Gundam Seed: Killer's Realm
Phase 05, Part 1: Pop Stars and All Stars, Prelude
Lagrange 5, Aprilius One, ZAFT Base Apartment
January 27th, 71 C.E., 1:36 P.M. Orb Time
In the apartment, the sound of a running shower echoed, as Athrun washed off the sweat that had accumulated on his skin during the last half of the briefing. Despite the fact that Patrick Zala was his father, the man was absolutely terrifying at times, mainly due to his charismatic nature.
He hadn't exactly been pleased with the supposed defection of the Barachiel and her crew. After Rau had revealed that he and Athrun were going to join Yzak, Dearka and Nicol at the ship, he'd practically exploded.
Chairman Clyne, however, had fully supported the venture.
Stepping out of the shower, Athrun briefly toweled himself off before grabbing a bathrobe and heading for the small television on his desk. Maybe OMNI's released news of Artemis' destruction….if nothing else, it'll be interesting to see the spin Blue Cosmos put on it…. Instead of an amusingly falsified report of why Artemis was little more than a hollow shell, Athrun's eyes widened as the current news report played.
Lacus is missing!
0000000000000000000000000000000000000000 -- Quis est a Iuguolo nisi a Iuguolo? – 00000000000000000000000000000000000000
Between Lagrange 3 and Earth, Barachiel, 1st Hanger Deck
January 4th, 71 C.E., 10:09 A.M. Orb Time
"What the hell are you doing?" Yzak demanded of the jean-clothed legs sticking out of the Enmity's cockpit.
"I am running a diagnostic to figure out just how much damage you have done to my mobile suit. Unfortunately for me, the only port I can hook my computer up to was placed under the chair. Last time I let an OMNI engineer in on a project…" the person trailed off, becoming more interested in something that most definitely was not on the original schematics. Yzak, meanwhile, sputtered, outraged. HIS MOBILE SUIT!!?? HOW THE HELL IS IT HIS?!!" The Redcoat was about to ask the question, when the person interrupted.
"What the hell is this?" He said, rolling out from under the seat to point at the screen of his computer. Shown there was a section of the Enmity's V-fin, a certain part highlighted.
"I-it's a tachyon signaler. It allows us to use the Network to-"
"DO YOU KNOW WHAT YOUR DAMNED ENGINEER'S DID!!" Liene roared, his voice echoing and causing the other Redcoats to look up from their own mobile suit. "BY PUTTING YOUR FUCKING SIGNALER THERE, YOU CAUSED AN ELECTRICAL FEEDBACK LOOP THAT PRETTY MUCH FRIED THE RADAR!!!!" Yzak frowned, both scared and confused. His radar had been working fine….by ZAFT standards.
Which, according to Liene, were apparently far too lax. Grumbling, the engineer called out to the head mechanic. "Hey! Can you guys help me out here? ZAFT screwed up the Enmity, and we need to replace the radar unit." Yzak, dumbstruck, just stood there. Over on the catwalks by the Ferox and the Noctoraptor, Dearka leaned over to Nicol.
"I think we shouldn't get in his way." He whispered, nodding towards Liene.
Barachiel, Cafeteria/Meeting Room/Break Room
10:21 A.M. Orb Time
The situation was….uncomfortable. Kira was sitting in a chair with the back against the far wall. Before him was arrayed most of the bridge crew, as well as most of his friends from Heliopolis. A slight concern was the array of weaponry aimed at various parts of his anatomy (both Flay and Natarle were aiming at a particularly sensitive spot).
"Alright…" Kira started. "What's this about?" Murrue replied.
"You've been stalling since we left Artemis. We want answers."
"Alright, what?"
"First, are you really the Killer Child, from that footage that Blue Cosmos spread around?"
"Yes."
"Why are you here?"
"Reclamation and protection of Orb Property, including, but not limited to, this ship, and the Gundams. I've been operating with permission from Lord Uzumi Nara Athha." At this, the Orb natives started sweating.
"What?"
"Orb resources, technology and personnel were used in their construction inside Orb territory, without permission from Chief Representative Athha. Thus, it was decided that we should repossess these items." By this point Kira was feeling extremely uncomfortable. While he'd told the truth so far, he was leaving some rather important, if personal, bits out….By then, most of the Orb natives had lowered their weapons, looking shocked. Kira really couldn't blame them. It wasn't every day you find out your friend of one year was actually a personal agent of the Chief Representative of Orb…As far as they knew. Well, at least he wouldn't have to drop the other bombshell.
Then Jack walked in. The Coordinator looked around, then at Kira.
"So, they got you to tell them about how your dad sent us to get the stuff." Kira's face met his palm as Sai, Tolle, and Miriallia stared at him. Kuzzey fainted.
