#Gundam Ez8 High Mobility Custom | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

wayward-sword · 1 month

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White Wolf (A Gunpla verse drabble)

"So who's our target for this mission?" "Some wannabe 'game center crusher'." "Just one player? Either he's really good or we're going overkill for this one. I mean, one against four? That's not very fair odds." "You know better than to count on a straight numbers advantage. They've been callin' this guy the 'White Wolf'." "White Wolf? What kinda name is–" "Hey, I think I've been hearin' about him, actually. They say he uses a barely customized Barbatos, but he's able to wipe the floor with players in the double digits at a time." "That's an impressive count... But there's no need to get freaked out over a numbers game." "Heh heh, yeah. They were all probably a buncha rookies anyway. Gunpla Battle keeps pullin' in all the greenhorns lately." "Like I said, don't let your guard down. Overconfidence is one of the biggest killers on the battlefield." "Don't go sounding too much like some grizzled war dog, now."

"Nero Squad, cut the chatter. We're approaching the operating area now."

Amid the darkness of the dense, virtual jungle, four encroaching lights dot the simulated nighttime sky – the fiery exhaust of mobile suit thrusters.

"Nero 4, taking overwatch."

A single light breaks formation and dips down to an overlooking cliffside. It's an excellent vantage point and, judging by the build of the Gunpla's user – a pitch-black, customized GM Sniper II – well suited to providing reconnaissance and sniper fire.

"Nero 2, Nero 3, you're with me."

"Hard copy, Nero 1." "Roger."

The remaining three silhouettes begin to drop to the ground below, their machines promptly sinking beneath the tree tops of the jungle and settling on the earth below. Despite the variety in their chosen Gunpla – a Zaku High Mobility Surface Type with a fin antenna adorning its head, clearly designating the unit as "Nero 1" of the group, an RF Kampfer, and a Gundam Ez8 Heavy Armed Custom – "Nero Squad" is aptly named for the black color scheme each of their suits have been painted in. What's more, each unit's cameras were specifically colored a deep red, thus adding further to the "low visibility" aesthetic of their customizations. This ragtag band of Gunpla Battlers had clearly made themselves into a well-disciplined fighting force and the ambiance of the current stage gave them every advantage in the world.

"Nero 2, you're on point. Nero 3, you're in charge of our six in case something happens to Nero 4." "Oh come on, Nero 1. When has your eye in the sky ever let you down? Everyone's data link is working, right?" "Affirmative, Nero 4, but it never hurts to be cautious." "This guy ought to be like shooting fish in a barrel. White sticks out like a sore thumb in the dark, you know." "Stay frosty and keep your eyes peeled. All of you. Nero 1, out."

The Kampfer – "Nero 2" – moves ahead of the Zaku and Ez8, brandishing its shotgun at the ready as it leads its team further into the jungle. Both of the monoeyes on the Zaku and Kampfer stay scanning their immediate surroundings while the Ez8 likewise keeps its head on a swivel. So far, so good. Nothing out of the ordinary... Although that creates a slowly building sense of tension among the squad seeing that nothing is happening whatsoever.

Is their prey keeping himself hidden? For what purpose?

"...You don't think he fled, right?" "No. If he pulled his registration, the Plavsky particle generator would've disengaged. Our guy is definitely here somewhere." "How in the world haven't we found him yet? I know it's a pretty dense jungle, but there's no way he can hide that well..." "It's only a matter of time. He'll reveal himself soon enough. He has to."

A dull thud reverberates through the quiet jungle canopy and the three-man squad suddenly freezes in place. Their eyes turn to their radars, their system instruments. Nothing pings to life on any of their detection equipment.

“What was—”

“This is Nero 4! I think I saw a muzzle flash somewhere in the jungle, but I couldn’t pin down the location! What’s– A 300mm round?!”

The GM Sniper rears back from the approaching projectile upon identifying its make and trajectory, the pilot inadvertently raising the rifle to defend itself and destroying its long-range weapon in the process. As the three squadmates on the ground scramble to try and find their prey, they notice a rush of movement too fast to track at their flank. It doesn’t even present a signal on their radars, though instinct still prompts them to train their attention in the direction of the movement.

However, before they can properly surround and encircle their enemy, it suddenly shoots upwards from the jungle floor, boosting its way upward to intercept the hapless “Nero 4” upon the clifftop.

