(Inspired by The Seed Jedi) I don't own Star Wars or Gundam Seed Characters.
"Blah"-Talking
'Blah'-Thinking
"Blah"-Talking in Different Language
"Blah"- Holocron talking
"Blah"- Comm. Chatter or Ship Names
Chapter Eleven: Who Is This Guy?
Vesalius's Bridge
"So that's it…" Fredrik said, staring at the bridge's main view screen and at the Eurasia Military fortress, Artemis.
"The Umbrella of Artemis," Rau said flatly, floating next to Fredrik, also looking at the view screen. "It appears that they've already caught on to us. It's already active," he finished.
"We've arrived here without catching the Earth Forces' new ship," Fredrik said, a bit disappointed they couldn't catch the ship itself.
"We're in their path," Rau said smirking in anticipation. "We'll get them here."
Fredrik looked up to his commander and nodded before looking back at the view screen. "Turn ship 108 degrees! Match velocity to Artemis, and proceed astern!" he ordered the crew who moved the ship to his orders.
Archangel Pilots' Dressing Room
Kira sighed as he finished putting on his blue, white, and black flight suit. He was told by Oabobiti that Mu wanted to tell him the plan he made in order to get them to Artemis. Oabobiti had already been briefed on the plan and was already in the hanger getting the Duel prepped for launch.
"So…" Mu started, getting Kira's attention while he floated near the entrance of the Pilot's locker room. Mu was in his flight suit with his helmet under his left arm. "Judging from that outfit, I see that you've finally decided to do it."
"You've said so yourself, Lieutenant," Kira started, grabbing his floating helmet while Mu pushed himself off of the doorway and stopped next to one of the couches in the dressing room. "Right now, you, Oabobiti, and I are the only ones who can protect this ship. It's not that I want to fight, but I do want to protect this ship, because of the people on board," Kira finished, feeling a bit of pride in his words.
"It's the same for all of us," Mu said looking at Kira. "You won't find too many people who wish to fight for no reason at all." Mu's face turned serious, "We fight because unless we fight, we cannot protect."
Kira's eyes started to look down towards the ground. Mu could then hear Kira say, "Use your powers for knowledge and defense, and never for attack."
Mu blinked. "Where did you hear that?" he asked curiously.
"Oh…" Kira started, realizing he said what he was thinking out loud. "It was what Oabobiti said to me. It's what a Jedi does with his abilities."
"Really?" Mu said, raising an eyebrow before chuckling. "I still think it's hard to believe HE'S from another galaxy."
"You should have seen what I have seen; then you would know what he says is true," Kira said under his breath as he equipped his new blaster to his hip.
Mu chuckled again. "Well I'm not sure if Lt. Badgiruel believes him, but I do, especially after that little 'lightshow' he gave us. Come on, I'll tell you the plan," he said before going into detail about the plan as they went on their way to the ship's starboard hanger.
When he and Kira got there they noticed Oabobiti had the Duel's right shouldered Beam saber opened up and was tinkering around the system. Mu and Kira also saw Murdoch near the Duel's right beam saber hilt with one hand on his hip while the other was resting on the hilt of the beam saber, along with if not all the other mechanics floating around the head mechanic and ace.
"Hey Murdoch," Mu yelled getting the head technician's attention as he put on his helmet. "What's Capt. Lightstar doing?" he asked as Kira followed him, putting on his helmet.
Murdoch looked down towards the superior officer and shrugged. "Beats the hell out of me," he yelled back as the Lieutenant made his way to his mobile armor, still being followed by Kira. "He just came in, said he was going to do something to one of the Duel's beam sabers, and started taking it apart. And I have never seen someone take a complicated piece of equipment apart as fast as he does," Murdoch explained before looking back at Oabobiti.
"I've taken repulsorlift generators apart that are more complicated than this thing," Oabobiti said waving off the compliment before he reached into the saber's beam focusing matrix and took out a small palm size lenses. "Hold this will ya," he said holding the lenses out to the head mechanic.
Murdoch took the lenses from Oabobiti's hand and took a quick look at the disk. 'This is…' he thought as he blinked and looked down at Oabobiti. "What do you think you're doing kid?" he asked simply.
