Gundam SEED: Different Reality
by DreamersLTD
If you can dream, then anything is possible. – DreamersLTD Motto
Disclaimer: Same as before...
As the colony finally shattered, both the crews of the Archangel and the Crueset team gasped in silent horror as they witnessed the death of a colony.
"It was so fragile..." whispered the Vesalius Captain.
"Heavyarms Leopard unit 003, respond! Heavyarms Leopard unit 003 please respond!" Natarle's voice reverberated within the cockpit of the Heavyarms L, slowly bringing Miri back from her stunned state. "Heliopolis is, gone... Dearka... indirectly participated in it's destruction..." she whispered.
In another part of space, the X12's pilot was on the verge of hyperventilating. "My god... Heliopolis... destroyed? This... This can't be... DAMN IT!!!" she wailed.
"... This situation really sucks. Now that Heliopolis is gone, ZAFT will be in deep shit, the EA fucked up, and Orb pissed at both sides," sarcastically muttered Canard as he floated some distance above the Archangel. "Well, I guess I should head back to the ship."
"I can't believe how fragile it was..." commented Mu, never realizing that he echoed the Vesalius Captain. "Archangel. This is X105-II, Lt. Mu Mu, checking in. Have you spotted any ZAFT vessels nearby?"
"... No. Please return to the ship. Mr. Pars and Princess Cagalli have just landed," voiced Natarle.
"And the girl?"
"She just checked in an is heading our way."
"Alright then, I'm heading back."
A couple minutes later, Mu got back to the ship, only to find that Miri was refusing to enter the ship unless they allowed a damaged lifepod on board.
"No! We can't accept it onboard."
"You can't accept it onboard? What do you mean that you 'can't accept it onboard?' It's propulsion system is broken and it's drifting out of control. Do you really want me to just send it back into space? There are refugees onboard, you know."
"A relief fleet is headed this way. And besides, the Archangel will be going back into battle. So, we can't –"
"Very well. I'll let them onboard," interrupted Murrue.
"Captain?" questioned Natarle.
"We don't need to waste any more time. We need every available unit if we are to survive the ZAFT fleet that wants us eliminated. Besides, ZAFT could attack at any moment."
"... Fine. But I'm filing this in my report."
"Very well. Miri, please return."
"Thank you, Captain." Both the Strike and the Heavyarms Leopard units entered the ship. Mu left for the bridge to discuss the Archangel's next plan.
--
"So what are you planning to do?" asked Mu as he entered the bridge, saluting.
"We're still in battle. Any sign of the enemy vessels?"
"No ma'am," responded the radar officer. "It's impossible with all the debris and heat sources from the collapsed colony."
"I bet those ZAFT vessels also have the same problem." Mu paused. "Do you expect that they will come after us?"
"We'll move based on that assumption, though if they attack us now, we may not survive."
"You're right. All we have is the Strike II, the Hyperion, the Princess's unit, and the Heavyarms Leopard. The ship itself is badly underhanded and underloaded. We're in no shape to fight. Should we try to make a silent run? I've heard that this ship is fairly fast."
"You forget that the enemy's Nazca class is also a high-speed vessel. There's no guarantee that we can outrun them."
"Well, we can always surrender, you know. That too is an option."
"I know that we're in a critical situation, but I have no intention whatsoever of surrendering. I refuse to give ZAFT this ship nor any of the MS on board, especially the remaining Strike. We have to get this ship and the Strike II back to Atlantic Federation HQ, regardless of the risks."
"Hey Captain, I recommend that we head to Artemis. Their defenses can hold off the ZAFT fleet for a while," interrupted a new voice.
The captain turned. "Artemis, isn't that one of the Eurasian fortresses?"
"Yeah, it is. It's also where I was stationed before being sent to pick up the Strike II," replied a nonchalant Canard. "Personally, I hate that bald bastard who runs the place. But the umbrella defense system is second to none. It should hold ZAFT back for the moment."
"I must agree," added Natarle. "Presently in our location, that would be the best option, since we are low on supplies."
