to catch his breath, but Setsuna looked just fine, holding his breath and looking out the corner.
Now that they finally had some breathing room(well, only he thought so. Setsuna still looked weary and on edge), he thought this would be a good time to get some answers to his questions.
"Hey, Setsuna. Why are you here? Where-"
"Quiet." Setsuna interrupted, never letting the wider hallway out of his sight. As Saji stopped, they could again hear the footsteps of an Automaton. 'Oh god, ANOTHER one?!' Saji quietly thought to himself, as the footsteps got louder and louder…coming from BEHIND them.
Before Saji could even warn Setsuna, the Automaton had kicked down the door, and Setsuna had reacted just as quickly, already having turned around to shoot at the machine. He had fired off a few shots, before he pulled another lump of explosives from his pouch, and threw it at the Automaton. Right as he threw it, he had dragged Saji out of the small corridor, turning the corner, and threw him on the ground, clearing the blast right as the explosive detonated, destroying another Automaton.
"Are you alright?" Setsuna asked, reaching his hand out to him. "Y-yeah, I'm okay."
As Setsuna helped him up, two more Automatons came up behind them. Without a hint of hesitation, he was dragged by Setsuna down another corridor, bullets barely missing them by mere centimeters.
As he dragged Saji Crossroad along with him, they alternated between the larger hallways, and the narrow corridors, trying to throw off the Automatons' targeting program, and buy as much time as possible so they could escape.
'Nothing's changed. Not a damned thing has changed since then!'
As they made another turn, he remembered that day all those years ago, ducking and weaving through the ruined buildings of Krugis, running past and stepping over the bodies of his comrades, who died for a false cause.
'This isn't what we desired…'
But as the two continued running down the corridor, one of the pursuing Automatons was catching up, but was firing wildly. Taking a chance, he grabbed another charge, and threw it at the Automaton. Instead of the two men, the targeting system tracked the thrown projectile instead, straying the machine gun's line of fire upwards. Before it could fully reacquire the two men, the explosive had stuck onto the Automaton's leg, and detonated a second later, taking out both it and the one following close behind. Thanks to the machine's momentum, only it and the other machine were caught in the explosion, and him and Saji broke through the black smoke, and into the hallway.
'Neither Lockon, nor I.'
As they turned into another corridor, flashes of A-LAWS's atrocities surfaced again. Both that Katharon base destroyed the other day, and of that hellscape of dead bodies, with their faces fixed forever in the pain and agony of their death.
'Not this kind of world!'
A few minutes prior
That last Realdo was persistent, but eventually, it too had joined its comrades
"Alright, that's the last of Katharon's combat presence in this airspace. All units, regroup on me."
"Yes, sir." Lieutenant Alagga replied, regrouping with his leader's Ahead
"A-acknowledged." Warrant Officer replied, with a slight stutter in her voice.
As soon as the three units had regrouped, they moved in formation around the colony, looking out for the unknown that had popped up earlier.
"Alright, you two. Keep your eyes out for that unknown. We don't know where it's hiding at now.
""Yes, sir!"" both pilots replied, almost simultaneously.
As they circled around the rotating block, Alagga spoke up.
"Sir, the silhouette of that unknown earlier…could it be…?"
"Maybe…especially with those GN Particles…" Barack replied, almost hoping he was wrong. But from even before Celestial Being's interventions began, Barack was trained to trust his guts. After all, his instructor once taught him that "A soldier should always trust his guts on the battlefield, because they are usually right about dangers".
Then again, there WAS that report of a red-colored Gundam-like unit, seemingly unaffiliated with Celestial being, that caused that continent-wide blackout two years ago by blocking the solar arrays of the Grand Union elevator with an asteroid's debris.
Barack was soon snapped out of his thoughts, when the Automaton's tracking popped up another alert. Two more just got destroyed.
'Figures. Katharon's landing team probably survived the destruction of their carrier. I'll have to let Brigadier General know about the-'
But before Barack could continue that line of thought, another one went down. 'what the…?'
And alarm bells started going off, as several others started going down in quick succession.
"The number of Automatons…..they're dropping?"
Soon, according to the display, of the twelve Automatons deployed at the start, there was only three left.
"What the hell…?" Barack could only ask out loud, as the last three disappeared as well.
As they approached the door leading into the hanger that was to be his extraction point, they were out of time and options, and so instead of wasting more time hacking the lock, he threw his last block of explosives at it, and ducked into an open room.
As soon as the explosive went off, violently blasting the door off its frame, the two of them moved quickly into the hanger. As soon as they were through, the emergency shutters sealed the destroyed doorway shut.
"Put your helmet on." Setsuna said, while tapping away at his own helmet.
