Disclaimer: I do not own Gundam Wing or Gundam Seed
Recap: Heero discovered a mobile suit battle occurring near his location. Deciding to once again take the direction of a soldier, Heero returns to the battlefield. He assisted the Archangel against the forces of the Desert Tiger, Andrew Waltfeld. Now, he faced finding assistance for Duo and himself. Will joining the Archangel prove to be advantageous?
Chapter 3: Decisions
The tension in the area was thick. The Desert Dawn appeared the Archangel, which had landed next to the Strike. A Jeep stopped next to the blond haired girl as a bearded man wearing a green bandana stepped out. He looked at her for a moment and then glanced at the machine she looked at, Wing Zero.
He sighed and put his hand on her shoulder. "Don't worry, we'll ask them about that unit as well." He whispered to her.
Inside the Strike's cockpit Kira glanced down toward the blond haired girl. The camera zoomed in on the girl, giving Kira a better view. He turned his head slightly in confusion. He felt as if he knew the girl from somewhere but he couldn't quite put his finger on it
Inside Wing Zero, Heero watched the resistance fighters gathering at the machine. "Hmm…" he waited and watched the events unfolding. Judging from how they acted Heero deduced both groups were not affiliated with each other. He guessed that the situation would bring some hostility and his intrusion would only heighten the hostile intent he sensed.
He leaned back and held his bloody arm, waiting patiently for the situation to dissolve.
In the room the red haired girl covered her body with the blanket. The lights in the room were all turned off and the only visible light in the room was the television's bright light. She sat in front of the small screen, watching everything. She had a confused look in her eyes as she was unsure of what was going on.
In the hangar, the Skygrasper docked as a blue haired male in mechanic overalls approached La Flaga. La Flaga took his helmet off and looked at the blue haired man. "Resistance fighters?" he questioned. The blue haired man reached into the machine and began moving things. He seemed to work on the machine quickly, prepping it for battle. "So it would seem…"
On the bridge Ramius and Badgiruel were discussing how to handle the situation. "We've got two forces, the Resistance Fighters and the pilot of that machine. How do you want to handle this Captain?" she asked.
Ramius looked over to the Wing Zero. The suit stood there, not moving one bit. She found it odd that the suit, while displaying similar characteristics to the Strike in some ways, it did not become dull gray. This left her with a growing curiosity of what exactly that unit was. She turned and looked over to the Desert Dawn. The group had assisted them against the Desert Tiger. She noticed that they were quick to approach the ship. This led her to assume that they had something of great importance to discuss.
"We'll deal with the matter at hand, and in my eyes, it's the resistance fighters." She ordered.
Badgiruel looked at the group and glanced down at the captain. "Do they appear friendly to you, captain?" She questioned.
"I don't see them pointing any weapons at us. Let's at least show them some courtesy and talk with them" Ramius suggested. She looked at how the group stood as she thought for a moment. "They seem open to it. This could really work out in our favor." She added.
Badgiruel looked down at the captain, not understanding why she would be so quick to suggest an alliance of sorts with the resistance group. She looked over to the Wing Zero and her eyes widened for a split second, realizing a plan. "Do you intend on asking the group to assist in the capture of that machine?" she asked.
Ramius ignored her question and stood up. She headed for the door and spoke before leaving. "You take charge while I'm gone." She ordered. Badgiruel looked at her, watching the captain leave. Ramius sighed as she waited for the elevator to head down to the bottom level.
La Flaga and other soldiers prepared for the meeting. By preparing, they readied their sidearm and rifles. Everyone stood by the door and waited for the captain to lead the way. "Man, oh man. I got to say, those Guerilla fighters look pretty shady" he said stretching the word "pretty" for a slight moment. He smiled at the captain as he put his right hand on his hip.
"I guess I should warn you. I'm not too good when it comes to these, sticky situations." He commented. Ramius gave a calming smile as the group headed out into the scorching desert. Ramius and La Flaga headed toward the Desert Dawn while the other soldiers stayed behind, hiding, ready to fire when ordered.
Heero watched as he opened the communication line so he could hear everything said. He watched the meeting through the small screen on Zero's cockpit. "Hmm…." Normally Heero wasn't the type to pry into other people's businesses but he had to know what was going on, even if it was information that he would not completely comprehend.
The Desert Dawn looked at the approaching duo as they gave both of them a dissatisfied look, as if they disliked the Earth Alliance. Ramius and La Flaga stopped in front of the bearded man. "It's only proper that we thank you. After all, your entire group did have a hand in saving our ship and mobile suit. Murrue Ramius, I'm with the eighth fleet." She stated.
A young boy standing next to the bearded man looked at her questioningly. "How is that? Wasn't the eighth fleet completely wiped out by the enemy?" the boy questioned. Murrue sighed calmly and quietly, she took note of the groups knowledge of what had happened to the eighth fleet. She proceeded with caution, as she didn't know how much the group knew of their expeditions.
