Mobile Suit Gundam 00S: Crossover Episode 14

Chapter 18: The Traitor

 * It didn’t take long for the group to bring Reginald onto The Traveller. It took even less time to strap him to a metal chair bolted into the floor. During this entire time he remained unconscious, which made the proceedings go smoother than if he had been otherwise. Reluctantly Ransac left the room containing the prisoner.
 * “Let me know when he wakes up.” Ordered Ransac to the guards. With a salute the men confirmed their orders. Satisfied, he left the room behind.
 * “How do you know this man?” Asked Amuro.
 * “He was a member of the expedition that released most of this organization and I from cold sleep. He was also a pilot during a time when he were trying to reach Earth before The Ascent could get their hands on us.”
 * “Expedition?” Said Ash.
 * “Ya, we were discovered by accident. The asteroid we were sealed in had drifted too far from Earth for us to be reached by anyone from there. By sheer luck an exploration team under fire from The Ascent came across the base and took shelter in it. It didn’t take them long to find out they weren’t alone in there. The Traveller and some of our mobile suits were stored in its hanger. They discovered us shortly after. Ironically it was The Ascent who woke us up in the first place. They struck the main power grid and one of our Haro’s acted accordingly and began the procedure.”
 * “But he isn’t a part of that group anymore. Otherwise he wouldn’t have tried to kill you back there.” Said Charlie.
 * “No. During the Battle of Earth, Reginald betrayed us all by trying to deliver the schematics of the True Guardian to The Ascent. He nearly succeeded too.”
 * “Why, what happened?” Asked Amuro.
 * All out chaos broke loose, The Guardian X had managed to intercept and force me into a battle. That prevented any chance of recovering the stolen data myself. If it wasn’t for Milliardo they would have gotten the full plans.
 * “So what happened?” Asked Heero
 * “Milliardo sortied in the Dark Guardian and managed to implant a virus into Reginald’s machine that deleted all the stolen data. As for the battle between the Guardian X and myself, I lost. The Perfect Guardian, the Gundam I flew before True Guardian, was torn apart. I probably would have died with it if Milliardo didn’t pull me out of the wreckage. The only thing he could do about my mobile suit was to forcibly disengage the drive locks and ejected its GN-Drives. I’m told Milliardo also somehow managed to send Guardian X into retreat, though how I’m not sure.”
 * “So this Reginald survived and has been on the run ever since.” Said Amuro.
 * “For the most part, yes. I’d be willing to bet he received a little help from The Ascent too.”
 * “So what are you going to do with him?” Asked Charlie.
 * “Extract what information we can about him and put him behind bars for a very long time.” Answered Ransac.
 * “Will Ransac please report to the interrogation room?” The announcement was made over the internal com system so everyone aboard the ship heard it.
 * “Well, looks like he’s awake. Time for a friendly chat with our prisoner.”
 * Ransac left to head for the interrogation room. As he walked, he ran events through his mind.
 * “Reginald shows up just before we begin heading back to Earth. This can’t be a coincidence. He’s smarter than most so most likely he has a plan hidden away somewhere. The question is; what?” So deep in his thoughts was Ransac that he almost missed hearing a loud voice coming from the interrogation room. Someone was shouting. As he got closer, he strained his ears to hear exactly what was being said.
 * “…YOU NEARLY RUINED MY REPUTATION. I PUT FORTH A VOTE OF CONFIDENCE FOR YOU WHEN YOU FIRST SIGNED UP FOR THE EXPEDITIONARY FLEET! AND HOW DO YOU REPAY ME? YOU USE MY TRUST TO STEAL HIGH CLASS INFORMATION FOR THE ENEMY!” Roared the man. Ransac quickly identified Donovan as the source.
 * “And as we both can see, you’ve somehow managed to keep your position here aboard the ship. Or maybe that was punishment on your part. From what I’ve seen Daryl is still the man in charge.” Replied Reginald in a surprisingly calm tone.
 * “Bastard. You don’t even regret stabbing your friends in the back, do you? Enjoy working with the scum on the other side do you?” Snarled Donovan.
 * “Well, they’re a lot more civilized than the Earth Sphere Federation for starters. They have an effective military and are nowhere near as corrupt as Earth has become. Also-” With a loud smacking sound Reginald stopped cold in his speech.
 * “Don’t you dare preach about corruption to me, Reginald. You are in no position nor do you have the right. Tell me what you know about The Ascent now.” Growled Donovan.
