TheBleachDoctor
Secretly a Cat
- Location
- The Plane of Infinite Kittens
- Pronouns
- She/Her
Current votes.
Looks rather decisive... If it's still balanced like this by the time I get off of work (about 3 hours) then I'll lock.
Gundam Crucible - [An AU Universal Century Quest]
- Thread starter TheBleachDoctor
- Start date
Current votes.
Looks rather decisive... If it's still balanced like this by the time I get off of work (about 3 hours) then I'll lock.
Nottheunmaker
Altman be praised
- Location
- USG Ishimura
My thinking was this was an all or nothing. Fire everything before it can even try to move.
Just to remind everyone, our cover is already blown. These guys will notice that Jegan we killed isn't reporting in, and we won't be hard to find once they do. We either try to take out that MA now, or it's active and trying to kill us later. I'll take my chances now.
If you're doing that it should be the full assault. Not the do some damage and withdraw.
The retreat option is gambling on their check ins not being so stringent we can't pull a strike team in place before they go on alert. And theres a lot of ways to just get stuck somewhere dumb
Nottheunmaker
Altman be praised
- Location
- USG Ishimura
With four suits? Maybe the Gundams and Gundam-like could survive, but that sounds like it's just asking to get Mort and his GM III killed.
I'd rather go on a fighting retreat into Makenzie's group and our ship. Otherwise we have a lot, and I mean a lot, of Jegans on our own, plus whatever else might be in the transports.
TheBleachDoctor
Secretly a Cat
- Location
- The Plane of Infinite Kittens
- Pronouns
- She/Her
100,000 RB-79s
Nottheunmaker
Altman be praised
- Location
- USG Ishimura
Oh no, how will we ever put them all out of their misery100,000 RB-79s
TheBleachDoctor
Secretly a Cat
- Location
- The Plane of Infinite Kittens
- Pronouns
- She/Her
- Location
- England, unfortunately.
- Pronouns
- She/They
Well...Okay so I've been madly going through the Gundam Wiki to figure out what the hell we're looking at.
And I found this:
RX-78KU-01 Kurwenal
The RX-78KU-01 Kurwenal is an armed base from Mobile Suit Gundam Twilight Axis. A massive armed base that incorporates the Gundam AN-01 “Tristan” as its central unit. Developed behind the scenes by Birnam. Just like their mobile suits, it is unknown how they acquired the armaments and the...gundam.fandom.com
We're most likely looking at Birnam right now.
That makes things interesting.
In Canon, the task force that ended up against Birnam was an E.F.F. Force, but here they're noted to be noticeably Zeon.
Then again, two of the individuals tied to said task force were ex-Zeon members, so it still makes sense.
Still, with this mission title, IKB4 Suddenly a Gundam X crossover
Chapter 19: The First Newtype- Part 3
TheBleachDoctor
Secretly a Cat
- Location
- The Plane of Infinite Kittens
- Pronouns
- She/Her
[X] It's too risky. You're falling back to link up with Mackenzie's team.
You admit, the thought occurs to you that you should try to take out that Mobile Armor. Hell, you even consider hijacking it, but there are too many unknowns, and you don't want to risk your team. Your mission was to determine the Federation forces on the far side of Axis, and you have accomplished that. It's time to link back up with Mackenzie's team and decide what to do.
…
It kind of occurs to you now that, because this group took out the Federation forces, that they might not be hostile, but then again, they are unaffiliated and unmarked, so clearly someone is trying to do things on the down low, which means that if you try and establish contact, you might end up being eliminated since you saw them here.
Besides, if they're black ops, nobody is going to be calling your boss to complain.
"Sorry Mort. We're falling back, everyone." You order the team, turning your Gundam around, "Stay alert. We don't want to run into another sentry on the way back. One missing guard will make them suspicious, but two are going to put them on high alert."
"Uh, I think they're already going to be on alert after they find the wreckage we left," Eris comments. She's right… but you don't say it.
The trip back is a bit tense, but no threat materializes. A part of you wish that it would have. You don't like waiting like this.
"Laser data link established with the Bellerophon." Eris reports as you finally reach the other side of Axis.
