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1

Anime and Manga / Re: Gundam Trans-Humans

« on: October 29, 2013, 12:36:27 PM »

Agreed; they are a pathetic excuse for the 'next stage' archetype, and Kira is such a Mary Sue that he actually puts KALDOR DRAIGO of all people to shame.  As a protagonist, Mu La Flaga would have been a better choice...assuming Fukuda and his team don't mess up the storyline like they did in canon.

2

Fanfiction / Re: Clash of Civilizations

« on: October 29, 2013, 11:57:39 AM »

"So, what should I call you?" Warrant Officer Murasame asked Ple as they rode a jeep across the military base.

"Hmm…" Ple thought for a moment, largely focused on driving the jeep. It wasn't like she was a reckless driver, but her driving could be described as…interesting, even if she hadn't run over someone or wrecked something. "…lieutenant will do while we're on duty. Ple or Elpeo will do when we're off-duty, or when you need to catch my attention. Don't call me by my number though; only my sister calls me that."

"Alright…" Murasame nodded, before continuing. "…I'm guessing that you're the third in a series of Cyber-Newtypes?"

"Close, but incorrect. Actually I'm the third clone of Elpeo Ple. Who wasn't a Cyber-Newtype by the way; from what I know, she was a powerful Newtype. My sister is number twelve. There were originally eleven clones, numbered two to twelve, but apart from myself and Marida, I'm not sure if any of my sisters are still alive."

"You're surprisingly accepting about all this." Murasame noted.

"Well, it's not like getting angry about this will solve anything." Ple said, as she drove the jeep sharply around a corner and causing a group of soldiers to jump out of the way. "I could say the same about you. You're quite calm about your situation, and your file even says you don't remember your past."

"True…" Murasame conceded with a shrug. "…but the past is just that: the past. Nothing we do will ever change it. All we can do is to keep on living and hope to atone for our past mistakes in the future."

"My thoughts exactly…" Ple replied as she braked suddenly and miraculously ended up parking the jeep perfectly in front of an MS hangar.

"Is there any particular reason your sister has a different name?" Murasame asked, getting out of the jeep and following Ple towards the entrance.

"It's a long story, and a rather private one. I'd appreciate it if you didn't ask." She replied after a short pause.

Murasame nodded and said "I understand; sorry for trying to pry."

"It's alright; it's only natural to be curious." Ple said, her cheerful demeanour returning as they entered the hangar. "Lieutenant Fran!" she called out, causing a silver-haired woman to look up from across the hangar and the tech crews to look at Ple and Murasame.

Noticing the two of them approach, Sophie Fran walked to meet them after picking up a folder and giving a few words to a technician. "Oh good, you must be Warrant Officer Murasame Seven correct?" she said as she met with the two. "I am Lieutenant Sophie Fran and I will be serving as your commanding officer."

"Warrant Officer Murasame Seven, reporting." Murasame said, giving a salute, which Sophie acknowledged with a nod.

"According to your data, you reacted unexpectedly with the enhancement procedures at the Murasame Institute; as such, while you failed to develop Newtype abilities, your body is much stronger and faster than a normal Human's, so much so that you could be classified as an Augmented Human as opposed to a Cyber-Newtype."

"I see…" Murasame said, unsure about what she was saying.

Sophie nodded before continuing "While this means assigning you a psycommu-equipped unit would be meaningless, your abilities would be wasted on a Geara Doga. As such, you'll be piloting something else."

At that she turned to her right, and following her line of sight, Ple whistled and laughed as she saw the mobile armour sitting there before saying "Well now, that's a blast from the past; an ORX-005 Gaplant. One of the fastest transformable mobile suits ever developed."

"And one of the hardest to pilot..." Sophie said seriously. "…seeing as the intense G-Forces of its enhanced speed ensures that only the strongest Humans can endure the strain of piloting the unit."

"It sounds perfect for me then." Murasame said with a faint smile, to which Ple eagerly nodded her agreement. "What about you Ple? What's your unit?"

In response, she pointed to the opposite side of the hangar where a white and violet mobile suit with a faintly insect-like appearance was standing. "AMX-004 Qubeley, just like old lady Haman used to pilot."

"And before you ask…" Sophie said, pointing a thumb over a shoulder. "…my unit is over there in the back. It's just a generic Geara Doga, but it's perfect for me. Now then, Ple I'll leave him to you. I have other matters to attend to."

"What…hey wait; what do you mean you have other matters to attend to?"

"The Angrboda returned last night; all squad leaders are getting a briefing over their mission in the next few days." After saying that, she waved a hand, and left the hangar.

Muttering curses under her breath, Ple walked towards the Gaplant followed by Murasame, who asked "What's the Angrboda?"

"It's a refitted Zanzibar-class Mobile Cruiser." She replied as they approached the unit. "Officially it was out testing out its systems in the Debris Belt, but rumour has it that it was sent to Earth."

"Why?"

"How would I know?"

"You're a Cyber-Newtype."

"Indeed…" Ple replied, smiling happily. "…apparently they've been causing all sorts of shit across ZAFT territory in Africa, and are indirectly responsible for the bloodbath that was the ZAFT assault on the Victoria spaceport. ZAFT won the battle, but it was a pyrrhic victory, and ZAFT only has a tenuous hold on the spaceport."

"How'd they pull that off?" Murasame asked as he dropped down into the cockpit and began a series of standard system diagnostics.

"A series of hit-and-run raids disrupted ZAFT communications across the entire region, and by cutting key supply lines at appropriate times, they not only delayed the ZAFT assault but caused a certain degree of mismanagement and confusion on the ground. If not for the ZAFT drop assault from orbit, the Alliance might have actually wiped out the ground assault and won the battle."

"Ever imagine what it'd be like if we were there?" Murasame asked with a feral smile as the diagnostics finished and he prepared the simulator programs.

Ple's smile was just as bloodthirsty as her partner's. "Isn't it obvious? ZAFT would listen and dance to my melody of death."

"My thoughts exactly…"
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________

A few days later, three ZAFT pilots wearing the red uniforms of elite mobile suit pilots were walking down a corridor leading to Rau's office in ZAFT's Gibraltar base on Earth.

"Ah, it's good to see you again you three." ZAFT Commander Rau Le Creuset greeted the three of them as they entered his office, inwardly puzzled by Yzak's somewhat taciturn appearance. The young man seemed to have changed somewhat, and while he still kept the scar from his little brush with death against the Strike, he seemed calmer and less angry than before.

"I'm here to inform you that despite our bloody losses in South Africa, plans for Operation Spitbreak will continue to be developed with appropriate adjustments." He told them, pushing his concerns for Yzak to the back of his mind. "However, since I'll be busy directing preparations for the operation, I will also be unable to oversee the pursuit of the legged ship…Yzak, are you listening?"

Startled, Yzak quickly gathered himself and bowed in apology. "Please accept my apologies, but I was distracted by that photo on your desk."

"Oh I see…" Rau said, looking at the photo on his desk. "…it was my fault then. Well, since you've already seen it, and it's not really a secret to begin with, I might as well tell you what it is. This is a photo taken by an unmanned reconnaissance probe sent into Side 3, and the only legible one of any use it took. Though to be honest, we're not really sure what it is either."

"It looks some kind of ship with lots of really big external tanks to me…" Dearka said dismissively.

Yzak however, looked closer at the picture. Finally, he asked "What are the chances that Zeon has efficient and effective micro-fusion devices?"

Rau raised an eyebrow in response; that was a question he had not expected from Yzak. Finally, he answered "Quite high, seeing as their tech base is very different from ours."

"Then if I'm right, those are hydrogen tankers." Yzak reasoned out. "The Principality probably has a large store of nuclear fuel, but it won't last forever, so they probably want to secure a supply line to the largest store of free hydrogen in the solar system."

"Jupiter…" Nicol whispered, making the connection even as Dearka's eyes widened in surprise and Rau laughed heartily.

"Mineva Lao Zabi…" he said, calming down. "…that woman undoubtedly deserves her throne. She may be sympathetic to Earth, but all the same she doesn't intend to become dependent on them. Well, we'll worry about her when the time comes; for now, there doesn't seem to be any danger of military technology changing hands between the Alliance and the Principality." Once again regarding Yzak, he made a decision. The boy had changed somewhat, and in ways he had never predicted and still couldn't measure completely, and could possibly be a threat to his plans in the future, but for now he would be quite useful. "More importantly, regarding the pursuit of the legged ship, as I will be unable to oversee it, Yzak you will be in command."

