Gundam Crucible - [An AU Universal Century Quest]

Note: Thank you for waiting. Cry of the Phoenix is one update away from concluding. My apologies for the time gap between now and the last update, life has been kind of busy and that didn't help my writer's block. Now, without further ado...




[X] Obey Amuro's orders. Hold out for Kamille.

Sure. Hold out against the rampaging crazed Newtype in the cutting-edge Psychoframe Gundam. Easier said than done. Still, Amuro told you to hold out, so you need to hold out!

And no, you're not going to listen to Haman and try to kill Rita. Honestly you doubt you could if you tried.

Still, the Phenex is a much more capable machine than yours, even excluding the amount of pure bullshit that Psychoframe can do. How can you hope to close the gap?

Maybe… Maybe you don't have to. Maybe you just need to be you.
Besides, you've got people you want, no, need to protect.

Your hand goes to the pendant Sicilia gave you. It feels warm to the touch.

Yes, you can do this.

"I've got to apologize for this in advance," you remark to your copilot, "This is going to get rough."

"Rough?" Lutetia repeats with confusion as you enact your plan, firing off both Shield Boosters as Rita does a flyby against some of the disabled Zeon pilots.

They switch to claw mode in transit, manipulators wide. Rita evades the first, which screams past her. The second is on track to miss too-

There's a warmth on your chest, and a light envelops the second Shield Booster, making it veer off course and slam into the Phenex with a speed impossible given its specs.

"Locked on!" You shout as the claws dig into the Armed Armor DE, "Beginning pursuit of the Phenex!"

"What are you-?!" Rita shouts in confusion as she fruitlessly tries to shake your Shield Booster off. The line almost seems to shake as you start to reel it in at maximum speed.

"Oh my god," Lutetia's eyes go wide, looking to you in horror, "Are you insane?!"

"Hahahaha!" You cackle as the line goes taut, "YES!"

---

Space was on fire.

The Ra Cailum was the eye of the hurricane, plowing through space as columns of fire and smoke streamed from multiple hull breaches. Missing the port engine pod, it nevertheless advanced.

A Silver Bullet adorned in Federation white rushed the Bridge, locking its Mega Launcher in firing position while launching Incoms. The weapon began to glow-

Multiple slender Funnels surrounded the Mobile Suit and riddled it with beam shots, eviscerating the machine. It all but shattered in a massive blast as the propellant ignited.

"Guess we owe Captain Montagne a drink for that," Bright muttered to himself as he shielded his eyes from the blast, before turning his attention back to the battle, "Maintain speed! All units, keep the enemy away from the Ra Cailum!"

Things weren't looking good. The Gaunland had competent pilots, even with their Newtypes deployed away from the ship. The Mobile Suits and pilots onboard the EFSF battleship and her escorts were trained and equipped to keep heavily-armed Newtypes in check. Against Londo Bell's comparatively-standard suits, they had the clear advantage.

Peche and Rin could keep the Federation suits away from the Ra Cailum's bridge and main hull, but they'd already lost one of the engine modules, halving their propulsion and forcing the helm to use the maneuvering thrusters to constantly correct their heading.

Their escorts had fallen behind, having been forced back by a separate attack.

Yes, if not for the two Newtypes from the Republic, his ship would have been reduced to a smoking wreck by that point.

Still, that didn't mean that they would pull through at the rate things were going.

He scanned the battlefield, looking for an opening, looking for anything…

Then he saw it, a Mega Bazooka Launcher being maneuvered into position beyond the immediate fracas. Two Federation Jegans were guarding it while a third lined up the shot.

"Give me a full barrage on my mark, target these coordinates!" Bright hurriedly entered in the direction manually. He saw the main guns turn slowly. Too slowly.

By the time they were on target, he could see the faint glow of the enemy weapon charging up.

"Fire!" He shouted, and the Ra Cailum sent a torrent of energy in that direction. Beams cascaded through space towards the Federation weapon-

And he watched as every shot missed.

Shit.

"Evasive maneuvers!" He ordered the helm, knowing full well that there was no avoiding the coming shot.

Bright hoped, prayed, gripped his chair in anticipation as he saw the Mega Bazooka Launcher reach its apex, glaring as it prepared to fire-

Only for a wave of beam energy to wash over the operator, slagging the rear of the gun and instantly making the gun's reactor go critical, engulfing both the user and the escorts in a giant ball of thermonuclear fire.

"Hey there Bright, looks like you could use a hand!"

Wait, was that-?

"Roux?!" Bright gaped in shock as he saw the former AEUG pilot dive into the fray, her Lightning Zeta wielding its wing binders like tonfas as she used the beam emitters on the edges to cleave through multiple units in a single pass.

