Mobile Suit Gundam SEED: Fated Shift
Chapter Three: GUNDAM Rising
Kira Yamato's mind was racing. There was no way this could be true. No way this could be real. Kira waited for somebody to pinch him. Tolle's usual rude awakening never came. The heat he felt from the fire blazing around him reminded him how palpable his situation was. He was in the hell of the harsh world's own making. A world at war for its own petty reasons had blown its way into his sanctuary and sent it into kingdom come.
He witnessed something just now his mind couldn't or simply didn't want to comprehend. He saw his best friend of more than a decade looming over him, holding a knife of curved shape. Its serrated edge cried for his life blood. Even though his face was shaded by his helmet's visor, he could still see the horror carved into his young features. The blazing inferno reflecting off his visor made his jade green eyes look like they were on fire. He was wrapped in red like some of his other comrades. Yet, he seemed to stick out more than the other reds he saw. The parts of his suit that weren't red were punctuated by grey trim. Those parts were red too... With the blood of his enemies.
Kira's mind flickered with frightening thoughts. Why was Athrun here? How many people had he killed? He had so many questions and none of the answers he came up with made any sense. None of this was in Athrun's character. The Athrun Zala he knew hated the very idea of violence. If a fly landed on his shoulder, he wouldn't swat at it. Athrun would shoo it away. The person he saw before him wasn't Athrun Zala.
Reality proved him wrong again. Athrun took a step back. Gaping in shock at what he was seeing. He whispered hoarsely at the other boy. "Kira..."
Kira continued to stare back at him, his purple eyes wide as saucers. He felt his jaw go as limp as Athrun's. His lips simply imparted a single, solitary word. "Athrun..."
The frozen tableau was ended by the crack of gunfire. The wounded Murrue Ramius hadn't caught a single fraction of what was happening. Her head was swimming in pain burning through her right shoulder. She pushed through it back into lucidity. Back into the violence swirling around her. She ripped her side arm from its holster and whipped it at the scarlet red soldier. Her shots were off by a wide margin.
They didn't need to be on target. A single shot was enough to ward him off. He bounded off the fuselage, aided by the ignition of his jetpack. Murrue grunted at the pain shooting through her body as she lifted herself from the floor. She stood on her own two feet and leaned over on the console by the cockpit hatch. With a quick series of numbers punched in, the hatch split open languidly liked the jaws of a great beast.
Murrue didn't wait a moment. She knocked the oblivious teenager into the cockpit with all she had. She didn't miss a beat, Murrue followed after him into the rabbit hole. Neither of them knew the future of Humanity was falling into their hands.
Inside the mobile suit, motors flared and gears turned with determination. This interaction between metal, hardware, software, and the human will itself caused something astounding to occur. Against its bonds, the mobile suit thrashed. The titan had slept for too long to be denied its freedom. Science may've given it birth, but it lacked the essential part to make it move by its own power.
It lacked will of its own. The component all life is handed at conception. Now it possessed a heart in its core. A human heart resolved to make her comrades' dream a reality. Now their baby was here, tearing against the bonds of death that weighed it down. No one could stop it. Not the fires consuming the warehouse. Not the unaware mono-eyed machines parading around like they'd already won.
They hadn't won yet. The battle was far from over. The X-105 Strike proved them all wrong by moving. Metal twisted and snapped into brittle pieces. Free of its imprisonment, it took its first steps out of the fire and into the chaotic universe.
From the cockpit of his GINN, Miguel Aiman watched with morbid interest when the Morganroete facility went up in a ball of super-heated gases. He grinned to himself. The two humongous humanoid shapes emerging from the smoke were a good sign. He felt a good bit of pride for the two boys. As he'd predicted, Rusty and Athrun were turning out to be excellent soldiers.
He knew it from the time he sat in on one of their lessons at the ZAFT Keypoint Naval Institute. Miguel was there scouting out possible candidates for the Le Creuset team. He was impressed by both boys. Particularly Athrun... He was there personally see him take down one of his old instructors in a sparring match. Fred the Knife, as his graduating class had dubbed him, was an expert in the field of close quarters combat. He also was known for being a wizard with a knife. Not just in the kitchen either. When Fred attacked with a knife, he did so with deadly efficiency.
Miguel still had nightmares from the time Fred threw one of his knives his way. He almost took his ear off. Miguel shivered. Good thing Fred was nice enough to miss on purpose.
