"You guys really outdid yourselves out there, you know that, right?" said Sai, smiling as he and the other volunteers crowded around Me, Darknal, Adam, Sarah, Scout and Kira.
"N-no, not really," said Kira. Adam smiled.
"Yeah, all I did was hold my own against a army of GINN's, and CGUE's," said Adam. "But Kira held off the Aegis; Corrine took on the Rosso, John distracted the X, Sarah, Scout, and Darknal held off whatever I didn't get to, and Jordan managed to fight The Zar Hellfury single-handedly, came out of it alive, and give the guy a nice run for his money."
I scratched the back of my head at the Praise. "Come on, guys." I said. "It wasn't That big!"
"Yes it was!" Scout said. "We've all read up on the guy, what you did out there wasn't just luck, it took pure skill to pull that off."
"You did a good Job Jordan." Sarah said as she sat down beside me, placing her arm around me, causing me to slightly blush. "Thanks Sarah." I said. "Jeez get a room will ya?" Adam said.
"If it weren't for you, Flay's father wouldn't have made it out." Sai said. "Sure, we lost the rest of the advance fleet, but you gave them a chance. If we'd gotten there sooner, maybe you could've done more. But you did what you could under the circumstances, right?"
Kira smiled. "Thanks, Sai."
"But…" said Tolle. "I wonder what it is that Mr. Allster wanted to talk to Flay about? He seemed awfully intent on talking to her before meeting with the captain. Even if she is his daughter, I'd expect a vice minister to place work a bit beyond that."
"Ya." Darknal said. "But…I got a bad feeling."
"What do you mean?" Sai asked. "Well," Darknal said. "When Flay told him we were Coordinators, he gave us a look."
"A look?" Tolle asked. "Ya." I said. "I may just be paranoid, but the way he looked at us…I don't know…It just didn't feel right."
"You're just Paranoid." Mir said. "It was probably just because Flay was already… there…" She trailed off as Flay entered the mess hall, her eyes downcast, expression unreadable, head hung uncertainly. Everyone turned to look at the redhead uncertainly.
"Uh, Flay? What's wrong?" asked Sai.
"Huh?" said Flay, looking up and glancing around, as though only just realizing where she was. Then she caught sight of us and looked away.
"My… my dad, he…" said Flay, uncertainly. "He… isn't happy. He's actually pretty angry, about…" Flay bit her lip nervously. "He hates Coordinators," she finally breathed, her words causing Me, Adam, Scout, Kira, Darknal, and Sarah to all stiffen.
"Wait, how can we just know about this?" I asked. "Surly he already knew about John! He didn't seem so negative about him."
"Maybe it has to do with him being in the E.A previously." Kira added.
"It's so… ugh… it's so stupid!" said Flay, startling everyone. "I mean, you saved his life, you've protected the people on this ship, and he's gone off to the captain to complain about you, and is telling me to stay away from you and… ugh!"
This was a reaction none of them had expected. Flay had always cared so much for her father, held him in such high regard… and now, she seemed angrier with him than they'd have thought possible, and over Coordinators, who she had said she didn't really like all that much.
"Um…" said Scout."You don't… you don't have to argue with him, or anything." Scout looked down as everyone looked at her. "Not over us… you shouldn't…"
"Look at me," said Flay sharply, walking over and slamming her open hand on the table in front of Scout, startling the Brunette, and everyone else, who did as told.
"You guys are my friends!" said Flay. "It doesn't matter if you're Coordinators, or Naturals, or whatever! So maybe I think it's wrong to have your genes modified, that doesn't change the fact that the seven of you, Including John and Corrine, are my friends, something that has nothing to do with genetic modifications. And without those changes, you wouldn't be able to protect us. All of us would be dead by now, and if my father can't appreciate that fact and blows up at me over who I choose as my friends, then I can be as angry with him as I want!"
Everyone sat frozen, only blinking, as they all stared in astonishment at Flay. The girl had completely transformed from the spoiled girl they knew to an honest teenage girl who would stick up for those she considered friends, even against her own father.
Put simply, especially in Adam's mind, Flay was finally growing up.
Archangel Bridge
Murrue sighed as Vice Minister Allster was escorted out of the captain's room, and she heard both Mu and Natarle sigh in relief as well.
The man's bigotry had begun to wear even Natarle's patience thin, and she was a woman of astounding patience, thanks to her military-heavy background. She fully acknowledged that the Coordinator pilots were the only reason the Archangel had made it this far. Admittedly, she hadn't really trusted them at first, being Coordinators, the same as every last soldier of ZAFT, but she had nothing against Coordinators, and she'd come to trust them well enough with the safety of the ship.
"Well, least that guy's out of our hair for now," said Mu. "Man, can you say stupid? I mean, come on, if it weren't for those 'untrustworthy, filthy, monstrous Coordinators' who fought against ZAFT out there, he'd be lucky to be more than space dust."
"Agreed, but there's nothing we can do to change his opinion," said Murrue. "Fortunately, he's only a civilian. An influential one, to be sure, but he can't stop us from sending them out to protect the ship, if ZAFT hits us again."
"I still can't believe you didn't Ring his neck John." Mu said to John, who was Silent throughout the whole meeting.
"Believe me, there were quite a few moment." He replied. "For now, I can tolerate it, but the moment he so much as touches one of the others, the gloves are off." Mu nodded.
The mood on the experimental carrier was a mixture of celebration and mourning, they had their first technical victory against ZAFT forcing them to retreat, but it came at the heavy cost of the whole escort fleet full of fellow soldiers and pilots.
John had been busy with helping Louise with minor repairs to that the mobile suits had taken, mostly it was minor dents and scratches, Mu's Patriot had lost a gunbarrel and had taken some minor scrapes and dents, the Archer had an impressive scratching to the faceplate from a GINN who had been lucky for all of two seconds, Darknal requested that the damage was not to be completely repaired for psychological effects, but that was the only notable thing for damages.
Kira had been busy making some final tweaks to Mu's OS and copied all of the data as per John's request to give to the Morgenrate engineers back in ORB and had helped John a little with the repairs.
Darknal and Adam had been doing non-stop simulations practicing on their teamwork and pushing themselves to new limits.
"So that pretty much sums up the crew reports," Mu said as he and Natarle stood in front of Murrue "Morale has Improved much since the defeat of the ZAFT forces."
