Well, here I am back with the next one now. I thought that with this chapter I would publish it soon, but it turned out not since I had to add some histographic contexts and correct some grammatical errors (I don't know if there will be any left, but if there are, don't blame me). I also had to read it all in English to find an inconsistency in the words or something and I hope it was worth all the effort.
Oh, and another thing that I forgot to write in the previous chapter is that I wanted to comment a little on Graham and Setsuna's battle and I decided to lengthen it a little. As you already know, in this context, Graham is a veteran pilot of the Alliance-PLANTS War and therefore his piloting skills are more perfected and better than that of his canonical self, being on par with a certain Eagle of Endymion.
He would have a little difficulty dealing with Setsuna on the Exia anyway, but that battle was just a farce to put the Gundam to the test.
Another thing I have to add was the fact that Graham's reaction changed when he saw the Exia sheathe his beam saber to cut the Flag's rifle. As we've all seen in the first canonical episode, the Exia sheathed his beam saber to cut off the Enact's other arm, and Graham was present to see it.
I was a little surprised to see him surprised that the Exia had it, so I decided to correct him a little putting that he had forgotten that detail.
On reviews:
EXpertUS: I'm terrible sorry to disappoint you, but I will leave this fic temporarily after the intervention in Taribia. Yes, I know it really sucks that I didn't continue until after Break the World since it's one of my favorite moments where the world almost went to shit because of some pro-Patrick extremists, and as some of you may think, Celestial Being will also take action on the matter and last but not least, we would see the first clash between Setsuna and Shinn. Believe me, I'm really sorry to leave it like this, even if it's only for an indefinite period of time, but lately I've been wanting to continue with other fics that I left behind.
The truth is that I don't know when I will return to this work, either after the Gundam SEED movie or maybe later. In any case, I don't know if I will still be alive at this time since I will probably die in some accident or if Putin finally provokes World War III through a nuclear war.
Dontus -not Donut- Powerus: Thanks again. It's true that I have some grammatical errors, but I always do my best to correct them even though I don't know if I do it 100% right.
Now as for your hypothetical SetsunaxMeer and your story of how the two of them could meet, you really have me a little intrigued and I may make an alternative fanfic in which the two of them meet, form a relationship, and have Meer voluntarily join Celestial Being. In fact it sounds quite interesting although I don't know what kind of vital role she would have.
In any case, I still haven't planned when I'm going to do it and how the specific story would develop. I promise you I'll think about it.
Just a reader now a writer: Well, the only thing I can tell you is that as expected, Setsuna would have the initial advantage against Shinn because the former has a GN Drive that functions as an unlimited power source in contrast to the Impulse's extandar engine, it is probably that Shinn ends up getting kicked and the Impulse raped.
But with Shinn being a fairly talented pilot and able to improve with every battle experience he participates in, it may be that in the rematch, having calculated the Exia's movement pattern, the result could be somewhat different, but that depends on how long the Impulse can hold up energy drain which is always an inconvenience.
Guest DCDGojira: Thank you.
Chapter 8: The changing world
21/09/2023
Date: April 6, 76 CE
Location: Human Reform League Garrison Base – Island of Ceylon
It had been 2 days since Celestial Being had made its first armed intervention in the ongoing conflict between ZAFT and the Alliance. After being virtually defeated, both commanders decided to halt hostilities for the time being by means of a ceasefire and each had begun to reorganize their respective troops, assess the damage suffered and search for the survivors of the initial attack.
Both sides had found many of their respective men badly injured (by the fall of their Mobile Suits) although the rest of the survivors left them for missing, and had also recovered several of their Suits that were not totally annihilated, although some would serve as scrap metal.
For the next 20 hours after the unprecedented preemptive attack whose logistics, accuracy, element of surprise and reaction time had not been seen since the Blitzkrieg when the Wehmacht take control of half of Europe in just a few weeks, or the attack on Pearl Harbor, the Supreme Council spent hours discussing the situation there and evaluating the list of casualties suffered. Most of the councilors were thunderstruck and quickly requested a special dispatch of reinforcements to support the survivors, but some, especially Chairman Durandal (who was still aboard the Minerva) denied such a request arguing that it would lead to another attack by Celestial Being and God only knew what kinds of damage they could cause this time.
The Council had split into 2 with both sides discussing the course of action they should take following the attack on their military garrisons. Some were worried that Celestial Being would attack again and others who roundly refused to surrender and make concessions to a presumptuous terrorist organization that interfered in an unjustified attack (or massacre from their point of view) towards their forces there as that would clearly affect their national reputation and cause great unrest among their citizens. They were also concerned that the Alliance would take advantage of this to further impose its forces on the territory even though they too suffered heavy casualties during the simultaneous attack.
Thus the discussion lasted longer than expected without either side reaching a mutual agreement until the Chairman requested to contact the HRL government to negotiate a ceasefire between both parties. Although some were reluctant, they had no choice but to do so and contacted the Beijing government headed by Chairman Jiang Decheng in hopes of negotiating a truce. Unsurprisingly, the negotiations were tense and difficult as Decheng's hardliners roundly refused to give up their strategic positions on the island and had no intention of abandoning it after 10 years of claiming all territory for the HRL for their national interests.
It was then that after an arduous debate a consensus was reached on both sides stipulating that ZAFT forces would abandon its presence on the island and would also abandon their support for the Sinhalese in exchange for the HRL abandoning its alignment with the Union and closing the embargo that blocked the shipment of supplies from the Australian base of Carpentearia to the territories controlled by ZAFT in North Africa.
The HRL government had accepted much of the clauses of the agreement, but would still retain much of its forces stationed in the island's territories. Anyway, the activity on both sides to find their own moved with relative normality without any apparent conflict in both territories which was quite comforting for those who were exhausted from so much fighting and for having survived the attack of the Gundams.
In fact, Colonel Sergei Smirnov calmly watched as things developed with normality after he had arrived on the island to assess the current situation. It had been 2 days after the sudden attack that caused serious damage to the military infrastructure on the island and also a large number of impressive casualties, mostly Mobile Suits pilots who had the misfortune of encountering one of those abominable machines. He was still surprised by the fact that 2 of those Mobile Suits have caused a big damage to 4 garrisons and have taken the lives of about 1079 soldiers if we add them to the crew of some warships that were also attacked and destroyed by those Gundams.
