Hello, everyone.
I apologize for not updating for so long, as I've lost interest in writing fanfics for awhile with a lot of things going on in my life. However, I'm starting to pick up writing again, though I may not be updating regularly for awhile.
Anyways, here is the next installment of Tempest! Please enjoy!
Chapter 3 : Surface
"Passengers departing on Pillar of Heaven Travel Bureau Train E273, please board at gate A12."
The voice echoing from the intercom filled the large room packed with travelers, people chatting idly as they carted around luggage and such. Setsuna stepped through the set of glass sliding doors, pausing for a brief second for me to catch up, and we walked toward the small table where the others were waiting.
"Yo, you little rascals are late," Lockon glanced over casually, the brown vest over his green shirt shifting a little as he did so.
"We thought you died," Tieria didn't even bother glancing at us as he calmly sipped his drink.
Allelujah showed more concern for us than the other two, "Did something happen?"
"We filed a report on it to Veda," Setsuna spoke for both of us, and I settled for a small affirmative sound.
"I'll look over it later," Tieria nodded to us.
"Yeah."
...
"Well, at least all of us made it out safely," Lockon looked on the bright side of things, easing out the silence that had shrouded over us again. He then turned to the purple-haired meister in a lower voice, "Tieria, we'll leave space to you. We'll be heading out for the next mission soon."
"I'll obey orders," Tieria stated plainly as he held up the forged identification in his hand, "Although I'm anxious as to..."
Blurk, another reference to the way Setsuna acted when we arrived at Ceylon. Except this time he was probably adding me onto the list as well, since I came in late with him...
"Thank you for waiting," At that moment, we were interrupted by the friendly waiter who waltzed over, setting down two glasses in front of me and Setsuna, "Enjoy your drinks."
"Milk..." Setsuna identified the smooth creamy liquid and immediately looked up at Lockon, who grinned, giving us a thumbs-up.
"It's on me!"
My eyes flickered to the milk again, and I was just about to drink it when a sudden thought hit my mind. I abruptly placed the glass back down as I regarded him warily with newfound suspicion.
"This had better not be another joke about my height, Lockon."
He laughed, "What makes you think that?"
"Everything," I deadpanned, eyebrow twitching.
There was even a small smile on Allelujah's face when he started talking again, that traitor. "Anyways, is it really possible to return a suit to space with the Orbital Elevator?"
"It's nothing to worry about," Lockon took another gulp of his own drink, "As planned, we'll hide it with the materials they're using to develop the colony. As long as the weight he carries is the same as everyone else, the following security checks are as good as nothing. Especially here."
We watched as Tieria walked into an elevator, turning around and looking back at us for a moment before he stepped inside.
"A true blind spot," Allelujah concluded, "... If we have a weak point, then... it's that, without the Gundams, the operational time of the Ptolemy would be extremely limited. Our mere five solar furnaces-"
Setsuna grabbed his shoulder roughly, cutting him off, "Don't discuss confidential information."
"Sorry," Allelujah apologized, straightening and brushing off his hand.
Lockon glanced over at the screen near the top of the room, "Tieria's train is departing."
"Pillar of Heaven Travel Bureau Train E277 is departing as scheduled at 14:18, 5:32 GMT."
The Pillar of Heaven. A linear rail that traveled directly into space.
"Should we go back now?" Allelujah asked, matching Lockon's pace as we left the station, "I'd like a day off at least."
Lockon stretched, yawning, "You've gotta hammer the iron while it's still red-hot. If we just do it once or twice, the world won't acknowledge us..."
I found myself walking next to Setsuna as we followed the older meisters, and, oddly enough, it was... comfortable. Before, things would feel stiff and awkward, but we had a companionable silence between us right now. Come to think of it... what changed?
I winced as we came out from the shade and the bright sun shining outside stung my eyes. All thoughts of Setsuna flew from my mind. Sunglasses sounded pretty good right about now...
::Ceylon Island::
The mobile suit pinned in place by four yellow lances struggled wildly, before it was reduced to pieces with a few swift strokes. I sighed, lowering the pink beam saber in Luchanti's hand and recalling my Thorns to my side.
"First phase complete," I spoke, "Contin-"
I broke off at the sensors beeping again, seeing a red dot heading towards our direction.
"Reinforcements?" A small grimace instinctively made its way onto my face.
Exia raised its shield to block the barrage of bullets shooting our way, and I did the same using my Thorns. The new arrival, the Tieren, circled back and landed on the ground as it proceeded to cast aside its gun, bringing out a rounded hand blade instead.
"... Don't tell me it's just trying to test us," I muttered to myself, running through a list of possibilities for the Tieren's strange actions. Exia and Luchanti obviously excelled at close combat, why would the Tieren give up its ranged advantage?
The Tieren aimed for Exia with its heavy blade, but missed when Exia crouched and sprung forward at the last second, taking off its arm. However, as soon as Exia turned to attack, the Tieren's other arm shot forward and grabbed Exia's head. Due to their close proximity, Setsuna couldn't cut off the Tieren's arm with Exia's blade...
Without even thinking, my fingers pressed down on the controls, "Thorns, pierce!"
Four yellow glints, and the Tieren crumbled to the ground in pieces. Well, that, and Setsuna had pulled out Exia's beam saber to cut off the Tieren's arm, slicing through the mobile suit's entire right side as well.
"You alright?" I asked as Exia reached an arm up, pulling off the offending limb. It sure clung on pretty tight.
"... Yeah."
As he prepared to leave, I couldn't help but take another glance at the Tieren. Its move was... surprisingly bold, and unexpected.
We would have to watch out for more attacks like that in the future. There would be plenty of opposition from the three power blocks against our interventions... that much I was completely positive of.
