Hey guys, here's the disclaimer: I do not own any part of Gundam Seed, Wing, X, or 00, all credit goes to their respective creators.
Everyone has been waiting for it, its here chapter 9!
"What the hell is in that tank!?" Athrun pointed at the darkened tank.
That's for me to know, and you to find out…
"I don't know about you guys… but I'm getting as far away from that tank as possible." Athrun turned and started walking out of the room.
"Hello there…" Tiffa smiled as she saw a flash of white pass by the front of the tank before disappearing back into the darkness.
"She can talk?" Shiho blinked as she looked over at her.
Well, lets get rolling with this before Athrun walks out… as always please read, review, and enjoy the chapter.
xxxxxx
Ch. 9
A Flash from the Deep
Tiffa looked skyward, a semi eclipsed moon glowed with a purplish red hue in the sky, which cast a similar glow on the clouds above her as she stood on the shoreline of the ocean. A light breeze came in from the sea blowing the low hanging fog around her. She looked to her right; there was a large overhanging rock over the water that seemed to have a draconic shape to it.
"Who is it? Who's calling me?" She looked out to sea again. She began walking out into the water, trying to get nearer to the voice that was calling to her. She looked up at the moon for a moment before a blinding flash enveloped her.
Xxx
Tiffa opened her eyes and sat up in bed, after pushing off the covers, she got up and walked over to the easel and paper sitting in her room, then began to draw what she'd just seen in her sleep. The shore, the large dragon like rocky cliff, even the crescent moon that had been in her vision.
Xxx
Dawn broke over the coastal city of Belgrass as the Freeden and Astarte overlooked it. "These are the three Daughtress types you ordered." Shingo looked at his clipboard.
"I'm sorry it's so early in the morning." The chief mechanic of the city's mobile suit defense force replied.
"Don't worry about it. It's my job." Shingo smiled before looking back at Rococo and Nine. "Rococo, Nine, please do the mounting."
"Sure!" Both of them replied before heading off to begin loading the three suits onto the mobile suit dories.
Shingo turned back to the mechanic. "And you, please sign here." He held out the clipboard.
"Right." The man nodded and took the pen from him before signing for the suits.
"The city of Belgrass has grown so fast…" Shingo looked at the large city.
"You're right. The power of people is something else." The mechanic smiled as he looked at the sunrise. "Life's getting better, too. I hear there are nations springing up on the other side of the ocean. I guess this kind of business is gonna get harder as the years pass by." He shrugged.
Xxx
Dearka whistled as they walked down the steps of the city council building of Belgrass. "You know… I think they thought you were crazy until you put the evidence smack in front of their faces."
"It's not my fault we're expected to make contact with people and explain to them: "Oh, we're just from another solar system in the galaxy representing a multi-planetary coalition." like it's normal to just walk up to someone and say that." Yzak half muttered as he got into the car.
"So how'd it go?" Shiho asked.
"About as normal as it could have, I guess…" Dearka scratched his head. "I'm hungry, how about you guys?"
"Does your brain ever leave your stomach Dearka?" Miriallia asked.
"Only when I'm with you…" Dearka gave a little cheeky smile to her.
Miriallia rolled her eyes a little at it. "Just drive..."
"Any word from the reinforcements yet?" Yzak glanced back at Miriallia.
"Nope… we know they entered the atmosphere sometime last night, and were forced to divert off course north of here to avoid a storm in the upper atmosphere." Miriallia looked at the terminal with the last transmissions they'd received.
"Great…" Yzak sat back in his seat. "Not only are we down manpower due to that team we left up north… but our reinforcements are lost due to the lack of a communications satellite network…"
"We'll find them." Shiho shrugged. "It's not like you're really lamenting not having Athrun around, are you?"
"She's got you there Yzak…" Dearka chimed in.
"Can it… and find me a place to get Coffee, Dearka." Yzak ended the jabs at his irritation finding out that Athrun was leading the reinforcement team.
Xxx
Garrod used the steel tongs and picked up a bread roll. "This…" He moved to the fruit next and picked up a banana. "…and this…" Switching to the next fruit case he picked up some kiwi slices. "And these, too." He looked at his tray. "Alright, it's perfect!" He sat the tongs down and began heading for the tables. "Hey." He nodded as he passed the mechanics eating their breakfast in the Freeden's mess hall.
"Good morning!" Sam waved a little as he continued to munch on his scrambled eggs.
"What's up?" Garrod asked as he passed Dr. Tex and Dr. Herfi eating breakfast at another table.
"The proper morning greeting is, good morning." Dr. Tex corrected him as he continued to read the new book he'd gotten.
"Yo!" Garrod looked at Witz and Roybea, who were drinking coffee at another table, before backing up a little as Toniya and Sala walked over.
"Morning, everyone." Sala looked around at them.
"What're you doing here?" Toniya looked at the two pilots. "I don't usually see you around in the morning."
"I thought you always took your breakfast out?" Garrod looked at Roybea.
"Well, it's good to have a change of scenery every once in a while." Roybea looked at the two of them.
"You too?" Toniya looked at Witz.
"Shut up! It's none of your business!" Witz shifted in his seat back to facing the table.
"What's with the attitude, you jerk?" Toniya looked at him after only asking a harmless question. She turned to Garrod. "Garrod, don't try to be like him. Tiffa doesn't like jerks like that."
"Yes, Ma'am, I'll take that to heart." Garrod smiled.
"How are things going with you?" Roybea glanced at Garrod.
"With what?" Garrod looked back at Roybea.
"You and Tiffa. Are you guys getting along?" Roybea asked and being a little more blunt about it.
Garrod turned a little red. "What're you talking about!? We're not really like that."
"Oh, come on." Toniya nudged him a little. "You deliver breakfast to her every morning, right? Aren't you getting through to her a little?"
Garrod blushed a little more. "Get… getting through?"
"Maybe quite a bit." Roybea spoke next to him. "She might be ready for you by now." Garrod grimaced a little more.
Toniya began to laugh as Garrod turned scarlet. "You're all red!"
"Stop teasing him for kicks…" Sala looked at the two of them.
"Aww… but it's fun." Toniya looked at her.
Witz leaned his head on his hand. "Man, I can't keep up with you guys."
"Seriously, if you're sure of your feelings, maybe you should make a move now…" Roybea spoke before looking into his coffee. "…rather than cry later."
Toniya blinked at the somewhat unusual mood Roybea was in before Sala spoke to them. "But, waiting for time to solve things can be wise sometimes."
"And sometimes time can be cruel." Witz countered as he continued to prop himself up with his hand.
Toniya looked between the two of them. "What's with the weird atmosphere?"
Xxx
"Amia, what are you up to?" Kathy leaned back in her chair as Amia continued to apply and wipe off makeup while looking at herself in the mirror.
"I can't get the right shade…" Amia mumbled as she rubbed some off of her face, before looking at Kathy.
Kathy blinked seeing that there was a clear difference between the makeup and her natural skin tone. "You were fine yesterday…"
"Yeah, but I ran out of that shade yesterday…" Amia looked at her a little distraught.
"Wow… I thought we'd have enough… but I guess it has been a while since we left." Kathy got up and walked over to where they'd been keeping the stock of makeup to help Amia hide what had happened. "We're running low on hair dye too…"
Amia groaned before a soft bump was heard and Kathy turned to see Amia with her head on the desk. "Now I won't be able to leave the ship…"
"All it means, is I need to make a few emergency preparations." Kathy looked at her "I'll go talk with the other girls… and I'll see what I can come up with… and if I don't have any luck, I'll see what I can turn up in town."
Xxx
Garrod meandered down the hall towards Tiffa's room with her breakfast. "I don't really know anything about Tiffa." He pondered what the others had said in the mess hall. "I don't know anything about her past at all. Alright, I'll ask her something today."
He stopped just outside Tiffa's room and knocked. "Good morning, Tiffa! Are you still sleeping?" He asked before knocking again and the door opened slightly. "Oh? Tiffa, I'm coming in!" He pushed the door open with one hand and froze as he saw Tiffa unconscious on the floor. "Tiffa!" He dropped the tray and ran over to her. "Tiffa, what's the matter!?" He picked her up and shook her a little. "Tiffa! Tiffa!" He tried to wake her before looking around for what could have caused this.
His eyes landed on her easel on the floor next to where she had been, the charcoal landscape of a dragon like cliff overlooking the sea was finished. "W…what's this…?"
Xxx
"It's just shock, caused by stress." Dr. Tex stood next to the bed in the medical bay with Jamil as Dr. Herfi sat back in a chair taking more notes on Tiffa's vitals.
"She'll wake up soon." Dr. Tex looked over at Garrod.
"Thank goodness!" Garrod sighed.
Jamil looked at the canvas that had been on the easel. "Is this our next destination?" Dr. Tex asked.
"Most likely." Jamil replied calmly.
"I hope there won't be trouble this time." Dr. Tex looked at him.
"So it's somewhere along the coast then?" Dr. Herfi asked.
"That's what it looks like…" Jamil nodded.
"Ask Yzak, he's trying to get in contact with our reinforcements, so he's planning on sending out the Astarte's suits anyway to search, they can keep an eye on the landscape at the same time." Dr. Herfi smiled. "Kills two birds with one stone…" Jamil nodded in reply.
Xxx
The mobile suits flew in a wide loose formation as they headed west. "It's probably along the coast, right?" Garrod asked.
"It's a copy of a black and white drawing… that could be water, it could be sand… hell, it could be dirt." Lockon replied over the frequency. "We'll just have to spread out and hope we see a rock that looks like it."
"No that's water… sand doesn't have white caps, or makes waves, or has any kind of reflection." Heero replied. "It's along the coast somewhere."
"The coast is pretty big, though." Roybea slowed the Leopard and stopped.
"I guess this dragon shaped rock is our only pointer." Witz looked at it.
"Yeah, but we're only seeing it from one direction… we could fly over it from the opposite direction and completely miss it." Lunamaria relayed.
"That's why we do multiple passes." Rey's GYAN touched down not far away from the Leopard.
