Ever since the people of Earth first began migrating to the Colonies, many changes have come up. The people that lived in the Colonies found interesting side effects living there. The people there found that the lack of gravity, further proximity from the Sun’s harmful rays, and regulated temperatures have had adverse effects on their physiologic structures. The people there were much more athletic, stronger, faster, and were able to think quicker. When Mobile Suits were invented, those that were born and raised in the Colonies found themselves at the advantage when in battle as opposed to those from Earth. Those that had been trained to maximize these outer space abilities were far greater adversaries to face in battle. These "superior beings" were dubbed a special kind of human. They were called, "Newtypes." This training, which maximized a Newtype’s abilities, was an effective examination in testing one’s status as a Newtype or not.
In a world where war is no longer a threat to the people, there are few people left in the Colonies to test the Newtype theory. Some theorized that now that the war was over, the Newtypes were extinct, and that if any more Newtypes were to be born, it would be almost impossible to test them on whether they were a Newtype or not. Thus, the Newtypes have become all but forgotten.
The year is After Exodus 249. In this world, the threat of Mobile Suit Gangs affects each person differently. Some are indifferent, as they are confident in their own safe environment. Some are frightened, when they find themselves trapped in a world of endless violence, misery, and death. Meanwhile, there are some people that have dealt with the pain themselves, but have managed to escape it. However, shadows of the past linger long in a person’s memory, and are often times unforgettable…
MOBILE SOLDIER N GUNDAM
THE NEW GUNDAM 01
By: L. Curtis Totty
"I don’t care whether it’s his funeral or not," he said, bluntly.
"Kenzikou-chan…" said the woman on the other line with the worried expression on her face. "How can you say such a thing? It’s your father we’re talking about here…your own flesh and blood…"
"I told you, I can’t come home," said Kenzikou Rainier. "I’m way too busy…"
"How are you so busy that you can’t come to pay your respects to your deceased father?" asked Mrs. Rainier.
"Pay my respects?" Kenzikou fired back. "I could never respect a man like that…He used to come home drunk every night and take out all his problems on us…He even did it to you, Mom…"
Mrs. Rainier quickly pulled her blouse up over the scar on her neck so her son could not see it on the videophone, and looked away momentarily. "But…he…"
"Forget about it, Mom…" said Kenzikou. "I’m sorry he died, but I’m not coming to the funeral. That’s the end of it…I’ll see you later, Mom. Love you…"
"Sayonara," said Mrs. Rainier as Kenzikou got offline. He spun around in his swivel chair, and got up from his desk. He looked over at his roommate, Carlo, who was busy packing his bags for Summer Vacation, listening to his portable MP3 player.
Carlo noticed Kenzikou in the mirror on his dresser, and that he was wearing his same old khaki cargo pants, black sneakers, black and dark grey hooded sweatshirt, and red headband that hung under his long, jaw-length hair. Carlo removed his earphones. "Hey, Kenzikou…why aren’t you packing up?"
"Already did," he replied. "All my stuff is already at my new apartment. This is my last year in this dorm room…"
"Sorry, to hear that, man…" said Carlo. "We had some pretty good times here, didn’t we?"
"Sure…that is if you consider going partying out all night with your friends while I stayed home alone studying ‘good times…’" he said with a wry smile.
Carlo chuckled. "Whatever, man…Anyway, I hope to see you around next year…"
"Where are you going to be all summer?" asked Kenzikou.
"My family is taking me to Earth for a few weeks to visit some relatives in Europe…" began Carlo.
"Europe. If only our family could have afforded something like that. Too bad the only thing European we ever had in our house was the German beer on Dad’s breath…" thought Kenzikou, sullenly. He hauled his backpack over his shoulder, but he had forgotten to zip it up, and his textbooks fell out.
"Here, let me get those for you…" said Carlo as he picked them up.
