Chapter two is up! I do not own Chris, Liz, or Johanna Dante, Saul, Ian, or Diana Kessel, John Alaric, the 11th Fleet, the Raven, or the Surge Gundams. They all belong to Akatsuki_Leader13. Nor do I own Gundam. I only own Akira, Tao, Nisha, NASA/NAZAFT, the 7th Fleet, the Wing, Z.A.M., and Diver Gundams.
CT7567Rules: Actually, the ORB-04-A doeshave a fighter mode. But it is based off the ORB Murasame. You could say it is the prototype to the mass-produced version used in SEED Destiny
C.E. 71 – War has been raging for 11 months between the Earth Alliance and the PLANTs. With their superior numbers, it seemed inevitable the Earth Forces would win. But the PLANTs unveiled new technology and began to gain the upper hand. Now, 10 months after the initial conflict began, the war is at a stalemate…
January 25th, C.E. 71
Morgenroete Factory District
Heliopolis…
Nisha had just reached the outside when he saw a GINN pilot pull off the cover on the container holding another mobile suit. The Z.A.M. Gundam was it?
Then he realized just how bad that could be for everyone out there.
"NO!" he cried as he ran towards the machine and entered via a side hatch on the container.
Nisha opened up the cockpit and climbed in. The door hissed shut, meaning that Nisha was all alone in a machine that he had no idea on how to pilot.
"Great! Now what?!" he murmured anxiously. Then, the other two Mobile Suits attacked her! "Yeeek!" he shrieked.
The young Coordinator hit the one button he knew to be the Phase Shift armor, having seen it quite a few times before. The Z.A.M. Gundam then came to life, the black coloring appearing with the red lined grey cockpit coming in as well. The blue feet were the last part to finish up.
'The OS is shit! I guess I'll have to re-write it… But in the middle of a battle, that is not going to be easy.' The boy concluded as he moved the shield in front of the cockpit. He brought up the machine's OS and began to work.
ZAFT P.O.V…
"DAMN IT!" Matthew snarled as the Z.A.M. Gundam came online. A civilian had stolen it from them! Ironic, if it was not for the battle they were waging at that point.
'How could we have not noticed this one?!' He thought angrily as the machine got up and began to avoid their attacks, getting faster each time. Then Athrun came on over the com-line. "Rusty failed. An EA officer is inside the last machine." The other pilot reported.
"DAMN!" the green coat swore.
Normal P.O.V…
Nisha was re-writing the OS frantically as he dodged each of the enemy's attacks.
"Almost done with the movement…" he muttered as he turned towards the other Mobile Suits that were fighting as well.
One he could see to be the Wing, while the other two were the Strike and the Raven. Nisha knew that he had to get over there and fast. They could use the help as well.
As he made his way over, the com-line beeped. Nisha opened up the channel and heard a female voice.
"Pilot of the Z.A.M. Gundam, identify yourself!" the female ordered.
"Nisha Itsuno! I took the machine back from a GINN pilot that was trying to destroy it. I'm heading over towards your location right now!" he replied. He turned the machine in that direction and headed over.
'I'm not gonna let anyone else die again!' he thought.
Battle Site…
Flames leapt about as the five machines wandered away from the fire-consumed warehouse. The movements of each were shaky as the OS's were not yet complete.
Tao sat in her cockpit, still working to rewrite the OS of the Diver. "Those Naturals could have done a better job on the OS!" she growled as she finished up. "I'm done. Heading back now!" she reported.
The Aegis and Diver then leapt away from the other three and landed, just as the three GINNs from earlier landed as well, joined by a fourth as well.
Taikyu was sitting in the pilot seat of the Wing, Akira standing behind him. "Damn ZAFT bastards…thinking that they can steal these machines…" the man murmured. It was clear that he was struggling to operate the machine.
"Uncle, why are you even doing this?!" Akira demanded. The man looked at his nephew with a stern look. "Listen! We need to prevent this thing from falling into ZAFT's hands! That is why I have to get it out of here!" Taikyu snapped.
Akira was too busy staring at the OS though. 'How can he expect to pilot a machine with such a crappy OS?' He thought to himself. "Akira! Pay attention!" his uncle snapped.
The Coordinator snapped his gaze towards the Natural. "The OS is shit. There is no way that you can get it out of here with that!" Akira exclaimed as he pointed at the screen.
"I know that! But we need to get out of here, complete OS or not!" Taikyu snarled as the Wing stumbled before staggering back to its feet.
In the Raven, Chris watched his aunt struggle to operate the mobile suit. Though he knew they were still in danger, he could not help but feel worried about Kira, Liz, and the others.