"Congratulations Yzak!" Nicol quickly congratulated his friend, while a smirking Dearka gave him a congratulatory pat on the back. The young man in question, however, just gave a silent salute in response.
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________

Banagher quickly grew concerned at the violin music that echoed across Mineva's house as he opened and closed the door, as it usually meant she was concerned about something, and she needed to calm herself and her thoughts down. Making his way to the second floor, he found her standing on a balcony with her eyes closed as she played a soft and calming song with her violin.

"Audrey…?" he said, causing her to stop playing abruptly and to open her eyes and to look at him in surprise. He was the only person now who called her that, and the only one who was allowed to get away with it. "Is something wrong?"

"…yeah. There is…" she said, sighing as she sat down and put her violin down on a nearby table. "According to our political analysts, that madman Patrick Zala is all but guaranteed to win in the next elections for the chairmanship of the PLANT Supreme Council."

"What did you see?" Banagher asked, worry obvious on his face; both he and Mineva were powerful Newtypes, and he knew she had seen something.

"I saw the Earth…it was dead." She whispered; her eyes hollow and her face contorted with horror. "The entire planet was burning…somehow I knew that this would Earth's fate if Patrick Zala would get his way."

"But if we join the Earth Alliance, then Blue Cosmos…" Banagher said, but broke off as Mineva looked at him.

"I know, but what are the lives of a few hundred million people in PLANT against the billions on Earth? It's a sadistic choice…but no. Zeon will not join the Alliance; there has to be another way…there just has to be…"

"Audrey…it's going to be alright. I'm sure we'll figure something out. We've done it before." He assured her with a smile while mentally reminding her of Laplace's Box and embracing her from behind, causing her to smile and hope to reappear in her eyes. "You are not alone. Everyone in Zeon is with you, and we have Char with us. Seriously, between the Zabi Dynasty and Zeon Zum Deikun's son, is there anything we can't do?"

"I suppose not." She answered, looking fondly over her shoulder at Banagher.
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________

Yzak's transport had left Gibraltar long after Dearka and Nicol had left. Normally, Yzak would have been very irritated at the delay, but after his many brushes with death – he had the scar to prove it – and the loss of so many friends – Rusty, Athrun, Miguel – he began to find himself calmer and less angry about life. He even began to question his own and his mother's Coordinator-supremacist views, something he had never done before. All this was a profoundly confusing moment, and one he intended to silently brood on en route to Carpentaria.

Cagalli, for her part, was increasingly concerned as her damaged Sky Grasper began to run low on fuel and she could still find no sign of the Archangel. Her worrying was cut short when her IFF transponder began to register an unfriendly unit nearby…which was quickly revealed to be a ZAFT transport plane. Quickly manoeuvring her plane as to avoid a collision, she launched an attack, while the transport attempted to defend itself.

Aboard the transport, an irritated Yzak rushed into the cockpit to demand an explanation. "What the hell was that?"

"We're under attack!" one of the pilots told him, even as an explosion rocked the plane.

"That can't be right…we're over the Equatorial Union, and they're neutral…" Yzak began to say when the same pilot from before interrupted him.

"Hurry and get in your unit! We don't have any sub-flight lifters for your unit to fight in the air, and we don't have any DINNs either to counter-attack with! However, we did manage to get a signal off, and considering your unit's abilities, you should be able to survive on your own for a while, at least until a search team gets here! Hurry; if you go down with the plane, then your loss will be a stain on the honour of the supply corps!"

Cursing, Yzak rushed towards the hangar, but respected the pilots' determination and courage under fire. Within minutes, Yzak was in his unit's cockpit, and after several moments had activated his unit and jumped off of the plane and was free-falling down to the ocean below. He didn't see the plane's fate, but he did catch sight of a small island nearby, and used his engines to guide and slow the Duel's descent towards that island. Landing on the coast, he ran a quick check through all the frequencies, and while he was disappointed by the lack of contact from all ZAFT channels, he was satisfied with the lack of all hostile IFFs nonetheless.

Locking down his unit – no harm in being cautious after all – he armed himself and set out to explore the island. Which wasn't much; it barely took a few minutes to traverse it from coast to coast. He was just going to head back when he heard a twig snap behind him. Whirling he caught sight of a wet and surprised blonde boy…holding a gun and wearing a utility vest. Cursing, said boy fired off a shot, which Yzak dodged with ease, but he slipped and lost his gun in the process. Unwilling to confront an armed opponent on their terms, he managed to jump away and hid himself among some rocks as the boy ran forward to pick up his gun.

Growling, he felt the familiar anger rise deep inside him and smiled. It felt good to be back to being his usual irritable self.

3

Fanfiction / Re: Clash of Civilizations

« on: October 29, 2013, 11:55:30 AM »

The Zanzibar-class entered the Earth's atmosphere, its lower hull glowing red as it endured the heat of re-entry. In the hangar, three pilots sat in their Doms' cockpits waiting for re-entry procedures to finish.

"So, is there any chance for us to get some shore leave while we're on the surface?" one of the pilots asked.

"Get real…" another pilot, a woman this time, replied. "…we don't have much time left before ZAFT begins their assault on the Victoria spaceport. We have our work cut out for us delaying and ensuring that operation gets as bloody as possible for ZAFT."

"Heads up you two…" the squad leader, also a woman, said. "…our first target is thirty minutes away from the landing zone. It's a major communications relay for ZAFT and their African allies; due to ZAFT's widespread deployment of N-Jammers across the Earth, even their forces are hamstrung regarding long-range wireless communications. We take out that relay, and we shatter the ZAFT logistics and communications network across East Africa."

"At least they have long-range wireless communications." The other woman sneered. "For us it's all but impossible thanks to the Minovsky Effect."

"Save your bitching…" the squad leader chided. "…for after we get the job done."

"Warrant Officer Hale and company…" the Zanzibar-class' captain informed all the Dom pilots over the communications line. "…re-entry procedures have been completed, and we are approaching the landing zone in the Atlas Mountains. Standby…"

"Hale Team, acknowledging." The warrant officer replied, before addressing her subordinates. "Alright, you heard the captain. Commence final weapon checks."

"Scattering Beam Guns…check."

"360mm Bazookas…check."

"My 120mm checks out."

"Heat Sabres are also clear."

"Hover jets and fusion plants all check out."

"Fuel mix is optimal."

"Panoramic monitors are clear."

"Discharge papers?" Warrant Officer Hale joked, causing her fellow pilots to laugh. "Final preparations complete."

"Roger; standby for final approach." The pilots looked up as the hangar doors slid open, revealing the bright yellow landscape stretching out to the horizon under the brilliant blue sky. Hale moved first, piloting her Dom towards the edge of the deck, her other pilots close behind her. "We have reached optimum altitude; all Doms are clear for drop off."

"Roger; let's go you two!" she said, before she jumped off the Zanzibar-class followed by the others. They dropped to the ground, their fall broken by their hover jets, and after a few moments, the three units headed in the direction of the ZAFT base, their passage marked by a plume of sand displaced by their jets.
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________

"Finally, we're home." Aki said as she floated on the viewing deck, watching the walls of the colony's spaceport slide by as their Endra-class slowly moved towards its assigned dock.

"Well, aren't you eager to see your boyfriend, ensign?" Banagher said with a mocking smile as he sat reading a magazine nearby.

"I don't have a boyfriend."

"Of course not…" Banagher replied, nodding sagely. "…you swing the other way. Sorry for forgetting."

"I…I do not!" Aki spluttered as her face turned red. "Just because all my flatmates are girls and some of them happen to be lesbian doesn't mean I am one too!"

Banagher laughed before setting down the magazine and standing up. "Relax ensign, I was just joking."

Coughing a few times to regain her composure, Aki finally asked "So, you want to catch a bite to eat or something?"

"Sorry Aki…" Banagher said with an apologetic expression on his face as he floated over to the door. "…but I have other business to attend to. Feel free to enjoy yourself though."

