Once again, a big thank you to my till now loyal reader, emiho! I'm back again for another chapter. Please note that… the review signed with my name… is actually my sister who was giving the review, not me… (Just because I forgot to log off my account… and the next moment, she was using…) Well, without further delays, lets get on with the story!
Disclaimer: I do not own Gundam Seed Destiny! Or the anime episodes would have showed exactly what I have been writing in this fic…
Phase 6: When Chaos reigns
As soon as the ZAFT spaceship left Orb, Yuna immediately have the Orb military's vessels move from their original position to just outside the sea borders of the once neutral country. Trying to prevent Minerva from getting into the country for a second time. Cagalli was still standing in the same position she had been moments ago, watching the ZAFT spaceship's leaving shadows. It was then she saw something suspicious, she could see a whole group of vessels, which does not belong to Orb, heading towards Minerva.
It was not long before the situation was registered in her mind. The Atlantic Federation… Earth Alliance! Pushing herself away from the metal pole she was currently leaning against, she took off at full speed towards the Orb's military base. Panic was now the main emotion Cagalli was feeling.
At the ZAFT spaceship, Minerva, the situation was not going well with them. It had only been moments after the ship left Orb's territorial waters when the worst happened. Although, it was not as if Talia had not been expecting the Atlantic Federation to attack them, she and the other crews were still stunned. To have the Earth Alliance ambush them right outside Orb's territorial waters, it was obvious that the members on board the ZAFT spaceship clearly had not been expecting that.
Just when the Earth Alliance's vessel fleets surrounded Minerva and Orb's vessels blocking the ZAFT spaceship from returning to Orb's territorial waters. Talia then immediately gave order to the ship to enter battle mode. The pilots then gathered first-hand at the deck, standby to launch. Shin was fingering a certain item in his hand, while sitting inside the cockpit of his Core Splendor. A kunai… Cher's kunai to be exact (A/N: If anyone had read chapter 2 of my fic you would know : ) ) the one she had thrown at the target board in a fit of anger. She did not retrieve it, and it was Shinn who had kept it after the incident.
By this time, Shinn was having a major conflict with himself. To kill... or not to kill? One part of his mind was about the Naturals, how they had discriminated them, how the war starts, how his family died, while the other part of his mind thinks differently. The other part was about what Cher had said, about letting go of his hatred. But this time, the raging part of battling won and he cast the other thought to the back of his mind, slipping the kunai in his pocket quickly, he concentrated on the on-going battle that lies ahead, just beyond the walls of the ZAFT spaceship, Minerva.
It was then the battle started. With the Earth Militaries sending out mobile suits and their vessels firing at the ZAFT spaceship. Minerva waste no time in launching the mobile suits. The red Zaku that belongs to Lunamaria took off, the white Zaku of Rey following soon. Soon, Shinn launched his Core Splendor, which flew out with a leg flier and a body flier. All three parts combined in midair to form Impulse, his Gundam. As the three ZAFT pilots readied themselves for battle, they charged at the Earth Military troops. Just as the three ZAFT mobile suits were busying fighting the Earth Military, the spaceship was not idling either, they were constantly being attacked by the missiles launched by the Earth vessels, Talia tried her best to conduct the ship to avoid the missiles. At this time, Cagalli reached the Orb's Military base, she was absolutely bewildered when Yuna gave orders to attack the ship if they come close to Orb, but they simply ignored her pleas for them to stop.
But unfortunately for Minerva, they were not able to avoid all of the missiles, some parts of the ZAFT spaceship was hit head-on by the incoming missiles, causing Minerva to sway out of its original route, nearing Orb's territory. Another mobile suit was then sent out by the Earth Military. Just when Minerva fired its Tanhauser, the mobile suit conjured up a shield and evaded the attack. Shinn then moved his Impulse to take out the mobile suit, but was set in a pinch himself. At the very moment, the strange mobile suit clamped its pincer-like arms around his Gundam's leg, breaking it in the process. It was then Minerva hit Orb's territory, with Orb's fleets firing immediately at the ZAFT spaceship. When Shinn saw the situation, he was completely agitated. He broke his seed, turning into another person as he commanded Meyrin in Minerva to send out a spare set of leg flier and equipments, shifting into another phase of his Gundam. He then unsheathes his sword and swung it mercilessly at the offending troops, destroying the mobile suits and fleets successfully. When Minerva had finally cleared off the attacking troops, Shinn was then recalled back to the ship and they took off to a safer area.
