SD Gundam Fan Fiction ❯ Gundam Force Saga ❯ Prologue

[ T - Teen: Not suitable for readers under 13 ]

Prologue

Disclaimer: Don't own, don't sue~

"And that's our plan, once we arrive in the Zakorellos' home universe," Chief Haro said, concluding his briefing.

"Ahh..." said Shute, wide-eyed.

Kao Lyn whooped. "In the meantime, a new Gundam will be activated and aid us while we're there~"

Shute perked. "A new Gundam, really? Who is he?"

Another whoop, "His name is Hazel, and he'll be in charge of a second S.D.G. unit, hoo~"

"Hazel, huh... Like the color, or something?"

"No."

"Oh."

Haro cleared his throat. "And if that's all... dismissed. Juli will call you when we're about to depart the Sea."

After some sneaky questioning, Shute found out the location of the room Hazel was in. He wasn't activated yet, but the boy couldn't wait to see him, so he snuck into the lab area. Not that it was really off-limits, but the scientists tended to be very protective of their constructions (until they went out onto the field of battle, anyway).

He crept up to the door, glanced both ways down the corridor to make sure no one was around, and peered in the window. It was a lab/repair room like any other on the Gundamusai, but this one had way more stuff in it; tools, supplies, running computers keeping tabs on functions, offline computers whose tasks were done, and... the Gundam himself.

Hazel looked similar to Captain, from the blocky Neotopian design to the yellow V-fin, to the Neotopian crests molded into his shoulder armor. He was painted in dark blues, with yellow and red highlights. A short crest on his head glowed faintly green, and Shute supposed his generator was on, but the robot was still, propped up by a simple bracing mechanism, and his eyes were blank.

"Wow..." Shute said softly. Robots never ceased to impress him, especially Gundams.

"Hey, you," a voice behind him said, and he spun around, ready to apologize for trespassing in the scientists' domain. Instead, he nearly fell over in shock, staring into the mono-optic of a robot of unmistakably Dark Axis origin. "W-who are you? And how'd you get here?"

The robot made a face that could have been a smirk. Or a sneer. Or something else. Shute couldn't really tell. "Bandoleer Bizack. And I was brought here."

"Whaa?"

Bandoleer rolled his optic. "What, you thought the rest of the Dark Axis would just vanish into thin air? I was stuck in Ark when you lot stole the Gate. And once Zeong was gone... Well, as much as I like those samurai nuts--" he said that with heavy sarcasm "--coming here seemed like a better idea."

Shute boggled. He really hadn't thought about what the S.D.G. would do with the Dark Axis bots who chose to join the good guys. Bringing them here just seemed weird, but then what else would they do? "Uh.. okay..."

Bandoleer snorted. "Humans..." He turned and walked away.

"Hey!" Shute called out to him indignantly, but the former Axis robot had already turned a corner. "What a jerk," he grumbled, "Why'd the Chief allow him here?" He turned back to the door, wondering if he could open it without getting caught, but then Juli's voice came over the shipwide intercom.

"We're approaching our destination and will be leaving the Minovs Sea soon. Captain, Zero, Bakunetsumaru, Shute, Princess, please report to the Chief's office."

"Aw man. Guess I'll see you later," Shute said quietly to the unactivated mecha's door, and skated away.

Bandoleer glanced back down the corridor, mostly to make sure that kid wasn't following him. For all his self-assurance in his speech, he was really not so confident. He was the only Dark Axis robot on the Gundamusai, aside from a handful of Zakos; some had chosen to stay in Ark -- Bandoleer hated the place, personally, so that was out of the question -- many had been taken out during the recent battles, and more had not even been contacted since the fall of Zeong. He'd overheard that the captured Musai would be taken to seek out the rest of the Dark Axis, fragmented as it was, and offer them the same ultimatum he was given. With luck, he'd get some friends. Or former allies. Or a unit to run away to, whichever looked most appealing.

He tilted his head, listening to the loudspeaker announcement. He hn'd and walked back to his quarters.

Paparello and his son waited, patiently eager, after hearing the announcement. They were not the most verbose of robots, and the Gate admitted that after years in captivity, he didn't know what could have changed on his homeworld.

He just remembered that it was home, so he wanted to go back.

A/N: Yay, it's a multi-chapter fic!

Hazel is based on the RX-121 Gundam TR-1 [Hazel], featured in "Gundam: Advance of Z" in the Universal Century timeline. :3

For those who don't know: the big Zakorello Gate is a robot named Paparello. The little 'handheld' is his son, Chobirello. The Dark Axis had taken them from their homeworld, keeping Chobirello hostage to get Paparello to do what they wanted.