UNIVEEEEERSE!!! (-al Gundam idea and discussion thread)

Waking up can sometimes be jarring.

Especially if the dream was so real, you could almost swear that you were truly there.

Even more so if the dream had you buy a car for two dollars, and said car turned out to be a giant armed-to-the-teeth mechanical robot you used for protecting the world.

With the epic explosion from his latest exploit still lingering in his head, the cobwebs slowly cleared up from the mind of a young man as his eyes opened blearily, no thanks to the alarm clock's insistent buzzing.

"For fuck's sake..." he mumbled, shut off the alarm, and was about to turn back into bed, when another, louder buzz sounded.

Muttering more obscenities, he reached under his pillow, pulled out a mobile phone, and answered.

"Yeah."

"Do you even realize what time is it back there, Harold Cooplowski, Junior?" an irate male voice shouted at him, nearly blowing his eardrums out.

"Quarter to seven, pops," the young man answered. "I set our clocks fifteen minutes ahead so I can cram if I need to. Besides, assembly today is at seven-thirty. We've got the practicum at Morgenroete today."

"Well," Harold Cooplowski, Senior replied, "best get a move on, Coop. You do well at this practicum and Morgenroete is bound to scoop you up."

"That's the idea, old man," Coop said, before letting out a large and loud yawn. "Anyway, gotta go. Long day ahead today. That avionics degree isn't gonna drop in my lap, no matter how much help you and Mr. A keep giving me."

A sigh came from the other end of the line before the older Cooplowski spoke. "Son, if this is about what you overheard George and I had been talking about..."

"Don't sweat it, pops," Coop answered. "We'll deal with this when I get home in a couple of weeks. See ya."

"Take care."

"Yeah."

Coop tapped on the touch-screen to end the call, stretched out his limbs, and immediately padded to the shower, still a bit miffed at his father's constant work in the background, but at the same time relieved that thanks to his pulling strings, he didn't have to put up with a roommate in the Heliopolis student apartment complex.

As the hot water washed off the last vestiges of sleep in the young man, he took a moment to appraise himself before the mirror: thanks to his college scholarship in a space colony, he managed to get his normally-doughy physique toned for the trip from New Jersey to Heliopolis.

The fact that his father had to blackmail him with a showing of WALL-E as a cautionary tale still stung, somewhat.

As he finished off the shower, he found himself oddly thankful that his old man would do that on his behalf - though he did save his appetites for what his friends called his "cheat days", he normally put in enough physical activity in one day to stay solidly built.

Kinda like that French basketball player on those championship videos his father watched every now and then.

Come to think of it, it was also that team's motto that got him into working, and working consistently throughout the latter years of high school, enough for his grades to qualify for a Heliopolis scholarship in avionics engineering.

As he dressed for school, he passed by the plaque with that very quote given to him by his father as a good-luck present going to space. It was a quote from a bygone era, but the thought of it rang straight and true, even to this day.

"When nothing seems to help, I go and look at a stonecutter hammering away at his rock perhaps a hundred times without as much as a crack showing in it. Yet at the hundred and first blow it will split in two, and I know it was not that blow that did it, but all that had gone before." - Jacob Riis

With a smile on his face and a sandwich in his hand, Coop walked out of his apartment, locked the door, and headed to the Heliopolis community college for the morning assembly - they would be headed to practical activities soon after that.

***

"Kira!"

A young man stopped short at the voice calling him. Turning his head, he hoped beyond hope that the one calling him wasn't...

...but it was, as a tanned, stoutly-built blond man was swaggering towards him.

"Coop," Kira said. "You seem happy."

"Damn straight," Coop replied. "We're going to Morgenroete's facilities today. You did take care of your share of the AMBAC paper over the weekend, huh?"

At Kira's guilty expression, Coop's face fell.

"Well that sucks. We won't have anything to show those guys! And here I thought YOU wanted to work at Morgenroete, too."

"Can't we do this whole headhunting thing AFTER graduating, Coop? It's not like this is a done deal already," Kira said, shaking his head as he began to walk through the college's halls towards the Engineering building.

"Listen, man," Coop explained as he fell into step with his classmate, "you and I have the top 2 spots in avionics locked up. You may have me beat in the theoretical stuff, but I run rings around you in practicals. Why not show it off? Who knows, if we make a good enough bachelor's thesis, maybe Morgenroete will hire us as soon as we shrug off our togas!"

Kira sighed. "Your optimism is admirable, Coop, however..."

His explanation, though, was cut short when two classmates spotted them, waved, called out their names, and started making their way towards the two engineering students.

"Kira, Coop, glad you made it," the girl said. "Tolle and I had been waiting for some time."

Coop shrugged. "Came here with time to spare. Thought I'd spend it talking business with Kira, here," and here the larger man grabbed his fellow engineering student and pulled him to his side with an arm, "and after that, running into you two. Ha ha!"

"Um," Tolle observed, "Kira's turning blue."

"Oh!" Coop exclaimed before letting his classmate go. "My bad. Just woke up on the righter side of bed this morning. Why don't we head on over to assembly, then? Millie, Kira, Tolle?"

