Disclaimer: I don't Gundam

Wesley Mercis is the property of 00virtuezero

Gundam Seed Purpose Renew

Chapter 10: The fading light

Not even a few days back at the Plants, and they were given the order to deploy again. Miguel was present when Athrun's father gave them their new mission. They were to look for Siegel Clyne's daughter, the great beauty Lacus. Miguel smirked, she was Athrun's fiance, not something he talked about often. It was one of the reasons he was thankful for not being born into the aristocracy. As good looking as Lacus was, Miguel doubted the relationship between them was anything more than friendship. Like Athrun, he was disturbed by Rau's statement regarding Athrun's place in the mission.

"So I'm to return home the glorious hero," Athrun had said.

"Or return, and in a public display, weep bitter tears over her cold corpse," Rau said.

It just reminded Miguel of Joe's warnings, and the many other times that the masked man had disturbed his team mates. His reasonable and compassionate times made up for it, but it was more than just a tactic to gain fear from his subordinates. At least that was how Miguel felt. He looked up at the Aegis at it was loaded onto the Vesalius. The G-Weapon, or Gundam, as Miguel had heard it be called, would become Athrun's main machine. But it only brought back bitter flashbacks for Miguel, to Heliopolis, to the people he had lost, to the dog of war. The white devil haunted his dreams once, remembering its glowing eyes, the feral voice of its pilot.

"Father told me that funds might be reserved for hiring mercenaries," Athrun told him.

"He can't be serious, what where they impressed with Sensou's actions at Heliopolis?" Miguel asked.

"It's more to do with the economy of building mobile suits and our numbers. It's cheaper to buy a battle hardened soldier than it is to build a mobile suit for a rookie pilot. But father is voting against it, he believes we should be focusing on propaganda, recruiting more of our own citizens," Athrun explained.

They had been on break at the time, drinking and eating from the soda and ration dispensers. It made Miguel miss his mother's home cooked meals. Despite the advertisement of flavour, the packets the machine gave out were bland, possessing all the nutrients and protein necessary to fuel the body, but none of the flavour of the meals they were supposed to be. A few moments after that, they went to work on maintenance for their machines.

"Incredible machine, what's the power output?" Miguel asked Athrun.

"More than the Ginn, though the Phase shift armour is a drain in itself," Athrun said.

"It'll keep you safe from missile fire though."

"Aiman, Zala, report to the bridge," Ades announced over the comm.

They stopped the maintenance and floated to the bridge. Ades was sat at the captain seat as always, and Rau was floating beside him, looking at a person on the main screen. He was a silver haired teen in a dimly lit cockpit.

"Athrun, Miguel, this is Zack Tempest, he has information you two should hear," Rau said.

"Like I told your commander, I'm one of the mercenaries who responded to the Plant's request for aid in finding Lacus Clyne," Zack said.

"You a mercenary?" Miguel asked, and Zack huffed, seeing the disdain in Miguel's eyes.

"Beowolf company," he said.

"You're a long way from Jupiter Mr Tempest," Rau said.

"Well with the Earth sphere in the middle of a war, big boss figured it was time to check out new business prospects. I'd rather be home myself, but it is the job, anyway, I was checking out the wreckage," Zack pushed a button on his console, uploading pictures to the Vesalius.

The pictures came up on the main screen. They showed the wreckage of Lacus's ship, the remains of mercenary mobile suits. Miguel's eyes widened as he saw the white devil, holding an escape pod.

"Intuition tells me that Miss Clyne is on that escape pod, that guy saved her, at least for now," Zack said.

"What do you mean?" Athrun asked.

"If she is indeed in the hands of the alliance, or another mercenary, she is in danger. The alliance will have put a bounty on her as well," Rau explained.

"Admittedly it's worth a lot more than what the Plants are offering for her," Zack said.

"What is she cattle to you?" Miguel asked.

"No, she's a person, who doesn't deserve to be in federation hands, that's why I told you where she could be."