Back in the deck of the ZAFT spaceship, Shinn came out of his Gundam, he was immediately surrounded by a whole group of the other crews who had looks of admiration on their faces. They questioned him about the sudden change of attitude during the battle, but he himself, did not knew that it was because of the SEED, just gave them a satisfactory reply, which the lot seemed to agree with. In the main control room where the commanding crews and Talia sat, Arthur was very pleased by the pilots' performance.
"But Shinn superb, he defeated the entire enemy. Maybe he's even stronger then Freedom" Arthur chimed.
"Ah… Maybe we could play the role like one of the Archangel in the last war" Talia said, and the two laughed.
Back in Orb, Yuna was simply furious that the ZAFT spaceship… Coordinators got away unscathed, while Cagalli gave out a sigh of relief. 'Minerva was safe' she thought. Time passes quickly and soon, it was already midnight. Outside of Earth, in space, two Gundams were heading down to Earth, one painted red and the other in indigo and green. Their respective pilots, Athrun and Cher were now on a mission to find Minerva and assist it in anyway they could. They were just about to enter the Earth's atmosphere when Lucifer's wings stopped flapping all of a sudden, slowing the Gundam to a stop. Athrun sensing that the other Gundam did not move, maneuver his own Saviour over to Lucifer's side.
"Cher? Is something wrong?" Athrun asked through the intercom.
Through the intercom screen, Athrun could see that Cher was quite shaken, but he could not see the reason for it. When Cher finally looked up at Athrun, she had calmed herself enough for words.
"I have a bad feeling" she said as she look at Athrun through the intercom, "I think something bad is going to happen to Lacus…" solemnly she completed her sentence.
As Cher had been Lacus's adopted sister, the two had been very close with each other, to the point that they are quite able of sensing what the other was thinking and if something had happened to the other. Athrun did not doubt her feeling one bit. He too, had a very bad feeling… although he could not name it.
"Let's hurry" Cher suddenly said as she pilot her Lucifer to flap its wings, ready to continue their journey.
With a quick nod of his head, Athrun powered Saviour's booster and soon entered the Earth's atmosphere with Lucifer. Meanwhile, at Kira and Lacus' in Orb, some shadows are sneaking around their house. Sensing someone, Andrew Waldfeld sprung out of his bed. Together with Murrue Ramias, the two was invited to stay with Kira and Lacus. He readied his gun and went out of his room softly. Just when he was outside, he saw Murrue coming out of her room as well, gun in hand. She had also noticed. Nodding to each other, they went separate ways. Andrew went to distract the intruders while Murrue had the job of waking and protecting everyone else.
Kira, having heard the commotion outside, woke up. He was greeted with Murrue's presence just at his door. Seeing the gun she held in her hand, he just about understood the situation. After which, he went to Lacus' room, waking her and the children. They then proceed to the shelter underground. Along the way, the intruders shot at them without hesitation. After much work, Murrue was able to get the entire group of people to the shelter entrance safely, meeting with Andrew just outside the shelter. While they were trying to open the shelter door, one of the intruders had sneaked up the overhead pipe and was aiming at Lacus through the iron bars of the pipe. It was fortunate that Kira was alert enough to foresee the oncoming bullet.
"Lacus!" with a cry of her name, Kira leaped towards her, pushing her to the side, the bullet just barely missing the target.
Andrew raised his gun at that exact moment, firing it at the offending figure, the figure laid still with a cry, dead. In a flash, the shelter door was opened and he ushered everyone in before entering himself. The intruders, seeing that they were inside a shelter, left the house and reported to their leader outside the house. Back in the shelter, the children cling to Kira's mother while Andrew and Murrue stood near the door, trying to listen for any movements outside. After a while, they finally sigh, the intruders seemed to be anywhere but near the door as they could not hear anything. Lacus stayed near the children, comforting them. Murrue sat down at the door.
