Everything Under The Sun... And Then Some!

Saturday, April 30, 2011

A Funny Thing Happened On The Way To Taris...


Chapter 1: Attack on the Endar Spire

The space near the newly conquered Sith world of Taris lit up with flashes of red and green light as squadrons of Sith starfighters dive-bombed the Republic cruiser Endar Spire. Sith capital ships stayed at a distance and fired occasional shots into the damaged ship, but the fighters were doing the grunt work now. With a noiseless fireball the port engines on the Spire flamed out leaving the ship dead in space. As it began to drift, a series of landing craft darted in under the anti-ship laser batteries, escorted by a squadron of fighters and approached the ailing cruiser.

On board the Spire, in one of the crew quarters, Matthias Starseeker was thrown from his bed as the ship lurched hard to starboard. The young man, dressed in nothing but his underwear stood up, rubbing a bruise on the back of his head and looked out the window. Matthias was a very handsome young man in his late twenties, with brown hair. He had high cheekbones, and green eyes.
“Sithspawn, this is what I get for being able to sleep through anything,” he groaned. He was just about to get his clothes out of his footlocker, when the door to his quarters opened and in rushed a bright-faced young Republic soldier. He was a bit taller than him and had blond hair as opposed to his own darker locks.
“We’ve been ambushed by a Sith battle fleet! The Endar Spire’s under attack! Hurry, we have to find Bastila!” Matthias regarded the unknown soldier a little warily.
“Hang on, who are you again?”
“I’m Trask Ulgo, your bunkmate remember?” he replied, “Now hurry up! We have to get to the bridge and defend Bastila! I’ve heard all about you; elite combat training, tops in your class. It’s no wonder you were hand-picked for this assignment.”
Matthias half-smiled to himself as he thought about that. Bastila herself HAD picked him for this mission. He often wondered why, out of the hundreds of thousands of grunts in the Army of the Republic had Bastila chosen him. Matthias’s initial impression of the Jedi when they’d first met had been of a cold, haughty demeanor that didn’t quite go with what he had seen of other Jedi.
“Bastila’s gonna need men like you at her side during the attack. So let’s go!”
Nodding, Matthias ran over to his footlocker and quickly grabbed his combat suit, blaster rifle, vibroblade, and medpacs. Slipping the suit on with the ease of a veteran soldier, he checked that the rifle’s gas cartridge was full and then turned to face Trask.
“Let’s do it.”

They had just run into the main corridor when their comlinks activated.
“This is Carth Onasi. The Sith are threatening to overrun our position, we can’t hold out against their firepower. All hands to the bridge!”
“That was Commander Onasi on our portable communicators. He’s one of the best pilots and soldiers in the fleet. If he says things are bad, you better believe it!” said Trask as he jacked open a jammed door. Matthias recalled the gruff pilot from when he’d boarded the Endar Spire. They had just stepped through the door that Trask had managed to lever open just in time to see a lone Republic soldier in his red and yellow combat armor get shot by two Sith in their silver armor with faceless helmets designed to inspire fear in their enemies.
“These Sith must be the advance boarding party! For the Republic!” cried Trask as the two soldiers charged down the Sith troopers. Matthias had a funny feeling that it was going to be a very long walk to the bridge.

