Chapter Three: Quiet After The Storm

Carrus watched, firing four more railgun shots, and several times with his beam rifles at the unknown mobile suit that was attacking the ZAFT forces. The Strike retaliated quickly, firing all beam weapons on the striker pack at Carrus, who coolly spun through all the fire, and collided into the Strike, pushing it into the debris field of the Trident, while charging his positron gun. Suddenly, strike shoved its knee into the chest, kicking Carrus off.

"Hell!" Carrus cursed as the Freedom smashed into what was left of the cruisers hull. "So… that's how it is?" Carrus readied a beam sabre, and drew a beam rifle, as he clashed with the Strike, which drew a beam sabre, and struck on the right side, when Carrus raised his beam rifle in response. "Have some of THIS!" Carrus fired, straight into the shoulder, damaging the suit, as the Strike cut through that beam sabre. Carrus' eyes widened, as the beam cannons aimed again, he knew his next move, as his mind and voice barked his order. "FLY Dragoons!" A pair of Dragoons flew from the wing tips on the Freedom and through the Debris, as the enemy fired his beam cannons, Carrus raised his arm in defence, as the one beam destroyed the hand and beam sabre on the Freedom, when Carrus fired both Dragoons, taking out the left arm and right leg on the Strike, while he drew a beam sabre.

Raven roared, as he slammed into the air bag that protected his head from injury. This pilot was good. He felt ecstasy rush through his body, when a series of laser blasts cu through, the enemy Kshatriya and the orange Gundam appeared.

"Heh… can't do EVERY mission by myself it seems…" Raven chuckled. "Well, this was fun… Maybe next time, Freedom."

The Strike turned and fled, the backpack pushed the Strike through space at a quick pace. Carrus grabbed his dark blue helmet, ripping it from his suit as fast as he could, breathing as much as he could. That battle wore him out, what was only a couple of minutes, seemed like an eternity to the young pilot. The Kshatriya flew beside the Freedom, as its hand made contact with Carrus' suit.

"Freedom unit, you all right?" The pilot asked, his voice established by the contact link.

"Y… yeah… I'll be okay." Carrus breathed, slowing down as the adrenaline left his system. "Any chance I can come aboard your ship for repairs and maintenance?"

"The commander wants you aboard immediately, the Harute is already on board."

"Thanks, I appreciate it." Carrus smiled.

Mayu flew over the ocean, enjoying the sound of the seagulls nearby. She opened her cockpit, letting the wind rush through her long hair as she continued her patrol. Carrus always lectured her about what could happen when she had her cockpit open, but she really didn't care too much, always brushing him off as the "paranoid type". Suddenly, she saw a flash in the distance, and heard a loud cracking of beam sabres. Her eyes wide, she closed the cockpit, seeing two mobile suits on an island, duelling with beam sabres. One was pure white, with a single horn on the top of its head, and the other was a white and yellow Gundam, a set of red and yellow shafts on its back, representing wings.

"What the heck is going on there?" Mayu asked herself, as she flew over the pair. "Attention unknown mobile suits, please... uhh... identify yourselves." The pair continued their duel, not paying any attention to Mayu, until she landed right in between the pair. "Uhh? Hello? Hey!"

Suddenly, the pair stopped, their heads turned, as Lawrence's face appeared on screen. "Oh, sorry Mayu… It's just Brandon and I."

"Oh! Commander Lamperouge!" Mayu bolted, her back straightening. "Sorry! I had no idea!"

"Quite all right, the pair of us are training to get more efficient with our Gundams."

"Kinda funny looking Gundams, dontcha think?" Mayu giggled. "What are those, Angel wings? And… why does Brandon's Gundam have a horn?"

Lawrence chuckled to himself. "Well we all have our preferences. But, Brandon's Gundam, it isn't fully activated, so it kind of looks like a unicorn.

Brandon appeared on the view screen next, his face red with embarrassment. "Lawrence! Shut it!"

"Relax Brandon, she's a friend after all."

Mayu giggled at Brandon and Lawrence. "Carrus' mobile suit kinda looks like a sparkly bird, So don't worry Brandon! Unicorn's are way cooler!"

