Gundam Wing Fan Fiction / Mobile Suit Gundam Fan Fiction / Gundam 08th MS Team Fan Fiction ❯ Amalgam Gundam ❯ Tributaries ( Chapter 5 )

[ Y - Young Adult: Not suitable for readers under 16 ]

Narrator: Universal Colony Year 118: A time where the Endless Waltz of history continues unabated. Let us go back one year to UCY-117: The Empire of Thallos declares war upon all neighboring star systems, and the dozens of space and planetary colonies within them. The Empire's military power is at equal strength with each Government they are at war with, so they are caught in a stalemate. However, halfway into UCY-117, the Empire acquired a new weapon whose name would be heard through the future: Mobile Suits. These new devices smashed through any and all resistance, and the Empire now controls more than 95% of the area. We now return to UCY-118. Five Gundams have been sent to the planet Thallos to fight for independence, but have now faced their first defeat.






The six metal crates' parachutes opened, stopping the free fall that they had been undergoing. The parachutes had been made of a thick material to ensure enough strength, for the crates were extremely large and heavy. The wind carried the crates down, landing them softly on the ground next to the entrance of the cave where the five Gundam pilots hid.

Aram lit the cigarette in his mouth, and put the lighter back into his pocket as he let some of the smoke out of the side of his mouth. He then grabbed onto it with two fingers and pulled it out of his mouth, letting the rest of the smoke out.

Aram: About time these things got here.

Den: Well, it took us a day just to get all the right encryptions loaded onto our emergency message so Thallos couldn't track it or decode the message, and another two days for them to work out a way to drop the supplies down to us. Can you blame them?

Aram: Well, all I know is that there's a large pack of cigarettes in there with my name on it.

Den rolled his eyes and Kenola giggled slightly. Four days ago, the pilots had attempted to hold a siege against the city of Quetzia in order to help a resistance force on a colony, but had failed when a Gundam under the control of the Empire attacked them. Most of the Gundams had been severely damaged, and desperately needed repairs. Kenola gave a crowbar over to Edmond, who walked up to the first crate, inserted the crowbar underneath the top latch, and pushed with all his force, prying the container open. He looked inside for a moment, and then pulled out a computer display.

Edmond: It seems our new orders are coming in with the re-supply.

Edmond turned on the display, a text message on it.

Edmond: "We have acknowledged your mission report. Included in the crates one, two, and three are replacement parts and tools needed to repair damaged Gundams. Crates four, five, and six contain food, medical supplies, and personal items."

Aram: Cigarette city, here I come!

Edmond: "Concerning the outcome of your last mission and your current status, it has been decided that operating together as a full unit is counter-productive to the mission of guerilla warfare against the Empire. Included are orders for new missions for each pilot, the orders to commence once repairs on the Gundams are completed. Melanie Deikin: your situation has come to our attention and we offer our sincerest regrets about the destruction of LX-014."

Melanie nodded, closing her eyes as she thought back to the home that had been obliterated by the Thallonian Empire.

Edmond: "Because of your inexperience with the Gundam Jubilee, you are to accompany Den Ryuu to the outlands and desert of the northern continent to begin training in the use of your Gundam. Den Ryuu: You are to instruct Melanie on piloting the Gundam and basic combat skills. If you believe it necessary to instruct her further on more advanced techniques, please do so. Further orders shall be given through the use of a transmitter that is located in crate five."

Den smiled and turned to Melanie.

Den: Looks like you've got a date with me, after all.

Melanie rolled her eyes.

Edmond: "Kenola Mozart: Your colony says that you have been trained in espionage and infiltration techniques. Your mission is to hide your Gundam outside of the town of Jericha, and enlist into the Thallonian Empire. Your skills should easily get you high into the Empire hierarchy. Report as much as you can through the use of a transmitter supplied in crate five."

Kenola nodded.

