Celestial Being Chronicles - Chapter 110
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.
On the observation deck of the Purity, a young, slim, pinked haired woman was leaning against the wall, looking out at the stars lost in thought. Her pale face had an ice-cold look that was virtually unreadable as if she was asleep yet it was viciously deceptive. She was still there when an officer appeared but was he about to leave when she spoke in an almost inaudible voice. "What is it?"
The officer, clearly frightened, was quick to answer. "We're approaching the target." The woman took a deep breath.
"Thank you." She replied, and sent the officer on his way. She looked at the stars for a little while longer, thinking of past horrors and what was about to happen before she headed into the hallway.
On the mobile suit deck, technicians were busy readying their cargo for battle. Most of it was the standard compliment of MPF-01 Astray mobile suits but there were two new ones as well. One of the suits was an improved version of the Akatsuki Gundam, known as the ORB-02K Akatsuki Kai, which was virtually the same as the original except that it had a new deadlier version of the 57mm beam rifle as well as a nuclear reactor to give it infinite combat time. The other suit was known as the GAT-X340 Allegiance Gundam, a combined version of the GAT-X105 Aile Strike Gundam and the ZGMF-X09A Justice Gundam. It had the lower half of the Justice Gundam combined with a large torso and more square-like shoulders to accommodate the fixed weapons in them. It also had the Aile flight pack attached as part of the frame along with the two standard beam sabers. It was equipped with a new 62mm beam rifle. Both suits were made from similar designs to minimize building and repair costs.
In the Allegiance Gundam's cockpit, Athrun Zala was finishing up his final checks when Cagalli Yula Athha contacted him from Akatsuki. "Are you sure you're ready for this?"
Athrun smiled as he replied. "Yeah." Both he and Cagalli activated a communications link with the special forces group also preparing as well, "Is everything ready over there?"
It was the pink-haired woman who answered in a cold voice. "We're just about to head out, just make sure to provide the cover for us, alright?"
Athrun and Cagalli nearly flinched and after a moment of silence, Athrun sighed. "Even after all of this time, I could never feel comfortable with her using that voice."
Cagalli could only nod at Athrun's truthful statement. Then the announcement came from the captain. "All forces prepare for battle."
The Astray suits launched first and joined up with suits from the other ships as they waited for the Allegiance Gudnam, Akatsuki Kai and the smaller ships carrying the special operations force to be launched. Once everyone was out, the attack force headed straight for their target, the asteroid fortress Yakin Canthrol.
The Yakin Cainthrol base was recently established as a testing lab for ZAFT's new technologies. It was heavily guarded with numerous beam gun emplacements and several hangers that could store large number of mobile suits as well as large battleships. A huge research facility was spread out through several levels.
In a huge level overlooking a large mobile suit testing deck, two men were looking over the two experimental mobile suits that were there. Then they turned to each other and started up a conversation. "Sir, it is an honor for you to grace us with your presence."
The young man with brown hair and large black glasses turned and said. "Since this is a project of mine, I feel that I must be present."
After a few seconds, his colleague spoke. "But you didn't need that much security."
The young brown-haired man replied harshly. "In times like this, you couldn't be too careful." Before the other scientist could say anything more, the young brown-haired man turned and headed down to the pilot room since he was a test pilot for one of the two new suits that he had helped personally developed.
Both mobile suits were prototypes based on one of the old ZAFT regime's most famous designs, the ZGMF-X10A Freedom Gundam. However, it was a more angular version with the basis more towards close combat at fast maneuverable speeds. They were also painted a deathly black with barely noticeable shades of brighter colors.
Outside, one of the large angular ZAFT cruisers orbiting the base, three pilots were eating together and discussing about the boredom of life. They were three elite mobile suit pilots that always worked together on the many raiding missions. Those battles had strengthened their friendship to a point where they could talk very frankly and agree on many things. One of those things that they could agree on was the fact that they hated being posted on guard duty at a secure location to a person who they felt had stolen power from them. However, they would all get some action very soon.