"Ensign Naese, what did you find?" Captain Nouri's image appears on the monitor, a little fuzzy but clear enough.
"Captain, we were able to confirm the presence of an armed force on the far side of Axis, consisting of four Columbus-class transports, each of which has been extensively modified into warships." You reply, realizing just how strange this all is now that you're repeating it, "They appear to have destroyed a Federation force of one Magellan, two Salamis, and an unknown number of Mobile Suits. The unknown group has deployed multiple Jegans to act as patrol and escort… and they have a large Mobile Armor, Captain."
"A Mobile Armor…" She frowns with concern, "Send us all the data you gathered on it."
Sicilia is already on it, and the footage you took is sent through the link. Sarina watches it, and her concern deepens.
"… Ensign Naese, we have no data on this Mobile Armor. You were right to avoid engaging with it, who knows what the outcome would have been?" She looks offscreen, then back at you, "We also have some new developments. The Zeon task force launched Mobile Suits to Axis about ten minutes ago. We tried contacting them, but the Minovsky interference was too strong. In addition, Alex Team missed their check-in window."
Alex Team. That's Mackenzie's team, although you're not sure where she got the name from. It's an odd choice.
"How long have they been out of contact?" You ask, worry mounting.
"Five minutes. Which isn't that long, but we have no way of knowing whether they're alright or not. They should have the interior schematics for Axis, but it's been through a lot. There's no telling what the inside is like."
Well, you can't take on that Mobile Armor and its escorts without her team, so…
"Understood." You nod, "Captain, permission for Cascadia Team to enter Axis and reestablish contact with Alex Team?"
"Granted." Captain Nouri answers instantly, "But be careful. I don't want to lose two teams today, let alone one."
"Understood." You cut the link and address your team, "Alright, everyone listen up, we're heading into Axis. Commander Mackenzie's team missed their check-in, which means things aren't going according to plan for them. Whatever the hold up, we'll help them fix it."
It doesn't take long to find an airlock meant for Mobile Suits, and luckily the manual override is functioning so you unlock it and enter. It's not the same entrance that Alex Team used, but that loading dock is a bit farther away, and judging from maps of Axis's interior, there should be some connecting passages. You'll save time this way.
The corridors are dark and foreboding, with minute pieces of debris floating around… and some shapes that might be bodies, but you don't look too closely.
You would take point if you could, but the Woundwart-Rah is kind of… wide.
You tried to fold the wing binders as close to the main body as possible, but it's tight in here. As a result, Eris and Theo are taking point while Mort watches the rear.
God forbid anyone try to fight in these tunnels though. There's no room to maneuver.
Eventually though, you finally enter one of the residential areas. The buildings are dark and abandoned, the streets cold and empty. You can almost see how this place was once lively and packed full of a thriving community…
You just can't understand it. Axis was truly independent from the Earth Sphere. Although the Federation had tried to wipe them out, they persevered. Then, just as they'd reached the point where Axis could truly be called something greater than a colony of refugees, they came charging back into the Earth Sphere and ruined it all.
You guess human souls really are weighed down by gravity.
"We got movement," Eris reported, causing everyone to stop and scan the area. In this dead and derelict asteroid, nothing should be moving, which can only mean…
Two heavily-modified GM IIIs round the corner, each carrying a Beam Gatling and sporting missile racks strapped to their legs and shoulders. They see you instantly.
"All units!" You order your team over the radio as you throttle up your thrusters and extend your wing binders, "Scatter!"
You boost straight up, a hail of beams carving through the area you just occupied. Theo and Eris are quick to find cover behind some buildings, while Mort just… unleashes.
He fires all of his missiles at the two GM IIIs. Definitely blind-fired, there's no way he got a lock in that small amount of time. Predictably, they hit just about everything except the enemy. They hit buildings, the ground, the ceiling, and one even starts to loop back around before Mort shoots it down himself with his Head Vulcans.
"Mort, what the hell was that?!" You scowl, aiming both of your Long Blade Rifles at the general position of the enemy and laying down covering fire so your team can reposition themselves.
"Sorry, Cybele!" Mort apologizes frantically, running behind cover just in time as his previous position is blown to hell by enemy missiles, "I meant to just fire one! I hit the wrong button!"