The bearded man noticed the slight discomforting look on Murrue's face when the boy asked about the eighth fleet. He raised his hand to stop the boy from asking anymore questions. He introduced himself. "We are known as the Desert Dawn. I go by the name, Sahib Ashman." He looked directly at the captain before continuing. "You need not bother thanking us. I'm sure you understand, the reason we were fighting were not necessarily to protect you." Sahib gave a small glorified smile as he glanced at the two.
"We attacked them only, because they too are our enemy" he added.
La Flaga smiled, sensing the hostility was lightened. "You guys versus the Desert Tiger? Fighting for a while?" he asked. Sahib looked at La Flaga as he stared at him. "I recognize you, but I cannot say from how or from where." He said.
La Flaga gave a smile as if he enjoyed telling people of his name and accolades. "My name is Mu La Flaga." He said bring up his shoulders slightly. "Don't know a living soul in these parts."
Sahib smiled looking at him. "I never expected to meet the Hawk of Endymion in a place such as this." Mu and Murrue looked at him confusingly, surprised that this leader knew so much about the Alliance.
"You strike me as someone who's very well informed." Murrue said smiling at him. Mu narrowed his eyes slightly giving him a serious look. "Do you also know about us?" she asked.
Sahib smirked as he spoke. "You are the crew of the Earth Force's new assault ship, the Archangel, yes?" Once again the two gave Sahib a surprised look to see him state this fact. "You descended to Earth to escape La Crueset's team." Sahib glanced over to the Strike smiling.
"And that machine is…."
"X105 Strike" the blond haired girl finished. "That's what they call this thing. It's one of the Earth Forces new prototype mobile weapons." She added.
Murrue and Mu glanced over to the blond, surprised by her detailed description of the Strike. They wondered how she knew about the suit to such a detailed level. Sahib stood in front of the blond shielding her from the two. "So here we are. How good it is that we know who you are and you know who we are. I must say though, we were surprised that you landed in such and unfortunate location. I can only assume you landed in a place like this by accident, but now that you're here…" He looked at the two. "I'm curious to know what you plan to do."
Murrue was surprised by the kindness Sahib seemed to show them. She smiled as she spoke. "Can we count on your complete cooperation?" she asked. Sahib grinned looking at her. "If you're serious about talking then you should lower your guns first."
He looked toward the Strike. "He should do the same."
Everyone on the archangel was surprised that Sahib had known that they brought armed personnel to the meeting.
Murrue sighed, seeing no harm in just talking. "Very well, Ensign Yamato, come down here." She ordered. Kira released the belt harness. The cockpit opened as he grabbed onto the zip line and lowered to the ground. Everyone gathered, watching him approach the group as the Desert Dawn were curious as to whom the pilot was.
Heero listened to the entire conversation and watched as the pilot left his suit. He relaxed his body and continued watching; all the while knowing that he too would have to leave his suit.
Kira removed his helmet as he looked at the group. Desert Dawn members talked amongst themselves surprised that the pilot was just a boy.
"He's just a kid" one of them whispered
"Unbelievable…" another said
The blond haired girl's eyes widened, remembering who Kira was. She tightened her left fist and rushed toward Kira. "So it is you…" she said. Kira looked at her a bit confused by the situation. "Uh what…"
She had a difficult time keeping her emotions in as she spoke. "Why…what is someone like you doing here, huh?" She raised her hand and attempted to slap Kira, but he caught her hand holding her wrist. She tightened her hand into a fist as she tried to push on and punch him.
Kira looked at her as his eyes widened, remembering her from Heliopolis. "Ah…" He leaned in closer. "You're that girl I met back at Morgenroete." The blond girl gritted her teeth and pulled her arm back accidentally hitting Kira on his right cheek. Everyone sighed finding the situation awkward.
Kira held his cheek looking at her confused out of his mind.
Mu pointed toward the two looking at Murrue. "What was that?" he questioned.
Sahib approached the two as he looked at Wing Zero. Everyone grew silent as they all turned toward the suit.
"We don't know about that machine over there." He said pointing toward the Wing Zero.
Murrue sighed as she looked at him with apologetic eyes. "We don't' know either, it showed up in the midst of the battle and assisted us. As far as we know it could be Earth Alliance or Zaft."
Mu put his hands on his sides looking at the suit. "No, I think if it was Zaft, it would have attacked us by now instead of just standing there. Not to mention why Zaft would attack its own units?" he questioned.
Seeing everyone gathered around his suit, Heero prepared to leave as Zero's eyes dimmed and the suit sounded as it went silent. The cockpit opened as a young man exited the machine. Everyone watched as the young man went down the zip line and stood on the sand. Kira slowly leaned toward the Strike ready to do something just in case things go out of hand.
The first thing everyone looked at was the pilot's bloodied arm. It was like something that they couldn't keep their eyes off of, no matter how gruesome it looked. He walked with a slight limp, indicating he was badly injured. Murrue looked at the young man as kept staring at him. It was difficult not to look at this pilot due to his condition. It was hypnotizing. They found it so difficult to believe that a pilot in this condition could destroy the mobile suits so quickly.