Miguel's reverie was broken by the crackling of his radio. "Come in, Miguel." He recognized the voice on the other end as Athrun.
He keyed the radio, a victorious smirk coming onto his lips. "Great work out there, man. You really kicked some ass. When we get home, remind me to buy ya-"
"Miguel..." Athrun interrupted him. His new mobile suit landed a few hundred yards away from Miguel's GINN. Aegis, as Miguel would've put it, was one sweet ride. The frame was much different than the other G-Weapons. It was much more angular and sharper looking. Miguel thought he might cut himself if he were to so much as touch one of its many jagged corners.
"Rusty is dead..." Athrun told him grimly. He sensed the barely contained anger in the red pilot's voice. "He died trying to commandeer the other remaining mobile weapon. There's an Earth Forces officer piloting it... The very same one who killed him."
"What?" Miguel choked. "Rusty?"
"Yes..." Athrun bit his lip then nodded slowly. Rusty was the most optimistic out of the five reds in their little outfit. He'd been friends with him since before they joined in on the war effort. They'd met in one of the classes they had together at the technical college. When he lost his mom, Rusty was there for him. Lifting his spirits and trying to convince him there was always a better day waiting for him tomorrow.
Now Athrun wasn't so sure there was. First Rusty was dead... And Kira. He wasn't sure what to make of what happened. Kira was supposed to be on the moon, not in the middle of an illegal Earth Alliance run facility. Kira couldn't have any part in this Earth plot, could he?
"Leave this to me, Athrun! You get back to the ship!" Miguel barked. His face twisted with rage. He wasn't going to let Rusty's murderer leave unpunished. Miguel's sensors already had picked up a heat signature. They beeped hurriedly. He responded in kind by tapping several commands into the GINN's control console. Cameras zoomed in and centered on a specific target. The gunmetal humanoid steel frame of the renegade Earth Forces machine stumbled into view.
Quite literally. Miguel's killing intent was almost washed away by this hilarious moment. The mobile suit was barely able to stand its own weight. It walked around like a drunken sailor on shore leave coming off a bad acid trip. It tilted over at an odd angle, almost tripping itself several times. The mecha caught itself before it embarrassed itself and crushed a few tiny civilians skittering around.
Miguel sniggered. "What a joke... I can't believe somebody like you killed Rusty."
The vernier of the green mass produced machine fired up. It flew high into the sky then killed the power to its forceful boosters; Sending Miguel into a dead drop. He landed in the path of the klutzy mobile weapon. Miguel wordlessly raised his rifle. A spray of tank piercing rounds pocked the ground. Miguel was purposely missing. He considered killing the bastard on principle, but that was too easy. He wanted to embarrass him. Make him regret the moment he decided to join the opposing force. Rue the day he took away the future of a promising young soldier like Rusty.
"You don't deserve to use Rusty's mobile suit!" Miguel roared. Throwing his machine gun aside, he brandished the GINN's huge broadsword. He charged forward, thundering his guttural battle cry. The sword crashed against the enemy suit's shoulder armor...
Metal cried in agony and sparks flew. The last thing Miguel ever expected to occur. The mobile suit's reflective steel chassis suddenly changed color. Its breastplate shone sky blue with a tinge of red blazing down the middle. It's suddenly gleaming white hands caught the blade between them.
Miguel cursed. No letting himself be over taken by unexpected events, he pressed forward. He put all the power he had into knocking his opponent over. "A color change ain't gonna save you, bastard!" He pushed him away and into a building. Almost demolishing it in the process. Miguel didn't let up. He stormed at the G-Weapon again, aiming to plunge his sword into the cockpit.
Miguel couldn't believe his eyes. His sword harmlessly scraped along the enemy's chest, not so much as leaving an indentation behind. He was speechless. He had no words to describe how angry he was. How frustrated he was. He simply kept pounding on the mobile suit again and again.
"Miguel, stop!" Athrun shouted. He'd been watching the entire time. He never would tell Miguel why he hadn't gone back yet. While it was for sure he was worried for his comrade, he was even more afraid over who was in the X-105's cockpit. "He's got Phase Shift Armor!"
Miguel didn't seem to be listening. He would pay for it...
The Strike's heavy crash threw Kira over the seat the back of the pilot's seat and into the lap of Earth Alliance Lieutenant Senior Grade Murrue Ramius. His face accidentally burrowed its way into her ample bosoms. Kira Yamato knew gravity wasn't his friend right now.
