Disclaimer: I do not own anything with that deals with Gundam SEED, be it a Mobile Suit, Gundam, OVA, Manga, etc. I do not own it; however I do own the plots, characters, and some of the Mobile Suits/Gundams that I have created just for fun. So please no suing me for I currently have barely any money and the money I do have is for school
Tale 07: The Last Goodebye
Written By: William R. Woods aka "Deathzealot"
Tale Foreword:
I have had this idea for a long while ever since I visited the USS Midway Aircraft Carrier Museum in San Diego. For months I kicked this idea around in my head, till it became what you see before you. Basically the Archangel after nearly three decades of service is to be permanently docked and set to become a museum for the two Bloody Valentine Wars, and the ship's long career. Also some characters from Honor and some of my other stories may appear, however this story is in now way connect to any of them. With that out of the way I leave you to read on…
Tale Summary:
The PPS Archangel after nearly three decades of service is set to finally be retired and converted to become a museum. Follow the thoughts of various former crewmembers and their families reflect on the long drawn-out career of the ship…
Tale BGM is Beyond The Time ~Möbius No Sora o Koete~ the Ending Song to Char's Counterattack
Tale 07: The Last Goodbye
Many thoughts drifted in my head as I watched the Archangel slowly entered the dock for the final time. On one hand I was proud to have served onboard the ship for the years I did and was actually happy that the old girl would not be broken up or destroyed, though on the other hand it pained me to see such a proud warship laid to rest like this. Either way it is time to say my good byes to an old friend…
- Spoken by a unknown member of the Archangel's original crew
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Bloody Valentine War Memorial and Museum
Neo-Heliopolis Colony
LaGrange Point Three
January 25, CE102
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Located at Lagrange Point Three Neo-Heliopolis Colony is quite sight too many even to those who lived there. It was a near complete copy of the original Heliopolis Colony that had been destroyed over thirty years ago to the day. However there where a few notable exceptions like a large lake taking one end of the colony, and the large complex built around said lake. This was the Bloody Valentine War Memorial and Museum, a memorial park dedicated to the two Bloody Valentine Wars and the lives lost in the mentioned wars. The complex itself had several buildings and two large walls along with a stone memorial at the center of the complex. One wall which sat along the coast of the lake facing the complex itself listed the names of every single innocent civilian live lost in the wars, from those lost in the Copernicus Bombing to the Frontier Crisis seven years later. The other wall wrapped itself around the center memorial stone and displayed the names of those soldiers who died fighting in the war, whatever side they maybe on at the time.
The various buildings of the Museum itself had several things insides like one of the buildings had a walk-through timeline from the events which preceded the first war to a year after the second war. Another building was a theater which ran various documentaries and shows that talked about the wars. A final building displayed various pieces of art based on the wars and the peace that followed them. One of the centerpieces of the gallery was a large painting that proudly displayed a damaged Earth Alliance Strike Dagger helping a crippled ZAFT GINN after the Second Battle of Jachin Due. The second main centerpiece of the gallery was a large stone statue, one that displayed the famous Strike Rouge Gundam standing over a group of civilians and protecting them as it held up its shield against attacks from an unknown source during the Battle of Berlin. A final interesting piece was another painting this one of the now famous Barachiel, a near sister of the almost legendry Archangel, proudly souring through a colorful sky on Earth itself. All of this was an interesting and moving display to many who visited the colony to only see this.
However one final piece of the complex had just been added to already great memorial, the Archangel herself now permanently moored peacefully in the center of the lake. It was now a museum itself proudly showing the ships long career, and its role in both wars as well as its service to bring about a lasting peace to the Earth Sphere. The Archangel now joined other similar shipboard museums throughout Earths History that proudly served as monument to its career and its service to its country. All of this was on the mind of Fleet Admiral (Retired) Murrue Ramius-La Flagga as she stared wistfully at the ship from her position in the large grandstand left over from earlier that day where the Archangel was official inducted into the Museum Complex and the celebration that followed. Now the fifty-six year old woman stood looking out at her former command deep in her thoughts as she remembered her time commanding the Archangel through both wars, and the time it served as her flagship during her time commanding the Paladin Protection Forces. With a wistful sigh Murrue raised a hand and tucked a lock of her grayish brown hair back behind her ear. She then smiled as someone hugged her from behind. Murrue then turned to stare at her husband of nearly twenty-eight years, Vice Admiral (Retired) Mu La Flagga as he rested his head on her shoulder.