Heero stopped as the sun shined behind him. He wore a dark green sleeveless shirt and light blue jeans. His whole body seemed battered and worn. Even though his body was in bad condition he still kept his demeanor, standing in front of the one he heard called Ramius.
Ramius paused for a moment, finding this person's appearance difficult to tolerate. She had heard of soldiers fighting on with wounds, but the condition of this pilot was ridiculous. The arm was wrapped with a cloth, the torn edges told her it was most likely from a shirt or jacket. The color of the cloth was dark and drench in blood. The position he put his arm in bothered her. He didn't seem to be troubled over his obviously serious injury. She cleared her throat and then approached the young male. Mu stood ready to defend the captain, but with the condition the pilot was in, he found him no threat to the Captain's life.
"I am—"
"Murrue Ramius…I heard…" he said slightly weakly. She looked at him questioningly. "How do you know my name?" she asked, she was not afraid of the young man due to his condition, but she stayed at arm's length, fearing the look in the man's eyes.
Heero sighed as he spoke. "I've heard everything, now let's get to the point." He said. Heero glanced behind him. The sun was getting higher and higher, indicating it was most likely near midday. He had to speed things up or Duo would die of heat exhaustion and dehydration.
He paused so Murrue and everyone else could take this in. There was a moment of silence while he paused. Everyone seemed impatient as they stood silently; waiting for his words as if it were the air they could not live without.
Murrue took a brief moment and looked at the young man, nodding so he would continue.
"My name is Heero Yuy. I'd like to ask for your assistance." He asked. There was a tone in his voice that seemed like discomfort. It was true. To Heero, asking for help was something he almost never did, it was foreign. It was only recently that he started to open up. He was used to relying on himself, but this time he couldn't think only about himself as he had to think about Duo's wellbeing along with his own.
Normally Murrue retorted to such a request, but Heero seemed in such a bad shape that her kind-hearted nature couldn't refuse his need for help. She smiled at him. "Of course, we wouldn't be alive if not for your help. We'll do everything we can."
"I understand, I'll return shortly." He said turning around heading back to his suit.
Murrue stepped forward extending her arm out as she asked. "Where are you going?"
Heero stopped looking back for a moment. "I'm picking up an ally of mine. We landed in the desert and he's been out stranded for a while."
Murrue looked at Heero's eyes. It gave her a chilling feeling for some reason. It was unfathomable for her to look at Heero as a young man. To her, his demeanor displayed him as a hardened veteran, rather than a typical teenager.
"I understand," she said. She stepped forward a bit. "Will you be able to find our ship? We're most likely going to leave this location…" she told him. Heero turned around looking at her. "As long as you're not too far away, I'll be able to find you." He said.
Everyone watched as the wounded soldier got back into his suit. The eyes flashed a bright green before the suit headed off into the horizon.
In the Bridge, Badgiruel narrowed her eyes in anger. "Why are you so calm and open Murrue!" she thought. The thought of working with the resistance fighters agitated her enough already, but allowing this unknown pilot to join their ship? She couldn't take it. She grunted in anger and left the bridge. She needed time to cool off. If she didn't she'd cause more trouble than needed.
A blue haired man sitting at the helm of the ship watched Badgiruel leaving. He sighed as he kept his eyes on her until the door closed.
Mu approached Murrue to discuss the situation at hand with the young pilot. "So you think it was such a good idea offering that kid our help?" he asks.
Murrue smiled at him. "He helped us and I can tell that there's something about him. He doesn't seem to be form here and his mobile suit is obviously something neither the Alliance nor Zaft have seen." She explained.
"Ah…I see so we're going to help them out and in exchange, they help us in return?" he asks.
"That's the plan. Hopefully today will be our lucky day."
Kira watched the Wing Zero leave as so many questions filled his head. Who was that pilot exactly? Why did he help them? The most annoying question that clawed in his mind was why the Wing Zero didn't seem to run out of power during the battle.
He turned around seeing the Desert Dawn gathering up and heading out.
Heading back to his machine, he got back into the cockpit and started the system up. He walked the suit into the Archangel's hangar as he docked it at one of the holders. He sighed heavily wondering what would happen now that the ship had more than one pilot. "Will I stop fighting?" He questioned. Many things ran through his mind as he thought about his situation and place in the Archangel. He felt the ship moving slowly as the Archangel followed Desert Dawn to their base of operations.
Out in the desert Duo hid under the shade the piece of ship metal provided. He sighed as he looked at the sand. He was starting to hallucinate from exhaustion, dehydration, and his body was on the verge of having a heat stroke.
He looked ahead as he sighed. "Well Duo oh pal, looks like you're going to die right here…alone." He said. He accepted death easily as he felt, being a gundam pilot, he lived on borrowed time. He was about to close his eyes wait for the Reaper when he noticed something approaching his direction. Duo opened his eyes as wide as he could as he looked at the incoming object.
