Gundam SEED: Bloodlines (COMPLETE 10/26/16)

Your own tale of two mecha.
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rebel_cheese
Posts: 305
Joined: Wed May 02, 2007 7:43 pm
Location: Illinois, USA

Gundam SEED: Bloodlines (COMPLETE 10/26/16)

Consider this something to tide you guys over while waiting for Kismet. I'm an incredibly fast writer in the first-person, it did not take me very long to establish a good buffer. Updates will be once a week, generally on Mondays, unless I'm feeling generous (or can be generous, rather).

So yeah, let's do this. Experimental fanfic GO!
____________________________________________________________________________
Life is so peculiar,
all you really have to say is "that's life".

-Louis Armstrong

Part One: Invoke

Chapter One: We Were So Close Together

I guess the best way to tell the beginning is to start at an end. Not the end, of course. But an end of something.

I was leaving the academy on the dark side of the moon that day. I was finished with junior high, and my parents, who had adopted me as a baby, wanted me to attend high school and college as an Orb citizen. They didn't want their child to grow up a pawn of the PLANTs, the orbital cities controlled by the Coordinators.

I didn't fully understand why at the time. I was still young. And I was a Coordinator myself. Why should I be separated from my friends? My kind? The kind of people genetically superior to normal human beings?

It's become clear to me that my parents wanted me to learn tolerance, and make friends with normal human beings, who, unsurprisingly, are called "Naturals". I had to learn that Naturals are humans too. Coordinators are not evolved from Naturals . . . just different. But we all have our humanity in common.

Those who forget that are destined to cause only strife, chaos, and hatred. And there are many who forget.

At the academy, you graduated at age thirteen. Just as hormones started to kick in. And, much to my surprise, I was becoming more and more drawn to my best friend.

That's not supposed to happen. People don't fall for their best friends. But we were becoming drawn to each other.

As we met in the park one last time, I saw my best friend, with his silly yet endearing baret on his blue-haired head. The beret did not disguise his long, flowing hair, that made him look somewhat feminine.

He smiled at me, in such a gentle, kind way. "I guess we'll see each other after high school, huh?"

I smiled back. "Yeah."

We both knew it was a lie. My best friend was Athrun Zala, the son of an important politician for the government that controlled the PLANT orbital cities. The Zodiac Alliance of Freedom Treaty, or ZAFT, dominated Coordinator affairs, even for Coordinators who lived on Earth. I don't get the government's name, personally, it seems unnecessarily awkward, but no one listens to language majors like me.

Athrun walked up to me. "I know things don't look good right now, but my father promised there won't be any conflict between the ZAFT and Earth. I believe him."

I didn't like Athrun's father very much, but I knew better than to argue with him. "I hope everything turns out okay, then."

Athrun gazed in my eyes, and then looked away, his face turning red a bit. I was well aware he was crushing on me, which made it even harder for me to avoid showing any overt feelings.

We were twelve. It was so awkward.

Finally, Athrun took his robotic bird, appropriately named "Tori", the Japanese word for 'bird', and cupped it in his hands. The bird chirped in a confused manner, but then its head swiveled to look at me, and it seemed to realize something I wasn't.

"I . . . I want to give you something to remember me by," Athrun said, his cheeks flushing even more than before, if that was possible.

"You're giving me Tori?" I asked.

"Yeah. You've always wanted a robotic pet, and I think it's about time you had one." Athrun looked at Tori, and said "There's your new master, right over there."

Tori's head turned at me, and then it took off from Athrun's hands, and flew in a couple of circles above our heads, before it rested on my left shoulder.

Now I was blushing. "Thank you."

Athrun nodded. He turned, and I looked in the same direction. All of our friends were already with their parents, and preparing to leave the student grounds. Athrun's father was nowhere to be seen, but that could change at any moment.

Athrun bit his lip. "I . . . I've wanted to say something to you for a long time."

"Yeah?" I asked.

"I . . . I like you. I really like you."

I didn't quite know how to answer that. "Uh . . . thank you? I mean, we're friends, but . . ."

Suddenly, I heard Athrun's father. "Athrun, what are you doing? We need to leave! I have a meeting in three hours and we're four hours away from getting to the nearest PLANT!"

Athrun shook his head. "I can't believe I'm doing this."

He ran forward and kissed me.

Tori took off from my shoulder, and flew all around us. I thought about punching him, which is what I usually did when boys messed with me, but I realized I didn't want to do that. Not to Athrun.

I felt so uncomfortable in that instance, but it didn't feel wrong, either.

I had no idea how to react. I had never been kissed by a boy before.

He separated, and then shook his head. "I . . . I'm sorry. I just . . ."

"It's okay. I think," I replied.

His eyes seemed to moisten just a little bit. "I hope we can see each other soon . . . Cagalli."

"Yeah. Me too."

And then he took off in the direction of his father, who had a most amusing expression on his face. After all, he had just witnessed his son kissing a girl on the mouth. I'm sure Athrun's father hadn't exactly envisioned his son kissing anybody for a couple more years.

As usual, I was left waiting in the park, waiting for my parents to come get me. They were always so slow, because they had to clear roughly a zillion levels of ZAFT security just to gain access to the academy. I was almost always the last child to be picked up at the end of any given semester at the academy because of that.

But this time, it felt different than usual. I had the uncanny feeling that Athrun was leaving me behind.

It turned out that the feeling was true. Horribly true, in ways I could never imagine.

Because it was the day we were destined to be on different sides.
***
It was five years later when the beginning happened in force. One thing hadn't changed: I was always shipped off to an Academy, except Orb didn't strip-search my parents five or six times before letting them into a colony. The result was that I was picked up like any normal kid at the end of the semester. That went for being dropped off, too.

In the end, I was happy when I finally became a college student and could control my own destiny.

Orb liked the emulate the ZAFT education system, which meant you entered college as a sixteen year old. The idea was that you would graduate and be ready for adult life once you left your teens. Theoretically, the immaturity would be beaten out of you as more and more responsibility and pressures were placed upon you. You could not be a "party animal" and survive in an Orb college, at least not for long.

Orb's education system was considered more difficult than either the Earth Alliance's or the ZAFT's, because Naturals were being put through a regimen made for Coordinators. For me, I felt comfortable, comfortable enough that I was a rare double major, in both language and political science. For the Naturals that surrounded me . . . not so much.

Let's put it this way, athletics, especially at industrial colleges, were not on the priority list. Orb was regularly blown out whenever their college teams faced EA schools. It didn't help that EA schools had a two year age difference too, our students were playing twenty-somethings.

Of course, Coordinators were disallowed from competing in athletics, and I didn't make a deal of it. I didn't want people to know I was a Coordinator, and so did my best to hide it. The result was that I came off as an unusual prodigy, and while there were rumbles that I had to be a Coordinator, no one really investigated, because I wasn't doing anything wrong. And it wasn't like Coordinators could be turned away from Orb classes. After all, it is based on the ZAFT system. Practically the same education.

At the same time, I was filled with so much pent-up energy that I ran and worked out on a daily basis. I had been a great athlete at Coordinator academies, and being denied that opportunity drove me insane. So I ran, lifted weights, even experimented in parkour (and broke a bone more than a few times attempting something stupid even by Coordinator standards).

It was my first year of college, my second semester actually. The colony of Heliopolis was considered a haven for the weapons corporations Morgenroete, they loved to pull students out of Heliopolis colleges. Heliopolis had a beautiful interior, but unlike the PLANTs, it was obvious that you lived in the colony. Distant skylights were visible above. If you dug too deep into soil you hit metal. Oftentimes, you would spot workers trying to fix up a mild issue in the plating or circulation, a rare, and heavily disguised, occurance in the PLANTs.

It was just a reminder that I was with a generation of people whose nationalities were from the Earth.

I had finished my homwork early that morning, and spent the remaining time jogging. It felt more productive to me than sitting down and watching TV.

I collapsed on a park bench near the college, wiped my blonde bangs away from my eyes, and Tori, like always, landed on my shoulder. I just stared at it. "Oh sure. You never get tired."

Tori chirped.

"Stop rubbing it in, why don't ya?" I looked up and stared at the artifical sky.

No sign of the simulated rain that was going to begin later today. I almost wished it would start early so I could cool off.

I then heard a familar voice. "Cagalli! He,y Cagalli!"

"Tolle." I got up just in time to catch him as he embraced me. Tolle Koenig happened to be my boyfriend.

He separated pretty fast. "Oh man, you're sweaty!"

"I took a run this morning."

"I keep forgetting you're a health nut."

"Well, I keep forgetting that you like to hug me." I turned and saw Miriallia Haw, a girl about my age with blue eyes and caramel-blonde hair, standing right behind Tolle. "Hey, what's up?"

"I have a question for you, political-science major."

"Oh yeah?"

"Take a look at this."

She was bringing over her tablet, and I sighed. Miriallia was paranoid over Orb being attacked by ZAFT even though Orb was neutral. Given that Orb was governed by Naturals, the oordinators' enemy, I didn't blame her.

Tolle just sighed and rubbed the back of his brown hair. "Miri, do you have to keep shoving that stuff in Cagalli's face? I mean, we're already dragging her to the lab on Professor Kato's orders."

"What, Kato wants me again?"

"You make his papers readable," Tolle said with a laugh.

"I'm sick of him leaning on me like a crutch," I said.

"You're the one who made human genomes sound exciting. You did it to yourself," Tolle said.

Professor Kato had a reputation of being a brilliant mind but also being a horrendous writer. Dull prose, missplaced modifiers, atrocious grammar, you name a writing flaw, he had it. It made him a bit of a laughingstock until he hired me to edit and fix his papers. It was good money, but highly stressful considering he gave me really short deadlines.

I wasn't looking forward to spending half a day fixing yet another paper for the guy.

"Yeah, I guess I did," I said.

Miriallia got her tablet turned on, and shoved it in front of my face. "Seriously, look at this!"

I stared at the news anchor. She looked professional, trim, young, and soulless. News anchors had to look so perfect that you couldn't see the humanity in them. They looked almost like machines.

"ZAFT forces have invaded the island of Taiwan, after it was leaked that the neutral nation had secret dealings with the Republic of East Asia and the North American Federation last week. The ZAFT promised retribution for breaking neutrality rules, and currently Taiwan's forces are fighting a losing battle. Both the REA and NAF are promising reinforcements but as of right now Taipei in under siege and the entire southern half of the island is in ZAFT country."

"Look at how close Taiwan is to the Orb mainland," Miriallia said.

I sighed. "Don't worry about it. I doubt Lord Izumi would be stupid enough to provoke the ZAFT."

"You sure?" Miriallia asked.

"Look, we have nothing here the ZAFT would want."

"What if there's something secret?" Miriallia asked.

"Then we're screwed. But I doubt either Lord Izumi or Morgenroete would be stupid enough to provoke the ZAFT. And if they are, well . . . what happens, happens."

