GBN 1.8 [GBN 1.8] Challengers of Diamond

[Roromi 417]

“if you dispose one tyrant you merely pave the way for the next Wu Fei..”

Trieze’s expression lifted in victory as his weapon glanced a hit on the Gundanium armor. The material was sturdy and let the blade sink in only with some effort. At first he thought he had cause the Gundam to loose power and drop its’s weapon but then he realized the rouse as soon as the Gundam knocked him around with it’s bizarre dragon fist. The Enact spun around, loosing its’ grip on its’ weapon. A lesser pilot would have probably considered that a defeat at that moment but Trieze was a Veteran, and talented pilot, even if it was his first time in an Enact. He used the momentum of the hit and brought the Enact around 360 degrees. As he performed his spin he reached in his opposite wrist and produced the second sonic dagger in his off hand. He leveled the blue blade at the Gundam’s neck, “The duel is mine…” Trieze announced confidently, knowing full well that his weapon would only damage the Gundam at best, but still the symbolism of holding it at the neck seemed most appropriate at the moment. In truth it was more of desperate gamble, the Enact was blaring warnings at him telling him of at least a dozen systems that were about to fail, and if the Gundam decided to act dishonorably at that moment he would likely be killed. 

——

Jack angled his Aires to gain altitude as the enemy began to fire on his concentrated forces. “BlueJays ascend!” He fought the panic growing in his voice as one of the original Gundams flared their thrusters to try and attack his group. The sickle weapon flew out in a desperate throw that did hit one of his comrades, making them explode as the blade slicked through the mobile suit. Jack grimaced at the gruesome attack. “They’re damn monsters!” He growled out just as enemy sniper fire pierced through the  clouds in an attempt to get more of them. “Damnit!” he yelled out, “all units proceed towards the sniper position! Leave the white one to the Leos! I don’t believe it can fly after us!” Again the chorus of affirmatives came back and he guided his dwindling forces towards where the sniper was roughly. “he might get a handful of us before we get there but we’ll crush him with sheer numbers…” he muttered under his breath. It felt like each second got them a klick closer, at the expense of another Aires getting shot down. Each shot however helped pin down the location of the shooter. “Serpentine!” Or “Dodge!” Were constantly yelled out from Jack as each friendly IFF faded away. He hated the Gundams, he hated the damn demons who could so callously eradicated his comrades, his friends, like counting down the seconds on a watch. “We’ll get you Gundams!” He growled as his reticle turned red for a lock on. “Fire at will when you get in range boys!” He cried out and let his machine gun hail down fire on the sniper unit. One by one his dozen or so Aires got within weapons range and opened fire as well. 

—-

Neil’s men began to panic as the two mobile suits seemingly cut through their artillery and rifle fire like it was nothing. They got closer, and closer. “Beam sabers if you have them boys! Those damn Gundams may seem invincible but they’re mere mortals just like us!” He threw down his own rifle recognizing it as a burden and reached behind his shield for the beam saber. The weapon was rarely employed in modern battles with Leos but it was moments like these he was glad it was there. 

Before he could close though, blue beams sliced down across the sand towards more of his Leos, his men. A couple took hits succumbing to the damage making him yell out, “artillery aim your guns at the new comer! Rifles do the same! Sabers with me now!” One by one the Leo that could comply, did; and the projectiles shifted from the two original targets to Carter. 

Neil and a handful of other Leos stormed up to the two mobile suits as they began to slice into his troops wielding the Dober Cannons. “Give them hell!” He yelled out as he charged in, he raised his pink blade over his head and brought it down in a swipe at the white mobile suit that seemed to be taking point. “You’ll pay for murdering my friends!” He cried out passionately.

[Aida]

Wufei felt scorned by fate. He had come all the way from the battle in Colony A0206, surviving his very own wife, the woman who gave Nataku its name, only to be bested by some soft-spoken, wealthy aristocrat in a Mobile Suit made of blue toothpicks. In his very first official sortie, no less.

- “Kill me.” Feeling worthless, incapable of fulfilling his duty as a Gundam Pilot, he asked Treize to take the final step. However, he just lowered his weapon, deactivating the vibrating blade.

- “It was a good fight.” He stated matter of factly, a trace of melancholy in his words. He shifted the Enact to start to look away, making a cheap attack more tempting, however, Wufei just demanded death once more.

- "Kill me now, or I'll come back until I get you!" His Gundam got up, and took the lodged blade out of its shoulder, but it made no move against the Enact.

