Hey guys, sorry for the long wait, but here it is! The first chapter of Mobile Suit Gundam 00: Super Soldiers & Innovators that takes place in the Season 2 arc. Enjoy!
AN: This is an edited chapter 2, as I've changed Sterling's mobile suit in this story and I've re-written some bits. Hope you enjoy. I'll also be doing a Fanon Gundam Wiki page for Sterling's mobile suit, and I'll let you guys know when that's up, in case you are curious about the details. Basically, it's a GN Drive Tau-powered 0 Gundam.
Episodes Covered: S2 Episodes 01-02.
"Hi there." – Normal Speech.
"Hi there." – Thoughts/Communications.
"Hi there." – Haro unit/s speaking.
Chapter 3: The Angel's Second Advent.
"It's confirmed. It looks like the Federation's new space cruiser is making its way to Lagrange 4." Mileina told Tieria, who had already arrived in one of the Ptolemaios II's hangar decks.
"It's just like Wang Liu Mei reported. Maybe this-" Ian said, moving behind his daughter.
"I'm taking Seravee out." Tieria replied, cutting Ian off. As soon as they had received the information regarding this latest development, the crew had decided to head towards Lagrange 4 as well. The reason for it was simple; they had never found any trace of the Exia, which meant that either it had been completely destroyed, or that Setsuna had somehow survived. And knowing Setsuna, he would almost certainly show up at Lagrange 4 as well. Tieria was just about to head down to his new mobile suit, GN-008 Seravee, when both he and Mileina received a message.
"Tieria, don't bother. I'm already on my way to Lagrange 4 right now." Sterling told them, surprising Tieria and the two Vashtis. They knew that Sterling had gone taken the 0 Gundam to one of Celestial Being's other asteroid bases for a complete overhaul, and more importantly, to work out a new powerplant for the suit. The 0 Gundam's GN Drive had been removed for use in the new 00 Gundam, but the CB engineers had managed to reverse engineer and build a modified GN Drive Tau for the suit. The new drive was still less powerful than the true GN Drives, but more powerful than the Federation's drives, as well as having a longer operation time
"Very well, I'll let you and 0 Gundam handle it then." Tieria replied. "I assume everything went well."
"Oh, don't worry about that." Sterling answered.
"Alright, I'll go let Linda know then." Ian said, heading out of the cockpit, disappearing from behind Mileina.
"Roger that, Mr Aarden, good luck." She told him. Sterling nodded, smiling, and then closed the link.
"Your time in this world...has already ended!" Barack Zinin roared, as he sliced of both of Exia's arms, leaving the Gundam open and defenceless. Setsuna tried to back away, then suddenly spotted the second A-LAWS mobile suit, a GN-XIII, charging his left flank, spear already drawn.
"I've got you now, Gundam!" Lt Agraga yelled, as he prepared to end both Exia and Setsuna in one blow. Suddenly a large orange particle beam blasted between the two mobile suits, destroying the GN-XIII's spear. "What the…?" Agraga gasped, turning in the direction the beam had come from. To his and Zinin's shock, they saw a mobile heading towards them at speed, its thrusters and the cone on its back streaming red/orange GN particles. The suit's limbs were all white, save for its feet, both of which were red. The torso and chest were a mixture of blue, yellow, white and red, while a red-trimmed white shield was attached to the suit's left arm. What looked like a large beam cannon was mounted behind the suit's right shoulder. Meanwhile, inside Exia, Setsuna was also shocked by the appearance of the new suit.
"That looks like...0 Gundam. But those GN particles…" he thought, as the suit raised and fired the rifle it carried in its right hand. Zinin and Agraga dodged the shots, with Zinin returning fire. The suit effortlessly avoided the orange particle beams, as Agraga drew his GN-XIII's beam saber, attacking the new suit from behind.