"Seriously?!" Eris curses him out as she uses her shoulder cannons to bombard the closest GM III's position, "Did you map your Salvo and Single Fire functions next to each other?!"
"Cut the chatter! Take these guys out first!" You activate the Beam Guns on the Hrududus, "I've got the rearmost one!"
You fire a hail of beams to pound the rear GM III. It raises its shield, and to your chagrin you see that it's treated with Anti-Beam coating. But that won't hold forever! With a scream you push the throttle forward and deploy your Heat Blades. They try to shoot you before you reach them, but your I-Field tanks the hit and you slam into them, spearing each arm into the ground with one Heat Blade each. You fire a burst from your Head Vulcans, disabling their own Vulcans, and then you stomp on the cockpit. Hard. Oil and fuel spew from the mangled armor plates as you grind your foot down. Switching each Composite Booster to Claw mode, you grab the GM III and throw it at its friend, who's turning to face you. Its dead friend collides with them, sending them reeling.
Then fire from Eris and Theo connects with it, setting off the unspent missiles.
The explosion is tremendous, causing ceiling panels to break apart and buildings to shatter. You fly into a nearby access tunnel before the fireball reaches you, only to see the entrance cave in behind you. Great.
"Sicilia, status?" You groan, firing your Long Blade Rifle at the cave-in… to little effect.
"No damage, we're good," she answers promptly, "… I can't raise the others. But they're still alive."
Your radio can't get through the rock, figures. You have no real way of telling if the others survived, but you trust Sicilia's Newtype senses.
Also, if your friends had died, you think you would have felt something. You're a Newtype too!
"…Well, I guess we have to head deeper in." You sigh in resignation, "The others will have to deal without us. If I were them, I'd head back for the entrance. Hopefully, they don't write us off."
With that, you fly deeper into Axis. You pray that Alex Team has another route out, because this one is a no-go.
You travel for a bit longer in silence. You don't encounter any more of those unaffiliated Mobile Suits, or really anybody at all. There's nobody. About ten minutes into the search, just when you think you're lost, you exit into a main passage, wide and tall enough that it was probably used to transport large cargo and other resources. There are some fresh thruster burns on the floor. Probably Alex Team.
"Are we sure it's them?" Sicilia asks.
You shrug, "It's heading deeper into Axis, according to these maps. The other way leads to a loading dock, on our side of Axis, so I think it's them. Would make sense."
You follow the direction of the burns for another minute, then as you round the corner you see it. Another of those unmarked Jegans, facing away from you towards a large airlock. At ground level, two Petit-Mobiles are doing something to a maintenance panel for the airlock. Without ceremony, you rush the Jegan and impale it through the back with your Heat Blade, simultaneously shredding the Petit-Mobiles with your Vulcans. Poor situational awareness kills!
You look around, shining your Woundwort's lights on the floor and walls. You can't find any sign of where Alex Team went from here. There's another corridor that the mystery forces came from, maybe Alex Team went down there? Or maybe they went into the airlock? But it's locked… wait…
"There's no way…" You mutter, touching the door. Instantly, your Gundam links up with the door's systems, asking for authorization.
This airlock has power. Does that mean the other side is pressurized? Is someone living here?!
"… Too bad we can't get the door open." You sigh, about to move on when Sicilia speaks up.
"Voice Authorization-Ple 42-Newtype Corps… open please?"
The door's systems work for a second, before chiming cheerfully and grinding open, revealing an airlock ready and waiting. Yes, the other side is indeed pressurized.
"…So you think they went this way, Sicilia?" You ask your little sis. You would ask how she got that door open, but you guess Neo Zeon must have given her some level of clearance before they put her on ice, and then just never revoked it.
"I dunno, Big Sis, but there's something back there." She replies, oddly fixated on the airlock, "It's a funny feeling… don't you feel it too?"
You almost say that you don't, but now that you think about it, you do feel a sort of… pressure. The same kind of pressure you felt when you faced down that Blue Hound.
Well… it's the same kind of pressure, but it doesn't feel the same, if that makes any sense.
Are you sensing another Newtype?
[] Travel through the airlock and attempt to locate the source of the pressure.
