Gundam Seed: Killer's Realm
Phase 22: A Departure from.......
Onogoro Island, Kaguya Mass Driver Facility
February 19, 71 CE
7:21 AM
The day after the beginning - and end - of the diplomatic talks, Shoki Team was raring to go into space, which was one of the few areas they had much experience in despite a literal decade of service in the Orb Military, which was famous for its particular expertise in that least limiting of environments.
As they suited up, and headed to their shuttle, they paused upon seeing an OMU-suited person standing in front of their shuttle's door, holding one of Morgenroete's new GSG-24 Gauss Shotguns. Instead of the standard black of most OMUs, it was silvery in color and its helmet looked like it was crafted to resemble a lion's skull. It was only when they drew closer when they realized that his helmet wasn't made to look like a lion skull. It was actually pieces of a lion's skull attached to resemble a mask to the outside of his helmet. On the hip of the OMU was a large scabbard, holding a blade that looked to be almost a meter long.
"Now, you little girls weren't about to leave without me, were you?" Came the voice of Karlton William Hertz through their comms system, startling Gary. Rather than saluting his superior as most of the normal military would Gary just shook his head.
"You know, I was hoping to do this job quietly Mr. Hurtz." That elicited a guffaw from the amicable major, and they all walked into the shuttle, settling down inside.
In the control booth for the Mass Driver, Andrew watched as they boarded, and the corner of his mouth twitched up slightly in malicious amusement. Patrick Zala, I give you Hell. He thought.
- Quis est a Iuguolo nisi a Iuguolo? -
Main Island, Zenopolis City
Almost one hundred kilometers away, the sonic boom generated by the trans-atmospheric shuttle accelerated to hypersonic speeds, a sonic boom that could capsize a yacht when in close proximity, was a mere crack, like the sound of a whip.
"Well, that's them going." Kira said, standing in front of the group of ZAFT pilots and Orb refugees trying to see the shuttle as it left. "They're off."
"Hey, did you know that the sound a whip makes, that crack, is because of a miniature sonic boom generated when the end exceeds the speed of sound?" Jack said, hoping to impress anyone.
"You sound like a nerd." Yzak muttered.
"Thanks!" Jack replied, grinning in a vaguely disturbing manner. Dearka, who had been standing in between the two, nervously backed up and ducked behind Athrun and Nicol. Athrun was, Jack noticed, standing close to Cagalli. Almost too close.....
"Do it, Do it!" Chimamare chanted inside his head, drowning out the well-mannered protests of Haji. Jack scooted over behind Athrun, and tripped when Cagalli moved away. At the dark blue-haird Coordinator's cry of surprise, Cagalli turned only to be thrown to the ground by the weight of one 60-plus kilogram coordinator.
As Athrun rose, heat flushing to his face as his current predicament, that of an apparent pervert assaulting the Princess of Orb, came to him, as the entire street turned to look and flashed looks of astonishment at each other.
"Oh, this is going to be a fun week." Jack/Chimamare cackled, to the displeased look of Kira.
- Quis est a Iuguolo nisi a Iuguolo? -
189 Kilometers North of JOSH-A, Alaska
February 19, 71 C.E.
1:37 PM
"Why the hell are we up here?" David asked, shivering in the arctic cold. Just behind him trotted Lena, wrapped in some of the thickest coats Edward could have found for her, while the eldest living Abaddon himself was marching through the snow with only a jacket, a scarf and thicker pants as a concession to the temperature. David himself could have easily passed for an Eskimo.
The trio had left their Model 5 Omnicar - a new product from the Orb-based Huynh Industries designed for multiple environments, vaguely resembling an APC stripped of armor and downsized - about 5 kilometers back, knowing that they'd set off the numerous super-magnetic mines laying under the permafrost and snow. In the current clear conditions, one could trace their footprints in the snow the entire way.
"Because Drake asked us up here." Edward snapped through gritted teeth. Drake was one of the very, very few individuals that lived through irritating the good Admiral, and for good reason. If it weren't for him, the Earth Alliance would still be fighting mobile suits with the old Moebius armors. And Edward hated him with a passion. "Let's just get a move on." Trudging through the snow, Edward pushed onwards, followed reluctantly by David and Lena, who had remained quiet. She was already in trouble for what had happened a few hours earlier. One of those new ensigns, Michael, had tried to make a move on her.
She'd left him with a sprained ankle and a broken pinky.
Edward, in his twin capacities of Commanding Officer and Father, had been doubly disapproving. Thus, she was stuck with another two hours of imposed silence and restricted simulator access. And she was also stuck accompanying her father and his executive officer to Drake's lair, one of the creepiest places she'd ever been in, and she'd been in some creepy places for a teenager.
After another eleven kilometers, they were there. Before them, rising up from the snow drifts, was a stone cairn about three meters tall from base to tip, and about three-fourths of a meter wide. Across the front, at chest height, was a block of lettering twenty characters wide by thirty high, each letter the size of a fingertip. Squinting through the glare, Edward pressed firmly on five of the letters, each one glowing a harsh sulfurous yellow to indicate activation. After the last letter was depressed, they proceeded to the opposite side, where an opening two meters by one-half opened, revealing a lift.
They rode it down for a minute before it automatically stopped, opening to reveal their destination.
The four hundred square meter room was dark, dank, and smelled heavily of reptiles. Why that was so was readily apparent, seeing as the walls were mainly occupied with various terrariums enclosing various reptiles of different species, ranging from small chameleons to enormous anacondas the likes of which had only been rumored to live in the deepest jungles. Off to the left was a door, guarded by two automated twin-barreled machine gun turrets hanging from the ceiling. Red targeting lasers showed where they aimed, and as soon as Edward stepped within a five meters of the door, they swept to cover him, traveling swiftly over his body as the attached cameras scanned him and uploaded their data to the central computer. A second later, the lasers turned blue, and the guns instead switched their robotic attention to Lena and David, the latter freezing up and shivering under the stress.