- “That would be interesting...” mused Treize. “Maybe then, we could resume our discussion.” He moved his Enact away

- "Shit!" Furious, Wufei clicked on some buttons and Shenlong moved its arm. It looked as if it was about to attack the Enact, however, all the Gundam did was launch the inactive sonic blade towards the floor and leave it buried there, transmitting rather graphically its pilot's frustration. It then walked away, leaving Quatre to fend off the Aries alone, and Beta Team in a clash with the Leo Team. Victorious, Treize walked his Enact back to the hangar, while Lady Une, who had taken command at the control tower, talked to him.

- “Sir. We’re assigning Hellions to the pursuit of that Gundam-type.”

- “Call it off.”

- “Why?” Une was surprised to hear him say that, as he powered down the systems of the Enact and opened the hatch.

- “Today we fought in Mobile Suits. Next time, we'll fight a proper duel. The thought that he could, perhaps, be deadlier in person makes it all worth the wait.” Treize Khushrenada stated, hanging out from the Enact's hatch, as wind blew on his face and made his cape float behind him.

Meanwhile, Quatre was left behind by the Aries, even though he had managed to cut down one of them with his Shotel. As a bonus, however, the Shotel fell to the floor along with the Mobile Suit it had downed, which let Quatre retrieve it yet again. Things had not gone like he had wanted to, though. Wufei was nowhere to be seen, neither was Colonel Khushrenada. The Aries had left him alone, like there was anybody there to take care of him, but the Leo garrison was occupied with what seemed to be another Gundam and two weird GMs. Could they be here to help us? The base is going nowhere… i guess it wouldn’t hurt to ask. Turning off the shotels to let them cool down and lay off the reactor for a while, Quatre made Sandrock run towards the fray, the beam submachine gun and Gundanium shield at the ready, in case anybody fired at him.

---

One of the two commander Leos, equipped with a beam saber, then attacked Isla's Variable Gundam. Knowing Phase-Shift would not save her from a beam, she instead tried to defend herself with the beam shield, then fired her Jesta beam rifle from the hip, in a very awkward manner. Aida, in exchange, had not Phase-Shift, nor any form of beam defense, so he had not a moment to spare: quickly, after missing the third Dobergunner, he fired up his thrusters to ascend and was picked up by Fatum-00. Soon, the integrated AI made over control of the sub-flight system to him, so he sped away and turned around for a second go at the two remaining 'Gunners, this time, making Fatum give them its all: in addition to the twin MA-4B "Fortis" beam cannons, he also fired two M9M9 "Cervus" turret machine guns and four GAU5 "Volucris" machine guns at the Leos, sweeping down in a flashy manner. "With all of these weapons firing, I HAVE to hit something!"

Edited August 14, 2020 by Replicator

[FrostyFoster 453]

With Aires units being picked off one by one, Kyle’s confidence in winning against the large group was extremely high. “That’s right!” He yelled out to the enemy mobile suits. “Your stupid Aires can’t do nothing against the power of my Trinames!” Firing another shot, Charo pulled back, but the pilots had gotten used to the way Kyle was assaulting them…

“Gonna put it right in the middle of that one’s visor.” The Diver thought while aiming toward one of the closer units to him. “Wait.” The Aires was pointing his machine gun at the red Gunpla, letting loose a barrage of bullets. One wouldn’t be an issue for the Gundam, but it didn’t stop there. What looked like thousands of bullets sped toward Kyle as he lowered his rifle. “Charo! Get me out-“

Dust completely surrounded the area, with the attack making their permanent mark on the landscape of the world. Kyle gripped his controls tightly as his eyes were shut, hoping Charo had managed to get away from the attack. The droid didn’t. Opening his eyes, he looked around the cockpit. “I’m not out of the game, am I?” He asked his metal companion.
The sphere spun toward the Diver. “Shields! Shields!” It responded while spinning forward, using his helmet to point at the gold shields, or what was left of them. Meant for absorbing beam damage, the machine guns decimated Kyle’s shiny armor, with the bottom half of the right shield being completely gone. “Well, it could’ve been worse.” The Diver exclaimed, chuckling. At that moment, the connector on the left shoulder snapped off, causing the crater filled shield to fall to the ground. “It got worse.”

Kyle gripped his controls tightly once again, but not out of fear this time. “Charo! Give me back the controls to my Gunpla!” The droid’s eyes dimmed as full access was returned to the Diver. Kyle mounted his rifle on shoulder of the unit, opting to instead pull out the machine’s pistols. “What? What?” The red droid chirped to his friend. Looking at all of the Aires in front of him, Kyle smiled. “I wasn’t planning on using this here, but I wasn’t a big fan of you guys’ attack on me. YOU’RE DEAD MEAT!”