"I've gotcha!" he shouted, as he slashed at the suit's back. The suit suddenly spun around, blocking the saber with its shield. Before Agraga could react, the suit replaced its rifle on its right thigh and drew a single beam saber. Agraga barely had time to process what was transpiring in front of him, before the suit's beam saber cut his GN-XIII from shoulder to hip, before swiftly backing away, as the GN-XIII exploded, taking Agraga with it. The suit turned to face Zinin, its saber still ignited. Zinin chose not to engage, deeming it too risky to engage an enemy he knew nothing about, especially with Warrant Officer Halevy not responding. The suit watched silently as Zinin retrieved the Warrant Officer and her suit, before leaving the combat area. With the threat of the A-LAWS now removed, the suit moved closer to what was left of the Exia, allowing Setsuna to see it properly. Setsuna was surprised to discover that, despite some obvious changes, the suit in front of him was the (for lack of a better word) antiquated 0 Gundam.
"We kind of figured you'd be tracking the A-LAWS' activities. Long time no see, Setsuna F Seiei." Sterling greeted.
"Sterling...Aarden." Setsuna replied, still only half-believing what his senses were telling him.
"It's been just over four years, you've certainly changed, Setsuna." Sterling observed, a slight smile on his face. After the fight, Sterling used his suit to move the badly damaged Exia into one of the hangars on the side of the colony to wait for the Ptolemaios II to arrive and pick them up. The 0 Gundam stood behind Sterling with its back to the hangar doors, while Exia lay on its side behind Setsuna.
"On the other hand, you don't seem to have changed very much, if at all." Setsuna replied. It was true; apart from the fact that Sterling had grown taller (Setsuna guessed he was probably taller than himself) and his face was clearly more mature, the super soldier still looked pretty much the same as he had four years ago.
"You're not the first person to say that; everyone's been telling me the same thing for four years. I've gotten used to it by now." Sterling replied. "In any case, we should probably..."
"Setsuna F Seiei!" someone shouted angrily. Sterling turned to his right, to see a boy with dark brown hair and wearing a worker space suit approaching them.
"Who's this guy? Does he know Setsuna somehow?" Sterling wondered.
"Have you always been the pilot of that Gundam?" the boy demanded, clearly referring to the ruined Exia.
"Saji Crossroad." Setsuna replied calmly, unfazed by the boy's evident anger.
"Well, that answers that question." Sterling thought, remaining silent for the time being.
"Answer me!" Saji shouted.
"Whoa, what did Setsuna to piss him off this much?" Sterling wondered, surprised by the outburst.
"Yes." Setsuna finally replied.
"That means...you were involved five years ago." Saji said.
"Yes, I was." Setsuna replied, his expression still unchanged.
"Do you know what you've done? Because of what you were doing a lot of people died who didn't have to! And you're the ones responsible!" Saji shouted, but Setsuna stayed silent. "Because of you guys...the person I loved...was injured...and her family and relatives were killed. And then all I had left was my sister, but she crossed paths with Celestial Being, and she was killed too!" he said, as he started to cry.
"I can't say I blame this guy for being angry about what's happened to him, but Setsuna didn't do any of it." Sterling thought.
"I lost Louise...and my sister...they're both gone now!" Saji shouted, glaring at Setsuna still. "Say something!" he roared, but still Setsuna refused to respond. Then Saji charged Setsuna, grabbing the meister's handgun from its holster. Saji backed up, aiming the gun at Setsuna. "Say something!" he repeated.
"This is starting to get out of hand, time for me to step in." Sterling decided. He quickly moved between Saji and Setsuna, shielding his comrade while drawing own gun, training it on Saji.
"Who the hell are you?! Get out of my way!" Saji demanded.
"My name is Sterling Aarden. Super Soldier of the former Human Reform League, and Gundam Meister of Celestial Being." Sterling replied. Saji paled slightly at the words 'super soldier', but the gun stayed pointing towards Sterling. "I'm only going to say this once, so listen closely. You've lost a lot of people close to you, and I understand what you must be feeling right now. But trust me; what you're doing right now won't bring them back or make you feel better. So please, just put the gun down." The gun pointing at the meister began to shake, before Saji fell to his knees crying, the gun clattering to the floor. Sterling sighed with relief, putting his own gun away. Setsuna moved forward cautiously, retrieving his gun before leaving Saji alone.
"So, what now?" he asked.
