AUTHOR'S NOTICE: I IN NO WAY SHAPE OR FORM SUPPORT SETSUNA'S VIEW ON GOD
BETA's NOTICE: I ON THE OTHER HAND DO AND AM PROUD OF IT! YAY FOR ATHEISM!
SPOILER WARNING: THIS CHAPTER CONTAINS SPOILERS FOR EPISODE 23 OF SEASON 1 YOU'VE BEEN WARNED!
And on a final note I'd like to thank my Amazing beta Sieg-Sama. You are the best!
The one Suit I was counting on
"Lockon, Lockon" the floating orange Haro screeched as the gurney carrying an unconscious, badly hurt Neil Dylandy. The medical techs were keeping him alive as best they could while running top speed to the med unit. The entire crew save for Chris and Lichty were right behind with surprising speed as well.
"Pressure's critical, we need to remove the metal from his side before it crushes his lung" the techs ran medical jargon to one another as Sumeragi caught up and stepped in.
"Just please guys tell us is he going to make it?"
One tech stopped and was nearly crushed by the meisters and Sumeragi.
"Look guys we really can't say anything for sure at the moment, but were doing everything we can..." he was cut off by Setsuna who rushed past him screaming "LOCKON!" before being restrained by Ian and another engineer.
"Let me go, LOCKON!" he screamed at the retreating gurney. The young meister kept fighting until he felt a soft hand on his shoulder, it was Sumeragi.
"Setsuna…" It was all she could manage before she broke down herself, Setsuna sunk to the floor adding his own free floating tears to the mist. Allelujah was crying while beating the metal wall next to him Tieria stood crying and thunderstruck as he watched the gurney roll away.
After finding sanctuary within a very heavy asteroid belt everyone onboard sat waiting in the med room. 2 hours had passed since the surgery to save Lockon's life commenced.
Everyone on board looked up to Lockon; he was a friend and brother to all of them so no one uttered a word while they waited for the news that would affect them all. Allelujah now leaned against the wall while Tieria turned to passing around in circles; Setsuna with his head in hands was seated next to a red-eyed Sumeragi who was silently praying for her friend's life.
The door opened, they held their breath as they all stared in silent anticipation at Doctor Joyce Moreno who still had his gloves and mask on. He took one look to register everyone in the room before slowly removing his mask to reveal a glorious smile.
"He made it." he said, three words elicited an enormous cheer and huge smiles from everyone in the room.
"Lockon lives, Lockon lives!" Haro joined in, Feldt leapt up to hug Setsuna while Allelujah and Tieria looked happily relieved. Also relieved Sumeragi got up and asked the doctor
"How is he? And when can we see him?" the cheering frenzy quieted down a little as everyone wanted to ask the same question.
"Well we're keeping him in a decompressed chamber while he heals up from surgery, the space exposure did a number on his respiratory system, he was lucky that none of the shrapnel we extracted from his side, pierced his lung. But otherwise it will take him at least a month to fully recover. As for visiting, he's unconscious right now, but I can allow one person to go in. But only one" Everyone leapt for the door but they were all cut off by Sumeragi.
"Hold it, doctor Moreno said only one person." Reluctantly they all agreed and stepped back for consensus. Feldt spoke up "I think it should be you Setsuna, you're the one who brought him back, we're all thankful for that." Everyone agreed and so Setsuna was let into the recovery center.
The room was stark white and smelled of strong anesthetic. In the middle was a glass chamber containing a peacefully resting Lockon Stratos. Setsuna smiled and put a hand to the glass.
"Lockon."
The laid back Irishman didn't stir, only the beeping of the monitors registered his existence. His right eye was still patched while his left was badly bruised, a few scars marred his neck and arms, and probably more on his chest, shielded from view by the medical sheets.
"Lockon," Setsuna continued "I just wanted you to know that I've found the answer I was looking for…it was never on Earth, it was inside us." He looked to the stable heart monitor "It was in us all this time, the point of life is to live. That is our purpose, there is no god."
The room was still silent save for the monitors, Setsuna pulled up a chair before adding "So hurry up and get better, we've still got a lot of living to do."
Sumeragi wanted nothing more than to see the handsome Irishman again, to sit by him, hold his hand and never let anyone hurt him again. That bastard Ali will pay, she vowed. But they were still in an active warzone and until they were in the clear, her friend was not safe, not one bit. So it was against her will that she slowly herded everyone into the briefing room.
"Sumeragi-San?"
"Yes Allelujah?"
"Should we wait for Setsuna, he's got the only fully functioning mobile suit?"
"He'll come along; let's just give him a minute." They fell into step behind everyone else before Sumeragi added "By the way, that suit… that woman… she didn't affect you this time. What did you do?"
"That's all thanks to Hallelujah" Sumeragi stopped in her tracks, but Allelujah kept going, she's never witnessed Hallelujah before, however from the changes in fighting stats she sure didn't want to.
