You know, I often wonder what I'd do if I didn't have fanfiction, or anime in my life. What would I do when I'm bored? Or feeling a little down? My, I have no idea. Still, it doesn't matter anyway cause I do have anime and fanfiction in my life. YAY!
Anyway, that's my random thought for the week. On to the story.
Last Time: The ship had broken down and I seemed to remember Athrun brushed Shinn off in the last scene because Kira comes first.
WARNINGS: Battle and warfare - not much, but weaponary is mentioned. Grammar? Spelling? I did check - several times.
Disclaimer: I do not own Mobile Suit Gundam SEED Destiny, nor any of its characters.
Enjoy!
Silver And Gold
Chapter Seven: Three's A Crowd
"You know, if the Plants declare war again, we'll be on opposite sides"
Athrun looked up from his own bed over to Kira's where his friend was lying on his back looking up at the ceiling "I know" he smiled "it's ironic really. I spent all that time trying to persuade you to join Zaft and, the moment you do, I find myself on Orb's side"
"Do you think the world would really do that to us?" asked Kira quietly "make us fight all over again?"
"Last you asked me that, we were thirteen years old and I said there would be no war" Athrun lifted his eyebrows "do you really want me to answer your question this time?"
Kira smiled, but only briefly; he gazed back up at the ceiling trying to make patterns in the impossibly white coverage "I don't want to fight you again" he muttered.
Over on his bed Athrun sighed softly and stood up; grabbing a chair from the desk and bringing round he sat on it back to front and leant his elbows on the backrest "what's all this about, Kira? You've in been in a dark mood ever since you boarded the Eternal"
"Someone took Lacus, Athrun"
"I know you're worried about her, but with the ship engines still not working and all sights of the escaped ship gone, there's nothing we can-"
"That's not what I mean" Kira sat up and hefted himself against the pillows though his head still hung low "all that time we've spent on the Peace Treaties, has it all just been a waste of time?"
Athrun paused as he thought through his answer; Kira lifted his head when he got no reply and watched Athrun think, the Orb Admiral rested his chin on the back of his hand for a moment before his eyes refocused and he shook his head slowly "we have made a difference, the Chairman of the Plants is on our side, she wants peace…if she didn't, she could have easily declared war when I accused her of repairing Requiem"
"But it's not enough" the Captain shook his head "if it was, we wouldn't be chasing Lacus through space, or trying to"
"But it's something, isn't it? The Plants are working together with Orb" Athrun pointed out "I'm the breathing proof of that"
"I realise that's progress obviously" Kira agreed "then again Orb working with the Plants might not be as good as we first thought, what if the Earth Alliance is unhappy with some of the Peace Treaties but unwilling to mention it because of-"
"Would you stop worrying"
Kira looked up and found Athrun smiling down at him.
"You're making me look decisive"
Kira froze for a moment, and then chuckled "I guess we can't have that" he stretched and rubbed his shoulder silently, gazing at the bed before him lost in thought "I miss her" he admitted "even more now we're on her ship, and she's in danger too"
"The ship doesn't belong to Lacus" Athrun amended "it belongs to the Captain, you"
"That's not-"
"It's not something you should forget" the Orb Admiral interrupted "at any time, otherwise you'll just make saving Lacus twice as difficult"
"I'm not sure-"
"I know what I'm talking about"
Kira's eyes flickered back to him once more.
"I know I'm not the surest of people, but I know about being in charge" Athrun explained "if you go around not thinking yourself as a Captain or in charge of this ship, then it's not going to help anyone, least of all Lacus"
The Captain released a long soft breath "you're a lot better at this than me"
"That's why I'm an Admiral, and you're a Captain"
"That's true" as Torii came to land on his risen knee Kira let his head fall back against the head rest "but you've got a wise head on that shoulder of yours, Athrun Zala, don't let anyone tell you anything different" he lifted his hand and let the robot bird land lightly on his palm "being in charge was never really my thing, whether I was on the Eternal or the Archangel there was always someone else who was Captain who would tell me what to do"
"Any time you feel like giving up, I'm sure Yzak will be happy to take over"
"I'm sure he would" the hint of a smile touched Kira's lips "I don't think he's very receptive to my leadership"
"Is that going to stop you?" asked Athrun quietly.
Kira watched as Torii hopped from his palm to his fingers and shook his head strongly "no, I'm not giving up. I can't, that would be giving up on Lacus"
"Of course it would, and that's not going to happen. Right?"
