Gundam SEED Fan Fiction ❯ Mobile Suit Gundam SEED: Odyssey V ❯ Chance of Fate ( Chapter 1 )

"As an old Chinese `even a thousand day journey starts with the first step'. I like to think that, rather than just by a step, the journey starts with the decision to make that step in the first place. I can honestly say most adventures start off with a single decision, like jumping in a Gundam cockpit or agree to an assignment…”
-Kira Yamato

Phase 01: Chanceof Fate

And so it is that this story is told...

 

After finishing changing into his white and gray normal suit, he stepped back from the locker and slowly closed it. "Damn, this is going to be one boring day..."

 

A tiny tale of fate...

 

"How do you gather that?" the man two lockers down from him asked, closing his own locker after zipping up his own suit.

 

Of darkness...

And of war...

 

"It's just simple guard duty today. Escorting something to the mainland and all so that the bitch can profit off of it," the first fellow answered, taming his short black hair down in preparation to don his helmet.

 

But not of war between nations...

Or war between bitter rivals...

 

"Vance, give it a rest. It's better than the other jobs the boss gives out," the second fellow replied. "You should be so lucky."

 

But war between friends...

War that would destroy the body as well as the soul...

Unto darkness everlasting...

 

"Hey, would you stop reading that weird stuff, Ralma?" Vance shot over his shoulder, down the bench to a dark-blue-haired fellow reading a small book.

 

"Sorry, I was really getting into it," Ralma, the one addressed, replied with an innocent smile; his short bangs falling to the side of his head as the shoulder-length locks in the back dropped off his shoulders. As he raised his head, his brown eyes looking up at his fellow pilots.

 

"What are you reading anyway?" the second fellow asked, looking past Vance at Ralma.

 

Ralma closed the book on his index finger and showed it to them. "It's something called Nightline Horizon, it's a sci-fi adventure novel I picked up recently," he said, pointing to the cover where a strangely shaped giant robot wielded a rifle while standing in front of a dome fashioned in the "cyberpunk" genre-style.

 

"Oh, come on, those things are full of crazy crap on every page. Sure, Mobile Suits are real, but every story I've ever seen has robots that are actually living things or something," the second fellow replied, cynical.

 

"Then you probably aren't reading the good stuff. This one isn't about the robots, it's about the people," Ralma said, taking a peek back at the page he closed the book on with his finger.

 

"They also tend to either rub philosophical bull-crap, over-used religious references, or contrived political conspiracy in your face the whole time," the fellow added.

 

"Case in point," Ralma said with a smirk. "Again, this one is about people, their thoughts and their feelings...you know, interesting stuff for those of us sick of writers going over-the-top all the time by trying to be too complex or innovative with a plot," he added, placing a bookmark in the page and setting it on the bench beside him. "Sometimes the best stories are the ones you can easily read and relate to...after all, how often does someone get caught up in all the cheesy mess people put out? Just how realistic is it anyway?"

 

Although Vance didn't want to admit it, he knew Ralma had a point, as what would have seemed like fantasy no more than five or six years ago was now reality. "Not me, that's for sure," Vance chimed in with. "Sounds like a good read, can I see it when you're done?"

 

"Sure, man, just don't expect me to tell you anything about what happens before it happens," Ralma said with a smile to his old pal.

 

"Well, you two better hurry up and get to work. The boss gets upset when people dilly-dally," the unnamed fellow added, then quickly departed the room.

 

Vance nodded to Ralma. "He has a point; let's get to work....although I do this under protest."

 

"Why do you say that?" Ralma asked, standing up and slipping the book inside his normal suit into his pocket, for reading during the more than likely uneventful guard job. With that, he zipped up the front and fastened the collar.

 

"Ralma, as you may know, my rank far exceeds this mere....grunt work," Vance said, picking up his helmet. "What I need is something a little more....prestigious, then I can finally be recognized for my talents."

 

"Your rank means crap here, Van'," Ralma reminded his friend. "Remember, we're not even suppose to talk about it here..."

