I don't own anything except Kevin Walker, the Destroyers, and Frank Castile
Leona Colde also does not belong to me; she is the creation of arekuruu-inabikari-no-She
"It says something about the world when a man is created for no other purpose than to fight. I was engineered to be the 'Perfect Soldier', and though it took almost fourteen years, that's what I became. With cybernetic augmentation added to the genetics my 'father' gave me, I became perhaps the most lethal man to ever live... yet not necessarily the most lethal human.
"There's one person even I'm not sure I could ever have defeated, and if I were to ever meet Natalya Ivanova Arkanian, codename Delta, on the field of battle, I would be wary indeed. I have been known as the 'Legendary Soldier', but in her day she was known as the 'Legendary Mercenary'. A woman with experience on a hundred battlefields, she only retired from the mercenary trade when she emigrated to the PLANTs, and swore fealty to ZAFT. It was from her that my comrades and I drew our combat skills, yet she was even better. The Destroyer archetype, she was the first to train in this trade as an augmented soldier, and she perfected it.
"I was the one born a soldier, but she lived it longer than I've been alive. Had ZAFT been able to deploy Delta during the war, even I might've been swiped aside like an insect..."
-Excerpt from The Tragic Spiral of War, by Baron Kevin Onishi
The Mendel colony. Abandoned months before as a result of a biohazard threat, it made a perfect place for two fugitive super-soldiers to recuperate following the massacre at the laboratory. By the standards of normal humans, the colony was still uninhabitable, but to Mike and his wounded companion, the threat was minimal.
Unfortunately, their cautious exploration of the ghostly place revealed things that might have preferred not to know. "There's no doubt about it," Mike said grimly, standing over a container he'd found their second day at the colony. "This cannister originally contained SM-Six; a nasty bug Tom told me about that Medical Section was working on."
His companion felt ill. "But how did an ABADDON weapon end up here, Mike? This was supposed to have been Blue Cosmos' work, wasn't it?"
"Yeah, that's what we were told..." Mike stared intently at the cannister, and increased magnification on his vision. "I'm seeing fibers from Destroyer commando fatigues, though, and traces from unpowered armor... Maybe I can get a genetic read on it."
"No need," the other soldier whispered. "I know who did this." The soldier glanced at Mike. "This was Kevin's handiwork, I'm sure of it."
"Kevin? But- Oh, yeah," Mike murmured, thinking back. "He did go missing for a few days around then, didn't he? He must've been sent out on a 'training exercise'... and Oracle wanted war so bad he just might've made a deal with Blue Cosmos." He shuddered. "My friend, I think we should be glad Kevin made sure we could never be deployed. The thought of what Oracle might've made us do... I'm beginning to think we weren't on the side of the angels after all..."
"How much longer are you planning to keep me locked up here, anyway?" a red-haired girl with blue eyes asked of her captor. "It's been almost two years..."
A youth with sandy hair and jade eyes sighed, leaning against the wall. "It could be worse," Jack Carter said tiredly. "Better a luxury apartment, even one with armed guards, than a coffin. In case you've forgotten, Blue Cosmos was intending to kill you the minute you opened your mouth in Atlantic Federation territory; your name still carries too much influence for them to risk it."
"So you kidnapped me and locked me up in an abandoned space colony for my own protection," Flay Allster said sarcastically. "Sorry if I have a hard time believing that. Kevin told me a lot about you, Carter, and none of it good."
The two of them were in a well-furbished apartment in Carter's orbital base, hidden away from prying eyes; most of the base was devoted to Carter's own vendetta, but one section had been remodeled into an apartment after he'd stumbled across a plot that he didn't approve of.
Now Carter closed his eyes, reminding himself that the girl had good reason to be skeptical of him. "I admit your old Captain has good reason for not liking me," he said carefully. "I don't like him either; it's why I've tried to kill him a time or two. But I learned my lesson two years ago, Miss Allster: going after his friends is a good way to end up dead. Walker himself is my only target -aside from Blue Cosmos- so you can relax a little, okay? I really don't mean you any harm... and if I did, I've had plenty of time to do something about it."
Turning away with a huff, Flay nonetheless had to admit Kevin Onishi's clone had a point. After she'd left Dominion's crew a few months after the war, she'd been intending to return to the Atlantic Federation, in hopes of changing them from within using her family name's influence. Before she could do so, however, her shuttle had been boarded by agents of one Jack Carter, and she'd been taken to his hidden base... for her own protection, according to Carter. She wasn't sure she could believe that, but she did concede she'd been treated well. Her quarters here were more comfortable than those she'd had aboard Dominion, and aside from the hangar and what she presumed was a genetics lab, she had the run of the base.
Flay finally turned back to the clone, who wore an outfit virtually identical to that which Kevin had worn during the war, save only for his choice of weaponry (he carried a Heckler and Koch Mark 23 forty-five caliber auto pistol, instead of a revolver). "But that doesn't explain why you can't at least let me out into the colonies. I understand I have to avoid the Earth Alliance, but..."
Carter smiled wryly. "You know, I've been wondering when you'd ask that question. The answer's simple enough: according to my sources, Blue Cosmos has just a few too many spies up in orbit. The only places that I know are safe are this base and wherever Walker's set up shop. And quite frankly, I think it's better to make sure nobody knows where you are. Walker's good at keeping secrets, I'll give him that, but the more people know, the more likely it is to leak."
"Hmph." That was one thing about Carter that really annoyed Flay: it was just as difficult to win an argument with him as with the original. "Still... how much longer?"
Carter shrugged. "I don't know... but I've been hearing rumors that things are about to heat up again between Earth and the PLANTs. If that happens, Blue Cosmos will probably have more urgent things to worry about than you."
Surprised, Flay glanced up, but before she could respond, the apartment door slid open, and a tense-looking Jonathan Sarnac stepped in. "Sorry to intrude, Sir," he said briskly, "but we have a situation. We just received word that Armory One was attacked, probably by the Earth Forces."
Carter looked at him sharply. "Armory One? That's where ZAFT was building their new ship and prototype mobile suits."
His exec nodded. "Yes, Sir. According to our source, three of the prototypes were stolen, before being driven off by a fourth prototype and the Minerva. Also..." He hesitated. "It seems ZAFT's sole Sturm Vogel was also involved, being piloted by Baron Onishi."
The clone stiffened. "He was there? Oh, of course; that diplomatic visit we heard about." He frowned, thinking. "If the Earth Forces are acting this brazenly, then this cold war is about to get hot again... and that could have unpleasant consequences." Carter sighed. "Sometimes I wish I was the sociopath Walker accuses me of being; then I could just ignore it. Well, no help for it." He nodded to his exec. "Jonathan, get Justice loaded onto the D'Artangan; we're moving out."
The blue-haired "bodyguard" could feel the stares from the men and women on the Bridge, the stares that came in response to Dullindal's words. So, he thought, almost sadly, my cover is blown. Now what? I guess... there's no more point in hiding it.
He looked over at Gladys, and met her eyes levelly. "That's right," he said flatly. "My name... is Athrun Zala, I am the son of Patrick Zala."
Athrun could almost feel the urge of several of those present had to reach for weapons, but he was not in the least afraid... because he knew who he had on his side. The distinctive sound of air displaced by a twirling object was followed swiftly by the sound of a cocking hammer, as Kevin's left hand brought a revolver up at arm's length.
"Wouldn't make any rash moves, if I were you," Kevin said pleasantly. "I don't want to use this -black powder in the air system probably wouldn't be good- but if anyone tries to hurt my friend, they're dog meat."
"Agreed," Leona said casually, as her hand emerged from her jacket. Her arm relaxed at her side, but the enormous Desert Eagle made its point anyway.
Dullindal raised a hand. "Be at ease, Baron, Miss Colde. I don't intend to harm you, Athrun Zala," he went on, turning to the former ZAFT soldier. "I just wanted to talk to you, without your false persona getting the way. Former Chairman Eileen Canaver explained your actions and your reasons for them to me, so I believe I understand why you acted as you did."
"I very much doubt you have the whole story, Chairman," Athrun said quietly. "Though I appreciate what you're saying, Sir."
The Chairman raised an eyebrow. "Please, enlighten me, Athrun. What part of the story am I missing?"