He breathed more quickly seeing Wing Zero transforming and land on the sand. He stood up and leaned on the metal as he watched Heero exiting the machine. He grinned, happy that he would be saved now and happy that he would be able to give Heero some fair payback for stranding him for nearly ten hours. Heero walked up toward him as he looked at Duo. Duo was about to yell and punch his guts out but noticed his arm was bleeding profusely.
"Hey…what did you do?" he asked weakly. Heero remained silent for a moment, unsure if Duo was in a condition to hear what he had to say about them being in some different Era. "I'll tell you when you're better, for now, get in Zero. I'll take you to get some assistance."
Duo's eyes widened. "Get in Zero? No way! I know that the system doesn't work unless you're in combat but I don't' want to take any chances here. I'd rather take my chances outside than take a risk losing my sanity due that machine!" he argued. Heero sighed. He was in no mood to argue. He approached Duo and looked to the side; Duo let his guard down assuming Heero was thinking. In one swift motion, Heero gave Duo a hard right hook to the face. Duo's eyes blacked out, as he felt to the ground. Normally he would have been conscious after a hit like that but due to his condition he didn't have the strength to keep himself up.
Heero knelt down and picked him up carrying the sleeping pilot into the cockpit. Setting him in the back, he gets into the seat and then headed off.
The Archangel followed the Desert Dawn into their base of operations as the large ship went through the small route, the wings on the ship hits the tip of a small rock pillar, breaking the tip into rubble.
The members guarding the entrance were confused as to why an Earth Alliance ship was led to their base. The jeep in front of the ship came to a stop. Sahib exited the vehicle as some of the members approached him. "Sahib, what's the meaning of this?" one of them asked as he looked at the ship. Sahib walked past them as he spoke "They are our guests. Behave yourselves." The two men looked at each other, wondering what was going on.
The other jeeps stopped as the blond haired girl looked at the ship with angered eyes.
Mu, Murrue, and Badgiruel were led into the base, following Sahib. They looked around as there were many containers from different factions, most of them Zaft arsenal. Two men passed the two women as they whistled at them. Murrue and Badgiruel gave a light hearted smile. Even though they were professional, it was still somewhat nice to be appreciated in that manner.
Outside Kira listened to one of the soldiers in the ship as he used the Strike to tie down the Archangel using a tarp like material. "Okay tie it down" the soldier said. "Roger that." Kira proceeded as the Strike pulled the cloth to tighten it and tied it off.
Kira heard a signal coming from the sensors as he looked ahead. "Huh?" Kira watched as the Wing Zero approached their ship. It transformed in mid-air before landing down on the ground.
Heero got out of the suit as he carried Duo toward the ship. Heero watched as the entrance was surrounded by the crew and the Desert Dawn members on the edges of the surrounding cliffs. "Hmm…"
Everyone seemed defensive about letting the two in while the captain was away. Someone from behind the line of crew members exited the ship. "Move out of the way!" the person said. Heero watched and noticed the uniform the person had on. He was a doctor. The man approached the two and looked at them concerningly. "Please, come in. I'm sorry for how the crew is acting. It's just that our captain and Lieutenants are in a meeting with the resistance fighter's leader." The doctor explained
Heero simply nodded as he followed the doctor to the medical room. The doctor turned around looking at the soldiers. "Someone contact the captain and tell her that the pilot is here." He requested. He laid duo down on the bed. The doctor glanced over to Duo seeing that he was unconscious. He noticed the slight burns on Duo's skin and then pulled out an I.V bag. He hooked Duo up to the I.V and let him rest. He then turned and looked at Heero. "Now let's get you treated. Your friend should be fine. I gave him some fluids to rehydrate his body while he's resting. I'll treat his physical wounds once I'm done with yours." The doctor said.
Heero was not one to accept aid when a captain or someone of higher authority was away, but he was smart enough to know that the doctor rushed to their aid due to the Captain's order, or his Hippocratic Oath. Heero nodded silently as he allowed the doctor to treat his wound.
"You lost a lot of blood, I'm surprised your still conscious." He comments as he looked at Heero's wound. The blood was clotting as Heero did not stress it during the flight toward the Archangel. The doctor was surprised that the wound had clotted this much. "Well it looks like your own body did the work and healed it on its own. All I've to do is bandage it properly and get you some fluids and you should be fine."
Heero kept his eyes closed as he rested. Feeling the air conditioning blow on his heated body was much relief. He nodded at the doctors words as he opened his eyes when the doctor finished. "Thank you…" Heero said.
"It's my duty." The doctor turned around as he grabbed a water bottle from the small refrigerator. "Here. You're good to go. You can wait for the Captain to return, and I'll keep an eye on your friend." He said.
Heero took the water bottle and looked at the doctor. He would have declined his offer but he had to keep an eye on Zero. "Understood."
