Chapter 1: At a Crossroads'
Thunderscourge
Emulating Kill em All Tomino in all Games
Chapter One: At a Crossroads'
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The year is Universal Century 0079.
The autocratic space colony known as the Principality of Zeon has waged a war of independence against the oligarchic Earth Federation, a war which in its initial stages of fighting saw half of the Earth sphere's population wiped out due to catastrophic events such the ill-fated Operation British and the widespread usage of nuclear weapons. After the rapid bloodshed of the first weeks in the war a treaty was signed declaring the usage of such weapons illegal, but it did not stop the war entirely: in his infinite greed the leader of Zeon's forces Gihren Zabi sought next to conquer Earth rather than the initial goal of his family to earn freedom for their nation, tasking his younger brother Garma Zabi with its complete domination while the other Zabis remained on the Space frontier.
The leader of the Earth invasion forces Garma Zabi was met with initial success until the lack of resources possessed by the space colony of Zeon forced things into a stalemate, something that he would remain in during the following months as a slow war of attrition played out across the ruined Earth. Quite unlike his brother Gihren who had in a single operation caused the deaths of billions, Garma carried himself nobly and was beloved by the people of Zeon for his gentler nature. Their father Degwin had even considered attempting a coup against Gihren using Garma's public image, for Gihren had usurped power and was leading their people to ruin, but such plans would soon be forgotten when Garma Zabi was announced dead on Earth during a conflict against a new weapon of the Federation known as the 'Gundam' and its ship the 'White Base', known to Zeon as the 'Trojan Horse'.
Instead of work with Garma and ambush the enemy at a critical moment that could have shifted the tide of the war, Garma's closest friend and ally Char Aznable decided it was best to use that moment to take out a grudge he held against Garma's father which Garma had no part in: he led Garma into a trap and left him for dead. While Federation propaganda would have it said that Garma perished in a last blaze of glory, the truth of the matter is that he survived, but had fallen on hard times.
After all, Earth was coming back to being controlled by the Federation, his best friend had just tried murdering him, his family was busy backstabbing one-another in the aftermath of his 'death', his fiance decided to try and avenge his 'death' by attacking his killers and then dying in the process along with many of his forces, and the Federation would very much like Garma dead or captured, while the inhabitants of Earth are split between either liking his relief efforts (such as in Australia) or hoping he would meet a swift and unpleasant end (such as the resistance in North America).
In the wise words of the ancient comedian Robin Williams, whose comedy specials were on a DVD Garma had growing up, "Life is shit, get to know this."
It is under these dire straits that we find Garma knocking on someone's door and praying that the young couple he passed on the first floor of the apartment building will ignore his purple hair and how he was wearing sunglasses...while inside a building...at nighttime. After all, purple hair was becoming more common for some reason, as well as blue, fiery red rather than just ginger, white hair on young people, and other such oddities...and as for the sunglasses, it was a trick Garma picked up from his friend Char, and for some reason it seemed to work out for that jerk.
If the disguise worked Garma would feel both safe and also lose some faith in the average amount of intelligence held by people.
Answering the door was a woman just barely older than Garma himself. With brown, chin length hair, a set of large brown eyes that looked more American than Japanese (a hint of a mixed parentage), and a glare which instantly reminded Garma of his dear sister Kycilia who knew no other facial expression most days, the woman in question speaks with both irritation and a hint of frost in her voice.
"No solicitation."
Not actually having planned out this greeting all too much, Garma is left with his mouth open for a moment as he tries to find the right words to say. He was charismatic and a good speaker naturally, so not having something to say in this instance was actually quite the new experience for him. As he fumbles with what he is trying to say, the woman standing across from him narrows her eyes further.
"Hey, you look familiar..."
This was a relief to Garma, as he had been worried that he would have the door slammed in his face...it happened many a time as he tried to just make it through day to day. Some people he tried taking refuge with contacted the Federation while they thought he was asleep, others just yelled at him and blamed him for Gihren's actions, and some went looking for guns, so someone starting to recognize him without leaping for a telephone or gun was a very good sign.
"Wait, are you Garma Zabi?"
She seems shocked and surprised, but that's still a win so far in Garma's book. He nods affirmatively, still a little nervous. No-one else was in the hallway, but he was worried someone might come out of a room and see him. That weird kid next door who reminded him of a small, angry Yonem Kirks with messy hair had given him a bit of a glare, but ultimately left and ignored him when Garma had knocked on the wrong door.
"Y-yes."
The deadpan look he got next saw some of her frost return with it, "Word is you're dead, so either you're a lookalike or the Federation really does control its media."