 * “I’d sooner swallow the slowest poison man has ever made than tell you anything.” Snapped Reginald.
 * “Perhaps you’ll tell me then. After all it’s been a while since we’ve had a discussion.” Said Ransac, finally entering the room.
 * “Not likely.” Spat Reginald. Were his arms not bound behind him its most likely he would have tried to hide the large red mark left from Donovan’s angry strike.
 * “I’m sure you’ll come around eventually. Now, who was the one who ordered my assassination? I highly doubt you were working alone to have appeared on Mars.” Reginald chuckled at the question.
 * “Surely by now you must know there are possibly hundreds within The Ascent that would like nothing more than to see you taken out of the picture. In fact they built a mobile suit just for that purpose.”
 * “The Guardian X failed its purpose. Right now it’s still trying to recover from its wounds during the previous battle.”
 * “As is the True Guardian, in that regard it has succeeded, the fighting strength of The Traveller is diminished.” Retorted Reginald.
 * “Unfortunately for The Ascent we’re nearly arrived at Earth, in just a couple hours we’ll be safe within the heart of ESF territory.” Replied Ransac.
 * “You think so do you? I know for a fact there are those on Earth who also seek your elimination.”
 * “What’s that supposed to mean?” Demanded Ransac, “Unless you have names that means nothing, as you proved earlier there are likely traitors on both sides.”
 * “Oh I think we both know one that has served the ESF well and has risen to prominence in the recent years. Shame about what happened to his mother though, I hear she was murdered on the moon.” Said Reginald with a sly grin crossing his features. The temperature in the room felt as if it had dropped several degrees in temperature.
 * “What are you saying? What do you know about Ray?” Demanded Ransac as the chill spread through his entire body. Memories of that day still haunted him.
 * “Well Milliardo may have forgiven you for the death of his wife, but it seems the son has yet to learn the forgiveness of the father. He’s been working hard just to see you meet your end.”
 * “You and I both know I tried to save her in the end. If it wasn’t for the reactor exploding, she would likely still be alive today.” Snapped Ransac.
 * “But he doesn’t know that. As far as he knows, you sealed her behind so the explosion would vent her into space. As far as he knows, Ransac the hero finally enacted his revenge over dear Clare Bombardi over the death of his comrade.” Something in Reginald’s eyes told Ransac he knew far more than he was letting on. With sudden fury, he lifted Reginald off the ground and slammed him against the wall with such force the chair he had been bound to shattered into pieces.
 * “WHAT DID YOU DO?!” He roared as the anger rose even higher.
 * “I did nothing other than tell the boy what he needed to know. I told him everything I knew about Dom Bombardi and his unceremonious death at the hands of his own cousin. I merely told him the truth you and everyone else aboard this ship so carefully sought to bury away.” Spat Reginald.
 * “YOU BASTARD!” With even greater anger, Ransac slammed him again against the wall. Under such force, the wall actually dented inward from the collision. With one final thrust, he threw Reginald across the room as if he weighed nothing more than a pillow. He received some satisfaction as Reginald groaned as he struggled to stand up from the impact with the wall. He was about to step forward when the ship shook suddenly. The ship shook again as what seemed like explosions rocked the entire hull.
 * “All hands to battle stations! The Ascent has attacked with a long range assault ship. They’ve been following us under cloak. They’ve deployed their mobile forces against the mars task force but their primary target seems to be the Orbital Catapult.” Ordered Daryl over the com, alarms blared throughout the ship as he barked additional orders.
 *          “Keep him under watch, if he makes any kind of move, shoot him.” Ordered Ransac before taking off for the hanger. He ran through what felt like a mob of people swarming to their positions after what they had assumed would be a quiet trip. Some relief came when Ransac saw the 00 Raiser already loaded onto the catapult. Heero sat waiting in the 0 Raiser. It seemed the others had already launched. Without hesitation, he climbed into the mobile suits cockpit and hastily finished the launch prep. “Hold on! 00 Raiser, Ransac, Heero, LAUNCHING!”
 * The moment they had cleared the ship the 00 Raiser came under attack by enemy forces. A split second counterattack with the GN sword prevented the mobile suit from losing one of its limbs to an enemy beam saber. The foe was quickly dispatched with the second GN Sword, giving both pilots a chance to survey their surroundings.
