Venus, Ishanti Sink, City of Freestone
Middle District, Kings Avenue
The sun blazed through the green venusian sky as the residents of Freestone went about their daily lives. The district was little more than a cleaned-up shantytown, with a few proper buildings. One of them bore a painted sign.
SAMATO ENGINEERING WORKS
Inside, a boy of sixteen, with short and rough brown hair, with gray eyes welded the plates on a jeep back together with a blowtorch. Kenji Samato extinguished the torch and pulled up his welding mask, revealing a worn but still sharp face blanketed with sweat. He stood up, closed the doors of the shop, and walked upstairs to his loft. He kicked the door as he sat down, looking at a photo on a desk. It portrayed four people, one of them being a young Kenji. The others, a man, a woman, and an infant girl stood in a portrait pose. Kenji sighed as he looked at the photo. Years ago, when Kenji was twelve, his father and baby sister had gone missing, and his mother had recently died of disease, leaving Kenji the sole survivor of the family, left to manage their engineering shop.
"Damn." he murmured, looking outside at the large bio-domes in the upper district, where the rich and wealthy lived.
"Damn them." he swore. "They don't have to worry about anything. They have money, heat, hell, I bet they even have enough food to last a lifetime."
Kenji walked out of the door and looked at a sole object on the door handle. It was a necklace, with a data key, dull gray and orange, looped on the string. Kenji's father had given it to him shortly before he vanished, and though Kenji never wore it, it was his last memory of his father. Kenji put it on before walking back into the workshop.
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"Ken?"
Kenji turned to see his friend Ryuma standing near him.
"Ryu?" he asked. "What's up?"
"You might want to stay inside tonight." Ryuma warned. "I've heard rumors the army's moving in tonight to find the Risers."
"The Risers haven't done anything since that bombing a year ago." Kenji said, thinking of the people who advocated a violent revolution against the Venusian upper class. "And why would the army be here? Why not the cops?"
"I heard they're calling the army in because the cops can't be trusted or something like that." Ryuma said. "Just a heads-up."
"Thanks." Kenji said. "Stay safe, Ryu."
"You too."
Ryuma gave a casual wave, and he was gone. Kenji finished the last welds on the jeep within an hour or two, and sighed as he wiped the sweat off his brow.
"Mr. Kenji Samato?"
He turned again to see a soldier walk up.
"That's me, I guess." Kenji said. "Am I in trouble, sir?"
"No, citizen, you are not." the soldier replied. "We're alerting everyone that the military's presence here is strictly for peacekeeping matters."
"Good to hear." Kenji said. "I'll stay out of trouble."
"You do that, kid. Have a nice day."
The soldier left, and Kenji sighed, looking at the digital clock on his workstation.
"Geez, eight already?" he said. "I'd better get to bed."
He headed upstairs after closing the shop doors, and he grabbed the necklace before falling asleep.
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Kenji's eyes shot open at the sound of explosions and gunfire coming from outside. He dressed in a flash and walked over to the window to a horrifying sight. Soldiers were shooting at people clad in red scarves, who were wielding weapons and throwing molotov cocktails. A few bullets hit the wall near the window, and Kenji dived down, seeking cover from the chaos outside. He walked downstairs, and then he saw something interesting. One of the wall panels was askew. He pulled it open, revealing a dark stairwell.
"What?" Kenji gasped. He took one look at the carnage through a window, and descended the stairs, lights coming on as he went underground. He then saw a slot for a keycard and a large door before him. He was about to go back up, when his eyes saw the data key on his necklace glowing. He inserted the key, and the doors opened. He walked through, and gasped. He was inside some kind of launch chamber, with a giant metal canister in the middle, with a large glowing ring in the back. He walked over to a computer console and logged in.
"Why is this here?" he murmured, browsing the logs. "Why would there be a giant bunker underneath my house? What even…"
Then, he saw a second console light up. He walked over, and the image of a handprint appeared. Kenji placed his palm on the screen, and a female voice spoke.
"HANDPRINT ANALYSIS ACTIVATED...DNA RECOGNIZED. WELCOME, MR. SAMATO. GUNDAM FENRYS IS READY FOR ACTIVATION."
"Who's talking? Who's there?" Kenji asked no one, spinning around frantically.
"VOICE ACCESS ENABLED. I AM V-1219, MANAGEMENT COMPUTER AI FOR THE FENRYS BUNKER. DO YOU HAVE QUESTIONS?"
"Who built this place?" Kenji asked the computer.
"THIS FACILITY WAS CONSTRUCTED BY DR. SHIRO SAMATO, IN 2356 TO HOUSE PROTOTYPE MOBILE SUIT ReeseRYS. COMMISSIONED BY THE VENUSIAN GOVERNMENT." was the reply.
"A Mobile Suit?" he asked.
"YES. SUIT DESIGNATION IS FENRYS."
A hologram of the suit appeared before him, and Kenji gasped.
"Why did my dad do this?" he whispered.
"DR. SAMATO WAS ASKED TO CONSTRUCT A MOBILE SUIT IN CASE OF GOVERNMENTAL COLLAPSE ON VENUS." V-1219 replied. "...WARNING. HOSTILES INCOMING. I SUGGEST YOU BOARD GUNDAM FENRYS AND ACTIVATE THE PORTAL."
Kenji heard the voices of soldiers.
"Come on, down here!"
"Let's go! That door won't hold much longer!"
Kenji activated the doors for the canister, and they opened, revealing Gundam Fenrys. Kenji quickly boarded the pilot elevator, and soon he was inside the cockpit. He saw an empty keycard slot, and he plugged in the data key from his necklace.
