Gundam Wing Fan Fiction / Mobile Suit Gundam Fan Fiction / Gundam SEED Fan Fiction ❯ Mobile Suit Gundam Tournament ❯ Level 1, Match 01 ( Chapter 2 )

Episode 02

Level 1, Match 01

Written By
Mark Moore

After the opening ceremonies, each Gundam pilot has been preparing. The first match of the First Gundam Tournament is this afternoon.

September 26, 2007, 4:52 PM, Eastern Daylight Time

At Aznable Air Force Base in Tampa, Florida, work was proceeding on the United States' Gundam.

Lunamaria Hawke, the Gundam's test pilot, was sitting in the cockpit, which was located in the Gundam's chest area.

Emma Sheen stood on the platform adjacent to the cockpit, watching Lunamaria. Standing at consoles on the platform were Nina Purpleton and Lucette Audevie, the two engineers that had designed the Gundam for the United States Government. The fourth person on the platform was Relena Peacecraft. She was interested in the proceedings but was primarily there to give moral support to Emma.

"Okay, raise the right arm."

At Nina's request, Lunamaria pulled the lever on her console that controlled the right arm. The arm slowly rose up until it was pointing straight up.

Nina smiled. "Good. Now, make a fist."

Lunamaria pressed the right fist button. The Gundam's right hand closed into a fist.

Nina nodded. "Good!"

"The temperature's rising a bit too fast for my liking. I think we should increase the coolant capacity."

Nina nodded. "Agreed, Lucette. Power down, Lunamaria."

Lunamaria opened the Gundam's hand, lowered its arm, and shut off the Gundam. The blue glow in the Gundam's eyes disappeared.

Lunamaria got out of the cockpit.

Nina looked at Emma. "I'll get some engineers on the overheating problem."

"Will they have it fixed by tomorrow morning?" Emma asked her.

"They should. I'll have them working throughout the night."

Murrue Ramius, Emma's superior officer, walked into the hangar.

Emma and Lunamaria saluted her. "Captain!"

"At ease. How's the Gundam coming along, Nina?"

"We need to increase the coolant capacity to prevent an overheating problem. I'm getting engineers over here to work on it."

"I guess you were so caught up in your work that you forgot about the time. Match 01 is going to start soon."

Emma smiled. "Thanks for reminding us. Let's go to my house to watch it. I'll cook dinner."

Murrue smiled. "Sounds good."

Nina, Lucette, Murrue, and Lunamaria gathered in the living room in Emma and Relena's house and took their seats.

Emma and Relena, each carrying a tray with three large glasses filled with cola, walked into the living room. The other four women each took a glass. Emma and Relena set the trays on the table, each took a glass, and sat down.

Emma turned on the television.

"Good afternoon, everyone. Welcome to Level 1, Match 01, of the First Gundam Tournament. We're here live in the Australian Outback. Allow me to introduce myself to those of you watching at home. My name is Bright Noa. I am the commentator for this tournament. Today's match is Australia versus Niger. The Australian pilot is John Jeffery. The Nigerien pilot is Tandja Oumarou. Australia's Gundam - the light yellow one - is 18 meters tall, 1 meter of which is taken up by the head. It is armed with a beam rifle. Niger's Gundam - the brown one - is 16 meters tall, 1 meter of which is taken up by the head. It is armed with a beam rifle. The match is about to begin."

"Fight!" a simulated male voice declared over a speaker.

John moved his Gundam forward and punched Niger's Gundam with its right fist. Niger's Gundam was knocked back a bit.

Tandja made his Gundam jump into the air, then he fired at Australia's Gundam with the beam rifle in its left hand. The shots hit Australia's Gundam repeatedly.

John fired at Niger's Gundam repeatedly with the beam rifle in his Gundam's left hand. The shots hit Niger's Gundam repeatedly.

"Overheating!" the simulated male voice of Niger's Gundam declared.

"Take that, mate!" John yelled.

"Take this!" Tandja yelled.

Tandja fired his Gundam's beam rifle repeatedly, hitting Australia's Gundam over and over again.

"Overheating!" the simulated male voice of Australia's Gundam declared.

"You won't do that again, mate!" John exclaimed.

John kicked Niger's Gundam ten times with his Gundam's right leg.

"Overheating!" the simulated male voice of Niger's Gundam declared.

Tandja kicked Australia's Gundam repeatedly with his Gundam's left leg.

"Overheating!" the simulated male voice of Australia's Gundam declared.

John fired his Gundam's beam rifle. Tandja activated his Gundam's thrusters and flew his Gundam into the sky, dodging the blast.