TRIS AM!!!

A glow began to surround the entire unit, giving the Trinames a goldish yellow tint, matching the two guns it now held. It wouldn’t be long before his time ran out, so Kyle had to act fast to take advantage of his new power up. The bright Gunpla launched all GN Missiles that it had, allowing him to blast into the sky at an immense speed uninterrupted. “Take this!” Kyle rapidly fired the two pistols at whatever looked like Aires in front of him. His act of revenge was only just beginning…
 
 

[ImAnnoyingHer 111]

“Yeah! Eat it- Uh oh” Carters excitement quickly died down as he saw his targets aim their weapons at him. He clicked his tongue, and saw it almost like a challenge “Alright, buddy lets see how you can move!” He gently pat the armrest of his seat and smiled a little, he raised up his shield as the first barrage of hellfire came towards him. 

His shield blocked as much of it as possible, and by the looks of it.. he had been lit up completely, but through the fire and the black smoke of the explosions, a bright blue visor shone through “I don’t have to be invincible.. they just have to think i am!” He tossed the almost completely destroyed shield down as he cut through with a beam saber “I’ll keep their ranged units on me!” He said over comms “Good luck with the melee!”. 

He said that, as if he didn’t know surviving that blast didn’t do a number on him.. the paint on his machine was covered in soot, and he knew that took a big chunk off of his HP. “Let’s do this!” He dashed downwards to the ranged units, beam saber and beam rifle at the ready “Hope you’re ready for a scrap!”
 

Edited August 12, 2020 by ImAnnoyingHer
Typo

[Roromi 417]

“Its’ glowing! Why is it glowing?! Is it on fire?” 

Jack cocked his head to look behind him as he finished his pass on the Gundam sniper. Sure enough the enemy was glowing, and yet it wasn’t a normal and natural hue. “K-keep atta-“ the words fell out of his mouth as the machine seemingly exploded but in a terrifying manner, like a firework whose tendrils were reaching out for Aires. “Look out!” He screamed as the projectiles grew out causing explosions in their paths. Between the missile and the pink pistol streaks from the pistols Jack witnessed his squad mates getting massacred.

“No!” He groaned, “No! No! No!” Yanking in the controls it wasn’t even a conscious thought, all that matter at that moment was obtaining some measure of revenge, of justice. The Aires ranks dwindled to single digits then merely a handful. “You’ll pay you bastard!” Jack yelled out defiantly as he blindsided the sniper from behind. He was going at full thrust, he just hoped the enemy was blinded by all the other targets, his friends, not to see him coming. 

—-

The ranged Leos rained down hellfire one the blue mobile suit and there was a pause when they produced black smoke from the enemy. “Did we get him?” A pilot dared to ask and was answered when the blue suit came out of the smoke with beam saber and rifle in hand. Panic ensued as the blue mobile suit had edged the distance and was now among the ranks of Leos which hesitantly aimed in directions whose crossfire would hurt their own ranks. 

“Take him out!”

“Open Fire”

“Get him!”

Multiple voices flooded the Com channel in a panic, and a few of the smarter ones realized it would come down to blades reluctantly drew their beam sabers now even though they were hesitant to earlier. It didn’t matter, the end was coming and all the soldiers were getting desperate enough now. 

—-

As the saber toting Leos approached Isla one got caught up with her shield and the pilot growled in frustration. Another who ran up was shocked when the enemy hip fired their weapon into their mobile suit’s legs, taking it out of the fight. Niel saw his opportunity as the strange mobile suit was tied up with one of his allies. He strafed around and began a rush from a supposed blind spot, he pointed the tip at his enemy. 

—-

The Leos with the Dober cannons were in the midst of having buck fever. One of the operators let out whoop as they scored a direct hit at the blue mobile suit. No one saw or noticed the hellbent Aida as he flew in. The last one turned in time to see the volley of laser fire tearing into his mobile suit. The Dober cannons were taken out of the fight now. A pair of Leos still tried to chafe Aida with their beam sabers but were hardly able to keep up. 