Roybea looked around along the coast and he paused as he saw something. "What the…" He zoomed in and was greeted by a group of three girls in bikini's enjoying the beach. "Swimsuits… Of course! Swimsuits!"
"What're you on about?" Shinn asked.
"Just be quiet, we have work to do, even after we find the rock." Roybea smiled as he gave the pleasant view of the beach a last look before closing the window and returning to the search.
Xxx
Jamil watched as a topographical map of the region went over the coastline of the south western coast of North America on the screen, from above the Baja peninsula to over the region that had once been Los Angeles fifteen years prior. "I guess it's difficult to find on the map."
"Seems like it." Sala replied as she looked over at the map.
"Let's take a break." Jamil looked over at her.
Sala nodded. "Okay. Would you like some coffee?" She asked as she left her station on the bridge.
"I'm sorry for dragging all of you on my personal quest…" Jamil apologized as she started to pass him. Sala stopped and looked at him a little surprised. "I don't even know why I'm so obsessed with Newtypes myself. Fifteen years ago, everyone believed in the faith of others. I could see the flow of time. I could feel the future of mankind. But in a fraction of a second I pulled the trigger for the extinction of mankind." He looked at her. "That's why I want to know whether Newtypes really will be the future of humanity. I want to see the truth."
Sala smiled at him. "Don't worry about it, captain. No one minds following you. We don't have anywhere to go if you relieve us anyway." She turned a little. "We don't have anywhere or anyone to go home to anymore. Not just me… but everyone on this ship." She crossed her arms behind her back. "This is our place to go home to."
"I see." Jamil nodded a little. "Thank you."
Xxx
Amia sighed as she redid her makeup. "It's not an exact match… but I'm surprised you found any at all."
"It's still being made apparently in cities like this one that survived." Kathy smiled "It's not that far off… it'll just look like you've gotten a little sun."
"When I get a little sun, I burn, and end up looking like a lobster." Amia took care putting her contacts in to hide the eye that had changed color, to mirror the one that hadn't.
"So we'll have to keep that in mind…" Kathy smiled as Amia got up and began changing into some more comfortable clothes for the climate, now that she didn't have to hide her arms under long sleeves and her hands under gloves.
"Have they had any luck contacting the reinforcements?" Amia asked as she slipped on a light jacket over the t-shirt she'd changed into.
"So far… no…" Kathy sighed. "Some of us are starting to get a little worried they've run into some trouble…"
Xxx
Without saying a word Tiffa sat up in bed, causing Dr. Tex to look over at her. "How do you feel?"
Tiffa turned and looked out of the window towards the mountains in the direction of the ocean. "Yes… that place."
Xxx
Garrod smiled as he looked up at the rocky outcrop in the shape of a dragon's neck and head. "This is it! I found it!"
Xxx
"Shit, did you hear that…?" Andrei glared.
"Whoever he's from, he's not using a coded frequency… but this is trouble, I knew we had to have been spotted during entry over that city!" Athrun glared.
"That's a Gundam, we should capture it." Graham looked at it on the monitor of his Brave Commander type. "It could be from that ship that Yzak's team is working with…"
"Or it could be some other Gundam, we don't' know how many were made here… we've seen them fighting highly customized suits." Athrun replied. "We have no choice… take him down!"
Garrod blinked as the surface of the water began to swell before erupting in a massive explosion just off shore as a massive blue ship flew into the sky just ahead of him. "AHHHH!"
"NOW!" Andrei yelled as his Brave opened fire and narrowly missed as he dove from above.
Garrod blocked the beam with the divider. "I need help!"
"You're mine Gundam!" Andrei roared as he kicked the X-Divider, sending it stumbling backwards off balance.
A loud sonic boom echoed above as a mobile suit pulled a high G turn directly over them, before rolling and transforming prior to coming down behind Garrod to block his only escape route back.
Garrod's eyes widened as he saw the golden V shaped antenna on the white suit trimmed in red and gold. "It's a…" The red eye cameras flashed as it drew a beam saber and leveled it at his suit "Gundam."
"Surrender." Athrun ordered.
Garrod blinked as he looked around at the machines that began to land around him and taking dead aim at him. "Those are… wait! Hold up! Don't shoot!"
"We're not falling for some kind of ruse kid." Hilda glared as she took dead aim with her DOM Trooper's Giga-Launcher at the X-Divider.
"You're looking for the Astarte right!?" Garrod asked a little frantically while hoping to not have the suit shot out from under him.
"How do you know that…?" Athrun asked.
"I'm from the Freeden, the ship it's been traveling with!" Garrod replied.
"Prove it. What's the name of that Ship's commanding officer?" Athrun countered.
"Yzak Joule…" Yzak replied for himself as his GYAN touched down on the dragon like cliff overlooking them. "Zala... you're a little too paranoid, you have what… eight Gundams with you, along with a squadron of Braves, and a DOM Trooper…"
"Well, it doesn't help when you lose contact with your only known friendly forces on atmospheric entry, and fail to regain them…" Athrun replied as he deactivated the Vent Saviour's beam saber.
"Well at least we killed two birds with one stone… this was what we were looking for, and we found you." Yzak smiled. "I'm passing along the coordinates to the others, they'll be here soon."
"We came here because we thought this was the city you were heading for." Athrun replied. "We sent a scouting party into the town to try to find you."
"And you didn't just head into port and find a dock to look for us…" Yzak looked at the Vent Saviour.
"Oh and a large blue spaceship flying into a seaport wouldn't draw a hell of a lot of unwanted attention?" Athrun countered. "We've read the reports you sent. Not all of these cities are openly friendly to outsiders."
Xxx
"This place is pretty nice…" Neferu looked around at the town of Cabo San Lucas. "If it wasn't for us coming in from orbit and seeing the massive craters… you'd never know it was like that…"
"You might want to avoid mentioning that…" Sherilyn nudged her. "I mean think about it… we already look a little out of place…"
"Then why don't we look the part…" Neferu smiled as she grabbed Sherilyn's arm and pulled her along into a shop.
"What are you doing?" Sherilyn asked as the shop owner greeted them and she was pulled along into the racks of clothing.
"Shopping." Neferu replied with a smile before the door to the shop clicked open again and the small bell chimed.
Neferu glanced up. "Oh… I think there's a reason to shop for something else… information…"
"What are you…?" Sherilyn stopped as she tilted her head slightly to see what Neferu was pointing at. A group of young men had entered the shop and were talking with the shop owner.
"Oh, he's cute…" Neferu couldn't help but smile at the young man wearing a deep forest green vest over a light yellow shirt.
"He looks kinda like Mr. Dylandy… maybe a bit younger…" Sherilyn noted. "But the one with black hair looks nice…"
"You don't need to say it like that…" Neferu paused as the boys began looking at swimsuits. "I think I've found a conversation point…" She slipped away from Sherilyn as the boy with black hair and the blond haired one went into a fitting room, leaving the two others alone.
"Hi boys… shopping for swimsuits?" Neferu smiled as she looked at the one with longer hair flipping through sizes.
Roybea stopped and looked up. "Yeah… say, you wouldn't mind giving me an opinion or two would you?"
Neferu blinked. "Sure…"
"What is your opinion on leopard print swimsuits?" Roybea asked calmly as Witz blinked.
"Well… for a guy… no…" Neferu looked at him. "But some girls can pull them off…"
"See, I told you…" Roybea looked at Witz.
"Fine… I still don't think you'll get the sizes right…" Witz looked at him as he leaned on the counter.
"You'll see…" Roybea smiled.
"Blue huh…" Rey emerged from the fitting room with Shinn.
Neferu glanced over her shoulder for a moment at them before turning back to Roybea. "Are they with you?" She nodded to Rey and Shinn.
"Yeah… why?" Roybea blinked.
"Shinn, you'd look better in red and black…" Neferu spoke a little loudly interrupting the conversation the two pilots in swimsuits were having.
"How do you…" Shinn looked up before Neferu waved at him. "You…"
"I'm hurt you forgot my name…" Neferu smiled.
"Neferu Naguib, of the Sol Braves squadron." Rey looked at her. "Well, it seems we've found one of our reinforcements…"
"Two…" Neferu smiled and waved to Sherilyn. "Sherilyn, I found two of them…"
"You mean… oh… rats..." Sherilyn sighed as she realized that the boy with black hair was Shinn.
"You mean they're part of your reinforcements…" Witz looked at him.
"Well, this is odd… finding you guys shopping for swimsuits… blending in with the locals?" Sherilyn asked.
"Nope, just to take a break by the ocean seeing as we're stopping at the coastline." Roybea answered for them. "I thought it would be a good idea to let off some stress."
"You must be with that ship they're traveling with…" Neferu smiled at Roybea.
"Say Neferu, do you have any idea what size swimsuit Luna would wear?" Shinn asked.
"Not really…" Neferu shrugged. "Just do like all guys do… to guess her size."
"And that is…" Shinn blinked.
Neferu looked at Roybea and both of them looked at him. "Fruit…"
"Fruit?" Shinn seemed even more confused now.
"Plums, lemons, oranges, grapefruits, cantaloupes, honeydew melon…" Roybea gestured with his hands a little.
"It's the easiest way for a guy to figure out a girl's cup size…" Neferu shrugged. "Honestly, it's scary how well it works."
"Well, Luna's pretty close to… a good sized orange."
"She's a B then…" Roybea pointed at him.
"Okay, if you're so good, what's Toniya…" Witz looked at him.
"Grapefruit… C." Roybea replied.
Rey shrugged "How about someone harder to figure out for you… Kathy Trine."
"Which one was she… wait… she was the brunette who worked on your bridge with shoulder length hair right… cantaloupe, she's easily a D." Roybea shrugged.
"Me…" Neferu smiled leaning on the counter.
"Grapefruit, C cup… size thirty six… twenty four… thirty five…" Roybea eyed her over.
Neferu blinked as her jaw went a little slack. "Just listen to him… he's good."
Xxx
"What did you want to say?" Toniya asked as she and Sala joined the boys in the recreation room as they'd asked.
"Please make it quick, I'm on duty." Sala looked at Roybea as she crossed her arms.
