Author: took a bit of inspiration from other authors work 'Eyes in Seed' I love Nemesis Astrea work
Disclaimer: I do not own Ranma or Gundam SEED FREEDOM
Chapter 3
GAT-X105B/ST Star Build Strike
vs
STTS-909 Rising Freedom
Cosmic Era 75
Aprillius One, Hanger Bay 7
After the introduction, Ranma and Overtechnology crew and personnel began preflight check up on the Star Build Strike for Ranma mobile suit certification test in a few days, so they started connecting power cables to the suit to power it up to make sure that the suit is in optimum efficiency when the day comes.
GAT-X105B/ST Star Build Strike Gundam is one of many versions of the original GAT-X105 Strike and one of Sei Iori best creations. Kira stared in awe at the Star Build Strike and couldn't believe that its lineage is traced back to his old Strike because there was barely any part that is the same except on the headset.
Ranma showed Kira the cockpit of the Star Build Strike and sees how different it is, which is an understatement. Meaning, there is only a pilot seat inside no controls, but when Ranma sits down, he pulled out from his pocket of what looked like a cellphone as a stand appeared in front of the pilot seat and when he placed the cellphone, the cockpit came alive with particles of energy of some kind that swirled and formed into consoles and monitors and 360 degrees view screen.
Ranma explained to Kira that its called hard light technology, something Overtechnology is planning to release in the market next year, with state-of-the-art computers on cell phones, PC and tablet that project holographic viewscreens and keyboard with a processing unit equivalent to that of a supercomputer.
Another difference in controls are these two strange glowing balls of light that Ranma is holding on and they control all the suits movements to a tee.
"There are several versions that came from the105 Strike but this, this is one of Sei best design yet" Ranma explained
"This is incredible" Kira remark as he bombarded Ranma with questions
"Did Morgenroete knew about this?"
"No Kira, and I doubt Ms. Simmons knew that this was in development but she does know about Sei Iori impressive gift since he's the one who made the 105 Strike from the plastic model to the real thing"
"What are its capabilities, armaments, what's its power source and," Kira was shooting questions one after another
"Easy, easy Kira if you want to know go ask Sei" Ranma thumbing at the direction of cheerfully Sei talking to the tech officers
"Of course, some of the technology is completely new, unknown and also classified"
"Meaning, you won't let us examine it"
"Would you have allowed Alliance technicians to examine the Rising Freedom?" Ranma asks
Kira thought of that, and he agree with Ranma "No, of course not, its Zaft technology"
"So, as per agreement with the Earth Alliance and the Atlantic Federation, our tech is off limits for now and this hanger bay restricted only for Overtechnology crew, personnel and security"
"What about their accommodation?"
"The transport ship is more than adequate for Sei and his team while they are here" Ranma answered as he uses the cameras to zoom in on Sei, which Sei is signaling to bring out the suits power source.
"That looks like our cue to go over there now" he pushed out from the seat and exit the cockpit followed by Kira "I guess it's time for us to show you what this thing is powered"
"What's its power source?" Kira asks curious and Ranma just smiled
"You'll see" he said as he watches the tech team bring down a box which contains the Star Build Strike power source. Sei starts to give explanation
"There are several types of power source that mobile suits use, one is the common ultra-compact battery pack that limits a suit operational time, the other is nuclear powered like the one used by the X20 Freedom, a nuclear fission reactor is honestly…it's inefficient"
'Inefficient' Kira thought
"Overtechnology look thru the data on the reactor and despite being a marvel of Plants technical ingenuity of making it small enough to fit in a mobile suit it doesn't give enough power to quick charge the capacitors of the beam weapons." Sei looks towards Kira
"Commander Yamato"
"Y-yes"
"When you were piloting the X10 Freedom its nuclear reactor, how long did it take to recharge all your beam weapons after every discharge, especially on Burst Mode?" Sei asks
Kira felt reluctant to answer something that's highly classified. However, Sei said that they have data on the Freedom, so someone answered it for him
"It's a 15 percent efficiency drop, about point five seconds slower and kept on adding after every use of the beam weapons and the constant use of the phase shift armor, propulsion systems, life support and others"
To everyone who turns their head towards Ranma and shrugs "Alliance Intelligence has data on the Freedom before the second war and Blue Cosmos pretty much ignored a lot of Intel, saying it was useless information. What a bunch of idiots" he remarks at the end
Everyone gave little laugh in agreement that Blue Cosmos are idiots
"Well, that efficiency drop won't happen to my Star Build Strike" Sei nodded to the tech boys started to unlock the secure box to reveal what's inside, and inside is a pulsating device of unimaginable power.