Matthias and Trask had almost reached the bridge when they ran trough another door and almost into a Jedi and a Sith dueling in the corridor. The red and blue lightsabers flashed as the two combatants smashed them together.
“It’s a dark Jedi! We’d better stay out of this, we’d only get in the way,” said Trask. Even though most of the Endar Spire’s crewmen had been outfitted with special vibroblades with a Cortosis ore weave, no ordinary soldier was fool enough to duel with a dark Jedi. With a deft slash, the blue saber-wielding Jedi cut the Sith down, but almost as soon as he’d collapsed to the floor, a plasma conduit behind the Jedi woman exploded.
“That was one of the Jedi accompanying Bastila. Damn, we could’ve used her help," groaned Trask as some more Sith troopers rounded the corner. They managed to kill the troopers before they could get any shots off but just as Trask turned to go, Matthias bent down to examine the body of the Jedi woman.
“Hey Trask, wait a minute, she’s still alive!”
“Well give her some kolto and lets go,” he replied, keeping a wary eye out for any ambushing Sith.
“No way. A manly man like me can’t leave a woman behind, even a Jedi,” said Matthias with a sarcastic grin. He picked up the unconscious woman and carefully arranged her in a fireman’s carry over his shoulder.
After a couple more minutes of fast and furious fighting, Trask and Matthias finally arrived at the doors to the bridge. They both drew their vibroblades, as both soldiers knew that it would be suicide to use blasters in such a close-quarters environment. Matthias carefully rested his unconscious passenger against the wall just as Trask opened the bridge doors. There was already a furious battle on the bridge. Two Sith troopers noticed Matthias and Trask right away and charged them. Matthias lunged forward and with two graceful, almost careless moves, cut down both Sith. He then turned around, jumped into the air, spun, and came down on another trooper, cleaving him almost in two. Trask whistled and cast an eye around the now silent bridge.
“Bastila’s not here. They must’ve already run to the escape pods,” said Trask. Matthias looked one of the large bridge view ports and saw a pair of Sith destroyers moving closer to the Endar Spire.
“The Sith want Bastila alive so once she’s off the ship there’s nothing to stop them from blasting the Spire into galactic dust. Let’s get to those escape pods,” said Matthias as they opened the door leading to the starboard side of the ship. Matthias retrieved their Jedi passenger and they were about to board the turbolift down to the escape pod level when the door across from them opened. Another dark Jedi stood in the doorway, but he was different from the others they’d seen, He wore all black armor, expensive-looking too. He was bald and had a goatee on his face along with an evil-looking, amused smile. A red, double-ended lightsaber flared to life in his hand, and he spun several times as he began to march towards them.
“Damn, another dark Jedi! I’ll hold him off, get to those escape pods! GO!” shouted Trask as he charged the dark Jedi.
“No Trask you fool! You don’t stand a chance!” cried Matthias but he was too late. A series of explosions forced the door shut, and that was the last Matthias Starseeker saw of Ensign Trask Ulgo. For a moment he stood in the hallway, frozen with shock, but then a red blade stabbed through the door and snapped him out of it. He jumped into the turbolift and punched the button. As he car descended, he punched the wall angrily.

As Matthias stepped out of the turbolift, his comlink activated again.
“This is Carth Onasi. I’m tracking you through the Endar Spire’s life support systems. Bastila’s escape pod is away. We’re the last remaining crewmembers aboard the Endar Spire, so we’d better get off the ship. Now!”
“Thanks for telling me how to get to the nearest escape pod Commander,” mumbled Matthias as he shot another trooper. However he had studied the plans of these types of ships and was reasonably sure of where he was going. Getting there was going to be the trick, especially with his unconscious female cargo weighing his shoulders down. At last he reached the final compartment that separated him from the escape pods, when Carth’s voice blared from her communicator again.
“Watch it! There’s a whole squad of Sith troopers beyond that door!”
“Really?” asked Matthias as he picked up a thermal detonator from the corpse of a Sith, “Shouldn’t be a problem.” After putting down the Jedi woman yet again, he stepped to the side of the door, opened it and tossed in the bomb. One thunderous explosion later, he stepped into the anteroom which was now just a blackened, smoking ruin filled with blackened, smoking Sith corpses. Daintily picking his way among the dead troopers, he spied the red uniform of a commander. Knowing that the COs almost always had some nifty gadgets on them, Matthias stopped to examine the ex-Commander and found what looked like a prototype vibroblade.
“Won’t be needing this anymore my friend. Might as well put it to good use,” he said. Opening the door, he found Commander Carth Onasi waiting for him next to the row of escape pods.
“You made it! This is the last functional escape pod left, so lets get in and go… wait who is that?” he asked when he saw the woman draped over Matthias’ shoulders.
“Well this young lady needed a lift so I thought I’d oblige. Now let’s get out of here!”
 Not needing to argue the point, Carth climbed in with Matthias and their Jedi passenger.

The last of the Endar Spire’s escape pods shot away from the dying ship fast enough to avoid being shot by the Sith ships. From the tiny cockpit, Carth and Matthias watched the ship in its death throes.
“That’s funny, the damage doesn’t look as bad from…” Carth started to say but was cut off as the Endar Spire exploded in a nova-bright blast. The escape pod continued to hurtle down towards Taris.

