PHASE 07: Impulse Strikes
Onogoro Island, Orb Union
Earth Sphere
C.E. 71
"Hey… Hey…"
…
"Hey kid, are you okay?!"
…
"Wake up!"
…
"Wake up, kid!"
…
The boy finally opened his eyes to meet that of a stranger. No, not a stranger. Not when he recognized the uniform the man was wearing. A military uniform.
"Thank goodness," The man made a relieved smile. "I thought you were lost there."
Lost? Why would he be?
"C'mon now…" The military man helped him to stand on his feet. "I'll get you to the next ship."
Next ship? Did he mean…
That last thing that had happened before was an explosion that…
…
He realized he was still grasping the pink mobile phone in his hand. Mayu's mobile phone. It had slipped out of her pocket while they were running, and he rushed down the slope to pick it up for her. He knew how precious it was to her. And he wanted to give it back to her, so that…
"Mayu…"
"What's wrong?" The man asked, before Shinn turned from him.
"Where's Dad? Mom?" Shinn started to regain his clear vision. "And… Mayu?" The boy's eyes widened as he looked in the direction, he remembered they were…
The slope of the hill they were fleeing from was gone… instead the place was a flaming crater, with rubble and broken trees scattered around.
Shinn stared wide-eyed…
Then he spotted something a distance away. A hand lying on the ground… and recognized it…
"Mayu!" Shinn dashed.
"Wait!" The man from behind him called out.
Shinn quickly ran towards what he hoped was Mayu, just lying on the ground, unconscious, and no doubt his mom and dad were elsewhere…
The boy stopped cold, however, when he stepped in full view of the hand.
It was his sister's hand… but only her hand. Her severed hand… lying in front of him.
…
…
"…"
…
Shinn stopped cold.
"Oh my…" He heard the faint gasp and horror coming from the man behind him.
Mayu's hand. Mayu's right hand. Was laying right in front of his feet, when it should be at her right arm.
But… where was she then…?
Shinn got his answer… when his gaze drifted up… and almost at once his mind had stopped at an image he would never unsee.
There was Mayu, his sister, lying afar, surrounded by the trails of fire. Her body, mangled on the ground, beneath a pool of blood. Her clothes burned. Her hair scattered around her crushed head.
"Uh…"
Maya… Maya… did not look like that. The boy shook his head. She was always smiling. Running while he would chase her. Making that funny salute she was always give him. Sitting with her hands on the controls on that new game system she always wanted…
Not… not mangled… twisted… and broken… with all that… blood… and burns that…
What would Mom and Dad think if they saw her like this?
Shinn soon saw where his parents were…
…
His mother… laying a distance from Mayu… facing flat on the ground. Her form crooked and twisted, above a pile of blood leaking from her.
And farther from the woman… was Shinn's father, his body bent and crushed under a fallen tree, as if he was a ragdoll.
Dead.
They were dead.
Dad. Mom. Mayu.
They were dead.
They were dead.
His family… was dead. And gone.
"Uh… Uh… Ugh…"
Shinn had been staring back and forth between them, before falling on the severed hand of his sister. He fell to his knees, and felt to reach for the bloody limb that was his sister's. As if on instinct, he could hold her hand… just as he had been… barely a minute ago…
"Hey…" The officer behind him called out… but he barely heard him.
Then came the familiar sound hovering from above.
Shinn slowly lifted his head, and with tear-dripping eyes… they glued upon one of the three flying figures in the air.
A white mobile suit, with blue-black wings that allowed it ascend in the sky as if it was some sort of angel.
Shinn saw what it truly was.
And he let it out a scream of agony. Screaming at the burning land around him. Screaming at flying monster still flying above.
The mobile suit that murdered his family.
He would later learn its name… was Freedom.
Junius Seven
October 3rd C.E. 73
Countdown to Impact: 25 minutes, 43 seconds.
"RAAAHHHH!" Shinn Asuka roared as his entire view closed in on the Freedom.
The Impulse flew at high speeds towards the back of the mobile suit that started to turn around, and that was when the Impulse rammed into it, causing both of them to spiral below.
"NO, SHINN!" Athrun cried out as soon as the Force Impulse did the last thing he had expecting, and his eyes widened in horror as it started slashing its beam saber at the Freedom. At Kira. "NO, SHINN, NO!"
"What the hell is he doing?!" Dearka screeched as he looked from his ZAKU Gunner at what could have been the equivalent as a flap in the face. "IS HE NUTS?!"
"The hell is this?" Sting exclaimed, as he looked at the new battle, completely baffled.
"What?! I thought he was on their side?!" Auel said.
ZAFT Battleship Minerva
"WHAT IS HE DOING?!" Cagalli cried out at the next thing that happened on the bridge's screen, which caused the whole of the room to pause and gasp with shock.
"AHHHH! WE'RE GOING DOOWWNN!" Sonic grabbed onto the seat as the cockpit felt it was spiraling round-and-round down to their doom. Kira cried out, before gritting his teeth at the motion pushing against him, but he couldn't stop it so easily. Not when he looked from the viewport… to see the face of a Gundam staring back at him.
"What…?!" Kira's eyes widened. "It's a Gundam!"
"Saywhat?!"
The Gundam clinging to the Freedom reared its fist back… to slug it against the Freedom's face.
ZAFT Battleship Minerva
"Order him to stop!" Cagalli cried out as she rushed over the captain's chair. "Order that soldier of yours to stand down, NOW!" The captain looked back shocked as Cagalli towered over.
"Representative…" Gladys began, looking alarmed at the teen shadowing over her. "I…"
"I don't care! Tell that pilot of yours that who he is attacking is not an enemy!" Cagalli pointed back at the screen. "The Freedom is NOT our enemy!"
"MURDERER!" Shinn yelled as bashed the Impulse's fist against the Freedom's face. He could nearly almost feel his own fist colliding with the metal guard of the killer right in front of him. The fact that he could feel the metal fist connecting was enough to tell him that he was not dreaming this. It was real. This was real. Just as he could feel the nausea welling up in his throat at how he and the Freedom were still spiraling down like a couple of falling dead crows. He didn't care if they were both spiraling down, or the possibility that they could hit the ground of the colony or fall off…
All that mattered now…
"IT WAS YOU!" Shinn smashed his suit's fist again on his opponent, hoping to see any cracks made. "I'm going to make you pay for what you did!"
He will.
He stopped slugging the Freedom's face, before unsheathed something from the Impulse's right leg compartment and raised it up, ready to bring it down on its chest.
"DAAHH! KNIFE!" Sonic pointed, terrified at the glint of the dagger the mobile suit raised over the Freedom.
Kira growled, before pulling on the controls by instinct.
He pulled the Freedom's head to glance up at the dagger and turned the headset CIWS. Ammunition bullets spilled from the sides of the Gundam's head and they sprinkled at the hand of the enemy, causing it lose the grip and drop the knife. Kira wasn't done, and caused his Freedom slap its fist across the Gundam's face. He pulled a hand to remove the enemy's hand from his suit's chest. Kira turned the jetpacks on and turned, causing both the Freedom and the new Gundam stop descending and turn to glide both of them in another direction.
