Gundam Wing Fan Fiction / Mobile Suit Gundam Fan Fiction / Gundam SEED Fan Fiction ❯ Mobile Suit Gundam Tournament ❯ Level 1, Match 04 ( Chapter 6 )

Episode 06

Level 1, Match 04

Written By
Mark Moore

Author's note: I'm sorry for the delay. I'm going to try to get the series back on schedule. Enjoy the story. Feedback is welcome.

Poland has defeated Turkey and remains in the tournament. Now, attention shifts to the next match.

October 5, 2007, 4:52 PM, Eastern Daylight Time

The United States military base where the Gundam was being tested was Aznable Air Force Base in Tampa, Florida. The Gundam was in a hangar.

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. They worked for Anaheim Electronics and were currently under military command while on this project. 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. She had long, light brown hair, which she wore loose.

"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! Now, lift the right leg."

Lunamaria pressed the right leg button. The Gundam's right leg lifted.

Nina nodded. "Good! Now, extend the leg into kicking position."

Lunamaria pressed and held the right leg button. Nothing happened.

"The leg's not extending. The code's fine. It's probably a problem in the gears."

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

Lunamaria opened the Gundam's hand, lowered its arm, lowered its leg, 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 leg."

"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 fix a problem with the right leg. 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 04 is going to start soon. Let's go to my house to watch it. I'll cook dinner."

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

Murrue, carrying a tray with six large glasses filled with cola, walked into the living room. The other five women each took a glass. Murrue set the tray on the table, took a glass, and sat down.

Murrue turned on the television.

"Good afternoon, everyone. Welcome to Level 1, Match 04, of the First Gundam Tournament. We're here live in front of the Moscow Kremlin, over the Moskva River, in Russia. 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 Russia versus Iran. The Russian pilot is Vladimir Zubkov. The Iranian pilot is Ali Ahmadinejad. Russia's Gundam - the red one - is 20 meters tall, 1 meter of which is taken up by the head. It is armed with a beam rifle. Iran's Gundam - the sandy one - is 22.5 meters tall, 0.5 meters 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.

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

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

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

Ali fired his Gundam's beam rifle repeatedly, hitting Russia's Gundam over and over again.

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

Ali extended his Gundam's arms and grabbed hold of Russia's Gundam. He activated his Gundam's thrusters and flew his Gundam into the sky.

When they were over the water, Ali let go.

Vladimir pressed the Eject button. His Gundam's cockpit opened, and his chair was fired out of the cockpit area. He opened his parachute.

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

Russia's Gundam fell into the Moskva River.

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

"Govno!" Vladimir exclaimed as he landed in the river. "How could this happen?!"

"And there you have it. Iran has beaten Russia. The match wasn't even close. Russia is out of the competition, but it is allowed to assist another nation of its choice. Iran moves on to Level 2. There will be more coverage on your evening news. Thank you for joining us."

Murrue turned off the television.

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

Murrue collected the empty glasses, placed them on the tray, and carried them into the kitchen.

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

Murrue quickly washed the glasses and set them to dry.

Murrue walked back into the living room.

She took her seat.

The evening news came on.

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

"Good evening, everyone. The fourth match of the first level of the First Gundam Tournament was held in Moscow, Russia, this afternoon. The participants were Russia and Iran. Iran won. It will move on to Level 2. Russia, meanwhile, having been eliminated from the tournament, has announced today that it will back the United States in the tournament. We turn to our White House correspondent, Donald Samuelson. Donald, how is the White House reacting to Iran's victory and Russia's defeat?"

"Peter, the White House is greatly upset that Iran has advanced to the next level of the tournament, but it's also happy that Russia will support us. Overall, it's a mixed - but largely negative - reaction."

"Will the resources of Russia help the United States?"

"It's possible, Peter, but it's still difficult to say. We have to see our own Gundam first. We really don't know at this time."

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

Murrue turned off the television.

"Dinner should be ready." Murrue stood up.

The rest of the women stood up as well.

Murrue 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.