The Greatest Friggin' Story Ever Told


Prologue: The Rise and Fall of Darth Revan


From the journals of Jedi Master Dorak, Councilmember of the Dantooine Enclave and Chronicler

            Revan was one of the best and brightest students the Jedi Order had seen in years, not since the War of Exar Kun. He had an insatiable appetite for knowledge, which I suppose should have been our first clue. But we were happy at the time to have such a promising young Jedi in our ranks after what we had suffered during the war. When he became a Padawan and was welcomed into the Order as a full-fledged member, he, and his best friend Malak, traveled to the Jedi Temple on Coruscant to receive additional training under Jedi master Zhar Lestin. He too reported that there seemed to be a void in Revan that could not be filled by the teachings of the Jedi. It seemed that even though Revan had become a renowned Knight, he still felt that he was missing some purpose in his life.

            When the Mandalorians came, he must have saw that his time had finally come. Well do I remember the arguments he made when the Mandalorians attacked and pillaged the Outer Rim Worlds beyond the Republic. I recall his fury when they invaded the Republic itself and nothing the Republic military could do seemed to stop them. The Jedi High Council on Coruscant felt for some time that a great Darkness awaited us deep in the Outer Rim, and Revan became convinced that the Mandalorians were that threat. The Council did not agree with the wayward Knight, and long were the hours that Revan spent arguing with both the Council here on Dantooine and the High Council. I think that it was here that we first began to see the seeds of Revan’s fall take root, though perhaps we were blind to them at the time. I suppose Revan must have thought that this was at last the calling that he had been searching for, the purpose that he felt had been lacking from his life. Finally when the Mandalorians invaded and burned his own home world of Deralia, on the border between the Outer and Mid Rims, Revan had enough.

            Announcing that he was going to join the Army of the Republic against the Council’s wishes he made one final appearance before the Council here. Masters Zhar, Vandar, and myself pleaded with him to reconsider, that he was being rash and that the cost of participating in a war such as this could have dire, unforeseen consequences. At the end master Vrook stood up and pronounced that Revan may do as he wished but to know that he and any who followed him were going straight to the Dark Side in their foolish quest. Insulted, he stormed out of the Council chambers and that was the last any of us would see of Revan for a long time.

            Revan quickly became the most famous of the Republic’s Generals, clearing out worlds such as Taris of the Mandalorians. He was an amazing strategist, and slowly the war began to turn in our favor. However, the strain on Revan, Malak and the other Knights who followed them began to show. Revan’s tactics gradually became more ruthless, cold-hearted, and calculating as the war dragged on. One of the few Knights that still reported to the Council noticed that unsettling changes had come over Revan and Malak, that they were becoming distanced from those around them.

            Finally the end of the war came. As the last of the Mandalorian ships surrendered over Malachor V, there was a storm of celebrations within the Republic. Even we Jedi Masters were pleased, as we hoped that now, maybe, Revan would return to us. But that was not to be.  Without warning, he, Malak and the others took a third of the fleet and disappeared into the depths of space. They said that they were searching for the last remnants of Mandalore’s fleet, but then all contact was lost. For months it was assumed that some great disaster had befallen their fleet. There were, during this time, scattered reports that Revan and Malak had been seen on a number of worlds around the Republic but these were never confirmed. We had begun to mourn for our lost brothers and sisters when they finally returned to us. And it was not in a manner that we expected. At all.

            Even during the Mandalorian Wars there had been rumors that the Sith were rebuilding after Exar Kun, but the reports from both Republic Intelligence and our own Knights suggested that it would be at least ten years before the Sith could have the military power to attack the Republic. And only a few months after the Mandalorian War had ended, the Destruction of Telos occurred. Revan and Malak had finally returned, but now they were Darth Revan, Dark Lord of the Sith, and Darth Malak, apprentice and right hand. The heroes of the Republic had become brutal, conquering Sith.

Revan’s forces began sweeping across the Outer Rim, which was still weak and lightly defended after the Mandalorian War. The Dark Lord also began sending out teams of Dark Jedi and Sith Masters to assassinate our Jedi brethren. The times are dark indeed, as the Jedi Order is once again brought to the brink. But there is a ray of hope. A young Jedi Padawan named Bastila Shan was discovered, shortly before the Mandalorian War ended, to posses the gift of Battle Meditation. With this gift, the Jedi Council knew that she would be a great asset to the Republic, and at grave risk of falling to the Dark Side. She is young and headstrong and proud, but she is also one of the best students we have trained since Revan and Malak. Even now she is on her way with a task force of Jedi Knights to attempt to capture Darth Revan himself. Hopefully if we can capture Revan alive we can find out where the Sith obtained their strange and seemingly limitless armada… and if it can be stopped.