"R-right" 'He must be using a custom helmet.' Saji thought, as he activated his suit's own inbuilt emergency helmet. It was the only good thing about the prisoner suit: they made it so that they wouldn't need to give them two different suits for both in-colony and Extra-vehicular labor.
'It leaves a bad taste in my mouth, but at least I'll finally be out of here.' Saji quietly thought to himself, as the hanger's door began to open.
'But still, what is Setsuna doing here? With the way he's dressed, it doesn't look like he's with Katharon…'
As Saji was lost in thoughts, the bay doors slowly opened wider and wider. And there was something behind it. Was that a mobile suit?
As he looked up, he saw a sight he never thought he'd see ever again. The machine that changed the world five years ago.
A Gundam.
It looked beaten to hell and back, but there was no mistaking it, this was one of the mobile suits of Celestial Being; the group that challenged the major powers of the Earth all those years ago.
And it apparently belonged to Setsuna.
"Setsuna…you…"
Instead of a reply, all he got from Setsuna was silent stare, before he turned and headed for the cockpit of the gundam.
Saji, shocked by the revelation that his old neighbor, someone he effectively considered a friend, someone who had just saved his life, was involved with that accursed organization, fell on his knees. As it's cockpit closed shut, the battered Gundam exited the hanger.
"Setsuna…..why are you…"
'What in the world is going on?' Barack thought, as the last Automaton went dead. 'I know that the rebels are likely armed, but there's no way they could take out all of the Automatons this quickly.'
Then, he was broken out of his thoughts again. This time, from a proximity alarm going off in his helmet.
"Captain! Above us!" the Lieutenant had called out, after catching the sight of something. But before they could really get a good look at what it was, the unknown was already charging at them, and managed to take out the right arm of Alagga's GN-XIII.
As the unknown came to a halt, it turned to face them, and the three of them finally got a clear look at the unknown.
"THAT'S A-"
It was battered and broken. But that face, that design. There was no mistaking it.
"G…Gundam…"
Same time
Lagrange 2, Celestial Being
"…Exia."
'So, you did survive. Just as I expected.'
Ribbons Almark, the leader of the self-titled Innovators, had been observing Miss Halevy's first combat deployment after her first assignment. It was natural, after all, to keep an eye on your "investments", ensuring that they survive long enough to show results.
But never did he expect to actually see a survivor of that battle four years ago.
"Gundam Exia…"
'You truly are quite the survivor, Setsuna F. Seiei.'
"Well, then." Ribbons said to himself, standing up from his couch. As he did, he saw through Louise Halevy's eyes Exia charging at the trio of mobile suits. "Let's see how well you fare against your…'Successors', shall we?"
"CELESTIAL BEING?!" Barack exclaimed, taking pot shots at the Gundam, as it folded it's sword down, revealing the inbuilt beam rifle behind the blade, and fired at his Ahead.
'This is impossible!' Barack thought to himself, as he dodged the shots coming from the Gundam. 'There were survivors!? If so, why…?'
As he dodged, he stowed his rifle away, and drew his Ahead's beam saber from it's shoulder mount, and charged at the Gundam.
The Gundam, seeing his charge, unfolded it's large sword again, and both units engaged each other at sword point.
"WHY HAVE YOU SHOWN YOURSELVES NOW!?" just like that day in the rain, Barack was once again consumed by anger, throwing his all at the old nemesis before him.
"…stroy you."
'The comms? He's transmitting?'
"I'll just destroy you…"
As the Gundam's pilot responded, he started pushing back with his unit.
"…Each and every one…OF YOU REMORSELESS BASTARDS!"
As soon as he had finished, the Gundam managed to push back his Ahead, forcing Barack into moving backwards, trying to gain some distance.
"I will strike you down!" the pilot had said, as he folded his sword, and fired his beam rifle again, charging forward at his Ahead. But Barack's unit, far more advanced than even the experimental GN-XIIs, was too nimble for the battered Gundam, blocking a single lucky shot, and dodged the rest.
"Hah! Even for a Gundam, you're nothing but a five-year old relic! You're no match for my Ahead!"
As the Gundam continued it's charge, Barack stowed his beam saber away, and switched back to his rifle. But even as it continued dodging, it's age started to show, and it's sluggishness allowed Barack to get a shot in. Following the momentum, Lieutenant Alagga, firing his GN Lance with his GN-XIII's intact left hand, got a shot in as well.
"Unit 3, cover the captain!" Alagga called out to Warrant Officer Halevy, while keeping up the fire.
No response.
"Unit 3, do you copy?!"
Unbeknownst to the two, Louise had stared panicking, the trauma from that day surfacing again, and she froze, gasping for air.
'Tch, useless brat.' "Forget her! We can handle this ourselves!"