The bird flittered from Kira's hand to Athrun's shoulder and the Captain followed it with his gaze "no"
"Right then" Athrun's smile was brighter still "so let me do the worrying and the questioning, we're not at war yet so don't worry about it. All we need to concentrate on is getting Lacus back, yes?"
"Yes" Kira returned the smile and let the bird fly back to him "we get Lacus back, and everything will be just fine"
"Exactly" said Athrun, wishing his feelings matched his words.
"I'm sorry, I know being a Captain means I should be strong" Kira shook his head as if to rid his worries "I guess Lacus's kidnapping just really shook me up. It won't happen anymore, I promise"
"That's good then" Athrun leant his head on his elbows "you're a good Captain, just give it time…" he hesitated momentarily "although, thinking about it, there is one thing you could change…"
"Really? What is it?"
"Well, you know that gun you have strapped under your Captain's coat?"
"Yes?"
"It's loaded right?"
"Of course"
"Then please put the safety catch on, you're worse than Cagalli"
"Ah" said Kira.
He brought forth the gun to see.
Athrun ducked.
"There you are!" Yzak snapped as Kira and Athrun entered the bridge "I called you ten minutes ago!"
"Sorry, we have a slight technical problem in our room" Athrun replied apologetically "we only just got your message"
"What technical difficulty! The radios are back up!"
"Kira shot the intercom"
Kira flushed "I didn't do it on purpose" he muttered.
"Um…" Deputy Captain Trine trailed off "may I ask…"
"The gun discharged accidentally" his Captain explained meekly.
"Didn't you have the safety catch on?"
"What's that?" Athrun asked "safety catch? Kira's never heard of it, have you, Kira?"
"There's no need to be like that" his friend protested feebly "it wasn't that close to your head"
"You mean like Junius Seven wasn't that close to the weapons that blew it up?"
"You've made your point"
"That remains to be seen" said Athrun flatly "have you enabled the safety catch?"
"What happened to not revealing my weak points to the rest of the crew?" Kira asked in defence. He had a point; the whole bridge was listening.
"Insecurity about your position as Captain and simple basic knowledge of a secured gun are two completely different things" Athrun murmured under his breath as he became vaguely aware of a rising heat behind him; Yzak was seconds away from exploding.
"If I could have your attention for only a moment, Admiral!" hissed the silver headed Commander "I did actually call the Captain for a reason!"
"I'm aware of that" Athrun replied as he settled himself by Meyrin who had turned from her computer to watch the scene.
"What is it? Has the ship taking Lacus been spotted?" Kira asked mind switching back in to place.
"No" replied Yzak "another ship has"
"Another ship?"
"A scouting ship"
Kira and Athrun exchanged glances.
"Sir, I was wondering what a scouting ship doing all the way out here" Arthur Trine asked "it's one of ours"
"It was completing a mission for the Chairman" Kira answered as he went to the computers "have you contacted them yet?"
"That's a little difficult to do" Yzak said darkly "you see, the entire thing has been blown up"
There was silence.
Athrun straightened sharply "blown up?" he repeated "why?"
"I was hoping you were going to tell me" Yzak turned his sharp eyes on Athrun "don't think I don't know what's going on" he accused in a hard voice.
The Orb Admiral paused when he realised Yzak's entire glare was directed at him; he cleared his throat to give himself time to relax before answering, "I don't know what you mean"
"I find that difficult to believe!" Yzak snarled shortly "I heard about your private meeting with the Chairman, next thing there's a scouting ship being sent out but no one will give me its flight plan! Now, it's in a thousand pieces!"
Then he leant over Meyrin to hit a button; on the large screen at the front of the bridge the picture flickered for a moment before revealing outer space to them all, the entire bridge was silent as they surveyed the scene. Parts of the ship were scattered about, some near while others were aloft further away; there was the second half of a mobile suit floating just close to them and then part of the bridge front came in to sight. Of life there was no sign; how could there be, the whole ship looked as if a pair of giant hands had torn it to pieces.
Yzak looked back at Athrun "what's happening?" he demanded as he pointed at the screen "why is that ship blown to bits!"
Neither Athrun nor Kira replied to this; they simply stared at the screen and then turned to look at each other. Athrun knew what Kira was thinking; they'd been sent to find Lacus and the ship had been sighted heading for Orb, at least that's what they believed. But this ship had been heading for Requiem and someone had seen fit to destroy it; Kira would be one hell of a bad Captain if he didn't plan to investigate a little.
"Are the engines working?" he asked softly, trying to weigh his decision. They had lost Lacus and the ship taking her, while contacting Orb seemed to be having problems of its own: no one could get through, and the theory was that the range of the radios were damaged in some way. It was taking time to repair them.
