Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto, Gundam 00 and Gundam SEED.
Turn Eight: Confrontation
On a military training field, Naraku and some other trainees in their new Earth Forces uniforms ran through an obstacle course while holding their rifles and firing them at the targets. For a while, the de facto Root leader has gotten used to the regimen of his erstwhile overlords, though the nature of the training itself was unlike any training he'dendured back when he was a young ninja waiting to be inducted into his beloved grandfather's organization.
"Faster! Last year's team was better than the lot of you!" the instructor shouted. When Naraku stubled on the ground and struggled to get up, he marched closer to him. "Do you have any problems running with a heavy backpack, soldier?"
"No, sir." Naraku answer back.
"Then get your ass back into gear and hurry the hell up!"
Naraku didn't need to object to the same order twice as he continued to fall behind the other trainees. Once the firing range and jogging exercises were over, Naraku moved on to another facility where he was expected to waddle through water, mud and possibly exploding mines. As in the facility he had gone earlier, Naraku had to carry his own rifle, his heavy backpack and some ammo while doing the crawling exercise.
"C'mon, slowpokes! We don't have much time wasting here!" the instructor snapped and shouted as the trainees continued to struggle through the mud with a barb wire hanging above them. "You're all supposed to be the best future soldiers of the Earth Forces from the former World Economic Union. The AEU pansies could do a better job crawling through mud and mines than the lot of you. Move it!"
"How the hell am I supposed to survive this?" Naraku thought to himself furiously while he starts to crawl through a muddy group with another barb wire hanging above him. "The explosions are so brutal, I doubt even Uzumaki can heal his own wounds from a mine explosion. This training makes the ANBU training look like an amateur genin training session."
"No slacking, slowpoke!" the instructor snapped at Naraku once he finished his course. He looked at the timer and shook his head. "Not bad today, but not that good either. I expect you to be more fit than that. We have a war going on, and we can't afford to lose even a minute in waiting for you to finish up."
"Yes, sir." Naraku panted.
"Five laps around the airfield." the instructor told him as he dropped his stuff off at the barracks. "And yes, don't bring your rucksack."
Naraku arrived at an airfield on an adjacent location from the barracks he's staying in and proceeded to start jogging. The instructor from earlier had also arrived at the airfield and begins to time him on this exercise. Once the Shimura heir finished his exercise around the runways, the instructor approached him and nodded.
"Well, your fitness level isn't that bad. Although, you may want to be a bit less hesitant when you're training on the facilities. On the battlefield, if you're hesitant, you can die." he told him. "Get changed. You'll be expected to go inside the lab where you'll be doing the mental conditioning."
The mental conditioning he mentioned was the same conditioning when children look at the pictures of people shot and killed. Their chants about how coordinators killed their parents and how they should be killed was becoming more of a daily routine than a special class for Naraku. For someone who's been trained to mask and even kill his own emotions, the mental brainwashing seem to be far more harsh.
"Coordinators are the devils. They must be killed for the interests of peace. For justice, and preservation of our blue and pure world." Naraku starts to speak with a monotone. When he was about to fall asleep, electrodes forced him to stay awake. It is indeed a very brutal, and very grotesque kind of ritual for someone to become a soldier of the Earth Forces.
OUTER SPACE
Naruto's Ahead was already out of the ship along with the Blue Frame and Elijah's GINN, patrolling the area where some pirates were lurking around, waiting for an unsuspecting supply ship to arrive so they can rob it, and possibly kill the crew inside. To their relief, there seems to be no sign of trouble in where they're located. It was not until Naruto detected something on the radar that Murakumo and Elijah starts to come closer towards him.
"Hey guys. I'm detecting something on my radar." he told them. "It appears to be five mobile suits. No, six mobile suits. Two of them are fighting the other four and one of them as a solar furnace."
"Solar furnace? Should we notify Celestial whatchamacallit?" Elijah asked back. Murakumo shrugged as he answered back instead.
"I think you should investigate what's going on, Naruto. The goods aren't ready yet, and we're not supposed to use them yet in combat." Murakumo answered back as the Ahead flew off towards the battlefield.
Naruto spots the Aegis and the Strike confront each other while his radar picked up the signal of an incoming mobile suit. He noticed the blue mobile suit attempting to intervene between the Strike and Aegis, but the Ahead shoved it aside, forcing the Duel's pilot to confront him, along with the Buster and the Blitz. The only saving grace was that the Astrea came around to distract the ZAFT machines.
"Kira!"
"Athrun?"
