Mobile Suit Gundam 00: Heaven Strike Force
Phase II
The debriefing room was silent as the Meisters and forecaster waited for the newest arrival to explain the nature of the mission of he had in mind. Setsuna glared slightly at the elder man, while he cocked his head, confused by the young pilot's actions.
"What's wrong?" Rertyan asked, puzzled. "I haven't even said anything."
"That's the point," Setsuna replied gruffly, maintaining his glare. "You have not said a word since we reached this room." Rertyan nodded, smiling.
"I guess I was waiting for a prompt," he admitted. "Since that doesn't seem to be what you want, I'll just start anyway." The black-suited man tapped a hidden button on his right glove, a micro-disc ejecting from a secret drive within the glove. "I should probably explain about my machine before it throws further questions up. It would probably save Mr Vashti some time for me to show you the technical schematics."
Sumeragi seemed surprised by his remark, knowing he was aware of her order to Ian. Rertyan entered the disc into the projector on the table, a device used to show the flight recordings of a machine to gauge what had happened and jog a person's memory of an experience. Instantly, the room darkened as a blue screen was projected up, showing a wire mesh model of Rertyan's machine.
"As I have eluded to before," he explained. "Reaper X is a dual machine, much like the 00 Raiser. It separates into a transformable Gundam, the GN-00X1 Reaper Gundam, and its support machine, the GNR-00Z3 X Cloak, hence Reaper X when combined." The screen flickered to a fighter-like machine which slowly transformed into a bipedal machine. "Reaper is powered by a standard GN Drive, which we have 'supercharged' to improve power output and reliability. This results in the black GN particles which, no doubt, the 00's pilot noticed." Setsuna nodded, knowing what the man meant. "It's an experimental set up which is, so far, proving successful."
"If I may?" Lockon interrupted. "I was under the impression that only five original GN Drives existed." The sniper glanced around, noticing that Tieria also looked sceptical.
"As was I," the Innovade agreed, his eyes pulsing as he linked to the great supercomputer. "Veda's databases do not mention any additional drives. It clearly states that the only active original drives are those of Exia, Dynames, Kyurios, Nadleeh and the 0 Gundam." Rertyan smirked.
"Those are the drives which are participating actively in armed interventions," he replied. "It doesn't specify that there are only five in existence. No, in reality there are only seven original drives; the five you possess, and the one I possess. The seventh was lost a long time ago, however." Allelujah frowned at this.
"How do you lose a GN drive?" he asked. Rertyan's expression darkened, but he ignored the question.
"I was on a test run to confirm the linkages," he went on. "When I was attacked by one of Heaven Strike Force's new models, the Ravager GN-X. That's why I came here.
"You see, we have been working alongside Celestial Being from the shadows, introducing systems and technology into newer forms to test their applications. Lately, we've been trying to improve the Twin Drive, which is why we have not been updating Veda's secondary log cache. The facility may be in danger, however; the Ravager unit doubled back to a mother ship, and may have followed my projected signature to it.
"I understand if you don't trust me," he added. "Hell, if a strange bloke appeared from nowhere with Gundam technology and claimed to be part of a shadow organisation working with Veda, I'd be kind of suspicious too, especially after the Trinity situation a few years ago." Tieria's eyes narrowed at this, remembering how much havoc it played on their troops, and how it had left an ally with an injury which proved to be his undoing. "But please believe, I do need your help."
"How can we be sure we can trust you?" Setsuna asked, but any response was cut off by an alarm sounding all over the ship.
"Miss Sumeragi, the medium proximity sensors have detected a Heaven Strike Force carrier-class nearby," Mileina's voice announced over the intercom. "Silhouette identifies it as a variant of the Human Reform League carriers, approximately fifteen mobile suit capacity."
"Out here?" the forecaster questioned. "They must be looking for us."
"I may be more to blame," Rertyan admitted. "The Ravager probably belongs to that ship." Miss Sumeragi was not really listening to Rertyan.
"Tieria, man Ptolemy's cannon controls; Seravee won't be needed here," she started giving people their orders. The Innovade nodded before heading off. "Allelujah, Marie, get ready to launch in Archer Arios; you will form the front-line offensive in this battle. Lockon, hold near Ptolemy in Cherudim as back up; protect our blind spot."