Too much time.
"The emergency power is working at its full potential now, and the original source of power is being repaired as we speak" Arthur replied "the engines work but it'll take them ten minutes to boot up"
"That's fine" Kira nodded "we're changing course"
"Are you sure?" asked Athrun.
"What! What about Miss Clyne?" Yzak demanded, "we can't simply forget her! And what's going on?" he looked back at Athrun "what do you two know that I don't!"
Once more he was ignored as Kira went to Athrun's side "the ship taking Lacus was passing Requiem anyway, right?"
"Yes, but- I thought your plan was to bypass Requiem and head to Orb" Athrun whispered back "we don't know what's guarding Requiem, it might be more than we can handle"
"I know, but I can't ignore this. That ship is shattered, someone wants to protect Requiem and this has to be related to Lacus if her ship was passing it anyway"
"If you're sure" the Orb Admiral replied "but Orb has more than enough technology to discover what's going on up here, more than we have on the Eternal"
"I know, but I have to see for myself"
"When you two are QUITE finished!"
They turned to find Yzak glaring at them, his arms folded.
"Is there going to be much of this?" asked the Commander coldly "I know you two are friends, so a little canoodling is allowed, but surely when you're discussing the route of the ship the Captain should discuss the matter with his Commanders, rather than an Admiral of ORB!"
"We're going to Requiem" Kira replied.
"WHAT!" said Yzak and Trine together.
"Deputy Captain Trine, make the arrangements and change the course of the ship, I want to start as soon as the engines are ready"
"Wait a minute!" Yzak spluttered, "Why are we going to Requiem, what's that got to do with ANYTHING!"
"Yzak, you and I along with Athrun should hold a meeting regarding battle tactics-"
"Battle tactics? We're not at war!"
"Deputy Trine, take charge of the bridge" Kira turned on his heel and looked over his shoulder at the gaping Yzak "I'm sorry, do you have a question?"
"Only a thousand and one!"
"We can talk about it on our feet" Kira looked back at Athrun "are you coming?"
Despite it all Athrun was smiling "of course, Captain"
"Hey! What the hell is going on around here?" Yzak fumed as he started after the Captain "I want you to tell me right now!"
"You'll know everything, just as soon as-"
"Ah, Captain!" Meyrin called looking from her screen quickly.
Athrun and Kira stopped so suddenly Yzak almost crashed in to them "yes, what is it?"
"Movement, sir, on the left side!"
"Put it up on the screen!"
They all turned to the screen that once again flickered in to life; at first there was nothing, no sign of movement or any heat signals at all. Perhaps Meyrin had been mistaken was what started to enter their minds, even the girl herself, when an alarm suddenly blared on the bridge and on the left hand side of the screen something moved in to sight.
Kira's eyes widened "mobile suits?"
"What's that flashing around them?" asked Arthur.
"They're firing at us?" spat Yzak.
"Warning shots" muttered Athrun, he turned his head "Kira-"
"The mobile suits should launch immediately" Kira agreed, turning to the door before remembering again that he was the Captain and he should be on bridge sitting in the chair "Athrun, you're in charge"
"I should go too" said Yzak quickly.
"Not yet" Kira shook his head "I don't want to use all our machines at once, not until we know how many suits there are out there"
"What's going on?" asked Dearka as he hurried in to the locker room "I was off duty"
"Not any more, you're not" Athrun replied as he opened his locker.
"Are we really being attacked?"
"It seems that way"
"Damn!" Dearka cursed as he grappled with his clothes "what's the plan then?"
Athrun smiled; no questions or proclamations of supposed peace, just straight to the point. If only all the pilots would be so accommodating "I want you on standby, in case things turn foul. Yzak will be joining you shortly"
"Fine" Dearka agreed "and you?"
"I'll be going out there with Shinn and Lunamaria, hopefully that's enough, but if it's not I'll need your help"
"Of course" Dearka smirked "just say the word"
The door opened and Lunamaria rushed in with Shinn wandering in behind her casually "what's happening! Why are we fighting? I thought we were at peace!"
"We're under attack" said Athrun "at the moment it's five mobile suits, but there may be more. Lunamaria, you take the right side, one of them is carrying a long-range weapon so be careful. Shinn, you take the left side, that leaves me to deal with the middle one"
"What's so special about the middle one?" asked Dearka.
"It's holding a bomb," replied Athrun "big enough to blow up the half the ship"
As one they stopped "a bomb?" repeated Dearka "seriously?"