His three classmates nodded, and in moments, they were part of one group heading to Morgenroete on a shuttle.

***

"I have nothing to say to you," a bespectacled young man said as soon as Coop went over to talk to him.

"But I do," Coop replied. "Listen, as long as she's okay with seeing you, I ain't got no problem with it. However, you break her heart, I break your arms. We clear?"

"I'd never do something like that to her, you know that, Cooplowski," the youth in glasses answered. "So yes... we ARE clear."

"Well, don't let me detain you any further... wait a minute, you see Kira anywhere?"

Coop's classmate shook his head.

"I was sure he was around these parts... anyway, if you see him, tell him to meet me here, okay, Sai?"

The youth named Sai just nodded, surprised at how Coop's demeanor changed on a dime.

As soon as his classmate turned a corner, several girls came over.

"Who were you talking to, Sai?" the redhead up front asked. "Is it Cooplowski again?"

Sai shrugged. "Yeah, and I think I might have good news for us... regarding him, Flay."

While the two girls behind her tittered and giggled, Flay's expression softened. "I sure hope so. Come on, let's go and catch up with the rest of them."

***

"Kira!"

After around five minutes of searching, Coop was nearing the end of his rope. The Morgenroete presentation on AMBAC theory was due to start any time soon, and they were supposed to ask a few questions that would be the basis of their bachelor's thesis.

Too bad Kira was the one who did all the paperwork, and too bad, Coop thought, that he got suckered into dividing the work in that manner.

Thankfully, Coop found a security officer, and was about to wave at him...

...when the officer started walking away, looking this way and that as he did so.

Wait a minute... Coop thought. This isn't right.

"Hey!" he called out. "Need a hand here, sir!"

And instead of turning around, the man just took off in a full sprint.

With a grimace of frustration, Coop followed the suspicious security officer the best that he could, only to lose him in a few moments.

However, what he stumbled upon piqued his interest... and maybe more than a little horror.

A walkie-talkie was on the ground, and with it was a strange device that looked like a mobile phone of older make.

As soon as he picked it up, the thoughts and sensations of danger began to fill up Coop's mind - he'd seen these devices somewhere before.

"Hey, pops, your friend dropped this."

"Oh, thanks for that. George! You left this on the couch!"

It was a childhood memory, but the frightened expression on the face of his father's friend leaped to the forefront of his memory - why, though?

"Coop!"

A familiar voice snapped him out of his thoughts. Turning, he saw his classmate Kira run towards him, concern on his face.

"Remember that suspicious girl we saw on the shuttle?" he said as he got to him. "Said she was a friend of the professor, and she was there for - what the hell are you doing with a detonator?!"

Coop's eyes widened to the scope of dinner plates.

"Mother of... and it's active, too!" Kira exclaimed as he went over to examine the mobile phone-looking thing.

"How the hell do you know what that thing is anyway, Kira?" Coop asked indignantly.

"Seen it on 'Mythbusters'," Kira retorted. "Standard remote detonation console. Has an operational radius of approximately 2500 meters, very configurable, and easy to dispose of... wait, if this is on, then that means that there's a bomb..."

"Oh, fuck that noise," Coop snarked, and then turned to the walkie-talkie.

Static buzzed, but as soon as Coop pressed the "listen" button on it, a voice came through clearly.

"OP start in t minus 5 minutes. I repeat, OP start in t minus 5 minutes."

Kira and Coop could only say one thing upon hearing that message.

"Shit."

***

While Coop was desperately searching high and low for the bomb, Kira was tinkering with the console. Three agonizing minutes had gone by, and Coop had gone from frantic to nearly frothing at the mouth from panic during that time.

"What are you doing, man?!" Coop said as he went to his classmate. "Two minutes until Heliopolis blows the fuck up and you're there fiddling with that thing?"

"Quiet," Kira replied, brow sweaty as he continued working the console. "I'm trying something."

"Trying what?" Coop asked more quietly this time.

"You'll see," Kira answered as he kept on going. "Little more... little more... sending data... wireless link acquired... interfacing..."

Then Kira let out a relieved breath, "...and done with ten seconds left to spare," before collapsing onto the floor from the effort.

"What'd you do, man?" Coop asked.

"Any moment now," Kira said with a grin.

Coop's retort was cut off entirely as the whole of Heliopolis was plunged into darkness for a few seconds, and the cries of consternation from around them grew in volume for a few moments until the lights went back on.

"Rigged them to EMP," Kira said triumphantly. "That way, if those were real explosives, we wouldn't have to worry about-"

A series of explosions cut their victory party short.

***
 
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Waking up can sometimes be jarring.

Especially if the dream was so real, you could almost swear that you were truly there.

Even more so if the dream had you buy a car for two dollars, and said car turned out to be a giant armed-to-the-teeth mechanical robot you used for protecting the world.

With the epic explosion from his latest exploit still lingering in his head, the cobwebs slowly cleared up from the mind of a young man as his eyes opened blearily, no thanks to the alarm clock's insistent buzzing.