The result of its intervention on both sides was totally unheard of from a military logistical point of view that a simple group of Mobile Suits has turned everything upside down from night to morning in just half an hour. Never in his long military career has the veteran Russian colonel heard of such a disastrous defeat except the Battle of Porta Panama when ZAFT forces invaded the Panama Base with the aim of destroying the Panama Mass Driver, thus cutting off its Alliance supply line to its Ptolemy's Lunar Base. In the end the ZAFT forces succeeded in destroying the Mass Driver and then proceeded to mercilessly massacre the remaining Alliance forces that had surrendered.
Personally, the Russian colonel considered that battle as one of the most disastrous, in addition to an unprecedented massacre that had only been surpassed by the attempted invasion to JOSH-A or during the heat of Jachin Due. No doubt those offensives were one of the bloodiest that humanity has had to face in these times and even the other more modern wars that occurred before that were only a joke in comparison.
The sudden attack here and recently was a little different except for its tendency to cause more damage to infrastructure and cause a good number of casualties as quickly as possible as if it were some kind of modern Blitzkrieg or something. Another key factor of their resounding triumph was that they had the element of surprise since no one expected that a handful of only 4 Mobile Suits could pose a threat and the commanders thought they would be crazy or simply had a desire to die so they did not bother to step up their efforts to prevent the attack, and they paid dearly.
Smirnov himself would also have fallen for the attack if he had been there too, but that would be because of his lack of additional information from those Mobile Suits. He still knew absolutely nothing about these strange machines and what they are capable of doing to instill terror and superiority towards their adversaries. That was why the HRL forces were quickly and easily overwhelmed in the attack by their lack of the enemy's information.
According to the report reported by the survivors of those Gundams, they moved in a rather abnormal way compared to the rest of Mobile Suits currently existing, their beam armaments are of unknown nature and it was still being studied, but the most disconcerting thing was this strange propulsion that emitted in the form of a veil of bright particles or something that was also not known except that they emitted an effect similar to the Neutron Jammers because it causes interference in radio waves and radars although it is not yet known to what extent. That was all that was known about those machines and there were still more puzzles to solve.
It was for one of those reasons that Colonel Smirnov came here not only to assess the situation of the garrisons after the attack, but also how he was processing the investigation into one of the pieces left by one of the Gundams, since he was informed, they recovered what appeared to be the missile-launcher container that the orange Gundam used to bomb one of the garrisons and then it dropped it to the ground so that a research team found it hours later and is currently being studied in one of the garrisons where Smirnov and his entourage were now headed.
It didn't take long for them to arrive in a jeep and when they entered inside Sergei stared with an impassive expression and a scrutinizing look at the huge intact container being examined and studied from top to bottom by a good number of researchers in a white coat.
"So this is it, isn't it?" Smirnov spoke after evaluating the giant object belonging to one of those Gundams. "So did you find out anything?"
"Yes." The subordinate officer replied to the colonel before noticing a member of the research personnel closest to them and immediately called him. Said member immediately approached the 2 men, standing in front of the secondary officer with a military salute.
"How can I help you?"
The officer gestured toward Smirnov. "This is Lieutenant Colonel Smirnov who has come here to assess the situation and know the result of your investigation regarding this thing. Explain everything you know so far."
"Of course, sir." The researcher replied obediently before heading towards the giant container, and then cleared his throat to start the explanation. "Well, as you can see, this is an optional bombing module. It's made from E-carbon. Although manufactured with the latest materials, in terms of design, we will not find any new technology."
Smirnov ingested the information just given by the researcher while continuing to scrutinize the container now knowing that it was conscientiously made using old and modern means and materials respectively. Now only one important detail remained.
"And the missiles it contained?"
"After examining the residue, we've determined that they were 300 kilogram guided type missiles. As a curiosity, no nation or maker produces this type."
"I see..." Smirnov murmured, deep in thought. "You said before that the container was made out of E-carbon, didn't you? I think that kind of technology is mostly used in PLANTs correct?"
"Yes, sir, It's an artificial allotrope of carbon steel. PLANTs created the material the material out of necessary due to the lack of usable Iron Ore in space, it was also used extensively on the Orbital Elevator System during it's construction." The researcher explained again.
"So is it possible that those Mobile Suits were built on ZAFT's technology?" Smirnov asked the researcher.
"That's what we're thinking." The reseacher replied immediately. "But there are several unknowns that differ from that." The reseacher stated. "Although the material is perfect for large, solid structures such as space colonies, they found it was expensive and impractical to make a Mobile Suit frame out it, and the metal itself was inherently weak against bullet strikes and therefore unsuitable for the armour plating. However, the is one difference in the E-carbon on the container compared to the usual PLANTs grade E-carbon. For example, it's 25% lighter than normal, and 60% more durable and resistant to damage, do you see those dents in the panels? it's 25 percent lighter than normal, and 60 percent more durable and resistent to damage, see those dents in the panels? Those were from the armour piercing shells of the Launcher Striker packs' 120mm Vulcan gun. Normal E-carbon would have been shredded. Whoever made this used a completely new Fabrication process from the PLANTs to create E-carbon that's both usable as armour plating and much lighter."
"Interesting..." Smirnov said after listening to the explanation and couldn't help but be intrigued to see something done sophisticatedly that not even the Coordinators themselves could do.
At the same time
Location: MSWAD Headquarters - United States – Union
"Judging from the impact that the unit endured, I believe the Gundam's output is about six-fold greater than the Flag's." Billy deduced while he and Graham were in a hangar, perched on a platform lift next to the Flag in sleep mode looking at the data collected by the flight log from the Flag's black box. "I wonder what kind of engine it uses..."
"Its output it pretty high, but so was its mobility." Graham commented next to Billy.
"I guess so. By the way, have you heard of Freedom?" Billy asked, deciding to change the subject when a topic occurred that might interest Graham and that is possibly somehow related to the Gundams.