"I'm on it," the sniper nodded, heading out behind Marie and Allelujah. Miss Sumeragi turned her attention to Setsuna, catching his shoulder as he was about to leave too.
"Setsuna, I want you to stay here and help man the defence systems." The young Innovator blinked in surprise, but she went on. "00 is not ready for combat yet, and we don't have the 0 Raiser either."
"So I'm supposed to sit here and wait?" the young man asked. "They will need someone with close-combat capabilities in this fight; I have to launch."
"And I'm saying no," Miss Sumeragi said firmly. "If we lose 00 in a fight like this, we will be a sitting duck."
"Might I make a suggestion?" Rertyan asked, having stood up from the table and come over to the two of them as they talked. Miss Sumeragi nodded, prompting him to continue. "Let me go out in Setsuna's place; it will give me a chance to show you what Reaper can do. The power linkages between it and the X Cloak may not be fully functional, but I assure you that Reaper does."
Miss Sumeragi thought for a moment, then nodded.
"Alright," she conceded. "We could use the extra machine. But mark my words; should you attack any of the Gundams or try to run, we will shoot you down." Rertyan smiled, picking up TEX and his helmet.
"I don't doubt that," he replied, heading towards hangar 3.
Reluctantly, Setsuna headed after Tieria, who was surprised when the Innovator arrived and took the console beside him. Even so, he said nothing on the matter, focussing solely on the task at hand. At the same time, Miss Sumeragi had reached the bridge, taking her seat at the central position.
"Any new developments?" she asked the operators to either side of the room.
"The enemy vessel has launched depth charges and spacial mines behind them to ensure we can't pass," Mileina replied, bringing up more data. "It's getting ready to deploy its mobile suits."
"Cherudim is ready for launch from deck 2," Feldt said as the catapults opened and unfurled. "GN Archer and Arios are also ready to deploy. Increasing catapult voltage to seven-thirty in decks 1 and 3, four hundred in deck 2. Control has been transferred to Gundams. You are all clear for launch."
"Arios, Allelujah Haptism, intercepting target!" The winged Gundam launched from the mother ship, transforming into its fighter form the moment it was released.
"GN Archer, Marie Parfacy, moving to intercept!" The red unit quickly caught up to and docked with Arios, accelerating together towards their targets.
"Cherudim, Lockon Stratos, targeted and firing!" The green unit shot forwards briefly, before then ascending to take a vantage over the attacking forces.
The lift of deck 3 brought the next unit up to the catapult as decks 1 and 2 resealed themselves. Inside the cockpit, Rertyan entered some codes into the controls, bringing up a visual link to the pink-haired operator. He blinked, seeing her properly for the first time.
"I'm sending my information for you to input into your systems," he said, trying to cover his surprise.
"R-right," Feldt nodded, taking by surprise herself. The new information came up obediently. "Increasing voltage to eight hundred. Course clear. Timing transferred to Reaper X."
"I have control," Rertyan confirmed, priming the engines. "Reaper X, Rertyan Darkspire and TEX, obscuring the light!"
The combined unit launched towards the battleground as the first signs of particle beams became evident. In the midst of the battle, the captain of the Heaven Strike Force ship gazed out of the cockpit. The two front-mounted cannons were trying to nail the Arios before it could stop them deploying the mobile suit team on board. The man had grey hair and green eyes, under the left of which lay a scar; a single laceration which curved from above his brow, passed his eye and curled underneath his jawline, missing his mouth by a millimetre. His chin was free of stubble as he gazed over the battlefield, watching Arios dodge another blast with a sigh.
"The winged one is faster than we can shoot," one of the subordinates commented, surprised by the manoeuvrability of the machine. "It sure is a good machine."
"Tell me, Corporal," the commander said, his eyes falling upon the hapless subordinate. "If this your first time seeing a Gundam?" The man looked surprised by the commander's sudden words, but nodded all the same. "This is not the most impressive machine Celestial Being own; this one is impressive, but their trump card, as it were, is much more."
"Do you mean the double-powered one, Colonel Ovechkin?" another subordinate asked. The Colonel nodded.
"Indeed I am," he replied. "Now, I think we have admired it for long enough; deploy the GN-X units immediately."
