Gundam Crucible - [An AU Universal Century Quest]

[X] You only recognize some of the systems behind the access panel, but you're certain that you can trigger the emergency failsafe and make the pod wake her up.
 
"-as to our stance on Newtypes, our position remains the same," he continues on, "Newtypes are dangerous, and pose a risk to themselves and others. For the safety of the general public, we are continuing our efforts to identify and register all Newtypes in the Earth Sphere, and relocate them to suitable housing."

"Bright that Bastard! How could he possibly betray the Federation?!"
"Could it be because we passed a law to make Newtypes be forced into ghettoes and his wife and two children are Newtypes?"
"Bullshit, it's because he's always been a Zeek sympathizer and Princess Bitch has him wrapped in his fingers."

Yeah, if Bright wasn't going to defect based off of the Federation's abhorrent response to the Laplace Declaration, the Federation going full Nazi and treating Newtypes as psychic Jews with his family being segregated from him would definitely destroy any shred of loyalty that Bright has left to the Federation and go full on Rebellion. Once again the Federation at its finest when they persecute the people who saved their ass countless times from Zeon and wonder why all the Spacenoids hate them.

Makes me wonder about the current state of the Earth sphere. The Federation may have the most ships and MS, but most of their forces are outdated and the Aces and Newtypes probably defected to Londo Bell or went rogue and served their respective nations or colonies. The Republic of Zeon could definitely declare independence and mayhaps transition back to the Principality if the evil of the Federation has radicalized Mineva enough to take leadership. While the Republic had a strong military, they were never close to the height of the Principality and lack the tech and talent of Neo Zeon, so at most they can only control Side 3 and perhaps the Dark Side of the moon.

Riah could declare independence if they had kept the same level of autonomy that they had in the OYW, but if I remember correctly they were either annexed or mostly annexed back into the Federation, though with their intact infrastrucutre and a population that was never scarred by the OYW, they have the best chance for independence and to act as a power player if they have a strong enough military for their borders. Every other Side would either be loyal or have each colony go out for themselves, though I doubt 1,2,4 and 5 have any strong nationalism existing. I could definitely see Anaheim either remaining loyal or trying to go for Independent Ancapistan and make everyone buy from them like Jupiter. Earth could definitely see some regions try to go independent though for the most part its secure.

Really been enjoying the story so far Doctor. Cybele is really likable and relatable and already she's a better protagonist than most of the Gundam main characters. Hopefully her mother and brother will make it, but at the very least she looks to be getting a sister.

[X] You only recognize some of the systems behind the access panel, but you're certain that you can trigger the emergency failsafe and make the pod wake her up.
 
"Bright that Bastard! How could he possibly betray the Federation?!"
"Could it be because we passed a law to make Newtypes be forced into ghettoes and his wife and two children are Newtypes?"
"Bullshit, it's because he's always been a Zeek sympathizer and Princess Bitch has him wrapped in his fingers."

Yeah, if Bright wasn't going to defect based off of the Federation's abhorrent response to the Laplace Declaration, the Federation going full Nazi and treating Newtypes as psychic Jews with his family being segregated from him would definitely destroy any shred of loyalty that Bright has left to the Federation and go full on Rebellion. Once again the Federation at its finest when they persecute the people who saved their ass countless times from Zeon and wonder why all the Spacenoids hate them.

Makes me wonder about the current state of the Earth sphere. The Federation may have the most ships and MS, but most of their forces are outdated and the Aces and Newtypes probably defected to Londo Bell or went rogue and served their respective nations or colonies. The Republic of Zeon could definitely declare independence and mayhaps transition back to the Principality if the evil of the Federation has radicalized Mineva enough to take leadership. While the Republic had a strong military, they were never close to the height of the Principality and lack the tech and talent of Neo Zeon, so at most they can only control Side 3 and perhaps the Dark Side of the moon.

Riah could declare independence if they had kept the same level of autonomy that they had in the OYW, but if I remember correctly they were either annexed or mostly annexed back into the Federation, though with their intact infrastrucutre and a population that was never scarred by the OYW, they have the best chance for independence and to act as a power player if they have a strong enough military for their borders. Every other Side would either be loyal or have each colony go out for themselves, though I doubt 1,2,4 and 5 have any strong nationalism existing. I could definitely see Anaheim either remaining loyal or trying to go for Independent Ancapistan and make everyone buy from them like Jupiter. Earth could definitely see some regions try to go independent though for the most part its secure.

