Chapter 3: In Anticipation of Your
Future Hardships
The girl lay in the darkness of her room, deep in the throes of sleep, that much was apparent. Her lazy, sprawled, back-sleeper position was only accented by her sensually bare body, save for her clean white panties.
"Nehhhh…" Caerlise whined in her sleep, opening her mouth wide with a snore. She murmured loudly twitching hard. "Nrrrrgggggggg… ahhh…. Nooo…" The girl motioned with her foot, her head turning slowly. "Go… away…. No." Her hands trembled as her brow furrowed in nightmarish worry. "Stay… a-way…. Nooo… damn… you…-
The room suddenly flushed with blazing red light and blaring battle sirens, jerking the girl out from her hellish dream.
-CICADAS!"
The girl bolted upright with a start, slamming her head against the bunk bed above her with a loud "thwack". Her forehead and neck exploded in a haze of pain, her head racking backwards. "…god… DAMMIT!" she shouted in agony, seething her teeth in the midst of the white hot ache as she fell back hard onto her pillow. The disorienting lights and blaring klaxon weren't helping any.
"Caerlise!" Jidane's voice sounded urgent over the room's com channel.
"WHAT?" she replied, clutching her head, shaking from the sudden turmoil.
"We've got a situation brewing out there! Get to the Gundam as soon as you can!"
"I'm dying here…"
"What?"
Caerlise said nothing, instead she turned on her side to roll out of bed and landed hard on the cold floor. She emitted a guttural growl as she peeled herself off, stumbling through the flashing lights towards her clothes piled on the corner desk.
Everyday waking up back at Doc's was exactly the same, save for what she was dreaming at the time. Lise, ever the 'Five More Minutes Girl' usually got a rude, nude wake up call, followed by a similar morning routine.
One would figure she would be used to it by now.
_..._
-...-
"What the hell's goin' on?" Lise shouted, tugging her jacket across her clothed shoulders as she jogged into the hangar bay.
"Hey Skirty! Everything's ready for ya!" Akio shouted after the fast moving girl, hauling a ream of Vulcan ammunition out of the way.
"Thanks! And I'll kill you for that comment later!" she shouted back, climbing down into the cockpit. She looked about, unzipping the back of her red right hand glove to pull out the I/O plug. She jacked in, reaching under her skirt with her other hand to retrieve her leg plug, connecting it in a flash. "Okay…" she started, the cockpit closing down on her. "Fight, fight, fight," she muttered as the cockpit screens blazed to life, the OS performing a startup system check.
All systems green.
"Jidane, pop the hatch!"
"Not just yet!" Kyrie's voice warned across the com.
"What?" The girl eyed the radar read out, picking up a swarm of enemies. "What the hell's goin on out there, chick?"
Jidane whipped his head around, spotting Akio hurry onto the bridge. "Take over the gun station," he called out, his voice edging worry. "Those aren't Flags out there," he muttered dashing over to the helm.
Kyrie's hands danced across her layout, sending as much information as she could to the Gundam.
"Those are GN-XIII's," Tieria started, a tone of concern in his voice ringing through the Gundam's cockpit. "…Dammit…"
"Vowels?" The girl's eyebrow raised in surprise. "Man, I thought you'd have jumped ship first chance you got!" she laughed snidely.
"Listen to him, Lise," Jidane's voice scolded.
The boy's eyes tracked the enemy formations. "Those are GN-XIII units out there!"
"Where the hell did they come from?" the girl's voice demanded across the channel.
"I'm not sure. I didn't pick up anything on the ship's radar!" Kyrie replied. "There's no carrier or anything on visual!
"… Optical Camouflage!" Tieria piped up. "Damn them… they had to have reverse engineered Celestial Being's technology."
"Caerlise, there's an enemy carrier somewhere in the ocean, but you will be limited to what you can see with your eyes," Tieria said inside the cockpit, "be careful because it will be invisible."
"Nice. So how the fuck am I supposed to see it?" She snapped back, tapping her finger angrily.
"We will compensate for that… you will be using the Valkyria System."
"The Valkyria?" The girl's expression slowly turned to one of challenge. "Why not just own everything out there with that KIWI drive?"
"Unless you can guarantee its enhanced function, you'll be a sitting duck against those GN-XIIIs. The Valkyria represents dependable speed and agility, something we need right now." Tieria argued back, not accepting anything other than the obvious choice.
"Everything should be set and ready to go," Akio said over the link. "Just start the swap out when you're ready!"
"Lise, be sure you locate that enemy carrier. Destroying that and protecting the ship are your top priorities!" Kyrie's voice rang out.
"Just don't go dying out there," Jidane added with an audible grin of confidence.
"… Alright then," Caerlise said softly, feeling her adrenaline rise.
"Activate the mode change," Tieria stated flatly, conviction in his stoic voice. A glowing green button pulsated gently, high above the girl's head. "Hit them hard and fast. I'll do what I can to try and locate the enemy carrier from here."
"Got it!" she shouted with a grin, jamming the button with her gloved thumb.
The entire hangar bay vibrated as two autoloader arms swung about on the ceiling, grabbing components and swinging back towards the Gundam. Two more arms reached out and snapped hard onto the suit's shoulders, jerking its white armored arms off from its sides as the two other loaders swung in fast, snapping a new set of sleek, green armored arms in place. Each was rear swept with a fast aerodynamic look, numerous vector thrusters located underneath the broad, winglike shoulder caps.
Hard mounted on the left arm was a medium-sized circular shield with cables and hoses snaking all along the length of the arms and dynamic shoulder caps almost like an agile runner's veins; the right arm was also snaked with cooling cables and sported an oversized forearm with, only a semi reflective well where the hand would be.
In the rear, a large assembly pushed the green Enhanced Booster Core onto the Gundam's back, locking it in place. With a resounding "hiss," the unit synched with the Gundam's GN Drive, the spiraling engine humming to rapid life, cascading the hangar with blue particles.
The Gundam's auto systems synched the head to tilt up as a "Fast Flight" helmet attachment clamped down on both sides, replacing the suit's typical humanoid look with one much more abstract and smooth; the long, razor sharp silver chin piece was a stark sharp difference to the original, shorter and blunter one. Atop the head, a helm which dripped of aerodynamic prowess clamped down; over the eyes, a slit "mono-camera" slipped down from the top helmet, blazing green.
The Gundam stepped forward as two leg and feet attachments tracked around to the front on floor mounted supports. The Suit stepped into each as they locked down hard into place, providing enhanced thrusters and stabilizers on the back of the legs and feet.
"Agilent change complete! Valkyria Gundam online and ready to rock!" Caerlise stated confidently.
"Opening the hatch!" Kyrie piped up as the rear door cracked and gently opened to reveal the churning skies. "We're at 20,000 feet, so try not to crash into the water, okay?" she joked.
"Wouldn't dream of it," Lise responded as the Gundam's enhanced vision hardened and darkened automatically. All over the screen, the now polarized vision cut through the glare and shadows of the sky, providing a much more defined, accurate field of vision.
"Okay Lise. The Valkyria set up uses the DRC at 30% to automatically power it's systems when docked, so you won't have to worry about raising the gauge," Jidane's voice stated.
"Yeah I can see that," she responded, noting the pulsating gauge reading 33% steadily. "So what have I got here?"
"Okay, mounted on your back is a light Beam Gatling. Don't expect it to really take anything down in one shot though. A couple of rounds oughta do the trick! On your left is a GN Solid Sword," the boy said, looking over the readouts at the ship's helm. "It should be hanging by your side from the bottom of the Enhanced Booster Core Pack."
"…Yeah I see it."
"Careful with it because it's your last resort. Your right arm is the Beam Claymore. You're gonna have to get the DRC to at least 50% and hold it there in order to sustain the weapon. It generates a lot of heat, so try not to damage the refrigeration unit!"
"Refrigeration unit?"
The girl looked about the status readouts, not picking up anything.
"It's located in the shield. All the cabling about the arms all connect to it and cool the boosters and the Claymore. Don't worry about overheating; it's really a high end piece of work."
"Gotcha. So no other guns? Jesus you all really want me to pull out miracles, don't ya?"