 * The entire area was swarming with mobile suits. Both Ascent and ESF forces battled to defeat each other. For the moment it seemed as if the ESF was winning, they had sheer numbers to back them up while the Ascent had only the force of one carrier.
 * “I’m going to take out that carrier, if we can do that we’ll cut them off from retreat, they’ll have no choice but to surrender.” With that, Ransac put the 00 Raiser into full speed towards to enemy craft. Interestingly he found little to no opposition.
 * “Something’s not right. This force is too small to win and they’re not even bothering to defend their ship. There’s something else going on” Said Heero.
 * “You get that feeling too huh?” Said Ransac as he fired a particle beam at an Aegis that had nearly managed to take out a nearby Alteron. With a bright flash, the mobile suit exploded as its drive was critically damaged. “We’ll have to end this quick before they can prepare whatever it is they’re doing. TRANS AM RAISER!”
 * With careful aim, Ransac fired a massive and powerful particle beam from the 00 Raiser. The beam slammed into the carrier and blew a large hole straight through the middle. Soon the ship collapsed as chain reactions tore it apart.
 * “Attentions all units, another ship has entered the battlefield. It has deployed Interceptor Pods and Ascent Marines are swarming us! Destroy that ship and any additional pods you see!” Announced Daryl. Ransac swirled around to see The Traveller be attacked by another long-range carrier that had managed to make its way into the battle.
 *          “A boarding party? They know they cannot possibly hope to take The Traveller. So what is their objective?” Ransac growled as he realized the true nature of the assault. Their mission wasn’t to destroy the Orbital Catapult, it was a rescue operation. They were after Reginald. “Hold on Heero! We’re heading back to the ship!”
 * Using what little remained of the 00 Raiser’s Trans Am the pilots rushed to intercept the rescue party.
 * “The Ascent Carrier has deployed a mobile suit! It’s on an intercept course with one of their pods!” Announced Ash.
 * “Can you intercept it before t reaches that pod?” Demanded Ransac as he shifted his attention to the mobile suit.
 * “Not chances, we all have our hands full with this group here.” Replied Amuro. “Charlie watch it!” He warned over the com.
 * “We’re on our way!” Said Ransac. With one final burst of speed, the 00 Raiser dropped out of Trans Am. Despite the reduced particles, it would be enough to handle the situation. At that moment an Ascent Commando Unit attempted to intercept them first. With a shot from its GN Bazooka the mobile suit nearly managed to take out one of the drives of the 00 Raiser. It was only a sudden shift in maneuvering by Heero that saved them from harm. Using the sudden maneuver to their advantage Ransac fired several beams from the GN swords. The beams were enough to damage the machine’s GN Drive Tau enough to force a complete shutdown. Both pilots mercifully left it alone, focusing their attention back to the new mobile suit. Ransac swore as he saw a pilot climb into the cockpit. The machine sprung to life. After a few seconds, it turned its attention to the 00 Raiser.
 * The mobile suit suddenly transformed, turning into a fighter that charged straight for them at high speeds. Before Ransac could brace himself the fighter shifted back into a mobile suit, rapidly drawing a beam saber and nearly managing to sever the head of the 00.
 * “You like it? Say hello to my new GNMS/A-0Z Shift Gundam. One of the mobile suits developed by The Ascent with the goal of taking you down once and for all.” Sneered Reginald over the com, “You may even recognize some of its features, you should protect your variant machines better.” With that Reginald fired his beam vulcans, pummeling the 00’s head until the camera was destroyed. While both pilots attempted to reorient themselves from this loss Reginald delivered a powerful kick to the chest of the 00 Raiser. He quickly followed by smashing the shield of his mobile suit into the Gundam. The blow sent the 00 spiraling.
 * “Damn it, he’s good.” Spat Ransac as he barely managed to regain control before Reginald continued his assault. He began a counterattack with the GN Swords, firing beams from one while swinging a vertical slash with the other. While Reginald attempted to block the beams with his shield, Ransac traded the GN Sword for both beam sabers, tossing both with lethal accuracy in one hand.
 * Without warning, Reginald discarded his beam saber for a long pole shaped object from a beam ignited from one end. With one sweep, the beam lance deflected both sabers. With a forward thrust of his shield, Reginald blocked the 00 Raiser’s slash and forced it back enough for him to properly use the lance.
 * “Impressive I’ll admit. But without the True Guardian you’re hopelessly outmatched.” With that said Reginald charged.
