Inspiration: Gundam Seed
Chapter 21: Battle of Orb
"I'm in for that universe!", Roman declared with his arm raised followed by Nora and Yang after seeing the preview of that universe.
"Count me in!"
"So am I!",
Needless to say, many of Beacon's students raised their hands favouring in watching that universe once more after seeing the preview that made them interested. With a push of a button, the screen flashed white.
The scren then shows Lie Ren, with a broken arm, entering the office of the Supreme Council Chairman of PLANT, Li Ren.
Ren winced at the sight of his father, remembering short memories with him until the desctruction of Kuroyuri. And seeing him again on the screen doesn't help with the situation.
Ren walked toward his father's office, slowly he entered to find his father sat there waiting for him. He saluted his father who looked up at him. "I have a mission for you, son." stated Li Ren "You are to recover the stolen mobile suit, the Freedom, and destroy anyone and anything it has come into contact with."
"Father, isn't that a little extreme?" asked Ren as his father glared at him at what he had called him. "My apologies. Sir, isn't that a little extreme?"
"No, the machine taken, the Freedom, is equipped with N-jammer Cancellers." Li reminded him as Ren's eyes widened.
"What are these, N-Jammer Cancellers?", Ironwood questioned.
"Remember the nuke a few screenings back? That itself provides limitless supply of energy towards mobile suits or can used to produce weapons of mass destructions. That thing is that destroyed the colony of Junius Seven that started the war.", Flit explained to them.
"N-jammer Canceller?", Lie asked in a bewildered tone "But sir, the PLANTS gave up nuclear weapons."
"We need those weapons to end this war and thanks to Weiss Schnee, one of the machines has been stolen." Li stated.
"Weiss?", asked Lie as the huge screen behind his father turned on to show a video of Weiss and a blonde teen standing in front of the Freedom.
"Basically, you gave Jaune a weapon of mass destruction, Weiss?", Winter asked her sister.
"As if I have the means to do that, okay?", she defensively stated.
"This was taken moments before the Freedom was stolen.", Li stated before he turned to his son. "Needless to say Weiss is no longer your fiancée."
Nora spat her drink at hearing this whereas Ren slightly blushed at what he heard. "Fiancée? Really?"
"Look at the bright side, no more wedding!", Phyrra interjected before things would get ugly.
"I see, sir.", Lie complied. "Why would Weiss help someone take a mobile suit. She is for peace, so why would she give out oue weapons?"
"I do not know. You will head out as soon as you're healed and the final preparations are made with the 'X-09 Justice." Li ordered as Ren complied and left with a salute.
Meanwhile the Archangel was pulling into the underground dry dock at Morgenroete. Saphron Arc ran into the ship until she saw Jaune, then she lunged forcing the boy to the deck as she cried into his chest. "You idiot! Why did you have to do something stupid as that!?", Saphron angrily asked him.
"Oh right, we all thought Jaune died along with Ren", Neptune stated, remembering the last time they saw this universe.
"I'm fine, Saph." Jaune assured here, as he forced himself up.
"Welcome back to Orb." said Jonathan Arc as he stood on the bridge in greeting.
"Our thanks." stated Winter Schnee as she and the Archangel's crew stood before him.
"Now rest and let us repair your ship as you think about your next step is going to be?" asked Jonathan. "Things have happened since you left, the world is becoming more divided."
"What do you mean?" Qrow asked.
"That since the Earth Forces lost JOSH-A they have been on the war path and ZAFT is out for revenge in fact we just received word that ZAFT forces have launched an attack on Vytal." stated Jonathan as Winter was shocked at hearing this.
"What, Vytal?" the Archangel's captain asked.
"Yes and if that falls the Earth Forces lose all their mass drivers." Jonathan stated. "If they lose those then their moon base will start running out of supplies."
"If that happens they will come after your Mass Driver and they will come soon.", Qrow theorized.
"We will follow or motto. Orb will not attack another nation, will not allow another nation to attack us, and we will not intervene in the conflicts of other nations." Jonathan declared as Jaune nodded.
"Wait, aren't the Alliance suppose to be the Archangel's allies?", Nora questioned.
"Yeah, until JOSH-A.", Flit replied.
"JOSH-A? Is that a code-name?" Winter asked.