Cagalli noticed the sudden guarded look that appeared on Kevin's face, and grasped what it was that Athrun was talking about. "You mean Jachin Due," she murmured, and turned to Dullindal. "He means that no one knows what happened in Jachin's final moments except those who were there. Only they know how Chairman Zala died."
Athrun nodded, carefully controlling his expression and his emotions. "That's right."
Gladys frowned. "I didn't know there was any question about it. The official record states he died when Jachin self-destructed."
"The official record is a complete fabrication," Kevin said softly, tucking his revolver back into its concealed holster. "Zala was dead some minutes before that. The three of us had infiltrated the fortress in hopes of stopping GENESIS that way, but we were too late... and Zala had a crime to pay for anyway." His eerie, glowing jade eyes were focused on something not visible to anyone else. "I was carrying a plasma rifle, in case of any opponents my own caliber... and a single bolt from that very weapon incinerated that bastard."
The Captain's eyes widened, Meyrin uttered a gasp, Trine simply looked like he'd been hit in the head with an axe, and even Dullindal blinked. "I wasn't aware you'd done that personally, Baron," he said finally. "Though I shouldn't be surprised, given your... reputation."
"He had it coming," Kevin said flatly. "He authorized the kidnapping; in the end, he and Muruta Azrael were the ones who began my troubles. Azrael had my parents murdered, and Zala forced me into the project that made me what I am." He ignored the reactions from those who only then realized what he meant, and simply shrugged. "Though my motivation was, quite frankly, revenge, it was also a legitimate act of war. In any case, I believe we have more important matters to attend to."
The Chairman nodded. "Quite right, Baron. The events from two years ago don't have much bearing on the battle before us."
"I'd call that more important," Leona said laconically, glancing out the forward viewport. "As you said, Kevin, the game's afoot."
Impulse -equipped with the Blast pack this time- and Luna's ZAKU were getting close to the target area now, and they began to slow. "I don't like this," Luna said over the radio, voice tense. "I didn't score well in the asteroid simulations; getting into a situation like this for real..."
"Be careful, then, Luna," Shinn warned her. "We can't afford any mistakes out here. The stakes are too high."
Athrun frowned, watching them approach the asteroid and the Dagger Ls Bogey One had deployed. "I don't like this," he murmured, echoing Luna's words unconsciously. "Something about this doesn't seem right, somehow..."
"I know," Gladys concurred. "Something's not right here."
Kevin's eyes narrowed, and he carefully observed both the viewport and the monitors. They're right; something about this smells bad. It's been two years, but I still know an ambush when I see one... if only I could get a closer look!
He was still watching when something else changed, much closer, and it took all his formidable control not to visibly react when something clicked in his head. Remote activation? How's that possible? Who...
"This is what the world has been brought to," a voice, feminine-sounding but distorted such that he couldn't recognize it, murmured from the radio embedded in Kevin's left mastoid process. "Both sides strove for power, and when one tipped the balance, the other struck; now the actions of both lead only to one point, my friend. Like matter and antimatter, Natural and Coordinator rush toward each other, and in their collision both will be annihilated. T.S. Elliot was wrong: the world ends not with a whimper, but with a bang..."
Kevin started to reply to the whisperer, but he was distracted by the view on the screen. "I knew it," he said, almost to himself. "A trap..."
Outside, Chaos, Gaia, and Abyss exploded out of hiding, firing at Minerva's machines as they came. The pilot of Chaos in particular was demonstrating an unpleasant aptitude for his machine's remote weapons pods, sending them out ahead of him to engage the ZAFT units.
Shinn and Luna both broke away to either side, escaping the initial, deadly barrage, but a latecomer to the battle, the sole GuAIZ R Kevin had noticed earlier, was unable to evade. The obsolete machine was caught in the laser and missile fire before it could hope to evade, and it was tore apart in seconds, missiles blasting its limbs off in explosions of shrapnel, lasers melting and shattering through torso armor...
The owner of the mysterious voice was evidently watching the battle somehow; either via Kevin's own nervous system, through the old Destroyer linkages, or perhaps directly, form some hidden location among the debris that surrounded them. Either way, her next words showed she -whoever "she" was- was paying attention. "And here it begins, O Black Asp, O Hydra. Another life lost in this endless battle. What will be your choice, my Commander? Will you sit by and watch, or will you stand and fight? The lives of billions, the Fate of the entire world, hinges upon your decision..."
The radio implant shut down again, and Kevin was left alone with his own thoughts. Mu once told Kira that if he had the power to make a difference, he should put it to good use... I swore long ago to protect Cagalli, no matter what the cost. Whoever it was that just spoke to me, whether she was right about the world or not, she was right about one thing. I have to make a choice... and I've made it.
He turned to Gladys. "You have to let me go out there," he said quietly.
Cagalli looked at him in surprise. "Kevin? What are you talking about? You can't-"
"She's right, Baron," Gladys told him. "This isn't your fight, and besides, we've nothing for you to fly. Leave the fighting to the professionals."
Kevin's eyes flashed. "In case you've forgotten, Captain, I am the professional. There's not a man or woman on this ship with more combat experience than I, and it most certainly is my fight. Beyond self-preservation, beyond my duties as a bodyguard, I swore once to Lord Uzumi Nara Athha -and before that, to myself- that I'd protect Cagalli with my very life. And I do have something to fly out there: the Chairman himself told me you don't have any pilots that can fly the Sturm Vogel. Well, I flew the machine it's based on during the war, and while I may not be in top form right now, I assure you I can handle it."
"But you don't even have a flightsuit, Kevin," Cagalli protested. "If your cockpit is hit..."
"I'm willing to take that chance," he said quietly. "I swore to protect you, and that's what I'm going to do. Captain," he went on, looking again at Gladys, "I realize that this is a ZAFT ship, and I'm an Orb national. But you know what I'm capable of, and none of your pilots have the combat piloting experience I do. I survived Jachin -mostly- and I can survive this."
"It's probably a good idea," Dullindal put in smoothly. "As the Baron says, we don't have anyone that can pilot the Sturm Vogel, and we need every machine, under the circumstances. Why not let him do it? With the Chief Representative aboard, this is his fight."
Gladys closed her eyes. "Very well," she said at last. "Be careful, Baron, but -assuming it's been fully repaired- you may take your chances with that machine. Good luck."
Kevin nodded. "Thank you."
Cagalli swallowed. "Be careful out there, Kevin," she whispered. "Don't die on me again..."
"I won't," he promised. "I refuse to die here." Then he turned, and made his way off the Bridge, toward the hangar.
As the Baron left, Meyrin stiffened. "Captain, Bogey One is no longer appearing on radar! They've just vanished into-"
"Mirage Colloid," Leona said grimly. "Must be. We pulled stunts like that in the NGSF, after ZAFT reverse-engineered the technology. Be on your guard, they won't stay in hiding for long."
A blast of emerald energy flashed past the viewports, streaking out ahead of Minerva, and Meyrin stiffened again. "They're behind us, Captain," she announced, "and two Dagger Ls are coming directly ahead."
Gladys cursed inwardly, mind running over the tactical situation. The debris is blocking most evasive courses; we can't get out of this just by turning. We'll have to try something different... "Put us on course to circle that asteroid," she ordered. "Get us close, and bring us around. Hangar," she added, activating the intercom, "what's the status of the Sturm Vogel?"
"Repairs are done, Captain," Alec responded. "Had to make some parts from scratch, but we got it done in record time. Why?"
"Because Baron Onishi is on his way down to you, Mister Alexander," Gladys told him. "He'll be taking it out; and see what you can do about a flightsuit for him."
"Roger that."
"Meyrin," she continued, "signal Shinn and Lunamaria; let them know we're under attack."
"Yes, Captain!"
The Bridge went into a flurry of quiet activity, and Leona nodded to herself. Been awhile since I was in a battle like this, but I see ZAFT procedures haven't changed much. What I want to know, though... is what made Kevin decide so suddenly to intervene. Spur of the moment, or did something else get his attention? And if something did... what was it?
She had the distinct feeling that there was something else going on that wasn't obvious to the world at large...
Arriving down in the hangar, Kevin found Vino, Yolant, and Alec waiting for him at the foot of the machine that so resembled his old unit. Two of the mechanics wore bemused expressions; the third was almost unreadable, and held a standard-issue ZAFT flightsuit.
