Disclaimer: I don't own Gundam Seed in any way shape or form
A/N: Once again another year has gone by and I have a present for all my fans or those in the Gundam Seed fanfiction section anyway you all know the drill leave reviews of your thoughts on this story to date and let me know what might need improving. Also so happy New Year to all and say hello to my first post for the New Year The Songstress.
Chapter 4: The Tiger's Dunes
Lacus moved her head away from the light shinning into her eyes. She could hear the voice of the ship's doctor saying something about her being in better shape than Kira and Mir's voice a moment later, saying they had been unconscious for two days so far and were showing no sigh of waking up.
Sighing Lacus opened her eyes, rolling her head slowly to one side, to see Mir seated on a stool between two beds. She could just make out Kira's mop of brown hair in the bed across from her, and Lacus brought a hand up off the bed and just managed to touch Mir's knee before it was too much effort and her arm dropped.
Mir quickly looked around and moved just as quickly to tuck the now black haired girl back into bed and smooth the covers before cheeking the IV.
"Hey, sleepy head. You've been out for two days." Mir wrung out a damp towel and placed it on Lacus' forehead.
"Where did we land?" Lacus whispered, looking up at Mir who glanced over at Kira's still form for a moment before looking back at her.
"We are in Africa from what we can tell. N-Jammer's are messing with all of the ships systems and we can't really tell exactly where we are; only that it's a desert and we are in the middle of ZAFT territory." Mir explained, watching Lacus as she considered for a moment and then raised a shaky arm to take the damp towel from her forehead.
With a sigh Lacus looked up at the white ceiling of the medical ward. "What is Kira's condition? The last thing I remember was reaching Kira's unit and then we were locked into re entry."
"Kira's been out cold since he managed to land both the Faith and the Strike on the Archangel. Mu brought him in while Sai and Tolle brought you in. The Faith is alright. It will take another two days to replace the parts that melted, or were shaken loose, on re entry. The Strike Aile pack will be out for another four days, as most of its controls are melted, and the Strike itself is in pretty good shape, all things considered. It should be repaired by morning." Mir answered Lacus's next round of questions before she could ask them.
With a tired nod Lacus closed her eyes and succumbed to sleep. Getting a little more sleep sounded really good at the moment. Mir quietly went off to find the ship's doctor to let him know that Lacus had woken up.
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The next morning Lacus woke to the sound of Kira speaking in hushed tones to Sai and his friends. Sitting up slowly and carefully in her bed she leaned carefully against the wall, watching the others until Kira noticed she was awake.
"Morning, Lacus. Sai and the others were just telling me what I've missed over the last few days." Kira said, slowly and carefully getting out of bed, his friends watching him closely ready to intervene if he faltered.
Lacus nodded and was about to say something when Mir handed her a glass of water.
"You are still dehydrated and someone didn't replace your IV bag on time. You might find your throat is a little dry and you might even feel that everything around you is a little on the weird side."
Lacus nodded her thanks, sipped the water and looked over the boys in the room and then turned to Mir.
"I don't know about you, but I could do with a shower and without looking under the covers I just know I'm wearing less than I would feel comfortable wearing with boys in the room." Lacus smiled at the guys who laughed, taking her hint.
Sai and Tolle came forward to gather up Kira, bracing him by holding his arms and quietly leaving the room, saying they would take him for a shower. Mir fetched some towels and a few other items and then assisted Lacus into the women's showers.
A few hours later found the newly refreshed Lacus in the mess hall enjoying a late breakfast. Seated across from her was Kira, who was just finishing up his meal. Leaning back he contented himself with watching Lacus, admiring the black and pink hair and the girl in general.
"It might pay for us to head down to the hanger and help with what repairs we can. There is no telling when we might be attacked; or by who." Kira said, watching as Lacus leaned back in her seat, a glass of water in hand.
Lacus looked up after a moment of deep thought and put her glass down. "If I remember my father's report on how the war was going accurately, then a man by the name of Andrew Waltfeld, and his co-pilot Aisha, hold command of the forces in Africa. His code name is Desert Tiger. Other than that I can't remember anything else about the Earth occupation forces in this region."