Heero left the room to see some young teenagers gathered near the door. He gave them a nonchalant stare as he proceeded out to the hangar and back to Zero. The teens moved out of his way as they looked at him. "So that's the guy that pilots that other suit?" a wavy brown haired boy said. "I guess so…" Miriallia said. She seemed very cautious.
Inside the base Sahib continued leading the two as he passed Cagalli. "So these are preliminary stamps" she said to a member to her right. She held a clipboard reading off the information for the member as he typed on the computer. Mu looked over to the blond haired girl "Huh?" he turned around and continued on. The three entered a small room that had an electronic map in the center. Mu whistled at the fact they had something like this in their possession.
He looked around the room seeing many computers and wires. "So you're forced to live in this kind of place?" he asked, looking over toward Sahib. Sahib poured himself a cup of coffee as he replied. "This is our frontline base. Our homes are actually in the towns." He took a sip of his coffee and sighed, "That is if it hasn't been burned down yet." He added.
"What towns?" Murrue asks. Sahib turned around and looked at her. "Like Tatsil and Muula. We even have people from places as far away as Banadiya. Our group is comprised of volunteers from towns, such as these." He raised his cup to them. "Some coffee?"
"Uh yes, thank you." Murrue said. Sahib walked toward the map. "Use any mug you want." Murrue watched the other two follow him as she felt awkward getting the coffee herself and decided against it as she approached the map. "We do appreciate your help with our ship." She said. Sahib took another sip as he thought back to what the blond haired girl said. He glanced over to her as she peered back at him.
*flashback*
The blond haired girl had just finished her remark on the strike and left. The blond haired girls walked pass him as she whispered. "I want to hear what they have to say as well, Sahib; but this really isn't the best place. I don't' think it would be a problem letting them into our camp."
*end flashback*
"Who's she?" Mu asks. Sahib averted his eyes from the blond haired girl as he looked at him. "We call her our Goddess of Victory."
"Wow." Mu said impressed by the title. "And what would her name be?" Sahib sighed slightly thinking about whether or not he should tell them her name. Mu turned toward him and gave a smile. "It'd be rude not to know the Goddess of Victory's name." he said.
Humoring him, Sahib answered his question. "Her name is Cagalli Yula…" He took out a paper map and rolled it out. "If I'm not mistaken, you people are eager to seek passage to Alaska…"
"What? Okay!" Cagalli said. She turned toward Sahib. "The pilot of that mobile suit arrived. He went into the ship to get medical treatment. He brought his 'ally' with him." She informed.
Sahib nodded and looked toward Murrue, seeing that this matter was hers resolve. "If he's treated then the ship's medical team has done its job. I'll meet with him once we finish here." She said.
Sahib nodded as he continued showing them the map. Badgiruel felt uncomfortable leaving the ship unattended with someone she deemed too skilled. "I'll head back to the ship…." She took left without giving Murrue or Mu time to question her. After Badgiruel left, Cagalli followed and headed out. She wanted to see this suit for herself and question what exactly that machine is.
"There was only supposed to be five machines!" She thought. She tightened her fist in anger as if she was going to punch Heero just for having the Wing Zero in his possession.
Inside the Archangel's hangar, everyone kept themselves at a safe distance from Wing Zero. Heero's cold personality seemed to push the others away as they looked at his machine. Some of the soldiers and resistance members discussed whether the suit was a new G-Weapon or not. "So do you think it's a new model?" one of them asked.
"No, can't be. It looks too different." The other replied. Badgiruel arrived as she looked up at Wing Zero. She stood there, curious as to why it didn't change colors. She blinked and the thought of the machine being in their hangar without authorization flooded her mind. "Who gave the permission for him to dock his mobile suit in the hangar!" she demanded.
The blue haired mechanic stepped forward looking at her apologetically. "It was me, I'm sorry Lieutenant, but I thought since he's invited on the ship; why not let him dock his machine in our hangar?" he questioned.
She gave him a disapproving glare, but said nothing to him. "I'll be watching you, Chief Murdock."
Badgiruel left as the other mechanics laughed at him. "Hey!" he said yelling at them.
Cagalli stepped toward Wing Zero, standing by its white and red foot. "Hey!" she yelled. Heero heard her but gave no response as he checked the system. "Hey I'm talking to you!" she yelled at a louder tone. She hated being ignored. Heero sighed and then stepped out, standing on the hatch. "What?" he asked in an agitated tone.
"I want to ask you about your machine!" Cagalli yelled out.
The mechanics and soldiers around the suit were shocked to see Cagalli being so ballsy. Heero looked down at the girl seeing determined eyes. He wasn't sure as to why she wanted to know about Zero, but there was no chance in Hell that he would tell some resistance fighter about his gundam. He turned around and headed back into the cockpit.
She stomped on the ground and then grunted, annoyed that she was treated like that, ignored like that. The snickering of the other soldiers and mechanics made her even angrier. She stormed out of the ship as she caught a glimpse of the Strike. "Hmm…" she sighed calmly as she walked over to the Strike and its pilot.