"You're really taking it out, Baron?" Vino wondered aloud. "You sure about that?"
"Yeah," Yolant agreed. "We've never had a pilot who can even fly the thing... at least, that's what I've heard. They don't tell us mechanics much."
"I can handle it," Kevin said simply, looking up at the mobile suit. "Pretty fast repair job there, given the damage she took at Armory One."
"You can get a lot of things done when you're expecting to die at any minute," Alec said quietly. "Come on, I'll help you get prepped."
His former commander nodded, and the pair of ex-ABADDON soldiers pushed off toward the Sturm Vogel's cockpit, away from the two oblivious mechanics. "I'm surprised you're doing this," Kevin said softly, once they were far enough away. "I thought you wanted me dead."
"I wouldn't mind it," Alec admitted. "But right now, you're more good alive than dead. If you can help protect this ship, then I'm all in favor of it." He held out the flightsuit. "Take it; I checked your dimensions earlier, so I was able to find a pretty close fit. This way, you won't instantly die if your cockpit is breached."
"Thanks," the sandy-haired youth said sincerely. "I'll do my best out there."
"You always do," Alec told him, with a faint trace of a smile. "Just watch out for Shinn; he's a bit of a hothead, and I don't think he likes you very much."
Kevin snorted. "Shinn Asuka doesn't worry me; that little punk has so little control I can feel his intention to fire even without being empathic. Lunamaria Hawke is the one I'm really worried about. What with Asuka's inconvenient revelation, her mental state is so confused -at least where I'm concerned- that my first warning that she's intending to shoot will be the energy blast that vaporizes me."
His former subordinate shook his head. "I don't think you need to worry about that. She's still too confused right now; it'll be a while before she outright decides to shoot you, I think."
"How reassuring." The Baron muttered a Russian imprecation under his breath, and then climbed into the cockpit. "I'll see you later, Alec... assuming I don't die."
The hatch closed, and Alec pushed himself away. You, die? Not likely, old comrade. You've walked into at least two nuclear explosions and come out of it alive; I'm thinking a mere Earth Forces mobile suit attack won't be enough to bring you down...
Shinn threw Impulse to one side, and snapped off a red-orange blast from his right-hand cannon just as an emerald beam from one of Chaos' gunbarrels scorched past him. "Bastard," he muttered. "Don't they ever give up? This is ridiculous!"
"I know," Luna agreed, feeding power to her thrusters, before sending a burst of fire from her own beam cannon at the Abyss. "They've already learned how to use them..."
"Shinn, Luna," Meyrin called, "return to the ship at once; we're under attack by Dagger Ls and Bogey One!"
Shinn cursed. "They got behind us... We're on our way. Do we have any support coming?"
"Affirmative. Baron Onishi is launching in the Sturm Vogel to provide support; he'll be joining you soon."
His crimson eyes narrowed. "I don't need any help from him," he said quietly, wrenching Impulse around to face the way they'd come. "What is he doing, anyway? It's not like an Orb noble to charge out into battle like that; they're cowards..."
"Not him, Shinn," Luna said softly, following him. "I don't know what happened that last day, but I know Kevin Walker's no coward. He fought during the war, remember?"
"Maybe... but I still don't trust him." What kind of game is that bastard playing? Shinn wondered. He killed so many ZAFT soldiers during the last war, abandoned Orb and fled like a coward when the Earth Forces attacked, betrayed and murdered his comrades in ABADDON... what is he trying to pull, helping us?
Ahead of them, a black shape came into view, four-legged, with a BuCUE-like head... and a pair of beam cannons on the shoulders. It was running along a wrecked space colony's outer surface...
"Watch it, Luna," Shinn snapped. "It's the Gaia!"
Impulse and the ZAKU scattered to either side, allowing the twin bolts of emerald fire from Gaia to pass harmlessly between them. Another pair following, scorching a furrow along the right leg of Luna's machine, and then Gaia sprang off the colony, transforming back into mobile suit mode.
"You're good," Stellar murmured coldly. "But it won't save you from me." She lifted her rifle, and triggered a quick pair of shots at Luna, while Abyss and Chaos swooped in to hound Shinn.
Luna managed to duck beneath the twin blasts, and retaliated with her own emerald bolt. "This doesn't look good," she muttered, watching Gaia nimbly dodge to the side, then convert to mobile armor mode and cling to another piece of debris. "Those new machines..."
A pair of emerald streaks slashed across space side by side, forcing Stellar to leap away again. "What was-"
"Back off," Kevin commanded, dashing across space to Luna's side. "I may be out of practice, but I can still deal with you." He was using a frequency he recalled from Archangel's time with the Earth Forces, which Frank Castile's sources had indicated was still in use.
Apparently, they were right. "Who are you?" Stellar demanded. "You aren't ZAFT..."
"No, I'm not," Kevin agreed, leveling the Sturm Vogel's pair of beam rifles. "It doesn't really matter who I am, though; name means nothing on the battlefield. I fought you people in the war, and survived. I can still do the same thing today."
"What are you doing out here, Baron?" Luna wondered, struggling with her own emotions. "After everything that's happened-"
"I have a duty to Cagalli," he answered quietly. "And while I can never make up for what I did to ABADDON, I can at least help keep Erica's sisters alive." His fingers tightened carefully on the triggers; very carefully, in the case of his cybernetic hand (he vividly remembered destroying his own cherished sidearm with that hand, during the war). "Let's dance!"
A little ways off, Shinn sneered to himself, even as he spiraled around a blast from Auel's multiphase energy cannon and a barrage from Sting's gunbarrels. So the Baron's come to 'rescue' us, huh? he thought, darting toward the wreckage of an old space colony. As if we need his help. He's a useless, over-bred, out of practice bastard who doesn't know how to mind his own business... He turned, snapped off a pair of red-orange bolts from his cannons, and then vanished into the dark confines of the wreckage.
Abyss and Chaos braked to a halt just outside. "He's got nowhere to go in there," Sting remarked. "Like a rat in a maze."
"We'll catch him on his way out," Auel agreed. "Then we can finish that interloper and the ship at our leisure."
"There's that machine again," Neo murmured, watching the Sturm Vogel come to the ZAKU's rescue. "This could complicate things... Is he transmitting?"
"Affirmative, Captain," his communications officer answered. "It's an older frequency, but still in use."
"Put it on."
A moment later, the interloper pilot's voice came over the speakers. "No, I'm not. It doesn't really matter who I am, though; name means nothing on the battlefield. I fought you people in the war, and survived. I can still do the same thing today."
Neo stiffened, frowning behind his mask. "That voice... I know I've heard that voice somewhere before..."
Lee glanced at him, puzzled. "Sir? Is something wrong?"
"I don't know, Ian," the masked captain said honestly. "But something about this doesn't feel right. I've heard that voice somewhere, seen that flying style..." He came a decision, and his feet. "Prepare to launch missiles against the asteroids around Minerva; we'll try to batter them to death with debris. Meanwhile, I'm going out there myself."
That confused his exec even more. "Sir? But... why?"
"Because there are some things you can only be sure of when exchanging fire with one another," Neo answered, and left.
Lee watched him go, and wondered just what it was about the interloper pilot that had his captain so intent.
Kevin spun the Sturm Vogel around, snapped off a shot with one of the beam rifles, and then latched the left-hand rifle to a hardpoint on the machine's hip. "You're really starting to bug me," he informed Stellar, and yanked out a beam saber. "Try this instead!"
Stellar responded by sending a pair of bolts scorching at Luna's ZAKU, before leaping forward with her back-mounted beam sabers active. "You won't stop us," she told him, rushing for him. "You're not that good."
He parried hastily with his fiery blade, and conceded with a wince she might have a point. You're out of practice, Kevin, he sniped at himself. Two years ago, you would've torn her apart; only Rau Le Creuset ever defeated Sturm Falke. Of course, that was Stormhawk, and this is just an imitation, and back then, your augmentation was fully online...
Gaia shot past him, reverted to mobile suit mode, and drew a conventional saber, igniting a blade of frozen fire in its hand. "Pathetic," Stellar murmured, slashing at the Sturm Vogel.