"Unfortunately"
"Do you think that's what they used to blow up the other ship?" asked Lunamaria "we saw it on the screen, it's crazy"
"It could be" Athrun conceded "at any rate, they could have more bombs, so be careful" he cast a glance at Shinn who noticed this.
"Why are you looking at me?" he asked speaking for the first time.
"Because you have a habit of not being careful"
"This coming from the guy who plans to destroy an entire bomb by himself" Shinn's voice was cold and unfeeling, completely devoid of the usual angst and passion he usually directed Athrun's way at any given opportunity. Though his words themselves were nothing strange enough for anyone else to notice, Athrun felt like Shinn had just dumped a bucket of ice water on him.
Something was wrong.
Athrun could hazard a guess as to what it was about too; though he couldn't understand why Shinn would take it so personally, it wasn't as if he was regarded high in Shinn's esteem after all. He sighed as Dearka turned around and started to undress, clearly making the point that he wasn't the least bothered about a girl still being in the room. Lunamaria, not one to be embarrassed by such a show, only rolled her eyes when he winked at her and left the room to change in to her own suit.
"Shinn"
Shinn paused in getting his stuff, only to resume seconds later without turning "what?"
"I know, when we last talked…it seemed…" Athrun stopped, and rethought his words "I'm sorry if I brushed you off earlier, that wasn't my intention. I know you're worried-"
"You and Captain Yamato are friends" Shinn interrupted "you have been all your lives, I get it. When he calls you go running, that's the way it is, I don't see why you think I'm even the slightest bothered about that"
"Because I know you were asking for my assurance and I didn't give you an answer, that was wrong of me"
"First of all, I wasn't asking for assurance" now Shinn stopped in what he was doing to scowl at his locker door "and second, I already got my answer. We're at war again"
"We're not at war" Athrun corrected, "these people might be just like the terrorists that changed the orbit of Junius Seven"
"Yeah, and look where that got us"
"It might not come to that, we could stop it before it even reaches that stage"
"Because the people of the world are just so understanding"
"Shinn-"
The younger growled "don't you get it" he said flatly turning to face Athrun now "I'm not interested, I don't need your assurance and the last thing I want is your opinion on the matter. If you want to pass your oh so highly viewed opinion across someone then just go find your butt buddy and leave me out of it"
Athrun glared, more darkly than Shinn was prepared for "that's no way to talk about your Captain" he said quietly.
"What are you going to do about it? Report me?" Shinn argued back.
"Um…"
Both Athrun and Shinn started back from each other, realising at the same time that, over the course of their conversation, they'd become lax in keeping their voices down and between them. As one they looked at the third occupant of the room.
Dearka cleared his throat "I don't want to barge in to this fight, or whatever you two are doing, but, last time I checked, we were in kinda of a hurry"
"Yes" Athrun shut his locker and turned the key; he turned away and joined Dearka "are you ready?"
"I'm the one that's on standby, remember"
"…Of course" Athrun muttered again, he glanced over his shoulder "I want you down in the hold in less than five minutes"
"Whatever-" Shinn interrupted himself "wait, you're in charge again?"
"If you have a problem with that then take it up with the Captain" the Orb Admiral answered walking to the door with Dearka "but seeing as you have such respect for your Captain I can't believe you would want to question his judgement"
"I-"
Athrun left without another word; Dearka stopped for a moment, and looked back to watch Shinn return to his locker with a muttered insult that was surely directed at Athrun. Lifting his eyebrows Dearka closed the door behind him and caught his former comrade up.
"What was that about?"
Athrun looked surprised "what was what?"
"That, I've never seen you struggle with someone like that before, not even Yzak"
"Hmm, that's Shinn and I on a daily basis"
"He's always so awkward?"
"Yes, in fact I worry about him when he's not" Athrun gave a half smile "although, I think I'm more to blame than him this time"
"I doubt that happens very often" Dearka snorted, "the kid seems a real head case"
"He has issues that he can't let go of, that's all" Athrun murmured, "I can understand that"
"Oh, so that's why you battle with him" Dearka realised "just because you can relate to him doesn't mean he's going to see sense any time soon"
"I know that"
"So give up"
Athrun almost stopped "what? Give up?"