"Get outta the way! Do you want to die?" Murrue shouted, absolutely livid. Kira didn't want to know which she was madder over. The accidental groping or getting in the way of the battle.
S-sorry!" Kira stammered, turning a shade or two redder. He moved back behind the seat. Tolle would've said he was a lucky man. Under the circumstances, luck wasn't on his side.
Kira looked to Strike's many monitors. He screamed bloody murder when he saw the GINN raise its weapon again.
"Can you stow it!" Murrue hollered. She winced at the shaking caused by the GINN's repeated blows. She took a deep breath to calm herself. She was sure she was fine for the time being. Phase Shift was guaranteed to be impervious to the physical offenses of the GINN. Even then, Murrue was skeptical of anything Kato promised. There was no way Phase Shift could stay on forever. During the tests, she saw how fast Kato's 'invincible armor' drained power under strenuous circumstances.
Murrue hastily clicked a button on the motion controls. The Strike's head vulcans responded by being totally off on their aim. It's streaming anti air fire went off the side harmlessly. The GINN wasn't bothered in the slightest by Murrue's pathetic distraction.
Murrue cursed vilely. She was starting to feel woozy again. The adrenaline in her system was barely keeping up with the dripping crimson wound she received minutes ago courtesy of ZAFT. She could still feel the pain in her system telling her she needed help now. Like she needed to be told that. She already knew she was boned. Figuratively and literally. When power returned to zero, Phase Shift's colorful augmentation vanished. Then the skewering would commence...
To think her last bit of intimacy would be accidental... Murrue really wished she hadn't quit smoking. Because, in her final moments, she needed a light.
Kira's blood ran cold. The cold feeling in his chest caused his entire world to freeze. His entire life flashed before his eyes. He remembered everything in his life that had any bearing on him. His parents introducing to Athrun for the first time. The years he grew up with Athrun by his side the entire time. Tears he'd been unable to hold back when he learned his best friend in the entire world was leaving him for the PLANT Homeland. Athrun offered a reassuring smile and a gift, telling him confidently they'd meet again. Those didn't stop him from shedding more tears.
He named affectionately the gift Birdy. The memento and time helped stifle his loneliness. He moved away from Copernicus to Heliopolis and made new friends. They were good to him, but it still wasn't the same as the kindness his brother showed him. No matter how many friends he made, their compounded friendship couldn't equal the bond he shared with Athrun Zala.
Now he was here, in this moment. Death on his front step. He feared for his life, the lives of his friends below, and even the life of woman who saved his life. Something snapped inside Kira then. An emotion he'd never experienced before. The want... No, the need to protect shook his soul and the bones that held his fragile corporeal existence together.
He shoved Murrue's hands away from the controls. "Hey!" Murrue snapped. "What do you think you're doing?"
"Getting us out of here alive." Kira replied simply. He was already fiddling around with the computer. He brought up the operating systems settings in a flash. "This OS is crap..." He complained more to himself than Murrue. A disapproving grimace crossed Kira's young features. "No wonder this thing moves so awkwardly! My little eight year old cousin could program an OS better than this!"
"This isn't the finished product!" Murrue replied defensively. Why was she arguing with a kid? There was no way he understood the true complexity of what she did. "It's still in the trial stages!"
"Aw, just..." He bit his tongue. A shouting match would get them nowhere at this rate. He took a calming breath. "Just get out of the way, please!" He failed to sound kind in his request. "Now!" He barked at her. He was surprised a military woman like her backed off so easily. She slid behind the seat with a look of defeat. Kira supposed it was the blood loss more than anything else.
Plopping himself into the driver's seat, he manipulated the controls. "Back off!" Strike's hand lashed out, parrying the GINN's next slash. Metal screeched against metal. Sparks were produced by their quick clash. The next punch Kira threw slugged the enemy directly in the face. The GINN fell staggered backwards and fell onto its shiny metal ass. Kira used this unguarded moment to put some distance between them.
His fingers furiously danced away on the keyboard. He muttered all the steps he remembered from Kato's sessions and the tutoring sessions Daisuke had given him. Daisuke's part was bit strange, the OS he'd taught Kira was the standard type for the ZGMF-1017 GINN. Kira thought it cause for suspicion. He did live in the PLANTs, so he may have been in ZAFT at one point.