Kevin tried to parry, but was too slow, and managed only to force the opposing blade to one side of its intended target. It missed his cockpit, but melted a terrible furrow in the left side of his torso. "You'll pay for that, you unexpurgated deletion..." He fired off a shot, missed, and then closed his eyes. You can do this, he told himself. Concentrate, wait for it, and...
Gaia unleashed a vicious backhand, but this time Kevin stopped it without even looking, his blade snapping up and holding hers away no more than a meter from the Sturm Vogel's cockpit.
Stellar paused, surprised. "How did you-"
"You shouldn't have taken liberties with me," Kevin hissed, and bodily forced Gaia away from him. "Even the Earth Forces should remember me... Kevin Walker." He boosted backwards, put away the saber, and pulled out the other beam rifle again. "Beware the Crimson Tiger!"
On Minerva's Bridge, Cagalli winced, hearing that transmission. "Now he's done it; they'll be all over him..."
"He'll be fine," Leona reassured her. "He may be rusty, but it's coming back to him fast. But, ah... how did he do that? I'm pretty sure he was flying with his eyes closed for a few seconds there..."
Athrun's eyes were fixed on the screen. "Kevin's empathic abilities are more developed than yours," he said quietly. "I've never seen him pull that particular trick before, but I think he was monitoring Gaia's position by sensing its pilot; not as exact as some methods, but it also had the benefit of allowing him to tell when the enemy pilot intended to strike. I guess he's been practicing..."
"Theoretically," Dullindal put in, "he could've done even better. As I understand it, had his augmentation been online his own sensors would've allowed him to track the location of Gaia's beam saber. Combine that with the abilities you refer to, and he'd be a formidable opponent indeed." One which I think I may take care not to have fighting against me, he thought to himself. Either he must be convinced to join me, or he must be kept out of things entirely...
Gladys ignored the byplay; she was intent on the battle itself, and she winced at what she saw. Impulse came slashing out of its hiding place, unleashing high-energy death from its cannons, and both Chaos and Abyss were forced to dodge away; but Chaos's gunbarrels gamely swooped in, spitting fire at Shinn.
Gaia and the Sturm Vogel flashed past next, tailed at a careful distance by Luna's ZAKU; Kevin and the stolen machine were exchanging almost constant energy fire. The Sturm Vogel had the upper hand in some respects, with two emerald bolts scorching across space for every one of Gaia's, but that very rate of fire also increased the drain on the machine's battery...
And Minerva herself was caught in one place, under attack by Dagger Ls, and unable to use most of her weaponry because of the surrounding debris. This close, and the energy weapons stood a good chance of hurting them with the backblast. Which just leaves the missiles, Gladys thought grimly. And, perhaps, the skill of a man who used to be ZAFT's most bitter enemy...
"Prepare to fire Neidhardt missiles," she ordered at last. "Try to get those Daggers off us."
"Yes, Ma'am," Trine concurred; and then Athrun stiffened.
Something's wrong here, he thought, watching the incoming missiles. This reminds me of a trick Natarle pulled on the Archangel once... except they're not heading to ambush us. They're going to hit, all right, but not the ship; they're aimed at... "Captain, those missiles are going to hit the surrounding asteroids! We should get out of here."
Gladys glared at the screen; she understood exactly what he meant. "Detail some of our missiles to destroying incoming debris, and try to get us moving out of here," she commanded, and glanced back at Cagalli. "Will Baron Onishi hold his ground, Lady Cagalli?"
Cagalli nodded firmly. "He won't let us down, Captain. He never does. No matter his problems with ZAFT, he'll come through."
"Yeah," Athrun agreed. "Even more than for himself, he'll fight to protect the Chief Representative. No one threatens her and gets away with it."
Leona silently concurred. She'd known quite a few soldiers in her time, and Kevin was, as far as she could tell, utterly fearless. Presumably there was something he feared -no sane man had no fears- but if so, she had yet to see it. The man had been killed on four separate occasions -irradiated, crushed, shot, and the first time completely incinerated- and he still walked into battle, with absolutely no fear of death... and even without his cybernetics, he was a fearsome foe. She hadn't been there, the day Blue Cosmos killed Mu La Flaga, but she'd visited the site before the bodies were removed, and had been quite impressed.
It wasn't deliberate brutality; Kevin didn't work that way, save for -according to rumors- his time on the run, years before. It was, however, brutally efficient. A dozen armed terrorists against a single teenage nobleman with a rapier, and he'd gotten them all. One severed head, one shredded heart, and a truly impressive collection of broken bones and traumatized bodies. Through it all, the terrorists had fired a single shot -the one that grazed Mu and caused him to stumble off the cliff- and nicked Kevin very slightly with a combat knife.
Kevin and Murrue had survived. Mu had not, and that had been the downfall of the Blue Cosmos hit team. That lesson, combined with the one which had cost Muruta Azrael his life, had apparently been taken to heart by Blue Cosmos and the Earth Alliance: attack Kevin Walker, and he will kill you. An acceptable risk, perhaps. But attack his loved ones, and he will kill you, your friends, and anyone else remotely connected to you.
No. Kevin would not flee, even if it cost him his life. One of his more endearing traits, Leona thought in mild amusement.
Kevin himself had found himself back to back with Shinn, as Impulse fended off Abyss and Chaos while Kevin exchanged fire with Gaia, with Luna providing what support she could with her powerful cannon. "This is not how I was hoping to spend this trip," he grunted, snapping off an emerald bolt in time to cancel one from Stellar. "I'm getting just a little fed up with all this." Although, truth be told, the fighting was giving him a feeling of exhilaration, the likes of which he hadn't felt since the end of the war...
"Not exactly my idea of fun, either," Shinn shot back, sending twin beams scorching at Chaos' gunbarrels. "But we're stuck with it, aren't we?" Using Sturm Vogel's back as an impromptu springboard, he shoved off, dashing straight at Abyss. "Why are you out here, anyway? What's an Orb noble hoping to get out of all this?"
The Sturm Vogel put away a rifle, and drew a saber, igniting the blade of crimson energy. "Believe me," Kevin assured him, boosting toward Gaia, "I'm not doing this for you. Frankly, I still think we'd all be better off if ZAFT collectively took a long walk off a short pier. Unfortunately, someone I swore to protect is on your ship, and so are a couple of very good friends of mine. And since I happen to be pretty decent in a mobile suit, I thought I'd help out."
"I don't need your help, Baron," Shinn snapped, triggering a pair of railgun shots at Abyss; they sped across space and slammed into the stolen unit, doing no permanent damage but forcing it away nonetheless. "In my experience, you Orb nobles are always useless."
"Is that so? News to me. I'll have you know that Blue Cosmos lost something on the order of two hundred people just trying to kill one man, several years ago. Believe me, I'm far from useless on the battlefield." The Sturm Vogel's saber slashed down at Gaia, only to come to a dead stip against its shield; in response, Stellar swept her own blade up and dragged its tip across the Sturm Vogel's left leg.
The black-haired pilot snorted. "If you're so good, then why are you doing so badly, huh?"
"I'll be the first to admit I'm not in top form right now," Kevin replied, slamming a foot into Gaia's head. "I'm out of practice, my augmentation is offline, and I'm flying an unfamiliar mobile suit. With my cybernetics active, in one of my personal machines, this would be a very different battle." I'd settle for just having Nemesis here, really; that's what you get for sending it down to the base on Earth, you idiot. And even if Dominion were anywhere in range, it'd take too long to flush the nitrogen atmosphere, recall the crew, and get her moving...
He parried another fast cut, stopping it mere meters from the Sturm Vogel's face, and then had to fight for his concentration when a voice intruded into his skull again. "I have seen your past, and your present," the same voice from before whispered through his implant. "What you must fear is not the future alone, but your past as it may yet become. To both sides, you represent the ideal of the warrior, and as such, you are the gravest threat to peace that exists on today's battlefield. As such, you have two choices: remain as you are, and die in the coming conflict, or become again the man you once were, the avatar of the Grim Reaper... the Angel of Death..."
"Who are you?" Kevin demanded under his breath, slamming Sturm Vogel's left knee into Gaia's chest. "What are you trying to tell me?"