Graham simply adopted a confused expression upon hearing the name. "The Freedom? No, never. Is it some kind of unity or something?"
"Indeed, it is. It's a G-Weapon created by ZAFT from the design and technology derived from the 4 units captured in Heliopolis." Billy began to explain, catching Graham's attention. "As you may have imagined, when ZAFT managed to seize the 4 units and decipher the terrible potential they possessed compared to the standard Mobile Suits of the time, the Supreme Council began to worry that the Alliance was beginning to take advantage of them so it soon ordered the development of mass-production Mobile Suits with the technology derived from the 4 units, and one of them was the Freedom."
Pausing slightly while Billy continued to type and Graham absorbed the information, the engineer continued. "At that time, the war was going on a dizzying course with many casualties on both fronts so it was decided to give the new Mobile Suits new innovations never seen before, such as a propellant that works with an ultra-compact nuclear fission reactor."
"A nuclear reactor?" Graham repeated surprised to hear a Mobile Suit run on nuclear power as a power source.
"That's right. Apparently the Freedom was designed to be equipped with a powerful nuclear reactor that allowed it to operate as long as desired giving it an incredible limitation of endurance combat, even traveling through space and distant places, since it was loaded with an unlimited source of energy."
Graham was plunged into thought reflecting on the existence of a Mobile Suit that until now he had not heard of working with a semi-perpetual power supply. But there was still only one doubt about it.
"But would it not be affected by the widespread use of N-Jammers on the Earth?"
"In theory yes, but ZAFT found another way to eliminate that drawback and that is that apart from a nuclear reactor, the unit had been designed primarily to load with a N-Jammers Canceller that could counteract the effects of the N-Jammers and allowed this unit to be fed without problems by its nuclear reactor. It is said to have a mobility and output at least 4 times greater than prototypes, and is even capable of passing through the Earth's atmosphere on its own. Anyway, considering its main unique characteristics and its versatility due to its unusual propulsion system, I would say that it looks a bit like the Gundams of Celestial Being." Billy ended up leaving a Graham very intrigued by the fact.
Until now he had never heard of a Mobile Suit as enigmatic as the one he had just heard and just by reflecting on its main features and capabilities, it certainly resembled that of the Gundams of Celestial Being in terms of mobility and propulsion capabilities.
"So, are you telling me that the power supply of those Gundams is related to that of the Freedom?"
"I think not." Billy replied as he adjusted his glasses. "As I told you before, the Freedom only used the energy of a nuclear reactor, instead those Gundams use another source of unlimited energy quite different from a nuclear reactor, and it is undoubtedly those special particles that they emit. I don't know much about it yet, but just as we suspected, apart from interfering with the operation of the radar and sensor, just like the N-jammers did, providing stealth also allows control of the unit."
"And they will most likely be weaponized." Said a new voice making an appearance in the hangar whose voice was amplified by the echo. Graham and Billy turned under the platform to see the owner of the voice being an old man in his 70s with a grayish mane running down his neck and holding a cane.
Billy's expression lit up with joy as he recognized the identity of the newcomer.
"Professor Lief Eifman!" He exclaimed in surprise to see his former tutor.
"What an extraordinary man..." Eifman mocked with disdain in reference to the supposed man who planned everything that was happening now. "He had more advanced technology than ours."
Location: Human Reform League Garrison Base – Island of Ceylon
"Aeolia Schenberg." Smirnov said grimly. "I know the name. He wasn't the advocate of the Solar Power Project?"
"Our intelligence services and the AEU are investigating the origin of these Gundams starting from Orb." The chief officer replied.
"What do they say?"
"It seems that the Orb government are also in confusion about these events and say they have nothing to do with making those thrusters that emit those particles of light." The garrison officer replied.
"I doubt Orb will find anything about this." Smirnov said, his eyes never looking away from the container. "Just like these parts. They just throw away those parts they don't care we see."
Location: MSWAD Headquarters - United States – Union
"Tell me one thing, professor." Graham began while he, Billy and Eifman were on the ground as they gazed at the Flag in all its glory. "I understand that you and your people were involved in Project G which consisted of the elaboration of 5 prototypes of Mobile Suits known as G-Weapons, didn't you?"
"Yes, but that was quite a while." Eifman replied as he reflected on the events of the past. "The project was in charge under the supervision of Rear Admiral Duane Halberton, and I of the engineers in charge of initiating its design and manufacture. Of course, we also had to collaborate with Orb's famous Morgenröte Inc. run at the time by Rondo Gina Sahaku who was one of the most receptive to cooperate with us smoothly in the implementation of the Project."
The old chief engineer was a little silent as he continued to watch the Flag, but his mind was remembering things from the past.
"We spent quite a bit of time racking our brains to be able to do the design and give them new innovations to give them an edge against the ZAFT Mobile Suits that at the time were overwhelming our forces as you well know. It was a race against the clock and our superiors were losing patience and were about to cancel the Project until unexpectedly a terminal image appeared from one of our computers, showing the plans of a new type of Mobile Suit never seen before. It had the same look as the Gundams, including some strange components and elements, which made them incredibly superior to the other Suits."
"Where did he get those blueprints?" Graham asked, looking intrigued at the old engineer.
"I don't know." Eifman replied shaking his head. "No one knew where exactly it came from and who made it. At first we remained cautious and discreet hesitating to make them without even knowing anything of its origin or provenance, but seeing the delicate state of the Alliance after half a year of war, Rear Admiral Halberton did not hesitate to order us to manufacture it right now if we wanted to change the course of the war. So we did, and we created more than 5 units that would undoubtedly be our trump card to eliminate the current advantage of ZAFT's Mobile Suits during the war. We also started manufacturing a new model of spacecraft to carry them, known as the Archangel."
"You mean the defecting ship?" Graham asked recalling what he had heard about long ago about the famous Union ship that defected to the EA and joined Orb.
"Yes, it was undoubtedly our greatest revolutionary invention, and later we hid them in the colony of Heliopolis, but who would say that ZAFT would discover our secret and infiltrate to steal 4 of them, except the Strike and the Archangel who were the only ones who were saved from the attack. Now with all four in their hands, ZAFT would create their own G-Weapons with their technology..." Eifman was a little silent before speaking again. "And now suddenly other new units appear identical to ours, and they even possess technology that we don't even know about."