Kira struggled to make the new Gundam let him go, lifting the Freedom's arm to block another punch. In response, the Gundam tried to pull its other fist to punch from below, only for Kira to block down with a slam before backhanding to the face. He wrestled with the attacker even as they were still gliding through the space. After block another punch, Kira turned his CIWS on, and turned his head for the spray of fire to sprinkle near at the Gundam's eyes. It caused the head rear back, giving Kira the chance to slug it in the chest before kicking it far back. The Gundam was kicked away before it spiraled out of control and watched as it crashed through a bent melted wall on the ground.
"SHINN!" Lunamaria cried out as she saw the Impulse crashing down in the wreckage of the city. And it didn't happen in a positive way.
"Ouch…" Sonic commented.
Kira watched as the crash caused a massive fog of dust pile to spread out from the collapsed rubble. He could barely make out anything, now wondering if the mobile suit, or…
"DAH!"
Kira's answer came when he pulled the Freedom back to avoid a green beam passing near them.
"Really?!" Sonic exclaimed.
Then came another green beam in their direction, causing Kira to fly back, before he looked down and watched with grimace what was emerging out from the dust cloud.
"GET BACK!"
Shinn flew the Impulse out of the dust cloud, before pulling his rifle up to get a better aim at the Freedom. He pulled the trigger again to shoot another emerald green laser that blasted out of his rifle that travel far above and towards the accursed mobile suit. He gritted his teeth as it managed to dodge again.
He turned the rifle's aim while pulling the trigger to fire the beams to where the Freedom was flying towards. If only he had Rey's watchful eye, then he would already have fried its cockpit with the first shot from afar.
He fired before seeing as one beam traveled close and pierced through a floating cylinder of debris, before it exploded.
"Why is he doing this?!" Athrun exclaimed as he bolted the ZAKU Warrior towards where the Gundams were battling. "Why is still attacking Kira?!" He gasped as thought came to mind. "Don't tell... don't tell he's mistaking it like the others?"
ZAFT Battleship Minerva
"I'm still not receiving any callback from Shinn, Captain," Meyrin turned back from her chair with grim shake of the head.
"Don't tell me he actively ignoring us!" Talia exclaimed.
"I don't get it…" Arthur looked lost. "What caused Shinn to start attacking that mobile suit?"
"The ZGMF-X10A Freedom."
There was a pause, and all eyes turned towards the one who spoke the name: Gilbert Durandal. The chairman sitting in his seat, looking at the viewport with an unreadable look.
"That is what it is called… if it is indeed the very same," Durandal then glanced towards the captain. "One of the three mobile suits commissioned by my successor, Patrick Zala, during the war. However…" His eyes narrowed. "…it was the one unit that had been stolen."
"I remember, Chairman," Talia said. "But at the end of the war… it was recorded to have been destroyed at the Battle of Jachin Due."
"Evidence to the contrary before us," Durandal pointed to the viewport. "Either it apparently wasn't destroyed as we have believed… or perhaps we are looking at a similar variant of that machine."
"No, it isn't!" Cagalli exclaimed, causing all the attention to fall now on her.
"Representative…"
"No, you don't understand!" Cagalli said. "That machine is not an enemy!"
"How can you be so certain, Princess?" Durandal questioned.
"Because I know the person piloting it!" Cagalli cried out, causing many in the bridge to pause and gasp at her. The blonde representative marched passed the Captain's seat towards Meyrin's position.
"Hey, what are you…?" Arthur tried to say, only for Cagalli to brush past him, before she stood over a bewildered Meyrin.
"If you can't get hold of that idiot pilot, then call to Athrun or any of the others! They have to stop him!"
"Who the heck is this guy?!" Sonic cried out.
The teen turned the Freedom to dodge before the new Gundam could make a vertical swing with its beam saber.
"Why does this guy have a suit like yours?!"
"I don't know, Sonic!" Kira observed the new type of Gundam that turned its white-painted kabuto-like head towards them.
"That Gundam… it looks…" Kira stuttered. "It looks like the Strike."
The was the first thing that came into Kira's mind as he took in the Gundam's features. Granted, in many ways it almost looked like a replica of the Strike Gundam. It nearly had the same color scheme, a white-painted look with blue and red features. Even its wings were like that of the Aile Striker pack the Strike used for flight. Even the shield bore the same red and yellow highlights.
However, Kira could see the contrast between the new Gundam and the Strike. One, was that the new Gundam looked slimmer and thinner than the Strike; even its shoulders were rounder and colored blue, instead of white. Its colors were lighter and more colorful than the darker tone the Strike's colors were.
This new Gundam that had attacked them, had to have been newly manufactured. But by who then? Kira now wondered.
"The Strike?" Sonic said, looking with barely a clue. "Don't tell me you know this guy?"
Kira couldn't tell.
He knew that because of the Junius Treaty, it was marked that there would be a limit of how many weapons or suits either the Earth Alliance or ZAFT made, that included the number of new kinds. It should also apply to the manufacture of new Gundams, considering the destructive power they showed during the war.
It was thanks to his time fighting for the Earth Forces, that they had compiled data from his performance in the Strike, and how in turned it was used to make their new line of mobile suits capable of giving them an upper hand against ZAFT's forces.
Could it be… that this Gundam was made from the same source? The Earth Forces? Kira shrunk at the thought of that possibility. Was the reason why the Gundam was attacking the Freedom because of what happened in the war? Because the Freedom was registered as an enemy of the Earth Alliance for fighting against them?
The enemy Gundam moved again.
"I don't know if that is supposed to be a Strike or whatever you say, Kira!" Sonic panicked. "But you better move because this Strike guy is coming to strike back!"
Right!
Kira pulled out his beam saber to block the enemy Gundam's own beam saber. The clash of their blades bounced against one another, before the enemy swung back only for the Freedom to swipe and caused a flicker of dispersing energy. The enemy came in quickly again, causing the Freedom dive his saber to clash against the other. It caused a long lock between both blades of energy; their owners locked in place. The point of both saber's collision caused burning flash of flickering light to fill the view of the cockpit. The yellow eyes of the enemy Gundam stared back at the Freedom's own, as if it was fixing a glare burning through the metal.
"Oh, jeez!" Sonic nearly jumped back. "Now this is not how I had expected a first-person view of a lightsaber fight to be this up-close and intense!"
"You're not helping!" Kira exclaimed.
"Sorry!"
"Is that all you got, huh?!" Shinn yelled.
The Freedom then dashed towards him, unsheathing its beam saber again, with the Impulse doing the same. They met with one another, clashing their sabers together that caused a clang, before they separated and started to circle each other. The Impulse made the next move, and dashed while raising its beam saber high to bring it down on the Freedom's head. The Freedom, however, brought up its shield to block the slash, before swinging its saber to clash against the Impulse's shield.
The clash caused both mobile suits to be stuck in a lock, facing one another. Shinn glared hatefully at the Freedom's face, wishing to melt its face, rip it open, and find the bastard piloting the butcher machine itself.
"Yikes!" Sonic nearly pounced from his side. "It looks like its staring right through us!" He commented on the enemy Gundam's glowing pair of yellow eyes facing their view, as if it was glaring right at them.
They broke their lock, and they both back a distance away from one another; both regarding each other.
"Okay, what's this guy's deal?!" Sonic questioned for good reason. "Don't tell me this is someone you know who hates you, right?"
"That's what I would really like to know…" Kira said, still staring at the enemy Gundam. "I've been trying to hail him in order for us to communicate, but he's not giving me the time…"
"Or he's ignoring you." Sonic suggested. "No offense, but I think our new pal here doesn't care and just wants to kick our butts… for worse."