Then, a woman's voice came on over the radio. "Attention pilots of the Wing and Raven! Identify yourselves now!" the female snapped over the radios of the two machines.
Taikyu hit the com-line button and responded instantly. "This is Taikyu Itsuno of Morgenroete! Is it you, Lt. Ramius?" he asked.
"Yes it is. Glad to see that you got that machine out of there in time." Lt. Ramius commented as the Strike wandered up besides the Wing.
"This is Johanna Dante of Morgenroete. Is that you, Lt. Ramius?" Johanna asked.
"Yes." Lt. Ramius replied. "It's good to see that you survived and got that machine out as well."
It became clear to Chris that the other machines had their radios on as well.
Then, another command came in. "Pilot of the Z.A.M. Gundam, identify yourself!"
The three machines were staring at the Z.A.M. Gundam, which was walking towards them.
"Nisha Itsuno! I took the machine back from a GINN pilot that was trying to destroy it. I'm heading over towards your location right now!"Nisha's voice came on over the com-line, startling Taikyu.
Akira looked anxiously towards the Strike. Last he had checked, Kira was in there.
"Is Kira with you, Lt. Ramius?" Johanna asked.
"The boy with me? Yes, he is here." She replied. 'Thank god.' Chris thought as he relaxed. He was not losing anyone else after that day…
"Good. Listen, Murrue! The OS is not ready for a Natural to pilot yet! You need to let Kira into the pilot seat, as he is a Coordinator like my nephew! They can handle the machines better than us right now! It is the only way to save these machines!" Johanna explained.
"WHAT?!" both Kira and Lt. Ramius were shocked at the request. "There is no WAY that I am letting a civilian pilot a top-secret machine!" Lt. Ramius declared. "Listen! You need to let him! It is the only way that we are going to survive! My cousin is piloting the Z.A.M. Gundam right now!" Akira over the radio snapped at the woman.
Then, suddenly, the GINNs pulled out their swords as they put their guns onto their backs, while the Diver and Aegis both flew off. They ran at the four machines, ready to strike.
"Fuck this!" Akira snarled as he shoved his uncle out of the pilot seat and got in. The boy then realized his mistake: he had no idea on how to operate such a machine! He faced his uncle. "What do I do?!" he asked anxiously.
Taikyu reached over to press a switch on the console and the Phase Shift Armor came online. The once grey machine became white, blue, gold, and black as the armor took effect. The wings became color with a black top and white majority and a blue line on the very bottom. The chest became blue with golden lines around where the cockpit door was and the legs and arms became white with blue feet bottoms. The hands became black and the head became white with golden eyes, a golden V-fin and a blue V-fin center. The shin guards were white while the shoulder guards were blue at the bottom and white at the top as well. To finish off the new coloring, the back part where the thrusters were became black as well.
Akira then felt his uncle's hands on the control sticks and the Wing barely managed to get its arms up and push the first GINN back as the sword came down.
"You're gonna have to re-write the OS to suit your abilities." Taikyu explained as he looked at his nephew.
Akira just nodded and proceeded to do so, silent all the while. In his mind, he was thinking 'Is this really happening?' over and over again.
Johanna pushed a button on the console, activating the Raven's Phase Shift armor. Its dull grey body turned to midnight blue with red trim. The second GINN raised its sword over its head. She barely managed to raise the Raven's shield cannon to block the sword strike and push the GINN back.
"Damn it!" Johanna cursed. "We don't have much time, Murrue. It's the only way to save these four machines!"
Johanna then moved out of the seat and said in a no-argument tone "Get in."
Chris quickly sat and began to experiment with the controls while thinking 'What the hell am I doing in this thing?'
"You're probably gonna have to rewrite the OS to better accommodate a Coordinator like yourself." She said.
"Oh, great." Chris muttered to himself as he began to re-write the OS.
But the second GINN wasn't going to give him the time to do it. It lunged at him with its sword. Chris barely sidestepped the attack.
"Damn it! I need more time." He said as he continued to type away while keeping an eye on the GINN.
The first GINN lunged at the Wing, making the black-haired Coordinator let out a yelp and pulled hard on the controls, barely avoiding the sword attack.
"You BASTARD!" Akira screamed as the Wing landed safely. 'Damn it all! I need to get out of here! But these ZAFT idiots are not letting me! I guess I'll have to do this the hard way…' the boy thought as he looked over the Wing's specs while re-writing the OS.
Nisha tried to give his cousin cover fire, but the third GINN ran at him as well, making him move back.
'Hellfire mini-missiles, beam sabers, wing blades…better not use those….75mm "Igelstellungs" anti-air Vulcan guns, nice… dual .74mm hyper-velocity beam rifle…now there is something new…Transformable Gundam, huh? Might as well see what it can do…' Akira decided as he finished up with the movement systems.