Miriallia's face looked like she was about to be hit by falling sky. Tolle stepped in.

"What Cagalli means is that the war isn't coming to Orb, okay? Don't worry about it."

"Y-Yeah, Tolle. Right," Miriallia said.

"So," I said, "Does Kato want me now or can he afford for me to go to the dorm for a quick shower?"

"Uh, I think you have time for a shower if we drive you," Tolle said.

"Deal."
***
I felt refreshed as Tolle drove us through the Heliopolis suburbs. Ready to face the day, and Kato giving me extracurricular activities.

Though the music Tolle was playing was driving me insane.

"Do we have to listen to this?"

"What?" Tolle asked. "Lacus Clyne is awesome!"

"Oh please. She's all 'Oh, look at me, I love peace and understanding and fluffy bunnies, pay no attention to my father's army nuking you all, ha-ha'!" And yes, I said this in a high-pitched voice mimicking Lacus, and the result was grating almost beyond belief. I have a husky voice for my age, so any attempt to raise my pitch gives the impression of metal being scraped acrpss concrete.

Miriallia just laughed. "After your demonstration I think I'll take Lacus."

"Oh, sure," I said.

It was joking among friends, nothing more. Tolle and Miriallia were the first Natural friends I've ever had. They, without meaning to, taught me that Naturals were humans too, just as human as I was.

We parked Tolle's car, and Tolle stretched his arms. "Come on, Cagalli. get with it. At least Lacus throws strings behind her music instead of electronics."

"That's supposed to make me feel better? It gives the impression of an orchestra being wasted behind a toothless, milquetoast pseudo-singer."

I had a thing about Lacus Clyne, driven more by politics than by dislike for her music. Her father was the Chairman of the ZAFT Supreme Council, which was conducting the war, and authorized decisions like shooting Earth with a neutron jammer to disrupt long-range communications. Damage that will not go away for centuries was approved by this council.

Of course, the EA wasn't much better, but Lacus was a more visible target. Nobody in the EA top had children who wanted to be pop singers.

What can I say? I was cynical. Considering everyone seemed to love Lacus' lavish hope-tinged music except me, I was the anomaly. The crazy one.

Before our argument over the merits of Lacus Clyne could continue, we saw someone very familiar approach us.

"I told you, it's not like that!"

That was Flay Allster, a 'draft dodger' of sorts. Her father was a bigwig in the Earth Alliance, and when relations with the ZAFT deteriorated he sent her to Orb to keep the military from drafting her. Considering the high casualties the EA was taking, I don't really blame him.

She was beautiful in every sense of the word. Her red hair was tied back in an elegant ponytail. Her face was angular, with high cheekbones that emphasized a striking face. She also had certain other features, like filling out her clothing well, no matter what she was wearing. Here, she was wearing a pink two-piece dress, clearly tailored and carefully made.

She was desired by every boy. Even Tolle, despite being my boyfriend, still had some obvious, if brief, pangs for her.

One of her friends, a girl whose name I can't recall, ran up to us. "Guess what?" "Oh no," Flay said, a mortified expression on her face.

"Sai Argyle just gave a love letter to Flay!" said blue-haired girl.

"From Sai?" Miriallia asked.

"That's right!"

Sai Argyle was kinda like a male Flay in how he was desired. And he was handsome, and had a wild but superb taste in fashion. He wore glasses, but he made them look impeccably cool.

Flay stepped in. "This doesn't have anything to do with them! Miriallia isn't involved in this and Cagalli's like from another planet! Stop talking to them!"

Her friend put on a pouty face. "Come on, Flay. Stop freaking out about it. He's not that bad."

"I said enough already!"

I broke in. "Excuse me, but I have to go save my professor's ass, so . . ."

Flay glared at me. "I swear to God you're some kind of alien, Cagalli Yamato."

"She'd just be even more cool if she was an alien," Tolle said, chuckling.

Flay shook her head. "What do you see in her, Tolle? She's like a man!"

"A man, am I?" I put on a false smile, and got ready to show Flay that while I'm not a man, I hit like one. Thankfully, Miriallia got between us before I disturbed Flay's makeup, and nose, and lips, and teeth . . . you get the idea..

"Cagalli, come on," Miriallia said.

"Yeah," I said. "You're right."

The conversation broke off and we went walking our separate directions. Tolle sighed. "You know, Cagalli, for a language and political-science major, you do way too much talking with your fists."

"It's Flay and nothing else. I just want to hit her," I replied, not being fully serious.

"That doesn't make it right," Miriallia said.

"You're right," I said, with total seriousness.

"Why does she drive you so crazy? It's worse than Lacus Clyne," Tolle asked.

"I don't know. I just don't like her. That's the truth. I see her and she automatically makes me want to hit her. She's just so . . . arrrgh."

"If you can't explain why you hate her so much then stop hating her," Miriallia said.

"Yeah, I'll try that." But thinking of Flay's image in my head just made me infuriated and I forced the thought of her out of my brain.

My dislike for Flay was totally irrational, just like with Lacus Clyne. She never deserved the abuse I wished upon her. She was just an ordinary girl in the end, with all of the flaws of a normal human being.

Thankfully, the thought of Flay vanished from my mind, as we approached the laboratory, where my appointment with Kato was waiting.
***
It turned out Kato had gone out to an early lunch, leaving me hanging around in his facility with his two student assistants, Kuzzey Buskirk and Sai Argyle, the ladykiller himself.

Kuzzey was just an unassuming young man with dark eyes and hair. Perfectly average, with nothing extraordinary about him. And he knew it, he seemed to have a bit of an inferiority complex about him.

Sai, unlike him, had a cool, confident exterior. He wasn't an intentional ladykiller, but his attitude and handsome looks, with a short yet stylish haircut and trendy clothing, made him the object of a lot of girls' desires.

Sai greeted us all with smiles. "Hey, you gave in to the prof again!"

"Kinda had to," I said.

"Uh, I thought it was just kinda supposed to be Cagalli," Kuzzey said.

"What's the matter, got a problem with us being here, Kuzzey?" Tolle asked.

"Uh, no," Kuzzey said, fidgeting with his hands as he spoke.

"What are you guys working on?" I asked as I approached their latest project.

"Virtual reality simulator thingamabob, and it's not ours," Sai said. "Morgenroete's thinking of branching into training simulators. It's got a ton of bugs. Some other prof asked us to store it for him until he can pick it up."

"Cool!" Tolle said, and he ran up to the simulator and sat down in the cockpit chair. "Le'ts try it!"

"I don't think this is a good idea," Kuzzey said, and I personally agreed with him.

"You know, this is military equipment," I said. "Last thing I need is my boyfriend in jail."

"What's one little trial? They wanna find bugs, I say we help the military guys find them," Tolle said. 'Now how do I turn this thingie on . . ."

He started pressing random buttons. Miriallia walked up to us with a bemused expression. "Tolle, seriously, I don't know about this."

"What's the harm in taking it for a spin? Sai, find the manual, won't ya? Lemme figure out how to turn this thing-"

The lights went out all of a sudden, and we were drowned in darkness.

Nobody spoke for a second. Then Miriallia finally said "Nice one, Tolle."

"It wasn't me!"

"Cagalli and I told you not to touch it!"

"I'm telling you I didn't do anything!"

"Actually, it was unplugged," Sai said. "I just wanted to watch Tolle struggle with it for a while."

"Very funny, Sai. Now turn the lights back on," Tolle said.

"Uh, that wasn't me."

"Not me either," I said.

A brief pause. Then everyone asked "Kuzzey?"

"Hey, hey, hey! Come on, guys! It wasn't-"

The emergency lights came into being then, shrouding the room with eerie, intermittent soft green light.

"Okay, emergency lights mean something really bad just happened," Sai said. "This isn't a joke."

"What, a joke means we stay in darkness forever?" Tolle asked.

Sai just gave him a look. Before anyone could say anything else, the room suddenly seemed to jump into the air. Loud crashing, exploding noises erupted, and caused all of the equipment to crash into the floor. Sai and Kuzzey fell to the ground, and I futilely tried to hold onto the laboratory sink before doing the same. Mirialli crashed into Tolle and they wound up a tangled mess.

"Okay, what the heck was that?" Kuzzey asked.

I got up to my feet, and I looked around the room. The emergency lights remained on, but it occurred to me we had no contact with the outside world. I walked up to the nearest wall, by the emergency exit, and tried to listen. I could hear faint crowd chatter, and a couple of low rumbles.

Sai got up to his feet. "Was it some kinda accident?"

"No," I said.

Everyone looked at me.

"I think we're under attack."
Last edited by rebel_cheese on Wed Oct 26, 2016 9:27 pm, edited 90 times in total.
MURRUE: Infallible accuracy?? I thought you just usually shot all your weapons at random and they just happened to hit stuff.

KIRA: What do you think this is; a cartoon?
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The Green Flame
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Re: Gundam SEED: Bloodlines (Start 12/13/10)

Awww it would've rocked if Cagalli was still a Natural here :x

Fun stuff though, my interest is piqued >.>
Rob DS Zeta
Posts: 314
Joined: Fri Jul 16, 2010 10:55 pm
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Re: Gundam SEED: Bloodlines (Start 12/13/10)

(resists urge to be a canon *****)

This is quite good, despite the personality and plot differences. Everyone except Sai is different, though. Tolle is Cagalli's mate, Kuzzey has a personality, and Miriallia is left hanging.

On the bright side, you've filled in some of the gray area in what was going on in the lab that day. Very nice work there, even if it was something silly.

I'll wait for more, should you be writing it.
*insert witty eyecatch here*
rebel_cheese
Posts: 305
Joined: Wed May 02, 2007 7:43 pm
Location: Illinois, USA

Re: Gundam SEED: Bloodlines (Start 12/13/10)

The Green Flame wrote:Awww it would've rocked if Cagalli was still a Natural here :x

Fun stuff though, my interest is piqued >.>
I apologize for that. The point of this fic is that Cagalli and Kira have swapped positions, and the fic explores what might have happened. So Cagalli's a Coordinator and Kira is a Natural.

I hope your interest stays piqued. ^^ Glad to know you're reading this.
Rob DS Zeta wrote:(resists urge to be a canon *****)

This is quite good, despite the personality and plot differences. Everyone except Sai is different, though. Tolle is Cagalli's mate, Kuzzey has a personality, and Miriallia is left hanging.

On the bright side, you've filled in some of the gray area in what was going on in the lab that day. Very nice work there, even if it was something silly.

I'll wait for more, should you be writing it.
One of the ideas that went through my head was that Cagalli being in Kira's position would result in a vastly different scenario with the circle of friends. In this case, Cagalli's captured Tolle's eye, and Miriallia is Cagalli's best friend. And I personally think Kuzzey is better with a personality IMO. XD But Tolle and Miriallia having (significantly) different personalities are by accident. Considering I've never written either one before (Miri has had exactly two dialogue lines in Kismet and Tolle's long-dead), I guess that's why they seem a little OOC.