"They are Coordinators" she said.
"Aa…" Andrew replied plainly.
"Is it the ZAFT forces?" Kira asked, alarmed.
"A special force made up of Coordinators, the worst it can get" Murrue stated.
"But to think that they would go after her…" Andrew said as he turned in Lacus' direction, the two previously speaking turned too.
"But… why Lacus?" Kira asked no one in particular.
No one spoke. The next moment, the shelter was vibrating and tremor spread through the entire area, they were nearly flung off their feets. Outside, the intruders had gotten in their mobile suits, Ashes and were attacking the shelter after destroying the house, bent on destroying everything to kill Lacus. In the shelter, they were frantic.
"Are they so determined to kill us…!" Andrew exclaimed.
"Their target is me… right?" Lacus said as she walked near Kira.
No one spoke. Then, almost everyone there looked at the other door in the shelter.
"If that could be activated, at least we could be sure of the safety of this place…" Andrew said as he looked at Lacus, who clutched her pink Haro tighter.
"Lend it to me" Kira said suddenly, Lacus looked at him strangely, "I'll open it"
"No… that's…" Lacus replied, stepping back.
Kira moved forward and pull Lacus into a gentle hug.
"It hurts even more to see that I could not save the people I love" he said.
Finally, she gave in, taking out the keys hidden inside her pink Haro. Both Andrew and Kira each held one. They move to both sides of the door and at the same time, inserted the key. The gigantic door opened instantly, revealing the hidden mechanism behind it. At that exact time, the Ashes outside were near succeeding in destroying the shelter when the entire lot of them were distracted by something. Something shot out of the ruins they had created nearby, slowing in the air to reveal a mobile suit. A Gundam at that.
"Isn't… that Freedom!" someone in the Coordinator group said.
"Eh!" the group leader exclaimed.
Kira then piloted Freedom towards the Ashes, who tried to take him down. With lightning speed, Kira slice through the mobile suits with his laser sword, disarming them completely. When he had finally disarmed the leader of the group, the entire Ashes troop self-detonated. The sky began to brighten up, indicating the start of a new day. Andrew and Murrue brought everyone out of the shelter and Freedom landed, watching the sun rise.
A few hours later, Kira, Lacus, Andrew and Murrue, together with the rest of the group who had been staying in the house were standing in front of Freedom, under the half-destroyed shelter. The entire house was already in bits and pieces. It was then that someone came. It was Mana, Cagalli's caretaker. She was relieved to find Kira.
"Kira-sama! Miss Cagalli has a letter for you, she cannot come here that's why Mana is helping her" Mana said as she passes the letter to Kira.
"Cagalli? Is she alright?" Kira asked.
"Is she hurt?" Lacus asked in concern.
"No, she is fine. It's just that, because of the wedding preparation, the political feud, she cannot leave the house…"Mana said.
"Eh!" the entire lot of them exclaimed in shock.
Mana then continues to explain that the Seirans had the wedding preparations all arranged. And how Cagalli was marrying Yuna out of political reasons. Kira then opened the letter, reading the contents. It says in Cagalli's letter, that, she is going to marry Yuna Roman. That she cannot afford to leave Orb alone, and that this wedding will benefit the country. Cagalli also asked Kira to return the ring Athrun gave her back to him.
After reading the letter, they were staring unbelievably at the letter. Back at the Orb Base, Cagalli was in her room, it was the day of her wedding with Yuna. She was dressed in a white flowing gown and a veil covered her face. She was staring blankly ahead. Somewhere outside in the country of Orb, the former Archangel members are gathering together, meeting in an underground base, where the Archangel ship resides. Murrue, Kira, Lacus and Andrew were already there, happy to see everyone coming back to the ship. Cagalli stepped out into the hall, ready to get into the car. Yuna stood just by the door, taking her hand and walking into the car with her. As the car drove to the place where their wedding ceremony is being held, Yuna looked at Cagalli.