"Thanks," said Kenzikou, as he put his books back in his bag. Just as he picked up his history book, he noticed it was opened to the chapter on the Space Colony Revolutionary War, and a small inset essay about Newtypes. He read it for a few seconds…
"Newtype: The name given to certain people from the Colonies that were born with exceptional strength, agility, and intelligence. It had long been theorized that the conditions in outer space, which differed from those of Earth, played a role in a sort of evolution in human beings. Some soldiers from the Colonies were thought to be Newtypes, and to test this, they would be subjected to special training to enhance these abilities. If, after this special training, the Newtype achieved a level far beyond those capable of any normal human, it was thought that this person was a Newtype…"
"Newtype…" thought Kenzikou, as he put the book in his bag. "What a fairy tale…It’s nothing but some kind of science fiction fantasy…"
Kenzikou and Carlo walked down the stairs from his dormitory hall, and outside. There were some kids playing baseball nearby. One of them hit a line drive headed straight for Carlo’s face.
Without thinking, Kenzikou’s bare, left hand shot right in front of Carlo, and he caught the ball painlessly.
Everyone around them looked at Kenzikou strangely. Finally, Kenzikou tossed the ball back to the ones playing with it, and walked along on his way.
"YOU STUPID BASTARD! WHAT THE HELL IS WRONG WITH YOU?"
"But Dad…What’s wrong?"
"WHERE THE HELL HAVE YOU BEEN ALL AFTERNOON?"
"I was only out with my friends…I called Mom and told her, and she said it was okay…"
"SO YOU LET HIM GO OFF WITH HIS PUNK TEENAGE FRIENDS? THIS IS MY SON, YOU STUPID BITCH! I DECIDE WHAT HE CAN AND CAN’T DO!"
"No, Dad! It’s not Mom’s fault!"
"GET THE HELL OFF ME! THIS IS WHAT HAPPENS WHEN YOU MESS WITH ME!"
"No…Dad! Stop it! Please, don’t!"
Kenzikou’s eyes slowly opened in the middle of the night. This nightmare of his hadn’t scared him one bit. After all, he had experienced it all in real life. His eyes closed again, but he was unable to sleep. All that he could think about was the life he left behind.
He remembered the day he was accepted to Marisson University. He would have to leave his home and go to another Colony. He was frightened at the idea of leaving his mother alone at home with his father. He couldn’t help but feel like he was running away from it.
Kenzikou thought about the horrible things that his father had done. He was always spending his money on liquor, and had to borrow money from some of the Mobile Suit Gangs that made their territory in their Colony. He remembered the day they were almost killed when a Mobile Suit fell and crushed their home. They were forced to move in with Kenzikou’s aging grandmother, a kindly Japanese woman with short gray hair and many wrinkles. He couldn’t bear the thought of this sweet woman falling victim to his father’s tyranny.
Thankfully, she died not long after they moved in. Kenzikou always thought of this as his grandmother’s escape. That was when his father’s bingeing restarted. Kenzikou was seven years old.
Ten years later, Kenzikou’s father, that dreaded specter looming over his life, died of alcohol poisoning one night, not long before school was out. He had just completed his sophomore year in college, two years early for his age. He had always been advanced, and was even skipped two grades when he was younger.
But did his father even care? No…at least not the way Kenzikou hoped. His father would treat him like some kind of freak, especially when they saw the incredibly high scores on all his standardized tests. He wouldn’t play sports with him because he thought of him as a nerd. If he didn’t call him a freak, he called him a cheater, and if not a cheater, than a son of a bitch. It was always like that. He was so certain that a bastard like his son couldn’t succeed in life.
Kenzikou tightened his eyes and turned on his side, facing the night through his window. He slowly opened them again, hoping the view of the Colony’s artificial night sky would help him fall asleep. He gazed at the many constellations, a few digital shooting stars, and two green lights staring into his window…
"Two green lights?" Kenzikou thought. He sat up in bed, wiped the sleep out of his eyes, and went to his window. He leered out, trying to make out the figure before him. He was shocked by what he saw, and backed away slowly. In his surprise, he pulled down on the cord connected to his blinds, causing them to fall down shut over his window. He fell onto his bed, sweating. "What the hell? A Mobile Suit? Out here? It can’t be!"