“I-Is that…?!” “It’s him… The White Wolf…!”

With nothing more than a clearing night sky and the artificial moonlight illuminating its frame, a Barbatos 4th form build seems to hover in the air above the GM Sniper II. Its body is adorned with an anti-beam coat mantle, swaying against the simulated wind, and a Gerbera Straight katana attached to its hip. In each hand, the Barbatos wields the Shiranui and Unryu enhanced sabers.

“Just two swords…? Then I’ll—!”

The GM Sniper deploys its beam sabers in each hand, ready to intercept should the Barbatos approach, but instead it crosses its enhanced sabers together. Plavsky particles visibly gather within the blades, as though charging them with some nascent form of energy, and then, it swings in a flurry of motion. With each slice of the blades through the air, a curving purple “slash” of energy shoots towards the unsuspecting GM Sniper, tearing into its frame.

“Wh-What the hell is–?! Aaaahh!!”

“Nero 4” is promptly eviscerated by the tempest of attacks, the mobile suit collapsing in a burning heap under its own weight now that it’s lost all structural integrity before exploding.

“What’s wrong? Nero 4, come in! Do you read me? Report your status!” “...Don’t bother, team leader. The White Wolf’s already sank its fangs into our buddy.” “Ngh… Get ready to ambush him as he lands! We’ll make him pay for taking down our comrade!”

The Kampfer of the group continues remaining close to the rear, adjusting its positioning in preparation for an ambush, while the Ez8 adjusts to a more advantageous firing position. Without hesitation, it rips open with a hailstorm of all of its armaments, the 100mm machine gun, vulcan cannons on its head piece, and the two Salamis-class cannons all spitting their firepower at full bore while its pilot unleashes a beastly roar, attempting to gun down the falling Barbatos custom. Each weapon firing at once creates recoil, causing the pilot to struggle a bit with aim corrections, but some shots do seem to impact the intended target… And to little effect, with the shots mostly bouncing off of the Barbatos’ ABC mantle.

“It deflects bullets?! It should only be resistant against beams!” “Don’t panic and hold your fire! You’re just wasting ammo at this point.” “That builder really knows his stuff, being able to reinforce even an ABC mantle…”

“We’ll see how well he stands up to a more direct attack.”

No sooner does the Barbatos land upon the ground does the Kampfer charge right in, raising its right arm as it boosts forward and firing off the three missiles from its arm-mounted pod and promptly purging the now emptied pod from its hard point. Its mechanical arms swing around then to start popping shots off with increasing closeness to the Barbatos. The so-called “White Wolf”, however, promptly leaps with a boost dash away from the trajectory of the missiles, although the resulting explosion as well as the shotgun’s blasts drive the Gunpla in an easily predictable direction. This seems to be exactly what the Kampfer pilot was counting on as he raises the left arm and, from two protruding points built into the arm itself, a pair of mechanical, tentacle-like wires shoot out and sink themselves into the Barbatos’ arm.

“Ha! I’ve got him by the short hairs now!”

A visible, electrical current runs from the wires and envelops the entirety of the Barbatos’ frame. The Gunpla seems to twitch and jitter against its will before going still, the green glow of its eye cameras flickering for a moment. Without wasting a beat, the Kampfer follows it up with a blast from its shotgun at near point-blank range, creating visible damage upon the Barbatos’ body and head, the glow of its “eyes” dimming to darkness as it lurched backwards and appeared to slump.

“See? He’s no big deal. The ‘White Wolf’ must’ve just been dealing with a bunch of newbies up until now. What a shame for him that his luck finally ran out… Huh?”

There’s a brief glint before its eyes flash back to life, the former green now replaced with an angry, red glow. Its body shudders for just a moment before slowly raising and correcting its posture where it stood.

“N-No way! It’s still functional?! I thought—”

Barbatos wastes no time swinging its uncaptured sword arm and severing the mechanical wires keeping it bound in place by the Kampfer.

“But he’s wounded! One more shot and he’ll definitely fall!”

So the Kampfer pilot thinks, but the Barbatos rushes in and slices with its two blades – first, at the arm containing the triple heat wires, inflicting good cuts that cause a small explosion upon the arm itself as the blows promptly destroy the heat wire launchers built into the arm.

“Damn it, he got my arm! But he’s still… What the?!”