Back out in space, the strike force had split up with three Astrays accompanying the special operations force while the rest continued on their attack approach to the base. The Allegiance Gundam and the Akatsuki Kai flew side by side while their pilots prepared for battle.
As Athrun looked at what they would be going up against, he turned to the Akatsuki Kai and asked. "You sure you're ready for this, Cagalli?"
Cagalli, who had just attached an extra barrel to her gun, which turned it into a sniper rifle, was quick to answer. "Don't worry, I can handle myself, just get me a good target to shoot." Athrun knew that this was her usual battle preparation and prepared for action by activating his targeting systems.
In the base's outer perimeter, a radar station was the first to pick up the approaching enemy. Yet it would be the first target as a red beam from the Akatsuki Kai sliced through the installation, its explosion signaling the start of the battle. Shocked soldiers had little time to react before more beam shots as well as missile salvos claimed the first of what would be one the most horrific wars in history. Some would even say that it rivaled the great wars of the 20th century.
Though the infiltration force did run into some resistance, it was minimal since most of the resistance was drawn away to face the two Gundams and their support forces. That suited the pink haired girl as she and the other soldiers infiltrated began the infiltration of the research facility. The three Astray suits that accompanied them flew back up to provide cover since it would take some time for them to secure the target and every minute was desperately needed.
Back at the main battle, the Astrays and the two Gundams were encountering increasing resistance as they pushed in further into the facility. Though they were holding their own, the Orb mobile suit seemed to be swarmed by increasing numbers of enemy ships and mobile suit units.
Both Cagalli and Athrun were blasting away and covering each other. Anyone who dared to try and get in between them didn't live for more than a few seconds. They both had beam sabers drawn as well, so as to slice anyone who got past their beam rifles.
A squadron of GuAIZ mobile suits came in with their beam rifles blazing, followed by a large cruiser. The two Celestial Being mobile suits were forced to break and the GuAIZ came in with beam claws alight. Fortunately though, the GuAIZ pilots were no match as Cagalli took them down with pinpoint shots while Athrun switched to beam sabers, which he combined together before heading back into the fray, destroying them with blindingly quick slashes.
As she took out another GuAIZ mobile suit, Cagalli listened in as she heard of the strike force's progress, She radioed Athrun. "They've made it inside."
Athrun, whom had just finished off another GuAIZ, replied. "Now, here comes the hard part." As they fought back to back. Cagalli knew why he said that since every minute longer that the infiltration force took to accomplish its mission meant that more trouble would be heading their way.
In the research facility, there was a fearsome firefight as people were getting killed left and right. Though they had achieve surprise, the infiltration force was dealing with hardening resistance as more ZAFT troops arrived. The strike force had already lost nearly a third of it men and had to hurry since its progress would determine the mission's success.
As soon as he heard the explosions outside, the young brown-haired man got into his pilot suit and immediatly headed back down to mobile suit deck with his gun drawn. Unfortunately though, when he arrived, the area was a mess and parts of the deck were in flames and gunfire was still zinging about in all directions. A close shot brought him back to reality and with uncanny precision; he brought down his attacker with a shot to the head. He then started returning fire at the infiltration force, taking out several men in the process, especially concentrating on those who were close to grabbing the two Gundams.
After seeing two more of her men fall to the ZAFT fire, the strike leader yelled out her orders. "Give us some cover fire, we're going to get the mobile suits and get out of here." She and two of her comrades sneaked in as close as they could while the rest increased their rate of fire forcing even the brown-haired man down. However, the young brown-haired pilot immediately saw what was happening and as the small group went for the two suits he immediately jumped down onboard one of the Gundams while taking out both the two soldiers but missing the strike leader who returned fire at her assailant. They both landed on one of the suits and ran for the cockpit hatch while firing at each other. Soon they had their guns pointed right at each other's face when an explosion pushed them so close that they could see each other's face clearly.