"This is an honest to God actual matter-antimatter reactor core…or we just called it, a warp core because it sounds cool"
"A matter-antiwhatnow!?" Kira looks at the device in disbelief "Ranma, this is got to be a joke, I mean a warp core?"
Ranma couldn't help but be amused in people reaction when you tell them that something that's not real is real "No joke Kira, this is an actual warp core and no, this is not some prop from a movie studio, this is real, and this alone can power this colony for years and then some"
"But this is impossible!"
"Two hundred years ago, it was a prop in a popular television series and since then, hardcore fans theorized, did the math and think of a way to build it but couldn't with current technology back then and only now that we have the machines and materials that we are now capable of building it, and so, here it is"
"If this is a warp core reactor then that means you have…" Kira looks to the direction of the Overtechnology vessel that's docked and seeing Sei and Ranma smiling at Kira making a correct guess, he started sweating at the implications of such an advance technology and remembering his conversation with Mwu a while back
Flashback several days ago
"With BC kept avoiding him, the officer corps of the alliance who are not BC members was able to in secret, organize a command structure to retake the alliance from Blue Cosmos and Saotome became something of a repellant then after the war, whole divisions that disappeared have reappeared out of nowhere with new commanders. And so began a massive purge in the Alliance. After the war, Major Saotome was assigned to a new program called Project: Macross"
"What's that?" Lacus asks
"I don't know, all I know is the name of the project, but scuttlebutt said it's some sort of fleet modernization program and it starts with the seventh fleet and the ones doing it is a new company called Overtechnology how and where they are doing this is a complete unknown
Flashback end
The Earth Alliance now has access to game changing technology once thought of as science fiction is now science fact.
"Yes Kira, that transporter is an honest to god starship but still a transporter" Ranma confirms
"Now way," Kira replied breathless with amazement
"Unfortunately, we won't be installing that warp core on the suit" Sei said
"W-what!?" Kira felt like he just facefaulted "After all that revealing and you're not going to install it, are you just messing with me, is this even real?"
"No, that thing is too powerful, we'll be putting something else in and yes, that is real, Kira" Sei said
Meanwhile, Ranma looked through his watch, and looked at Kira and it seems like Kira just overstayed his welcome because a certain girlfriend of his is waiting for him to come home. And so, Ranma grab him by the shoulder
"Ranma what?"
"Time for you to go home, lover boy" he exclaimed
"But I'm not finished," Ranma cut him off "Hey! Let go!"
"We'll finish this tomorrow. Right now, your girlfriend is cooking your dinner, and you shouldn't be late" Ranma drag Kira by the scruff towards the exit and Kira try to struggle to let him go but couldn't
"Word of advice, never let your girlfriend wait for you!" he told him as he kicks him out
"Ranma, hey!" Kira growled as he wasn't exactly happy being manhandled, 'I am a commodore for crying out loud, he should show some respect to the rank'
Kira was about to confront Ranma when he suddenly found himself looking at a huge demonic head (think of Soun Tendo demonic head) red eyes, pale face, horns and snake tongue and smoke billowing all around
Kira felt like all the hair in his back just stood up "What the,"
"KIRA YAMATO, GO HOME AND TREAT YOUR GIRLFRIEND LIKE A GIRLFRIEND! NOWWW!" it bellows at him which very much made him run or float away in fright since the bay is completely zero gravity.
"I'm going, I'm going!"Kira replied as he heads for the elevator his heart racing and hyperventilating 'What the hell was that!?'
Now with Kira gone, Ranma closed the door with a hiss of the door and a heave of sigh and went back to Sei and the others
"The guy is clueless" he mutters as the crew and personnel laugh at Ranma antics of using demonic head to scare Kira off.
"He's got the greatest girlfriend in the universe and he's not treating her like one" he remarks
"Geez Ranma, you sounded like my dad" Sei remark
"I'm 223 years old and even though I was asleep for 200 years of it, I do feel like that old Sei" Ranma said and pointed at Sei "That's goes for you too. Go to bed, now!"