"And the pilots?" Murrue asked "How are they doing?"
"They're all doing just fine," Mu reassured "Just need to make sure that Darknal and Adam take a break from the simulators long enough to get some sleep and food while John and Corrine have been occupied with final tuning and maintenance, Corrine pretty much keeps John in check so there is no need to worry about anything to traumatizing happening to the maintenance crews."
Murrue smiled and nodded before turning to Natarle "How are the civilians holding up?" she asked in concern.
"The civilians are doing fine," Natarle answered crisply "With Mr. Allster among them they have relaxed slightly knowing that they'll be able to go home soon."
Murrue sighed in relief "That's good to hear," she said honestly "Let's just pray that they do not attack us."
Kira stood, watching space at the observation deck. "What seems to be the problem?" came a soft voice suddenly, drawing Kira's attention. He turned to look at the source, to see Haro floating out of his vision to reveal the face of the same pink-haired girl occupying his thoughts. She looked at him with a mixture of curiosity and concern, and shifted slightly so that wasn't floating sideways in the zero-g environment.
"Wha…? I can't believe you're out on your own again," he said. "What are you doing?"
She smiled, giggling slightly as she pushed off from the observation window. "I was taking a stroll, then I stumbled across you, and I was concerned," she said.
Kira glanced away. "Well, you shouldn't be walking out on your own like this," said Kira, exasperated by her behavior, no matter how much he liked her. "They'll accuse you of being a spy."
"Is that right?" said Lacus, pushing off the wall back towards Kira. She grabbed his hand gently and slowed herself next to the window. As she lowered their hands, she glanced to the side. "But… Mr. Pink…"
"Haro!" cried the pink ball in question.
"He loves to take walks," continued Lacus. "In fact, it doesn't seem to matter if a door is locked. He always seems to open it and go out. And besides, I was told I was moving to a different room anyways."
"I don't wanna!" said Haro. That explained the mystery. The pink little robot kept letting her out. "I see," said Kira. "You have to return to your room, though. Come with me." Lacus giggled slightly and pushed off, but didn't go far before she ended up tugging Kira along.
It was at that point they realized they'd never let go of each other's hands, and both quickly snatched their hands away, slight, twin blushes adorning their cheeks. "The fighting's come to an end I see," said Lacus, changing the subject. "Uh… well, yes," said Kira, looking out the window.
"And yet… the expression on your face is so sad," said Lacus. "Uh… well uh… the truth is that, I'm really getting tired of all this fighting," said Kira.
"I, uh, also happen to be a Coordinator. As you well know. And even Athrun was once a very close friend of mine."
"Athrun?" questioned Lacus, curiosity peaked. This couldn't be a coincidence… "Athrun Zala," said Kira, confirming Lacus's suspicions. "He was in that mobile suit, the Aegis. Who would've ever dreamed he'd be piloting it?"
When kira said that, Jordan walked by the room, they didn't see him, but he herd kira's last statement. So that's it. He thought. Kira knows Athrun zala. Now it makes sense. He then left and headed away.
The two were quiet for a moment, Lacus turning this new discovery over. "Now I understand," said Lacus. She moved closer to Kira, grabbing his hands and stopping herself in front of him, this time consciously choosing not to let him go. "What's clear is that you and Athrun are good people. The reality of that makes all this very sad."
"Huh? You don't mean to say that you actually know him?"
"He's to be part of my life," said Lacus. "Athrun Zala is the man I will eventually be marrying." Despite being in zero gravity, both teenagers felt like the floor had dropped out from under them with Lacus's words, though neither saw it in the other, as both hid their feelings on it well.
"He's a kind individual, but he is on the quiet side," said Lacus.
Lacus grabbed the pink Haro. "Though it was very sweet of him to give me this Haro," she said.
"Haro. Haro."
"I told him how much pleasure it brought me having Haro around to keep me company," said Lacus.
"And he kept giving me another and another." Lacus smiled slightly, though somehow, Kira felt this was different from the smiles she gave him. What was odd was that the affection he would've expected her to express for her apparent fiancée didn't seem to be present—it was more like she talking about a close friend than anything else.
Kira smiled himself. He could just imagine Athrun coming to Lacus's house, dozens of Haros in his arms. He could see Lacus accepting them cheerfully, a flock of the silly things chirping around them.
Kira laughed lightly. "Is that right?" he said. "Sounds like Athrun hasn't changed one bit. I was lucky enough to bring along my Birdy, which he also made."
"Oh? Is that so?" said Lacus, smiling. "Damn it," said Haro. A small part of his brain—a very small part that wasn't focused on the pink-haired girl in front of him—suspected that Haro was now jealous about not being the only kind of robo-pet made by Athrun.
"Now we're…" said Kira softly. "Imagine if the two of you no longer had to fight against each other," said Lacus. "That would be wonderful." Kira nodded. "Ya, it would." He said.
Anthony Palmer sighed as he looked the report over, Zar, and Athrun had engaged the enemy with superior forces and a prototype rebuilt X and had lost and were forced to retreat and resume their search for Miss Clyne 'They're getting stronger with every fight,' Mark mused as he stared out the window 'We once had the advantage of over half of them being complete rookies, but now Intelligence are saying they have each earned an individual call sign and that the pilot of the Wolverine managed to fight Eric to a stalemate.' He groaned and rubbed his temples 'Still doesn't change our orders though, we will blitz them right before they join up with Halberton's fleet, we will have ten minutes to destroy the legged ship before we are in 8th fleet airspace.' He stood up and strode to the door."Let us pray that this doesn't get any harder." He said out loud as he made his way to the bridge to give the briefing.
Archangel, bridge
John frowned as he looked over the projected course to 8th fleet "We'll be attacked before we reach 8th fleet," he stated to both captains "Most likely it will be a blitz before we reach EA space, hoping to at least sink the Archangel."
Mu nodded in agreement. "Not very good odds for us," Mu said. "I say we set up a trap and ambush them."
"Normally I would agree," John said "But Anthony has that uncanny ability to pick out ambushes, no we need to do something else, something we haven't tried yet." John stared at the map looking for something, anything they could use to their advantage and sighed "Right now all we can do is guess at what they're going to do, although they are quickly getting the hang of it our pilots are still more inexperienced than ZAFTs, our advantage lies in this ship, what is the status our armaments?"
