I do not own the rights to Gundam Seed, Iron Blooded Orphans, Wing or Gundam Build Fighter/Try. All characters that are not my original characters are owned by their respective series creators. Please enjoy! Credit to the original plot device and the zero system goes to Nemesis Astrea. Any custom Gunpla credit also goes to their respective creators and developers unless stated otherwise.
Flay sighed as she changed the towel on Sai's forehead. He panted in his sleep as his body fought with the new attachment to his spine. She felt bad he had done something so reckless as try to pilot one of the gundams. The Strike sure after all he was jealous of her doting on Kira… But to think he even went as far as putting on their flight suit… What was he thinking?
Finally Sai's eyes started to open and he slowly brought an arm to his forehead. Turning to see Flay he smiled. "Hey… You're here. I didn't expect to see you at my bedside." Said Sai as he reached out to touch Flay's cheek but she stopped him.
"No Sai. I'm not here as your fiance anymore. I'm here as your friend. I don't care what daddy says." Said Flay as she gently moved his hand back towards him till he let it rest beside him.
Sai's eyes watered and he couldn't help but sniffle. "Why… What did I do wrong?" asked Sai as he tried to make sense of Flay's words.
"Nothing. Our engagement was a political one and verbal only. There was no ring or proposal involved. I should let you know I slept with Kira… But I'm not interested in him anymore either. My only interest now is to support you both as pilots." Said Flay. Sai raised an eyebrow at that.
"Pilots… You mean I've been added to the pilot roster? But I could barely get the torment to move properly." Said Sai as he sat up but Flay pushed him back down.
"Rest. You're on the pilot roster because of the Alaya-Vijnana system on your back now. Lily's friend and benefactor from another world even sent you your own machine. The medics couldn't remove the Alaya-Vijnana in time before it fused to you. When the doctor has cleared you you can go examine it. You also were given a field promotion to Ensign." Said Flay.
Sai sighed and looked up at the ceiling. "So I did all that, mutilated my body on accident trying to impress you…And you are breaking off our engagement?" asked Sai.
Flay nodded. "I'm sorry. If you had come to me before.." she started to say but Sai burst up and into her face.
"I did! I tried and tried to get you to talk to me after we landed but you refused! Kept telling me it wasn't my problem and to leave you alone!" he shouted and Flay leaned back.
"And that's why to atone for my actions I can not marry you…But I will do all I can to support you as a pilot. The good news is that with you switching to being a pilot a position opened on the bridge… So I will be taking your spot as electronic warfare and enemy ident specialist. That is… If you choose to be a pilot. Lily won't force you to pilot the new gundam." Said Flay as she looked away.
Sai laid back down and groaned. "This ship needs all the defenders it can get… Why would I not pilot? Maybe if I do that you'll see I'm worth the time for you to marry." Said Sai as he sat up, seeing the doc walk in. It was time he got cleared so he could go see this machine of his.
Tekkadan joins the Archangel
"Alternate mars, several years after the McGillis fareed incident, Kassapa factory"
Nadi yukinojo kassapa sighed as he looked over a group photo of Tekkadan. He missed so many of those kids. Some had grown and had kids of their own, hell he even had gotten married and had a couple. But business had waned over the past several months after it accidentally got out that most of his workers were former Tekkadan members. Some people saw it as a sign they had good intentions and brought in more work, other times it made people pull jobs that they were counting on getting paid by.
As he sat in his office his phone began to ring. Checking the number he expected it to be Kudelia or Atra wanting something fixed on their farm… But it came up as an unknown number. Picking up the phone he answered, "Kassapa factory, Nadi speaking, what can we do for ya?"
It took a moment but the person on the other end sounded like they had fumbled with their phone. "H-hi. My name is Amy… Let's go with doe. Anyways I am calling because I would like to engage you and several of your crew members for your expertise in working on… Gundams." Said the woman on the other side.
That caused Nadi to narrow his eyes. "How do you know about that?" he asked as he was tempted to hang up.