…
"Oh, man! Here he comes again!"
The Gundam dashed with its beam rifle instead, aiming it towards them and a green glint starting to emit…
A sudden blur of green crashed into the Gundam, knocking it away.
"What?!" Kira cried out.
"What was that?!" Sonic turned and saw a figure of green that had collided with the Gundam, was still throwing it off and towards the surface of the dead city below.
Shinn screamed after he felt the sudden impact of a great body colliding against his mobile suit, and the force of it caused both of them to fall from his projected course, and started fall from altitude.
A few seconds later, it became worse when Shinn felt the Impulse making impact with the ground. And it didn't stop as he felt the machines starting to plow and drag across the dirt surface of the colony. He felt the impact and rumblings of the Impulse plowing through the dead buildings and infrastructure. He could hear and almost feel the scratches his suit was taking from the walls, broken metal, and junk it was meeting all along the way before it started to slow down and stop.
Shinn opened his eyes to see from his viewport, the Impulse was nearly lying on its right side, and was facing the scene of one of Junius Seven's colorless dead streets.
The pilot felt the moving of a mass beside his suit, and his glowered. The one who collided with him. Shinn gritted his teeth, before he turned the Impulse's head to look at the bastard who had the death wish to not only interrupt his duel, but to hit him like a freight train and plowed him through the ghost town as if his suit was a bulldozer. It even had caused him to bit his cheek, and that did little to help. He expected to be either the Abyss, the Chaos, or any one of those stupid GINNs, but…
Shinn's eyes widened in shock, before his expression morphed with confusion and anger.
"What are you doing?!"
"What am I doing?" Athrun's voice echoed, just as the mono-eye of the green ZAKU glanced up at him. "What are you doing?!"
"You just… ram my suit... with your ZAKU?" Shinn questioned, while glancing at the ZAKU's spiked shoulder, that he could see that Athrun had used to ram against his side, before pushing both of them to the ground. That was one of its purposes, besides additional shield protection. "What the hell is your deal?!"
"My deal?! What about yours?!" Athrun's voice demanded. "Why are you attacking the Freedom?!"
Shinn doubled-back, looking as if the ZAKU had grown another eye. "What the…" His mouth scrunched. "What does that mobile suit have to do with you?!" He looked back up to see the Freedom still hovering above, still unharmed. "He's an enemy!"
"No! He's not the enemy!" Athrun's voice cried out. "He's not here to harm us! He's trying to help!"
"H… H-Help…?" Shinn barely stuttered the word Athrun used, before his lips peeled back. "What makes you think something as ludicrous as that?!"
"Just listen and let me explain…"
"No!" Shinn protested. "I don't need to listen! I have to…" Impulse was already back up and was ready to move… before the ZAKU blocked his path. "What are you doing?"
"Shinn! Stand. Down. Now!" Athrun ordered. He ordered him…
"Let me pass…"
"No."
Shinn stared back, almost bewildered. There was no hesitation in Athrun's voice, and his ZAKU was staring back him. Defiant.
He felt his blood feel cold… before it started to boil…
"I said… get out of my way…" Shinn growled. "Or I'll have to move you myself."
"Shinn…"
The Impulse smacked its fist against the ZAKU's eye, before raising a foot to kick it back to the ground. The mobile suit started to fly off from the ground, only to be stopped.
"What?!" Shinn looked back, and was shocked to see the ZAKU not only back up, but grabbing on to the Impulse's left foot. "What are you… LET GO!"
"NO!"
Shinn gritted his teeth, before raised the Impulse's other foot to kick at the ZAKU, only for the green mobile suit to use its other hand to grab hold of the Impulse's leg. Shinn felt the ZAKU pulling him down harder, before he felt his entire suit entirely pulled from up and dragged back down to the ground. The Impulse rolled across the cracked street before it stopped against a ruined building.
Shinn shook his head, before glancing back at the ZAKU, still standing there, watching him as if he was a rabid dog with the plague.
"So… that's how it's going to be, huh?" Shinn questioned, his still training on the bastard who dared…
"Don't…" Athrun warned.
The Impulse rose again, its gaze trained on the ZAKU, which apparently… was making sure it wouldn't leave…
A tense silence followed between them… before the Impulse unsheathed its beam saber, and emitted its glowing pink blade.
"Last chance… move."
Athrun's answer was his ZAKU pulling out its beam tomahawk from the compartment inside its left shield.
…
…
The Impulse dashed forward.
ZAFT Battleship Minerva
"Captain!" Meyrin cried out. "The Impulse has engaged with Athrun's ZAKU!"
"What?!" Gladys cried out.
"Athurn?!" Cagalli exclaimed.
"What's going on here?!" Auel said. "I thought those suits are supposed to be on the same side?!"
"Grr… this is getting too complicated…" Sting sighed with frustration.
"Get out of my way!"
The Impulse dashed to swing its beam saber at the ZAKU, only for Athrun to move aside and bounce the saber's blade back with a light shun with its tomahawk. The Impulse skidded its feet against the gravel street. It turned quickly to make a roundhouse swipe of its beam saber in effort to cut at it, only for the ZAKU lightly block it. It stepped forward and swung its star shield to stun it, only for it meet the ZAKU's shield. Impulse raised its beam saber and flung at it, only for it clash against the raised beam tomahawk. The clash between the saber and the tomahawk caused sparks to fly out like that of a blade being sharpened on a wheel.
The Impulse pulled the saber away, breaking the lock, before swiping the beam saber again. The ZAKU parried the swipe, and then again when the Impulse made another. They traded flashing blows, as they started to move across the ruined main street of the city.
The Impulse made to make an attack, but Athrun made a quick dodge to the side. His ZAKU skidded a bit, before it pounced and charged towards the Impulse's side, aiming its horned shoulder to slam at it again. He heard Shinn cried out as the Impulse slammed, and then thrown till it crashed through the walls of another building.
"I don't want to hurt you, Shinn!" Athrun warned as his ZAKU approached the Impulse. "Stand. Down."
"I'll… I'll do that…" He heard Shinn speak on the comm. The Impulse moved, and Athrun widened his eyes in alert back away when the Impulse quickly turned around with its burning beam saber nearly swiping at his ZAKU. "…until I tear that dam machine apart!"
Athrun reddened as even after that, Shinn was still not giving up, evidenced further when the CIWS turrets at its chest shot bursts at the ZAKU. Athrun pulled up his shield to deflect the ammunition rounds.
He realized that was only distraction, as he noticed the Impulse hovering from the ground till it was in midair. Athrun worried that Shinn was going to make another break from him, and straight towards the Freedom, but the Impulse didn't make flight out of the area, and instead circle around his ZAKU. Athrun tried to keep his eyes on the flying Impulse, till it dashed and sped through the space before bring its shield in front. Athrun raised his ZAKU's shield to take the impact, only for him to feel his mobile suit being pushed off the ground when the Impulse's shield rammed against his own.
The ZAKU fell back through the mess of rubble behind him, its green mass body ripping through a massive wall, spilling pieces of wreck all around it. When it stopped in place, Athrun grunted, and opened his eyes, noticing he was looking straight up; the mobile suit with its back flat against the ground.
He didn't get much time, before the Impulse towered over him.
Athrun made to move, only for the Impulse to press its foot down on the ZAKU's torso. He made to move his arm, only for the Impulse to bring its shield down and slammed its end at the ZAKU's wrist.