I wanted a light-hearted moment that quickly became darker. Tolle fooling around with a combat simulator I thought would fit, especially with the onset of the ZAFT attack. Power failure, then the realization that the emergency lights turn on leaves just a little bit of "uh oh", and then the explosion drives the point home that something's wrong. Then Cagalli hearing voices outside in the emergency exit makes the realization that this isn't anything everyday obvious. I do this a lot, I've noticed, take something humorous and then twist it into a nightmare.

As f or filling in the gray area filling, it was a necessity. This story does not leave Cagalli's perspective. That means there will be more "gray area" scenes being filled in. But this also means the ZAFT perspective is being left out except from what Cagalli is told, what she witnesses herself, and from what she knows (which is all obviously skewed).

This also counts for characterization, Cagalli isn't always going to notice a character's hidden agenda, it's up to you to see it. I'll let you guys notice one example: do you seriously think Miriallia crashing into Tolle when the explosion happened was an innocent accident? :twisted:

This response was much longer than it should've been.

Anyway, I'll try to improve Tolle and Miriallia in the future to be more in-character. Kuzzey's going to keep his personality, though. XD I have written eight chapters, if I complete the ninth one I might try to surprise you guys this week.
MURRUE: Infallible accuracy?? I thought you just usually shot all your weapons at random and they just happened to hit stuff.

KIRA: What do you think this is; a cartoon?
Rob DS Zeta
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Joined: Fri Jul 16, 2010 10:55 pm
Location: over there

Re: Gundam SEED: Bloodlines (Start 12/13/10)

Tolle is far from off character. I won't say he's 100%, but he's nowhere near OOC.

Don't be drastic. Just do what comes naturally. Make Tolle a nice guy and Miriallia as normally tomboy as possible (without making her a dike, of course), and nobody will complain.
*insert witty eyecatch here*
rebel_cheese
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Joined: Wed May 02, 2007 7:43 pm
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Re: Gundam SEED: Bloodlines (Start 12/13/10)

Never really thought of Miri as a tomboy but I'm not treating her as someone "girly" either. Though she might come off as girly just because Cagalli's more of a tomboy than Miri is.

Thanks for the advice and reassurance.
MURRUE: Infallible accuracy?? I thought you just usually shot all your weapons at random and they just happened to hit stuff.

KIRA: What do you think this is; a cartoon?
rebel_cheese
Posts: 305
Joined: Wed May 02, 2007 7:43 pm
Location: Illinois, USA

Re: Gundam SEED: Bloodlines (Start 12/13/10)

I decided to post chapter 2 for two reasons. Number one, I just finished Artemis (thanks for the advice, Rob). Number two, the Tokyo Youth Ordinance just passed which effectively censors anime and manga with a broad stroke. Gundam may never be the same after July 2011, as it will either be dumbed down significantly for teenage/kid demographics, or become sickeningly brutal to satisfy adult audiences. So I wanted to post something that's actually good today.

So that's why chapter 2 is going up today. Chapter 3 and all successive chapters will go up on Mondays.

_____________________________________________________________________________


Chapter Two: Blue Monday

"Under attack? You gotta be kidding me," Kuzzey said. "Probably some idiot decided to have some fun with power lines and it blew up in his face."

"I don't think so," Sai said. "Putting this building under emergency lights would take serious firepower. I think Cagalli is right on this one."

I felt a brief flash of vindication before I realized how wrong that emotion was. There was nothing to feel vindicated for. If I was right, that meant Heliopolis was in serious trouble. And so was everyone on here.

What should we do?" Tolle asked.

"Obviously take the emergency exit," I said. "It's the fastest way to get to the shelters, and the last thing we need is them all filling up before we're safe. Morgenroete and the industrial college are surrounded by people, and they're all gonna come flooding here."

"Then the answer's obvious, we go now," Miriallia said. She moved up beside me, right in front of the door. "Let's hope we're not gonna die."

She pushed the door open, and suddenly we were standing in a metallic hallway, with a pair of armed guards nervously directing people inside a nearby shelter.

Tolle scratched the back of his head. "Well, that was easy."

Suddenly an explosion happened from above, knocking everyone to the ground. The support beams hangin gover the shelter entrance gave way and crashed down, crushing multiple people underneath, including the guards. Dust filled the room, making everyone cough and sneeze, including me.

Tolle sighed after he finished his coughing fit. "I gotta learn when to shut up."

I looked at Sai. "Is there another way out of here?"

"Uh, yeah. Down this way. It leads to a restricted area, though. Full of secret Morgenroete stuff," Sai said.

I could hear the room getting louder as people were beginning to panic. "Can you hack into there?"

"Uh, yeah, I think so," Sai said.

"Then that's what we're gonna do," I said. I immediately raised my voice. "Everyone, listen up!"

The furor seemed to merely get louder. I responded by shouting at the top of my lungs. "Everyone, shut up and listen to me!"

That got enough silence in the room to make me satisfied. "All right, listen. We're not dead yet. My friend here knows a way to get into a restricted area shelter. That's where we're going. Now, does anyone have a clue as to what's going on out there?"

I heard an all-too-familiar voice. "It was ZAFT!"

"ZAFT?" I repeated.

I saw Flay Allster emerge from the crowd. "Yes! There were ZAFT Mobile Suits outside!"

That got everybody panicking again, and I screamed again. "We're not gonna die, okay? Now everyone follow my friend and I, we'll get you out of here!"

At first, I thought I hadn't made headway, but a guy said "That boy's got the right idea. Let's follow him."

They think I'm a boy? I was about to blow all of the goodwill I had won when Tolle placed a hand on my shoulder.

"It's all right, Cagalli. Look, you got everyone paying attention to you. To us. Let's get them out of here before they panick again."

I sighed. "Thanks, Tolle. I needed that."

"No problem," he said.

I raised my voice to command the ground. "Okay, follow me. And by the way, I'm a girl."

I followed Sai, who had taken the lead down the hall. "You know how to navigate this place?"

"Enough," Sai said. "I explore my work area wherever I can go. I think I can hack my way in, given a few minutes."

"If the ZAFT's attacking we may not have a few minutes," I said.

"I know. I'll do the best I can," Sai said.

"What was the grade Professor Busch gave you in International Relations?" Miriallia asked.

"An A. Why?"

"I am so asking her to drop you a grade after this is over."

I remembered my prediction earlier that morning. "Oh, give me a break. Like anyone was expecting the ZAFT to go psycho."

"She's got a point, Miri," Tolle said.

Sai interjected. "All right, we're here. Give me a sec." He yanked out some kind of machine and began typing away on it the moment he hooked it up to the entry pad.

Flay fought her way through the crowd. "Where are you taking us, Cagalli Yamato?"

"A restricted area."

"Who says they're gonna let us in?"

"They'll have to. Military personnel are not allowed to turn away civilians unless the shelters are full," I said.

"What if they still say no? It's not like you're the princess of Orb or something."

"Maybe not, but I don't think they can turn away families and children," I said. "If it means anything-"

The door shafted open before I could finish. Sai grinned as he pocketed his hacking device. "Got it. Let's go."

"All right, everyone, follow us!" I ordered, and I followd Sai down the hall.

"This better work," Flay grumbled as she ran.

I was hoping the same thing, but I didn't want to give her the satisfaction of responding so I kept quiet as we ran down the hallway. Eventually a bright light appeared at the end of the hallway, and the emergency lights and cramped space gave way to some kind of balcony.

"What is this place?" I asked.

"Cell block D-13," Sai said. "It's usually restricted because we're no longer in the college. We're in Morgenroete proper now. And they like to keep stuff secret."

I walked out to the railing, and got the surprise of my life as I looked down. "Are those?"

"What?" Sai asked, and he looked down with me.

There was silence. "Mobile Suits," Sai finally said.

"You sure?" Tolle asked. "They don't look like any kind of Mobile Suits I've ever seen."

"You think they're ZAFT machines?" Miriallia asked.

"The ZAFT was attacking us," Flay said. "Why would we build stuff for somebody attacking us?"

"Maybe they belong to Orb," Sai said. "Maybe Orb's making their own Mobile Suits."

One of the people who came with us, a middle-aged man who was starting to bald, came forward. "Listen, I know you kids love your giant robots and all, but you led us here. Get us to the shelters."

"Right," I said, and I fought my way through the crowd, trying to find something that made it worth traveling through a restricted military block. I finally found a shelter door at the end, and I pointed towards it for the man, who had followed me. "That's where we're going. Come on, get everyone with us."

"You got it," the man said, and before long the entire crowd was right outside the shelter door.

The man guarding the shelter, was, judging by his tone of voice, and choice of words, less than thrilled. "What the hell are you civilians doing here? This is a restricted area!"

"Our shelter got blocked off!" I exclaimed.

""What shelter?"

"Uh . . . C-11," I said, taking a wild guess.

There was a pause on the other end, and the man finally sighed. "Fine. News is getting bad anyway, we're getting our asses kicked. I'll take until capacity."

The giant shelter door slid open, and quickly everyone pushed past me, filing their way inside.

Tolle smiled. "Good job, Cagalli."

"It's what I had to do." It suddenly occurred to me that I was hearing firecracker-esque noises in the background. I walked past the crowd as they charged into the shelter, and as I did so, Tori landed on my shoulder. Tori had a tendency to do that, to fly around almost out of sight but then land on me when it felt it was needed.

In the distance, I saw Morgenroete personnel trading fire with some kind of attacking force. I couldn't tell who the side was, but the uniforms didn't look EA-esque. They were most likely ZAFT, just like flay said.

I heard Miriallia behind me. "Cagalli, Tolle, come on! The shelter's almost full already! Hurry up!"

Tolle grabbed my shoulder. "Come on, before we lose our spots."

I nodded. "You're right."

But as we charged towards the door, the invisible voice stopped us. "Wait. We can only take one more person."

"You're kidding," Tolle said. "One more person?"

Miriallia stared. "Does that include me?"

"No. You're technically inside the shelter. Besides you, girl, we can only take one more person. So one of the lovebirds will have to stay."

Miriallia frowned. "Then I'll-"

I almost didn't interrupt then. I wanted to be safe. I wanted no part of the war. And I didn't want to go rush out into imminent death.

But I could not let Miriallia face that. As tiny as my chances were, Miriallia's, Tolle's, and everyone else's were minute. I was the only one out of all of us with any ability to survive a war situation, and that was merely because of my genetics, and nothing more.

So I knew what I had to do. "Miriallia, no. I'm not letting you sacrifice yourself."

Tolle stared at me. "Cagalli, I'm not going to-"

I kissed him on the mouth, and then made him freeze. While he was still trying to process the kiss, I shoved him into the shelter and handed him Tori. "Take care of Tori until we meet up, okay? I'll find another shelter."