 

"I know, I know! But...God, it's so aggravating," Vance commented, biting his lip. "I could make colonel....general....even be let into the Inner Circle if I did something worthy of my ranking," Vance complained. "Ralma....could you do me a favor?"

 

"What is it?"

 

"Could you give up some of your standing to boost me a little?" Vance asked with a smile.

 

"I...don't know. I've only been with the organization a while and that's the little bit I have..."

 

"Please, buddy? I mean, come on....you're so insanely low right now, you'll never amount to anything," Vance asked nicely. Ralma looked up at him, a little hurt by the insinuation. Vance realized this and took a step back, realizing his mistake. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean it....that way. I'm just being realistic."

 

"Yeah, I know...I'll....think about it, okay? We'll see after this mess with this pirate chick is over with," Ralma answered.

 

"Fair enough. I really hope you can help me out, pal...we've been helping each other out ever since the war, after all," Vance pointed out with a smile. "We're war buds, right? Gotta stick together!" he added, patting his friend once on the side of his arm.

 

"We'll see....Vance," Ralma reiterated himself, then walked past him to the door with his helmet in hand.

 

Vance slowly turned and watched Ralma walk out, then shrugged and sighed. "You'll never cut it, man, you're good, but you're just too inferior..." he said in allegory.

Mobile Suit Gundam Seed: Odyssey V

A staggeringly original fanfiction
by Wing Zero Alpha

In contrast with Mobile Suit Gundam SEED: Odyssey R
by Cynical Swordmaster

The date was March 27, on the year 76 of the Cosmic Era. After the Bloody Valentine War between Earth Alliance Force and the PLANT's ZAFT organization, peace had been acquired as both sides had lost most of their military power. With the deaths of Azrael Mukata, Captain William Sutherland and many other of its top brass, the EAF lacked any strategic intelligence to fight against the colonies. And at the same time, the destruction of the Genesis cannon and the death of Patrick Zala had left ZAFT without a driving force to fight against the Earth. Still, it wasn't entirely peaceful.

Three years ago, few former-ZAFT members were still fighting the Earth Alliance under Patrick Zala's banner as the Zala Faction, had started up a crusade against the Earth, first by stealing nuclear technology that had been traded to PLANT by the Atlantic Federation President Joseph Copland. Through under-the-table negotiations with ZAFT commanders, the terrorists also managed to gain Flare Motor technology, allowing them to move a very large object. Specifically, the space colony of Junius 7. Their target was originally the Atlantic capital of Washington D.C., according to what the Earth was putting out, but in the end, a ZAFT taskforce under the command of Commander Yzak Juule managed to break Junius 7 to different pieces. Even so, the disaster couldn't be averted, and the shards fell onto Earth, destroying many areas such as Rome, Athens, the Gobi Desert, Quebec, Shanghai, Philadelphia and several others. Therefore, just as ZAFT had used Bloody Valentine as a martyr for the Colonial War, the EAF used that attack as a reason to restart a new war, the Junius War, in another attempt to wipe PLANT off the face of the universe, and ZAFT itself saw no reason not to oblige with a fight.

However, under the control of Chairman Gilbert Dullindal, ZAFT only fought a defensive war in space while focusing its offensive on the Earth front. With the drop of Junius Seven, the general economy on Earth had also dropped to an alarming level, and governments found themselves with little control over the masses, leaving countries to scramble to keep order. Larger nations like the Atlantic Federation and the Orb Union managed to weather these blows, but many of the Eurusian Republican nations and smaller countries had much trouble remaining stable, and either fragmented or just plain collapsed. Thus, ZAFT used the opportunity to `liberate' these nations and re-establish governments; all the while the said government remained grateful to PLANT for their efforts. This was essentially a move based on the United States of America's Iraqi War in the early twenty first century of AD, where the USA moved into the country of Iraq, deposed of its leadership and re-established a government in the Middle East without having to conquer a nation.

It was a good plan, but unfortunately for PLANT, it seemed the constants of the universe had other things in mind. The Earth Alliance eventually grew back in power over time and managed to regain general control, forcing a good portion of ZAFT of the Earth. This created a power vacuum in the territories ZAFT was forced to leave, and while the EAF managed to retake some of the territory, the rest diminished into lawless states. Even a number of regions in the Atlantic Federation and United States of South America had been lost during the chaos, with anything from small villages to entire cities turning into lawless zones that no amount of military force could suppress.