"Hey!" Sei protested
"I mean it Sei, I promised your parents to send you to sleep when it's time, as a prerequisite of letting you come here" with a snap of a fingers, a person in a suit, grab Sei by the arm and drag him back to the ship
"Ranmaaaa! I am not a child anymore" Sei Iori cried
"Make sure he brushes his teeth properly and he wear his pajama" he ordered
"Yes Sir!" replied the man who turns out to be a butler. (yeah, they brought a butler)
"Good now," he looks to the others and pointed at the warp core
"Take this back to the ship and let's begin to unpack the rest of the equipment" he said and inquire
"Is the anti-surveillance field still active?"
"Yes sir!" one of the tech crew that's monitoring the device replied
"Good, now we need to unpack the shield emitters and the gravity field generators and place it in key places that we need to and let the next shift complete the rest of it"
"Yes sir!" all saluted and quickly went to their assigned duties.
The next day
Back at hanger bay 7 and at around 7am in the morning, the tech crew is finishing the shield emitters installation and now testing the installed gravity field generator in the bay, all it needs is a few adjustments
"Were ready to turn it on Major Saotome" the tech operator reported and Ranma gave the signal
"Then power it on"
"Power on, thirty seconds before full charge, everyone on the ground!" he announced
Nobody noticed that several people were entering at the upper levels, and one was now floating down towards them at twenty feet. That person was Lacus, who came in this early morning to see Ranma to thank him for sending Kira home early for once, though she's curious about Kira strange story of a scary demon head that told him to go home.
She left Kira sound asleep at home in order to be fully rested for today and she's not at all happy to be bearer of bad news for Ranma
'I hope he won't be angry, wha?' she looks down
'Why is everyone down there like, they are waiting for something' she looks carefully and see that everyone was on the ground floor and looking at one direction that looks like a viewscreen
"Major Saotome" she called Ranma attention where at that very moment gravity became active and she was falling like a rock screaming
"Oh no! Lacus!" Ranma quickly flash step just in a nick of time to catch her in a bridal hold
"I got ya!" He held her close. The sudden gravity gave her a fright and it was lucky Ranma caught her before she hit the floor.
The feeling of someone violently grab at her was terrifying and she was holding on to Ranma for her dear life shaking in fright and yet something is still pushing her whole body down
"Wha-what just happen!?" she exclaimed "and why do I feel so heavy?"
Ranma assess the gravity field and it was too high
"Reset the field down to 1g, it's too high so adjust it now!" he ordered as the operator look back to the monitor to check and it was set to 3G which is too high, but for the crew and personnel who work with Overtechnology, 3G or 1G doesn't feel all that different to them anymore as their bodies adapted to the changing gravity thanks to company policy to make sure their employees adapted to the gravity field, which they have.
"Sorry sir, adjusting now" the operator slowly eases the gravity to 1G and Lacus felt better
"What, what was that?"
"You were caught in the gravity field" Ranma explained to Lacus
"Gravity field?"
Ranma head gestures to several devices around the bay
"Those produces artificial gravity field; you just walk in on a test run that we've been doing"
"Gravity generating devices? You have artificial gravity devices, Incredible" Lacus was amazed and surprised that they can create artificial gravity without the need for rotating sections. 'That kind of technology would be a great benefit for spaceships and space colonies'
"Ms. Clyne?"
"Yes?"
"You can let go of me now" Lacus arms was still around Ranma neck holding on to him even though her feet it was on the ground. She blushes at the closeness, the scent of sweat all over Ranma like he's wearing Old Spice cologne.
"I'm sorry" which she finally let go while blushing
"Now how in the world were you able to enter here, what did you do?" he asks critically as he look up to the upper floors to see people who seems frazzled by sudden weight which slammed on the floor.
"There were guards posted outside, and I had all the lock code changed when we took over this bay to make sure no unauthorized person can enter without permission" he said, and he look to her
"Well?" Lacus answered cutely
"I ask asks the guards to let me in and uhmn…"
Ranma answer came bouncing towards Lacus and into her hands "Haro! Haro!"