After counting the rest, the scientist raised his head towards the Flag before saying the following.
"If possible, I would like you to capture one of those Gundam units. I have a hunch that it even performs better than our own G-Weapons and ZAFT's."
"I agree." Graham replied in agreement. "And for that, I would like my machine to be improved."
"And what about the stress to the pilot?" Eifman asked rhetorically in reference to the risk of being exposed to G forces.
"You can disregard that." Graham replied with his eyes closed in a sign of security before opening them and looking at the old engineer. "However, I'd like it ready in one week."
The chief engineer lets out a mischievous laugh when he notices the courage that this man expressed in the face of adversity and inconvenience as if it were a challenge willing to win it.
"You are a very daring man."
Graham smiled in return either for compliment or to show more confidence. "This way, I won't be able to capture one of them."
"He's totally infatuated." Billy also commented smiling.
Then the conversation interrupted by the call sound of Graham's mobile. The pilot of the Flag took the device out of his flight suit and brought it to his ear to speak.
"It's me." A moment of silence passed as the person spoke from the other line and when he finished, Graham's expression suddenly lit up with surprise.
"What!? The Gundams have appeared?"
Location: Human Reform League Garrison Base – Island of Ceylon
"Location?" Smirnov asked the soldier who informed him of the news.
"Sir. They appeared in two locations." The soldier replied, taking the other officers by surprise.
"It's a simultaneous attack, eh?" Smirnov reflected, noting that now the Gundams Meisters team are making their next moving separately in different parts of the world.
Location: Whashintong D.C – United States – Union
"They started its movement again?" President Stegmeyer asked in surprise when he informed him that Celestial Being had begun its next move. "Where this time?"
"One is in South Africa, probably intervening in the civil war that is currently being waged over the rights to mine mineral resources."
Stegmeyer narrowed his eyes reflecting on what was happening there right now.
Location: Mineral Resources Mining Site – Union of South Africa
In an open pit mine in South Africa, a one-sided battle, if you could call it that, was taking place. The muzzle flashes of automatic weapons lighting up the night sky. On one side, were 2 dozen workloaders siting inside the trenches of the mine, firing upwards with their 45mm gatling guns. On the other, was the Gundam Dynames, standing at the edge of the pit, firing loosely aimed shots from a beam pistol.
Lockon breathed a sigh of boredom in his cockpit as he vaguely pressed the firing controls of his Gundam feeling that this could probably take him all night.
"I don't really like doing this." Lockon complained as he continued to shoot harmlessly at targets who persisted in trying to attack him from a distance even though the latter posed no threat to him, and therefore should lay down their weapons and retreat as long as they have the opportunity to do so. "It seems as if I'm just abusing the weak."
After a few days after their first official intervention in Ceylon, Veda had finally given the go-ahead to carry out the next one, but simultaneously, assigning only 3 Gundams in different parts of the world. And luckily for the green Meister, he had to intervene in a small and recent civil war somewhere in the Union of South Africa. The war itself began shortly after the Earth-PLANTS war ended.
Formed through an economic and military union of several countries in southern and eastern Africa, including the island of Madagascar, the Union of South Africa occupied the position of one of the smallest economic blocs on Earth and the weakest, but managed to have one of the best economic resources that it exported almost internationally due to its abundant rich mining of raw materials. It also had a good reputation for being one of the collaborationist countries in the construction of the Orbital Elevator of the AEU, the latter in South African territory despite not belonging to the same AEU so it remained independent, but in general, both blocks agreed to share the energy supply with the same amount and proportion without any type of economic conflict.
But despite having some access to an almost infinite source of energy and enjoying one of the best world economies of the new era, in the military field it was totally stagnant because it lost in one of the Solar Energy Wars that occurred in the past so its access to solar energy was reduced by almost half and its military reforms were restricted to some extent so today South Africans still relied on machines considered obsolete such as artillery vehicles such as trucks and Workloaders.
It was because of this, due to the military and cooperative distancing of the AEU and the South African military stalemate that the ZAFT forces had no difficulty in seizing the African Orbital Elevator and its Habilis mass driver. It would only be months later that the Alliance would recapture Victoria Base, after which the Union of South Africa became the nation from which the Earth Alliance prepared for their counterattack in space. After the war ended, the economy of the region was depleted due to the lack of resources used for the war industry against the Coordinators invaders so they fixed their attention on the resources of other regions that had not been exhausted, but the owners of these companies roundly refused to share their valuable resources which caused tensions and finally broke out the dreaded conflict over the available resources that It lasts to this day.
Unless Celestial Being has something to say about it, although it seems that Lockon was not enjoying it.
This particular conflict was not like the one in Ceylon since, unlike the latter, it was not very widespread and the main sources of violence were in certain regions in addition to both factions only using obsolete mobile weapons so it was necessarily a Gundam to deal with both at the same time. Although of course, Lockon would have given anything to return to Ceylon instead of wasting time decimating harmless machines that hardly pose a nuisance to his Gundam. Their machine guns could barely reach the Gundam and those that did simply bounce off the armor reinforced by the thin GN field generated by its GN Drive.
Seeing that it did not have to be used thoroughly, the Dynames's pilot simply settled for some warning shots near the targets to incite them to abandon and if not, he will shoot closer until he reached his machine guns and disarmed them at once. Of course, that didn't take away the sniper's boredom.
Another Workloader was disabled with 2 hits.
"Hurry up and disarm yourselves!" Lockon exclaimed a little exasperated. The Gundam's standart targeting crosshairs zoomed over a fresh target.
"Or I'll really aim directly at you."
Fortunately for Lockon, after several shots later, the Workloaders operators understood that it was completely useless to face the Gundam with these useless machines with which they had so they immediately threw their weapons and then made the retreat, dispersing in several directions.
Lockon looked momentarily surprised at this course of action, but inwardly he was relieved that they were finally doing anything sensible.
"They ran! They ran!" Haro exclaimed with its characteristic enthusiastic tone.