"Yes sir!" the Corporal at the control desk replied, typing in the launch release codes. "Opening hatches; all GN-X III's, deploy! GN-X Ravager, deploy! Target the enemy Gundams, then the mothership!"
Almost instantly, the e-sensors on Ptolemy flared their warnings.
"Detecting enemy mobile suits," Mileina said, bringing up the information. "Twelve GN-X 609-T's, three GN-X 609-HT's, and..." Her eyes widened. "It's a new model; identity GN-X 753-R!"
"Sixteen suits?" Lasse questioned. "That can't be right from one of those ships."
"The new model may have docked to the rear of the ship," Miss Sumeragi replied, altering her forecasts with this new data. "Lockon, proceed with strafing fire as dictated in plan 2C."
"Got it!" the man confirmed, unfolding the GN Sniper Rifle to its full length and targeting accordingly to split the forces. "Here we go, Haro."
"Commence mission! Commence mission!" the orange sphere practically chirped as it waved its 'ears' enthusiastically.
The blast of pink energy darted forward, taking the left arm of one of the 609-T's and entirely destroying another. The remaining suits spread out, trying to avoid any follow-up volleys, but Lockon moved his aim, firing another blast to funnel them towards fire-line of the waiting GN Archer's beam cannons. The blasts neared the waiting 609-T's with blinding speed, but the attacks would never hit.
"No you don't!" came a shout as the new model dived into place between the shots and the GN-X units, its left arm raised over its chest as a GN shield formed around the front of the machine, entirely absorbing the blasts. "Take this!" It raised its right arm to the GN Archer, firing the twin-barrelled beam rifle on the outside of the arm.
Quickly changing to mobile-armour state, Marie moved the GN Archer away from the shots, evading the hits as they came her way.
"Damn," she cursed. "This guy's good."
She looked back to the machine, the GN-X 753-R, observing its looks; the machine resembled the standard GN-X III but with a less-bulky form of the lower body and a modified head so that the central bead above the eyes was not visible. The arms were entirely different, however; they were notably bulkier than the originals, most likely due to their equipment, and sported two missile pods on the shoulders. The left arm housed a physical shield which opened to form a front-facing GN field, as it had proved moments before, the outer edges and central panel opening outwards to release the particles of the field. The right arm held the twin rifle on the outer edge, along with an extension to the back of the arm for reasons Marie could not fathom at that moment. The scarlet machine trained its barrels on the GN Archer, firing again in another attempt to hit Marie's machine.
From afar, the black machine drifted through the void, observing the machine as it revealed the extent of its abilities; the 609-T's and their more heavily-armed counterparts, the 609-HT's, were not a problem, as their abilities were already well known, but the Ravager was problematic due to its lack of data. Rertyan watched as it fired at the GN Archer, Arios busy with the squadrons of GN-X III's and Cherudim providing cover from afar. Finally, he cracked his neck and flexed his fingers.
"Alright, looks like the X Cloak will be more of a hindrance than a help," he decided. "TEX, prepare separation procedure, I'm taking Reaper in alone."
"Copy, copy," the Haro confirmed the order. "X Cloak separating, X Cloak separating."
The machine began to shift, the join between the two ship-type mobile weapons splitting as the cockpit of the X Cloak lifted away from Reaper's chassis. The phlanges of the nose-cone opened up as the docking clamps released, allowing the machines to part ways, the back end of Reaper coming out of the X Cloak. With Reaper clear, the nose shut and the cockpit dropped back into place, the front end sliding backwards to fill the gap left from Reaper's exit.
"X Cloak awaiting orders," TEX confirmed the separation.
"Go help Cherudim cover Ptolemy, TEX," Rertyan said, changing his machine into flight mode, the wings moving into their extended layout, pivoting on a hidden pin within the machine. Two tail-fins lifted up as Rertyan finished his orders to Tex. "Keep an eye out for stragglers."
"Understood," the drone agreed, the X Cloak moving under its will to a position beneath Ptolemy.
Back with Arios, Allelujah fired another barrage of missiles at the tailing GN-X's, taking out another pair and disabling a third. One of the 609-HT's fired a pair of missiles at the machine, but the winged Gundam easily evaded and shot down the projectiles, but he was getting concerned for his missile reserve.