Both of them hesitated before another explosion occurred that shook them back to reality. With the facility nearly engulfed in flames and the strike force preparing to head out, the girl immediately jumped into the cockpit of the Gundam, even as the young man fired at her. As soon as she was in, she immediately activated the machine's systems and read the name of the mobile suit; ZGMF-X14A Chimera Gundam. She took a deep breath after reading the schematics. "So, this is the demonic version of the Freedom Gundam, which means that he was the pilot I saw."
Back outside, the brown-haired pilot made a run for the other ZGMF-X14A Chimera Gundam and as he jumped in and activated his systems, he thought. 'So, it was her wasn't it? And if she's here, then the others are surely nearby.' His hands and face tightened in anger as he spoke aloud to himself. "I'll make sure to send them all on a one way trip to the worse kind of hell possible." On one of the Chimera Gundam's view screens, he saw the other Chimera Gundam prepare to rise and he turned to prepare for battle.
Onboard one of the cruisers, the commanding officer was wincing as another report came in of more losses. "Aren't they ready to launch yet?" He angrily turned and asked.
"They're just about to head out." The mobile suit flight deck officer replied.
"They're moving too slow." The captain yelled harshly.
In fact, one of the three special suits was already on the launch ramp. It, along with its two brethren, were similar to the old GAT-X102 Duel Gundam as well as ZAFT's ZGMF-600 GuAIZ mobile suits, although they did have some differences. Each of the three had been designed for specific mission requirements, their head was designed with two sets of V-shaped antennas. Furthermore, their face was covered in black and had a pair of red mono-eyes. Their names also implied their different mission specifications. The first one called; Death, was designed to deliver it very, very quickly with devastating effect, while the other two called; Famine, and Pestilence, both delivered death upon their opponents at both high speed and in close combat, respectively.
As soon as the ZGMF-X12A War Gundam was cleared to launch, it sped out with a horrendous roar like that of a demon. The other two soon followed and headed out to hand out a swift death to anyone who dared challenged them.
Both the Allegiance Gundam and the Akatsuki Kai were engaged in saber duels with GuAIZ mobile suits, which they dispatched easily. A few seconds later, they received word that the mission had been accomplished. "All units, fall back." Athrun called out.
Most of the remaining Astrays were heading back and while Athrun and Cagalli waited for any sign of their prize when an unidentified object came on their radar. They turned to see a horrific sight; the image of a dark, almost evil version of the Freedom Gundam in front of them. As soon as it approached, Athrun immediately hailed the pilot of the suit. "Who's in there?"
"It's me, Lacus, the other suit is already activated." The pink-haired beauty replied.
Athrun was about to ask, but Cagalli beat him to the punch. "Is that what I think it is?"
Lacus nodded as she answered. "It is, and guess who is the other pilot is." Before they could continue, the other Chimera Gundam appeared, its pilot already announcing his presence silently, yet angrily. "I thought that I would find all of you here, my old friends."
Athrun immediately activated his communications screen and got the shock of his life. In the seat of the other Chimera Gundam, despite the fact that he looked a lot older and parts of his skin were pale and broken; it was none other than his former childhood friend; Kira Yamato, or more accurately, Kira's younger-self. "It's been a long time hasn't it, Kira."
"Well, it hasn't been long enough for my taste." The brown-haired pilot replied, before pulling up his beam rifle and firing at all three of his former comrades. All three barely dodged as the Chimera Gundam activated its wings and charged while simultaniously activating the beam saber in its left wrist and raining down beam machine gun fire on his foes.
Only a few seconds had passed, but already both the Akatsuki and Allegiance were starting to feel the combined damage caused by the electro-magnetic pulse generators mounted on the Chimera Gundam's wings, as well as its new beam machine guns, which tore large holes into their armor. Fortunately though, they also had the other Chimera Gundam, which immediately activated its weapons and met Kira head on, their beam sabers clashing together.
Lacus pulled out her beam rifle and started firing heavy doses of beam energy at her target, but it just pulled out another beam saber and cut the blasts in half before charging towards her. Even though the beam rifle fire didn't do much to damage her opponent, it did put some distance between them. Unfortunately, Kira soon figured out what she was doing and returned fire with his beam rifle and beam machine guns. She barely had time to dodge before Kira flew up close and threw his beam saber down upon her. The combined impact sent out sparks in all directions and the force of the blow was enough to send them reeling away from each other, before they reoriented their machines and went back to circling each other.