"Let's just say… Well I'll be frank since the cats are out of the bag in the other world. I'm not from your world. Where I come from, your whole story is just an anime, a cartoon. Now before you hang up hear me out. I can make this worth your while, I can fill your bank account so full you will never have to worry about business booming or failing ever again. Hell you could have five more kids and send them to college, full ride, and still have plenty left over for a nice nest egg. Please I'm not crazy just hear me out." Said the woman.
Nadi leaned back in his chair. "Fine…I'm listening. But only because I don't have any pressing matters." He said, lying as he saw Yamagi waving for him to come out to the factory floor.
"Thank you. In another world I have friends utilizing Gundam frames to fight a war. They have mechanics but they are not as familiar with frame type mobile suits as you are. I would like to contract you and your Tekkadan crew members to put on the jackets again and come help them. I'm not asking you to fight, but their ship… It's already on a skeleton crew. You would at least let their techs have a chance to really relax. And you will see technology you have never dreamed of. What do you say? I'm not asking to get the whole band back together, I just need you and your mechanic people." Said Amy as she spoke on the phone, still unbelievable she broke the zero system code to allow essentially trans-dimensional communication.
Leaning forward, Nadi narrowed his eyes once more. "And just how long are we talking? How long till we can come back?" asked Nadi.
"Oh that's easy. With my technology it will only be a day or two that you're gone in your time, but you will likely be gone for the better part of six months to a year there. What do you say?" asked Amy, starting to sound desperate.
Nadi finally nodded even though she couldn't see it. "Sure. Let me talk to my people and we will get our stuff gathered. But I have a condition." He said as he stood up and motioned to Yamagi to come to him instead.
"And what is that?" Amy replied while biting her lip, waiting for the condition.
"Since you have this other worldly technology…Can you possibly bring folks back from the dead?" asked Nadi.
"Not exactly from the dead… But I can pull them from a timeline and re-insert them into yours. I can't resurrect all of Tekkadan though. That would break things." Said Amy.
Nadi shook his head. "No, not everyone. Just two. Mikazuki Augus and Akihiro Altland. I…they didn't deserve the deaths they got." he said, having always felt bad for leaving the two teens behind at the last battle.
Amy nodded on her end. "That I can arrange… But if I do that I can't promise such a big lump sum of money. What I can do instead is give a large sum to each of you and try to push some business your way." Said Amy.
Nadi nodded. "Ok…Then count us in. And you don't have to bring them back now. Later… When we get back please."
"Of course. You have 5 hours. Then a black hole/portal thing will open in your work yard. Just walk on through and you will be transported to a desert area just outside a rebel camp. From there link up with the Archangel crew and that's who you will be working with." Said Amy.
Nadi nodded and hung up, going to inform the appropriate workers to get out their old Tekkadan gear.
Tekkadan joins the Archangel
"Reality"
Amy spun in her chair as she reveled in her genius. She had just spoken first with Asny from the cosmic era and now to Nadi yukinojo kessapa in the post calamity war era. This was amazing. Now she just needed to find a way to get her friends OUT of the cosmic era.
Turning to the last friend of the former battle team, she smiled and watched as he worked tirelessly on his own laptop, trying his best to work out the formula to retrieve their friends as well. Whenever he needed a break he had at least three different models in the works around him.
Checking her computer she had a timer for the Tekkadan universe to tell her when five hours had passed. It would only take a couple minutes. But she waited regardless.
Tekkadan joins the Archangel
Murrue had her arms crossed and stood outside the Archangel. She had Mu with her while Natarle handled the bridge and all the fresh supplies they got. She had gotten a cryptic message from what she assumed was Lily's friend Amy, telling her to be outside and watch for a small portal of sorts. Supposedly she was sending them some help to bolster their crew size a bit.
Thinking it a joke she began to turn around but Mu stopped her. "Hey look…who is that?" he asked as he pointed to a group of young men as well as a dark skinned man. They all had rucksacks on their back except the dark skinned man who instead was carrying it beside him.
Waving to them murrue motioned for them to come to them.
It took a few minutes but the four men walked up and the older man set his bag down. Murrue noticed his legs were made of metal. She wondered what happened to cause him to require prosthetics.