Roybea grinned. "A present for both of you." He pulled up two blue bags and held them out for them. "Take a look."
The two of them took the bags and opened them. "Wow! Where did you get them?" Toniya gaped as she pulled out the top of a leopard print bikini.
"Swimsuits?" Sala blinked at the purple top of hers.
"Our next job is by the ocean, right? I thought it'd be more comfortable." Roybea smiled at them.
"I wonder if it'll fit…" Toniya mused.
"No need to worry. It'll fit you perfectly." Roybea smiled as the two girls looked at each other. "I can tell female measurements by sight. It's one of my many talents."
"That's not a talent to brag about." Witz sat there with his arms crossed.
"I agree." Garrod sighed before jumping. "AHH!" He caught a blue paper bag that was thrown to him. "F…for me, too?!"
Witz looked at Garrod who was going a little red.
"Are you nuts? Who'd want to buy men's trunks!?" Roybea looked at him "It's for her, of course."
"Oh, this is for Tiffa." Garrod realized as he let the thought slip in of seeing her in a swimsuit. "Eh… But I don't think she really swims in the ocean and stuff…"
"That's where you come in." Roybea looked at him. "You're closest to her on the ship."
"Well… yeah…" Garrod sighed a little.
"Anyway, let's just have a good time, and get rid of any gloominess we might have." Roybea smiled.
"Gloominess?" Toniya looked over at him.
Roybea smiled as he waved her off. "That's just some personal stuff…"
"But do you think it's such a good idea?" Sala asked.
"I don't think it's such a bad idea." A voice called from the door and they all turned to see Jamil.
"Captain!" Sala turned and tucked the swimsuit behind her back.
"I haven't been to the ocean in years…" Jamil looked at them. "Everyone needs to take a break sometimes."
"Yes, sir." Sala smiled.
"But, remember one thing…" Jamil looked around at them. "No matter what you do, don't go far from shore."
"Why?" Garrod asked a little confused.
"There are bloodthirsty Orcs offshore." Jamil looked at him.
"Orcs?" Garrod was even more confused.
"There are people living by the ocean as well… there are Sea Vultures who make a living salvaging from under the ocean, there are traders that use the old commercial routes to sell what the Sea Vultures find, it's very lucrative, and as such the coastal areas recovered quickly. However, there are some that raid and steal to get by. These armed combat groups are called Orcs." Jamil looked at him.
Xxx
"Yzak, give me your opinion on this…" Shiho stepped out of the small bathroom in their quarters "How do I look in…"
Yzak turned around and his mouth fell open as he saw her in a bright crimson red string bikini.
"I'll take it that you like it…" Shiho smiled at him.
Xxx
"Meyrin… can you pass me the…" Lunamaria held out her hand.
"Top… sure…" Meyrin handed Lunamaria the bikini top.
"I'm surprised Shinn… got my size right…" Lunamaria stepped out from behind the closet and finished adjusting the light pink and white bikini top.
Xxx
"Amia, are you…" Kathy stopped after seeing her sitting there looking at the swimsuit.
"I can't…" Amia shook her head at the black bikini. "There's no way I can wear a bikini anymore… even a one piece is pushing it…"
"Nope… I have a way to do this…" Kathy smiled. "…meet me in the shower room in fifteen minutes with that on."
"We don't have enough makeup to cover everything…" Amia looked at her.
"No… but I thought about it for a bit while we were in town, and we came up with a solution. Just trust me on this…" Kathy smiled. "We'll need a few more people."
Xxx
"We did quite a few tests… and figured out how to cover up everything easier." Kathy smiled.
"What's with the machinery?" Amia looked around at the small compressor and the spray gun.
"We got the closest tone we could get our hands on to your natural skin color… spray tan." Shiho looked at her. "Miriallia suggested it, she sometimes with her hectic schedule doesn't have time to lounge on a beach all day to look good for the news… so…"
Miriallia slipped a hairnet onto Amia's head. "Just relax… trust me I've had this done enough that if we get it right on the first try, you'll look like nothing's happened at all besides going out for a day in the sun."
"And if you don't get it right on the first try?" Amia asked.
"That's why we're in the showers… it washes right off if done right away." Miriallia smiled. "With this tone, we should be good, and shouldn't have an orange day…"
"Orange day?" Amia blinked.
"When you apply a deeper tone too thick, it turns people orange." Miriallia nodded. "It's really funny to see, when it's not you looking back in a mirror."
Shiho flicked on the small compressor and Miriallia picked up the spray gun. "Just keep your eyes closed until we tell you. It really stings if you get it in your eyes."
Xxx
"The ocean!" Toniya smiled as she saw the wide deep blue bay ahead of them.
Shingo smiled as he slowed the ship on the beach next to the large draconic cliff. "It's been a while! Right, Captain?"
"Yeah." Jamil nodded as he looked out into the bay.
"Captain… we're getting a message from the Astarte." Sala looked over at him.
Jamil nodded and Yzak appeared on the main monitor. "Don't shoot at anything for a bit… I didn't exactly expect them to send us this kind of ship for our reinforcements."
"What kind of ship, a submarine or something?" Shingo asked.
"The Artorious is a refit of the Virginia-Class support frigate. The Virginia-Class ships were, until the refit, only capable of operations in space." Yzak looked at them.
The surface of the bay seemed to swell before erupting as a massive blue ship surfaced and took flight just above the water towards the beach. Shingo paled as the ship, dwarfed the Freeden, and even made the Astarte look a little small from that flight height by comparison, as it rotated above the two ships before coming down to rest just to the rear of the Astarte.
Xxx
"Waterproofing? I thought we just did cold climate proofing?" Rococo looked over at Nine as they worked on the X-Divider's electrical system.
"They really couldn't do this mission without us mechanics." Nine replied as he slipped a splice jacket onto a wire.
"Alright, no time for complaints, move your hands not your lips." Sam came up right behind them on the cable lift to the suit.
"Chief!" Rococo and Nine's eyes shot wide as he looked at them.
"This time you're not getting away with some half-assed job. It's the ocean this time!" Sam looked at them.
"What do you mean?" Rococo looked at him.
"Only the GX is versatile enough to fight properly underwater." Sam looked up at it "The Leopard is for ground use, the Airmaster was meant for flight. Neither of them can fight underwater. If we have combat underwater, we'll be fighting with the GX."
Xxx
"It's a pleasure to meet you." Athrun shook Jamil's hand before taking the seat next to Yzak and Graham.
"So, what exactly was it that you guys were searching for before, besides us?" Graham looked over the table at Yzak.
"We decided it would be a good idea to assist the Freeden searching for Newtypes while we're traveling." Yzak looked at them.
"And you're going to find a Newtype here… at the beach…" Athrun looked at them. "Yzak, you yourself should be able to realize that the only Newtypes anyone has sensed in the area, are from the ones aboard our ships."
"I'm willing to say that what Tiffa is sensing is someone we can't, or haven't made a connection to." Yzak looked at him. "You know our knowledge of the abilities the Newtypes possess is minimal at best. There is a good chance that unlike you or myself, that her abilities are more in tune with what we're doing here. You should agree Graham, right?"
Graham looked at him for a moment. "I'll agree with you there… that young man for example, has shown time and time again that his abilities are different than other Newtypes that have appeared thus far…"
"According to the classification system, what would you put her as?" Yzak looked at Athrun.
"Classifications?" Jamil looked at him.
"A system that was developed to help simplify the various expressions of the Newtype traits into various levels of it being expressed, categorized from A to E. A being the most expressed traits, E being nearly not expressed at all. We've found that most of mankind possesses the same genetic traces that all Newtypes have, however some genes are active and some are not." Athrun looked at him "I myself, fall into the B category, and even on that scale, I'm relatively low. So I'm closer to that of a low B level. Yzak falls roughly in the same area I do. There are other's on the mission who are on the higher end, Kira, Quatre, and Setsuna's abilities are more expressed, and they fall at the A category level, and even they are from the low end of it to the normal A level."
"I'd say based on what I've seen so far… Tiffa's abilities are closer to that of Amia Lee's." Yzak looked at him and Athrun blinked. "She's more skilled, and sensitive than Setsuna."
"She's the girl who was attacked during the ELS war, right?" Graham looked at Yzak who nodded. "That's almost impossible to believe."
"Believe what you want… however, Tiffa's abilities brought us here, just as they found Carris Nautilus." Jamil looked at them.
"We were approximately five hundred miles away, when she had a vision of Fort Severn, where the only Newtype in the region, was a Cyber-Newtype. Granted, a very skilled Cyber-Newtype, but probably he only fell in the C category."
"Unless the Newtype she sensed is a fish… I doubt we'll find them here on the beach, they're probably living in Cabo San Lucas." Athrun looked at them. "We're positive she didn't sense one of us?"
Yzak shrugged. "Who knows, all we can really do is wait and see."
"Okay then, I'll make a bet with you, if it's here, I'll pull some strings to get Lacus off your ass." Athrun looked at him. "If it's in San Lucas… you stop riding Kira's ass."
Yzak smiled. "You're going to regret making that bet…"
"You have that much faith in that girl?" Athrun asked.
"After what I've seen here, and what she's done…" Yzak looked at Jamil. "Yes."
Xxx
Garrod sat Tiffa's lunch on the small desk in her room. "I'll leave your lunch here."
"Okay." Tiffa replied from the bed while she looked out the window at the ocean.
Garrod slipped the blue bag, in which the swimsuit he had for her was, from under his arm. "Umm… Tiffa…" He glanced over at her. Tiffa turned and looked at Garrod, causing him to blush a little. "N…never mind! It's nothing, it's nothing!" He hid the bag behind his back. As she turned to look back out the window, he slipped the bag onto the chair before making his way out. "See ya!"
As Garrod closed the door he smiled a little. "Alright, that's done." But immediately he frowned a little. "But I bet she won't wear it."
"You're that boy who pilots the white one, right?" A voice asked and Garrod blinked as he looked and saw a young man with bluish black hair in a black shirt and pants, leaning lightly on a cane.