"But the G-Weapons, or rather, the Heavyarms L, and this ship, are not registered in any allied database. The Hyperion and possibly the Strike II are already registered with Eurasia. Finally, the Princess's Zeo Astray is most likely already registered with Orb, though not publicly," voiced Murrue. "Would they actually acknowledge us? Or would they fire at us?"
"They will likely welcome us, since I'm on board," answered Canard. "I'll just have to feed them some bull crap story."
"Anyway, if we tried to head for the moon, you seriously don't expect us to make it there without trouble, do you? I understand that this ship is a highly classified Atlantic Federation secret, but if this ship goes down, then it would all be pointless," added Natarle.
"Artemis it is then? I wonder if everything will turn out fine," wondered Mu.
"We could only hope so. Let's also hope that the pursuing ZAFT fleet loses us here. Launch a decoy! Destination: Lunar Base! As for this ship, we'll attempt a silent run to Artemis!"
--
(On another side of the collapsed colony)
"So... Miri was living here... Miriallia, I'm sorry," Dearka softly said as his Buster floated near the Aegis and the Strike.
"... This won't go too well with the Supreme Council, don't you think so, Athrun?"
"I have to agree, Kira. This will setback some of ZAFT's intended plans," muttered Athrun as he scanned the area the best he could.
"Vesalius to Pilots Yamato, Zala, and Elsman; if you can hear this, return to the ship. I repeat, return to the ship."
Kira oriented the Strike with Earth below him. Athrun and Dearka did the same. "This is Kira Yamato, verifying message. Zala and Elsman are with me and are heading back to the fleet ASAP."
"Understood, glad to see you all are alive and kicking. Vesalius out."
--
On the Vesalius, Captain Ades gazed at the remains of Heliopolis from the Vesalius' bridge. Unease gripped him as he stared at the wreck. "What will we do now, Commander? We destroyed a neutral nation's colony. Once the Supreme Council learns this, we'll never hear the end of it."
Rau didn't even a trace of remorse. "How can they call themselves neutral when they helped build the Earth Alliance's new weapons? The only real setback with this colony's destruction would be the temporary freeze on our shipment of Heavyarms Leo MS." His demeanor was disturbingly calm. "Also, most the civilians were able to escape unharmed, and this is nothing like what happened to Junius Seven."
His words were indeed true. February 14, CE 70, the day of the Bloody Valentine, was when the Earth Alliance mercilessly attacked an agricultural colony with nuclear weapons. Civilian men, women, and children had no warning and were massacred. In the case of Heliopolis, at least the civilians had the chance to get to ejectable shelters.
Rau stepped forward. "Ades, can you locate the enemy ship?"
Ades was surprised, but hid it. "You want to continue pursuing them, sir? We've already lost most of our mobile suits, and your own unit is nowhere near battle ready at the moment."
"But we have five new acquisitions, don't we?" Rau smiled.
"The stolen GAT-X G-Weapon models, you want to send them out?"
"Of course, the data extraction is now complete and the operating systems have been rewritten. He gazed at Ades. "We mustn't allow the enemy ship to escape."
A communication officer spoke up. "We've detected a large heat source, it could be a battleship." She informed Ades and Rau. "Judging from the coordinates, it looks like its taking a course to the EA Lunar Base."
"Hmm... Ignore it, it's just a decoy." Rau said after a moment. He quickly brought up a map of space on the monitor and studied it. "Ades, we'll cast a net." He said, "The Vesalius will move ahead and wait here." He traced a course towards Artemis. "The Gamow and the Galileo meanwhile will follow them at a distance and take this course." He indicated another arc across the map. "Finally, we'll have the Pasteur take up a point right here. The Naturals' new ship will be caught and have no way to go."
This confused Ades. "But sir, what if they've indeed gone to the moon?"
"The distance is too great for them to make the trip. I sense they're going to Artemis. After all, we did manage to hit them before they were able to properly stock the ship. Ready the Vesalius and contact the Gamow, Galileo, and the Pasteur. It's about time we capture a fleeing Angel."
Ades couldn't understand the workings of his superior's mind, but nevertheless, he was only a Captain and he followed his orders; no matter how strange they were.