Oabobiti looked up towards Murdoch. "First off, don't call me kid. Second, just a little experiment," he said waving a dark blue crystal in his right hand. He turned back around to the beam saber and placed the crystal in the focusing matrix of the saber.
"What's a crystal going to do?" one of the other mechanics asked as Oabobiti started to put back the pieces of the beam saber into their original places.
"It's too complicated for me to explain right now, since we have a schedule to keep," Oabobiti replied as he put the last piece of equipment back into the beam saber and closed it back up. "Right now, I just hope it works," he said, pushing himself towards the Duel's cockpit.
"What happens if it doesn't?" another mechanic asked the question on their minds.
Oabobiti looked back at the group of mechanics. "It'll blow up. It happened to me several times when I was trying to make my first lightsaber," he said flatly as he got into the cockpit of the Duel, making the group of mechanics disperse and go back to their respective jobs.
"Well in any case, Kira," Mu started getting Kira's attention. "Think only about protecting this ship and yourself."
"Right," Kira nodded. "Be careful, Lieutenant," he finished as Mu went into the Zero's cockpit. He then pushed himself off of Mu's Zero and towards the Strike in deep thought. 'Athrun, will you come back as well to sink this ship?' he thought as he quickly got into the Strike and closed the cockpit doors.
As he and Oabobiti waited for the ok to move, Mu's Zero moved towards the catapult. "Moebius Zero, La Flaga, to the catapult!" the announcement called throughout the hanger.
The secondary doors to the main hanger closed behind the Moebius and the main doors opened up, revealing the blackness of space. Mu quickly sealed his suit and said, "Mu La Flaga, taking off!" The linear catapult's electro magnets activated, launching the Zero into the void.
"Duel, Proceed to launch position," the announcement stated as the Duel and its maintenance brace moved to the linear catapult. The Duel's feet were soon locked into place by magnets as the maintenance frame pulled away from the Duel and out of the way. The Duel's shield was soon placed on its left arm while the beam rifle was placed in its right hand.
"Kira, Oabobiti!" Miriallia called out to them from her post, causing both pilots to look at their respective view screens.
"Miriallia?!" Kira yelled, surprised to see her on the bridge.
"That's right!" She said with a smile. "From now on, I will act as the combat controller for the mobile suits and mobile armor. I'm counting on you two," she said giving a three fingered salute.
Oabobiti smirked and gave her the thumbs up signal with his right hand. "Your trust is in the right place," he said as he placed his hand back on the controls as the Strike came up from behind and waited for its turn.
"The enemy will be here as soon as the Archangel fires its engines," Natarle warned the two teen pilots. "Be ready to launch when told."
"Roger!" Both Kira and Oabobiti said in unison.
Two minutes later, Oabobiti and Kira felt the Archangel accelerate, as well as a small jerk backwards.
"Was that the signal?" Kira asked Miriallia.
She nodded. "Yup, X102 Duel you are clear for launch!"
"Alright," he said bracing his body for the upcoming G-forces. "Capt. Lightstar. Duel Gundam, taking off!" Oabobiti was then thrown to the back of his seat as the Duel went through the catapult. Once the Duel was out of the hanger and into space, Oabobiti made the Duel double-barrel roll before its main thrusters and phase-shift became active. Oabobiti then went outside of the Strike's flight, waiting for it to come out.
The Strike was quickly placed on the catapult and equipped with the Aile Striker pack with the shield on its left arm and beam rifle in its right hand. Kira then sealed his suit and doubled checked that he was strapped in well.
"X105 Strike, you are clear for launch," Miriallia said making Kira regain the controls. "Good luck out there."
"Thanks Mir," he said with a smile before his face went from thankful to serious. "Kira Yamato. Strike Gundam, heading out!" he finished as the Strike was launched from the catapult and into the void. Once out, the Strike's Aile pack started up opening the wings fully as Kira did his own barrel roll, as his Phase-shift came online and flew right beside the Duel.
Archangel's bridge
"A mobile suit has taken off from the Nazca-class ahead!" Dalida informed from his station. "Only one!"
"Any identification on what type of mobile suit it is?" Natarle asked, hoping to get a clearer picture on what they were facing.
"It's probably one of the other Gundams ZAFT stole from the Earth Alliance," Oabobiti said over the comm, making a picture of him and Kira pop up on the main view screen. "Which means the other two are behind us. All we have to do is figure out which ones they are."