Barack charged at the Gundam again, stowing his rifle away, and drew his beam saber again.
"I lost a lot of friends to you bastards…"
The Gundam countered by unfolding it's blade to block the blow, but this time, Barack pushed his Ahead's thrusters to it's limit, and kicked the Gundam before it had the chance to retaliate.
"I WILL avenge them with your death!" He made another charge, drawing his second beam saber.
The Gundam blocked the strike again. But this time, the combined pressure from the two beam sabers proved too much for the beaten-up old blade to handle, and it was promptly cut in two, with Barack taking the Gundam's right leg as well.
"YOUR ERA HAS COME TO AN END!" Barack exclaimed, as he swung both blades downwards, slicing off both the Gundam's right arm, and the Anti-beam cloak covering the stump where it's left had been.
"I have you now, Gundam!" Lieutenant Alagga exclaimed to the Gundam, as he charged his now defenseless opponent with his GN Lance. Victory seemed inevitable, but at the last second, an alert went off, and two lances of heavy beams pierced through the gap between Alagga's GN-XIII and the Gundam, destroying Alagga's GN Lance.
"What the hell?" Alagga exclaimed in shock, looking towards where the beams came from. What they saw shocked everyone on the field.
Another Gundam, and this one looked new.
'To think that there were more…but where did this one come from?' Barack thought to himself, looking at the new Gundam.
As the new Gundam approached, It unfolded two more cannons on it's knees, and fired at the group, sending two lances of beam down each side of the crippled Gundam, separating both their units from it.
'That kind of heavy firepower…is that Gundam based on that big one from five years ago?' Barack thought, as he dodged more beams, and observed the newcomer. In a battle with an unknown, information was always key.
Unfortunately, not everyone follows this rule.
"Why you…come here, you antiquated piece of shit!"
'Dammit! He's getting reckless!' "Alagga, wait! This guy is different!"
But his warning went unheeded, as Alagga dodged another beam, and circled around behind the new Gundam. "Gotcha!" Alagga shouted over the open channel, as he drew his beam saber, and swung at the Gundam.
But the newcomer was not defenseless, as right before the Lieutenant's attack could connect, the Gundam activated a barrier, a GN Field, and had stopped the attack dead in it's track.
"A-a GN Field?! This thing has one?" Alagga exclaimed again in shock, surprised by the Gundam's defense.
'I knew it! It really is based on the big one!' Barack could only watch in horror, as he came to a realization that if this new Gundam really was made by Celestial Being, that means that despite the RD put into developing and refining GN based technology…
That it was practically all for naught, for Celestial being has, once more, left them in the dust.
But before he could get Alagga to get away from it, this new Gundam pulled another trick out of it's proverbial hat.
"T- there's a face on it's back?!" Barack didn't know exactly what that does, but the face had caught Alagga off guard. As if to capitalize on his hesitation, the Gundam pulled a beam saber out of it's "sleeve", dropped the field as it turned around, and cut down Alagga right down the middle.
'Shit! We're down one man now! And I've spent too much particles fighting both Katharon and the other Gundam. Dammit, no choice…'
"Shit! We're retreating! Warrant Officer Halevy, let's go!"
But as Barack started moving away, he saw the Warrant Officer's unit just stay in its spot, frozen and umoving.
"Dammit, Unit 3, respond!" Again, no response. But from the squad interface, she's definitely still alive.
'Tch, useless brat!' Barack inwardly cursed, as he changed direction, and headed for unit 3, dragging it along by its arm, and made a mad dash out of the combat zone.
'I'll make you pay for this, Gundam, I swear!'
As the two A-LAWS machine left the combat airspace, Setsuna felt both relief and shock. Relief that he'll live to see another day, but shocked at there being another Gundam. Another one where he knew nothing about. Was this another Trinity? Or is this…?
As if right on cue, his savior opened up a comms channel with him. An encrypted once used by the main team during the Armed Intervention all those years ago. And through it, he saw a familiar face. A familiar voice.
"As I thought, you really were tracking A-LAWS' movements. It's been a while, Setsuna F. Seiei."
A face he never thought he'd see again.
"…Tieria…Erde?"
And...that's it for this chapter!
Man, Writer's block has been a hell of a bitch, and all those game events being run back to back didn't help, either.
But still, we're finally through with the first episode!(mostly). but man, this is tough.
As a heads up, due to SEVERAL life issues(primarily work), updates are going to be VERY irregular from now on. Then again, I kinda already gave that warning in the first chapter, so no more warnings from here on out.
As usual, please leave a review, and have a nice day, or night, or whatever the time is you're reading this. Peace out.
Uploaded: 10/11/2019
Next Update: TBD