The first door slid shut, the holes giving me a brief glimpse of both Miriallia and Tolle as they stared at me. Tori chirped in confusion and surprise.

We knew that, most likely, we would never see each other again, because I was going to be running into a war zone. But I had to put a brave face on. "I'll be okay. You guys stay together, got it? Stay together."

The second, inner door slammed, leaving solid steel between us, cutting off any reply from Miriallia and Tolle. I sighed, and turned back towards the war zone.

This is the worst Monday of my life. And my stupidest. I turned down safety and I'm walking into a battlefield. This is what I get for being altruistic.

I walked down the balcony, hoping no sniper would notice me. I was unarmed, and clearly wearing street clothes, so I was hoping that I would escape notice as I tried to make it to another shelter.

However, within ten steps I was already being shot at and I dove and hit the deck.

It didn't matter whether I was a civilian or not. I was a target.

I heard a young, nasal voice from below me. "What are you doing up there?"

I crawled over to the edge and I saw a young man, with brown hair, violet eyes, and a boyish face. He had hidden himself behind a bunch of military trucks. He was wearing the standard orange-and-white Morgenroete uniform, but was missing a weapon. I was thinking he had to be some kind of rookie who had been unable to get his weapon. But he looked familiar at the same time, like I should know him, but didn't. It was like I had seen him in one of my classes, not as a fellow student, but as the subject of a lecture.

I shook the thought out of my head. "I'm trying to get to a shelter," I replied.

"All the shelters that way got bombed," the young man said. "You're pretty much stuck."

I sighed. "So I have no choice but to come down."

"I think there's a way we can sneak past the ZAFT attackers if we move," the young man said. "There's a stairwell on the other end of the hallway. Think you can make it?"

"I won't have to," I said, and I stood up, got on the railing, and jumped on top of the military truck, and I jumped down from there again, right next to him.

He gaped. "How'd you do that? Are you a Coordinator?"

"Yeah," I said. "But I'm not with the ZAFT."

He nodded. "Well, I believe you. You led those civilians out of harm's way, I don't think a ZAFT person would've done that."

"I guess." I leaned out from the front end of the truck, and tried to take a peek. It looked like the Morgenroete security guards were making their last stand. A woman with long brown hair was giving commands, but the ZAFT commandoes were frankly doing too much damage. The last machine-gun nest held by the Morgenroete was hit by a grenade, leaving the woman and a couple of remaining guards against the ZAFT.

"Actually," I said, "The battle's almost over. Maybe we should wait until they kill each other."

"You serious? Wait until the ZAFT take it over?" the young man asked.

"They don't have a lot of soldiers left either, I think there was only three or four."

"They only need three or four," the young man said. "They're after the Mobile Suits. I heard right before this position came under attack that they got three of the five already."

"Mobile Suits?" I asked.

"Yeah. They've got some kind of new designation, don't remember what it is exactly," the young man replied.

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw a ZAFT soldier running up the stairwell. Clearly checking up on me.

The brown-haired woman had backed up significantly, she was right next to us, though she hadn't noticed that yet. In frustration, she threw down her machine-gun when it ran out of ammunition and drew her sidearm, still shooting at the unseen ZAFT soldiers.

"Lady, turn around!" I shouted.

The woman stared at me, and then turned around, right as the ZAFT soldier was about to take aim. She fired six or seven shots rapid-fire and one of them struck the ZAFT soldier in the head. He slumped over the railing and plummeted to the ground below. Unlike me, there was no truck to break his fall. The sickening cracking noises of bones breaking were audible even with the gunfire everywhere.

"Thanks," she said, and then her eyes widened as she looked past me. "You didn't get out of here?" she asked.

"Uh, no," the young man said.

The woman did a facepalm and ran over to us. "Why the hell not? Seriously, your father's gonna kill you for this!"

"Uh, what's going on?" I asked.

Both the young man and the woman looked at me, as if I had suddenly come into existence. Finally, the woman said "This is Prince Kira Yeley Athha of Orb. I am Lieutenant Murrue Ramius of the Earth Alliance. And who are you, boy?"

"I am not a boy!" I snarled. "Does this look like a masculine haircut to you guys? Do I have any facial hair?"

"Wait, you're a girl?" Kira asked.

"What did you think I was?"

Murrue facepalmed again. "Sorry. Now, what's your name?"

"Cagalli Yamato. I'm a student at the college," I replied.

Murrue nodded. "Thank you, Cagalli."

"Who's bright idea was it to bring the prince here?" I asked.

"The prince politely asked for a tour of the facility and his request was granted. He is the son of the Lion of Orb, no one wanted to turn him away," Murrue replied.

A sheepish grin crossed Kira's face. "Didn't exactly expect war to happen today."

I scoffed and stomped back both of them to look behind the truck again. "How're we gonna get out of here?"

"See that Mobile Suit in front of us?" Murrue asked.

Instead of peeking around to watch the firefight, I looked straight from my position. I realized it was one of the Mobile Suits I had seen from the balcony just moments before.

"We're gonna fly that thing?" I asked.

"Hopefully. I'm not a trained pilot," Murrue said, "But I think I can at least get that thing to walk. Foot soldiers can't do much against a Mobile Suit, not unless they thought to bring rocket launchers."

She came up beside me, and took a deep breath. "Come on, both of you. While we still have covering fire. The cockpit will have trouble holding three of us but we'll have to manage."

I saw the lieutenant's needs brace to run, and I quickly did the same. Kira, for his part, looked somewhat confused. "Wait, we're seriously gonna-"

"Go!" Murrue barked, and I quickly grabbed Kira by the hand and dragged him after us.

He screamed the whole way in terror until we reached the machine.

I saw one of the two remaining security guards get shot in the head, leaving just one left. He wasn't going to last much longer

Kira's face was filled with disgust and terror. "I didn't imagine war to be like this."

Murrue sighed. "I'm sorry, Prince Kira. I'll try to get you out of here. I'm not from your nation but I think I can at least give your father his only son back."

"What's an EA person doing here?" I asked.

Kira's face fell. "Well-"

Suddenly, a ZAFT soldier in a red uniform appeared above us. Murrue immediately blasted him and he fell off the Mobile Suit, hitting multiple obstacles before he laid to rest to the left of the Mobile Suit.

I immediately heard a masculine scream of grief and anger, and I saw another red ZAFT soldier make a charge up the Mobile Suit. He blasted the last security guard with a bullet burst, and came right at us. Murrue fired, but she was out of ammunition, leaving her helpless as she was shot in the arm.

Murrue fell down in front of us, grabbing her arm, and we were in the ZAFT soldier's mercy.

Then the ZAFT soldier hesitated, and his arms began to shake. Finally, I heard him whisper "Cagalli?"

The voice was older, teenaged, broken, but I recognized it. It had just enough similarity to my best friend's voice that I knew so well that I recognized the voice in an instant.

"Athrun? Is that you?"

Finally, I got a good look at his face. It was unmistakably Athrun's. I could even see the hints of his blue hair, soaked in sweat.

His eyes were filled with surprise and horror. "I . . ."

He lowered his rifle. "I'm sorry."

And then he activated his rocket pack and shot away from us. Murrue had managed to reload her pistol in the meantime, and took a few futile shots at him before throwing her pistol down in anger.

"Damn it . . . come on. Both of you, get in," she said.

She got down on her hands and knees and entered something into a keypad, and the chest cockpit opened up.

Both Kira and I had hesitated, and Murrue growled as she walked over to us. "Let's go!"

She pushed both of us into th ecockpit and jumped in after us, shutting the cockpit behind her. "Both of you, get behind my seat! Don't touch anything! I should get this thing moving at least!"

She switched it on, and I saw lights flashing all over the console as the Mobile Suit came to life. On the display screen, I saw an acronym appear. "General Unilateral Neuro-Link Dispersive Autonomic Manuever".

I see the Earth Alliance is taking lessons from the ZAFT in nonsensical designations, I thought.

The Mobile Suit shook violently as it first sat up, and then clumsily rose to his feet, as the Morgenroete factory behind us exploded into flames. The shockwave was so much that Murrue could barely keep the GUNDAM from falling on its face, which surely would have killed both Kira and I.

In front of us, I saw another GUNDAM rise. It looked different, bulkier, than the model I was stuck in.

I quickly realized that Athrun had to be the pilot of that one.

"They took the Aegis," Murrue said, her words sissing a bit as she was working through her pain.

"The Aegis? What's the one we have?" I asked.

"The Strike," Murrue replied.

The Aegis rose to its feet, and seemed to stare at us in the eye.

"Oh man," Kira said. "Lieutenant Ramius, ma'am, please tell me you know what you're doing."

"I hope I do," Murrue said, as she made the GUNDAM take an awkward step towards the aegis.

The shaking in the cockpit told me she didn't have a clue how to operate this thing.

"Are we going to fight it?" Kira asked.

"If we have to," Murrue said, as she struggled to make the GUNDAM take another step.

The Aegis just stayed in place, as if patiently waiting for us to move.

Athrun was waiting for us.

I braced myself for Athrun's inevitable attack. He probably had a better idea of how to operate a GUNDAM than the three of us did. He could, no, he would kill all three of us at any time if he chose to attack.

We were at my best friend's mercy.
MURRUE: Infallible accuracy?? I thought you just usually shot all your weapons at random and they just happened to hit stuff.

KIRA: What do you think this is; a cartoon?
Rob DS Zeta
Posts: 314
Joined: Fri Jul 16, 2010 10:55 pm
Location: over there

Re: Gundam SEED: Bloodlines (Chapter 2 Bonus 12/15/10)

Que unpredictably predictable Kira and Murrue.

Nice work again. I was kind of surprised when Miri offered to give herself up for the lovebirds, but Cagalli stopped her to keep things cool and expectable.

Oh, and no problem on the advice.
*insert witty eyecatch here*
rebel_cheese
Posts: 305
Joined: Wed May 02, 2007 7:43 pm
Location: Illinois, USA

Re: Gundam SEED: Bloodlines (Chapter 2 Bonus 12/15/10)

What do you mean by "unpredictably predictable"? XD I don't quite know how to interpret that.

The fic will not follow the SEED plot exactly, though things will be familiar for a while. So things won't always be "cool and expectable". I did, however, very nearly put Cagalli in the shelter, but I couldn't quite figure out how to continue the story from there. The fact of the matter is that the Strike would've wound up in the ZAFT's possession if Cagalli didn't stay. And that defeats the purpose of this being a GUNDAM story.

I hope the story remains enjoyable. However, chapter 3 covers very familiar ground so I may add chapter 4 to it at the same time because chapter 4 does some things differently.
MURRUE: Infallible accuracy?? I thought you just usually shot all your weapons at random and they just happened to hit stuff.