Lockon breathed a sigh of relief when he saw that this whole charade had really ended without anyone being harmed and that he did not have to spend the rest of the night continuing to shoot lazily any longer.
"Smart guys."
"Good! Good!" Haro beeped in agreement.
Now he had finished his part of the mission.
Now only the rest was left to his partners.
Location: Republic of Taribia – South America region – Union
In the dead of night, the Gundam Kyrios hovered nearby in the middle of a sprawling marijuana field that has been planted for decades. The Republic of Taribia was considered one of the few countries that manufactured marijuana and drugs and then trafficked them in different parts of the world, especially to the United States.
In fact, it was the second most drug trafficking country in exporting this product unbridled after Colombia and its activity had aroused the resentment of anti-drug traffickers who sought the systematic destruction of this trade and put an end to their business once and for all even by force.
South American drug trafficking had given its beginnings in the mid-60s of the twentieth century when the production and processing of cocaine was increased especially from Colombia around the world causing serious damage to the physical and mental health of many people, generating networks of crime and corruption and finally led to the so-called "war on drugs" in the 70s when the United States and some European countries have provided the Colombian government with logistical and financial assistance to implement plans to combat drug trafficking. In response, drug traffickers formed armed groups such as paramilitary groups, guerrillas and organized crime that defended their right to export and distribute their drug plantation and even made alliances with some Colombian politicians and leaders to gain political influence.
Among their bellicose activities were several terrorist attacks either on politicians and anti-drug agents or even on the civilian population to impose their will and demonstrate that they are very serious about their intention to crush anyone who stood in their way.
Even 300 years after its beginnings, this conflict remained in force to this day and had hardly been affected by the conflicts that were occurring as the internal conflict it had with the Union during the context of the Bloody Valentine's War that threatened to break with the latter. It was for this reason that Celestial Being decided to take action on the matter and send the Kyrios to destroy one of the large drug plantations that Taribia had.
"Thirty minutes have passed since I started the holding pattern." Allelujah announced by calculating the time that had passed since he issued the warning signal to workers working at the drug farm and locals living near the area.
"Warning completed. Kyrios, now commencing the operation."
With that said, the Kyrios moved closer to the plantation where he had an extensive field of cocaine plants as his main target and he wished that no stragglers would be left there.
A few seconds later, two doors on the underside of the flight container swung open, dropping a salvo of 2 napalm bombs, incinerating the plants. Soon all the fields ere engulfed in flames.
"97% on target accomplished. Mission completed." Allelujah announced with satisfaction as he reviewed the damage done to the targets. With everything finished, the Kyrios turned around and began to move away from the affected area before the army came to intercept it. "If I had to do something like this, I'd be glad to do it at anytime."
In fact, he was somewhat happy to perform such missions by bombing an additional target, unlike in Ceylon where he had to burn alive many soldiers in his ruthless bombardment of one of the HRL garrisons. Instead, the purpose of their bombing was something that harmed people and was the direct cause of a conflict that had raged for generations in these areas of the world.
As he said, he wouldn't mind destroying something that was harmful like planting drugs again. Anyway, as he moved west, Allelujah pondered whether this attack would finally end the war on drugs by destroying an entire huge plantation, though he somehow doubted it. Destroying a single plantation would not stop a long conflict that had been brewing for 3 centuries just as his first intervention in Ceylon would not stop that of the latter. The world really wasn't as simple as one would think.
The only thing they would achieve at the moment is to draw more attention and urge the whole world that they are the greatest threat that exists in this era. The orange Meister couldn't help but let out a small laugh as he recalled the advice Lockon gave him before starting the intervention.
"Hitting the iron while it's red hot, huh?" He commented wryly upon realizing that what they are doing now was just that. "Yeah, I guess with that the world will finally recognize us."
Suddenly a sound filled the cockip and Allelujah knew very well that someone was trying to contact him. At the push of a button, the digitized image of one of the Ptolemaios operators, Feldt, appeared in the cockpit's main terminal.
"Kyrios, new mission objective." She informed the orange Meister. "Re-route to heading 265 and await further orders."
"Roger. Kyrios, heading to the designated location of the new mission." Allelujah replied as he changed course and was now heading for another designated location.
One more mission and it's all over.
Location: Human Reform League Garrison Base – Island of Ceylon
"The other is close to us?" Smirnov asked while remaining calm as he looked questioningly at the soldier who informed them of the second Gundam attack.
"Yes, sir. It's in the seventh garrison!" The soldier responded leaving the rest bewildered and nervous about the fact that one of those machines was now back here doing what he and its team provoked 2 days earlier.
Meanwhile, the scarred colonel remained calm as he reflected on the fact that one of those Gundams was now very close by attacking another garrison and only God knew the kind of damage it would be causing now. But far from worrying about collateral damage or human losses, the Russian colonel saw this as an opportunity to contemplate with his own eyes the potential of one of those machines and determine if they are so formidable as to cause all that fuss they made 2 days before or try to find out some weak point if possible.
Anyway, he made his decision and immediately turned to the officer who had escorted him here before.
"Do you have a useable Mobile Suit?"
"There's one of the new Windams that we received from the Union last week for trials." The officer responded and Smirnov nodded in return before saying the following.
"Prep it for launch, I'll head out in that." The colonel's blunt response surprised the officer and the rest of the soldiers in the garrison when he discovered that the colonel intended to risk dealing with one of those monstrosities only by exposing himself to a very certain death.
The officer stuttered incredulously in response.
"You're going in person, colonel?"
The scarred colonel just gave his subordinate a rock-hard look as if he wanted to tell him that he wasn't making any jokes. "I thought I told you, soldier. I only believe what I see with my own eyes."
To the north, the Exia was on the warpath, having slicing through another Dagger in the seventh garrison. Behind them, there were 2 other Daggers, whose pilots looked on in horror to see that the blue Gundam had just destroyed their partner.
"That's the third one that he's taken down!" The pilot shouted in panic. "That Gundam is a monster!"
The Exia straightened up from its crouched stance to turn towards the remaining 2 Daggers as its pilot looked at them with his usual impassive gaze. "Exia, continuing with the warfare intervention. Eliminating the remaining targets."