The media...she would know, Garma thought, as she was a part of it. The media organization JNN, the Japan News Network, was one he had been able to see in the past, and it had been his introduction to a reporter by the name of Kinue Crossroad. Honest to a fault, her reporting on how both sides had massive skeletons in their closets had earned her an assassination attempt some time back, though the details were kept shrouded by the Federation, hinting that they did it. As such, Garma had a hunch she wouldn't turn him right in to his enemies, not like many of the others he's met in recent weeks.
After bumming along place to place and doing just whatever he could to survive, he ended up in Japan, where the Federation had a fairly strong grip of things presently. It's been over a month, but due to misfortune he hadn't been able to meet up with Zeon forces, and attempts he had made to contact them instead led to him being chased and having to run for his life by local Federation garrisons or supporters. Things had gotten so bad in fact that he had not eaten in days outside of what he could salvage in the garbage, for while he had managed to acquire for himself funds, his face was being played on a lot of televisions and so he feared risking his face in public...some might take pity on him or be neutral, but many would want him dead.
This is what brought him here though: he figured that someone he saw on television who was honest and seemed nice would be a better bet than sleeping on the streets, so he did some amateur sleuthing and found this apartment's address. He couldn't read Japanese since merely being an important person did not impart the knowledge of every language, thus his knocking on the wrong door, but he had some hope that he could at least stay here...for a night perhaps.
Maybe. If she didn't decide in five seconds to run for a phone...
If it went well though...well that could wait until later. He smelled food, and it was breaking his concentration.
Taking a look at him, Kinue could tell that he was not in the best of shape, being quite skinny and pale from his recent experiences, "You can come in, but you have to answer my questions, got it?"
It was an enticing news story he bet, but all that mattered to Garma was that she was letting him stay for now.
Garma nods quickly as she steps out of the doorway and leaves him space to enter, "Of course."
He enters, and she shuts the door behind him without a moment's hesitation, knowing like him that someone randomly seeing him would be bad news. Once inside, Garma takes his sunglasses off and lets out a sigh, glad that he's managed to get this far. It sure beat that time someone gave him a place to stay, drugged his food, and turned him in to the Federation, causing him to wake up and have to leap out of a moving car to get away. His arm still hurt from that.
Being a news reporter who investigated things of interest, Kinue launches right into the questioning process, "So...what brings you to Japan?"
That was something Garma was growing used to talking about, so despite his sorry state he manages to reply honestly, "Ever since my army lost, I've been going wherever I could to survive. If I wasn't being sold out, I was being hunted, so this is just where I..."
"Okay, I can understand that. But why are you at my house? I'm not exactly a supporter of the Zabi family."
While this might have normally been a slight, Garma instead grins because it's what helped inspire his choice to visit this place.
"Oh I know, you hate what Gihren and Kycilia have done, but you were always honest when it came to talking about me and good things I did, like the relief work in Australia, so..."
Taking a breath and pausing, Garma comes to look up at her earnestly.
"I know you're honest. Some criticize you for it, but I respect it."
It was flattery, but it was true: the amount of people Garma could watch the news from on Earth without it being Federation (or Zeon) propaganda was low enough to be counted on one hand...so while in the neighborhood of one of them why not take a risk? He had to take many to get here, so he may as well keep trying.
Never one to really know how to take a compliment, such as only awkwardly yet earnestly responding when told she was beautiful on past occasions, Kinue actually stops her scowling and drops her inquisitorial expression to look at the young prince in near confusion.
Not one to appear weak however, she soon steels herself and attempts to use his compliment about her honesty against him.
"W...well then, why shouldn't I report you to the Federation?"
His response is as blunt as an ax, bluntness being a language which is well known by the reporter as she had once said, in front of her brother's girlfriend, that he didn't think he was seeing the right person. Such was Kinue's personality that she could raise no direct complaint to Garma's answer.
"Because they killed your father, and later tried killing you if I am not mistaken."
A reporter before her, Kinue's father had died for his part in pursuing a story concerning corruption within the Earth Federation. Taking his profession as her own, Kinue had taken to stubbornly following her stories just as he had...which led her to walking into the same danger as him, and a soldier in a Federation uniform shot her awhile back. While the Federation had denied it was really one of theirs, blaming it on a Zeon spy, the evidence still pointed in their direction after she had through actual journalism uncovered some illicit activities of the Earth Federation's politicians.
Both of them could be dead due to actions of people allegedly on their own side, and yet here they both stood...awkwardly exchanging glances inside of an apartment.
Garma had chosen well, since while this was a reporter for a member nation of the Earth Federation, she happened to have a grudge that could very well give him a safe place to rest before continuing his journey to try and find a way back to Zeon.
Despite that things were not quite so simple as that, so after a moment of thinking this all over Kinue looks away from him awkwardly, "I shouldn't be talking to you."
