Celestial Being Chronicles - Chapter 8
Disclaimer: I don't own any of the Gundam series, nor any of the various series which are used or referenced in my fic, so please point that damned lawsuit cannon at someone else, also, don't read this if you are not of legal age to read such material. The story contains possibly disturbing content and should not be read by close-minded people (i.e., people who are easily offended.) Everything in the story is fictional. I am also not responsible for any actions taken by people who read this story and society's problems. I do, however, own my original character; Hope Yamato.
Misato Katsuragi's eyes shot open in surprise as the golden form of the Akatsuki Gundam unexpectedly landed in the middle of the freeway in front of her, and in response, she slammed on the brakes of her blue Renault Alpine A310. The vehicle quickly screeched to a halt, stopping only a few feet from the foot of the shimmering golden Gundam.
"What the hell, Misato?" Asuka Langley Soryu yelled from the passenger's seat, as her seatbelt saved her from being thrown through the windshield, but also pressed painfully into her abdomen.
Misato didn't answer the red-headed Evangelion pilot, instead she slowly and cautously unfastened her seatbelt and stepped out of the vehicle, watching in shock as the cockpit hatch of the golden machine opened and a person, clad in a pink-and-white flight suit, descended on the zip line.
"What do you people want from us?" Misato growled, raising her pistol and pointing it at the figure.
"That is very simple, Misato Katsuragi." The figure, who was none other than the former leader of the Orb Union, Cagalli Yula Athha, answered. "As you saw in the last battle, our technology is vastly superior to your own. I am here to offer you a choice, a chance for salvation."
By this time, Asuka had climbed out of the car. Without saying anything, the firey red-head walked up to Cagalli, raised her fist and let the punch fly, but to her surprise, all she hit was air. A fraction of a second later, Asuka felt her arm being twisted behind her back, just short of the breaking point.
"H-how in the hell?" Asuka asked in confusion. To her eyes, it appeared as though her hit had connected.
"Not only is our technology vastly superior to yours, but we are also vastly superior to you." Cagalli calmly replied. "Now, I suggest that the two of you listen to what I am about to say, it may just save your lives."
"Are you sure about this, Misato?" Asuka asked nearly an hour later, as she quickly donned her crimson colored plug suit.
"I'd rather be labeled as a traitor than be killed in Third Impact, Asuka." Misato replied as she stood across the locker room, donning a silver plug suit. Once the two women were ready, they sprinted to the open entry pulgs of Evangelion Unit 02 and Evangelion Unit 04.
While Asuka climbed into her own crimson-colored Evangelion Unit 02, Misato climbed into the silver-colored Evangelion Unit 04, and after a few short moments, both of the Evangelion Units came to life.
"Whoa, what the hell are these?" Asuka asked, more to herself then to Misato, as she noticed that there were a few new weapons and defenses at her disposal. "Beam shields, Mirror Coated Phase Shift armor, beam sabers, beam rifles, beam machine guns?"
"Who cares, Asuka?" Misato replied, as countless alarms began to sound throughout the base. "Let's get out of here!"
"Why are you two doing this!" Shinji Ikari asked five minutes later from within the entry plug of Evangelion Unit 01 as he stared at the forms of Evangelion Units 02 and 04.
"We are doing this because we would rather be labeled at traitors than be killed in Third Impact!" Asuka yelled as she opened fire with her shoulder-mounted beam machine guns, obliterating a group of tanks which had been relentlessly pounding her with shells.
"Attention; Misato Katsuragi, Asuka Langley Soryu." The voice of Cagalli Yula Athha boomed from the speakers in Evangelion Units 02 and 04. "One of our Minerva-class battleships, the Gladys, is currently descending towards your location. I am fully aware that the Evangelion Units do not posess the ability of flight, however, I do know that they can jump incredible distances. When you see the Gladys, please try to jump towards the open hanger bays near the bow of the ship."
Misato's eyes widened as the black-and-yellow form of the Minerva-class battleship Gladys appeared about a quarter mile away and at a height of nearly 100 meters above the ground. Without any hesitation, the two Evangelion Units ran towards the ship and jumped.
A few nerve-wracking seconds later, Evangelion Unit 02 crash landed in the starboard side hanger bay, while Evangelion Unit 04 crash landed in the port side hanger bay, and as the two Evas were quickly secured, the Gladys once again vanished underneath the veil of its Phase Cloak, before igniting its thrusters and climbng back towards the Excalibur, which was hovering within the upper stratosphere.
A few days had passed since Misato Katsuragi and Asuka Langley Soryu had defected, stealing Evangelion Unit 02 and Evangelion Unit 04 in the process. Now, everyone in the Nerv command center watched in shock and awe as the Excalibur suddenly lifted up its nose and turned to the left, the massive dagger-shaped ship rolling onto its back before it intentionally stalled out. The Excalibur's nose dipped sharply down, the bow of the massive vessel effortlessly plowing through the pursuing fighter aircraft as its nose pointed towards the ground, more than five miles below.
As the explosions from the enemy aircraft slowly faded, countless numbers of searing green beam blasts erupted from the Excalibur's high-energy beam cannons. Less than a quarter of a second had passed before one and a half million beam blasts smashed into the ground below, vaporizing countless buildings and liquifying sixteen layers of armor with only a single hellish volley.
As the massive ship screamed towards the ground, still spewing millions of beam blasts, Kira forced a communications line open on all frequencies.