Tandja fired his Gundam's beam rifle repeatedly at Australia's Gundam, hitting it repeatedly.

"Checkmate!" the simulated male voice of Australia's Gundam declared.

John's Gundam fell backwards.

"Well done! Glory to the winner!" the simulated male voice declared over a speaker.

"Damn it!" John exclaimed. "How could this happen?!"

"And there you have it. Niger has beaten Australia. I must say this comes as a bit of a surprise. It certainly was a close match, and Niger's win could be considered only luck. Australia is out of the competition, but it is allowed to assist another nation of its choice. Niger moves on to Level 2. There will be more coverage on your evening news. Thank you for joining us."

Emma turned off the television.

"We've got some time before the evening news begins. I'll make dinner now." Emma stood up.

Relena stood up. "I'll help you."

Emma and Relena collected the empty glasses, placed them on the trays, and carried them into the kitchen.

Emma placed twelve pieces of chicken on a pan. Relena opened the oven door. Emma placed the pan on an oven rack. Relena closed the door and set the temperature.

Relena quickly washed the glasses and set them to dry.

The women walked back into the living room.

They took their seats.

The evening news came on.

Peter Jenkins, the lead anchor, was sitting at his desk in New York City.

"Good evening, everyone. The first match of the first level of the First Gundam Tournament was held in the Australian Outback this afternoon. The participants were Australia and Niger. Niger unexpectedly won. It will move on to Level 2. Australia, meanwhile, having been eliminated from the tournament, has announced today that it will back the United Kingdom in the tournament. We turn to our White House correspondent, Donald Samuelson. Donald, is the White House upset that Australia isn't backing us?"

"Peter, the White House is disappointed all around. One, it was hoping that Australia would win and go on to perhaps beat some undesirable nations and, in so doing, help the United States. Two, if Australia was to lose, which it did, the White House was hoping that it would back the United States."

"Donald, do the resources of both the United Kingdom and Australia match those of the United States?"

"It's possible, Peter, but it's still difficult to say. We have to see the United Kingdom's Gundam first. We really don't know what we're up against."

"All right. Donald Samuelson, many thanks. Now for the day's other news."

Emma turned off the television.

"Dinner should be ready." Emma stood up.

The rest of the women stood up as well.

Emma opened the oven and took out the pan. She placed it on the stove.

Each woman took two chicken legs and placed them on her own plate.

Relena added mashed potatoes on each plate and then poured gravy on it.

The women took the plates to the table, sat down, and started eating.

"What do you think of the match?" Murrue asked.

Emma swallowed a piece of chicken. "Niger's win surprised me."

Relena laughed. "I think it surprised everyone."

Lunamaria smiled. "I think it was just dumb luck. Niger's Gundam isn't that good. They'll be eliminated in Level 2."

Murrue smiled in amusement. "You seem confident."

Nina looked at Lucette. "It's Australia's Gundam that I'm concerned about. It's actually pretty impressive. If they hand it over to the United Kingdom to analyze, the United Kingdom's resulting Gundam could be a real challenge to us."

Lucette considered that for a moment. "Maybe, but we haven't seen the United Kingdom's Gundam yet. Maybe it's crap."

Murrue frowned. "We better play it safe. Once we finish dinner, let's go back to base and run some simulations."

The women entered the simulation room in the base.

Emma got into the simulator. "Okay, I'm ready."

Murrue made some selections on the computer console. "Using the battle data that was sent to us from today's match, I'm going to program the drone to be a combination of our, Australia's, and Niger's Gundams. If you can beat this, it won't be a guarantee of victory in your match, but it should boost your confidence. Okay, try this."

The screens inside the simulator turned on. They displayed a city street at night. Skyscrapers appeared to Emma's left. The drone appeared in front of her.

"Fight!" the simulator's male voice declared.

Emma moved her Gundam forward. She swung the left arm at the drone. The drone jumped and avoided the attack. Emma jumped and fired her beam rifle. The blasts hit the drone repeatedly. Emma then kicked the drone three times with her Gundam's right leg.

"Overheating!"

Emma knew that she had caused damage to the drone. She activated her Gundam's thrusters and flew the Gundam into the sky. She fired at the drone with her beam rifle.

"Not enough power!"

Emma's Gundam landed back on the street. The Gundam didn't have enough power for long flights and had to recharge.

The drone came at Emma and kicked her Gundam five times with its left leg. Emma punched the drone three times with her Gundam's right fist. Then she kicked it six times with her Gundam's right leg.

