Gundam: Crusader Company

[Mega Raptor]

Wow. Now this is something I never thought I'd ever get back to.

A bit of backstory for those that never saw this before.

About three years ago, I was a member of a website called Gundamwatch. I saw a lot of my friends writing fics and decided to take a stab at it.

The result, was generally considered to be good. It was an AU that borrowed from UC timeline technology, mixed in a few things of my own devising and was full of in-jokes about Warhammer 40,000.

Unfortunately, I never finished it, and more or less left it to die.

However, I have decided to go back to the drawing board and re-invent the fic. Many changes have been made, but the core cast of characters is still the same, and it still revolves around the same MS Company.

So without further ado, I present the re-write of Gundam: Crusader Company, to be (hopefully) completed over the course of the next few months.

[Mega Raptor]

Gundam: Crusader Company

Prologue[/i]

The year is 2448 AD.

Over a century ago, mankind finally began to leave behind the overcrowded Earth and move forward into space. Mass colonization were begun by the various nations, each hoping to set aside a piece of the cosmos to carry on their beliefs and traditions.

Humans spread to every corner of the system, and for a time peace and mutual cooperation reigned.

But it was not to last.

It started with simple border skirmishes 50 years ago, but soon escalated into full warfare.

Armies clashed on Luna and Mars, and starships battered eachother in the Asteroids.

At first many smaller nations fought individually, but eventually all became united under two banners: the Earthsphere Alliance and the Jovian Imperium.

Alliance and Imperial forces fought eachother to a stalemate 30 years ago, and agreed to a truce, both groups worn down to the point they could continue fighting no more. The two juggernauts retreated into their borders to lick their wounds and prepare for the day the battles would begin once again.

Three years ago, the cycle began again, when intercepted Imperium transmissions revealed the existance of a new weapon. Codenamed a "Mobile Suit."

Fearing the implications of this, the Alliance struck pre-emptively, sending in a covert ops team to steal the prototype data and destroy the factory. Only one of them made it home, and with an incomplete set of plans.

The Imperium was furious at this violation of the truce, and immediately deployed the weapons they had built. Once again, the armies moved forward, only this time there was no stalemate. The Imperium's new weapons gave them a clear advantage. They pushed through the asteroids and straight to Earth.

The war would have ended then, were it not for the creation of Alliance mobile weapons. While inferior to the completed prototypes of the Imperium, they gave the Alliance a fighting chance, and with the battlefield centered around Earth, they were put into production and brought to the field faster than the Imperium could muster its forces.

Now, the war has deadlocked once again. Both forces clashed in the space between Earth and Jupiter, and likely would have continued to do so were it not for a sudden supply shortage. The rush to produce MS had left the Alliance low on resources necessary for their reactors. Resources that the Imperium had in great abundance.

It would only be a matter of time before the Imperium would win out if the war continued this way, so a new strategy was devised.

Three Assault Carriers with escort, each carrying two full companies of the latest Alliance MS and fighters, were sent behind enemy lines to destroy as much of the Imperium's industrial, military and political infastructure as possible.

This desperate gamble would either win or lose the war.

[Mega Raptor]

Chapter 1

Twin green and black mobile suits darted through the debris field, machine guns at the ready and mono-eye cameras scanning the area for threats.

The MS continued on their way, dodging around the various pieces of junk that once made up a colony. The lead pilot watched intently out of his viewscreen for the slightest sign of trouble. He was a young man, with a lean pale face topped off with close cut brown hair. His brown eyes focused intently as he continued on his assigned patrol.

"5-2, Sector secure. We're moving on to point Delta," the Trooper, Andrew Greer, said as he started to turn his Deinonych and fire his thrusters in the new direction.

"2-5, Affirmative. If you see any Imps, just holler," replied a gruff voice over the comm system.

"Roger that, Sarge. Wouldn't want to hog all the fun to ourselves after all, right Jared?" Greer continued as his wingman's face appeared in the comm window.

"Of course not," Jared almost seemed to snicker a bit, a mischivious gleam in his blue eyes, "Besides, I'm sick and tired of always pulling your ass outta the fire. The Sarge can do it this time."

Andrew sighed, "Yeah, yeah, whatever. Let's just hurry up."

Both mechs followed their new route for a few seconds before the first volley rang out. 105 mm rifle slugs, fired from above.

"Shit! Break and attack!" Andrew threw his machine hard to his left as soon as he felt the impact of the first shot in the suit's back. The armor had stopped it, but it had nearly slammed into one of his primary thrusters. "5-2! Bandits in the area, numbers unconfirmed."

"2-5, understood. I'm on my way with some backup. Sit tight."

"Sit tight, he says..." Jared muttered under his breath as he pulled his suit around to try and spot the aggressors.

There were three of them, all Guardsman class Imperial MS. They'd taken cover behind some of the larger pieces of debris and were moving out to engage the two Alliance pilots directly. Jared took aim with his machine gun and opened fire with quick, controled bursts. A few of the rounds found their way to the blue and white Imperial mech, but there was too much speed and distance involved to get a clear reading on what kind of damage he'd done. It couldn't have been very much, however, as the other pilot aimed the tri-barreled gattler on his suit's left arm and returned fire at the Deinonych.