"And for that we are very grateful, if your information helps us to rescue Miss Clyne, I will personally ensure you are rewarded," Rau said, before he cut communication with the mercenary.

"That felt rushed and rude," Zack huffed.

Rau put a hand to his chin, turning to look at the planning map.

"Ades, alter our course, I have a bit of intuition of my own," the masked man grinned.

I'd never realised how kind Kira was until I had this conversation with him. Kira Yamato, someone my friend's would say was cute. He certainly has that going for him, the way he styles his hair, those purple eyes, the athletic body. Sai's more of an intellectual, I suppose that's what drew me to him, initially. Here I had been, insulting coordinators so casually, and Kira was just taking it. But I crossed a line, I know I did.

"I'm sorry Kira," Flay said.

Kira looked at Flay, almost shocked by her apology. They had been sitting together for a while, just talking about Heliopolis.

"I put you in danger at Artemis, and that horrid way I spoke to that girl, the way I've been saying coordinator lately. You must think I'm a bigot," Flay explained.

"I don't think that at all," Kira said.

That time, I looked at him in shock. There was no hatred in his eyes. Only understanding. It nearly made me cry, how could he look at me like that after what I had done.

"I think," he began, looking at the floor for a moment. "I think that you were afraid, understandably, we know so little about the Plants, it's easy for us to be afraid, what else do we have when we don't know?" he looked into her eyes, and for a moment Flay blushed.

And why wouldn't I? He wasn't flirting, well, I suppose it was as close to it as Kira could get. He was so damn noble.

"I lived on the moon for a while, I knew someone from the Plants there, he'd been part of the military academy. According to him life at the Plants is like any other colony," Kira said.

"I've been in and out of colonies for most of my life," Flay said.

"Really? What about Orb?" Kira asked.

"My dad was a politician with the Atlantic federation. But he married my mother, who was from Orb, so, joint citizenship," Kira nodded his head in understanding, before Flay elaborated. "I spent a lot of time on Earth when I was a little girl, most of my earliest memories were of mom looking after me. Dad was always at meetings, but after she died, he really looked after me. He always took time off of work to see my plays and speak with my teachers. He became vice minister and then shipped me off to space."

"Really?"

"I don't resent him for it, if anything it's helped, I've learnt a lot about politics and colonial development. You didn't think I was just living off of dad's money in Heliopolis did you?" Flay smirked as she lifted one of her eyebrows, looking at Kira.

"No, um no, not at all," he fumbled and Flay laughed.

"One thing I remember him telling me to do is learn what I can. Learn what I can so that I can make an informed opinion on something. That's what I want to do," she explained.

"Maybe you could talk to someone whose been to the Plants before, from what I understand Mr Kuzunagi has done work there," Kira explained.

Flay nodded her head, finishing her meal and standing up.

"You're a good friend Kira," she said.

Friend, I didn't know what a friend was. Not really, sure Mischa and the others were nice, but they weren't the kind of friends to look for me when I was lost. In the night I relive Heliopolis, the colony crumbling to pieces. Then that gruesome image, that black mobile suit with the red eyes.

"GAT-ARC0 Massacre," Yamato said.

He was in front of the Purpose, watching Gekido float around the machine. His adopted boy was attaching the shoulder pad of a Rodi onto the Purpose. He also added the arm of a Mistral onto the back of the Gundam. Removing a ration bar from his back pocket, Gekido bit down on it, seemingly ignoring Yamato.

"It is the brother unit of the Purpose you know, deemed a flawed creation by my standards, but a success by the standards of project G. As good a man as Halberton is, he saw only a weapon, the most powerful of the G-weapons," Yamato explained.

"The Gundams," Gekido said. "Halberton is a piece of work, as corrupt as the rest of them."

"He wants a quick end to the war Gekido," Yamato said.

"And what is that? He may not want the Plants wiped out, but he only cares about an end where Earth decides what concessions are made. That's all war is Yamato, concessions, sacrifices, young men dying until the old men can't afford it anymore," Gekido explained, climbing in between the Purpose's stump, putting in some plating to protect the arm socket.