"I wasn't expecting them to be this manoeuvrable," the two-tone eyes supersoldier noted, eyeing his ammunition display. "At this rate, I'll run out of missiles before I get rid of three quarters of them. In that case..."
He used Arios' mid-air transformation and high manoeuvrability to spin Arios around in its robot form, using its beam weapons to try and destroy the machines without losing more missiles. However, as his rapid-fire blaster launched a barrage at the tailing GN-X's, the Ravager stood between them, the GN Field absorbing the blows as if they were rain against a window. Gritting his teeth, the Meister changed form again, trying to think of a new plan while dodging a burst of missiles fired from the Ravager's shoulders.
From the bridge of the Heaven Strike Force's carrier, Colonel Ovechkin watched with a smile as the new machine performed against the Gundams, the advanced technology throwing them into disorder from their usual capability.
"This should be over soon," he murmured reassuringly. The Corporal from before gasped and turned to the man.
"Colonel! It's coming!" he called.
"What are you talking about, Corporal Anderson?" a warrant officer barked. "Make some sense!"
"That model the GN-X 753-R encountered before," Anderson replied. "The machine seems to have separated and is heading for the Ravager!"
"Inform the pilot," the Colonel ordered. "It must have been waiting for the Ravager to show its power."
In the battlefield, the Ravager's pilot laughed as another shot grazed the GN Archer.
"Ha!" he roared enthusiastically. "Is that the best Celestial Being can do?!"
"Sergeant Hale," the radio sputtered out. "The new model you sighted before is heading for your machine."
"It's what?!" the man asked as a series of red blasts struck the shield on his machine. Marie gazed in the direction of fire and spotted the red and black fighter-like machine heading their way.
"Is that..." she started, but a visual link cut her off.
"Miss Parfacy," Rertyan said over the link. "Go help Mr Haptism with the others; I have something of a score to settle with this machine."
Knowing the GN Archer had little ability to fight this machine, Marie nodded and moved swiftly for the orange machine. The Ravager turned to shoot at the red machine, but fire from Reaper drew his attention back to the attacking pilot. The Sergeant returned fire, using his twin blaster to fire heavy shot with twice the ordinary speed, but the manoeuvrability of Reaper trumped the fire-power. Hale gritted his teeth angrily.
"Damn bastard, hold still!" he roared, trying again but failing to land a hit. He snorted and activated his beam sabre. "Screw this; I'll clip your wings!" Rertyan's machine flew in close, and the sound of metal sheering copuld be heard as they passed by one another. "What the hell?!"
Hale stared at the now dismembered missile pod floating alongside his machine in disbelief. His gaze turned back to the winged form of the Gundam as it drifted before his machine, a blade glinting on the underside. Inside the cockpit, Rertyan smirked as he typed in the final button in sequence and the whole machine began to move and shake, changing shape into its robot form.
As it transformed, the cockpit retracted within the torso, the armour of the machine enclosing around the dome on the nose cone. The wings folded onto the back on either side of the GN Drive and onto the newly formed shoulder plating. The arms and legs unfolded from the main body, the blade sticking out of the armoured forearm at the ready. One final change finished the transformation, the head raising out of the body while the iconic yellow V-fin opened. The red eyes flashed once as the machines form came online.
Hale gawked at the machine, but quickly overcame his shock as the black machine lunged forward, a black-handled red beam sabre extended in its right hand. The orange energy blade in the Ravagers hand extended as Hale rushed forward, the two blades clashing forcefully against one another, creating a sparking of energy around their swords. Adding pressure to the Gundam assaulting him, Hale aimed his remaining missile pod at Reaper.
"Take this!" he yelled, pulling the trigger to launch the explosive projectiles at Reaper, but his attacks went wide as the left fist impacted the machines head, knocking it off balance. Hale growled. "Damn bastard!" Reaper moved to attack again, but Ravager was ready, raising its GN Field and intercepting the beam sabre and stopping the attack dead. "Pathetic; you'll never get through my GN Field! Now go to hell!"
"You first," Rertyan growled, pushing back from Ravager before charging in again.