The boy laughed in spite of himself, "That's always the case with you, Lise! But no, the Claymore can act as a beam canon when the DRC's not at 50%. It's got a slow rate of fire, but it's more powerful that anything those 'Jinx' can throw at you."
"Here they come!" Akio called out, setting the auto turrets to rapid fire mode.
"And here I GO!" the girl shouted back as the blue particle spewing, green and silver Gundam fell out of the Pythagoras. The Core unit's stabilizer wings slammed down horizontally; two more wings on the top and bottom of the broad stabilizers snapped up and down at an angle. With a resounding ether flashback, the Valkyria roared forward in a haze of blue particles and thruster burn.
_..._
-...-
"All units, attack with everything you've got! Destroy that Gundam and their mother ship!" Captain Renault shouted loudly, her eyes blazing feverously as she watched the GN-XIIIs dive forward deep.
"C-Captain! There's a new Mobile Suit!" one XIII pilot's voice rang out
"What was that?" she asked, "that's impossible! That ship could never hold more than one Mobil-
The GN-XIII automatically evaded the incoming green beam of death, halting the woman in her tracks. "Did that… GUNDAM!" she shouted, ripping her flight helmet off irately. "All Units, focus on that mobile suit! BLAST IT OUT OF THE SKY!" The team blinked their confirmed status, rerouting course to barrel towards the Green Gundam type.
"Not if I can help it!" Jidane shouted angrily, hauling the ship hard in a tight turn, its beam cannons blazing in defense.
Caerlise dodged fire with the nimbleness of being in space. The sheer G-forces were crushing against her like crazy, but she dug down deep and held onto her vigor, finally tuning the relentless pressure out. "GO DOWN!" she shouted as the beam Gatling automatically tracked a target, pelting it with rapid fire. The XIII's lance exploded in a ball of fire as the Valkyria careened past it, rolling onto its back as more Gatling fire pierced its backpack, sending the suit up in a cascade of fire. "That's ONE down!" Lise sounded as the Gundam rolled again, her hair splaying within the cockpit. She felt her stomach lurch and twist, but she had to protect the Pythagoras!
A brave XIII broke formation and came from up high, stabbing its lance beam rifle hard into the Gundam's-
The Green suit rolled safely, as agile as any bird, and leveled its right arm.
For a brief second, green plasma seemed to suck into the charging weapon.
ZAAAAM!
The GN-XIII, now sporting a gaping hole in the cockpit, exploded shortly after as the Gundam sailed on through the sea of blue particles.
"Ahh! DAMMIT!" Kaino's XIII set forward and dived into the fray as-
"LIEUTENNANT! GET BACK HERE AT ONCE!" the Captain's voice shouted loudly across the channel.
Kaino halted his motion as Zenna slowly sailed up behind him. "You will do exactly as I say, Kaino. Stay by my side."
"Zenna I-
"SHUT UP!"
The boy's angry expression turned sour, glaring at the girl's beautiful face in the pop-up vid window.
"I want you to watch from here… watch how classless people are dealt with!"
"Watch with me…" she said cruelly with a laugh, "watch as those rats squirm to survive!"
The Gundam held its arms out as it pulled a wide corkscrew ascent into the air, gently crossing its agile green and silver booster laden legs to help with vector control. The shining anti friction GN Coating on all green attachments greatly reduced drag and allowed the nimble weapon to knife through the air, belching blue GN Particles all the way. Caerlise could feel the blood rushing from her face and the G's pulling painfully on her neck.
"What the-
The girl could have sworn-
"Is that another Gundam?" she asked out loud as Valkyria thrust its feet forward. The 'hidden' shoulder mounted verniers pivoted forward and roared violently in tandem with the feet and leg thrusters, halting its motion in a haze of thruster burn as the Girl's body moved fluidly with the sudden halt. Instantly a Federation XIII careened into view. The Gundam boosted hard backwards as the Girl saw the same scene played out in the sky above.
A Green Gundam retreating from a blue and white GN-XIII.
With a hard spat of blaze, the Gundam stopped and punched its right arm forward hard, gut checking the incoming XIII, instantly vaporizing a hole in its body with a beam blast.
Gundam boosted up high into the air, past an incoming cloud bank, coming face to face with-
"Son of a BITCH!" she sounded in surprise, facing a massive black airship. The Titan of the heavens glinted like black oil, its entire bottom half shimmering with a mirrored reflection of the surrounding sky. "Guys are you seeing this?"
"Yeah, we just got a visual! They really were using optical camouflage!" Kyrie responded, marking the massive ship's position on her map. "Looks like it was never a sea-bound carrier in the first place!"
"It's a modified version of the optical camouflage, using the surrounding area to project an exact image against its surface!" Tieria said angrily.
"I'm takin' it out!" Lise shouted as she leveled the arm cannon at the Elan's gigantic bridge, hearing the distinct "locked on" tone as the cockpit washed with red light. The enemy had her in its sights too.
Like the rains of destruction from heaven, a payload of micromissles cascaded from the bottom of the giant ship, every one twirling and cascading down towards the Pythagoras below.
"WHAT THE HELL?" Caerlise shouted, canceling her lock to bolt down through the clouds, the auto Gatling singing for all it's worth against the missiles. "HOW THE HELL CAN THEY SEE YOU GUYS?" she demanded, dodging artfully between the deadly rain, shooting down EF suits where she could.
"Tieria! Run a full body diagnostic of the ship's exterior!" Kyrie shouted, glancing out the bridge window at a GN-XIII pelting the shielded Pythagoras loyally.
"Performing scan… Impossible! They must have planned this from the last skirmish!"
On Kyrie's data screen, a blazing red blip shone brightly on the underside of the ship's schematic. "That's it! Caerlise there's a tracking device on our belly! You have to destroy it-YAAH!" The girl nearly fell out of her seat as the missile rain slammed hard into the ship's camouflaged, shielded top.
Jidane banked hard and steered through the storm, trying in vain to ignore the persistent XIIIs flying all about.
"C'mon… HIT DAMMIT!" Akio shouted angrily as the ships antiquated auto guns barely missed a GN-XIII. "This is impossible!"
Jidane gritted his teeth angrily. "CAERLISE!"
"I heard you the first time DAMMIT!" she replied, her eyes streaking tears from the sheer speed of combat.
Zenna shoved Kaino's suit to the side, blasting forward towards the green mobile suit. "DIE GUNDAM!" she shouted, letting loose a rain of fire on the fast suit.
"Shit Zenna, don't kill them!" Kaino seethed as he jammed hard on the controls, his GN-XIII bolting after the Gundam. "She'd probably hit me too with friendly fire… but EVEN SO!" The boy twirled his mobile suit hard once to increase his speed and careened past his Superior Officer. The Jinx spiral slammed hard onto the Gundam's back, holding on tightly.
"Gundam Pilot! Give up at once! DO IT NOW!"
"Kaino?" Lise asked in shock, hearing the Federation Pilot's voice through skin-talk. She spun the Gundam hard to toss the burden off its back.
The GN-XIII's cockpit rapidly heated up, taking the full brunt of the Enhanced Booster's heat and exhaust. Kaino pulled off his helmet, his face awash with sweat. "Caerlise? You're in this Gundam too?" he asked. How many Mobile Suits did this Celestial Being ship have?
"Get the HELL off me! Everyone's in danger- GET THE HELL OFF!" she shouted angrily, halting her boosters as she noted the damage delivered to the MS on her back. Valkyria's enemy status display showed intense heat damage being dealt.
Kaino only gripped the GN-XIII closer, his cockpit flashing red warning lights. The entire front of the MS was a melted slathered mess. "I am NOT letting you GO, CAERLISE!" he replied loudly. "Give up now and stop all this insanity!"
"Give up?"
The Gundam boosted forward and stopped, attempting to jar the XIII off.
"YES! WE CAN CALL A CEASE FIRE! JUST GIVE UP ALREADY-
"WHAT THEN?" the girl interrupted, her teeth bared. "HUH? WHAT THE HELL HAPPENS TO US IF WE STOP NOW?"
Kaino jumped at the sudden fervor in her voice.
"Are we just gonna be allowed to walk away? I don't fucking think so!" she added defiantly.
"… We'll think of something! The Federation will-
"No they WON'T!"