"You are so pessimistic!"

"Realistic," Gekido shrugged.

Without caring that his hands were dirty, he took the bar from his pocket again and took another bite.

"Harper, what really happened to her?" Yamato asked.

Gekido's shoulders rose slightly. He inhaled, then floated backwards from his machine.

"She talked a load of shit, and was set on a path that would have gotten someone killed, so, I killed her before she could do it," he said.

"I can't say I approve," Yamato said.

"I don't care whether you approve or not," Gekido huffed and floated the other way.

Yamato watched him leave, then looked up at the Purpose.

"It may have ensured your ability to fight, but still, you'll be no match for him if you ever see him, the Massacre," the older man whispered the name of the brother machine.

For a moment, the Purpose's eyes glowed.

Sai gave me the most joyous news. The Eighth fleet is sending an advance fleet, which my dad is a part of. Finally I get to see my dad again. I'm the sort of girl who can't stand being deprived of the things I feel that I need. A few days without a shower and I'm huddling away from Sai. As soon as we have the water back, I'm savouring it, enjoying it as if I've been departed from a long time friend. When I get out, I apply a mask and do my hair up. Looking good for my dad, looking good for Sai, for a moment it seems to be all I care about. I'm ignorant of everything else around me, people who were in the same pod I was in, people who don't yet know what happened to their families.

Flay had been sitting in the canteen, some of the refugees also sitting in there. The Eurasian soldier Canard was also there, sitting a long distance from Flay.

I can't help but think of Kira when I look at that guy. Strange, I know, but I could swear they look alike. Anyway, I forget about him and just concentrate on my meal. Kai is a great cook, I swear it seems more like he's a five star restaurant chef than a federation navy cook.

"Freeze it, it'll lock in the flavour, provided we use it the next day," Kai said.

Flay raised her head as Miriallia walked into the room. She was with Yamato's children Tachi and Kisagi.

They're both a little bit younger than our group. I can't help but feel it's because of their status as coordinators. Their dad was smart, so maybe he manipulated their genes just a little bit to have the intelligence he had. A lot of people think that, that coordinators are born smart. I'm not as ignorant as those people, I know that coordinators have to study and train just like any other ordinary person does. But still, a lot of their intelligence I think is also owed to the genetic manipulation.

"Mirillia," Flay caught the brunettes attention as she approached the table.

"Flay," there was still a coldness in Mir's voice.

But she didn't completely disregard Flay's presence. She wasn't the type of person to do that so someone. If Mir didn't like someone, she made it clear. Flay wasn't someone she disliked, but there were qualities she couldn't accept, and she made it clear what they were. All the time Flay had been speaking with Lacus and Kira, Miriallia was making it clear. Flay took a seat in front of her, awkwardly slow, drawing a smirk from Canard as he stood up and took his tray back to the kitchen.

"I know I haven't been easy these past few days Mir," Flay said.

"Difficult is one way to put it, bigoted is another way, and before you say anything, yes Flay, when you don't even know the reason why you specifically hate coordinators it is bigoted," Miriallia explained.

"I'm not trying to be, that girl was from ZAFT, I was just cautious."

"Maybe you have good reason to be, or maybe she's just a kid like us, caught up in the chaos caused by the adults. It isn't so much what you feel Flay, but how you've been expressing it."

"And I'm sorry about that," Flay said.

"It isn't me you should be saying sorry to Flay," Miriallia retorted.

"I apologised to Kira already!"

"Good, he's done a lot for us, god knows I trust him more than those mercenaries, and I'm sorry to say Tachi, Kisagi, but I trust them more than your brother," Miriallia said.

"Gekido is a good person," Kisagi said.

"Is he?" Flay asked.

"He is," Tachi reiterated. "He's been protecting us."

"For money," Mir added.

"The fact that he's taken on this kind of work says something about him too," Flay said.