Whatever the case, Daisuke had a lot to answer for if... Once he got out this hairball. He'd kept his nose out of Daisuke's business up to this point because he respected his privacy. There'd been rumors... Rather ugly rumors about Daisuke and Keijiro when they'd taken up residence in Heliopolis. Kira wasn't inclined to believe in gossip. Daisuke seemed nice enough of a person, despite his poor choices in friends and occasional bouts of aggressive driving. Miriallia knew him too. From a life before Heliopolis... They'd briefly dated when they were younger. She babysat his younger cousins and he helped out when he popped in from time to time.
Miriallia never went into much detail. He never pressed the issue. Never much around Tolle, anyway. Miriallia didn't want Tolle getting jealous. Jealous over what? Kira didn't have the time to get into it. Kato, as always, ate up whatever little free time Kira Yamato had.
Again, time never wanted to be on his side. The GINN he'd knocked aside before was back on its feet, thundering down the street brandishing its titanic sword. Kira sped up his typing to an inhuman level. The screen before him flashed bright blue, telling him his OS was one hundred percent complete. If this was a less serious situation, Kira would've let his lips curl into a superior smile. This was the fastest time he'd taken to write an operating system. Less than sixty seconds... His personal best prior was fifty-eight seconds.
The GINN's thrusters belched fire, propelling its amazingly huge frame forward. It brought up its sword yet again. Miguel was intent on thrusting it straight into the Strike's face. Kira was more than prepared for his enemy's attack. Kira deftly ducked under it and like a boxer he socked the GINN hard in its helmet shaped head. Rocked by the attack, it stumbled backwards. Crashing into a building previously unharmed by ZAFT's initial assault. Its frame cracked and faltered under the GINN's weight. Within seconds it fell away, engulfing the mobile suit in its rubble.
"Miguel!" Athrun cried out, shocked to the core by the sudden turn of the battle. How could a mobile suit go from stumbling new born to a noticeable threat in an instant? No Natural should've been capable of such an amazing feat. Unless Kira was... No, Athrun couldn't jump to conclusions so soon. Not until he had undeniable proof it was him behind the controls. The alarms in his mobile suit's went off, warning him of an impending threat. His displays showed him anti air craft missiles barreling down on him.
Athrun didn't feel panic, not in the slightest. His training took over his body and turned him into something. Athrun never knew how define the soothing calm running through his body when violent situations arouse. He never liked the idea of using violence to solve problems. However, he knew a lot of things couldn't be brought to a desirable conclusion by simply talking things out. If it were easily done, Naturals and Coordinators would've come to an understanding a long time ago.
Athrun never let the missiles near him. He fired off the Aegis' head vulcans, prompting the enemy fire to prematurely explode in showy display midair. Athrun quickly discerned the missles' source. There was a pair of artillery trucks not three hundred plus yards away. They were a part of the colony's self-defense army. Nothing about Orb's neutral status would help them.
Athrun quickly clicked the trigger. In a single moment, both trucks were swallowed by flames. They were of no concern to him or anyone else now. He turned back to support Miguel. By now, his friend's GINN dug itself out of its premature grave. He could hear Miguel seething over the radio. "Goddammit, Athrun! I told you I could handle this! Get your ass out of here! The stuff you're handling here is important shit!"
"Alright..." He hesitantly agreed. Athrun didn't want to leave Miguel here by himself. Not when the single enemy controlled G-Weapon showed so much skill. He felt his heart sink into the pit of his stomach. Especially when his childhood friend could be the one threatening the safety of one of his comrades. Athrun didn't want to be forced to make the choice between them.
Aegis' thrusters went off... Athrun left the battlefield hoping for the best.
Miguel smirked. One of the most important mission objectives had been met. Now all he had to do was capture or destroy the remaining Earth Forces mobile weapon. More likely destroy. There was no way he'd let this guy get away scott free. Not when he suffered so much embarrassment at its hands. Miguel charged again, this time grabbing up his rifle. He fired at the Strike wildly, and it responded by dodging every single one of its shows.
The way it danced around him mocked him. Smeared his very reputation as the Bullet of Dusk. Miguel got even angrier. The enemy dared to do this mock him, and kill his friends. Miguel wouldn't let this stand! He didn't care how many people died in the process! This guy was going down!