Essentially, the Earth was in a `Mad Max' state, where power ruled the land and overruled most of human morals. As such, outlaws roamed between the lands, whether be it Junk Guild techs, mercenaries, bandits and the most common, pirates.

Currently, It was one of the more beautiful evenings on Earth, as one would probably think. The sun was just setting in the western horizon off the coast of California, illuminating the sky in pink and yellow-ish colors one would only see around the Southwest. The time was around five o'clock in the Atlantic region of California and around Hawaii, but there was still much activity on the horizon. After all, there is no curfew for pirates.

”So let me get this straight…” a man said over the radio to the refitted Lesseps-class land battleship Rommel's bridge with a very cynical, yet mischievous sounding voice, all the while the Rommel's side launch bays began to open to reveal its mobile suits, “We're going to capture this convoy, take out anything belongs to le reine, but nothing like food and stuff?”

On the bridge, the Rommel's Captain Friedrich Cunningham groaned irritably, knowing that his mobile suit commander was only aggravating him because he had a hangover. His groan was so bad that a good portion of his bridge crew shivered, and his XO came over to his side, ready to take command when he fell. “For the last time, Vale, yes, we're leaving the food and medical supplies. They're for the citizens of California!” Friedrich roared into the comm.

Vale Hunter smirked from his end while his royal purple and black GAT-333 Raider Full Spec rolled out on the Rommel's port launch pad, which could be seen from the bridge. At the same time, five dark gray and blue GAT-04+AQM/E-M11 Jet Windams rolled out on their own pads, with two on the first starboard pad, one behind the Raider and one on either of the two back pads. “We're ready for launch. Just answer me one last question Freddy…”

”What now…?” Friedrich snarled as he took off his `Waffen-SS' officer cap and applied an ice pack to his bald head.

”Why did the Federation let some pirate bitch take over one of their major naval bases and move near their soil?”

This time, Friedrich wasn't the one that answered the question, but a green haired woman dressed in an EAF uniform, even possessing rank tabs that identified her as a space naval Lieutenant Commander, “It was bound to happen. Pearl Harbor was in the projected drop zone of Junius Seven, so the EAF evacuated it in case the thing actually fell intact. While Pearl Harbor wasn't destroyed in the drop, the Atlantic Federation concentrated most of its effort into fighting ZAFT, so they never reoccupied it…”

Friedrich took over from there, “To make Lyn's story short Vale, the base had enough resources to attract Porsche, after she moved her operations from outer space. Just concentrate on destroying the mobile suits.”

”Fine by me…” Vale said, as he started to position his Raider for take off.

”One last thing.” Lynsie `Lyn' Schneider stepped back in, just catching Vale before he took off, “Try not to do too much damage to the ships…”

Vale arched an eyebrow, “Why? The Vultures are just going to pick them clean anyway, and then you'll have us sink them as usual…”

”It might not matter much to you, but try to leave it intact. They're worth extra money, even as salvage.” Lyn said.

Vale shrugged, “Alright, I understand.” The Raider started to warm its thrusters, “Vale Hunter, Raider Full Spec taking off.” With that, the Raider took off, followed by the five Jet Windams which flew in a Flying-V formation just behind. Vale then transformed the Raider into its fighter mode, and increased speed toward the island of Maui. It was just going to be a usual raid for the Gray Wolf pirates…

 

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The storage bay of the Antares opened and revealed two Wild Daggers, both painted in black and purple colors much like special forces operated mobile suits. One had a single shield insignia in the middle torso of his mobile suit with several lines going up and down the shield, to which some considered to be the Sephiroth tree, while the other didn't possess a logo for some reason. After some time, the Wild Daggers jumped out onto the main deck, transforming into their quadruped modes, arming their weapons. Even though no pirate groups monitored this area, there was still some danger. Since Porsche had only recently moved to Earth, there were several groups out here that wanted her head and her cargo, thus the risk of a surprise attack was always present. And to top it all off, there was always the risk of the Atlantic Federation force, so one could not be too careful. Especially with a pair of dark colored guard dog-like mobile suits.