 * “We’ll see about that!” Roared Ransac as he fired the 00 Raisers GN Micro Missiles at the Shift Gundam. Instead of trying to avoid or intercept them, Reginald transformed the mobile suit back into a fighter and simply smashed through them, continuing his charge without a scratch. Unable to stop the fighter, Ransac barely managed to force the 00 Raiser’s arms out to stop the tip of the fighter from impaling them. Reginald made another split second shift and delivered a kick to the 00 Raisers chest again before drawing out a beam rifle like weapon.
 * As Heero and Ransac struggled to regain control again Reginald fired a particle beam that tore off one of the 00’s arms, narrowly missing the GN Drive under the wing binder.
 * “We need a new plan. He can easily outmaneuver us in that machine.” Said Heero.
 * “I’d love to hear one because mine isn’t working.” Snapped Ransac as he dove under another blast from the Shift Gundam’s GN Magnum.
 * “Let him get close again. He’s vulnerable at that range.” Offered Heero.
 * “Alright, your plan it is then.” Ransac fired what remained of the 00 Raiser’s GN Micro Missiles before firing several particle beams from the GN Sword. Reginald responded by intercepting the missiles with his Vulcan guns before shifting back into a fighter, charging at them at full speed.
 * “We’ll only have one chance.” Warned Heero.
 * “Then we better make it count.” Said Ransac as he switched the GN Sword from rifle mode. “Come on….a little closer…” He said to himself. In only a few seconds Reginald had all the cleared the space between them. It was now or never. “TRANS AM!”
 * The 00 Raiser flashed a bright red as it suddenly shifted position. The timing was just right as the machine landed on the Shift Gundam’s back before the split second Trans Am ended. Capitalizing on their success Ransac plunged the GN Sword into one of the arms of the mobile suit, completely severing it before attempting to finish with the other. At that moment, Reginald transformed his machine back into a mobile suit and quickly drew the barrel of his rifle to the 00 Raiser’s left binder.
 * Without hesitation, Reginald fired, completely blasting off not only the mobile suits last remaining arm, but also destroying the GN Drive Tau that had been located in that area. Alarms went off within the 00 Raiser as systems began to fail from the damage. Without missing a step, he used the moment to grab the 00 Raisers head and shoot off the right binder, crippling the mobile suit beyond operation.
 * “Damn it!” Snarled Ransac as he watched Reginald shift the aim of his rifle to the cockpit.
 * “This has been too long in the making. I will be known as the man who finally killed the world’s only Super Innovator. It’s been a pleasure.” Before Reginald could carry out his plan the area became flooded with particle beams.
 * “Hold on, Ransac! I’m coming.” Barked Longshot over the com. Their savior appeared in a familiar green mobile suit. The machine was flanked by numerous remote weapons all firing at Reginald. The 00 Raiser was suddenly surrounded by protective shield bits.
 * “Is that Zabanya? How did you get a hold of that?” Questioned Ransac.
 * “Does it really matter right now kid? Strafe sent it ahead, we only now just finished configuring it otherwise I would have been out here much sooner. It’s been too long.” Answered Longshot. “Now come on Reginald, let’s see how you can handle this old hotshot.”
 * “I think not, although I’ve enjoyed our reunion, I must now take my leave.” Replied Reginald, suddenly turning from the battlefield and soaring off.
 * “Get back here coward!” Snarled Ransac over the com with the damage done to the Shift Gundam, combined with Longshot’s piloting skills, Reginald could easily be recaptured.
 * “I think not. But don’t worry, we’ll see each other again, I’m counting on it.” Sneered Reginald before Ascent carriers moved between them, cutting off their view of the Shift Gundam.
 * “Go after them, we can handle this machine.” Ordered Ransac. He was not about to let Reginald slip through their fingers again.
 * “Not gonna happen kid, he’s out of our reach now. Besides, you’re more important than petty vengeance.”
 * Before Ransac could argue the Ascent ship suddenly swung around, turning to face away from the defenders. With an unsettling flash the ship suddenly vanished, the only evidence of its being there was the wreckage of mobile suits and the first two carriers.
 * “All units return to The Traveller. Prepare for use of the Orbital Catapult immediately.” Ordered Daryl over the coms.
 * “No rest for the wicked then.” Said Longshot as he turned around to pull the 00 Raiser back to the hanger.