Chapter One: An Old Hero Returns
"IT'S A GUNDAM"
- Anonymous Leo pilots' last words
Almost one year ago a bomb killed the leaders of the Earth Sphere Unified Nation. The attack was blamed on the coordinators who, because of birthing problems in zero gravity made up the majority of the colonists. As a show of force a fleet was sent to the L5 cluster. During this show of force, an order was received en route that the mission had changed to an attack on the colonies with nuclear weapons. This atrocity would be known as the Bloody Valentine incident, and would be far from the last committed on either side. Almost one year has passed, and the death toll from the ensuing war is almost double that of the EVE wars; both sides are at a stale mate with no end in sight.
0o0o0o0o0o0o0
The hatch of the damaged life pod opened and two Earth Alliance soldiers started to help the pod's occupants out one by one. This could be bad, but he could take them down if something happened but he would rather not, hard vacuum was one foe that no amount of firepower or training could protect him from, Duo had found that out the hard way.
"Birdy! Birdy!" came some small robot toy from out of his field of view. Must have been an old one, all the kids wanted were Haros these days.
Following a young girl out of the hatch he came face to face with something he thought he would never see again. He had to catch himself before he uttered those three words that had been screamed over OZ radio channels 20 years ago, a scream that haunted his dreams these days as much as a little girl and her dog. He was not a Gundam anymore. He was a Preventer on long term assignment to prevent war at his own discretion. 'Own discretion' he thought, try running away and cowering in whatever hole he could find. He didn't want to go back to being that monster the world was scared of and yet at the same time called a great hero.
"This is an earth vessel," came a male voice.
"You're lying, there's a mobile suit onboard," said the girl who had been in front of him. She had been particularly bad in the escape pod, as expected the civilians had been terrified. Since that the girl had been right next to him, he was possibly judging her unfairly but he still could not hear in one ear. If she and the other survivors had known how bad it really was, then things would have worsened. On his way out of the pod he had spotted several holes to complement the ones that were probably in the Life Support Unit, but more importantly the life support had been rattling in that special way that meant imminent failure. If they had not been picked up when they were they would be dead.
He looked at the two teens hovering just in front of the Gundam and his blood turned to ice. Kira looked a lot like he did at that age. Kira's mother had not wanted her baby to become involved in war like he was, that was the whole point of the mission; that was why he had been picked, but now here he was. Mission failed!
No, he could salvage this, he thought, as he suppressed the effects of the Barton "special training". The kid was in civilian clothes and was not under guard, so must have been a survivor from another life pod. This raised the question of why an earth warship in a combat situation was rescuing Orb survivors, as an Orb warship would, but this was an alliance ship. The fact that the kid was free to move around was a good indication that he was not being discriminated against, or they didn't know he was a coordinator. He needed to get him out at the first opportunity, but first he needed intel.
"Hey you there, move along," yelled a man in an orange mechanic's uniform.
Cursing himself for letting his mind wonder, he moved on following the other survivors to where several ratings were verifying everyone's identity. This was light security for a warship, but then they didn't suspect that someone was not being honest about who they were.
He joined the line to verify his identity, and flicked through his card wallet to find an appropriate ID. The nearest thing he had to a "real ID" said that he was a citizen of the PLANTs who worked as a technician for zero gravity mining equipment, something that could get him shot if they found it.
However he did have multiple aliases which had certifiable back grounds in case of checks for up to 20 years, with some being as long as 30 years but those were less secure due to the Bartons giving them to him for operation meteor. This included his favourite one that she also knew him by.
Flicking through his wallet he realised that the only one he had that was any good for this mission, was a 36 year old cover that the person nearest to a father had given him.
Name: Lancaster Lowe (hopefully there were no conspiracy nuts out there or he could confirm that one of the most outrageous theories about OZ was indeed true).
DOB: 180 A.C. (thereabouts).
Country of residence: Sanc Kingdom (the advantage of Sanc Kingdom ID cards was that for legal reasons they didn't hold genetic information such as whether someone was a coordinator or natural. It didn't hurt that Relena was 16 years overdue an upgrade to her government's security system).
Current employment: self employed shuttle courier service linked to the junk guild (this was true as he did work on the side with them to obtain some equipment he needed).