[Aida]

Quatre finally got to the battle zone, and registered every machine on the fray. Every machine had problems of its own: There was a silver and green GM of sorts, which looked even more weird without the visor that usually covered the monoeye camera in Federation Mobile Suits: having disposed of every Leo equipped with a Dober Gun, two beam saber-equipped Leos followed it to the site where a white and green Gundam fought with more Leos: two of them commander-spec, with a shoulder cannon on the right, and a shield on the left. The other one was apparently normal. On the other side, a blue GM lookalike had been left alone: the two Leos left to shoot it were also the same Leos that had drawn beam sabers and now ran after the flying GM. In total, five Leos were left. Six if one counted the one that had been relieved of its legs, but not of its arms. It didn’t look like it could do much, though, and Quatre wondered whether the pilot was still inside, or was already making a run for the base, be it on foot, or with a thruster pack. Whatever the case, these three machines were registered by the IFF as UNKNOWN.

It wasn’t the case, however, for the remaining fighter. A white and red Gundam that had left just four black Aries and a green commander unit standing after an all-out attack, it hovered in the sky without any apparent propulsion system, just leaving a trail of green shine that came out from a white, cone-shaped device in the back. Unlike the other three machines, when scanned, this one prompted the IFF to regard it as CLASSIFIED, with a small pop-up warning him that he did not have the clearance to see its data. The only other time this had happened to him was back in the colony where Sandrock was built, as he studied in preparation for their turn… Could it be? But we just got here… and even we would’ve got some warning that the plan was being changed. What is going on? Confused, Quatre decided to help the team, if only to gain their trust, and coax them into telling him what was happening. So he pointed his Beam SMG at the nearest Leo, one of the commander-spec units, which still hadn’t made a move against the hat-wearing Gundam or the two GMs, and fired.

With Quatre unable to fire at the two Leos besieging it without hitting his potential ally, Isla had to fend them off somehow. Out of more brilliant options, she simply smashed the Jesta Beam Rifle into the head of the Leo on her front, and with the same momentum, tried to turn around quickly enough to avoid being impaled by the other Leo. While she was rapid enough to bring up the beam shield, the Leo’s beam saber went through the center, where the emitter was located, then perforated the left forearm. First, the forearm burst into flames from the inside, then, less than a second later, fire extinguishing foam came out of the same place and drowned them, but also reducing the visibility of both Isla and Neil’s Leo. With her Gundam’s left arm unable to power it anymore, Isla’s beam saber shut down, so she redirected the power to the right arm, and once more relied on the Jesta Beam Rifle, trying to fire it at her foe. It was really a big gamble, considering she had used its receiver as a blunt weapon seconds before. The rifle could still work and do its job, it could blow up and damage the right forearm, or it could simply fail to fire.

As for Aida, he was the only member of Beta whose machine was still in mint condition. Fearing that his beloved Fatum was next, he pressed the button in his dash that allowed him to relay orders to his flying steed’s AI, and spoke. “Fatum; undock, ascend, circle, standby.” Fatum recognized the key words and complied, taking control away from Aida for him to make Airbatel jump down to the ground, storing his right sword to access his DODS Rifle again, then firing at the two Leos that had been chasing him. “Come and get me if you dare!” Meanwhile, Fatum climbed and was soon lost behind clouds, where it spun in circles around the four members of Beta, waiting for orders to support somebody.

Back at the base, things had died down. Almost all of the guests had left, save for Billy Katagiri and Graham Aker. As his mechanic finished cutting a hole in the escape pod for Mr. Special to come out on his own and curse the Gundams, they laughed.

- “I see… AEU’s latest model is already done for, but the safety ratings are off the charts…” the MS engineer stated, while Graham was not so quick to put the blame on the Mobile Suit.

- “That Khushrenada sure put on a better show.”

- “He’s no Flag Fighter. Come on, we gotta go. I just noticed a dozen missed calls to my phone. We have to report.”

- “Those Gundams, though, giving the AEU a check and a warning. OZ will not take this laying down, that's for sure...”

[FrostyFoster 453]

Kyle didn't have a clue what was going on with his teammates, but his part of the battle was a complete massacre. The OZ machines didn't stand a chance against the Gundam as it fired upon them. "Ha! You think you can beat the power of Tris-Am?!" Kyle screamed as he blasted many shots at more of the flying mobile suits. By then, smoke and flames covered the sky, either from downed machines on the landscape or recent damaged prey attempting to stay in the air. "Keep going! Keep going!" Charo uttered, enjoying much of the chaos that was unfolding.

Both were distracted, allowing the air battalions leader to strike uninterrupted. The green unit began its assault as many different caution warnings blared around the entire cockpit. "Dammit! He's gonna hit the GN drive!" The diver braced for impact, knowing it'd be too late to dodge, but nothing came. "Ch-Charo?" He questioned. "Did you take control? Hold up. The warnings are all gone."

