Gundam Wing Fan Fiction / Mobile Suit Gundam Fan Fiction / Gundam SEED Fan Fiction ❯ Mobile Suit Gundam Tournament ❯ Level 1, Match 09 ( Chapter 13 )

Episode 13

Level 1, Match 09

Written By
Mark Moore

Author's note: I'm sorry for the delay. My personal problems have been resolved. I've been working on episodes and will attempt a "Gundam blitz" to try to get the series back on schedule. Enjoy the story. Feedback is welcome.

Emma Sheen has scored her first victory, defeating Jordan and keeping the United States in the tournament. Now, attention shifts to the next match.

Saturday, October 20, 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.

"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!"

"I think she can take a break for a while. I'd like to set up a test of the Gundam's leg strength."

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 to bring a bunch of steel beams over here."

"How long will that take?" Emma asked her.

"Maybe a half-hour."

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?"

"Pretty well. We're going to test the Gundam's leg strength. I'm getting engineers to bring some steel beams over here."

"I guess you were so caught up in your work that you forgot about the time. Match 09 is going to start soon. Take a break. You can work on the test a bit later."

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

Murrue smiled. "Sounds good."

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

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

Lucette turned on the television.

"Good afternoon, everyone. Welcome to Level 1, Match 09, of the First Gundam Tournament. We're here live at the Egyptian pyramids at Giza. 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 Egypt versus Spain. The Egyptian pilot is Hosni Nazif. The Spanish pilot is Juan Zapatero. Egypt's Gundam - the sandy one - is 16 meters tall, 1 meter of which is taken up by the head. It is armed with a beam rifle. Spain's Gundam - the brown one - is 22 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.

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

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

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

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

"Take that!" Hosni yelled.

"Take this!" Juan yelled.

Juan fired his Gundam's beam rifle repeatedly, hitting Egypt's Gundam over and over again.

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

"You won't do that again!" Hosni exclaimed.

Hosni kicked Spain's Gundam ten times with his Gundam's right leg.

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

Juan kicked Egypt's Gundam repeatedly with his Gundam's left leg.

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

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

Juan fired his Gundam's beam rifle repeatedly at Egypt's Gundam, hitting it repeatedly.

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

Hosni's Gundam fell backwards.

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

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

"And there you have it. Spain has beaten Egypt. Egypt is out of the competition, but it is allowed to assist another nation of its choice. Spain moves on to Level 2. There will be more coverage on your evening news. Thank you for joining us."

Lucette turned off the television.

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

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

Lucette and Nina collected the empty glasses, placed them on the trays, and carried them into the kitchen.

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

Nina 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 ninth match of the first level of the First Gundam Tournament was held at the pyramids at Giza in Egypt this afternoon. The participants were Egypt and Spain. Spain won. It will move on to Level 2. Egypt, meanwhile, having been eliminated from the tournament, has announced today that it will not back any nation in the tournament. We turn to our White House correspondent, Donald Samuelson. Donald, how is the White House reacting to Spain's victory and Egypt's defeat?"

"Peter, the White House is happy that Spain won this match, because it did not want Egypt to win. At least, this is another regime that won't be spreading worldwide."

"Do the resources of Spain match those of the United States?"

"It's possible, Peter. It's a pretty good Gundam. However, we won't know for sure until we face it."

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

Lucette turned off the television.

"Dinner should be ready." Lucette stood up.

The rest of the women stood up as well.

Mobile Suit Gundam Tournament

Mobile Suit Gundam Tournament

Lucette 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.

Nina 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. "I'm happy that Egypt lost. Its Gundam was impressive."

Relena swallowed a piece of chicken. "I'm concerned. Egypt isn't officially supporting another nation, but I wouldn't be surprised if they helped another conservative Islamic state behind the scenes."

Lunamaria smiled. "This match was mildly interesting."

Murrue smiled. "Yeah, it was about as interesting as the previous match, anyway."

Nina looked at Lucette. "Now that we've made it to Level 2, the challenge will be tougher. We should upgrade our Gundam."

Lucette considered that for a moment. "Yeah. Good idea."

Murrue frowned. "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, Iran's, Austria's, Israel's, Venezuela's, Lebanon's, France's, Iraq's, Jordan's, Egypt's, and Spain's Gundams. If you can beat this, it won't be a guarantee of victory in your next 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 drone 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 and smiled. "Thanks."

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

The Gundam was located in a hangar. 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.

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.

"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. The Gundam's right hand closed into a fist.

Rain nodded. "Good! I want to add some new algorithms to the Gundam's OS and add another fuel tank to increase the flight duration. 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 installing the fuel tank."

"Will it make a noticeable difference?" Fa asked her.

"It should. We'll find out after it's installed."

Lucrezia Noin, Fa's superior officer, walked into the hangar.

Fa and Mirai saluted her. "Captain!"

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

"Pretty well. I want to add some new algorithms to the OS and an extra fuel tank. I'm getting engineers over here to work on it."

"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. "Do what you have to do."

"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, Iran's, Austria's, Israel's, Venezuela's, Lebanon's, France's, Iraq's, Jordan's, the United States', Egypt's, and Spain'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, Iran's, Austria's, Israel's, Venezuela's, Lebanon's, France's, Iraq's, Jordan's, the United States', Egypt's, and Spain'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."

"Have faith in yourself."

"Sir, may I ask you a question?"

"Of course."

"You're Canadian. Why did you join the Japanese military?"

"I had to leave Canada...for personal reasons."

"Oh. Why Japan, though?"

"I just thought it would be a very nice place to live. That's all."

"I see."

"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."

Lucrezia and Rain walked into the living room of their house.

Rain closed the front door behind her and locked it.

Lucrezia groaned. "I'm so tired."

Rain 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 the rest of us feel. We do actual work."

Lucrezia laughed. "Fuck you."

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

Lucrezia smiled. "Or three."

"Or four."

Lucrezia and Rain took off their clothes and dropped them on the floor.

They walked into the kitchen.

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

Lucrezia and Rain opened their cans and started drinking their cola.

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

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

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

"Thanks, sweetie. Mirai has offered that, too. With the two of you helping her, it'll leave me from to do my, um, non-work."

"Together, we can get her ready to win this tournament."

"Let's concentrate on winning her 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. Engineering the Gundam is so frustrating! I have to go through pages of code. I have to supervise a team of engineers and make sure that everything's getting done."

"Fa asked me about my Canadian heritage. I had to be evasive."

"I'm sorry. Don't let it bother you."

When Lucrezia and Rain finished their colas, they dropped the cans in the recycling bin.

Rain smiled. "Let's go upstairs."

Lucrezia smiled. "Right behind you."

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

Lucrezia and Rain stepped into their bathtub.

Rain pulled the curtain closed.

"Do you want any music?" Rain asked.

"Yes."

Rain turned on the portable radio. "Lonely Sunset" by Kumi Miyasato started playing.

Lucrezia waited in anticipation.

Rain 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.

Rain hugged Lucrezia.

Lucrezia stared back at Rain.

Rain kissed Lucrezia on the lips.

Lucrezia hugged Rain.

Rain pressed her tongue against Lucrezia's lips.

Lucrezia parted her lips and allowed Rain's tongue into her mouth.

The two women french-kissed.

Lucrezia felt warm - both because of the water and because of Rain's kiss.

The next match is Syria versus Italy. Most of the world is hoping for Italy to win. Will it happen?

Next on "Mobile Suit Gundam Tournament":

"Level 1, Match 10"

You will race with the tide.