Previous employers:
Organization of the Zodiac: 1st lieutenant trained at the Lake Victoria Base (OZ always did need better computer defences. The records were also chaotic with army colonels not listed in some accounts as they were in the wrong faction at the time).
Mariemaia's rebellion (10 years ago this would have mattered, but now it was just another job reference and meant that anyone calling up about this would have to talk to Mariemaia herself. He wanted to hear that call, his 'imouto' could be... intimidating).
Preventers Captain Army Intelligence Branch 401st; medically discharged 200 A.C. (The Preventers used the same computers that OZ did, with only some minor modifications. Hopefully no one knew what the 401st was).
Criminal record: two drunken fights when he was in OZ and some trouble when he was a kid (blank sheets aroused more suspicion than minor offences that were all too common for ex-soldiers even if he had never been caught breaking the law).
Education: an orphanage on L1 with average marks (should have gone to one of those).
The rating that was vetting them slack-jawed at the data he was seeing. This could be bad. Did the man suspect that his ID card was a fraud? Could they have updated the software to recognise such an elaborate disguise or had he blown it with some information?
"Sir, uh," the rating looked awkwardly at his companion who was just as uncomfortable, "I think you're the highest ranking officer on this ship."
Lancaster's muscles relaxed then stiffened as his words sank in. Highest ranking officer on the ship? A naval captain was OF-5 whilst an army captain was OF-2 three ranks lower than the naval captain, not taking in to consideration the senior service. With this ship being of a new design and with a Gundam onboard he suspected that there would be a rear admiral hiding somewhere calling the shots.
The only explanation was that casualties must have been higher than even ZAFT made them out to be. He needed to keep his head down or they might start looking for volunteers and he promised her not to kill again. That was one thing he had kept from his previous alias he was a pacifist, if anyone asked it was because of his arm but really it was because no man should have this much blood on his hands.
"I was medically discharged," he said flexing his prosthetic arm that emitted a low whine of motors, the arm he had lost on the final mission he had completed for the Preventers. He had received a new prosthetic that the manufacturers claimed would react at the same speed as his real arm, being used to manufacturers' claims from the military he was surprised when it did indeed keep up with his real arm. It was one of the few on the market that would let him pilot a shuttle alone and was even EMP hardened, could be connected to his laptop via bluetooth and be controlled remotely much to the amusement of his co-workers.
"Um, sorry, Sir," the rating looked abashed, "err, everything looks fine. You're billeted in corridor B bed 4."
Lancaster grunted an acknowledgement and went to find his assigned bunk.
o0o0o0o0o0o
"Well sure I drove the thing twice, but that was because I didn't have any choice. Look, I don't want people to say it makes me a soldier or anything." Kira all but yelled at Mu who just shook his head in exasperation. Didn't the kid know how screwed they were? No, he knew alright he had just had enough and wanted out. Only way that would happen though was if ZAFT blew up the ship.
"So when the fighting starts again are those going to be your last words?" asked Mu rhetorically knowing he had him. Kira was smart, he may not like any of this but he didn't want to die.
"A soldier unwilling to fight is a liability to his comrades, this is why conscription has not been used by either ZAFT or the Earth in this war," came a voice from behind him. Turning around he came face to face with a man who was giving him a look that was colder than liquid helium.
Dam it thought Mu, he didn't have time to deal with civilians ganging up on him.
"Unfortunately Kira here is the only one capable of piloting our Mobile Suit," Mu explained, hoping to avoid a conflict.
The man looked over Mu's shoulder and asked Kira something about how the strike operating system worked that was well above Mu's understanding.
Kira's reply was just as nonsensical to Mu, and probably contained some classified data.
"So like the Leo and Aries then." Said the man after Kira had stopped talking about how the programming worked.
Kira looked unsure, "I have only seen those in museums."
The stranger looked back at Mu. "You have two people capable of piloting a mobile suit. My combat record is more extensive than the current pilot's."
"What's your record" asked Mu
"I was at the Lake Victoria Base for basic in the Specials, then served in the EVE War as a Leo pilot. I was discharged about 16 years ago from the Preventers, however I still hold a valid labour and shuttle licence."
"What was the nature of your discharge?" asked Mu hoping he didn't have to deal with an oddball who had been kicked out for shooting the wrong person.