When all three were cleared, the door slid open, permitting them to enter the next room. This one was twice as big as the 'lobby', hosting larger enclosures in the walls for even bigger reptilian monsters, with horrendously large komodo dragons, crocodiles, and stranger ones populating them. The middle area of the room was furnished with tables, resting on top of which were various blueprints and schematics, including some for the more secretive Debris Belt facilities and Dark Moon Bases. However, some of the schematics were of mobile suits and weapons that none of them had even heard of, much less seen. And considering that they were the three highest ranking Watcher officers, that was saying something.
In the middle, poring over some schematics, was a man, average in height, dressed in heavy concealing clothes, with various buckles and belts crisscrossing over it. A plain black hood covered his head, and the similarly black gloves had reinforced knuckles while his boots were tipped with metal.
"Vice Admiral Abaddon, Rear Admiral Sariel, and Commander Abaddon. How good it is to see you again." Drake said without turning. His voice was labored and wheezy, with a mechanical tone to it. When he turned, they saw why. Drake's face was covered by an old gas mask, or so it seemed. In reality, it was a sophisticated breathing assistance mechanism constructed within an old gas mask, that allowed Drake to breath without dying a horrible death.
Drake's story was one of special irony to Blue Cosmos, and was one of the reasons the Coordinator was allowed to live, besides the fact that he was a genius mobile unit engineer and inventor. He was a first generation Coordinator, and one of the few that were disastrous. His mother hadn't exactly stuck to the rules for having a Coordinator child. Indeed, she hadn't even stuck to the rules regarding normal children. She'd drunk, smoked, and done drugs of various manufacture during her pregnancy. It was a miracle she survived to have Drake. The combined chemicals and accompanying illnesses hadn't proved well for his developing body, and he'd thus been born two weeks early, a small and weak baby that wasn't expected to survive the hour.
Expecting to have a super-child whose coat-tails she'd ride to success, Drake's mother had just abandoned him in the hospital.
Drake, despite contrary expectations, had lived. He grew up with a severe asthma, and was allergic to everything under the sun except reptiles, which explained his own liking for the scaly creatures. He'd also been cursed with weak bones, underdeveloped muscles, and a tragically damaged nervous system. Medical procedures had helped in some respects, repairing his nervous system to an extent and reinforcing his bones. Physically speaking though, Drake had been a lost case.
Naturally, his time and intellect was turned entirely to the intellectual sciences, until he came to the attention of Blue Cosmos. Surprisingly, they chose to not kill him. When they'd offered him a job, he'd accepted it eagerly, stating a jealousy of all other Coordinators as his reason.
He'd been a part of both the G-Project and Byzantine, helping develop the Phase Shift Armor in the first case and designing the entirety of the Constantine in the latter. When the remnants of the G-Project and Byzantine had been hurriedly merged to create the BCPU Gundams, he'd developed Trans-Phase Shift Armor. He was also responsible for the creation of a few of the more interesting Equipment Packs used by both the Constantines and the Strategos.
And now, he worked on Edward's Gundam.
"It's very nice to see you again Drake." Edward said politically.
"Oh, please don't bother to lie through your teeth to me Edward." Drake wheezed, coughing out a chuckle. "I know fully well how you feel about me. So cut the crap and ask the question you want to." And that was why both Abaddons disliked, if not hated, Drake. He had no respect for anyone whatsoever, and knew that it didn't matter for shit.
"How is the Azazel coming along?" Edward gritted his teeth, keeping his hands at his sides. Drake stood there, studying him for a second. The modified gas mask's buglike eyepieces gleamed as he tilted his head, before turning and striding for a door.
"Oh, it's quite well." He said before opening the door, removing a glove to reveal a hand with skin scarred from surgery and liberally covered in sores. Lena stared. "Oh, don't mind this. I had a bad encounter with a rat." He chuckled, as though it was merely a matter of amusement. "Now, come." He proceeded, beckoning them forth. They followed him into a indistinguished hallway, to another door that opened into a hanger.
Under his mask, Drake grinned at the gasps behind him upon the sight of the black Gundam.
- Quis est a Iuguolo nisi a Iuguolo? -
A/N: Urgh, I really need to return more of my attention to this fanfic. Still, I really can't write non-combat stuff well.
("Maybe you should listen in English")
Just as soon as they stop boring me to death. Literally, I seem to go into a state of suspended animation. And who said you could talk?
("Um......")
Anyway, my great apologies for the short chapter. Although I hope some of the intrigue makes up for it. Ah well, next chap should see some action, interspersed among the daily life of the Orb citizen.....who also happens to be the adopted son of the most powerful man in Orb.
Infinite Freedom: Neither would I then.
FraserMage: Not quite so big as that, but the Izanagi is rather impressive I think.
G. Wagers: Well, to be fair, 'Get Zala' IS the deal.
G. Wagers 2: Well, interesting things are certainly going to happen on the PLANTs.
Nivek Beldo: Thank you, and no problem. Where is Rau anyway? Go on, guess.
Ragnarok: Thank you, and please read more.
00virtuezero: I dunno, Chim's tendancy to kill and devour those who prove unable to fend him off might sour the potential friendship as well.
Cool.
Mordalfus Grea: Well, these new guys from the Alliance should prove formidable.
Alex Yamato: The comparison has been drawn before. I like to think of Alpha 8 as a mix of HK-47 and the original Terminator. Same personality of the former, but operating like a skinned version of the latter.
Knightmare Gundam of Ni