 
 
 

A Long Time Ago, In A Galaxy Far, Far Away…



STAR
WARS

Knights of the Old Republic
Episode I
4,000 years before the rise of the Galactic Empire, the Republic verges on collapse. DARTH REVAN and DARTH MALAK, the new Dark Lords of the Sith have unleashed an invincible armada on an unsuspecting galaxy.

Crushing all resistance, Revan’s war of conquest has left the Jedi Order scattered, as countless Knights fall in battle and many more swear allegiance to the new Sith Masters.

In order to combat the Sith the Jedi High Council has sent BASTILA SHAN, a prodigy of the rare Jedi talent of Battle Meditation, and a team of Jedi Knights to set a trap for the Dark Lords. Unless they are stopped, they will snuff out the flame of peace and freedom in the galaxy…






Darth Revan, Dark Lord of the Sith, stared out through the Titan's forward view ports and fumed. His war had been going so smoothly and easily. The weakened Republic had stood no chance of offering any serious resistance so soon after the Mandalorian Wars. But then that had begun to change. The Republic fleets began winning battles, battles that should have been impossible to win, but as Revan had learned long ago that nothing was impossible when it came to the Force. So the Republic had begun to fight back and Revan sent out his spies and found out who was responsible. A young Jedi Padawan called Bastila Shan. Revan vaguely recalled having seen Bastila at the Jedi Enclave on Dantooine, but she had only been a little girl then. And she’s here now, Revan thought too himself, and it’s true what my spies reported. She has mastered the art of Battle Meditation, and she is only a Padawan! If she could be turned she would be the key to the destruction of the Republic…

Revan’s thoughts were interrupted as alarms sounded on the bridge. Captain Allston, Master of the Titan turned to him.
“Lord Revan the small craft we captured before the battle seems to have a crew after all. A crew hidden in shielded compartments.”
“Who is aboard?” asked the Dark Lord, his voice muffled by the mask he wore which made his voice unrecognizable as male or female unless one knew who was beneath the mask.
“A mixture of Army Commandos and Jedi Knights my Lord. And Bastila is with them.”
Revan gave an imperceptible nod and the Honor Guard of Sith Dark Jedi moved to guard the door to her bridge.
“This will work to my advantage Captain. I will either have the young Bastila as my servant, or she shall be destroyed by the power of the Dark Side. Inform the Leviathan and my apprentice to continue the attack. Wipe the Republic fleet out. I will deal with our guests.”
“Yes My Lord.”

Darth Malak, apprentice to Darth Revan stood on the bridge of the Leviathan and looked out the view port the clash of Republic and Sith ships. This battle had begun when the two Sith Flagships had intercepted a Jedi transport. It had been taken aboard the Titan and had apparently been empty. As soon as they had taken it aboard, a Republic fleet came out of hyperspace and ambushed them. Now it turned out the transport had indeed been manned. Admiral Karath had just informed him of Revan’s orders, but he had not yet carried them out. He stared at the Titan as it engaged three Republic capital ships simultaneously. He ran his large hand of the metal prosthesis that covered his entire lower jaw and ears. He remembered well when he had received the prosthetic. It had been during that final battle above Malachor V. A mandalorian guarding his leader Mandalore had gotten a hold of a lightsaber. Malak had underestimated the warrior and had had his jaw removed for his foolishness. He had begun to truly hate the mandalorians then, which had only quickened his descent to the Dark Side. Now he stared at his Master’s ship and contemplated betrayal.
You were the one who taught me the only the strongest of we Sith must rule Revan. You know that I will challenge you for supremacy… but to attack now while he is occupied with the Battle Meditation brat? When Sith have always faced each other in single combat, Master versus Apprentice? What should I do? The former Jedi continued to stare out at his Master’s ship, and then quietly came to a decision. Goodbye Revan. You were a good friend and a good Master. But only the strongest and most cunning can rule the Sith. Goodbye. And he ordered the Leviathan and the other ships under his command to target the Titan.