--
Miri, upon entering the ship, gently set down the damaged lifeboat and docked her unit back into a scaffold.
She had just left her unit in time to see the pod being opened up by some of the techs. Not seeing anyone she knew, she began to leave before encountering Mu.
"Hey, Miriallia Haw!" he called, "We need to chat."
Miri stood and walked over to Mu. "Yes, what did you need to talk to me about?"
"You, me, Mr. Pars, and the Princess need to be on standby." The Lieutenant explained, "Our spur of the moment escape plan is already underway and there maybe trouble along the route."
Miri was worried. "Are you saying you want me to pilot the Heavyarms Leopard again?"
Mu nodded. "Look, I understand your feelings, but as it stands, the four of us are the only ones capable was defending this ship."
"I know that, but –"
A junior officer stuck her head in the doorway. "Excuse me; are there any doctors or nurses in here?" An older gentleman and two young women stood. The first was full fledged doctor and the two females were interns. "We require your assistance as we have a lot of injured people on board."
The trio immediately nodded and followed the officer. Miri was surprised at the sight of civilians so eager to assist.
"As you can see," Mu commented, "we all can do our part, no matter what it may be, and no matter whether soldier and civilian. To be honest, I'd rather run away from this mess myself if I could, but I can't and there's nothing I can do to change it." He paused momentarily. "So what do you plan to do? The choice is yours, but make sure you don't regret whatever you decide." With that said, he walked off, leaving Miri with an enormous decision to make. She looked to her friends, who seemed to contemplate the Lieutenant's words. She then left to think over what she wanted to do.
After he had gone, Flay looked confused. "Miriallia was piloting one of those MS, right? But then, what's all this about making a decision? I thought she had decided to join as a temporary pilot."
Sai nodded. "Yes, but the EA is finding her skills very valuable. Unfortunately for Miri, she prefers a peaceful resolution to a violent situation."
"Really?"
"You have to remember, Flay, that Miri's a Coordinator, or rather Half-Coordinator, that's why she was operating it. But because the Atlantic Feds are behind on MS technology, unlike their Eurasian friends, they need every available MS pilot, even if they are originally neutral." Kuzzey spoke up.
Flay was about to respond when a person nearby turned and blurted at what they just heard. "She's one of those inhuman freaks?"
"Miri may be a Coordinator, but she's not a freak!" Tolle shouted, coming to his friend's defense. "And she isn't with ZAFT, she's one of us!"
Everyone was silent, not saying a word after the outburst. Little did they know that Miri was just outside of the mess hall.
Miri hung her head. 'They don't know the truth of the matter... Dearka, what would you do in this situation?' she thought. After a moment, she quietly headed back to her current room.
Flashback: Young Miriallia
Miri was walking home from the research institute when a small gang of boys approached her. "Hey girl! Is it true that you're really a Coordinator? Cuz' we heard that you are really a Natural!" The leader cruelly teased her. "Or are you just passin' around that rumor so that you can try and fit in? You Naturals are nuthin' but trouble!" the other boys started laughing.
Miri just kept her head down and walked faster. "Hey! We're talkin' to you! Hey!!! Listen... To... ME, you stupid Coordinator-WANNABE!!!" the leader tossed a small rock directly at Miri. When it seemed likely to hit, Miri's combat instincts kicked in, and she just dodged it. "Oh ho ho! So the little Natural girl does have skills! Well, try dodging this!" that was the gang's signal to pelt her with any makeshift projectile. Miri took a quick glance back, then ran for it.
"JUST LEAVE ME ALONE!" she yelled, tears threatening to fall.
"We got her on the run! After her! We'll show her who the superior race is!" The gang did manage to land some hits, but Miri ignored the pain and attempted to throw them off. Just as she thought she was taking the right way, she found herself trapped in a dead end. "It ends here, Natural girl!" The leader picked up a small metal pole, and, with his gang armed with sticks and other hard objects, charged her.