"FREEFALL!!! FREEFALL!!!" Charo's speakers were set to eleven as the red Gunpla fell from the sky at an alarming rate. "Tris-Am must've shut off!" Kyle exclaimed as he navigated the controls. Like Trans-Am, the Trinames' special upgrade drained a massive amount of energy from the Celestial Being custom. "Aw! Hitting the ground would definitely take me out of the game." The Diver pondered, putting his pistols into their holsters. "Plus, I still got one more to deal with..."

Once again, Kyle opted to give the controls back to Charo. "I can probably get only one shot off. Use whatever energy we'll have left to land us." He uttered, pulling down his trageting computer. By this point the green machine was way above him, allowing Kyle to finish his act of revenge. "Hey Aries!" He screamed while finalizing his shot. "Your horoscope today is death!" The pink sniper beam blasted ahead, with both Kyle and Charo not realizing his would affect their landing. The droid was able to stop full destruction of the Trinames, but the shot jerked the unit faster to the floor.

The red and white Gunpla began to roll down the savanna's landscape, with Charo doing everything it could to stop the machine from taking more damage. Eventually though, physics took control as the mobile suit slowed down, creating deep gashes in the grass and dirt. The Trinames laid on its back, Kyle noticing the entire left arm of the machine was missing. Transferring back to piloting, the diver pushed the Gunpla back on its feet with the only hand it had left. Noticing the gold rifle laying close to him, he began his trek to the others, but not before noticing Charo.

"Awful... Awful..." The red toy had swirls in its eyes as it rocked back and forth. "Hey, at least we made it. Lady Luck was on our side!" He said while picking up the rifle. "The machine can barely walk, but there's no way we'll fly with the energy reserves we have left." The Gunpla turned, pacing ahead. "Hopefully the team is ok..."

[ImAnnoyingHer 111]

Carter was enjoying himself! Wreaking havoc across the enemy formation, dipping and dodging.. causing them to fire on each other before a loud boom and then crunch was heard, sending the machine off its feet and sliding across the ground “What the hell?!” He asked, the alarms sounded and his cockpit was flooding with red.. his Elemechu had hopped off his shoulder and cowered beneath the seat for security. 

“Damage report?..” he asked, looking at the HUD as he forced his mobile suit up, most of his left side had been blown apart, the side which held his shield earlier “Tch.. i knew i shouldve dodged!” He said “I wont be able to walk so..” he hovered his hand over the switch and assessed the situation.. there were only a few left “Alright, lets do it!” He flipped the saturn engine switch on and then flew towards the remaining leos! 
 

He fought as hard as he could, every quick movement threatened to finish off his arm and leg, as if they could rip out at any moment, but he has to finish this fight, lest he be eliminated. “Ora!” He said as he cut through.. Falling onto the ground just as he sliced the final Leo “Yikes..” he said. 
 

“Repairing this damage..” he said, looking at the HUD “Is gonna cost me an Arm and a Leg..”

[Roromi 417]

((Good battle everyone!))

Tunnel vision could best be used to describe Jack’s attack towards the glowing red mobile suit. He yelled, he screamed out in sheer defiance. But sometimes the world is just stacked against a person, the odds too insurmountable. A heartbeat before he was going to kamikaze into the Gundam the enemy disappeared. 

Jack didn’t even have time to act bewildered as his Aires jerked in a direction he wasn’t expecting. It was a glancing blow but the Aires wasn’t known for being sturdy. He was going down, warnings blared at him as the desert floor quickly approached him. He didn’t see the Gundam fall, he didn’t even know that they had managed to damage the unit so much. All Jack knew was the shame of knowing he was the last Aires to go down, as his craft rapidly connected with the ground. 

—-

As the blue mobile suit cut down Leo after Leo soon the battlefield was littered with smoking piles of debris and wreckage. BlueJay had watched it all with horror and dismay. Seeing the tempo of battle reach the crescendo he decided to head back. But as he walked towards the base he found himself drawn to the carnage. He just had to know if any of his friends were alive still. 

—-

Neil growled out in frustration as his attack was foiled by the clever black mobile suit. His eyes then widened in terror as the enemy raise a beam rifle at his cockpit. He could see the dangerous glow emit from the barrel and for a moment he knew he was dead. But then the light dissipated into anticlimactic shadows, and he was no longer going to die that second. He remained paused for a moment, then studied the battlefield. His comrades, his friends, no his brothers deserved better than this messy grave. That’s when the truth dawned on him, he was the last soldier, the last defender of the base. What could he do that dozens of good soldiers together couldn’t accomplish? Shaking with rage, and maybe even some fear,  he pulled on the controls and began a retreat, wondering if he would be spared to fight another day. 