Caerlise shook her head angrily, "They already have their pride hurt! They already think we're part of Celestial Being, but we're NOT! You and I both know they won't listen to a bunch of HIGH SCHOOLERS!" she shouted, twirling hard.
"…. LISE!" the boy shouted, his cabin lights burning out from the heat. Instantly he recalled his conversation with Col. Madera. He knew the Brunette was right on all counts.
The Gundam stopped again, the GN-XIII losing its grip.
"If I give up now, do you know what our fates will be?" Lise demanded, her eyes set forward towards the Pythagoras maneuvering in and out of enemy fire.
Sweat fell into Kaino's eyes. He didn't know. "… I… I can't say…"
"… Well then." Caerlise breathed in deep. "I'm sorry but… I'm deciding our fates here, and now." Her eyes hardened in an instant. "WE'RE GONNA FIGHT-
The Gundam blasted straight up HARD as the MS on its back slipped off. The Gundam turned a hard somersault, kicking the melted suit down and out of harm's way
-TO LIVE!" she finished in a defiant shout as the Gundam angled it's beam canon underneath it's left armpit, firing hard at a GN-XIII that was on crash course with Kaino's disabled suit, taking it out completely.
The boy saw it all, wincing at the force of the Green Gundam's kick. Even while fighting for her life, she thought of him.
High above, the boy saw the Captain's blazing red suit careening towards the Gundam, readying the death blow. "ZENNA NO!"
"CAERLISE!" The red suit thrust its lance hard forward to pierce her nemesis. She had heard everything between her Lieutenant and the piece of trash.
The Gundam, still in pose from its previous shot was completely helpless.
With a scream of shorn metal, the Gundam's rotating body contorted through in an almost slow motion spin... the singing edge of the GN Blade, secured onto its forearm glinting far and wide.
Zenna's eyes were wide in shock, barely noting both severed arms of her mobile Suit sailing before her.
In real-time, the Gundam finished the spin move by grabbing hold of the red suit's head with its free hand, now covered in a thin layer of frost from the cooling unit. The Gundam blasted its angling thrusters hard and threw the mobile suit at the belly of Pythagoras, barely hearing the pilot's scream via contact.
"Zenna?" Lise's mind shouted, watching as the red suit hurtled towards the GN Encased ship. "DROP THE SHIELD!"
Akio immediately obeyed just as the red suit slammed HARD into the ship, taking out the tracking device in one fell collision.
"DAMMIT! AHHHH!" Zenna cried out in defeat as the rear pack and Tau drive on her suit went up in a plume of scorching fire, her completely bum suit slowly falling through the air.
"Captain!" a lone GN-XIII managed to catch his falling S.O., hauling her back out of harm's way. The pilot checked his status monitors, noting that the Lieutenant's MS also had been successfully retrieved.
"GOD… DAMN YOU CAERLISE!" the girl shouted irately, slamming her fist into the control console. "ELAN! LAUNCH THE TRANSPORT SHIP NOW!"
High in the air, the Aerial Titan released a black MS transport ship, its auto systems activating as it flew towards the retreating suits.
"EVERYONE… EVERYONE KILL THEM!" The girl demanded in a white hot rage. She visibly shook from absolute hatred. Her gunmetal gray eyes were entirely drenched with a harrowed fury. She couldn't believe it… that lowly girl had such a superior mobile suit! That Trash had bested her TWICE!
At once the remaining GN units broke towards the Celestial Being mother ship, its GN Field activated once again.
"All units are converging!" Kyrie shouted, her eyes never wavering from the screen before her.
"We've got to get the hell out of here!" Jidane shouted over the numerous explosions and gunfire all around. He gritted his teeth, hauling back on the controls as the majestic ship's nose skyrocketed. The GN Condensers roared to reinvigorated life, propelling the Pythagoras high and higher into the sky in a plume of blue particles.
"Jidane! What the hell are ya doin' man?" Akio shouted, noting the Green Gundam falling back fast, taking on the remaining suits.
"No, He's right!" Tieria barked, taking into account the full situation.
"Caerlise," Tieria piped up, a magnified view of the ascending Pythagoras coming into view, within the Gundam "we've no choice but to make a break for outer space!"
"WHAT?" the girl shouted, barely dodging fire as the Gundam did a barrel roll.
"The main guns on the enemy ship will pick us off easily unless you destroy it. Destroy the carrier!"
Lise set her mouth, nodding in confirmation. With a HARD lurch, the Gundam blasted all thrusters as the GN Drive roared loudly, boosting long and hard up high, high, higher still, on direct course towards the flying Titan. The girl eyed all of the blue and white suits shooting at her from behind. She was as good as a sitting duck!
The Gundam rolled and maneuvered as the auto Gatling took potshots behind her, horrendously ineffective.
Protect them.
Protect them.
Her mind chanted it's mantra over and over again as the camouflaged ship came within marked radar range. With another gutsy pull from deep down, the GN Drive and thrusters gave another burst of speed, slamming the girl hard into the seat. She fought against the crushing force as her hair took on a dynamic flair.
The Gundam slapped the GN Blade back into its holding place, the weapon "hissing" off the socket with a burst of compressed air. Valkyria slammed the right arm down hard to its side, bracing the forearm with the left hand as the Refrigeration unit churned, cascading a gentle frost line higher and higher up the Gundam's bracing arm.
"Go, go, go, go…" Lise whispered through gritted teeth, eying the DRC faltering below 32%. "Go, go, go, go, go…"
She remembered Kaino's worried tone. He wanted them all to survive as well, even though he was forced to fight against them.
Her eyes narrowed as the carrier grew larger by the second. The DRC rocked up to 40%... 35%... 41%...
Spidery wisps' of plasma gently snaked out from the reflective arm well like green streamers of light, slowly twisting and braiding into a loose conical formation.
"Go, go, go, go…"
… 50%!
42%...
55%!
With a high pitched whine, the braided cone of plasma burst into a sweltering, wavering tornado of pure green energy, humming and pulsating wider and longer.
58%... 65%!
A spiral scream emanated from the arm well as a bright coil of energy traveled the length of the energy blade, exploding into a pillar of pure green light once reaching its apex. The blade screamed and seethed, crackling and ionizing the ether all about.
70%!
80%!
The plasma blade elongated in a burst of light, spearing multiple GN-XIII in one fell stab. The loud "locked on" tone rang through the girl's ears, knowing full well that she was flying straight into the gaping maw of hell itself.
A sudden piercing blade of light sniped the girl straight through the temple, and exited through the front of her forehead.
At least, that's what it felt like. Lise's eyes twitched at the sudden pressure she sensed from the Titan of the skies. It escalated to a near mind numbing anxiety which trailed from her head, down to the pit of her stomach in a microsecond. Something wasn't right. The girl gritted her teeth and directed Valkyria ever so slightly to the left… instinctively.
At that same instant, dual beams of undulating yellow energy belched from the Elan's heavy assault beam cannons. The Jubilee twins sang out loudly as Valkyria barely blasted just past their calibrated convergence point. The left side of the massive ship was more heavily stacked with supplies and munitions: Auto calibrations would compensate for the ensuing magnetic resonance destabilization by shifting the convergence several degrees to the right.
Lise let loose a jarring shout as the Gundam shuddered and rattled from the onslaught; the passing twin beams' magnetic destabilizing effect sucked the mobile suit hard towards the right. Instantly the Beam Claymore dissipated in a green flash of light. The Girl's eyes blazed determined as the status read-outs clamored information, displaying a resulting vacuum effect of the heavy beam's course line.
The Green Gundam's Shielded arm slammed hard into the continuous beam, melting the ice and cutting a swath on the shield's surface.
Lise's eyes blazed forward, never missing a step. She only had that one simple thought on her mind. Same as always. No scenario would ever change that.
Protect. Them.
"…Go."
With a resounding spiral scream of energy the exposed refrigeration unit in the damaged shield almost warped the atmosphere surrounding it into pure ice as the Beam Claymore re-ignited in as grand a flash as when it had disappeared.
"I'LL SHOW YOU…
The thick sheet of ice now along the Gundam's left arm almost looked as if it were an exterior piece of armor.
THAT OUR FUTURE…
The beam radiated a hellish heat, rending the clouds asunder as it ripped through the banks, rearing back in a slight roll.
