Chapter 3
Sophie's POV
I shook my head and tried to remove such thoughts. However one thought remained in my mind. Who was that…?
"Ensign Sophia Mason, reporting for duty sir," I said once I arrived at the bridge.
"Ah, Ensign," began Captain Austin Hawke, our commanding officer. "I would like to introduce you to someone." He gestured to a man staring at the main screen.
"That man right there is Commander Bright Noa. He'll be our passenger to Industrial 7. Take him to his quarters for the day, will you?" the Captain asked. I looked at the man the Captain addressed as Bright Noa. Could it be? A veteran from the One Year War, the Gryps Conflict, and both Neo-Zeon wars is standing in front of me!? I sprang up in a salute.
"Yes sir," I said, "I can."
"Good. Then get to it."
I slowly floated over to where Captain Bright stood. I stopped next to him. He didn't notice me.
"Captain Bright?"
"Hmm?"
"I'm Ensign Sophia Mason. I'm here to escort you to your quarters."
"All right then," the captain turned around to face me. Then his eyes went slightly wide.
"How old are you, Ensign?" the captain asked.
"I'm fourteen, sir," I replied.
Captain Bright blinked a couple of times, sighed and said, "Lead the way Ensign."
As we walked (more like floated) down the hall, Captain Bright asked me a question I hear every five seconds.
"Ensign, how did you get into the military at that age?" he asked. I smiled.
"Um… I bribed my way in…?" I think the Captain facepalmed as went into his quarters.
U.C. 0095 January 10th
Eric's POV
My eyes snapped open. The wreckages of our mobile suits and the Aether floated around the sector. I looked around the Neo-Zeon MS seemed to be looking for something. Whatever it is, I need to do something, I thought. I looked around. It took me a few minutes, but my eyes finally landed on a shadow on one of the asteroids. I floated over to it and found… a Zaku? It looked intact and operational. But would it be able to fight the more advanced enemy mobile suits? There's only one way to find out, I thought. I took a deep breath and climbed into the cockpit. Or… at least I tried to. One of the Geara Dogas spotted me. But he must have thought I was a body or something so he moved away. I sighed in relief. I then got into the Zaku's cockpit and began to boot it up. I took another deep breath and put my hands on the controls. Let's do this.
Sophie's POV
Ever have those times when you're having a really nice dream and then your alarm goes off and ruins it. Well, that's kind of what just happened to me, except what woke me was not my alarm; it was the ship's alarm. I jumped out of bed and grabbed a normal suit. Once I put it on, I went straight for the hanger. I landed just in front of my customized mobile suit and smiled. It's amazing what money can get you. Two shields, four beam Gatling guns, a triple-missile pod, grenades, and a 180 recoilless rifle. Perfect for anti-ship duties. I climbed into my MS and started it up. I then turned on my chat.
(Comms) "All right fellas listen up," said Squad Commander Anderson in his RGZ-95C ReZEL. "Intel states that there was a battle going up ahead near Industrial 7. Our mission is to see what's going on before the Illustrious gets there."
The squad tapped their mics in response. We then began to take off. One by one, our Jegans took off from the catapult. I was the last one. I took one last look at the lucky charm my mother gave me before I put it back in my pocket. My Jegan stepped onto the catapult deck. I gripped the joysticks tightly and took a deep breath.
"Sophia Mason, Delta 4, Launching!"
Eric's POV
"Eric Fritz, Zaku I, Commencing Counter-attack!" I jammed the joysticks forward and the Zaku launched off the asteroid with a jolt. I cocked its 105mm Machine Gun before I took aim at the nearest Geara Doga and opened up. By this time in history, projectile weapons were pretty much obsolete. The 105mm HEAT rounds still tore the enemy to bits. I smiled. This could work just fine. Another enemy MS began to return fire. So did I. I managed to land a couple of shots on its shoulder, doing enough damage that the next shot tore the whole arm off, its beam machine gun still firing. I turned around to find the Purple Geara Zulu pointing its beam cannon at me. He fired. How I dodged it, I have no idea. Still, I dodged it. Of course, this was when the machinegun decided to run out of ammo. I threw it in the direction of the Zulu, who obviously did not expect that to happen. I would have loved to see what happened, but I had to get out of there as quickly as I could. I grabbed a floating beam machine gun and shot down another Doga. Then beams started appearing out of nowhere. Funnels. I spotted the Dreissen that launched them and began to fire. He returned fire with his arm mounted beam guns. The green beams tore through my left leg. Just then, another Doga appeared out of nowhere. I involuntarily moved my Zaku and pulled out a… BEAM SABRE!? I sliced the Doga in half with it resulting in an explosion. A Zaku is usually equipped with a Heat Hawk for close combat. A Zaku usually doesn't support the use of beam weaponry. Yet, this Zaku had a beam sabre. This would be fun.