Miri, tears in her narrowed eyes, got serious. As the leader's pole came down on her, she grabbed it; much to the surprise of the gang, wrenched it out of his grip, and proceeded to knock down the closest members. She managed to grab one more pole, and used what she was taught of Arnis to incapacitate the gang members, one by one. "I'll show you what I –! Hurgh!" Miri had dropped one pole, grabbed the leader by the neck and slammed him into a nearby wall.
"I... am... a... COORDINATOR!" she said through tears and anger. She then performed a very feminine move: she rammed her right knee as hard as she could up his (visual of eggs cracking) and walked away. A short distance later, she simply sat down and cried. The words affected her more that she thought it would. A moment later, she felt a warm presence, an embrace.
"Shh... Miri. It's okay now. I'm here. What happened?" a warm, young, masculine voice whispered to her. She looked up to see a tanned blonde, that she knew. She immediately buried her face against his chest, and soaking his shirt. "Hey, come on now. You can tell me. I promise I won't offend you."
After gathering enough of her wits, she proceeded to tell him of the recent event that gave her such distress. "Miri, I'm sorry. I should've been there. It's my fault. Had I escorted you home instead of playing a quick round of soccer, then this would've never happened. I'm sorry," Dearka said. She shook her head no, and slowly exhausted her tears. "It doesn't matter who you are. You will always be the Miriallia I know. My Miriallia. You fought for what you believed in, and that's what counts."
End Flashback
Onboard the Vesalius and the Gamow, the pilots had just been briefed on the upcoming sortie. They were now walking down the hall towards the shuttle bay.
"So, what did the commander say about you three taking off without permission?" asked Yzak, his voice filled with his usual sarcasm.
"He didn't really get to reprimand us, as I told him that our actions were within his original command: Use whatever means to sink the ship. And besides, you forget that I'm a lesser White Coat," Kira answered.
"Well, we did manage to analyze their attack patterns, so it wasn't entirely in vain," added Athrun.
"Shut up Zala. I didn't ask you."
"Hey you two, cut it out. We have more important things to worry about, such as our machines. So knock it off," interrupted Nicol.
Dearka, however, remained silent.
--
On the bridge of the Archangel, the crew began to panic when they tracked all four ZAFT ships closing on them. They realized that their decoy hadn't worked, and the situation was tense. It was then that Mu requested that a map of the surrounding space and data on the four enemy ships and their positions be brought up. He looked and smiled.
"Do you have a plan?" Murrue asked.
"I sure do." Mu answered. "I can to make the impossible possible. Here's what I'm thinking." He began to layout his plan in detail.
The intercom blared: "Enemy ships incoming! All personnel to your posts immediately!"
Miri heard announcement, but was uneasy as she headed for the bridge. If she didn't fight, the Archangel would most likely be destroyed, and everyone on board would die. But if she did go out and fight, she would have to battle Dearka. Rounding a corner, she was surprised at what she saw. All of her classmates were now dressed in EA uniforms and were escorted to the bridge by Officer Chandra. "What's all this?"
"It's the only way they'd let us on the bridge." Kuzzey said.
"We talked about it and we want to help out too, seeing as how the crew's short-handed." Tolle added, "At least we can handle the computers and controls."
Miri didn't know what to think. "You guys…"
Tolle smiled. "Look, if you're going out to risk your neck, the least we can do is have your back."
"All of us," Sai said.
As she watched her friends continue on, Miri knew what she had to do. She quickly rushed to the pilot changing quarters. She changed into her new flightsuit (sunset orange and red) and went to the hanger, where Mu, Canard, and Cagalli waited.
"Well, I'm glad to see you've decided to fight." Mu said.
"As you said, sir, only the four of us can protect this ship." Miri said, "I don't want to fight, but I want to protect my friends."
"That's understandable, no one here really wants to fight, but we must in order to survive." Mu nodded, "Okay, I'll give the details of the plan."
Miri had boarded the Heavyarms Leopard and watched Mu's Strike II launch. She had to remember that all she, Canard, and Cagalli had to focus on was protecting the ship and themselves, but that would be easier said than done. This was going to be a difficult battle…
To Be Continued…
I understand that Canard and Cagalli are not getting much screen time as of yet, but don't worry. They won't be on the sidelines for long.
Same as the prologue and chapter 1...