"Kira and Capt. Lightstar," Murrue started with authority. "You are to stay near the Archangel until we find out what we are up against. Once the enemy has been identified, you are free to choose you respective targets."
"Yes, Ma'am!" Oabobiti and Kira said in unison as their images snapped off.
"Two new heat sources approaching from the rear!" Romero informed the rest of the crew. "Distance, 67!"
"They're mobile suits," Dalida said, urgency in his voice.
"Here they come…" Murrue said, mentally preparing herself for the fight.
"Prepare for anti-mobile suit combat" Natarle ordered from inside the CIC. "Load Korinthos into missile tubes 13 through 24! Activate the Valiant linear cannons and input targeting data! Hurry!"
"Machines type determined!" Dalida started before he gasped lightly in surprise. "Why, these are X numbers; Aegis in front of us, with the Buster and Blitz behind us!" This caused the remaining crew members to gasp in surprise.
"Damn it!" Natarle said touching the rim of her hat. "I hate it when Capt. Lightstar is right!"
"You're not the only one who hates it," Oabobiti said over the comm surprising the bridge crew, "You get kinda sick of it after awhile."
"Requesting permission to engage!" Kira asked his voice in a serious tone.
Murrue quickly regained her composure and looked at the two pilots. "Permission granted! Pick your targets!" she told the two pilots.
Back with the Strike and Duel
"Roger that!" Oabobiti said before he turned off his comm to the Archangel and switch radio frequencies to match the Strike's. "Which ones do you want, Kira" he asked.
There was a silent pause that lasted for 3 seconds before Kira replied, "I'll take the Aegis. Can you handle both the Blitz and Buster by yourself?"
"You don't need to worry about me Kira," Oabobiti said easing the teens worry. "I can take care of myself. Just watch your power gauge, we only have a limited number of shots so don't waste them. Fire ONLY when you feel the time is right," he warned before he turned the Duel a full 180 degrees and flew straight towards the Blitz and Buster.
"Right," Kira acknowledge before flying the Strike straight towards where the Aegis was said to be coming from. A few seconds later he saw the Aegis ahead of him its yellow beam saber ignited. Kira equipped the Strikes beam rifle to its hip and placed the Strikes free hand onto one of the hilts of the beam sabers on the striker pack. He was about to activate it, but remembered Oabobiti's words of warning. 'Better wait till he's firing range,' Kira thought as he felt the Strikes hand rest on the hilt of the beam.
With the Buster and Blitz
Both the Buster and Blitz activated their phase-shift armor and continued to fly straight towards the Archangel. Dearka was smirking, "Come on Nicol, let's take them out before Athrun beats us to it!"
"Uh… Right!" Nicol said uneasily as he saw the Buster accelerated forward, moving ahead of him. Nicol has been having a weird feeling ever since the battle started; he wasn't sure what it was either. It was like something was telling him not to fight this battle and it had been itching at him ever since he entered the Blitz cockpit.
The feeling went cold in an instant, causing Nicol to blink and look towards the Archangel. When he looked closer he saw an extremely small flash, so small that Nicol had to strain his eyes to see it. Nicol's instincts kicked, screaming at him to move. He wasted no time accelerating the Blitz right next to the Buster, and with its left arm, backhanded the Buster.
Dearka and the Buster were moved several centimeters to the left. Dearka then looked angrily at the Blitz, "HEY! NICOL WHAT THE HELL IS YOUR DE-". He was cut himself off as he saw a green beam of energy going right in front of the Busters cockpit, leaving only a few centimeters between the Buster and the beam itself. "Damn…" Dearka muttered under his breath, if Nicol hadn't backhanded the Buster, the beam would have penetrated the cockpit and vaporize him instantly. "Thanks, Nicol" he said looking at the Blitz.
"No problem," Nicol said not sure at what he had just did as he looked for the source of the shot. The Blitz consol beeped and an enlarged image of the Duel on his main screen. "It's the other machine, the X102 Duel!" Nicol said urgently as the Buster moved to see the incoming mobile suit.
"Huh…" Oabobiti said leaning his head to the side, away from the targeting computer and looked at both the Blitz and Buster on the main screen. "That rarely happens," he said, moving the targeting computer out of the way. He rarely missed, especially when he combined his force abilities with technology.