"Gekido could have lived like we do, he could have taken an engineering job. But do you know what he said when we asked him about it? He said 'I refuse to live an easier life, the kind of life people in the colonies can't live'. Some people out there, they don't have a lot of other options. For some, joining a mercenary company isn't a choice," Tachi explained.

"But he had a choice, why would he choose to pilot?" Flay asked.

"Because it's what he's good at!"

The four teens turned to Canard, who was holding a water canister and looking at the ground.

"You can be bad at a lot of things, but if you're good at just one thing, then that is something you can be proud of, something you can be. Even when everyone else doubts you, that thing you are good at is yours," he explained.

"You do what you are," Flay said, remembering a quote she once heard in class. "Tachi, Kisagi, you're second gen coordinators right?"

"Yeah, that wasn't a choice for us, it never is really. Us, Kira, Lacus, our father, we never had a choice. But should we hate ourselves for that? No, of course not, should we put ourselves above others? No, and we shouldn't hide our potential or not live up to it, simply because we don't want to make others feel insecure. To not be all that we can doesn't help others, it insults them," Tachi explained.

"Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate," Flay said.

"It is that we are powerful beyond measure," she and the siblings finished the quote together.

Canard shook his head and huffed as he walked away. His once peaceful expression turned into a hateful scowl before he disappeared from view.

"What are you good at Flay?" Kisagi asked.

"Logistics, account and money management, communications too," she said.

"Those are things we're not good at, we aren't superhuman Flay, we're just human," Tachi said.

"I see, I'm sorry for how I've behaved."

"That's okay, Lacus probably won't be with us for much longer, considering her worth to the federation. You should try and talk to her, alleviate your fears about her and the Plants, you and she might have more in common than you think," Tachi smiled as he finished his meal and stood up.

Alleviate my own fears, I'd never honestly thought of doing that before Miriallia told me. So I walked to the girl's room. Then I heard it, singing, the way Lacus sang just left me silent and in awe. Her voice was beautiful, the flow of her lyrics, perfect. That song, into the quiet night, it was so peaceful. Listening to it made it seem as if there wasn't even a war, and for a moment I felt at peace. Then I remembered why I didn't really like her, and I walked away.

Lacus opened her bedroom door and watched Flay walked away. Despite Flay's rejection, she smiled and looked towards Bentos. The man stopped and grinned at Lacus.

"Why are you here?" he asked.

"I don't understand," Lacus said.

"The memorial committee, why are you a representative?" Bentos asked.

"It's important for us to remember the people who have died, especially the victims of such a tragedy," Lacus said.

"Junius Seven stands as one great big memorial, it doesn't really require much attention. Unless the Plants were planning to collect all of the dead."

"It's their final resting place, we don't want to disturb it."

Bentos let out his throaty laugh.

"Honestly, I think I'd prefer a good old fashioned funeral than just be left to drift in a tomb. But that's the beauty of being dead I suppose, you don't want anything," Bentos explained.

"I disagree, I think the dead would very much like for us to remember them," Lacus said and again Bentos laughed.

"You know the exact number of people who died at Junius Seven right? I only know that it was a lot, that's going to be a lot of opinions and beliefs. You claiming to know what each of them feels, isn't just ignorant, it isn't just wishful thinking, its narcissistic too!" Bentos narrowed his eyes, looking at Lacus with a serious expression. "You know, I think the real reason the Plants don't do something about Junius Seven, is because they want a backup plan, I mean think about it, something that big, if it leaves the debris field, it can be a very dangerous projectile. A mate of mine once made a theory, that the Plants and other colonies don't need nukes or weapons of mass destruction. The very places they live in are world ending weapons just waiting to be used. Junius Seven wasn't just a tragedy because of the lives lost, but because we provided a convenient weapon for the Plants to use against us," Bentos explained.

"The Plants would never resort to such a thing," Lacus said and Bentos smiled, finally seeing an expression on her face other than naive calmness.

He laughed again walking past her and tapping her Haro.

"Never say never Miss Clyne, never say never!"

Flay had gone on to her room, and was surprised to see Yamato standing there.