"Medical," he said flexing his arm which emitted a low whine of gears, Mu realised for the first time that it was actually an artificial replacement. He had known several of his comrades had got replacement limbs after their Moebius had been hit, but all had got the cheapest one on the market. That claw was only marginally better than a pirate's hook.
"Hey I know you, you were that man sitting next to me in the pod," Said a red-haired girl Mu had not yet been introduced to.
"Correct," said the man, his tone not getting any warmer.
"Well mr?" asked Mu.
"Lowe," he said.
"Well Mr Lowe I would have to clear it with the Captain but she is very busy right now so I don't know if she has the time to speak with me," said Mu. He didn't trust the man. He could not place it but something was just wrong with this man, something about those eyes he suspected.
"Thank you Major," Mr. Lowe looked at Mu's name tag "La Flagger."
0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0
"So this one armed man said he was a pilot?" asked Murrue trying to keep a professional air, despite being out of her depth.
"Yeah but there was something off about him. I said I would bring it to your attention but I told him that you were very busy," Mu said looking worried.
"Thank you," she replied.
"What was his name again?" asked Ensign Badgiruel holding a data slate.
"Lowe didn't get a first," Mu said.
"Found him, Lancaster Lowe age 36 a former OZ who went on to be a Preventer," she said then frowned, "there's a note here that said he was a member of the Mariemaia Rebellion but was cleared to work in the Preventers 401st army intelligence part of the Sanc kindom defence force. He must have been one of those Treize Worshippers the OZ had. Anyway he looks clean."
"Who was his commanding officer?" asked Murrue.
Ensign Badgiruel consulted her data pad, "His OZ CO was Lucrezia Noin, she was K.I.A 10 years ago during the Phobos accident on Mars. His Preventers CO was… Colonel Chang Wufei"
Everyone knew of the Phobos Incident, it was the biggest disaster in colonial history, hundreds dead with many more dying from minor wounds that could not be treated with the limited supplies and no gravity. It had stopped the ESUN expansion into colonising other planets stating that the long travel times for rescue workers would make it too risky. This had meant that the only colony outside the Earth's sphere was a single small colony orbiting Mars which was privately funded by a survivor.
"Jesus!" exclaimed Mu.
"What?" Murrue asked.
"I thought I recognised the 401st. That was a special operation regiment based in the Sanc kingdom, most of the command staff were the Gundam pilots' or soldiers who were one man armies."
"But the ESUN didn't have any Special Forces, that was the point" said Murrue not able to comprehend the contradiction.
"You don't put all 5 Gundam pilots in a Line Regiment and besides there's no such thing as a Sanc Kingdom army. They are all pacifists," said Mu.
"I didn't know that the Gundam Regiment was the 401st," said Ensign Badgiruel in a quiet voice.
"You heard of them before?" asked Mu.
Ensign Badgiruel nodded, "my mother was taken hostage by a radical White Fang splinter group. She said that it was Wufei who rescued her."
Murrue blinked, "am I missing something here?" she asked.
"The names of the Gundam pilots were never made public but they got out anyway. You may know Wufei as Gundam pilot 05. He had one of the highest body counts out of all the Gundams, destroying an entire fleet single handed during the early days of operation meteor, and then mauling a second during an assassination attempt on Treize," said Mu looking serious. "The man whom I talked to must be something special if he was asked to join the Regiment after the Mariemaia Rebellion."
"Is there any reason why this man should not be allowed to pilot the Strike?" Murrue asked, thankful that whatever Higher Being was out there had finally cut them some slack. Someone who was asked to be in a Regiment reserved for one man armies whose leader had devastated two fleets could turn their fortunes around. She tried to imagine how many sailors would have died if a fleet was wiped out and failed. She had taught kids the basics of the Gundams and how they had laid waste to all sides even the "goodies" but were still the heroes of the war. She had found that most kids never grasped it and she had to simplify the assassinations and the controversy surrounding them. They were more likely to find out who shot Heero Yuy then who killed the Gundams with the endless numbers of conflicting reports.
"Captain I would recommend that this man be placed in charge of the Strike. The current pilot is inexperienced and has received no military training; Mr Lowe is a veteran with multiple kills to his name no doubt," Said Badgiruel sounding a bit too eager.
"I would recommend against it," said Mu looking uncomfortable. "There was something off about him; he may have been through too much."