… IS… LIFE!"
The Green Gundam careened past the top of the massive ruler of the skies, dragging the length of the Beam Claymore along the ship, Caerlise's cry of defiance ringing loudly through the skies. Each horrifying second that passed, the ravenous energy blade split through metal, circuitry, flesh, and bone, finally rending the giant ship clean in two with a hard upward swipe.
The Elan belched fire only once, exploding entirely in a grandiose haze of conflagration and molten metal.
The Caerlise didn't look back as the Gundam whipped its Claymore arm back down, extinguishing the blade in a haze of green energy particles.
"GREAT job Lise!" Jidane's voice called out over the radio.
She didn't respond. All she could muster was a sigh of relief. Her friends were safe for the time being once again. "So where are you guys?" she finally asked out loud, a bright spot on her monitor flashing repeatedly. The Gundam worked its frozen left arm, shattering the ice as it pulled up sharply-
The warning lights flashed and an alarm sounded loudly "Shit… almost out of fuel…" she muttered as the scenery slowly faded to an unsettling blue and purple. Another alarm twittered as the secondary oxygen tanks began to fill the cockpit with extra air.
"Just follow the mark on-
"Trouble!" Kyrie interrupted, turning to the main bridge view screens. All over, the horizon appeared as a sickly black grey… They weren't in the atmosphere… but they weren't in space yet either…
"I see what you mean," Tieria interjected, setting a rendezvous course for the Gundam, as Kyrie siphoned data to the green MS.
"… Great…" Caerlise muttered, her adrenaline high finally wavering. A small video window displayed three large Federation Capital Ships maneuvering into a blocking, aggressive position. "Dammit! They're waiting for us, just to pick us off!" she punctuated by hitting the side of the cockpit with her left fist. Her gaze settled angrily. Just what was Zenna's plan? Did she orchestrate all of this?
"Get back into the Ship. I have a counter-strategy." Tieria said calmly, surprising the girl. "…Hmmph!" With an unsettled grunt, the girl gently maneuvered the exhausted mobile suit over to the waiting hangar bay.
_…_
-...-
The brunette flailed her way onto the bridge, hanging onto the door frame for dear life.
First time in zero gravity.
She looked to see Jidane and Kyrie donning thick white normal suits, preparing for space combat.
"Here ya go, Lise," Kyrie started, reaching for another normal suit from a side emergency closet. "The feet have magnets in them, so you won't go flying all over the place unless you want to" she added with a grin, noting the girl's exasperated expression.
"Heh Thanks!" she replied, donning the suit as quickly as she could.
That damn skirt got in the way.
"Dammit Kyrie," Lise whined, finally hoisting the suit up and over her shoulders. "When this is all over, would it be too much to ask for a pair of pants like everyone else?"
The other two laughed lightly; not genuine laughter, but the nervous, foreboding type…
"Alright everyone, listen closely," Tieria started, pulling data files to display on the ship's main view window. "Those images of the three Federation ships, the Bruker, Hitachi, and Dionex, were stolen from the Orbital Ring Defense computers."
"What so you hacked them?" Lise asked, fixing her collar.
"Actually I did," Kyrie piped. She shrugged her shoulders, "If we were going into space, we had better know what was waiting for us."
"Indeed. So as it stands, they still do not detect us. However, we can rest assured that the Earth Forces we've encountered have sent word about our escape to space. Expect patrols to be out in full force."
"Alright so what's the game plan?" Jidane inquired, leaning against Kyrie's chair.
"I've already informed Akio, that we will be utilizing the Braver Heavy Weapons Chassis to destroy those ships. It's the only way past them… we can't get over them, or under them-
"So we just gotta go through 'em!" Caerlise finished with a grin.
"Exactly. All we will have is one shot."
"Okay that's great, but the Braver can't destroy three ships in one go." Jidane argued, shaking his head, "Yes it's got one hell of a lot of fire power, but enough to take out three ships?"
"The Braver alone can't… which is why we're going to use the Seraphim Cannon.
"The what?" Lise asked, her annoyance increasing with each passing second at the normal suit collar. It refused to cooperate! Kyrie got up from her seat to help the poor girl out.
"Those were in the linear notes… something about being able to sync up with the Orbital Rings, right?" Jidane asked, his mind churning. If the notes were accurate… it just might work.
"Correct. The system was designed to synch the DRC to any of the three Orbital Elevator's High Orbit Ring solar condensers. In order to utilize the system, however, the Gundam must maintain a geostationary orbit in a specific location in order to charge the weapon."
"And, considering how long it no doubt takes to charge, we would only get one shot off safely… heh…" Jidane turned to Caerlise who was wrapping sealing tape around her right hand, Kyrie doing likewise to her thigh. She had ripped the suit, letting the I/O cords gently float up in the absence of gravity. Her confident standing pose hit a chord within Jidane's heart. "It's your call, Lise."
The girl slowly nodded her head. "Sounds as good as any plan we've had so far," she started, meeting the boy's gaze with a grin. "You know," she started, rocking her head from side to side in jest with a growing grin "ridiculously well planned out and all."
"Alright then," Kyrie said, standing back up and taking a seat at the navigation console, "We're going to drop you off here at point F. You'll need to high tail it to the geostationary point A. Don't worry, it'll be on your map," Kyrie instructed, showing an animation on her screen depicting what she said. "Once you're there, get the DRC up to 50% to start the Seraphim Cannon. After that, it's just ready, aim, fire!"
Caerlise nodded in affirmation, "And what about you guys?"
"The Pythagoras will travel onward and act as a diversion, drawing the attention and forces of all three ships," Tieria started, depicting the scenario on screen. "It will be tough, but you all seem to be a fairly lucky group… I'm sure the mission will succeed.
The three kids all shared a glance, equally surprised at Tieria's friendly words of encouragement.
"Well… you heard the man," Lise started, turning towards the exit, "you guys keep it together…" With that, the girl kicked hard off the floor and sailed out the door, angling her body to sail down the hallway. "Hey K?" she shouted back
"Yes?"
"… PANTS. I'm holdin' ya to it, babe!"
_…_
-...-
Caerlise sailed into the hangar bay, the bold stench of burnt ozone knifing down her throat. "Uggh!" The girl waved her normal suited hand before her face, trying in vain to waft the scent away. She paused, looking high above at the Red Gundam. "… WOW…"
The Red Gundam looked painfully bulky, yet at the same time ridiculously powerful. Overall the MS looked like a squat Giant with brawny thick arms and legs, weapons adorning its body.
Gundam's head was shrouded by a thick, strong helmet casing, protecting the sensitive optics and giving the mobile suit the look of a champion boxer, well accustomed to taking hard hits. The contoured mouth's thick red full-jaw chin was reminiscent of a street fighter, or a hardened criminal. A single red command antenna stuck up and slightly forward in between the Gundam's silver V-fin, finalizing the look.
In the back, three long racks of missile pods jutted back, each one adorned with angled boosters and assorted thrusters design to move the behemoth; in between the racks, two long red wing-like panels "draped" down, almost like a majestic, two tailed red armored cape.
Across the Gundam's strapping chest, two thick red armored platings crossed underneath the armpits to seemingly caress the Mobile Suit, adding to its red and silver armored look. At each side of the burly waist, two long, wide bore Hyper Rail Rifles faced forward, ready and waiting to shred any and all who stood in its path with deadly physical ammunition.
Each thickly armored shoulder cap sported an automatic twin barreled beam canon while in each hand, the Gundam bore red and silver Hyper Mega GN Launchers, each shining brightly in the hangar's light.
Along each husky leg, GN Field emitters were noted and also racks of beam auto turrets, ready to fire at a moment's notice.
The Braver Gundam.
Caerlise sprang forward, still in awe as a normal suited Akio sailed around from the front, landing on the grating before her. "Woo-wee! This no gravity thing is cash, ain't it? Sorry about the smell" he laughed, the girl paying him little mind. "That Valkyria cannon arm sure was toasty!" The boy looked back over to the red Gundam. "Big guy's something else ain't he?" he asked, slinging a tool box over his shoulder.
"Yeah I'll say! I'm kinda intimidated to even get in it!" Lise replied, grabbing hold of the ledge to stop herself from sailing off.