By now, the boy had finished re-writing the OS. Even if it was not perfected yet, it was at least enough to keep them out of harm's way. The Wing's movements were now much more fluid, although there were some parts that still needed to be worked on.
A sudden attack by the GINN caught the boy off guard as a bleeping sound came from the side of the pilot seat. Akira could only guess that the sound was an alert to the enemy being behind them…
"DAMN IT!" he swore as he spun the Wing around, getting out its beam saber, which was ignited to form a golden blade. Akira raised the beam saber and attacked the GINN, which wound up blocking with its sword.
The force pushed the two machines apart, allowing the GINN to put its sword away and take out its gun to fire on the Wing. 'Close range isn't gonna work at this rate. Gonna have to try long range…' Akira considered as he pulled the trigger for the head-mounted Igelstellung guns. The rounds flew at the GINN and although the damage they caused was minimal, they did get the pilot of the enemy caught off guard.
The second GINN swung its sword again and again at him. But each time, he dodged the blows. And, Chris noted, that the machine's movements as well as his own reactions were becoming quicker and smoother. The mobile suit's movements weren't perfect, but it was definitely better than it was earlier. The pilot of the GINN was clearly getting angry as his swings were getting wilder and wilder. This made it easier for Chris to avoid his attacks and re-write the OS.
"This will have to do for now." He said to himself as he finished his typing.
He hadn't completely rewritten the OS, but he didn't have time to do that while dodging attacks. But it was enough for him to properly pilot the machine without much difficulty.
The GINN swung its sword in a downward arc. He sidestepped it and punched the GINN's head, sending it falling to the ground.
Chris took this momentary stop in the fighting to check the machine's computer for its weapons.
'Let's see…"Igelstellung" 75mm anti-air vulcan guns, beam sabers, and a dual 52mm hyper velocity shield cannon. Hmm…Mobile Armor mode. I don't think I'll be trying that one today.'
The GINN quickly got back onto its feet. He could imagine that the ZAFT pilot was getting pretty pissed by now. The GINN charged at him, its sword pulled back. The GINN pilot clearly wanted to destroy him and this mobile suit.
'Well, let's try the Igelstellungs.'
Chris squeezed the trigger and the two head-mounted Igelstellungs fired. The rounds did nothing to the GINN's armor, but they did catch the pilot off-guard and he stopped his charge.
The GINN sheathed its sword, drew its rifle, and fired. Rounds struck the mobile suit, violently shaking it, but the armor held.
'Wow. This thing's armor must be quite strong if it can take bullets from a mobile suit rifle without any real damage. Let's see what this thing can do.'
He raised the machine's right arm, the one with the arm-mounted cannon, and fired. A pair of energy shots streaked out towards the GINN.
Unfortunately, the cannon's calibration was off. The first shot missed entirely while the second shot severed the GINN's right arm at the elbow. The GINN staggered back a few steps and took off into the air, fleeing Heliopolis.
Suddenly, there was a loud nearby explosion. Chris looked around and spotted the Strike stumbling backwards from an explosion.
"KIRA!" He shouted. To his relief, the Strike stayed standing and appeared to be relatively undamaged.
Nisha growled as he attacked the nimbler GINN. "Damn you!" he snarled as he drew back the Z.A.M. Gundam's fist. His machine then punched the GINN right in the head.
'I can't risk using the heavy weapons here because there are still people on the colony.' He reminded himself as he got ready to fight the GINN again. Nisha then grabbed one of the Z.A.M. Gundam's beam sabers and ignited the blade.
"Take THIS!" he cried as he attacked. The GINN's pilot had no time to react, causing his machine to get impaled. The damage made his machine blow up upon impact.
'DAMN IT! So much for long range…' Akira thought bitterly as the GINN's pilot fired the gun again. This time, the bullets hit the Wing dead on. Akira grunted as he struggled to get the machine to stay upright.
"Be careful!" his uncle exclaimed as the man tried to stay upright as well. Akira looked back at him with an angry look in his eyes. "Be quiet, alright?! Fighting these guys is not as easy as you think!" the boy snapped.
Taikyu stared at him, surprise on his face. Akira then looked back, wondering what the GINN was up to next.
"Let's try the beam rifle…" he murmured as the Wing got out the weapon from behind its back. The machine pulled the trigger and two shots flew from the barrel, one taking off one of the GINN's arms at the shoulder joint while the other missed.
Not happy with the outcome, the GINN took off, just in time for Akira and Taikyu to hear an explosion from nearby.
"NISHA!" Aki' shouted as he watched the Z.A.M. Gundam stumble backwards. The machine remained standing however, which was a good thing.