"Oh well," he said as he equipped the Duel's beam saber to its hip and reached for the unmodified beam saber on Duel's left shoulder. He activated it and pointed it down and away from the Duel. "More fun for me," he said accelerating the Duel towards the two mobile suits while the Archangel fired several Sledgehammer and Korinthos missiles behind him, acting as fire support.
On the Vesalius
"Sir, please!" Yzak pleaded from inside the cockpit of a CGUE inside the Vesalius. "Let me go out there! It's my fault I didn't make it to the other machine in time, the least I can do is destroy it!" he finished looking at the image of his superior officer on his main screen.
"Athrun, Dearka, and Nicol are already in the fight," Rau said to the frustrated teen from the bridge of the Vesalius. "I'm sure they will be fine."
"But commander," Yzak started, getting very irritated. "You saw what that other machine did to Troy, Zack, and Michel. They'll need all the help they can get. I'm the only certified pilot left!" he finished hoping it was enough to convince Rau to let him fight.
Rau looked down towards the floor, contemplating on whether or not to send him out. Rau looked back up at Yzak. "Very well, that is your machine now. I'll let the others know you are coming," he said in his usual calm demeanor.
Yzak smirked and saluted. "Thank you, sir," he said as Rau nodded and his image went blank.
With the Strike and Aegis
When Kira was closer to Athrun, he activated the Strikes beam saber and went straight forward at Athrun. However, both machines didn't swing. Instead they flew past each other, staring down at one another to see which one make the first move.
"Kira!" Athrun said, to try to at least talk to his old friend.
"Athrun?" Kira asked as the image of his friend popped up on his secondary screen.
"Stop this!" Athrun pleaded hoping to knock so sense into Kira. "Put your sword away! We are not enemies! Am I right? Why must we fight against each other?" he asked as he and Kira circled each other.
"Athrun…" Kira said sympathizing for his friend.
"You're a Coordinator just like us," Athrun started. "Why must you fight against your own kind?"
Kira gripped his controls tighter. He really hated this.
On board Archangel's bridge
"Additional heat source detected coming from the Nazca-class," Jackie informed the rest of the crew.
"Can you identify it?" Natarle ask looking at the back of Jackie's head.
"Scanning…" Jackie continued before his eyes widen a little. "ZGMF-515 CGUE!"
Natarle cursed under her breath.
"So they have one more in there arsenal…" Murrue said also under her breath, eyes narrowing.
Natarle quickly regain her composure and looked towards Miriallia. "Inform Kira and Capt. Lightstar," she ordered.
With the Buster, Blitz, and Duel
"Oabobiti!" Oabobiti heard over the comm as he dodges a combined beam attack from both the Blitz and Buster. "I'm kinda busy here, hang on a sec!" he replied back as he raised the Duel's shield in front of him to intercept a shot from the Buster's 94mm high-energy beam rifle and returned two shots from the Duel's beam rifle at the Buster.
"What's with this guy!?" Dearka growled as dodged the two shots and opened the Busters shoulder missile launchers and fired twelve of its 220mm missiles at Oabobiti.
Oabobiti saw the incoming missiles and activated the Duel's downward thrusters causing him to shoot up, avoiding four of the twelve incoming missiles. Oabobiti then activated the Duel's Igelstellungs and quickly shot down the remaining missiles.
"Damn it…," Dearka cursed as he combined his two weapons to make the Hyper Impulse Cannon, took aim, and fired at the Duel. But the Duel shot up again using the Duel's upward thrusters to avoid the blast from the cannon and fired the Duel's Igelstellungs again, this time hitting the Buster several times with projectiles.
"Hey, Nicol!" Dearka shouted getting his wingman's attention. "How about helping me take this guy out?!"
Nicol was starting to get irritated with the pilot of the Duel; it was like fighting Rau in the simulators, only this machine could take projectile hits. Nicol activated the Blitz's main thrusters, activated the Blitz's beam saber releasing the green blade, and closed the distance between him and the Duel's back.
While on the way to his target, Nicol saw the Duel equip its beam rifle to its hip and grab the hilt of a beam saber over its right shoulder. Nicol's instincts were screaming at him again making his face pale. 'He knows!' he thought as he tried to stop his attack, but it was too late. The Blitz had already let lose a mighty horizontal slash from left to right when the Duel was right in front of him.