"We have around 58 Hell-dart missiles left, enough ammo for our Igelstellungs for continuous fire for several minutes as well as around 20 rounds of ammo for our rail guns." Sai reported from his station in the CIC "We are also running low on ammo for the Orca's rail guns and Gatling Cannons."
"Thanks Sai," John said with a nod before turning back to the map "The best thing we can do now is to force it into a run-and-gun battle," he commented "We have the advantage in that as our suits now have a larger power supply due to the tweaks I made to the generators and our suits are more mobile than theirs."
"Agreed," Murrue said nodding "That is a sound plan, how soon will they attack do you think?"
John shrugged "I don't know, most likely right before we make contact with 8th Fleet," he guessed "If we can link up with them than we will be safe for awhile." He sighed and rubbed his eyes "I'll get the other pilots on standby, meet ya at the Hanger Mu."
"Sure," Mu said absently as he watched John walk away concern in his eyes "He's getting exhausted," he commented once John was out of earshot "I only saw him like this after Nagase's death, he's worried, and scared,"
"Scared?" Murrue asked "Of what?"
Mu shrugged as he headed to the door "Of failing again." He replied just as he left the bridge leaving a silent crew in his wake.
Corrine groaned as she stretched stepping out of the shower and started getting dressed, she had been occupied most of the day working with Louise and John before John had gotten called away for a meeting on the bridge to discuss their plan and she was slightly tired from the physical exertion from repairing and tuning the suits and definitely had a greater appreciation for the work John did nearly every day. She entered the main room and sighed happily as she collapsed onto the bed she and John shared while Lacus giggled from her own bed.
George Allster was forced to use Lacus's room, so rather him being furious about sleeping in the same room as a 'Filthy Coordinator' as the bastard puts it, John and Corrine offered for Lacus to stay with them for a while.
"Never again will I complain about any work that John does on any repairs." She groaned making Lacus giggle some more.
"That hard of work?" she asked slightly teasing making Corrine groan.
"Urgh," she grunted as she sat up "A lot of Physical exertion, and from what they say it can be even harder in gravity, now I know why most of the maintenance techs are so burly."
Lacus giggled at her newfound friend "So what's it like in ORB?" she asked "I've only visited once or twice, but never for more than a couple of days."
Corrine thought for a minute before answering "It lives up to its name of the 'Land of Peace'," she said finally "The people are happy and there are little to no coordinator and natural hatred and discrimination, I'm starting to worry though that that peace won't last, that sooner or later the EA or ZAFT will try and force the issue of joining them or be attacked."
Lacus smiled reassuringly "I'm sure it will not come to that," she reassured "My father is doing everything he can to come to a diplomatic solution and would never wish to attack ORB."
Corrine smiled at the pinkette "Thanks Lacus," she said before getting an idea "How about when all this is over you can stay with me for awhile in ORB, me and others can show you the sights and everything."
Lacus smiled brightly "That sounds like it would be fun." She agreed just as John walked into the room.
"What would be fun?" he asked looking between the two girls.
Corrine smiled slyly at her boyfriend "Nothing much," she said "Just her staying with me for awhile in ORB."
Corrine chuckled lightly before losing the smile "Sorry to say this but we're on standby until we link up with the 8th fleet." he explained with a grimace and rubbed his face.
"Are you alright John?" Corrine asked in concern as she stepped up in front of him.
John smiled reassuringly "Yeah I'm fine just tired that's all," he said hugging her "I'll be glad to get some rest once this is all over, who knows, maybe you can invite Your brother down as well when we get back to ORB."
Corrine smiled "That sounds nice." She said before reluctantly slipping from his embrace and turned to Lacus "Will you be alright here?" she asked.
Lacus nodded "I will be fine thank you though." She reassured with a smile.
"We'll reach the rendezvous point in about thirty minutes," said Murrue, smiling. "Well crew, we somehow managed to make it this far."
"Don't slack off on your monitoring," said Natarle to Pal, sternly.
"Yes ma'am," said Pal. Murrue glared slightly at her first officer's back, annoyed. They'd been on high alert for a while now.
"We've gone through a lot," said Kuzzey to Sai in the mess hall. "But we're almost there."
"Yeah," muttered Sai, poking at his food.
"So, you don't suppose they'll let us off anywhere but on Earth, do you?" asked Kuzzey. Sai looked at Kuzzey, confused. "It's just that… remember what Lieutenant Ramius told us?"
Sai thought back a bit, and realized immediately what Kuzzey was talking about. Just after first introducing themselves to one another, Murrue had warned them that they weren't likely to be allowed to just go anyway, having seen the Earth Force's prototype mobile suits. This would be especially bad for Kira, Jordan and others who had actually piloted them. They'd have to wait till for a decision from the appropriate authorities, though, before being certain about anything.
"Hmm, yeah," muttered Sai. "So, under the circumstances, wouldn't the fleet be considered the appropriate authorities?"
"Guess your right," said Kuzzey. "However…"
"However?" asked Sai, looking at Kuzzey.
"What do you think will happen to Kira, Jordan, and Others? Will they be allowed to leave too?" said Kuzzey. "They did get involved in a whole bunch of stuff… "
Sai looked down, frowning in thought, but then looked up in surprise as the pilots in question entered the mess hall. They only shared a brief look before they went to get food and water.
"Flay!" exclaimed Sai, softly, as the redhead entered the mess hall soon after. The rest of them had seen very little of Flay over the last few days, with the girl spending most of her time talking with her father, or so everyone believed, since Allster himself had hardly been seen around the ship at all.
"Huh? Flay? What's up?" asked Adam as everyone looked over at her. Flay glanced at them before looking away.
"More… problems, with my dad," said Flay. "He's… refusing to leave his quarters. Doesn't want to wander around where Coordinators have been. He's just so… oh, he's just so stupid!"
"Should you really be fighting that hard with your father?" asked Sarah, tilting her head a little. "I understand that you don't agree with him. I happen to agree with you, about how our genes don't affect who we are. But still, he's your father, you should try to get along."
"No!" said Flay, shaking her head. "You're right, I still want to be family with him, but I'm not going to share his beliefs about Coordinators, beliefs I know are wrong!"