The Ravagers GN Field sprung up again to block Reaper's right arm, but the shield did nothing to stop the attack coming for the Heaven Strike Force machine. The fist struck the field and slowly began to pass through, until the blade extended from the front of the fist pierced the central generator. The field wavered for a moment, before a flurry of red energy surrounded the sickle, creating a larger blade and piercing the entire arm. The energy influx caused the shield to sputter unstably as it began to overload. Rertyan smiled as he pulled back, knowing the arm was destined for destruction, while Hale growled again.
"Damn this guy," he muttered, engaging the prototype fail-safes in place in the machine. "Purge left arm!"
In response, the left shoulder plate split in two, exposing the joint which promptly separated through manner of explosive bolts within the hub, jettisoning the failing arm as it went critical and exploded. On the carrier vessel, the Earth Sphere's autonomous forces stared in amazement that their newest machine had lost its trump card. Ovechkin grimaced, taking control once again.
"All teams," he ordered. "Withdraw immediately; we cannot hope to win in this state."
"Roger that, Colonel," came the voice of the lead pilot of the GN-X 609-T's.
"Confirmed here too, sir," the lead pilot of the 609-HT's added shortly after. Hale gritted his teeth in anger.
"Confirmed," he growled, turning to Reaper once more. "You haven't seen the last of me, Gundam. You will pay; no one damages the machine of Desmond Hale and gets away with it!"
With this said, the man retreated, the detonated limbs scrap fragments the only signs that it had been there moments before. The Colonel dismissed himself from the bridge, intent on informing the Heaven Strike Force's lead personnel of this new machine, and its performances against their latest.
From on board Ptolemy, Miss Sumeragi gazed at the new machine, the menacing look it had against the backdrop of red GN particles, scrap metal and the void of space almost fitting for the name of the machine. She had expected it to perform, but was surprised by the skill the pilot possessed.
"Feldt," she said. "Have the Meisters return at once. Lasse, full speed to Lagrange 3."
"Yes, miss Sumeragi," the two confirmed.
"Mileina, I want you to help Ian repair the faults with Reaper," the forecaster went on. "If it performs that well on its own, it will be useful for us to get the combined system working."
"On it!" Mileina nodded, heading for deck three as the Gundams started to dock once more. The door slid open as Tieria and Setsuna entered. Miss Sumeragi turned to the Innovade.
"Did you see all that?" she asked. The purple haired man nodded.
"I did," he replied. "And I want to know more about the organisation who is behind its creation." Miss Sumeragi nodded in agreement.
"Come with me," she said, leading the Innovade towards the debriefing rooms.
On the bridge, Setsuna watched the black machine re-dock with its counterpart and line up to board the ship. After what he had seen, he started to wonder what else had been hidden from the small crew of the ship.
Apologies for the lateness of this update; I'm a really bad juggler :/
I figured I would show Reaper's abilities in parts so as it not make it overkill for anyone reading.
Colonel Ovechkin and Sergeant Hale will come back into this later in the story; they'll probably be a little like Sergei Smirnov and Graham Aker respectively.
Also, I'll post a factfile about any new machines which will be frequently involved but perhaps not fully revealed, starting with none other than the Ravager.
Model GN-X 753-R
Nickname: Ravager
Manufacturer: Earth Sphere Alliance
Operator(s): Heaven Strike Force
Based on: GN-X 609-T (GN-X III), GN-X 704-T (GN-X Ahead)
Design Specifications
Power Plant: Single GN Drive Tau
Height: 19.5 metres
Standard Weight: 75.6 metric tons
Accommodation: Pilot only, cockpit in torso
Known Pilots: Sergeant Desmond Hale
Armaments: Twin-barrelled GN repeating rifle (right arm), 2x beam sabre (located in hip joints), 2x NGN missile pods (located on shoulders, eight missile capacity per pod), GN Assault Shield (left arm)
Systems: Self-destruct, explosive limbic release (emergency release bolts), GN Field, core flyer
Additional Notes: Designed to counteract the fire power of both Cherudim and Seravee, the Ravager is notably heavier and slower due to its output power. Extensive use of GN Field can cause GN Drive power out. The Ravager also contains a prototype release system and escape module, the latter of which was inspired by the Innovade machines utilised by Ribbons Almark's group.
That'll do for now.
Bye everyone!