"Stop it!" Athrun called out to Kira as the two mobile suits grabbed their beam sabers. "Put your sword away. We're not enemies, are we?"
"What?" Kira wondered.
Athrun continued to ask. "Why must we fight against each other? Why must you, a coordinator, turn your own weapon against your own people?"
Kira hesitated to answer back and tries to retreat towards the Archangel, but the Aegis blocks the way. The Duel, Buster and Blitz were busy trying to shoot down the Ahead, forcing Naruto to evade the shots frantically. Fon fires the beam rifle at the three pursuing mobile suits, allowing the Ahead to stop dodging and to grab its own beam assault rifle while the Blue Frame and the GINN started to come closer.
"Stop it, Kira. Why are you siding with the Earth Forces? What are you doing with the Naturals?"
"I'm not with the Earth Forces." Kira insisted, to Athrun's amazement. "I have friends aboard that ship. What about you? Why are you with ZAFT? I thought you didn't want to fight, and yet you're in a mobile suit."
"The Naturals who failed to understand the situation, they made these things in Heliopolis." Athrun answered back. Naruto took this time to intervene and fired his beam assault rifle at him. "Another one?"
"You ZAFT monsters destroyed our home. Why should you have the moral high ground?" Naruto snapped back as his shots were easily evaded. He noticed the Duel, Buster and Blitz trapping the Strike, even as Fon continued to harrass them. "Fon. Could you get Kira out of there?"
"Will do, Naruto." Fon grinned and fired his beam rifle at the Duel. When the Duel grabbed its beam saber, Fon responded by grabbing his own beam saber and clashed blades. "Hello there, Mr. Duel Pilot."
"Cocky Natural. Just how do you think you can defeat us?" Yzak sneered, but it only made Fon cackle like crazy. "Are you making fun of me?"
Fon grinned and snorted. "Typical of you coordinators. How arrogant you guys are, and you don't know who are you messing with."
"We're coordinators. You're just a Natural." Yzak sneered back, but the Astrea kicked it aside and fired its beam rifle at the Blitz, which is forced to put up a shield to block the shots. "How can you be better than us?"
"Skill. Something you have, or lack." the ex-Fereshte Meister snickered. Fon suddenly noticed the remaining stolen machines surround the Strike as the Aegis stood there, helpless at what they'll do to Kira.
Meanwhile, the Ahead sent to investigate the current battle was caught up in the crossfire as it forced itself to put up a shield in order to block the shots coming from the Duel. Naruto granned his own GN Beam Katana and slammed it into the Duel's shield and kicked it aside, though it became caught up in another crossfire between the Buster and the Aegis. The Ahead spun around, dodging the shots and avoiding the enemy's beam saber swipes. The Duel returned fire at the Ahead, just to ward Naruto off so he can focus on fighting Kira, even though Athrun was just watching.
"Kira! Get out of there now! You're not safe if you're just gonna keep on standing there!" Naruto shouted to Kira as the Ahead turned around and dodged the Blitz' claws. "Persistent bastard."
Murakumo approached him with the Blue Frame. "Naruto, get the hell out of there right away! There's no need for you to investigate this further!"
"But my friend's about to get captured, and he's piloting the Strike!" Naruto pointed at the figure of the Strike fighting for its life as the Duel was about to finish him off. He joined the surrounded Strike and Fon's Astrea in fighting off the four other stolen machines. "Fon, Kira. Get out of there right away!"
Kira didn't need to hesitate twice once the attacking machines had stopped their attacks upon hearing about the Vesalius' damage report as a result of the mobile armor. The Astrea escorted the Strike away from the battlefield as the Ahead and the Blue Frame starts to retreat as well. Kira starts to fire back at the approaching Duel and Buster, but the Strike ran out of power, unable to produce any more beam shots. Fon blocked the shots coming from the Buster as he grabbed the beam saber and clashed blades with the Duel, allowing Kira to retreat back to the Archangel. Unfortunately, Athrun saw this opportunity to capture the already immobile Strike, even with Fon fighting Yzak and Dearka. Naruto and Murakumo gasped as the Ahead fires its shots at the Aegis, only to have it blocked by the Blitz.
"What are you doing, Athrun?" Yzak asked furiously.
"We're taking this machine too." Athrun answered back.
"Our orders were to destroy it!"
"If we can capture it, it will be better in the long run."
"You damn bastard! You're forgetting the other suit with a solar furnace!" Dearka shouted and pointed at the approaching Astrea. He also noticed the Ahead chasing the Aegis. "Behind you, Athrun!"