Really been enjoying the story so far Doctor. Cybele is really likable and relatable and already she's a better protagonist than most of the Gundam main characters. Hopefully her mother and brother will make it, but at the very least she looks to be getting a sister.

[X] You only recognize some of the systems behind the access panel, but you're certain that you can trigger the emergency failsafe and make the pod wake her up.

The Federation has a problem of being unable to learn from their mistake, unfortunately.

Also, while their forces may be outdated, the Federation is also good at throwing money at their problems, at least when it comes to production. If push comes shove they can use their vast resources to crash develop new mobile suits to gain an edge in the war.
 
The Federation has a problem of being unable to learn from their mistake, unfortunately.

Also, while their forces may be outdated, the Federation is also good at throwing money at their problems, at least when it comes to production. If push comes shove they can use their vast resources to crash develop new mobile suits to gain an edge in the war.
Perfect to hijack!
 
[x] You only recognize some of the systems behind the access panel, but you're certain that you can trigger the emergency failsafe and make the pod wake her up.
 
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View: https://youtu.be/M61oa3tOsL8

Vote Tally : Gundam Crucible - [An AU Universal Century Quest] | Page 2 | Sufficient Velocity [Posts: 33-57]
##### NetTally 3.1.4

[X] You only recognize some of the systems behind the access panel, but you're certain that you can trigger the emergency failsafe and make the pod wake her up.
No. of Votes: 15
[x] BlackHadou
[x] ArlequineLunaire
[X] Grete
[X] hcvquizibo
[X] Kaiser Chris
[X] Koden
[x] KuroOkami
[X] Look to the Left
[X] Negation
[X] OrbitalBeats
[X] Paleb05
[X] Spectral Waltz
[x] Stelaria
[x] The3rdCorinthian
[x] veekie

[X] Fuck it. Smash the glass.
No. of Votes: 2
[X] Nottheunmaker
[X] tankdrop24

[X] Investigate the controls. You think you can trigger the sequence to wake her up.
No. of Votes: 2
[X] GAWR
[X] araa


Total No. of Voters: 19
 
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View: https://youtu.be/M61oa3tOsL8

Vote Tally : Gundam Crucible - [An AU Universal Century Quest] | Page 2 | Sufficient Velocity [Posts: 33-57]
##### NetTally 3.1.4

[X] You only recognize some of the systems behind the access panel, but you're certain that you can trigger the emergency failsafe and make the pod wake her up.
No. of Votes: 15
[x] BlackHadou
[x] ArlequineLunaire
[X] Grete
[X] hcvquizibo
[X] Kaiser Chris
[X] Koden
[x] KuroOkami
[X] Look to the Left
[X] Negation
[X] OrbitalBeats
[X] Paleb05
[X] Spectral Waltz
[x] Stelaria
[x] The3rdCorinthian
[x] veekie

[X] Fuck it. Smash the glass.
No. of Votes: 2
[X] Nottheunmaker
[X] tankdrop24

[X] Investigate the controls. You think you can trigger the sequence to wake her up.
No. of Votes: 2
[X] GAWR
[X] araa


Total No. of Voters: 19


I guess if you're skilled, psycommu is a good enough replacement for the Mobile Trace System.
 
Also, while their forces may be outdated, the Federation is also good at throwing money at their problems, at least when it comes to production. If push comes shove they can use their vast resources to crash develop new mobile suits to gain an edge in the war.

I highly doubt that. The Federation by Unicorn is a shadow of a shadow of what it was during the OYW and it simply cannot sustain that kind of a war economy any more. Earth has suffered three colony/asteroid drops since then meaning large parts of the surface and economic heartlands of Earth have lost their value leading to entire industries being broken. The Federation is likely in a state of demographic rot due to tens to hundreds of millions dying in each war. Their turn against the Titans likely caused a brain drain and lack of talent as the elite of their military had been pooled into the Titans and now almost every Titan was being hunted down and persecuted as scum. Along with the physical economy and population being fucked, something tells me that the Federation is either in a state of stagflation due to the presumed high unemployment and massive stimulus, and if not that then they are in a cash crisis due to relying on specie currency and giving a significant portion of their reserves to Char.

Remember that during Unicorn Full Frontal states that the majority of wealth and economic proudction lies within Space. If the Sides all ban together and embargo Earth they will destroy the Federation economy. While I doubt every single colony is in the midst of rebellion, a significant portion of them probably have, most especially the intact Riah and Zeon, meaning that a majority or at least a plurality of Earth Sphere GDP is in the hands of rebels, and if standard Feddie policy includes firing megaparticle beams such as in this recent chapter, then they are burning their lost economic power instead of reclaiming it.