"That voice…" Garrod blinked remembering the Gundam that had attacked him with the other suits.
"I'd like to apologize for the misunderstanding earlier today." Athrun held out his hand.
Garrod shrugged. "It wasn't a big deal…" He smiled a little not bothering to take the handshake; he put his hands behind his head before heading off towards his room.
Athrun lowered his hand and smiled. "So, the report was right… he is a lot like James."
Xxx
"YAHOO!" Toniya cheered as she dove into the ocean from a rock that jutted out into the water. She surfaced and waved to the others on the beach. "It feels great! Why don't you come in, Sala?"
"Okay!" Sala waved back before diving in after her.
"Looking good." Roybea leaned on his fist under the shade of the portable table they'd set up outside.
"Yeah, really nice." Witz commented as well as they continued to enjoy the view, before it registered on the other boys minds as well. "Don't be stupid! I was just commenting on her beautiful diving form!"
Sam grinned as he leaned his elbows. "We didn't say anything."
Roybea smiled. "You dug the hole yourself."
"Shut up!" Witz snapped. "I'm going for a swim!" He began walking off down the beach.
"Aren't you going the wrong way?" Roybea called after him.
"I said, SHUT UP!" Witz snapped back at him.
Roybea chuckled. "He's hopeless."
Sam leaned back against his chair a little. "I guess Tiffa's not coming out." Garrod grimaced a little at the comment.
"You gave her the swimsuit, right?" Roybea asked.
"Well, I did give her the swimsuit." Garrod scratched his cheek a little.
"Hey boys…" Kathy waved to the group as she pulled Amia along. "What do you think?"
"Looking good…" Roybea blinked as Amia blushed a little while she was wearing a black bikini, next to Kathy who had a similar deep violet one on.
"So, what'd you do to get Amia out in that?" Yzak asked as he sat down under the umbrella on a beach towel to start reading next to Shiho, who was sunning her back.
"Spray tan…" Shiho mumbled.
"Huh… really?" Yzak glanced over at her.
"Yep… could you do me a favor…" Shiho cracked open one of her eyes and looked at him.
"What?" Yzak blinked.
"Mind putting some suntan oil on my back?" Shiho pointed to the bottle in her bag.
Yzak nodded and picked up the bottle, before she slipped the bow out of her top and then he turned a little red. "Uhh…"
"I'm waiting…" Shiho prodded him.
Xxx
"Well, get a load of that…" Dearka smirked. "I'm gonna have to save this for later…"
"What are you talking about?" Miriallia asked as she caught the beach ball they'd been tossing back and forth.
"Yzak oiling up Shiho on the beach…" Dearka nodded towards them.
"Dearka!" Miriallia bopped him on the head with the ball. "Don't mess with them!"
"Hey, Setsuna…" Dearka waved as Setsuna and Feldt meandered down the beach.
"I still don't get this…" Setsuna shook his head.
"You've never been to a beach?" Feldt asked.
"I don't get it… it's really kind of pointless." Setsuna shrugged.
"Let's go swimming!" Mileina charged past Feldt with Sherilyn in tow as they hurdled themselves into the water.
Feldt smiled. "Sounds like a great idea…" She grabbed Setsuna and began pulling him to the ocean.
Xxx
"Seems like they're having fun…" Hilde smiled as she walked with James along the beach with a bag, picking up shells for fun.
"Yeah… too bad Helen isn't here… she's never been to a beach before." James shrugged.
"True… but there aren't any lifeguards or anything here for someone her age to do, besides play in the water." Hilde shrugged as she bent down and picked up another shell.
"She could build a sandcastle…" James suggested.
"Or she and I could bury you up to your neck and leave you for a few hours while we had fun." Hilde gave him a little grin.
"That's no fun…" James scowled a little.
"Oh, it'd be a lot of fun for us." Hilde grinned.
"No, it'd be more fun for you guys to bury my dad in the sand… I mean just look at him…" James jerked a thumb over his shoulder where Ian was laid out in a beach chair, with a thick coating of sunscreen on him making Ian look paler than a ghost.
"Yeah… he looks like an old man at a beach alright…" Hilde glanced over at him.
"I heard that!" Ian yelled back.
Xxx
"I didn't expect to see you here…" Lockon stopped at the entrance of the hangar, and looked at his little brother.
"Well… I'm here." Lyle tossed his cigarette to the ground before stepping on it to put it out.
"I thought Dynames was coming, not the Sadalsuud F Type…" Lockon sighed.
"They were doing some field tests with it, something about its equipment, so they sent me and the Sadalsuud instead." Lyle looked at him. "So what's the big deal with us stopping here at a beach?"
"We've been following that ship around because they're from here…" Lockon nodded to the Freeden. "You know… you've been pretty off for a while now, what's up?"
"Nothing." Lyle looked at his brother.
"Bullshit." Lockon looked at him.
"Just because you didn't like what you found out at Veda, doesn't change things…" Tieria walked past the two of them.
"Listen you little…" Lyle started after Tieria before Lockon grabbed him.
"Hold on… what's this about Veda?" Lockon looked at Tieria.
"He went to Veda and tried to find out if Anew Returner was still part of it…" Tieria looked back at the two of them. "Miss. Returner, unlike some of the Innovades, cut herself off from Ribbons in the end. So…"
Lockon sighed. "I get it…" He kept a tight grip on Lyle until he pulled free and walked past Tieria as he pulled out another cigarette, and went for a walk.
Xxx
Tiffa continued looking out her window at the ocean, waiting before blinking as she sensed it again. "I'm on my way." She pushed off the covers of her bed and hurried out of the room.
Xxx
Witz, Roybea, Sam, James, Hilde, Dearka, Miriallia, and Kathy played a game of volley ball using the beach ball in the shallow water near the shore as Garrod watched.
"Oh my, what're you doing here looking all glum?" Toniya and Sala walked over to him.
"Don't you want to go swim with the others?" Sala asked.
"Yeah… I'll join them later…" Garrod looked down again.
Toniya turned around. "Then, can you rub some suntan oil on my back?"
Garrod turned scarlet and his eyes went wide before Toniya turned and stuck her tongue out at him. "Just kidding."
"Ah…" Garrod turned and crossed his arms knowing he'd been at the brunt of her joke.
"Stop teasing him." Sala whispered to Toniya.
Toniya looked at him again. "You don't seem to be having much fun. Is it because Tiffa's not here?"
"She hasn't really opened her heart to us yet." Sala looked at Garrod.
The loud drone of an outboard engine starting caused everyone to look around. "What's that?" Sam asked before they saw a small inflatable dingy heading off shore with Tiffa in it.
"She's heading offshore!" Sala ran over to the rocks with the others.
"Oh, no! It'll be a disaster if the Orcs find her!" Toniya grimaced.
"Tiffa, come back! Turn around!" Garrod yelled while cupping his hands around his mouth trying to yell to her, before realizing it was useless, she was too far out and the motor was too loud.
"What's going on?" Athrun asked as he finally emerged onto the beach.
"Not now!" Garrod sprinted past him before he found himself being spun around by about half of the pilots scrambling for the ships.
Xxx
Tiffa headed further and further out into open water as the shore shrunk behind her. "I'm on my way. Hold on."
Xxx
"Is everything ready?" Sam yelled to Nine and Rococo.
"It's all okay!" Nine yelled back from the foot of the GX where they were just finishing up putting the armor panels back in place.
"Hey, you're not going!" Sam yelled after Roybea and Witz who were scrambling for their suits. "The Leopard can't swim or fly!"
"What!?" Roybea gaped as he turned to look at him.
Witz smirked. "See ya… take care of the kids." He turned and hurried up the lift of the Airmaster.
Above him Garrod leapt across the top of the X-Divider and hopped into the cockpit hatch before the seat lowered into position as he clicked the control stick into place, activating the suit. "GX, taking off!"
Xxx
Heero punched the verniers of the Wing to their full power as the suit launched from the shortened space with the linear catapult lines running down either side of the hangars of the Artorious charged to their full power. The suit dipped a little as it launched before skimming the surface of one of the waves and rocketing into the air. Followed by the Exia, and Virtue Physical in short order as they caught up with the Freeden's suits.
"Garrod, Tiffa's safety is our top priority" Jamil opened a line with Garrod and the others.
"I know." Garrod nodded.
"And if you encounter the Orcs, avoid combat as much as possible." Jamil added in. "They're used to sea battles, so they'll have the advantage underwater."
"Don't worry, we already have an ace up our sleeve out here already." Heero relayed to them over their frequency. "We have one underwater use suit from the Astarte that we'd sent out for testing earlier."
Xxx
"You're saying what… I've got to switch from testing the pressure sensors to full combat…" Auel looked at Stella on the monitor.
"Sorry, but they need you right now." Stella replied over the channel. "The Volans is all we have right now ahead of her."
"Damn it… I'm still not used to this suit!" Auel glared before he closed the line, the cameras saw only a deep shade of blue from the steep deep water shelf drop off leading into the Pacific Ocean. Flicking a few switches he activated the emergency ballast blow for rapid surfacing. "I'm almost a mile down, and they want me up there now… they realize this crap takes time right?!"
Xxx
"Ehh!" Toniya pushed herself off of the bar she leaned on at her station.
"What's wrong?" Shingo looked back at her.
"I was in a hurry so I'm still wearing my swimsuit underneath." Toniya grimaced a little as the wet spot appeared on her skirt.
"Worry about that later…" Shingo looked at her, before activating the engines to get ready to move out if ordered.
Xxx
"Where? Where the heck is she?" Garrod looked around as they flew out to sea.
"Hey, look over there!" Witz yelled and Garrod zoomed in on the spot directly ahead of them.
"Oh great…" Setsuna sighed as he saw the group of three ships chasing after her.
"Tiffa!" Garrod yelled.
"And the Orcs!" Witz glared.
Xxx
Tiffa looked back to just behind her dingy into the water. "Hurry, everyone!" Before she looked up to the looming ships and especially the intimidating deep purple Sea Castle-class ship at the center.