"Code-name of Atlas. High command received word about an impending attack on the base and used it and all of you as bait. An unwinnable battle that would have seen ZAFT forces crush the defenders through weight of numbers alone, and once the last defence lines have been breached and the bulk of the enemy is in the base itself. The self-destruct system activates, destroying everything in the area indiscriminately."
"Scheming bastards." Ironwood sneered at the callous disregard for the lives of their own men. And the fact that Atlas had been blown up caused him to have his own hatred for the Alliance in this universe.
"It was supposed to be an attempt to wipe out any 'troublesome' elements in the army like your crew and galvanise the public to further support the war effort. You all survived because that Qrow Branwen found out about the trap and got a warning off in time." Aeralyn said.
"Why us? What did we do?" Jaune asked.
"Your ship the Archangel pulled off repeated impossible victories and blitzed a path through ZAFT-held territory to reach allied territory. It should have been a great propaganda piece, but there's the issue that you only made it that far because Jaune was piloting one of the prototype Gundams, that being the Strike." Flit answered.
"And what's wrong with that!?" Ironwood growled out.
"He's a Coordinator here. Naturals only wins with a Coordinators on their side? Coordinators actually willing to help Naturals? That's a unacceptable for the narrative and their own point of view."
"After that failure to kill them all off, it's a case of they know too much and need to be silenced." Ozpin theorized..
"Yes.", Aeralyn confirmed.
Meanwhile down below in the cells, Blake walked toward Sun's cell. He sat up and looked at the girl who had brought him his meals. Slowly she opened the cell door and tossed his Pilot uniform into his lap. "You're being freed."
"What, why?" asked Sun.
"Don't ask, just take it.", Neptune stated.
"The Earth Forces are going to attack Orb because it isn't going to join the Alliance, and we are going to defend it." said Blake as she walked away only to have Sun follow her.
"Why are Naturals attacking their own?"
"They want Orb's Mass Driver, okay?." snapped Blake. "Now I have to get ready."
"Wait, are you going to fight?" asked Sun asked as Blake turned and looked at him.
"I'm in charge of operations, now that Lieutenant Raven Branwen is gone."
"Okay, what about the Buster?",
"It was ours to begin with and now Morgenroete has it. Now get off!" ordered Blake before she disappeared up a flight of stairs. Sun only stood there watching as the girl disappeared.
"Vytal has fallen, yes?", Ozpin asked, knowing what is to happen next.
"Yep, and the Alliance have their reasons to storm Orb and take their Mass Driver", Aeralyn confirmed.
Up on the bridge Captain Schnee looked out the window as the repairs where being finished outside. "You shouldn't look so depressed, in all only 12 people left." Qrow stated as he walked up and stood next to her.
"I have a question about JOSH-A why did you come back?" asked Winter as she turned to look at Qrow.
"I don't like where this is going", Weiss stated, as Winter began to feel uneasy here.
"Well because I wanted to do this." Qrow stated as be bent down and kissed Captain Schnee on the lips. Both of them closed their eyes as they just stood there. After a while they pulled back but still remained close.
The veteran Huntsman spat out his drink and began to pour his own whiskey onto his eyes to clean himself of the sight of him kissing Ironwood's specialist while the Rose-Xiaolong family laughed at him. Winter began to quickly drink several shots of whiskey in order to erase the image onto her mind while Weiss covered her eyes upon seeing her sister kissing Ruby's drunkard of a uncle. Ironwood was shock beyond compare at seeing the sight whereas Ozpin and Glynda smiled at the sight.
"Oh, young love, it is!", Port stated with a chuckle.
"You should know I've never been able to stand mobile armor pilot." Winter said with a blush as Qrow grinned.
"Good thing I'm a mobile suit pilot now." Qrow before he claimed her lips agajn. Just as they closed their eyes the door opened and walked in Fox, Yatsuhashi and Sage. They stopped dead in their tracks and slowly backed out of the room.
The next morning the sun rose to show a massive Earth Forces armada just outside the border of Orb with an Orb fleet just within their own water.
"So are we ready?", Arthur Watts, Director of National Security of the Earth Alliance, asked.
"Yes.", Captain Cordova confirmed. "Your people are getting into their machines as we speak."