Kira nodded and rose. "Come on, we might as well do something besides sit around as the doctor suggested. I don't know about you, but I'll get bored very quickly."
Lacus agreed and quickly moved to follow Kira, the pair leaving the mess hall talking quietly about anything that came to mind.
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Unknown to the crew of the Archangel they were being watched by two forces from the cover of the desert sands. The resistance fighters observed the ship, in their ranks was a girl who would be in for quite a shock when she realized that a boy who had saved her life was onboard the ship. The other party of observers, however, was camped a little further off, their Commander standing on a tall dune and observing the ship through powerful binoculars.
"Hmmm, they seem to be all tucked in and sleeping peacefully at the moment." The man murmured.
The desert winds blew gently across his face, stirring his short cut brown hair while his eyes remained focused on the ship. Decision made he was suddenly in motion, sliding down the face of the dune toward his base camp.
"DeCosta, get the troops together. We attack in two hours."
The younger man followed his Commander, watching as the man calmly picked up his coffee cup from the dashboard of the jeep, "Yes sir. I'll get right on it." He moved hastily to where five BuCUE's were stationed, the pilots sitting back waiting for orders.
'Hmmm, not a bad blend this cup,' Andrew Waltfeld thought, taking another appreciative sip of his coffee and watching as his men sprang into action.
"If the coffee's first rate, then so will be the battle." He murmured, watching as DeCosta ordered the air forces into action, the pilots running for their choppers to run pre flight checks.
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Lacus straightened from replacing a main hydraulic line in the left leg of the Faith, throwing aside the melted line. Kira caught it and placed it on a pile of ruined parts. He was assisting Lacus as the Strike was fully repaired. The Aile pack would take longer to repair, of course, but he still had the Sword and the Launcher.
Kira regarded the young woman as she wiped the streak of grease from her face, jumping down to land perfectly in front of him and demonstrating both balance and skill that only years of gymnastics could bring about. Straightening up Lacus smiled at him.
"Nice moves. Are we done with this joint?"
Lacus nodded, moving immediately to the other leg. "Father wanted me to be in good shape and not get lazy, so I took gymnastics classes and even a little yoga. When I started my singing career they helped me relax between shows."
A distant look passed over her face as she thought of her father, who must by now think she was dead. Kira rested a hand on her shoulder lightly, understanding how it must worry her that her family knew nothing of her whereabouts; not even that she was alive.
"The moment we can, I'll help you get a message to your father without endangering the ship." Kira assured her, before he cupped his hands and Lacus accepted the leg up to the first hand hold on the suits right leg.
Looking down at Kira once she was in place to check the leg joint for damage, Lacus smiled and nodded her thanks for his offer of help. Quickly pulling the armour panel over the mechanics of the leg off, she looked over the joint and hydraulics for damage.
Mu, from his seat in the cockpit of the Sky-Grasper, watched the two before the voice of Murdoch drew his attention back to the task at hand. Murdoch reminded him it was time for work as, until they could get up in the air, they were in dire straights should they be attacked. All of the resources of the ship were aimed at repairing the mobile suits and his Sky-Grasper and the bay was a hive of activity.
"You're right, of course. How do you think the kids are doing?" Mu clambered out of the pilot's seat, jumping down to stand at Murdoch's side and glance over to where Lacus was calling down a list of the parts she would need to Kira, who would then inventory them.
"I think they have been a huge help in the last few hours with the Faith. If they keep this up the Faith should be set by sunrise, but I think the kids will pass out by then. They are still recovering from what happened a few days ago." Murdoch responded, watching as Kira sorted through a trolley for parts and tossed them up to Lacus who caught them with ease.
Kira watched as Lacus pulled a melted component from one of many gaping panels in the leg assembly and quickly replaced it, checking the components around it to ensure nothing else was damaged. He was about to ask if she wanted more parts for the next stage of the repair when the whole ship shuddered. Lacus only just avoiding tumbling off the leg of the Faith by grasping onto the edge of some of the armour plating.