A blond hair man spoke through a video feed to a dark skinned blond male and a silver haired male with bandages over his right eye. "I'm glad both of you made it safely to Gibraltar. You both did well in the last battle." He said. The short blond haired soldier spoke. "We almost died but…" he was interrupted as the blond hair man in the video feed spoke.
"Regrettably, we did not take care of the legged ship or take down the Strike, but… there is a new problem." He said. "What new problem?" the silver haired male bursts out in a tone of anger. An image of Wing Zero showed on the screen as the two soldiers looked confused as the silver haired one spoke. "Just what the hell is that?"
A smaller screen showed at the corner as the long blond haired man continued and explained. "This image was taken by a chopper belonging with the Lesseps. The mobile suit you see here, took out more than 10 Bucues. It nearly dominated the battle from what I heard." Both pilots looked stunned and shock. "What in the world? That's impossible! No suit of the Earth Alliance has that much power and if it did that suit should be out of power." The blond haired pilot said. "You're right Dearka. It should have been, but we don't know much about this suit. It came out of the blue and assisted the Legged Ship. I want you two to remain there on Earth and help Commander Waltfeld with taking out this suit and the legged ship. We've labeled the unit as Delta One." He orders as the feed cut off.
Dearka sighed and spoke. "Damn…Looks like we're stuck on this dirt place." The silver haired pilot then started taking his bandages off. "Yzak, hey stop" he said trying to stop his comrade from removing the bandages too quickly. Yzak looked intensely, staring out blankly as he yelled. "I will get him! I'll get him back for what he did to me!" he said angrily.
The Strike stood at one of the higher levels as Kira stood by his machine, letting the air blow threw him. He sighed happily as he looked on. He glanced behind him when he heard footsteps. "Good job out there." The young teen with the glasses said.
"No problem, Sai."
Kira looked down as he saw Cagalli walking up to him. "Uh…"
She stopped as she looked at him, taking a moment of pause to cool off from the event in the hangar. "I'm sorry okay? I didn't really mean to hit you. Oh…" she looked down realizing that she was lying. "I guess I did mean to but it was just a spur of the moment." She said. She looked down to her right. "Forgive me." She said.
Kira smiled and started chuckling.
Angered by his laughter, she yelled, "What are you laughing at!" Kira continued to laugh for a brief moment and stopped. He sat down on the rock as he looked up at her. "No, I mean think about it."
She looked at him a tad bit confused at why he seemed so calm about being hit. "Hmm…You've been on my mind since then. Worried I guess. Asking myself, what might have happened to you?" Kira looked at her listening carefully to her words. "Hm..."
He thought back to that time back at Heliopolis. How he pushed her into the last escape elevator.
"And then you show up out of nowhere piloting one of those things," The two looked up at the Strike having a short moment of silence. "Worse yet, you're now with the Earth Forces?" she asks.
Kira closed his eyes and sighed heavily "Hmm." Cagalli looked up back at the Strike, assuming he had nothing to say as to why he was with the Earth Forces. "A lot of things have happened along the way…" Kira said. She looked down at him again as he continued.
Kira thought of all the events that happened and how he had to fight his best friend. "A great many things…." He looked up at her questioningly as he asked. "What about you? What are you doing in a place like this?"
She looked around, not wanting to answer his question for some reason. Hidden behind a large rock a tan man with a red head band stood watching the two. "Hmm…"
Inside the Desert Dawn's base Sahib sat on the table as he explained the current situation on Earth to Mu and Murrue. "Well…it may be territory that is under the domination of Zaft, but look at this land. It's not as if their forces can cover the entire desert, yet only three short days ago the Victorian Space port was taken over. And since that time, they vastly expanded their control."
Murrue looked up at him shocked at his words. "Did you say Victoria, and just three days ago!"
Mu looked over as he spoke. "Man, oh man."
"The African community in this area has naturally sided more with the PLANTs. In the lower region the South African resists them as long as they could, but in the end the Earth forces abandoned them anyway. Every day the front lines keep edging back."
"Though you guys haven't stop fighting, have you now?" Mu questioned. He looked at Sahib questioningly as he gave Mu a stern look. He closed his eyes and drank his coffee. "As we see it, Zaft and the Earth Forces are no different. They only come here to gain control and to take away what is rightfully ours."
He looked toward Murrue. "How well can your ship fair in the atmosphere." He asked. "It can't fly at high altitudes." She commented. He sighed. "Well if it can't get over mountains then the only alternative is to break through Gibraltar." He suggests.
Mu looked at him like he was crazy. "With our fighting strength, you got to be kidding" he commented. Sahib thought for a moment as he smiled. "Well you do have more than one mobile suit now, if you count that other pilot."
Murrue looked at him and realized what it was that he was trying to suggest. "I understand what you mean, but we haven't even discussed anything beyond giving them medical treatment. I'd like to find an alternative option just in case." She said. Mu was shocked. "She's actually thinking about getting help from that kid? Then again, he was a great help in the last battle. I hate to see what he could do at full strength." Mu thought.