Kenzikou slowly rose from his bed again and walked back toward the window. He pulled the blinds back and gazed out at the night sky. His eyes widened as he stared at the image before him.
What he saw was a Mobile Suit. It was mostly white, with some blue and red and yellow on it. All over it were several circular green light bulbs. Attached to its waist was what looked like a pair of long gray energy cannons of some sort, each with a sort of gap at one end large enough for the entire forearm to fit in. At the opposite end of each barrel, near the gap, was what looked like the hilt of a sword with a hand-guard. It flew from its faraway sentry position and landed in front of his building.
"What…is that thing?" asked Kenzikou, aloud. "It looks like a Mobile Suit…but it’s so different…"
"This is a Gundam…"
"What? Who said that?" asked Kenzikou, cautiously. He leaned out of his window and leered up at the Mobile Suit. "A Gundam? What’s a Gundam?"
"A Gundam is the most powerful Mobile Suit you can find…It’s made of the strongest available mineral in existence: Gundanium. Climb inside, now…"
"Climb inside?" cried Kenzikou. "Why would I want to climb inside that thing?"
"You may be the last hope for liberty, peace, and justice in this world…If you want to change the sad state of affairs that the world is in, then climb inside this Gundam now…"
A door on the abdomen of the Gundam swung open, and Kenzikou stared for a few seconds at it. He thought about what was happening.
"If it is a Gundam, then I will be able to defeat the Mobile Suit Gangs and win back the Colonies from the oppression that makes them suffer. I can make things right with this…The power I would have…I’d be able to get rid of all the Mobile Suit Gangs…I’d end all the violence and misery…I can use this Gundam…I will use this Gundam…"
Kenzikou watched as the Gundam’s hand rose to meet his window. He stepped onto the hand, and soon the hand moved over to the cockpit entrance. Kenzikou jumped in and sat in the seat. "All right…let’s get this party started…"
The cockpit bay door closed, and the readout on the computer screen read "Remote control system disengaged…manual pilot mode in effect…Beginning tutorial/instructional sequence…Place your hands on a control or device to learn its function…." Kenzikou placed his hands on two levers, which he learned, could be pushed to control the output of the Twin Fin Jets on the back of the Gundam. He continued to place his hands on several different controls, and as the computer sensed his body heat, it explained what they did.
Kenzikou soon advanced to the second tutorial program, which taught him the various abilities of the Gundam. He learned that the two large cannons hanging at the Gundam’s sides, the Dual Busters, had the capability of shooting incredibly long range energy explosives. The two sword-hilts attached to the ends of the Dual Busters, also known as the Dyad Blades, were laser broadswords that drew energy from the Dual Busters themselves. Soon, he learned when he touched a certain control about the Gundam’s ability to charge up a special energy battery called the Gearshift Cell, which could make the Gundam’s weapons and other devices more powerful. "What an amazing ability. It can shift gears for battle just like that…" thought Kenzikou. "Power out of nowhere, like a freak storm…" He soon learned that this ability came with consequences. If the Gundam went into higher gears for prolonged periods of time, the entire Mobile Suit could overheat, or even explode from all the energy.
It didn’t matter to him. With this Gundam, he was certain he could make things right in the Colonies. He was going to bring an end to the reign of the Mobile Suit Gangs that had been controlling the people’s lives. Only one question lingered in his mind…
"Who are you?" he shouted. "Why have you given me this machine?"
"That doesn’t matter…" said the voice. "If you want, you may go ahead and achieve your dreams…"
"I’ve already locked onto your signal," said Kenzikou. "You didn’t even try to hide it. That’s pretty careless…"
"Well then…what will you do now that you know where I am?" asked the voice.
"I’m going to take this Gundam and find you, and when I do…I’ll find out why you’re doing this…"
The Gundam took off into outer space, following the signal to where his mysterious benefactor had been hiding. He had flown past several Colonies in this Gundam of his and thought that perhaps this excursion was leading him nowhere.