Watts smirked as he watched the battle unfold. "Then begin!". The Alliance fleet began by sending a barrage of missiles towards Orb's naval base where its fleet shot down dozens of them. Allied M1 Astrays were activated as they stepped out of the hangar.
"It's starting!", Roman excitedly called out as the audience watched in fascinated silence.
"Orb forces have engaged the Alliance fleet!", one of the Archangel's crew spoke. "Archangel. Take off!", Winter ordered as the ship's thrusters sprung to life and heading towards the battlefield.
Dozens of missiles were destroyed by Orb's anti-air weapons while the M1s supported them by engaging the Strike Daggers in combat. Sun watched as the battle unfold, his expression void of emotion while several missiles managed to score hits on Orb's main island, destroying several buildings and installations in the process.
"That doesn't look good", Nora said in a worried tone.
"One nation versus the world, what do you think?", Roman chimed in.
"Enemy mobile suits have landed at the Izanagi shoreline!", one of the Orb's officers stated as Saphron became agitated at the current situation. "Bring in the 8th Armored Batallion to intercept!", Saphron ordered them.
"Large carriers heading above the Onogoro Island!", another spoke. "What!?", Saphron gasped the Strike Daggers sortied out of the carriers and crushed several bunkers that were firing on the Alliance fleet.
"Jaune Yamato. Freedom Taking off!", the pilot said as the Gundam launched from the Archangel's Catapult and it spread its wings in a majestic fashion.
"I like this one better than your old one, Jaune", Phyrra mused.
Meanwhile the Strike was being outfitted with its Striker Pack. But instead of one as usual, all three packs were equipped for the machine along with additional power supplies. "Strike, go ahead!", Blake announced to the hangar.
Qrow allowed himself to whistle at what he's seeing, now that he's piloting a mobile suit rather than a standard fighter. "Guess, I'm action-packed this time", he remarked with a grin.
"Qrow Branwen. Strike. Launching!", Qrow said as his machine took off from the Archangel's catapult.
Meanwhile, three individuals were taking a dose of an unknown substance prescribed to them by doctors before heading towards their machines, the Raider, Calamity, and the Forbidden Gundams.
"Oh guys", Arthur Watts' voice called out to the trio, receiving their attention. "You are not to damage the Mass Driver or Morgonoete. Understood?"
"So does that mean we can blow up everything else then?", Emerald asked with an evil grin.
"Are we?", Cinder added.
"Shut up, you two!", Mercury ordered them.
Cinder and Emerald frowned at the scene, seeing that Mercury, the usual jackass of their team, is their leader this time. The gray-haired teen only smirked at the two of what he's seeing.
The hatches of the carrier opened as the Forbidden launched, transforming to its high-speed assault form while the Raider followed, also transforming to its MA form with the Calamity jumping above it serve as a carrier, where the three flew to be battlefield, eager for blood.
"And I'm carrying your weight? Something is definitely wrong here", Cinder snarled at Mercury, who simply grinned at her.
Meanwhile, an M1 Astray engaged a Strike Dagger in combat, who managed to force the unit to the ground where Nebula Violette frightenedly whimpered where the Strike Dagger was about to shoot its beam rifle point blank, but was interrupted by an allied M1s beam rifle.
"Damn you!" Gwen Darcy cursed out while another M1 engaged another Strike Dagger in combat. "Gwen!", Octavia Ember called out before the Freedom loomed above them.
"Team NDGO? Guess they're part of this as well", Neptune remarked.
Jaune carefully pinpointed his targets as the Freedom fired its Xiphias railguns, Balena Cannons, and its beam rifle where it defeated several hostile Strike Daggers at once. The Freedom then dived towards them, temporarily discarding its shield, and unsheathing its dual beam sabers that destroyed the Strike Dagger that Gwen and Nebula were facing earlier.
"Awesome!", Ruby called out with starry eyes at seeing the performance of Jaune's machine.
"Tell me about it, kid's on fire!", Roman added to the scene.
The Freedom then flew away towards the battle zone, leaving Octavia, Nebula and Gwen astonished and awed by his arrival. "Awesome.", Octavia uttered.
Meanwhile, three Strike Daggers were quickly destroyed by a huge red beam fired from the Perfect Strike's launcher pack, where the machine landed where they once stood. "Man, this is awesome! I could get used to this!", Qrow excitedly uttered before he turned to the three M1 pilots. "You three! Stay alert! Others will arrive soon!", he told them.