"Good to see you too, Captain!" Roux laughed, catching a saber from an enemy Jegan on her binders before kicking it away with a thruster-assisted blow, "Roux Louka, formerly of the Federation Jupiter Fleet, requesting permission to desert to Londo Bell, sir!"

"Heh. I don't think you ask permission for that sort of thing, Roux." Bright grinned wryly, "Glad to have you with us. Where's Judau?"

"He's hitting the enemy carrier, Captain. Adrastea should also be around here somewhere."

Just as Bright was about to ask who that was, an audio channel from Montagne opened up.

"An unknown Qubeley is attacking the Federation forces, Captain." Peche reported, "It has Jupiter Fleet markings."

"And that would be our Stea." Roux provided, "Now, back to cleaning house. We'll talk later!"

She turned her attention back to the fight, and just in time, as she barely dodged a pincer attack from a Silver Bullet and an upgraded Jegan.

Bright almost couldn't believe it. Roux was back, and so was Judau. Elle and Beecha had mentioned something about them possibly being on that Jupitris II… but it was good to see that their suspicions were true.

He took a deep breath.

"Alright. We can do this. If Judau is handling their carrier, then we can take care of the rest." He began to input coordinates and commands into his console, sending laser comms to their laggard escorts.

"Bring the ship about! All remaining Mobile Suits, form up on the Ra Cailum! Let's clear the skies!"

---

The Bridge of the Gaunland was tense with excitement. The Ra Cailum, the flagship of that traitor Bright Noa, was in flames. The battered and bleeding vessel was being swarmed by the Federation's own forces, whittling it down in anticipation of a grand explosion once they finally hit something vital.

All of Londo Bell's Mobile Suits were occupied with the defense of their motherships, although it wasn't without surprise that the Captain of the Federation battleship heard an announcement from one of their lookouts.

"High energy signature, closing fast! It's a large Mobile Suit… or a small Mobile Armor, Sir!"

Ah, so one of Londo Bell's upgunned units was making a run on them, hoping to take pressure off of their lead ship by forcing the Federation to pull back assets. Typical Bright Noa, putting all his eggs in one basket, or rather, one Newtype. The man always did rely too much on those little freaks of nature. Without their power, he would have been a mere footnote in history. Still, the Federation had numbers on their side. Londo Bell would go the same way as the Titans and the Principality.

The Gaunland hadn't committed all its forces to the attack, and they still had their escort of Salamis cruisers. With an order from the captain, their escorts moved to guard their flagship.

"Hostile has entered weapons range!"

"All ships, fire when ready!"

"Firing solution locked in! Firing!"

Several bright lances of light streamed out from the fleet, skewering space. The incoming signature merely danced out of the way, spiraling around a few of the beams mockingly.

"Have our Mobile Suits intercept them!" He ordered, and watched as several thruster plumes vectored in towards the enemy. On scopes, he saw the telltale strobing of multiple small thrusters igniting, followed by a dozen small suns blossoming in the immediate area.

That hostile just launched a spread of missiles. It was still reading on scopes, which meant that those explosions-

"Captain, our CAP has been wiped out!" Came the panicked verification of his fears, "Hostile is still closing!"

"Anti-air combat! Evasive maneuvers! Take it out!"

The Gaunland lurched to port, while its AA guns began to pour cannon fire towards the incoming unknown.

It weaved in and out of the fire. Damn Newtypes! Inhuman freaks!

"Captain!" His officer at Sensors called out, "I have an ID on that machine!"

He looked at the monitor as the visual came into definition. It cleared up just in time for him to see the glow of a double-barreled beam rifle.

"It's the ZZ, sir!"

Two brilliant spears of plasma pierced through the Gaunland's flight deck, immolating entire sections of the interior before blast doors slammed down to stem the inferno. Entire compartments full of men ignited instantly. The ship rocked as the lights flickered and alarms began to blare. Flames poured from the hull breach as the lights cut out throughout the ship.

"We've lost main power!" Engineering reported, "Switching to backups!"

"No!" The Captain shouted, "Keep us on emergency power! No maneuvers! Kill all running lights!"

The crew shared a confused glance before obeying, and with a dull whine the ship shut down most of its active systems, leaving only the dull whisper of ventilation, and the groaning of the hull.

"Londo Bell is full of idealists," he explained quietly, as if the vacuum of space would somehow carry his voice if he spoke louder, "If they think they've disabled us, they'll leave us alone."

His XO looked at him from her chair with a concerned frown, "But sir, what about our escorts?"

"...They're not Carriers." He answered grimly as he stared out the windows at the aforementioned ships, "Our pilots still need somewhere to land."

The faces of the Gaunland's command crew were a mixture of grim resignation and dawning horror at his words. For a moment, they were all lit up as the nearest cruiser broke apart in a hail of fire.

"Damn you…"

The Captain grit his teeth as he watched hundreds of sailors perish, one after the other.

"Damn you, Londo Bell…!"