Briefing Room
"Okay everyone, I know we're all glad that Lockon's alive but we're still in danger. Ian I need you to finish repairs ASAP and equip Dynames' GN rifle to Nadleeh.
"Roger that!" replied the Engineer as he floated away
"Tieria, I'm sorry but I will have to arm you this way to compensate for Nadleeh's lack of ranged weaponry."
"Understood Sumeragi-San."
"Thank you, right now our goal is to retreat and find a way back to base for repairs. We will stretch the enemy lines and attack them in small groups, because I can't afford any massive offensive maneuvers as of now."
"No." Setsuna's image flickered onto the screen alongside Chris and Feldt to address Lasse, Sumeragi and the other meisters.
"What do you mean Setsuna? Nadleeh can't deploy and is reduced to sniping mode, Kyrios is the same and is left to missiles and the cannons on the Tail Booster. You will be on your own out there, we need to retreat." pleaded Sumeragi
"No, if we retreat that will prompt the Nations to use mass numbers of GN units against us in the future."
"I agree with Setsuna, if we don't establish superiority now they will know how to overwhelm us next time. Instead, if we succeed on the offensive this may discourage them from attacking us in the near future." Tieria added
"Setsuna" Sumeragi looked around at all her meisters "Do you all agree to this?"
"Yes." replied Allelujah as Tieria and Setsuna both nodded in agreement
"I see what you're all saying, well Setsuna, we'll give you the best cover we can. I wan't you to destroy Corner's mobile armor. The rest of use will focus on Union now that the HRL and AEU have retreated. Remain on standby and await further orders, we could be attacked again at any time."
"Roger that" her crew said in unison before she left. Setsuna turned off his comm unit before walking away from Lockon's door "I'll finish this for you, Lockon."
Sumeragi revised her retreat plan to include a tactical strike on Corner, while bombarding the Union mobile suits. It was to her relief that Ian radioed an all green on the Kyrios Gundam, it was now deployable, relieved, she poured some wine and toasted before drinking. It was all she could do to thank god. On her way to the bridge she stopped by Lockon's operating room. She too was greeted by a sterile white room with a coffin-like container in the middle. She peered in and smiled, delighted to see a peacefully resting and still breathing Lockon Stratos. She stared at him for some time angry at all the marks and bruises that covered his body, she put a hand to the glass right above his heart and wept silently. She came so close to loosing a meister, a soldier and a friend, it felt like that tactical screw up at AEU all over again. Lockon laid stock still as the machines kept doing their job of keeping him alive, as she continued to look over him she wanted so badly to hug him or at least touch him but all she could settle for was putting her cheek to the glass over his chest. She thought back to the time he came to visit her when Tieria blamed her for the HRL battle error, she'd been drunk and full of grief but he remained and tried to help her anyway, she smiled sadly as she remembered the alcohol he'd added to both their glasses the next day and the little diluted toast they shared. However small his gestures, she always appreciated his companionship.
The heart monitor peaked a bit startling Sumeragi and making her jump a bit and looked at the monitor, but the strange piece of machinery returned to a normal hum almost instantly. She wasn't prepared for the sight that awaited her from behind the glass, as she turned back to him. Her eyes went wide, as she looked down to the open eye of Neil Dylandy. Her shock only lasted a moment before a tearful smile grazed her features.
Lockon felt like crap when he woke up, hot throbs of pain aroused through his body as he regained some consciousness. Upon opening his eyes he immediately took notice that he was no longer in space, no longer in Dynames but in one of the sick bays, his growing fear was stopped when he came eye to eye with Sumeragi, he wanted to laugh at her shocked expression as if she'd seen a ghost, but when a teary smile came to surface Lockon felt like a jerk. At that moment he wanted nothing more than to wipe her tears and hold her close, and to never let anything upset her again. He reached out a hand and put it against hers on the glass, that little movement drained him all his energy, please don't cry was his last thought before the darkness claimed him once again.
Relieved now that he's shown some signs of recovery Sumeragi decided it's best to give him some time to rest. She stepped back, about to leave when she bumped right into the doctor. Once they straightened out she asked "When can we move him?"
Surprised, the doctor replied nonetheless "In about 4 hours we can move him to one of our recovery rooms, but at the same time he's perfectly stable here and we'd rather not agitate anything for at least a day or two."
"He's in danger here, doctor, this room is on the port side of the ship, we are most vulnerable to damage to the sides, please, when you can, could you move him to the ship's interior."
"But Captain we don't have any sterile recovery rooms in the ships interior."
"No, but we can make one, sterilize the holding cell and please move him quick" Sumeragi ordered.
"Yes Captain." replied the doctor as they both walked out of the O.R.
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Author's Note:
Hello,
I hope you all liked the first chapter. My story will mainly be focusing on the development of the Sumeragi xLockon relationship throughout the series. So if you want your next chapter sooner then review.