Fiery remains of the third and fourth GINNs were all that remained of the battle now…
"Lt. Ramius, Kira, Nisha, Chris, Johanna! Are you alright?!" Taikyu asked over the com-line.
"Yes, I'm fine. But the woman is unconscious and injured!" Kira replied anxiously.
"I'm good, just shaken up…" Nisha added.
"We're fine…" Chris said. "That was close…"Johanna sighed.
"There is a park not too far from here. We'll regroup there." Taikyu explained. "Got it!" the four replied.
As the four machines headed there, Taikyu looked at Akira. "Are you alright? You look shaky." The man noted. For the first time, the boy then realized what had happened to him during the fight.
The Coordinator was breathing heavily, sweaty, and was gripping the controls in a death-like grip. The rush of adrenaline still remained in Akira's body, making him shaky as he recalled what he had done.
He, a young ZAFT rookie, had just beaten a ZAFT ace while re-writing an OS and was piloting a Mobile Suit at the same time! But the machine was of the Earth Alliance. That alone made his predicament very hard. Akira was a soldier of ZAFT, and a red coat at that. Would he betray ZAFT for the Earth Alliance…?
A young woman's body was on the floor of the house. Her clothes were gone, and she was covered in blood, most coming from a certain area…
'NO! I can't do that! The Earth Alliance member SAF killed my sister at the urging of Blue Cosmos! I can't join them!' The boy reminded himself.
"I'll be fine…" Akira murmured as he looked down at the controls. How could he do something like this…? How could he at all…?
"What is this machine's name?" the boy asked. His uncle looked at him before speaking again.
"It is called the ORB-04-A Wing. It is a top-secret project that is a joint effort between NASA and ORB. But that is all I can actually say about it right now…" Taikyu replied.
"I see…" Akira trailed off, just staring at the screens without even looking back at the older man.
He gripped the controls and headed towards the park. He had to see if Kira and Chris were alright.
In the Raven's cockpit, Johanna placed her hand on Chris's shoulder. "Are you okay?"
"Huh?"
For the first time, he realized that he was breathing heavily, sweating buckets, and he had a death-grip on the controls. He felt a little light-headed and scared but at the same time, he had this lingering sense of excitement, like he had just gotten off an intense amusement park ride. He let go of the controls and watched his hands tremble slightly for a moment.
He couldn't help but wonder how they had survived that battle. This was his first time in a mobile suit, and yet he had managed to beat a trained ZAFT pilot while rewriting part of the OS.
His hand reached up and wrapped around his grandfather's dog tags. His grandfather had always said that these dog tags were lucky and would protect the wearer. Before, he had passed it off as his grandfather being superstitious. Now, he wasn't so sure.
He nodded. "I'll be alright."
"Hey, what's this machine's name?"
"It's the GAT-X305 Raven." Johanna answered. "And the machine that Kira is in is the GAT-X105 Strike."
"The Raven huh? So you made this thing?"
"Yes, but at the moment, I can't tell you much else. This is all supposed to be top-secret."
"Is uncle Nick a part of this as well?"
The second Chris asked that, he regretted it. A pained look spread across her face.
"He's dead…"
"W-what?"
"A ZAFT soldier shot him." She answered, the pain evident in her voice.
Chris hung his head in sorrow. This damn war had claimed another person he cared about.
"Come on. We have to go. We can mourn later." Johanna said in a reassuring tone.
He gripped the controls again and moved the machine toward the park.
Park…
As the Wing, Z.A.M., Raven, and Strike all deactivated their Phase Shift armor, Nisha, Taikyu, Chris, Johanna, Kira, and Akira were stunned to see Tolle, Sai, Mir, Liz, and Kuzzey run up as the five got out of their cockpits.
"Why aren't you guys in the shelters?!" Akira demanded. The five just looked at one another before Sai spoke.
"We kind of were in the middle of the battle when we came outside." He replied.
Chris then ran up and hugged his younger sister. He wasn't usually the type for this kind of thing, but the thought of his sister out there in the middle of a battle had scared him half to death. "Why weren't you in the shelters?" he asked
"Sorry brother." Liz replied. "But as Sai said, once we got outside, we kind of ended up in the middle of a battle between you and those GINNs."
"You guys were great, and those machines of yours are just too cool for words!" Tolle remarked as he ran up to the two. "Where did they come from and-?" he was cut off by Taikyu.
"We have an injured woman in the Strike and I need help getting her out. Akira, can you finish up with the OS? I have a feeling that it may be the one thing that can save this machine from ZAFT." The man replied.
Akira nodded as he ran to the Wing and got into the cockpit. He could hear his uncle speaking to the others about what kind of help he needed.