If the Federation could truly throw money at all of its problems then Char's Counterattack would never have happened because instead of solely fighting against Londo Bell, Char would have encountered hundreds of ships and thousands of mobile suits which would have overwhelmed his Neo Zeon on pure numbers alone. The fact that the Federation wasn't able to do this means that either they were too lazy and apathetic to Char committing genocide and destroying the Earth, or they didn't have the capability to send literally anything besides Londo Bell in the weeks that the Second Neo Zeon War took place. Notice how in Unicorn all of the garrisons and regular forces suits are made of outdated MS or conventional mechanized armor while the next-gen ones are sent with Londo Bell or the General Revil, and that's because by this time the Federation cannot sustain a high quality professional military and for the majority of their forces have to rely on antiques.

The best way for the Federation to win this war would be to nationalize Anaheim. It would be performing asset denial for the enemy by preventing Anaheim from doing its treacherous war merchant activities and selling MS to both sides, meaning no Gundams or high quality mass production units for the Rebels. They could also confiscate the wealth of Anaheim and its leaders and use that along with the liquidation of assets to pay off debts, secure its welfare, and fund the war effort while promoting growth through private competition thanks to the lack of the monopoly, not to mention the Federation would have the advantage thanks to ownership of Von Braun and Anaheim's factories. It'll come with difficulty in the huge stock market crash that such a major move would be, backlash from Anaheim's executives, and a general hostility from the remaining Mega Corps, but it's the best option for long-term survival.
 
There is also the fact that Earth even by the time of the Laplace incident isn't fully under Federation control and deals with factions of Zeon forces that got left behind not to mention as thunderbolt is showing other factions causing havoc.

I wonder how much even the Navy is fighting itself or lost a bunch of personal due to murders or attempted mutinies on board.
 
There is also the fact that Earth even by the time of the Laplace incident isn't fully under Federation control and deals with factions of Zeon forces that got left behind not to mention as thunderbolt is showing other factions causing havoc.

I wonder how much even the Navy is fighting itself or lost a bunch of personal due to murders or attempted mutinies on board.

Maybe we shouldn't include Thunderbolt alongside the general continuity of UC. Since I'm pretty sure the author said it was a UC au of its own. I think I remember one of the plot points later on in the manga is the Titans mass producing Gundam Mark IIs.
 
Maybe we shouldn't include Thunderbolt alongside the general continuity of UC. Since I'm pretty sure the author said it was a UC au of its own. I think I remember one of the plot points later on in the manga is the Titans mass producing Gundam Mark IIs.
hmm didn't know that though the Zeon remnants is still a thing and are probably raging all around earth and considering the skills these veterans showed compared to average EF grunt?
 
Chapter 3: Cresting Waves
[X] You only recognize some of the systems behind the access panel, but you're certain you can trigger the emergency failsafe and make the pod wake her up.

Messing around with life support systems is a very bad idea. That has been drilled into the head of every Spacenoid since birth. But that also came hand in hand with education so that you knew what you were looking at in case you ever did have to mess around with them.

Granted, you've never looked at a Cryopod before, but you recognize atmospheric and temperature sensors anywhere. You can only see their back, so they must be facing inside the pod. Now, what could you do that would cause a relatively quick but still detectable fluctuation in those readings?

Using your jacket as a makeshift barrier between you and the almost certainly freezing hoses of coolant, you grab a hold of the tubes and yank! Immediately ice-cold gas begins billowing out of the sides of the pod, and you take a few steps back. It's barely audible over the hissing, but you can hear an insistent beeping now. That must be the system doing an emergency resuscitation. You hope. If you just accidentally killed this girl, you'll never forgive yourself.







Cold.

It's so very, very cold.

You try to hold yourself, to warm yourself up, but your arms feel so weak, like they're weighed down.

Your eyelids are slow to open, and all you can see is frosted glass. Where… are you?

A snap, a hiss, and the glass rises gradually. It's dark outside. The only light comes from around you. Whereas there was silence before, now there is faint rumbling, and intermittent pounding coming from somewhere far away.

A face, a girl older than you, maybe in her teens with messy red hair that's been lazily braided into a braid that falls over her shoulder.

"Hey," she reaches out to touch your shoulder. She's so warm.

"Are you okay?" she pulls you up slowly into a sitting position. You notice that you're naked. Why? You try to recall, but there's nothing…

"I…" your voice is scratchy, and it hurts a bit to talk, "I don't… know. Am I okay?"