Kira stared into the monitor horrified. He saw Miriallia, Tolle, Sai, and Kuzzey below him trying desperately to get out of the line of fire. Kira clenched the Strike's controls. He was determined now. Determined to stop the carnage, Kira led the GINN away from his friends. He took off into the air with the aid of his verniers. The GINN was quick to follow after him. It was quick to unleash its fire on him at point blank. It bounced off his multicolored armor harmlessly.
Kira fed more power into his thrusters. In return, it shot him up into the air even higher. He cut off the power and Newton's Law went into effect. His foot crashed into Miguel's GINN with astounding force. Coming down to terra firma, Miguel adjusted for his situation enough to land on his feet. The landing wasn't perfect, but what was? If he'd reached for perfection, he wouldn't have been off balance.
Kira hit the ground running, heading on a b-line for the disoriented Miguel. In flurry of fingers, Kira hit the various buttons in search of something he could use against him. He brought up the weapon's menu, and saw a single weapon type. "Combat knives?" Kira hollered, frustrated over his lack of resources. "Is that all there is?"
Miguel started to regain his bearings. He saw the Strike reaching down into its overhanging hip armor. It opened up on both sides, producing a pair of knives. They flipped up like a switchblade, and viciously shone in the midday sun. The Strike was within reach of him. His reflexes weren't fast enough to draw his sword.
Kira roared. He'd never felt this type of rush before. The stress of the situation was bearing down on him like he was Miguel. The twin Armor Schneider's sharp edges met with the GINN's neck and right shoulder joints. He plunged them in as far as they could go. Flames spouted from its internal electrical systems.
Ordinarily, nobody would've thought of going for such specific weak points. Kira had an intimate knowledge of the inner workings of machines. Looking for them in a routine inspection was one thing. Hitting those dead on in a mobile weapon on mobile weapon battle was another thing all together. It was almost like preforming open heart surgery a successful in the middle of a house fire. It should've been impossible.
Murrue Ramius stared at Kira as if he'd grown another head. Kira looked back at her quizzically. He's never seen any look at him with that type of fear. That kind of Reverence.
Miguel couldn't believe it himself. He was incapable of it. There was no chance of it being remotely possible. Miguel cursed at the immobile machine's unresponsive controls. This piece of crap wasn't his machine. His real machine was back on the Vesalius still undergoing repairs. If he has custom job, this fight would've turned out differently.
Miguel had to except his losses and get out fast. Dying wasn't a part of the mission parameters. Of course... That didn't mean somebody other than him couldn't die in the process. A cruel smile crossed his features. He flicked a few switches and smashed open a console. A switch marked 'self-destruct' showed itself. Miguel didn't leave a moment to indecision. The countdown was already ticking away.
"Burn bitch..." Miguel sneered. "Burn!"
"Wait..." Kira piped up. Watching the GINN's cockpit fall open on the monitor, he saw a figure wrapped in dark green jump out. The jetpack strapped to his back propelled him away from the blast zone. Murrue didn't get a chance to warn Kira before the GINN exploded. A hot wind blew across the city scape. Over turning cars, and sending them careening into buildings. The small restaurant Kira and his friends sometimes hung out at on their off days was one such place. The office building where Tolle's dad worked down the street on the corner of Tannenbalm Avenue and Macy Street had its window's shattered by the force of the blast.
The peaceful life Kira knew would cease to be. He'd never again walk the same streets with his friends and family. His innocence was soon to follow the same demise.
Kira painstakingly made an effort to open up his eyes. His world spun at a topsy-turvy pace. His head hurt. Like a bomb had exploded in his face. Wait, one just did. He took several moments to get himself settled. He realized he was still alive. He silently thanked several invisible forces for small miracles. Gravity was not one of them. Gravity was the reason he was in this situation. If there hadn't been any gravity in the factory, he would've shot up to the ceiling instead of falling to see Athrun. His stupid choices in the heat of the moment were truly to blame. He wasn't ready to accept his own idiocy yet.
Kira looked around. Everything was fine as far as the internal instruments went. He was unharmed... He thanked the maker of the safety harness. Whoever the heck that was. Now for the woman he was regretting listening to. "Um... Miss?" Kira looked over his shoulder. He wasn't too surprised to find her knocked out cold huddled up in a corner behind his seat. Kira knew asking if she was okay wasn't going to help any. Best he could possibly do for her was finding a safe place for them to set up camp. Kira absently wondered if there was such a place in the middle of a war.