"Roger that, lieutenant." She said, giving a mock salute.
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________

"The Indra has docked?" Mineva asked from behind her desk. "I see…in that case, I need to get going."

"Go?" her secretary, Christina Pieta said in surprise. "Go where?"

"To Central Hospital; I knew the Indra would be arriving today, which is why I came here in civilian wear as opposed to my usual uniform." Which was true; Mineva wasn't wearing her usual military-style uniform, but a green and white blouse and skirt, white knee socks, and soft, black leather shoes. "Banagher will be meeting me there." She said, putting on a white cardigan.

"But your Highness…" Christina began to protest but Mineva cut her off.

"We took a great risk sending the Indra out on that mission; give the crew shore leave, and I want a condensed report regarding all our findings as soon as possible. And regarding that ZAFT prisoner, tell Colonel Handers that if his little project blows up in our faces, I'm going to have him shot."

"But your Highness…" Christina wailed, chasing after the Sovereign as she walked out of her office towards the elevator. "…at least tell me why you're going to the hospital."

"Just a check-up; I've been along for four months after all." Mineva said, unconcerned by her secretary's worries.

"Along…four months…your Highness…!" the secretary gasped out, aghast by the revelation. "But you're not married yet!"

Mineva rolled her eyes in response and entered the elevator as the doors opened. "Big deal; my relationship with Banagher isn't even an open secret anymore, and we can get married once things settle down. Keep this a secret, Christina, or I'll have your job."
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________

Athrun Zala had a bad week, though to be honest, he wasn't even sure if it was a week as his captors used a different calendar. First, his friend and fellow pilot Rusty got killed. Then he discovered that Kira had never gone to PLANT as he had thought, but was on Heliopolis, and had gotten caught in the middle of the crossfire between ZAFT and the Earth Alliance. And that was assuming he wasn't with the Alliance to begin with. Then to top it all off, he had been captured by the Principality of Zeon.

That was quite perplexing to him; Zeon was officially neutral in the war, much like Orb, but was more sympathetic to the Alliance than to PLANT. It was absurd; Earth had launched nuclear missiles against PLANT, and even though ZAFT had triggered an energy crisis to cripple Earth's economy, it was still unthinkable that Zeon were slightly more supportive of Earth than of PLANT.

He had asked Commander Le Creuset of course; the man had explained that apparently the Principality believed that Humanity's destiny lay in space and that therefore they should all leave Earth for space, and as such they favoured the Alliance because they feared that in the worst case scenario the Coordinators would imprison the rest of Humanity on Earth permanently. And that troubled Athrun, because while he and most others would never condone such a course of action, his father and many other Coordinators would probably be ready and willing to do such a thing, assuming they didn't just commit genocide against the people of Earth.

At the very least though, his captors treated him humanely, as his food was solid and wholesome – as to be expected from military rations – and was provided regularly along with clean drinking water. He was also regularly escorted to the toilet, and upon extraction from the disabled Aegis, he had been given a thorough medical check-up.

Once he had asked a friendlier guard why he had been captured; the guard had replied that they wanted to see what the new Alliance Gundams were capable of, and that his (Athrun's) capture had just been coincidence, as any pilot would have done. The guard had then assured him that he would be treated fairly, and then gave him his food.

Athrun sighed as he put the last of his food into his mouth. He had overheard the guards saying that they would be arriving in Side 3 shortly, so Athrun reasoned out that he would soon be transferred to a more secure facility, where he would probably be interrogated. Muttering about the unfairness of life, he wondered how he was going to get home. He was still wondering that when the drugs in his food finally took hold and he fell asleep.

When he opened his eyes next, he was naked and bound on an operating table, while men wearing smocks and surgical gloves, masks, and goggles stood around him. He tried to think, but was unable to get past the fog clouding his mind.

"The subject has awakened; apply the anaesthesia." The surgeon said, causing a nurse to pick up a mask and attach it to his face. After a few more moments, he began to black out, even as the surgeon picked up a gleaming scalpel…
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________

On the Moon, a pair of Zeon prospectors stood on a ridge and looked out over a vast plain stretching out towards the lunar horizon. "Is this it?" one of them asked.

"That's right. This is it." The other replied.

"There's nothing here."

"Of course there's nothing here; Granada was never built in this world. But that's going to change, and soon."

"This is going to be prime estate, you realize? A lot of people are going to be queuing up to buy property here once the first stage of development is complete."

"Of course I know that! What do you take me for? I'm more concerned what the Senate and the Sovereign are planning. Something tells me that rebuilding Granada is simply part of a bigger plan."

"What's this? Are you saying that you've become a Newtype all of a sudden?"

"Of course not; I'm just…oh never mind. Let's go back to the outpost and report on our findings."

"Yeah: the Granada plain is empty and ready for development. Nice and easy…"

"Winston, that attitude of yours is going to get you into trouble one of these days, you mark my words."
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________

The three Doms sped across the desert at great speed, their passage marked by a massive plume of displaced sand behind them.

"You do realize we don't have M-Missile support at this distance from the ship, right Warrant Officer?"

"Of course I do." Hale responded to her subordinate's question. "That's why I brought along an old fashioned jammer to make sure they don't call for help while we go in fast and hard."

"They'll still realize something is off once the airwaves are filled with static."

"I know…" Hale broke off as she saw the ZAFT communications relay rise out of the horizon. Without skipping a beat, she shouldered her bazooka, aimed at the centre of the central antenna assembly and fired. The rocket soared through the air and struck true, blowing the assembly in half. The upper half toppled to the ground even as ZAFT and African Community soldiers scrambled around in panic. The lower half simply collapsed into itself.

The three Doms broke up and circled the scene; Hale fired off another round, and destroyed the motor pool and all of the enemy's linear tanks and personnel transport vehicles. Seaman Cassandra meanwhile riddled the buildings with her 120mm machine gun, leaving death and destruction in her wake. One ZAFT BuCue emerged from a hangar and charged at Cassandra, who fired her scattering beam gun, blinding the unit. Before it could recover she hovered over to the side and stabbed the BuCue with her heat sabre, then blasted off to a safe distance before it exploded. Another BuCue tried to leave a hangar, but a direct hit from Seaman Henkel's bazooka destroyed its head and sent it crashing back into the hangar and a third BuCue. Two more rockets later – one from Henkel and another from Hale – and the hangar and both BuCues were reduced to a pile of scrap metal.

The three Doms assembled in the middle of the ruins and deactivated their hover jets. As they surveyed the scene, Cassandra noticed surviving ZAFT and African soldiers fleeing the combat zone. She raised her machine gun but was stopped by Hale.

"Let them go, the desert will kill them for us. Let's go back for now."
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________

A young man with navy-blue hair and green eyes awoke in his hospital bed squinting at the light pouring in through his window. As he sat up, he winced, and clutched his chest in pain.

"Oh good, you're awake." A doctor said, coming into his room. "I didn't expect you awake so soon, warrant officer. How do you feel?"

"My body hurts all over." He replied and the doctor nodded.

"That's an uncommon but not unknown symptom of cryogenic stasis. As is a certain degree of memory loss; do you know who you are?"

The young man frowned as he realized he didn't know who he was, or why he was even there. It was a profoundly empty moment, and for a moment he teetered on the brink of insanity…but finally he sighed and looked sharply at the doctor. "No…" he replied. "…but I suppose you can tell me?"

"Correct…" the doctor said, nodding. "…Warrant Officer Murasame Seven. I hate to remind you of your past, but you're a – and I apologize for any offense caused – failed Cyber-Newtype from the Earth Federation's Murasame Institute in Japan. You were captured, or rather, freed from captivity during the First Neo Zeon War, and joined our forces in gratitude. However, the strain of all the experiments took their toll, and as such you were placed in cryogenic stasis until a medical solution could be found."

"And that is why I'm here now…" Murasame said, nodding as he did so. It fit, and his mind rejoiced in finally remembering who he was. Of course, not all of his memories would ever return, but he didn't care; as far as he was concerned, the past was unimportant, and he would simply start over from here and now. As he was pondering himself, a nurse came with a folded Zeon uniform and a pair of boots and put it on the bed, before whispering something to the doctor and leaving.