---

Sayla did her best to avoid Rita. It wasn't too hard, especially since the incensed CyberNewtype was preoccupied with the leader of Cascadia Team, who had decided to grapple the Phenex and ride it like a demented water-skiier.

She wished that pilot the best. They were going to need it.

The leader of the Zeon Republic eyed her battery reserves. Almost depleted. She was going to have to find somewhere to land soon, or bail. Probably the latter, there weren't any ships near the combat area, and she didn't have the fuel or power to reach them.

She grabbed a jetpack and an Emergency Beacon from the survival kit stowed behind her Linear Seat, donning the former and clipping the latter to her belt. Bright would be sure to pick her up, and she had complete faith in Londo Bell's ability to win this fight.

She moved to open the hatch, but paused. She felt something… Something from over where the Banshee was fighting. Near it…

Rage and fury, broiling in an unstable mind. Sayla could see it.

A damaged Delta Kai was grappling a heavily-damaged Methuss. It was trying to tear off the armored cockpit hatch.

They were going to kill the pilot. Of that she was sure.

No one else was vectoring in to help, and Sayla was sure that if nothing was done in the next minute, that Methuss pilot was a goner.

…

Well, there was only one thing to do.

She sat back down and brought up the autopilot function.

---

Mort was really going to have to blow off the hatch and bail at this rate.

"Newtypes are freaks! Mistakes of nature!"

That lady just kept screaming at him as she bashed the hatch, trying to tear it off.

"You're trying to save them, can't you see they'll destroy us all?!"

He moved his machine's right arm to try and block, but she just grabbed it and tore it off at the shoulder.

"But I use the monsters to destroy themselves! We can't suffer them to live! You-!"

She finally tore off the armor covering the hatch, exposing the vulnerable cockpit. Alarms blared around Mort as he saw her pull back her fist.

"You're a traitor to every-!"

Something red and fast slammed into the Delta Kai from the left. It was too fast for him to see what it was, but it exploded against the Feddie suit, taking off the right arm and much of the chest.

He was thrown away by the blast, and frantically corrected the spin before looking back.

The Delta Kai was in an uncontrolled tumble, the chest conspicuously empty.

She must have ejected. But what was that thing that hit her?

… Well, whatever. He had to regroup with the others. Speaking of the others, where was-?

Movement caught his eyes. Something tumbling end over end through the void.
It was a person, and as Mort turned one of his last working cameras towards them and magnified, he felt a weight settle in his gut.

It was one of the kids.

---

Lieutenant Riddhe threw his Beam Magnum away, the last shot expended, and drew Beam Sabers in both hands, catching the strikes from the two members of Hunting Pack that had engaged him.

"Heheh, what's the matter, Banshee?!" Acothley laughed as she pressured him, despite her machine missing an arm and Incom racks, "You're getting slow!"

"Riddhe!" The unknown pilot in the Type-N ReZEL screamed, "You goddamn traitor!"

The Pressure these two were exerting was too much! He could easily take one of them, but both? He just wasn't that good of a pilot or strong a Newtype! His machine could take him far, but the Type-N was no pushover, and the MP Nus were formidable.

If their machines were at full strength, he would've been done for. Luckily for Riddhe, he'd heavily damaged the MP Nu before the Type-N showed up, and the ReZEL was very, very damaged. It was like another machine had rammed it at full speed. He was surprised that pilot was still continuing the fight, instead of returning to their carrier.

"Do you need a hand, Lieutenant?"

A familiar voice echoed in his head, and all around him. He felt something in the Psychoframe.
Wait, he knew this voice. This woman was-!

"Marida?" He gaped as the Cyber Newtype he murdered appeared beside him in spectral form, "You're here?!"

"I never left." She smiled kindly, "But focus, Lieutenant. This is not where you fall."

Right. He had still so much to do, so much to make right. With newfound determination, he gripped the controls and leaned forward, gunning the main thrusters.

"You're right, Marida. After all-!"

With a push, Riddhe overpowered both the MP Nu and the ReZEL, throwing them back.

"-I still need to redeem the Marcenas name!"

Empowered by the light of two souls, the Banshee surged forth.

---

When she was little, a spider once crawled onto Jona.

Rita had laughed as he tried to shake it off, but even though it fell off, it was still connected by a strand of web.

Michele had tried to help, but it stuck to her instead, and the two of them traded it off in a panic as the spider slowly crawled back up the web towards their hands.

This must be what they felt like.

Rita threw the Phenex into a hard turn, executing a rapid vector change that sent her pursuer in a sudden, snapping swing.

She thought that the line might snap, that something might give out on Cybele's Mobile Suit.

Nothing happened, and she just kept getting closer.

"Get off!" She shrieked, igniting a Beam Saber and trying to cut the cable free, but a sudden burst of Vulcan fire from the pursuing TR-6 caught the handle, blowing off the emitter and making the weapon fall apart in her grasp.