"Valiants, fire!", Winter barked as the Archangel's railguns fired onto two hostile fighters before the Calamity and Raider swooped in. "I'll get the white one.", Cinder said with smirk.
"Enemy mobile suits, no mobile armors approaching!", Fox announced, causing Winter to gasp.
Mercury lets out a roar as the Calamity fired its three beam cannons at once, to which Jaune looked at horror. "Evade!", Winter ordered as the Archangel went out of harm's way, only for a other Orb ship to be hit instead.
"You missed! Lousy shot!", Cinder mocked him as Mercury scoffed.
Flit then turned to Ruby and with a wave of his hand, caused the girl to lose conciousness, leaving her friends and family shocked and outraged by the sudden move. "What did you to her?!", Taiyang shouted at Flit on his sudden action.
"What you are about to see is something that you would be glad that she won't be seeing.", Aeralyn reasoned out as they focused their attention towards the screen.
A family of four came running within a dense wooded area, carrying their bags as they ran for the pier where evacuees were stationed. The family braced for impact as the Raider carrying the Calamity flew over them. The Calamity fired its cannons as it destroyed two M1s with ease and the Calamity landed near them where the Freedom fired onto the blue gundam with its beam rifle, only for the Alliance machine to jump away.
"Is that...us?", Summer questioned, now seeing their faces on the screen as civillians fleeing the battle zone.
"They're at the middle of a warzone. Meaning it is a very high risk that they would be caught within the blast radius", Ironwood suggested, admitting the fact that being in their place is a sure life and death situation.
"I hope we can make it out of there...", Yang muttered out of concern for their family.
"Ruby! Come on!", Summer told her daughter as they continued running. As they did, Ruby's scroll fell out of her bag, causing her to stop running.
"My scroll!", she cried out.
"Forget about that!"
"No!"
Yang then took the initiative in retrieving the scroll by sliding down the cliffs. But as she did, the Calamity fired its powerful chest cannon, and at the same time, the Freedom fired all its weapons via full burst mode. As a result, the blast caused Yang to be sent flying. with Ruby's scroll in hand. She collided to the ground, where an Orb officer found her.
"Are you all right?", the officer asked as he ran for the girl and helped her up. "We need to hurry!"
"Dad? Mom? What about Ruby?", she merely uttered. However, as she regained her composure, she turned to find her family, only to be horrified by the sight of her dead parents, who were caught on the crossfire. Taiyang Xiao-Long laid dead as his body was crushed by a fallen tree, Summer Rose's body was badly mangled, while Ruby Rose's body lay far away from her severed arm.
"Oh my god...", Weiss gasped, putting her hands on her mouth to keep herself from vomitting. JNPR, CVFY and Beacon's staff were likewise horrified at the morbid sight.
Yang's eyes were drenched in tears as well as rage at seeing her family brutally massacred in front of their very eyes. She could not handle the losses of her own family at another reality, even more so in reality. Blake consoled her at seeing their leader and her parents dead, a sight that they were glad that Ruby never saw.
Most people glared at Mercury, including Roman and Neo, for the stunt he had pulled off to which the assassin put his hands in defense. "Don't blame me for that! It's not like I'd know where they are okay?!"
Yang slowly turned to her rear, as she witnessed the three mobile suits fighting on the air, where her emotions were mixed with rage, grief, denial, and hate towards the mobile suits fighting. And with that, the young girl screamed in rage towards the skies as the Freedom fought on the Calamity and the Raider.
"What the hell was that?!", Qrow shouted to the observers present at seeing a part of his family murdered and left Yang in sheer trauma that could potentially scar her for life.
"A unfortunate reality to civillians if they were ever caught on the crossfire during war. An unfortunate one at that", Ozpin girmly mused at seeing his students in a most traumatic way possible.
"But what will happen to Yang now?", Giynda worriedly asked for the brawler's alternate self, knowing this would haunt her for the following years, and possibly the rest of her life.
"She will be in the custody under the officer who found her, spend several months on therapy before she decided to enlist to the military. And she will soon play a large part on the destruction of the Earth Alliance and its terrorist cells", Aeralyn old them as she saw several of Beacon's students consoling Yang on seeing the deaths of her family, even if it was just an alternate universe.