But that didn't mean I was going to give up. Not now and not ever.
::HRL Joint Command Center::
"So, how was it, Lieutenant Colonel?" A military commander reclined in his chair, "You fought the Gundam, didn't you? Give me your honest opinion."
"Yes, sir." The man standing at attention had a huge scar over his right eye, "It's just my personal opinion, but I believe a mobile suit which can match the performance of the Gundam doesn't exist in any country on this planet."
"So it's that powerful?"
"It's merely my personal opinion."
"... In that case, it seems that I made the right choice in calling you here," He straightened in his seat, "Lieutenant Colonel, get your hands on a Gundam. Do it before the Union or the AEU does."
"Yes, sir," He saluted.
"A special task force will be formed," The commander elaborated, "I will leave the personal selection to you... but there are two soldiers I want you to look after."
The Lieutenant Colonel raised an eyebrow at that.
"Enter," The commander ordered, turning to the set of doors behind him.
A young girl. A young girl, and a young boy. The girl had long silvery-white hair falling over her dark green military uniform, while the boy had dark red hair spiking out. Both of them were perfectly in synch as they strode into the room and saluted the two older men.
"Pardon us," The golden-eyed girl spoke, "We were dispatched from the Super Human Research Institute's technical research facility. I am Super Soldier No. 1, Soma Peries."
"I am Super Soldier No. 2," The crimson orbs of the boy flickered lightly as he introduced himself, "Orion Lechasseur."
"Super Human Research Institute?" The Lieutenant Colonel turned to the seated man, "Commander, don't tell me that project was..."
"It seems that it was carried out secretly," The Commander confirmed, "The higher-ups believe that it will be our trump card against the Gundams."
The duo stepped forward and the girl started speaking again, "As of today, we have been assigned to the Lieutenant Colonel's special task force. It is an honor to serve under you."
Sergei Smirnov, the "Wild Bear of Russia", felt a pang in his heart, an unusual emotion that he seldom felt as he gazed at the two children standing at attention before him.
"They're too young to be trump cards..."
::Union (Japan)::
"Um, are you my new neighbor?" A soft-spoken voice drifted down the hall as I walked along the carpet, finally letting my hair out of the high ponytail I kept it in for the past few days. I idly ran my hand through the straight mahogany strands, making a small note to get a comb sometime from Christina. Or maybe I could just cut it. It was getting rather long, running all the way down my back, and starting to get to be a real pain...
The apartment complex looked quite nice overall, with marbled red pillars every few rooms apart. There were also plants and grasses spaced out evenly, and the pink flowers were in full bloom.
... I wonder if Chris picked this place.
Since we were staying on the Surface for a while in order to conduct our armed interventions, we had to get a place to live in between missions. I was rooming with Setsuna, as we were placed together for the majority of them, anyways. After all, our Gundams were the ones best suited for close-combat oriented tasks out of all five. Placing Luchanti with Exia would only heighten our destructive power, and Luchanti would be a good backup in case temporary long-range support was needed.
"My name is Saji Crossroad. I live here with my older sister," I rounded the corner, buttoning up the red collared blouse over the white camisole I wore underneath. It would forever baffle me as to how I found them stashed in my supplies... not that I wasn't grateful, of course. I didn't really fancy wandering around the streets in a space suit.
"Setsuna F. Seiei."
"Hmm, Seiei? What a unique name. Nice to mee-"
I came over just in time to see a door swing shut in front of the brown-haired boy who'd been attempting to strike up a conversation with Setsuna.
He sighed, frowning and retracting his hand that had been proffered out for a handshake, "How unfriendly."
"That's Setsuna for you," I went over to the door that had just closed, "It's alright, he doesn't like to talk much."
He gave a small start when he noticed me, "A-ah! I'm sorry, I-"
"It's okay," I reached for the handle of the room-
"Are you siblings?" He asked curiously, "You don't really look alike..."
"We're not," I replied, "We're only rooming together."
"Oh, but then-... um..." His face turned rather red and his words seemed awkward, much to my puzzlement, "Uh..."
I mentally shrugged at his strange behavior, and decided to end our tirade, "I guess I'll be seeing you around, then, Saji Crossroad."
So saying, I opened the door and quickly stepped into the room. Setsuna looked over at me as I came in, already playing the JNN news on the small handheld screen.
"Early this morning, in Northern Ireland, the terrorist organization Real IRA officially announced that it will cease all armed terrorist action." The female broadcaster reported.
"With this, after 40 years, the civil war that has persisted in Northern Ireland comes to an end, giving way to peace." A different reporter continued, "According to the authorities, the private paramilitary organization Celestial Being has..."
"The world is beginning to change," Setsuna said quietly, turning off the broadcast.
"That it is," I agreed as I sat down next to him on the mattress, "But... it's kind of hard to believe, really... two interventions, and there's already a difference. Not that I'm not glad for it, but... this type of peace... how long can it last? They're only stopping because they don't want to risk an intervention from Celestial Being. As soon as we stop, they'll just start fighting again..."
"That's why we're going to keep on fighting," He said resolutely, "We're going to fight for the eradication of war."
"Yeah," I nodded, smiling a little, "We'll keep on fighting... as Gundam Meisters."
Setsuna mainly kept to himself, distancing himself from us and remaining silent most of the time... but there was a sort of understanding between us now. He didn't seem quite so far away and unapproachable anymore. Sure, he wasn't like Lockon, not by long shot, but our mutual will to keep on fighting for peace was crystal clear to each other in this brief moment.
… That was enough.
Chapter 3 : End
Not much happens in this chapter, but next up will be the intervention in Taribia. :D I've already got a few parts of it typed up, so hopefully the next update won't be too far off.
Please leave your suggestions/comments for any improvements you think that need to be made!