"Get this: they call it a 'double royale with cheese'," Vance mused, arms folded.

 

"You serious? Eurasia is weird, man..." Ralma replied.

 

"Yeah, seems Eurusia and the rest of the world has gone nuts ever since Copland screwed things up Ralma," Vance replied, shrugging as if they were conversing right in front of one another.

 

Ralma turned another page in his book. "You blame him for everything?"

 

"Yeah, why not? It's his fault; after all, he started the whole mess."

 

"Care to explain?"

 

Vance sighed, twitching in irritation. "I'd rather not. I haven't thought it through enough."

 

"Then quit bitching. Sheesh, at least have a leg to stand on before you go accusing people," Ralma replied in a monotone. One of the few things he faulted Vance on was his penchant for rambling and ranting, then never backing it up.

 

Vance leaned forward, containing his frustration. One of the few things HE faulted RALMA on was his penchant for not giving a crap about anything. He immediately dropped the subject when he saw shapes on the horizon and his radar picking up targets. "Damn, we have company."

 

"What? All the way out here!?" Ralma asked in disbelief, a panicked look on his face. He dropped the book from the front of his helmet and looked at his controls. Indeed, something was coming straight at them. "They said no other pirates monitored this shipping lane!"

 

"Seems 'madam' Porsche's information was off, then," Vance replied, cutting his Wild Dagger on out of standby mode. The Mobile Suit sprung to life, taking a step back and activating the twin beam cannons on its back turret assembly.

 

Ralma slowly shook his head; he wasn't looking forward to a fight today seeing as he was enjoying his book so much. He put it back inside his pocket, luckily it was thin and unnoticeable through the skin-tight normal suit, and zipped his suit back up. After he did this, the Wild Dagger powered up and activated its own turret assembly, which also had the twin beam cannons.

 

"Five Windams, a Raider and a Lesseps-class battleship...damn it," Vance cursed to himself. "The suits are closing in, get ready!" Just as he said this, a beeping noise sounded from their respective consoles and six blips moved upon them, then separated into three groups of two, with each group going after a ship. The two blips in the middle zoomed by the Antares, creating two wakes on each side of the ship that rocked it intensely from side to side. As a result, the ship suddenly stopped, cut its engines, and dropped anchor. "What the..?" Vance asked, confused, as he fired his M703K beam carbine at the targets.

 

"Must be a weather-detection flaw in the computer, it thinks the seas are too rough to keep going, so it dropped anchor. Cunning bastards, aren't they?" Ralma answered as he turned the Wild Dagger around to see the two assailants loop back around. One went around in a wide arc while one came from overhead, creating an interesting attack formation. "Don't worry; it'll cut back on when the water calms down some." He took a shot with his beam cannons at the one coming at a wide arc, but the enemy pilot dodged his beam shots with great efficiency.

 

"I sure hope so, for our sake, we're sitting ducks now and-...damn!" Vance replied, then cursed as the unit attacking from overhead zipped by, spraying the deck of the ship with machine gun fire. Both Wild Daggers transformed into their MS modes: Ralma dove to the stern while Vance dove to the bow, both avoiding the machine guns with minimal damage sustained. They both shot back with beam shot after beam shot, forcing it to pull up and move away.

Just then, the unit that flew to the side swooped overhead of both of them, swinging a lit beam saber in an attempt to finish the two war pals off. Just then, Ralma's Wild Dagger rolled to the side across the deck, narrowly missing a surgical cut to the cockpit, and getting back on its feet. It placed the beam carbine on its right hip recharge rack and withdrew a beam saber itself, dashing back at the enemy, both energy blades clashing in the middle of the deck.

