Idea: What if Garma Zabi lived?

It's an interesting idea enough, stemming from Mobile Suit Gundam's original story. What if this dashing prince, a former consort of the infamous Char Aznable, and then future victim, survived? How would the Universal Century's path in Time change? What if this manifestation of Char Aznable's vengeance survived and haunted him further? It's a titillating idea, enough, on its own, that one could make an entire story out of it.

Well, for that, I propose something more,

Idea: What if Garma Zabi had his own Lalah Sune?

It is with that, I present to you Beyond Tomorrow, my first foray into the Gundam fandom's fanfiction space.

This is a story about the Universal Century and how it might be able to save itself, or, perhaps, damn itself further into the same cyclical cycle fated to it. The assumption I make is that Time itself has a design, and, perhaps, that its design might be broken for the good of all.

Before we get to all of that, however.

Hey howa doin? My name's Matthew. I'm currently somewhere between recreational and professional writer, for those of you who are familiar with my other work both in the fanfiction space and in the actual published world, and, currently, I have spent too much time delving into Mobile Suit Gundam.

It was a fluke really. My boss on the development team of Project Wingman, the videogame in which I was in charge of writing, world-building, dialog, and performance direction, had insisted that I start watching Mobile Suit Gundam and the Universal Century. Naturally, I was hesitant to full-throated go into a franchise over forty years old and plainly massive in its scope, because by god where do I start? The decision was made for me when my boss sent and paid for a Master Grade Sazabi model kit. So naturally, with no context to what it was, but now naturally forced to explore the Universal Century in light of the mobile suit that now looks down upon me in my office every day, I started my two-month journey to watch all of UC Gundam from Soldiers of Sorrow, all the way up to Turn A. In that span of time I did nothing but more or less watch an entire series per week and thus was irrevocably poisoned by exposure to the tragedy of the Universal Century.

I like to infer instead that I have become a Newtype, but, regardless, much like many of the Gundam fandom the way I've had to process this trauma is by, of course, writing fanfiction.

I was always going to write fanfiction of Gundam, after following the path of Amuro all the way to Loran, because how could I not? But then the question came down to a few general fields that I considered when drafting. I had many ideas, ranging from an academic story where a main character would self-insert themselves into the Gundam timeline at various points to study it, and to propose alternate scenarios for the sake of anthropology, to a more original idea that took place in UC 600, where the evolutionary divergence between Newtype and Oldtype would finally begin and end.

The one however, that I sought most fulfilling to write was one that is also, admittedly, perhaps a guilty pleasure, and one that aligns closely to the Gundam we are familiar with: This is a story that traces the path of 0079, all the way up to Char's Counterattack (and maybe beyond?) based on the premise of those two ideas up there: What if Garma Zabi lived? And what if he too had a figure in his life now that could guide him as Lalah Sune did to Char Aznable?

Garma Zabi. What does he look like if he survives, and how? This man, beloved by the Gundam fandom, what does it look like if he, against all odds, has to face those misfortunes of his heritage, right or wrong? He is the vector by which the Universal Century can be explored, a missed opportunity brought to the light to the best of my ability, and, in the end, can be changed through. He is a Zabi after all. Misunderstood, underestimated, perhaps. Killed before his prime? Of course.

His death may have been deserved, but this story makes an assertion that sometimes the wrong people live for the right reasons.

At his side? A familiar character, or at least name, for those of you who know my other big work, All the Stars, a Mass Effect x Halo fanfic. Indeed, for those of you who recognize the name and tenor of Mai Gul, surprisingly she is much better off here than she was as a Spartan-III, but I digress. She is a different person now, and tragedy has still befallen her. She, for Garma's sake, will become his Lalah Sune, however that manifests for them. She is a character that is the sum of what is missing in Gundam, I feel, and yet brings elements from the rest of Gundam's female cast when pertinent to keep her as a believable addition in-universe. She is, perhaps more specifically, a woman who knows how to fight in a way that is largely missing in Gundam depictions, and that is boots on the ground, with nothing but herself to keep her alive as opposed to the mobile suits that define the combat otherwise.

They're, frankly speaking, dialectically opposed.

They're definitely not going to kill each other at some point.

Not much more for me to say here at this point, but I do have my thanks and well wishes to give:

I'd like to thank Sydney, otherwise known as charcuterieaznable on AO3, for the many nights he's given me discussing the terrible topic of Garma Zabi. His story, Triple Threat, is by far a story I can only wish to match in consistency and focus, and I recommend to all who want a little more Garma and Char action in their lives.

I'd like to recommend Mobile Suit Breakdown, the Gundam podcast that explores the concepts and themes of Mobile Suit Gundam, episode by episode. Without them my confidence in truly understanding the Universal Century and its curators wouldn't be what it is now.

Luzaitis ( LuzaitisActual), on twitter is a good friend of mine who I have enslaved to the art mines, and I can only thank them more for providing visuals for this story that'll pop up from time to time, starting with the cover art. Go check them out if you need something done they're great to work with.

Also I'd like to thank you, the reader.

Whether you're a new reader of mine, or old, welcome to my story, and I'm glad you took some time out of your day to read this.

For the technical aspects of it, I'm planning to keep this story under a million words, and chapters around 10-15k, if not less. I am, however, a long-form writer, so uh, buckle up.

Thank you again, and I'll be shooting for, hopefully, two chapters a month if I can manage it,

Disclaimer: The author is in no way associated with the owners, creators, or producers of any previously copyrighted material. No copyright infringement is intended. All publicly recognizable characters, settings, etc. are the property of their respective owners. The original characters and plot are the property of the author of this story.

Summary: Universal Century, 0079.

As the One Year War rages its path across time and space, a lone woman, out of place, wanders the ruins of the Pacific North West and finds herself holding the fate of all History in her hands. The path of the Universal Century will be rewritten as the survival of a single man sets the stages to change the course of the Earth Sphere forever.

Who will survive?

When Time has no more tears to cry, we will be left with nothing but all of our tomorrows!