—-

Trieze sat in the luxurious seat of his personal jet. Lady Un moved to stand next to him obediently as she held bundle of notes in her arms. The OZ leader looked out the window thoughtfully as he didn’t say anything for a long while. The base, his base, was up in smoke and flames. If he was a lesser commander he would be throttled with rage and disgust, but ever the level headed leader, Trieze remained impassive. “Lady…” he began, “did we evacuate all crucial personnel from the facility?” 

Without missing a beat the young woman replied, “We have sir! All things considered, there were minimal casualties, I dread to consider what would have happened, had you not intervened.”  Trieze didn’t say anything immediately but it was as if he was holding a hand up to stop her, “My lady, you musn’t underestimate the virtue the Gundams possess. This was a tempting target and we knew they would bite. Now we know even more about our enemy, and the strength they posses. It was a costly, but worthwhile price to pay…” the Colonel left it at that as they got further and further away from the base. His mind drifted to the pilot, Wu Fei, and the duel they would be destined to continue, or so he hoped. “Let us prepare for the next act to begin.” He mused as he finally turned to regard his lovely ally, an all knowing grin etched on his handsome features as he considered the future.  

[Aida]

The battle was over. With the provisional leader of the Featherheads falling in his green Mobile Suit to a certain death, going out in a small atomic blast, whoever was miraculously still alive got out of their wrecked Mobile Suits or, in Neil's case, turned his machine around to return to the base, knowing he was all alone against those who had decimated eleven other Leos, and twenty-four Aries on their own. The members of Beta Team let them all go, and so did Quatre, but it only fueled their newfound hatred of them further. The survivors, scarce as they were, would be back, and so would their commander: in the distance, the team could see Treize's personal shuttle flying away at peak speed, and while he was still in range of Kyle's GN Sniper Rifle, his weapons, along with everyone else's, were disabled as a sign appeared on their HUDs:

< MISSION ACCOMPLISHED >

With that, Wufei had already failed in his mission. Perhaps out of shame, he did not return to Quatre, which meant he was left alone with Beta Team until brown Mobile Suits approached, all custom and made to their pilots’ specifications: WMS-03 Maganacs. Quatre used Sandrock’s optics to signal them briefly, before opening his hatch and greeting the members of Beta Team. “My name is Quatre Raberba Winner! Pilot of the Sandrock Gundam! Who are you?” Aida felt the need to respond, and opened his hatch in kind to yell back. “I am Aida! Pilot of the Airbatel GM III!” Eventually, Kyle made it to the others. The Trinames knelt down as its hatch opened, revealing the diver and his companion. “I’m Kyle and this is-“ At that moment, the Gunpla’s other arm crashed to the ground. Kyle sighed while grabbing the red toy. “This is my buddy Charo...” Carter grabbed his panicked Elemechu and opened up the hatch, pulling himself out of his wrecked Gunpla. He waved “Yo! I’m Carter, this one is...” He scratched his cheek, then apologized. “I'll get back to you when i name it." Finally, Isla introduced herself, rather bluntly. “Isla. Variable EWAC Gundam.” Aida finished rather enthusiastically with a pose and a battle, hoping his teammates would also follow him. “We are the Challengers of Diamond!” However, only Carter replied with a distant “Woo!” before Kyle took an amused look at both, while Isla just gave a quick smirk that quickly disappeared, like an artifact in a hologram. You've gotta be kidding me.

Quatre smiled, as the Maganacs loomed closer, and took a step further by coming out of the Gundam, using the automatic rope to descend, then approach the Challengers’ Gunpla on foot. Aida did the same, and soon the whole team was in the ground, approaching Quatre, then stopping a pair of meters ahead of him. The group of Maganacs finally reached the five Mobile Suits, and took position around them. “I did not expect to see you here. You're here too early...” Out of the blue, however, that innocent smile vanished from Quatre’s face, as he raised a handgun to aim it at the group, and the Maganacs lit beam sabers to trap their Gunpla with them. One sudden move, and even if the pilots managed to evade Quatre's marksmanship, their machines would probably bite it. As the group took a deep breath and realized where they were standing, Quatre spoke to Kyle again. “... Lockon Stratos.” Things had gone from fifty to zero, then all the way to one hundred again really quick. Aida went over their possibilities and remembered something: his Fatum-00 was still in the air. A swift order to the flyer and some quick thinking could let them overcome this twist, but only wise words from the team could defuse this situation pacifically...