"Seriously?"
"No." the girl replied flatly. "Jesus kid, get with the program! I sit down, I blow shit up…" As she moved by him she tweaked his nose.
"Hey!"
"I got the best job in the house, haha!" She laughed, settling down into the cockpit. The hatch closed down securely, the feeling of pressurization making her ears pop. Lise quickly forced a yawn to re-equilibrate the fluid between her ears, jacking herself into the control console. The girl breathed in deeply, buckling up and reaching around behind the seat for her space helmet. The girl snuggled her head inside, secured the inner flap around her normal suit's collar, and set back, activating the helmet's teal visor shield.
"Everything looks good on Braver's end, guys," Akio said over the com channel, safe in the bay's airlock.
"Thanks a lot," Jidane replied. They had only known the kid for a few hours… Sure he had his oddities, but overall he wasn't such a bad guy… The boy checked and double checked the course heading, looking up at the maneuvering triad of ships on the separate video window. "I sure hope we know what we're doing…" he muttered. "Alrighty Lise, I'm poppin' the cork!"
"Roger that J-man!" Lise laughed back, holding onto the cockpit handle bars as the blackdrop of space gently glittered before her eyes.
Loneliness.
Solitude.
Peace.
All of these were represented by that singular black sight: a vacuum devoid of light, save for the gentle earthshine and glittering specks of far away photons.
"… I don't think I'll ever get tired of this sight…" Caerlise whispered, closing her eyes slowly. Just the feeling, that rush of being out here! It was so intense… a feeling that could never be topped.
"Nearing the drop point. Caerlise?"
"…Yeah Vowels?" she replied, oddly relaxed in her Zen.
"… Good luck to you. Come back in one piece."
"…Heh! I'm already halfway there!" she laughed in reply, her honey brown eyes popping open in an instant. The Braver gave a valiant hop, falling gently out from the back of the Pythagoras.
The girl could have stay out there for hours…; for an eternity! She had never seen a scene so beautiful in all her 18 years of being alive. The big and bulky Braver Gundam sailed gently through space… She looked to her left, noting the Moon, gently reflecting what light it was privy to. There was just something about seeing it in person; seeing a celestial body up close with your own two eyes…
"Alright… next time I'll see the rest with all of you guys," she whispered as the GN Drive, well hidden underneath all of the weaponry and armor plating spiraled to life. Bright blue GN Particles spewed in a random havoc to gently push the Gundam forward, the rear mounted engines blaring to life to speed the burly bruiser through space. She allowed herself a glimpse at the rear view screen, watching as Pythagoras zipped through the darkness. Its blue condensers reminded her of a beacon of hope for their future.
The girl turned back around, eying the massive satellite array growing larger by the moment as she neared the synchronization point. "Just a little more…-
Warning lights flashed and alarms sounded within the cockpit. The Federation's Orbital Ring defense team!
"Tcht!" Lise gritted her teeth. "Should have known the welcoming party would arrive at some point…" A challenging smile crossed her face, "Sorry guys, I wasn't on the list… BUT I STILL BROUGHT A PRESENT ANYWAY!" With a defiant shout, the girl let loose a blazing round of rifle fire from Braver's waist at the incoming swarm of Fed GN-XIII units, punctuating the barrage with a dual blast from Braver's hand held GN Beam Launchers. She felt a mixture of horror and reverent awe at the sheer number of pink explosions which peppered the area surrounding her attack as she dove deeper into the fray as numerous enemy units zipped past her, attempting to take advantage of this giant Red Gundam's rear.
Braver's leg mounted GN Field Generators roared to life, expanding a blue particle bubble all about its girth and height as the peppering beam fire splattered harmlessly away.
"Shit!" The girl swore, noting from the rear, a detachment of XIIIs barreling towards her. Her suited hand danced on the control console, detaching the hyper rifles from Braver's side with a burst of compressed air. The weapons drifted away, their rears suddenly erupting in bright engine fire to send them zipping up hard and away to automatically cover the Gundam's back with a wide spray of blazing rapid-fire slugs.
Braver's dedicated auto turrets sang, making the lone Gundam appear to be sending rapid fireworks into the blackdrop of space.
"Looks like Lise's got company!" Kyrie stated out loud as the ship lurched down. Everyone had on their space helmets for if worst came to worst…
"So do we!" Jidane replied, twisting and turning the ship hard, barely missing a beam barrage from one of the three massive ships up ahead. "Everyone get ready for incoming mobile suits!" the boy shouted. "C'mon Caerlise…" he muttered, feeling his palms sweat underneath the suit.
"I'm on it!" Akio shot back, taking true aim and firing the ship's weaponry.
Lise shot rapidly into a crowd of XIIIs which immediately separated in a star burst formation; one barrel from the shoulder mounted auto cannons sniped one Fed suit in the face while the other barrel quickly finished it off. The girl was already perspiring. The constant weapon fire was jacking the cockpit temperature through the roof. She eyed her map screen… not that far away from the synch point-
Twin beams of energy belched from the High Orbit Ring's defense grid, striking Braver hard, causing the GN field to flicker… and then slowly die away.
"DAMMIT!" the girl shouted, noting the Shield readout wavering just past operational range. It would take time to recharge… She leveled both handheld Beam launchers and fired hard in the direction of the blast, more and more GN-XIII swarming about her and pelting the large mobile suit relentlessly. Lise risked a weapon assessment:
Hyper Rail Rifle 1 was out…; automatically reloaded and back in the fray.
Hyper Rail Rifle 2 was nearing exhaustion, ready to auto-reload as well.
GN Field Generator had overheated. It would take time to be ready again.
Braver braced back as the shoulder mounted auto cannons burst from their static locations; each cannon's double barrels separated to form four autonomous beam drones in total, zipping about the field, taking potshots where possible. There were just too many enemies!
"ENOUGH!" Caerlise shouted angrily as the main monitors picked up the heavy canon of the Ring Defense system up ahead. Lise took hard aim as the DRC racked up to 50%, charging both hand cannons.
There the Gundam floated like a sitting duck. No GN Shield and at least 50 remaining GN-XIII closing in for the kill.
"NOT… TODAY!" the girl shouted as all three missile racks opened up, sending a blistering fast salvo into the battle field with a resounding symphony of swirling exhaust trails. "I'M NOT GONNA DIE!"
The Gundam let loose the massive beam shot towards the heavy Federation Cannons. The pink beak sailed through space, splattering and melting the Fed weapon on impact with a massive inferno. Simultaneously, each missile round exploded in a wild circus of micromissles, careening with random grace into the closing enemy.
Both Hyper Mega Rifles doubled back, raining random hell on anything or anyone foolish enough to get in their way.
The zipping auto cannons took out any fleeing Federation units with wickedly deadly accuracy.
The leg mounted auto guns continued to spit out rapid fire, finishing off anything that might have been disabled in the wild missile extravaganza barrage.
Absolute destruction. The Pilot and Gundam, ever as Brave as its namesake, plowed through the carnage with a gush of blue particles from its hidden drive towards the synchronization point, the DRC holding strong at 50%.
The Pythagoras dodged and weaved its way through heavy cannon fire, picking off XIIIs when rarely possible. They had already taken quite a beating from the previous aerial battle.
"Shit!" Jidane swore through clenched teeth, banking hard left as an oncoming delayed barrage barreled out from two of the ships, the third making a tactical broad side turn as more mobile suits poured out and into the fray. It was all just too much! "Dammit! We're gonna die if we can't take the fight to 'em!" he grumbled angrily.
"More coming in on our six!" Kyrie warned, segregating the enemies into numerous battle zone classes across the ship's navigation station.
Jidane punched the control console with a gloved hand, bolting from the chair. "Kyrie! Try and maneuver the ship!" he shouted over the tumult, dashing over towards the exit.
"Jidane!"
"Just guide the ship! I trust you K!" he called back, turning to catch one last glimpse of her as he sailed down the hallway.
"The hell he ran off too at a time like this?" Akio demanded, as he angled the ship's weaponry, tracking an enemy and destroying it.