"What was that?" Kira yelled, hoping someone else might know.
Lacus jumped down, landing beside Kira and watching as a few engineers moved to the fighter and began to load ammunition. Kira and Lacus moved to the locker room to change into flight suits, noting Mu was back in the cockpit and running systems checks.
"All hands. All hands. Level One battle stations, I repeat, Level One battle stations. We are under attack by an unknown enemy. Command to Hanger Bay, are the Strike and the Faith combat ready?" Mir's voice sounded out throughout the hanger.
Pausing in securing his flight suit Kira exchanged a meaningful glance with Lacus who was securing the last of the seals on her pink flight suit, covering up the thin strapped tank top she had worn under her jacket as she had worked. He was fleetingly glad she had worn the jacket in the flight bay, or no one would have gotten any repairs done.
Kira moved to the com unit on the wall to contact the bridge. "The Strike is battle ready. I'll use the Launcher pack as the Aile is still being repaired. The Faith I would estimate is at 70 percent combat readiness, but I wouldn't allow it to lunch at present, not unless it was unavoidable."
"Understood, Kira." Captain Murrue's voice replaced Mir's over the intercom. "I want you to stand by in the Strike while we try and determine the location and identity of the enemy. Lacus, help out the repair crews any way you can to get the Faith at least up to 80 percent in as little time as possible."
The Archangel shuddered as another round of missiles came down and this time Kira knew they were closer, the people firing at them were finding their range. The next round was sure to directly impact on the ship.
Lacus nodded in parting to Kira and hurried into the hanger while Kira finished changing. Her first stop was to the mechanics who had been loading the Sky-Grasper with ammunition and requested as soon as they finished could they complete the work she had started on the right leg of the Faith. She would warm up the suits OS and do a scan for more damage and evaluate the computer systems preparatory to flight if it was required. She had used the suit in space, not in the Earth's atmosphere where gravity was a factor and she needed to be sure she knew everything that was wrong with the unit and exactly what her capabilities would be.
Mu straightened up in his cockpit, the onboard systems all prepared for flight as the ship shuddered, the missile hitting the sands close to the hull. The enemy now had their range and the Archangel would be in trouble. The bridge crew were still desperately attempting to identify their assailants; although they were sure it had to be ZAFT. No one else, the consensus was, would attack first and ask questions later.
"Hey kid. You ready to go?" Mu called out as Kira came running through the bay towards the Strike.
"I am! Lacus is working on the Faith with a few others to get it ready if needed. Any word from the bridge on who is attacking us?"
Mu shook his head and began to pull on his flight suit, provided for him by a technician who had known the man likely would have flown his ship in his overalls.
On the bridge Murrue narrowed her eyes as more missiles came in toward them and ordered the Igelstellungs operators to shoot them down. One or two were bound to get through she knew, and now would be the best time to launch their defenders.
"Launch the Strike! It is plain our opponents plan to remain hidden. Launching the Strike might entice them to come out and fight us head on, and not play hide and seek in the dunes."
A missile hit the port side of the ship and the Archangel bucked from the impact.
Kira acknowledged the order to launch and try to locate the enemy with all possible speed, settling himself comfortably in the cockpit and checking his strapping as the Strike was loaded onto the catapult and the Launcher pack attached. Kira heard Lacus talking to the crews working feverishly around the Faith, knowing the Strike would need back up soon.
Lacus watched the main hatch lock in place as the Strike was ready to lunch; a beep dragged her attention back to the computer where readouts informed her that the Faith was at 75 percent of full function. The right leg was repaired and repairs to the right shoulder would increase the suits working capacity to 80 percent.
"The right shoulder joints are fussed," She called down to her work crew. "Make it quick please, before something happens to the Strike and the Archangel."
Mu, who was calling readouts to the Chief Engineer as the last of the ammunition was being loaded could not help but laugh quietly.
"She might as well scream 'I want to protect my husband' with how she is acting towards the kid." He commented to Chief Murdoch who laughed along with him.