"Overheating!"

Emma knew that she was close to victory. She kicked the drone ten times with her Gundam's right leg.

"Checkmate!"

The drone fell down.

"Well done! Glory to the winner!"

The simulation ended. The screens went black.

Emma got out of the simulator.

Murrue smiled. "Pretty good, Emma."

Nina looked at the statistics on her screen. "Your reflexes are pretty good."

Lucette looked at the statistics as well. "So is your strategy."

Emma walked over to them. "I don't know. All that it proves is that I can defeat Australia's and Niger's Gundams."

Relena frowned. "She's right. Who knows what the other nations have? I really wish that Australia was backing us."

Lunamaria smiled. "Let's not worry about that. We'll see how much help, if any, that Australia is to the United Kingdom in three days."

Emma smiled. "Lunamaria's right. We just have to practice as much as we can. Of course, it wouldn't hurt for me to pilot the Gundam a few times beforehand for practice."

Murrue laughed. "In your dreams."

Emma laughed. "It was worth a shot."

Mobile Suit Gundam Tournament

Mobile Suit Gundam Tournament

In Montreal, Canada, Christina MacKenzie and Flay Allster sped down a road in Christina's red convertible. Christina and Flay each had long, red hair, which they wore loose. They were listening to "The Winner" by Miki Matsubara on the radio.

They soon arrived at École du Ciel.

Christina parked her convertible in one of the faculty parking spaces.

École du Ciel was a school that recently opened. It offered courses pertaining only to mobile suit technology. The purpose was to train a new generation of mobile suit pilots to compete in the Gundam Tournament every four years. Christina was a teacher in the piloting class. The campus had numerous oak trees, and Christina and Flay could hear the leaves rustling in the wind.

After parking the car and getting out of it, Christina and Flay walked to the school's entrance. It was a cool Autumn evening. A gentle breeze was blowing.

Christina inhaled the fresh air and exhaled. "The breath of Autumn is a whisper to the soul."

Flay inhaled the fresh air and exhaled. "Absolutely. I know what you mean, Christina. It feels wonderful. It's so refreshing and uplifting. It makes me feel joyful."

Christina opened the door to one of the buildings and stood aside. Flay walked into the building, and Christina followed her.

They walked down a corridor and over to an office.

Christina knocked on the door.

"Come in."

Christina opened the door and walked into the office. Flay followed and closed the door behind her.

Natarle Badgiruel, Christina's superior officer and the school's dean, was sitting behind her desk. She had short, black hair.

Christina saluted Natarle. "Lieutenant Christina MacKenzie reporting as ordered, sir."

"At ease, Lieutenant."

Christina relaxed.

Natarle smiled. "It's time for you to see the Gundam in person, Christina."

Christina smiled. "Really?"

Natarle stood up. "Let's go to the hangar."

Christina grinned. "Yes, sir!"

Natarle, Christina, and Flay each submitted to thumbprint and retinal scans outside the hangar. Then Natarle typed in a code on the keypad.

The hangar doors opened.

Natarle, Christina, and Flay walked into the hangar.

The hangar doors closed.

Soon, they arrived at the Gundam.

The Gundam stood 18.5 meters tall, 0.5 meters of which were taken up by the head. The Gundam was painted mostly white, but there was also blue and a bit of yellow. An elevator was set up to take people up to various levels of the Gundam. There were also metal platforms set up for people to walk on.

"It's awesome!" Christina exclaimed.

"Wow!" Flay exclaimed.

Natarle, Christina, and Flay walked into the elevator. Natarle pressed Up, and the elevator rose. It stopped at the chest area, and the three woman got out of the elevator.

Miriallia Haw, the Gundam's head engineer and communications officer, was standing at a console. She had short, brown hair. A young woman named Catherine Bloom was also standing there, staring at the Gundam in fascination. She had medium-length, brown hair.

Miriallia turned to face Natarle and saluted. "Sir!"

"At ease."

Miriallia relaxed.

"How's the Gundam coming along?" Natarle asked.

"Well enough. It'll be ready in time."

"These are Christina MacKenzie and Flay Allster. Christina will be piloting the Gundam."

Miriallia offered her right hand to Christina. "I'm Miriallia Haw, the head engineer. I designed this Gundam. I'll also be communicating with you during your matches."

Christina smiled and shook Miriallia's hand. "You assume I'll have more than one match."

Miriallia smiled. "Think positively."

Then Miriallia and Flay shook hands.

"Will you be ready in time?" Miriallia asked Christina.