Kyrie only turned and reached for the control console at her station, hoping beyond hope for a miracle…
In the hangar bay, Jidane yanked hard on the Valkyria's Enhanced Booster Core unit's hidden hatch, causing an angular cockpit to snap out from in between the ventilation systems. The boy kicked hard and sailed up and over to the waiting pilot's seat, settling himself down as he powered up the unit and sealed the canopy. "Controls seem simple enough…" he muttered as the OS performed a system scan.
All Systems Green.
The boy's hands danced on the controls as the hangar bay opened, revealing the firefight outside.
"I'll be going with you," Tieria piped up, his speech pattern appearing on one of the side console readouts. "I can handle the vector controls. One less thing for you to worry about."
"Thanks Tieria… I owe you one!"
"Hmmph! If we survive this, you'll owe a bit more than that!" the voice replied with confidence.
"You got it man! Valkyria Core, launch!" The Fighter Jet type mobile weapon floated out of the bay and hit space full throttle, the stabilizer wing array slamming down and popping open. Jidane crashed back hard into the seat, the sudden acceleration nearly making him black out. The plane banked hard and zipped towards the front of the Pythagoras, its top mounted beam Gatling singing loudly against the enemy.
The green fighter changed approach vector nigh instantaneously lifting hard and twirling to the left, shooting all the while.
"Jidane!"
"I'm okay!" the boy shouted back to the Tieria, "even I'm no PUSHOVER!" he punctuated, ripping a GN-XIII in two with gunfire.
Braver's GN field roared to life, surrounding the Red Gundam in a sphere of blue particles as finally it reached the synchronization point. All over the defense system's turret grid hammered the Gundam relentlessly, the GN Field deflecting every shot. The computer controlled flying weaponry all encircled the defense weapons, trading shots back and forth until all of the Braver's rifles and auto turrets ran out of ammunition and power, easily destroyed.
Either way, the Fed defenses were finally wiped out.
"Dammit… start the synch up!" Lise confirmed, inputting commands into the control board layout. She eyed the DRC gauge, as a side bar appeared in yellow, slowly building up to the DRC's steady 55% reading. In the back of her mind she marveled at how controlling the DRC seemed to be such a finicky task. "Alright Braver… let's see those wings!"
Braver shuddered as the GN Field expanded wider. With a fluid motion, the "twin tailed cape" behind the Gundam slowly rose up on armored hinges simultaneously as the red armored panels along its chest gently rotated down and outward. The lower set of wings extended to effectively form an 'X' shape with the two from the back. Both sets of "wings" unfolded outward to reveal an intricate array of energy condensers.
The Gundam held out both arms wide, releasing the GN Beam Launchers which each rotated a half turn at the barrel, too unfolding to reveal energy condenser linings. The back end of each launcher extended to automatically connect to the main power pack located on the Gundam's back, snapping into place.
Six wings. The Seraph had awakened.
Lise nervously shook her leg up and down, truly believing that doing so could speed up the process. "C'mon… c'mon…!"
"GA-HUK!" Jidane was tossed about inside the Core's cockpit, struggling through to point the nimble fighter where he wanted to go. "Go down!" he shouted, giving chase to a dodging mobile suit, cutting deep into it with the Gatling. The suit made a hasty right hand turn, blasting hard away. Jidane paid it no more mind, whipping his head around just in time to see a fast incoming GN-XIII level its lance for a spearing attack.
The Green fighter spiraled hard and nudged the GN's foot sending the blue suit spiraling into another XIII, both of them exploding on impact.
Jidane willed the nausea away as he gave chase to another enemy.
"… Four minutes… c'mon!" Lise seethed as, wisps of yellow plasma began to stream from the energy condensers trailing like breaths of light to a focal point 2 kilometers away from the Gundam. The numerous wisps touched at the tip, crackling with electricity as a pulsating orb of yellow energy gradually formed. With each pulsation the orb expanded hard outward spanning a 1km radius of pure energy.
With a loud 'hiss,' the six wings gently angled inward as the blue GN particles bleeding from the hidden drive mingled with the yellow orb of energy, forming a second GN Field about it. With each pulse the GN field fought to constrict the growing yellow mass. "Five minutes!"
"Hey there's a HUGE energy reading!" Akio shouted loudly, seeing the sudden spike in the battle radar.
Kyrie pulled up the visual,: a shrinking yellow mass of light shrouded by a GN Field. "That has to be Lise!" she shouted, diving the ship down hard and to the right, banking to get out of the way.
Jidane caught sight of the shrinking yellow light as he blasted down hard and away, tailing the Pythagoras.
Caerlise watched as the yellow meter finally reached its maximum, the yellow orb now only the size of the Gundam itself. "All charged! READY?" she shouted, her eyes blazing wild.
"GO!"
…... Nothing.
The Yellow mass instantly compressed into nothingness, the blue GN field now surrounding empty space.
All along through space, ghostly wisps of electricity and plasma played about gently, almost marking a straight path towards the blockade triad of ships-
In an instant, a band of light, hotter than a solar flare erupted in space. The yellow hell beam careened towards the ships, two kilometers in diameter at break neck speed. There was absolutely no time to react. The ravenous light immediately devoured the Dionex, striking the regal ship head on; the Hitachi, angled behind the Dionex first slowly melted into wisps of metal before being over taken by the solar death. The Bruker which had been maneuvering earlier was brushed by the beam, its entire left side completely melted away from the sheer heat and destruction.
The Pythagoras shook hard from the sheer impact of the blast, every warning on the ship sounding off in unison. "JIDANE!" Kyrie shouted, her eyes wide with terror at the immense destructive power.
The Green fighter didn't signal nor return communications as it zipped in front of the ship, rolling to fire at a distracted XIII.
The Flashback from the still ongoing attack slammed hard into the Braver, the GN Field faltering for one moment, and then being completely blown away. The searing heat slammed into the Red Gundam, the cockpit roasting like an oven. "Dammit!" Lise shouted, her voice barely audible to even herself over the noise. The heat and vibrations were so intense!
Finally the attack subsided, the solar beam continuing past the battle field into regions unknown.
Braver crackled and hissed as the battered wings closed back and folded. One of the chest wings snapped off and floated uselessly out to space. Caerlise checked the monitors, surprised to see the heavily wounded Fed ship still maneuvering to engage the Pythagoras. "Dammit!" Lise fired the boosters hard as the GN Drive sang to life, propelling the battered and broken Gundam forward. Braver reached for both GN Cannons but on impact crushed them to dust. Lise winced at the damage, shaking her head as the suit continued on towards the far off Pythagoras' hangar bay
_…_
-...-
"JESUS CHRIST LADY!" Akio shouted in surprise, seeing the battered Gundam step into the hangar bay, numerous explosions going on outside. Practically every red armored panel was melted and warped.
"Just shut up and get the Valkyria read-y!" Lise's loud speaker voice snapped back as she met resistance to opening the cockpit. The Gundam' auto systems parked the battered suit as the control arms rotated and struggled to free the jammed parts from the Gundam. The girl kicked hard at the cockpit from the inside, finally getting it to budge. She kicked again, this time the hatch popped open. She stumbled out and into the free zero gravity, catching herself fast.
"No can do, Skirty," Akio replied back, "Jidane's in that thing fighting them all off!"
"What?" Caerlise grabbed the unsuspecting boy by the collar of his normal suit and hoisted him up, throttling the poor kid. "WHAT THE HELL DID YOU JUST SAY?"
The boy voiced his discomfort as Lise's eyes softened in pure concern. "Jesus, Jidane…!" she whispered, shaking her helmeted head as she let the boy go. "Well then hurry it up with getting all this armor off! I have to go back him up!"
"It's gonna take time!" Akio retorted. "You practically nerfed the entire weapons frame!" the boy complained as he sailed up hard, landing atop the Gundam's arm. He kicked the red armor hard several times as the loader arm attempted to pull, finally prying the warped and now useless armor off.
Caerlise followed his lead on the leg armor, helping any way she could to get the loader arms to do their job the way they were supposed to. Her mind raced madly. When she was out there, getting shot at, it wasn't so bad… All she would think of was her friends, safe and sound. "…What the hell was he thinking?" she seethed, lodging herself in-between two sections of leg armor, using her lithe body to help jack the two halves apart as the autoloader took care of the rest.