Kira, Jordan, Darknal, and Sai both blinked. Flay seemed to be becoming increasingly vehement about her disagreement with her father over the treatment of Coordinators, and neither knew how long it would be before things got… ugly…
"Alright our main objective in this battle is to buy time as we make our way to the 8th fleet," John instructed as they sat around the briefing table showing their current course "I believe this is the point that we will make contact with the enemy," he stated as he pointed at a quadrant "At this point we will have ten minutes before we hit 8th fleet airspace, it'll be a run and gun style of fight so make sure you keep pace with the Archangel, Me and Mu will be launching early and laying out some mines that will hopefully slow their advance or possibly even cripple them."
The Six rookies nodded their understanding as they mentally prepared themselves for combat. Looking at them John couldn't help but smile in pride "Guys," he said softly getting their attention "This may be our last battle together, and I couldn't wish for any better wing mates than you guys," he paused as he met each of their eyes "You all have matured from rookies who didn't know the first thing about combat and now I am proud to say, you are all aces in your own right, it has been an honor to fight beside you." The six rookies grinned as Mu laughed "Now go see the add on that I made to your machines."
The pilots picked up their helmets and entered the Hanger and each of the civilian pilots looked up to their mobile suits, on each of their suits right shoulder was an insignia, on Corrine's was a black sword flanked by a pair of blue wings, on Adams' was a Grey Killer-whale, Darknal's had a man with a Bow-and-Arrow, Kira's had image of a lone Sword, Scout's had an image of a shield with a Phoenix in front of it, Sarah's had a swords crossing each other, and Jordan's had a Samurai Knight, with both of its swords drawn, which made Jordan smile.
Both John and Mu each had their personal insignia on their suits as well, John's was a muscular Demon with its wings expanded, about to take flight while Mu's was a Hawk as it swooped upon its prey.
"Mount up!" John shouted as they boarded their suits "You ready Hawk?"
"Ready and waiting." Mu said with a grin as their suits were loaded onto the catapult.
"John Cypher, Demon, Engaging the Enemy!"
"Mu la Flaga, Patriot Zero, Launching!"
The two suit launched simultaneously from the two catapults and flew in behind readying the containers holding the mines. 'Time to go.' John thought to himself grimly.
"5 minutes out, switch to condition red, all pilots prepare for launch." The Captain of the Gamow ordered as the ZAFT pilots boarded their machine.
"I heard that Athrun, Eric and the commander couldn't take out the ship in their last engagement with it." Nicol mused over the radio as they sat in their suits waiting for clearance to launch "And they had nearly forty suits too."
"True," Anthony agreed "But we'll show'em how it's done right guy's?"
A round of enthusiastic Yessir meet his question as his suit was moved to the catapult.
"Anthony Palmer, Heading out!"
I waited nervously in the Cockpit of the Katana. I was proud of my new Title as the "Crimson Katana Knight" and I really liked the insignia John made for me, and the others.
But damn! I was more nervous today than I ever was. I forced myself to not bite on my finger nails, which I usually would do when I'm nervous, and there was no Bubble Gum around. "Jordan, Are you alright?" Sarah's voice came in as she appeared on the screen. "You look nervous."
"He, you don't look to good yourself." I said, forcing my own smile. "It's just…I have a bad feeling right now. Like something's gonna happen this mission." Sarah Smiled "Your paranoid." She said. "Zaft has just 10 minutes to attack us till we meet with the fleet. It'll be like a quick Hoard mode match in Gears."
I smiled. "Have I ever told you how much I love you?" I asked. She giggled. "Oh ya." She said, blushing. "And I love you too."
"If you two love-birds are about finished," Darknal interrupted as he appeared on the Screen next to Sarah's. "It's almost time. So I think we should get ready." We nodded.
"Enemy contact," John warn "Two klicks out!"
"Understood," Kuzzey responded "Pilots Launch."
"Alright!" I said. "Let's get this over with!"
First up, was Corrine, and Adam.
"Corrine Leese, Wolverine Gundam, Launching!"
"Adam Parker, Orca Gundam, Taking Off!"
Next was Darknal, and Scout.
"Darknal, Archer Gundam, I'll Snipe e'm!"
"Scout Lenix, Guardian Gundam, Lets go!"
Next, was Kira and Sarah. Kira mounted the Aile Strike pack.
"Be careful Sarah." I said. "I will. Don't worry." She said.
"Kira Yamato, Strike Gundam, Lets do it!"
"Sarah Lenix, Slash Gundam, Let's go!"
Finally I entered the Catapult. "Equipt me with the Stealth Katana." I said. "Roger" Mir said as a Sniper rifle, and Mirage Colloid-able armor equipped onto the Katana.
"Jordan Takeo, Katana Gundam, Lets Rock and Roll!"
John grinned as he saw the Six newly dubbed aces launch and land on the Archangel to conserve power before turning back to the scope "Enemy forces visual confirmation, Two custom Cgue DEEP arms, One Custom Cgue, 10 GINN's, Two GuAIZs' the Spark, Blitz, Inferno, Duel, The X, Shadow Scythe, and Buster."
"They're entering the mine field, wait for it..., now light'em up!"
The entire minefield exploded as Sai remote detonated them engulfing the the entire area in an explosion. "BOOM!" Jordan shouted. "Now That's a firework show!"
"Waiting for confirmation," John informed as he scanned the area as the dust clear "Tch G-weapons, and the X are confirm unharmed and inbound, Cgue's are floating dead with three GINN's, unknown condition, the Remaining are engaging! Prepare for combat! Pick you targets and engage!"
John launched himself from the Archangel simultaneously as the other and boosted forwards.
Kelsey and Rusty, vs. John and Mu
Kelsey was shaking as they exited the surprise explosion that the three Cgues and three GINN's thankfully survived with minimal damage only to swear as she and Rusty were attacked by the Endymion veterans. "You won't touch me!" she shouted as she pushed her new upgraded thrusters to the max blasting forwards at breakneck speeds, not even she was prepared for the Spark's new improved engine! "Just how fast is this thing!" she screamed as she was bushed back into her seat from the G-forces tearing past the surprised Demon and Patriot.
"Mu, did you just see that?" They heard one of the ask.
"Yeah I did." The other confirmed.
"God dammit," the first cursed "I was hoping for a second that I was hallucinating."