Oabobiti detached the modified beam saber and pointed it towards the incoming weapon from behind its back. "I really hope this works," Oabobiti prayed to the force as he activated the beam saber. The modifications worked releasing the new blue beam of pure energy and intercepting the less powerful green beam of energy.
Nicol and Dearka stared at the blade of the Duel's new beam saber. The blade was an unruly dark blue. It looked cleaner, more elegant, and more tamed then Nicol's built in beam saber.
But the awe was short lived as they saw the Duel activate its right side thrusters causing the Duel to pivot and face the Blitz, keeping the Blitz's beam saber outside and away from the Duel. When the Duel was facing its enemy fully, Oabobiti switch the Duel's grip on its anti-beam shield, intent on using it as oversized pair of brass knuckles. He continued with his attack by activating the Duel's left sided thrusters, increasing the speed of the Duel's up coming hit. Oabobiti's threw a mighty left hook right into the Blitz's right cheek and the increase in speed from the Duel's left side thrusters increased the amount of power behind the punch. The amount of momentum in the punch caused the Blitz to spin end on end, causing Nicol to yell in surprise as the Blitz was sent flying.
"Why you…!" Dearka scowled as he took aim at the Duel with the Busters beam rifle and fired a single shot.
Oabobiti sensed the incoming shot, quickly equipped the Duel's shield to its left shoulder and gripped its right wrist. Oabobiti increased the thrust in the left sided thrusters, making the Duel turn right faster. "What goes around comes around!" Oabobiti yelled as he used the Duel's modified beam saber as a baseball bat, hit the Buster's incoming energy round like a baseball, and sent the round right back at its origin.
Dearka was caught off guard as his energy round hit the Buster's left shoulder missile launcher dead-center. The beam cut right through the missile launcher causing several of the 220mm missiles still in the launcher to detonate in a nice fireball, making the Buster spin like a top while the hole in the Buster was spewing molten metal.
"Ha-ha! It works!" Oabobiti shouted triumphantly, making his right hand into a fist and razing it into the air. An alarm started to go off in the Duel's cockpit making Oabobiti cut his celebration short. Looking at the Duel's modified beam saber to see arks of electricity coming off from the saber. "Uh-oh!" he said as he deactivated the modified beam saber and made the Duel toss it away from the suit. Five seconds later the beam saber exploded in a ball of fire. Oabobiti chuckled nervously. "Oops… My bad" he said rubbing the back of his helmet before he placed the hand back on the controls and opened the comm back up.
"Ok Miriallia I can talk now," Oabobiti said putting the beam rifle back in its right hand.
"You have additional company," Miriallia informed. "The new contact is a ZAFT CGUE coming from the Nazca-Class ahead," she finished before she heard Oabobiti say some thing in a different language, causing her to blink. "What did you say?" she asked.
Oabobiti looked at the image of the teenage girl. "I said very colorful words you should never repeat," he said to Miriallia as he saw the Blitz regain control of its spin and fire off several shots from its beam rifle. Oabobiti quickly dodged the shots and blocked the remaining shots with his shield. "Thanks for the heads up, Miriallia, but I'm still tied up here," He said as he fired three shots from the Duel's beam rifle, but the Blitz easily dodged the beams of energy. "Your gonna have to do without me for a little while longer."
Miriallia nodded. "Understood, Duel. Archangel out!" she finished as the image of the teen snapped off. Oabobiti quickly notice the Buster had regained control after it spin and fired from both weapons directly at him. Oabobiti cursed again as he dodged right to the incoming fire. This was going to be a long battle.
Archangel's Bridge
"Are the Blitz and Buster in range of our weapons?" Murrue asked wanting to give the Alliance Ace some covering fire, while it fought the two mobile suits.
"Yes, Ma'am," Jackie replied eagerly, also wanting to help the Jedi.
"Ensign Badgiruel!" Murrue said hoping what she meant by her tone.
Natarle nodded, understanding what the Captain meant and sat up straighter in her chair. "Inform Capt. Lightstar of our intent and prepare to fire the Valiants!" She said with authority.
"Oabobiti!" Miriallia said a little higher than normal.