"That's your uniform warrant officer, and someone should come along after a while to escort you to your assigned post." The doctor told him before leaving as well. Wincing at the pain, Murasame stood up and after closing the door (all the while muttering complaints why the doctor couldn't be bothered to close it himself), he took off his smock and began putting on the Zeon uniform, mentally noting to buy new underwear of his own later on. He was putting on his boots when the door opened and a cheerful young woman with orange hair strolled into the room, her cape flowing around her.

"Hello there, warrant officer. I'm Lieutenant Junior Grade Elpeo Ple the Third, and I'm going to be flying with you on the battlefield." She happily introduced herself with a mock salute. "Anyway, it's nice to meet another Cyber-Newtype; the only one I know right now is my sister Marida, so let's try and get along shall we?"
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________

Note: the last part takes place about a month after the rest of this segment.

4

Fanfiction / Re: Clash of Civilizations

« on: October 29, 2013, 11:52:10 AM »

"A space colony was destroyed…her Highness will not be pleased." The Endra-class' captain said unhappily. There were precious few Natural space colonies, and while the Sovereign had nothing against Coordinators in particular, she feared that if the Coordinators were allowed to gain sole control of space, the whole of Humanity would pay the price for it.

"At the very least sir, the whole population seems to have escaped to safety." A subordinate said.

"That is small comfort. They'll have no choice but to go back to Earth, given the nature of Orb's neutrality. At the very least, the destruction of the colony due to a ZAFT military operation will be a disaster to Zeon-PLANT relations, and even more so for PLANT-Orb relations." The captain sighed before barking out new orders. "Our mission's been completed, so prepare to move out once we re-orient our current position."

"Captain, we're picking up a signal from somewhere nearby."

"What kind of signal?"

"It appears to be a standard civilian distress signal, most likely from a disabled civilian escape pod."

The captain sighed; this mission was becoming increasingly complicated. Originally their orders were to observe and assess ZAFT's performance in their capture operation, as well as to capture one of the Alliance Gundams (the existence of which had caused quite a stir in Deikun City) if possible. But naval protocol demanded that all Zeon Navy vessels to assist civilians in distress, mission secrecy be damned.

"Can we find it from here?"

"Negative sir; between our own Minovsky Particle interference and ZAFT/Alliance N-Jammers, plus the heat radiating from the ruins…"

"Have Lieutenant Banagher launch immediately. Have him locate the source and report on the situation."
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________

Banagher slowly flew through the debris field, searching for the source of the signal, all the while unhappily contemplating the ruins of Heliopolis. Heliopolis was an O'Neill cylinder, and very much resembled his old home colony in Side 1, and even more uncomfortably, his current home in Side 3. He pushed the morbid thoughts aside and moved his Jagd Doga behind a piece of debris as he spotted the disabled escape pod and more importantly, the Gundam beside it.

He narrowed his eyes as he spotted the additional equipment strapped to the Gundam; they weren't there when he had watched that Gundam in action during the battle in Heliopolis.

"Is that Gundam designed to be equipped with a variety of equipment for various situations?" he mused, even as the Gundam grabbed the pod and took it elsewhere. Pondering for a moment, he stealthily moved his Jagd Doga to follow. After several minutes of flight, he hid behind another piece of debris with a gasp: the Gundam had taken the escape pod to a ship, and not just another ship: it was a virtual carbon copy of the so-called Trojan horse, the White Base.

"The White Base…is this supposed to some kind of joke?" he asked rhetorically and not for the first time he thought that the whole situation was very much like the Battle of Side 7 back during the Universal Century's One Year War. As the Alliance Gundam entered one of the hangars, Banagher nodded before returning.
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________

Two hours later, Ensign Aki was shadowing the Archangel while creatively hiding behind several dummies and pieces of debris. Lieutenant Banagher wasn't the only one who noticed the similarities between recent events and the Battle of Side 7, and the captain in particular was certain that they were headed for the nearby Eurasian asteroid fortress of Artemis, which was another uncomfortable parallel to the Universal Century, seeing as both Heliopolis and Artemis were in the same general location as Side 7 and Luna II were in the Universal Century.

And so, she had been ordered to escort them to Artemis while avoiding detection, as the captain feared that ZAFT would ambush them (and thus endanger the civilians aboard) en route to the fortress. Which was easier said than done of course; once they had left the bulk of the debris field behind them, she had to make creative use of dummies and what few pieces of debris there were to avoid detection.

Thankfully though, ZAFT didn't seem to be pursuing, and so she amused herself by sending enticing mental images to the Newtype aboard the Alliance vessel. The Newtype didn't seem to have full control or awareness of his abilities, and as such could only respond by communicating a sense of annoyance and displeasure, to which she responded with amusement. However, all good things must eventually come to an end, and even as Aki began to think she just might finish this mission without having to fight, she sensed another Newtype, one with a definitely hostile mentality, even as her unit's sensors picked up another vessel outflanking the Archangel and moving to overtake and cut off the vessel before they could reach the relative safety of Artemis.

"Of course…" she muttered as she quietly manoeuvred her unit to a safer distance. "…I just had to hope this would go off without a hitch."
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________

"The Mobius Zero has arrived on the catapult deck…linear catapult voltage is rising…unit stabilized in linear field…launch preparations complete…Lieutenant La Flaga is clear for launch." Miriallia said as Mu's mobile armour moved into launch position and the external doors slid open.

"Roger; Mu La Flaga, Mobius Zero, launching!" Mu responded while bracing himself against the intense G-Forces of launch.

"Good luck, hotshot." A woman's voice spoke to him in his head. While he would normally freak out as a result of hearing a disembodied voice in his head, Mu was by no means stupid. The rather vivid images which had distracted him while overseeing the repairs to his mobile armour…and the sense of amusement that wasn't his own but he had felt over the rather 'enticing' images…someone out there was playing with his and her minds. And now he knew who.

"Do you mind?" he asked, silently casting the thought back even as he manoeuvred to an intercept course for the ZAFT warship to the front of the Archangel. "I'm not averse to some feminine company, but please don't distract me while I'm busy, or especially when I'm flying on the battlefield."

There was a moment of silence before the sullen reply ghosted back. "You can talk to me now?"

"Yes, I can."

"Yeah, sorry about that, but escort duty is rather boring."

"Why are you helping us?" Mu asked bluntly.

"You have civilians aboard; the captain was a veteran of the Battle of Side 5, and he didn't want any more dead civilians during his watch."

"Side 5…you're from the Principality aren't you?"

"If I say yes, will you tell anyone?"

"No…" Mu replied firmly. "…if I said that I spoke telepathically with a Zeon pilot, they'd probably have me committed. But in exchange, would you mind telling me how I'm doing this?"

"Fair enough…" the pilot conceded. "…we're called Newtypes, the next stage of Human evolution, and our abilities are a natural adaptation from living in the environment of space. In addition to telepathy, other abilities of ours include, but are not limited to, faster reflexes and increased spatial awareness."

"I see…well, that explains a few things." Mu conceded, remembering the skills he and his late comrades needed to possess to pilot the famed Mobius Zero mobile armours. "Alright, I'll trust you for now, so would you mind keeping an eye on Kira and the Archangel for me? The kid's a bit inexperienced and…"

"Say no more…" the pilot replied cheerfully. "Just concentrate on attacking that ship to the front."
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________

As she disconnected her mind from Mu's, she turned back to the Archangel, which was steadily firing off ordnance and artillery to keep the captured Gundams at bay. "Impressive…they have a lot of ordnance to spare." She commented. "Though that's not worth much in a Minovsky Particle-rich environment, while their artillery seems to barely have the range to compete with most ship-grade Mega Particle Cannons."

She noted the skill of the ZAFT pilots with approval, seeing that they were up to Zeon standards. The pilot of the Alliance Gundam though, Kira or something, was somewhat lacking, or so it seemed to her, most of his shots going wild or following a simple and easily evaded firing pattern. "Inexperienced brat…" she muttered, thinking Kira was one of those hastily trained pilots, not knowing that the boy had been forced to become a pilot without any sort of military training whatsoever. "…three against one; boy, at this rate you're practically begging for me to interfere."
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________

Rau sat in his command chair and smiled as the Alliance warship finally came into the Vesalius' firing range. "Main cannons prepare to fire…" his subordinate and the Vesalius' captain Ades ordered. "…standby on laser range-finders."

