Ch 1 – Plutone
Jeremiah had just introduced me to a group of strangers, who apparently know my parents. They belong to Celestial Being, a private armed organization utilizing Mobile Suit series called the Gundams. I am confused right now, there's little I could do. I couldn't doubt them for I fear for the worst. The only way is to follow this Rudio Resonance and Marlene Vlady to a certain room within Area 51…
Area 51, Disraeli Province, World Imperium
In Area 51, there was a room near the docking bay marked by a tall doorway saying "Plutone". Rudio, Lelouch, the pink Haro and Marlene made their way towards that door, and Rudio tapped the door's switch. The door then opened up, revealing another Gundam-like Mobile Suit behind it.
This Mobile Suit was predominantly white armoured with a few blue portions. In fact, the blue portions were mainly centred on the chest. There was a shield and Beam Rifle mounted on the walls of that same chamber.
"Behold, one of our deadliest weapons on hand… Gundam Plutone," Rudio described, "don't be fooled by how it's unarmed. It is perhaps the most powerful of all five Gundams of this generation."
"But we've never really seen it in action, so you'll have to confirm that to us," Marlene said.
"But you two, who are you?" Lelouch said, "I knew your names, but what of you. How you two come here to Celestial Being?"
"I grew up in Australia, in the city Darwin," Rudio said, "since the waves of Asian, Arab, and Latino among others refuges from war-torn countries, the locals were getting more aggressive. And then, the group Pure-White Nation was formed… and they stirred one big racial riot in Darwin… one that took my whole family's lives."
"I am a criminal wanted by the law, as simple as that," Marlene said, "after meeting you Celestial Being specifically Epsilonette, I have been forced into service of Celestial Being."
"But why would a group like Celestial Being would let a convicted criminal do their work?" Lelouch wondered.
Marlene looked at Lelouch, and then she pointed to the choker strapped onto her neck.
"See this choker here," she said, "there's this explosive attached to it, and if I try anything funny, it will explode me into pieces by remote at once."
"They call it a slave volunteer Meister," Rudio said, "It's actually quite sad, since even most of us don't really trust them for they were criminals formerly."
"Ehh…Marlene…" Lelouch began to speak.
"Listen here; I don't need anyone's sympathy. I am fine on my own," Marlene cried.
"But you need help, don't you!" Lelouch cried.
"No no and no!" Marlene yelled, "I can still perform and function perfectly! I will show it to you right now! Get into your new Plutone and we'll dunk it out!"
She then stomped off in the other direction, leaving Lelouch with Rudio.
"Sorry for her, she is still sore about things here," Rudio apologised.
"But tell me, should I fight her?" Lelouch asked.
"Perhaps it's the only way for her to blow off some steam," Rudio said, "I will help you out if you need help. Just holler for me."
"But I still don't know how to use this thing?" Lelouch claimed.
Rudio giggled to himself, and then picked up the pink Haro up.
"Use this guy for help," he said.
Disraeli Desert, Disraeli Province, World Imperium
Later, in the Disraeli Desert, two Gundams had quickly left out in the open. Gundam Astraea flew off towards the distance for the sake of seeing the fight without interrupting it. Lelouch was in sortie of the Gundam Plutone. Plutone had a GN Shield on its left arm and a Beam Rifle on the other one. In the cockpit, there was a docking hatch and the pink Haro was affixed there.
"What sort of hell have I got myself into nowadays?" Lelouch moaned, "But you can help me right…"
"Help you. Help you. Help you" it cried.
"And what shall I call you…" Lelouch wondered, "…how about Hanayo, that's a name I heard from Sayoko."
"Hanayo. Hanayo. Hanayo" the Haro cried out.
Suddenly, something quickly swooped down from the sky and rammed into the Gundam. Lelouch looked on and saw the Gundma Abulhool in the sky.
Inside the Abulhool's cockpit, Marlene looked down at the Plutone and stared at it.
"First rule of battle: Always be ready to take down your foe," Marlene said, "and you've failed to observe this first rule, so perish for your mistakes. GN Missiles, fire away!"
Suddenly, the Abulhool fired a storm of GN Missiles down at the Plutone.
"Raise GN Shield. Raise GN Shield. Raise GN Shield" Hanayo cried.
"GN Shield…you mean that shield," Lelouch said, directing the controls.
The Plutone placed its shield in front of itself and flaps opened up from it. Green dust-like particles streamed out of the shield, and surrounded the Plutone. The GN Missiles had just then hit the forming barrier, and there was a large explosion in the sand.
"Gotcha, guess the rich boys never have what t takes on the battlefield," Marlene remarked.
"No…" Rudio cried.
However, this was all too soon to judge. After the dust cleared off, Gundam Plutone turned out to be unharmed and well-guarded by the GN Particles wrapping around the Gundam's form.
"That shield is no regular one…" Rudio exclaimed, "It's almost like a GN Condenser as well, creating some kind of GN Barrier."
"Amazing…even the militarily-advanced World Imperium cannot match this level of defence," Lelouch noted.
"Nice that you had noticed your Gundam's functions, but on the battlefield, the best defence is a brutal offense," Marlene cried, "Convert to Mobile Suit Mode."