Soon enough, with a flick of Flit's hand, Ruby regained conciosness as the others were relieved she didn't see any of that. "Sorry, I fell asleep for a moment. What did I miss?", she asked though no one was eager to answer her question.
Meanwhile Sun Wukong kept running as he saw blue Gundam wreaking havoc onto the battlefield, witnessing more destruction firsthand. "A new Earth Forces Machine?", Qrow gasped as he watched the blue Gundam destroyed several allied Astrays.
(Queue 3 Evil Weapons Theme)
"Annihilate!", Cinder roared as the Raider flew towards the Archangel's bridge, dodging machine gun and missile fire alike and was poised to launch its mace. Luckily, Jaune reacted quickly and the black Gundam was kicked away by the Freedom. "Aaaarrggh!", Cinder yelled as she was sent plumetting to the sea.
"Go Fearless Leader! Show'em who's boss!", Nora cheered from the side as the audience's eyes were glued to the screen with fascination.
"A temporary setback.", Cinder assured her teammates and her allies at seeing her predicament. "I'll get him soon enough."
"I don't know about you, but this is my jam right here!", Mercury commented on the screen's current theme, clearly enjoying the disco/funky tone.
Once the Raider was sent to the sea, the Forbidden Gundam emerged in its High Speed Assault Form firing its railguns, surprising both Winter and Jaune at its sudden appearance.
'Let's see what I can do...', Emerald thought at seeing her machine.
Emerald smugly smirked as the Forbidden transformed to its MS form where it landed on an Orb warship and slashed the bridge with its huge scythe, forcing Jaune to divert his attention to the Green Gundam.
At the same time, the Raider emerged from the sea and Cinder was not all that amused of what he did to her. "Bastard! You're terminated!", she maniacally roared as the Raider launched its mace towards the Freedom.
"Is it just me or is Cinder just looked crazier than in other realities?", Mercury noticed, as he never really saw Cinder in this light before.
"I could see that", Salem nodded in agreement while said girl glared at Mercury.
Jaune and his machine dodged, and in the meantime, three M1 Astrays were destroyed in a rapid succession by the Calamity with its two beam cannons from its backpack. The blue gundam's green eyes menacingly flashed and caused the frightened Orb soldiers to run away, and Mercury laughed maniacally at the sight of the destruction he committed.
"And just as I thought you were going to be the serious arche-type", Emerald snarked to the grey-haired teen, who merely scoffed at her implication.
"Take this!", Qrow growled at the Calamity as the Strike dashed to slash the blue Gundam with its anti-ship sword, only for its attack to be parried by Calamity's shield. The Strike then jumped away as it dodged the incoming chest cannon from Mercury's machine.
Sun watched the battle unfold as his expression displayes visible worry for Blake, remembering on how she forgave him, reminding him that she is part of the Archangel's CIC, and that Orb is her home. But he shook his head and ran off.
"What?!", Sun exclaimed at seeing himself running away. "I'd never run from my friends!"
"I don't know man, but keep watching. Maybe something will come out", Neptune assured him.
The Freedom fired its CIWs towards the Raider, which the Forbidden stood in the way towards them, irritating the said pilot in the black gundam. "Out of my way, Emerald!", Cinder growled at her teammate. "You're the one getting in my way!", Emerald shot back at her.
"And I could see they lacked unity with one another.", Glynda noted at seeing the duo.
The Forbidden fired its railguns towards the Freedom, who barrel rolled to avoid the shots and returned fire with its Balena beam cannons on its wings. However the shots were deflected by the green Gundam's huge shields, and Emerald laughed at his attempt to bring her down.
"She could deflect beams!? How could Jaune bring her down then!?", Ruby asked in alarm, seeing his weapons to be ineffective towards the Forbidden.
"The Forbidden Gundam's most special equipment is the Geschmeidig Panzer energy deflection armor installed in its two massive shields. This equipment can deflect any range beam attacks that hits it, making the Forbidden virtually invulnerable to these attacks.", Flit explained as those who innovated in technology were very impressed and intrigued on its design, and wonder how to produce their own variant as a measure of defense.