"For fuck's sake..." he mumbled, shut off the alarm, and was about to turn back into bed, when another, louder buzz sounded.

Muttering more obscenities, he reached under his pillow, pulled out a mobile phone, and answered.

"Yeah."

"Do you even realize what time is it back there, Harold Cooplowski, Junior?" an irate male voice shouted at him, nearly blowing his eardrums out.

"Quarter to seven, pops," the young man answered. "I set our clocks fifteen minutes ahead so I can cram if I need to. Besides, assembly today is at seven-thirty. We've got the practicum at Morgenroete today."

"Well," Harold Cooplowski, Senior replied, "best get a move on, Coop. You do well at this practicum and Morgenroete is bound to scoop you up."

"That's the idea, old man," Coop said, before letting out a large and loud yawn. "Anyway, gotta go. Long day ahead today. That avionics degree isn't gonna drop in my lap, no matter how much help you and Mr. A keep giving me."

A sigh came from the other end of the line before the older Cooplowski spoke. "Son, if this is about what you overheard George and I had been talking about..."

"Don't sweat it, pops," Coop answered. "We'll deal with this when I get home in a couple of weeks. See ya."

"Take care."

"Yeah."

Coop tapped on the touch-screen to end the call, stretched out his limbs, and immediately padded to the shower, still a bit miffed at his father's constant work in the background, but at the same time relieved that thanks to his pulling strings, he didn't have to put up with a roommate in the Heliopolis student apartment complex.

As the hot water washed off the last vestiges of sleep in the young man, he took a moment to appraise himself before the mirror: thanks to his college scholarship in a space colony, he managed to get his normally-doughy physique toned for the trip from New Jersey to Heliopolis.

The fact that his father had to blackmail him with a showing of WALL-E as a cautionary tale still stung, somewhat.

As he finished off the shower, he found himself oddly thankful that his old man would do that on his behalf - though he did save his appetites for what his friends called his "cheat days", he normally put in enough physical activity in one day to stay solidly built.

Kinda like that French basketball player on those championship videos his father watched every now and then.

Come to think of it, it was also that team's motto that got him into working, and working consistently throughout the latter years of high school, enough for his grades to qualify for a Heliopolis scholarship in avionics engineering.

As he dressed for school, he passed by the plaque with that very quote given to him by his father as a good-luck present going to space. It was a quote from a bygone era, but the thought of it rang straight and true, even to this day.

"When nothing seems to help, I go and look at a stonecutter hammering away at his rock perhaps a hundred times without as much as a crack showing in it. Yet at the hundred and first blow it will split in two, and I know it was not that blow that did it, but all that had gone before." - Jacob Riis

With a smile on his face and a sandwich in his hand, Coop walked out of his apartment, locked the door, and headed to the Heliopolis community college for the morning assembly - they would be headed to practical activities soon after that.

***

"Kira!"

A young man stopped short at the voice calling him. Turning his head, he hoped beyond hope that the one calling him wasn't...

...but it was, as a tanned, stoutly-built blond man was swaggering towards him.

"Coop," Kira said. "You seem happy."

"Damn straight," Coop replied. "We're going to Morgenroete's facilities today. You did take care of your share of the AMBAC paper over the weekend, huh?"

At Kira's guilty expression, Coop's face fell.

"Well that sucks. We won't have anything to show those guys! And here I thought YOU wanted to work at Morgenroete, too."

"Can't we do this whole headhunting thing AFTER graduating, Coop? It's not like this is a done deal already," Kira said, shaking his head as he began to walk through the college's halls towards the Engineering building.

"Listen, man," Coop explained as he fell into step with his classmate, "you and I have the top 2 spots in avionics locked up. You may have me beat in the theoretical stuff, but I run rings around you in practicals. Why not show it off? Who knows, if we make a good enough bachelor's thesis, maybe Morgenroete will hire us as soon as we shrug off our togas!"

Kira sighed. "Your optimism is admirable, Coop, however..."

His explanation, though, was cut short when two classmates spotted them, waved, called out their names, and started making their way towards the two engineering students.

"Kira, Coop, glad you made it," the girl said. "Tolle and I had been waiting for some time."

Coop shrugged. "Came here with time to spare. Thought I'd spend it talking business with Kira, here," and here the larger man grabbed his fellow engineering student and pulled him to his side with an arm, "and after that, running into you two. Ha ha!"

"Um," Tolle observed, "Kira's turning blue."

"Oh!" Coop exclaimed before letting his classmate go. "My bad. Just woke up on the righter side of bed this morning. Why don't we head on over to assembly, then? Millie, Kira, Tolle?"

His three classmates nodded, and in moments, they were part of one group heading to Morgenroete on a shuttle.

***

"I have nothing to say to you," a bespectacled young man said as soon as Coop went over to talk to him.

"But I do," Coop replied. "Listen, as long as she's okay with seeing you, I ain't got no problem with it. However, you break her heart, I break your arms. We clear?"

"I'd never do something like that to her, you know that, Cooplowski," the youth in glasses answered. "So yes... we ARE clear."