"Yeah, stop trying to reason with the guy and just let him get on with it. If he's not going to listen anyway, then there's no point"
"Yeah, but-"
"Trust me" Dearka jabbed a thumb at himself "I'm a expert in dealing with hardheads, sometimes it's just better to give up and let them get on with it"
"Give up…" Athrun muttered to himself as they walked along the corridor; he thought about the pilot they'd just left and the painful past he'd been through. Athrun knew pain, and sorrow; he wasn't as angry as Shinn, nor was he as blameful, but he was just as hurt "…I couldn't do that"
Being in a battle of mobile suits was kind of similar to watching people rushing around in a busy city; giant robots crashed in to each other, swerved passed each other, hit out at each other and used weapons like civilians used insults. Sometimes a mobile suit was just one and yet it seemed to tower above like at least three or four; chasing after a mobile suit could be compared to a cheetah chasing its prey, the chase was fast and directed. The one fleeing wouldn't look behind because there wasn't time, while the chaser tried to speed up just that bit faster to gain the ground lost between them.
Shinn brought the arm of the Destiny down on his quarry just as the Eternal's lead weapon fired a shot to blow up another mobile suit somewhere to Shinn's left. The battle had begun as Athrun had originally planned, a few minutes in Shinn had dealt with one mobile suit and was fighting with the other while on the other side Lunamaria had taken down one of hers and was giving chase to the long ranged weapon. Now, things were different.
Four more mobile suits had appeared behind the first lot; moments later, and just when Shinn was getting accustomed to this new turn of events, another seven appeared from the right of the ship. Apparently these hidden mobile suits had been concealed behind the debris of the scout ship and now that Athrun and his little group had approached the first round, they were trapped in. This in itself wasn't that big of an issue; Athrun hadn't been made a FAITH member for nothing, while Shinn and Lunamaria had both been top of their classes. If they couldn't deal with a little sandwich then they weren't worth the space they took up; things had only become more complicated when the seven new mobile suits had begun to attack in pairs, rather than on mass.
Working as a team, each stranger had taken on one of the Eternal mobile suits and as soon as one was down, another appeared in its place. Not only that but it wasn't long before Athrun realised that slowly, carefully, he and his subordinates were being pushed away from the ship. Isolated. That was when he'd called for Yzak and Dearka; Shinn had protested, claiming he could take the whole lot on.
To which Athrun had replied that Shinn was very welcome to take the whole lot on, if he could just clear all this up so they could get back in time for dinner.
The older had been right of course, damn him to hell; these strange mobile suits were powerful and what's more the unknown pilots guiding them were skilled. Shinn had been seconds away from being blown to bits by one that had caught him off guard, and he would have been done for if Athrun hadn't forewarned him and Yzak hadn't been there to cut the guy in two.
Athrun's voice crackled through the radio "they're drawing us from the ship"
"We can't let that happen" Yzak replied passionately "Dearka, circle back round and take that third bastard down, you're closest to the ship"
Silence followed this but Shinn was too distracted by his new opponent to really consider this; the guy was fast, and he didn't answer when Shinn tried to contact him. Shinn cursed under his breath as he shot the enemy's left leg off, he doubled back round to cut off an arm just as Yzak's voice blared through the radio again.
"Dearka! Where are you! Dammit, answer your superior!"
The mobile suit shot at Shinn barely missing his cockpit; this time he swore louder and swerved out the way just in time, another dodged attack and he was aiming for the enemy's cockpit itself. He fired, just as the enemy swept left and Shinn missed.
"Dearka!"
"Sorry, I'm here…I was distracted"
"By what!" Yzak's voice came through furiously "I swear, Dearka, if you were thinking about girls…"
"Actually I was just wondering what that thing was" Dearka's voice answered, "that thing those two mobile suits are carrying"
Yzak was stopped from replying by an attack from behind; he whirled around, cut once with his mobile suit and shot the enemy straight in the head. The machine crackled for a moment, blue lighting warping all around it, before exploding while over to the right Shinn succeeded in stabbing his opponent straight through with his weapon.
"What thing?" Yzak then asked.
"Over there" Dearka's answer came "it's hiding behind that large bit of debris there"
"I can't see if from this angle" Yzak was then cut off by another mobile suit "Athrun, what is it?"
There was a pause while Athrun circled around his own adversary before dodging forwards and taking the guy down; he turned back around and gasped "it's an explosive"
"Wha- that big? Seriously?" Dearka sounded almost amazed "wow, these guys are really hiding something"
"Never mind that now!" said Yzak impatiently "we need to take that thing out now! If it gets too near the ship it'll blow the whole thing up!"
"I'll do it" Athrun's voice came through "we're winning this thing, that's why they're using it at all, it's a last resort"
"Somealternative" muttered Shinn to himself.
"Lunamaria, I need you to clear a path to the ship. Yzak, you and Dearka should take out the rest over on that side"
"Yes, sir" Lunamaria chipped in turning to obey.