[FrostyFoster 453]

(Collab with Replicator)

"So much for pacifism, Quatre." "Lockon" thought as he stared down the barrel of the handgun. Once again, Kyle had accidentally gotten the team in quite a bit of trouble, this time because his uncanny resemblance to the CB pilot. There wouldn't be much he could do physically and Charo was left on the broken Trinames. Kyle slowly raised his hands as he began to speak. "They'll be no need to resort to violence." Kyle spoke calmly. "Whatever is going on here, we're all here to help you." Quatre took a step forward to the Diver. "Explain what happened!" As the four Maganac squad leaders held the Gunpla hostage, the remaining Maganac pilots opened their hatches and came out with cheap, but definitely deadly assault rifles.

"We might be the expendable first wave, but even we would've been notified of such a drastic change of plans. We've only just arrived, but you're already here, even though you told us this was our phase! And with that machine..." Quatre calmly admired the Trinames, before going on to make his point. "Flight without propulsion... if that's not Celestial Being's secret technology, I don't know what is! I'm tired of being sent everywhere without explanations! Why can't you trust us?" Kyle pondered this revelation. "Sounds like they're working together." He thought as Quatre asked him questions. The Diver understood why someone like Quatre would be angry, but he had to keep playing his part. "I apologize for that. The plan must've got scrambled as the fight went on, but we did take out plenty of their fighters." 

Kyle also looked at his beaten machine. "As for my mobile suit, even I can't explain how it really moves!" This was the truth, the Diver didn't fully understand the workings of the game. "Celestial Being loves their secrets, I'm sorry." Kyle waved his hand at the Challengers of Diamond. "But me and my colleagues trust you. We just wanted to help." Quatre was not entirely convinced. "What about all of your high-and-mighty speeches over the infallibility of Aeolia Schenberg's plan? And I don't believe for a second you don't know what's going on with your Mobile Suit! There it is, right there! This is what I've hated of working with you ever since we took off from Barton's omnicidal plan! You say this and do that! You keep leaving us in the dark!" The team could see the pilots cocking their guns, likely in response to Quatre's worsening mood.

Kyle watched as the others responded with readying weapons to Quatre's statements. "Please." Kyle uttered. "We're here to save this world, just like you are. Celestial Being is a flawed organization and if you're working together, this group should've kept you up to speed on events. All I and the rest of the team wanted to do is make sure no lives on our side were lost. I know you're a good person who believes in pacifism first. There doesn't need to be anymore bloodshed." Kyle held out his right hand to the blonde haired pilot. "Please work with us and I do what I can to personally fix this mistake Celestial Being has made."

"Neither me nor Wufei were ever in danger..." Finally, Quatre sighed, and lowered his weapon. However, he did not signal for the Maganac Corps to do the same just yet. "Would you please stop talking like some sort of politician, Gundam Meister? In the end, you're just a pilot, like us. I find it hard for you to change anything at all. And that way of talking... it makes it all sound like even more of a lie." Kyle was hurt by the statement. A good chunk of GBN was the fights, but the interactions and friendships he'd built with people meant more to him. The Diver had noticed how much the campaign affected him and why he'd even try to reason with an NPD to begin with, but he wouldn't give up.

"Like it or not, you, me, and everyone else here is more than just a pilot. With that mentality, I do believe none of us could make a change, but that's not how I roll!" Kyle lowered his hand. "I've seen firsthand how the decisions I've made have had consequences..." He said while thinking of blowing a hole in the MKII. "But I keep going because I know its the right thing to do, just like you. Every single thing I've said here is the truth." He looked at the Maganac Corps. "And I'll stand by that even if I have to die." At that moment, Quatre lifted his hand, and then took it down. His men lowered their weapons, and their Mobile Suits turned off their beam sabers. "It really is you, isn't it Lockon? Why are you here?"

Kyle was relieved by the de-escalation. “Well, things didn’t end up going our way and we ended up taking out some OZ units. It’s just me and my crew now, but we’re here to help with the next plan of attack.” Kyle thought about what he’d said. “We need to know more about this world. The alliances made here have been quite interesting, and we won't last long by ourselves. Quatre's group is all we've got right now...”

[ImAnnoyingHer 111]

Carter was absolutely, positively.. perplexed by the situation they were in, he realised that it was because of his teammates appearance, which impressed him.. on a game design perspective, so if he had chosen to cosplay as Setsuna, then the NPD’s would recognize and then treat him as Setsuna.. the blue haired diver snapped back to reality as his Elemechu jumped and “Bit” his finger, he waved his hand after grabbing the Elemechu “Right..” he said. 
 