KIRA: What do you think this is; a cartoon?
Rob DS Zeta
Posts: 314
Joined: Fri Jul 16, 2010 10:55 pm
Location: over there

Re: Gundam SEED: Bloodlines (Chapter 2 Bonus 12/15/10)

rebel_cheese wrote:What do you mean by "unpredictably predictable"? XD I don't quite know how to interpret that.
Well, I thought that Kira wouldn't be there and that Murrue would... I don't know. Either way, Kira was there. He and Murrue wound up doing exactly what they did in the show, meaning that it should have been predictable. :mrgreen:

I'm sure it'll remain enjoyable (to me, as I am easily entertained). Now... if only I could get my SEED story off the ground.
*insert witty eyecatch here*
rebel_cheese
Posts: 305
Joined: Wed May 02, 2007 7:43 pm
Location: Illinois, USA

Re: Gundam SEED: Bloodlines (Chapter 2 Bonus 12/15/10)

Rob DS Zeta wrote:Well, I thought that Kira wouldn't be there and that Murrue would... I don't know. Either way, Kira was there. He and Murrue wound up doing exactly what they did in the show, meaning that it should have been predictable. :mrgreen:

I'm sure it'll remain enjoyable (to me, as I am easily entertained). Now... if only I could get my SEED story off the ground.
There's an easy way to get your story off the ground. Write by the seat of your pants and see where it goes. ^^

I think I understand what you mean better. Chapter 3 WILL be predictable though, but things will steadily change from there. So I hope people are patient for chapter 3 because it'll be serious deja vu.
MURRUE: Infallible accuracy?? I thought you just usually shot all your weapons at random and they just happened to hit stuff.

KIRA: What do you think this is; a cartoon?
Rob DS Zeta
Posts: 314
Joined: Fri Jul 16, 2010 10:55 pm
Location: over there

Re: Gundam SEED: Bloodlines (Chapter 2 Bonus 12/15/10)

rebel_cheese wrote:There's an easy way to get your story off the ground. Write by the seat of your pants and see where it goes.
I always write by the seat of my pants. :D
rebel_cheese wrote:Chapter 3 WILL be predictable though, but things will steadily change from there.
Predictability is always good for the reader's mind. Steady change then slowly adapts the reader to the new features.
*insert witty eyecatch here*
rebel_cheese
Posts: 305
Joined: Wed May 02, 2007 7:43 pm
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Re: Gundam SEED: Bloodlines (Chapter 2 Bonus 12/15/10)

Chapter Three: Eruption

The Aegis still didn't move. I realized Athrun had to be in shock to see me, like I was stunned to see him. And he couldn't quite bring himself to attack us, knowing I could be inside.

No, he knew I was inside. I knew Athrun from prep school. He would never attack a friend, even if he didn't know for sure that his friend would be endangered. He erred on the side of caution.

But moreover, he knew me. He knew I would be foolhardy enough to climb in here.

But before any words could be said, another Mobile Suit landed near Athrun. A GINN.

"Can you listen in?" Kira asked.

"They're not talking on a public channel," Murrue said, fighting with buttons. The O.S. even to my eyes, looked particularly clumsy. I was no ace with mechanics and computers but even I knew enough to see that the O.S. was cumbersome and slow.

"You got any weapons?" Kira asked.

"I have Igelstellung machine-guns. They can do some damage," Murrue said.

"That's it?" Kira asked in disbelief.

"We're weren't expecting this machine to go into battle, Prince Kira! So sue me!"

Suddenly, the Aegis blasted off. And with Athrun went every hope I had of coming out of this alive. The GINN pilot had probably ordered Athrun away, and Athrun had to obey orders, he was a soldier.

The GINN faced us, and drew its melee weapon, a heavy sword.

"Lieutenant, he's gonna skewer us," Kira said, his voice becoming higher-pitched and squeakier with each word.

"You don't say!" Murrue snapped. She immediately fired the machine-guns, but the GINN easily dodged her volley and rocketed right at us.

Murrue gave up shooting at the last second and instead hit a button on the console. A brief flashing light appeared around the Strike, and the sword failed to penetrate the Strike's armor. It was like it had magically transformed into a blunt instrument, a club. The blow knocked all three of us around, and Kira hit his head, but other than that, it didn't do a lot of damage.

"What did you do?" I asked.

"I activated the Phase Shift Armor," Murrue said. "It'll offer us some protection, but its lifespan is limited."

The GINN backed up a few steps, as if sizing us up. Clearly, it hadn't expected Murrue's trick, and was now wondering what to do.

Kira moaned "You're not gonna win with that kind of O.S."

"What do you suggest, then?" Murrue asked.

"Cagalli, do you have any experience in this?" Kira asked as he rubbed the left side of his head.

"Some. I got Bs in my electronic science classes and a C in code."

"Good enough. Take the keyboard out," Kira said.

I did. Murrue looked at both of us with puzzlement. "What the hell are you kids doing?"

"Saving our lives," Kira said.

I took the keyboard out. "Okay, what do I do?"

"Now listen, Cagalli. First, calibrate the zero moment point. Then reconfigure the CPG. Link the control module to the artificial cortex molecular ion pump. Finally, reformat the neural image network."

Judging by the look on Murrue's face, she was baffled. And if I wasn't a Coordinator, I wouldn't have kept up with Kira's instructions. I wasn't the greatest with interface systems and electronics, but I knew what Kira was asking for. And I typed as fast as I could. The GINN seemed to be preparing itself for another charge.

It occurred to me that the pilot wasn't trying to destroy the Mobile Suit. The pilot was trying to take the Mobile Suit intact. He was intending on stealing it away from us. So he wasn't going to pull out a gun and blow the Strike to smithereens. He wanted to fly this thing back to the ZAFT, he wanted this to be their shiny new trophy.

"All right," Kira said. "The O.S. should be more efficient, but you're not gonna be able to fly it, Lieutenant."

"Why not?" Murrue asked.

"It's configured for a Coordinator now," Kira said. He grinned at me, I could see signs of a shiner already appearing around his left eye. "And we got a Coordinator onboard."

Murrue stared at me. "You . . . You are a . . ."

"Yes," I said.

I stared at the controls. "You sure this is a good idea?"

"You're the only one who can fly it now. I've studied ZAFT interfaces. This is a pretty good facsimile of one," Kira replied. "Now hurry, before he charges us again."

Murrue and I looked at each other. She sighed and threw up her hands. "We're dead if I keep trying to move this thing. Go ahead."

Thanks for the responsibility. Murrue and I swapped seats just in time to see the GINN charge right at us.

"What do I do?" I shrieked.

"Dodge it!" Kira yelled, but it was too late. The GINN led with its unarmed left shoulder, and slammed us into a nearby building, causing it to crumble behind us into thousands of pieces. I hoped no one was inside when that had happened.

"He's got us pinned!" Murrue shouted.

The Phase Shift Armor was starting to crack as the sword attempted to slice through the Strike's left arm. It was like a knife slowly slicing through butter.

"Punch him!" Kira shouted.

"How?" I asked.

"Just do something!"

I took a wild guess as to how the controls worked and moved a lever forward. Somehow, I had guessed right, and the Strike raised its right fist and punched the GINN in the gut. The GINN backed up again, and a sizable dent could be seen in the Mobile Suit's torso.

"Good guess," Kira said, sighing with relief.

"Does this thing have any more weapons?" I asked.

"There's a pair of Armor Schneider knives. That's it," Murrue said.

"Come on!" I growled.

"I told you, we weren't expecting the Strike to actually fight yet!"

I fumbled with my system until I figured out how to draw the knives, and put them in a defensive position. The GINN continued to sit and wait, like it was studying us.

But then Murrue said "He's waiting for the Phase Shift to run out of energy. Cagalli, you're going to have to rush him."

"Are you serious?" I asked.

"Dead serious. We're finished the moment our Phase Shift Armor is down," Murrue said. "Rush him. We have to take him down before we run out of time."

I sighed, and quickly accelerated the Strike. It seemed easier with the new interface and controls that Kira had suggested, but it still didn't feel quite natural. I was going to have to do a lot of fixing with Kira later to make the machine more to my liking.

The GINN barely reacted in time to block us, and I kept going on the offensive, slashing away with the knives, but I couldn't get a death blow. We knocked over another office building as we battled, and destroyed an elevated expressway in the process too.

Finally, the GINN backed off, and then rocketed right at me. It was trying to retake the initiative, to catch me off balance.

I had no intention of letting that happen.

I let the moment get the better of me, and I yelled something uintelligible as I got my knives in the right position to stab the ZAFT machine in the torso, causing sparks to erupt. Immediately, the ZAFT pilot ejected, I saw his seat rocket into the air and blast out of sight.

Suddenly, Murrue shouted "Get away from the GINN! It's gonna blow!"

"It's going to what?"

Then the GINN exploded.

The Phase Shift Armor saved us, but it knocked us incredibly off balance and sent the Strike staggering backwards multiple steps before I got control of it. Immediately, the Phase Shift armor died, and I suddenly felt a lot more vulnerable than I had.

"It ran out of energy," Kira said.

"Like I said . . ." Murrue trailed off.

I finished for her. "Let me guess. You weren't planning on sending this into combat yet."

"Yeah," Murrue said. "There's a park nearby. Walk us over there. I need to patch up my wound, and we need to wait for some kind of help. There isn't any choice."

I saw what Murrue was talking about, and steadily guided the Mobile Suit over there. It had seemed so sleek with the Phase Shift armor, but now it was just a lumbering beast, and difficult to keep control of.

I could not wait until I was out of the cockpit.
***
After we set down, Kira and I bandaged Murrue's shoulder injury. She sighed wistfully. "Cagalli, I assume you know that since you've witnessed a military secret, you're stuck with us until further notice."

I had figured as much. "Yeah."

Kira's eyes widened. "You're not even going to argue it?"

"You can argue it. You're the prince," I said.

"Oh." Kira's eyes widened in realization. "Oh yeah. Lieutenant Ramius, as prince of my nation, I demand you release this citizen immediately!"

He looked at me with a sheepish look. "Like that?"

"Good enough," I said with a sigh.

Murrue just gave Kira a look. "Prince Kira, while you theoretically could do that, there is a strong possibility the ZAFT could destroy Heliopolis at any moment. Do you want to risk Cagalli's life as well as your own?"

"Uh . . ."

"If we have to, we can shelter inside the Strike's cockpit, though the air won't last for long."

"Um . . ."

"Also, all of the shelters in the immediate vicinity are either full or destroyed. You and Cagalli would need a vehicle in order to reach a shelter with openings in a half-hour. You really think the colony has that long to live?"

Kira scratched the back of his head, and I sighed in dismay. An ordinary lieutenant had just outsmarted the prince of my nation, and I was not pleased by that.

Some son of the Lion of Orb. He would be lucky to be compared to a house cat, I thought.

"Okay, you win," Kira said.