Kelsey finally got her suit under control and turned in the nick of time to see the Demon charging her with its blade at the ready. Reacting quickly she dropped her rifle and drew out her beam saber just in time to bock the blade. Growling she attempted to kick the suit only for it to spin out of the way and round house kick the back of her suits head, swearing violently she was nearly nailed by the Patriot only for a pair of high energy beams to narrowly miss said suit as Rusty and the Inferno made their appearance. Firing again he forced the two suits away to allow Kelsey to recover "You alright?" Rusty's concerned voice broke through her radio.
"I'm fine," she reassured "Just got a little cocky that's all."
Facing their opponents they both gulped as they saw the Demon Trikeros Beam saber activate while the Patriot's gunbarrels activated "We are in deep trouble." Rusty predicted as they could of sworn the two suits where grinning.
Jordan vs. Nicol
"Looks like we have a rematch." I heard the Pilot of the Blitz say as we circled each other "I hope I do better than last time."
I grinned "I dunno, you had me on the ropes back at Artemis," I admitted "So maybe it should be me asking for better luck."
The pilot chuckled as he charged forward clashing with the Katana "Nicol." He said introducing himself as he strained against my katanas.
"Jordan." I responded as we broke away "I hope we survive this."
Nicol chuckled as he activated his Mirage Colloid "Me too." He agreed.
I grinned again "Don't think you're the only one who can do that trick." I warned as the Katana vanished as well making Nicol curse in surprise "And I suppose you know both of the weaknesses as well?"
"Yeah, I do," he confirmed "This should be interesting."
I chuckled as a pair of beams lanced out from two different directions from seemingly empty space "Very interesting."
Adam and Darknal, vs. Dearka and 3 GINN's, and Pixy
"Here we go again." Adam stated as he and Darknal attacked the two mobile suits "Let's just hope our simulator training paid off."
"Same here." Darknal agreed as he spun his mobile suit and fired a volley of beams at the Buster while Adam fired his rail cannons at the GuAIZ as it tried to close in.
Pixy growled as he blocked the rail gun blasts "I'm really starting to dislike these two." He snarled as he evaded another shot and closed on the Orca only for it to dance away and outstrip him.
Dearka chuckle lightly as he fired off a couple of beams and launched a volley of missiles at the quick moving interceptor "I'm starting wonder if these guys really are rookies." Dearka added as the Archer lanced by him landing a couple of hits with its missiles doing surface damage "Thank god for this Phase-shift."
Pixy only growled in frustration as he locked blades with the Orca and began a struggle for dominance.
The Guardian and the Orange GuAIZ traded shots, twin cannon against rifle, as they closed in on one another. Once in range, Miguel fired at the Guardian, but Scout evaded, Bursted forward, and Miguel could do nothing as she slammed the Guardian's knee into his mobile suit's chest, jarring him badly and taking a chunk out of the armor.
"I really need to thank Jordan for suggesting that," said Scout with a slight chuckle as she shot several rounds from his cannon into the momentarily vulnerable GuAIZ. But it quickly moved out of the way. "Tricky bastard." Scout said as she persued the GuAIZ.
As Kyle shot at the Strike, Kira brought his shield up to block the shot. A GINN blasted a thermal cannon at the Strike, but Kira evaded the first and blocked the second with his shield. The Strike and the X began circling one another, firing simultaneously, and missing by mere feet.
I growled as I narrowly avoided another beam that appeared from nowhere and I quickly checked the power gauge 'I should be about a quarter of power if I had a normal reactor,' I thought 'Meaning he is just about out of power if John's calculations are correct.'
And true to her thoughts the Blitz's grey formed faded into view as his suits main power failed, I switched my suit over to Phase-Shift mode and held my katana in front of the Blitz's cockpit before sighing and turning away "You're not going to kill me?" Nicol questioned curiously.
"No, there already have been enough deaths in this war," I answered "'I will not hesitate to kill, but avoid it if possible', John told us that recently, and I will choose to follow that belief as well."
I could hear the other pilot sigh "I guess I indirectly owe him one then." He said making me chuckle. "Well, see you around Nicole." I said before moving to help Sarah fight the Duel and Shadow Scythe.
"Report!" Murrue shouted.
"Our mobile suits are holding their own for now." Romeo said. "The Katana just finished up with the Blitz, and is now helping the Slash fight the Shadow Scythe and Duel."
Murrue nodded. "Just seven more minutes." She said to herself. "We can do it!"
"Ma'am! New contact!" Pal shouted. "What?" Murrue shouted. "Renforcements?"
"Maybe." Pal said. "I am picking up one GuAIZ making good speed to the Archangel. Hang on…Ma'am, additional Contacts! An additional 10 CGUE's are following the GuAIZ!"
"What!" Murrue shouted. "Out this far? Get me John now!"
Schwarze team
13th Special mobile suit team, 6th Tactical mobile suit Squadron
"Schwarze 5 to Lead, looks like we stumbled into a party." Schwarze 5 said. Dominic Schwarze chuckled. "It would seem so." He said. "If I'm not mistaken, this is the Archangel I've been hearing about recently. Rumor says the Demon Lord is onboard."
"No way!" Schwarze 2 said. "as in The Demon lord?"
"Ya." Dominic said. "And it looks like Rau's boys are having some problems."
"What about Huckebein?" Schwarze 6 said. "We'll take him down, the Demon Lord, and the legged ship today." He said. "That Man isn't going anywhere. Schwarze 6-10, hunt down Huckebein, the rest of us will assist the Cruset team."
Jordan and Sarah
"Archangel to John Cypher, Do you read me?" I herd Murrue's voice come in on the Radio. "This is John, what is it?" John's voice replied. "We just picked up eleven incoming boogies on our Starboard."
"What!" I shouted. "Where the hell did they come from?"
"What are they?" John asked.
"The enemy Formation consists of one GuAIZ in the lead, and ten CGUE's following. Five of them have split off and heading your way. The remaining six are inbound to us."
"Shit!" John said. "Can anyone cover them?"
"No can do, sir!" Darknal said. "Me and Adam have our hands full."
"I'm still taking down this bloody GuAIZ here!" Scout said.
"Me and Sarah are busy with the Duel and Shadow Scythe!" I replied."Kira, Corrine, What about you two?"
"My hands are busy with the X!" Kira shouted. "I can try." Corrine said. "But I could use some help anytime."