"It's over…" he began to think when he felt something…or someone sneak up on the ship from below. "Belay that, and execute evasive manoeuvres immediately!" he shouted, causing Ades to look at him in surprise, when a crewman said in alarm "We have a mobile armour closing from below!"

"Activate the CIWS…!" he began to order, but it was too late. At that moment, Mu brought his mobile armour up ninety degrees, before launching his gun-pods and having them fire on a single point to at least superficially weaken the armour before he fired his linear cannon, rupturing the Vesalius' main engines. As the Vesalius began to list and lose power, Mu let out a victory shout even as he launched a cable and used it to slingshot his unit away from the stricken warship at high speed.

"Enemy mobile armour has retreated…main power failing…main engines are offline…" the bridge crew reported one after another.

"Shoot it down!" Ades roared, but was countermanded by Rau.

"We're withdrawing! Issue the retreat signal!"

"Commander, we have a high-energy reading detected from dead ahead!" a crewman shouted in panic.

"Engines to full…" Rau shouted with a wave of an arm. "…evade it!"

Its auxiliary engines burning bright, the Vesalius barely dodged, but took serious damage along the starboard side from the Archangel's positron barrage. Seeing the damage, Mu clenched a fist triumphantly even as a thought ghosted in from the Zeon pilot. "Not bad at all old man."

"Who are you calling an old man?" Mu complained. "That's Lieutenant Mu La Flaga to you little girl."

"Sorry, but in that case it's not little girl either: it's Ensign Aki Kamaitachi…uh oh. Hang on your friend is in a bit of a tight spot."
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________

Aki smiled somewhat cruelly as she launched her funnels; just moments ago, the conformal shielding on the Alliance Gundam had failed causing the pilot to break and flee as another Gundam closed in with a pair of beam sabres drawn.

"This is the end!" Yzak shouted, as he swung his sabres…only to shout incoherently as the Duel shook violently as yellow beams blew off its arms at the elbows.

"What?" Dearka said in surprise just before more beams blew off the Buster's head and missile pods, along with the Blitz' right arm.

"Damn it…we have to retreat, Yzak, Dearka!" Nicol shouted, piloting the Blitz towards the blinded Buster and dragging it back to the Gamow with the Duel flying close behind.

As she retrieved her funnels and flew back to her ship, Aki smirked and flashed a victory sign as she heard Yzak spitting out oaths like melon seeds over the ZAFT channel. Elsewhere, Mu chuckled at the Zeon pilot's antics and said "Right back at you ensign: not bad at all."
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________

Meanwhile on Earth, three girls chatted animatedly with each other as they walked down a hallway in Morgenroete's central facility in the Orb Union. They were the so-called 'Astray Girls': Asagi Caldwell, Juri Wu Nien, and Mayura Labatt, and they were wondering what was so important that they were being called in on what was supposed to be their day off from training and testing.

To their surprise, there were only a few people in the facility, including Senior Engineer Erica Simmons, who was standing on a raised and stepped platform beside a large, rectangular container speaking with a blonde-haired man wearing the standard Morgenroete uniform, though strangely enough the man was wearing sunglasses indoors.

"Oh good, you finally got here." Erica said, noticing the girls and turning towards them, the blonde man doing likewise. "What you're about to hear is not to leave this facility, do you understand?"

"Yes ma'am." The three girls chorused as the security doors were closed, though that wasn't unusual given the sensitive nature of much of the work going on in the facility.

"Good…" Erica said, nodding. "…I'm sure that you've heard rumours that the Principality of Zeon has its own mobile suits which can be piloted by Naturals. And I'm here to tell you…that those rumours are correct."

As the girls gasped in surprise, Erica continued. "The mechanical systems of their units are actually deceptively simple, and surprisingly advanced, so much so that computer control is not needed to the same degree as ours are. We're already working to try and reverse-engineer the technology, but it will take some time to refit our existing units. Until then, you'll be working with a new set of simulator programs, after which, well…in any case, allow me to introduce to you Lieutenant Quattro Bajeena from the Zeon Mobile Suit Corps."

At this, Lieutenant Quattro stepped forward and nodded, removing his sunglasses as he regarded the three girls.

"Once your units have been refitted with the UC AMBAC system, he'll be overseeing your practical training and with that said…" she broke off as she pulled out and pressed a remote which slowly opened the container beside them. Most of the people present gasped at the sight of the mono-eyed, crested, red and maroon mobile suit which stood in the container.

"…MS-06S Zaku II Commander Type. An outdated mobile suit by current standards, but in its day this unit was a feared force on the battlefield. Especially these colours…from what I hear, these were the colours of Zeon's legendary 'Red Comet' Char Aznable." Turning to Quattro, she asked "Is there any particular reason why you have his colours, lieutenant? Was he a friend of yours, perhaps?"

Quattro smiled a wintery, but friendly smile before he put his sunglasses back on. "Well yes, I suppose you could say I was good friends with Char."

5

Anime and Manga / Re: Gundam Trans-Humans

« on: October 29, 2013, 11:48:10 AM »

Coordinators are not Newtypes.  They're actually closer to Halo Spartans, and are an evolutionary dead-end, considering that Third Generation Coordinators are sterile.

6

Fanfiction / Re: Clash of Civilizations

« on: October 28, 2013, 09:04:20 AM »

What's SRW?

7

Anime and Manga / Re: Gundam Trans-Humans

« on: October 28, 2013, 09:04:01 AM »

Everything on that list except newtype is a cheater.

To be fair, the Trans-Human movement IRL always involves 'cheating', whether it involves cybernetics, genetic-engineering, robotics, AI, etc.

8

Fanfiction / Re: Clash of Civilizations

« on: October 22, 2013, 11:38:01 AM »

Universal Century 101; six months have passed since the space colonies of Side 3 arrived in the Cosmic Era. The Principality has thus far maintained its neutrality, although it maintains a controversial trading arrangement with the Earth Alliance's Lunar Base, all the while shrouding itself with a veil of deception. But as the eleventh month of the Bloody Valentine War passes, and the turning point steadily approaches, the Principality finds itself increasingly drawn into the world of the Cosmic Era.
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________

"This had better be good." Mineva growled at her aides as they rushed into her house's dining room where the young woman was enjoying her breakfast. "What's so important that you couldn't wait for me to get to my office or you couldn't be bothered to send via vid-phone?"

Silently, one of her aides handed her file; sighing, Mineva set down her coffee before taking the file and quickly skimming it. The irritated look on her face quickly changed to alarm before she burst out "Kaohsiung has fallen! How recent is this information?"

"Well, taking into consideration both N-Jammer and Minovsky Particle interference, then most likely…" an aide began but broke off as Mineva stood and walked over to a window.

"ZAFT intends to trap the Naturals on Earth…" she said softly. "…but the Coordinators lack evolutionary potential. It seems to me, seeing as Humanity's souls are even more weighed down by gravity here, we have a lot more work to do than I initially thought."
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________

Meanwhile, on the other side of the Earth Sphere, aboard the ZAFT Nazca-class Destroyer Vesalius, Commander Rau Le Creuset floated back into the centre of the bridge. "What's with the troubled look, Ades?"

"I still think we should wait for further orders from the Supreme Council."

"It's too late for that." Rau responded, sending several pictures to his subordinate. "The Earth Forces' new mobile weapons; we have to move quickly before they can be taken away from here."

Even as he said those words, several transports wrapped in shock-absorbing balloons and moving on inertial thrust dropped down onto Heliopolis. Immediately after touch down, ZAFT soldiers in normal suits emerged, and after spending a few minutes performing last-minute equipment checks, headed towards a secured hatch leading into the spaceport's restricted sections. Surprisingly (or not considering Orb's technology level) it took a few more minutes for the ZAFT virus to shut down the security systems and to allow the ZAFT infiltrators to enter the hatch.
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________

Meanwhile, on the other side of the colony, a pair of green and black Jagd Dogas soared towards Heliopolis on inertial thrust. Aboard one of the Jagd Dogas, Lieutenant Banagher Links was caught off guard when he felt something tugging on his senses, causing him to look around the star-scape in surprise. "Who was that just now?"
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________

In Heliopolis' spaceport, Lieutenant Mu La Flaga was overseeing the maintenance of his Mobius Zero when he felt something tug at his mind. "Le Creuset…no, it's something else. But what or who is it?"
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________

Aboard the Vesalius, Rau was sitting in the bridge when he felt something tug at his mind, causing him to look around in surprise.