"Oh, Miss Alster, good to see you, I was looking for Sai, but it seems he's on his shift. Those four friends have really been helping out on the bridge," he said, his smile filled with pride.

"We'll be out of danger soon, what are you going to do after that?" Flay asked.

"Well, if Gekido will take me, I'll continue to advise him about the Purpose, there's so much more it can do, I don't want him to cast aside its potential or what he can achieve with it," Yamato explained.

"What can he achieve with it, other than fight?"

"I believe the reactor within the Purpose may very well be the key to changing humanity for the better," Yamato smiled as he spoke.

There was a sudden blare of the alarm and both Yamato and Flay rushed out of the room. Crew members were running away from their breaks, going to the elevator for their posts. Kira passed Flay and she quickly grabbed his sleeve.

"Kira, what's happening?" she asked.

"The advanced fleet, the Montgomery and the Bernard, they're under attack," Kira said.

Safety and hope, these things become nightmares. I know I'm weak, I know I'm helpless. And I cling to whatever hope I can.

"Kira please, protect my dad's ship," Flay said, tears welling up in her eyes.

"Don't worry Flay, I promise I'll do everything I can to keep your father's ship safe," Kira said, touching her shoulder.

"Gekido," Flay said, her head low for a moment. "Please, tell Gekido, that if he saves my dad, I'll get him to double what he's being paid now," he eyes grew more determined and Kira hesitantly nodded his head.

From the elevator, Canard heard the conversation and smirked. After changing into their flight suits, they floated to their mobile suits. Gekido was already climbing into the Purpose, looking to Kira as the boy approached him.

"Flay says that her dad will reward you if you protect his ship," Kira said.

"Not interested," Gekido huffed coldly.

He climbed into the Purpose and ran through the activation sequence. The arm on the Purpose's back moved up and down, then rotated. Gekido was testing the connection, whilst looking to his side to see Bentos and Wade's Mercs walking towards the launch catapult.

"We'll join you in the defence Captain Ramias," Bentos said, saluting Murrue.

She nodded her head and blinked in confusion as Bentos laughed.

"The Ensign recommended you retreat right? Don't worry, once you've made a decision, stick to it, that's what a good captain does," the older man said.

Kira and Canard slid down their visors, approaching the launch catapult after Bentos and Wade went out.

"Canard Pars, Hyperion launching," the dark haired boy declared.

The Hyperion slid across the catapult and activated its thrusters. Moving in sight of the Archangel's bridge, the mobile suit raised its rifle before dashing towards the advance fleet.

"Kira Yamato, Strike, launching," Kira said.

He braced himself, the G-forces locking him to the chair. The Strike folded out the wings of its Aile striker and activated its phase shift armour, white and blue sweeping over the once grey armour. Kira increased his speed, falling behind the Hyperion. He checked over the enemy forces, seeing black GINNs with split horns. A white CGUE landed on a Moebius, stabbing it with its sword and drawing blood from the cockpit.

"The Black Storm," Canard identified the enemy and pulled the Hyperion away from the Strike.

The Hyperion stopped, its back pack folding upwards. The Hyperion's cannons slid onto its shoulders, the barrels opening whilst Canard pulled his targeting computer over his eyes. He cycled through his targets, one CGUE, two GINNs, with the Bernard between them. Pulling on the flight stick, he adjusted his position with the Hyperion's foot thrusters. Then he adjusted his sight and the angle of his cannons. Pulling the trigger, he sent two beams hurtling towards the CGUE. The emerald blasts blew off the white machine's arms, leaving it vulnerable to machine gun fire from the Bernard. With his position given away, he adjusted his angle again, predicting the path of the two GINNs. Again he fired, hitting one in the chest. Then he fired again, hitting the other GINNs leg and slowing it down enough for a second shot to penetrate the cockpit.

"Wow," Kira muttered.