"You must be Murrue Ramius. I'm Nadi Yukinojo Kassapa, also known as old man to most of these youngsters. I understand you have three gundam frames that will need regular maintenance." Said Nadi as he held his hand out and Murrue shook it.
"That would be correct. I've asked Murdoch if he really needed this help and he told me that some more first hand knowledge would be great. While we can work on the Strike all day long…The most our techs have been able to do for the Gundam frames is reload them and paint them…And swap a single shoulder armor. They are also willing to teach you how to work on the Strike if you would like to help there so they can rest and cycle shifts better." Said Murrue as she knew the moment they reached Alaska, questions would be asked as to why they were allowed near the Strike. But when you ran a skeleton crew and had people offering to help…You didn't turn it down.
Nadi chuckled and nodded. "Sure. We are used to working under strenuous conditions. You got bunks for us too or are we gonna have to make some in the hangar. Doesn't really matter to us but this is the first time on a real warship. The Isaribi was an assault ship sure, but it was no warship." Said Nadi as he picked his bag back up.
"We have already arranged for you four to share quarters if that's ok. Our standard crew quarters include two bunk beds per room." Stated Murrue.
All four men nodded. "Like old times then. This is gonna be fun." Said Yamagi as he looked at the ship.
Murrue smiled and motioned for them to follow as she turned around and headed back to the ship.
Tekkadan joins the Archangel
Nadi couldn't believe what he was seeing. It was almost like being in the Isaribi again during the last days of Tekkadan. Before him were, granted radically customized versions of the rebake full city, Flauros, and the Barbatos Lupus Rex.
"Well… At least we will be working on machines we are semi familiar with." Said Yamagi as he looked to Nadi. Nadi had a tear come to his eye as he thought about what happened in that final battle.
"Let's go get our bunks setup. Looks like they don't need maintenance at the moment. After that we can come and give them a full overhaul and tune up." Said Nadi as he led the other three young men further into the ship.
Tekkadan joins the Archangel
Sai walked into the hangar in just his uniform pants, still adjusting to the idea that this thing was on his back. Looking around he noticed the machine flay spoke of and walked over towards it. It was an olive drab green with some light camouflaging to it. It looked like it would fight better in a forest to be honest.
Sai decided to take the elevator up and get a closer look at the machine. Running his hand over the metal he had to admit the thought of piloting scared him. He wasn't a coordinator. Hell he wasn't even Lily with her obvious military training. How was he supposed to keep up with three other machines?
"You the kid who gets to pilot this beast?" asked an unfamiliar voice. Turning he found Nadi walking along the gangplank. Holding his hand out, Sai took it and shook it for a moment.
"You can just call me old man. I'll be leading up the Gundam frame maintenance crew. There's only four of us though so try not to come back in a thousand little pieces." He said with a chuckle.
Sai nodded and looked to the Torment next to his Gundam and saw two young men wearing tank tops working on it.
"I'm Sai Argyle. I take it you're all from another world too? Same one as Lily and Asny?" he asked as he moved towards the open cockpit.
Nadi shook his head. "No but we are from the world these frames are from. Guess someones been talking up a story if they think these are from the same world as them." Said Nadi as he helped Sai into the cockpit. Unlike the partial cockpit of the Torment and the Gunpla cockpit of the Demon King, the Flauros had been worked tirelessly into having a proper cockpit.
As Sai took his seat inside he looked over all the controls. "So this is my machine right? Like…If I wanna customize it I can?" He asked.
Nadi scratched his cheek but responded, "Yeah I guess. I mean honestly it's gonna be a pain to completely repaint it but yeah you could. I dunno about custom parts."
Sai shook his head. "No…Like, can I decorate the cockpit?" he asked as he tried to find the best spot to put a picture of Flay. She was the reason he would be piloting this machine. The least he could do is have a picture of her as his last image before he potentially dies.
Nadi blinked. "Oh yeah…But you're not gonna wanna go crazy otherwise you risk injuring yourself when the machine is put through a ton of G's." Said Nadi.