"A friend... or a comrade... or a partner. Once upon a time, I was your shield, and your sword; now, I fight for you in the shadow world. Your enemies are legion, my Commander. Things fall apart, the center cannot hold. Peace is but a passing dream, while war returns again and again... And by the way, the enemy is now upon you..."
His head snapped up, and he threw Sturm Vogel backwards just in time to avoid a wireless gunbarrel that swooped in on him, trying to bisect him with a beam saber. "They never used to do that," he muttered, swinging around to face the new threat.
"Kevin Walker, I presume," Neo murmured. "Let's see if you're really as good as the legend, why don't we?" Darting in with his Exus, he sent his gunbarrels spiraling around the Sturm Vogel, and fired both nose-mounted linear cannons, bombarding the machine with constant fire.
Kevin boosted away, dodging frantically amongst the beams and slugs and remembering unhappily what had happened the last time he'd been in such a situation. The last -and only- time I fought remote weapons was at Jachin, against Rau Le Creuset and his Providence... and even Stormhawk was nearly obliterated that day. If I hope to survive this, I better hope I've learned something... Wait a second, there's something familiar here... but what...?
That was the drawback to relying too much on his instincts. Sometimes they presented him with mysteries he couldn't solve, but also couldn't keep out of his mind... something which would be fatal in this battle, if he didn't keep his mind on the mission.
The distraction nearly cost Kevin his life, but as another pair of linear cannon slugs came straight at his cockpit, something clicked in his mind... combat conditioning from years before, during his days as a ZAFT super-soldier. His body reacted without conscious thought, fingers moving across mobile suit controls in a pattern he didn't personally recall, but his body did...
Neo's eyebrows went up as he watched the Sturm Vogel apply thrust to dodge directly beneath the oncoming rounds, and a saber reached up to obliterate one of them while the other sped harmlessly off into the depths of space. "I guess you are as good as they say, kid," he radioed. "No wonder you've lasted this long against my people. But your lucky streak ends, now."
"Am I supposed to be impressed?" Actually, Kevin was impressed... just not with his opponent. Rather, he was remembering Tanya "Harpy" Coleson, who had started his training in mobile weapons so long ago, and apparently left her influence deep in his subconscious even after all this time. "You're nothing but an insect, Natural. A mere human isn't enough to stop me."
Neo laughed outright. "A 'mere' human? Then what are you, a Martian?"
"I'm an Abaddon, and that, comrade, is a soldier of a skill far beyond anything you've ever dealt with." Kevin smiled thinly. "You're dealing with a man who once incinerated himself. If you think I'm going to be impressed by anything this side of the grave, you've made a fatal mistake." He put away his saber, and lifted both beam rifles. "Are you ready?"
Neo fed power to his thrusters, sent his gunbarrels spiraling in, and smiled. "Time to cut you down to size, kid."
"Then come and die, scabrous dog." The muzzles of the Sturm Vogel's rifles began to glow...
The helmsman, Malik Yardbirds, cursed as he hauled on his controls. "We can't get clear, Captain," he grunted. "There's a large chunk of asteroid blocking our path!"
Gladys stared hard at the screen; and behind her, Athrun's mind worked furiously. There must be something we can do. Come on, we've been through worse situations than this; okay, not much worse, but at least this isn't as bad as Jachin...
His head came up as a new thought occurred to him. "Captain, how many starboard thrusters do we have left?" If his thought was right...
Gladys hesitated. "That's sensitive information, Mister Zala..."
Dullindal waved a hand. "Go ahead, Captain; there's nothing to be gained by keeping secrets at this point. We need all the ideas we can get."
She hesitated a moment longer, then nodded. "Very well. Mister Zala, we have six starboard thrusters operational; what is it you have in mind?"
Athrun took a deep breath; his idea was just slightly crazy, and he probably wouldn't have thought of it at all if he hadn't been around Kevin Walker so much, but... "I suggest you activate all starboard thrusters, and at the same time fire all starboard weaponry at the asteroid. That way, we can use the force of the explosion to get clear."
Trine's head snapped around. "What? But that's crazy! There's entirely too much of a chance that the explosion will destroy us in the process!"
Leona snorted. "Better to die trying than sit by and let them shoot us. Besides, Kevin's out there doing his part, along with your own pilots; it's time we did ours."
Gladys nodded in agreement. "That's right. Malik, Chen, prepare to execute the maneuver on my command." Crazy, maybe, she conceded inwardly. But it's also just the sort of tactic he would've used, and his very survival is proof Kevin Walker knows what he's doing. Sometimes, you have to be unconventional...
Dullindal, meanwhile, remained silent, simply observing the battle. "Are you seeing this, Delta?" he murmured, audible only to his throat mic.
"Da," Arkanian responded. "I'm tapped into Minerva's exterior cameras, now that I've done what I can about the gas. You do seem to be in a fascinating situation, Chairman."
"Indeed. What do you make of your student's piloting?"
She made a faint noise of approval. "Obviously he hasn't lost his touch... at least not completely. Judging from that last move he pulled, he still retains the combat conditioning we gave him five years ago; I recognized Harpy's touch. Not really a surprise, though, since after he started flying something more stable, he was only shot down twice in the last war. First by Athrun Zala's self-destructing mobile suit, and then by that lunatic Le Creuset's Providence."
"You think he'll survive?" Dullindal had already seen the Sturm Vogel take a hit to the leg, and he was now engaged in a running duel with the enemy mobile armor; with the gunbarrels flying everywhere, the situation was undoubtedly less than ideal, as far as the Baron was concerned.
Arkanian snorted. "Survive? I told you before, Chairman, that man will not die. I don't know what Oracle did to him -every man who did is dead, and that bastard never kept precise records- but it's pretty clear there's more in there than I was ever told. Something keeps bringing him back from the dead, even after he incinerated himself."
He nodded imperceptibly. "Point. Now... is there any chance we can bring him back into the fold?"
Another, louder snort. "Back in ZAFT, you mean? Not a chance. There's a remote possibility you could convince him to join forces with us, but never as a ZAFT member. He takes orders from no one, Chairman, and none of his people would ever take orders from anyone save Hydra himself and Medusa, his exec. They were loyal more to him than to ZAFT, and he is loyal to Cagalli Yula Athha more than anything."
"Surely he'd take orders from his own government..."
"In some respects, he is his government, Chairman. He is head of one of the Five Noble Families, and has effectively complete control of Morgenroete. Also, his record from the war is clear enough: he is loyal to no government, nation, or organization, beyond whatever his own scheming has led to. He will obey Lady Cagalli's orders, but no other."
Dullindal nodded thoughtfully. Obviously, Arkanian had been spending the time since the attack studying her student's mid- and post-war actions, deciphering behavioral patterns. It would probably be valuable...
"Captain, we still have two Dagger Ls firing on us," the sensor operator, Burt Heim, warned. "Our mobile suits are not in a position to intercept..."
Gladys nodded. "Understood. Meyrin, have Rey launch in his ZAKU Phantom; we need to get them off us if this plan is to succeed."
"Yes, Ma'am."
Down in the hangar, Alec watched with a certain amount of interest as Rey Za Burrel pulled himself into his white ZAKU Phantom, equipped with the "Blaze" weapons pack. Heading out to help the Commander and the hotheaded kid, he thought to himself. But... there's something strange about that guy. Well, not important right now.
He observed the Phantom heading for the catapult, then began to turn away, and as he did so, the head mechanic, Mad Abes, called out to him. "Hey, Kyle! Get over here; we've got work to do."
Alec pushed off toward his nominal superior, who stood in front of one of the other ZAKUs, for which they had no pilot. "What is it, Boss?"
"We've got orders from the Chairman; seems he wants us to repaint one of these things." Abes shook his head. "Repainting in the middle of a battle... Anyway, we're supposed to turn this thing steel gray, and put some kind of emblem on it; it was used by the Next-Generation Special Forces, apparently, before the unit was disbanded."
Basilisk shook his head in confusion. "Let me get this straight, Boss. We're supposed to paint a machine we don't even have a pilot for in colors of a unit that hasn't existed for two years? And in the middle of a battle no less? That's... weird."
"Hey, I'm just telling you what they told me, Kyle. What the hey, it's not like we've got anything better to do."
Alec shrugged, and turned his attention to the task... while a sliver of his mind contemplated the fact that, while the NGSF itself might no longer exist, one of its former members was aboard Minerva at that very moment...