"Should have captured that weird looking suit instead of that machine you've got your hands on." Nicol told Athrun as the Ahead shoved him aside and fired its beam rifle frantically.
"Hey, Naruto! Don't fire your beam rifle too recklessly!" Murakumo ordered, but the Aegis kept on dodging the shots.
Athrun suddenly tensed up and noticed the Ahead, even as he struggles to get the Strike back towards the Gamow. "That suit...it kinda looks familiar, yet it's so notorious."
"Athrun?" Yzak asked back, but he and his teammates gasped in horror at the sight of the Ahead. "Don't tell me that's an antiquated mobile suit!"
"More like a two thousand year old solar powered mobile suit!" Dearka exclaimed. The Buster turned back towards the Aegis with the Strike in its claws, literally.
"Athrun, what are you doing?" Kira asked back.
"I'm taking you to the Gamow." Athrun answered back, despite Kira's protests.
"You're joking, right? I won't go to a ZAFT ship. There's no way I'll go inside a ZAFT ship!"
"You're a coordinator. You're one of us!" Athrun reprimanded his wayward friend.
"No! I won't join ZAFT! I don't want to join ZAFT!" Kira shouted angrily.
"Shut up! Let me take you...Otherwise, I'll have to shoot you." Athrun said in resignation. "I already lost my mother at the Bloody Valentine tragedy. I won't let it happen again. So I will redeem myself by making you see the errors of your ways and convince you to fight alongside us."
Athrun didn't finish his sentence as the Ahead and the Moebius Zero opened fire with their guns. "Don't get in my way!"
"Let him go." Naruto replied back coldly and grabbed his GN Beam Katana in an attempt to sever the Aegis' legs, but it was caught up by the Duel, Buster and Blitz. "Perfect."
"What are you talking about?" Fon wondered, but he got his answer rather quickly. Mu's Moebius Zero fired upon the Aegis, and managed to let go of the Strike. "Hahahaha! Man, you're one good decoy."
"Shit! That red suit was a decoy?" Athrun gritted his teeth and clashed blades against the Ahead. He aimed a kick at the Ahead's chest, but only managed to kick the shield away before aiming a kick in the chest. "Why? Why would you allow Kira to be played by the Naturals?"
"Don't take this the bad way. but not all coordinators have to fight for ZAFT!" Naruto answered back calmly. He looked around and fired his beam rifle sporadically, only aiming at the leg joints of each suit. He also noticed his energy level about to go lower. "I'm his friend, and I'm a regular human being."
"Still, Kira's a-"
"Kid! Go back to the Archangel! There's a Launcher pack waiting for you." Mu told Kira. the Strike promptly flew back towards the Archangel, with the Duel in hot pursuit. "Oi, Celestial Being Gundam. Get that stolen suit away from the Strike!"
"No need to mention it twice." Fon replied back. He fired off a couple of beam shots at the Duel, forcing Yzak to clash blades with him. "Man, I like knocking a peg off such arrogant coordinators."
"Why you-"
Naruto and Athrun clashed blades while Mu is busy fending off the remaining two suits. The Aegis fired its beam rifle at the Ahead, which countered back by firing its own GN Beam Rifle. Athrun shoved the Ahead aside and kept on firing its beam rifles and the CIWS machine gun bullets, forcing Naruto to block the shots and to dodge them, even as he starts to grow tired. Murakumo approached the vulnerable Ahead and takes him.
"Let's get out of here, Naruto." Murakumo fired his own beam rifle at the Aegis and proceeds to retreat along with the Ahead. "Looks like we've gotten the info we need on the current disturbances."
"What about the parcels?" Naruto asked back.
"We'll make our way into Artemis and accompany the Archangel. Although we may have to come closer to the Umbrella and notify the Eurasian officers there." Murakumo replied back. He issued out an order to the Serpent Tail's Laurasia ship. "Attention, all Serpent Tail crew. We will approach Artemis soon, so you'd better notify the Eurasian leaders and the Archangel's crew that we will come soon."
"Roger that." Kazahana Adja replied back. The Laurasia starts to move towards the Umbrella as it fired its dual beam cannons. "We do need to get a better ship than this thing."
"Be thankful that we have a ship, Kazahana." Loretta told her daughter. "All right, Gai. We're coming closer towards the Umbrella now."
"Right." Murakumo nodded. He opened up the channels as the Ahead returns inside, allowing the Blue Frame to contact the Eurasians inside the Umbrella. "This is Gai Murakumo of the Serpent Tail. We are currently bringing in the requested package for the personnel inside. Permission to dock and to proceed through the inspectional procedures."