He then shook his head, disgusted with himself for finding something to admire in Canard's skill. Hearing Miriallia in his ear, Kira flew towards the Montgomery, the ship George Alster was in. Bentos and Wade were exchanging gunfire with the ZAFT suits, protecting the mobile armours from the federation ships. One of the mobile armour flew in a manner not like the others, more akin to La Flaga's Zero. Inside the young pilot was looking through each view camera, tracing the movements of the GINNs and looking for openings.

"Mercis, be careful, you've got a CGUE coming in from the right," one of his wingmen said.

"Gordon, can you cover me, I've got a GINN in my sights?" Wes Mercis asked.

"Negative Mercis," Gordon said.

"I'm on him," a voice said over the radio.

Four shots flew into the CGUE pursuing Wes. With his pursuit gone, Wes fired his rail gun, hitting a GINN in the chest. He looked over his shoulder, seeing the orange blur that was the Moebius Zero.

"Looks like you owe the legendary La Flaga your life Mercis," one of the mobile armour pilots said.

"Like debts exist when you're comrades," Wes huffed.

The Archangel fired its Gottfried's, narrowly missing one of the ZAFT ships. The Argos adjusted its position, launching a barrage of missiles that Wade struggled to shoot down. One hit his shoulder, disconnecting the Merc's arm. The catapult of the Archangel opened and the Purpose stepped onto it.

"Gekido Jeager, Purpose launching," he slid his visor over his head and flew the Purpose forward.

Holding a axe with his hand, and a bazooka with the Mistral arm, Gekido flew underneath the Argos. He weaved between its machine gun fire and raised his bazooka. Firing a single round into the belly of the ship, he triggered an explosion that shook the crew. Then he threw the axe, dragging it across the point he had hit. It breached the hull, sending a few unlucky crew members into space.

'One ship focusing on the Bernard, mobile suits focusing on the Montgomery, mobile armour forces reduced to half, hull integrity on the Montgomery roughly 75 percent what it was before. I've got two grenades, three rounds left in the bazooka and a hammer chopper, then I'll have to fall back on the Vulcans,' Gekido looked at his enemies, at himself, and then his allies.

Then he acted, diving into the battlefield. He delivered a quick kick to a GINN, sending it flying into the Strike's field of vision.

"SHOOT KIRA NOW!" Gekido yelled.

Kira gasped before firing his beam rifle. The shot hit the GINN in the head, only for a few missiles to fly into the GINN's side. Wes flew with his squad past the Strike, looking at it.

"What is that pilot doing, he had a clear shot," Wes commented.

The Purpose drew the Rodi hammer chopper from its waist and clashed with a CGUE. He pushed the CGUE back, firing his Vulcans and hitting the mobile suit's wings. The Hyperion flew behind the out of control CGUE and stabbed it through the chest with its beam dagger. Canard turned and diverted the course of a GINN with his machine gun. He diverted the GINN into Gekido's line of sight. Gekido fired his bazooka, blowing the GINN up in a display that made the Earth forces cheer.

"Where is Thanos himself, where is the Storm?" Koopman, captain of the Montgomery wondered.

"Heat sources approaching," Kuzzey said.

"We've confirmed that one of them is the Aegis," Pal said.

Murrue widened her eyes as she saw something moving much faster than the Le Creucet team mobile suits. Inside the upgraded GINN, Miguel smirked.

"Now this is speed," he muttered.

He levelled the enhanced rifle, firing a solid shell into the Montgomery. Shrapnel inside the round created multiple breaches, and killed many more of the engineering crew. Koopman looked at the orange GINN in horror. Miguel strained as he pulled on the control sticks, diverting the GINN's course and targeting the Purpose.

"Got you devil," he said.

Suddenly, the Hyperion flew in its way. The arms of the suit's backpack extended, and created a web of lights that surrounded the suit.

"An miniaturised Umbrella of Artemis," Miguel gasped.