Jared twisted around and threw up his shield to block the rounds, and saw that Andrew wasn't faring much better.

"Jared, we can't beat them like this!" Greer spoke up as he dove his suit behind a large chunk of free floating metal, "If we stay back, we're done for. We've gotta close range."

"Yeah, but how're we gonna close range against them?"

"I've got a plan. Start jumping from scrap to scrap, keep whatever you can between you and them until you're in range. Got it?"

"Sounds like suicide to me, but I don't think we have a choice!"

"Okay then!" Andrew took a quick breath as the Guardsman eased up on his trigger finger and waited for him to come out from behind the debris, "On three... one... two... three!"

Both Alliance mecha launched away from their respective cover and began to jump in and out of safety in an attempt to get closer to their targets. After a few hops, both were in range to open fire effectively with their machine guns, which was exactly what Jared did, but the battle had become far too personal for Andrew to do the same.

Jared's machine gun landed a few well placed rounds on the Guardsman's visor, shattering it and temporarily blinding the pilot before his suit could switch to the backup cameras. Just before he could finish the Imperial mech, he saw Andrew leap out from cover, and charge directly at the other Guardsman.

"What the hell are you doing!?" he yelled out, and only heard a battle cry from the other end of the comm.

Andrew cast his suit's machine gun aside and drew the beam saber, flicking the ice-blue blade to life as the Guardsman attempted to shoot him down. A few shots impacted on his armor and scarred the suit before the other pilot reached up for his own saber.

Andrew grinned, "Too late."

As the Guardsman brought his own saber back down to try and intercept the attack, Andrew's blade stabbed through the suit's torso, cutting directly into the cockpit and slashing upwards through the mecha's head and neck.

"Alright!" he called out, oblivious to what was behind him.

"Behind you!" Jared called out.

Andrew turned just in time to see the forgotten third Guardsman line up its rifle on his cockpit and open fire.

His controls suddenly went slack as the viewscreen and console faded to black. Three words appeared as Greer silently swore at himself over his carelessness: You Are Dead.

He slammed his hand against the side of the simulator's cockpit and popped the hatch open from inside. The deck lights blinded him for a moment, but he adjusted with a few quick blinks and stumbled out to wait with the other 'casualties' for the rest of the Company to finish the exercise and begin the AAR.

[Pkmatrix]

Oh man, this brings back so many memories! Gundamwatch, Renee's Bar, TGP...

Anyways, great job! The action plays out nicely and, while the "Oh, it was really just a simulation" idea has been done before, I myself didn't see the twist coming. Great job! You pulled it off.

I've always loved the backstory for Crusader Company...it just feels so much more EPIC than any other Gundam story. This isn't Earth vs. the Colonies, or Earth vs. Mars (like ZOE), this is EARTH vs. JUPITER. For some reason, Jovians seem so much more intimidating than Martians or Lunarians or any other Spacenoid. Maybe its because Jupiter is so big it has has its own little Solar System, or maybe because we just have the entire concept of "Jupiter, King of the Gods, King of the Planets" stuck in our minds.

Anyways...

Good job! I'll definitely be keeping an eye on this one.

[Draco Starcloud]

The Jovians probobly seem more sinister because they're Jovians and not Jupitorians or Jupiterlings or something goofy sounding.

Plus, they all have to live in colonies 'cause Jupiter would crush them all to bits.

That, and the big Jovian MS is a bad-ass.

[Mega Raptor]

Been busy for a bit, but here's the next chapter.

(minor note. New character is introduced. His last name is pronounced "ya-gan")



Chapter 2[/b]


Andrew sighed as he walked down the cooridor of the Assault Carrier 'Davinus.' He brushed a bit of his hair from his forehead and headed for the mess hall, feeling a bit hungry after his latest run through combat simulations.He walked in to find the room mostly deserted, but food was still being served. He grabed himself a tray and took a seat near an observation port, glancing out at the asteroids as they flew past the ship. Off in the distance, he could just barely see the two sister-ships of the Davinus, 'Pandora' and 'Higara.' All three ships were making their way through a secluded portion of the asteroid belt, on their way to Jupiter.

I still say this is a suicide mission, but it doesn't matter. A fight's a fight, he thought quietly to himself, eyes still watching the void just a few feet away from him. Of course, despite his misgivings about the mission, he was still anxious to get there. At least then he would have something to do. The last couple weeks of travel had been completely boring. In fact, his only real source of entertainment was the battle-sim the pilots used when not on patrol to keep their skills sharp. He laughed a bit, remembering the training exercise earlier in the day, and the subsequent after-action review.

The AAR he'd just left had been uneventful. Sure, he'd taken a bit of flak for his actions, but even so the operation had been a success for his unit. It had been a simple simulation, the two companies on board the ship had been pitted against eachother. Delta using Imperial designs and Charlie, Andrew's own unit and more commonly refered to as the 'Crusaders', using Alliance mecha. Besides, Andrew hadn't been the only member of the company to get shot down.

Finishing his meal a few minutes later, he stood and cracked his knuckles before heading back out towards the cooridor.

