Gundam SEED. A world where Coordinators, born through genetic manipulation, and Naturals, humans born naturally, are at war. Honestly, I think both sides are just as bad as the other—the Naturals who succumb to their inferiority complex and envy the Coordinators, and the Coordinators who arrogantly look down on the Naturals. In the original story, aside from the eventually insane Blue Cosmos and the "it's fine if everyone except Coordinators dies" Patrick Zala, the leaders of both factions are beyond saving.
"Nicol, what are you doing? Get the machine up, quickly!"
From the two Gundams that had already stood up, a voice projected from the Duel's external speakers.
I see, so that one is Nicol. Which means the remaining unit is the Blitz.
"Yzak, look at that. Looks like Nicol got taken down by a Natural."
Dearka's voice came from the Buster. He was looking at Nicol, who was leaning against the trailer, trying to catch his breath after taking my punch to the solar plexus.
"What? …Tch, useless. Nicol, stay there for a moment. I'll call the ground troops."
Are these guys idiots? Do they think I'm just going to stand here and let them do that?
…No, Yzak and Dearka are particularly prejudiced against Naturals. I suppose it can't be helped.
But what should I do? Should I open the dimensional storage here and deploy a unit? …No, there are too many eyes here, and they are military personnel. I want to avoid exposing my abilities if possible. That rules out using the slimes, too. In that case…
My gaze landed on the Blitz, still lying on the trailer. If this follows the original story, it shouldn't have a decent OS installed yet. Considering how much trouble Murrue Ramius had moving the Strike, it will probably barely be able to toddle around. But even so, it's better than fighting the ZAFT soldiers infiltrating Heliopolis or a GINN with my bare hands. Fortunately, I have my cheat codes: Spirit Commands.
"Kuh, hah, hah…"
Nicol had finally caught his breath and was trying to aim his gun at me, but I'm not naive enough to wait for him. I closed the distance instantly, grabbed his wavering arm, and slammed him onto the ground with a shoulder throw.
"Guh-ah!"
"Nicol!?"
Listening to Yzak's shocked voice, I left Nicol on the ground, scrambled up the Blitz, and slid into the cockpit.
The lucky part was that both Yzak and Dearka were busy adjusting their own machines, so they couldn't interfere. Even I would take massive damage if I took a hit from an Igelstellung vulcan cannon in the flesh. If they had fired, I would have been forced to use a slime for defense.
I started up the Blitz. The front monitor lit up:
General
Unilateral
Neuro-Link
Dispersive
Autonomic
Maneuver
Synthesis System
It displayed the acronym. I see, so this is a Gundam.
"Dammit, Nicol! Pull back for now. We will retrieve that unit!"
Dearka shouted, but Yzak overruled him.
"Stop, Dearka. That machine is to be brought back to the Vesalius and handed to Commander Le Creuset. If we destroy it poorly while the OS hasn't even been properly adjusted yet, it'll be a stain on the reputation of the Redcoats."
"Tch… Fine. So we call the GINN infiltrating Heliopolis to retrieve it?"
"Yeah. …Nicol, get in!"
The Duel, seemingly finished with its OS adjustments, extended a hand. Nicol staggered over and collapsed onto its palm.
"You, in that machine. You have made an enemy of ZAFT. You understand that, don't you?"
Listening to Yzak's voice, I checked the cockpit layout. Compared to the Growsaber and Trinity Gain I ride, or the Landlion and Garlion I used in the Code Geass world, it felt quite archaic. However, there is no doubt this is the cutting edge of this world. I made a guess and flipped a switch; luckily, it turned out to be the external speaker.
"Who knows? I just fought back against someone who attacked me. It's self-defense, pure self-defense. …Besides, I don't think I made an enemy of ZAFT, but rather some petty thieves stealing other people's property. What do you think, as a thief yourself?"
"…You bastard! Remember this!"
Leaving those final words, the Duel and Buster departed Heliopolis.
