March to the Future
by Wild Goose is a Gundam SEED fanfic set in The Verse formed by Solid Shark's Birds of a Feather. Ten years after the Heliopolis raid, sometime after the conclusion of Cry of the Falcon, Section Nine pilots Marcus Snow, Jack David and Saito take part in an a military experiment into teleportation. The experiment succeeds in a case of Gone Horribly Right: the trio are flung backwards in time and space to the Heliopolis colony, moments before its destruction, getting a front-row seat to the Archangel's escape.
Trapped in the Past with no way back home, the team decides their only option is to report to Ken DiFalco, the Grimaldi Falcon, the man who will be their future leader, and provide him with assistance borne of foreknowledge and advanced technology...
An Alternate Universe take on Birds of a Feather written with the original author's blessings, March to the Future looks at the Falconverse and asks, How much more of a Chessmaster would Ken DiFalco be with foreknowledge and the next generation of technology? How much can a man change byhis own efforts, and how much is simply fated to be?
Is accompanied by a Saito-centric prequel/sidestory, Beware the Left Eye. Readers are recommended to have read Birds of a Feather and Cry of the Falcon for a more comprehensive understanding.
This fic contains examples of the following tropes, in addition to those already present in the source material:
- Adaptational Wimp: The Fianna made an impressive showing in Cry of the Falcon, but hasn't performed spectacularly in it's current outing. Justified in that the trip back in time screwed with the avionics, and the team are still trying to work the bugs out.
- Ascended Extra: The Snow Team. Jack and Snow made appearances in Beware the Left Eye and Saito was mentioned in '"Cry of the Falcon.''
- Bigger Stick: Zigzagged with the Gamma-variant Fiannas used by the Snow Team. Though obselete in CE 81, in CE 71 the Fiannas are 1.5 generations ahead of the Heliopolis G-Weapons. The Fianna still lags behind the Preybird in firepower.
- Brain/Computer Interface: Snow's team is outfitted with cyberbrains, first seen in prototype form with Milenia Crescent in Cry of the Falcon. Jack uses a data transfer to prove he's from the future to Ken.
- Boisterous Bruiser: Jack attempts to invoke this in-universe, being somewhat Hot-Blooded. It succeeds in annoying everyone.
- Crazy-Prepared: They were just supposed to go for an R&D experiment, but the team went in with a full combat load.
- Deadpan Snarker: In addition to Ken, Snow and Saito have their moments.
- Expy: Two obvious ones: Marcus Snow and Saito.
- The Fianna Gamma is an expy of the Commander's model SV-51y from Macross Zero.
- Fictional Document: Chapter 3 opens with one of these.
- Funetik Aksent: Jack uses an approximation of a Yorkshire accent when speaking to Snow, attempting to justify it by his supposed Yorkshire blood. Snow shoots him down with the reminder that culturally, he's Chinese with a shot of Welsh, and no Yorkshire.
- I Am Very British: Jack speaks with a Received Pronunciation accent, despite being only vaguely British.
- Once Done, Never Forgotten: According to the Fictional Document that opens Chapter 3, Yzak's failed raid is taught at ZAFT Academy as an example of what not to do.
- Only One Name: Saito.
- Shout-Out: Not as many as in BoaF yet, but so far:
- "Ten years ago, there was a war that engulfed the world."
- Saito's beam smartrifle - a weapon that appeared in Gundam Sentinel - is named Caladbolg.
- The Snow Team's usage of cyberbrains and cybercommunications.
- Section Nine's armorer is mentioned to be one Sergeant Julio Poertena.
- Jack's opening speech, exhorting the kitbashed mobile wing, is a ripoff from GurrenLagann.
- Snow referring to Jack, his usual wingman, as Buddy.
- The title is a nod to the titles of the first three Prince Roger books, which involve marching somewhere. The author had also planned to continue the story into Cry of the Falcon, titling the project March to Destiny.
- At one point, Jack is strongly channeling Ronald Speirs.
- The Slow Path: Though the author has attempted being coy on the eventual resolution, this is the logical outcome. The team are already making plans to that effect.
- This Is Gonna Suck: Dearka's reaction to Yzak's intent to raid Artemis.
- Transforming Mecha: The Fiannas again.
- The 'Verse: As noted on the Birds of a Feather page, March to the Future is set within the Falconverse setting but is not canonical due to the Time Travel AU nature of the story. Beware the Left Eye, being Saito's backstory taking place during CotF and before MttF starts, is canonical for both verses.
- Xanatos Speed Chess: Being an Intelligence Officer by training, Jack attempts this.