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The one known as the Desert Tiger watched the launch of the Strike with interest, particularly as it flew to the top of a dune and set down, immediately sinking almost up to its knees in the loose sand. A brief feral grin flickered across his face as he considered the unit, and he flicked his gaze back to the ship, wondering where the second suit was.
"So that's the suit that gave Le Creuset and his team so much trouble. But where is the second unit, I wonder? Damaged from the past battle so severely it can not participate?" He mused aloud, not expecting DeCosta to answer. His team knew his command well enough to know he was not looking for an answer at this time.
"Well, I don't think a test of its battle capacity with just the helicopters will be entirely accurate. Send in the BuCUE's, and make sure they know to keep their eyes open for that second unit." Andy watched the choppers firing on the Strike and noted that no appreciable damage appeared to have been done. 'An impressive machine, but what of the pilot? Is he as good at combat on the Earth as he was in space?'
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Kira knew he was in trouble. As the last of the missiles impacted around him he barely avoided having the head of the Strike taken off by the feet of a BuCUE.
"Damn! I can't get any footing!" He cursed, the sands shifting beneath him again when the Strike's feet came in contact with it. It seemed to him the Strike sank deeper each time he was forced down, by the missiles impacting around him all the time, and the BuCUE's moved along the sands without a sign of sinking. It was only a matter time before they would force the Strike into submission.
"Damn it! I can't fight back like this." Kira snarled over the radio, everyone on the bridge of the Archangel, and in the hanger, hearing him and watching on the monitors as the Strike took to the air, firing down at the BuCUE's circling him from the ground.
"How much longer until you free up that joint?" Lacus called from the cockpit, hearing Kira groan as another missile impacted the Strike.
"Another few minutes, Miss Cl… Tokiha. We are replacing the last of the burned out components while we are working on the joint, but it could be another ten minutes." One of the engineers called, remembering at the last second to maintain the disguise of her false name. The Archangel had a few survivors from the 8th fleet on board whom they did not wish to know her real name.
Lacus nodded, far from happy and watched the readout on the status of the Faith, taking note of the fact that the Igelstellungs mounted in the head would not be usable as they were both out of ammunition and one of the barrels was melted. The whip and the rifle were usable, also one of the duel short range railguns on the left arm.
'I might not be at full combat capability, but I can at least take some of the pressure off of Kira.'
Kira hadn't even hit the sand fully before it shifted beneath the Strike's feet, sinking the unit up to the knee joint yet again.
"Damn it!" He hit the thrusters, taking off again only to be forced down by one of the BuCUE's hitting the sands hard directly behind him, a huge clawed foot whacking the Strike solidly.
On the bridge Natarle watched the Strike as it was battered from all sides before giving the order to fire missiles into the area. When Mir and Sai protested Natarle snorted at their inexperience and commented that the Phase Shift armour would protect the Strike.
Lacus, who was tuned into the Bridge conversation, narrowed her eyes at Natarle's comments, making a note to herself to have a talk with the second officer about firing missiles at her allies.
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Andy watched as four missiles were launched from the Legged ship, each one hitting around the Strike. With a raised eyebrow he shook his head. "Looks like that pilot's captain wants to motivate their pilot to do better. A bit of a harsh nudge, but the question is will it work?"
DeCosta nodded and watched as the BuCUE's, which had sprung aside at the incoming missile strike, moved back into the attack after the sand settled down. The ZAFT mobile suits began firing on and ramming the Strike from all sides, forcing it deeper and deeper into the sand.
Kira, desperate, watched the enemy mobile suits closely for any clues that might make the difference in his surviving the attack. He noted how the units all had either treads or huge feet and moved with a measured gait, distributing weight evenly over the shifting sands and none of the ZAFT units sank as he did.
'The Strike's weight needs to be distributed evenly and the motion controls changed.' He thought firing the thrusters and taking to the air again, pulling down the keyboard and starting to type, make the changes as quickly as he could.
"Lacus, if you can hear me you will need to make changes to the controls to help with combat in this environment. The sand is just not stable enough for combat with a two legged Mobile Suit and an unaltered OS." Kira continued typing, opening the OS uplink between the Faith and the Strike, an uplink that he and Lacus had been working on before the fight in orbit.