Finally, Kenzikou saw something ahead of him. It looked like a small, remote Colony of some sort. Behind it was what appeared to be a large meteorite. As he approached it, he noticed that a sort of hangar door was opening to receive him. He flew right in, through a long, luminescent airlock, which eventually led him to a large room with a very high ceiling. Floating down from this ceiling came a circular platform. On this platform was probably the strangest sight that Kenzikou had ever seen.
It looked like another machine, but it was a man. This man wore a long, white, lab coat, which draped over his body like a cloak. Protruding from the shoulders of the lab coat were thick, metallic cables that flowed from the man’s body, and into the walls of this enormous space base. The man’s face was pale, but appeared young, and his hair was long and red, which fell behind his back down to his shoulder blades. "Greetings…" he said. It was the same voice Kenzikou had heard emanating from the Gundam. "My name is Dr. Pharragan. I am the one that created your Gundam…"
"But why? Why have you built this thing and then given it to me of all people?" asked Kenzikou.
Dr. Pharragan sighed and started to explain himself. "From this simple space outpost I have been watching the world go by. You see, many years ago I was a Mobile Suit Developing Scientist for the United Earthsphere Alliance during the Space Colony Revolutionary War. I was assigned to travel with some soldiers on a certain mission; we were to capture a Natural Resource Satellite containing the rare element known as Gundanium. We had planned to use the Gundanium there to build our own Gundams that could combat those employed by the Colonies. Unfortunately, a Gundam flew towards this satellite and destroyed most of the base we were building on it. That base is the very same base you stand in right now.
"From that battle, everyone was destroyed except me, as I was the only one not piloting a Mobile Suit, and so I was able to hide myself. However, the destruction the Gundam caused on this base after he killed my peers left me trapped. Most of my body was useless, so I managed to build cybernetic parts from the demolished Mobile Suits to enhance them and make them work again. Unfortunately, I could not survive on these cybernetic parts for long, so I made lifelines for myself, connected to this very base. Through the Internet and Internet Television I was able to keep up with current events happening around the world. I jumped for joy when I learned that the war was over, but I couldn’t help but realize that the fools had not completely destroyed all traces of the old Mobile Suit manufacturing and the Alliance’s impositions in the Colonies. I soon learned of the Mobile Suit Gangs that were appearing all over the Colonies. I started to build the components in this very base for a Mobile Suit Factory over the old demolished parts, as well as this Gundam. I kept on like this for decades, working; never having to slow down, for my body never aged. I had the gravity-deficient environment of outer space to thank for that. While I did this, I kept close watch over the Colonies for Newtypes. I set up scanners that could detect the changes in brainwaves, adrenaline, and body heat that most Newtypes undergo when they ‘tap into’ their abilities…it was then that I learned about you…
"You were perfect for it…you strongly disliked the Mobile Suit Gangs that were controlling the Colonies, and I thought for certain that you should have a Gundam, and so I built this one for you. It’s all yours, Kenzikou Rainier. You may do whatever you wish with this Gundam now that you have it…Are you ready?"
Kenzikou nodded, in awe. When he realized that Dr. Pharragan could not see him, he shouted "Uh…Yeah!" Dr. Pharragan smiled.
"Very well then…" said Dr. Pharragan. "Farewell…"
The Gundam turned around, and faced the long corridor that it had come from. Large clamps in the floor locked onto the Gundam’s feet, and they suddenly began to pull the Mobile Suit down the long airlock, gaining speed. Kenzikou activated the Gundam’s special energy battery, and turned on the Twin Fin Jets. His Gundam rocketed out of the corridor, off into space like a speeding meteor. He flew back towards the Colonies from which he came.
"The old Gundams used to have names, didn’t they?" thought Kenzikou. "Very well then…I need to give you one don’t I?"
Kenzikou reviewed all of his Gundam’s special abilities, and finally came up with a name he felt suited his massive vehicle. "I got it! I dub this Mobile Suit…"
"…The Gundam Freakstorm Gear…"
77"<