Sai nodded. "Oh I only have one thing I wanna put in here." He said as he looked around the cockpit. "So what is this machine designed to do? They each have a specialization right? I heard Kira talking about the Torment being a sniper unit while the Demon King is a bruiser. Am I right?" asked Sai. He wanted to learn all he could about his machine and the ones he would be being fielded with so he could be a better pilot than Kira.
Nadi nodded. "Yeah actually. Granted I knew them as the Gusion rebake full city and the Barbatos Lupus Rex. Yours at least has a name I'm used to in its name. Your's is the Flauros howitzer. It's a shelling unit, basically meant to bombard the enemy from a distance but you have options to let you get into medium and close range. However I would stay out of close range engagements as best you can cause the Flauros, while equipped for it it still is your weakest range. If I had to put ranges on your machines, I would make sure you're firing as far as you can. Let the Torment as you call it handle medium range and then leave the CQB fighting to the Demon King. The Strike I guess depends on the striker pack it has." Said Nadi as he explained the Flauros howitzer to Sai.
Sai nodded and reached out to the controls. "Is there any way I can run simulations in this thing? I wanna start practicing immediately." Said Sai
Nadi nodded again. "Yep. Let me just get you hooked up to the Alaya-Vijnana System and then I can set your cockpit to be a simulator." Stated the old man as he walked off. Sai was confused for a moment but he heard Nadi shout to his people, "Hey toss me a whisker cover!" and a moment later he was back with a similar mound to what was on Lily and Asny's back.
"This will connect you to the Alaya-Vijnana system and allow you to control the machine." Said Nadi as he reached in and attached the cover to Sai's whisker.
From there they got the gundam set up to run simulations and Sai spent the entire afternoon practicing and learning his various equipment.
Tekkadan joins the Archangel
Waltfeld smirked as he looked up at the Duel and Buster. The Duel was back from a refit and Yzak a health check at Gibraltar. The Duel now sported a new set of armor, its assault shroud. He had to admit if he saw the entire collection together it would seem like an impressive force. Though by his records the AEGIS was meant to be the unit's command suit. To him the Strike should have been the command unit. But then again they were never intended to be ground troops and the mobile armor mode of the aegis made it ideal for a commander's suit in space while the Strike filled the role of the multi-purpose support suit.
He turned to the young pilots and frowned when asked about how they fared against the Archangel and her demons. "We fared about as well as the Le Creuset team. Though they seem to be managing just fine with mostly the Demon King." Said Waltfeld, remembering how it trounced his personal team of BuCUEs.
Yzak and Dearka both just looked at each other and then back to Waltfeld. It was clear they didn't care as much about the Demon King as he did.
This just made Andrew grin. "Good. Eat up and try to relax, we'll be going after the legged ship once we have everyone onboard. Oh...and I'll give you your orders now since they are simple. When you launch your job will be to keep bravo two, aka the Torment and their new fighter at bay. Leave the Strike to me and leave the Demon King to our new pilot, Tsuga Akira. And should you face Miss Solace…Then I wish you good luck." He stated before heading back into the Lesseps.
Yzak growled loudly. "How dare he! He may be higher ranked but the Demon King is my kill. I deserve payback for the humiliation I received in space!" he shouted as he threw his helmet on the ground. Dearka sighed though and picked the helmet up. "Chill out Yzak. As much as I hate to say it, this Tsuga Akira will likely get killed anyway and then the Demon King is all yours, new armor and all.." He said, trying to play to the silver haired coordinators' anger to try and calm him down. Yzak nodded, silently agreeing with him and heading onto the land battleship to grab a bite to eat before they moved out.
Tekkadan joins the Archangel
It was the next day and between the Desert Dawn and the Archangel command staff they had decided it was the best time to make their move on the Desert Tiger. They would worry about getting out of the territory once he was dealt with.
As the ship moved out all the pilots were eating a meal together, La Flaga's idea. "Can't pilot on an empty stomach right?" he had said.
However the mood was tense, namely between Sai and Kira…Well mostly Sai. Sai was shirtless, his body covered in sweat as he had been practicing all morning. The two female Gundam frame pilots were wearing tank tops, the real deal whisker covers already on their backs instead of needing to use their bio-weave suits.