"If nothing hurts, then you're probably fine," the girl smiles with relief, "I'm Cybele. What's your name?"

"My… name?" you blink in surprise as you try to answer and realize something. You don't know your name. But surely people used to call you something! Everything is a blank, though.

She smiles apologetically at you, "Sorry, if it's too hard you don't have to answer. You were probably in stasis for a long time."

"…Stasis?" you look down at where you were sleeping. A pod of some sort, with icy mist drifting from it. A… A crypod. And around you-!

"…Sister?" you reach for one of the other pods. You don't know how you know, but you just know, the other pods hold your family! Your… Your sisters! The girl stops you before you step onto the floor. She looks into your eyes, and you see a sadness deep in hers.

"I'm sorry," she says quietly, "They're gone. You were the only one left."



Gone?

"….No… gone, they can't be gone…" you mutter, images of smiling faces just like yours flashing through your mind, "We were… were going to-!"

You gasp, clutching your head as pain lances through it! You… You were going to do something with your sisters! You… You were meant to-!

"Hold on, don't push yourself!" she catches you before you can topple to the floor, "Look, it isn't safe here. We have to get out of this building. Can you walk?"

You shakily nod. It hurts, and you feel weak, but you can walk. That much you're sure of!

Cybele leads you by the hand, and you find yourself more and more confused as you walk through abandoned, destitute hallways. Where is everyone? Where you were before, there were… people. People you knew. Someone… Someone who was important to you was there. They told you what you were for.

You were born to-!

A low hum becomes a deafening roar, and the building shakes as if an earthquake had seized it! You cry out, fear coursing through you as you hold onto Cybele.

Directly ahead of the two of you, something plows through the wall, shining metal and groaning mechanisms. It continues on until halfway through the other wall, then halts. There's a muffled roar of… thrusters, yes, the roar of thrusters outside, and the mass of metal lifts upwards. A foot passes. A leg, it's a giant metal leg!

A Mobile Suit.

"What-?!" Cybele gapes, getting dangerously close to the edge and staring up at the MS as it rises to meet an incoming foe, "Wasn't that-?!"

"AMX-014, Doven Wolf," the information surfaces in your mind as you repeat it aloud, "Manufactured at Axis Mobile Suit Production facilities. Equipped with Quasi-Psycommu weaponry."

Cybele looks at you strangely, "…That's right. Well, if you were with Neo Zeon I guess you would know what that suit was."

Neo Zeon? What is-? Oh… No, that sounds right. But looking around you, you wonder if you still are a part of it. Despite everything, they left you behind. They let your sisters die.

All those people whose names and faces you can hardly recall, they were all lying when they said they cared about you.

So you cling to Cybele as she leads you back in the other direction, your path ahead cut off. Cybele is a stranger to you, but you can't recall being cared for this much. She… She really is concerned for you. You can feel it. You've never felt this before. You're certain of this.

You pass by a set of large double blast doors, and you pull Cybele to stop.

These doors… you remember. The people who taught you were mad that they stayed closed. You and your sisters thought it was silly that they made a door they couldn't open. They said they didn't make the door. It belonged to-

"The Titans," Cybele mutters, staring at a large insignia in the center, "Looks like it heads deeper into the facility…"

She steps closer, inspecting it. You point out a card reader, and she brushes it off, revealing a dim red light.

"It's still got power…" she sighs, "Damn. If it was dead, maybe we could have forced it open. But I need an ID card, and it's not like I'm going to find… a…"

You look at her in confusion as she trails off, and she slowly reaches into her pocket.

"…No," she slowly pulls a badge on a lanyard out of her pocket, "It couldn't be that easy, right? This can't still be valid."

Even so, she holds it up to the reader, and much to her shock the light turns green.

"Is that yours?" you ask curiously as the door slides open, stale air pouring out and washing over the both of you.

"No," she answers quietly, pocketing the badge again, "It belonged to my father."






Down. The stairs go down and down. You started to shiver, so Cybele gave you her jacket. It was big and heavy, but warmed you up a bit and covered up enough for decency. Not that you really cared about "decency". You don't remember much, but there are flashes of people in coats scolding you for running out of the bath without getting properly dressed. You never cared.

Empty offices, silent conference rooms, quiet labs, the place is untouched and dead. Dim lights from mostly-failed ceiling lights give a dreary ambience to the place.

"They sure left in a hurry," Cybele comments as the two of you peer into another empty lounge, "Have you ever been in here?"