Then, the man looked at Nisha. "I want you to do the same with the Z.A.M. Gundam." He added. The light blue-haired Coordinator nodded as he ran over to the machine.
"What should we do then?" Kira asked. "I want you, Sai, and Tolle to help me get her out of the Strike." Taikyu explained.
"I'll help with the woman." Johanna offered. Taikyu nodded before the woman faced her nephew. "Chris, I want you to get back in the cockpit and finish rewriting the OS of the Raven. ZAFT may have left, but it's likely that they'll be back and you, Akira, Nisha, and Kira are the only ones who can sortie. And once we get Lt. Ramius out of the cockpit, I want to do the same."
"Actually, I kind of already did that…" Kira replied sheepishly. Akira peeped out of the Wing's cockpit, unable to believe what he had heard.
"Wow… That is just amazing… I mean, I knew that you Coordinators were impressive, but that is just…wow…" Johanna murmured. She had never heard of any Coordinator doing something like that while under attack either.
"What about the rest of us?" Mir asked.
"Just stay out of the way for now." Johanna answered. "Okay, let's get to it." Taikyu replied.
Chris climbed back into the Raven's cockpit while Kira and the others set about doing their tasks.
Chris sighed as he sat down and pulled out the keyboard. He knew that Kira was good at computers, but the fact that he had completely rewritten the Strike's OS while under attack no less was unbelievable. He doubted that most Coordinators could do that.
He resumed re-writing the OS. He had to admit, this machine was impressive. And he was kind of curious about the full extent of the Raven's abilities. He almost wished ZAFT would launch another attack just so he could see its abilities.
Keyword there being 'almost'. If ZAFT did attack again, it would just endanger Heliopolis and its people.
Akira pulled back into the Wing and resumed his task, unable to believe what he had heard. 'I knew that Kira was good with computers, but to be able to do that?! He must have done something to it beforehand, but why would he be as confused as to what he needed to do… Nah. Kira would never mess with a top-secret project, especially if he never knew about it to begin with.' Aki' reminded himself.
Aki' looked over the Wing's specs again, and was impressed by the abilities it had.
Five minutes later, Taikyu looked into the Wing's cockpit while Johanna checked up on Chris.
"How are thing going with re-writing the OS?" the Natural asked. Aki' didn't even look up as he spoke.
"I'm just about done here…" the boy replied. "How is the woman?"
Taikyu looked back. "She is still unconscious, but we treated her wound the best we could." He explained.
"How is it coming?" Johanna asked as Taikyu checked in with Akira.
"Almost done." Chris replied. "How's the Lieutenant?"
"We treated her wound the best we could. She's still unconscious though."
"So, what now?" Chris asked.
Aki' looked up, wondering the same thing.
Johanna sighed. "We'll have to get the Striker packs for the Strike as it is low on battery power. I'll need to find a transport truck for them to get them here anyway." she replied.
Akira raised an eyebrow. "Striker packs?"
"They are the armaments for the Strike Gundam. Unlike the Wing and Raven, Strike had very few built-in weapons. With each one, the Strike can be equipped to handle multiple roles on the battlefield. The Wing is designed to fight in the air and space, so it has weapons built-in. The Raven is designed for atmospheric and space combat, so it too has weapons built in." Taikyu explained.
A low whistle came from the golden-eyed boy before him. "Wow. That's impressive."
"The Strike is designed to be the most powerful of the prototypes so far. But the Wing and Raven have more abilities for me. The Aegis and Diver are also more of my preference." Johanna added.
"Are they the ones that fled from us?" Chris asked. "Yes, and like the Wing and Raven, the Aegis and Diver can transform. But the Aegis's alternate form is a Mobile Armor like the Raven and the Diver's is a submarine, whereas the Wing turns into a fighter craft." Taikyu explained.
"Of course, I liked the idea of transforming robots, and that is one of the reasons Taikyu and I fought to save the Raven from being scrapped after the accident." Johanna added.
"There was an accident?" Chris asked.
"Yes. Early in the construction of the Raven, there was an accident. Half of the crews who were working on it either died or were seriously injured. Afterwards, the higher-ups wanted to scrap the Raven and focus on the other units. Myself and some of the others that bad been working on these machines had decided that we shouldn't discard the Raven just because of the accident. We argued that the Raven had for the most part survived the accident and could be salvaged and that by abandoning it, all those who died would have died in vain. Eventually, they agreed to allow us to finish it."
Akira looked at the controls for the Wing again before he heard his uncle speak to him again. "I am not surprised that ZAFT doesn't know about the three machines though. They were finished as of today, so ZAFT has no data on them." Taikyu remarked as he looked at the machine.