"My family's wealth will be seized by the Federation oligarchs when..." Garma stops himself before he says 'we lose', shaking his head and continuing on with his explanation as to why she could benefit from listening to him, "Anyways, I have taken enough and have it hidden, but as you can imagine I can't go around showing that kind of money...or my face..."
A small fortune in bills, enough to maybe buy oneself a private island if they could actually speak to the right people unlike Garma, was presently hiding in a duffel bag underneath a garbage bin near the apartment building, but she didn't have to know that.
Kinue leans in towards Garma and glares at him as she ascertains his meaning, "Are you trying to bribe me to take you in?"
Garma makes no bones of his intentions, nodding to her with a smile. After all, since everyone was so ready to kill, capture, or otherwise deal with him unfavorably why shouldn't he reward someone who actually was willing to help him?
"If you make a deal, I can sleep easy knowing you'll keep it."
Truth be told, Kinue wasn't actually offended by the offer: she had bought off informants in the past to pursue her stories, so she couldn't complain about someone trying to buy her help.
Standing more upright, she crosses her arms and nods for him to go on, "So, what's in it for me?"
"I'll pay you more than your salary every month in rent if you allow me to live in your home as a safe harbor until such a time I can safely return to my people."
Everyone else tried selling him out, so Garma had grown desperate enough to not just try relying on everyone's good will...if he had to blow all the savings he had managed to salvage just to live then he would. He was starving and couldn't even buy food.
There was an obvious hole in this plan, one which Kinue readily picks out right after. Raising an eyebrow, she looks at Garma quizzically, "And when your side loses the war, as Gihren seems intent on doing right now? You won't be able to go home, so what then?"
Kinue sees the surprise in his face and sees his expression falter, the fact weighing heavily on him that his family was approaching a downward spiral, one which would likely see them all labeled war criminals and jailed for life if not just executed or thrown to a lynch mob.
Seeing this caused Kinue to sigh and shut her eyes as she realized she just pitied him and now would be kicking herself if she just tossed this twenty year old out in the cold and to face his fate. Sure, he could maybe find some other place to stay, but he had chosen to come here and obviously seemed to respect her...
"You know, I could be executed if anyone finds out."
Sensing that she had just resigned to allowing him to stay, Garma bowed his head apologetically and in thanks both.
"Thank you...if I'm found, I'll tell them I threatened you. I just...I'm running out of time and options, and I..."
He really was desperate...and any lingering thoughts of maybe doing as the Federation would want and turn Garma in left. She didn't really like them anyways.
"I understand...though I reserve the right to kick you out if I feel like you're endangering my brother and I, got it?"
That was more than enough for Garma, who bowed completely to his new landlord, "Of course."
"Also, for now, you're going to sleep on the couch, at least until I figure out things more."
Starting that night early November of UC 0079, Garma Zabi took up residence in the home of a Federation reporter by the name of Kinue Crossroad. Many a question was yet to be thrown at him, but for now he was able to just sit and relax as he ate the first home-cooked, not-trash meal he had in some time...and fortunately for him, it was actually good since his semi-friendly hostess was quite the cook. While to some sleeping on a couch might not be ideal, to Garma it actually reminded him of a simpler time, from before the Zabi family was a ruling elite and when they were just a few normal people making ends meet...when Gihren spent time on botany and being a NEET rather than planning genocide and world domination, and when Kycilia brought him to get ice cream instead of yelling at him for detailed reports of combat encounters.
From his first impression, Garma was glad what he had seen on television was the genuine thing in regards to the reporter, and for the first time in weeks he actually let himself relax completely...
Of course, meeting her brother Saji would end up making things more complicated later that night.
"Sis, I'm home. Sorry I'm late, Louise wanted..."
...
...
...
"W...why is there a dictator on the couch?"
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A/N: Partially based off of the semi-parody manga "Garma of the Space Island", this is a crack premise with origins from an old RPG of mine where by accident my main characters made Kinue a main cast member in UC Gundam, a story chronicled in "All Hail Zeon". I can see about uploading that here as well, but figured I should start with the one I am working on more at present.
A/N: Partially based off of the semi-parody manga "Garma of the Space Island", this is a crack premise with origins from an old RPG of mine where by accident my main characters made Kinue a main cast member in UC Gundam, a story chronicled in "All Hail Zeon". I can see about uploading that here as well, but figured I should start with the one I am working on more at present.
The original Garma of the Space Island mixed comedy with important plot/backstory for Gundam UC, so I'm going to be focusing on a comedic angle here once the stage is set and I am able to do so...doesn't mean that there will be nothing serious, but I like being able to write something softer and fun for once instead of my usual serious stuff.
Thank you for reading this weird creation of mine, and I hope to hear your thoughts in the comments below!
Thank you for reading this weird creation of mine, and I hope to hear your thoughts in the comments below!