"Of course, your pink Haro" he sighs and shaking his head as he remembered from a file report that these things could unlock electronic doors like they did in the Archangel years ago.
"They could have called in first before they let you in!"
"I'm very sorry to have entered the bay without your permission" she apologized placing Haro between her and Ranma like she's hiding behind it as she's embarrassed for barging in unannounced
'So cute' one of the crew thought and Ranma would agree with him if he wasn't so annoyed
Ranma heaves a sigh "Well, what's done is done and I am glad you are not hurt" he said smiling at her
"So, what can I do for you madam president?" Ranma ask
"Oh right" she pulled out a tablet from her purse and she look hesitant to give it to Ranma
"I was against this, but your mobile suit certification test is today at noon" she said apologetic
"What! Today! I thought my test is in two days not today, we're not ready yet!" Ranma complained
"I am very sorry, but a member of the Plants council demanded to do this today due to security reasons"
"Security reasons?"
"The chairman of the PLANT National Defense Committee, Hari Jagannath is voicing disapproval and opposition of Overtechnology setting shop here with no monitoring and it's because of Overtechnology affiliation with Earth Alliance and, well…"
"I see" Ranma look towards the crew, and suddenly someone yelled
"We will be finishing preparation within the hour" Sei Walk out from the ship, still in his pajama holding a glass of water and toothbrush
"Ranma, let give them a show they will never forget, shall we?" Sei said smiling while holding a glass of water, a toothbrush and with some lather of toothpaste still in his mouth
Ranma bit his lip to suppress a laugh "Sei, please don't make grand speeches like that while you still have toothpaste lather on your mouth" which every crew is trying not to laugh at their boss. Even Lacus covered her mouth with Haro as not to show her amusement
"Oh! Ha! Ha! Guys!"
"Well, you heard him, we got two hours to get ready, let's get to it!" he ordered
Yes sir!"
Within the next two hours was a blur of activity, all to make the Star Build Strike fully operational before noon while under the watchful eyes of Lacus at the upper level, sitting on a chair with a table while being spoiled with tea, sweets and cookies while being waited by a butler of all things
"Is the tea, cookies and sweets to your liking madam president?" asks the butler
"It is excellent Mr. Hayate Ayasaki, thank you. Though I am surprised to know that there is a butler onboard" said Lacus
"I work for the Sanzenin household madam president" Hayate informed
"Sanzenin? Isn't that the wealthiest family in the world?" Lacus queried remembering the name because the Plants sold 10 unfinished colonies to someone named Nagi Sanzenin due to the Plants being short on cash. Selling 10 colonies that they couldn't complete, maintain or populate was a problem as the two wars have nearly bankrupted them as do most of the nations who were the players in the war.
The 10 colonies were towed away and brought close to a resource satellite at the opposite end of the Earth and since then, there was no news of what happened to them.
"Sei Iori and his parents is a close friend of the family, as they have an invested interest in Overtechnology"
"They own Overtechnology?" Hayate shook his head and clarified
"They have a seat at the board of directors, it's not wholly owned by one person, yet there is a chairman of the board"
"Interesting" she remark as information about Overtechnology is scarce and those who own that company are partly unknown except for a few. In fact, no one has even heard of them until CE73 right before the war started
"So, who is Overtechnology chairman of the board?"
"That, I can't tell you madam president, as I am not authorized to tell you that. But I do know a certain alliance officer who could tell you that" Hayate glance towards the Star Build Strike and Lacus got the hint
"I see"
At the Star Build Strike
"Looks like it's going well" Ranma remarked while on the seat and Sei is monitoring the suit systems.
"It's still below ninety percent peak efficiency Ranma. I am not sure you could last thru an obstacle course, let alone a duel with the Freedom at the end if it's this low" Sei said
"The objective here is to last longer than five minutes, earn points to make certification or reach the goal point and that defeating Kira's Rising Freedom is unnecessary" Ranma pointed out
"Maybe, but I want to see my suit beat them and I know you want to see how you hold up against the best mobile suit pilot in the world and that's Kira Yamato hands down" Sei said and Ranma can't argue with that
"I have to admit, I am excited to go one on one with him for real this time. He's quite good in piloting a mobile suit"
"Hey! Don't forget yourself. your simulation battles have shown,"
"Simulations can only get us far, the battlefield is unpredictable, Sei" Ranma cut in
"True, but I am betting my money on you because I know you are the best of the best, hands down!" Sei said confidently to Ranma, and he can't help but smile on Sei enthusiasm
"Thanks buddy, I will try not to disappoint you" and with a nod from Sei he quickly went out the cockpit just as Ranma was now suiting up, he glances towards where Lacus is on the screen and with a turn of the controls it zooms-in on her having a conversation with her assistant.