 

"Tch, not bad," a female voice said from the enemy unit over the broadband signal. Ralma searched his brain for a moment and recognized the unit type: a basic Windam, painted dark gray and navy blue, sporting a `02' on its right shoulder, the insignia of a gray wolf head on its center torso and a golden clef on the left shoulder. "…not good enough, though." With that, the Windam backed away and spun around in a roundhouse kick, smacking Ralma's Wild Dagger to its side. Before the Windam could take another stab at him, the Wild Dagger twirled its legs and leapt back to its feet in a fancy martial arts move. "Oh? You want to get fancy now?"

 

"I don't do 'fancy', this is just natural skill, lady," Ralma replied, smirking. His Wild Dagger cocked its head to each side in a "neck cracking" motion, just for intimidation's sake.

 

"..Keep talking. When you're dead, you won't have much more to gloat about, now will you?" the female in the Windam answered. "Don't tantalize, hun', show me what you got," she asked, discharging the flight pack on her suit to drop on the deck below, then holding the beam saber in an odd fashion: arm fully extended down, blade up, and the opposite hand on the hip of the suit.

 

"A fencing stance?" Ralma asked himself, then slowly smirked. With that, he took the beam saber in both hands, holding it slightly to the side and taking a step back; it was a more Eastern style, reminiscent of a samurai ready to strike.

 

While this was going on, the unit that flew overhead swooped back around and had rushed Vance and his own Wild Dagger again. Vance easily evaded and caught a good glimpse of the Raider Full Spec, seeing its purple, black and gold colors shine from the light from the setting sun. "Where the hell did pirates get something like that?" Vance asked himself, steeling his nerves as the Raider flew overhead again. He caught sight of a skull and crossbones “Jolly Roger” insignia on its left shoulder, but he couldn't make out much detail.

 

"It's a long story. If you give up, I'll tell it to you." the Raider pilot chimed, as he gained a missile lock on the Wild Dagger.

 

"Just making passes at me won't help to make up my mind," Vance half-taunted, half-shouted, leaping at the Raider with beam saber ready to strike. However, the enemy pilot was intending this, as he fired the two AIM-957F King Cobra missiles that were at either side of the Raider. Vance reversed his thrust and fired his four "Todesschrecken" 12.5mm CIWS at the missiles, destroying both of them in a short burst. Just then, he was stopped in midair by the Raider transforming and grabbing the Wild Dagger by the throat, both landing on the deck of the ship safely.

 

"You could have just said please." the Raider pilot chimed again, a smirk detected by his coy tone. The Raider took out one of its 52mm machine gun pod, and put it to the Strike Dagger's stomach area. "Care to bail out, or do I have to blast you out?"

 

"Neither," Vance simply replied with, reaching up and jamming the beam saber in the shoulder of the Raider, almost cutting at the head. Seeing itself damaged, the Raider dropped the Wild Dagger before it could do anymore harm.

 

"Ha! You think that'll stop me?" the Raider pilot laughed condescendingly. He then swung the foot of his suit up, punting Vance across the deck. "I've dealt with whelps ten times worst than you," he added, raising the machine gun pod and firing several bursts at the Wild Dagger, tearing up the deck of the ship as his target scrambled to its feet and around the firing arc, returning fire with the "Todesschrecken".

 

"Lupus One, I thought I said not to damage the vessel!" a new voice added into the conversation; it was female and rather strict. "Just dispose of the guards, already!"

 

"Ah man. Can't I have some fun once in a while with the cannon fodder?" the Raider pilot asked in mock dismay. The woman had given Vance an opening while the Raider stopped to be reprimanded; so Vance, running at the Raider slightly hunched over, swung back its beam saber and-

 

....There was only a flash.

 

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At the other end of the deck, Ralma's Wild Dagger and the opposing Windam were having a fast and heated blade battle, two unique styles clashing and mixing it up with one another. The Windam stabbed forward, causing Ralma to step to the side and swing wide and in turn the Windam tumbled back and dashed through the opening; Ralma then ducked, sending the Windam over his suit, and then tried to impale it. The Windam rolled to the side and swung its legs around, trying to trip the Wild Dagger, but Ralma jumped over it and attempted a helmet-splitting downward strike, only managing to cut down between the open legs of the Windam and split the wood of the deck wide open.