"Pilot access enabled." a voice spoke. "Controls online. Initiating pilot neural link."
Kenji then felt a screaming pain in his head, and he yelled in agony. Then, it was gone.
"Neural link activated. Kenji Samato, you are now linked as Pilot of Gundam Fenrys. Control AI will be online momentarily."
Kenji sat back in the pilot seat, before one of the dark consoles in the cockpit lit up, showing a moving line.
"Pilot, are you alright?" a voice spoke, the line moving like a mouth would.
"Who are you?" Kenji asked.
"I am Reese, the AI nexus of this Mobile Suit. I am authorized to assist you in combat and general operation while active.
"Good to know." Kenji said. "How are we going to get out of here?"
"There is only one way out. Through the portal." Reese replied. "Take the controls. I will prime the weapons systems."
Kenji took the joysticks, and stepped out of the canister. Strangely, it felt like he was moving his own body. The sounds of the Gundam booting up its dual reactors roared throughout the room, and its core began to spin and glow white.
"Activating portal." Reese spoke. Kenji turned to see the ring behind him be filled by a swirling vortex. Then, the room rumbled and there was a colossal crash. The roof then caved in, sending the remains of houses and a few mobile artillery pieces to the ground. Then, Kenji saw soldiers wielding anti-tank weapons aim at him.
"We must leave now!" Reese said.
"Right!" Kenji replied, throwing himself inside as explosions peppered the area around him. The last thing he saw was the portal exploding before he blacked out.
===================
The sound of the explosion reached the central biodome, which contained the estate of the Kumara family. In a bedroom on the top floor, a girl with curly brown hair tied into a ponytail that was swept over her left shoulder jolted herself awake. Her vibrant blue eyes were now shimmering with worry.
"Miss Felicity? Are you alright?" a voice asked. Felicity's maid Kame walked in, and kneeled next to the girl of sixteen.
"Yes, I'm alright." she replied quietly. "What's going on out there?"
"There was an explosion in the middle district." Kame replied. "It's nothing to worry about."
"I see." she said, lying back down. "Thanks, Kame."
"You're welcome, miss." she said. "I'll be nearby if you need me."
Felicity thanked her maid again, and she looked outside one last time before falling asleep once more.
===================
Equestria, Canterlot, Royal Palace
Midnight
Princess Luna looked through her telescope at the stars in the night sky. She sighed and was about to turn away when she saw it. A burning orb was descending towards the mountain from the stars. Luna looked inquisitively at the meteor, turning her telescope towards it. Then, she gasped. Upon closer look, she saw it wasn't a meteor. It was some kind of bipedal object or being, but before she could survey it further, the ground shook and rocked violently. Then, she saw the meteor had crashed into the mountainside, and she got the look she wanted. It was a deep gray, with orange markings. On its back was a large sword and a smaller blade, along with a box attached to a cylinder. Two large tubes were on its shoulders. Furthermore, it seemed to be damaged or injured, because several sections of plating were broken, and there was a fire burning on its left shoulder. She could already see her sister and several Solar Guards near the being's head. She soared down to her and walked up.
"Sister, what is it?" she asked Celestia.
"I can't say." she replied. "Whatever it is, It must be hurt."
"Princess! Something's happening!" a guard cried. The princesses braced themselves as a door opened on it's chest, and a very unexpected thing happened.
A human male stepped out, wearing street clothes and clutching its shoulder. He groaned, dragging his feet. He looked up, took one look at Celestia and Luna, and he collapsed. Luna walked forward, and flipped him over, revealing a wound in his shoulder.
"Get a doctor!" she cried. Two guards scurried off, and Luna sealed the wound as best she could with her magic.
"A human?" Celestia asked. "Their world can only be accessed through the Mirror!"
"That is true." Luna replied. "But here's the evidence to otherwise. And what about this?" she added, gesturing at the Gundam.
"Put a shield around it and keep it hidden." Celestia said. "We don't want panic."
"As always." Luna replied. The doctor soon arrived with a stretcher, and the human was carried off to a nearby hospital for treatment and surveyance.
==========
The next morning, Luna walked into the compartment hatch and entered the beast. She flew upwards and found herself in some kind of control room. Then, she saw a glowing object inside a canister near a window. She attempted to touch it, only for a voice to speak.
"Don't do that."
Luna recoiled in shock.
"Who said that?" she asked.
"I did."
Luna then saw a screen display a moving line.
"Greetings." the line said, moving like a mouth would. "I am Reese, AI nexus of Mobile Suit Fenrys. Who are you? And where is Pilot Samata?"
"I am Princess Luna of Equestria, ruler of the Night. And do not worry, the human male we found is being treated for wounds in a secure hospital."
"Acknowledged." Reese replied. "Seeing as you are clearly not human, what species are you?"
"I am a pony, and more precisely, an Alicorn." Luna replied. "This object we are inside is the Fenrys, I presume?"
"Yes." Reese said. "Mobile Suit ASW-G-11, designation Fenrys. I do hope we haven't caused a lot of damage from the impact with the mountain."
"It can be dealt with." Luna said.
"Good." Reese said. "I must advise you to exit the Mobile Suit immediately, however. I need time to repair the suit systems and damaged armor. Will you please leave?"
"I shall." Luna said. "Goodbye, Mr. Reese."
"Goodbye."
Luna flew down and out, and Celestia walked up.
"The human is awake." she said. "Shall we go meet him?"
"Let's." Luna replied as they walked off, while the Guards put a barrier around the mobile suit, obscuring it from view.