"I'm surprised that you, of all people, would embrace this lifestyle." Kira smirked.
"Ten years of the recent events can really do that to a person." Lacus retorted.
"Well, you made a mistake. Let that be your last thought before I send you to hell." Kira laughed as he charged in again for another beam saber strike. Lacus immediately blocked and countered with her own attack, which was blocked by Kira. She then turned around and headed towards her comrades while firing her beam rifle to force the attackers away from them. Kira immediately headed off in pursuit, but several lucky hits from the beam machine guns on Lacus's Chimera Gundam forced him to find cover.
Both the Akatsuki Kai and Allegiance Gundam had been brutally battered by the sheer power of the ZGMF-X12A Gundams. While the Death Gundam stood off and fired round after round, the other two engaged in close combat with the severely damaged ORB-02 and GAT-340 machines. It was due to the testament of the skills of both pilots that they managed to hang on until Lacus arrived.
"What's your status." Lacus asked.
"I'm all right and Cagalli is too, but we can barely move." Athrun answered.
Lacus turned and saw that Athrun wasn't kidding. Both the Akatsuki and Alliegence Gundams had been severely damaged, especially the thrusters. It was very unlikely that they would be able to get anywhere near their top speed.
"Grab on, we're getting out of here at full throttle." Lacus said as she thrust out both of her suit's arms. The other two immediately did as told, and Lacus opened her Gundam's wings, pushed the thrusters to full power and in the blink of an eye, the three mobile suits were retreating at high speed.
The attackers were about to pursue, but were cut off by an order from a very angry Kira Yamato. "Halt pursuit, regroup and wait for instructions. Tell headquarters what happened and ask if we have any orders." The officer quickly moved to carry the orders as Kira once again turned to face the fleeing machines. "You won't get far, and soon you will all have a one way trip to the underworld."
The fleet had recovered its attack force and was immediately headed back to the Excalibur at full power. On the Purity, mobile suit technicians were busy dissecting the ZGMF-X14A Chimera Gundam while repairs were being made to the Allegiance and Akatsuki Kai. The post-battle report had already been sent to the Excalibur, and it had sent off waves of confusion and panic that had resulted in the entire fleet being called back.
In one of the briefing rooms, Lacus, Cagalli, and Athrun were having a discussion about the events which they had just witnessed. A person dear to them was truly alive, but he was now an enemy, and he had already put a death mark on them all. Cagalli was stunned and somewhat horrified at what her brother went through, while Athrun was completely stunned by the fact that he would most certainly be fighting Kira again, even if it was a alternate reality version of his long time friend. Lacus had an angry scowl on her face. Even though it was an alternate reality version of the man she loved, he had still joined with the extremist factions of ZAFT, which were now in power.
"Have you alerted command of what we found?" Lacus asked, causing both Athrun and Cagalli to nod, even though they showed a great amount of fear at the rage eminating from her. They both knew why she asked and they had a bad feeling of what would happen. Despite the years that have gone by, it still came as a shock to them both at how drastically things could change between people who were once very close.
Ever since that horrific day, ten years ago, Kira Yamato could never get a good night's sleep, for he was always haunted by nightmares of his friends getting killed and of the last battle, where he had seen Flay Allster for one moment, before she was then killed right before his eyes. His mind had been shattered, and he would have most certainly been killed by Rau Le Creuset was it not for Flay's spirit entering his body and driving him in a blind rage of bloodlust that had finally stopped Rau, but at the cost of Kira's own soul.
He was screaming into thin air as Flay's ghost demanded that he deliver a brutal death onto his enemies when the alarm woke him up.
"Damn it, won't that ever end?" Kira asked himself, wiping the sweat from his brow before then putting on his uniform and running to the ready room. By the time he arrived, he had managed to compose himself to the point where no one would notice the torment that he had just gone through.
