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. There is often a time when one feels helpless to stop injustice that exists in the world that harms many people. This pain is made worse in a variety of ways. It can become a harsher pain when one realizes that this horrible state of the world negatively affects a close friend. It can become harsher when the once chance to make things right slips through your fingers. It is especially worse when one realizes that this horrible suffering and injustice has been brought on by one’s own actions…
MOBILE SOLDIER N GUNDAM
THE NEW GUNDAM 02
By: L. Curtis Totty
He walked down the street, looking up at the many tall buildings that stood above him. He walked past an especially tall one that did not have a building next to it, and as he passed, the sun shined into his eyes, causing him to raise his forearm above his face, his caramel-colored skin glistening in the light. Suddenly, he heard a car horn honking at him, and as he looked up, he managed to jump out of the way just in time. He dusted his light and dark blue Colony JH-48G769 Tigers football jersey off and checked to see if his light yellow boots were scuffed. He picked up his dark blue bandanna that had fallen off and put it back over his spiky hair. He tucked his hands back into the pockets of his baggy blue jeans and continued his stroll through the city streets.
"André…" thought Tyrahl Jackson. "Why did you have to get mixed up in this? Why did you have to die?"
He had quit the Endless Nomadic the day it happened. They had flown into another small Colony to take control, and the Mobile Suit Gang they were fighting, the Dragon Slayers, shot down André’s Mobile Suit. André was killed from the collision of the Mobile Suit falling onto a house, and crushing it. Tyrahl was only thankful that the house had been empty at the time.
But his brother was dead. He had been the leader of the Endless Nomadic for years, and Tyrahl himself had only joined just three weeks before his older brother’s death.
André had constantly opposed Tyrahl’s attempts to join his Mobile Suit Gang. But Tyrahl had managed to prove himself in battle. He had defeated André in a Mobile Suit fight in the fastest time any of them had ever seen, and at an insanely young age. He struck as fast and strong as a bolt of lightning, and André had no choice but to let him join, even though he had yet to reach puberty.
"André, you tried so hard to keep me out of the Endless Nomadic," thought Tyrahl. "You thought that this was no life for me, no matter how skilled I was on the battlefield. Did you die so that I would quit? Did you want me to stay out of it that badly?"
"Tyrahl, watch your ass…I’ll bet good money that they’re hiding out somewhere."
"Who knew that this Colony had such huge buildings? How are we supposed to find the Mobile Suits if they’re hiding out like this? They could attack anytime they want…"
"Just keep quiet, kid, and keep a lookout…"
"André…I think I see one…"
"All right then…fire at him. That ought to flush him out…"
"All right then…here we go!"
"Damn! Tyrahl, get outta here! There’s way too many of ‘em!"
"I don’t understand! I thought we’d gotten rid of most of ‘em already!"
"This must be their second string or something! Just get out of this Colony, now! I’ll catch up!"
"No way, André! I’m not leaving this Colony without you!"
"Tyrahl, I can handle them! Just get the hell out!"
"André, I…hey…Hey, André! André, look out! LOOK OUT BEHIND YOU! NO! ANDRÉ!"
Tyrahl took his brother’s warning immediately, and vowed never again to even set foot inside another Mobile Suit for as long as he lived. He would have nothing to do with the Mobile Suit Gangs. He even grew to hate them. He hated everything about them. He grew to hate all violence. He began to study world and Colony history more rigorously, especially the wars that had erupted in the past. His older brother’s death drove him to a path of enlightenment. He was doing much better in school, and had just finished his senior year of high school, and would be attending Marisson University in a few short months. Things were looking up for him, and he was going to keep it that way.
"I’ll continue to live my life the way that would make you happy, André," thought Tyrahl. "I refuse to allow any of your pain to befall anyone ever again. I want to make things right in this world…"
In his daze of reminiscing the past, Tyrahl found himself having boarded the subway train that he had been walking to all morning. The train had already left the underground station, and was riding the rails that extended high into the air above the ground, so he could watch the cityscape as he passed by. He planned to visit the old hangar where the Endless Nomadic’s Mobile Suits were once stored. He wasn’t quite sure of what to do when he got there, he just decided to check it out one last time, to see if there was anything of André’s that he could keep as a souvenir.
Tyrahl’s eyes turned out the train’s window, as it passed the enormous junkyard it always would. The sight was so familiar to Tyrahl that he could paint a picture of it with his eyes closed. However, on this particular day, there was something new sitting in the junkyard that he had never laid eyes on before. It was large and black, and it sat among lots of other articles of junk, which seemed to obscure it. But somehow, Tyrahl noticed it sticking out like a sore thumb. He particularly noticed the two green glowing lights that seemed to be shining right into his eyes.