"Why were they finished today?" Aki' inquired. His uncle looked at him. "The Wing was put on hold due to the Striker packs being built, so construction was delayed. However, NASA and ORB both decided to have it built by their techs, so it is not a G-weapon. Same with the Z.A.M. Gundam" The man replied.
"There is one thing that is bothering me though. Why would ZAFT attack us? It is not like we violated the treaty, is it?" Chris asked. Both Johanna and Taikyu looked down.
"We did violate it." Johanna replied grimly. Aki' snapped his gaze towards his uncle. "You did?!"
Chris instantly stopped typing "What?
The man did not even dare to face his nephew, knowing full well what he was capable of, considering that he was a black belt in martial arts and a Coordinator on top of it.
"We worked on building the machines, and they were for the EA." Johanna continued in a sad tone. "That injured woman is actually an EA officer." she added.
At that, Akira grabbed his uncle's shirt. "She is an EA officer?! Do you even know what the EA did to my sister?! HUH?!" the boy snarled.
Taikyu looked at Akira sadly. "I do…but we still had a job to do. It's not like we could just refuse it anyway…ORB was the one that wanted this done, and don't even ask me why." The man replied.
"Why would the ORB government do that? They wanted to stay out of the war." Chris said.
Johanna shrugged. "Don't ask me. I'm not a politician. I just build these things."
Akira released his grip on his uncle and just looked away. "Just leave me alone…" he growled. The man just left his nephew alone in the Wing, knowing that he needed time to calm down.
Chris had never met the Lion of ORB, but his grandfather had on several occasions and always spoke highly of him. Athha had always spoken of maintaining ORB's neutrality, yet if he authorized building these mobile suits for the EA, then how could ORB stay neutral? What reason did he have for violating the treaty like that?
"Well, I'm going now. I'll be back in a little while." Johanna said as she climbed out of the cockpit. "Let's hope that ZAFT has decided to leave rather than risk further damage to the colony trying to capture these machines."
He resumed his typing. He wondered what would happen now. Clearly these machines were top-secret and he doubted the authorities would just let all of them walk away after seeing these things, and in the case of Akira, Nisha, Kira, and himself, pilot these mobile suits. Though his aunt did work for Morgenroete, so that may help them out a little bit. Maybe she'd be able to convince them to let Liz and the others go while he, Kira, Nisha, and Akira would help them make a better OS for these machines.
When he finished re-writing the OS, Chris decided to climb out of the Raven. As he did so, a gunshot when off, fired by the EA officer.
Once Johanna had left to get the Striker packs, Akira was also left to wonder what would happen next. Now that he and his friends had seen the machines, would they be shot or… "Get out of those machines!" A female voice snapped him out of his thoughts.
Akira knew better than to mess with an armed opponent. He climbed down, just as Tolle, and Kuzzey climbed off of the Strike and Chris climbed down from the Raven.
"Stop this! What are you doing this for?!" Kira cried. "They got you out of the cockpit and treated you head injury!"
"While I am grateful for your help, I cannot allow you civilians to touch these machines. They are apart of a top-secret project." The woman explained.
"C'mon! Kira, Nisha, Chris, and Aki' were just piloting those things a few minutes ago!" Tolle argued back.
A wave from the gun meant for everyone to get into a group, which they did. Tolle was miffed about being ignored, but he let it slide. Best not to argue with an armed woman anyway…
"I need names, NOW!" the woman snapped at the little group of Naturals and Coordinators before her.
"Kuzzey Buskirk." Kuzzey replied.
"Sai Argyle." Sai responded.
"Mirillia Haww." Mir added.
"Tolle Koenig." Tolle replied.
"Akira Nishikama." Akira added himself.
"Nisha Itsuno." Nisha replied.
"Liz Dante." Liz said.
"Chris Dante." Chris added.
Kira just glared at the woman with defiance in his eyes before he replied. "Kira Yamato." the boy finished.
"I am Lt. Murrue Ramius of the Earth Alliance. I am sorry to tell you all this so suddenly, but I cannot allow any of you to leave at this point." Murrue replied.
"WHAT?!" Everyone, even Akira, was shocked except for Chris, who had already expected this. "You all have been exposed to a great military secret, and until I can get a hold of the right authorities, you cannot leave my sight." The woman explained.
"How can you do this to us?! We're citizens of ORB! You cannot tell us what to do!" Tolle snapped at her.
"Do you want her to shoot you? If you haven't noticed, she has a gun. Antagonizing her will only get you hurt." Akira growled at the Natural. "He's right. It's best to not piss her off right now." Chris added.
Murrue did not falter with her gun. "I suggest you listen to him. It will make things easier for all of you at this point." She replied. "Now, where did Johanna Dante go?" Murrue asked.