"Ensign Badgiruel is there anything in his record that could hint at any problems?" she asked knowing that she would understand what she meant by "problems".
"No Mam, he's been in some bar fights but that was when he was in OZ, there's nothing to indicate any mental health issues like PTSD."
"Other than that he could be a Treize botherer," said Mu under his breath.
"Then I will go with your recommendation Ensign Badgiruel and inform Mr Lowe." Murrue saw the unease this brought Mu, so she raised her hand to forestall his protest. "I will talk to him first to see if there's anything wrong with him."
She could not make command decisions on whims or her emotions which were telling her to go with Major La Flagger, but Mu was technically senior to her, and it would be appropriate for her to take his advice.
0o0o0o0o0o0o0
He knew he had overdone it with the Hawk of Endymion, but he had let his emotions control him as Odin had said, and things looked as if they were paying off as Lancaster spotted a female Lieutenant searching for someone among the civilians.
"Are you Mr Lowe?" she asked when she got close, tucking away a data slate.
"Yes Mam," he said trying to sound as professional as he could. It was hard as he had never been in any official army.
"I want to ask you some questions before I make a decision about your request," she said.
"Certainly" he replied wondering why a Lieutenant was making the decision when the Hawk of Endymion was senior to her.
"Why do you want to pilot a mobile suit again after your injuries?" she asked.
"I don't want to," which was true, he didn't want to and he still didn't know why he had done it, he had just had an impulse to step in. That seemed to surprise her as much as it did him, so he needed to say more, but he didn't know why he was doing this. Time to do what any good infiltration expert would do; muddy the truth. "We fought and died in the EVE wars so kids like that one you had piloting the Strike didn't have to fight." He realised after he had said it that no one had told him the mobile suit's name; he had liberated that information from the ship's mainframe.
"So you are doing this for Kira's sake?" she asked, ignorant of his screw up.
Yes he was but what he was doing was beyond his mission parameters, still he had lost his arm, his identity, his peace and most of all her, to save that kid from what he had been put through. However only a few people knew what he had done, so he said instead, "life is cheap; you don't realise how cheap until you have been on the battlefield."
"I know you were in the 401st, could you tell me about your time in the Regiment?" She asked.
She had put two and two together. This could be a problem. "Sorry Mam, but if you have not been briefed about my deployments already then I can not divulge that information," he said not lying, as that was the official line he and every 'other' soldier in the Regiment would say to anyone asking questions.
She nodded, looking disappointed. "How did you lose your arm?"
He looked down, trying to remember his cover, then remembered she would not have the clearance to check out this fact. "I was in an operation at the time, that's all I can say Mam," he replied honestly, as he did lose it in an operation just not the kind she would presume.
She looked at the ground worried, "I need to know something about the people under my command if I am to make a decision about them."
"I am sorry Mam, but most of my service record after the Mariemaia Rebellion is classified above a lieutenant's pay level," he said, trying to make it sound like a joke.
"Even if the lieutenant is the Captain of this vessel?" she asked, sounding as if she had been insulted. This confused him; however Lancaster latched onto what she had said, rather than how she had said it. He however knew that lieutenants were too low rank to hold command of a ship like this; if true then he needed to bail Kira out fast before ZAFT found the ship. The last time he had heard of something like that was when Chang had devastated that fleet on day one of Meteor, where a midshipman had been in command of a destroyer because everyone else in the chain of command was dead or incapacitated. Too bad the guy didn't know he was in command until he was in a lifeboat watching his first command go down.
He indicated a side passage. "How?" he asked when they were inside and he was sure that no one could hear them, the civilians were jumpy as it was.
She told him how ZAFT had infiltrated the docks where it was all hands on deck to get the supplies loaded for departure and had attempted to blow up the Archangel. She talked about how ZAFT had got four out of the five 'x' weapons with the 5th only being saved from capture by a boy in the wrong place at the wrong time. The boy had taken control of a mobile suit and downed an enemy in his first engagement. Kira had in one day almost made ace with two kills on suits and a third crippled.
With a start the words of the enlisted man came back to him, "Hmm sir I think you're the highest ranked officer on this ship." He was other than the Major the highest ranking officer on this ship due to length of service, because he had been promoted to the 'rank' of Captain as a formality by the General after the Mariemaia Rebellion. The navy was the senior service so he should be junior to this Lieutenant. It didn't make much sense to him but maybe it didn't make much to them either.