Ranma continues to admire Lacus, as only a few times in his life did he show such honest attention and admiration to another girl, compared to his former fiancée Akane, who he never once shows such attention to her because she's too much of an uncute, unsexy tomboy and doesn't know the meaning of the word, feminine beauty.
200 years in the past,
Nerima District, Japan
Tendo Household
The sound of a dinner plate that's violently been snap into two, reverberated all around the house like a gunshot.
Akane Tendo, ex-fiancée of Ranma Saotome was helping Kasumi Tendo, her sister washes the dishes as usual. Today, she was shaking in abject rage, one of her eyes was twitching in annoyance, where for some reason and she don't know why but…she senses that her dead ex-fiancé, had just compared her to another girl again and called her an uncute and unsexy tomboy in the afterlife.
"THAT BASTARD! If he wasn't dead, I'd kill him" she roars
"What's wrong Akane, is it Ranma again?" Kasumi ask as she put away another plate and seeing her sister this upset is quite a norm in the house
"I feel like, I have been compared to someone who is…beautiful, and what the hell does he mean I don't know the meaning of the word, feminine beauty!?"
Back to the Future
Ranma never thought that he'd be smitten by another girl again. He imagines that he was reaching out to touch the bangs of her hair and push it aside to see her face and Lacus touches his hand and turns to him to smile so sweetly
A chime from the communication system pulled Ranma back to reality, shaking away the daydream he's having and released an exhaustive sigh
'Will you knock it off Ranma, she already has a boyfriend you idiot!' He admonishes himself and zooms out the screens as he puts on his helmet and prepares the Star Build Strike it's debut in the world,
Still, he continues to admonish himself 'Furthermore, everybody loves her, so I'm not that different to everyone else who admires her, so stop having fantasies Saotome and focus!'
Meanwhile, Lacus feels very happy for some reason, then there was a feeling like someone caresses the bang of her hair, pushing it gently aside just to see her face. When she reached out with her hand there was nothing there to touch and no one was in front of her.
She doesn't know why but she looks towards the Star Build Strike as it moves to the launcher bay.
She was smiling
Outer space Zaft proving grounds hours later
Like some boxing ring in outer space where in one corner is the GAT-X105B/ST Star Build Strike and the other side is the STTS-909 Rising Freedom, only this is the obstacle course that Ranma needs to go thru for his mobile suit certification.
Cameras were all over the area along with spectators watching across the world
As time for the test nears, Kira opens a line to Ranma to have a conversation with him and apologize for the inconvenience.
"I am sorry for springing you this so early Major" Kira said apologizing 'I wasn't supposed to be part of this but the chairman of the National Defense Committee,"
"It's alright, commander, this isn't the first time I've dealt with politicians who are sometimes a sanctimonious pain in the ass" Ranma remark mockingly not knowing that their conversation is monitored by Zaft command at the combat information center where members of council and Lacus was there along with members of the press as this is a live broadcast for the first time.
"They even decided to broadcast this test of all things"
"Still, this isn't right. You should be given more time to prepare,"
"Well, they didn't give me more time and I doubt they will give me the time of day if I ask it!" Ranma then felt to yawn
"You look tired" Kira noticed
"No, I am cranky!" Ranma snap at Kira
"Sorry, I am not angry at you commander, or to Ms. Clyne it's that jerk who thought of doing this now is the one I blame…it feels like I'm dealing with a Djibril wannabe or worst, a Murata Azrael. Of course, I never meet the guy, but I know he's a freaking toad from what I heard"
"Uhmn, Ranma" Kira tried to warn him, that the comm are open to everyone but Ranma continues to ramble on
"Hari Jagannath, that's his name right, I mean he acts like someone shove a telephone pole up his ass, and a chunk of it is probably still in there, the poor snot" he said mocking
"Ranma, I don't think" Kira tried again to warn him, but he still rambles on
"I mean the guy said that he doesn't know anything about the 200+ soldiers who tried to lynch me the other day, so he's either stupid or incompetent or both that SOB!"