Barachiel, 1st Hanger Deck
11:35 A.M. Orb Time
"I didn't know you didn't want them to know!" Jack said, trailing after Kira as the Orb Prince sought out Liene. Kira wanted to do some maintenance on the Augury, if just to blow off steam. When they opened the door, they saw the mechanics crawling all over the ZAFT-owned Gundams, while the pilots were in the center of the deck, confronted by Liene. The engineer spotted the two Orb pilots and waved them over, with Yzak turning to look at them threateningly, Dearka looking laid-back, and Nicol waving like they were old friends.
"Hello." Kira said as he descended from the catwalk, Jack following like a remora on a manta ray. Yzak barely waited for their feet to touch the deck before dashing over to them.
"Which one of you pilots the Kiba?" He demanded, face reddening. Jack raised his hand slightly, like an amused schoolkid when the teacher asked who put the firecracker in his toilet. "Simulator duel, NOW!" Yzak jetted away towards the Enmity, muttering about Orb, Gundams, and crazed engineers who wanted data. Jack took his own meandering path towards the Kiba. When Jack finally buckled himself in, Liene started typing on his laptop, starting up the recently installed simulator programs in the Enmity and Kiba.
Simulation: Generic Desert
Noon
The Gundams materialized on the desert sand, gravity pulling them ankle deep into the shifting dunes.
"Uh….why here?" Jack asked. Despite the Kiba's relatively light weight, Jack liked the feel of space combat. No limits to his movement.
"I need data on the Gundam's desert capabilities under standard programming so I can add programs to compensate for the combined effect of gravity, heat, unstable terrain, and other such factors." Liene replied. Shrugging, both pilots took their positions, Yzak moving the Enmity in a wide-legged stance with shield in front and beam rifle sticking out. The sand shifted, sending the Gundam tumbling down to the ground.
"What the-" Yzak didn't managed to finish his sentence before the airborne Kiba jumped off the Enmity's chest, leaping off in a somersault that showed the skill Jack had in controlling it. Then the Kiba landed, becoming victim to the same phenomenon that tumbled the Enmity.
"Data gathered." Liene's voice called out. "I'll move you two to a more stable fighting ground." The scene disintegrated, reforming later into a completely different area.
Simulation: Generic Forest
Midnight
"Need I ask?" Jack said.
"Data for night-time operations. More for the others sake instead of mine."
"Ugh." Yzak groaned, before sprinting the Enmity towards the Kiba, beam rifle firing. The Silver Gundam dodged to the side, thrusters firing. A flash of silver revealed the bisected rifle, which Yzak tossed aside before drawing the beam sword. Jack danced the Kiba around the Enmity, dodging the slice as the Chilong claws hamstrung the Blue Gundam, cutting the electroactive polymers and causing the Enmity to fall to its knees. Jack stabbed the claws through both shoulders, ripping them off as he moved the Kiba around to face the Enmity head-on. Jack grinned as Yzak swore, trying to move the Enmity to retaliate. All the Redcoat managed was firing the CIWS guns ineffectively. Standing straight in front of the Enmity, the Kiba's maw opened, and instead of the familiar apparatus of the Ion Beam Cannon descending from the top jaw, the Positron Cannon rose from the lower one, centering itself before charging. However, before the cannon could fire its awesome annihilating antimatter, the containment fields failed, releasing the positrons to cause a wide-scale explosion not unlike that of a one megaton thermonuclear weapon.
Barachiel, 1st Hanger Deck
1:28 P.M. Orb Time
Jack and Yzak never made it out of their cockpits before falling asleep, exhausted by the constant duels, more often than not ending in a pseudo-draw as one or the other made some blunder that caused their mutual annihilation. At the same time, Nicole and Dearka had run drills with Kira, running each other into the ground trying to keep up with the undeniably skilled pilot. After a while, the two ZAFT pilots had admitted defeat and begged to go off to their quarters.
Now it was just Kira and Liene, and whatever horrors the engineer could face the pilot with.
"Alright Kira, I've managed to get the data on one of OMNI's new terrestrial units…"
"I thought all they had were tanks, soldiers, and aircraft."
"So did I, but apparently they had other R&D divisions other than the one at Heliopolis. Seems this one is based a little on the Shadowfax's design."
"What's it meant for?"
"Originally, high-speed aquatic warfare, but it seems they found a way to modify it for desert combat." Without further ado, Liene activated the program, launching Kira into battle.
Simulation: Generic Desert
Noon
The Augury materialized, equipped with the Angelos pack. Kira was familiar with this location. After Jack and Yzak's fight, Liene had made the necessary modifications to the Gundams' OS, and now they could fight on the sand as well as any other terrain. Something was different though.