"I can't talk about what I did in the Preventers, that's classified need-to-know and you don't want to know about wet works," he said putting emphasis on the last part to get her to understand that it was a no-go area.
"Ok" she said thinking for a moment then asking "what about the Mariemaia Rebellion?"
Lancaster nodded. "Soldiers were treated like dirt after the EVE war, people didn't want to know you, employers didn't want to hire you and the media demonised us. A friend from my old squadron said he could get me work at L4 on a colony under construction. I found out what it was when I got there, they wanted to make a world for warriors, where we would be respected, at least that was what they told us and Treize's daughter." He involuntarily clenched his fists remembering what they had done to his imouto.
"So you joined this terrorist group because of how you were treated," she said.
"Yes" he replied. There were two stereotypes for the Mariemaia Rebellion, the first was the disgruntled soldier, the second was a Treize botherer who in Lancaster's mind should be institutionalised. He didn't think either were justified in their actions but it was what people expected him to say.
She was going to ask something else but the intercom buzzed. "Will the Captain report to the bridge immediately."
She cursed under her breath and headed down the corridor, after a second of thought Lancaster followed her.
"I haven't made my decision yet," she said.
"Enemy silhouette detected; all hands level one battle stations, Kira Yammamoto to the bridge."
"ZAFT just made theirs." He said hoping he was not too late to save Kira from getting involved.
"Very well then, you're the new pilot of the Strike. Any questions?" she asked.
He hesitated he needed to know the capabilities of the mobile suit, the number of enemy combatants and a hundred other bits of information about the ship but he didn't have time. But there was one question he did have time for, "what is your name?"
"Murruer Ramius," She said as they got into an elevator.
0o0o0o0o0o0o0
"Large heat source detected, indicating a warship engine, distance 200 yellow, 33, 17, mark 02 charley, course 0, shift 0," came the operator of Archangel's sensor station.
"Beside us? But it's heading in the same direction," said Mu not wanting to believe that ZAFT had found them already.
Behind him sitting in the captain's chair Ensign Badgiruel picked up the hand set embedded in the arm of the chair. "Will the captain report to the bridge immediately."
"Object out pacing us identified as a Nazca class," came the sensor operator quietly as if he was afraid ZAFT might hear him if he spoke any louder.
Mu knew what was happening even if he didn't like it. "They are positioning themselves ahead of us to cut us off at the pass," he said.
"Where's their Laurasia class?" barked Badgiruel.
"Hold on a moment. There's a heat source 300 to stern. When did that appear?" asked the operator. No doubt he had been fixated on the Nazca class and had missed it.
It was clear now that they were caught in a pincer manoeuvre with the Nazca in front blocking the road ahead and the Laurasia stopping them from retreating. Things looked bad, he had been hoping against all hope to reach Artemis without a fight but Le Creuset always seemed to be two steps ahead of him.
"We know that the Laurasia class will eventually overtake us, but if we use our engines to outrun it the Nazca class will double back and come right back at us. Hey, bring up a space map of the area," Mu said, a plan forming in his head.
"You got a plan?" asked Badgiruel.
"I am getting ready to think about it" he said, studying the map.
If they took out the Laurasia class then they would have a straight shot at getting to Artemis. The problem was any engagement would have to be brief, because the size of the Archangel's crew, and the firing arks of the capital weapons, would mean that they could not fight two ZAFT ships attacking from opposite vectors. The Positron Cannon would do it but the Archangel would need to be close enough to prevent the other ship from dodging the shot. If they did that, however, then the two ZAFT ships would be in range and their mobile suit escort would never let them that close. So how to hold the ship still? He could do it with his Zero, a close-in firing pass, but he would need to get close without being seen and Kira would have to hold out against any assault until he returned. Risky but it could wo-
"Looks workable," said someone from behind him.
Mu spun around to look at Mr. Lowe, he had not heard his approach. The man was just looking over the plots he had been working on nodding appropriately; behind him was Ramius, who gave him an apologetic look.
"How many remaining mobile suits does ZAFT have?" asked Mr. Lowe not taking his eyes off the plot.
"We got one Ginn in the initial engagement along with damaging a second and a CGUE. They won't be back in the fight. In the second battle we got three more Ginns, so if they have a standard load out, then there should be six more Ginns left," said Ramius.