Inside the catapult, Rey was receiving instructions from Meyrin. "Rey, your first priority is the mobile suits attacking the ship; if we can get them out of the way, we've got a chance of breaking free. Also, if you have the chance, support the Sturm Vogel. Baron Onishi is holding his own, but he's out of practice, operating with an unfamiliar mobile suit."
Rey nodded. "Roger that. Rey Za Burrel, launching."
Chaos' gunbarrels spiraled in toward Impulse, and Shinn threw himself to one side just as they opened up on him. Emerald beams went harmlessly to one side, and his CIWS ripped off a quick burst, tearing a missile swarm to pieces. "You'll have to do better than that!"
Auel fired a powerful red-orange beam from his multiphase energy cannon, and cursed when Impulse ducked beneath it. "I just don't understand what's going on," he complained. "It's three against one out here!"
"Yeah," Sting agreed, annoyed. "Why can't we take down one mobile suit?" He almost said more, but bit it off as he whirled around a quick shot from Impulse's beam cannons. "This just isn't right!"
Nearby, Kevin dueled with Neo's Exus, weaving among the web of laser fire the mobile armor's gunbarrels spat at him, unpleasant memories of Jachin Due going through his mind. If that thing had a few more remote units, I'd be dead, he thought grimly, firing a pair of emerald blasts at one of them. I knew I should've brought that Proto Chaos along, and to hell with Cagalli's reaction... His organization at Artemis had clandestinely purchased one of the prototype mobile armors ZAFT had used to test several of the Chaos' systems; in their pursuit of technological advancement, it had seemed prudent. Via certain contacts in ZAFT's research and development, his subordinates had access to most of the military research going on in the world... and he didn't think Earth Forces technology was worth bothering with anyway.
Not that any of it helped him here.
"I just don't know what to make of you, kid," Neo remarked, triggering a pair of linear cannon slugs on a direct path for the Sturm Vogel's cockpit. "Sometimes you're good, sometimes you're like the worst pilot I ever saw..."
"I've got bad luck with mobile suits, that's all," Kevin grunted, turning sideways to let the projectiles speed past; though one of them grazed his machine's upper torso on its way by. "If I were in my preferred machine, we wouldn't be having this conversation."
The masked pilot snorted. "Yeah, sure. Lucky for me, your 'preferred machine' got blown up two years ago... assuming you really are Kevin Walker."
"If you can give me one good reason someone would want to impersonate me, you might have a point," the Baron shot back, twisting away from a gunbarrel barrage and retaliating with a pair of his own beams. "As it is, I can't think of any reason anyone would want to put themselves at risk by claiming to be me." He uttered a Russian imprecation a moment later, and one of the Exus' gunbarrels swooped past, ignited its beam sabers, and melted clean through his right hand rifle, reducing it to molten scrap which he hurriedly tossed away, before it exploded. That's it, he thought, disgusted. Next time we make one of these diplomatic trips, we take something a little more powerful along. Nemesis, preferably, and I don't even care how loud Cagalli screams over it...
Neo smiled, seeing his enemy's firepower cut in half. "Okay, kid, time to finish this." His gunbarrels spiraled in, his fingers tightened on the triggers...
And a Dagger L blew up.
His head snapped around, just in time to see a white ZAKU Phantom dash out of the debris. "Get clear, Baron," Rey called out. "I can handle this from here!"
"Not a chance," Kevin snapped back. "I can still move; I can still fly." He muttered something under his breath about a lack of respect for one's elders, and turned his attention back to the Exus. "You worry about that other Dagger; I've got this insect."
Rey shook his head, bemused by the older pilot's stubbornness, and boosted off toward the surviving Dagger L. If he wants to try and get himself killed, that's his business...
Neo watched him go, but took a moment before even attempting to pursue. That feeling again... what is this? Who is that pilot, anyway? He shook his head, dismissing the peculiar sensation, and rocketed after the Phantom... only to have his path blocked by the Sturm Vogel. "Out of my way, kid," he radioed. "Or do you want to die?"
"You're not getting past me, you insect," Kevin said calmly. "You can run, you can fight, or you can die. Choices one and two both lead to choice three, by the way."
Neo shook his head. "Cocky, are we? Then let me change your mind."
Leona had to smile in amusement at her comrade's radio chatter. She'd heard of his reputation for creative insults during battle -apparently a psychological warfare technique on his part- but this was the first time she'd actually seen it for herself. "Scabrous dog"? Just what does he think he is, a pirate? Come to think of it, he may have been one at some point. Even after two years back in the public view, Kevin still spoke little of what he'd done in the year between the loss of his original right eye and his arrival on Heliopolis...
"Bogey One moving to intercept us," Heim called, interrupting her thoughts. "Energy readings consistent with charged beam cannons..."
Gladys nodded. "Then let's not keep them waiting. Chen, charge Tristans and the Tannhauser; Malik, prepare all starboard thrusters. Execute!"
Helm and Fire Control responded simultaneously, all six starboard engines firing while the starboard Tristan beam cannons opened up on the asteroid blocking their path. Weapons meant to tear through heavily-armored warships bored through rock with explosive fury, ripping it apart... and suddenly, as pieces of rock went everywhere, Bogey One was right in front of them.
If ships had expressions, Bogey One would've looked shocked.
Clearly, the ship had been preparing to fire on them, but the sudden destruction of the asteroid -and the potential for damage its remains represented- gave them sufficient pause that Minerva's lone high-powered positron cannon had enough time to finish charging.
"Fire Tannhauser," Gladys ordered.
Whoever was commanding Bogey One clearly was not stupid; the ship's bow swung away in a desperate attempt to get clear, but it was too little, too late. From the newly-emerged cannon in the center of Minerva's bow, a powerful stream of red-orange fire, literally a focused antimatter barrage, streaked through space, briefly connecting the two vessels with a bright, thick line.
Two of Bogey One's starboard beam cannons were blown off outright; the rest of the starboard weaponry evidently suffered similar damage, and air was clearly leaking from compartments exposed to vacuum. The ship herself staggered in space, continuing her original turn but in a more haphazard fashion.
"Perhaps that will give them pause," Gladys said in satisfaction. "If they don't retreat, then they've either a great deal of courage or even less sense than I give them credit for."
Athrun shook his head. "This reminds me of something the Archangel did to us in the war, when I was flying off the Vesalius. They forced us into retreat by sending a Moebius Zero to ambush Vesalius, then firing both Lohengrin positron cannons. Commander Le Creuset got them out of the path of one, but the second... Well, if this is anything like that incident, they should be ordering a retreat soon."
"Except," Leona remarked, "that I thought the objective here was to retrieve the three machines they stole?"
Gladys shook her head. "That's the idea, yes, but under the circumstances we need time to regroup. We don't have enough pilots as it is, and we just lost one of our machines; also, Baron Onishi's unit has taken damage that will need to be repaired. No, we'll get them, but not today."
"Serious damage to starboard side, Captain," Lee reported to Neo. "Continued combat may not be advisable at this time."
That was something of an understatement, as far as Neo was concerned; also a very annoying situation. He took another look at the Sturm Vogel -and, out of the corner of his eye, saw the other Dagger L succumb to a missile barrage from the Phantom- and sighed. "You're right, Ian. Signal a retreat; we're getting out of here."
"Yes, Sir."
Neo smiled, and threw an ironic salute to the Sturm Vogel as he recalled his gunbarrels. "Not bad, kid. Till we meet again."
Kevin watched the Exus go with mixed emotions. On the one hand, its departure meant safety for those he fought to protect; on the other, there was still something odd about that pilot, which he was determined to track down. And... he realized now that he had felt more alive during that battle than he had in almost two years. The call to battle still sang within his veins...
"We'll meet again, all right," he murmured. "Even if I have to send Dominion to track you down..." He turned, and fed power to his thrusters on a return course to the Minerva.
Gladys sighed in relief and leaned back in her chair as the three stolen machines abruptly paused in their attacks, turned about, and boosted back toward Bogey One. "Well, I guess it's over, for now..."
"Captain," Meyrin called, "Impulse and Luna's ZAKU are nearly out of power; also, Baron Onishi's unit is running low, and suffering minor damage to several areas."