"Well, don't let me detain you any further... wait a minute, you see Kira anywhere?"

Coop's classmate shook his head.

"I was sure he was around these parts... anyway, if you see him, tell him to meet me here, okay, Sai?"

The youth named Sai just nodded, surprised at how Coop's demeanor changed on a dime.

As soon as his classmate turned a corner, several girls came over.

"Who were you talking to, Sai?" the redhead up front asked. "Is it Cooplowski again?"

Sai shrugged. "Yeah, and I think I might have good news for us... regarding him, Flay."

While the two girls behind her tittered and giggled, Flay's expression softened. "I sure hope so. Come on, let's go and catch up with the rest of them."

***

"Kira!"

After around five minutes of searching, Coop was nearing the end of his rope. The Morgenroete presentation on AMBAC theory was due to start any time soon, and they were supposed to ask a few questions that would be the basis of their bachelor's thesis.

Too bad Kira was the one who did all the paperwork, and too bad, Coop thought, that he got suckered into dividing the work in that manner.

Thankfully, Coop found a security officer, and was about to wave at him...

...when the officer started walking away, looking this way and that as he did so.

Wait a minute... Coop thought. This isn't right.

"Hey!" he called out. "Need a hand here, sir!"

And instead of turning around, the man just took off in a full sprint.

With a grimace of frustration, Coop followed the suspicious security officer the best that he could, only to lose him in a few moments.

However, what he stumbled upon piqued his interest... and maybe more than a little horror.

A walkie-talkie was on the ground, and with it was a strange device that looked like a mobile phone of older make.

As soon as he picked it up, the thoughts and sensations of danger began to fill up Coop's mind - he'd seen these devices somewhere before.

"Hey, pops, your friend dropped this."

"Oh, thanks for that. George! You left this on the couch!"

It was a childhood memory, but the frightened expression on the face of his father's friend leaped to the forefront of his memory - why, though?

"Coop!"

A familiar voice snapped him out of his thoughts. Turning, he saw his classmate Kira run towards him, concern on his face.

"Remember that suspicious girl we saw on the shuttle?" he said as he got to him. "Said she was a friend of the professor, and she was there for - what the hell are you doing with a detonator?!"

Coop's eyes widened to the scope of dinner plates.

"Mother of... and it's active, too!" Kira exclaimed as he went over to examine the mobile phone-looking thing.

"How the hell do you know what that thing is anyway, Kira?" Coop asked indignantly.

"Seen it on 'Mythbusters'," Kira retorted. "Standard remote detonation console. Has an operational radius of approximately 2500 meters, very configurable, and easy to dispose of... wait, if this is on, then that means that there's a bomb..."

"Oh, fuck that noise," Coop snarked, and then turned to the walkie-talkie.

Static buzzed, but as soon as Coop pressed the "listen" button on it, a voice came through clearly.

"OP start in t minus 5 minutes. I repeat, OP start in t minus 5 minutes."

Kira and Coop could only say one thing upon hearing that message.

"Shit."

***

While Coop was desperately searching high and low for the bomb, Kira was tinkering with the console. Three agonizing minutes had gone by, and Coop had gone from frantic to nearly frothing at the mouth from panic during that time.

"What are you doing, man?!" Coop said as he went to his classmate. "Two minutes until Heliopolis blows the fuck up and you're there fiddling with that thing?"

"Quiet," Kira replied, brow sweaty as he continued working the console. "I'm trying something."

"Trying what?" Coop asked more quietly this time.

"You'll see," Kira answered as he kept on going. "Little more... little more... sending data... wireless link acquired... interfacing..."

Then Kira let out a relieved breath, "...and done with ten seconds left to spare," before collapsing onto the floor from the effort.

"What'd you do, man?" Coop asked.

"Any moment now," Kira said with a grin.

Coop's retort was cut off entirely as the whole of Heliopolis was plunged into darkness for a few seconds, and the cries of consternation from around them grew in volume for a few moments until the lights went back on.

"Rigged them to EMP," Kira said triumphantly. "That way, if those were real explosives, we wouldn't have to worry about-"

A series of explosions cut their victory party short.

***
ALL OF MY WANT
 
Welp, a little snip kinda sorta based on Stranded Freighter, the Gundam RP that kinda died <.< :

"Alright people, listen up! Here's the plan."

Daisuke Kuze looks over the people in the cramped ready room and nods. Things have changed over the last few months. The Archangel's crew are no longer as green as they used to be. He's still trying to wrap his head around their new allies - but then, he managed to become friends with a pair of Zekes, and ain't that something.

"Alright, we all know what we're getting into. This is going to be the big one, make no mistake. For everyone here, this isn't your first rodeo, but it is the first time you're going into a pitched all or nothing battle. Just remember your training, and stick together, and you'll make it out alive."