Bastila was tired, sweaty, and ached all over, but her job wasn’t done yet. They had managed to board the Titan and were finally only a few feet away from the blast door to the bridge. She could feel the vortex of darkness that was Revan just ahead and knew that her time to face the Dark Lord had come. When she and her comrades had started their mad dash towards the bridge, there had been two-dozen of them, a dozen Jedi, ranging from padawans to Masters, and a dozen crack Republic Commandos. Now only three other Jedi and four commandos accompanied her. The elite Sith troops and Sith Masters and Dark Jedi aboard had waged a fierce battle against the strike team, but the Jedi had prevailed.
Reaching the blast door, the Jedi plunged yellow, green, purple, and blue lightsabers into it and quickly created a hole. The commandos tossed in a couple of thermal detonators and charged onto the bridge on the heel of the deadly explosions, blaster rifles blazing. The Jedi followed and were met by four crimson lightsaber blades being wielded by four hooded and half-masked Dark Jedi.
“The Force fights with us!” cried Bastila as she charged one of the Dark Jedi. She could see the Dark Lord standing at the apex of the bridge and she would be damned if she had come all this way to capture Revan, to fail now. The battle was joined and no quarter was given.
As the Jedi battled their Sith counterparts, the Commandos started firing on the guards and the bridge officers. In the confusion no one noticed that the Leviathan was moving into position to attack. The Sith Masters were well trained, charged with the defense of their Dark Lord. But the Jedi were not about to back down, so close to their objective. Sabers clashed and the opponents twisted, juked, and flipped around each other in a dazzling display. Bastila was in the middle of it, dueling fiercely with her opponent. She moved with a fluid grace and her lightsaber swung in a constant arc as she blocked and parried. Finally she saw an opening and took it. Slashing her saber across the Sith’s wrist caused him to drop his saber. Bastila drew back her yellow blade and struck. With a dull thud, the corpse of the Sith collapsed to the deck. Bastila looked up and saw the Dark Lady standing before her only a few feet away, choking the life out of one of the red and yellow-clad Commandos. The young padawan was dismayed to see that the all of the Commandos had died fighting and it was only the Jedi left now. With a gesture, Revan tossed the now dead Republic soldier aside and faced her opponent. With a snap-hiss his red lightsaber ignited while tendrils of electricity arced and curled around his free hand. Bastila swallowed her fear as she approached the Sith Lord.
“You cannot win Revan!” she boldly claimed, raising her lightsaber. The other three Jedi rushed forward, having dispatched their own opponents. Revan snorted and flourished his lightsaber, ready for the attack.
“If you truly think that you four Jedi can beat me, then by all means,” said Revan as the dark side filled the bridge like a chocking pall, “come and get me now girl.”
Bastila was just about to charge at the Sith Lord when the Force warned her to jump back, not forward. It was well that she heeded the Force for at that very moment, the world exploded.

Revan had welcomed the chance to face Bastila in combat. He knew that the young Jedi could be a powerful ally in his war against the decrepit Republic. He would’ve struck fast, eliminating the other Jedi and then confronted Bastila, and tried to turn her or destroy her if that didn’t work. But that plan, that wonderful plan was interrupted as he was betrayed from afar. He felt the warning through the Force a split second before it happened. And he knew exactly what had happened as well. Malak had betrayed him, taking his opportunity to seize the mantle of Dark Lord of the Sith. And the cowardly scum had not even tried to face him in combat! The turbolaser blast struck just below the bridge and Revan’s world went white, then black. As the darkness began to close around, Darth Revan’s last conscious thoughts were, I cannot die like this! And he was right. He wouldn’t die. At least not completely.