[] Continue down the corridor. That door was locked, there's no way Alex Team went that way, and you have a mission to complete.
You admit, the thought occurs to you that you should try to take out that Mobile Armor. Hell, you even consider hijacking it, but there are too many unknowns, and you don't want to risk your team. Your mission was to determine the Federation forces on the far side of Axis, and you have accomplished that. It's time to link back up with Mackenzie's team and decide what to do.
…
It kind of occurs to you now that, because this group took out the Federation forces, that they might not be hostile, but then again, they are unaffiliated and unmarked, so clearly someone is trying to do things on the down low, which means that if you try and establish contact, you might end up being eliminated since you saw them here.
Besides, if they're black ops, nobody is going to be calling your boss to complain.
"Sorry Mort. We're falling back, everyone." You order the team, turning your Gundam around, "Stay alert. We don't want to run into another sentry on the way back. One missing guard will make them suspicious, but two are going to put them on high alert."
"Uh, I think they're already going to be on alert after they find the wreckage we left," Eris comments. She's right… but you don't say it.
The trip back is a bit tense, but no threat materializes. A part of you wish that it would have. You don't like waiting like this.
"Laser data link established with the Bellerophon." Eris reports as you finally reach the other side of Axis.
"Ensign Naese, what did you find?" Captain Nouri's image appears on the monitor, a little fuzzy but clear enough.
"Captain, we were able to confirm the presence of an armed force on the far side of Axis, consisting of four Columbus-class transports, each of which has been extensively modified into warships." You reply, realizing just how strange this all is now that you're repeating it, "They appear to have destroyed a Federation force of one Magellan, two Salamis, and an unknown number of Mobile Suits. The unknown group has deployed multiple Jegans to act as patrol and escort… and they have a large Mobile Armor, Captain."
"A Mobile Armor…" She frowns with concern, "Send us all the data you gathered on it."
Sicilia is already on it, and the footage you took is sent through the link. Sarina watches it, and her concern deepens.
"… Ensign Naese, we have no data on this Mobile Armor. You were right to avoid engaging with it, who knows what the outcome would have been?" She looks offscreen, then back at you, "We also have some new developments. The Zeon task force launched Mobile Suits to Axis about ten minutes ago. We tried contacting them, but the Minovsky interference was too strong. In addition, Alex Team missed their check-in window."
Alex Team. That's Mackenzie's team, although you're not sure where she got the name from. It's an odd choice.
"How long have they been out of contact?" You ask, worry mounting.
"Five minutes. Which isn't that long, but we have no way of knowing whether they're alright or not. They should have the interior schematics for Axis, but it's been through a lot. There's no telling what the inside is like."
Well, you can't take on that Mobile Armor and its escorts without her team, so…
"Understood." You nod, "Captain, permission for Cascadia Team to enter Axis and reestablish contact with Alex Team?"
"Granted." Captain Nouri answers instantly, "But be careful. I don't want to lose two teams today, let alone one."
"Understood." You cut the link and address your team, "Alright, everyone listen up, we're heading into Axis. Commander Mackenzie's team missed their check-in, which means things aren't going according to plan for them. Whatever the hold up, we'll help them fix it."
It doesn't take long to find an airlock meant for Mobile Suits, and luckily the manual override is functioning so you unlock it and enter. It's not the same entrance that Alex Team used, but that loading dock is a bit farther away, and judging from maps of Axis's interior, there should be some connecting passages. You'll save time this way.
The corridors are dark and foreboding, with minute pieces of debris floating around… and some shapes that might be bodies, but you don't look too closely.
You would take point if you could, but the Woundwart-Rah is kind of… wide.
You tried to fold the wing binders as close to the main body as possible, but it's tight in here. As a result, Eris and Theo are taking point while Mort watches the rear.
God forbid anyone try to fight in these tunnels though. There's no room to maneuver.
Eventually though, you finally enter one of the residential areas. The buildings are dark and abandoned, the streets cold and empty. You can almost see how this place was once lively and packed full of a thriving community…
You just can't understand it. Axis was truly independent from the Earth Sphere. Although the Federation had tried to wipe them out, they persevered. Then, just as they'd reached the point where Axis could truly be called something greater than a colony of refugees, they came charging back into the Earth Sphere and ruined it all.