One of the Eurasian leaders told Gerard Garcia about it. He promptly returned the message. "Permission granted, though you and your crew will have to comply with our orders once you reach inside. It's just plain, simple procedure."
"Roger that."
The Laurasia stars to dock inside the Umbrella at the same time the Archangel stopped outside while a shuttle full of Eurasian soldiers starts to move closer towards the ship. Murakumo and Naruto unloaded the requested parcels to the engineers below as the antiquated Flag, Enact and Tieren is moved from the ship's catapult with Elijah, Sakura and Hotaru in controls of the suits.
"I'd never thought I'd see those things again." one engineer looked at the old Enact. "It's been so long since when? 2307 AD?"
"Yeah, but that Enact looked like it had a Landstriker package. I'm guessing that Enact used to be piloted by a guy named Klaus Grado." the other engineer replied back. He turned and looked at the sight of the CB Guard Flag. "This on the other hand is a Flag Colony Guard Type, but what's up with the sword?"
"Celestial Being must have modified that thing. You can see the GN Sword in its hands." a third engineer pointed at the sword. "Finally, a Tieren Space Commander Type. Shame really, I would have loved to see a Tieren All Region Type."
"Silence down there! You guys are supposed to examine those machines, not gawk at them!" an officer yelled at the idle scientists as he accompanies the Serpent Tail group into the office at the same time the Archangel's officers were escorted by other officers and soldiers. He turned to the Serpent Tail crew and smiled. "It's just that these scientists are from Europe, mainly France and Spain. We've heard about their work habits from our German, Norweigan and Swedish colleagues, and we're not that impressed."
"Especially if France's industries often goes on strike." Murakumo replied back darkly. They arrived at the office of Gerard Garcia and waited for him to allow more visitors. "Sir, this is Lieutenant Edelstein. I have the visitors from the Serpent Tail."
Garcia's voice crackled back. "I'll allow them first. The white ship's officers can wait. They're still in the ship."
"Thank you, sir. Please come in." Edelstein opened the door and allowed the Serpent Tail to enter.
"Welcome to Artemis. I see that you've brought the requested parcels right on time, and in mint condition too." Garcia turned to the view of the old mobile suits. "As you know, Eurasia is consisted of former EU nations, Russia and the MidEast. Though Scandinavia isn't included here, all of us here have ancestors who served in the former AEu miltary. The old AEU-09 Enact was our mainstay suit until AD 2312."
"So what is the official Eurasian designation for the old suits then?" Murakumo asked back.
"Perhaps we should give this line of suits with a CAT1-X serial numbers. The new Hyperion suit is designated as CAT1-X1. Therefore, we would name those suits as CAT2-X01AEU EF Enact, CAT2-X02HRL EF Tieren, and CAT2-X03WEU EF Flag. Of course, the EF stands for Eurasian Federation, and the initials after the numbers signify where they came from." Garcia explained carefully. "Anyways, your payment will have to wait. We've got important matters to attend with the Archangel's crew."
ARCHANGEL
OUTSIDE ARTEMIS
Murrue and Natarle saluted to the Eurasian officers who boarded their ship, despite the fact that they're armed. A shuttle is waiting outside while the mobile armors escort the ship inside. The refugees waiting inside were increasingly scared of what the Eurasians will do to them, even though they came from a neutral colony that was recently destroyed. Fon just scoffed at the sight of the armed soldiers.
"Thank you for coming to our aid, sir. We're grateful that you've granted our request to enter port." she told the officer, but the armed soldiers aimed their guns at them. "What's the meaning of this, Commander?"
The officer called Biddaulph replied back in a cold tone. "I would advise you to remain silent, captain."
"Geez, why the armed escorts?" Fon asked curiously, but the soldiers aimed their guns at him. "Guess I spoke too soon."
While the Eurasian officers and their armed escorts accompanied the Archangel's top officers through the base, Fon was surprised to see the recently delivered Flag, Enact and Tieren being examined by the scientists, engineers and technicians. He also spotted the Blue Frame, Elijah Kiel's GINN and the Ahead Smultron Naruto piloted. Still, he was unsure of how the Earth Forces had gotten their filthy hands on such antiquated mobile suits. Back inside the admiral's office, Elijah and Murakumo were still talking to Garcia when the officer was outside the door with the Archangel's officers.
"Oh? That must mean their ship as docked inside already." Elijah deduced. Garcia nodded and clicked a button as the image of the Archangel appeared.