High above Kira and the Strike, Morinobu Sanada watched with great amusement. A twisted smile grew on his lips. He watched the entirety of Miguel's fight against the remaining rogue unit. The thought of maybe aiding him crossed his mind for an instant. He just as quickly dismissed it. Miguel was a professional and an ace pilot. He could handle himself. So Morinobu thought...
The Strike turned the tide of battle in unreal time; making a fool out of one of ZAFT's best. Whoever this pilot was... He was a skilled one, far superior to the likes of Miguel. Was he a well-trained Natural using a customized OS or a Coordinator Natural sympathizer? First was unlikely... He found no such Natural compatible OS in the G-Weapon he took for himself. Maybe it wasn't entirely impossible. There was always the possibility of them only having enough time to upload it into a single machine. The Coordinator option seemed to be a more likely scenario. There were some Coordinators like Jean Carry who decided to serve for whatever personal reasons they had.
Morinobu couldn't know for sure. The smile plastered on his face tightened. "What do you say we ask him ourselves, Mara?"
Behind him in the co-pilot's seat, a young woman sat. Her vibrant orange eyes carefully watched her personal displays. Like most ZAFT soldiers, she looked no more than a teenager. Aged somewhere between sixteen and eighteen. Her short black hair was mostly hidden by the equally black helmet protecting her head. Like Mori she also wore a completely black flightsuit. Her lips parted to offer her monotonous words. She never tore her eyes from the displays. "Whatever..."
He chuckled. She was as non-committal as always. That's one of things he loved about his partner. He grinned wildly. He pressed several different buttons and flicked several switches on his console. The machine they piloted was a G-Unit made separate from the others. A special type made by the famous Doctor Kato himself. He was fortunate enough to procure one for himself. Kato's second prototype had to be abandoned in the fire, unfortunately. It was an acceptable enough loss as long as the Grimaldi Falcon burned with it.
He had no clue what he was doing here in Heliopolis of all places. Maybe he'd finally snapped and decided to turn against his own people. Not that it mattered. The Traitor was dead now. Morinobu guaranteed it himself. He set the factory ablaze with the Phoenix's full complement of missiles.
The Strike was next on his hit list. He raised his G-Weapon's beam rifle and fired. A beam of incandescent death escaped the muzzle. It burned the air, going straight for the Strike's cockpit.
Alarms blared above Kira's head. He knew what that meant. He ignited the verniers and threw himself to the side. The green dart missed him by merely meters. It melted through a building right next to the Strike's former position. The building's supports melted into liquid nothing causing it to collapse under its own weight. Clouds of dust and dirt kicked up in the wake of its destruction.
It covered up the Strike's retreat. Kira knew how to take an opportunity when it presented itself. He got out of there while he still could.
Morinobu himself couldn't be fooled so easily. "Mara!" He exclaimed.
"On it!" She returned. She fired up the Phoenix's enhanced scouting sensors. The Strike picked on her screen as a multi-colored humanoid silhouette. "The heat sensors detect the enemy mobile suit seventy meters on the right!"
"Excellent!" Morinobu crowed. Raining even more particle death on Kira. Buildings, cars, people hiding among the havoc all vanished in a moment of unspeakable heat. Kira with all his skill evaded. He wasn't sure how much longer he could avoid certain death.
Morinobu followed Kira, no matter where Kira managed to go. Bringing hot death on him at an unceasing interval. Morinobu was starting to get frustrated by his constant evasions.
"Why don't you just stay still and DIE?" He roared. Mara herself never missed a beat. She kept feeding him more information as more and more. Dust kicked up in the aftermath of their shots. By now, she imagined the city being Swiss cheese. She kept her amusement to herself. Truthfully, she didn't really care how much Morinobu tore up Heliopolis. The colony deserved whatever fate it had in store. Not because the people cooperated with the Earth or even because they built these so called G-Weapons. For a quick moment, she realized she didn't have a reason. She just could care less about what happened.
She blinked. Her displays showed something strange. "Mori!" She hollered. "Above us, at 12 o'clock! Evade now!"
Three green lances came down on them from the sky above them. They managed to step out of the way before any of them had the chance to melt them down to paste. A fourth shot came in the wake of the trio and slammed into his beam rifle. Rendering it molten wreckage in the Phoenix's grasp. Morinobu threw it aside and snatched up a beam saber from in-between the Phoenix's wing binders. It ignited into a solid plasma blade that was bright red in color.