"Is something wrong, Commander?" Captain Ades asked in concern.

"No, it's probably nothing." Rau replied; it felt like Mu, but somehow he knew it wasn't. In any case, he also knew somehow that what he sensed wasn't a threat, so he decided to leave it be and to focus on his current mission.
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________

Banagher quickly sent a message via optical communication to his wingman. "Did you sense that?"

"Yes…two of them I think." Ensign Aki Kamaitachi answered in the same manner.

"Newtypes here; how interesting…both Mineva and Captain Char will need to know about this." Banagher mused, but quickly pushed it to the back of his mind as he closed in on Heliopolis. Firing off quick bursts from their manoeuvring jets to slow them down, the two Jagd Dogas landed on Heliopolis near an external airlock. This one was routinely used by civilian personnel to inspect the outer hull for damage, so it wasn't secured. Strapping on a jet pack and opening his cockpit, Banagher used a hand laser to send a message to Aki. "Keep an eye on my unit."

"Understood…" one of her Jagd Doga's eyes flashed the reply back.

Floating over to the airlock, Banagher tapped in the stolen access code allowing him to open, enter, and pressurize the airlock without tripping an alarm. Floating through several hallways and up an access tunnel, all the while keeping his pilot suit sealed despite the pressurized environment, Banagher found himself before a locked pressure door that led into the colony's interior. Growling as his stolen code failed to unlock the door he affixed a piece of plastic explosive onto the lock and set a timer. Double-checking his side-arm and other equipment one more time, he armed the bomb before returning and taking cover behind the last corner just seconds before the bomb exploded and blew the door open.

Heading to the jagged hole in the wall, Banagher adjusted his jetpack to the colony's air pressure before flying out towards the colony's central cable assembly – a feat that took a quarter of an hour to achieve. He finally reached it as the first explosions from the spaceport rocked the colony.

"ZAFT's begun their capture operation it seems." He growled, taking out his binoculars and began to look around him. After several minutes of fruitless searching, he found what he was looking for, a military convoy escorting several skeletal mobile suit containers. "Amazing…" he said, as began to take pictures with his binocular's camera function. "…Gundams and three of them to boot; strange, the data said there'd be five. Are the other two not here yet?"

Banagher's attention was further piqued by the arrival of two GINN mobile suits which quickly demolished the military convoy, allowing ZAFT infiltrators to launch a drop assault and move to capture the Alliance Gundams.

"Not bad at all…" Banagher said with genuine respect in his voice. "…although I can't help but feel as though I'm watching the early stages of the Battle of Side 7 play out right in front of me." As the battle petered out and the three Gundams and one of the GINNs flew off, Banagher moved to another vantage point from where he could view and record the activities of the other GINN and the infiltrators who broke away from the main group earlier on. He was not to be kept waiting for long, as the Aegis and the Strike emerged from the explosion of a large building. The former landed near the GINN while the latter landed clumsily nearby and staggered away.

"Hey, hey, what's with that pilot?" Banagher complained. "It's like he or she doesn't know how to pilot the unit properly." He continued to watch and record as the GINN drew its sword and assaulted the Strike and was shocked at how the mobile suit changed colour and blocked the assault. "What the hell was that; conformal shielding of some kind?"

As the Aegis launched and left the combat zone, Banagher lowered his binoculars and closed his eyes, reaching out with his powers. "Aki, can you hear me?"

"Yes, what do you need sir?"

"Send an optical communication to the ship and have them provide support. One of the Gundams is leaving the colony unescorted. Capture it, but make sure to minimize the damage as much as possible."

"Yes sir." Aki turned her mobile suit and sent a message via optical communications back to their ship. In response, the Endra-class Cruiser hiding behind several dummy asteroids some distance from Heliopolis fired an M-Missile to disrupt electromagnetic signatures in the vicinity of the spaceport, even as Aki deployed a dummy asteroid to hide behind and with a short burst from her engines to provide the initial thrust, headed for the spaceport.

Meanwhile Banagher continued to watch and record the battle, and was rather shocked to see the Strike's pilot improve his or her performance against the GINN, ultimately disabling it. Unfortunately, the ZAFT pilot managed to escape after setting his unit to self-destruct, knocking the Strike down. Realizing that the battle was over, Banagher stowed his gear and headed back to his unit.
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________

Hidden behind a dummy asteroid, Aki and her Jagd Doga coasted through space and watched the spaceport for any sign of a Gundam. She was not kept waiting for long as a red and black Gundam flew out into space. "There you are." She hissed as she launched her funnels and launched from behind the dummy asteroid.

Athrun Zala was busy reminiscing about his childhood with Kira and trying to reason out how and why he was with the Earth Alliance when the Aegis shook violently and began to lose speed. At the same time, several alarms began to go off and screens flashed red. "The engines were destroyed?" he said in disbelief, before a mobile suit appeared in front of him to his surprise. It fired something at him and at first he thought he was going to die but nothing happened…when immediately afterwards, he felt the Aegis begin to move. Realization hit him like a bullet: he'd been captured. He immediately tried to escape, but discovered to his horror that the hatch was jammed, probably by something the mobile suit launched at him. Resigned to his fate and exhausted by the many shocks of the day, he sat back in the cockpit and wondered who was behind this.
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________

A quarter of an hour later, Aki's Jagd Doga landed in the Endra-class' hangar with the captured and disabled Aegis. A few minutes later, Banagher returned in his Jagd Doga.

"Hurry and close the hatch so we can pressurize the hangar deck!" an NCO shouted irritably. Once pressurization was done, Aki opened and left the cockpit before removing her helmet with a sigh, shaking her dyed purple hair loose.

"Good work, ensign." Banagher said, floating closer and tossing her a drink. "By the way, that was good thinking using birdlime to prevent the pilot from escaping."

"Thanks lieutenant. Unfortunately for the tech crews though, they'll have to pry it off before they can get the pilot out."

"True; but at the very least, that Gundam is largely intact. Once we get it back to Side 3, we can get a good look at how far Orb and the Alliance have come regarding their mobile suits."
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________

"Athrun is MIA?" Yzak asked a devastated and despondent Nicol, aghast at the news; despite their rivalry, he still counted Athrun as a friend and didn't want to see him dead.

"Yes; both the Vesalius and the Gamow detected a thermo-spike consistent with an explosion near the spaceport; given the elapsed time after he left Miguel, then…"

"No way…Athrun…but how?" a shocked Dearka stammered out.

"The self-destruct system…" Yzak growled, his fists clenched in fury. "…Athrun's unit must have a secondary failsafe our units lacked. There is no way Athrun is stupid enough not to disarm the self-destruct…damn Naturals!"
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________

"Excellent work, the two of you." The Endra-class' captain said, nodding to Aki and Banagher before returning his attention to the recorded data with great interest. "Along with the captured Alliance Gundam, all this will be a goldmine for our intelligence operations."

"Thank you very much sir." The two pilots chorused. The captain turned off the recording before turning to the rest of the bridge crew.

"All hands, prepare for immediate launch. We're returning to Side 3."

"Captain…" a crewman called out. "…we've detected some sort of explosion along one of the colony's walls. We also detected something that may have been mobile suits."

"It looks like ZAFT aren't going to let that fifth Gundam go." Banagher said. "They'll either capture or destroy it with a massive offensive."

"So it would seem." The captain said, thinking deeply. Finally, he made a decision and said "Belay my previous orders, and standby." Turning to the two pilots, he said "The two of you standby in your units."

"Yes sir!" the two of them saluted before turning and leaving the bridge, while the captain sat down in the command chair and waited for the outcome of the battle. About half an hour later, the captain found himself rising out of his chair in shock as Heliopolis launched countless escape pods even as it literally fell apart.

"No way; Heliopolis collapsed…"

9

Fanfiction / Re: Clash of Civilizations

« on: October 22, 2013, 11:32:42 AM »

In theory, it would normally take five Mobius mobile armours to successfully engage, and more importantly, defeat a single GINN mobile suit. In reality, it would take much more just to survive against the increasingly experienced ZAFT mobile suit pilots (the sole exception being the Mobius Zero mobile armours, which could engage and win against mobile suits on their own).