"For the record, it gets easier after the first two or three big ones," remarks Vladimir MacMurtree, with a wry smile. Dai's expression is a little pained - he and Vlad are the only One Year War veterans in the room, and they've fought in almost every major battle since UC 0079. Still, he gets what Vlad's trying to do - reassure the greenhorns. Too bad it doesn't reassure him; he's painfully aware that he and Vlad have more experience and combat time than everybody on the Archangel, Eternal and Kusanagi combined.

Still. You go to war with what you have.

"The main Three Ships forces are going to make a push along this "corridor". Freedom and Justice will deploy with METEOR units. Kira, Athrun, your job is area superiority and supression of enemy space power. Within this zone, attrit ZAFT and ONMI forces and whittle down their numbers for the Astrays to mop up. Astrays will form two task forces - Hammer and Sword - and engage both factions.

"Element Rhino will be myself and Nikolas. We'll conduct hit and run attacks on OMNI targets, prioritising the capships. We've got enough firepower to hurt them, but we're going to focus on mission kills, keeping their carriers from being able to launch. One Aggie is 36 mobile suits, so the more of them we take out, the easier our job will be.

"Element Zephyr will be Vlad and Sel. Your job will be to harass the Peacekeeper force. Keep those nukes from launching.

"Strike, Rouge, Buster: you guys are roving fire brigade. Assist the Astrays and get ready to put out fires as need be.

"Okay, I think we're done here. Let's get to it, people."

= = = = =

There is something fitting about the Jesta, thinks Vladimir MacMurtree. It is, at it's core, something of a no-frills machine. Grenades, beam saber, rifle, shield. No fancy features, no special abilities, just something that sticks to the basics and does it very well.

Three chords and the truth, so to say.

For all that it's legitimately a high performance machine, it's also the easiest to maintain, out of all the machines stranded here, which is why he's usually the first one out.

The catapult shoots him forward, and Vlad's dark blue Jesta erupts into the void, easily settling beside the bright red form of Selvaria Bles's ReBawoo. "I'm your wing, Hex," he calls, giving her an easy smile. In the video screen, Sel returns the expression, evident despite the psycommu mask she wears under her helmet. "Same to you, Captain Australia."

"Quite flirting, lovebirds," teases Nicholas Page, as his Sinanju Stein forms up beside it's partner, Daisuke Kuze's ReZEL Commander, with the Defenser-B Unit loadout. "Good hunting, both of you," adds Daisuke.

"Same to you guys," replies Vlad, ignoring the remark. "Let's do this."

As one, the four mobile suits punch their thrusters and break off for their objectives.
 
Welp, a little snip kinda sorta based on Stranded Freighter, the Gundam RP that kinda died <.< :

"Alright people, listen up! Here's the plan."

Daisuke Kuze looks over the people in the cramped ready room and nods. Things have changed over the last few months. The Archangel's crew are no longer as green as they used to be. He's still trying to wrap his head around their new allies - but then, he managed to become friends with a pair of Zekes, and ain't that something.

"Alright, we all know what we're getting into. This is going to be the big one, make no mistake. For everyone here, this isn't your first rodeo, but it is the first time you're going into a pitched all or nothing battle. Just remember your training, and stick together, and you'll make it out alive."

"For the record, it gets easier after the first two or three big ones," remarks Vladimir MacMurtree, with a wry smile. Dai's expression is a little pained - he and Vlad are the only One Year War veterans in the room, and they've fought in almost every major battle since UC 0079. Still, he gets what Vlad's trying to do - reassure the greenhorns. Too bad it doesn't reassure him; he's painfully aware that he and Vlad have more experience and combat time than everybody on the Archangel, Eternal and Kusanagi combined.

Still. You go to war with what you have.

"The main Three Ships forces are going to make a push along this "corridor". Freedom and Justice will deploy with METEOR units. Kira, Athrun, your job is area superiority and supression of enemy space power. Within this zone, attrit ZAFT and ONMI forces and whittle down their numbers for the Astrays to mop up. Astrays will form two task forces - Hammer and Sword - and engage both factions.

"Element Rhino will be myself and Nikolas. We'll conduct hit and run attacks on OMNI targets, prioritising the capships. We've got enough firepower to hurt them, but we're going to focus on mission kills, keeping their carriers from being able to launch. One Aggie is 36 mobile suits, so the more of them we take out, the easier our job will be.

"Element Zephyr will be Vlad and Sel. Your job will be to harass the Peacekeeper force. Keep those nukes from launching.

"Strike, Rouge, Buster: you guys are roving fire brigade. Assist the Astrays and get ready to put out fires as need be.

"Okay, I think we're done here. Let's get to it, people."

= = = = =

There is something fitting about the Jesta, thinks Vladimir MacMurtree. It is, at it's core, something of a no-frills machine. Grenades, beam saber, rifle, shield. No fancy features, no special abilities, just something that sticks to the basics and does it very well.

Three chords and the truth, so to say.

For all that it's legitimately a high performance machine, it's also the easiest to maintain, out of all the machines stranded here, which is why he's usually the first one out.

The catapult shoots him forward, and Vlad's dark blue Jesta erupts into the void, easily settling beside the bright red form of Selvaria Bles's ReBawoo. "I'm your wing, Hex," he calls, giving her an easy smile. In the video screen, Sel returns the expression, evident despite the psycommu mask she wears under her helmet. "Same to you, Captain Australia."