Tyrahl’s eyes stayed on this mammoth machine until the train reached the next station. When it stopped, Tyrahl got off, several stops before the hangar at which the hangar of the Endless Nomadic stood. He went down to ground level on the escalator, and quickly left the station. He walked in the opposite direction of most of the people that left the station, who went further into the heart of the city. Tyrahl instead found himself walking towards the junkyard. He stopped at the large fence and peered through it. He saw the large hunk of black metal again, and its two green lights, only much closer this time. Tyrahl thought that he could make out the image of a head.
He pushed against the old and rusty gate, but it refused to open up. Tyrahl swung his leg at it hard, and it opened up. He began to walk through the junkyard, fixing his gaze on the black thing he had seen, sticking up from a pile of scrap metal. He broke into a run, eager to see what this strange object with the two glowing lights was. His notion that this object might be some new kind of Mobile Suit seemed confirmed to him now. If this suit had a pilot, he was definitely going to want to meet him, and give him a piece of his mind.
He stopped when he reached the Mobile Suit, and his mouth was agape as he stared at the tremendous machine. It was big and black, just as Tyrahl saw it, and it appeared to be seated on the ground. Over its chest and back was what looked like a long, black, metal cloak. On its left hand was what looked like a shield, and two long, thick, gray, metallic spokes sticking out of it, like a pair of energy cannon barrels, except they had no openings at the end for the rounds to come out. Jutting out of the Mobile Suit’s head were what looked like two antennae, which sort of hung down in front of its face, like a cockroach. All over this monster’s cloak and shield were what seemed like yellow solar panels, kind of like the ones on the calculators that were once used by the people of Earth.
"Hey!" shouted Tyrahl. "Is anyone in there?"
His beckon yielded no answer. He wondered why such a large machine in mint condition was being kept in this junkyard, and with no one to pilot it. "What the hell is that thing?"
"The most powerful weapon known to man…"
"WHAT?" cried Tyrahl. "Did this Mobile Suit just talk?"
"What you see before you is a Gundam…your Gundam…"
"My Gundam?" asked Tyrahl. He had heard learned about Gundams in school, and how they were built from a metal called Gundanium for use by the Colonies in the Space Colony Revolutionary War. When the Mobile Suit Gangs came into existence, none of them were Gundams. He thought that Gundams had been wiped out. "Why does this Gundam belong to me?"
"Step inside and you can find out…"
Tyrahl remembered his promise to never step inside another Mobile Suit in his entire life, and he was dedicated to keeping that promise. He was prepared to walk away, but something held him back. "I don’t know…I just don’t know…"
Tyrahl approached the Gundam, step by step. The cockpit entrance was right in front of him. He placed his foot on the Gundam, and leaned his head inside. He leapt into the pilot’s chair, his feet never touching the inside of the cockpit. He kept his promise to his brother.
The cockpit door closed, and Tyrahl turned his eyes to the ship’s computer screen. On it 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…." Tyrahl placed his hands on each of the ship’s controls. There were two levers that could be pushed to control the output of the Gundam’s Turbo Boosters. As he continued to check out the Gundam’s cockpit, he learned of everything it could do.
He soon found out that the two antennae on the front of the Gundam’s head, the Ion Antennae, could be used to pump other metallic objects, like Mobile Suits, full of energy. The "solar panels," or Quantum Receptors, all over the Guard Cloak and shield were designed to absorb energy attacks and allocate it to the Gundam’s energy supply. The shield, or Assault Rig, and its two spokes also acted as a magnet that could attract other Mobile Suits, as well as a greater amount of energy than the Quantum Receptors on the Guard Cloak. The spokes were also an incredibly powerful energy cannon. Tyrahl learned that the Guard Cloak could be pulled up to reveal several small energy guns, called the Shade Barrage, on the underside of the Guard Cloak. It also allowed the Gundam to fight using its two-sided laser spear, or Nuke Glaive. "This Gundam has so many weapons it doesn’t make sense. It can just unleash a storm of attacks on its enemies and finish battles in such a little amount of time. I can hardly fathom how powerful a shock wave it would release if it accidentally tripped over a rock and crashed flat on the ground…"
"Who are you and why are you giving me this Gundam?" asked Tyrahl.