Zaft command Combat information Center
Hari Jagannath was grinding his teeth out of rage at the disrespectful words thrown at him by Ranma as the other council members and the world press at the media booth watching at the side as he fumes at Ranma remarks and went on and on and on.
"I am very much sure, that he will find an excuse or another to object to my joining COMPASS. Honestly, if he has problems with me, he can come to me and tell it to my face and not act like a fu***ng coward. But then, it's a good thing that he won't face me, for I would probably shove a sword down his throat and out thru his ass"
"That disgusting Natural. Who does he think he is!" Jagannath hollered out of rage and slamming his fist and did not care or unaware that the media is picking this up and broadcasting it worldwide.
"Just start the test already!" he yelled at the other officers, and the signal given
The test began and the goal of the test is to fight through an obstacle course of drone defenses, missile batteries and mobile suits, earn points with every hit, lose points when he's hit, while trying to reach a goal point where it's guarded by the Rising Freedom, and he needs to do it with a five-minute time limit, which it's supposed to be ten minutes.
To make sure that there are no casualties, all their weapons will carry non-lethal rounds of ammo and their beam weapons strength will be down to 30 percent with an automatic cut off device installed should anyone violate it. The beam weapons fire will be just strong enough to scratch the paint and register as a hit point.
Now, if Ranma loses points too much, he will be disqualified and lose his chance to be part of COMPASS.
A signal flare was fired, and the Star Build Strike finally showed its teeth in battle as it outmaneuvers remote drones and missile attacks armed with paint rounds aimed at him as he heads deeper into the obstacle course, encountering GINN and Zaku warriors and at times at close quarter combat.
Zaft, ORB and COMPASS groups observe the combat capability of the Star Build Strike and was impressed by its performance, dodging beam weapons fire and missile strikes with ease, and one would even noticed when several drones came from behind to outflank him, fired multiple beam weapons at him and should be a point loss but he evade it by mere inches and the response to that are several beam weapon shots without him looking back, hitting the target with pinpoint accuracy.
'He has high spatial awareness capability' Lacus thought seeing how amazing it moves, firing beam weapons shots ahead and destroyed drone and missile launchers with accuracy
It was now in the halfway of the time and the Build Strike has not taken a single hit since and now the pilots of the Zaft suits are starting to get frustrated of not getting a single hit or a glancing blow and the return fire was so accurate that not a single shot was wasted into space.
It's making the Jagannath irate, pounding the console in anger
"He's just one man, corner that bastard, don't let that man from an inferior species get the better of you!" he shouted not realizing that his words just traveled across the globe and cause many people a bit disconcerting by his words because the man piloting that mobile suit is a Natural like themselves.
On the Coordinator side, some were screaming and hollering to kill the pilot while the rest, hearing that kind of talk was a big no, no as seeing one lone mobile suit being gang up by ten or twenty and beating them. Some would argue it to be the exceptional mobile suit that's making him a good pilot, but then, that makes it superior to what Zaft has.
Lacus watches at the side with growing concern as do most of the Plants Council in seeing Zaft suits moving up together and adding their firepower
Not to be out bested by one Natural pilot, every Zaku and GINN along with the drone's and missile launchers gathered and fired all their weapons all together and despite the power level of the beams were low, that much coming at Ranma would definitely kill him as Ranma went head on.
"Ranma!" Kira cried shock in seeing the explosion and then like a phoenix bird it revealed an undamaged because it was shielded by strange particles surrounding it with its hands glowing and its eyes bright as daylight (think of the first appearance of Build Burning Gundam in Gundam Build Try) and for a surprise, the particles parted and forming into wings of light
"Are those, Voiture Lumiere wings?" Muttered by someone in Zaft CIC room
Ranma felt relieved that he activated the 'Plavsky Particle Field ahead of time, something that was discovered during their research about Plavsky Particles other than moving model toys in a simulated field, it can act like a shield and absorbed weapons fire and imitate Voiture Lumiere wings.
