Transformations von chelle76 ================================================================================ Kapitel 11: The Bismarck ------------------------ Transformations… Chapter 11: The Bismarck They land and find Cagalli, Athrun, and Kira suited up. “We are ready to do what we can.” Cagalli says. “Come with us.” She turns and they all head down the corridors to the hidden bunker. Fireball and Colt look around curiously as they go down the corridors. “I think it’s time, April.” Cagalli says, turning to April. April nods her agreement. The doors open and they can all see three Mobile Suits and a transport looking ship before them, several people in Orb uniforms are busy working. “The Bismarck III” Cagalli says, sweeping her arm towards the bunker floor below. Colt lets out a low whistle. “When did you have time to do this?” April smiles, “It’s been in the works for a while. There are several changes you should know about.” She looks to Cagalli. “You can probably explain this far better than I can, Cagalli.” Cagalli shakes her head. “I think I’ll let someone who has been down here tell you about the ship.” She looks around the bunker, spotting a young woman with brown hair in an orange tech uniform, she calls to her. “Erica, please come here.” The woman looks up and nods, coming over to the group. “Yes, Ma’am?” she asks, as she comes up next to Cagalli. “This is our lead Tech, Ms. Erica Simmons.” Cagalli says, indicating her with her hand, she then turns to speak to her, “This will be the crew of the ship you have been working on.” Cagalli nods to the people behind her. “Can you please go over the details of the capabilities and design differences of the new ship with them?” Erica nods. “Of course, Ma’am,” she nods to the group. “Come with me.” She leads them down to the bunker floor. “This Bismarck has four separate units. Each of you will be in one of them. They each have their own weapons and navigational systems. There are times when they can combine to form two very different type units. The first combination forms into one big Mobile Suit. We call that the ‘Challenge Phase’. The main suit is the Head, body, and arms. These two suits” she points to two of the suits, “form the legs, with the third suit becoming a new type of laser cannon with unsurpassed firepower capability that mounts on the right arm.” “That one’s mine.” Colt says aloud. Erica glances at him amused, before she continues. “The second combination is what we call the ‘Transport Phase’ when the units are combined in this Phase, they form what looks to be a large transport or cargo ship. The pilot seat from each unit will be utilized in this phase, acting much like your previous version of the Bismarck. All of the units are equipped with basic titanium armor and the best weapons we have available. So even as an individual suit, you shouldn’t have much to give you trouble. Each suit has been based off your previous saddle unit’s abilities. All of which had specific functions based on the pilot’s abilities.” She goes to the first suit, a black and gold mobile suit. “This is a newer version of the Akatsuki developed by Orb. It has a lot of the same functions that your saddle units have.” She pauses and looks to the group, “Which one of you is the intelligence specialist also good at close combat?” “That would be myself.” Saber replies. “Then this suit will be yours.” Erica continues. “It is good for maneuverability and specializes in close combat. It does however posses some unique armor. This suit is covered with the ‘Yata-no-Kagami’ anti-beam defensive reflection system. Basically, it can deflect any laser beam attack using it’s coating of tiny mirrors on the surface. However, it is not impervious to blade attacks. It includes several options, depending on the type of battle the pilot is in. The packs are the ‘Owashi’ sky pack, which mounts 2 Type 73F modified high-energy beam cannons; and the ‘Shiranui’ space pack, which includes a M531R remote control unit (beam cannon; 2 beam guns; beam shield emitter). One other choice of weapons for this suit is the ‘Hyakurai’ beam rifle. It is held in the hand of the unit, as if it were your own gun. We have not fully tested it, but it’s a rather high-powered beam, that not many enemies should be able to deflect. It also includes a titanium sword, which is attached to the hip of the suit. It is drawn just the same as a sword normally would be, and can cut through most anything. When needed, the unit can transform into the right leg of the larger robot known as the ‘Bismarck’. The armor changes color to match the rest of the robot when it’s in its ‘Challenge Phase’ or the central ship when in the ‘Transport Phase’ otherwise, all of the suits will be the colors you see now.” She then heads over to the next suit; a red, white, and black mobile suit, she then turns to look at Fireball. “If I had to guess, I’m betting this one is for you. This is the Raider 02 Mobile Suit. It has what we call Trans-Phase Armor. It activates only when you are hit by a weapon, to conserve power for your weapons. The Raider specializes in reconnaissance. It has two modes, other than the ‘Challenge Phase’ and the ‘Transport Phase’ where it combines with the other ships. The ‘Standard Phase’ is the one you see before you. It also has a ‘Flight Mode’ which is equipped