"Quite flirting, lovebirds," teases Nicholas Page, as his Sinanju Stein forms up beside it's partner, Daisuke Kuze's ReZEL Commander, with the Defenser-B Unit loadout. "Good hunting, both of you," adds Daisuke.

"Same to you guys," replies Vlad, ignoring the remark. "Let's do this."

As one, the four mobile suits punch their thrusters and break off for their objectives.
Yay!
 
Welp, a little snip kinda sorta based on Stranded Freighter, the Gundam RP that kinda died <.< :

"Alright people, listen up! Here's the plan."

Daisuke Kuze looks over the people in the cramped ready room and nods. Things have changed over the last few months. The Archangel's crew are no longer as green as they used to be. He's still trying to wrap his head around their new allies - but then, he managed to become friends with a pair of Zekes, and ain't that something.

"Alright, we all know what we're getting into. This is going to be the big one, make no mistake. For everyone here, this isn't your first rodeo, but it is the first time you're going into a pitched all or nothing battle. Just remember your training, and stick together, and you'll make it out alive."

"For the record, it gets easier after the first two or three big ones," remarks Vladimir MacMurtree, with a wry smile. Dai's expression is a little pained - he and Vlad are the only One Year War veterans in the room, and they've fought in almost every major battle since UC 0079. Still, he gets what Vlad's trying to do - reassure the greenhorns. Too bad it doesn't reassure him; he's painfully aware that he and Vlad have more experience and combat time than everybody on the Archangel, Eternal and Kusanagi combined.

Still. You go to war with what you have.

"The main Three Ships forces are going to make a push along this "corridor". Freedom and Justice will deploy with METEOR units. Kira, Athrun, your job is area superiority and supression of enemy space power. Within this zone, attrit ZAFT and ONMI forces and whittle down their numbers for the Astrays to mop up. Astrays will form two task forces - Hammer and Sword - and engage both factions.

"Element Rhino will be myself and Nikolas. We'll conduct hit and run attacks on OMNI targets, prioritising the capships. We've got enough firepower to hurt them, but we're going to focus on mission kills, keeping their carriers from being able to launch. One Aggie is 36 mobile suits, so the more of them we take out, the easier our job will be.

"Element Zephyr will be Vlad and Sel. Your job will be to harass the Peacekeeper force. Keep those nukes from launching.

"Strike, Rouge, Buster: you guys are roving fire brigade. Assist the Astrays and get ready to put out fires as need be.

"Okay, I think we're done here. Let's get to it, people."

= = = = =

There is something fitting about the Jesta, thinks Vladimir MacMurtree. It is, at it's core, something of a no-frills machine. Grenades, beam saber, rifle, shield. No fancy features, no special abilities, just something that sticks to the basics and does it very well.

Three chords and the truth, so to say.

For all that it's legitimately a high performance machine, it's also the easiest to maintain, out of all the machines stranded here, which is why he's usually the first one out.

The catapult shoots him forward, and Vlad's dark blue Jesta erupts into the void, easily settling beside the bright red form of Selvaria Bles's ReBawoo. "I'm your wing, Hex," he calls, giving her an easy smile. In the video screen, Sel returns the expression, evident despite the psycommu mask she wears under her helmet. "Same to you, Captain Australia."

"Quite flirting, lovebirds," teases Nicholas Page, as his Sinanju Stein forms up beside it's partner, Daisuke Kuze's ReZEL Commander, with the Defenser-B Unit loadout. "Good hunting, both of you," adds Daisuke.

"Same to you guys," replies Vlad, ignoring the remark. "Let's do this."

As one, the four mobile suits punch their thrusters and break off for their objectives.

Nice. At least something came of it. Daisuke's pretty much in character* too. Awesome!

*If he were really in character he's probably began the brief with the by now time honored tradition of Bright Slapping Kira.:p</joke>
 
Nice. At least something came of it. Daisuke's pretty much in character* too. Awesome!

*If he were really in character he's probably began the brief with the by now time honored tradition of Bright Slapping Kira.:p</joke>
I'm still reworking in my head how this all ought to go down, so I'm not entirely sure how this all will work out, especially as getting into the heads of all the RP cast is a little tricky, haha. :p Pretends not to notice he didn't write anything for Hank and Melody, we always need people to kill off for reals <.< ​

I'd like to think that over several months, everyone kinda loosened up a little and found their niche: Vlad and Daisuke end up as co-leaders who play off each other's strengths & personalities, Nikolas and Selvaria kinda loosen up on the whole Sleeves thing, Kira grows up a little, Natarle ends up less bitchy and stays on the Archangel, and by the time everything settles down, everyone's kinda found a social-mental place where they're all comfortable with each other. :p

Also, attempted setup of running gag of everyone accusing Vlad and Sel of flirting/dating/courting/etc-ing and both Newtypes being oblivious to what's going on with themselves. May or may not end up in both of them being dragged off to the hangar or flight deck to be married off to each other in the presence of their crewmates/friends. :p
 