 

Ralma whistled. "Wow, that would have been one hell of a panty shot if we were doing this one-on-one, babe," he said, eyebrows arching and a wide smile on his face.

 

The woman in the Windam growled, probably blushing from the sound of it, and rolled backwards back on to her feet. "This is getting old, pal."

 

"Don't worry, I'm going to finish this right now," Ralma said, the Wild Dagger lowering its blade with both hands, one foot behind the other. It stood there, frozen in stance, waiting for the opponent.

 

The woman in the Windam was surprised; it wasn't often people were so bold with her. She smiled, and then leapt forward; parry, parry, thrust, thrust, it'd all be over...but it wasn't. In a split second, the Windam had impaled the Wild Dagger through the right chestplate, causing significant damage to the interior; however, at the same time, with the blink of an eye, the Windam had been cut three times across the chest resulting in sparking and fizzling fissures, there was a severe gash in the right leg, and the Wild Dagger's blade was now being held at full extension so close it was creating a singe in the metal on the right side of the helmet. Realizing how lightning-fast the counterattack was, the woman shuddered and stepped back, seeing how close her Mobile Suit was to having being disabled three times over.

 

"'Soyokaze no Houfuku'...literally, 'Gentle Breeze of Retribution', one of the best moves from my sword school, 'hun'," Ralma replied, condescendingly. "At the cost of taking an attack, you reply with several attacks while their guard is at its weakest. I should have warned you not to go against the calm breeze...it usually predicts an oncoming storm." Just then, the Wild Dagger raised its head to the sky, creating a dramatic twinkling glare off the right of the eye visor, the two head cameras flaring behind.

 

"What a moron," the woman replied, sighing; it may have been the sea spray coming up from the side of the boat, but a small drop of water could be seen going down the side of the Windam's head.

 

A length of a boat away, Vance's attack was easily warded off when the Raider's machine gun pod was used to knock the Wild Dagger away; but it didn't get away without first causing a cut in the right leg area of the Raider. The leg mechanisms were slightly damaged, causing it to hobble a little. "Ooooh! That tickles..." the Raider pilot laughed sinisterly, sounding more like a certain RPG boss than a mobile suit pilot.

 

"Bring it!" Vance shouted in reply, but then realized a new plan. They were going after the ship, right? Then all he had to do was...

 

The Wild Dagger looked to a hole in the deck and dove in, firing back at the Raider with its CIWS. "Trench warfare on a ship? This gets better and better…” the Raider pilot grinned, amusingly running up to the hole. It reached to grab the Wild Dagger out of the hole and strangle it to death or something, but Vance leapt out, beam saber drawn. Trouble was, for some reason, the Raider pilot figured he was going to pull that move, so he added to it, jumping back and transforming back into the Raider's fighter mode. Like a bird of prey, he swooped, grabbed the Wild Dagger with its vice claws, pumping bursts of 20mm rounds from the machine guns in the claws, and then 'tossing' it into the ship's bridge. Unfortunately, with the bridge destroyed, combined with the damage done with Vance's saber attack, the Antares began to tilt without anyone noticing.

"Again?" the Raider pilot asked, challenging.

 

"It's going to take more than that to kill me! Punks like you need to be taught a lesson!" Vance yelled back, his Wild Dagger leaping back on the deck, saber armed.

 

"Oh, be my guest. I'm a persistent son of a bitch..." the Raider pilot began to announce before a loud creaking sound interrupted him.

 

All four combatants were startled when their viewpoints suddenly shifted to one side, seeing more of the ocean than sky. The ship was capsizing, water gushing into the hull from all the bullet holes the Raider accidentally shot in it. Plus, thanks to the Windam and second Wild Dagger, the stern was taking on more water thanks to their constant knocking of each other to the deck. The bow was slowly going up and the four combatants were slipping back, down towards the water.

 

"Good job, Vale, bravo," the Windam pilot said with intense irritation. "Wonder how much this will set us back?"