Visible, glowing, Plavsky particles seem to flow from the damage arm and accumulate onto the Barbatos’ body, enveloping the damaged areas with a virtual, blue glow and obscuring them from sight briefly, although once the visual effect begins to fade, the damage inflicted upon it appears to be entirely gone with the Gunpla completely returned to its original, pristine state.

“How in the hell is that possible?! He must be cheating!” “No, he just understands the system better than you do. Repair on hit… That’s an advanced builder’s technique.”

“Rrrgh! I won’t let him get away with this!” “Nero 2, what are you doing? Keep a level head!”

The Kampfer refuses to heed the instruction of its superior and shifts its stance as best as it can to angle the two storm faust launchers mounted to its legs before proceeding to fire the rockets in the Barbatos’ direction. It’s no trouble at all for the Gunpla to avoid being hit as the rockets trail in a wild arc, completely missing their mark, and the resulting detonation causes a chain reaction that quickly sets the nearby jungle awash in a raging blaze, obscuring the vision of both the Ez8 and the Zaku.

“Damn you! I’ll put you down, White Wolf!”

“Nero 2” once again roars with battle fury as the INCOM units on its back detach and begin flying by wire attempting to fire upon the Barbatos. However, the nimble Gunpla practically dances around each shot before closing the gap separating it from its prey.

The team status designator for “Nero 2” upon the surviving team members’ HUDs turns red as the word “LOST” replaces its health indicator.

“Damn… Nero 2 lost.” “No way… What happened to the White Wolf anyway?! The flames are too thick, I-I can’t make anything out in this wildfire!” “Nero 3, calm down and fall back. We’ll regroup and—” “Oh… Oh no! He’s here! The White Wolf is already here!” “What? Nero 3, report!” “I-It’s no good! I can’t hit him with anything! H-He’s too fast! How is that even possible…?!” “Nero 3!”

“Nero 1”, pilot of the Zaku High Mobility type, confirms the Ez8’s last known position on his radar and proceeds to move in, hoping to intercept and save his last remaining ally before the worst could come to pass. His comms are filled with desperate, frightened screams, and he can hear its storm of gunfire ringing out from a distance, growing louder as he drew closer and closer, until suddenly, with an abrupt silence–

<< NERO 3 — LOST >>

No sooner does the confirmation appear that the Zaku manages to clear through the burning shrubbery, only to find the White Wolf standing there, its back turned and painting a menacing silhouette, as the frame of the Ez8 stands motionless in front of the Gunpla, the twin blades piercing its cockpit. The Barbatos glances behind itself, the now blood-red glow of its eyes glinting, as it seems to acknowledge the approach of its newest foe, and then briefly turns its attention back to the motionless Ez8. With a twist of each blade, it pulls its swords free from the inert Gunpla, which then falls to the ground before erupting in an explosion to cement its own destruction.

And then both Gunpla face one another, their respective presences creating a rather picturesque landscape painted against the blaze raging all around them.

“White Wolf…” Nero 1 utters in a low growl, tossing aside its machine gun in silent acknowledgement that the armament would do it no good. Instead, it opts to reach behind and draw the elongated heat saber from its dock upon its thruster backpack. The metal rod soon alights with orange heat, matching the intensity of the flames serving as their backdrop — lending clearly to the weapon’s namesake.

“...It’s hard to believe there’s an actual player at the controls for that thing. It’s rare to see a battler with such skill and ferocity, especially in a game center.”

The Zaku takes up a ready stance with its heat saber, leaning its weight forward, as the Barbatos slowly approaches. A moment of silent intensity passes between both Gunpla and pilots, as though each one is sizing up the other.

And within that moment, Nero 1 finds himself wondering whether he’s truly battling a demon. The White Wolf regards him with no verbal response, but neither is there anything lifeless or artificial about its presence – unlike an AI. No, there was certain intent behind movement, an almost killer instinct rarely seen among Gunpla battlers.

For the first time in Nero 1’s long battling career, he felt not as though he were the hunter, but the hunted.

One breath, one adjustment in the Barbatos’ approach, was all that it took to signal the resumption of their battle. It was the first to move, one step faster, already readying each of its blades to sink into the enemy Gunpla, but Nero 1 was no pushover in that regard. Its leg and back thrusters, coupled together with the hover thrusters in its feet, burst to maximum output as it rushed forward to meet the Barbatos halfway. Its heat saber clashed with the twin blades’ arc as the two machines passed one another, the Zaku using the momentum and force provided by its propulsion to deflect and riposte the attack, forcing back the Barbatos as they passed one another harmlessly.