"Hm…well then your other option is to go through to the red sea; To the Pacific Ocean."
"The Pacific Ocean? We couldn't possibly cover that much ground." Murrue said.
Sahib pointed out on the map. "But don't forget that the Lesseps is here as well." He warned.
"I see…" Mu said looking down on the map.
"It seems everything is settled for now, thank you for your assistance." Murrue said. She looked at Mu as he nodded. "Yea, thank you."
The two left as Murrue sighed. "One down, one to go…" she commented. "I here you, but it can't be helped." Mu said as he smiled at her.
It was midafternoon; in the medical room Duo slowly opened his eyes. "Oh my fucking head…" he complained. He put his hand on his head and felt the needle behind his right palm. "Huh?" he flipped it over seeing the needle. Following the tube he looked up at the medical bag filled with fluid. For a moment he calmed down, assuming that Heero had brought him to a hospital on earth. He looked at the room, finding it strange.
"Doesn't look like any hospital I'm use too…seems more like a ships medical room." He thought. He looked over to the door and noticed someone wearing a doctor's coat, coming in. The doctor noticed he was awake. "Ah, you're awake. That's good. You were surfing from a serious case of heat exhaustion." Duo seemed relaxed in front of the doctor but didn't say much. "Yea doc, just tell me where I am?"
The doctor took a seat at his desk and took of his glasses. "You're onboard the Archangel. We're docked near some resistance fighter's base, that's all I can say. You probably would like to see your friend, the brown haired pilot."
"Archangel..? " He thought. He looked at the doctor and sighed, "Uh yea, sure doc," he said. The doctor stood up and headed out to contact Heero. Duo turned and faced the ceiling. "Man, I don't know what's going on…but something tells me it's not good."
Duo heard the door open as he saw Heero. He looked at him as Heero gave him a serious look. "Okay…I don't like that look…" he said worriedly. Heero glanced at the doctor, who nodded understandingly as he gave the two sometime to speak. "Heero leaned on the wall as he crossed his arms in a fashion that Duo knew all too well. "So lay it on me Heero. How serious of a situation are we in. Did we crash land in some conflict that the Preventers didn't get to yet?" Duo asked sounding desperately hopeful. In his gut, he could feel that his suggestion was nowhere near what Heero's answer would be.
"We're in another Era…or another Dimension." Heero said calmly. Duo's eyes nearly popped out of his skull. "You lie…" he said not believing his words at first. Heero remained quiet and ignored him, letting Duo believe what he wanted to believe. Duo took the news badly. "So it is true, Damn….." he said as he grunted, looking to the side. He couldn't believe that what he saw was true. He hoped that he was just in a bad dream and that what he saw in the meteor base was just a lie. He looked up at Heero as he asked. "So what do we do now?"
Heero remained quiet for a moment. He opened his eyes looking at him. "We're waiting on the captain of this ship to hear our explanation, and then we'll decide on what we'll do. There's no point in going out on our own right now. We barely know anything about this world." Heero said. "Well I'm not at a hundred percent, still kind of sore, but I think I can manage." Duo said, sitting on the bed.
Heero was normally a good judge at someone's ability. It was as if he could see someone's limits once he knew them to a certain level. He nodded as he saw the determined eyes. Duo sighed. "You know they'll ask about Zero right?" he said.
"I know." Heero replied as he looked at the floor, thinking of what to say.
Murrue and Mu returned to the ship as they had no time for pleasantries and hellos from the crew. Murrue passed by Wing Zero as she saw no one around or in the suit. "They must be in the medical room." She said.
On the way there the two ran into Badgiruel who waited them at the entrance of the hallway. "So how was the meeting?" she asks. "Productive. We'll inform you on the details once this next situation is sorted out. Are they in the medical room?" Murrue asked.
Badgiruel simply nodded as the trio headed toward said room. They saw the doctor outside waiting as he looked at them. "Good to see you back, captain." He said. "Good to be back. Are they inside?" Murrue asked.
He nodded stepping aside. "I gave them time to talk and for the young pilot to inform the other one." He said. Badgiruel glared at him as if she hated the fact he left the two alone. He looked to the side, nervous from the glare.
Heero and Duo finished talking as Duo stood up. He looked up at the door seeing it opened. "Hey…" he said.
She was taken back that the two were up and seemingly fine. "It's good to see that you're well. I'm Murrue Ramius, Captain of the Archangel. You are…?" she asked, looking at Duo.
He smiled and tried to stand in an upright position. "I'm Duo, Duo Maxwell. I might run and hide, but I never tell a lie. That's me in a nut shell." Murrue smiled in return. She noticed how the two pilots were nearly complete opposites. Heero seemed focus and serious, while Duo seemed more calm and open. She moved to the side. "If you'd please; we do want a word with you"
Duo nodded as he grabbed his clothes. "Just give me a moment to change and I'll be right out." He said. Murrue nodded as she left the room. Heero followed soon and stood by the door, waiting. They stood outside in the hallway as Badgiruel shot Murrue a look. It was obvious she wanted to ask a question but with Heero present, she held her tongue.