Kira and Mu were in their flight suits as well as everyone ate. Finally Sai spoke up. "I think Kira should stay out of this fight. You know the Desert Tiger, it's gonna be hard for you to kill him. Let Lily or Asny handle him." Said Sai as he tried to use this battle to prove himself.
Kira looked to Sai and glared. "I'll be fine. My feelings about the Desert Tiger are not a problem. He is an enemy combatant and I'll put him down." Said Kira as he continued to eat angrily now.
Lily and Asny looked at each other and shrugged. There was no point trying to stop Sai even though neither of them felt he was ready for such a big battle.
Finally the alarm was sounded and the five pilots all got up, running to put their food trays away before heading to the hangar. Mu stopped in the ready room to explain the techs over comms that skygrasper one needed to be loaded with the launcher configuration while skygrasper two would get the sword pack. "Why load up both planes?" asked a tech and La Flaga growled. "Cause it's faster for me to change planes than equipment!" he shouted before ending the call.
While he did that the four MS pilots loaded into their machines, the Tekkadan boys helped attach their Alaya-Vijnana systems. Sai was eager to get out there so he went to step up onto the catapult first. Lily made the Demon King put out its hand. "Let them launch the Strike, then me. You and Asny need to stand guard on the ship. I want you both to pick a leg and sit on it." Stated Lily. Asny nodded but Sai growled.
"Sai you're the new kid here, first learn to crawl, then we will let you run with us." Said Asny as she tried to calm him. Sai just rolled his eyes and let the Strike get loaded onto the catapult. As it launched Lily let the skygrasper launch. Since the Gundam frames didn't really need the catapult it was better that they went last.
As Lily rocketed out of the tunnel she was surprised when she was knocked out of the sky by something. Crashing into the ground she tried to figure out what hit her. Looking up she was just in time to see the snake themed shield of the Sandrock from before retracting along a wire to the Sandrocks arm. Once it was back the Gundams eye's flashed and it boosted over towards Lily.
Quickly correcting her stance Lily boosted back before juking to the right to dodge a couple slashes from the Gundams heat shotels. Raising her left arm, Lily fired several 200MM gun rounds which the Desert Viper blocked with its shields.
A dance began between the two Gundams, with Lily moving like a feral wolf, pouncing at the Sandrock only to have it dodged or even flipped over the Viper on its shield. Lily was even using her tails to try and corral the enemy into certain positions where it could get a good hit with its sword/mace.
As the battle raged around them it was clear they were in their own duel, same as Kira when the La-GoWe showed up. At one point the Sandrock attempted to catch Lily in its pincer maneuver on one of its shields but instead it caught Lily's sword/mace. When this happened the Gundam fired its backup shoulder missiles mounted on its clavicle and Lily was forced back, dropping the mace.
Raising both arms Lily peppered the Viper in 200MM ammunition. As the Viper trudged through the fire it slowly started to take hits. Inside Tsuga was ignoring the warning alarm that her reactor was not able to feed her armor power faster than it could take the hits.
When Tsuga reached the Demon King she took a swipe at it with her shotel. She struck the Demon King's shoulder but found no purchase. Before Lily could jump back she swung again, this time upward. As the heated blade hit the Demon King's shoulder Lily was appalled to find it dig in…and ultimately cut her right arm off at the shoulder.
Jumping back the Demon King grabbed at its right shoulder and Lily howled in her cockpit. She had never received such damage while connected to the Alaya-Vijnana system, and it was shocking. She stumbled back and leaned forward, clutching her shoulder still.
As the Desert Viper took a step toward the Demon King, Tsuga was surprised to see steam exit the gundams vents. And its eyes went from green to red. As this happened the Gundam leaned forward before rocketing towards Tsuga.
The speed it moved at…It could move fast..but not that fast before! A BuCUE got close to their fight and as the Demon King juked and spun AROUND the Desert Viper, Tsuga watched it knee the BuCUE before all four of its tails launched and pierced the BuCUE.
As the four tails threw the BuCUE before it could explode the Gundam once more turned to her, all four tails launched out at her. "What is this power?" she asked herself before she dodged the gundams assault.