with stealth technology to make it easier to scout out any enemy you need to, while remaining undetected. It has unmatched speed in either mode, which can be an asset in battle. It comes with a ‘Zorn’ 100mm energy cannon, fire-linked, mounted on mouth; dual 52mm hyper velocity shield cannon, mounted on right forearm; 2 ‘Ahura Mazda’ short-range energy cannons, mounted on claws, operable only in flight mode; an M417 80mm machine gun, mounted in nose, operable only in flight mode; 2 M2M3 76mm machine guns, mounted on shoulders, operable only in flight mode. It forms the left leg of the Bismarck when in ‘Challenge Phase’.” She then turns to the third suit, a blue and red mobile suit, with white trim, with a cowboy hat and nods to Colt. “I am going to guess that this suit is for you.” Erica says with a smile. “I didn’t get the insistence of the hat on the Mobile Suit until you walked into the room, now I see why.” At that comment, the group laughs, and once the laughter has died down, Erica continues, “This is the newest version of the Calamity Mobile Suit. It is built for the weapons specialist. It has 2 ‘Schlag’ 125mm high-energy long-range beam cannons, mounted on backpack over shoulders; a ‘Scylla’ 580mm multi-phase energy cannon, mounted on its chest, a ‘Kaefer Zwei’ 115mm dual ram cannon, mounted on shield connected to left arm. It also has an optional ‘Todesblock’ 337mm plasma-sabot bazooka that can be held in its hand and fired as an external weapon. It can also be equipped with the METEOR platform. It consists of 2 120cm high-energy beam cannons; 2 93.7cm high-energy beam cannons; 77 x 60 cm ‘Erinaceus’ anti-ship missile launchers (22 per pod, 12 per arm unit, 9 on tail fin). This Mobile Suit becomes the ‘big gun’ of the Bismarck when it combines into the ‘Challenge Phase’. It has firepower that most soldiers would dream of. There isn’t much that the beams on this suit can’t severely damage or destroy. The METEOR platform becomes a shield with firing capability that attaches to the left are of the Bismarck when in the ‘Challenge Phase’ and it attaches to the back top of the Bismarck when it is in the ‘Transport Phase’.” Colt lets out another whistle. “That is very impressive. I can’t wait to try this thing out.” Erica laughs, “You’ll get your chance soon enough.” She then goes to the center of the room where a rather unassuming dark gray/blue ship is docked. “This is the most advanced of the Agamemnon class of ships. It is not as heavily armed as the Mobile suits, but the main purpose of this ship is support. It does have several high energy cannons, and Vulcan cannons, so it is not by any means defenseless. This is the central unit that has a living area for when you are traveling, and it also carries all of the optional equipment not mounted to your suits. It is also the part that forms the head, torso and arms of the robot Bismarck. Are there any questions?” Saber nods. “How are the suits powered?” “They are nuclear powered. So they basically have an unlimited amount of power. Conceivably, it could run down I suppose, but I don’t think that is very likely. They also sort of ‘recharge’ after they are docked to the Agamemnon in its ‘Transport Phase’.” She replies. Saber nods, mulling the information over. “One other question…how is the Bismarck controlled in its different phases?” “When the units are combined, April can give total control to any one of you. Or, she can set it so that each person has specific functions they can control. It is a rather versatile system. Eventually, you will figure out what works best for you.” Erica replies. “Are there any other questions?” “When do we get to try these suits out?” Fireball asks. “That is up to Cagalli.” Erica says with a smile. All eyes turn to Cagalli, who smiles and looks to Erica. “Are the suits ready to be tested?” Erica nods. “Yes, they should be fully operational.” “It would be a good idea to try them out before heading into battle. That way, we know if there is something we need to adjust and can do it while you are still here.” Athrun says. Cagalli nods. “Yes, I think we should go up in our suits too, so we can show them how they move around. Remember, this is a bit new to them.” Athrun nods and looks to Kira. “Are you going to join us?” Kira smiles, “Sure. It’d be nice to be in a suit and not fighting for my life for once.” “Then follow me.” Erica says to the Bismarck crew. They nod and she leads them to their respective units, showing them how to get into them and boot them up. After several minutes they are ready, and a wall opens revealing a huge valley just outside. “Now Launch.” She says and they all take off. A bit unsteady at first, but they quickly adjust to keeping altitude. Colt goes out in front, quickly grasping the controls of the suit. “Now this I like!” He moves around quickly, circling the others as three more Mobile suits join them. Saber comes out close to Colt, and after a minute or two is easily maneuvering. “I thought the controls would be harder to figure out. They seem fairly strait forward.” Athrun appears on a screen slightly to his left, “When Kira became involved with the Mobile Suits originally, he rewrote the OS to be easier for non coordinators to handle. This OS is far superior to anything the other people have. Only the suits from Orb have this OS.” “Impressive.” Saber