Gladys nodded. "Very well. Signal them to return aboard immediately."
Dullindal inclined his head. "This isn't over, Captain," he said quietly. "This may have ended as a draw, but we'll still have our chance."
"You really think you can still catch them?" Leona wondered aloud. "They've proven quite resistant to capture and destruction so far."
"They can't run forever, Commander Colde," he said quietly. "And we have dealt serious damage to their ship. Tell me, what do you think the Baron would do, under the circumstances? Give up, or keep trying until he got it right?"
She merely gave him a look. "If he still had access to the sort of firepower he had at his disposal two years ago, the first try would've been enough, Chairman. One does not anger him lightly."
"So I gather." Dullindal turned away, and lowered his voice. "Well, Delta? What did you think of that little incident?"
"If you're speaking of my old student, I think he's a little rusty, but doing reasonably well. I also think that if you intend to do anything with -or about- him, you'd better do it very carefully. His piloting may have atrophied in two years, but his instincts most certainly have not."
"And if I have a role planned for him?"
Arkanian laughed. "If you do, Chairman, I suggest you leave him to me. I may be the only person still alive who can handle that soldier when he gets stubborn; back during the Project, he threw his teammates around like rag dolls, but I was always able to cut him down to size."
"I'll remember that," Dullindal murmured. Oh, he'd certainly remember it...
A couple of hours later, they were once again in the same compartment where they'd met earlier, before the battle. "A rescue ship from Armory One will be coming to retrieve you and your bodyguards, Lady Cagalli," Gladys informed Cagalli. "I apologize for the inconvenience."
The younger woman nodded. "Thank you, Captain. Although," she added in a wry tone, "I think I learned more from this situation than I would have otherwise."
Dullindal smiled. "Probably so, Lady Cagalli." He turned to Athrun. "You saved us all back there, Athrun Zala. You have my thanks."
Athrun shifted uneasily. "Maybe so," he conceded, "but I think I overstepped my bounds, and I apologize for that."
Gladys shook her head. "You have nothing to apologize for, Mister Zala. I'm grateful for your assistance. And yours," she added, nodding at Kevin. "It seems you haven't completely lost your touch, Baron."
He gazed back at her impassively. "Maybe not... but it still came closer than I preferred. You want to thank anyone, thank Athrun, because I, quite frankly, nearly got myself killed pulling that stunt. I don't know who that mobile armor pilot was, but he was good."
"Yet not good enough to actually defeat you," Dullindal pointed out... and hesitated, recalling something else that had come to his attention since the battle had ended. "By the way, Baron... I'm afraid I have bad news for you. We received word from Orb an hour ago, concerning an event in your capital."
Kevin tensed, his eyes becoming instantly wary. "What kind of bad news?" he asked cautiously.
The Chairman sighed. "I'm sorry, Baron, but Frank Castile was found dead earlier today, shot through the chest in his office."
The words failed to register at first, but then Cagalli, Athrun, and Leona took a collective step back as his jade eyes went slit-pupiled, in an instinctive zoanthrope transformation that he instantly throttled back... but there was no denying the sudden fury in his body language, and, more telling, his cold jade eyes. "Frank is dead?" he whispered, voice colder than Cagalli had heard it in years. "Who? Why?"
Dullindal shook his head. "Apparently that's not clear as of yet. Others within the building were alerted by the gunfire, but by the time they arrived, the assailant was already gone. All they found were his secretary, shot through the head, and Castile himself, bleeding out in his chair. Apparently the attacker was using some sort of jamming device, as there is no surveillance footage of the event, but it seems it wasn't all one-sided; Agent Castile's pistol had fired one round. Unfortunately, though he apparently knew who had shot him, he didn't live long enough to pass it along. His last words were, 'Baron Onishi... Baron Onishi. Tell Kevin.' The people who found him believe he was trying to pass a message to you, but didn't have time."
Kevin felt an even hotter spike of rage at that. You're wrong, he thought savagely. He did get me the message. You bastard... five years it's been, and now you come back to ruin my life? You must be the one who unleashed that virus... and now you've killed Frank. Well, I've got news for you: I'm a lot different from how you remember, and you've just made the biggest mistake of your life. I swear, you will die for this!
Cagalli laid a hand on his shoulder. "I'm sorry, Kevin," she said quietly. "We'll find who did it, I promise."
Leona merely looked at him in silence, her face betraying nothing.
He took a deep breath, let it out, and nodded. "Yeah. Yeah, we will." Though he rather suspected Cagalli had a... gentler form of justice in mind than he did. If it was who he thought it was, he wouldn't bother with any formalities. Just a thrust to the heart, or a shot to the brain... He moodily shook his head. "Excuse me, Captain, Chairman, but I need to go someplace and think; today's been... Well, you understand."
Gladys nodded. "I do indeed, Baron. There's a lounge aboard, where you should have some peace and quiet; we're a little undermanned at the moment, and the people we do have will probably be busy for a while repairing damage from the battle."
"Thank you." Kevin nodded to them, smiled briefly at Cagalli, and left.
Cagalli watched him go, concerned. Kevin... it's coming back to you, isn't it? Everything you've done in the past five years... you still can't let it go...
Kevin wasn't very surprised when Athrun entered the lounge not long after; like him, Patrick Zala's son had his own ghosts from the last war. Some of which we share, he thought, brooding. The first act in the war that he truly regretted had been a column of azure lightning pouring from the muzzle of his twin buster rifle, engulfing GAT-X207 Blitz, and its pilot, Nicol Amalfi. He'd known Nicol once, years before; realizing that he had been responsible for the pianist's demise hadn't been easy.
He hadn't let it stop him, though; back then, every death was just one more body in the dirt, one more number added to the hundreds before. Death was something that affected him little; killing came as easily as breathing, and those who fought him paid the price.
Even now, Kevin was quick to shoot to kill, if the need arose, but he truly was tired of all the killing. Battle he enjoyed... killing he did not. He'd do it... but he wouldn't revel in it, as he once had. He shuddered then, remembering his time between ABADDON and joining Kira on Heliopolis. The things he'd done then... and before that, when ABADDON failed. Charlie Evans, Simon Priest, Erica Hawke... Rachel Carver. Then his own brother -or so he'd believed at the time- Mike Carnehan, who had come for him in Banadiya, intent on revenge...
That was something he still didn't understand. The Kraken he'd met there had not been the same one he'd known in the Project; the rhetoric he'd spouted then didn't fit with what Kevin remembered of ABADDON. A desire for revenge he could understand, but... It was like something had driven him mad. I'll probably never know, he thought, resigned. It's too late to ask him. Ours not to reason why, ours not to make reply... ours but to do and die...
"How did it come to this, Kevin?" Athrun asked suddenly, voice quiet. "How is it... that we survived, when so many others died? Rusty, Miguel, Nicol... and even Commander La Flaga. Why them... while we survived?"
Kevin sighed. "I honestly don't know, tovarisch. We both had our share of close calls. Murrue nearly shot you on Heliopolis, you almost blew yourself up with the Aegis... and me? I did die, twice. What am I doing here, instead of Cagalli's father? Or one of my teammates, like Rachel. She... she would've fit right in on the Archangel, I think, but now we'll never know..."
His friend looked him in the eye. "You still aren't over her, are you?"
The Baron swallowed. "Not completely," he conceded. "I wouldn't still love her -it was Hydra who did, not me- but she would be a close friend. And for her to die that way, with her throat torn out by my own fangs..."
Athrun nodded. "I understand."
They understood each other well, in fact. They both had their demons; they'd both done things they'd forever regret. Brought together by the vagaries of their studies in early life, their friendship had been solidified by blood, when they finally fought together on the front lines of the final battles of the Earth/ZAFT War. It was a bond that would not be easily broken.
Leona just watched the two brood, hearing their conversation, from the entrance of the lounge, before she walked back to their temporary quarters leaving the two to their silent musings.
It was a weary trio of pilots who made their way down the corridor from the hangar, long after the battle was over. Shinn, Rey, and Luna had changed out of their flightsuits, after helping to get their machines squared away, and now looked forward to nothing more than a little rest. Two combat sorties in a single day had really taken it out of them.
"I'm so tired..." Luna groaned. "Maybe we only got a draw out there, but at least now we can get some rest..."