Xxx
"Not only a girl, but Gundam type mobile suits." The Orc captain smiled. "I thought it was gonna be a little hunt, but we seem to have quite a treasure here. It's nice of them to come straight to Doza Bale himself." He smirked "Launch mobile suits! Split them up!"
Xxx
"Eh… contacts above… three ships? Did they head out to help?" Auel glanced at his sonar screen. "Mobile suits too… No there are too many contacts underwater. Sensors, scan mobile suits, verify type." He gave the verbal command as he slowed the ascent. "No match found… great."
Xxx
The four Gundams slowed as Tiffa passed below. "Go back to the beach!" Garrod yelled to her.
"But…" Tiffa looked back at the GX.
"No time for that!" Garrod yelled back at her.
Tiffa blinked for a moment before looking into the water and nodding. "Alright." She accelerated and continued for shore.
"Be careful, something's coming!" Witz relayed to the others just in time for Garrod to look back as a DTM-7000 Daughseat erupted out of the water attempting to tackle the Airmaster.
"Everyone pull up!" Heero ascended with the others, before Garrod looked back, and then a second Daughseat launched itself out of the water and tackled the X-Divider into the ocean.
"Garrod!" Setsuna watched as the GX disappeared below the waves.
Xxx
Garrod righted his suit and threw a punch at the amphibious suit, which it dodged with ease before landing a kick, sending him deeper into the ocean.
Garrod stopped the suit's fall again and took aim with the Beam Machine Gun. "Damn you!" He fired and the beam barely got anywhere underwater while sending up a trail of bubbles as it caused a small steam explosion, and it got nowhere near the Daughseat. "That's right… they said that beam weapons have less than half their power underwater." An alert chimed causing him to look back; the other Daughseat launched its arms after his suit and seized both of the arms, restraining the X-Divider.
"Shit!" Garrod watched as the impact knocked the Beam Machine Gun from the suit's hand, and it fell into to the depths below.
Xxx
The Exia and the Airmaster fired as they flew back following Tiffa's dingy, trading shots with two more Daughseats while Heero and Tieria circled trying to find the X-Divider. "Damn it, Garrod! Where the hell did you go? If this continues… Tiffa will…"
Xxx
Tiffa looked back at the mobile suits again before looking down into the water again. "You're gonna help us?"
Xxx
Doza smiled as he saw the GX captured by his mobile suits. "Destroy the cockpit only. Just kill the pilot."
Xxx
Garrod's eyes widened as the Daughseat ahead of him rotated its shoulders down and leveled its four torpedo tubes at his suit, he began to struggle against the other suit that had the GX's arms, and the loud creaking of the metal could be heard as it echoed underwater under the strain.
Xxx
When the lock was gained Doza smiled. "Do it!"
Xxx
The Daughseat opened fire sending four torpedoes directly at the X-Divider's cockpit.
Garrod's eyes shot wide as he saw them coming until dozens of dark shadows appeared out of the deep and got between the torpedoes, before loud clicking and whistles could be heard echoing in his suit.
Xxx
"What the…" Doza's eyes widened as he saw them, dozens of Indo-Pacific bottlenose dolphins were swimming with the torpedoes.
Xxx
The echoing sounds sent the torpedoes spiraling off course as it messed with their sonar lock on the target, sending them curving wide before they dispersed, and the torpedoes detonated around the two suits, with one of them hitting the Daughseat head on.
"YEAH!" Garrod punched his thrusters to their full power and rocketed upwards as the Daughseat drifted downwards towards the bottom, until the other charged after him.
After the GX broke through the surface, it immediately got airborne as the Daughseat surfaced below him and launched its extending arms after him.
"You're alright, Garrod!" Witz called to him.
"You're not gonna have your way out of water!" Garrod glared as he drew the X-Divider's large beam sword, and hacked through them before diving on the Orc's Daughseat, spearing it through the main cameras and down into the torso.
The Gundams pulled high as the Airmaster collected Tiffa's dingy from the surface and began flying back towards the shore. "Tiffa's safe! There's no need to stick around!" Witz called to Garrod.
"Roger!" Garrod turned and pulled high again and then flew after them.
Xxx
Doza watched as the Gundams retreated. "They're good machines. No wonder everyone's talking about Gundams." He smirked. "Well, you were just lucky this time. I'll be ready next time." He grinned. "And they'll be mine the next time I see them."
Xxx
"What do you mean, dolphins screwed up the sonar system!?" Ian yelled as Auel came down from the lift of the Volans.
"It's like I said… the sonar system freaked out from all of those whistles and clicks they were doing… Hell, the screen even froze because of all of the pings it was getting." Auel glared as he walked past. "I can't talk to some stupid fish that screwed up our machines for some reason, so don't shoot me over it, we're lucky I didn't head in the wrong direction and found myself in the middle of the ocean..."
"Dolphins messed up the internal components using echolocation?" Billy blinked as he looked up at the Volans. "That's… strange…" He looked at Ian.
"I'll believe it when I see it… sure they may be mammals and pretty smart ones at that for animals… but I can't see a pod of dolphins breaking our system." Ian shook his head.
Xxx
The X-Divider lumbered out of the ocean carrying the Divider shield and the Beam Machine Gun. "Sheesh… I finally found the divider and the beam machine gun… But what's with Tiffa…" He blinked as he noticed some movement to his right; he zoomed in on the spot along the shore on the far side of the cliff. "Tiffa?" He blinked seeing her sitting on the rocks with her feet in the water.
After he'd returned the GX to the hangar, he slipped outside and hurried around the cliff over to the area where Tiffa was sitting and he peaked out behind the rocks at her.
"No, I'm the one who should be thanking you." Tiffa smiled as she spoke. "Thank you everyone…"
Garrod blinked as he looked over at her as she seemed to speak to the water.
"Thank you, everyone… for saving my friend." Tiffa smiled as their heads poked out of the water and he saw who it was she was talking to. It was the pod of dolphins that had saved him.
"Dolphins?" Garrod asked himself a little confused. "Could they have… so the torpedoes' malfunctions weren't just a coincidence."
The dolphins clicked and whistled again at her. "No, they're all fighting, and it's a really sad world." Tiffa sighed in reply. "But peace will come." The dolphins chirped again and she smiled. "You're asking me to join you?" They swam closer to her and she patted one on the head. "Thank you… But I want to believe in people a little longer… because I'm a person, too."
Garrod's eyes were wide with amazement. "That's the real Tiffa. Laughing and being sad…" He turned scarlet as she stood up and began to strip down, and he covered his face for a moment before he heard a splash. He looked up again and saw her surface and begin swimming with the pod of dolphins.
It was interesting, how she was so at home, opening up to them as she swam with them, diving down with them and playing as they whirled about her in the bay, flipping and spinning through the water.
Garrod looked down a little as he saw her hug one of the dolphins out in the water. "Tiffa, show that smile to me, too. I'll be waiting till then." Some movement from her caught his attention and he looked where she was looking, further out into the bay when an albino dolphin breached the water in a full leap getting all the way out of the water as it clicked in a high tone. "A white dolphin?"
Tiffa looked at the dolphin she'd hugged. "I see. You were all protecting her." She looked out again the short distance away where the white dolphin surfaced and looked at her. Before they all turned and began clicking and looked skyward, Tiffa looked up with them.
Garrod looked up and saw it too, the thin white laser circuit descending from the moon. "That's from… the Satellite System!" His eyes were wide as he saw it descend over the horizon across the ocean. He almost broke out in a cold sweat, he knew what it meant. "There must be someone else piloting a different Gundam X…"
Tiffa shifted her gaze again to the white dolphin when she heard it before it whistled at her. "You hate us…" She repeated what it had communicated. Garrod blinked as he looked at them again out in the bay as Tiffa continued. "Us humans… Why? Why won't you open your mind?" Tiffa asked as she looked at the white dolphin.
The white dolphin turned without replying to her before diving away into the ocean again. "Wait." Tiffa called to the other dolphins as they swam after the white one, all heading out to open water, towards the laser circuit from the satellite system, as it disappeared so did the pod of dolphins. Tiffa turned and started swimming back towards the shore.
Xxx
"Are you sure you saw it, Garrod?" Jamil asked as the small meeting convened in the bridge of the Freeden the next morning.
"Yes, I'm positive. It was definitely the Satellite System laser lock." Garrod replied.
"Hey, what does that mean?" Toniya leaned over to Shingo and asked quietly.
"It means someone else has a GX like ours." Shingo whispered back.
"But for primary access to the moon base… you need to use the Flash System." Jamil noted.
Sala looked at him. "What do you mean?"
Jamil looked up. "It may mean there's a Newtype."
"There's a Newtype with a GX out there?!" Garrod blinked.
"Wait, the GX that's the white one in the hangar right…" Athrun asked as he pushed himself up from the railing.
"Yes… before it was damaged, it had a weapon known as the Satellite Cannon. It used that system, and was about half as powerful as Libra's main cannon. You saw it in the reports recordings… what it was capable of." Yzak looked over at him from the opposite side of the bridge.
"How many of them could we possibly run into?" Graham asked.
"Only a handful of GX-9900's were made, you could literally count their numbers on one hand. Two of them were destroyed or went missing during the war. One of them is here. Another was lost during an operation in the middle of the Pacific. The one I piloted was damaged heavily in the final battle. The others are unaccounted for." Jamil looked over at him.
"Five at most then…" Graham looked at him. "But with that kind of firepower…"
"Could someone have found the one in the middle of the Pacific out here?" Athrun asked.
"Doubtful, the location of that Operation which it was deployed with was unknown, and most likely they took a direct route across the middle of the Pacific. The chances of finding one mobile suit in about sixty three million square miles on the bottom…"
"Those are some pretty slim odds… unless you knew the route they were taking…" Athrun looked at him.
"The only ones, who knew the route they were taking, were at the top of the old federation government, and even then they only knew the departure, and arrival points." Jamil replied calmly.
"In short, what he's saying Athrun is, the chances are that one is lost for good. Besides, if it is that one, it's spent fifteen years on the bottom of the ocean it's probably a pile of scrap metal." Wufei looked at him.
"So what do we do then?" Graham asked.