"Hopefully, the Ptolemaios should be able to pick us up, once I let them know where we are." Sterling replied, activating his comlink. "Ptolemaios, this is Sterling. I've found Setsuna and the Exia. Roger that, co-ordinates to follow..."
Saji didn't bother to look up as the door to the room he was in opened. Shortly after boarding Celestial Being's spaceship, he had been shown into a confinement room and left alone. In truth, Saji was glad for his current accommodations; they offered few distractions, allowing him to think about what had just happened, how because of the Gundams his life had been turned completely on its head.
"Hi, we've brought you something to eat! I'll just leave it right here, so help yourself. And we'll be leaving Red Haro here to keep you company." Mileina said cheerfully. She placed the tray of food next to the door, as Red Haro floated into the room. Sterling stood beside her, keeping an eye on proceedings. Given Saji's actions back on Proud, he wanted to be sure their guest didn't try anything with Mileina.
"Pleased to meet you! Pleased to meet you!" Red Haro chirped happily, as it floated around the small room, its tiny wings flapping all the while.
"If you need anything from me or the others, just tell it to Red Haro. You'll also be able to access our database." Mileina continued.
"How much longer are you gonna keep me here?" Saji asked, his gaze not shifting from the wall next to him.
"We know the A-LAWS are still looking for you." Sterling replied.
"Look, I'm not a member of Katharon!" Saji shouted angrily, glaring at Mileina and Sterling.
"I believe you. But either way this is the safest place for you to be." Sterling replied, unfazed by Saji's outburst. Sterling had grown used to people yelling at him. All of the years he spent as a test subject within the Human Reform League's Superhuman Research Institute had steeled him to the point where it was difficult to get any kind of rise out of him, a fact he was secretly glad for.
"So, what happens now? Are you guys going to start performing those armed interventions again?" Saji asked.
"Not this time. We're going to take on the A-LAWS." Sterling replied, noticing Saji obvious unfamiliarity with the term. "It's an autonomous force that reports directly to the Federation government. As of now, they've already committed fourteen acts of mass murder, what they call 'suppression'. However, all records and witnesses have been eliminated, so other than Katharon and us, no one else has any idea of what's really happening. I'm certain you've experienced these facts first hand, right?" Saji was forced to admit that Sterling was right; he'd seen how the A-LAWS had massacred all of the workers on Proud, using autonomous weapons.
"But what does it all mean? Wasn't the Federation formed in the first place because of your interventions?" Saji asked.
"Yes, but that's why we have to act. This is our sin, so we have to erase that sin ourselves." Sterling replied.
"But if you fight, more innocent people will be hurt!" Saji exclaimed.
"That may be so, but even if we don't fight, people will still die." Sterling replied.
"Mr Aarden, the test is going to be starting soon." Mileina said. Sterling nodded. Now that they finally had Exia's solar reactor, Ian was eager to carry out a matching test between t and the 0 Gundam's GN Drive. Hopefully, the two drives would match up well enough to allow the Double 0's Twin Drive System to work. At present, their best combination had yielded only 60% synchronisation, still well below the 80% required for stable operation.
"All right, we should get going then." Sterling said, closing the door.
"And him? What's Setsuna doing right now?" Saji asked.
"Oh, he's gone to pick up some people.' Mileina replied.
"He's tracking down a few of our comrades." Sterling explained, shutting the fully. Sterling sighed heavily, drawing a confused look from Mileina.
"Mr Aarden? Are you okay?" she asked, concerned for her comrade.
"Why does this world have to be so cruel?" Sterling wondered. "Even people like him, who just want to live their lives, can't escape what happens."
A few hours later, Sterling and Mileina arrived on the Ptolemaios' bridge. The matching test had yielded a synchronisation of 70%, the highest so far, but it still wasn't enough. Ian had elected to stay with the Double 0, to see what he could do to make it work.
"I have some intel from Wang Liu Mei. She says the A-LAWS know where we are." Lasse reported.
"I'll take Seravee out. We need to hurry up the matching process." Tieria announced, heading from the bridge. "Feldt, go and help Ian. Sterling, follow me. I'll need your support as well."
"Roger." Feldt replied.
"You got it. Let's go." Sterling replied.