The battle was a clear example of this combat reality; the eighteen GINNs split into three groups of six, the first group moving to engage the twelve Mobius mobile armours launched by the Alliance warships while the other two groups moved to flank and attack the Alliance vessels. Despite their desperate courage, and their superior numbers (they outnumbered the ZAFT mobile suits two-to-one), they were simply overwhelmed in no time at all, after which the ZAFT mobile suits moved to assist in attacking the Alliance warships.

To their credit, the Alliance warships did a sterling job of holding their own against the mobile suits, keeping them at a relatively safe distance with excellent application of suppression fire and keeping them busy with steady missile salvoes. Inevitably, two of the GINNs broke through and attacked a Drake-class; one moved to attack the bridge, but was literally torn apart by one of the Drake-class' 75mm machine guns. The other GINN however, quickly avenged its fallen comrade by raking the Drake's port side with armour-piercing rounds from its 500mm recoilless rifle, causing the ravaged Drake-class to explode in short order.

The ZAFT assault building up momentum (regardless of the loss of a GINN which been destroyed by one of the Nelson-class' dual beam cannons), one of the GINNs flew behind the other Drake-class and tore its engines to shreds, crippling the hapless vessel.

"Is there nothing we can do?" the Nelson-class' captain ground out, even as the remaining Drake-class exploded and the ten GINNs swarmed the Nelson-class. A dual beam cannon salvo claimed another GINN, before another mobile suit destroyed the same weapon with its 500mm recoilless rifle. Cursing under his breath, the captain opened a link to the Minister's shuttle. "Minister Allster; we can't hold for much…"

"Captain…!" one of the bridge crew interrupted with a panicked voice, causing the captain to look up and see the GINN aiming its 76mm machine gun at the bridge. The captain gasped and his eyes widened in horror even as the ZAFT pilot pulled the trigger…only for the GINN to be impaled by a bright yellow beam and explode. Two other beams followed and two more ZAFT mobile suits suffered the same fate; a fourth GINN actually managed to avoid a beam, but lost its right arm in the process.

"W-what was that?" the pilot asked in confusion; his answer was a good distance away from the combat zone, where the red, gold, and black giant that was the Nightingale and its pilot hung in space. Forcing his Newtype powers to the limit, Char aimed and fired his heavy beam rifle, and destroyed another GINN even as three Geara Dogas finally caught up with and passed the Nightingale, their mono-eyes flashing menacingly as they entered the combat zone.

The partially-disarmed GINN drew its sword and moved to attack a Geara Doga, which brutally shouldered aside the ZAFT mobile suit's swing before swinging its heat bayonet two-handed and gutted the GINN. The other two Geara Dogas hotly pursued three GINNs, which abruptly decelerated in an effort to force the Zeon mobile suits to overshoot. However, the Zeon pilots had anticipated this, swinging to the sides; one of them quickly turned and fired a grenade and crippled a GINN. Before the remaining ten GINNs could fully recover from their surprise, the Nightingale arrived and launched its funnels, brutally destroying all the ZAFT mobile suits in a blazing barrage of yellow beams. Re-orienting itself, the Nightingale replaced its heavy beam rifle's E-Pack before firing off a hi-beam shot towards what appeared to be a random direction, or so it seemed to the shocked and astounded Alliance bridge crew.

But for the crew of the ZAFT Nazca-class Destroyer Galileo, it was anything but random. The bridge crew were still trying to make sense of the loss of contact with all their mobile suits when the Nightingale's hi-beam shot literally bisected and destroyed the Galileo. The captains of the two flanking Laurasia-class Frigates didn't even have the time to pull themselves out of the shock of witnessing the destruction of their flagship when the Nightingale's funnels closed the range and tore the ships apart before returning to their mother unit.

The Nelson-class' captain watched in awe and shock as the three Geara Dogas formed an escort around his ship, while the Nightingale took up a position beside the bridge. "Captain…" a crewman piped up. "…we're receiving a transmission from the red mobile suit."

"Put it through."

"Alliance vessel, this Captain Char Aznable of the Zeon Mobile Suit Corps; we will provide an escort to deter further ZAFT attacks, so maintain course for the rendezvous point."

"Understood; we appreciate the assistance, Captain."
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________

If the Alliance personnel were surprised by the sight of Zeon mobile sights in action, they were positively floored several hours later by the Gwadan. The giant battleship, a dark majestic red against the stars with sunlight glinting off of the gold of the Zabi Dynasty crest, escorted by several mobile suit squads, was truly a sight to behold, at least for the Alliance. Not so much for the Zeon, for while the Gwadan truly was a magnificent vessel, they also remembered that the old Earth Federation had their own super-ships (albeit not as large as the royal flagship) such as the Ra Cailum or the Dogosse Giar which could give the Gwadan a good run for its money.

Minister Allster definitely felt out of his depth; first with the revelation that the Zeon fielded their own mobile suits which outclassed those of ZAFT (to say nothing of the dreaded possibility that they were dealing with more Coordinators), then the giant Zeon battleship, and finally the reception at the Gwadan's hangar deck. While certainly impressive, the steel helmets of the Zeon infantry and the gold embroidery and black capes of their officers eerily reminded him of both ZAFT and Nazi Germany. He pushed all those things to the back as he and his staff were escorted to the meeting with Zeon's Sovereign, all the while wondering whether or not Zeon's earlier intervention was a good thing or not.

His musings were literally wiped from his head when he entered what he believed to be just another meeting room…which turned out to be a giant throne room. Seated at the far end on a simple yet elegant throne was a young and beautiful red-headed woman in a green military-style uniform with the stylized gold embroidery favoured by Zeon officers, although in place of the black cape (which would have further gold embroidery) she had a simple red cape lacking the gold embroidery of her subordinates.

"Presenting her Highness, the Sovereign of the Principality of Zeon, Mineva Lao Zabi…" A female attendant said formally as Minister Allster and his staff approached the throne and bowed as was protocol when meeting with a foreign sovereign.

"Greetings, Vice-Foreign Minister…" Mineva greeted the man with a welcoming smile. "…I trust your trip wasn't too stressful for you?"

"Tolerable, your Highness…" he replied. "…I must thank you again for the assistance of your military without which I fear we would not have made it this far."

"Indeed; then I shall convey your gratitude to our forces." Mineva said with a nod, before holding out a hand. Another attendant handed her a file, which she gave to the Minister. "I understand you have concerns about our…genetic status, regarding the nature of our intervention. I assure you Minister that Coordinators did not exist in our previous world and their existence was most surprising to us when we arrived in this world."

"I see; I apologize for any offence caused, your Highness."

"None taken Minister, but now onto business; firstly, I have no intention of joining your war against ZAFT. You must understand Minister, that our arrival here was only the result of an accidental failure of our FTL systems. If things had gone as planned, we would be on our way to find a new and peaceful existence in the cosmos away from the bloody hills of Earth, and we have no intention of drowning ourselves in blood yet again. However, we are willing to give certain concessions; for one thing, we are willing to supply your military base on the Moon with non-military manufactures, in exchange for lunar raw materials. As I understand it, your Lunar Base is both a military facility and a city, is it not?"

"No, you are correct. The Lunar Base is both a military facility and a city." Minister Allster said; this was going far better than he had hoped. While the fact that they had no desire to join the Alliance was troublesome, unlike Orb, they weren't simply going to turn a blind eye to the world's situation. "However, if I may be so bold your Highness, I do not believe that to be your only condition from us."

Mineva smiled as she sat back on her throne. "You are correct Minister. I want diplomatic recognition from all Alliance member states, which should be enough to pressure both PLANT and the neutral nations into recognizing us as well. A consulate and a trade mission will be established at the Free City of Copernicus on the Moon, and while entry to Side 3 will be restricted for the foreseeable future, I believe we may be able to come to further terms in the future once this war is over."

"Your Highness, your terms are most generous." Minister Allster said with a nod; Zeon's Sovereign was clearly trying to sit on the fence, but with enough incentives for the Alliance to let the matter go and indirectly pressuring PLANT to recognize Zeon as well out of fear that alienating the newcomers would lead to their aligning with the Alliance. "I do believe my superiors will accept them."