"A top secret project of the Atlantic Federation. Who would have thought that something like this would fall into our laps like ripe persimmon?" Garcia told them.
"The rumors of Heliopolis must be true after all. We were there when it collapsed." Murakumo told him. "My mission was to raid and destroy ZAFT bases."
"We'll invite the crew to stay here for a much needed rest." the Eurasian admiral replied back, but Naruto asked back.
"Do you intend to keep that ship for yourselves?"
Garcia shook his head. "Not really, since I could gift wrap the ship and give it to you guys as payment instead of cash. Then again, that would be impossible. Unless if I could hook your organization to a very old establishment, the Private Military Company Trust of the Eurasian constituent republic of Moralia."
"PMC Trust? We're already a mercenary. Why hook up with another mercenary company?" Elijah asked curiously.
"If I may answer this question, the PMC Trust is the one organization we Eurasians are relying on, just as the Atlantic Federation relied on Orb's Morgenroette to develop their own mobile suits. Having you referred to the PMCs would instantly increase your value as a potential mercenary fighting force." Garcia answered back with a hint of satisfaction. "In addition to these costly expeditions regarding AD era mobile suits, it is indeed worth the costs in terms of future strength. Recall that the recent offensive against the Desert Tiger of ZAFT ended in a disastrous defeat for the Eurasians because their Linear Tanks were obliterated by their new BuCUEs. It is also implied that these dog-like suits have also tore apart the old Anfs that were deployed."
An officer entered the office. "Excuse me, sir. I've got three officers from the unidentified ship as well as their agent with me."
Garcia waved his hand and extended his arms. "Welcome to Artemis. I see that you three have gotten yourselves acquainted with the Serpent Tail."
"No, this is our first meeting with them, up close." Fon answered back.
"Lt. Ramius, Ensign Badgureil and Lt. La Flaga. Who would have thought that the Hawk of Endymion would come here? It appears that your IDs are genuine Atlantic Federation IDs. The only person that's a complete stranger here would be your friend with the jeans."
Fon pointed his fingers at himself. "Me?"
"Yes, you. I don't know who you are." Garcia admitted.
Mu spoke for Fon, just to make sure he didn't reveal any info he doesn't want to reveal yet. "He's Robert Stad Jr., and he's also a mercenary."
"I see." Garcia nodded.
"We're sorry for creating such an inconvienience."
"Duly noted. What are you doing here then, if you're still the best ace in the hole." Garcia asked back. Mu hesitated to answer, but finally found his answer.
"I'm not at liberty to say."
"It's essential that we get some supplies immediately as we have to head off towards the Lunar HQ as soon as possible." Murrue said urgently. "We're being chased by ZAFT."
Garcia scoffed. "ZAFT? You mean this ship just outside?" He switched the channel to another image of the Gamow. "As you can see, they're wandering just outside the umbrella. One vessel isn't our main concern."
"We can't afford to stay here or we'd risk damage to Artemis." Mu insisted, but the stubborn man only laughed at his concern.
"Damage? To Artemis? This place is as safe as a baby in a mother's arms." Garcia insisted, but Fon snorted.
"It's only safe when the guard is up. If the guard is down, then that is when real chaos begins. You can't just rely on such defenses." Fon protested. A couple of Eurasian officers start to move towards him. "Believe me, I know how it feels to have my ass kicked when my guard's down."
Once Biddaulph and the Archangel's officers left the office, Murakumo and Elijah turned their heads back towards Garcia. "Is there anything else that you wanted us to do?"
"As a matter of fact, yes. Should we fail in getting the newest mobile suit we needed, we may have to target one of the new mobile suits the Junk Guild possess. Other than that, there are some crews aboard your organization that may need additional training in modern military operations. That is when the PMCs come in." Garcia explained. He also grabbed some papers and handed it out to them. "Maybe you two would benefit from an alliance with the PMCs."
"We'll think about it. Could you show us the Earth Forces' new mobile suit?" Murakumo requested. An officer arrived to escort the Serpent Tail members out of the office and into the hangar, where the technicians are busy examining the Strike. Another officer approached them as he talks to the officer who escorted them outside.
"We've managed to surveil and analyze the ship so far, but the mobile suit...it has been locked."
"The OS, you mean?"
"We have technicians working on releasing the locks, but to no avail. We even had to pull off some scientists from the excavated machines in order to analyze this thing." the officer spoke back. "By the way, no Natural could have done that. It looks like a coordinator based OS system lock."