"Would ya quit worrying? Jeez lady you're freakin' me out!" Akio demanded loudly as the rear loaders latched onto the Gundam's battered rear pack and pulled the assembly off, cracking one of the majestic "twin tailed cape" tails in the process. "… Nice…"
"Listen asshole! If it wasn't for you, none of us would be here-
"DAMMIT LADY! Just let the guy…" Akio strained, grabbing hold of the Gundam's chin as the loaders pried the heavy helmet apart. "… Just let him fight it out! You're not the only capable one here! Just let him be a man!"
Caerlise motioned to retort, but stopped herself.
"Yeah, exactly," the redheaded boy started, landing on the ground to help with the Gundam's other leg armor. "How's that scared shitless feeling taste for ya, huh?" he laughed, pulling hard at the armor pieces.
Lise kicked up hard, fighting the uncontrollable urge to cry and shout. She landed atop the open Cockpit's blast door."… I just-
"Well they all feel that way when you're out there. Getting shot and stabbed at…" Akio stepped back for the loader arm to swing in and give a valiant attempt at pulling the armored parts apart…
Success!
The brunette's mind worked feverously, thinking up 101 different ways the boy could die out there. She looked down, her hands trembling. For the first time since the underground hangar, she heard her own breathing: rapid and shallow.
"Hey," the boy started. He kicked hard off the ground and floated up to where the girl was, landing beside her. She didn't even have the will to fight back as she usually would have. "Don't worry, I'm about to crap my pants I'm so scared too!" He gave a grimacing smile of reassurance.
Lise only looked at him, shaking her head. "…It's… so different, not being the one who's protecting everyone… Scary… even…" she whispered, her honey brown eyes displaying an uncharacteristic genuine terror.
"I bet… and yet," Akio started, turning to watch the loader arms swinging back around to snap Agilent's white armored panels back into place along the Gundam's silver frame, "… you're gonna keep on fighting anyway, right?"
Caerlise only looked at him, blinking rapidly. Why did he seem so calm and cool at the moment? The boy slipped down from the opened hatch and into the cockpit, giving it a fast once over.
"I mean look at you… you're a touch chick and all, it just makes sense you feel best when out there protecting your friends. Me? I like messin' around with cars and bombs… the occasional Gundam, ya know? Haha!" He hopped out of the Gundam's cockpit and landed on the metal walkway. He looked back at the girl, flashing a cheesy grin. "I do what I can, when I can… and it helps me feel not so anxious. You'll be back out there in no time! Seems like fighting is where you're not so anxious, ya know?"
Lise only looked at him, her eyes slowly softening into a smile. "Heh… you've got me figured out, huh?"
"Are you kidding me? Jesus lady you're the most complex onion I've ever met… doesn't mean I'm gonna quit trying though! Guess that's just how Naraku operates, ya know? Never giving up, no matter what, and all that!"
"You're not getting into my pants, asshat!" she grinned, turning with arms held outward for balance and hopped off the MS, landing on the metal walk path to watch as the loader arms removed the broken "chest wings", replacing the removed red armor with armor for the Gundam Agilent.
Akio shook his head and laughed, placing his hands on his hips. He nodded, himself lost in memories past.
"It's Andy."
Lise turned to look at him with a raised eyebrow.
"… Andy Wilson," the boy finished, still gazing ahead. "Just a Plain Jane name, really."
Lise's brow furrowed, finally realizing what the boy was talking about.
"A couple years back, my parents and I were caught up in that terrorist attack in downtown LA… man that was some crazy shit… I still can't believe I'm alive, ya know?" The boy slowly rocked back and forth, his mind elsewhere. "I kept on runnin' away from every orphanage they stuck me in. Man I hated having to be told what to do! Only my folks could get people to do stuff and actually WANT to do it, not bitchin' at them, or guilting them into doing things… That's when I decided I wanted to be someone different. Someone stronger than those morons out there who think they know best, ya know? So, I mean, I started calling myself Akio Tanaka. It means "A Glorious hero… in the center of the rice paddy."' The boy shrugged, "I loved rice as a kid! Still do."
"How do you know Japanese anyway?" The girl asked, her arms still crossed.
"Well, my dad worked a lot with Japanese business men doing… uhh… business I guess. In the meantime my mom would take their wives and teach them English and stuff. The ladies would teach me some Japanese too, while they were at it. Heh, it was pretty nice…"
The boy breathed in deeply, crossing his arms. "Anyway, after they died, I couldn't be bothered with normal schooling ya know? Just wasn't my thing anymore. Plus I kept runnin' away all the time… I wound up staying with this old man who used to fix cars and bikes and stuff downtown. Real nice old man. He didn't say much but he was a kind person… I just helped him one day fixin' some small machines and then he started letting me work on cars. Guy was a total Mobile Suit buff too." Andy laughed to himself, feeling his eyes water. "… I miss ya mom… pop… old man…" he whispered, barely audible to the girl.
Caerlise took it all in. Everyone had a story.
"…Why are you telling me all of this? I barely know you, Aki- I mean… Andy." Lise asked out loud, her eyes tracking the boy's movements with a curious concern.
The boy shrugged. "I dunno…I just felt like I could, I guess." The boy laughed, "After the old man, I never really met someone I thought I could just open up to like that till I met you! Yeah you like to punch and kick people but… it's like you really know what's going on inside someone's head. Eh, maybe not their head… you're no psychic or anything… more like, what's in their heart, ya know? Like you know what drives a person… you just understand people. You're genuine, ya know?"
Lise's head tilted to the side, a lazy smile crossing her beautiful face, her eyebrow cocking higher in amusement. "You're crazy, you know that?"
"Yup! Sure do! And it looks like you're all set here," Andy said as he kicked off the metal walkway, sailing over towards the exit lock. "Don't die out there, Caerlise!"
"Hey! Just call me Lise… I guess you've earned it!" the girl called back with challenge.
"Only if you keep calling me Akio! Guess I'm just so used to it now!" The boy laughed, giving a quick salute her way as the lock slammed shut.
Caerlise breathed in deeply as she sailed into the cockpit, sitting back in the chair. The white cockpit closed as the GN Drive roared to life.
"Lise! I can't get a hold of Jidane!" Kyrie's worried voice called over the channel.
"I'm going out there, no worries K," Lise replied as she jacked in, the Gundam's eyes blazing blue. The spiral hum of the GN Drive filled her ears… she had gotten so used to its sound. The torrent of blue particles filled the hangar as the doors opened wide revealing the glittering blackdrop. Caerlise set her gaze as the Gundam swooned forward and fell out of the bay, blasting hard towards a small skirmish. "Jidane… hang on!"
Jidane's head thrashed from side to side like a ragdoll, trying in vain to roll with the numerous hits the Valkyria Core was taking. The green armored fighter plane was battered and bruised, sparking already like mad.
"We're almost out of power," Tieria said, an energy indicator flashing madly on the console.
"Looks like it… but we're not through yet!" Jidane shouted angrily as he pulled back hard on the controls, barely dodging a GN-XIII's lance blast. Valkyria doubled back around, it's Gatling blazing to life.
With a swoon of blue particles, the Agilent careened past the ailing craft, firing its forearm Vulcans with pristine accuracy. The XIII was reduced to a riddled mess as it fell silent, drifting lifelessly through space.
Jidane slowed the green craft as the Gundam rolled and headed back in his direction, slowing down to grab hold of the cockpit with its nimble manipulators. "Lise!" the boy whispered, completely exhausted. He watched as the Gundam's cockpit hatch popped open, a white normal suited figure exiting.
Caerlise kicked hard off the Gundam's waist sailing towards the Valkyria's cockpit, making out the pilot who turned to look in her direction. She reached the ship's side, pulling hard on the canopy control arm as she slipped inside.
Jidane was powerless to stop the girl who hopped in and straddled him closely, the cockpit sealing shut again. The girl touched her helmet to his, holding his body close to hers.
They both deactivated their helmet visors, each one sharing a sigh of relief.
"Are you okay? The girl asked worriedly, her eyes shaking in anticipation.
"Ahh… yeah… just a little banged up though-
PAAAUNCH!