"I'd feel bad for anyone who would be shot by deflected stray beams", Roman remarked at seeing this.
"I wouldn't be surprised if that was installed in case Mercury started firing on Emerald at random.", Cinder mused, earning a look from Mercury, who received a glare at Emerald warning him of trying.
"The beam! It curved!?", Jaune gasped before the Freedom dodged the Raider's mace. "Helldarts, fire!", Winter ordered, the Archangel launched a volley of missiles towards hostile Alliance air units. A couple of fighters launched its missiles towards the Archangel, where one of them managed to land a hit, with the crew bracing for impact.
However, a green beam fired from an unknown location destroyed the fighters, surprising the Archangel's crew until one of them spoke. "The Buster?"
Blake gasped at the mention, and the cream-colored machine stood ready in defense for the ship. Sun scoffed, now wearing a pilot suit sans the helmet.
(End of 3 Evil Weapons Theme)
"Sun to the rescue!", Ruby cheered from the side at seeing the monkey Faunus helping the Archangel.
"See? I never turn my back on my friends!", Sun re-assured them, earning a nod of approval from Neptune and the rest of Beacon's students.
The Buster launched a swarm of missiles towards a group of fighters, destroying most of them then shooting down the last one with its beam rifle. "Hurry up out there! Archangel!", Sun urged as the crew were surprised at his sudden turn to their side.
"Why is he...?", Blake wondered as she glanced at the cream-colored machine.
"Seems you struck a nerve at him, Blakey!", Yang remarked with a grin.
"Well, she nearly tried to kill him when he unintentionally mocked Adam's death at this universe. And this is his one way in making up for that mistake.", Aeralyn explained to them.
"Damn it!", Qrow growled as the Strike continously dodged beam and rocket fire from the Calamity. "Commander!", Dew called out as she and her other squadmates provided supporting fire for the Strike.
"These guys!", Jaune uttered as he returned fire with the Freedom's beam rifle towards the Forbidden, without avail before the Raider fired on him once more with its beam cannon located at the arm.
"You're getting on my nerves!", Cinder growled at the Freedom.
"You pest!", Emerald added.
"Hmm?", Mercury took notice for the Freedom as the Calamity turned and fired its dual beam cannons, forcing Jaune to take attention from the rear and the white machine dodged in time.
"Three against one? That's unfair!", Ruby pouted at seeing Jaune fighting three ace pilots by himself.
"In war, nothing's fair. And that's the probable downturn of having an upgraded machine it seems", Roman mused.
From above, the Justice Gundam floated with its FATUM Backpack as Ren looked at the battlefield in total dismay. From the monitors, he saw the images of the Forbidden, Raider and then the Freedom. "The Freedom. Jaune?", he gasped as he watched the Justice's sister unit dodging several shots from the Alliance mobile suits before he was hit by the Raider's mace.
"He had his orders, right?", Velvet asked, remembering Ren's father ordering him in re-capturing the Freedom and eliminate its pilot
"Yeah, but I hope that's not the case", Coco assured her.
Nora on the other hand, was silently praying that Ren would forget about his own desire for revenge for her, not wanting to see the two fight once more.
Ren gritted his teeth, remembering Nora's death at the hands of Jaune. "What is it you believe in? What is it you should be fighting for now? Is it for that medal you received? Or your father's orders?", he remembered Weiss' words that had conflicted him long enough.
He gripped the Justice's controls, and he opened his eyes, now knowing what really needs to be done.
The Forbidden then lunged its Scythe onto the Freedom's shield, heaving the white machine downwards before the Raider jumped in and prepared for the killing blow.
"Game Over!", Cinder snarked with a grin as the Raider's Zorn cannon from its mouth launched a powerful red beam towards the disoriented Freedom.
"JAUNE!", shouted by nearly every student in Beacon in fear for the blonde boy's life.
And all of a sudden, the shot was deflected by a red mobile suit, who returned fire with its beam rifle, with the Raider Gundam dodging and surprising the three Alliance pilots present.
Jaune watched in awe as his saviour came out of nowhere, with the Justice floated in a majestic fashion with the Freedom, with Ren's determined look ready to support the Freedom against its adversaries.
"Aww, yeah!!", Nora cheered from the side, knowing her prayers had been answered.
Spectre: Next chapter, escape from Orb!