The Abulhool flew in on the defending Plutone, and it began to change form. From its rear end, an extra head popped up. Also, two legs with roller blades at their ends strutted out and they repeatedly kicked at the GN Barrier formed.
As Rudio observed, the Barrier weakened with each kick. He then tapped on his console, and Lelouch appeared on the other end.
"Lelouch, get out of the way quick! Your Barrier may be steady for now, but it's getting weaker with each physical attack," Rudio called out.
"Time for the finisher," Marlene thought.
Her Abulhool suddenly flew backwards to a certain distance and landed on its legs. Suddenly, the wheels under its rollers sped at the Plutone at high speed. At the tip, it was apparently spinning like a razor drill.
Suddenly, the Plutone lifted its GN Barrier and dodged the incoming attack on time. While the Abulhool sped past Plutone, it took the chance and fired at the tip of its wings.
"Yes, he just grounded the Abulhool. Now dealing with it may be easier," Rudio said, "but this is Marlene we're talking about…"
The Abulhool turned around and unleashed 4 wire hooks at the Plutone. Each of them had bounded all four of the Suit's limbs.
"Now I got you in place," Marlene said, pressing a button.
From the wire hooks, an electrical current was launched. It quickly went into the Mobile Suit and fried Lelouch in his seat.
"Ahhhh!!!" he cried.
"Now you're finished," Marlene said, charging in with the drill tip.
"No…I can't end this…not for Nunnally…not for my parents…" Lelouch thought.
He then looked at the screen, and saw the Abulhool coming straight towards it. He quickly took another glance at the Haro he named Hanayo…
"Hanayo, is there…a way out?" he asked.
Meanwhile, the Abulhool was only mere inches away from hitting into the Plutone. However, it suddenly went into a complete halt and the drill tip ended as well. Inside the Abulhool, Marlene tried to move her Mobile Suit to no avail.
"What the heck, this damned thing is all-shutdown!" she exclaimed.
"I heard from Jeremiah and Ian of the abilities surrounding Gundam Plutone alright, but the power to deactivate enemy units…" Rudio grasped.
"This…this system…it's called Trial System…" Lelouch muttered, before slipping into unconsciousness.
Medical Bay, Area 51, Disraeli Desert
In the Medical Bay of Area 51, Lelouch awakened in there. Next to him, there were Hanayo, Rudio, Marlene and a man dressed as a doctor.
"Joyce, he's awakened," Rudio called to the doctor.
The doctor then turned to face Lelouch.
"Hello there, my name is Joyce Monroe and Rudio has brought you here when you fainted," he said gently.
At this point, Jeremiah also came into the room themselves.
"Sir Lelouch, are you alright?" he asked, "Dr. Monroe, what is the status of the lad?"
"Pretty good, maybe just the shock," he reported, "I need him to rest for further observation, but that's all. I need to get some more supplies for this."
Jeremiah smiled, and he then left the room. Dr. Monroe also followed him out. Lelouch saw Jeremiah leaving, and then looked back at both Rudio and Marlene.
"That whole fight just now, it was a ruse," Lelouch suspected, "am I right?"
"How did you know?" Rudio wondered.
"If Marlene did cause trouble, the collar would explode and kill her," Lelouch said, "but yet it didn't. So this bout was all set up…"
"Yes, Veda has issued an order to test your skills first hand," Marlene admitted.
Within the hallways, Jeremiah walked around it. His mind was deep in thought of another thing. C2's form then appeared right in front of him, and Jeremiah jumped back at it.
"C2, you can seriously scare a guy like that!" Jeremiah exclaimed.
"And how was the boy, Lelouch?" the holographic image asked.
"He can pilot the Plutone well; he even defeated Marlene with the Trial System no less," Jeremiah said, "but if not for it, Lelouch would've been a goner."
"But this has come handy to know of," C2 said, "the boy needs to improve his fighting skills. The Plutone is a Mobile Suit based on the Trial System should the Gundmas fall into the wrong hands, and possessed state-of-the-art defence and regeneration capabilities."
"Even so I worry for Sir Lelouch's safety," Jeremiah said.
"Veda has chosen the boy for a reason and potential is within him," C2 said.
"Veda this, Veda that, it's always with that system!" snapped Jeremiah, "does a computer program even know anything about humans? What the heck, he's your…"
But then, C2 had already vanished from sight. Jeremiah clenched his fists, and banged against the wall.
"Damn it!" he cursed.
And then, his incom rang and he opened up a holo-screen with a man in all black down to his hair and clothes with sunglasses.
"Grave Violento, what is it now?" Jeremiah asked.
"I had heard that you have retrieved the son of Charles and Marianne and he is made Gundam Meister of the Plutone," Grave said, "but that is not the issue. I believe there is currently a vacant Gundam, yes?"
"And since you are supposed to be a Meister, you can take the job if you want to," Jeremiah said.
"No, I got a better one for the use of the Radion," Grave said, "but this guy will be a tough nut to crack."
"So you want me to crack him good enough," Jeremiah said.
"He's quite an outlaw actually, and I believe you had heard of the recent news in Italy of a theft in a military facility there," Grave said.
"He's a terrorist, eh?" Jeremiah said, "I will get Rudio and Marlene down there then."
"Takes one terrorist to know the other one…" Grave mused.