"We go looking…" Yzak looked at him.
"You do realize, that a laser circuit from the moon, to some point on the opposite side of the world, could give us hundreds of miles of open Ocean to search right?" Athrun looked a little curiously at the others.
"We have an initial bearing, directly due West, in line with the moon from here." Yzak smiled. "That puts us somewhere in the South Pacific islands. And that narrows down the number of sites to search." Yzak shrugged.
"Okay then…" Athrun replied still not quite believing the story.
"If it helps, we'll head for Saints Island." Jamil looked at Athrun. "They're a city state in the middle of the ocean trade routes that has prospered due to its intact power plant."
"That gives us a chance to fulfill part of our mission as well, doesn't it…?" Yzak looked at Athrun who nodded.
After the meeting ended the three ships started out onto the open ocean, heading offshore and westward towards the South Pacific.
Xxx
"You want me to install the D-Navi on every mobile suit?!" The chief mechanic called over to Doza who had entered the hangar.
"In order to catch the Gundam…" Doza looked up down at him.
"But you know how important the D-Navi system is to us, right?" The mechanic yelled up. "Besides, for the cost of installing the D-Navi in the mobile suits… we could probably buy Gundam type mobile suits."
"I don't want Gundam types… I want real Gundams!" Doza glared at him. "To prove that I, Doza Bale, am the strongest man on the Ocean. Get back to work!" He ordered before looking down at the mechanical capsule that was emitting a light blue glow.
Xxx
Garrod picked up the breakfast tray he'd delivered for Tiffa, before looking over at her sitting at her easel. "Eh…" Tiffa realized he was looking at her and looked at him.
Garrod giggled a little before scratching his head. "Eh… Well, next time, why don't you come to the cafeteria for breakfast like everyone else?" He asked.
"But…" Tiffa looked back at the drawing she'd been working on.
"It's not good for you to remain so withdrawn all the time." Garrod looked at her, before she turned back and looked at him, after that he'd realized he'd just said something he really shouldn't have. He laughed a little. "I don't know why I said such a thing…" Hetried to get off the topic.
"You're probably right." Tiffa replied. "It is becoming difficult…" She looked down a little as she spoke. "…for me to stay so withdrawn."
"Tiffa…" Garrod looked at her before the loud deep blast of a ship's horn caused them to look towards the window. Garrod hurried over and looked out seeing a ship coming over the horizon towards the Freeden and the two Preventers ships.
"Is that… Orcs?" Garrod turned and hurried out of the room.
Xxx
Dr. Tex stopped as Garrod hurried past and looked at him. "What's wrong, Garrod?"
"Orcs have found us! We've gotta get ready for battle!" Garrod looked back over his shoulder at him.
Dr. Tex smiled. "Calm down. The ship approaching us isn't an Orc…" He adjusted his glasses a little. "It's a Sea Vulture Jamil contacted."
Garrod blinked. "Sea Vulture?"
"To get ready for the possible upcoming battles, we're stocking up on supplies." Dr. Tex nodded.
Xxx
Sam checked off another component. "I think this'll do, Roybea!" He yelled over to where Roybea and Witz were looking at another mobile suit component.
Roybea nodded. "I'll leave it to you. Otherwise, my Leopard will end up staying onboard forever, right?" He smiled.
Witz clapped his hand on Roybea's shoulder. "Well, let's just hope we don't meet any Orcs until its ready." Roybea just shrugged in reply.
Sam got up and walked over to one of the crewmen of the Sea Vulture's ship. "Mister, do you have a radar for use underwater?"
"It's called sonar kid…" Billy passed him as he looked at some of the mechanical supplies they'd gotten their hands on from them.
"Sonar, huh?" The Sea Vulture looked at Sam. "There was so much strange stuff scattered around during the last war that we still don't have one that'd be useful to you." He shrugged. "Though it's not as good as the D-Navi, I have a good scanner."
"D-Navi? What's that?" Sam asked, and Billy looked over.
"Navi means navigation… and D means dolphin. Didn't you know that?" The sea vulture turned to them.
"I've never heard of it!" Sam looked a little disgruntled.
"Dolphin?!" Garrod walked over to them and brushed Sam aside "What do they use dolphins for?"
"Well, the D-Navi is a high performance detection system." The Sea vulture leaned against a crate as he talked. "It was created by the Orc captain, Doza Bale, a former specialist from the Federation from the last war. I heard they use a living dolphin's brain for it." The three of them seemed taken back as they'd heard it.
Xxx
Doza smiled as they gave chase to the pod of dolphins. "Okay, let them just keep guiding us without knowing." He smirked. "The life of a D-Navi is limited, so we constantly need new dolphins. Let's catch as many as we can!" He commanded as the Sea Castle opened fire with its two turrets, sending up water spouts from around the pod of dolphins.
Xxx
"You know, a dolphin's navigation capability is incredible." The sea vulture had gained a small crowd of the Preventers and Freeden's crew. "Doza Bale is producing the living dolphin sonar, D-Navi, and selling them to other Orcs." He paused for a moment. "After they've hunted the dolphins, the ocean turns red."
"That's terrible." Sam spoke what everyone else had on their minds at the end of the man's talk.
Garrod blinked. "By the way, have you seen a strange white dolphin around here?"
The Sea Vulture moved quickly and got to his feet grabbing Garrod. "Hey, have you seen her?" He asked and Garrod nodded. "She looks like other dolphins, but she's completely different." The sea vulture was creped out by the thought of it.
Xxx
Daughseats carried a net ahead of the pod of dolphins as the Sea Castle continued to drive them directly into it. "Alright, keep driving them into the net!" Doza ordered.
"Captain, the dolphins changed direction and are heading straight at us!" The D-Navi operator yelled over.
"WHAT!?" Doza looked ahead of the ship and saw the pod swim directly past in the opposite direction. "Damn it! We lost them!"
"Captain look!" A fire controller yelled as he pointed ahead of them.
Doza turned and saw her, the white dolphin as she breached ahead of the ship. "That white dolphin again!"
Xxx
"Amia, anything interesting out that window, or is it your first time being this far out on the water?" Kathy asked as Amia was looking out the window.
"I thought I heard something…" Amia blinked as she pointed out the window. "From out there…"
"Unless they're above deck, I doubt it…" Kathy shrugged.
Xxx
"It won't get away this time! Fire the net torpedoes!" Doza ordered as the ships gave chase to it.
Two torpedoes were launched and quickly caught up on the white dolphin prior to splitting and spreading two massive nets, which slung ahead of her before she made a quick turn and seemed to narrowly wiggle through them earlier than they could be pulled shut.
"We missed!" the D-Navi operator yelled over.
Doza glared. "Ready the next volley!" He ordered again before he smiled. "That white dolphin has special abilities. If we could use her capabilities, we could create an even better D-Navi system." His eyes narrowed as he watched her ahead of the ship. "And we also happened to run into the Gundams the last time we were chasing dolphins."
"We're ready to fire the next wave of torpedoes!" The fire controller yelled over.
"Alright! Fire!" Doza gave the command again.
Four torpedoes sped towards the white dolphin again and she rolled around them as they harmlessly passed her.
Xxx
Tiffa slowed as she reached the bridge and heard voices. "Looking for a white dolphin?" Witz asked a little sarcastically.
"That sounds like a fairy tale." Roybea added.
"No it isn't! Anyway, we have to protect her!" Garrod looked at Jamil.
"Calm down." Shingo looked back from the helm.
Jamil looked at Garrod. "Either way, a white dolphin that has special abilities…?"
"According to that old Sea Vulture guy…" Toniya looked at him. "…she shows up whenever the Orcs attack following a storm. That's probably why they're afraid of her."
"Sounds like some old fisherman's tale if you ask me… people who live at sea most of their lives have always been superstitious…" Graham looked at them from the screen.
"Moreover, it's as smart as a human." Sala looked at them. "It's probably an environmental mutation."
"It wouldn't be the first one we ran into here… the second we touched down Dearka nearly got bit by a two headed snake…" Yzak shrugged from his spot on the monitor.
"I did not, it ate a rat!" Dearka yelled from the screen.
"Yeah, but it did put you on your rear and white as a sheet." Yzak looked away from the monitor towards where Dearka apparently was in the other ship's bridge.
"What's that got to do with this? The most important thing is that the white dolphin has powers beyond normal abilities and the Orcs are looking for her!" Garrod looked around at them before looking at Jamil. "Her situation is similar to Tiffa's, right?"
Tiffa glanced in from the doorway and quickly pulled back at the mention of her name.
"And not just Tiffa. You had Newtype powers during the last war." Garrod looked at Jamil. "Everyone tried to take advantage of your special powers, and you closed your mind. Tiffa and the white dolphin are the same way!"
"What're you talking about?" Witz spoke. "You sound like you've seen it."
Garrod glanced back at him for a moment. "Actually, I did. I saw Tiffa and the white dolphin together." Tiffa's eyes widened as she heard Garrod speaking about her swim with the dolphins. "The white dolphin wouldn't even open its mind to Tiffa. Tiffa said it hates human beings." He looked up as he saw some movement. "Tiffa…"
Jamil turned and saw her enter the bridge. "Garrod's story is true." Tiffa looked at him. "She hates the humans who threaten their lives. That's why she withdrew into her shell… please save her! She's desperately fighting to protect her friends!"
"Do you know where she is?" Jamil asked looking back at Tiffa.
Tiffa nodded. "I'll Guide you there."
"We'll follow…" Yzak nodded.
"I don't quite think this whole story is true… but to end this inhumane action being carried out, I think we'll follow as well." Graham looked at them.
Jamil looked up "Okay, let's go."
"Freeden, changing course!" Shingo announced before looking back at Tiffa. "Tiffa, we'll rely on your guidance."
Xxx
"I don't believe this… we're going out of our way, to hunt after some dolphin…" Athrun sighed as he climbed into the cockpit of the Vent Saviour and activated it.
"You know…" Yzak came over their frequency. "If that dolphin really is a newtype… I win the bet, because it was in the bay with Tiffa according to their story…"
"There is no way in hell, that dolphin is a Newtype." Athrun glared at him on the monitor.