"She is going to retrieve the Striker packs for the Strike." Chris explained. Murrue just nodded at the information.
"Very good. That will make things move even faster for us." She remarked as she put her gun away. "Akira, Kira, Chris, I want you three to see if you can get in contact with any remaining Earth Forces in the colony." Lt. Ramius instructed.
"I'll do that. The Wing has two battery units, so it has way more power than the Strike right now." Akira replied as he climbed back into the Wing's cockpit.
"But the Raven does too. So, maybe both of us could try." Chris suggested.
Akira nodded before Chris hopped into the Raven's cockpit to try and raise the EA forces with him. Both sat down and powered up their machines.
"ORB-04-A Wing, calling any surviving Earth Forces, please respond!" Akira tried the raise any forces in the area, but met only failure.
"This is the GAT-X305 Raven. Any members of the Earth Forces still in Heliopolis, please respond!" Chris said, trying get through as well.
After a few more tries, the Coordinators gave up. ZAFT had to be either jamming the colony transmissions, or there was no one left alive from the Earth Forces.
"No response! ZAFT is either jamming us…or the Earth Forces have been wiped out!" Chris called back.
"You can come down then…We'll try again later on…" Lt. Ramius replied.
As the two boys leapt down, Johanna came back in a truck with a trailer. The vehicle stopped near the Strike, no doubt with the Striker packs.
"Good to see you up, Lt. Ramius." Johanna exclaimed as she got out of the cab. "I got one of the Striker packs, but the others wouldn't fit." she added.
"One will do for now. Let's get it hooked up to the Strike." She replied as she looked at Kira.
"Kira, get back into the Strike while I get the Launcher Striker hooked up." Johanna instructed as the boy nodded. As he did that, the woman hit a button for the trailer and the thing opened up to reveal the unit.
"Now kneel down with the Strike's back facing the side of the trailer." Taikyu continued as the machine did as he and Johanna wanted. "Now, I'm going to-" an explosion cut off Johanna's words, making everyone look up.
A huge fireball was coming from one part of the central shaft of Heliopolis. Then, a ZAFT CGUE came out of the smoke, an EA Moebius Zero not too far behind.
"Akira, get inside the Wing NOW! Nisha, board the Z.A.M. Gundam!" Taikyu ordered, but the two didn't need to be told twice. Akira was already en route towards his machine wile Nisha was running towards his.
"Chris! Get in the Raven now!" Johanna shouted.
The second he had seen the ZAFT machine, Chris had already started running to the Raven. He quickly climbed into the machine and turned it on as Johanna and Taikyu started to mount the Launcher Striker onto the Strike.
Akira climbed into the cockpit of the Wing, shut it, and turned on the machine as the Launcher Striker was being mounted onto the Strike as well.
While this was going on, the CGUE had sliced off one of the Moebius's guns meaning that the machine had no means of the defense now, and now it had its eye set on the Raven, the Wing, and the Strike.
Akira fired on the CGUE as the Wing took to the air, its Phase Shift armor now activated and powered up. He then let loose a shot from the beam rifle, missing the CGUE.
The other machine dodged to the side, making Akira growl in annoyance. 'Damn it! This guy sure is not messing around! I'll have to see if trying something else will work, or everyone down there is dead! Let's see if the Wing can handle the air combat…' the boy thought as he flew after the CGUE. He had to distract the ZAFT machine long enough for the Strike to finish the equipment change while the others got away from the area. But he never got the chance to, as the CGUE sliced off the left stabilizer of the Wing, making Aki' crash to the ground.
"Gah! Damn it!" the boy swore as he slammed his fist into the cockpit wall.
Chris, seeing Akira crash, aimed the Raven's arm cannon at the CGUE and opened fire. But the CGUE effortlessly dodged every shot as it flew towards them.
'Damn. This guy is good. Gonna have to try something different or we're all gonna die. Well' let's see what this thing can do in the air.'
The Raven then leapt into the air, its thrusters blazing. Chris fired its cannon at the CGUE as it flew away from the Strike was. He had to distract the ZAFT machine long enough for the Launcher Striker to be mounted onto the Strike, and for Liz and the others to get away from the area.
And sure enough, the CGUE turned and began to fire at him as it dodged the energy shots.
'Yes, follow the little birdie. Don't worry about the defenseless machine on the ground.'
Chris honestly didn't know how long he could hold out by himself against this machine. The pilot was clearly an experienced ace and he on the other hand was piloting a mobile suit for the second time.
Nisha could only look on as Chris took to the air. His machine was not made for air combat, so all he could do was just watch, hope, and pray that his friend would be alright.