"Why not get the pilot responsible? He'll have to unlock it at some point." a second officer suggested as they got back towards the Serpent Tail mobile suits. "What a pain in the ass, this travesty."
LAURASIA-CLASS WARSHIP
The Gamow waited outside the Umbrella, hoping for its defenses to be lowered down. Earlier on, Captain Zelman received a message from the Homeland regarding an additional member that will join the Le Creuset team, as well as another ship with an independent team assembled with GINN High Maneuvers and a custom CGUE as the lead suit. Yzak, Dearka and Nicol were looking at the map of Artemis while the rest of the crew waited.
"So neither lasers nor projectiles can penetrate the Umbrella. Of course, the same principle applies to the defenders as well." Zelman explained to the three Red Coats present. Right now, sinking the Archangel would have to wait as penetrating the Umbrella seems to be more urgent. "This seems to be impossible to penetrate."
"What do we do then? Wait until they come out? Even they can't launch their own attacks. Sound stupid." Dearka said sarcastically, but Yzak rebuked him for his remarks.
"Dearka, this isn't a funny joke. What would have happened if the commander returned, and we told him that we couldn't do anything? We'd be humiliated." he snapped sternly. He turned to Nicol, already gazed at the picture at hand. "Nicol?"
Nicol paused for a moment, until he gives his opinion. "Well, there is a special system that was installed in the Blitz. It may be useful."
"Really? Do tell." Zelman spoke back.
"My machine has a system called the Mirage Colloid system. The system itself can't be detected by enemy radars and sensors. Similar to the particles that antiquated machine possessed." Nicol suggested. "Prove me wrong, but the Umbrella is activated when there are visible enemies around, right?" Everyone nodded. "The Mirage Colloid will be the trump card that can overcome this problem."
Once the meeting was over, the three Red Coats suited up and waited just beside the hangar. Nicol gazed at the Blitz while Yzak and Dearka were talking amongst themselves. Earlier on, they were furious as to how and why Athrun disobeyed an order to retreat when he had the Strike in its claws. He recalled the moment when he spoke to him about the real reason why he disobeyed an order.
Flashback:
"There is someone that I knew a long time ago. He's piloting the white mobile suit, and he's fighting alongside the Earth Forces. I thought if he could listen to me, maybe I can convince him to join us." Athrun recalled once after Yzak and Dearka left the changing room. "He's a coordinator, and yet he's fighting against us. Like, why would he do such a thing?"
"I'm not sure, Athrun. If I had a friend, a coordinator friend, and he was fighting alongside the Earth Forces, I'd feel the same way as you did. I'll see if I could find this friend of yours. If he doesn't want to join us, then it may be better to kill him. He may be your best friend, Athrun, but he's clearly betrayed his own people by fighting alongside the Earth Forces." Nicol would reply back, to Athrun's shock. "Athrun, You can't just think about the past if you are going to survive this war."
He left the changing room, leaving Athrun alone to think about what his motives were when he tried to capture the Strike and nearly succeeded in bringing him inside the Gamow.
End flashback.
"The Earth Forces can make such weird machines. The other suit they had, it looked like the models we've captured." Dearka spoke first. "I get the feeling that everytime that thing appears, we can't even talk to each other."
"Still, that MS Nicol has, that's a perfect machine fit for a coward." Yzak answered back.
The two pilots watched as the Blitz took off from the Gamow and flew slowly towards the Umbrella. He disengaged the Phase Shift Armor and activated the Mirage Colloid after uploading the data and sent it back to the PLANTs. In another part of the Umbrella, a Nazca-class warship sailed outside as it starts to move closer towards the Gamow, with a female white coated commander giving out orders.
"C'mon, guys. This isn't the time to slack off. We have to join the Gamow before the Umbrella sends out its troops." she told the crew and pilots. One of the crew approached her. "Yes, Tanner?"
"Commander Aker, the Vesalius isn't here though." a New Zealander Red Coat named Jaden Tanner replied back. Another crew had raised his hand up and gave her a note.
"To Commander Alexandra Aker from Captain Zelman, we've currently launched our own attacks as we speak. Our captured machine is on its way to the Umbrella." she read. The black haired, ice blue eyed White Coat chuckled and sighed.
"At least the Le Creuset team has gutsy pilots. Like my so-called imperfect brother, Axis." Alexandra scoffed before the Nazca-class ship aptly named Von Trapp moved beside the Gamow. "How long until that pilot's pulled his stunt?"