"I believe so. I've practiced in the simulator for many hours."

"Want to try her out?" Miriallia asked.

Natarle frowned. "Let Asuna worry about the test piloting. I want Christina in the simulator."

"Yes, sir. Oh, you haven't met Asuna yet, Christina." Miriallia turned to face the Gundam. "Asuna! Come on out!"

The Gundam's cockpit, which was located in the chest area, opened, and Asuna Elmarit, the test pilot, got out. She had short, brown hair.

"This is Christina MacKenzie, the Gundam's pilot. Christina, this is Asuna Elmarit, our test pilot."

Christina offered her right hand to Asuna. "Hi."

Asuna shook Christina's hand. "Hi."

"When I first heard your name, I assumed you're Japanese, but you don't quite look it."

"I'm half-Japanese and half-French-Canadian."

"Ah. You're very pretty."

Asuna smiled, a bit embarrassed. "Thank you."

"Do you want to do some sim training?" Natarle asked Christina.

"Sure."

All of the women walked over to the elevator and rode down to the floor.

Miriallia smiled. "All right, Christina, let's see how you do."

The women entered the simulation room in another building on the base.

Christina got into the simulator. "Okay, I'm ready."

Natarle made some selections on the computer console. "Using the battle data that was sent to us from today's match, I'm going to program the drone to be a combination of our, Australia's, and Niger's Gundams. If you can beat this, it won't be a guarantee of victory in your match, but it should boost your confidence. Okay, try this."

The screens inside the simulator turned on. They displayed a dock. The ocean appeared to Christina's left. The drone appeared in front of her. A thunderstorm was approaching. There were dark clouds in the sky. Lightning flashed. Christina heard thunder. There was a light chop to the water.

"Fight!" the simulator's male voice declared.

Christina moved her Gundam forward. She swung the left arm at the drone. The drone jumped and avoided the attack. Christina jumped and fired her beam rifle. The blasts hit the drone repeatedly. Christina then kicked the drone three times with her Gundam's right leg.

"Overheating!"

Christina knew that she had caused damage to the drone. She activated her Gundam's thrusters and flew the Gundam into the sky. She fired at the drone with her beam rifle.

"Not enough power!"

Christina's Gundam landed back on the dock. The Gundam didn't have enough power for long flights and had to recharge.

The chop in the water was now medium.

The drone came at Christina and kicked her Gundam five times with its left leg. Christina punched the drone three times with her Gundam's right fist. Then she kicked it six times with her Gundam's right leg.

"Overheating!"

The chop in the water was now heavy. Water was splashing onto the dock.

Christina knew that she was close to victory. She kicked the drone ten times with her Gundam's right leg.

"Checkmate!"

The drone fell down.

"Well done! Glory to the winner!"

The simulation ended. The screens went black.

Christina got out of the simulator.

Natarle smiled. "Pretty good, Christina."

Miriallia looked at the statistics on her screen. "Your reflexes are pretty good."

Catherine looked at the statistics as well. "So is your strategy."

Christina walked over to them. "I don't know. All that it proves is that I can defeat Australia's and Niger's Gundams."

Flay frowned. "She's right. Who knows what the other nations have?"

Asuna gave Emma a cheerful smile. "Don't worry, Christina. The real thing feels just like the simulator. I think you'll be able to use our Gundam to its full potential."

Christina smiled at her. "I wish I was as confident."

The women walked into the parking lot and toward their vehicles.

"What do you think our chances are?" Christina asked.

Flay smiled. "This morning, 1 in 50. Today, 1 in 49."

"Don't listen to her, Christina. I know you'll do good."

Christina smiled. "Thanks, Asuna. I'll see all of you tomorrow. Good night."

Christina and Flay walked over to Christina's convertible.

"Do you want to stop for a soda?" Christina asked Flay.

Flay smiled. "Sure, but I was hoping you'd want some Flay juice tonight."

Christina smiled. "Oh, I do. Believe me."

The wind picked up speed. Flay shivered and hugged herself.

Christina hugged Flay to warm her.

Flay smiled. "Thanks. You're so warm."

"Let me warm you even more." Christina kissed Flay on the lips.

Flay felt joy at the touch of Christina's lips. After a moment, Christina finished the kiss.

Flay smiled. "After we get our sodas, let's go home, and we can keep each other warm all night."

With Great Britain's first Gundam match fast approaching, Sayla Mass is worried of her performance. Will she be ready in time?

Next on "Mobile Suit Gundam Tournament":

"Sayla's Doubts"

You will race with the tide.