Murrue 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. "Iran's Gundam is brutal. There's no way that they made that on their own. They must have had help."

Relena swallowed a piece of chicken. "I hope we can beat it."

Lunamaria smiled. "We'll have Russia's help. I'm sure that it'll be no problem."

Murrue smiled in amusement. "You seem confident."

Nina looked at Lucette. "Iran's Gundam is very impressive. I look forward to analyzing Russia's Gundam."

Lucette considered that for a moment. "Yeah. We need to get them over here as soon as possible."

Murrue frowned. "I'll call them tonight. 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, Niger's, Kuwait's, the United Kingdom's, Turkey's, Poland's, Russia's, and Iran's Gundams. If you can beat this, it won't be a guarantee of victory in your first 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. A clone of Emma's Gundam 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, Niger's, Kuwait's, the United Kingdom's, Turkey's, Poland's, Russia's, and Iran's Gundams."

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

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

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

Mobile Suit Gundam Tournament

Mobile Suit Gundam Tournament

At Miyasato Air Self-Defense Force Base in Tokyo, Japan, work was proceeding on the United Kingdom's Gundam.

The Gundam stood 19.85 meters tall, 1.15 meters of which were taken up by the head. The Gundam was painted mostly white, but there was also blue, yellow, red, grey, and black. 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.

Mirai Yashima, the Gundam's test pilot, was sitting in the cockpit, which was located in the Gundam's chest area. She had short, dark brown hair.

Fa Yuiry stood on the platform adjacent to the cockpit, watching Mirai. Standing at consoles on the platform was Rain Mikamura, the head engineer that had designed the Gundam for the Japanese Government. She had medium-length, dark brown hair.

"Okay, raise the right arm."

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

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

Mirai pressed the right fist button. Nothing happened.

"I said make a fist."

"I tried. Nothing's happening."

Rain checked her console. "Shit. The new algorithms that I installed aren't fully integrated into our Gundam's OS yet." Rain pressed some buttons on her console. "Try now."

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

Rain nodded. "Good! That did the trick!"

"The temperature's rising a little too fast for my liking. Our Gundam can't handle the heat from the thrusters. I think we should increase the coolant capacity. Power down, Mirai."

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

Mirai got out of the cockpit.

Rain looked at Fa. "I'll get some engineers on the overheating problem."

"Will they have it fixed by Saturday morning?" Fa asked her.

"They should. I'll personally supervise the work from now until then."

Lucrezia Noin, Fa's superior officer, walked into the hangar. She had long, blonde hair, which she wore loose.

Fa and Mirai saluted her. "Captain!"

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

"We need to increase the coolant capacity to prevent an overheating problem. I'm getting engineers over here to work on it. Also, I've got some programming kinks to work out."

"Get it done."

"Yes, sir."

Lucrezia looked at Fa. "I want you in the simulator, Lieutenant. There's nothing that you can do here at the moment."

"Yes, sir."

Lucrezia looked at Rain and Mirai. "Continue testing the Gundam to the extent that you can until the problems are fixed."

"Yes, sir."

Fa walked into the elevator and rode down to the floor. She walked out of the elevator.

Fa and Lucrezia entered the simulation room in another building on the base.

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

Lucrezia 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, Niger's, Kuwait's, the United Kingdom's, Turkey's, Poland's, Russia's, and Iran's Gundams. If you can beat this, it won't be a guarantee of victory in your first 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 Fa's left. The drone appeared in front of her. A thunderstorm was approaching. There were dark clouds in the sky. Lightning flashed. Fa heard thunder. There was a light chop to the water.

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

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

"Overheating!"

Fa 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!"

Fa'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 Fa and kicked her Gundam five times with its left leg. Fa punched the drone three times with her Gundam's right fist. Then she kicked it three times with her Gundam's right leg.

Fa activated her Gundam's thrusters and flew the Gundam into the sky. She quickly flew over the drone and behind it.

"Not enough power!"

Fa's Gundam landed back on the dock.

Fa kicked the drone three times with her Gundam's left leg.

"Overheating!"