"A bit longer. The Umbrella has to lower its guard first." a crew member replied back.
"Monitor the Umbrella and get all pilots on standby. We'll launch when the Gamow has sent the rest of the mobile suits." Alexandra answered back. She stood and waited for Nicol to finish his stunt. "Get my CGUE prepped up as well."
ARCHANGEL CAFETERIA
Garcia arrived at the cafeteria with a couple of officers and armed soldiers as the refugees and the crew members sat down and waited. Their purpose was to locate the pilot of the Strike and to force him to comply with their demands to unlock the OS. Fon sat down and laid his head down, indicating that he's about to fall asleep. The armed soldiers pointed their guns at the refugees, forcing them to sit down.
"All right, I'd like to ask who's the pilot and mechanic of the mobile suit." Garcia started.
Fon raised his hand up. "Which mobile suit?"
"Good question. The white one, of course." Garcia answered back.
"Well, I pilot the mobile suit that has a solar reactor on its back." Fon retorted. The soldiers tried to aim their guns at him, but he raised his hands in a sign of surrender. "Really, I can't picture myself locking the OS of my own mobile suit, let alone the white one."
"All right-"
"Ask the Lieutenant." Murdoch spoke up, but Garcia countered his answers.
"The last time I've seen the battle footage, the Lieutenant was handling the Zero." he moved towards Miriallia and grabs her. "It's unlikely that a girl would pilot such a machine. Then again, the captain of this ship's a woman."
"Stop it! I'm the one piloting it!" Kira yelled, despite Murdoch's restraint. Garcia sneered and turned his head towards him.
"Hey, young man. I'd appreciate you wanting to protect your little girlfriend, but you as a mobile suit? You're joking right? Get real, punk!" Garcia rared his fist and aimed it at Kira, which he simply blocked and threw him down.
"I don't deserve to be hit by you!" Kira protested, but Flay intervened.
"What he's saying is true!" she shouted. "That boy is the pilot! For you rinformation, he's a coordinator."
Flay's answers must have been received with groans from Sai and the others, and Fon banged his head into the table at her presumed ignorance and stupidity. Garcia and the armed soldiers turned towards Kira and grabbed him.
"A coordinator? This is interesting indeed." he sneered. "Perhaps you should come with us. We have places for such special, talented youngsters like you."
They dragged Kira way from the cafeteria as Tolle turned towards Flay, furious as to why she spoke out loud and recklessly revealing his genetical status to the Eurasians. Fon also stood up and looked at her as if he didn't understood her at all.
"Why did you say that, Flay?" Tolle asked her.
"It's the truth!" Flay must have deluded herself, because Tolle was upset.
"Didn't you think about what will happen to Kira?" he spoke back angrily.
"Stop talking to me like that! The last time I've checked, Kira's our friend and this is an allied base, right?" Flay retorted.
Tolle continues his tirade. "Who do you think the Earth Forces is fighting against? It's ZAFT! ZAFT's full of coordinators, and not everyone here is as warm and kind towards coordinators."
"You know, that kinda reminded me about a story someone told me once. There was a boy who deluded himself, thinking that he can escape from a guerrilla base because he isn't a part of the conflict. He was caught by the army and interrogated. Unfortunately, his actions had resulted in the massacre of the resistance fighters and the fact that he was bitch slapped for his actions." Fon told them. "What I'm saying is that ignorance of reality is an inadvertent malice. By deluding yourself from the reality, you're actually contributing to the problems a lot more. Be glad that I can't slap you in the face, Flay. I'm not that kind of guy to slap a woman."
Fon left the cafeteria and headed off towards the hangar where the Serpent Tail pilots were giving info on their machines to the technicians while the rest of the non-military personnel were over at the Strike, watching Kira unlock the OS. Fon went to the Astrea and starts to type in some information he needed in order to calibrate his mobile suit. Garcia floated over towards Kira and begins to speak.
"So this is the mobile suit you were piloting. I think you are capable." Garcia told him, but Kira protested.
"I'm just a civilian student. I'm not a soldier or a military contractor."
"But you're a traitor to your fellow coordinators, aren't you? I have no clue as to why you betrayed your own people and sided with us. A coordinator siding with the Earth Alliance, you're valuable indeed. I can assure you, you would be wise to join us. You will be well protected from your own people if you chose to work for us." Garcia insisted. He turned towards the arriving PMC officers and saluted. "Ah, you're here. Just as I've requested."
"Yes, sir. What is it that you wanted us to do?" the PMC officer asked.