Ranma looks at the time and it was two and a half minutes left "I'm wasting time on these guys" he taps on his controls
"Time to go speed mode" like a rocket on steroids it races thru like a comet out of hell, bulldozing thru the GINN and Zaku like a madman decapitating their suit but left no damage to the main body where the cockpit is located and yet it looks horrifyingly brutal as radio broadcast of pilots screaming in the airwaves
"Get away from me you freak!" to "Help someone, he's not stopping!" to one who just discovered religion "Oh my God, oh my God, oh my God! God please save me!" and one that screams with a girly tone "Ahhhhh! Mommy!"
Ten of Zaft mobile suits are scrap metal, along with most of the drones and launchers and not a single scratch on the Star Build Strike
Orb Union
Morgenroete Hidden base
Senior Engineer Erica Simmons is looking at the Star Build Strike Gundam with wide eyes as she clearly knows that this was one of Sei Iori model designs and even more surprising is the strange particles it's emitting, and Erica clearly recognizes it.
"This is mazing" breathless she said, "There is no doubt about it, those are definitely Plavsky Particles!"
Few people know what Plavsky Particles are for it was a recent discovery and its application is yet unknown. She knew about it because a colleague in the Atlantic Federation showed her through a video call of a crystal called Arista and it generates a new and completely unknown particle, they call it Plavsky Particle.
From what she gathered; it's created by fusing antiparticles. A discovery that could potentially have numerous applications in many fields of science and could open new avenues of research.
Erica asks his friend where they found it and tells her that an officer in the Earth Alliance seventh fleet brought it to them the other day. This was after the second war, and he asked if they could make synthetic ones for them.
They were able to synthesize the Arista crystal after a month and from their research, the Plavsky Particle seems to bond in certain plastics especially in plastics used in model figures for some reason.
That was all the information she received before her colleague and most of the researchers disappeared to points unknown. The last information regarding her friend was that they are working in a new lab somewhere, built by a new and unknown company called Overtechnology.
"This Mobile Suit was built by Overtechnology" she declared
Erica continues to observe the Star Build Strike and the way it moves is like seeing an Olympic level gymnast moving, in fact, she has never seen or heard any kind Operating System to make a mobile suit move this precise, even the ones Kira created were never this good. Also, one must consider the mobile suit pilot as well, for no matter how exceptional the machine is, it's useless if the pilot is mediocre in skills, and the pilot of the Star Build Strike is definitely ace level.
"Major Ranma Saotome of the Earth Alliance Seventh Fleet" she looks at another monitor showing data of the pilot and there is no doubt that the man is warrior thru and thru. Some of his battle records even before becoming a pilot are scary to read that his moniker 'Ghost Rider' was appropriate, yet before his military career nothing is written, which makes him an enigma.
However, one thing is clear as most people watch the last battle unfold before the finish line.
"He is bred for the battlefield" she remarks as she watches the Star Build Strike and the Rising Freedom go face to face in a one-on-one battle.
Rising Freedom, Kira can't believe that he is being pushed to the limit as the Star Build Strike kept on charging close and hitting the Freedom with a combination of beam weapons, beam saber, kicks and punches, forcing the Freedom to pull back, as he needs get some distance from the Star Build Strike and then counterstrike and yet like the Freedom, it has the agility to evade and dodge equal to him except that the pilot likes to charge-in and stay up close and personal, giving Kira no room for movement to fight back but defend.
Kira felt like he was in a boxing ring with Ranma, as those glowing hands felt like jack hammers every time it lands a blow on the Freedom and despite the shock absorbers of the suit taking most of the energy, Kira can still feel it and it was painful like an actual punch and kick.
"Your good Ranma!" Kira said
"Back at ya! Kira" Ranma Replied back
In one of those clashes, the Rising Freedom waist mounted railguns was ripped out when the Build Strike got hold of them and it shock everyone to see it and freak out Kira to see his suit got damage. It forced Kira to go SEED MODE just to keep up with Ranma as he rotates his fighting styles from long range beam weapons to melee weapons and hand-to-hand in close quarter combat, forcing the Rising Freedom to burn through its reserve power at a rapid pace.