"Okay, and if it turns out to be one…" Yzak looked back at him before Athrun closed the line with him.
"There is absolutely no way that thing is a Newtype, it's an environmental mutation and it only seems like it's a Newtype. Dolphins are the second most intelligent animal on the Earth's next to mankind. It only makes sense that they'd be able to outsmart some idiot captain."
Xxx
"Damn it… that moron gave us extra work to do." Witz grumbled as he climbed into the cockpit of the Airmaster.
Xxx
"And I'll have to stay on the ship again…" Roybea sighed as he glanced over at the mechanics, who were in the middle of doing the modifications to the Leopard. "Hey, how's it going chief mechanic!?" He looked over at Sam.
"Have you ever thought about my convenience?" Sam yelled back from where he was working on a turbine housing.
Xxx
Tiffa stood silently with her eyes closed as she guided them towards where the white dolphin was, before they were close enough she opened her eyes and pointed in the direction ahead of them.
"Okay, launch the GX and the Airmaster." Jamil ordered.
Xxx
"GX, launching!" Garrod relayed as the X-Divider launched followed by the Airmaster.
Xxx
"Athrun Zala, Vent Saviour, launching!" The Vent Saviour launched from the Artorious, followed by the Sadalsuud F and two Brave Standard types.
Xxx
"Auel Newman, Volans, I'm away!" Auel dropped out of the hangar and plunged into the ocean.
"Kira, don't get knocked into the water, I'm not hauling your ass out, got it?" Yzak passed along.
"I get it already… I'll try to get Lacus to lay off." Kira replied as the Strike IWSP and the Duel launched.
Xxx
"Setsuna, you're clear for launch." Feldt opened the line with him.
"Roger, Setsuna F. Seiei, Gundam Exia, I'm taking off." The Exia roared past the bridge following the others.
"You're not going out Tieria?" Dearka glanced back at him.
"The Virtue with the physical equipment wouldn't be much of a help in this situation." Tieria stood on the bridge waiting. "The Virtue's mobility would be heavily hampered the second the armor components are filled with water."
"Same with the Sandrock…" Quatre sighed as the Wing launched. "If we got pulled into the water, any amphibious MS would have a serious upper hand since the Sandrock really doesn't have many ranged weapons."
"Doesn't mean you can't take out the other suits…" Dearka looked back at them.
"They should be fine…" Wufei looked over at him. "just enjoy the battle."
Xxx
"Flying objects similar to mobile suits are rapidly approaching!" the D-Navi operator yelled over to Doza.
Doza looked over at him. "Gundams, right?" The operator blinked in response "I remember meeting the Gundams while we were chasing the white dolphin around here." He smirked as he looked back to the front of the bridge. "Anyway, it doesn't really matter. This time we'll get the Gundams! Launch the mobile suits!" He ordered, and the Daughseats launched.
Xxx
Garrod rolled right just as a massive waterspout erupted from an underwater explosion. "Here they come!"
Witz pulled up to the left and began firing down into the water with the Airmaster's two buster rifles. "Bastards!" He glared as he saw the two shadows of the amphibious suits dodge the shots with ease. Before he transformed the Airmaster back into its flight mode and opened fire with the two nose mounted vulcans, spraying fire down into the water and destroying two torpedoes as a water spout erupted skywards, the Gundams charged forward past the blast towards the Orcs' ships.
The X-Divider held its shield forward as it flew, keeping up with the Airmaster, Wing and Vent Saviour with ease with its added thrusters. "I'm not used to fighting in water, but I ain't gonna lose a second time!" He dove plunging headlong into the ocean.
"Garrod don't be an idiot, let Auel deal with them!" Heero yelled.
Garrod looked up before three torpedoes slammed into the back of the X-Divider. "AHH!" He yelled before three more slammed into his suit from the front, knocking him back the other way and bubbles erupted around him. "Shit! Where are they?! I can't see them!"
"Dead ahead of you idiot!" Auel yelled.
"We have the D-Navi System." One of the Orc pilots smirked. "We've got the advantage in an underwater battle."
The three cameras of a Daughseat appeared on Garrod's monitor as they flashed directly in front of him. "AHH!" He punched the thrusters and pulled up, starting to fly back and up towards the surface.
One of the three Daughseats that surrounded him lashed out with its right arm, which extended and slamming down onto the shield therefore knocking him deeper again, before he got around a second rammed him headlong knocking him back.
Xxx
"How about letting in the other ships that are being chasing the white dolphin?" The D-Navi operator asked from his station.
Doza nodded. "Alright. Have the mobile suits split up into two groups!" He ordered. "Shoot the Gundams in the sky with anti-aircraft torpedoes."
The Daughseats got their orders and they fired directly upwards towards the surface.
Xxx
Witz blinked as the torpedoes erupted out of the water towards them. "Anti-aircraft torpedoes!" He rolled and dodged out of their way as a second volley nearly clipped the Vent Saviour's wing.
The Sea Castle turned its guns on them again and it fired a volley at Witz, causing him to pull back hard to avoid it. "Shit, they're trying to keep us occupied!"
"If we can't get close to the damn ship because of the mobile suits and its own defenses, we have to take the mobile suits out first!" Setsuna yelled before rolling the Exia and diving into the ocean as well. "Keep them tied up there while I help against the mobile suits!"
Witz pulled low skimming just above the surface, causing two Daughseat's to pop up and open fire with their beam guns in their arms.
Witz and Lyle returned fire on them sending beams and physical rounds from the GN Revolve Bazooka after them. "Damn, they're using the water as a barrier!" Witz glared.
"This is starting to piss me off…" Lyle glared as he watched one dodge the shot he'd sent at it.
More Anti-Aircraft torpedoes erupted from the ocean and Heero opened fire on them, destroying some with the Wing's Buster Rifle and only missing a few.
"AHH!" Witz yelled as the Airmaster and Sadalsuud F were hit while trying to avoid them.
Xxx
"The Airmaster was hit and the GX is in trouble." Toniya relayed from her station.
"They're using the D-Navi system." Jamil glared. "Sala, get kid to hurry up with the Leopard's launch!"
"Yes, sir!" Sala looked over at him.
Xxx
"You're almost done, right? Get a move on!" Roybea yelled over at the mechanics as they worked on the large torpedo launcher.
Rococo looked down at him with Nine. "He always says things like that."
Nine looked at him. "He should have more respect for us."
Sam looked up at the two. "Quit complaining, unless you want to be called inept!"
Xxx
A Daughseat slugged the X-Divider again, knocking it further back as Setsuna parried an attack from another and strained against it. "How the hell are these things this strong!?"
Garrod glared while he looked up from the bottom as the one that had attacked him fired a volley of four torpedoes at him, waiting a few moments before rolling and punching the thrusters to get away from them as they blew up, kicking up silt and bubbles. "They're only aiming at the cockpit! Are they trying to capture the GX? Eh…"
Garrod looked and saw another Daughseat come up from below before slugging the X-Divider again and knocking it back. "AHHH!"
"Garrod!" Auel parried an attack from a Daughseat. "Damn it…" He grabbed the suit's arm and fired the Volans's Palm Fiocina into the multi jointed arm, punching a hole through it. "The power is lessened by the water, but it directs the force in a single point!"
Xxx
The two other surface ships swung their turrets in as they got around the Gundams and began attacking from multiple sides, sending high explosive anti aircraft shells whizzing through the air and detonating in airbursts around them.
Witz rolled around a shell burst as three Daughseats opened up on him from below. "There's no place to hide! AHHH!" He yelled as a beam struck his suit's wing. "SHIT!" He yelled as it tumbled out of control towards the ocean below.
The Airmaster transformed and Witz punched the thrusters to their full power, kicking up a massive cloud of steam as he skimmed the water's surface just barely avoiding it as a Daughseat launched out of the cloud, trying to grab it to drag it under.
Xxx
"That's weird…" The helmsman of the Orc ship chasing the white dolphin looked at the D-Navi.
"Yeah…" The captain of the ship looked over. "It looks like she's just going in circles."
The helmsman glared. "Why isn't she trying to escape!?"
Xxx
Tiffa closed her eyes as she heard the white dolphin. "Why don't you run?" She asked in return.
Jamil looked at Tiffa as he realized what was going on.
Tiffa opened her eyes as she heard the question. "Yes. Unlike you, humans are able to kill each other. You ask why?" She looked out the windows of the bridge. "Please…" She paused for a moment. "Determine that for yourself."
Everyone else on the bridge was looking at Tiffa before Toniya looked over at Shingo. "She talks more than I expected…" She whispered, Shingo glanced at her and nodded back.
Xxx
Garrod glared at the Daughseat. "I can still use the Divider's beam cannon underwater!" He leveled the divider shield in front of him, activated the harmonica cannon and fired, sending a high powered beam rocketing through the water in a wave, causing a massive shockwave behind it. "AHHH!" He strained as the water flowed with the beam knocking two Daughseats away from him.
An Orc pilot glared. "That beam is powerful even underwater!" He righted his suit "But if that's the best you've got, you'll never defeat me!"
Xxx
"Alright! Keep moving and destroy the enemy ships!" Doza ordered as the Sea Castle, and the other Orc ship closed on the three ships.
Xxx
"The enemy's changed course and they're heading for us!" Sala yelled over as it was brought up on the main monitor.
"Withdraw!" Jamil ordered.
"Yes, sir!" Shingo yelled back as the Freeden began a fighting retreat.
Xxx
"Return fire!" Graham ordered from his seat on the bridge of the Artorious.
"Roger…" Hanayo replied calmly as the three forward facing GN Laser cannons opened up, sending beams flying straight into the bow of one Orc ship.
"Sherilyn, how are Amy and Viktor holding up?" Graham looked over at her.
"They're doing fine, they haven't taken any direct hits yet." Sherilyn looked over at him. "I've been gathering data on the suits they've been fighting. They're an amphibious type that seems like its highly mobile even while just above the surface. As long as they don't get knocked into the water, they'll be fine."