"Erm…what are those?" Kira asked, meaning the plumes of desert sand blowing into the air, before being blown away by the wind.
"Those would be the new mobile armors." One of the trails was nearing the Augury, approaching at an extremely high speed. Just before reaching it, the object making the trail leaped out of the sand, soaring over the Augury's head before diving back under the dunes. In the brief glimpse he'd gotten, Kira had seen a wedge-like form, a shark-mouth painted on the front, and scales. Around him the trails, five in total, began to circle, and grow. As the plumes of flying sand intensified, the mobile armors appeared, seemingly sticking the upper third of them above the surface of the desert. On their back, a turret emerged from a stream-lined hull, swiveling to face the Augury. The next second, they fired, railguns launching shells at near 1 km/s, impacts knocking the Augury over. Next was a flight of missiles, launched from either side of the railguns, arcing high before slamming down onto the Augury. Grim, Kira forced the Gundam back to its feet before taking off, thrusters flaring.
Like the first time, one of the armors leaped out of the sand, but this time, dozens of tiny beam blades ignited on either side, each the width of a little finger and about fifty centimeters long. Then they started rotating, like saw blades. The blade on the side of the armor sliced through the Augury's right leg at mid-thigh, disabling the thrusters and sending the Gundam spiraling into a crash.
A second armor leaped, this time angling its nose towards the fallen mobile suit. On the ventral surface, just below the pointed tip, Kira saw what looked like a weirdly shaped speaker. Before the simulator flashed the newly present DEFEATED sign, Kira heard a high-pitched shriek.
Barachiel, 1st Hanger Deck
1:36 P.M. Orb Time
Kira sat inside the Augury, going over the simulated damage reports, and asking Liene about the mobile armors.
"So what are they? I don't think I've seen anything that swims in the sand…."
"The OMNI reports I hacked called them 'Megalodens'. As I said, they were originally made to counter ZAFT's SIMCA amphibious mobile suit, and didn't do too bad. Instead of every nine out of ten ships in their fleets sinking in places like the Caspian Sea, only about two or three out of ten are being destroyed. The SIMCA are too mobile to completely stop, but the Megaloden's have the edge in speed. I think OMNI got a copy of ZAFT's scale system designs, and started mass-producing them. After about a week, they started making these desert-type ones, and they've been raising hell in all the desert areas across the Earth." Liene explained, going over the data with Kira.
"So….they're fast. What about weapons?"
"Well, you pretty much saw their entire arsenal. A railgun on a dorsal turret mount, flanked by two missile/torpedo launchers. Two side-based beam chainsaws. And a ventrally mounted hypersound cannon."
"Hmmmm…."
0000000000000000000000000000000000000000 -- Quis est a Iuguolo nisi a Iuguolo? – 000000000000000000000000000000000000
Barachiel, 1st Hanger Deck
January 5th, 71 C.E., 7:30 P.M. Orb Time.
Today was rather special. For the first time, a (former) OMNI warship would play host to a ZAFT Commander. And a famous one at that. Mu was rather looking forward to it.
The mobile suits were lined up, just like the honor guard of a foreign politician. The Augury stood next to the Kiba in the starboard row, while the Enmity, Ferox, and Noctoraptor made up the port row. When Le Creuset floated into the port part of the hanger, they all goggled at the new suit he piloted.
It looked similar to a SCAU, somewhat like how the Kiba was similar to the Augury, or the Ferox. It was huge, at about nineteen meters, all grey and silver armor. The Gundam pilots noted the V-fin with its crooked arms, and the slightly more vibrant coloring of the torso armor. Its head shared the same general design of the SCAU, although a jagged design on the mouth part gave off the impression of a toothy grin. The legs were different, with thighs shortened and calves lengthened, and apparently more heavily armored. The shoulder flanges matched the length of the Bastion's, and the arms were almost exactly the same as the SCAU. However, a small shield, running from manipulator to elbow, covered the forearm.
They all continued to stare, only Kira managing to turn his attention away for Athrun's arrival in the Bastion through the starboard hatch.
"Hey, Kira!" Athrun said over the comm, Bastion patting the Augury lightly over the shoulder on its way to the suit berth. Kira moved the Augury's arm in a wave.
Moments later, with the mobile suits in their designated berths, the pilots (and Liene) all gathered on the deck.
"So, you're not actually with the Orb Intelligence Agency, but you are personal agents of the Chief Representative of Orb, Uzumi Nara Athha." Rau started off, recounting what Kira had told him. "You, Kira, are also Chief Representative Athha's son, full name Kira Yamato Athha?" Kira nodded. "Well, a rather auspicious individual to conspire with…."
"Tell me about it." Mu said, rather perturbed. Rau turned to him, seemingly interested.