"ENOUGH!"
Athrun's eyes widened, and he looked up in time to see the Impulse's arm holding its beam saber to have been cut completely off. He glanced further to see that the Freedom had flew in from behind before it dove in to bring its beam down and sever the Impulse's arm below the shoulder.
"ARGH!" Shinn gasped in shock, feeling he couldn't react in time. "My… my right arm?!"
The Impulse barely had time to react, before the Freedom made a swiping kick to its exposed torso, that caused to fly back and rolled against the rubble of the dead town.
"That's enough!" Athrun heard Kira's angry voice echoed, but being directed towards the downed Impulse. "No more fighting!" The Freedom soon turned, and kneeled in front of his still-down ZAKU. "Are you alright in there?"
He was now speaking to him.
"Uh… Kira… it's me…"
The Freedom paused its hand from extending, and Athrun could tell that the person inside heard him.
"Athrun?!"
"Athrun?" Sonic questioned, glancing at Kira. "Wait… you know who this guy is?"
"It's me, Kira!" The voice came again, coming from the green mono-eyed mobile lying in front of them. "It's Athrun…"
"Athrun!" Kira exclaimed, a look of both shock and unexpected cheer appearing on his face. "Is that really you?! What… What are you doing here? And… in that… mobile suit?"
"I like to ask you the same." The green suit extended its hand, in which the Freedom took in order to pull it up from the ground.
"But… if you are here…" Kira said, before concern brushed through him. "I thought you were supposed to be with Cagalli?"
"Don't worry, Kira. She's safe." Athrun assured. "She's on the Minerva."
"The Minerva?"
"As in Professor Minerva McGonagall?" Sonic asked, drawing an eye from Kira. "Sorry, seems unlikely Hogwarts can make it this far into space."
"What the… who is that?" Athrun apparently caught on to Sonic's voice. "Kira, is there someone else with you in there with you?"
"Uh… yeah." Kira shrugged sheepishly.
"Uh, guys?" Sonic said. "I know this sounds like a touching reunion... but are we forgetting our berserker friend getting up over there…"
The attention was turned towards one-armed Gundam getting back up on its feet, rabble and dust spilling from its shoulders and wings. It turned its helm head towards Kira and Athrun's mobile suits.
"Oh, boy…" Sonic could only mutter.
"You… You…" Shinn growled, as he lifted his eyes at the two mobile suits before him.
He turned his glare towards the Freedom, who was responsible for the static stump at the Impulse's right appendage. And it had taken it from behind where he couldn't see him. Taking advantage of his attention on Athrun's ZAKU, the bastard cheated his way to get him at a disadvantage…
"If you think one arm is going to stop me…" He said. "You're dead wrong…"
"Shinn… stay back…"
A sudden flash of red sprayed in a line in front of Shinn. The line erupted in a trail of explosions that nearly caused him to staggard back.
"SHINN!" He heard Athrun cry out.
"What the…?!" Shinn turned his head, and his eyes widened to see the source of that burning ray flying straight towards him.
"Auel, what are you doing?!" Sting yelled.
"Taking an opportunity!" Auel grinned as he gunned straight towards the now one-armed Impulse. "That little bastard is as good as crippled, and I'm gonna put it out of its misery!"
"AUEL!"
"Whah! Up there!" Sonic pointed out, and Kira looked with a gasp to see a blue mobile suit descending towards their position. "Wait… that looks like…"
"It's another Gundam!" Kira realized.
"Another one?!"
"Heh!" Auel flew the Abyss straight towards the Impulse, with its beam halberd unsheathed. "You're as good as mine!" He stabbed at the pitiful rat with the point of his halberd aiming right to its chest. The Impulse brought its shield to block it, but it stepped back. Auel grinned as he kept the Abyss going forward to slash at it again.
"Aw… what's wrong?" He mocked. "Not feeling tough without having both arms?!"
As if answering his taunt, the Impulse swung his shield against his next thrust, giving the Abyss an opening to kick it to the torso and sent it stumbling to the ground.
"To think this is what it would take…" Auel had the Abyss aimed its twin guns from his shield on it. "To make you… AHH!"
He was interrupted from his firing when he felt side being fired by a tremendous force that sent off balance and hurtling in the air, before rolling in the trash that was once a city. Auel turned his viewport immediately to see who dared. His eyes widened to see the same blue-wing G-Weapon the Impulse had attacked, its raised weapons already hot from shooting.
"No one else is dying today!" Kira cried out, seeing the blue Gundam get back up.
"AUEL!"
"Stella, stop!" Sting cried out to no avail as the Gaia pounced in its animal mode through the wasteland towards their cornered teammate. "Dammit!"
Pink beams blurred as the Freedom's saber exchanged with the halberd wielded by the blue Gundam. It poked its point again, only for the Freedom to beat it down and take a swipe towards its arm. The Abyss folded its shoulder-shield down to block it, before bringing its halberd in an uppercut.
"Okay, blue lobster here looks armed to the shell!"
The halberd was then hit when a beam tomahawk flew and hit it, before it swinged back to its owner: Athrun's ZAKU.
"Kira, be careful of that Gundam!" Athrun warned. "It's dangerous!"
"Well, thank you, Captain Obvious!" Sonic rolled his eyes.
"Kira, watch out!" Athrun cried out again. "The Gaia!"
"What?" Kira said.
"Gaia?! Where?!" Sonic said in alarm upon hearing the name, Gaia. The hedgehog was the first to turn, and his eyes widened. "What the… is that the Egg Cerberus?!"
"What?!" Kira turned, and looked to see the black-armored animal-like machine running on all-fours towards them. Its metal paws blowing and crushing through the damaged buildings in its way, it gave the appearance of a rabid dog. "A BuCUE?!"
It not only looked, but it moved like the bipedal ZAFT BuCUE. From its shoulders, two turrets shot out green beams at the Freedom, causing its fly off and dodge them. The incoming attacker didn't stop, as like a dog carrying a stick with its teeth, it emitted a double beam saber.
It charged before pouncing up in the air towards the airborne Freedom, which pulled up its beam saber and shield in time to stop its double beam saber attack, but unfortunately, the attack caused both of them to drop a distance towards the dead, grey field.
"Kira!" Athrun called out, only for him to jump his ZAKU back from the Abyss's halberd.
"Don't let your guard down around me!" Auel grinned, as he spun his halberd, and unleashed a spray from the guns under his shoulders at the ZAKU.
…
The Freedom pushed the Gaia away, before it touched and skidded across the dead ground. The Gaia, likewise, used all four of its limbs to halt its movement, its head rearing towards the Freedom.
"Looks like the kitty wants to play fetch…" Sonic grimaced.
The Gaia didn't take long to come charging towards them again, jumping up, but then it started to instantly shift…
"What the?!"
"It can transform!" Kira exclaimed, watching as what he thought was a BuCUE take a bipedal form. A black-armored suit, with yellow and red linings, and popping from its chest, a blue-eyed Gundam helm that all but focus on the Freedom.
"Where are you now?!" Auel yelled as the green one-eyed bastard had just scampered off and into the wreck that was a screw-up ghost town. "Come out!" He landed the Abyss with a thud on a street, before using his halberd to cut through a broken building, causing its floors and broken glass to spill out in the zero gravity before him. "Come out! Come out! Wherever you are!"