You guess human souls really are weighed down by gravity.
"We got movement," Eris reported, causing everyone to stop and scan the area. In this dead and derelict asteroid, nothing should be moving, which can only mean…
Two heavily-modified GM IIIs round the corner, each carrying a Beam Gatling and sporting missile racks strapped to their legs and shoulders. They see you instantly.
"All units!" You order your team over the radio as you throttle up your thrusters and extend your wing binders, "Scatter!"
You boost straight up, a hail of beams carving through the area you just occupied. Theo and Eris are quick to find cover behind some buildings, while Mort just… unleashes.
He fires all of his missiles at the two GM IIIs. Definitely blind-fired, there's no way he got a lock in that small amount of time. Predictably, they hit just about everything except the enemy. They hit buildings, the ground, the ceiling, and one even starts to loop back around before Mort shoots it down himself with his Head Vulcans.
"Mort, what the hell was that?!" You scowl, aiming both of your Long Blade Rifles at the general position of the enemy and laying down covering fire so your team can reposition themselves.
"Sorry, Cybele!" Mort apologizes frantically, running behind cover just in time as his previous position is blown to hell by enemy missiles, "I meant to just fire one! I hit the wrong button!"
"Seriously?!" Eris curses him out as she uses her shoulder cannons to bombard the closest GM III's position, "Did you map your Salvo and Single Fire functions next to each other?!"
"Cut the chatter! Take these guys out first!" You activate the Beam Guns on the Hrududus, "I've got the rearmost one!"
You fire a hail of beams to pound the rear GM III. It raises its shield, and to your chagrin you see that it's treated with Anti-Beam coating. But that won't hold forever! With a scream you push the throttle forward and deploy your Heat Blades. They try to shoot you before you reach them, but your I-Field tanks the hit and you slam into them, spearing each arm into the ground with one Heat Blade each. You fire a burst from your Head Vulcans, disabling their own Vulcans, and then you stomp on the cockpit. Hard. Oil and fuel spew from the mangled armor plates as you grind your foot down. Switching each Composite Booster to Claw mode, you grab the GM III and throw it at its friend, who's turning to face you. Its dead friend collides with them, sending them reeling.
Then fire from Eris and Theo connects with it, setting off the unspent missiles.
The explosion is tremendous, causing ceiling panels to break apart and buildings to shatter. You fly into a nearby access tunnel before the fireball reaches you, only to see the entrance cave in behind you. Great.
"Sicilia, status?" You groan, firing your Long Blade Rifle at the cave-in… to little effect.
"No damage, we're good," she answers promptly, "… I can't raise the others. But they're still alive."
Your radio can't get through the rock, figures. You have no real way of telling if the others survived, but you trust Sicilia's Newtype senses.
Also, if your friends had died, you think you would have felt something. You're a Newtype too!
"…Well, I guess we have to head deeper in." You sigh in resignation, "The others will have to deal without us. If I were them, I'd head back for the entrance. Hopefully, they don't write us off."
With that, you fly deeper into Axis. You pray that Alex Team has another route out, because this one is a no-go.
You travel for a bit longer in silence. You don't encounter any more of those unaffiliated Mobile Suits, or really anybody at all. There's nobody. About ten minutes into the search, just when you think you're lost, you exit into a main passage, wide and tall enough that it was probably used to transport large cargo and other resources. There are some fresh thruster burns on the floor. Probably Alex Team.
"Are we sure it's them?" Sicilia asks.
You shrug, "It's heading deeper into Axis, according to these maps. The other way leads to a loading dock, on our side of Axis, so I think it's them. Would make sense."
You follow the direction of the burns for another minute, then as you round the corner you see it. Another of those unmarked Jegans, facing away from you towards a large airlock. At ground level, two Petit-Mobiles are doing something to a maintenance panel for the airlock. Without ceremony, you rush the Jegan and impale it through the back with your Heat Blade, simultaneously shredding the Petit-Mobiles with your Vulcans. Poor situational awareness kills!