I'm still reworking in my head how this all ought to go down, so I'm not entirely sure how this all will work out, especially as getting into the heads of all the RP cast is a little tricky, haha. :p Pretends not to notice he didn't write anything for Hank and Melody, we always need people to kill off for reals <.< ​

I'd like to think that over several months, everyone kinda loosened up a little and found their niche: Vlad and Daisuke end up as co-leaders who play off each other's strengths & personalities, Nikolas and Selvaria kinda loosen up on the whole Sleeves thing, Kira grows up a little, Natarle ends up less bitchy and stays on the Archangel, and by the time everything settles down, everyone's kinda found a social-mental place where they're all comfortable with each other. :p

Also, attempted setup of running gag of everyone accusing Vlad and Sel of flirting/dating/courting/etc-ing and both Newtypes being oblivious to what's going on with themselves. May or may not end up in both of them being dragged off to the hangar or flight deck to be married off to each other in the presence of their crewmates/friends. :p

Hey. I like it. I'd like to see where it ends up going if it does. Anyway, as long as cool things happen I'm good with it.
 
I'm still reworking in my head how this all ought to go down, so I'm not entirely sure how this all will work out, especially as getting into the heads of all the RP cast is a little tricky, haha. :p Pretends not to notice he didn't write anything for Hank and Melody, we always need people to kill off for reals <.<

I'd like to think that over several months, everyone kinda loosened up a little and found their niche: Vlad and Daisuke end up as co-leaders who play off each other's strengths & personalities, Nikolas and Selvaria kinda loosen up on the whole Sleeves thing, Kira grows up a little, Natarle ends up less bitchy and stays on the Archangel, and by the time everything settles down, everyone's kinda found a social-mental place where they're all comfortable with each other. :p

Also, attempted setup of running gag of everyone accusing Vlad and Sel of flirting/dating/courting/etc-ing and both Newtypes being oblivious to what's going on with themselves. May or may not end up in both of them being dragged off to the hangar or flight deck to be married off to each other in the presence of their crewmates/friends. :p
With how much Sel and Vlad get called out, I wouldn't be surprised if it did end in them tying the knot :V
 
With how much Sel and Vlad get called out, I wouldn't be surprised if it did end in them tying the knot :V
I actually had a crack idea where I bullshitted that Vlad's Jesta had a psychoframe cockpit (because raisins :V) and it ended up that Vlad & Sel stare out the hangar, dumbfounded, as the Jesta and ReBawoo are frolicking through space and holding hands.

Obviously, this idea was expunged for being too cracky. :p
 
I actually had a crack idea where I bullshitted that Vlad's Jesta had a psychoframe cockpit (because raisins :V) and it ended up that Vlad & Sel stare out the hangar, dumbfounded, as the Jesta and ReBawoo are frolicking through space and holding hands.

Obviously, this idea was expunged for being too cracky. :p
A PLOT bunny.

Instead of the SEED Universe, what if Stranded Freighter crew got transported to the start of Gundam 00? Bricks will be shat from both the Earth forces and Celestial Being.
 
It really does need some help. It had so many ideas and so much blegh. It's the Voyager of Gundam.

By that the UC and CC are obviously TOS, the AC and AD are probably TNG, the AW is DS9, and the AG is Enterprise.
What is Build Fighters, then, and why they are so glorious, if cracky?
 
No idea. TAS if TAS was good?
TAS varies in quality. Not sure how good it is in general, but one particular episode ("Yesteryear") is the only Star Trek work outside of live-action shows and movies considered to be on the same level of canon as the live-action material and it gets an enourmous amount of references thrown at it in live-action material. The less crazy parts of it should probably be considered more canon than any and all other non-live action material.
 
I'm still reworking in my head how this all ought to go down, so I'm not entirely sure how this all will work out, especially as getting into the heads of all the RP cast is a little tricky, haha. :p Pretends not to notice he didn't write anything for Hank and Melody, we always need people to kill off for reals <.< ​

I'd like to think that over several months, everyone kinda loosened up a little and found their niche: Vlad and Daisuke end up as co-leaders who play off each other's strengths & personalities, Nikolas and Selvaria kinda loosen up on the whole Sleeves thing, Kira grows up a little, Natarle ends up less bitchy and stays on the Archangel, and by the time everything settles down, everyone's kinda found a social-mental place where they're all comfortable with each other. :p

Also, attempted setup of running gag of everyone accusing Vlad and Sel of flirting/dating/courting/etc-ing and both Newtypes being oblivious to what's going on with themselves. May or may not end up in both of them being dragged off to the hangar or flight deck to be married off to each other in the presence of their crewmates/friends. :p
Pollock dies horribly, and in the most embarrassing way possible, doesn't he? :p

Anyway, if we're talking about Stranded Freighter, might as well post a few ideas for Hank's backstory I never got to use:

-During the OYW, Hank wasn't a Mobile Pilot, but an infantry man. He had been in China on a vacation that had been extended because of the outbreak of the war causing transport disruptions. He was conscripted when Zeon launched their invasion of Earth.