Xxx
"They're aiming at the Freeden!" Witz glared as he rolled to attack the ships. "No you don't! WHAT!?" His eyes shot wide as a Daughseat erupted out of the water just ahead of him and fired its anti-aircraft torpedoes nearly point blank into him, pulling back hard the thrusters' heat detonated all four of them, flinging his suit into the ocean.
"Witz!" Heero looked back just in time to see the Airmaster sink.
Xxx
The Airmaster sunk quickly towards the bottom before being caught by the X-Divider. "Are you alright, Witz?" Garrod asked as he pulled it up with them.
"Sorry, I was caught off guard." Witz replied as he righted his suit.
"We're in the same fix down here…" Garrod looked around and Witz noticed that the Exia along with the Volans were also backed together a short distance away, and all of them were surrounded by nearly a dozen Daughseats.
All of them rolled their shoulders forward and activated their torpedo tubes. "Is this it?" Garrod asked.
"Well unless we can get out of here somehow… yeah…" Auel grimaced. "Damn it, if only I had the Abyss!"
Xxx
"Is that ship going to ram the Freeden!?" Wufei yelled over.
"It's closing at high speed, if it hits head on, the Freeden will sink!" Miriallia yelled up.
"Fire torpedoes, break its keel!" Wufei ordered.
"Roger that!" Chen relayed. "Firing torpedoes!"
Xxx
The Astarte opened fire sending a wave of torpedoes towards the Sea Castle as the Freeden continued to try to pull back.
"It's no use! They're almost on us!" Shingo yelled back from the helm.
"Prepare for hand to hand combat!" Jamil ordered.
Tiffa opened her eyes and blinked as she heard it.
Xxx
"I've got the Gundam!" One of the Orc pilots yelled as he gained a lock on the cockpit of the GX.
"Wait!" Another Daughseat stopped him from firing.
"What's wrong?" The first pilot asked. "Stay out of my way!"
"Look!" The second pilot pointed, and directly in front of them between the Gundams and their suits, was the white dolphin.
"Are you seeing this…" Setsuna looked over at it, and saw it swimming there relaying the image to the others.
"You idiot! Why did you come here!?" Garrod yelled at the dolphin.
"That's the white dolphin." Witz blinked as he saw it.
"Get outta here!" Garrod yelled at it again. "What's wrong with you?" He asked as he looked at the dolphin, which was looking at his Gundam before it turned and looked at the Daughseats.
Xxx
"You understand me, right?" Tiffa asked as she looked towards the looming Sea Castle, which was still bearing down on them.
Xxx
The white dolphin swam directly at the two Daughseats, ahead of Garrod's and Witz's suits. "She's heading right for us." One pilot blinked. "Let's take her alive!"
The white dolphin whistled and clicked sending a screech through the two suits. "What the…?" The pilot asked as he looked at it, before sparks began flying as the system overloaded and the D-Navi cracked prior to exploding.
Xxx
"What the… that was from underwater?" Athrun transformed the Vent Saviour as the two Brave Standard types formed up on him.
"It's that dolphin… I told you Athrun!" Yzak looked over at his suit, as they engaged the other ship.
Xxx
Sparks began flying from the D-Navi station on the bridge of the Sea Castle. "What's wrong!?" Doza looked over at him.
"The D-Navi is malfunctioning. The data is overloading the control system!" The D-Navi operator yelled back as he shielded himself from the sparks.
Doza glared. "Our D-Navi is… how?!"
Xxx
"The enemy stopped!" Shingo yelled as the Sea Castle slowed to a halt just ahead of them. And then two water sprouts appear on the left side of it, where two of the torpedoes of the Astarte have hit it, while the others passed under it.
"She did it." Tiffa looked at the ship.
Jamil blinked. "This is the white dolphin's special ability?!"
"Gundam Leopard, launching!" Toniya announced.
Xxx
Out of the darkness below the three ships, the Leopard equipped with its S-1 Booster sped towards the fight. "That was getting frustrating, now I'm going to go wild to my heart's content." Roybea smiled as he took aim at the Daughseats with the inner arm gatling's modification into a large six barreled torpedo launcher, and opened fire sending torpedoes sailing around the Gundams and into the Daughseats ahead of them.
"What the…? Do they have an underwater Gundam!?" One of the Orc pilots looked around as his suit rocked from the blast of one of the torpedoes.
"Now!" Garrod yelled to the others as he, Witz and Setsuna pulled up hard and rocketed towards the surface, and the Daughseats that were able to, gave chase.
"You're forgetting about me morons!" Auel opened fire with the Volans' torpedo launchers, sending eight torpedoes after the Daughseats hitting two of them in the back and legs causing them to explode, as four more surfaced.
The Daughseats opened fire on the Exia, Airmaster and X-Divider, sending beams rocketing after them as they rolled and avoided them.
"Now we've got you!" Amy glared as he fired the Brave Standard Type's GN Beam Rifle directly down into one of the Daughseats.
"I won't be defeated like last time!" Garrod roared as he and Setsuna dove on two more of them. He drew the X-Divider's large beam sword and drove it down into the head and chest of the suit, as the Exia carved through the other diagonally with the GN Sword Kai.
Witz opened up with the Airmaster's two buster rifles catching another just as it surfaced, not letting it get a single shot off as the two beams hit dead center mass at the cockpit, causing it to explode.
Xxx
The Leopard fired a volley of seven torpedoes from the S-1 unit on its back directly up into the hull of one of the Orc ships, causing it to buckle as the blast broke the ship's keel.
"I've got this one!" Auel yelled as he rolled and activated the Volans' beam claws before closing the fingers as a result making a single massive blade and raked it down the entire length of the other Orc ship, carving its hull wide open.
Xxx
"Why!?" Doza yelled as he looked around at the other ships as smoke began to rise from them, while the Wing and Vent Saviour did a strafing run on the Sea Castle. "What the hell's going on!?"
"Captain!" The helmsman yelled causing him to look up to see the Artorious, Freeden and Astarte firing on the Sea Castle, beams from the Artorious tore into the hangar deck, as shells from the Freeden and Astarte slammed into the upper decks of the ship.
Doza pulled back into his seat as he saw the ships closing in for the kill. "Is this all being caused by the white dolphin's power?!"
Xxx
Witz dove from above with the Sadalsuud and the Strike IWSP. "Now it's payback time!" He fired down directly into the starboard turret and hangar with the two buster rifles as the Strike IWSP opened fire with the two 105mm cannons and 115mm rail guns.
The Sadalsuud F emptied the remainder of the shells from the Revolve Bazooka into the forward deck of the ship, creating gaping holes in its bow.
Xxx
"We're finished!" The helmsman yelled from his post as the bridge began to fill with smoke from the fires on the bow as windows blew out from the explosions.
"Shit! Isn't there anything we can do!?" Doza yelled as he saw the Wing Gundam level off ahead of the ship and take dead aim at the bridge with its buster rifle.
Xxx
"What's he doing?" Athrun looked down at the GX before its shield split revealing the harmonica cannon.
Garrod fired, the beams slammed into the surface of the water near where the last three Daughseats were, causing a massive vapor explosion just below the surface and forcing them up and out of the water. "There you are!" He yelled as he opened fire with the beam machine gun, sending two shots into them as Athrun fired his high energy beam rifle into the last.
Athrun looked down as he saw the GX turn and look at something, seeing the white dolphin.
"You saved us, right?" Garrod asked looking at it before it simply leapt and dove into the ocean again.
Athrun paused for a moment. "Damn it…"
"I told you…" Yzak smiled as the Duel flew over.
"Can it Yzak…" Athrun sighed. "Fine I admit it… you win. Let's wrap this up…" He looked over at the Sea Castle which was heavily listing to one side as men began jumping overboard. "Catch any of them that you can, we'll send a suit or two to drop them off at San Lucas for trial."
Xxx
The crews of the ships enjoyed watching the sunset while they waited for the mobile suits to return as shadows danced across the setting sun in the shape of dolphins jumping out of the ocean in an almost rhythmic way. "That's not a bad sight to see, right?" Roybea looked out at them.
"Nope." Witz smiled.
"I'd like to see her again." Toniya smiled as she looked out at the ocean.
"Me, too." Sala smiled.
Tiffa gasped a little before their wish was granted, and the white dolphin leapt out of the water a short distance away from the ships.
"Wow…" Feldt smiled as she sat on the edge of the Astarte with Mileina watching them.
"Yes, I understand." Tiffa smiled.
"Did she say something to you?" Garrod turned to Tiffa next to him.
"She's communicating through thought…" Amia looked out at the ocean where she'd just dove again.
"Yes." Tiffa turned and looked out where she had been. "She said that our world stands on the edge of a new era… and you shouldn't give up hope." She smiled. "Because, she says life is always changing for the better."
Xxx
"Maybe she's a Newtype in the true sense of the word." Jamil watched as the ripples dissipated from where the white dolphin had jumped.
"As I discovered from this book. It says dolphins have no concept of killing their own species." Dr. Tex mused as he walked over next to him on the bridge of the Freeden.
"The idyllic future that everyone hopes for… a world without war." Graham looked over at Yzak who nodded.
"They had it lucky, not having that concept from the start." Yzak shrugged as he looked over at Athrun who nodded.
Xxx
"Garrod…" Tiffa looked at him. "…you don't have to deliver my meal to my room tomorrow." He blinked as she continued. "I've made up my mind."
Garrod smiled and nodded before they turned back to looking at the sunset. He reached out a little timidly for her hand before he pulled back, still not having the guts to do it yet, and blushed a little before glancing at her.
Xxxxxx
Yes, it's a Newtype dolphin. I told you Gundam X gets very interesting. And this is the one and only case in the Gundam Meta of a non-human newtype.
"How much weirder can it get?" Graham looked over at Ald.
"It depends on your definition of weird…" Tiffa looked at Graham.
"WHAT THE HELL, SHE'S GLOWING AND HER HAIR IS FLOATING!?" Dearka was hanging from the ceiling fan as he tried to get away from her.
Oh yes, the story gets much more interesting. And we're not even to the badassery yet… catch you next time.