This was Celestial Being's response to the HRL army for persisting in Ceylon and continuing the conflict so the organization sent the Gundam Exia to remind them what would happen if they did not make concessions with them regarding abandoning the conflict, and the best way was to attack and raze a garrison or 2 if possible.
With that said, the GN Drive began to resonate while emitting GN particles propelling the Gundam into the air and charging at the 2 Daggers.
"Fire! Fire!" Yelled the Dagger pilot franticly as he and his partner fired their beam carbines in a desperate attempt to shoot him down. But to their dismay, the Gundam covered itself with its shield as it moved forward which caused the beams to be blocked and dissipated instantly.
Once they stopped firing, the Exia withdrew the shield and once the distance between it and its targets closed, it spun in a wide circle and closed in, cutting the lead Dagger in half at the waist with a backhand swing of its GN Sword.
"It's fast!" Exclaimed the other pilot puzzled. The second Dagger tried to shoot again at point blank range, but the Exia leaned to one side as the beam whizzed past its head, before spinning on the spot, again tearing the Dagger in half at the waist just below the cockpit.
Once the battle was over, there was silence and the Exia straightened up in full stature as the sole victor. Setsuna looked at the whole environment impassively as if it were a simple finished task.
"First Phase com-
Suddenly a warning sound in the form of an alarm filled the interior of the cockpit interrupting Setsuna so he remained alert when he realized that he was not over yet. Suddenly 2 green beams descended to the ground, one behind the other, near the Gundam, forcing him back in response.
Setsuna growled a little as he tried to figure out who had attacked him. It didn't take long for him to figure it out when a strange Dagger-like Mobile Suit equipped with a Jet striker with a different or standard design or something descended into his position.
"A new model?" Setsuna asked as he continued to examine the newcomer as the latter descended cautiously as if its pilot was also scrutinizing him.
Deciding to find out more about this model, Setsuna activated the Mobile Suits identification panel and fortunately its image and data appeared in the list.
"GAT-04 Windam, a mass-production multi-mode Mobile Suit created by the Union from the Dagger Series and is the successor to the Dagger L."
Setsuna continued reading a little, but the information he had was very scarce since its creation was very recent and had barely premiered in any war theater.
'If that thing is new then I must not underestimate it.' He said to himself mentally by remaining cautious knowing that if he lacked specific information about its capabilities and armaments, especially if they are innovations or if the guy who pilot it is an Ace, it would be a fatal mistake to underestimate him.
While, Setsuna was fully confident in his combat skills embodied in his Gundam and the strength of the Gundam itself, but that did not mean that he underestimated all his opponents. The fateful encounter with that Flag made him understand that the hard way.
At the same time, Colonel Smirnov, aboard the cockpit of the Windam he had acquired for this occasion, was closely observing the blue Gundam on guard from a position high in the air through the cockpit's main screen.
"So, that's a Gundam..." He said analytically as he continued to scrutinize the blue machine that had caused all the fuss and sown terror among the soldiers. From his point of view, its appearance and design did not stray far from that of a Windam like the one he was piloting now, but it was noticeable that the first one looked like a remodeled version or something and its armor was slightly bulkier.
Another thing that caught his attention is that he did not see any hilt of its beam sabers placed somewhere loose such as on the sides of its waist as in the case of the Windam. The only thing it had on hand was an anti-beam shield in its right hand.
While he knew that he was committing a recklessness in going alone without escort or reinforcement to face one of those monstrous machines that had just crushed an entire battalion of the garrison and could be the last since it could cost him his life, but the veteran colonel was well known for recognizing the validity and strength of an adversary whether man or machine just by seeing it up close or feeling it with the body.
As a soldier with a long distinguished military career, apart from being a good tactical commander, he was also an excellent Mobile Suit pilot who had participated in numerous combats either on the ground or in space during the context of the Solar Energy Wars, only to be off duty during the Earth-PLANTs war where he spent the rest of his dedication in a command room giving orders and instructions to his soldiers of outside. Even entering his 40s, he still retained to some extent his piloting skills, although a little rusty from the passing of the years, but he still had full confidence in it. The only drawback was that he was now piloting a machine that until now he had never used, although it possessed the basic components of his predecessor, but nothing more. In any case, he still had confidence and it will serve to test the potential of his adversary.
After carefully analyzing the opposing machine, Smirnov took the next step to descend and finally land in front of the Gundam at a safe distance to be able to face it properly. While descending he saw how the Gundam unfolded its huge sword from its left forearm being one of its usual weapons so he deduced that this machine must be capable of direct hand-to-hand combat.
Once the Windam landed in front of the Exia separated several meters away, neither of the 2 made an apparent movement for a few moments until the Windam was the first to break the ice when it jettisoned the two drop tanks fitted to the Jet strikers wings, the dropped its shield and threw away its beam rifle. Not long after, he grabbed and pulled out a hilt of one of the 2 beam sabers located on each side of the waist and activates the beam blades. Setsuna raised an eyebrow upon seeing this.
"He's throwing away his firearms?" He asked confusedly. "Does he intend to test me?"
The answer did not take long when he heard a voice coming from outside.
"Gundam pilot! Do you hear me?" The voice of a man reached the ears of the young Meister who immediately deduced that it was the pilot of the Windam who apparently was trying to communicate with him through the megaphone system of his Suit.
"I am Lieutenant Colonel Sergei Smirnov. I have not come here in an attempt to capture you. I just want you to show me your determination to eradicate war. Show me if your machine really has the power to do it!"
Setsuna was silent upon hearing the enemy pilot's message and for a moment didn't know what to say about it, but on the other hand, if he really wanted to see the power of his Gundam, he will gladly prove it.
With that, the Exia struck a combat pose as its pilot's voice echoed through the air. "If you so much want to see the power of my Gundam, then come here and I will prove it to you!"
Smirnov raised an eyebrow not only because of the fact that the pilot of the Gundam accepted his duel, also noticed the tone with which the pilot spoke.
'That voice looks like someone very young...' Smirnov mused to himself. Due to his experience as a soldier who joined the army at a fairly young age during adolescence, he met many people his age during his training and even after he had reached maturity and reached the rank of officer he had several young soldiers under his command either during some of the Solar Energy Wars or the recent Earth-PLANTs War.