"Are you ordering me!" Yzak demanded.
"Merely suggesting that in case you want to live, that would be the best thing to do" Athrun said smartly "Shinn, I'll need your help. Do you think you can defeat the one holding the explosive on the right?"
"Who do you think I am? Some city farmer who lost his flock of sheep?" Shinn argued, "of course I can get him! I'm a pilot for a reason, you know"
"That's all I need to know" Athrun stipulated, there was a certain amount of controlled annoyance in his voice.
Sighing loudly Shinn flicked off his radio and skipped passed a mobile suit coming for him; no doubt Commander Joule would deal with him, and sure enough Shinn had barely moved forwards when the mobile suit following blew up. He checked his controls and moved towards his target, flying around some debris as he did so. For a moment his vision was blocked and he was out of the entire battle with nothing but outer space for company; he found the sudden peace almost creepy, as if he'd flown straight in to an alternate universe where there was no war, or battle or death. Only space.
But seconds later he was back round the other side and the fighting was still happening with the apparent peace seeming a mere dream he'd once had. He caught sight of Athrun heading for the pilot on the left of the explosive, already engaged in combat as shots from both pilots lit up between them. The pilot on the right however was still; with the explosive held on the shoulder and supported by one hand it left the pilot rather unguarded at one side and unable to help his companion. Supposedly the other mobile suits that Shinn had been fighting up until now had been the ones to guard this volatile weapon and its carriers; but now those machines were losing and this creator of destruction was left wanting. This battle would be over in less than ten minutes; Shinn smirked, Athrun had wanted to be back in time for dinner and now he could be.
"This guy's going down" Shinn murmured to himself as he switched one of his cameras to check back on the ship and Lunamaria.
His heart stopped.
Lunamaria had three mobile suits attacking from all sides; the ship was out of range having been distracted by some more mobile suits that had appeared behind it from nowhere. Shinn panicked; if he didn't do something now Lunamaria would be hurt. Badly.
"Dammit!"
Without thinking he turned his machine around and flew through space as if the fires of hell were burning his toes; he roared as he charged forwards firing his weapons one after the other as he lifted his sword ready to kill the one trying to drive his own weapon through Lunamaria's cockpit.
"DON'T YOU DARE!"
Shinn struck, bringing his weapon down on the bastard and caving him in two with one blow; he turned and fought back another mobile suit that had been taken totally by surprise with his attack. One blow swiped off a leg, a second blow caught the guy about the head and the third one hit home sending the pilot spinning back out of control and out of commission. Fire still raging in his eyes Shinn turned round to deal with the third.
Only to find it blow up in his face just as Lunamaria shot it down herself.
Shinn jammed down his speaker button "Luna, are you alright!"
"Of course I am, idiot! I can look after myself, you know" Shinn was rather taken aback by the crossness in Lunamaria's voice.
"There were three of them, they were all ganging up on you!" he protested.
"I'm a trained Zaft mobile suit pilot and I'm one of the best! I think I can handle a few suits by myself!"
"Well geez, don't be grateful whatever you do!" Shinn said mulishly "I was only trying to protect you!"
Lunamaria's exasperation came through clear on the line "you're not thinking, are you! It's ATHRUN who needs your protection, you've just left him on his own to deal with an explosive that's almost the size of the Eternal!"
Shinn froze.
He didn't dare look.
It was too late.
"EVERYONE BACK TO THE SHIP!" Yzak's roar came through communications just as the space around them lit up like a bonfire.
The power of the blast didn't hit them at once, but the rushing of compressed atmosphere propelled Shinn and Lunamaria back towards the ship like they were leaves in the wind. Shinn's hands were torn from his controls as he lost rule of his machine and plunged forwards with Lunamaria's cry ringing in his ears. The fire wasn't close enough to any damage to him but his heat signals started blaring out at him from all sides; a large chunk of debris shot passed him and for a moment he freaked with thoughts of the Eternal. Then he remembered the destroyed scout ship and breathing out quickly reached for his cameras as the Destiny came to a stop once more.
It was there, luckily out of range with quick thinking from Deputy Captain Trine; there were three balls of light soaring upwards and Shinn realised it was the signal flare. They were calling the mobile suits back to the ship; the battle was over, for now.
"Shinn, are you ok?" Lunamaria asked with a small amount of anxiety "are you hurt?"
"No, I'm good. You?"
"I'm fine, what about everyone else?"