"I only saw five Ginns during the attack," said Mu.
"Five? But that's half of what those craft are capable of carrying," said Badgiruel.
"It makes sense. If they knew how many suits we had, they could leave a space for them in the hangar, and then that would also leave enough room for the boarding craft those commandos used to hit the ship, or for any spares they grabbed from the first convoy," said Mu.
"So it's a bluff?" asked Mr. Lowe.
"No, they have four mobile suits left, the X weapons," said Mu.
"They would really throw them into the mix?" asked Mr. Lowe.
"They did last time with the Aegis," said Mu.
"They were willing to risk the destruction of a neutral colony to stop this ship. They're desperate, they know we won't give up this ship," stated Ramius.
"How was Heliopolis destroyed?" asked Mr. Lowe filling the silence this declaration left.
"They came after us with type D equipment. It's normally used to take down fortifications such as orbital outposts; the colony's main support structure was caught in the crossfire," said Ramius.
Mu had the perfect angle to see Mr. Lowe's face, well, more his eyes; his face didn't seem to be capable of showing emotion. Those eyes seemed to be shouting something but Mu was damned if he knew what it was they were telling him. The man leaned over Mu and started typing rapidly on the keyboard until the specs of type D equipment filled the screen.
"Type D equipment is not anti-fortress ordinance, it's the old NNCBs," stated Mr. Lowe in a tone that was even more emotionless than normal.
"NNCB?" asked Mu wondering what Mr. Lowe was on about. Everyone knew that type D equipment was the designation used for anti-fortress ordinance; even the alliance used the same designation.
"Non-nuclear colony busters; that ZAFT commander is not desperate, he is insane," said Mr. Lowe.
"Non-nuclear colony busters? What is-" said Ramius but was cut off by Mr. Lowe.
"A method of destroying a de-orbiting colony before it hits Earth; the weapons used on Junius Seven by the alliance were the nuclear option. You get them into a colony and fire at the main support to break it up," said Mr. Lowe staring at the screen.
"Captain Lowe how do you know of this?" asked lieutenant Ramius.
"Because," he said slowly flicking throw the data of the battle, "I was entrusted with the operation of both whenever a large orbital facility was seized by rebel groups in case they attempted to drop the colony on Earth. That is why I can't talk about the 401st."
The bridge was stunned into silence. Mu felt even more uncomfortable about this man covering his back in a fire-fight. He didn't know what the look in Mr. Lowes eyes was but he knew it would be the death of him.
Kira chose this time to float onto the bridge.
0o0o0o0o0o0o0
The bridge was silent when Kira entered it; the only sound was Mr. Lowe as he typed on a keyboard over Mu's shoulder.
Part of Kira was relieved to see Mr. Lowe there; it would mean that he didn't need to fight again. Another part felt guilty for getting someone else involved. His guilt was not helped by the video playing on the monitor in front of Mr. Lowe; it was the battle he had fought on Heliopolis, the one that had weakened the colony to the point where it collapsed.
"Can you log me onto a spare console" said Mr. Lowe breaking the spell of silence in the room.
"Sure," Mu said moving over to a spare computer and turning it on.
"Uh Miss Ramius," said Kira letting the Captain know he was on the bridge.
"Ah Kira, Mr. Lowe has taken over piloting the Strike, so you are free to go back with the other civilians," said the Captain.
"Skipper if I may," interrupted Mr. Lowe.
"What is it?" asked the Captain.
"We are short on time and I need to know everything about the Strike and the ZAFT forces I will face during the mission," said Mr. Lowe.
The Captain nodded. "Can you help Mr. Lowe for the time being however?" she asked.
Kira nodded and floated over to where Mr. Lowe was working. The console that Mr. Lowe was looking at showed the readouts on the capabilities of the four other x weapons along with video feeds from the battle.
"The production specs don't match the battlefield performance observed," stated Mr. Lowe, almost sounding frustrated as he pointed at the Strike dodging a shot from a GINN.
"I modified the programming of the Strike. ZAFT would have had to do the same to get their machines to move," said Kira.
"So this information is inaccurate," said Mr. Lowe
"Yes, speed, manoeuvrability and accuracy should be increased by about a factor of three unless they used the programming from one of their regular mobile suits, then I could not tell you how it would perform," said Kira.