Garcia didn't have to mince words. "I'm going to refer the Serpent Tail as a potential candidate for further training within your company. They may be a mercenary, but their jobs aren't combat based."
The PMC officer smirked. "So you're suggesting that we recruit the Serpent Tail as a part of the PMC Trust?"
"Yes. Never forget that the Earth Alliance has revived your company after being shut down for almost two thousand years. The last time you guys existed, Celestial Being was conducting its armed interventons with their old mobile suits." Garcia warned, having been educated in the AD History as an Earth Forces cadet. "The training is inside the Moralian province of the Eurasian Federation, right?"
"Yeah. Show us the suits they have." the PMC officer barked. Garcia floated over towards the Serpent Tail suits and the PMC Trust guests paled at the sight of the benevolent Ahead Smultron. Sure, the Enact, Flag and Tieren antiques were also present, but the Ahead gave the notorious impresson. "My God, what is that thing doing here?"
"I'm piloting that machine, which was captured from Morgenroette." Naruto spoke back as he appeared a minute later. "It's my machine though."
"I know that, but the sight of a former A-LAWS machine that will be integrated into the PMC Trust, we might as well make millions of dollars and retire at an early age if the contracts keep on piling up." the PMC officer gasped. "Anyways, we may have to mass produce the Flags, Enacts and Tierens. We're running low on mobile suits, but we've got plenty of resources to build those things. I'll see if I could arrange for the production of Aheads."
"You know, my Ahead has that GN Tau Drive. Perhaps you should analyze it first before you start building the other Aheads." Naruto warned.
The PMC officer nodded. "True, and thanks to Morgenroette's projects with the five G-Weapons as they called it, we can now incorporate beam technology into the AD antiques."
"Yeah, we could-" Naruto begins to talk, but the Umbrella starts to shake. "What in the world?"
"We're under attack!"
"Geez. Mr. Murakumo, can we get the hell out of here then? It looks like ZAFT's about to shell this place!" Naruto yelled out to Murakumo and Elijah.
Murakumo nodded. "We'd better find out what's going on."
The three Serpent Tail suits launched out of the Umbrella as their Laurasia frigate also starts to leave port. Naruto spotted the Blitz and fires his vulcan gun to ward him off. At the same time, the Strike begins to activate as Kira launches in the Sword pack. Naruto and Nicol clashed blades and kept on firing the Vulcan Gun. The Ahead blocks the falling mobile armor and deflects it from the command post. At the same time, the Duel, Buster and the GINN High Maneuvers from the Von Trapp start to swarm towards the Umbrella as well.
"Geez, this isn't the time for this crap." Fon growled as he fired his beam rifle at the custom CGUE, which had an advanced thruster and a machne gun. "What the hell is that thing?"
"Is that a Gundam?" Alexandra asked herself. She dodged the beam rifle fire as the Ahead fired the Vulcan Gun at her. "An antiquated mobile suit? Wait a minute, an A-LAWS relic. Out here in the middle of the Umbrella. That's just great."
"C'mon!" Naruto growled as he kept on firing the Vulcan Gun, and grabbed its beam katana to deflect the sword strike from the custom CGUE. He noticed the Archangel leaving the Umbrella with the ZAFT machines pursuing it. The Ahead turned towards the Duel and fired the Vulcan Gun until Yzak grabbed the beam saber and clashed blades with Naruto, who responded by giving the Duel a bicycle kick in the chest. "Damn it, we'd better get the hell out of here."
"Look!" Elijah pointed at the retreat signal from the Gamow and the Von Trapp. "Finally, we can breathe again."
"This isn't over, guys. They'll be back." Murakumo warned as the Serpent Tail suits returned to their ship along with the newly acquired Enact, Flag and Tieren that is currently controlled by the PMC officers. "We'll give the antiques to Kirabi, Sakura and Hotaru."
OK, this is yet another fic updated and upgraded. By now, you'll notice that I've taken down the Masked Hero series. Shippuden Next series will be taken down as soon as the SEED portion of Dimensional Innovation is finished. So now, I have only thirty fics up on this site.
Next chapter, the one that you're all waiting for, the first interaction between Naruto and Lacus. Now that I've got ideas on how Lacus would help heal Naruto, the thorny issue remains: how would Naruto influence Lacus?
Another thing, I've got some OCs I'm borrowing from Genesis Paladin, do basically the OCs don't belong to me. It belongs to him.
Lastly, I may eventually add another guy or guys from the Naruto universe to join in this fic. Most likely, Sai and Sora from the Fire Temple arc.