The blue-haired boy grinned before he turned the chest of the Abyss to emit a red spark and it fired its Calidus beam that blasted a great torrent of fire that ripped straight through a whole block of the dead city in front of him. It caused a row of eruptions that exploded the once tall buildings into burning wreckage that scattered in the air.
"Heh… Hahahahahah!" Auel erupted in laughter at the sight of his burning handiwork. The flames and wreckage erupting in the zero gravity was just hilarious. He forwarded the Abyss to fly through the floating debris. "Now then…" He grinned as he looked pass scarps of metal and scattered rock around him. "Where can—AH!"
He grunted as he felt a pulse zap at his back and then his shield. He instantly turned to see shooting from his remaining arm down below.
"You!" He made a predator's grin at the pathetic sight of the Impulse just shooting from its left hand, and was now flying back. He opened his shields to let out green beams that shot towards the fleeing Impulse. His thrusters turned on, and the Abyss delved through the debris. "Now where are you going? Too scared to…"
A spiked-shoulder suddenly rammed into his side, causing his head to flip back and his brain to rattle, and the Abyss was hit so hard it fell off course before hitting the roof of a broken building.
"Grrr!" Auel screamed his head flipped back, his insides taking the rattle, and his shoulder and arm muscles taking a strain. He flipped his back to see in time as a green blast hit his shoulder, before pulling up his shield to deflect the next spray.
There it was… the green-painted cyclops, already pulling its rifle and shooting bursts at his now-stunned form. Somehow, having avoided his beam cannon blast, and had blended with the debris above, and caught him… off-guard…
"RAAHH!" Auel rolled his suit off the roof before blasting it back up, towards the green son of a…
His lifted his ammunition barrels and shot two rounds at the ZAKU, causing it to stop firing, and made a dodge. That irritated him. Auel pulled out his halberd, and a made swing at his enemy. He swung again, this time meeting the face of ZAKU's unsheathed tomahawk.
"Mine's still bigger than yours!" Auel growled, clashing the halberd against the sharp edge of the tomahawk. He used its long length to swipe at the tomahawk, hoping to make an opening, but the ZAKU barely budged its hold. The blue-haired was getting irritated. He hovered more above, bring his trident down upon the green suit. The ZAKU brought its tomahawk up to stop of the halberd coming down on its cyclops head.
The beam halberd pushing against the tomahawks side caused a screeching sound, and it became even more as the ZAKU adjusted its weapon to block the attack.
Auel growled, pulling the halberd back, before trying to make a swing back, only for the ZAKU to move. The Extended expected another ram with its spike shoulder, only to be taken by the ZAKU moving in and lifting its green thick leg to hit him in the Abyss' left side.
"Urgh… that's it!" The blue-haired teen had it, setting the Abyss stable after that lousy kick, and turned to face the ZAKU, the Calidus beam getting ready. "You can't dodge this full-out burn…"
He didn't finish, nor could he finish getting to shoot his Calidus beam. Not when he saw something falling upon him overhead near the last second. He moved, having his right shield slashed and nearly cut open in half by a beam blade.
A larger beam blade.
"Dam… so close…" Yzak reddened at the work he could make of the Abyss in front of him. That surprise he had been making from behind could have split that machine's head open, and so doing would have put it out of commission. If not for a second, he would have done it. Now he would have to take of things the long way.
The commander turned to his side to see the ZAKU Warrior that had holding off the Abyss on its own since the Freedom was dragged off by the Gaia. And yet, Yzak couldn't help but be caught off guard and even impressed by how it managed to hold its own, and against one of the new commission G-weapons. He then remembered that he had spotted it facing off against the Chaos earlier. That made him curious to know who was piloting it. Whoever they were, they had heart and knew how to fight. He was definitely going to put a good word for him when this battle was over.
"I'll handle this now, soldier," He directed to the ZAKU. "Stay back."
"Is that you, Yzak?"
…
…
What the…? Yzak nearly froze in place. Did that… soldier just reply… with a familiar voice…? No. Don't tell him that was…
"ATHRUN?!" Yzak exclaimed, feeling his head could make a double-turn.
"Yes, it's me, Yzak." The ZAKU replied back, confirming what Yzak didn't wish to believe.
For real…?
"What the hell are you doing here?!" Yzak demanded. First the Freedom, but also Athrun?
"The same reason you are!" Athrun replied.
Their conversation was interrupted when Yzak turned and saw the Abyss shooting a pair of turrets at him, causing him to move his ZAKU Phantom out of the way.
"Be careful!" Athrun cried out, having moved his ZAKU away as well.
"What do you think you're doing?!" Yzak reeled his lip back, putting his glare straight at the Abyss. "You're not a soldier anymore! I'm the one in command here!" He flipped his beam axe, now ready. "Just SHUT UPPPP!" He dashed towards the Abyss, who had its beam halberd ready.
Both axe and halberd collided against one another, causing a brief flash of spark between the blades.
Yzak was definitely going to be the one to beat the Abyss here and now. No way in hell he was going to get beaten by an upstart with Athrun of all people witnessing it. That he will prove.
"AUEL!" Sting cried out as he had transformed Chaos into its mobile armor form, and flied towards where the Abyss was now being besieged by another one of those dam ZAKUs. And even if he could support Auel, there was the matter of Stella still facing off against the other G-Weapon.
Great, just great. Auel just had to butt in, and Stella afterwards, now they were being backed into their corners. And leave it to Sting being the babysitter to the both of them.
"Wait…" Sting paused, when he noticed his viewport catching something below, gliding through the damaged streets.
"I have to sortie back at the Minerva. I can't give my all with this handicap…" Shinn reddened at the fact of the Impulse's missing right arm. A missing arm would hardly stop him from fighting, but he felt he could give his best, not when all the others were giving their all. Soon, Shinn's mind flickered back to one who severed his arm.
His face twisted at the thought of the Freedom.
"That bastard…" He growled. "Taking me from behind like that… that cheating little…" He gripped his joystick. "Let's see when I cut him apart…"
His festering thoughts were interrupted by a blast that caused his suit to rumble. "What?!" He turned his viewport, and gasped.
Descending at high speeds was the Chaos.
Shinn nearly panicked, flying his mobile suit back across the ruined block, before the Gaia flew through the trench-like street, shooting green blasts from its mounted assault rifle. Then it started to emitted a red spark from the center…
"SHIT!" Shinn pulled up his shield with his remaining arm in time to block the burning torrent of the Chaos' Baelena cannon. The crimson radiation blast pushed against his shield like that of a built-up stream rushing out from a dam. It was strong enough to push the Impulse far back till it crashed and broke through a ruined building behind.
"AHHH!" Shinn cried out as his cockpit rumbled, feeling the Impulse ramming through the stone walls and rubble around, before being flowing out into a wide open in zero gravity. The teen blinked his eyes to get his senses back, but turned them in alarm as he could see the Chaos bursting from the cloud debris in front of him. It soon transformed back to its mobile suit form, its feet turning its beam skates on, flying now towards him.
The Impulse lifted its shield back to block the beam blades from the enemy's kicking feet. Unfortunately, the Chaos wasn't done, unsheathing its beam saber to swipe at the shield; both mobile suits still flying in the open zero gravity.
"I've got no choice!" Shinn knew he had to make an opening to escape, and that meant…
He swung his shield to stop another slash from the Chaos, before jumping back a distance from it. The Impulse threw its shield at the Chaos, who merely batted it away.