replies. “How long did that take you to write?” He asks Kira. “I’d rather not say.” Kira answers quietly. “I heard it was just a few minutes, according to Lacus.” Cagalli says. “I thought she was exaggerating, but going by how he’s acting now, I’m not so sure she was.” “Now I’m really impressed.” April chimes in. “The lot of you could teach me a few things, for sure!” Saber laughs, “You already get that glazed look from Colt. Do you want to confuse Fireball now too?” “Hey!” Fireball and Colt say at one time, enticing a laugh from April and Saber. They practice for a bit more, and then they all land at the top of a nearby hill. “I think you are all doing well.” Athrun states after everyone has joined them on the ground. “I think after a brief break, we should have you attempt the combing sequences.” They all nod and he continues, “First we should try the ‘Challenge Phase’ then practice a bit in that formation, before separating and then trying the ‘Transport Phase’.” “I found a bit of information on the OS on how the process works. It seems fairly simple.” Saber states, getting a bit of a shocked look from Athrun and Kira. “You were able to get into the tutorials?” Athrun asks. Saber nods. “Are you sure you’re not one of us?” Saber looks at him skeptically. “I’m not sure what you mean.” “You shouldn’t have been able to get into them without us unlocking them.” Athrun says. “Oh.” Saber mutters, then asks in a normal tone, “Why would you lock them?” “Well, we wanted to see how you did on instinct.” He pauses, studying Saber for a moment. “How long did it take you to unlock the OS?” Saber thinks for a moment, “Not long. A minute or two, I guess. I wasn’t thinking about it, I sort of did it subconsciously.” Kira looks over surprised, then looks to Athrun who nods. “I want you to fight me. I have the original Akatsuki, so I should be okay to take a few hits.” Saber nods hesitantly. “Okay…but what do you hope to accomplish?” “I want to see if I’m right about something, nothing more.” Kira replies. Saber nods and goes to his suit, taking off quickly. Kira follows and meets him in the air. “Okay, your name is Saber, right?” Saber nods and Kira continues, “Draw your sword, let’s see how you handle that against me.” Kira draws his sword and waits. Saber nods and draws his sword, circling a bit to the right, waiting for Kira to strike. After a moment, Kira launches at him, Saber parries and they fight for several minutes, neither one having an advantage over the other for long. “I can’t believe he’s doing so well against Kira.” Athrun says, watching the two fight. He turns to April and Fireball, who are watching with interest, “Has he ever piloted a Mobile Suit before?” Fireball looks to April who shrugs. “Not that I’m aware of.” She replies. “Then I’m thinking Kira might be right.” Athrun states. Fireball looks back to Athrun. “Right about what?” “Your friend there may be a coordinator.” He replies. “What exactly is a coordinator? I have heard you all use the term, but I’m not exactly sure what it means.” Fireball asks. “Simply put, it means that we are genetically engineered to have faster brains than most natural humans. Some of us were altered in the womb; a few were completely created in artificial wombs.” Athrun says. “Supposedly, coordinators are able to utilize their talents more than a natural. Your friend there,” He nods towards Saber. “appears to posses some rather unique abilities. Enough that Kira thinks he may be a coordinator.” April sighs. “It just doesn’t seem likely. He’s not even from this part of the universe.” Athrun shrugs. “Then maybe it’s a strange coincidence, and nothing more. But the fact that he was able to unlock the OS in a matter of seconds tells me otherwise.” They all turn back up to the fight, the two are still fairly evenly matched. One seems to get an advantage for a minute or two, then the other seems to make up lost ground. They eventually begin using other beam weapons, trying to knock each other out of the air. Eventually, Kira scores a solid hit and Saber hits the ground, Kira lands beside him. They both come out of their suits, and walk over to the others. “I can’t believe you lasted that long against me. Especially since you’ve not been in a suit before…or have you?” Kira says to Saber. Saber shakes his head. “I’ve never been in a suit before. It just worked as if it was made for me. It’s rather well built.” Athrun looks at him carefully. “Are you sure you’ve never been here before?” Saber nods. “Quite positive. I think I’d remember these suits if I had been.” Kira looks over to him. “Well, maybe it was before you were born? Maybe your parents came here, or to one of the PLANT colonies or something.” “I suppose it’s possible that they did. I have no way of finding out now though.” Saber replies. Kira nods. “I just have a feeling that either you are one and don’t know it, or just one of the rare naturals.” He pauses thinking. “My instinct is that you’re a coordinator though. I know some really smart naturals, but none of them could have gotten into the OS as quickly as you did.” “I really don’t see the big issue with the computer, I was just messing around with it and got into the system and was reading the tutorials. I wouldn’t have done that if you had told me you didn’t want them to be read before we started.” Kira