I messed up. I went out of my way to provoke them. I didn't mean any harm by it, really… but it's too late to make excuses now. Besides, Yzak is going to be obsessed with Kira anyway, so he probably won't pay much attention to me.
"Whoa, here already!?"
The monitor, which I had barely managed to get working, displayed a GINN wielding a heavy assault machine gun. It was likely the unit Yzak and Dearka had contacted. The GINN pointed the muzzle of its machine gun toward me…
Damn, which one is the Phase Shift Armor switch!?
I randomly pressed switches in the cockpit. By a stroke of luck, I hit the right one to activate the PS Armor. The Blitz's color shifted from gray to black.
I wanted to do something about the OS, but unfortunately, I don't have skills in that department. I left almost all machine adjustments to Lemon, and now I'm paying the price in a place like this.
To make matters worse, most of the Blitz's armaments are concentrated in the Trikeros offense/defense system. The only other weapon is the Piercer Lock "Gleipnir" anchor on the left arm. And the worst part is, the current Blitz has neither equipped—they are both still loaded on the trailer. I am completely unarmed.
In short, I have to repel a GINN using a machine with an OS that barely allows it to toddle, and without any weapons. The only silver lining is that the PS Armor makes melee combat possible… but melee combat with this OS?
While I was thinking, bullets fired from the GINN's machine gun slammed into the Blitz's armor with loud clanging sounds.
"The Strike in the original story had Igelstellungs and Armor Schneiders! What is this impossible difficulty setting!?"
While grumbling, I managed to check the controls while monitoring the Blitz's behavior. It moved like a drunkard, but I slowly succeeded in controlling its unreliable movements. …That said, it was like a drunkard trying to adopt a combat stance while stumbling like a toddler.
Realizing the machine gun was ineffective, the GINN drew the sword equipped on its left hip—the Heavy Blade—and closed in.
"Kuh!"
I instinctively forced the Blitz to stumble, barely dodging the Heavy Blade as it swung down in a diagonal slash.
"Awake!"
Simultaneously, I used the Spirit Command Awake. A mysterious power welled up, granting me another action.
Thanks to the effect of Awake, I dodged the horizontal follow-up slash from the Heavy Blade. Using the centrifugal force from the stumble, I launched a backhand blow… or rather, a clumsy strike that resembled one, slamming it into the GINN's head.
Thanks to the PS Armor, the Blitz took no damage, but the fist, amplified by centrifugal force, succeeded in smashing the crest-like sensor array on the GINN's head.
However, that only seemed to anger the opponent further. The GINN readied its Heavy Blade again and unleashed a flurry of thrusts.
Wide swings are one thing, but thrusts are point attacks. Dodging continuous thrusts is extremely difficult. The tip of the blade struck the wavering Blitz's armor multiple times, but aside from dull clanging sounds, the machine took no damage.
However, if I stay exposed to attacks for too long, the energy will eventually drain, and the PS Armor will down. I have to do something before that happens.
Even though the thrusts are fast, they aren't on the level of Todo's Three-Stage Thrust, so there are openings. …There would be, provided the machine I'm piloting could move properly. In this staggering state, even that is difficult.
"Tch, again!?"
The GINN backed off for a moment but lunged in with the Heavy Blade again. Thrust, thrust, thrust. Dodge, block, block… Now!
Frustrated that its attacks were either dodged or doing zero damage, the GINN unleashed a thrust with all its might. Because it put everything into the attack, the opening was massive. I managed to dodge it by letting the machine stagger sideways in its drunken walk.
"Awake! Love!"
Using the Spirit Command Awake again, power welled up, allowing for another action. And with the activation of Love, multiple effects triggered at once.
"WOOOOOOOOAAAAAAHHHHHH!"
Dodging the thrust, and from my unstable posture, I fired the thrusters to full power. I drove the machine forward at full speed, thrusting its elbow straight toward the GINN's cockpit.
A crushing sound echoed, like an empty juice can being flattened by a car. The Blitz's right elbow, protected by PS Armor, had crushed the GINN's cockpit.
