It was a quiet day at the November Four Institute of Engineering. For students, having the day off from class is a Godsend so that they can relax or put in extra hours on engineering projects and papers that counted for a chunk of their grades. For the Professors, it meant more time for research on how to bring a sense of practicality to certain concepts. The latest discussion revolved around looking into ways how Phase Shift armour could be applied to non-military structures.
Normally, Jean Carrey would be active in such a research topic since he had a knack and a fondness for practical engineering but he had other concerns. A new conflict has started and he needs to get his Astray along with his comrade's Astray up and running but because of the situation that they are in, getting the right resources could be a problem. It wasn't exactly a dangerous situation but it still called for caution all the same.
Flashback
The pilot swore under his breath as he saw two Astrays destroyed by a beam shot fired by a Strike Dagger. He knew that in a battle of this magnitude that there would be losses. Focusing on the enemy, he brought up his own rifle and fired at the Dagger's head to disable the main camera. Although he is a soldier fighting as part of the Three Ship Alliance, he does not wish to kill.
His console beeped once, indicating that a general message had been sent. Apparently, the Kusanagi and the Eternal are setting a course towards GENESIS so that they can destroy the weapon. Jean knew that Jachin Due's defences would be hell to get through but allowing that type of weapon to remain in existence was unacceptable. He briefly checked his sensor readings (which were being erratic thanks to battle debris) and was able to notice that Barry Ho, his comrade and the pilot of the MBF-M1A Astray (which is pretty much the M1 Astray modified for space use) was finishing off a damaged GuAIZ unit with his beam saber and would join him shortly.
Before he could activate his propulsion systems to meet up with his mother ship, he felt a faint trickle run along his spine. From his years as a mobile suit pilot, he immediately realized that someone, most likely an enemy, is heading his way. His radio then came to life. "Peek-a-boo..."
'Where is he?!?' His sensors were not being very helpful as there were erratic readings from damaged mobile suits everywhere. How the hell could he tell where the enemy is coming from?
"I..."
He directed his unit's head to check to his left... and his right...
"... see..."
Was the enemy coming from below? Behind?
"... YOU!!!!"
'Above!!!' Jean's Coordinator reflexes kicked in as he moved his suit backwards to dodge a large black spherical object covered with spikes. When he checked where that weapon had come from, he saw a black mobile suit with red attachments on its back. 'GAT-X370... Raider!!' He had been briefed on that suit along with the Calamity and Forbidden some time after those three had engaged the Freedom and Justice back on the Earth.
As the 'Mjolnir' hammer was retrieved by the Raider, the unit's pilot spoke again. "You actually dodged that! Maybe this won't be as boring as I thought!" As soon as he finished that sentence, the Raider raised its right arm and fired several shots from its shield cannon and from the 'Zorn' energy cannon on the mouth of the suit. Jean did his best to move in and out of the shots but a few shots were able to hit his Astray's legs and the right arm. Jean cursed as he lost his beam rifle.
Before the Raider could go for the kill shot, several shots were fired from Barry's beam rifle. The Raider transformed into its flight mode for additional mobility before backing off temporarily. It came around again and fired its machine guns,its 'Zorn' energy cannon and its 'Ahura Mazda' short-range energy cannons. Barry brought up his shield and motioned for Jean to do the same since he still had his shield in his unit's left arm. The two shields were strong enough to withstand the energy barrage. Then the Raider transformed back into its mobile suit mode in the blink of an eye and fired the 'Mjolnir' hammer again, completely destroying the head of the M1A Astray before Barry could react.
"Too slow!!! Maybe if you put in 40 hours of playing Universal Space Fighters and set the AI difficulty level to Char Aznable, then you would have stood a chance!!" Jean could only groan at the enemy's message. He and Barry were going to die and the last thing that they would hear is that if they played more video games, they could have survived. The Raider then fired one last shot from its 'Zorn' energy cannon at the two. The shot obliterated what was left of the shields and caused a large explosion which blocked the Raider's view of the two units.
Clotho Buer allowed a smirk to come to his face before receiving an order to head back to escort the Peacemaker squadron. 'Ooh!! Fireworks!!'
End Flashback
Both he and Barry were lucky to survive that last blast and owed their lives to Jean's old friend in ZAFT who happened to notice the two damaged and drifting Astray units. They were able to rest in one of the PLANT colonies in November City which happened to be Jean's old home when he lived in the PLANTs. When he heard of the Obsidian Abyss threatening to destroy the fragile peace, he and Barry immediately started to work to acquire what they need to fix up their units and rejoin their comrades.
Although he gave some thought to contacting his ship and crew, assuming they're still alive, the political situation is far from stable. It's a sure bet that the Archangel and Eternal would want to stay out of the spotlight since they are technically traitors.
Jean entered the large workshop which housed the two Astray units. He and Barry had been working for almost two months now and with the help of three old friends of Jean, the units were almost ready to go back to space. At the moment, Barry was going through a martial arts kata to relax himself and collect his thoughts. "Barry? I got lunch."
The other man relaxed his stance and walked towards Jean, who gave him a package of take out food. "Jean... no offence but the take out food on this PLANT isn't that great."
As Barry made his way towards the microwave, Jean called out to him. "By the way, I think Hilda's taken a liking to you. Just make sure you make a good impression on Mars and Herbert and you'll be fine." He smiled in amusement as he saw Barry visibly stiffen at the prospect of a woman liking him.
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(Posted Wed, 19 Apr 2006 22:07)
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