The door opened and Duo came out, dressed his black and red clothing. He smirked at the group. "All done, so where's the meeting?" he asks. Murrue and the others led the two gundam pilots to the bridge. She requested the soldiers in the bridge to leave for the moment. The soldiers left as the door closed.
The group stood at the lower level near the helm of the ship. Murrue sighed as she thought of what to say, she didn't want to seem rude by demanding requests, yet she felt that it was a fair trade. Heero noticed how she seemed conflicted and the whole room was filled with this uneasy tension. "If you have something to say or ask, just do so." He said to her.
Murrue looked at him with shocked eyes at how Heero noticed she was thinking of how to question her request. "Um…first off, where are you from?" she asks. Heero and Duo glanced at each other. They had discussed this question and nodded in unison. Mu watched them and wondered why they looked and nodded at each other. "What is it?" he asks.
Heero looked at the three as he explained their situation. "This may be difficult to comprehend, but Duo and I are not from this Era." He said. He paused, letting the statement sink into the three soldier's minds. "We come from the After Colony Era. It was the Era established after A.D." he explained.
"Impossible! Cosmic Era is the Era established after A.D. How is it that you claim that After Colony is the correct one?" Badgiruel said. Heero looked at her. "We don't come from this world…or rather this Dimension." He said. The three soldiers were beyond confused. Duo sighed as he thought his easy going tone would be able to ease the situation.
"We were on a mission to find this leftover base in space. We found the person that was responsible, but the device he built had gone wrong. The device's portal grew and sucked everything including us into this world."
Mu, Murrue, and Badgiruel were shocked—no to say they were shocked was a major understatement. "S-so you're from another world—I mean dimension...due to some person's device…like a Dimensional portal machine?" Mu questioned.
"Yea…something like that. We got the warning from an unknown source…so we kind of have two things to deal with…" Duo said putting his hands on his head. The three nodded, understanding that the pilots had enemies that had gone with them to their world. Badgiruel looked at Heero. "What of your machine?" she asked.
"What about it?" Heero asked looking back at her with his cold eyes. Murrue looked at the two knowing that they did not get off on the right foot. She had to diffuse this situation or Badgiruel would stay something that would jeopardize their chance at asking the pilots for assistance.
She presented her hands in a pleading way, her palms faced up and her arms spread out. "I—we were hoping that you'd be able to assist us. As you can see we don't have many pilots. If you were to join, it would be a great deal of help."
"Why should we?" Duo asked. He and Heero had fought losing battles—meaningless battles in the past and he didn't want that anymore. He wasn't sure about Heero, but he was used to a normal life and with this life, he found a reason to keep that peace he had. So he didn't want to fight meaningless battles anymore.
Mu saw that the two were near the fence and tried to give them an encouraging push. "If who you're looking for is here, I'm sure they're either going to come in contact with the Earth Alliance or Zaft. We're at war right now so there might be a chance you may see this person." He said.
Heero and duo looked at each other and after a moment the two nodded. "Fine…it seems at our best interest…for now…but we do have conditions." Heero said.
Murrue nodded. "Of course; what are your conditions?"
Heero closed his eyes remembering his conversation with Duo.
*flashback*
Duo sat as he had his fingers crossed. His chin rested on his hands as he thought for a long moment. "So how do you want to do this? They'll ask about Zero if we do agree to join them." Duo said.
"I know, if we could, we'd do something else, but if we do want to go home, this is the path we have to choose."
"H-heero, did you use the Zero System?"
Heero looked over to Duo and nodded. "I won't let anyone get their hands on the Zero system…" he said. Heero went silent once more as he pondered on something that prided in the back of his mind. "Zero never showed me a path two years ago, but why now….?"
*end-flashback*
"I request that no one ask anything about my mobile suit and no one touches it."
Badgiruel shot him a look. Heero noticed her glare but ignored it. "That's all I request." He said.
Murrue nodded and smiled. "I understand, you're suit will be under your care. I'll tell all the mobile suit mechanics all personnel to keep their hands off the suit." She said. Murrue kept her smile as she thought "This went well. I'd hate to have these two as enemies. I wouldn't want to see what they could do now that they're nearly recovered"
The meeting ended with other slight information being exchanged. Duo and Heero left as Duo walked slowly following him to the hangar. Heero glanced back and kept walking. "You should rest. You're still injured." Heero advised. Duo smirked as he continued, this time speeding up and keeping up with his nonchalant friend. "I'm fine…I've had to battle with worse soreness." He commented.
In the bridge Murrue stood there silently as she thought. Mu looked at her and gave a light smile. "What's the matter? You got what you wanted, more assistance."
She looked up at him with a smile, yet her eyes showed a deep concern for some kind of situation. "I don't know…I just feel that this war's going to get even more difficult."
Mu sighed as he understood her concern. The sun began to set as the day neared its end.