Just before impact, I heard a scream that sounded like 'Uwaaaah!' from the GINN's pilot over the contact channel. But considering he attacked me and got killed in the counterattack, I'd say he got exactly what he deserved.
Still, to take down a single GINN, I used Awake twice and Love once. …The SP consumption is no joke. Fortunately, thanks to the SP Regen effect included in SP Boost, I'm gradually recovering points even now. But this was just for one GINN. If the remaining ones come, I'm helpless. I really need to adjust the Blitz's OS to make it move properly, but I can't do that myself. …I have no choice but to rely on the Archangel. Kira is on that ship; surely I can get him to build an OS for the Blitz. At worst, I can just copy the Strike's OS.
The only—and biggest—problem is that I am a dimension traveler. Naturally, I have no family registry or ID in this C.E. world. …I guess I have to claim I'm a mercenary, just like in Code Geass. I don't know much about it, but there was a side story to Gundam SEED called Astray, and I'm pretty sure the protagonist was a mercenary. …Wait? Was he a Junk Tech? Well, regardless, the profession of mercenary definitely exists, so there shouldn't be a problem if I call myself one.
As I was thinking this, I suddenly heard the sound of explosions. Moving the Blitz's head toward the noise, I saw three Mobile Suits. One was the GINN that had been destroying the interior of Heliopolis. Another was the Aegis. And the last one was the Strike. The latter two were standing still, their armor still gray, indicating their PS Armor wasn't active yet.
Deciding that standing here like an idiot would lead to discovery and complications, I staggered the Blitz into the shadow of a building to hide and observe the Strike and Aegis.
Fortunately, Athrun was focused on Kira, and the GINN was focused on the Strike in front of it. Kira and Murrue seemed to be using all their concentration just to move the Strike, so they didn't notice me.
From there, events proceeded according to the original story. Staggering, moving just like my Blitz, the Strike activated its PS Armor. It blocked the Heavy Blade swung down by the leaping GINN with its arm, and almost simultaneously, the Aegis activated its PS Armor as well.
The Aegis destroyed a missile carrier vehicle with its Igelstellungs and escaped Heliopolis.
The Strike, with its unfinished OS, was battered by the GINN's attacks. However, it crouched to avoid a finishing thrust from the Heavy Blade and used the momentum to deliver a knee strike. From that point on, the Strike's movements changed. Just as in the story, Kira must have taken over the controls from Murrue.
It dodged the Heavy Blade and punched the GINN in the face with a fist protected by PS Armor. …We did the same thing, but unlike me, who barely inflicted damage, the Strike's fist sent the GINN flying, embedding it into a building.
The GINN stood up and aimed its machine gun at the Strike, but it had no effect on the PS Armor. The Strike fired its thrusters to dodge, then drove its Armor Schneiders into the GINN's right shoulder and neck.
In the next moment, the GINN's cockpit opened, and the pilot ejected. Almost immediately after, the GINN self-destructed and vanished.
…Watching this, I realize I was lucky to have destroyed my GINN by crushing the cockpit directly. At the very least, I've acquired a GINN—intact except for the cockpit block and head crest—along with its weapons.
Name: Axel Almer
LV: 35
PP: 490
Stats:
Melee: 246
Shooting: 264
Skill: 256
Defense: 253
Evasion: 281
Accuracy: 303
SP: 422
Ace Bonus: SP Boost (Consumes SP to upgrade slime performance)
Growth Type: Versatile/Special
Terrain Adaptation:
Air: S
Land: S
Sea: B
Space: S
Spirit Commands:
Accel (SP 4)
Gain (SP 8)
Focus (SP 16)
Direct Attack (SP 30)
Awake (SP 32)
Love (SP 48)
Skills:
EXP Up
SP Boost (SP Up Lv.9 & SP Regen & Concentration)
Telekinesis Lv.10
Attacker
Gunfight Lv.9
In-fight Lv.9
Break Will Limit
Geass (Gray)
???
???
???
???
???
Kill Count: 255
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