looks at him amused, “You really have no idea how you got into it do you?” Saber shakes his head. “I just went through the screens. It asked for codes, and I just started typing and it worked. I don’t even remember what I typed in to be perfectly honest.” Athrun sighs. “No use in thinking too much on it. It’s just a curious thing.” He turns back to the others. “Do you feel like going up again?” They each nod. “Then let’s go. Let’s work on evasive maneuvers. Then, after Kira and Saber have had a break, they can join us and you can try the combining sequences.” They head to their suits and take off, each taking turns dodging attacks. A little while later, Saber and Kira join them. “Okay. In each unit, there should be buttons on the right hand side of the main console labeled CPH and TPH. I think you’re all smart enough to figure out which one does what.” Athrun says dryly, then continues normally, “The important thing to remember, is that you have to all hit the same button.” “Gee, you think”?” Colt asks sarcastically. “Colt!” April and Saber say at once. “What? I’m sorry, I just think we should try it and see what happens is all.” Colt says defensively. “We aren’t stupid.” Saber sighs. “No one was accusing anyone of being stupid, Colt. Better to be over informed, than miss some vital information. You should be grateful they are taking the time to show us how to do this, instead of us learning this on our own in the heat of a battle.” “He’s right, Colt.” Fireball adds. “This is a luxury not many would get. We don’t have much time left here. We need to learn what we can.” Colt sighs. “Fine, but can we get on with it?” Fireball nods. “Initiate ‘Challenge Phase’ now.” They each hit their buttons and the ships begin their transformations. They quickly become the robot Bismarck and go through the air, adjusting to the new formation. They are a bit unsteady for a moment or two, but then seem to gain control. “Good job. Now, try pulling a weapon.” Kira says, pulling out a blaster. “All right.” Colt says, as he aims the blaster and fires towards Kira, who dodges the attack easily.” “You’ve got to do better than that.” Kira says. “Try and hit me head on.” Kira fires a low grade beam at them, and the shield easily blocks it. “That’s better, but you still need to hit me.” Kira says, firing another shot, they dodge it and fire back quickly, grazing him. “You’re getting there. Colt, there should be a button to your left that sort of looks like a target pointer. Do you see it?” Colt looks along the console and presses the button. “There it goes.” Suddenly he sees a heat activated target pointer telling him when he’s locked on to Kira. “Try this.” He fires a shot, hitting him dead on and knocking Kira back a bit. “Damn! I wish I had seen that before.” He mutters. “That is awesome!” Kira recovers and fires back, the Bismarck dodges the attack and fires back just as Kira gets off another shot, canceling it out. They practice for close to an hour, “Okay, now I want you to separate.” “How do we do that?” Fireball asks. “Hit the button for the Phase you’re in and it deactivates it, allowing you to separate.” Athrun says. “Makes sense.” Fireball replies as they each hit the button and the suits go back to their previous forms. “Now, let’s see you try the Transport Phase.” Kira says. Fireball nods. “Okay, ready?” “Ready” They each reply. “Activate Transport Phase.” They all hit the corresponding button and soon the Bismarck looks like any other transport ship. “Well done. Let’s see if you can avoid an attack now.” Athrun begins firing at the ship. “Evade!” Fireball yells as the ship is grazed by a shot. Colt fires back as they dodge another attack from Kira. After practicing for a bit, they decide to return to the bunker. After everyone has landed, they meet in the center of the bunker. “You did well.” Cagalli says as she joins the group. “It’s not often that a group can evade any attacks by these two.” She says nodding to Kira and Athrun. “The units are incredible, Cagalli. I hope we can work together on future ventures.” April says. Cagalli nods. “I hope so too.” She turns and looks to each of the members of the Bismarck, “I suppose you’ll be leaving soon?” She asks more to Fireball than the others. Fireball nods. “Yes, we have probably stayed longer than we should have.” Cagalli nods. Lacus comes down from the entrance of the bunker and over beside Kira. “Why don’t you stay and eat something before you go. You might not get a chance to eat again for a while.” They all look to Fireball, who nods. “I don’t see where that would do any harm.” They all follow Lacus and Kira out and eat a good meal. About an hour afterward, they return to the bunker, ready to board. Kira comes over to Saber. “Take care of the suit and don’t hesitate to call if you need back up.” Saber nods. “I don’t like to fight, but I know that fighting is sometimes necessary to obtain peace.” Saber nods. “Fighting is not something I like either, but sometimes as you said, you have to in order to obtain peace.” He adds solemnly. They each say their good byes and board the Bismarck and take off. “Set course for Calvary Command.” Fireball says. “Coordinates set, Captain.” Saber replies. They all sit quietly lost in their own thoughts as they head towards Calvary Command. Hosted by Animexx e.V. (http://www.animexx.de)