Its use now might mean the difference for them in this so far uneven combat.
Lacus, startled, looked at the new screen that flashed up a moment after she received Kira's message. Looking over the changes Kira was making to the Strike she understood what she had to do and quickly began copying the changes to her own OS.
"I read you, Kira, just hold out for another two minutes. That's all we need and I'll be there." Lacus glanced desperately at the engineers, one of whom gave her the thumbs up to indicate that actually was all they needed to complete the shoulder repairs. By the time she altered the programming the Faith would be ready to go.
Kira could only hope two minutes was all it would take as he completed the changes and punched in the upgrades, landing this time without sinking into the sand.
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The Desert Tiger watching the combat couldn't help being a little impressed by the skill the pilot had demonstrated in reprogramming the suits OS while in combat, and that was what had had to have happened, he knew, for the sudden reversal taking place. From what he had seen of the reports of this mobile suit, he knew it would out gun his own units and that called for a slight change of direction.
"Radio the Lesseps; tell them to fire the main cannon. Target the Legged Ship." He ordered, watching the Strike firing on, and taking down, one of the BuCUE's by shooting out both legs on one side. The pilot refrained from firing on the cockpit, he noted, finding that to be curious given the situation.
"He's got skills… and he has earned my curiosity."
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Mu looked up from completing the final checks as the Sky-Grasper was rolled into lunch position, bracing himself as the catapult hurled him into the sky. Gritting his teeth against the G forces he rolled the ship, heading right for the Strike, intending to assist him and having to dodge wildly to avoid the incoming cannon fire.
"What the hell!" He rolled over one shot, dodged another and fed power to the thrusters, watching helplessly as the Archangel was pummelled.
"Get us in the air and evade before the next round comes in!" Murrue screamed as the ship shuddered beneath the impacts.
In seconds the scream of the engines powering the ship picked up and, rocking to the turbulence, the Archangel began to rise from the sands of the desert.
Kira stared in open mouthed shock as more shells came in, targeting the ship and as he watched them scream past him a strange calm settled over him. Everything was moving in slow motion about him, only he was moving at normal pace, or so his mind told him, as he brought the beam cannon around and fired over and over again. He could not see the Archangel destroyed and somehow he knew exactly which shells would do the killing damage and they alone were his targets.
It was… surreal.
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Andy's eyes widened as one by one the shells were hit, exploding beneath the onslaught of the weapon being fired. He picked out that only certain shells were being targeted, it was impossible to target the entire barrage, and the Archangel was still being hit, just not in any vital areas. His eyes narrowed as he considered the skill improvement being demonstrated and considered his next order.
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Lacus clenched her hands into fists as the Faith settled onto the catapult, the last of the repairs and the changes to the OS complete. Finally she could go out there and assist Kira and keep the ship from being destroyed.
"Ready when you are, Mir." Lacus noted she had no more than a half hour of power in a combat situation. With the remaining damage to the Faith still needing to be repaired they dared not fully charge the mobile suit, as overloads were possible. It would be enough, she decided.
It had to be.
"Lacus, you all clear and ready to lunch. Good luck and watch your back." Mir opened the main hatch and the catapult thrust the Faith into the sky.
She had barely reached the sand when she had to jump to avoid one of the BuCUEs and lashed out with the whip, taking the BuCUE around the middle and an energy discharged fried the main computer for the Mobile suit while it was still in mid air, having followed her leap.
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Andy watched the battle, noting that the only fighter plane to be launched was now heading on a direct line towards the location of the Lesseps. He looked back down in time to see the Faith and the Strike link up, putting their backs together and the new suit, armed with an energy whip, using the weapon to make a sand screen to block the BuCUE's sight. The Strike would take advantage of the screen, and obviously had a decent sensor array as it fired through the screening sand, coming close to damaging the BuCUE's and forcing them to keep their distance.
"Hmmm, the first pilot has been doing rather well, but if our intelligence is correct it should be running out of power soon. Order the remaining BuCUE's to attack only the first suit to emerge, the other suit is to be driven back." Andy instructed DeCosta who quickly radioed the orders in.