Bastila shook her head to clear out the dizziness and cloudiness that had enveloped her when the bridge had been hit. She looked across the smoking, ruined bridge as her vision came back into focus. She probably only had limited time before whoever had fired on the Titan did so again. What Bastila saw wasn’t good. Her Jedi companion had been killed in the blast and… and so had Revan! Bastila scrambled over to the apparent corpse of the Sith Lord. Stretching out with the Force, Bastila was shocked to discover that Revan was not dead. There still burned a flicker of life in the man. The ship began to rumble from more turbolaser blasts. Thoughts began to conflict within Bastila’s mind. She had been sent here to capture the Dark Lord, but now he was all but dead. Life still burned within his body, but Bastila could not sense Revan’s mind. Bastila glanced at her lightsaber. With one stroke she would be forever hailed as the vanquisher of Revan, a hero to the entire Republic. She shook her head again to clear it of those images; they were of the dark side and not worthy of a Jedi. Bastila would fulfill her duty and bring whatever remained of Revan back. Letting the Force flow through her, Bastila then began to let it flow into Revan’s broken body. She began using her own life force to sustain the Dark Lord. Suddenly she was assaulted by a swirl of images, memories from Revan. Overwhelmed Bastila collapsed backward onto the deck, as the ship jolted violently. From behind her the entrance to the bridge groaned open and a pair of Jedi rushed in. The older of the pair immediately knelt by Bastila and propped her head up. Her eyes fluttered open and she struggled to speak through wheezing breaths.
“Get Revan and I back to the ship Master Jinn,” she panted, cold sweat trickling down her face, “Revan… we can still save him…” Bastila lost consciousness. Jedi Master Quan-Chi Jinn didn’t have time to debate as Bastila had over whether the Dark Lord of the Sith could or should be saved.
“Padawan, take Bastila here. Let’s get off this ship before it is destroyed, And us along with it,” commanded the older Jedi. As his padawan scooped up Bastila, Master Jinn lifted the still form of Revan and was shocked to find himself staring into the face of a handsome young man, eyes half-closed, who looked to be only in his late twenties. Bastila must’ve removed the mask, but Master Jinn had no time to worry about that now. They raced out of the bridge as deep, sub-sonic booms from within the ship told them that she was starting to explode.
“No time to get to the ship! Into this escape pod!” cried out Master Jinn. The two Jedi stuffed their companions inside and then climbed in themselves. Jinn’s padawan barely had time to hit the eject button before the Titan began to consume itself in a raging fireball. As the lone escape pod shot towards the retreating Republic fleet, the once grand flagship of the Sith fleet blew itself out of existence. Onboard the escape pod; even though she was unconscious, Bastila was still getting intermittent flashes from Revan. A bond had been forged between them, and only time would tell what that would mean for the galaxy…

Sunday, April 24, 2011

Bonus Chapter for Gundam Meister Grace


 Just so everyone is clear, this chapter is just a little idea I've had floating in my head since I watched Gundam 00 again. It is NOT canon to the actual story. Maybe.  :)

BONUS CHAPTER
My Kind of Girl

Feldt rounded the corner of the corridor and saw the other Meisters and miss Sumeragi gathered near one of the airlocks, greeting those strange new Meisters. They had just taken off their helmets and we’re introducing themselves. There was a tall, olive-skinned young man with dark green hair, a much more wild-looking young man with fairer skin and blue hair and a curvaceous red-headed girl.
“Hey! Which one of you is the Angelas’ pilot?” asked the girl, golden eyes darting between the four male Meisters.
“Is it you?” she asked Tieria, who snorted in annoyance.
“No, you’re quite wrong,” he said.
Feldt wasn’t at all sure why the girl wanted to meet her but she floated forward in the light gravity so that she could stand beside her fellow Meisters and bow towards the girl.
“I am Gundam Angelas’ Meister, Feldt Grace. Pleased to meet you.”
“Oh! So you’re the one!” exclaimed the girl, “The stupid, reckless Meister!”
Feldt was a little put off by that comment as well as the girl vaulting forward and stopping herself by grabbing hold of Feldt’s shoulders so that the two girls were uncomfortably close together, at least for Feldt’s liking.
“I wasn’t expecting you to be a girl! But I think we can still make it work between us.” And then, without any warning, the redhead leaned forward and kissed Feldt full on the lips.
There was a silence that could have lasted just a second or maybe an hour as the others, including the girl’s brothers stared at the two females in shock. Then all hell broke loose. Feldt shoved the girl away, causing her to fly backwards in the low gravity and impact with her taller brother.
“Get away from me!” snarled Feldt, the first any of the Ptolamaios crew had heard her raise her voice. The girl’s blue-haired brother didn’t take to this too well and actually pulled out a vibro-knife.
“Hey you little bitch, what’re ya pushing around my sister for?!”
“You’re sister started it,” said Lockon, jumping to Feldt’s defense.
“Screw you pretty boy! You wanna start something?!” snarled the blue-hair.
“Michael!” said his brother in a commanding voice, clearly telling him to knock it off.
For Feldt’s part, things were a little hazy at the moment. She didn’t even notice it when orange Haro floated in to talk with the purple Haro the new Meisters had brought. That girl… she kissed me! She… kissed me.
Suddenly everyone was floating by her, including those new Meisters. The tall one didn’t acknowledge her but the other brother just snarled at her. What really got to her was when the redhead floated past, grinning broadly and winking at her. As soon as the girl was around the corner, Feldt choked back a sob and ran/floated in the opposite direction.
“Oy, Feldt!” called Lockon after her but she was already around another corner. Turning to Setsuna, Lockon said, “Setsuna, would you mind going after Feldt and seeing if she’s okay? I’d do it myself but I need to talk to these guys.”
“Should I bring her to the meeting?” asked the solemn Middle-Eastern Meister.
“No, just make sure she’s okay.”
“Roger.”