"Yeah, yeah, I heard her," Oabobiti said over the comm, cutting off Miriallia. "Just make sure you don't hit me. My hands are tied up enough as they already are."
"Valiants," Natarle started, making everyone in the CIC get back into motion. "Fire!"
With Aegis and Strike
Kira took a quick glance back at the Archangel to see multiple shots being fired from the ship in multiple directions, causing him to think of the worse possible out come. "The Archangel!" he yelled unintentionally as he turned the Strike 180 degrees and activated the Strike's main thrusters towards the ship, punching the throttle to the maximum speed. But the Strike was cut off by the Aegis blocking its path. Kira reacted quickly making his Mobile Suit stop, turned hard right, to avoid a mid-space collision, and get around the Aegis. But the said suit just kept pace with him continuing to block his path to the Archangel.
"Kira, enough!" Athrun yelled to his friend.
Kira accidentally growled in frustration. He didn't have time for this, he had to get to the Archangel and help out Oabobiti. Oabobiti was using up a lot more energy then Kira was and needed back-up.
"What are you doing with the ZAFT?" Athrun asked trying to get some answers from the fellow coordinator. "Why are you siding with the Naturals?"
Kira's eyes narrowed. He swiftly maneuvered the Strike's thrusters to point at the Aegis and shot backwards. The Athrun tried to follow but was caught off guard as the Strike then went vertical and tried to get over his suit, but failed. "I'm not with the Earth Forces and neither is the pilot of the Duel!" Kira yelled back at the ZAFT pilot.
Athrun gasped lightly at this new information. 'I was right,' he thought with dread. 'The other pilot IS another coordinator'
"But people I know are on that ship!" Kira continued. "There all good friends of mine! Besides what are you doing with the Earth Forces? Why did you get involved in the war?" he finished turning the tables on his old friend.
Athrun's eyes widen in surprise. He was hoping Kira would never ask that kind of a question as he and Kira continued their aerobatic dogfight, as they also were making they're way closer to the Archangel.
"You use to say you hated the idea of war," Kira said building up his argument. "So why did you attack Heliopolis?" he finished.
"Because the Natural's," Athrun started his voice a bitter tone. "Who fail to understand the situation went and made these things!"
"But Heliopolis was neutral!" Kira said equally as bitter. "So am I! And yet you…!" he said before he was cut off by his lock-on alert, making Kira look around for he new enemy. Kira looked to his right to see a CGUE with GINN colors flying towards him firing off several rounds from its 76mm machine gun. Kira used the Strikes downward thrusters to avoid the incoming rounds.
"Why aren't you attacking, Athrun!" Yzak yelled over the comm.
"Yzak?" Athrun asked dumbly, surprised to see his fellow squad mate in the battle.
Kira's Identification System kicked in, confirming what he had thought he saw. "ZGMF-515 CGUE!" he said before silently cursing as several rounds hit the Strike's shield, but luckily doing no damage. 'I don't have time for this!' he thought as he turned the Strike 180 degrees and straight towards the Archangel with Yzak and Athrun in hot pursuit.
With Duel, Buster, and Blitz
Oabobiti grunted in frustration as one of the Buster's 220mm missiles impacted the Duel on its right shoulder. The pilots of the Blitz and Buster were getting better, making things harder for the Grey Jedi. They have been slowly pushing him back towards the Archangel and Oabobiti was having a hard time dodging both friendly and enemy fire.
"Dearka, you go ahead and attack the legged ship," Nicol said firing two beams at the Duel but missed as it dodged left to the shots. "I'll try and hold this guy off," he finished as he dodged three beams fired by the Duel by shooting upwards.
"Just make sure you finish that guy off fast so you can help me with the ship," Dearka said as he dodged a shot from the Archangel's Valiants, activated the Busters main thrusters and flew towards the Archangel at top speed.
"Roger," Nicol said returning his attention to the Duel. 'Who the hell are you?" he thought as he launched two of the Blitz's Lancer Darts at Oabobiti.
I hope you guys are happy with the chapter. Sorry it took so long, but I would like to thank NukeDawg for helping me out when ever he could as well as Gundam Chief. YOU GUYS ROCK!!!!!
So until next time, This is SPARTAN-251, signing off...(Click)