"Very good, Minister." Mineva said, rising from her throne and smoothing out her uniform. "I am pleased we are able to agree at this early stage; would you and your staff care to dine with me Minister?"

"It will be an honour, your Highness."
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________

A few days later, the PLANT Supreme Council was in an uproar over the diplomatic recognition by the Earth Alliance member-states of the Principality of Zeon, which was quickly followed by the neutral nations. Patrick Zala in particular was seething; he had covertly given the order to Commander Mitchells to ambush the Earth Alliance delegation to ensure that PLANT could contact the newcomers first, but somehow the Alliance had not only managed to fight them off, but also to completely destroy the Mitchells Team. He suspected that Zeon had a hand in it, but ZAFT Intelligence was unable to acquire any further information on the matter; Side 3 was impregnable and shrouded in a communications blackout, although Zeon prospectors were reported to be combing the dark side of the Moon.

"Damn that Mitchells! If he hadn't broken Zeon's terms regarding the negotiations, we might have been able to ensure complete neutrality from the Principality!" the usually reserved and moderate Councillor Canaver raged.

"Commander Mitchells was only acting in our best interests!" Councillor Joule snapped back, rising to defend the late Commander's actions, though she was unaware of Zala's orders. "You cannot deny that if we had solely made contact with the Principality, then perhaps we could have gained some sympathy from them and ensured their support!"

"And now they distrust us for breaking trust!" Councillor Canaver riposted, but before the two women could continue to verbally exchange blows, another Councillor cut in.

"What's done is done; what we need to decide right now is ZAFT strategy."

"I agree…" another Councillor said. "...the Atlantic Federation's Lunar Base is now no longer completely dependent on supplies from Earth with an active source of non-military supplies from the Principality."

"It doesn't matter." Councillor Zala finally spoke up. "Once we take the spaceports on Earth, we can simply blockade the Lunar Base until they surrender."

This statement managed to calm the council down somewhat, and earned Zala a grateful nod from Chairman Clyne, which he graciously returned.

10

Anime and Manga / Re: Gundam Trans-Humans

« on: October 20, 2013, 03:10:25 AM »

The only ones I can see being Transhuman are the Innovators and even then, they sort of cheat. Newtypes are basically downgraded in X and Coordinators are Newtypes+1.

Why do you say they cheat?

11

Cross Effects 1.0 Archive / Re: Cross Effects- The RP

« on: October 20, 2013, 03:10:09 AM »

"Well, that was interesting, to say the least." Urahara said, sheathing Benihime  after cutting down a large group of wraiths that had tried to accost him.  "They're not Hollows, not really, but exhibit Hollow-like abilities."

Ducking out of instinct, he dodged another wraith as it tried to attack him, and flash-stepping to a safe distance, drew Benihime in its Shikai form.  "Cry, Benihime!" he said with a smile and a swing, firing off a bright-red beam of energy that completely destroyed the wraith...and destroyed an entire block behind it.  Wincing at the destruction and somewhat shamefaced by the screaming and cries of alarm, Urahara sheathed his sword (again) and walked away from the scene as fast as he could.

12

Cross Effects 1.0 Archive / Re: Cross Effects - Sign Up, Discussion Page

« on: October 19, 2013, 03:19:22 PM »

Thanks for the heads-up, I'll go and edit.

13

Cross Effects 1.0 Archive / Re: Cross Effects- The RP

« on: October 19, 2013, 10:31:11 AM »

Kisuke Urahara was walking down the street when a rather strong breeze began to blow.  Ordinarily this wouldn't be an issue...until it blew his hat off, forcing the former Captain-turned shop keeper to chase after his flying hat.  Fortunately, the wind died down soon enough, and the man finally caught his hat and put it back on its place on his head.  Turning around, he decided to return to his previous route...only to walk right into a wall.

Rubbing his nose, he studied the wall standing where there should have been a road and looking around, he realized he was no longer in Karakura.  "Hmm...it seems I've been transported somewhere." he muttered to himself, before fishing a sensor device from his pocket, he fiddled with a few buttons before sighing in disappointment and put it back into his pocket.

"Oh well, I might as well figure out what's going on here." he said cheerfully as he headed out to explore the city, his cane twirling in one hand.  "At the very least, this promises to be an interesting experience."

14

Cross Effects 1.0 Archive / Re: Cross Effects Character Page

« on: October 19, 2013, 10:22:31 AM »

Name: Kisuke Urahara

Race: Shinigami

Age: N/A

Height: 183 cm

Weight: 69 kg

Eyes: Gray

Hair: Light-blonde

Appearance: Urahara usually wears a brown coat sporting a white diamond pattern along the lower edge, all over a dark green shirt and pants.  He also wears traditional Japanese wooden sandals, a striped green and white hat, and carries a cane which is actually his Zanpakutou in its sealed state.  He also carries with him a Japanese paper fan, but it has no special abilities.

Alignment: Chaotic Good; Urahara will do what he feels is right, even if it is illegal or even morally/ethically questionable.

Charisma: B; his somewhat condescending manner and eccentric personality tends to alienate most people.

Strength: A; despite his unassuming appearance, Urahara once commanded the Soul Society's Detention Force, and as such is surprisingly strong.

Agility: A; Urahara was a leading member of the Soul Society's Secret Mobile Force and a Captain of the Thirteen Court Guard Divisions, as such, his agility is dangerously high.

Speed: A; Urahara was a leading member of the Soul Society's Secret Mobile Force and a Captain of the Thirteen Court Guard Divisions, as such, his agility is dangerously high.

Magic Resistance: B; as a Captain-level Shinigami, his spiritual pressure can be used to nullify most forms of Human thaumaturgy.

Magic Ability: A-; Urahara has a impressive mastery of the Soul Society's 'Kidou' techniques.

Other Abilities: As a former Captain, Urahara is a master swordsman, hand-to-hand combatant, and flash-step user.  Furthermore, his Zanpakutou - Benihime (Crimson Princess) - can fire off a versatile series of energy-based attacks in its Shikai form, but his Bankai remains one of his greatest secrets, with the only known fact about it is that it is not meant for 'helping others'.  Urahara was also the founder and first President of the Shinigami Research and Development Institute, and has a reputation for being a master scientist and inventor.

Origin: N/A

Weakness: N/A

Likes: N/A (impossible to determine due to his personality)

Dislikes: N/A (impossible to determine due to his personality)

15

Anime and Manga / Gundam Trans-Humans

« on: October 19, 2013, 09:58:24 AM »

I was arguing with some of my friends about which of the several trans-Humans in the Gundam metaverse could truly be considered the 'next stage'.

1) Newtypes - in UC, they are a natural adaption of Humans living in space, though their abilities aren't well-defined (it appears to be psychic in nature), and it's never stated if the abilities are passed down from parents to their children.  In AW though, Newtypes are just mutants and are not unique to Humanity.

2) Cyber-Newtypes (UC) - Humans artificially modified to possess Newtype abilities.  They suffer psychological issues as a result.

3) Coordinators (CE) - genetically-modified Humans who are physically superior to ordinary Humans (Naturals).  As a race they suffer progressive sterility from the third generation onwards.

4) Extended Humans (CE) - ordinary Humans augmented by means of drugs or some sort of neural surgery to allow them to keep up with Coordinators, but are highly unstable mentally as a result.

5) Innovators (AD) - a GN Particle-induced evolution that results in enhanced reflexes, increased analytic abilities and spatial awareness, as well as telepathy and an increased life-span.  Due to the rapid growth of the Innovator population in just fifty years, it can be assumed that their abilities are passed on to their children.

6) Innovades (AD) - AIs imprinted onto clone Human bodies that give an 'impression' of Innovators.  They have the same abilities, but are said to be inferior qualitatively.

7) Super Soldiers (AD) - surgically-modified Humans who possess similar abilities as Innovades and Innovators, but may suffer from psychological issues as a result.

8 ) X-Rounders (AG) - Humans who can use generally-inactive areas of the Human brain, although it is stated in-series that their abilities are just a fancy term for a Human's largely-suppressed natural animal instincts.

What are your opinions?