Such accuracy! Was Cybele really this good?!

"Ritaaaa!!!" Cybele screamed with exhilaration as she closed the gap at last, one final burst of thrust making her slam into the Phenex.

The monitors around Rita flickered from the impact, and she found herself grappling with the other Gundam.

How was this happening?! Her Wings were stronger, faster, more powerful than hers!

So why?!

"I will fly free!" Rita increased the throttle to push Cybele back, "You won't stop me!"

She began to feel the push of acceleration, only for it to jolt twice, making her whip forward and back in her seat slightly.

"W-Wha-?" She looked down at the displays. She was out of fuel, running on fumes.

It figured. She hadn't had a full tank when she took off back at the colony, and so much had happened since then… Now she was finally out.

Was this… the end of the line?

No… No!

"I can handle the force of my Wings," Rita snarled as Psycho-Energy wreathed her machine and Cybele's, "Can you?!"

Cybele just laughed, smirking in her own cockpit while her copilot had long since passed out, "Bring it!"

Then the two of them took off, propelled by powers beyond Human comprehension, all around the battlefield.

---

Your pilot suit has a wonderful mechanism to help you resist G-Forces. It constricts the flow of blood to your legs during high-G maneuvers, keeping blood in your upper body and preventing you from passing out. Still, as good as it is, it has its limits.

Rita is showing you those limits right now.

"GGHHGG!!!" you try and scream in defiance, but instead make a strangled… noise.

You can't lift your arms. Black is closing in the corners of your vision. You keep your head back against the seat, letting the headrest support you. You're fairly certain that if you leaned forward, your neck would snap.

Lutetia lost consciousness a while ago, and is currently planted face-first in the airbag, which is barely supporting her body as the high-Gs try to fold her like a pancake in her seat.

Still, you won't be beaten! You were told to hold the line, and that's what you'll do until Kamille gets here!

It's impossible to move your hands, so you use the Psycommu to move your machine.

"Just be a good girl-!" You mentally shout at the rogue pilot, "-and cut it out!"

You can't fire any beams at her. Firing Vulcans wouldn't work either, you'd quickly outrun the bullets.

So… you headbutt her.

CLANG

On contact, your Psycho Energy clashes with hers, creating a blast that throws your machines apart. You're shaken in your seat at the sudden drop in acceleration, but correcting your movement is trivial.

Good, you're not about to pass out now.

Bad, you've put distance between yourself and Rita, and now she has a clean shot on you.

She aims both Armed Armor DE units at you and fires a salvo of beam energy.

You raise your shield and most of the shots splash off the anti-beam coating, but one burns through and blows the equipment apart.

That's fine, you have your Shield Booster. You prepare to throw it again for a second rodeo match when-!

A thick pillar of beam energy cuts through space between you, forcing the two of you apart. Who-?!

"Rita!" A woman's voice cuts through your head, and you turn to look.

It's the Zeta, with Kamille. He's approaching, the woman in the cockpit with him, reaching out with her mind to Rita. That's… Michele Luio. The Zeta makes no move to follow up its interruption, but its clear Kamille is ready to act if needed. He hasn't let go of the Hyper Mega Launcher, after all.

"Michele?!" Rita looks to her friend in shock.

In surprise.

She's distracted.

"She's wide open." Haman whispers, "Do it now, before it's too late!"


[] Shoot Rita

[] Hold your fire

---

The hatch sealed behind him as Mort brought the limp body of one of his teammates into the cockpit. He couldn't see who it was through the visor, it's cracked and stained with blood from the inside. Air kept escaping through the cracks, along with droplets of blood that hung in the air like a macabre mist.

It was definitely one of the girls. Not Sicilia, too old. Not Cybele, no jacket. It was either Eris or Lorelei.

"Come on…" Mort hissed under his breath, urging his machine to pressurize the cockpit faster. He went behind his seat and located the first aid kit. Would it be enough? There was so much blood…

A cheerful chime indicated that pressure in the cockpit was now at habitable levels, and without wasting a moment, Mort twisted the helmet and gently removed it.

It was Lorelei.

"No… Come on, no-!" Mort frantically opened the kit, searching for something, anything to help her, "Stay with me, kid! Stay with me! Lorelei!"

Her eyes slowly moved to look at him, and she managed a smile, even as droplets of blood left her mouth with every shaky breath she took.

"M…M…y…." Her voice was so quiet, almost imperceptible, "f… fu… tu.. re…."

She could see it even now. A little brick house amongst the trees. A lush forest in a massive Colony. Above her, outside the expansive glass walls, shone Jupiter. She would walk amongst the leaves, in a lovely white dress. No War. No Death. Just… Life.

It was her glorious, wonderful future.

It was perfect.

Lorelei Vogel closed her eyes.