He looked over at the maganacs “Well, now that we’re all friends.. shouldn’t we get moving or something like that?” He suggested, both he and Kyle had beat up and near inoperable machines, the thought of being jumped in this position didn’t sound very appealing to him “And when we do get moving.. where to?” He asked 

[Aida]

Just in time, six beige and brown cargo planes started taking turns to land on the runway that hadn’t been blown to pieces in the chaos. Rashid Kurama spoke from his custom Maganac. “Not a second late. Master Quatre, our flight is here. The Maganac Corps will accompany you on your next mission.” Abdul followed by offering a helping hand, his Maganac moving the monoeye to look at the Trinames and the Comet Dagger. “You guys are not looking so good… Come on. We’ll take you to the planes.” As for Aida and Isla, they returned to their Gunpla rather cautiously, and used the loudspeakers to communicate. “I’ll be walking my way to the planes. And there, we can talk about where we’ll be going next!” Minutes later, two planes were filled: In the leading plane, Quatre, Rashid and Ahmad. Following them, Abdul, Auda and a Maganac. Two other planes were destined for Beta Team: In one, Aida, Kyle, and Carter. In the other, there was only Isla’s Mobile Suit, while the rest of the plane was filled by two stolen Base Jabbers, that could be deployed to aid any of the team on the next operation, and some supply boxes. Finally, the two extra planes were filled with stolen supplies, weapons and sub-flight systems. Soon, everyone was on the air. The two supply-filled jets departed for Maganac’s Village immediately, escorted by Maganacs on Base Jabbers, while the four jets containing mecha briefly flew together.

Sitting on their cockpits, the four Maganac squad leaders and Beta Team attended a meeting called by Quatre from his Sandrock. There, he detailed their next course of action.

- "With you four tagging along, I reckon we can do more in less time. Recently, we received four assignments, but having to take the defense of Maganac Village into account, we had to make due with only two teams. Abdul?" Quatre started typing on a keyboard to bring a map to everyone’s screens, while Abdul continued with the presentation.

- “Yes. We completed two assignments in one go: attacking the Enact demonstration, and restocking on supplies. Now, there were two more assignments, but one of them is big enough we can’t just go in alone while the other team is still escorting the supplies back to base. So we were gonna attack Point A72 while they came back from that, then gather in A80 and attack A81, all of us. Right now, we’re heading to A72.”

- “But you lot look quite capable of some heavy lifting.” Rashid interrupted, going straight to the point and talking to Aida. “If Celestial Being’s tactical forecaster over there really wants to be of help, my suggestion is that your jets make a beeline for A81. You could free Master Quatre and the four of us to raid A72 while we still have the edge of surprise.”

- “We don’t want to order you around. I only expect all of us to be respectful with each other. That’s why… it’s your choice.” Quatre also asked Aida for his cooperation, far more gently.

Aida was in a tight spot. As “Lockon’s” commander, he was mistaken for a Celestial Being field strategist, if they ever had such a thing. Unsure of how they saw Carter and Isla, he didn’t want to correct them. He knew this could end really badly, just like it did back in Gryps, but he didn’t have a choice at this point.

- “Well, even though i am authorized to, i don’t want to send my pilots into battles they don’t think we can handle. What do you say, people? Can we break it?”

- “I think you know the answer to that, ‘Mr. Aida’... ” Uttered 'Lockon', rather humorously, to his 'forecaster'. “We can easily go to A81 with our Gunp- I mean, with our Mobile Suits. Whatever you want me to do, I'll do it!”

- “Of course!” Carter smirked, and placed his hand on the instrument cluster. “No matter what the job is, the Chall-… Celestial Being won’t be beaten!” His Elemechu could be seen jumping behind him, excited.

- "Well, it'd be stupid if the Challenger Squadron was not up to the challenge…" Isla closed the circle, playing along with a surprising display of creativity.

- "Then, you can count on us! We’ll show them who is boss...” Aida confirmed, before being stopped in his tracks. “Uhhh… mind telling us what’s there, though?”

Hours later, back in the real world after having redirected his plane and Isla's to Point A81, Aida studied a picture of it, given to the team by Quatre. An island. Accessible only by air or sea. Heavy artillery... He knew he had seen the place before in Wing, as hinted at by the Aries flying around the massive island. But he couldn't remember what had transpired there, until Daniel brought him a Gundam Wiki article. The resemblance was crystal-clear.

The next attack would take place at Mogadishu Base... home to the Noventa Cannon.

Edited August 28, 2020 by Replicator
hi.