Right there. A few seconds Shinn needed to turn on the EJECT.
"That won't work!" Sting batted away the shield flying toward him as if it was a silly frisbee, before flying in with his beam saber in hand to the now open Impulse. "This is it!" Sting could feel his own lips reeling into an excited smile. Finally, since the moment this bastard showed up, he had been nothing but a lousy thorn in their asses. Always trying to upstaged him, Auel, and Stella. Him and the rest of his merry band were making them look like fools for their bosses to see. Including Neo.
But now…
"YOU'RE FINISHED!" The green-haired Extended bellowed as he closed the distance, and skewered his saber right into the heart of the Impulse. Certainly, skewering and even burning the bastard pilot inside.
Sting started grin at his hard-earned triumph. Then again… he only managed to get the drop on him thanks to that Freedom machine cutting it down a piece. He had to admit, he couldn't take all the credit. A kill was a kill. One less pest to annoy him and his team in this pathetic world. This was why Neo made his de-facto boss of the team. Auel was going to be so pissed when he finds out, especially when Neo might give him a…
"What…?" Sting's eyes slowly widened, as he noticed something off about the machine his beam saber's blade was embedded in. Then he noticed something small and blue from behind it, and it was coming fast. It looked like a mobile armor, but… where did it come from? Why did it look so familiar…?
Then it started spraying bullets that pelted over the carcass and the Chaos' face. Like that, Sting's triumph quickly faded into shock and anger.
"Close one!" Shinn said relieved, turning the Core Splendor plane after shooting rounds at the Chaos' face, before flying right past it.
"WHY YOU…?!" Sting growled with rage as he discarded the machine's carcass, and trailed towards where the mobile armor holding the pilot was running off to. "YOU'RE NOT GETTING AWAY!"
He dashed, and lifted his rifle to shoot another green beam towards the fleeing bastard. He was going pulverize him in one shot. He had to sacrifice his machine just weasel his way out. Now he was small as a mouse, and he was going make mincemeat of it with just one more shot…
A green laser pierced through his rifle suddenly.
"Huh?!" Sting froze, realizing he couldn't fire more at the Impulse's fleeing pilot. He turned, and his eyes widened to see a far distance from him… a grey-painted ZAKU Phantom holding an assault rifle in both hands.
"Keep going to the Minerva, Shinn!" Rey said, while keeping his aim focused on the Chaos. "I'll cover you!"
"Thanks a lot, Rey! You're my lifesaver!" He heard Shinn on the comm. "Be careful! I'll be back!"
"Dam you!" Stella screamed as she had Gaia jump again in the air with its beam saber in hand to strike once again at the winged-monster.
He was… nearly impossible. He was strong. He looked so much like the Impulse, but Stella hated to admit it… this was stronger. And worst, faster, evidenced by as how fast she could get to cut it open, it either managed to parry or fly away.
"I'll kill you!" She jumped again, bring her beam saber. "I'll make sure…"
She paused when the sight of a burning beam laser blasted near her side.
"What the…?!" Stella was wide-eyed. That beam wasn't from the Freedom, it came from another. It didn't take long, however, when she looked from a distance to see a familiar color of red…
Kneeling on the ground, with only one leg, and lifting a beam cannon in its red-armored limbs: the red ZAKU.
The same… stupid… pestering… red… little…
Instantly, Stella was seeing red.
"YOU AGAIN!" She growled with every drop of venom she could muster coming back, twisting the Gaia around, turning her full attention on the red ZAKU. She roared as transformed the ZAKU back to its BuCUE model, pouncing straight towards the mobile suit.
"Oh… crap." Lunamaria let out, even as she felt her blood turn cold at the sight of the Gaia transforming and running on all fours like a mad dog towards her. Its wanting for blood evident in its movement. Her blood.
Good idea it was hoping she would get her lucky shot while the black machine was occupied with her fight with the white mobile suit. Now the Gaia's attention was focused back on her. And it brought even less joy for her.
Luna turned the ZAKU to lift itself off the ground, yet with some difficulty now that she was reduced to one leg. She turned her engines on to get the ZAKU's butt off the ground before the Gaia pounded across it. She was flying back, and watching as the Gaia was still coming towards her.
"C'mon!" Luna hoped she still had juice in her beam cannon for another round. The Gaia was already jumping… "Dam it!"
She lifted the cannon to make a beam of radiation, only to blink twice when saw the Gaia make a move she didn't expect. Just when it was jumping above, it had transformed back to its bipedal mode, narrowly missing the blast. The black machine glided down, before bring its right leg to kick right at Luna's view.
"AHH!" Luna felt the Gaia's foot clubbed at her ZAKU's head, causing her suit to fly back. She heard a beep, and she looked in alarm as she realized her ZAKU lost a grip with its cannon. "CRAP, NO!" Her ZAKU was already rolling across the dirt of the wasteland. By the time she lifted her head, she had the worst joy of seeing the Gaia transform and was ready to pounce over her.
She blinked when a blur of white collided with the black mobile suit.
"WHOO!" Sonic whooped.
Kira brought the Freedom's knee to ram it into the belly of the Gaia's panther-like form, before bringing an elbow to land a blow at its neck. The sound of the metal crashing against one another, already giving Kira the feeling that he had caused stressful blow to the pilot inside. He grabbed to the hips of the machine, before using the Freedom's strength to pick it up before turning and throwing it a distance away.
"Ouch…" Sonic winced as the black Gundam rolled across the dirt ground in a rough way.
"Hey look!" The hedgehog pointed to the other mobile suit present. The same one that had shot a Baleana beam right at the enemy machine.
Kira nodded, before flying his Gundam towards the red-painted cyclops mobile suit, still lying on the dirt ground.
"Hey there…" Kira hailed to the mobile suit. "Are you okay?"
"Uh…" He heard a voice. "Yeah…" The single glowing pink-eye from visor looked up at him. "I'm… alright."
"Is that a girl in there?" Sonic questioned.
"Sounds so…" Kira said, before extending the Freedom's hand towards the red suit. The red suit's eye turned to it, and seemed to regard it for a second, before it extended its own hand to take hold of the Gundam's hand.
"Thanks… for the save…" The Freedom lifted the mobile suit up a bit, though it was barely able to stand thanks to its missing leg. The Gundam put a hand to the red suits shoulder to keep it stable. "I thought that bastard was going to gut me there…"
"You were the one who shot that beam not too long ago?"
"Yeah… I was sure I would have got them…"
"I appreciate the assist." Kira smiled.
"Uh, guys…" Sonic said. "Nice we're friends now… but something tells me Giant-Black-Panther-Predacon is still up for more…" He winced as he pointed at the recovering black Gundam, which was glaring in their direction.
"Wait a minute…" The female ZAKU's voice said. "Who's that?! Is there someone else in there with you?"
"HARGGHH!" Auel roared as he stabbed his beam halberd again and again at the face of the blue ZAKU Phantom, hoping to at least poke the bastard's glowing pink eye out. The ZAKU Phantom moved back, only taking a graze with one of its spiked shields. It pulled up its large beam axe to swipe the next stab, before swinging it back cut at the Abyss' left shield. The ZAKU Phantom didn't give Auel time to counter, before it dashed in to rear its axe back and slash at him.