"Good," Murrue said. She sighed and then looked at me. "Cagalli Yamato, what is a Coordinator like you doing here? Nearly all of the Coordinators who lived in the EA and neutral nations emigrated to the ZAFT in the wake of the Bloody Valentine to show solidarity. But you didn't. Why?"

I tried to crack a joke. "Would you believe I'm a pacifist?"

Murrue's eyes narrowed. She was not in a joking mood.

The Bloody Valentine was just over eleven months ago. A PLANT called Junius Seven had been nuked without warning by Earth Alliance ships. Over a million Coordinators perished, and it automatically ignited the current war.

It was debatable whether it was a sanctioned EA operation, a rogue element, or simply terrorists. Whatever the case, the EA was blamed, despite denials from the Eurasian Federation and the North American Federation. The Republic of East Asia remained curiously silent, offering no comment other than they were "investigating".

"I stayed for my parents," I finally answered. "And for my friends. My parents wanted me to get an education, not join a military. And I have some friends in Orb, and I didn't want to leave them behind. I've already left a set of friends behind in the ZAFT. I didn't want to leave my Orb friends behind too."

"So you were part of the ZAFT," Murrue said.

"Until high school, yes." I could tell Murrue was suspicious of me, just judging by the look in her eyes. "What are you gonna do, shoot me for it?"

"No," Murrue said after a brief pause. "No, I'm not. In fact, I need you."

"Oh, really?"

"Yes. I think I, and any Earth Alliance personnel that's left, are going to need you if we want to live," Murrue said.

Suddenly, a distant explosion erupted in the distance, and I saw a ZAFT Mobile Suit emerge from it, closely followed by some kind of Mobile Armor.

"It's not over yet?" Kira cried.

"No," Murrue said. "I guess not."

The Mobile Armor and the ZAFT machine continued to battle each other, until the ZAFT machine, which was a CGUE by the looks of it, suddenly got behind the Mobile Armor by coming to a complete halt. The Mobile Armor was left exposed and was shot multiple times in the rear, and went spiraling away, smoking.

"That's not good," Murrue said.

The CGUE immediately flew right towards us. Kira's eyes widened and he tried to back away. "Oh crap! What do we do?"

"Prince Kira, we'll hide. Cagalli, try to do what you can," Murrue said.

"What?" I asked.

"It's our only chance-"

Suddenly, a massive cannon burst came out of nowhere. The CGUE pilot barely saw the beam coming in time and swerved to avoid it, but one of its arms was vaporized. The giant blue beam of light flashed onward, out of sight, and only a distant rumble hinted it had finally impacted a target big enough to stop it.

"What was that?" Kira asked.

"The Archangel," Murrue yelled, a wide grin appearing across her face. "It survived!"

"The Archangel?" I asked.

"It's a brand-new ship, it practically finished construction yesterday," Murrue said. "I had lost contact with it right before Morgenroete came under attack. I was wondering if it had been destroyed."

"Clearly not," Kira said.

Suddenly, Murrue slapped herself on the head. "Oh God, I'm a moron."

She ran into the Strike's cockpit and turned something on. "Archangel? Archangel, do you read me?"

Somebody answered. "This is Petty Officier Pal onboard the Archangel. Who is this?"

"This is Lieutenant Murrue Ramius. I have the Prince of Orb and the Strike GUNDAM. I request immediate extraction."

Pal answered instantly. "You got it, ma'am.We're on our way, we found a landing spot right next to your position."

Murrue sighed with relief. "Thank you, Petty Officer. Over and out." She leaned against the cockpit seat. "What a day. What a day."

The Archangel's engines roared louder as it approached us, but it was surprisingly quiet for such a big ship. It seemed to have legs outstretched in front of it, giving it a unique, odd appearance. Very difficult to describe in words.

Murrue's smile changed from joy to something more relaxed, relieved. "We're safe. That's what matters. We're safe."

I personally doubted it.
***
When the Archangel landed, immediately personnel ran out to loud the Strike into the hangar bay at the rear of the ship. It was while we were at the rear when an officer, followed by group of noncommissioned officers, ran towards us. I heard the officer yell "Lieutenant Ramius! You're all right."

"Ensign Badgiruel," Murrue said.

Ensign Badgiruel was a woman who seemed to be around Murrue's age, but she had a more severe appearance, and her raven-colored hair was cropped much shorter than Murrue's.

She stopped in front of us. "I recognize the prince, but I don't recognize the civilian girl. Who's she?" Badgiruel asked.

"Oh," Murrue said. "She is Cagalli Yamato. She took control of the Strike and defeated an enemy GINN opposing us."

"That's impossible! No ordinary civilian could do that!" Badgiruel exclaimed.

"You're wrong," said a male voice to our left. "Nothing is impossible."

Out from the hangar bay appeared a man who seemed slightly older than a woman, with blonde hair parted in a professional manner. I could already tell he fashioned himself as a confident, swaggering ladies' man.

"Oh! Lieutenant Ramius . . ." Badgiruel paused.

The man chuckled. "It's all right, I can introduce myself. I am Lieutenant Mu La Flaga of the Earth Forces 7th Orbital Fleet. At your service."

"I am Lieutenant Murrue Ramius of the 5th Special Division," Murrue said.

"And for the convenience of the prince and the civilian, I am Ensign Natarle Badgiruel, also of the 5th Special Division." Poof, there went 'Badgiruel', now I had a first name to remember her by.

The man stood in front of me and seemed to study me for a second. "What?" I finally asked.

Mu sighed. "There is a reason why the civilian accomplished such a feat, beating a GINN while piloting a new Mobile Suit she has never seen before. Not to mention said Mobile Suit is underpowered because it wasn't combat ready, and the controls are cumbersome due to a flawed O.S. When I saw the test pilots move them into the Morgenroete factory, just getting them to walk was no easy feat."

"What are you saying?" Natarle asked.

I saw the crewmen starting to stare at me, and I realized what Mu La Flaga was leading up towards.

Murrue tried to step in. "Lieutenant La Flaga, this isn't the right time for an interrogation. Please, wait."

Mu looked at her. "I am not interrogating her, but I think this is for the relief of everyone on board."

He looked back at me.

"You are a Coordinator, aren't you?"

There was the magic word. Coordinator. Just by the look on everyone's faces, it was like the word would open up a rift into hell and send demons scurrying everywhere around them.

The accusation meant there was no point in lying or bluffing my way out of this.

I took a deep breath, and exhaled. "Yes."

I closed my eyes, and waited for all hell to break loose.
Last edited by rebel_cheese on Tue Dec 21, 2010 4:12 pm, edited 1 time in total.
MURRUE: Infallible accuracy?? I thought you just usually shot all your weapons at random and they just happened to hit stuff.

KIRA: What do you think this is; a cartoon?
Rob DS Zeta
Posts: 314
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Location: over there

Re: Gundam SEED: Bloodlines (Chapter 2 Bonus 12/15/10)

Hmm... I know that it's not really a big deal, but your combat writing needs a little refining. Also, GINNs don't carry beam swords (nor can they body slam something with a beam sword).

Now this is where I see 'writing by the seat of your pants' become 'writing and just going with it'. I don't know how seriously you take this, but I'm going to assume that you do. Let me point a out a few things here that stick out.

1: Kira seems like a bit of a dunderhead (ADD). Last chapter he seemed to be at least a touch confident of himself. While that did shine through in this chapter, too, there were still a few moments where he was just kind of like "What? Huh?".

2: Murrue is out of character (OOC). Now, I know people like to blame this on how the circumstances are different, that's mum here because Murrue's circumstances haven't really changed at all. She's still there. She's still got a bullet in her. She's still protecting the kids.

3: Rau pilots a CGUE. Just throwing that out there.

There are probably a few other things, but what I put down is just the stuff that is just O_O.

In good news, you've managed to believably throw us from Phase 2 straight into Phase 3. Unfortunately, you've skimped on the action. I won't call it a bad call, but it's not exactly the ideal path.

Anyway, that's all I got for this chapter. I hope I don't seem like a serious d-bag, but it's in my nature to pass constructive crit. where constructive crit. is due. YOU ARE DOING GOOD. Keep on going!
*insert witty eyecatch here*
rebel_cheese
Posts: 305
Joined: Wed May 02, 2007 7:43 pm
Location: Illinois, USA

Re: Gundam SEED: Bloodlines (Chapter 2 Bonus 12/15/10)

Rob DS Zeta wrote:Hmm... I know that it's not really a big deal, but your combat writing needs a little refining. Also, GINNs don't carry beam swords (nor can they body slam something with a beam sword).

Now this is where I see 'writing by the seat of your pants' become 'writing and just going with it'. I don't know how seriously you take this, but I'm going to assume that you do. Let me point a out a few things here that stick out.

1: Kira seems like a bit of a dunderhead (ADD). Last chapter he seemed to be at least a touch confident of himself. While that did shine through in this chapter, too, there were still a few moments where he was just kind of like "What? Huh?".

2: Murrue is out of character (OOC). Now, I know people like to blame this on how the circumstances are different, that's mum here because Murrue's circumstances haven't really changed at all. She's still there. She's still got a bullet in her. She's still protecting the kids.

3: Rau pilots a CGUE. Just throwing that out there.

There are probably a few other things, but what I put down is just the stuff that is just O_O.

In good news, you've managed to believably throw us from Phase 2 straight into Phase 3. Unfortunately, you've skimped on the action. I won't call it a bad call, but it's not exactly the ideal path.

Anyway, that's all I got for this chapter. I hope I don't seem like a serious d-bag, but it's in my nature to pass constructive crit. where constructive crit. is due. YOU ARE DOING GOOD. Keep on going!
The "beam sword" comment is because I know GINNs carry a sword, I just forgot it doesn't light up. XD It doesn't help that I glanced at the manga (which got multiple details wrong) while actually writing this chapter. The "body slam" is meant to mean that the GINN led with its left shoulder, thus slamming the Strike into the building behind it. I will fix this in the next couple of days.

Kira, in defense, DID take a blow to the head. I thought that would excuse some "What? Huh?" comments from him because I needed him to be a little lost and confused.

Murrue is the most difficult character for me to write, PERIOD. I always make her cranky and short-tempered, more like Natarle. The odd thing is that I make Natarle too calm naturally too. In other words, it's like their personalities want to trade places and I have to concentrate on preventing that. I will work on keeping Murrue in-character.

I kept forgetting Rau's Mobile Suit designation. Now I won't forget it. Thank you.

Chapter Five is an all-combat chapter. You should like it. However, combat has never been my forte in writing, as Star Wars fanfiction readers have attested. I especially suck at vehicular combat. I've improved but I'm still not that great at it. But hopefully chapter five will be much more satisfying.

Thank you for your comments, and I will try to refine this chapter in the next couple of days and refine my future chapters as well.
MURRUE: Infallible accuracy?? I thought you just usually shot all your weapons at random and they just happened to hit stuff.