"…No," you shake your head, "This place isn't familiar."

"Huh," she frowns, "Okay, let me see if I can't find one of those fire escape maps. I don't want to keep blindly wandering this place until all the air in Cascadia gets spaced."

All the air? This place is… yes, a colony, a big cylinder spinning in space! Filled with millions of people, all going about their daily lives! If Cybele is talking about all the air going away…

"Is the colony leaking?" you ask as she squints at a faded map near the door.

"Yes. The Federation is attacking us. I don't know why, but they've already punched one hole in the colony, I doubt they stopped there. We've got to get a car or something to get us to the port."

You wander around the room, touching an old couch. It's coated in dust.

"What are you going to do when you get there?" you ask.

"…Fight, I guess," she clenches a fist, banging it against the wall, "Damn it, my brother's out there fighting, and I'm here, useless."

You don't say anything to that. You almost want to tell her that she has done something good. She woke you up… but part of you almost wishes you were still asleep. At least then you didn't know that you were alone.

"…Okay, this place has a hangar. Come on," Cybele heads for the door, and so do you. You want to help her. You don't want to see her in distress. Maybe…

Maybe she can be your new sister?






The doors to the hangar rattle open, but it remains dark. You step through, and the girl follows you, clutching your father's jacket tightly. You suppose it must be comforting.

"…It's dark," she whimpers quietly, "Cybele, where are the lights?"

"Must be motion-activated," you speculate, "or dead. I hope it isn't the latter."

After walking about as far as the light from the corridor reaches, you start jumping up and down, trying to trigger whatever motion sensors there might be. The girl you rescued starts copying you. It's hard to see in the dark, but you think you see her start to smile a little.

Then the lights snap on, illuminating the whole hangar. There's only one Mobile Suit, but it's enough to make you stand in awe.

It's like nothing you've ever seen before.

Mostly white, with dark blue highlights and yellow detailing. Thighs that make up almost half of the Mobile Suit's mass. The legs resemble pegs, and the feet are more like landing gear than anything else. It's all arranged around some kind of drum frame, and in its right hand it's carrying a large unidentifiable weapon that's longer than the Suit is tall!

However, one thing is unmistakable.

On the crotch area, a red recessed area with a golden V. Golden wings on the head, contrasting against white metal.

There's no mistaking it, this Mobile Suit is a-!

"Gundam." The girl breathes in awe.





[] Climb into the cockpit immediately. You just found your ticket out of here!

[] Scour the hangar for Option Parts. You'll need every bit of firepower if you want to contribute to the colony's defense!

[] Do a pre-flight inspection. Gundam or not, this thing has been sitting here for long enough that you're worried about its flightworthiness.
 
[X] Scour the hangar for Option Parts. You'll need every bit of firepower if you want to contribute to the colony's defense!

GIMMEGIMMEGIMMEGIMMEGIMMEGIMMEGIMME!
 
[X] Do a pre-flight inspection. Gundam or not, this thing has been sitting here for long enough that you're worried about its flightworthiness.
 
[x] Do a pre-flight inspection. Gundam or not, this thing has been sitting here for long enough that you're worried about its flightworthiness.

Though I was tempted to just go for the first option, even if it sounds like an obvious trap
 
[X] Do a pre-flight inspection. Gundam or not, this thing has been sitting here for long enough that you're worried about its flightworthiness.

It's Titan-made. Do you guys actually trust their workplace safety record?
 
[X] Scour the hangar for Option Parts. You'll need every bit of firepower if you want to contribute to the colony's defense!

Get all the bits in order.
 
Reverse image search shows this to be the RX-124 Gundam TR-6 [Woundwort]

Apparently this thing has a mobile armour mode, and the beam rifle also comes with heat blades on both sides of the barrel.

Neat aesthetic, and a frame for us to inevitably build on.

Edit: *Researches a bit more*
...Haahaha.... AAAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!! YES!
 
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[X] Scour the hangar for Option Parts. You'll need every bit of firepower if you want to contribute to the colony's defense!
 
[X] Climb into the cockpit immediately. You just found your ticket out of here!

I'm worried about our brother. We didn't do the repair job, though tbf we only managed to get in here because of the Lanyard we found. It would be on brand for a Gundam show to have a seemingly Minor issue be something that screws him over.
 
[X] Climb into the cockpit immediately. You just found your ticket out of here!

I'm not sure we have time to faff around.
 
[X] Do a pre-flight inspection. Gundam or not, this thing has been sitting here for long enough that you're worried about its flightworthiness.
 
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