Edmond: "Aram Hashta: It has come to our attention that mobile suits belonging to the Empire are being tested in the ring of Thallos, composed of ice, rock, and numerous gasses. You are to smuggle your Gundam into orbit and locate any new mobile suits and destroy them. Included in your repair parts are outfitted jet thrusters to allow you space combat."

Aram sighed.

Aram: Great, as usual, I'm left with the hard stuff.

Edmond: "Edmond Shibumi: Your piloting skills and combat techniques are flawless. You shall return to the mining city of Quetzia and continue the siege. If you find in your best judgment that it is no longer possible to hold it, you are authorized to level the city in order to halt production of supplies for the Empire. Goodbye, and good luck to all of you." Well, you heard the message. Let's get to work, people.






Edmond ignored the small trees, plants, and animals that were crushed underneath Gallant's feet as it walked through the forest located on a small hill located south of the city of Quetzia. The last time he had been at Quetzia, the Altron Gundam had used this forest to get to Gallant and the other Gundams. The fight had been brief, resulting in the first defeat of the pilots.

And Edmond did not like to lose.

Gallant pulled from its back a grenade launcher, attached with it was a small device used to extend its range. Within Gallant, Edmond positioned the launcher at the correct angle so the targeting sensor turned red. He then pulled the trigger in the cockpit of his Gundam, which engaged the trigger for the grenade launcher. Three grenades shot out, traveling at an incredible velocity as it hit the target Edmond had aimed for: The main storehouse tower for minerals and supplies, which had several mobile suits within it guarding it.

The three explosions seemed to be overkill, considering the first grenade blew more than half of the tower up in a large pillar of fire. He pulled a lever on the launcher, emptying the casing of the grenades, and re-cocked it, filling another three grenades into the launcher. He aimed once again, this time at the spaceport that had four transports on the ground. Edmond could see people fleeing in terror from the explosion that had occurred at the tower, and didn't much care.

He launched only two grenades this time, giving a slight difference in vector when he launched the second one. The first explosion created a brief wave of fire that engulfed the fleeing and panicky people, and sent three of the transport ships into the air. The second landed dead on the fourth transport, blowing it up as the other three transports slammed down into the ground, one of them exploding from the impact. Edmond smiled, and saw a warning indicator from long-range sensors. He checked it and his grin got wider.

Altron was approaching at top speed.






Den: Okay, now move the grip to the side. Do you see how the hand of the Gundam moves with it?

Melanie: I think so. This is a bit complicated...

Den: Well, of course it's complicated. What did you expect this thing to be, a huge toy run only on gears and an on/off switch?

Melanie rolled her eyes. She sighed, and breathed in once more, taking in the cool air of Jubilee's cockpit. She loved the air conditioning system within it, protecting her from the intense 103 degrees Fahrenheit desert outside.

Den: Okay, now move it around like you were striking down with the beam saber.

Melanie took a deep breath and manipulated the controls of the Gundam. Jubilee's hands took hold of the handle of the beam saber and raised it up, then slowly brought it down again.

Den: Very good! Maybe we should try a mock combat between us.

Melanie: I don't think so. This is still pretty new to me, and we just repaired our Gundams from the last battle we fought. We don't want to have some kind of accident and be forced to repair them again.

Den: Yeah, I guess you're right.

Melanie: How do you think the others are doing?

Den: I try not to think about them. They're capable pilots, and they know what they're doing.

Melanie: Well, I can't help but be concerned about them. Especially Edmond. I mean, the five of us couldn't take that city, so what chance does he have alone.

Den: Probably a lot better chance. Hell, he's probably treating it like some vacation.





Edmond growled and unloaded clip after clip of the vulcans on Gallant's head at Altron, who evaded each shot. Altron slowed to a stop as Gallant's ammo ran out. Edmond narrowed his eyes and saw Altron shooting both of the dragon claw arms off of its wrists at Gallant. Edmond slammed his hand down on the upward thrust control, and shot into the air. He gritted his teeth as the sudden inertia sent him against the seat within Gallant. The two claws missed Gallant by an inch.