Tekkadan joins the Archangel
As the two of them fought with Lily having entered her own version of a berserk state, Sai was on the right leg of the Archangel acting as a mobile suit deterrent. He had to admit even just doing this he felt a thrill in piloting. He also swore he felt a second presence in his mind. He would have to ask the other pilots about that.
Pulling the trigger on his railguns he took aim at the Lesseps. Firing one he managed to take out one of its cannons. Firing the other he hit a ZuOOT that was stationed on the bridge. He could see the Duel and Buster taking pot shots as their forces, namely the skygraspers as Cagalli had come and grabbed skygrasper 2 and launched.
He so badly wanted to take one of them out. To prove he could do this better than Kira. Turning his machine he took aim at the Buster. Charging his rail guns and aiming his tank cannon since he was in shelling mode, he fired all three at once. Watching on his monitor he cheered as he managed to hit the buster square in the chest…With his tank cannon causing an explosion and his railgun rounds missing by inches. Sadly when the smoke cleared he saw that the Busters' chest was fine and the Gundam overall was in perfect condition.
"Don't focus on the GAT series. Unless you can hit them with your railgun you're just wasting ammunition. That armor is too strong to pierce normally." Said Asny as she contacted him.
Fall of the Tiger
Down below Lily was still in her berserk state. Juking around Tsuga, Lily came up and bashed her back side with her remaining arm before sweeping her legs. When the Desert Viper began to fall, Lily pounced on it only for Tsuga to boost "up" and away from her, causing her arm to dig into the sand. Her tails sought out the Desert Viper and Tsuga found herself dodging and blocking them until Lily was back in her face. Kneeing her and sending her up, Lily spun and kicked the Sandrock Gundam away, pile bunker activating and driving into the battered chest piece of the Desert Viper. Tsuga was certain that the Demon King would not stop until she was dead.
Getting a retreat signal from the Lesseps she started to make her way back. But Lily just followed her, the deadly dance between the two causing her to have to move in circles at times and not. Finally something got the Demon King to stop in its tracks.
Rushing away, Tsuga kept an eye on the Demon King's location but watched as it seemed to shut down, eyes going dark and the whole machine slumped.
What had happened was Asny, yelling at Lily, had tried to get her to stop naturally, let her choose to stop. But when that didn't work she resorted to using one of Lily's trigger phrases for her PTSD. That had pulled her out of her berserk state real quick as she broke down in her cockpit.
As the Torment came over to collect her and protect her from any subsequent enemy attacks Asny watched as the Duel and Buster had jumped off, both gundams having trouble in the sand as they tried to come after the Demon King. With a few 120mm rounds from Asny's gun's she was able to dissuade them as their battery power was low enough they didn't dare mess with her.
Fall of the Tiger
The following day as the Archangel prepared to shove off and leave for the ocean.
"That's why you have to bring me along! I know more about what's going on on earth than you do right now! And what about next time you get a supply shortage? I can help with that too, I have contacts." Said Cagalli as she tried to fight for a spot on the Archangel.
"Cagalli…" said Murrue as she tried to reason with the girl.
"I'm not going all the way to Alaska, and it's not like you can count on Lily's friend's random kindness, especially out on the ocean. And you guys need a competent pilot for skygrasper 2. I can be that pilot and just help out in general!" exclaimed the blonde princess as Kisaka stopped by and was going through a crate. He sighed in exhaustion of dealing with the princess…But he still would stand by her no matter what.
"Look if you won't take me with you then I'll just join those Tekkadan boys. I can be a wrench jockey if I need to. I can learn. With or without your permission I'm coming with you. It's already decided." Said Cagalli as she turned around and finally left the captain alone.
And within hours of that argument the Archangel was well underway on the high seas.
Fall of the Tiger
And that's chapter 9. Yay honestly thought we would be in Orb by now…But ya know it is what it is. I'm trying to keep the chapters similarly themed to their Celestial Seed counterpart…But I'm finding it's hard without some of Noah's issues and dilemmas as well as his recruitment of Nicol to write out large chapters. Anyways. Thanks to everyone reviewing and reading.
Have an awesome weekend folks!