Caerlise's eyes were on livid fire, her mouth contorted in a sneer of annoyed disgust as she reeled from punching the boy square in the face. "What the HELL WERE YOU THINKING?" She shouted, her fist shaking angrily. "YOU COULD GET KILLED OUT HERE DUMBASS!" she continued all the while punching the battered boy repeatedly in the stomach and sides. "AND WHY THE HELL WAS YOUR RADIO OFF? WHAT ARE YA, STUPID? I WAS CALLING YOU FOR LIKE, FIVE MINUTES STRAIGHT!"
"I'm sorry it was an accident! I really WILL DIE IF YOU KEEP HITTING ME YA MORON!" The boy shouted back, cupping his hands about his pain filled face.
Lise only glared at him, her eyes slowly shaking with tears. "You… damned fool!" She whispered, embracing the boy in a hug, holding him close.
Jidane's brow fell in embarrassment, his eyes softening. He returned the hug, holding her tightly.
"… Don't you ever… ever do that again… ya hear?" She whispered. "Even if I'm dying, getting torn limb from limb… don't ever go and do something this dangerous again…"
The radar picked up the remaining GN-XIII team launching from the rear of the damaged Bruker, each one rapidly approaching the lonely ship.
"Guess we've got company," Jidane said, staring into Caerlise's eyes. She held his helmeted head, taking in every one of his features. "I'm okay, really!"
She couldn't explain the love she had for him. Ever since that day, all those years ago, she felt as if she had to protect the kid… He was like a little brother to her... even though they too were the same age. The girl's brow furrowed angrily. "Get your ass back to the ship! I'll handle those guys.
"In just the Agilent? Lise you can't-
She shut him up by activating his helmet as she reached up and activated hers, popping the canopy one more time. "Don't worry about me," she said via skin-talk, holding his hand. "This Gundam fights for our future, too…"
The boy and girl's hands separated, their fingertips calling to each other as she sailed out of the cockpit. She gave a confident thumbs up and rolled with her momentum, landing on the Gundam's finned pelvis, setting back into the cockpit as the hatch closed.
"… Just because you're so forgetful," the girl's voice said over the radio with an audible grin.
The boy shook his head. "I swear it was an accident jeez!" the boy laughed in spite of the situation. "Caerlise…"
"… Come back alive to us, alright?"
Lise nodded, affirming the boy's request over the channel. "Right after I swat down a few flies!" The Gundam turned in a swirl of blue particles, activating-
A single red beam of GN infused energy pierced straight through Valkyria's booster block.
Caerlise barely caught sight of the frozen image of sudden, polarized carnage. Her eyes were wide in shock.
Onboard Pythagoras, Kyrie felt a pull in her heart, her frozen shout ringing silently through the ship as she saw the red, death beam piercing the ailed craft. On the bridge, Akio watched in unmoving shock as the craft's engine got impaled on the red energy spike.
Within the cockpit, Jidane's eyes were wide in surprise. He felt a slow rumble behind him-
The fighter's engine block exploded in a ball of yellow and pink, flipping the ship's remains off kilter in all directions.
"…." The girl was silent in a dead shock. "...Jidane… JIDAAAAAAANE!" Caerlise shouted through a haze of tears and astonishment as the cockpit of the Valkyria jettisoned off in a flash of blue smoke, flipping through space away from the consuming explosion-
Two more red shots pierced the escaping cockpit's rear booster engines, the first knocking the engines off line, the second sending the pod flailing away.
"JIDANE!" Tieria shouted loudly over the com. The boy slumped forward in the crackling, tumbling cockpit, unresponsive. "Dammit!"
Caerlise couldn't believe the scene. She would NOT believe the scene.
She remembered the same cold sensation of death.
That same 8 year old, never forgotten sensation.
The explosion down town.
The falling dust and debris.
That terrified look on his 10 year old face…
Saving him…
Caerlise gave a harrowing cry, tears streaming from her eyes as the Gundam's GN drive flared rabidly, jamming it through space towards the floundering escape pod-
The Gundam was halted immediately, a blazing yellow beam saber pointed at its chest. "That's as far as you go… GUNDAM!" the com squawked, Zenna's voice ringing loudly through the cockpit.
"Or should I just say, "there goes your buddy?" Eh? CAERLISE?" Zenna shouted with morbid glee, eying the white Gundam through her mobile suit's brand new camera system.
This new mobile suit… white and black… It had an odd elegance about its lithe body. Its long face had obvious hints of a Gundam influence. On the corner of each shoulder cap, a blazing red Tau Drive roared, belching the toxic particles about.
Caerlise's eyes were on livid fire. "… Zenna…. ZENNA?"
"That's one rat down. Time to sift through the rest of the Trash!" the girl replied with a sadistic laugh.
"GODDAMN YOU!" Lise shouted irately as the Gundam blasted to the side, paying no mind to the girl, bolting after the pod-
"NOT SO FAST, TRASH!" the voice warned sternly across the com.
The white and black mobile suit leveled the beam rifle it held in its other hand at the escape pod, it's blazing red eyes never once faltering from the Gundam. "If you so much as try going after that piece of filth, so help me God…" The girl's grin reeked of psychotic ecstasy, "I'll make sure there's nothing left to CREMATE! I AM YOUR ENEMY, CAERLISE ALNA!"
Lise watched as the Pythagoras made a daring break for the pod, the white and black MS paying it no mind. Caerlise blinked, her tears growing cold. "My Varian is superior to your Gundam in every possible way!" the girl's voice taunted over the com channel. Caerlise didn't care.
She didn't care anymore at all.
All she wanted was-
The girl's eyes perked, feeling a trembling sensation in her heart. Caerlise blinked rapidly, feeling that same searing burst of light splitting her head straight in two, painlessly… just like before.
She could feel him.
She could feel Jidane's life…
"…Jidane…" she whispered, setting her lip defiantly.
She knew who she was.
She was a fighter.
She fought for the lives of her friends.
Her friends were all still alive.
The Gundam turned to face down the foe. Caerlise's still wet, visored eyes glared at the beautiful black and white mobile suit, unable to control the burning hot urge to protect her friends from further harm. "Tieria," she started, a new found vigor in her voice, "What do you got for me?"
"I've got a close match, but not quite," the voice said as data screens popped up on the main view. An elegant, feudal Japan inspired mobile suit's data design made a near perfect overlay on this new enemy. "It's based on the Susanowo's function and design it seems… with changes." Tieria continued, noting the obvious facial and armor variations, duly noting the two conical Tau Drives on each shoulder. Overall the Varian looked more 'Gundam-like' than 'Flag-like.' "It was a high performance custom mobile suit used by A-Laws one year ago. A good friend of mine faced off against that enemy…"
Caerlise felt a renewed sense of fighting spirit. "Just couldn't stop spending money, could you, 'Rich Bitch?'"
Zenna growled, her black space suit and helmet accenting her sensual curves perfectly. "Only the best, buy the best! I had this Varian built the moment I joined the Corp of Cadets. It was a testament to my future superiority!"
"Those are some pretty badass words from a pilot who's not exactly more than mediocre!" Lise's voice taunted over the com channel.
"Tcht!" Zenna's gray eyes blazed behind her helmet, "Trash and classless to the end! I'll show you the power of my VARIAN!" The white and black mobile suit's dual Tau drives ramped loudly, ravenously spreading more and more toxic particles, infesting the area.
Caerlise watched the horrific sight. So much hatred and malice emanated from that mobile suit.
No.
From that pilot. Caerlise could feel it. She could feel the pressure of that person's emotions…
"… Jidane's life… Kyrie's… even Andy's…" The girl grinned, "Hell, even you, Tieria! You have people to meet again too, don't you?"
"The road is never easy, but that never stopped us. Not Celestial Being."
"Well then… Let's go!"
Agilent shuddered as the DRC rose up to 55%, wavering positively. With a sudden deluge of blue GN Particles, the white mobile suit drenched azure, ramping in its shimmering glow as the spiral hum of the GN Drive grew louder and louder, the sheer number of blue particles quickly out numbering the red.
"GUNDAM!" Zenna shouted angrily. "You'll fall… you'll fall you damn bastard! And then I'll rip you out of it… and squash you like an insect in my fist…! CAERLISE!"
The Gundam drew its blazing red beam saber, blasting towards the enemy. Lise's eyes were on determined fire! "This will be-
-THE END!" Zenna shouted loudly, red twin drives blazing into the final duel.