That was when the Radio crackled in with a voice I've never herd of before. "This is Second Liutenant Peter N. Beagle of the Eurasian Military to Earth Alliance vessel." The voice said. "I am in the GuAIZ, please do not open fire! I'm on your side!"
Hu? I thought. What the hell?
"Pops?" John said. "Pops is that you?"
"John?" 'Pops' said. "John Cypher?"
"Holy shit! Pops! What the hell are you doing here!" John said, Exited. "Eh, ya know." Pops said. "Captured by Zaft, Just escaped, and being Persued by the Schwarze team."
"You always did get me into deeper shit, hu?" John said laughing. "Archangel, his Story is Genuine. He's a friend of mine. Assist him when you can. Corrine, watch after him."
"Roger that." Corrine said as she moved next the GuAIZ.
As me and Sarah continued to Clash with the Shadow Scythe and Duel, I opened a COMM to John. "John, Who's Pops?" I asked. "He was my team's mechanic, and flight instructor before I retired." He said. "Good guy, now enough chit-chat! Were almost through!"
"Jordan, Sarah! Those five CGUE's are heading your way!" Mir shouted. Oh you have got to be kidding me. I thought.
Schwarze
"Take them on!" Dominic said. "And keep your eyes open! I've heard Rumor about the Pilot of the Katana."
This is not good. I thought. Me and Sarah were practically surrounded by 5 Heavily modified CGUE's, plus the Shadow Scythe, and the duel. Me and Sarah stood back-to-back to each others mobile suits. "We can make it." I said. "We just need to Stay together."
"Right." Sarah said, I could here some fear in her voice, and I couldn't really blame her. Then the CGUE's moved in. Three of them fired there Machine guns. They impacted onto our mobile suits, but the P.S armor didn't even scratch. That GOD for Phase shift! I thought. I then drew my own beam rifle, and turned it to Full Auto mode. I fired at the CGUE's, but they dispersed and began moving in all directions. Sarah also fired her own beam rifle, and her missiles, but they missed as well. Then one of the CGUE's came up close with a beam saber drawn.
Unfortunately for him, He didn't know that my Gundam wasn't called the Katana for nothing! I drew my Katana blade, and in one swift stroke cut the CGUE in half right down the middle. That's one! I thought.
Schwarze
"Damn it!" Dominic shouted as they lost Schwarze 3. "Everyone, leave the CQC to our allies in the fight. Their more prepared for this kind of fight! Just keep your distance and use only your ranged weapons."
"But sir!" Schwarze said. "The armor they have makes our machine gun's useless!"
"But it still drains it power!" Dominic said. "Just keep firing until you run outta ammo!"
Corrine swiped her Laser claws at a CGUE, but the enemy mobile suit backed away in the nick of time. Damn. She thought. These guys are tough. She fired her Beam rifle at the CGUE, but it evaded again.
"Lead your Targets!" Pops said. "Hu?" Corrine asked. "When there moving rapidly, aim at where their going to be, not where they are now." He said. "The Schwarze team like to confuse there opponants with rapid-movements. So just think about where they would go." Corrine nodded. She took aim again, the CGUE was dancing around the space in front of her. She focused, watched how the CGUE moved…looked for a pattern….There!
She pulled the Trigger, and the beam tore through the CGUE with quick precision. "Got him!" Corrine said. "Nice shot." Pops said. "But we still got a few more to go."
"Right." Corrine said, as she took aim again.
Kira deflected another barrage of beams from the DRAGOON Fangs of the X. He fired a few shots from his beam rifle, but the X evaded them. Damn. Kira thought. This guy's good. But why hasn't he used that Cannon yet?
It struck Kira odd that the X's pilot refused to use the cannon against the Archangel. One shot, and he would destroy the whole ship. Yet, he didn't. Not that he was ungrateful, of course, but it was still something odd.
Kira shook that thought away as he continued to fight the X. "Kyle, Why the hell haven't you used your Cannon?" Kira heard a very angry voice on the Radio. "Why should I need to use the rifle?" Kyle replied. "Do you realize that there are still civilians onboard that ship, Yzak!"
"Our orders are to take that thing down, now!" Yzak said. "I hate it too, but we need to end this!"
Kyle cursed. "Damn it, fine!" he said. He then pulled away from the Strike, and pulled out the massive cannon on his back. The X on its back began to glow as It charged its shot. "No!" Kira yelled. If that thing fired, then all his friend…and Lacus…
Suddenly, an amethyst blue seed shattering in his mind and a sudden wave of calm washed over him.
As the X began to fire, Suddenly kira transferred all of the Strike's energy to its engines, and blasted forward towards the X. In near lightning speed, and almost as quickly as he changed the power to the engines, he then transferred that same energy to the weapons, drew out his beam saber, and slashed the cannon of the X in half. He then put the power flow to the Armor, and as the X's cannon exploded, Kira's phase shift was already back to full strength, and his shield was up dulling the recoil of the explostion.
What the hell? Kyle thought as he detached the X's cannon before it exploded. How did he do that? It was one thing that he managed to get up close in quick speed, but in almost the exact same speed. Transferred power from the Engines to the weapons to destroy his cannon, and then soon after switch the power flow yet again to his armor to protect himself from the Cannon's explostion. What kind of pilots does this ship have? He thought as he reteated. When he left the combat area, he actually sighed in releaf. Though, I should be thankful. He thought. Thanks to that pilot, I didn't have to kill the civilians onboard. He looked back with the X's camera's as the Strike moved to help the Guardian. Thank you, Strike pilot. He thought. I suppose I owe you one.
Sarah fired her Exia blade's Beam rifle and managed to destroy another CGUE. "Three more left!" She said. "But I'm almost out of power." I clutched the control's of the Katana. Damn I thought. We're not gonna last much longer, but we gotta hold on until we get to the fleet!
Anthony, Jack and Cory
"Well shit." Anthony said as he drifted in space in his heavily damaged CGUE "How did we not see the mines?"
"Their arming signals were off due to remote detonation." Cory explained as calm as ever "Won't be able to do much but sit on the sidelines."
Anthony sighed as he turned back to the battle and winced as he saw Kelsey's machine being kicked by the Demon. 'This won't end well.'
"Maybe we can do something," Jack mused as he experimentally moved her mobile suits arms "Because like this I can still shoot."
"Same here." Cory informed simply.
"Very well," Anthony agreed as they all took aim "Focus fire on the Demon."