For the professional sense of the old colonel, the voice of the pilot of the Gundam was undoubtedly young, surely a teenager since at that age he was already suitable to become a soldier and be on a battlefield which was uncommon, but it was very strange that someone so young piloted a Mobile Suit, even a model like that.
'Unless he's probably a Coordinator...' He thought once again to himself. It would make sense for that to be the case since the strength and abilities both physical and intellectual of the Coordinators were on par with those of the Natural adults and he had already heard rumors that many of the ZAFT pilots who fought in the past were still young people between 15 and 18 years old.
If this were so, then it would not surprise him because he had that superiority over the others. But he did not come to check the strength of a Coordinator, but the potential of the machine and with that in mind he prepared.
"All right then, I'll start first. Prepare!"
The engines of the Jet strikers fired up as the Windam sped forward. The Exia braced itself as the Windam got closer, before ducking and lunging forward, slicing the Windam's right arm off.
"You can keep the arm, but...!"
Setsuna heard the pilot's voice and immediately sensed by the last sentence that he was going to plot something so he wasted no time in turning the Exia towards his opponent, but he did not get very far because when he turned at all, the Gundam's face was suddenly grabbed by the remaining hand of the Windam who then lifted him off the ground.
Setsuna growled at finding himself in this rather compromised situation. He hadn't seen it coming. And to top it off, the hand gripping his Gundam's face blocked the main outer field of view so it was impossible for him to know what was going on out there. Desperately trying to get rid of his captor, Setsuna tried to cut through the other arm, but lack of vision and the angle the GN Sword was at made it impossible.
Smirnov smiled at his triumph to see that he managed to capture the Gundam unprepared thanks to that trick he performed and with the remaining hand gripping his head tightly and blocking his field of vision he was now completely helpless before him. Not wanting to waste any more time, he exerted more pressure on the head and waited for the weight to take effect by putting pressure on the weight of the rest of the body on the union with the head held so that in question it would end up breaking.
"I'LL TAKE YOUR HEAD!"
Inside the Exia's cockpit, the entire cockpit was filled with the shrill sound of the warning alarm indicating the tension at the junction of the Gundam's neck with the rest of the body was becoming too much and could crack at any moment.
Setsuna grunted once more as he saw things unfolding and decided to put an end to all this.
"I WON'T LET YOU!"
Then the Exia ejected the shield from the left arm and grabbed its own beam saber. As he lit it, he swung upwards, tearing through the Windam's other arm above the elbow.
Smirnov tried to maneuver the now crippled Windam back from the free Gundam, but did not get very far as despite still having the severed hand grasping over the Gundam's face, the Exia charged towards him blindly to retaliate with Setsuna letting out a battle cry.
In less than an instant, the Exia reached its target and with a quick movement, cutted the Windam back at an oblique arc, takking off the remained of the Windam's right arm and one of it's legs which caused the shattered Suit to lose its balance and fall on its back in a mess.
The Exia righted itself again victorious, but still had the hand of the Windam clinging to its face so it was immediately removed causing the cockpit to regain sight of the outside. The Gundam turned to its defeated opponent with Setsuna staring impassively.
"This is my determination." He said stoically in the hope that the enemy pilot (whether conscious or not) would hear him.
Space
A large cylindrical container floated away from the HRL's Orbital Elevator. Once he was at a considerable distance, two doors of the container opened, and a large black and white Mobile Suit floated out of it. The Gundam Virtue reoriented and slid into the void.
After countless hours of waiting in one of the carriages of the Elevator train, Tieria had reached her designated destination at the pinnacle of the Tenchū. Soon after, once the area was secured, Tieria got into the his Gundam's cockpit inside the container that served as contraband material and then drifted it allowing gravity 0 to carry it away a considerable distance from Earth for a while until he felt the Ptolemaios approaching to embark it.
"Arriving at rendezvous point." Tieria declared, noting the approach of the Ptolemaios.
"Visual confirmation of Virtue." Christina warned from the Ptolemaios.
"Preparing for docking." Feldt declared in her usual stoic tone similar to Setsuna's. The cargo container on the right side of the Ptolemaios was opened and from it emerged a walkway being a linear catapult that in turn activates 2 lasers oriented towards the Virtue.
"Container open."
"Linkage system clear. Virtue, entering ship." Tieria replied. As the Virtue approached the linear catapult, it rolled so that its back was facing the base of the container, and slowly slid in. Once the Suit entered the hangar, 2 massive clamps were attached over his shoulders to stop him from marching and then a large upturned panel was attached to his feet, holding the Mobile Suit in place.
"Docking complete. Comencing Virtue's GN Drive interlock with Ptolemaios." Feldt said when the container closed.
An arm under the Virtue moved to cover a white circular panel on its back. After the panel opened, the arm was attached to the Virtue.
"Ready for energy transfer from Virtue to Ptolemy." Christina indicated how the panel began to emit sounds filling it with GN particles. "Comencing transfer."
As the reloading of the Virtue continued its course, Tieria took the liberty of breathing a small sigh of relief not because he finally did not have to spend much longer in one of those wagons for who knows how long or wait for his ship to pick him up in the drift of space.
"Space is much better..."
Then a call interrupted his thoughts.
"Good work..." Tieria was forced to look at the main screen of his cockpit to see who it was his tactical boss smiling.
"How did the mission go?" The purple Meister asked with a professional tone.
"Completed without incident." Sumeragi replied unfazed by Tieria's tone. "Now hurry up and come in. Let's celebrate this with a toast."
The Virtue's pilot closes his eyes in boredom before answering.
"I respectfully decline."
The strategist let out an exasperated sigh before answering.
"You're no fun."
Earth
Location: Olofat City - Onogoro Island - Orb Union
Saji Crossroad let out a tired sigh as he climbed the last step that would take him to the floor where the room of his apartment where he and his sister lived. It had been a pretty exhausting day at school. His history teacher had given them some history lessons about contemporary Ireland, more specifically the nationalist and religious conflict between the 2 main factions of the Ulster; the unionists of Northern Ireland (of Protestant religion, majority in the region), supporters of preserving ties with the United Kingdom, and on the other hand the Irish republicans, mostly Catholic and demographically minority, supporters of the integration of the territory into the Republic of Ireland, a predominantly Catholic country.