KIRA: What do you think this is; a cartoon?
Rob DS Zeta
Posts: 314
Joined: Fri Jul 16, 2010 10:55 pm
Location: over there

Re: Gundam SEED: Bloodlines (Chapter 2 Bonus 12/15/10)

There's nothing really special about combat. It's the same as writing anything else. Just remember that you're trying to relay the feeling of what's happening (as with all writing). One thing that does stand out in combat is that you need to use verbs, adjectives, and adverbs that relay the intensity (of possibly the lack thereof) of the moment.

Just keep working on it. Writing is something you get better at with experience. Just don't close yourself off to new ways and things that you can use to express what's happening in the story.

If I think of anything else, I'll tell you. :wink:
*insert witty eyecatch here*
rebel_cheese
Posts: 305
Joined: Wed May 02, 2007 7:43 pm
Location: Illinois, USA

Re: Gundam SEED: Bloodlines (Chapter 2 Bonus 12/15/10)

I fixed the passages. I'm not going to change dialogue at this point, just assume Murrue's having a really bad day in more ways than one. XD

I nearly tried to make an excuse for Cagalli not knowing the difference between a GINN and a CGUE but the thing is, she IS from ZAFT (just like Kira is in canon SEED), and she DOES pay close attention to current events because of her political science background. So she would know the difference between the two.
MURRUE: Infallible accuracy?? I thought you just usually shot all your weapons at random and they just happened to hit stuff.

KIRA: What do you think this is; a cartoon?
DAG101
Posts: 427
Joined: Mon Apr 09, 2007 5:08 pm
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Contact:

Re: Gundam SEED: Bloodlines (Chapter 2 Bonus 12/15/10)

Really, considering it's your fanfic, you could just say 'he pilots a Ginn right now, not a Cgue', lol. But this is a really interesting fanfic; I love how you take Seed and Destiny (two rather disliked, though I like them, series) and make such amazing fanfics. Your Destiny one (which I need to get back into reading again, lol; gotta lot of catching up to do on my part) really fixes some of the...less-than-good...parts of Destiny, and while this one doesn't really 'fix' anything (because I thought Seed was good enough) it's an interesting alternate to the series, since it starts off with a major change to the relationship between two of the central characters (Kira and Athrun were really good friends; you've established here that your Cagalli had, and possibly still has, romantic interest in Athrun). I look forward to seeing where this goes, especially when (or if) Lacus comes into play.

Sorry for the long response, lol
rebel_cheese
Posts: 305
Joined: Wed May 02, 2007 7:43 pm
Location: Illinois, USA

Re: Gundam SEED: Bloodlines (Chapter 2 Bonus 12/15/10)

DAG101 wrote:Really, considering it's your fanfic, you could just say 'he pilots a Ginn right now, not a Cgue', lol. But this is a really interesting fanfic; I love how you take Seed and Destiny (two rather disliked, though I like them, series) and make such amazing fanfics. Your Destiny one (which I need to get back into reading again, lol; gotta lot of catching up to do on my part) really fixes some of the...less-than-good...parts of Destiny, and while this one doesn't really 'fix' anything (because I thought Seed was good enough) it's an interesting alternate to the series, since it starts off with a major change to the relationship between two of the central characters (Kira and Athrun were really good friends; you've established here that your Cagalli had, and possibly still has, romantic interest in Athrun). I look forward to seeing where this goes, especially when (or if) Lacus comes into play.

Sorry for the long response, lol
I like long responses, it shows you're paying attention. XD

I'm glad you've enjoyed this so far, and I hope you keep enjoying it. Starting with chapter 4 Cagalli's actions will reveal a ripple effect on SEED. Things are just going to be a bit different. Cagalli is not Kira, she reacts to things differently, and commits rash acts because that's just who she is. However, just by being herself she changes the lives of people around her, people close to Kira in SEED may be even closer to Cagalli now (Tolle and Athrun), or, conversely, much more distant (Flay is basically the Zoidberg of Cagalli's inner circle).
MURRUE: Infallible accuracy?? I thought you just usually shot all your weapons at random and they just happened to hit stuff.

KIRA: What do you think this is; a cartoon?
rebel_cheese
Posts: 305
Joined: Wed May 02, 2007 7:43 pm
Location: Illinois, USA

Re: Gundam SEED: Bloodlines (Chapter 3 12/20/10)

Chapter Four: Points of Authority

When I didn't hear an impromptu firing squad shoot me, I dared to re-open my eyes, and I saw, indeed, a squad of troopers appear among the crewmen. They were all talking to themselves.

"She's with ZAFT."

"A Coordinator? Here?"

"Damn it, she's gonna lead the ZAFT right to us."

The whispering finally got on my nerves so much, and their faces, so stoic and serious and afraid, that finally I snapped somewhere inside. I wanted to show them that I was a human, not some genetic freak they had to terminate like in a movie.

"Boo," I said, and made a face at them.

That got all of the troopers pointing their guns at me. Not exactly the reaction I had been hoping for.

Kira stepped in front of me. "I am the Prince of Orb, and she is one of my citizens! Lower your weapons."

"We are not Orb soldiers," said one of the troopers. "We don't gotta follow your orders."

"But you have to follow mine," Murrue said. She stepped forward in front of Kira. "Lower the guns. That's a direct order from your superior officer."

The troopers stared, and, one by one, they reluctantly lowered their weapons.

"Now," Murrue said, "Do something more beneficial with your time. Like making sure no one sabotages the Strike."

"Uh, yes ma'am." The armed troopers immediately ran off, leaving me surrounded by nervous noncoms and the three naval officers.

Lieutenant La Flaga clapped his hands. "There we go."

"What?" Murrue snapped.

"Testing you. I'm the superior officer onboard this ship unless I give up the responsibility. I had to make sure you were up to it, Lieutenant Ramius."

Murrue leered at him. "That was a dirty trick."

"If it means anything, I wouldn't have let anything happen to her," Mu said.

Kira's face turned pale. "God, I thought I was gonna die there."

"Why'd you do it, then?" I asked him.

He gave me a shaky smile. "I'm the son of the Lion of Orb. Gotta show a backbone somewhere."

Natarle sighed. "Who are you, girl? Why are you here, and not with the ZAFT? Are you a draft dodger or something?"

"No," I said. "I stayed in the Orb at the request of my parents, and I didn't want to leave my Orb friends behind. I had already left one set of friends behind at the ZAFT to move to Orb. I didn't want to do that again."

"So you've lived in Orb for a few years," Natarle said.

"Yes. In fact, I am an Orb citizen. I was adopted by my parents as a baby. I am a first-generation Coordinator."

Natarle's face fell. "Oh."

I immediately knew what they were thinking. Natural parents wanted a Coordinator child but freaked out upon having one and abandoned her. It was not uncommon for Natural parents to change their minds, much too late, about having a Coordinator child. Thus, a common decision was putting them up for adoption. There were a lot of first-generation Coordinators living in foster care or in orphanages, I was one of the lucky ones to get a family, permanently.

Murrue said "We shouldn't discuss this outside. We need to come up with a plan, especially as we're sitting ducks."

'Yes," Natarle said, her face returning to her normal stoic, severe expression. "Artificial gravity generators are failing all over Heliopolis and there are multiple air leaks. This colony is on its last legs, ma'am."

"Can I attend the meeting?" Kira asked.

Murrue smiled at him. "I see no reason to refuse the prince of Orb."

"Can Cagalli attend as well?" Kira asked, which stunned me.

Murrue nodded. "Considering she saved our lives, I feel it is right. She's been exposed to too many military secrets anyway."

"Are you sure about this?" Natarle asked.

"Dead sure," Murrue said. "Come on, all of you. To the bridge."
***
An hour later, Mu La Flaga and Murrue Ramius were in their white Earth Alliance officer clothing.

They both looked a lot better and healthier cleaned-up and in new clothes, but both of their faces paled when Natarle opened the conversation with a bombshell.

"Lieutenant Ramius, you do know why Lieutenant La Flaga had to cede authority to you," Natarle said.

Murrue looked like she was going to be sick. "Y-Yes . . ."

"All of the highest-ranking officers are dead. Until you and Lieutenant La Flaga arrived, I was the ranking officer on this ship. We have a skeleton crew as well. The majority of our personnel was caught in the port when it was attacked. Those who weren't killed immediately were sucked into space to a man."

Murrue's face got even paler. "O-Okay . . . so . . . so I'm really in command."

"Since I ceded authority, yes, you are," Mu replied. "I am a pilot anyway, I'm not cut out for commanding an entire ship. Problem is, my Moebius Zero got shot down."

"Was that you in the sky, right before the Archangel appeared?" I asked.

Mu nodded, and smiled. "That's right. That was me. Not my greatest showing, but Rau Le Creuset is the toughest opponent I've ever faced. I've never been able to get the best of him."

"Rau Le Creuset?" I asked.

"He commands his own special-forces unit. I wouldn't be surprised if he masterminded this Heliopolis operation from the beginning," Mu replied. "And right now, they are outside, waiting for us. It may not look like it but we're under siege."

"It's be one thing if they were regular forces . . ." Natarle trailed off.

Mu said "My Zero is being repaired, it's out of commission."

"Then that means we have to use the Strike GUNDAM," Natarle replied.

Mu looked at me. "And that's why I'm grateful the prince decided to bring the civilian in here. I think I speak for everyone when I say I want you to pilot the Strike, Cagalli Yamato."

My heart felt like it was going to explode inside me. One fight had been bad enough. But at the same time, there was an aura of inevitability about it. I knew that no matter what I said, at the end of the day I was going to wind up inside the Strike GUNDAM cockpit and fighting for my life.

Natarle exploded. "You're kidding! We can't let a civilian, much less a Coordinator child, behind the controls of the last GUNDAM we have!"

"I can't use it," Mu said. "I took a look at the O.S. No ordinary human can fly that thing!"

Murrue nodded. "She is the only one who can handle the Strike."

Kira spoke up. "I helped her reprogram it. I can help her switch it back so Mu can fly it."

Mu raised an eyebrow. "Really?"

Kira looked embarrassed. "I have a talent with code and computers. I helped design the GUNDAM O.S., actually, though I don't think it's my finest work. All I did was order Cagalli to change the settings to suit a Coordinator."

Mu looked tempted, but he finally shook his head. "Not happening."

"Why not?" Natarle asked.

"Like I said outside, the test pilots for the GUNDAMs had trouble just moving them. I wouldn't do much better in the Strike than they did."

Murrue said "If the Archangel and Strike are destroyed, there won't be anything left to protect. Like it or not, Natarle, but we're gonna have to put Cagalli in the Strike GUNDAM."

"Don't I have a say in this?" I grumbled.

Murrue turned to me. "Of course. You are a civilian, you're not obliged to follow our orders. But I also get the feeling that you're practical. You know you hold our survival in your hands."