Setsuna found her a few minutes later in one of the observation galleries. Globular teardrops surrounded her, glinting with light from the distant sun. Setsuna carefully floated over to her.
“Feldt Grace, why are you crying?” It was as tactful as Setsuna could ever hope to get. Fortunately for him, Feldt wasn’t the type to snap at him. She wiped her eyes and smiled softly at him.
“I’m fine, I just needed a minute. It’s just that… that was my first kiss. It wasn’t anything like I’d imagined.”
Setsuna continued to look at her. She knew he wasn’t much for words and figured that it was his way of asking her to elaborate.
“Christina told me that a first kiss should be a memorable moment. But I’m not… I don’t like girls that way Setsuna!”
“It was wrong of her to do that to you.” He said simply, but coming from Setsuna, it was like a blistering retort. She smiled at him and put a hand lightly on his shoulder.
“Thank you Setsuna. You’re a good partner… and friend,” she said. He nodded at her in acknowledgement and they stayed there for a moment, looking into each other’s eyes. He didn’t quite seem what to make of their current situation. Suddenly Feldt seemed to realize what they were doing and started slightly.
“We should go find the others,” she said. He grunted in acknowledgement and turned to head out the door. They floated in companionable silence as they made their way to the conference room where Sumeragi and the others were.
“Those Meisters…” Setsuna said suddenly, “There’s something about them that I don’t trust.”
“Mamma and Papa didn’t tell me about any Gundams that look like the ones that they were piloting,” replied Feldt. Setsuna glanced at her quizzically and said, “You’re parents knew about Gundam?”
“Oh! I’m sorry, you don’t know. My parents were second-generation Gundam Meisters.”
Setsuna blinked in surprise at Feldt, suddenly finding in him a new level of respect for his younger comrade. Feldt in turn was wondering what had made her decide to suddenly make Setsuna F. Seiei the second person she’d ever told about her parents.

Since one reviewer asked for the specs to the Gundam Angelas, here they are.


27. The Gundam Angelas (2010)
GN-006 Gundam Angelas
Height: 18.1 meters
Armor: E-Carbon/GN Composite Armor
Colors: red and white with gold trim
Primary Weapon: GN Double Beam Sword x1
Secondary Weapon: GN beam Vulcan x2, mounted on upper right forearm; GN Shied x1, mounted on left arm; GN beam short saber, mounted under shield; GN beam shurikens x6, mounted on hips
Alternate Weapon(s): You'll see
Special Abilities: GN Drive, TRANS-AM System, Optical Camouflage
Pilot(s):  Feldt Grace
Notes: The Gundam Angelas comes from an alternate timeline story in which Feldt Grace, originally one of the crew of the Ptolamaios, becomes a Gundam Meister for Celestial Being.
The Angelas was designed to be a close-combat model like the GN-001 Gundam Exia. With its double beam sword and feminine design, it almost dances across the battlefield under the control of its pilot. Although Feldt was unsure in battle at first, she became, under the tutelage of Lockon Stratos and Allelujah Haptism, an excellent pilot. The discovery of the GN-Drive’s Trans-Am system also helped add an edge.
The Angelas was first deployed in 2307 at the demonstration of the AEU’s new Enact mobile suit. Feldt and the Angelas then followed her comrades on many other missions, culminating in Operation: Fallen Angels, in which the Gundam Meisters and the Ptolamaios were defeated.

Gundam Meister Grace


1: Gundams Rising

She sat in the cockpit of the Gundam, calmly watching the indicators as her suit fell through the atmosphere.