Auel braced but felt the blow on his machine. He had to realize that this ZAKU was not only better equipped than the green one, he was a dam expert too. The way he spined his beam axe before making an uppercut to broke the Abyss' stance, giving him the opening to make an impact that rattled Auel in his seat.
The boy screamed as he let loose his shield guns to daze the bastard, who move again from his spot. Auel didn't care as he let loose another volley. The ZAKU Phantom dodged as the volley missed and hit a building it was behind. The volley exploded the walls and glass everywhere, while the ZAKU Phantom turned and shot its shoulder-mounted barrels at Auel. The Abyss lifted his left shield to deflect, falling back, before his noticing his feet dragged across the flat roof of another building.
"Crap!" Auel reversed off the roof, when the ZAKU Phantom flew up and brought his beam axe to tear through the ruin roof in effort to make an uppercut directed the Abyss' head. The Extended had one second to think, before he turned his machine to fold itself and transform to its mobile armor mode and dived below to miss the beam axe's blow.
The Abyss' mobile armor dived and flew through another ruined street. Auel was now feeling like a fish being chased.
He then saw a beam laser fire right next to him, and turned the rear-monitor of the Abyss to see the green ZAKU from before had returned and was now spraying beams at him. At the sight of him, Auel growled.
"Take a load of this!" He grinned as the two turrets unfolded from the mobile Abyss' back, and fired fire two ammunition shots at the pursuing ZAKU. The enemy stopped its firing, and was forced to move as the blazing rounds came in front of him. He managed to duck, but the ended up blowing apart the walls of the building next to it, causing an explosion of fire and rubble blowing over the green cyclops.
Auel was about to make a quip, only to look forward and panicked when the blue ZAKU Phantom jumped in front of his path, and raised its beam axe high.
Like that of an executioner ready to bring down the final cut.
"I have you now."
Rey fired another blast that traveled a far distance till it reached and could it hit or at least grazed the mobile-armored form of the Chaos, which he could see was now flying in circles in a desperate bid to shake off his focus on him. The pilot of the ZAKU Phantom didn't care, as he kept firing emerald green beams from his distant position high above to take down the already damaged machine. The blonde teen knew that it had to be exhausted from its skirmishes with Athrun and Shinn, including most of its weapons destroyed, leaving it limited options to resist. It would be easier for Rey to shoot it down and be done with him.
He fired another green beam that hit right near its tail. The Chaos barreled rolled behind another ruined building, even as another shot from Rey pierced through it, causing it to implode and crumble.
They were now getting somewhere. He was feeling satisfied that they were having the thieves in the stolen machines on the run. He was glad he gave Shinn a chance to escape. By the time he would take care of the Chaos, Shinn would sortie with another piece of the Impulse from the Minerva and rejoin the fight. Then they would be…
(!)
Rey's circle of thought was immediately interrupted by a bolt that struck through his senses. He paused his firing on the Chaos, and realized something was amiss.
"Wait… this feeling… from before…" He uttered, his eyes shaking. "It feels…"
The boy realized, before he acted on the strange instinct to move out…
Then he saw the stray bolts that would have pierced the back of his ZAKU Phantom fly right in front of him. Rey turned in time to see a blur of purple fly right past him.
"Wait!" He recognized the flying ship. "That's the mobile armor from before…!"
"You're finished!" Yzak yelled as he brought his beam axe down on the incoming Abyss. Before it could the blade could make a cleave, it transformed to its bipedal form, which then slid across the street before colliding with the ZAKU Phantom.
"ARGH!" The young commander cried out as he could feel the enemy had slid under him, and had avoid his blow.
"Yzak!"
"I'm fine!" Yzak brushed off Athrun's concern, turning towards the Abyss, which turned back to its mobile armor form, and was now fleeing out of the city walls. "No way I'm letting that slip so easily from me…"
He made to fly his suit to give chase, till he felt a blast hitting him directing at one of his shields.
"What?!"
"Look out!" Athrun warned.
Yzak twirled his ZAKU Phantom when a new armor flew and fired a pair of rays from its turrets, causing the commander to dash back.
"What the…?!" Yzak turned, to see the purple blur flying past him, and going elsewhere.
"Looks like she's not staying down…" Kira said, grimacing at the sight of the Gaia rising up to face in their direction.
(!)
"Kira?" Sonic said, noticing the pilot beside him gasp. "You okay?"
"Ugh…" Kira felt something of an alarm. "I… there's something… I sense…"
"What?"
Bolts of laser fire interrupted Kira's reply.
"What?!" Kira exclaimed at the sight of fire directed at the ground between them and Gaia.
"Where that come from?!" Sonic questioned.
"Above!" The red ZAKU cried out. "Look!"
Both Kira and the hedgehog looked in shock as the Freedom turned in the direction the ZAKU was pointing at.
"Hold the phone… what is that?" Sonic said.
"That's not a mobile suit…" Kira saw the unit coming into view. "That's a mobile armor!"
The mobile armor flying above them was of a violet color scheme with white highlights. Below its bird-like front, were a pair of long turret guns, while surrounding its engine rear were four diamond shape pieces of armor.
"Mobile armor?" Sonic raised an eyebrow. "It looks like a Jedi starfighter…"
"UGH!" Stella looked in complete surprise, before her face melted into one of joy at the sight of the Exus. "Neo!"
Neo Roanoke observed as he circled his Exus mobile armor around the area where Stella was facing both the Freedom and the red ZAKU Warrior from before.
Auel's foolish gamble had caused Stella to intervene on his behalf, only to get saddled handling another opponent. One opponent he could she or others were not ready for. He would be foolish to think he could face that infamous Gundam… G-Weapon head-on with only his Exus.
After receiving that message from the Minerva, he pondered if their interference here would accomplish anything. Then it became even more complicated when the Freedom appeared, and soon after the Impulse attacked it, for what reason Neo didn't know of, his team had to get dragged into another squabble. A squabble which led for the three of them to get cornered.
If he had arrived a minute late, then he could already imagine disastrous ripples.
"Stella." He said on the comm.
"Neo!" She cried out, her relief evident.
"Make your way and regroup with Sting and Auel." He directed "Make a retreat."
"Retreat?"
"I'll hold them off, while you and the others make a run for it."
"What…?! No, Neo, you…!"
He ignored her protests, and trained his vision on the Freedom and the ZAKU below him.
"What is it doing?!" Sonic questioned.
Kira observed the mobile armor flying straight towards them.
"We have to move! Now!" The pilot from the red ZAKU exclaimed.
"What?"
Kira sensed the girl in the red ZAKU knew something about the mobile armor, and before she could reply, he saw something unfold. The diamond-shaped pads from the back of the mobile armor broke off from it, but all of them still connected by long chords and wires. The barrels unsheathed mounts of turrets before they fired.
"Whoa! Snap!" Sonic cried out, just as Kira turned the Freedom to lift it shield to cover from the enemy fire. The Freedom stood in front of the ZAKU to give her support cover, noting that its missing leg would hinder her movement.
The Freedom lowered its shield, before lifting its assault rifle to fire a green beam at it. The purple mobile armor made a barrel roll through the space, avoiding the green ray. Kira shot at it again, only for it to dodge it again, almost effortlessly. After making the dodge, it quickly unfurled its wired barrels and had them shoot green rays towards them.
"Now that ship is something…" Sonic grimly noted.