Corrine
Corrine fired her beam rifle for the last time, and destroyed the last of the CGUE's that were attacking Pop's. "Nice work, kid." Pops said. "I can see alittle of John in you." Corrine giggled. "He did teach me everything I know." She said. And Pop's chuckled. "I can see that." He said. "Archangel, Do I have permission to land?" "You have permission…pops was it?" Natarle said. "That's right." Pops said. "Thanks for your assistance." The GuAIZ headed towards the Archangel.
Corrine turned to survey the battle field, Adam and Darknal looked like they had things in hand against the Buster, a few GINN's and a GuAIZ, Scout was fighting off a team of GINN's lead by an Orange GuAIZ, while Sarah and Jordan were dueling the Shadow Scythe the Due, and the last three CGUE's. Kira just finished up with the X, and was making his way to help Scout. Corrine was going to help out Jordan and Sarah, but when she Turned to John and Mu her heart nearly failed when she saw Mu's Patriot missing an arm and a leg trying to get back to the Archangel while John was desperately evading fire from the five mobile suits swarming him.
"JOHN!" she shouted in panic and suddenly she had a vision of an amethyst white seed shattering in her mind and a sudden wave of calm washed over her.
John ground his teeth as the Spark's High Energy Beam cannon narrowly missed him but slightly melted his armor and quickly raised his heat blade blocking the Inferno's slash and had to forgo a counterattack in favor of moving out of the way from the Blue-white DEEP arms Cgue's sniper fire while the other one fired with its thermal cannons. Glancing over to Mu he tightened his grip, Mu was to heavily damaged to fight and was limping back to the Archangel, reacting to an alarm he quickly raised the Mesamune and luckily managed to deflect the Spark's Cannon blast, but at the cost of his heat blade snapping in half from the kinetic force of the blast throwing him back.
"JOHN!" Corrine's desperate cry came over the radio alerting him to her approach.
Looking over his eyes widened in surprise when saw the Wolverine on faster than normal approach with its beam rifle at the ready.
Suddenly cutting her thrust Corrine stopped the Wolverine just in time for the Spark's long range fire to sail harmlessly past her, boosting to the side she raised the rifle and fired several shots in rapid succession nailing the Spark's weapon and destroying the left arm removing it from the fight, turning she raised the beam rifle and fired the at the Inferno as it tried to blindside Corrine and followed it up by drawing her Katana and slashed at the joints connecting the gun arm where the Phase-Shift wasn't active removing the mobile suit. Pulling out her rifle once more she dodged fire from the Three Cgue's and returned fire at the unmoving suits destroying the suits head and thus removing them from the fight. 'I-is that really Corrine?' he thought in awe as he watched his girlfriend display a level of tactics and skill she never had before 'And this sensation I feel, is she awakening?'
The Wolverine's Phase-Shift faded as it ran out of power and Corrine's concerned face appeared on the video screen her irises were dilated and she was panting for breath "Are you alright John?" she asked in concern as the Demon floated up beside her.
John smiled reassuringly "I'm fine," he soothed as he transferred half of his suits remaining supply to Kira and "Let's help the others finish mopping up shall we."
Corrine grinned as they both turned their suits to the continuing battle.
I caught the Shadow Scythe's Beam Scythe with my swords in a Scissor pattern. I forced him back, it side-stepped, and I backed up missing his scythe's swing by meer feet! I sliced again, and the Shadow Scythe moved back evading the swipe. He fired some Inglusadia rounds, but I managed to evade them. The Shadow Scythe then charged forward with his beam scythe, and again I caught it with a Scissor pattern form. Then the Slash stabbed with its Exia blade, but then the Shadow Scythe evaded the sword. The Duel then fired its beam rifle witch we deflected off our shields. Then the CGUE's fired at our backs. "Damn it!" I shouted as I fired at the CGUE's. "Their eating us alive out here!"
"Shit!" Sarah swore as the Duel gave a massive kick to the Slash's midsection before raising her shield and blocked the beam saber from dissecting her and pushed away putting some distance between the pair and fired off a round from her beam rifle only for the Duel to block it on its shield and returned fire with its beam rifle while Sarah dodged. "Sarah, get out of here!" I yelled. "Are you insane?" She replied. "You'll never last againt those guys!"
"Sarah, Your almost out of energy!" I replied as I caught the Duel's beam sabers with my own Sword. I reached out with my rifle, and shot a CGUE that got to close, destroying it. "Head back to the Archangel!" I barked. "I'll be fine!"
"No, you wont!" She replied as she fired her beam rifle at the Shadow Scythe. To witch it replied with deflecting them with it's shield. Then the Duel drew its beam sabers, and desended upon the Slash. "Sarah, WATCH OUT!" I yelled, then, I experienced a vision of a Golden seed, shattering into an explotion of sliver light. And then a sense of calm swept over me.
Then in almost lightning speed, I pushed the Slash aside, and caught the Duel's beam sabers with the Katana's hands…Wait…hu?
"WHAT!" Yzak shouted as the Katana held the Duel's beam sabers in its place with it's hands. "That's Impossible! Phase shift can't withstand beam weaponry!" That was when, it happened.
As the Katana held the Duel in place, something strange that neither I, or probobly anyone would have seen coming. The screen in front of me that displayed the O.S of the Katana went away, and a new screen appeared. It was red, and it said: "Arc system?" I asked as I read the message.
Suddenly, the Katana started to glow. The spots that were white on the mobile suit were beginning to glow red, and the mobile suit's eyes changed from being a yellow color, into an emerald green color. And then, it pushed the Duel back. "What the hell!" Yzak shouted.
"Don't…" I said. "…you EVER Hurt my FRIENDS!" I shouted as I punched the Katana's thrust through the roof as I pushed the Duel away. (A/N: Yes, I got this idea from watching Gundam Unicorn.)
Then in blinding speed, I drew out my Katana sword, and with the beam mode activated I made a lightning-quick slash around the general area of the Duel's cockpit. The pilot's screams were herd on the Comm waves as I then kicked the Duel away.
"Yzak, are you alright? Yzak?" asked Matthew.
"It burns… it burns… it burns!" came Yzak's pained voice.
"Everyone! We have to retreat! The enemy fleet's almost within firing range!" said Anthony.