Nero 1 is already spinning on a dime, readying the heat saber so as to lunge straight towards White Wolf, and the Barbatos is hot on its heels. The superheated steel plunges outwards, hoping to catch the Barbatos mid-sprint, but the beastly machine is faster still – just barely, though – as it slips to one side. Its nanolaminate coating seems to begin warping and bubbling from the close proximity of the heat saber to its body as the Barbatos closes the considerable gap. One blade moves to knock the heat saber away, and the other moves to attempt to catch the Zaku by its hands.

There’s some small success in the attack: The heat saber is knocked unsteady by the first blow, and the second catched the saber just right to send it flying out of the Zaku’s grasp. Nero 1, however, seems unphased, as he immediately propels himself backwards to create space and, within the same movements, his Zaku’s hands are already reaching for two more weapons docked upon its skirt plates – a pair of heat axes that immediately warm to life as soon as they enter the Gunpla’s grasp. Wasting no time, Nero 1 promptly tosses both axes as if they’re tomahawks.

Barbatos had already draw both blades back and was midswing, aiming to bisect the Zaku, in the scant few moments that the heat axes began their trajectory. The first axe collides with the joined blades during their arc, forcing an unintended deflection that causes both of its arms to go wide, opening it up. The second axe sails true not far behind the first, and its heated blade finds its mark upon the Barbatos’ body, sinking straight past the nanolaminate coating and armor to dig slowly into the body’s greater mass. It’s not quite a direct blow to the cockpit, but if it were mere inches closer, it would be a sure kill. The Gunpla had to have been greatly compromised by the successful attack as it stopped dead in its tracks upon its back foot. Its arms twitch and its grip goes shaky as bolts of simulated electricity arc across its limbs, as though they can no longer obey their pilot’s inputs.

The Shiranui and Unryu blades then drop from its grasp, clattering upon the ground below, as each of the Gunpla’s arms fall uselessly to its side, and its front half leans forward, seemingly defeated.

“Heh… Looks like the White Wolf is mortal after all.”

Nero 1 slightly relaxes as his foe seems subdued for the moment, but notes how the system hasn’t registered the battle as “ended” quite just yet. It meant that he still hadn’t delivered the finishing blow, but that was a matter that could be quickly rectified. With a chance to breathe, the Zaku disengages its thrusters and relies on manual movement as it walks to retrieve the elongated heat saber that had been disarmed moments prior. The blade reignites with its namesake heated properties once returned to the Zaku’s grasp, and it moves to loom over the crippled White Wolf, raising the blade above its head.

“You were quite the entertainer, but it ends here.”

As the heat saber begins its downward swing, suddenly the Barbatos’ head jerks upright. The green glow of its camera eyes suddenly burns a deep crimson, emanating outwards from the mechanical irises. In a flash of motions, its left hand moves to secure the katana sheath at its hip, and its right hand grasps the hilt. Taking a moment to adjust the scabbard perpendicular with its body, it suddenly shoots forward and past the Zaku, ending up mere meters behind it with its katana blade drawn in its grasp.

Nero 1 is left speechless by the sheer speed of the movements, especially when he finds his heat saber slams useless into the ground where its foe once lurched before him. Just as he even thinks to try and analyze what just happened, his virtual cockpit suddenly flashes red with error messages. He watches from his monitor as his Zaku suddenly goes unsteady against its will, and its top half slides cleanly off of its bottom half, collapsing onto the ground. The camera feed cuts out, and the AI announcer declares the results in its mechanical voice at the same time the notification pops up on the HUD.

<< BATTLE ENDED >>

——

The Gunpla battle simulator disengages and four men emerge from capsule cockpits into the game center, a few familiar voices loosing sounds of disappointment and disapproval with the results. Amid their din could be heard the commentary of those who served as audience to the match, watching on monitors spread around the game center that played a live feed of the simulator, everyone mumbling about the “White Wolf” and in shock of how the renowned “Nero Team” could be crushed so easily.

Was there anyone that could stand against this beast?