Sophie's POV
(Comms) "Delta 1 to all units, we will be entering the area of operations shortly. Stay sharp but do not engage."
(Comms) "Roger."
(Comms) "Roger."
I tapped my mic in response. It was around this time when I noticed my hand was shaking. I put my other hand on it. War. I'll never get used to it. Death. I'll never be able to face it. Friends. They won't stay with me. Family… I don't have one, not anymore.
Eric's POV
I was dueling with a random Geara Doga at this point. He was surprisingly tough and obviously was a veteran. Still, he must have not been used to a sword fight. I won. Then the Funnels came after me again. One beam hit the only weapon I had; the beam sabre. I was unarmed. The Dreissen rocketed straight at me and drew its heat sabre. So I did the stupid thing that I was sure would kill me sooner. I tackled him. Or… more precisely rammed him. That caught him off guard so I continued my attack. This time I roundhouse kicked him. Then more beam fire. Shit. I forgot about the funnels. Finally, the Purple Geara Zulu fired a beam at my cockpit. My life just… flashed. All I saw was a bright white light and maybe a rainbow. No, wait… It's getting dark… damn it…
Third Person
Angelo Sauper sat in the cockpit of his Geara Zulu with a smug look on his face. He was disappointed. He opened a chat line to the commander of the Unit.
"I'm displeased, Lieutenant Soyuz. Your company was played around for this long by a mere Zaku," said Angelo. The pilot of the Dreissen Psycommu Test-Type, Lieutenant Vincent Soyuz, merely shook his head.
"I am disappointed as well, Captain Angelo," replied Soyuz. "I'm sure my men were only caught off guard. Further training must be instituted." Angelo was about to say something when he received a transmission. He opened it and suddenly sprang to a salute.
"C-Colonel!" he exclaimed.
"Angelo," began Colonel Full Frontal (funny name, I know). "Did you finish your evaluation of 4th Company?"
"Yes sir," replied Angelo. Frontal nodded.
"Good. Then return to the ship." Angelo looked surprised. But he signaled the others that he was leaving. And then he left. It was around this time that a random Geara Doga was floating by some of the meteors. Its mono-eye whirred left and right. The pilot was listening to the radio when suddenly, the music started turning into static. He slammed his hand on the control panel, commenting on how much of a piece of crap it was, before noticing something behind an asteroid. An EFSF Jegan and it was manned. Fear swept over the pilot and in panic began to fire his beam machine gun after yelling, "Enemy attack!"
Sophie's POV
How they found us, I have no idea. But we were suddenly attacked by the Neo-Zeon MS so we had to return fire. I just kept holding the trigger down and shredded enemy MS with my beam Gatlings. Commander Anderson was saying how different the new ReZEL was compared to our other MS. Then, suddenly he was screaming an order.
(Comms) "Delta 3, don't stray too far!"
(Comms) "Delta 3 to Delta 1, it's just a Dom! I'll be done with it in… WHAT THE FU-*static*"
`I sat there as I watched my friend get torn apart by Funnels that seemed to appear out of nowhere. I couldn't do anything. Is that my commander calling me? Is that gunfire? Did my arm just get blown off? I couldn't do anything. I didn't even notice that a Dreissen was right in front of me, sword drawn, until it was too late. I closed my eyes.
"Mom… Dad…"
I'm sorry…
Suddenly a beam flew from nowhere. It hit the Dreissen's hand, which then blew up. Everyone stopped firing for a second and looked over to where the beam came from. Out of a wreckage floated a white, single-horned mobile suit. It had two pods on its forearms, a strange-looking beam rifle, what looked like a 180mm Magella Top cannon, and two beam sabres in its backpack. There were cracks here and there in the armor. The cracks began to slightly glow blue. One of the Neo-Zeon MS fired on the unidentified MS only to find its beam machinegun fire bouncing off. An… I-field…? Then, suddenly something appeared in my head.
NT-D
My head suddenly began to hurt. I gripped my head in pain. I tried hard not to scream. But the pain soon began to subside. I slowly opened my eyes. The cracks on the mobile suit began to widen, revealing more armor that was emitting a blue light. Then finally, the head began to transform. The front mask flipped open. The optics flashed. The single horn split in half and folded out into a V-fin. I gasped, for I knew what type of machine it was. I recognized it. Everyone here recognized it, but I was the only one who spoke its name out loud.
"G… Gundam…"
Author's notes:
Description of RX-95NT-D Sturm Gundam: It looks like a RX-0 Unicorn Gundam with a RX-79G Land Warfare Gundam torso and backpack with the two arm mounted gatling guns on the RX-78NT-1 Gundam Alex. It is armed with a Artemis T5A beam spammer rifle, two 90mm Gatling Guns, a Prototype beam magnum, and two high-output beam sabres. It is also equipped with a prototype NT-D system.