"That's the same mobile armor from before…"
"What?" Kira questioned to what he just heard from their new acquaintance next to his suit.
"It matches the description of the same mobile armor that attacked Shinn and Rey outside Armory One!" She exclaimed. "It's on their side! It's from Bogey One!"
"What's a Bogey One?!" Sonic questioned.
Kira glanced back at the evading mobile armor, keeping his eye to see when it would attack again.
Whoever it was piloting it, had to be no pushover. He can tell it wouldn't be easy to just shoot at him. He was fast. And the way it deployed those wired gun-barrels.
Kira paused… observing again the look of the mobile armor in front of him. And he noticed… something… strange…
"It looks… familiar…"
He didn't have time to reflect when the next wired barrels unsheathed something else besides gun turrets.
"SABERS!" Sonic screamed. "Those barrels have sabers!"
Kira looked alarm as the mobile armor flew with a pair of barrels unsheathing beam blades. The sight of the beam weapons caused Kira to instinctively unsheathed his beam saber again.
"Stay behind me!" Kira warned to the red ZAKU next to him. "Get ready!"
"Don't worry!" The red ZAKU pulled out what appeared to be a tomahawk from a crevice inside its shield. "I already am!"
The mobile armor made to dive towards them, with the beam-blades ready to spin and fly towards them…
Before one of the barrels exploded.
"What?!" Neo exclaimed, looking and seeing that one of his weapons had been shot. But by who?
"ARGH!" He cried out as he felt a shot hitting near his hull, causing him to staggard.
"Neo!" Stella cried out, watching as foreign fire had hit Neo's Exus.
"Neo's been hit!" Sting cried out, watching from afar.
ZAFT Flagship Minerva
"Captain, something else just entered the battlefield!" Meyrin stated.
"Another one…" Arthur wined, facepalming his cap into his face.
"What is it?" Gladys asked.
"We're getting a visual, Captain!" One of the operators stated.
…
"What?!" Cagalli exclaimed.
"Huh?" Gladys looked back, seeing the Atha's face.
"What's wrong, Princess?" Durandal asked.
"I… I…" Cagalli stared from Meyrin's monitor at the visual she was seeing. "That's… is that… a Murasame?!"
"A Murasame?!" Athrun couldn't deny the unmistakable look of the white-orange painted mobile armor aircraft he could see flying through the debris field of the dead colony. And it was head straight towards where Kira was.
It was flying at high speeds, before it transformed to its mobile suit form. It didn't waste time, before it unsheathed its own assault rifle and shot a beam towards the Exus.
"Whoa! Did someone call in Jetfire?" Sonic asked, as the flying mobile suit made shots towards the purple mobile armor.
"A Murasame?" Kira said. "Just one?"
"Seriously?" Shinn looked back from his mobile Core Splendor, before glaring. "Don't tell me Orb decided to intervene now."
"Tch…" Neo was forced to maneuver the Exus, just as the Murasame unit transformed and flew towards him to fire bullet rounds that shot after him.
"Who else is deciding to join this party?" He asked with irritation, wanting to move far as he could from the new arrival.
"Neo!" He heard Stella cry out on the comm.
"Move now, Stella!" Neo said, as he turned his lever to barrel roll the Exus to dodge another spray. "Do not engage it!"
"Yeah, that's it! Run along now!" Sonic cheered at the sight of the fleeing. "Nice for the calvary to get some form of calvary as well!"
Their apparent savior then turned from the fleeing purple mobile armor, and turned in their direction.
"Oh, guess our new mystery friend is coming to meet with us…" Sonic said.
The Murasame kept flying straight towards them, with no signs of stopping. It was still flying closer, and it still didn't make any sign of…
"Move…"
"What?" Sonic asked.
Kira responded, as he turned the Freedom to back away… just as the Murasame fired upon them.
"WHAT THE?!" Sonic exclaimed.
"THE HECK?!" Lunamaria yelled, having her ZAKU Warrior fall back on the ground, just as the mobile-armored Murasame flew and fired shots towards the mobile suit next to her, and almost looked to have been ready to ram into it.
When the Freedom jumped out of the way, the Murasame flew across the barren field of the colony ground, before making a u-turn towards them. It transformed to its bipedal form, and started firing its assault rifle at it.
"What?!" Athrun exclaimed, completely shocked.
"Uh… it… it just helped the Freedom…" Yzak said, bewildered. "And now… it's attacking it?"
"Okay, what the heck's going?!" Dearka complained, as he watched the scene unfold from his position near the demolition team closest to him.
"Who is piloting that Murasame?" Rey now wondered as he flew his ZAKU Phantom in the direction of the current fight.
ZAFT Battleship Minerva
"What is going on?!" Cagalli exclaimed. "It's attacking the Freedom, now?"
"Captain!" An operator called, before the map on the table turned on. "Another signal just entered our radar! It's heading towards the battlefield?"
"Are you serious?!" Arthur ripped the cap of his sweating head. "What is it now?"
"Tell me, what is it?" Talia demanded.
"We don't know… but its coming at high speeds. It's… it's heading towards Lunamaria and the Freedom!"
The Freedom pulled its shield up to deflect another blast, before it pulled up its rifle to shoot back, only for the rogue Murasame to transform and fly off.
Then, the torrent of a beam cannon shot through the space above towards the Murasame. The mobile aircraft flew back, avoiding it. The Freedom turned its gaze towards the one holding the beam cannon in its hands was none other than the red ZAKU.
"I'm returning the favor…" The female voice said on the line. "It's already clear this guy is not friendly."
"Yeah, we notice that already." Sonic smiled, leaning towards the comm on the cockpit. "Thanks."
"I don't understand…" Kira pulled his viewport to keep his tabs on the circling Murasame. "Why would… an ORB Murasame… be here… and attack us? Who… who's piloting it…?"
His gaze drifted from the flying Murasame… till he caught something else from the corner of his eye.
"Kira, what is it?" Sonic said. "That Decepticon-thingy is over there! What… What are you… looking at?" The hedgehog looked to see what had caught Kira's eye.
It was coming from beyond the outskirts of the colony. It started faint… but it was growing closer.
"It's… red." Sonic noted.
"Red…?" Kira said, not taking his gaze off. "It's like… a red… comet?"
"Oh, come on…" Sonic whined. "We already have plenty of push-overs to the party. Who is it this time?!"
Seconds passed, and before long, the 'red comet' was coming closer into view. It began flying past the boundary of Junius Seven for all to see.
"Uh… that's… it's a mobile suit!" Kira exclaimed.
"A…" Sonic's eyes widened. "Wait that's the…!"
"Yes… I am so glad to see you again… so soon after our first encounter. I just couldn't wait to see you again… TO PAY YOU BACK!"
Flying at high speeds through its energy wings, the giant mecha being of crimson spiked armor unfolded its two arms, while its red-black spiked tail wagged back and forth. Elevating up to the top of the level of his mechanical beast's head to clearly meet the gaze of his target, the bespectacled man spread his arms open.
Dr. Eggman yelled ecstatically with a feral grin:
"EGG DRAGOON, TERRRORIZE!"
There.
Phew. I have to admit this chapter became twice as long as I had estimated. What started out as a sudden one-sided grudge match has just turned into a jump-in brawl.
And yes, Shinn in here still remembers Freedom Gundam... during that fateful event in his life... however...
This battle now transpiring on the falling graveyard over the planet has been and is about to turn for the chaotic...