"Mu La Flaga? A pleasure to finally meet you. I admit, though, that these aren't exactly the circumstances I expected…."
"Me neither." The two aces regarded each other warily. Rau had killed many mobile armor pilots, some of which Mu had known, not exactly well, but still….Likewise, Mu had single-handedly destroyed several of Rau's colleagues, which was a major cause for concern to the ZAFT commander. Professionally, if not personally.
Around them, the younger pilots edged away from the slightly confrontational aura surrounding the two, moving off to converse among themselves.
"So when did you become the Chief Representative of Orb's son?" Athrun asked, perplexed.
"Well," Kira started, "It turns out that Me and Cagalli – my twin sister – were orphans, and got adopted by different people. So, after the…..'accident' at the Grimaldi Front, Uzumi-san found me, and adopted me." The ZAFT pilots stared for a moment, before moving on to other topics. The most interesting one, however, was the issue of Kira and Jack's piloting.
"How the hell can you two pilot well enough to fend all three of us off?" Yzak demanded. Kira and Jack shrugged, then started explaining.
"I hacked into the ZAFT training academy and got copies of the designs for the simulators, as well as several of the more difficult training programs." Kira started, with Jack taking up the explanation.
"I made them, making a few alterations as we got more info on the Gundams, and Kira added his modified programs."
"I hacked ZAFT again to get combat data on aces, namely Commander Le Creuset."
"We practiced against simulated opponents and each other." The two finished, Jack exuding smugness while Kira just grinned embarrassedly.
"All pilots to the briefing room!" The intercom blared, Natarle's voice ringing out instead of Miriallia's. The Orb pilots looked at each other, before shrugging and leading the ZAFT redcoats to the room.
Outer Edge of the Debris Belt, Barachiel, Cafeteria/Meeting Room/Break Room
"What did you say?!" Athrun thundered, standing over Sai. The blonde trembled, slightly scared.
"W-we detected seven OMNI ships and what our sensors designated the 'Silverwind', a civilian vessel. It seems that the OMNI ships fired on it." Athrun turned towards Le Creuset, who spoke before the green-eyed pilot could.
"That ship is the one Miss Lacus Clyne was supposed to be on for the Junius Seven memorial trip....If at all possible, we must aid the Silverwind."
"Wait, Lacus Clyne? The PLANTS pop star?" Miriallia asked, eyes wide. The ZAFT pilots nodded, before heading straight out the door, leaving the majority of the remaining people in the room.
"Well, are you going to help them?" Kira asked, turning to the former OMNI troops with a strange gleam in his eyes. Jack was already heading out the door. The officers stood around, looking uncomfortable.
"But why would they attack a civilian ship?" Murrue asked, clearly troubled.
"I'm guessing that those ships are crewed by mainly Blue Cosmos supporters." Mu said. "They're as bad as 21st century terrorists. Worse, actually." The Hawk left the room, heading to the 2nd hanger deck where the Shadowfax waited. Kira followed him out, leaving the rest in the room.
Silverwind, Bridge
"Open up!" The OMNI soldier shouted, banging his rifle on the bridge door. On the other side, several ZAFT soldiers took what cover they could, while Lacus Clyne stayed to the back. Her pink Haro bounced next to her, screaming: "I won't accept it!" over and over again. Most of the crew smiled slightly. It almost seemed like Lacus' Haro had absorbed all the usual celebrity emotions that famous people usually got. Miss Clyne herself smiled back, worried, but putting on a brave face.
0000000000000000000000000000000000000000 -- Quis est a Iuguolo nisi a Iuguolo? – 0000000000000000000000000000000000000
A/N: Kinda ended it a little badly....but it is just one half. I'll have the other half out later this week, along with File 02. Also: Flashdrive troubles + Slight case of Writer's Block = Loooong writing time. Hopefully I can clear up this condition by tomorrow.
Omake Roster:
Suzaku Kurugi: Code Geass Pro/Antagonist, depending on your point of view
Lelouch Lamperouge/Vi Brittania: Code Geass Protagonist
Light Yagami: Death Note Protagonist
Sousuke Sagara: Full Metal Panic Protagonist
Setsuna F. Seiei: Gundam 00 Protagonist
Heero Yuy: Gundam Wing Protagonist
K'GoN: Sort of a little joke I made up while writing Meaning of Zero in the Gundam 00 section, He's like a little droid as described, although he was originally a fusion of Exia and the Shinkirou. His personality is like a clone of mine, running slightly more to insanity and stupidity. ("Shut up") And as you can see, I sometimes put stuff he would say in my Author Notes. I wonder if that means I'm crazy?
G. Wagers: Sorry about that. But, I find that it's good to break up the more serious stuff sometimes with the funny (or, not-so-funny, depending on your sense of humor)