From the opposite side of the simulator setup, another capsule cockpit opened, and a young, caucasian-looking man of black hair, dark brown, somewhat sullen-looking eyes, and a pair of glasses stepped out. Within his grasp was the very same dreaded “White Wolf” that was quickly becoming the talk of the national Japanese Gunpla battle scene – a custom Barbatos wearing an anti-beam coat mantle that partially obscured a 120mm smoothbore cannon mounted upon its back, a pair of Shiranui and Unryu enhanced sabers in its grasp, and a “Gerbera Straight” katana sheathed upon a dock attached to its left waist. He seems to quietly observe his Gunpla for a few moments before slipping it into a carrying case upon his person.

Without paying any heed to whatever attention his revelation may be drawing, he moves to exit the game center. However, the men of “Nero Team” take exception to this upon noticing him and move to intercept. One of them stops the young man’s departure by seizing him by the collar of his shirt.

“Just who the hell do you think you are anyway?!” He barks, the voice sounding reminiscent of “Nero 2”. “Is this how you get your kicks?! Bullyin’ people around game centers?! If you’re such a hotshot, why don’t you compete in a tournament or something with someone at your skill level instead of stompin’ on regular players, huh?!”

“Hey,” another of the men calls out, his voice indicating him as “Nero 1” of the group, reaching out to grasp his comrade by the shoulder and stop him from escalating things further. “Stop that, don’t make a scene.” “But—! Ah!”

The first man winces, then lurches, his grip upon the young man’s collar faltering as he reaches up and takes hold of his captor by the wrist, squeezing firmly. Firm enough to cause considerable pain.

“Ow! Ow ow ow ow ow! What the—?!”

“Nero 2” finally releases the black-haired man and retreats his wrist into the grasp of his other hand, rubbing the affected area. “Too weak,” he remarks, his voice low and listless.

“What?!”

“If you’re gonna complain about someone stomping over the weak,” the young man continues, lifting his gaze to behold the whole of Nero Team with a sharp gaze, as though his eyes could easily cut through the lot of them.

“Then maybe you should get stronger. Strong enough to protect what matters to you. Strong enough to put down a ‘beast’ like me.”

“What did you say?!”

The larger Nero 2 had to be held back by his comrades as the young man continued on his way, completely disregarding the lot of them to exit the game center.

“...Who does that guy think he is?!”

“Wait… Come to think of it, I think I’ve seen that guy before,” another one of the men, “Nero 4”, chimes in.

“Yeah… Hey, yeah. You’re right,” yet another affirms, the voice belonging to “Nero 3”. “Isn’t that the ‘Nanashi Mumei’ guy who qualified for the upcoming regional tournament?”

“I think it is… Yeah, I can see the resemblance.” “So is that how that guy gets his practice in…? By crushing different game centers across the country…?” “What a piece of work… Who can stop a monster like that?”

——

Zechariah, of course, couldn’t be the least bit bothered by the reputation he was garnering overseas like this. So long as he remained behind his identity, the “nameless” Gunpla battler, he could battle as he wished freely. After all, getting a taste of what the locals had on tap was enough to rekindle that particular “hunger” he once had back home.

He should have been more cautious. He should have known what he would be getting himself into, visiting the country like this. Maybe on some level, he did, and he was always just looking for an excuse to lose himself in this little pastime in the first place.

Hoshino… No, Lacie… She was wrong about him. She knew nothing about where he came from. Why he became like this.

No… The reason why he fought was to escape himself. To chase after a thrill until he could no longer chase it. That ferocity within him, that desperate drive, had not been lost yet.

Only in Gunpla battle could he toss what remained of his broken heart, his broken self-esteem, into completely. Only in Gunpla battle could he find something liberating. Something that freed him from his own pain, if even for a little bit.

And so, he would fight. He would play as he wished, and fight senselessly. It’s where he felt his very soul belonged to, after all, a virtual battlefield of senseless carnage and conquest, overcoming adversity, knowing full well that, someday, someone could rise up to finally crush him.

He would fight until there was nothing else left of him. That was why he was here. And that was why he wielded his “Barbatos Bushin” as his blade. A Gunpla built for nothing but battle. A Gunpla that would one day be crushed by someone that could finally succeed him. So impossibly strong and fast, yet so very fragile in its durability, even with its self-sustaining capabilities.

All he needed to do was keep battling and battling until there was nothing else left.

#/ic #;Gunpla verse #/drabble #Okay fine I'll post it here too geez.

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