"You could try to look happy" he told her as she shifted her gaze up from her hands, "Everyone is looking you know"
Hearing his words, Cagalli looked out the window and tried her best to give a smile. Tears rolled down her face as she did so, she thought of Athrun, everything they did together, what they had been through… and it turns out that they did not have the fate to be together, she thought.
At Archangel's Kira bid farewell to his mother, promising her that no matter what, he will definitely go back to her. After which, Kira's mother, and the blind man (A/N: I forgot his name… sighs) brought all the children outside. Archangel then launched, with Murrue Ramias once again as the captain. The ship then anchor and move towards the spot where the wedding ceremony is being held.
Cagalli and Yuna stepped up the stairs to the platform where the priest is waiting. And he began the ceremony. Just as the priest was starting, Freedom launched from Archangel, flying to the platform. The Orb's military base immediately detected the Gundam, they tried to stop the Gundam but to no avail.
"Is the two present here by the name of Cagalli Yula Atha and Yuna Roman Seiran?" the priest ask them.
"Yes" the two replied.
Then, the start of the ceremony, the priest asked Yuna agrees to marry Cagalli, and care for her forever, which he said yes immediately. The priest then, in turn, asked Cagalli the same question. At this, Cagalli was hesitating over it, Yuna turned to look at her, asking her to say it.
Then, at that very moment, the alarm sounded over the area.
"Freedom heading this way!"
Soon, the Gundam descended, disarming the few mobile suits stationed at the area. Yuna hid behind Cagalli. But ran off by himself the moment Freedom extended its hands out. As Freedom picked up Cagalli, Kira smiled and flew off
"What are you doing? Kira?" she frantically asked.
Yuna then send out jet planes, trying to shoot down Freedom. Kira then opened his Gundam's cockpit, pulling Cagalli inside; he dodged their firing attacks and flew faster back to Archangel. Around the ship were Orb's fleets, they had orders to shoot down Archangel, but the fleet's captains said nothing. When Freedom finally returned to Archangel, Murrue gave the order to submerge into the water.
The captains of the Orb's fleets watch as Archangel slowly disappeared under water, saluting them. They knew how that ship had saved them, giving them these years of peace. They only hope that Cagalli was safe with them.
Moments after Archangel was gone from Orb, two mobile suits reached Earth, Saviour and Lucifer. They first headed for Orb. But just when they entered Orb's waters, jet planes were once again sent at them, attacking furiously. Athrun tried to state his identity through the intercom, but there was no reply at all. Finally having enough, Cher pulled out her laser whip and swung it at the few offending planes, slicing off their wing, resulting in them crashing onto the sea surface. After which, they move off, in search of Minerva.
It was not long before they found the ZAFT spaceship. Inside the ship, Meyrin gave alerts that two unidentified objects are flying closer to Minerva. When she finally put up the screen to show them, they immediately recognize the dark coloured Gundam as Lucifer. Convinced, Talia gave them the order to open the deck, letting both Gundams on board. All the crews hurried to the deck, trying to get an idea of what will be happening.
Just as the last person, which happened to be Shinn, gathered around both Gundams, both pilots came out, removing their helmets. They were shocked to find that the pilot of the red mobile suit was Athrun! Just then, the two gave them the ZAFT salute.
"FAITH special force, Athrun Zala" Athrun said, "Cher Zephyris" the girl said, "Reporting in Minerva"
As soon as they heard the words 'FAITH Special Forces' the entire Minerva crews' eyes drifted to the wing like badge pinned just below the collarbone of both pilots. After they had finally seen the proof, they immediately saluted to the two. Shinn could not believe his eyes. Athrun Zala returned to ZAFT? Cher had actually joined ZAFT!
What in the world is happening?
A/N: Phew… finally I finished the chapter. Hope you readers enjoyed it. And for some bad news… to those who had been downloading the Gundam Seed Destiny episodes… the anime had been licensed! What a thing to do at this moment… but then… I have the url to one of the fansubs who continued to sub the anime, if anyone wants the link, just tell me.