"That doesn’t matter…Just be thankful that I gave you this gift…"
"I’ve locked onto your signal with the Gundam’s radar system," said Tyrahl. "You must not care if I come to kill you…"
"Do whatever you wish now that you have received your gift…I’ve served my purpose…"
"Fine then…here I come…" he said as he activated the Gundam’s propulsion systems. "Forgive me, brother…I’m going to ride one last time…"
The Gundam flew through the darkness of space, passing past several Colonies, until finally, Tyrahl could make out the form of a large meteor connected to a base of some sort. It was the source of the signal he had received. He increased his speed.
The Gundam flew towards this mammoth building, and discovered that there was no way to get in. Suddenly, several large cannons were unsheathed from the outer surface of the enormous space installation.
"What the hell?" asked Tyrahl. Suddenly, the dozens of guns fired on his Gundam, and Tyrahl quickly made the Guard Cloak the foremost article for the cannons to attack, so that he could absorb their energy. "What are you trying to do? Are you trying to make me test my Gundam’s abilities?" Tyrahl received no answer. "All right then…looks like I have no choice!"
Tyrahl’s Gundam held up the Assault Rig, and backed away, so that the guns on the ship could only hit his shield. The energy from each attack traveled through the broadband energy lines to the Gundam’s main energy battery, and the Guard Cloak flew upwards, revealing the Shade Barrage, which fired thousands of rounds of laser ammunition built up from the energy it had accumulated. The hundreds of energy guns were destroyed upon impact. "Got anything else for me?" asked Tyrahl.
His "courteous patron" delivered with the sudden appearance of several space mines floating about the area. As they were seemingly tossed out of this enormous space outpost, some of them collided with one another and were destroyed with enormous explosions. Tyrahl had no choice but to destroy them before they destroyed him. He engaged the Turbo Boosters, and shot off towards them, opening up the Guard Cloak so that he could swing out the Nuke Glaive. He charged towards them with great speed, slashing the mines with the Nuke Glaive as he progressed closer and closer towards the tremendous space base, absorbing the energy from each explosion into his Assault Rig. Tyrahl prepared to fire the Assault Rig’s Main Weapon at the huge thing, and as he approached, the Assault Rig began to charge up energy to fire upon it. The Gundam fired the huge energy cannon at the front door of the space station, and Tyrahl was astonished at the power of this machine.
The beam itself was much wider than the Gundam, and for a few seconds, all that Tyrahl could see through the Gundam’s head camera was a bright yellow, electrical energy blast flying through outer space, until he activated the camera’s light shade filter. For a second, Tyrahl wasn’t sure if he would even survive his own attack. He found himself having to activate the Turbo Boosters in order to keep from shaking out of control. "What horrible power!" he thought, as he disengaged the Assault Rig’s weapon, releasing the energy beam to go forward through the darkness of space. The long shaft of light soon crashed into the spaceship, causing a large explosion that broke open the front door. Tyrahl found himself allowed inside.
The Gundam flew into the space station and appeared inside a large laboratory. There, a young man with long, red hair and several cables jutting into his back greeted him. He wore a long lab coat, and beamed at him. "I see you’ve managed to locate me…"
"Who are you, and what’s the deal with giving me this Gundam?" asked Tyrahl.
"I am simply referred to as Dr. Pharragan," said the gentleman. "The reason I built your Gundam is very simple. I’ve heard about your exploits as a member of the Endless Nomadic, and I must say you are very proficient at piloting Mobile Suits, and I understand that you very much dislike the Mobile Suit Gangs that are controlling most of the Colonies…"
"How could you know about that?" asked Tyrahl.
"My computers have been scanning for the energy waves of Newtypes for quite a while, and they eventually came across you, Tyrahl," said Dr. Pharragan. "Let me tell you that you are perfect for this Gundam…"
"Perfect for it?" asked Tyrahl. "What do you expect me to do with this Gundam?"
"Do whatever you wish," said Dr. Pharragan. "It’s your Gundam now…"
"So, you’re giving me this Gundam just because I’m a Newtype?" asked Tyrahl. "What crazy scheme are you up to?"
"It doesn’t matter…all you need to know is that with that Gundam, you can do whatever you want…"
"This Gundam isn’t going to bring back André…" thought Tyrahl. "But with it, I can make sure nothing like that ever happens again, can’t I?"
"All right, Pharragan…I’ll take your Gundam, but don’t expect me to trust you or anything like that…" Pharragan chuckled. "I’m outta here…" The Gundam turned around, and flew back out of the airlock it had just flown through at incredible speed. It erupted into outer space, and flew forth, moving back towards the Colonies.
"I can’t just call this thing ‘The Gundam’…it needs a good name…" thought Tyrahl. "I’ve got the perfect one…"
"…The Gundam Shockwave Storm…"
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