 

"Shut up, Lupus Two, and use codenames in the field. You didn't exactly help matters either." the Raider pilot immediately shot back. With that, the Raider looked down the deck and fired upon the Wild Daggers with its machine gun pods, knocking them off balance and toppling into the sea. While Vance's Wild Dagger slid down until it caught a break in the deck, Ralma's Wild Dagger suddenly transformed and skid to a stop on all fours, returning fire with the large 46mm Gatling gun on the "nose". Just then, the Raider transformed and began to fly off, the damaged Windam grabbing on to its right claw to bum a flight back, since the Jet Striker pack had already slid into the water.

 

Frustrated, Ralma threw the throttle all the way forward and the Wild Dagger ran up the slowly inclining ship, using it as a ramp to attack the Raider and Windam. In midair, it let out a barrage from its 46mm gatling gun riddled rounds across the Raider's back, bypassing its Trans-Phase armor and causing explosions off of its verniers. It still managed to stay in the air, so the Wild Dagger then switched back to humanoid mode and quickly drew a beam saber to cut them down with.

 

"Rommel to Lupus One, twenty degree bank to the right, now!" the strict female from before said, causing the addressed mobile suit to veer off away from the attack. It turned away as the pirates' ship itself entered the melee and fired upon the midair Wild Dagger. “Igelstellung, fire!” came a gruffer, masculine voice. A hail of anti-mobile-suit machine gun fire came from the large Lesseps-class that had deployed the two suits, which was just now arriving on the battlefield. The Wild Dagger twitched and smoked as it took several rounds, the bottom half exploding off at the abdomen and the entire wrecked machine fell into the ocean below, flaming.

 

"Ralma! No!" Vance cried out, his own Wild Dagger watching from what remained floating of the cargo ship. "Ralma! Ralma! Come on, man, answer me!"

 

"… Come on! Fly!" the Raider pilot struggled to keep his machine in the air. The flight-type mobile suit was in real bad shape thanks to that gatling gun barrage, and it was nothing short of crack piloting skills and a miracle that it managed to remain in the air with the Striker-less Windam. "Damn it, next time, tell me ahead of time Lyn!" he added to the strict female.

 

"And I thought I told you to not bust the ships...” the female shook her head, “Whatever. Just get in here, we're through. We got the two other ships captured, and the Captain wants to spare the last one, says it's not worth it." the female commanded.

 

"Roger that," the female Windam pilot acknowledged.

 

"Yeah, roger," the Raider pilot added, still trying to keep his damaged mobile suit in the air. He took a look down at the wreckage of the former Wild Dagger. "Not bad, not bad at all....shame he had to die like that..." he said with a smirk.

 

Vance was left panting, watching the last of the Wild Dagger sink into the sea. "Ralma....you idiot...." he said, slowly breaking down and letting a tear or two flow. His pal, his buddy, his compadre was now just another casualty, all for something as stupid as a pirate attack. The last words Ralma had gotten a chance to read aloud from his book echoed in his brain and Vance couldn't stand it anymore, breaking down to sobbing:

 

On that day, the gears of fate began to turn...

It was the end of me and the end of all that was worthy and just...

The end of everything human and moral...

All that was left was what lies between good and evil...

If I had known what I know now...

I would have never, ever allowed that day to happen...

...at least for the sake of all I cherish as a human being...

 

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TO BE CONTINUED…

 

A/N: Alright, the long and short of it is that me and Cynical Swordmaster is we have decided to split the story in two due to reasons such as better productivity (longer chapters for each cast more plot development) and the ability to post at different paces instead of waiting for the other. No longer are we going to glue together our chapters, but instead, we'll now be posting each side of the Odyssey story as separate story listings on the site. From here on out, my side is Odyssey V (as you can see here), and his is Odyssey R. G entails the story of the mercenary group Gray Wolf, which is held together by Vale Hunter, Friedrich Cunningham, Lynsie Schneider, Edward and Jane Harrelson and so on. R tells the story of Reiselust, an adventuring group made up of Ralma Adlai Ridoa, Kanna Yoshikana, Ellis Tarat and others. If you want to keep up with CS's side, be sure to visit his Author Profile (which I have under mine in my Favorite Authors) or look for him in the story listings w/ Odyssey R. I'd provide a link, but I'm also lazy. I did copy CS's explanation after all :p.