The Phoenix's formerly grey body lit up with color. Its limbs went crimson and its chest area instantly dyed itself black with a bit of red to accent certain points. The Phoenix's grand wings spread out, going dark crimson. In that very moment, it crashed against another mobile suit. Not a GINN or a CGUE, but another G-Weapon.
This new mobile weapon was not unlike the Strike in color. Rather than having the same shades, it had its own take on the color scheme. The mobile's torso blended in with the colony's bright blue sky. Its limbs were also sky blue with gold shining in its joints. It had a pair of stream lined shields on each arm. The difference being the one of the right sported a gigantic steel blade and what looked like a down sized beam rifle.
Plasma burned against the metal blade, sparking at the super-heated contact between them. The sword surprisingly did not melt at its touch. Morinobu nor Mara couldn't imagine what impossible materials went into forging that seemingly unbreakable sword.
"The Masamune! Don't tell me!" Morinobu snarled in absolute rage and disgust. He demanded answers. "Falcon! How did you survive?"
Inside the GAT-X100 Masamune's cockpit, Kenneth DiFalco allowed himself a ghost of a smirk. "Very simple, Amigo..." Falcon said flatly. "You shouldn't underestimate Natural craftsmanship. That and Phase Shift armor is very handy protection. Isn't that right, 'Kuro'?"
"Please don't get me started, Boss..." Behind the pilot's seat, Daisuke Ikari held on for dear life. He rolled his red eyes. "I did think up the G-Weapons... The first four, anyway."
Kira watched briefly on the Strike's monitor. He didn't know who was behind the wheel of that thing. He was sure if he ever found out who was, he knew he owed him more than a steak dinner.
He fired up the Strike's boosters again. He made sure he was long gone.
Everything fell back into place for Murrue Ramius. The voices she heard helped her swim against unconsciousness' strong current. She swam until her head finally broke head broke the dark waters. She opened her eyes... Blinking out the blurriness. She squinted at the brightness. She lifted her arm to block out the sunlight. In seeming denial of her order, a bolt of pain shot up her arm. She bit her lip. The pain's sharpness might've been enough to make a lesser woman yelp. She was made of a bit more than sugar, spice and everything nice.
A sigh of relief sounded off to her left. An unfamiliar teenage brunette girl leaned over her, blocking out the artificial sunlight. She smiled kindly at her. "I see you're finally awake, Miss Ramius. Are you feeling alright? Are you lightheaded or maybe dizzy?"
Murrue blinked. She sat up on the bench she was lying down on. She realized she was in a park not very far from Morganroete. She often walked around the park after work. It was her normal way of unwinding after a strenuous day of building the Earth Forces most top secret weapons.
The park would be filled with people enjoying nature. Now it was devoid of its normal vibrancy. Again, the war had disrupted peace. She felt her heart sink into her stomach. She had to end the war soon.
"Um... Miss Ramius?" The girl tried getting her attention. Murrue didn't even acknowledge her. Murrue looked at the Strike. Knelt down thirty feet away from her, colored its normal bland grey. The X-105 must've run out of power by now. That wasn't the cause for concern though. The teenage boys standing on the Strike were...
"Oh, man!" One of them, a brown haired boy sitting in the cockpit fiddling with the controls, crowed over it. "This this is so soooo awesome!"
"Totally, Tolle! Too bad this thing's run outta juice..." Another one, an Asian boy standing on the Strike's leg, complained. "I always wanted to get a shot at piloting a mobile suit."
"Me too, Kuzzey..." The third, a blonde boy wearing glasses standing next to the Asian, advised his friends. "But I don't think we should be playing with this. We don't know a thing about it. You saw that GINN Kira fought... A wrong button press could send us to kingdom come!"
The Asian boy the glasses wearing boy called Kuzzey winced. He took a step away from the cockpit. "Y-yeah, what Sai said...!" He stammered, nodding repeatedly. "You should seriously get out of there, Tolle!"
The boy Tolle snorted. Airily waving them off. "You guys are such scaredy cats! You both know you can't do anythin' with a mobile suit without any power! And ya call yourselves Doctor Kato's students? We literally live and breathe this stuff every day!"