"No, they would not have used a GINNs program. All the architecture in the CPU is different; computers from the PLANTs have no north bridge."
"They could emulate it," Kira replied remembering how he solved that problem during his last assignment.
"How do you know so much about mobile suit programming?" asked Mr. Lowe almost looking puzzled.
Kira had thought about this a lot since he had first piloted the Strike. "Well... I am a co-ordinator," he said hesitantly.
Mr. Lowe just looked at him. "That's an excuse used by the weak to justify their weakness, or to hide it rather than becoming strong themselves."
Kira blinked, he had never heard someone put it like that before. "Well our group project at college this year was on a proto labourer, and I have been doing a lot of extra work to get my marks up. I... kind of messed up last semester."
Mr. Lowe nodded as if that explained it, and went back to looking through the data on the captured ZAFT units. Reaching the Blitz, Mr. Lowe muttered as if asking a question "Mirage Colloid?"
Kira racked his brains but could not remember seeing anything about that in the Strike's programming. Finally he said, "I don't know what that is."
"It's a camouflage system that can-" started the Captain but she was interrupted by Mr. Lowe raising a hand to forestall her.
"I saw it in action during the EVE wars," said Mr. Lowe.
"You did? But I thought it was state of the art technology like the phase-shift armour," said Ramius.
"They said it was two decades ahead of its time so it makes sense," said Mr. Lowe not looking away from the monitor as he flicked through the files on the Duel and Buster. He didn't give them a second glance. Kira was glad for this as he didn't know anything about the other X weapons as he had only been involved with the Strike. Mr. Lowe however stopped on the Aegis, Athruns mobile suit; it dawned on Kira that this man would have no compunction not to kill Athrun. Kira's guilt was now turning into concern about letting Mr. Lowe pilot the Strike; concern for Athrun, but how did he protect Athrun from this man? It was not like he could order him to spare Athrun; in this man's eyes he was the enemy.
"This phase shift-armour how strong is it?" asked Mr. Lowe snapping Kira out of his thoughts.
"It's invulnerable to kinetic weapons; when powered up the armour is out of phase with the rest of the universe."
"The armour is only active when it's powered?" asked Mr. Lowe receiving a nod from Kira.
"How long will the batteries give me?" asked Mr. Lowe.
"The counter starts off at 999 seconds," Kira replied helpfully.
"That's just over 16 minutes." stated Mr. Lowe flatly.
Kira ran the math in his head and came to the same conclusion and nodded. "But that's only if you don't move or fire," he said.
"The weapons do not have their own power supply or ammo?" asked Mr. Lowe.
"No, and kinetic impacts will also drain the armour faster," Kira said.
Mr. Lowe gave him a funny look, "this suit is not something an amateur should be able to fight with, it's too unforgiving."
"It's not really that hard-" Kira began to say but Mu cut him off.
"That's all the vectors worked out," said Mu from the Navigator's seat.
"How long until our launch window? Asked Mr. Lowe.
"Ten minutes," replied Mu.
"We better get moving then. Kira I am going to need you to help familiarise me with the controls," said Mr. Lowe.
Kira followed both Mr. Lowe and Major La Flagger to the elevator which opened to show all of his friends wearing alliance uniforms. No, not all of them. Flay was not there; he vaguely wondered if she would be ok on her own and should he go keep her company now he didn't have to pilot the strike.
"Kira," said Tolle.
"Tolle? Guys?" Kira asked, confused.
"Kira hi," said Tolle.
"What's the deal with those earth force outfits?" asked Kira.
"We decided to help out around the ship, they are under-manned right?" said Sai.
"Yeah they would not let us on the bridge without these uniforms," said Kuzzy.
"Yeah but don't you think the ZAFT uniforms are cooler looking? We don't even get a rank badge so these seem kind of lame." Said Tolle
"Ok wise guy," said Mr. Chandra.
"We are in a combat zone; cut the chatter," barked Badgiruel.
"You always do the fighting; thought you could use a little company," said Tolle.
"But-" Kira was cut off by Badgiruel glowering at them with an intensity that could put the sun to shame.
"Come on kid we haven't got all day you know," said Mu from the elevator.
"Right," replied Kira as he got into the elevator.