"Opening hatches on Decks 1 and 2. Moving Seravee and 0 Gundam Tau to catapult decks." Mileina announced. The front of the Ptolemaios' two main catapults unfolded, as both the Seravee and the 0 Gundam Tau ascended into the catapults. "Increasing linear catapult voltage from 230 to 520, Seravee and 0 Gundam stabilised within fields. Transferring timing control of launch sequence to Seravee and 0 Gundam."
"Roger that. Seravee, Tieria Erde, launching!" Tieria exclaimed. Seravee shot forward, leaving the catapult just as Sterling prepared to launch as well.
"Roger. 0 Gundam Tau, Sterling Aarden, commencing interception." Sterling said. The 0 Gundam Tau launched as well, quickly catching up to the slower and more cumbersome Seravee.
"Sterling, here's the plan for now. I'll engage the enemy from long range, while you deal with any that manage to slip through. We can't let them attack Ptolemy, especially once the shuttle arrives." Tieria explained.
"You got it. Don't worry, they won't get past me." Sterling replied. Just then, both pilots spotted the A-LAWS formation; two teams, each comprised of three GN-XIIIs and one Ahead. Tieria opened fire, attacking with both GN Bazookas and all four GN Cannons all at once. The A-LAWS suits quickly moved to evade the blasts, but one GN-XIII was too slow and exploded. One of the Aheads moved to engage Tieria, the other continuing on along with two of the surviving GN-XIIIs. The remaining three mobile suits charged towards the 0 Gundam Tau, guns blazing.
"Bad move." Sterling muttered, returning fire with the 0 Gundam Tau's rifle. Based on data gathered on the Alvaaron's rifles, the suit's new GN Beam Rifle was far more powerful than its predecessor, destroying the GN-XIII with one shot. The other two ignored their comrade's destruction, still charging towards the 0 Gundam Tau. Sterling charged to meet them, destroying the first suit of the pair with another well placed shot. The remaining GN-XIII drew its beam saber, abandoning ranged attacks in favour of close combat. Sterling responded in kind, replacing his suit's rifle before drawing one of its beam sabers. The two mobile suits clashed, their sabers grating against each other.
"Not bad. However..." Sterling said, as the GN-XIII tried to force him back. "At close range, you're the one who's out of luck!" he shouted. Sterling rammed the edge of the 0 Gundam Tau's shield into the GN-XIII's head, destroying the main camera and forcing the pilot to back away. Sterling gave him no time to recover, quickly slashing through the GN-XIII's torso, quickly backing away as the mobile suit exploded.
"That's those three taken care of, but what about the others?" Sterling wondered. Just as he thought this, something caught his eye; a massive plume of GN particles streaming from the Ptolemaios' portside catapult. The sight was truly breathtaking, even the A-LAWS and Tieria appeared spellbound. Then suddenly the massive stream of particles disappeared, as the 00 Gundam came rocketing out of the ship, both drive cones facing backwards, giving maximum thrust.
"Is that...00 Gundam?' Sterling wondered, amazed as he continued to watch. The blue-armoured Gundam charged towards the remaining GN-XIII and Ahead, both suits firing on it. The Ahead charged as well, but the 00 Gundam effortlessly evaded the shots, before firing a large crescent-shaped blast, which easily destroyed the Ahead. Almost immediately, both drives swung forward, while at the same time generating a wall of high density GN particles, which easily blocked the shots from the GN-XIII. The 00 Gundam returned fire, but the GN-XIII quickly deployed an anti-field, dispersing the particle beams before they got close. The 00 Gundam abandoned long-range fire, switching its GN Sword II to sword mode, charging the GN-XIII. Both suits continued head-on, but as they merged, the 00 Gundam's sword sliced through the GN-XIII's lance, before cutting the suit itself in half.
"Gundam..." Sterling breathed, stunned by the display; the 00 Gundam was far more amazing than he'd imagined, even though the fight lasted little over a minute.
Well? Like it? Don't it? Then please review and let me know! Your input is valuable, it allows me to mould the story to your guys' liking, and helps me improve overall as a writer. Anzac-A1 out!