Gallant pulled its beam rifle from it's back and aimed it at Altron. He shot two blasts at the Gundam as its claws were retracting. They both hit Altron's torso, knocking it back a few meters. Edmond checked the readings from his scans. There was definitely a slight decrease in the strength of Altron's armoring. He smiled, already formulating a new strategy against his opponent. Altron's jets lit up as it raced at incredible speeds towards Gallant.

Gallant landed upon the ground again, aiming its beam rifle and opening fire again. Altron would easily evade each shot fired just by moving to the right or left. After twelve shots after that, the energy supply had dried up on the beam rifle, and Altron was about to overtake Gallant. Altron pulled its beam trident from it's back, and it immediately sparked into life. Edmond slammed his hand down on the upward thrust again, bracing himself this time for the inertia. He kept his hand on the button to gain maximum height, and looked down to see Altron aiming the dragon claws up at Gallant again.

Edmond pushed a sequence of buttons, and Gallant shifted and twisted its parts, turning into its Wave Rider mode. The engines lit up, sending it in circles above Altron, who launched its dragon claws. Gallant shifted around, letting momentum carry him away, and brought his beam rifle up onto the top. Immediately, he transferred power away from main life-support and environmental systems and put them inside the rifle. He fired it again, three shots slamming into one of the claws. The focused energy in the three shots was enough to break the Gundanium alloy, and slice the dragon claw off of its metal tendril.

The other claw came racing at Gallant, and Edmond immediately veered a hard right, narrowly missing the claw. Edmond took aim again, and fired another three blasts of the rifle at the other claw, this time hitting the claw itself instead of the tendril. The three shots detonated it into a sphere of fire, obliterating it. Both tendrils retreated back to Altron. Gallant turned and glided down at Altron, who was preparing to block with its trident. The Wave Rider turned and twisted its parts, converting back into its main mobile suit mode. Gallant pulled a beam saber off of it's back and held it in one hand.

Gallant slammed the saber down into the trident, forcing the energy against the pure metal. And within Altron, Marianna, Empress of the Thallonian Empire, smiled with delight, and marveling at the power of the Gundam that she had purchased off of Clarke Axem. However, that marvel immediately turned into fear when she saw Gallant reaching behind it's back with its other hand, and grabbing another beam saber. She gasped as Gallant slammed the energy end of the beam saber into the stomach of Altron. Marianna gritted her teeth as warning signs flashed all around her, and she immediately slammed her hand down on the emergency ejection system she had put inside Altron.

After Gallant pulled it's beam saber out of Altron, the front plating of Altron blasted off, and Edmond saw the cockpit of the Gundam fly out away from the two mobile suits. Edmond ignored it, knowing that he would have another opportunity someday to deal with the pilot. And shortly afterwards, Altron was encompassed by a bright light, and exploded from the energy that had sliced through it. Gallant was caught in it, but the explosion did nothing more than scorch the armoring a little. Edmond looked up at the nearby city of Quetzia.

Edmond: This place is far more trouble than it's worth.





Gallant walked slowly through the streets of Quetzia, ignoring all the useless gunfire and weapons that harmlessly exploded against the Gundarium armoring that it was protected with. And within Gallant, Edmond checked the coordinates he was at, and saw that he was in the very center of Quetzia. Edmond opened up the storage hatch for Gallant, and a small metal box fell out of it and landed upon the ground hard. Immediately afterwards, the hatch closed and Gallant jumped into the air, converting to Wave Rider mode and speeding as fast as he could into the sky.

Down on the streets, military personnel slowly approached the box, and looked down on it. All that was visible was a timer.

5...

4...

3...

Militia: IT'S A BOMB!

2...

1...

And with that, the nuclear device that Gallant had left on the ground detonated, engulfing the city of Quetzia in a mushroom cloud of fire.

And up in the Wave Rider, Edmond Shibumi smiled.

Edmond: Mission Accomplished.





To Be Continued...