"Gee, no pressure," I replied sarcastically.

I just shook my head. I knew what had to be done. I just had to hope that when the fighting did start, it would be over with really fast. I had relied a bit too much on luck and guesswork the previous time I had fought a GINN. And I had an advantage because it seemed the pilot was trying to take the Strike intact. I had doubts that was going to happen again.

"Fine," I said. "I'll do it. But I'm not a soldier, got it? The moment Prince Kira heads back to Orb, I'm going with him."

Murrue nodded. "That's fair." She stuck out her hand. "Handshake agreement."

"Yeah, sure." I gripped her hand for a few seconds and then let go.

Murrue smiled at me sympathetically. "I'll make sure everyone onboard this ship knows you can be trusted."

Kira looked at me. "You sure about this, Cagalli? You don't need to. I ordered you to make the O.S. that way. I'm sure I can change it back."

"No," I said. "I'm going to take responsibility. That Strike GUNDAM is something else, and the best pilot for it should fly it. I may not be trained, but if I'm the only one who can operate the O.S. . . ."

A thought occurred to me. "How can you design an O.S. you can't use?"

A sheepish grin crossed Kira's face. "The same way video game creators suck at their own creations. Also, the design isn't entirely my own, I had help from an engineer named Erica Simmons, and the O.S. is based off a ZAFT design. We're basically trying to dumb down a ZAFT O.S."

He paused, and looked at the other Naturals in the room. "Uh, no offense to everyone here, but . . . um, you know what I mean."

"None taken," Mu said, and that relaxed the room.

"Ah, whatever," I said.

Kira looked at me firmly. "Cagalli, we should get to the hangar as soon as possible. I'll help you streamline the O.S. to make it easier for you to use. If there's any weapons available, I'll launch compatability checks and installations. I have a feeling that the Strike is going to need more than knives and machine-guns."

Natarle wore a small grin. "We have three different types of weapon packs on board. Try 'em all."

Kira looked uncomfortable looking at Natarle. I had a feeling Natarle freaked Kira out, big time. "Uh, okay, thanks."

That was when I had the uncomfortable realization that I was floating out of my seat.

Murrue noticed that immediately. "I guess this section of Heliopolis has lost its artificial gravity."

"No duh," I said, as I had the sickening feeling of my stomach rising up to my heart.

"Are you okay?" Mu asked. "You don't look so good."

"I . . . I get spacesick," I said, as my heart and stomach seemed to travel from my chest to my head, and my intestines were coiling around where my stomach should be.

"Wonderful," Natarle said. "Our last hope gets spacesick,"

"I get over it in . . . in . . . in like an hour," I said. I didn't want to talk anymore as I wound up floating upside down, I could already feel vomit rising in the back of my throat.

Kira floated up to me. "I think Cagalli needs some personal space until she feels better. Do any of you know where a zero-g . . . you know . . ."

"I'll lead," Natarle said with a sigh. "Come on. The sooner you get over this, the better off we'll be."

As sick as I felt, I wondered if it would be better if I stayed sick forever.

After all, the moment I recovered, I would be sent out into war.
***
An hour later, I was well enough to make it into the Strike cockpit to help Kira. I still felt a little dizzy and felt like I had the remnants of stomach flu, but this discomfort was close to meaningless compared to how I had felt when I originally went weightless. I had also downed a few cups of water along with a couple of anti-spacesickness pills to try to get the recovery to work faster.

Kira smiled at me. "How're you feeling?"

"Better," I said.

"That's good. This will go a lot faster with your help." Kira sighed. "No one besides me knows how to reprogram this thing properly. But you type faster than anyone I've ever seen."

"Most Coordinators type really fast," I said. "One of the genetic improvements is improved dexterity."

"That makes sense," Kira said. "All right, sit down. I streamlined the O.S. for you, and I'm almost done installing the Sword Pack."

"Sword Pack?" I asked.

"I watched the way you fight. I think you'd work best with melee weapons. Basically, the Sword Pack gives the Strike a massive beam sword to fight with and places emphasis on quick, rapid bursts of speed to propel yourself at enemies."

"All I had were machine-guns and knives," I said. "That's not a good indicator."

Kira smiled. "It is. Once you took over, you never tried to fire the machine-guns. You just stayed with the knives."

I realized he was right. "Oh."

"Just follow my instructions. You're not as bad with tech as you think," Kira said.

"Okay."

It took about ten minutes for the Sword Pack to be installed. Suddenly, it was removed. "Why did you remove it?" I asked.

"As long as this Creuset Team is sitting on their hands, I'm going to give you as many options as possible," Kira replied. "We're going to install the Aile Pack. It's meant for medium-range combat, and emphasizes mobility over speed."

"What kind of name is 'Aile'?" I asked.

Kira shrugged. "I dunno the symbolism of it. Symbolism doesn't interest me. I've always been interested in tech, not names of the past."

"What made you so interested in technology?" I asked.

Kira's eyes shimmered for a second. He sighed finally. "I . . . I've always had a deep interest in technology. Operating systems, computers, machines, you name it. And I had a talent for it. I put a virus into the government computers at nine."

"What did your father do to you?" I asked.

"My father recognized my talent and made me tutor under Erica Simmons when I entered high school."

"That's a punishment?" I asked in disbelief.

"You've never met Erica. She puts on a kind face, but she's the toughest teacher I've ever had. She's the education equilvalent of a drill sergeant. But she made get better with tech . . . and also made me more responsible. I never tried to pull a prank like that virus again."

"There's that name again. Erica Simmons," I said.

Kira smiled. "I owe her a lot. She says she doesn't deserve as much credit as I give her, but whatever."

"What kinda prank did you pull?" I asked.

Kira's smile became a wide grin. "A cartoon lion with my voice saying something stupid and then doing a crappy imitation of a lion's roar, and it was put in an endless loop. It didn't infect the government that deeply, just the public portals."

I suddenly remembered what he was talking about. "That was you?"

"Yeah. God, I don't even know what I said anymore," Kira said. "That's something to ask my father. Now c'mon, before we run out of time."

Kira made me adjust a few more systems, and I tried my best to memorize how he did it. There would come a time when I wouldn't have him around to help me. He was the Prince of Orb. Eventually, he was going to be taken out of the battle zone. I had to know how to do this myself.

Finally, Kira asked "What do you do, Cagalli?"

"I, uh, am a double-major. Language and political science."

"How many languages?" Kira asked.

"Seven so far. English, Spanish, Russian, Japanese, Latin, Chinese, and Korean."

Kira's eyes widened. "Holy crap."

"I was learning Arabic this semester too," I said. "I was aiming to become a translator, and translators need a lot of versatility these days. I mean, you gotta know how to speak every significant language under the sun, and provide a perfect analysis of the speaker's intentions, or they'll just use a robo-translator. You gotta make the extra expense of a live human worth it."

"That sounds like a lot of work," Kira said.

"I have a natural ability with language, it's not that hard for me," I said. "Though, the language we're using right now is the one I'm most comfortable with."

Kira laughed. "Why does that not surprise me? But that's why you're majoring in political science too, right? So you can offer versatility."

"You got it." I typed something in, and I sighed with relief. "All right, that's the Aile Pack down. What's left?"

"Uh, just the Launcher Pack. It's used for long-range artillery fire," Kira said. "I was saving that one for last because this isn't the proper time or place to use it. Any shot you take with the Launcher Pack will damage a colony wall, guaranteed."

"You wanna install it now?" I asked.

"Yeah," Kira said. "Might as well get it over with since we're on a roll. Now-"

Natarle's voice blared on the com. "There has been a explosion in the Tannenbaum district! Mobile Suits approaching breach in wall! Kids, I don't care what you haven't finished! Cagalli has to get out there!"

Kira looked at me. "Where's the Tannenbaum District?"

"The opposite end of the colony. But considering how fast Mobile Suits are . . ."

"Yeah," Kira said. "Not enough time to install the Launcher and then switch to something else. All right, you want the Sword or the Aile?"

I smiled at him. "The Sword."

Kira nodded knowingly. "Why am I not surprised? All right, you think you can handle this part or do you need my help?"

"Uh . . ." I tried to start the process myself, and much to my surprise it was easier than I expected. Kira's attempt to streamline the O.S. had succeeded, I felt like I could use it a lot more efficiently.

"I think I can do it," I said.

Kira gave me a thumbs up. "All right. Good luck out there."

"Just stay safe, Prince Kira," I said.

Kira's face flushed a bit. "Uh . . . at this point, I think you can just call me 'Kira'. Really," he said.

"Okay, Kira," I replied. "I'm going to head out there."

Kira nodded. "You be safe too. I'll see you later."

He left the cockpit, and suddenly, I wanted him to come back. I bit my lip though, and forced myself not to call out to him.

But I suddenly felt vulnerable. The first time I had fought, I had both Murrue and Kira in the cockpit with me. Even though I had been the one at the controls at the end, I felt safer with them there. Now, there was the realization I was going to go out and fight alone.

I installed the Sword Pack, and I heard a gruff voice on the com. I opened up the visual, and I saw a tall man in a mechanic's uniform, and he looked at like he had a three-day beard going. "You got it okay?"

"I'm fine," I said. "I'm going to load this onto the catapult now."

"All right. Good luck. And just so you know, I respect your courage. I don't know what the other guys are saying, but you got a lot of guts to go out there and fight for us."

"Thank you, uh . . .:"

"Petty Officer Murdoch," he said. "Now kick some ass."

"I will," I said, as I guided the Mobile Suit into the catapult.

I heard Petty Officer Pal's voice as the Strike GUNDAM fit snugly into the launcher. I took a deep breath. Any second now, I was going to be literally thrown out into the battle.

I don't wanna die, I thought. I already felt ill, and it was not spacesickness this time. It's the time of ill that you get when you're about to do something incredibly dangerous. It fills you with adrenaline, but also raw terror. So I'm energetic and on the borderline of panic.

Please don't let me die, I asked whatever deity existed in this world. I don't want to blow up out there.

I heard Pal's voice. "Starting launch sequence."

I saw lights coming on inside the cockpit. Damn it, I'm so gonna die.

The moment the final light lit, I braced myself, but nothing happened.

I heard Pal. "You have to hit the Strike's engines! That'll trigger the launcher and send you out there!"

"Uh, right. This is Cagalli Yamato. Launching Strike GUNDAM!"

I hit the acceleration, and suddenly I was driven back into my seat hard by the G-Forces. The launcher worked faster than I had dreamed of, and suddenly I was hurled out of the Archangel, and heading straight for the ZAFT Mobile Suits.

I was about to start the first real battle of my war.

My war for survival.
Last edited by rebel_cheese on Fri Dec 24, 2010 7:10 pm, edited 1 time in total.
MURRUE: Infallible accuracy?? I thought you just usually shot all your weapons at random and they just happened to hit stuff.

KIRA: What do you think this is; a cartoon?
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