Rau Le Creuset was now becoming annoyed. Not only had Athrun reported the Strike remaining in the Earth Alliance's hands, but the supposedly scrapped seventh mobile suit was back in action and there had been an eighth, ninth, and tenth machine as well. He had managed to render the annoying EA pilot, Mu La Flaga, defenseless until the GAT-X305 Raven, if he recalled correctly, had come into view and began to fire on him. Rau also noted that the machine had succeeded in its mission, which had been to draw him away from the smaller craft as well as the Strike and the other two machines as well.
Rau had to admit the pilot was good. But he still was a rookie nonetheless.
"You're good with a gun, but let us see how you handle against a sword." He remarked as he put the CGUE's rifle away and got out the machine's sword.
Chris heard the enemy pilot's voice over his com-line. "You're good with a gun, but let us see how you handle against a sword."
As those words left the unit's radio, the CGUE switched from long range to close range; a gun for a sword. Chris quickly fired the arm cannons at the ZAFT machine, but it sidestepped every shot as it rocketed towards him.
At the last second, Chris blocked the sword with the shield part of the Raven's cannon while its left hand reached for the beam saber on the right side of its waist.
He drew the saber, activated it, and slashed at the CGUE, but it quickly parried the blow with its own sword.
Chris swung again and again at the CGUE. Every time, it effortlessly dodged, blocked, sidestepped, or parried his attacks. And whenever the CGUE attacked, Chris barely did the same.
'Damn! This guy is really good. At this rate, unless Kira can lend me a hand, I'm not gonna last much longer.'
Then, he had an idea.
"Nisha, eager to pull a double attack?" Chris asked his friend. An eager reply came through.
"You bet!" Nisha exclaimed as the Z.A.M. Gundam jumped up as Chris turned the Raven to its mobile armor form. 'Looks like I did use the mobile armor mode today.'
Landing on the wings, Nisha's machine was now ready for combat. "Ready!"
Chris smirked as he then flew at the CGUE with the Z.A.M. Gundam on top of his own machine. Nisha yanked out one of the beam sabers and slashed at the enemy machine, making the CGUE's pilot pull back in shock.
Rau snarled in anger as he dodged the double attack. Two machines at once?! "Damn them!" he growled.
Nisha smirked as the CGUE avoided a beam slash, only to be hit by the Ahura Mazda cannons mounted on the wings of the Raven.
"How do you like that?" he asked in a confident voice. The Z.A.M. Gundam might not be much of an asset in long-range due to the risk of damaging the colony, but the Raven sure more than made up for it with the long-range guns.
As Chris flew the Raven at the CGUE again, Nisha then slashed once more, grazing the armor of the enemy unit. "Take that!" Nisha exclaimed.
Akira just snarled, knowing more about the enemy than Nisha. He moved the Wing to a kneeling position and fired as well, the beam impacting the left leg of the CGUE. In response, a beam was fired from the CGUE's beam weapon, making Aki dodge the impact.
Nisha gasped at the sudden attack the Wing had pulled and the responsive retaliation pulled off. "Akira, how good is this guy?"
Akira was silent, not saying anything regarding the enemy unit.
Nisha just brushed it off as he opened up with the head-guns on the Z.A.M. Gundam, making the CGUE bring up its shield to deflect the bullets.
A smirk came to his lips again. This was easier than he, Chris, or his cousin had expected, especially with the moves they pulled off.
It was their advantage from here on out. Now the enemy unit was on the defensive…
Aboard the Archangel…
Lt. Natarle Badgiruel and the few crew members that made up the bridge crew of the ship rushed to get the Archangel online. ZAFT had attacked them, so now the captain, the G-pilots, and the majority of the crew was dead, having been outside the ship when the attack had occurred.
On top of that, no one knew what was happening outside the hanger.
"All systems green. Ship is ready to launch!" Chandra reported.
Due to the attack, however, there was no way for the ship's crew to open the hanger doors. So they would have to make one of their own.
"Take us out at maximum speed. Once the ship reaches top speed, fire the Lohengrins!" Lt. Badgiruel ordered.
In a minute, the powerful cannons fired, blowing the doors out.
Outside…
The explosion was heard and felt by everyone around the area.
As a massive fireball tore through an area of Heliopolis, the Archangel emerged as if a ghost from a movie.
'First ZAFT attacking us, and now this?! What else could go wrong today?!' Akira wondered as he stared at the emerging ship. Nisha was thinking the exact same thing as the ship emerged.
'First a ZAFT attack, and now this? What else is gonna happen today?' Chris wondered.
No one knew the answers…
Second chapter is done. I hope you all read and review. If any of you are confused about anything, please let me know, and I will try to make it clearer next chapter.