"Anyway… I suppose we should head back to base…" Lawrence interrupted. "Mayu, would you like to come with us?"

"Uhm… okay!" Mayu smiled. "But I've got a question, why not train in those Astrays?"

Lawrence sighed in disappointment, reminded of his lessons. With a raise of his head, he explained they're situation. "We've both mastered those Astrays. Those are easy, but we still haven't mastered the Gundams. The Zero system on the Wing Zero is so complicated and overwhelming, that even I can lose my mind. I almost destroyed a colony on Mars because of that system, but somehow managed to stop myself , making me realise I have to train to control it. Completely. I can't afford to watch others use that system. And as for Brandon, he still needs to master the NT-D."

Brandon rolled his eyes, unsure of Lawrence's decision. "Lawrence… you're too trustworthy…"

"And you're too paranoid." Lawrence chuckled. "After all, Mayu is kind and gentle. We can trust her…"

Mayu blushed slightly at Lawrence's words. She had never had so much faith in her before.

Carrus exits the Freedom, pushing himself the mobile suit, the feel of life without gravity felt almost second nature to him. It was odd, but convenient, having this ability. He looked down upon the deck, to see Setsuna on the hangar floor, greeting Lotte and Kat as they exited their Gundam, and saluted Setsuna.

"Lotte..."

"And Kat, Orb Inspection Team, Pilots of the GN-011 Harute, reporting in."

"Guess we won't have to worry about double checking those Flags anymore..." Lotte frowned, looking at the empty spaces in the hangar, which now housed the Kshatriya.

Setsuna nodded in response. "Good to have you both here. You as well Carrus..." Setsuna greeted, as Carrus stood next to Kat, she nudged him, and he blankly stared at her, realising he had to salute Setsuna, he flicked his hand up, and Setsuna returned the salute. "Lotte and Kat, both of you have your orders, so please, do as you wish on the ship." Setsuna glances over to Carrus. "You on the other hand...head to the next level, there should be a free room ready for you with anything that you may need, and I've arranged for a pair of guards outside awaiting any questions..."

Kat politely bowed, as was custom in her birthplace, Japan. "Thank you sir, we will begin immediately."

Carrus turned his head, frowning. "Why am I getting treated like a prisoner?"

Lotte turned away from Setsuna, and lowered his head to look at Carrus. "As far as I know from the Mission Report, you're not even supposed to be here. For whatever reason you are, it's best not to have a factor that could be disruptive to the mission wandering around. Sorry if that's not a good enough explanation."

"Please don't see it as being a captive," Setsuna announced. "You being here was unexpected and I have arranged a room for you to stay in until we reach Orb, you'll have access to wireless connections, and a phone if you feel that you want to speak to anyone onboard this ship, or on earth such as your young girlfriend. You could even make a call to the PLANT's if you wanted" Setsuna explained, as Lotte and Kat headed out to make their inspections.

"Huh?" Carrus blinked, as Setsuna turned, following Lotte and Kat. "How did he know Mayu and I were dating?"

Mayu slid down to the ground, walking over to Brandon and Lawrence, who filled out some maintenance logs. Lawrence turned to face Mayu first, his face was caring and curious.

"Mayu, what do you know about Newtypes?"

"Newtypes?" Mayu wondered, as she played with her hair. "Um… I remember an article on them, people are saying they're evolved humans. Right?"

"Yes and no…" Lawrence explained. It all depends on perspective and audience. For example, the Naturals claim Newtypes to be natural-born Co-Ordinators, which is false as Newtypes are not physically different, whereas Co-Ordinators believe Newtypes to be the next step in evolution, which is also wrong, as Newtypes are humans who simply view things differently."

"So… what IS a Newtype?" Mayu asked, the one question that people have started to ask, ever since people realised that Newtypes existed in the world.

"That's the question…" Brandon interrupted, drawing Mayu and Lawrence's attention. "I've almost killed myself too many times in my quest for that answer… I just hate the idea of not knowing what we are…"

"…We?" Mayu gasped. "Brandon… are you…"

"We are." Lawrence announced. "The pair of us are Newtypes."