The Purpose then flew over the Hyperion, bringing its hammer down on the GINN. Miguel yelled and slammed the heel of the GINN's foot into the Purpose's chest. The foot and hammer both made contact, the hammer smashing into the GINN's knee joint. But the force of the kick still connected, and threw Gekido back. Miguel quickly drew his machine gun and fired at the Purpose, which fired back with its Vulcans. From inside his ship, Rau smiled and stood with his arms folded.

"I know we've been given a mission, going after the legged ship is part of that, once we've annihilated its potential allies, we'll draw from them only one logical conclusion. Unless they choose not to be logical, either way, we're rid of the legged ship," he explained and Ades nodded his head.

Miguel and Gekido yelled, slamming their weapons together. They had hit one another so hard that the sword shattered and the hammer snapped apart. Gekido brought his leg around and attempted to kick the GINN. But Miguel flipped and smashed the Purpose across the head with his rifle. He flew back, attempting to target the Gundam again. Gekido however threw his grenades, obscuring the GINN's vision with smoke. After a moment's hesitation, Miguel fired his rifle, sending a round flying narrowly past the Purpose's head. Gekido swung a sword stolen from a fallen CGUE through the smoke, cleaving through the GINN's arm.

"Damn it, even with his suit part broken his piloting skills are improving," Miguel exclaimed.

Several GINNs flew to Miguel's aid, Gekido grabbed the GINN's arm and turned, firing at the reinforcements with his bazooka. He blew one up and using the confusion of the explosion, flew face to face with another GINN. Firing his Vulcans, he broke the GINN's main camera. Then he kicked it into the path of a formation of mobile armour. Wes and his squad fired their rail guns, hitting the main engine of the GINN and blowing it up.

"Impressive Gekido," Bentos muttered.

Wade pumped his fist and let out a cheer. Kira however watched as the Aegis, in its mobile armour form, latched onto the Bernard and fired its main gun. The red Gundam flew out of what was left of the ship and drew its beam sabre. Kira drew his own beam sabre and faced Athrun. As the two suits exchanged half hearted slashes with their sabres, Flay floated into the Archangel's bridge. She watched a mobile armour blow up, colliding with the Montgomery.

"Hey, get her out of here," Natarle commanded.

"Flay, what are you doing?" Sai asked, getting off of his chair and grabbing his girlfriend.

"My dad's ship, is it safe?" Flay demanded.

"It's already been damaged badly, Koopman's having your dad evacuated but..." even though Sai stopped talking, Flay could tell from his expression he wasn't optimistic.

"Where is Kira?" she asked and stopped as she saw the Aegis and Strike lock their beam sabres together.

"He's doing his best, but his opponent is the Aegis," Sai said.

Flay shook her head and floated back into the elevator.

I abandoned all hope, all faith in other people. Kira wasn't keeping his promise, Gekido didn't care. I had to save my dad, and as I did what I thought I had to, I remembered. I wasn't scared of Lacus, it was her voice. We live in a world filled with hatred, I'm filled with it myself. Yet, here is a girl devoid of it, able to make a song so beautiful and to look at people as if they're a friend waiting to be made. It was as if she was denying the reality we live in and I hated her for it, especially after seeing Junius Seven. To save my dad, I was willing to do whatever it took.

When Flay next stepped onto the bridge, she held by her arm the Archangel's guest. Now it was apparent, she was to be a prisoner from then on.

"Tell them," Flay began, hatred and determination in her eyes. "That if they don't stop firing on my dad's ship, I will kill this girl," she said.

Would I have done it, I don't know. At that moment, it was all I could think to do to save my dad. My dad who had his faults, my dad who was scared as they got him onto an escape shuttle. My dad who never raised a hand to me, whose voice had always comforted me when I was upset. My dad, who was loyal to idea of the Earth Alliance, of a better Earth, a purer one. Someone who, if he had lived, probably would have been remembered as a champion of the alliance, any bigotry he had forgotten because of the better alliance he would have made. To this day I still believe that.

A beam tore through space, colliding with the shuttle attached to the Montgomery. The bright light was the last thing George Alster saw before he screamed. The explosion of the shuttle spread to the Montgomery, blowing the ship apart.