A conflict that had begun during the second half of the twentieth century and that to this day remains in force regardless of the passage of times such as the disappearance of fossil fuels worldwide, the establishment of the Solar Energy Project that replaced the continuous use of fuels after so many centuries of extraction by solar energy as a new source of perpetual power.
His teacher had indicated to his students about the importance of this work for tomorrow's exams so he instructed them to study well on this particular topic for tomorrow. As a good student, Saji did not have many problems about it, but there were times when this was somewhat exhausting, and even more so if the center where he had enrolled to study was an aerospace engineering high school so it would not be entirely logical, at least for him, that there was a history class in a center where everything related to aerospace engineering and stuff so that one day he could work on the Moon or building a new space colony.
Apart from that there was also his friend and classmate, Louise Halevy, who, during their free time, both discussed the future of both and she had asked him if she went out in his, and he unsure of how to respond to that, simply answered her a little which seemed to offend her and left without saying anything except that at times like these it was his turn to follow her, and that's what he did for his anxiety.
Louise is a spoiled rich girl who comes from abroad to study at the same school as an exchange student who met and they became very close some years ago and since then had become almost inseparable. Well, what happened was that of this curious couple she was the dominant one and constantly tries to make things go her way. It is not that she was a self-centered, narcissistic and manipulative person, she was a very good girl, smiling, friendly, imperative and sometimes haughty and somewhat spoiled, but there were times that he couldn't help but think that she was taking advantage of his good-natured and naïve character to have what she wants manipulating complaining to him for not having it to the point of leaving him really exhausted to leave her satisfied.
Now with all the mess of her was over, he only had to get to his apartment to rest a little and start studying for the exams of a few days.
Just as he was about to insert the key over the door of his apartment, he noticed that someone else inserted his into another door that was right next to where he was. This person was a young man almost his age, he could not see his face because he was on his side, but he noticed that his skin was slightly tanned. Her hair was disheveled with several framed ends on several sides. He wore a white waist-length shirt, dark gray pants and wore a red scarf around his neck.
"Um, are you my neighbor?" He asked the newcomer who stopped at what he was doing and looked out of the corner of his eye at the guy next door.
"My name is Saji Crossroad. I live here with my older sister." Saji introduced himself kindly. "What's your name?"
The newly arrived boy remained silent without saying a word for a brief moment as he continued to look at Saji out of his right corner showing a brownish chestnut eye. It was only an instant that he finally answered.
"Kamal Majirif."
Saji blinked confusingly at the name before speaking. "K-Kamal?"
An instant later the sound of the keys "clicking" on the door of "Kamal" was heard.
"What a weird name. Nice to meet-
He couldn't finish the sentence when his new neighbor opened the door, removed the keys from the doorknob, and then entered the room without saying anything at all and left Saji completely alone outside. Saji just looked puzzled and confused by the unfriendly attitude that his new "neighbor" had just made. He just let out a sigh of disappointment.
"What an antisocial guy."
He had no idea where this strange guy had come from, but he had a feeling that they were probably don't going the best friends, at least for now. He couldn't tell if he also had a bad day coming here and felt tired or something and needed to rest a bit. Maybe if he gave him a little space to adapt to this environment, maybe he would open up a little and they would learn to get to know each other. Or so Saji thought.
With that, he decided to ignore the unfriendly gesture of the new neighbor and immediately entered his apartment.
"I'm back."
As soon as he entered, he see his older sister Kinue, opening a closet to get some sneakers and then putting them on.
"What? Work?" Saji asked, deducing what his sister was going to do.
"They called me out..." Kinue replied hurriedly as she squatted down to take off her sneakers and put on the new ones. "I've been busy lately, because of Celestial Being."
"That again?"
The reporter steps to the door before taking one last look at her brother.
"Make yourself some dinner. See you later!" With that Kinue goes to the door to leave her brother alone. Soon after, Saji walked into the TV room and then receives a call from his pocket. The student took out his mobile phone to answer.
"Hello. Saji?" Lousie spoke on the other line. It sounded a bit rushed.
"Lousie, what's the matter?" Saji asked, noticing his friend's hurried tone.
"Turn on the news." That was all she answered.
"What?"
"Just turn it ton!"
The young man did what she was told to him do and turns on the TV to watch Orb's weather channel, only to change it to an event that was happening in Northern Ireland.
"At daybreak today, the Real IRA, the Northern Ireland terrorist organization officially declared that it would completely cease all terrorist activity." Explained the news as Saji paid attention to the TV.
Saji sat on a sofa listening carefully to the news, while the news changes the screen in an Ulster neighborhood, where a reporter indicated what happened.
"As a result, the war that has continued in Northern Ireland for four hundred years has come to an end, giving road to peace."
Saji's expression was dumbfounded upon hearing what happened.
"This means..."
"According to the authorities, the private paramilitary organization Celestial Being has...
"Isn't this amazing?" Lousie asked on the other line. "I wonder what'll happen with the paper on what we learned today."
Saji ignored what his friend said about the exam they had to do about the conflict that had been carried out perpetually and that was not expected to end overnight in this way. His mind was only focused on one thing regarding the events that were happening today and this was something that had not been seen every day for centuries, but he could feel it...
The world...
is changing.
Well, that was all for today. It was a little longer than expected and all. Now let's talk a little about this specific chapter. As you may have seen, everything stayed mostly faithful to canon, except for some new dialogue and extra scenes such as Billy telling Graham about the Freedom, Professor Eifman's participation in Project G (along with Erica Simmons of Morgenröte), etc.
I also hope I gave a good description of Louise if only from Saji's perspective.
Oh, and one last thing of note, at least for me, was Setsuna's introduction to Saji. Instead of exposing his name in his code like in canon, he responded with his other name (Kamal Majirif) since the scene of Saji being duzzed by the last name "Seiei" seemed very silly to me and even more so when his last name is Crossroad.
Ja ne!