The Lesseps had fired another volley at the Legged ship which was now able to manoeuvre and avoided the worst of the barrage, but could not retaliate against the Lesseps or fire on the mobile suits without hitting their own units.
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For Kira the world was still moving in slow motion, and he fired again and again through the swirling sand, unable to get a lock on a target but knowing he was closing in on them. A flashing light distracted him, caught out of the corner of his eye and suddenly the world returned to normal. Sweating heavily, panting for breath Kira could only stare at the indicator reading; he was about to lose his power. The power indicators were in the red and he would lose all power in another few shots.
"Damn, I've used the cannon too much." He discovered he was on a closed circuit with Lacus and knew she had heard him, though given the interference from the battle it was likely only Lacus had.
"Kira, get back to the Archangel! If you can get to the ship and get the sword pack it should give you enough energy to finish this fight." Lacus moved the Faith to one side to avoid a missile attack from one of the three remaining BuCUE's.
"There is no way in hell I am leaving you to fight three BuCUE's with a damaged Mobile Suit!" Kira shouted, using the Vulcan gun to drive back one of the enemy suits. "We both make a run for the ship, and don't argue; I just used the last of my ammunition."
Lacus gritted her teeth but could only agree, without cover the Strike would not make it back. They both jumped back from a barrage of missiles hitting all around them and started to move, firing their mobile suits to the greatest speed they dared and still have a chance of getting the Strike back on the ship.
A few small explosions went off around them as on their left side and beyond the BuCUE a dozen small armoured jeeps erupted over the sand dunes to the east.
"What on earth?!"
Kira watched in amazement as, clearly out gunned, the resistance fighters in the jeeps charged head on at the three BuCUE's. He was about to move to assist them when a single jeep peeled away and drove right at him. Sand flew as the vehicle careened madly across the sand and came to a skidding stop, and some wire was shot was at the mobile suit, connecting with the Strike's arm.
"Attraction pilot of this mobile suit! Proceed to the following coordinates and you might just live through this. The same applies to your comrade."
"Kira, I don't think we have a choice. I'm nearly out of power from using the shock whip. We could not fully power the Faith and my fighting capacity is limited." Lacus moved out to Kira's right side as the resistance fighters broke off their attack and careened across the sand toward them.
In the back seat of the jeep Cagalli watched as the two Earth Forces suits moved ahead of the main group, now following the coordinates they had passed to them. The BuCUE's were regrouping and moving to give chase.
"Wave something they want in front of their face and watch them follow it anywhere in the world." She smiled, watching as the Strike and the Faith landed just a head where she had told them to. "Including to their doom."
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The Desert Tiger scowled, watching from his sand dune as his three remaining suits chased the Earth Forces suits. As the mobile suits landed on a flat area of the desert he realized what was going to happen.
"Get them out of there now!" He sharply ordered, DeCosta moving quickly to the radio only to hear the sound of a large explosion a moment later.
The three suits vanished in a fire storm that lit up the predawn sky and the Desert Tiger bared his teeth.
"Damn them! That is not war, it is murder. Recall everything, DeCosta. We are leaving. We will deal with the Desert Dawn another day." Andy snarled before softly saying a prayer for his fallen men, making note that it was only the Desert Dawn resistance fighters and the Legged ship which had intentionally killed his men. For some reason the mobile suit pilots had refrained from killing, settling for disabling his units.
It was, to say the least, curious.
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Kira and Lacus watched from a rock out crop as the retreat took shape. The ZAFT forces were quick and efficient in their retreat and nothing was left that might be of use to the resistance fighters. They watched as an attack chopper stopped long enough to pick up two pilots from disabled suits as the first rays of the sun lit the sky.
Cagalli got out of her jeep and watched the retreating enemy before looking up at the two powered down mobile suits. Narrowing her eyes against the glare of the rising sun reflecting from the metal, she looked to where the Archangel was slowly approaching.
'Time to find out what they are doing here, and who their suits pilots are.' She thought, turning back to watch the sunrise.