"The old girl looks pretty good doesn't she," Mu said with a smile looking over at the ship. Murrue only sighed as she played with her husband own graying blond hair, as she to looked back towards the ship.
"Yes she does, I really need to thank Kira for convincing me to have this done," Murrue said with a small smile on her aged yet still beautiful face. A chuckle soundly came from behind the couple, which made the two turned to see a long haired gray and brown haired man approaching the two. This is Supreme Commander (Retired), now Governor Kira Yamato, the Governor of Neo-Heliopolis.
"You already have Murrue about three times already," Kira responded with another chuckle. The two others only smiled at him, before Mu stepped over to the younger man and started ruffling his hair. Kira simply flinched and glared at the older man while Murrue only laughed.
"Would you stop that Mu, I am forty-six for god's sake and you are fifty-eight," Kira said with another heated glare at his older friend, which made the other two simply laugh in response, before long the younger man joined his two friends laughing. The former Freedom Gundam pilot had changed a lot since the days of the wars; he finally put his demons to rest and dedicated himself to keep another war from happening as the Supreme Commander of ZAFT. He then retired to become the Governor of Neo-Heliopolis little less than ten years ago, about the same time that his wife Lacus Clyne-Yamato stepped down as PLANT Supreme Chairwoman after three consecutive terms in offices. Lacus now helped take care of her grandchildren along with those of their closet friends, and served on Kira's advising Civilian council.
"You guys are at it yet again? When will it ever stop," another voice said with a sigh making the three friends turn to see a fourth person now walking up to them. Smiles sprouted on the faces of the other three.
"Athrun! You came!" Kira said happily before rushing over to give his old friend a hug and a slap on the back. Major General (Retired) Athrun Dara Attha only smiled in response to his friend's affection. Athrun had decided to take Kira's sister Cagalli family name when the two married two years after the second war. This was partly to remove the stain of the Zala name, and to close the book on his painful past.
"Of course I came Kira. I would not miss this for the world, though I missed the ceremony I see," Athrun replied with a smile of his own at his longtime friend, who he did not see enough for one on Earth and the other running a colony in space it was hard to get together to meet.
"That does not matter you can join us on the tour then, for frankly the ceremony was kind of boring," Kira said with a chuckle one that was copied by the other three. Suddenly Murrue looked up with a panicked look on his face.
"The tour, I completely forgot about that!" the former captain of the Archangel said with a frown her face. The others blinked in surprise before looking down at the ship to see that the tours where just about ready to begin. However before anyone could say anything they started to hear someone running up steps towards them.
"Grandma! Grandpa! The tour is about ready to start, are you coming!" a young voice shouted as a figure emerged from the grandstands stairwell. Murrue smiled and looked down at her six-year old grandson, Kyle La Flagga.
"Yes Kyle we where just about ready to go," Murrue replied leaning down to pick up the young boy.
"Yeah! I can not wait," the mentioned boy said with a large smile on his face and clapping his hands. The other smiled at the two of them, before they turned to notice another figure emerging from the stairwell.
"Sorry Mom, he got away from me," blond haired and brown eyed Lewis La Flagga said with a tired sigh. Lewis is Murrue and Mu's oldest child and the father of Kyle. He looked quite harried and exhausted from trying to take care of Kyle and his twin sisters.
"It's alright Lewis, we are just about ready to leave for the tour anyways," Murrue replied with a sympathetic smile on her face. Her son could only nod with relief before taking Kyle from her, before starting down the stairwell towards the ground. The others started to follow him, while Murrue took one final longing glance at the ship before joining the rest of her family, to start the tour to see what the museum did with her old ship. It was time to say her final good byes to one great ship.
-o-Fin-o-
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Well here is the latest tale in Cosmic Chronicles and I hope you all enjoyed it, for I really enjoyed writing this. Granted I originally wanted to add something more this, but this should be fine for now. I may expand it later, but it won't be for a long while.
Now like I mentioned before this is not in anyway related to any of other stories, instead it is a small standalone story that demanded to be written. Also to those who don't know or haven't read the last tale, the Barachiel is a modified Archangel Class that was built during the Second War, but never was used. Instead it would be handed over to the Paladin Protection Force, by ZAFT who found it in an underground dock at Heavens Base.
Anyways that is about it. I shall see you all in my other stories then. Enjoy!