On the ground, the boy she rescued from the factory scolded his friends. "C'mon you guys! Get down from there! The Strike's not a toy!"
Murrue was already half way towards the Strike. Miriallia was following after her, calling for her to not to move around too much. Murrue wasn't listening. Even if it was a group of school kids, she had to secure the Strike. For the sake of the mission, she was willing to do what it took.
"Get off that machine, right now!" Murrue ordered. Using her Drill Sargent voice. The boys didn't respond at first. "I told you to get off the X-105 now!"
"Who the heck are you, lady?" Sitting high and mighty like a newly minted King, Tolle challenged her.
"I'm Lieutenant Murrue Ramius with the Earth Alliance Forces..." She said coolly. Unclipping her pistol from her belt, she slowly raised it to aim for his head. "Believe I told you to get down from the X-105."
"Whoa, lady! There ain't any need for that!" Tolle raised his hands in surrender. A gun to the head was enough to convince him of her authority. He stepped out of the cockpit and climbed down the Strike's leg. The two other boys did the same.
"Now... Get in line, single file." She trailed her gun on them, gesturing for them to hurry it up. They did as asked. Each of the students lined up one after the other. She made sure they were at least ten feet away from the Strike. Murrue turned her back to it and came to face them. Her gun was at ready should they try anything funny.
"Your names, please..." Her harsh, commanding voice softened a tiny bit at the last word. She had issues with holding such young people captive. The pins and needles in her already impaled heart sank deeper into her core. In their faces, Murrue saw the students she left behind when she deployed. They were the same people she saw when a young ZAFT soldier's eyes became cold and vacant in their last moments of life. She pushed the sick feeling in her stomach down. Now wasn't the time to be feeling guilty.
Gesturing to each of them, the young college students divulged their identities.
"Miriallia Haw..."
"Sai Argyle."
"K-Kuzzey... Buskirk, M-m-m'am!"
"Tolle Koenig."
"...Kira Yamato."
Their faces screwed up at her. The back of her mind left out a chuckle. It was the same type of expression her students made when she dished out homework right before the holidays. The amusement left her when she laid her gaze on Kira. The angry, defiant look in his purple colored eyes reminded her who she was dealing with. A whisper of doubt ran through her mind. The ability he displayed piloting the Strike was insane. Almost inhuman. The boy had to be...
No... She dismissed any preconceptions she had about the boy. Coordinator or not. She knew better. The young man had saved her life and nursed her from the edge of death. If he were the enemy, she never would have woken up ever again.
Murrue sighed. There wasn't any way school children could possibly have a clue of the real situation. She guessed she owed them an explanation. "As I said before, I am Lieutenant Murrue Ramius of the OMNI Earth Alliance Forces. You've seen our top secret weapon, so, I'm afraid I'll have to take you people into custody. I'll figure out what to do with you once I file a report with my superiors."
It wasn't much of a reason to vindicate her actions. Murrue couldn't tell them much more than this. Enough secrets were already unearthed. Knowing too much could get these poor kids locked up for the rest of their young lives. Or worse...
They clearly could look a gift horse in the mouth. Youth and its ignorance...
"Go where? Why?"
"What about our parents?"
"We don't have anything to do with the military, lady!"
"We're citizens of Orb; we're neutral!"
Her patience was already dangling by a thin thread. Some teacher she was. She fired a round into the air. "Enough!" She glared cold daggers at them. She watched as each of them recoiled. Miriallia hid behind Tolle, Tolle held her hand reassuringly, Kuzzey was ready to book it, and surprisingly Kira and Sai stood their ground. "Do you really believe this has nothing to do with you? That your state is truly neutral? I'll tell you kids some-"
"Um..." Tolle spoke up. "Miss Ramius."
"What?" She snapped. "I'm trying to make a point here!"
"Miss Ramius!" Miriallia shouted.
"Now you too..." Murrue growled and scowled deeply. She could see they were gazing at something behind her. What that was the Strike!
Murrue gasping in realization turned on her heel one hundred and eighty degrees. Murrue snapped up her pistol and fired at what she saw. The ZAFT soldier dressed in dark red climbing up the Strike's leg hit the ground hard. Not because she killed him... He really fell off. Murrue blinked. She didn't know how to describe what she just saw. She thought she'd try anyway. "You got scared and fell...?"
The soldier couldn't answer. He'd brained himself on the asphalt walkway. Whoever he was... He was out for the count.