“First phase complete. Proceeding with second phase,” she said. Her hands tightened on the controls. This was it. Her first real battle, no more simulations, no more tests. She glanced down at the control boards where an old photograph was stuck next to the readouts. Most people saved everything to their computers and displayed photos in holo these days. She had been given this one by her parents. It showed her mother and father, arm in arm, standing next to what she guessed was the leg of some kind of mobile suit.
Slowly, she reached over and touched the photo lightly. A beeping from her console caused her to look up. A cluster of clouds parted on the screens, revealing her destination. A huge tower that soared from its mighty base, a few miles below, stretching into the sky for as far as she could see. The Africa Orbital Tower, part of the Solar Energy System. Mankind’s solution to the rapidly evolving energy crisis that had developed as the fossil fuels began to disappear. It had taken over 100 years to build this tower and it was even now still incomplete, but operational.
Her scanners beeped, locking onto the signal she had been sent here to rendezvous with. She glanced to the side and saw flashes of blue and pink light.

“Exia located. Phase 2: Start.”

Beams of pink light stabbed up from near the base of the tower and several explosions blossomed around the source of the flashes. She shoved the throttles forward and her mobile suit hurtled forward. She could clearly see her opponents now, AEU Hellion MS.
She glanced one more time at the picture of her parents and focused once more on the battle before her. One of the Mobile Suits had just turned to see her suit and raised its linear rifle.

“Eliminating the targets,” she said, thumbing a button on the control sticks. From the hellion pilot’s view, he saw a white and red mobile suit that looked like the first one they had intercepted, hurtling at him. He tried to lock on with his rifle but the mystery suit pulled out a beam saber that ignited at both ends! With a deft swipe, Feldt cleaved the Hellion clean in two and then fired her beam vulcans at another. A third Hellion tried to get the drop on her but in doing so he’d forgotten about his first opponent. An almost ridiculously large sword pierced the suit through the middle, causing it to detonate. The light of the explosion bathed her suit in a red-orange glow, highlighting the word GUNDAM stamped under the crest of her mobile suit, the Gundam Angelas.

“This phase is complete,” crackled Lockon’s voice from the Gundam Dynames below them, “Let’s get out of here.”

“Roger,” she replied and heard the pilot of the other Gundam, the Exia, reply.

The two of them flew off into the sky.

*****

            Hours later, on the uncharted island, hiding the docking containers for their Gundams, the three pilots had gathered in the cabin of the Exia’s container. Lockon was very pleased with how the operation had gone.

“And Tieria and Allelujah?” asked Setsuna F. Seiei, the pilot of the Exia.

“Theirs went off without a hitch. The Pillar of Heaven station won’t be blowing up anytime soon.” Said Lockon, with a grin. She looked over at them from where she had been working on the computer with Haro, the orange, ball-shaped robot that assisted Lockon in his Gundam.

“The announcement is being made,” she said as she switched on of the monitors. It showed an image of a female newscaster but almost immediately switched over to the image of an immaculately dressed old man, bald but with a precisely trimmed brown beard and, most unusual of all, a monocle on his right eye.

“I will now deliver a message to the many people of the world,” he said, “We are Celestial Being. We are a private armed organization, which employ the mobile weapons, the Gundams. The purpose for which we, Celestial Being, exist is...to end all warfare on this planet.
We do not seek to fight for personal gain. In order to eliminate the strife of war on people's hearts, we stand. As I am doing presently, we shall announce our intentions to all mankind. Domination, religion, energy, no matter what your justification may be...we will go to any battle and quell it. In this way we hope to reform the world. No matter if it is a country, organization or company. If they support war, they will come to know us all too well. We are Celestial Being. We exist for the purpose of ending war, as a private military...”

“This’ll get people’s attention for sure,” Lockon chuckled.

“Isn’t that Aeolia Schenberg, Celestial Being’s founder?” she asked.

“Sure is Feldt!” replied Lockon, regarding the youngest of Celestial Being’s Gundam pilots with that grin of his.

“’Course you realize-with this, we’ve just picked a fight with the entire world,” he added.

“That’s fine,” said Setsuna, rising to his feet and almost glaring at both of them, “We… Lockon Stratos, Feldt Grace, Setsuna F. Seiei… are Celestial Being’s Gundam Meisters.”

“Mother, Father…” Feldt thought to herself, “I hope I’m doing something you can be proud of me for.”