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

Fa knew that she was close to victory. She kicked the drone five times with her Gundam's left leg.

The drone punched Fa's Gundam fives times with its right arm. It then fired at Fa's Gundam with its beam rifle repeatedly.

"Overheating!"

Fa grew frustrated. She backed her Gundam up.

The drone fired at Fa with its beam rifle. Fa activated her Gundam's thrusters and started to fly into the air. The blasts hit her Gundam anyway, and it fell back onto the dock.

Fa kicked the drone five times with her Gundam's left leg.

"Checkmate!"

The drone fell down.

"Well done! Glory to the winner!"

The simulation ended. The screens went black.

Fa got out of the simulator.

Lucrezia smiled. "Pretty good, Fa. Your reflexes are pretty good. So is your strategy."

Fa walked over to her. "I don't know. I could have done a lot better. Besides, all that it proves is that I can defeat Australia's, Niger's, Kuwait's, the United Kingdom's, Turkey's, Poland's, Russia's, and Iran's Gundams."

Lucrezia frowned. "You're right. Who knows what the other nations have?"

Fa sighed. "I'm not ready for this."

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

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

"Come on. Try it again. I'm sure that you can improve your checkmate time."

"Yes, sir."

Fa walked over to the simulator and got back into it.

"Are you ready?" Lucrezia asked.

"Yeah. Let's do it."

Fa and Mirai walked into the living room of their house.

Mirai closed the front door behind her and locked it.

Fa groaned. "I'm so tired."

Mirai smiled. "It sounds like you need a nice, long, warm shower."

"Mmm, that sounds nice."

"And I'll be happy to join you."

"That sounds even nicer."

"You may be tired, but it's nothing compared to how Rain will feel by tomorrow morning."

"Oh, yeah. She's gotta be there all night long. Poor girl."

"I'll tell you what. Let's take off our clothes, have a soda, and take a shower for an hour or two."

Fa smiled. "Or three."

"Or four."

Fa and Mirai took off their clothes and dropped them on the floor.

They walked into the kitchen.

Fa opened the refrigerator and took out two cans of regular cola. She offered one can to Mirai, who took it. Fa closed the refrigerator.

Fa and Mirai opened their cans and started drinking their cola.

"I heard you did good in the sim today."

"I guess. I hope it'll be enough, though."

"Well, all that you have to do is keep practicing. I'll be happy to run the simulations for you when my schedule permits."

"Thanks, sweetie. Since you test-pilot the Gundam, you can probably come up with some alternate scenarios for me to take on."

"Yeah, that's true. Together, we can get you ready to win this tournament."

"Let's concentrate on winning my first match first."

"We've got enough time between now and then. We can get in a lot of training sessions - just not today. I'm glad to be home."

"Me, too. I wish we'd switch places."

"No, you don't. Testing the Gundam is so boring! Usually, I'm just sitting there. Every so often, Rain will tell me to do something, and then I've got to keep doing it until it works."

When Fa and Mirai finished their colas, they dropped the cans in the recycling bin.

Mirai smiled. "Let's go upstairs."

Fa smiled. "Right behind you."

Mirai grinned. "You will be soon - and in front of me, too."

Fa and Mirai stepped into their bathtub.

Mirai pulled the curtain closed.

"Do you want any music?" Mirai asked.

"Yes."

Mirai turned on the portable radio. "Kaze no Lullabye" by Kumi Miyasato started playing.

Fa waited in anticipation.

Mirai turned on the water. She felt it with her left hand to determine the temperature. When it was warm, she turned on the shower.

Water splashed on both women, getting them wet.

Mirai hugged Fa.

Fa stared back at Mirai.

Mirai kissed Fa on the lips.

Fa hugged Mirai.

Mirai pressed her tongue against Fa's lips.

Fa parted her lips and allowed Mirai's tongue into her mouth.

The two women french-kissed.

Fa felt warm - both because of the water and because of Mirai's kiss.

The next match is Austria versus Israel. Who will win?

Next on "Mobile Suit Gundam Tournament":

"Level 1, Match 05"

You will race with the tide.