"Damn it!" cursed Dearka as the Buster pulled back. The Shadow Scythe, Spark, and the others broke away from the Earth Alliance mobile suits as well.
"What is it with that ship and those suits?" asked Rusty. "No matter what we bring against them, they always manage to beat us back."
"They're good," said Matthew. "We're gonna need more than what we have now if we're to beat them."
"And what the hell was that with the Katana?" Kelsey said. "It just started Glowing red, and it's performance practically tripled! It even held off a beam saber!"
"It has to have something to do with the Arc Reactor." Matthew said. "But if they can do it, so can we."
Everyone looked at Awe at the Red-glowing Katana. With both of its swords drawn, and its eyes glowing green. Is that really Jordan? Sarah thought as she too was in awe.
Soon, the Katana went back to normal, and the O.S screen went back to normal as well. What the hell was that? I thought. It was as if the Katana became invincible or something. I then looked at the Power. "Hu?" I said. Now the power wasn't at 100% anymore. It had dropped down to 85%. And the power went down. I thought. What the hell is this Arc reactor anyways?
I set down on the bow of the Archangel as I panted heavily. One way or another. I thought. That sure as hell to a lot out of me.
"That was amazing Jordan!" said Adam as the Orca pulled alongside the Archangel.
"Yeah, you were unbelievable!" said Scout.
"Unbelievable is an understatement," said Mu, a cheeky grin evident in his voice. "Their right, kid, you're incredible."
"Not really," I said. "I honestly have no idea what just happened. Other than we're all alive."
"That's all that really matters now." John said, landing on the Archangel next to me, followed by Corrine. "Jordan, you just took on 5 CGUE's, and two Gundams with just Sarah helping you. And that's Incredible."
"I couldn't have done it without her, or your training." I said, smiling.
"The 8th Fleet is here!" came Tonomura's voice over the radio. Everyone looked up to see countless blinking red lights, as dozens of warships closed with the Archangel.
We made it. I, along with almost everyone else thought.
Schwarze
"Damnit!" Dominic yelled at himself as he retreated with the La Cruset, and Sorcerer teams. Not only did he loose his target, but more than half of his squadron! All because of that damn ship! He thought. And those mobile suits. He remembered how that Red one, the Katana, suddenly increased in its performance. What was that? He asked in his mind. How could any machine move like that?
Archangel
Me and the Katana were the last to land inside the Archangel. When I landed, most of the others were grouped around some part-bald man I've never seen. I guess that was "Pops".
Once I docked, I walked up to them, Pops and John were talking to each other. If the looks on their faces didn't prove they were friend, I don't know what did. Pops was a old man. Though he was just as tall as John, you could see he was definitely not the same age. His hair was short, what was left of it. He had a large bald spot on his head, most of his hair was on the back of his head, or around his ears. He had a short beard around the chin, his hair was brown, and his eyes blue.
When I walked over, Pops took notice of me. "Ah, you must be the Pilot of the Katana." He said, smiling. "Yes, sir." I said. "Quit with the formalities, kid." He said, shaking his head. "Your not part of the military, and I hate all that 'Yes sir, no sir' crap. Just call me Pops." I nodded. "Ok, Pops." I said. "Now what's your name?" He asked me. "I swear, you look like someone I know."
"My name is Jordan Takeo, Pops." I said. This caused him to raise his eyebrow. "Takeo?" he asked, walking closer to me. "You wouldn't happen to be related to Alen or Gineta Takeo?" I nodded. "Gineta was my Mother." I said. "As for Alen, I'm guessing he's my 'Famous Father I never knew existed' I keep hearing about." Pops scratched his beard. "So Alen didn't stay that long, hu?" he said. "Strange he would do that. He didn't strike me as someone who would leave his family like that. So how is your Mother?" I closed my eyes. "Dead." I said, holding back the tears. "Killed at the Attack at Heliopolis."
I could here Pops gasp. "I'm…sorry to hear that." He said. "It's fine." I said, opening my eyes. "But you should know I hate being pitted on." Pops smiled. "That's something we have in common." He said, putting his hand on my shoulder. "Your Father is a good man." He said. "Wherever he is, I know he's proud of you." I nodded. "Now then," he said. "Now that introductions are out of the way, allow me to thank all of you for helping me escape."
"Exactly, how did you get caught in the first place, Pops?" John asked. "The last time I saw you was shortly after Barttlet got shot down." Pops bowed his head mentioning him. "Well, after he went down, I was transferred to the Eurasian military." He said. "Half-a-year ago, I got shot down, and got captured by Zaft. 6 months later, and here I am."
John nodded."Well, it's great that you're in one piece." He said. "Come on, I'll introduce you to the Captain." With that, John and Pops headed to the Bridge, while the rest of us headed to our rooms.
Soon after I got into my bunk, Sarah walked in. "Jordan." She said. "Thanks for saving me…again." I smiled. "Don't mention it." I said. "Truth be told, I was lucky that I didn't get killed really."
"Just don't make it a habit of saving my ass." She said, as we wrapped our arms around each other. "Well, it is an ass worth saving." I said, smiling. She giggled. "If you were anyone else I would have slugged you for saying that." She said. "Well, I'm not anyone else, aren't I?" I asked, grinning. Her reply was simple as our lips met into a kiss.
Corrine groaned as fatigue washed over her once her suit was safely secured in its docking area and slowly climbed out of her suit. After John had Introduced Pops to everyone, she floated towards the change room where John met her. John stared at her for a second before he pulled her into a hug, Corrine desperately clung to him and buried her face into his chest allowing some tears to slip from her eyes "I was afraid there," John admitted softly once the others had left "The funny thing was though, it wasn't of dying or failing the mission, I was afraid I wouldn't see you again." He gently kissed the top of her head as he rubbed her back "Thank you for saving me Corrine."
"You don't need to thank me," she whispered "I was just as afraid as you were when I saw you surround desperately fighting them off, I was afraid I'd lose you." Corrine looked up at him and brought his head down and captured his lips in a heated kiss while he entangled his fingers in her hair "I love you much John," she whispered once they broke away "I rely on your strength so much to push me through."
John chuckled softly as he stroked her face "I rely on you too Corrine," he said "You give me focus, something that I would protect no matter who the enemy."
Corrine smiled at him and pressed her lips to his as they floated through the change room, they didn't stop even after John bumped against the wall.