-He served with a platoon that, while not pulled off anything amazing like taking out a Zaku, did managed to harass Zeon's lighter forces in East Asia for most of the war.

-That ended one night, when, while the rest of his were hiding in their encampment, Hank wandered off to use the Bathroom. By what seemed like sheer random chance, a Dom ran over the encampment, killing the rest of the platoon. (In fact, this was caused by Pollock's latent Newtype ability interacting with the Dom Pilot's, also a latent Newtype, luring him to, or rather, through, the camp. On some subconscious level, Hank realized he was responsible for the death of his platoon, and combined with the massive migraine the incident caused, lead to him associating all Newtype sensations with pain.)

-After that, Hank managed to make it to an Earth Federation base, where the Commander refused to believe his story, and ordered Hank arrested on charges of spying for Zeon.

-Hank spent the rest of the One Year War locked in a jail cell. His only real Human contact was another captured Zeon spy (who, after the war, would turn out to be a Federation soldier who had cracked under the pressure of fighting Mobile Suits and deluded himself into thinking he was really spying for Zeon.) The supposed spy would spin tails of massive Spy rings, of Zeon having it's hand in everything not directly related to Earth Federation government. There were times when Hank would wonder if he himself was a Manchurian agent for the Spacenoids. Shortly after the war ended, the records of his conscription were recovered and Pollock was freed.

-The above two incidents lead to Hank having an extremely hateful and distrustful attitude about Zeon.

-After the war, Hank tried to live a normal life. He convinced himself the Zeon had been vanquished, but he was unable to just standby and watch after Zeon Remnants performed Operation Stardust. He rejoined the Federation, this time as a Mobile Suit pilot, and became one of the Titans as soon as he could, as they were one of the few organizations Pollock viewed as being beyond the reach of Zeon.
 
Wow, and I thought my whole "my co-workers murdered our students and I hid" backstory was angsty....
 
I'm still reworking in my head how this all ought to go down, so I'm not entirely sure how this all will work out, especially as getting into the heads of all the RP cast is a little tricky, haha. :p Pretends not to notice he didn't write anything for Hank and Melody, we always need people to kill off for reals <.< ​

I'd like to think that over several months, everyone kinda loosened up a little and found their niche: Vlad and Daisuke end up as co-leaders who play off each other's strengths & personalities, Nikolas and Selvaria kinda loosen up on the whole Sleeves thing, Kira grows up a little, Natarle ends up less bitchy and stays on the Archangel, and by the time everything settles down, everyone's kinda found a social-mental place where they're all comfortable with each other. :p

Also, attempted setup of running gag of everyone accusing Vlad and Sel of flirting/dating/courting/etc-ing and both Newtypes being oblivious to what's going on with themselves. May or may not end up in both of them being dragged off to the hangar or flight deck to be married off to each other in the presence of their crewmates/friends. :p

Taking a cue from @tankdrop24, here's the ideas I was planning on working into Daisuki. He's more or less always suffering from PTSD attacks. He's just learned to live with it by drowning it in alcohol and nicotine. He's basically a high functioning alcoholic. He's also not worried about any negative effects of smoking because of Operation Stardust. His GM Kai detected approximately 1.5 times the maximum safe dosage of radiation within the cockpit.

I was planning on him being very closed off for the first six months of in-universe time, treating the rest of the crew like fresh ensigns except for maybe Paige. Even after a year I wasn't planing on having him be really comfortable with the rest of the crew. He was just going to accept that there was nothing he could do about it and that there was no where else for him to really go.

He also really hates being stuck on a ship with so many newtypes. Probably because he thinks they're all looking down on him for still more or less living at Operation Stardust for the majority of his life. I hadn't really worked that part out yet.

He was going to relax about the whole chain of command thing because of the Albion's captain. If he's in charge of the ship but isn't worth Daisuke's respect then what's the point? He was still going to hold on the superiority thing he had though. He still thinks that he should be in charge because he's been in command of MS teams of over fifteen pilots, and (in his mind) he has the best MS and is the most level headed tactician. That said, in his mind, "level headed tactician," means coring MSs from over a kilometer away and destroying ships (or at least their hangers) before MSs can even be launched.

He was going to stay ruthless for the entirety of his run. I mean, I was going to mellow him out. He was only considering turning that one Mobius pilot over to... whatever the mad scientist's name was because he was still in shock from realizing that he was in another universe and really needed information. He didn't care how he got it or who had to die or be turned into a wetware CPU. I was planning on him somehow talking to someone about that incident at some point. Hadn't worked out who. Don't think anything was going to happen between him and Tiamat. That's on Tiamat's end though. She's basically his type. Maybe Paige. He... didn't really like Paige, but he respected him as a good pilot and someone he didn't hate or find constantly annoying. No offense but he thought Vlad was pretty much a teenager in mentality.
 
Just purely out of curiosity, is this Vlad character named after a certain prankster pilot from another Gundam roleplay?
 
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