His thoughts drifted back to the mission, Ah well, I guess if everything goes to hell, I can at least kill a few Imperial bastards before I get vapored.

-----------------

The room was cold and dim, the only real light source coming from the many displays spread around it. A young Jovian officer absently rubbed his arms slightly, the chill of the room starting to get to him. Every other part of the station was fine, just this one observation room had a broken heater, and it made all the difference. He hated always being posted in this room.

He glanced from panel to panel, this was normally a two person job, and the seat to his left was vacant tonight. The soldier sighed quietly to himself, he'd already been here for a few hours and to him it seemed obvious that there wasn't any need to have a 24 hour watch posted on a backwater space station like this one. He shook his head and leaned back in the chair, feeling his eyes start to grow heavy...

Only to suddenly hear one of the long range sensor arrays beep.

He shot upright, reading over the data coming through. There were no ships scheduled to approach at this time of night, not that there was much difference between day and night where he was. There was definately a signal though, a weak signal, but still a signal.

Better report this... hey, I wonder if I can get a promotion for this? Finally get out of this damned station, he started to abesntly rub his hands against his arms for warmth again as he activated the direct line to the on-duty flight leaders, "This is Observation Tower 2, we've picked up a possible contact, sector 24. Suggest sending a team out to investigate."

"Affirmative, Tower. Prepping a team for launch. Keep us updated on those coordinates."

"Understood, Tower out," the man couldn't help smirking just a bit, hoping this was something that could get him out of this assignment.

-----------------

Darkness filled the cockpit as the hatch closed. The Guardsman's monitors lit up one at a time, illuminating the face of the man piloting it.

"This is Talon Lead," he said, "Talon Squadron, report status."

"2, ready to go."

"3, set for launch."

"4, all systems check out."

"5 here, 6, 7 and I are waiting on stand by if you need us."

"Affirmative. Tower, this is Talon Lead, requesting launch clearance."

"Clearance confirmed, good luck Lieutenant Jagan."

Amaran Jagan grinned in a manner remeniscent of a shark, "We won't be needing luck, tower, but thanks anyway."

The squadron of Guardsmen slowly moved away from their bays and formed at the hangar enterance. With a groan, the base's blast doors slid open, and the four launching suits headed into space.

-----------------

Meanwhile, the young Captain of the Alliance transport 'Sevrun' was having second thoughts about his assignment. His ship had been chosen to run their cargo through enemy territory to a deep strike team. Even he didn't know the exact coordinates, so much as a general location that would be updated by the carriers when they arrived. In addition, to keep them less noticable they'd been given no escort ships, all they had were two Deinonych suits that had quite
litterally been strapped to the hull.

Of course, it wasn't so much the lack of any real escort that bothered him, so much as the dangerous course that had been plotted for him by command.

It had called for him to take the vessel through a scrapyard left by an abandoned mining station. Unfortunatly, on arrival they had learned there was no safe course through the wreckage. They had to choose a new course, and the option had forced them to pass dangerously near to an Imperial resupply station. Ever since he'd made the decision, he'd been second guessing himself. He was sure things would turn out fine, and he'd end up back at home soon enough, with a nice cup of coffee waiting for him, but even so part of him doubted that.

When his first officer reported that an enemy MS team had launched from the resupply station, he began to think that perhaps he would have been better off trying to navigate the scrapyard. He quickly ordered the pilots to get their suits ready.

-----------------

The four blue and white suits closed in, as Lieutenant Jagan finally got a good visual on the enemy.

A cargo junker... with a couple targets on the side for good measure... what a turkey shoot, but I better play it safe, he thought, "2, are you picking up anything else nearby?"

"Negative, Lead. Looks like it's just them. What the hell they doing way out here?"

"No idea, but let's purge this scum from our sky, eh?" Jagan's grin returned as he saw two men in EVA suits leave the tranport's airlock and head for the green and black MS on the ship's side.

"I don't think so," Amaran muttered, bringing his suit's rifle up and taking a shot. It impacted on the ship's armor near the pilots, sending them both out into the asteroids.

With the pilots out of the way, the Guardsmen moved up in front of the transport. Amaran dove in front of the bridge and activated his directional transmitter, aiming its laser at the viewscreen in front of him.

"This is Lieutenant Amaran Jagan of the Jovian Imperium. You are ordered to stand down and prepare to be boarded. Fail to comply, and we will blast you. Got it?"

No reply came, instead the transport went to full burn, dashing into the asteroids.

"God damnit!" Amaran yelled, dodging to the side and firing after them with his gattling pack as the rest of the team moved to intercept.

The transport didn't get far. The rounds from the Imperial mecha knocked out part of its control system. Unable to slow down and without enough manuvering thrusters to turn quickly, the ship collided with a nearby rock. The metal armor plates crushed in on eachother as various viewports shattered. The twisted mass remained for a moment before its reactor went critical and turned what was left into dust.

"What a fireball... What do you think they were doing out this far, Lead?" '3' asked.

"No idea. Probably nothing good though. Let's take a look around and head back for base. This'll be an odd one to report."

The four suits split up and spread out among the asteroids to make sure that the transport truly had been alone.