Shinn searched his cameras; Yzak and Dearka came quickly in to sight, Dearka heading back for the ship while Yzak seemed stationary. The after effects of the explosion was still obvious; there was half a smouldering mobile suit, blown up by its own weapon, floating near Shinn and another incapacitated stranger further away. Debris of the scout ship that had survived its second blast were still dotted around, though some were smaller than they had been before.
He checked the cameras again, sweeping across the expanse of the battle and through the debris; something was wrong with the way Commander Joule seemed to be stationary and for a brief moment Shinn wondered if he was hurt. But the truth hit him so hard it felt like a battering ram; Commander Joule wasn't hurt, he was in search of something.
Or someone.
And at that moment Lunamaria's voice crackled through the radio voicing the question forming in Shinn's mind.
"Shinn, where's Athrun?"
"Lunamaria Hawke is a trained Zaft mobile suit pilot and she's one of the best!" Yzak shouted.
There was silence in the hold; the only movement was a slight swing of a dangling wire as it waited to be attached to a mobile suit. The mechanic supposedly in charge of this wire was at this moment looking between the fuming Commander and the object of his fury. Shinn stood silently looking at the floor purely because it was where Yzak had demanded he looked; the words of the Commander were still ringing in his ears when Yzak started again.
"You were given direct orders! Orders that WE all heard!" Yzak gestured to himself and Dearka who stood behind him quietly. Lunamaria too was included in the gesticulation but she sat further away on a box sitting next to the somewhat slumped form of Athrun Zala "you disobeyed them! How stupid can a person be to disobey his superior's orders when an explosive bigger than any building was seconds away from exploding! You put the ship in danger, you put US in danger, you put yourself in danger but most of all you nearly KILLED an Admiral of Orb! Have you any idea what that would have cost us! What it MIGHT cost us still!"
"I'm sorry…sir" said Shinn dully.
"You're SORRY!" Yzak sneered, "that seems to be your catchphrase that the moment, doesn't it! First you let Lacus Clyne get kidnapped and NOW you let Admiral Dino nearly get killed! The very same person, I might add, that is the only reason why you're not locked up in a cell somewhere serving your punishment for letting Lacus Clyne get stolen!" he glared at Shinn "a five letter word of regret doesn't quite cut it!"
Shinn looked up "what will happen to me?" he asked as there was movement behind him and a medic appeared in to the hold rushing towards them frantically.
"Oh you'll be punished this time, make no mistake!" Yzak snarled "Zaft will personally see that you're relieved of your rank, and if necessary they might find it prudent to take the Destiny from you!"
The younger Coordinator's eyes widened "but-"
"What Orb will do I've no idea! You-"
"You can't take the Destiny from me! It was designed for me, I'm one of the best Pilots in Zaft!" Shinn protested cutting his Commander off.
Yzak bristled "you should have thought of that before you went blowing up Orb Admirals!" he let out a dry laugh "you have no idea what you've done, have you? We are on the very brink of peace and Orb is one of our top supporters, one of the only nations to actually freely allow Coordinators in to their lands! How do think they're going to feel when they find out a Zaft soldier nearly killed one of their-"
"Yzak…do you think you could…lower your voice a little?" the voice came from behind the medic who moved aside so Athrun could look up at the Commander "you're giving me a headache"
"Don't be stupid!" Yzak said snappishly "Coordinators don't get headaches!"
"They do if they smack their heads back against the top of the cockpit when it's being flung through space" Athrun disagreed as the medic continued to examine the right side of his body. From his hip downward to below the shin of his right leg there was a deep angry wound where the controls of the machine had crushed him; on the side of his face there was a huge blackened burn and the top of his shoulder was bleeding, the material of his mobile suit garb had been smouldered away while the same damage had been mirrored on the side of the Justice standing tall behind him. There was a great hole in the right side of the machine and mechanics were now clambering about this hole assessing the damage while the argument continued below them.
"We should get you to the sick bay" said the medic quickly "I can deal with these wounds better there. Can you walk?"
"Yes, I should be able to"
"I'll help you" another voice came from behind Shinn and now the Captain of the ship appeared at his side, moving forwards to help Athrun to his feet.
The Orb Admiral stumbled slightly but Kira caught his weight and kept him steady "Athrun needs medical treatment" he said quietly "Yzak, I've left Deputy Trine in charge of the bridge, if you would take the time to see the damage outside. The rest of you should take a break"
"Hang on!" Yzak barked "what about him!" he flung a finger at Shinn "what are you going to do about him!"
"Nothing" replied Kira.
"What!"