"Why did it turn out like this?" Kira rethorically asked. "Even if we think about it, we already know it is meaningless, yet my heart is wandering in search for an answer as to why this pointless war has continued." The amethyst-eyed man sighed softly before continuing. "We experienced a devastating war not too long ago, and we swore at that time that we would never repeat such catastrophes again. And yet, our efforts were in vain, and hostilities have opened up once again. This war has spread without any protest, and we have gained the same sadness and pain once again." He paused for a moment as the Excalibur continued to belch forth a relentless barrage of beam blasts.
"Honestly, what is the meaning of this foolish and tragic repetition of war?" Kira asked, as the Excalibur punched through the roof of the Geofront. Everyone in the Nerv command center stared at the ship as it then proceeded to defy any kind of known physics, coming to an instantanous stop while rotating so that it was once more level with the ground.
As soon as the Excalibur was once more level with the ground, the angelic form of the Divinity Gundam streaked from the ship's centerline catapult.
Kira smirked within the cockpit as he gave one simple order. "Release the banshees."
A few seconds later, thousands of ear-peircing shrieks were heard as a massive swarn of banshees hurtled out of the Excalibur's launch bays.
If the creatures weren't so deadly, one might consider them to be beautiful. The banshees were shaped like manta rays, swooping through the sky on translucent wing membranes as their glassy fangs unfolded from their mouths like cat-claws. The banshees varied greatly in size, the smallest had less than a three meter wingspan, while the largest had a wingspan of nearly nine meters.
As the banshees began to omniously circle above the Nerv command center, the Epyon, Wing Gundam Zero, Strike Freedom, Justice, Infinite Justice, Akatsuki, Cherudim, Arios, Seravee, Exia, 0-Gundam, 00-Raiser, GN Archer, a pair of Destiny Gundams, and finally the 000 Gundam; a total of fifteen mobile suits in all, launched from the Excalibur's massive main hanger.
Kira smirked as he transformed the Divinity Gundam into its flight mode, the banshees quickly falling into formation behind him. Ten banshees to a group, the creatures quickly formed into countless numbers of delta patterns, like huge flocks of migrating geese. The Divinity Gundam, followed closely by the hordes of banshees, dove together toward the pyramid-shaped command center far below.
As the swarn of banshees, led by the Divinity Gundam, dove towards the pyramid-shaped command center, thousands of aircraft launched from the Excalibur's dozens of hanger bays.
Among the aircraft now pouring from the Excalibur's launch bays were; Tornado 4s, F-14D Super Tomcats, F-15E Strike Eagles, F/A-18E Super Hornets, F-117A Nighthawks, F-22A Raptors, Su-47 Berkuts, B-52 Stratofortresses, B-2 Spirits, XB-70 Valkyries and FB-22 Strike Raptors.
"We are so fucked." Ritsuko Akagi muttered to herself as the Divinity Gundam's plasma cannons emerged from its wings and opened fire, blowing a massive hole in the side of the pyramid-shaped building and allowing the shrieking hordes of banshees to enter the command center itself.
A few short seconds later, all hell had broken loose. Within the main command center, Maya Ibuki screamed in horror as a blue-and-green banshee suddenly swooped down on her. Maya was somehow able to duck in time to avoid the strike, but Shigeru Aoba wasn't as quick as Maya. There was a deafening shriek as the banshee sunk its claws deep into the man's chest and bit down with a sickening crunch, slicing his body in half at the waist and spilling a massive pool of blood onto the floor.
While the banshees dealt with the human element within the Nerv command center, the Divinity Gundam had undergone quantamizatiuon and had now reappeared within the Evangelion storage cages.
"Divinity has located the targets." Kira said from the Divinity Gundam's cockpit. "Have concluded that the staff of Nerv and the Evangelion Units in their posession are guilty of promoting conflict. Commencing armed intervention. Divinity will eliminate the targets."
Meanwhile, back in the Excalibur's primary hanger bay, Lacus Clyne climbed into the cockpit of the newly completed ZGMF-X14A Chimera Gundam. She immediately activated the mobile suit's systems and read the name of the mobile suit.
"ZGMF-X14A Chimera Gundam, so this is the demonic version of the legendary Freedom Gundam. Why in the world did Kira even approve the consturction of this machine?" Lacus asked herself, as she took a deep breath after reading the schematics.
The ZGMF-X14A Chimera Gundam was indeed a rebuild of the legendary ZAFT-built ZGMF-X10A Freedom Gundam, although, unlike the original Freedom, which had been colored; white with a black chest, blue wings and yellow eyes, the Chimera was colored; grey with a black chest, blood red wings and crimson eyes.
Lacus sighed softly as she brought the machine to life. As the monitors activated, Lacus noticed that the ZGMF-X56S Impulse Gundam had been activated, she also noticed that the Impulse had been equipped with it's Destiny Silhouette, and was moving towards the launch catapult.
"Who's in there?" Lacus asked as she raised the Chimera's beam rifle and pointed it at the Impulse.
"It's just me, Lacus." The voice of Mayu Asuka quickly replied from the Impulse as her face appeared on one of Lacus's sub screens.
Lacus smply nodded as she lowered the rifle and moved the Chimera to stand beside the Impulse on the catapult. Three short seconds later, the two machines streaked out of the Excalibur's hanger bay.