"The way he fights is almost like…He's a Martial Arts Master" Kira remembers what Mwu told him about Ranma fighting ability
Flashback
"How good a pilot is he?" Kira asks
"He's originally from the ground forces, the Marines and a highly effective in ground combat operations, I would say Special Forces level maybe even higher since he brought down Zaft mobile suits several times during the last war, he's lethal in my opinion and as a mobile suit pilot, he's capable of piloting a Zaku without changing the OS and his combat skills on that front is almost martial arts but highly effective"
Ranma "My school is called the Musabetsu Kakutō Ryū' which translates to 'Anything Goes Martial Arts' and it is based on learning and adapting many different styles of martial arts, taking what works and discarding what doesn't. As such, it is not confined to a single way of thinking or philosophy when it comes to martial arts combat. This gives the practitioner of Anything Goes Martial Arts the advantage, adaptability and unpredictability in a fight since he or she would ideally know moves and techniques from many different schools that complement each other, minimizing perceptible weaknesses.
End flashback
'He really did incorporate martial arts fighting style to a mobile suit battle!' Kira thought
There's no doubt that he is the Earth Alliance ace pilot and perhaps one of the best that they have, if this is the kind of skillset he could bring on the battlefield, then he'd be a terror. There is one thing that puzzles Kira,
'Where was he then all this time, and what was he doing during the last battle of Messiah?'
It was a question for later as Kira was able to push Ranma back just enough to put all the weapons of the Rising Freedom to full BURST MODE as the computers targets the Star Build Strike to disable and not to endanger the pilot, just as it is charging at him like a bull elephant.
On BURST MODE, all the beam weapons fire together as one.
It felt like forever, as everyone watched with bated breath as the scene unfolded, many expected to see the Star Build Strike stopped, other thought that strange particle glow that shielded the Star Build Strike like before but instead, it raise its small shield up forward to protect its head.
The Star Build Strike Gundam showed one last trick up its sleeve.
The small shield opens a breach at the center and to everyone's surprise, the beams disappeared as if it was erased or more like, it was absorbed into the shield.
"Did he erase the beam?"
This momentary surprise left Kira vulnerable as the Star Build Strike was so close, Kira did not have time to go defensive but brace himself for a body slam, but it suddenly just passed him by with incredible speed trailing behind particle of light in its wake.
'He just passes me by. Why did he, Oh no!' Kira just realized that Ranma was not aiming at him but at the final goal point. So, he quickly looked back with beam gun on hand aimed and ready, but was surprised to find himself looking at the business end of the Star Beam Rifle already aimed at the Freedom head.
'So fast!'
In that moment, Kira felt like his whole life just flash before his eyes. He couldn't move an inch and for a tense moment, nothing happened until Kira noticed the harsh red alarm icon on his screens showing a violation with one second left in the timer.
In haste, Ranma violated the weapons power limitations imposed on the test.
The Star Build Strike slowly pulled back the Star Beam Rifle and removed the charging barrel connected to the absorb shield and the red alarm disappeared.
The test was over, and Kira can hear Ranma cursing as the Rising Freedom lowered its gun away
"Looks like I goof up Kira" Ranma told him heaving a sigh of disappointment to himself
"What happened?"
"I went pass the power limitation when I plug this out of reflex" Ranma showed him the Absorb Shield
"This is the Absorb Shield, and as its named, it absorbed the beam weapons fire and store it's energy for the suit to use and, in this case, magnify my beam rifle power to tenfold" he let out a breath in relief
"It was a good thing that the automatic cut off shut down my rifle. if I had pulled the trigger would have blown your suit's head off into pieces"
"Yeah, it was a good thing" Kira said a bit unsure as Ranma look at the Rising Freedom waist where its two railguns were
"Sorry about that" he pointed at the waist
"It's okay, the suit was due for an overhaul anyway"
"What's that?" Ranma heard the clapping of hands on the radio, and it got louder.
From the Zaft command CIC, people were applauding for that incredible battle between the Star Build Gundam and the Rising Freedom and across the globe, sizeable crowd in the streets who were watching at big screen tv, in homes and offices, they also applauded that spectacular fight, and many believe that this was a win for the Build Strike Gundam, for its Natural pilot since there was not a scratch on him.
Kingdom of Foundation
Several pairs of eyes watch the broadcast with keen interest, some with indifference and arrogance and one other.
Secretary of Defense Commander of the Royal Guard, Shura Serpentine
"Major Ranma Saotome…interesting" he mutters with a grin that hides a malice