Even without the warning from headquarters, many commanders on Earth were smart enough not to depend on the space fleet. They knew that they would soon be caught up in the fighting, especially when they saw the scores of shooting stars in the sky. Many had already made preparations, although they all knew that it was useless, for rumors had been spreading about the capabilities of the ZAFT armies, especially the new Gundams, the worst one of all being the dreaded ZGMF-X14A Chimera Gundam. Still, the commanders of the target zones swore that they would indeed fight for every inch of ground.
That was never more evident than on the mind of Ethian Décor, a Frenchman who was currently in charge of the European sector. His force was possibly the strongest on Earth, and was concentrated in the city areas and even though they were outnumbered, the fact that they were Europeans meant that the experience of many years of war had been driven into their very being. All across the continent were those unnamed souls fighting in the same fields of battle that their ancestors fought. Normandy, the Ardennes, Marne, Waterloo and many others would now be joined with the blood that would spill in the ground and in the skies above them.
Already, scores of fighters, ranging from the newest jets to old biplanes and monoplanes, were already in the area and preparing to intercept the ZAFT transports. The fighters were supported by countless numbers of missile launchers and self-propelled anti-aircraft weapons. Even though this may seem like a motley collection with which to face well-armed and well-trained assault troops, it was thought that having more firepower thrown in would help decide the fate of the battle.
As soon as the troopships reached a certain altitude, they started disgorging troops, with the atmospheric DINNS leading the attack followed by GINNS and then the new ZAKU and GOUF suits, their pilots seeing battle for the first time. In the lead though, was none other that the ZGMF-X14 Chimera Gundam, piloted by none other than Kira Yamato, his desire for blood at an all time high. The image of the Chimera Gundam, with its wings spread-out and brightly glowing, sent a horrifying chill through even the most hardened soldier, and everyone wondered whether the pilot in that mobile suit was truly human or a monster. The sight would forever give Kira Yamato's past-self the nickname of; Black Angel.
Suddenly, a single green energy blast sliced down through the sky, the searing bolt skewering the Chimera Gundam's beam rifle and forcing the pilot to abandon the weapon. An instant later, 36 pure white DRAGOON units swooped in and opened fire. Kira's eyes widened slightly as 18 of the DRAGOON units focused on the discarded rifle, blowing it to pieces, while the other 18 weapons blazed with a blood red light and opened fire on the Chimera Gundam itself, forcing it to take cover behind its physical shield.
"Looks like someone wants to get killed." Kira snarled from the cockpit of the Chimera Gundam, as the DRAGOON units stopped firing and vanished into thin air. The remote weapons didn't stay hidden for very long however, as the angelic form of the CB-X60D Divinity Gundam suddenly faded into existence, the 36 DRAGOON units now forming the wings on the angelic machine's back.
"So, why are you here?" Kira's younger-self asked, teasing his older-self. "Are you sacred?"
Kira didn't say anything to his younger-self. All he did, was turn the Divinity slightly to face the Chimera Gundam. The brightly glowing eyes of the two machines met, one deep amethyst, the other blood red. His eyes burned with the flames of the background, showing his ignited spirit to fight his younger-self.
The Chimera flew towards the Divinity at high speed, drawing its beam sabers and attempted to slice the angelic mobile suit in half at the waist. The Chimera missed its target as the Divinity jumped over the charge and grabbed two of the Chimera's spare beam sabers. On the communications screen, Kira's younger-self saw that his older-self now had a huge grin plastered on his face.
"You cocky bastard!" Kira's younger-self roared.
The Divinity then boosted towards the Chimera, jumped over the machine and, in the blink of an eye, severed all of its limbs and beheaded it, before finally kicking the remains of the machine towards the ground below. Kira had disabled his younger-self so easily that it wasn't even funny. Yet, he did so with his enemy's own weapon, taking away his pride as it would be almost effortless for Kira to kill his younger-self.
"That wasn't even a fight." Kira calmly said to his younger-self through the communications line. "And if you still don't know my name, I'm known as Jesus Yamato." With that, the Divinity picked up the limbless, headless torso of the Chimera Gundam and flew away.