You look around, shining your Woundwort's lights on the floor and walls. You can't find any sign of where Alex Team went from here. There's another corridor that the mystery forces came from, maybe Alex Team went down there? Or maybe they went into the airlock? But it's locked… wait…
"There's no way…" You mutter, touching the door. Instantly, your Gundam links up with the door's systems, asking for authorization.
This airlock has power. Does that mean the other side is pressurized? Is someone living here?!
"… Too bad we can't get the door open." You sigh, about to move on when Sicilia speaks up.
"Voice Authorization-Ple 42-Newtype Corps… open please?"
The door's systems work for a second, before chiming cheerfully and grinding open, revealing an airlock ready and waiting. Yes, the other side is indeed pressurized.
"…So you think they went this way, Sicilia?" You ask your little sis. You would ask how she got that door open, but you guess Neo Zeon must have given her some level of clearance before they put her on ice, and then just never revoked it.
"I dunno, Big Sis, but there's something back there." She replies, oddly fixated on the airlock, "It's a funny feeling… don't you feel it too?"
You almost say that you don't, but now that you think about it, you do feel a sort of… pressure. The same kind of pressure you felt when you faced down that Blue Hound.
Well… it's the same kind of pressure, but it doesn't feel the same, if that makes any sense.
Are you sensing another Newtype?
[] Travel through the airlock and attempt to locate the source of the pressure.
[] Continue down the corridor. That door was locked, there's no way Alex Team went that way, and you have a mission to complete.
[X] Travel through the airlock and attempt to locate the source of the pressure.
- Location
- England, unfortunately.
- Pronouns
- She/They
Mort, for fucks sake, you are not Trowa.
At the very least, I hope your style isn't "Fire all bullets, then guess I die".
[X] Travel through the airlock and attempt to locate the source of the pressure.
*Looks at title*
What the fuck was happening in here? It's gotta be Zeon connected, and had to be happening for a while given Sicilia has access. IIRC, The non-Birnam team should be investigating for Psychoframe Production Facilities... And the Sazabi might be in here, but Char's Ghost is now properly in the afterlife...
Guys, in the UC timeline, who is the first recorded newtype? Getting the feeling that's kind of important.
- Pronouns
- Reader
[X] Travel through the airlock and attempt to locate the source of the pressure.
More little sisters? I'll have to come up with some names. Emmy, Amanda, Charlie, Annabelle, Meridith, Irene.
More little sisters? I'll have to come up with some names. Emmy, Amanda, Charlie, Annabelle, Meridith, Irene.
- Location
- England, unfortunately.
- Pronouns
- She/They
I don't think this is a Ple. Sicilia would be having a different reaction, since it would remind her of her sisters, even if only subconsciously. It's clearly strange to her, but I don't think she has that recognition.
More than that, whoever this is has been inside this facility for up to a Decade at least and is still conscious enough to output newtype pressure. I don't think it can be cryogenics, since I think they wouldn't be aware enough to emanate newtype pressure, and I doubt that axis had enough food and water and oxygen for someone to survive for this long.
...Bleach, I swear to god, if this actually is a DOME expy, I was joking dammit.
Nottheunmaker
Altman be praised
- Location
- USG Ishimura
[X] Continue down the corridor. That door was locked, there's no way Alex Team went that way, and you have a mission to complete.
I wish to complete the mission.
I wish to complete the mission.
Not with that attitude he's not. Come on Morty, remember all those times with grandpa Rick! If you survived that, you can live through anything!
BlackHadou
Bunny-Sensei
[X] Travel through the airlock and attempt to locate the source of the pressure.
Look to the Left
Back from the Void
- Location
- OH CANADA!!!
[X] Travel through the airlock and attempt to locate the source of the pressure.
tankdrop24
Tread First into Hell
- Location
- The Center of the Universe: Toronto, Canada
- Pronouns
- He/Him
[X] Travel through the airlock and attempt to locate the source of the pressure.
- Location
- va
[X] Travel through the airlock and attempt to locate the source of the pressure.
KnightDisciple
Brotherhood. Unity. Peace.
- Location
- Midwest, USA
[X] Travel through the airlock and attempt to locate the source of the pressure.
Shapeless Phobos
Filthy Casual
[X] Travel through the airlock and attempt to locate the source of the pressure.