"Yeah," Shinn agreed. "And at least we're still alive." That was itself a minor miracle, under the circumstances; and he -grudgingly- admitted that the Orb baron had had a part in that. Whatever else he was, he wasn't a coward... though taking on an Exus all by himself might've indicated that he was a little too eager to help out. Of course, no skin off my nose if he gets himself killed...
Rey, predictably, said nothing; he was a quiet sort, who seemed to have no opinion of the Baron either way.
Someone else, however, did have something to say. "Hey, guys!" Meyrin called, coming down the corridor toward them. "You'll never believe what I heard on the Bridge during that battle!"
Luna looked at her curiously. "What is it, Meyrin? What are you so excited about?"
Her younger sister, forced herself to calm down... a little. "Guys, that Alex Dino... is really Athrun Zala! And... the Baron is our sister's old commander!"
Shinn shrugged. "We knew that already. Well, we suspected that Dino was really Zala, but the Baron admitted outright that he was Kevin Walker." His voice hardened. "And it was Walker who was responsible for the deaths of the ABADDON participants."
Meyrin stared at him. "You're kidding."
Luna sighed. "Let's not jump to conclusions, Shinn. I know he didn't deny doing it, but he also didn't give us the full story. The guy Erica talked about wasn't the kind of guy who would just murder his teammates like that; there must've been something else going on. Even if he did it, well, you heard him: the things that were done to him..." She glanced away. "But I guess you've got a point. I'm not sure I'd trust him behind my back..."
She trailed off, for they were now coming to the very lounge where Kevin and Athrun sat, staring off into space. They appeared to be deep in thought... not that Shinn cared. "So," he said bluntly, "are you really Athrun Zala?"
Athrun looked up in surprise. "Shinn...?" He gazed at him for a moment, then shrugged. "I'm Alex Dino, Shinn. Nothing more, nothing less. What I was in the past doesn't matter... not anymore."
The younger pilot snorted. "As if a guy from Orb would understand anything. Ha! Fat chance."
Kevin looked at him shrewdly. "Is that so, Asuka? Well, then, maybe you should just keep your trap shut, since I seem to recall you're from Orb, yourself."
"That's right," Shinn grated, crimson eyes flashing. "Not that I have anything to say to you, anyway."
Luna raised a hand, as if to forestall further arguing, and spoke to Kevin. "Baron... is it true?" she asked hesitantly. "Is it true that you... killed our sister?" She held her breath, almost afraid of the answer.
Kevin slowly stood. "Lunamaria," he began, "there's something you need to understand. You've been thinking of me like some white knight, like some fairytale hero, all this time. Well, I've got news for you: they're called fairytale heroes because they don't really exist. My armor is tarnished; I'm no one's hero. I have a friend who is a hero... but you'll find that it's never that simple. War leaves no one untouched, and no soldier ever comes out of it without doing something he regrets, unless he's some rear-echelon desk jockey. My friend regretted some lives he couldn't save... and some lives he took. Me? I did a lot of things I'm not proud of, some of which will haunt me to my grave, assuming I can ever stay in it. Two years ago, I killed a ZAFT soldier whom I'd once called friend; I annihilated his mobile suit with a single shot from my own unit. I was also unable to save the father of the one who means the most to me. And... I couldn't save my teammates at ABADDON."
Shinn glared at him. "You didn't even want-"
Kevin's left hand came up, a revolver held easily within it, and he aimed it toward the young pilot without even looking. "If you finish that sentence, we'll all be breathing the contents of your skull," he said quietly. "Do keep that in mind."
Shinn considered saying something more... but in the end decided it wasn't worth it. He means it, he realized unhappily. Guess even someone like him can only be pushed so far... but one day he'll get what's coming to him anyway...
The revolver disappeared, and the Baron looked back at Luna. "It was my hand that did the deed," he said evenly. "And I will regret that for the rest of my life. But it was not my mind in control. It was a raging beast unleashed by the casual cruelty of Commander Harris, and the twisted genetics within my own body. I killed them... but it wasn't because I wanted to." His voice fell to a whisper. "It was because I literally couldn't stop my own body, even as I watched helplessly while it killed."
Kevin clenched his cybernetic fist abruptly, and left, leaving a conflicted Meyrin and Luna in his wake.
Shinn merely snorted. "Nice excuse," he sneered, and also left... though he conspicuously took a different route from the Baron.
Athrun sighed. "I suggest you listen to Kevin," he said quietly. "I've known him for most of my life, and I can tell you that what he did five years ago does weigh on his mind. I don't know exactly what happened there -I don't think even he does, anymore- but I can tell you that what he just said is exactly what he believes."
The Hawke sisters exchanged glances, but said nothing. Such a shocking admission would take much pondering, before even they could decide how they felt about it.
Shinn stormed away from the lounge, disgusted with Athrun Zala but even more disgusted with Kevin Onishi. Walker, he told himself, arriving at the hatch to his quarters. Whatever he might call himself now, he is, and will always be, Kevin Walker... the traitor.
And not just to ZAFT, he brooded, dropping onto his bunk. Even after that, there'd been the Battle of orb, when his home nation had been overrun by the Earth Alliance. If the Orb nobles had done their job, the nation wouldn't have fallen... and his family would still be alive.
Shinn could remember that day like it was yesterday. Running from the battle area, seeing his sister's cell phone tumble down a hill, running to retrieve it for her... and then the searing bolt of pure azure light, a bolt of synthetic lightning crashing down so close it nearly burned him alive...and it had killed his parents and his sister Mayu.
He'd never yet found out which mobile suit had fired the shot; he hadn't been watching the sky just then. But since most units on both sides used green energy weapons, it probably wouldn't be too hard to track who it was. And when he found out... Well, Kevin Walker wasn't the only one with a taste for revenge...
Swallowing hard at the memories, Shinn picked up the pink cell phone which he still kept, even after two years, and held it to his ear. Still recorded within was a voice mail message, and so, tears leaking from his eyes, Shinn Asuka listened to his sister's voice one more time...
Over a thousand kilometers away from the Minerva, a small, powerful fighter prowled the Debris Belt, moving slowly and with optical camouflage online. The armored soldier known as Hyperion sensed that another battle was coming, and this time the soldier's own intervention might be required. Therefore, it was wise to top of the fighter's reactor mass; the fission generator was good enough for long cruises and as a backup, but for a battle, Hyperion preferred to have maximum power available for both weapons and the powerful engines. Fortunately, a fusion reactor could use almost anything as reaction mass, and the Debris Belt had any number of possible sources.
Right now, Hyperion was cruising near the remains of Junius Seven. The soldier recalled that the Archangel had found water here, and that would be ideal for feeding the reactor. Also, there had been rumors of late that a certain thief had been spotted in this area, and if the so-called "Star Thief" was indeed here, Hyperion wanted to deal with the threat expeditiously. A person with such an unsavory reputation could well pose a threat to Kevin Walker, and that was something Hyperion refused to permit.
However, examining the readings from the fighter's sophisticated instruments, Hyperion began to realize there was a more immediate threat: the soldier was detecting signs of mobile suits... and a definite change in the orbit of Junius Seven's remains.
That's not good, the soldier thought, mind racing. If that crashes into Earth, the damage could well result in a nuclear winter... and even if it doesn't, the Earth Alliance will be sure to blame the PLANTs for this. If this isn't a no-win situation, I don't know what is... Kevin has to be warned.
The fighter came about, the fission generator began supplying more power to the twin engines, and they ignited in a blaze of light as Hyperion set out to do something about what could well be the greatest disaster in the history of mankind...
Author's note: In the aftermath of the attack on Armory One, the clone known as Jack Carter prepares to arrive on the scene... but for what purpose? Meanwhile, the Minerva has driven off Girty Lue, Kevin Onishi begins to come to grips with his own participation in the conflict... and trouble brews in the Debris Belt.
Yes, I know, this chapter took rather longer than I would've preferred, but I'm afraid the heat is getting to be a real annoyance as far as writing is concerned. In any case, at least I have finished it, and have finally explained what happened to Flay after the war. Happy? Anyway, I'll try to get the next one written a little faster; this heat wave can't last forever. In the meantime, let me know what you think. -Solid Shark