I couldn't hear anything, couldn't hear Sai, couldn't hear Ramias or Natarle. There was one thing I heard, screaming, the most horrific I had ever heard in my life. It couldn't have been me, or so I thought, my dad was going to be all right, or so I thought. Then I collapsed, and fell unconscious. I couldn't take it, it hurt so much. My dad, who I was getting ready to meet, was gone, alongside a whole ship filled with Alliance personnel.

"No," Kira muttered.

Natarle walked up to Miriallia's station and took her headset.

"Attention ZAFT forces, this is the warship Archangel of the Earth Alliance forces," Natarle said reporting on all frequencies both of the earth Forces and the ZAFT forces. "Presently under the protective custody of this ship is PLANT Supreme Chairman Siegel Clyne's daughter, Lacus Clyne!"

The forces stopped. Those pilots attached to the Archangel and its pursuit widened their eyes.

"By chance we discovered a life pod with her inside, we brought her on board as a humanitarian gesture, however if you continue to attack this vessel we will consider it an abandonment of your responsibility to protect Miss Clyne and will be forced to take matters into our own hands!"

"WHAT MONSTERS YOU ARE!" Athrun yelled.

"Cowards," Miguel muttered.

"Well that's pissed a few people off," Bentos said.

"Wouldn't it have been enough to just say we had her on the ship?" Wade asked.

Gekido remained silent, looking at the Archangel and then at the remains of the fleet.

"It's because we're weak," he growled.

"I'd imagine this must be awkward for them, they come to help but when they're stuck they resort to this," Rau said.

"Commander!" Ades said looking at the masked commander questionably.

"I know I know, all forces ceasefire!" Rau declared, though you could tell from his expression that he really didn't care for this new piece of information.

As the Moebius and GINNS began their flights back to their respective force ships the Aegis and the Strike still floated in front of one another, it was as if the two pilots themselves were making eye contact.

"Using a rescued civilian as a hostage, do you still feel justified fighting on the side of these cowards?" Athrun asked Kira who lowered his head at the actions of the Ensign. "KIRA!" Athrun yelled.

Suddenly, a second shot ripped through space. Heading towards the Purpose.

"GEKIDO LOOK OUT!" Wade yelled, pushing the Purpose out of the way.

The beam split his mobile suit apart, static replacing his frequency. A third shot slammed into the Archangel, shaking the ship and knocking some of the Moebius pilots out of the hanger. Wes held onto his mobile armour's hatch for dear life, pulling his hand out to try and reach one of his comrades. But he was too late, the man's suit had a breach in it.

"Where are the shots coming from?" Miguel asked.

A short distance from the battle, two GINNs stood guard over a Black CGUE, which had strapped to its chest the battery and barrel of an experimental beam rifle. Inside the suit, Dagger Thanos sat, looking through the scope.

"Commander Thanos, they have Miss Clyne on that ship," Ades said, his face appearing on Thanos's main screen.

Thanos however cut communication and targeted the Purpose.

"So what?" he asked.

He stopped however, smirking as a beam sabre appeared at the throat of his suit. Zack Tempest's Gundam materialised, the mercenary glaring at Thanos.

"I've got a job to retrieve that girl," he said, not caring that Thanos's guard were pointing their guns directly at him.

"My job is to protect my soldiers and the citizens of the Plants, one for the sake of all...and now it seems I don't have a shot," Thanos shook his head.

Zack deactivated his sabre and looked towards the retreating Archangel.

"Lacus Clyne," he whispered. "I will rescue you!"

Stages of grief, I'd been through the denial part. And for a while, anger would consume me. This anger would turn me into someone I hate looking back at. This anger would lead me to involve myself more in this war. This anger, would threaten to break the friendships I had made. This anger would pit two friends against each other. This anger, would threaten the very life of a person I wanted to die.

A person I would come to love.

Next Chapter 11: A choice with no regrets

Hope everyone enjoyed the chapter, next time Kira and Gekido take matters into their own hands.