"See ya," said Tolle as Kira gave a backwards glance at his friends, his friends who had just volunteered to help out because they thought he was still the pilot of the Strike.
o0o0o0o0o0o
The plan looked solid; he would hold the line and keep ZAFT distracted so the Major could hold the Nazca still long enough to hit it with the positron cannon. This raised another issue; how far should he go to complete his mission? Blowing up a ZAFT warship would be noticed by all the wrong people. Those were the sort of people who would recognise his face and start looking into why he was not on that shuttle. If they found out why, then Kira would get noticed by said wrong people and that would be the end of any normal and long life the kid would have. Getting cut up to see what made him work when so many others didn't, would be the best he could hope for.
"See any problems with the plan?" said the Major, more to fill the silence than to flush out the plan. It was too late for that now; the plan was a-go for better or worse.
"It will work even if it should be more flexible to take account of the crew's inexperience," replied Lancaster as they entered the pilots' ready room.
The lockers were full of brightly coloured normal suits in all shapes and sizes and none ever worn. He picked a blue and white one that looked his size. Putting on the helmet, he felt a chill at the base of his spine and a familiar, but unknown sensation flowed over him. Every sense in his body was telling him to take off the helmet and normal suit, but he didn't, remembering Duos fate.
"Are you ok?" asked Kira.
"I am fine," replied Lancaster.
"You sure? You just froze up there for a second," that was the Major.
Lancaster didn't answer but moved to the door to the hangar deck.
The Strike was locked down where he had last seen it, but now he looked at it not just as a Gundam but rather as his Gundam.
The Strike's controls felt natural, natural to anyone who had piloted a Serpent. Of course the Strike didn't have to lug around multiple Gatling-cannon and their ammo or other massive amount of firepower. What worried Lancaster was that Kira could point out all the controls, and give him a brief about its handling quirks as if he had been piloting mobile suits his entire life.
His piloting ability was far in excess of most regular pilots, and, presented with the evidence in front of him, Lancaster could only find one conclusion; someone had been training Kira. The suit's layout and the Blitz Mirage Colloid, last used on Deathscythe Hell pointed to a Barton involvement. He would have to investigate this after they had got off the ship, find out what they were planning.
At least Kira had some good friends, friend like he had had at one time, now he didn't know how many were still alive. Duo was a goner no question about that but the others if they had played it smart could have got away like he did. Wufei and Quatre had been identified by dental records; there was not much left of their "bodies" for anything else. Trowa was only identified by his DNA, but everyone had tampered with those records so many times it was just not funny anymore, one of his IDs used the DNA from his old dog Fido.
Kira closed the hatch. This somehow cleared the whirlwind that was Lancaster's mind. His senses heightened, his mind focussed on one thing, "mission accepted; will eliminate all targets," he said. Somehow the controls he was gripping didn't feel so new and unfamiliar but rather the worn and abused controls of his old suit after one too many brushes with death.
He had that feeling again; it was like he was no longer Lancaster Lowe, he was a weapon, the monster, the hero. He was already dead; he had just not finished his mission yet. His life in his eyes was so cheap it was already spent. Death held no fear for him, it was a release, a release from all those whom he had killed, and from all those he would have to kill.
A/N
Yeah sorry for taking so long to update, anyway thank the Bartons for their attempt to make the perfect soldier for the ending. Now you have to wait to see how Athrun and Co get out of the battle alive which has been one of the biggest hurdles in writing this as who could stand toe to toe with Lancaster from the start of Seed? End of seed Kira and Athrun could maybe, if Zero didn't help, and same with Shin from the end of destiny, but other than that it's Dynasty Warriors Gundam on easy mode, and not in a helpful way for any storytelling. Mu in a mobile suit would also be a strong contender, but right now he has the Moebius Zero... He would be better off throwing rocks at a Gundam than piloting that thing; hell, in one scene he shoots a Ginn in the back and it survives then kills his wing man. You would think someone would have given him a bigger gun by now, but a lot of Seed mobile suit/armours are under gunned and need MORE DAKKA.
For reference all code names and background information for Wing is on Gundam wiki. The other wiki took it all down to save space. Yes, I will be using a lot of the stuff that was not in the TV show like Episode Zero Manga which is a must read for all Gundam Wing fans. I may also put in stuff from the Seed side stories, but I don't know them as well.
I will be putting up previews of next chapters on my profile page.