"If Orb wants to press charges then it's out of my hands, but Zaft will take no part in that. Our main priority is to see that Athrun is taken care of"
"We can't just let him get away with it!" Yzak persisted angrily "what's to stop him disobeying orders again! We can't trust someone who simply disregards their orders to save a girl, especially a girl who can look after herself!"
"I've nothing more to say" Kira spoke over his shoulder "my main concern right now is Athrun"
"Alright, in that case we should lock Pilot Asuka in the cells for the time being" Yzak suggested vehemently; he was taking this all rather personally, but then again, he had been the one to drag the burning Justice back to the ship. He'd gone through the flames in search of Athrun; a call beyond duty some would have thought, but Yzak gave no comment to this matter and had refused to return to the Eternal until he had located the Justice. To add to this, Athrun was a friend; Shinn was just some young hotshot who had difficulty listening to his orders. Yzak had little time for those who didn't respect their superiors, even if those superiors were of a different nation.
"Shinn will be allowed his usual freedom about the ship" Kira answered, he glanced sideways at Athrun who was lagging sideways somewhat unbalanced as he was and tiring through the use of what little energy he had "unless you want him to be locked up?"
Athrun was slow to reply, not because he was thinking of his answer, but because the pain and his injuries were slowing his reactions down; he sighed painfully and tried to draw in breath only to have the right side of his body protest. Wincing, he gave up any attempt to speak and only gave a sluggish shake of the head.
"SERIOUSLY!" Yzak shouted "no punishment at all! What is with you two!"
"This…is not the first time…I've been injured in battle" Athrun managed between hurting breaths "and I'm aware…of Shinn's lack of respect…for me…"
"That is hardly the point!" Yzak spat "he left you to die!"
"To save a girl," Kira responded for Athrun "I can understand that"
"And instead he allowed an Admiral of Orb to get blown up!"
The crack of a smile stung Athrun's face "…Shinn's just not…politically minded…that's all"
Shinn was silent through this whole conversation; in truth, he couldn't believe what was happening. Weren't Kira or Athrun angry at all? Shinn had just left Athrun to die as Yzak had repeated over and over. Surely Kira felt something about that. And Athrun? Why wasn't he mad? He was always mad at Shinn for something, wasn't he? It didn't make sense that Athrun wasn't cross he'd disobeyed orders.
Yzak was still ranting but Kira was moving off with Athrun's arm about his neck and the medic holding the other side of the Admiral gingerly to avoid further agony. Behind them Yzak followed along with Dearka, trying to make Kira see sense; Lunamaria came to Shinn's side and tried to touch his shoulder, but he pulled away roughly and ran after the slowly moving Captain.
"Captain Yamato, I-"
Kira stopped so suddenly Athrun gasped in pain when his body carried on and slumped; bringing Athrun back to him Kira looked over his shoulder at Shinn. And there was the anger; it wasn't clear, more a darkening around the eyes and a deliberateness about the jaw. And when he spoke to Shinn his words were clear and pointed; that's when Shinn realised his punishment, Kira wasn't going to lock him away or seek grounds for dismissal, he just wasn't going to trust Shinn as much as he had.
But his words were the worst of all; the Captain's voice was so kind and understanding, and yet there was something in the tone that was almost unknown, scary.
"Shinn, I understand why you did what you did, but please don't leave Athrun in the lurch again"
Shinn stood there speechless as the little party moved off again; Kira's face turned away again as he helped his friend along carefully, murmuring softly to keep Athrun conscious a while longer. The Admiral was looking heavier and heavier, his body falling asleep on his feet as the after affects of his trauma took over him; he didn't look back at Shinn at all and the younger Coordinator found himself troubled by that, bothered because it meant there was no fight from Athrun. It crept him out.
Because there was always a fight from Athrun.
Shinn made sure there was.
But the ship was starting up again, continuing as if nothing had happened; behind Shinn mechanics were continuing with their work, moaning because they had to somehow fix the Justice; in front the officers turned back to matters of the ship also.
"Yzak, we've finally managed to get in touch with Orb" Captain Yamato was saying "Cagalli has opened her first port for us and is waiting. I want the ship to arrive as soon as can be"
And so we finish another chapter. Chapter seven already, impressive...well, for me anyways. I all hope you enjoyed the chapter, writing the battle scene was a bit tricky. I'm not really big on warfare and I don't watch that many war programs - Gundam SEED being one of two exceptions.
Please leave a review and give me an opinion.
Next chapter should be up soon, I have an idea I'm working on already. I shouldn't be spending so much time on this story, but I get bored at work.
Thanks for reading!
Kiki
Kizzes!
