On the Archangel, things had finally died down some. Miriallia was on the way to the showers. As she turned the corner, she quite literally ran into Zero.
"Oof!"
She fell, groaning.
"Sorry about that."
She looked up at the agent, not surprised he was wearing the helmet. She wasn't afraid of him like she had been at first.
"It's okay," she said, taking the hand he offered.
"Where are you off to?"
"I was hoping to get a shower," Miriallia said, suddenly feeling a little embarrassed. Zero just nodded.
"Well, the water should be working. I ran a complete systems check on this ship an hour ago. But this isn't anything fancy," he explained. He pointed behind him. "Your friend, Miss Allster, got a little too excited when she heard. Why don't you make sure she doesn't die of happiness?" He asked, suddenly walking away.
"Ummm…okay," she replied. Zero turned around.
"Miriallia. I'm well aware you're still slightly on edge around me. You don't have to be. You'll see."
Then he was gone.
"That was weird," Miriallia muttered as the door slid open.
"Ah, Milly!"
Miriallia actually gave a squeal of horror as the ghostly apparition revealed itself. After a few seconds, she sighed as she realized it was just Flay, and the steam from the area had merely blanketed the wash area in a fog.
"I have to look good when we meet father," Flay said, not the least bit ashamed of Milly's response. Little did she know that Zero was actually just outside the room, ready to pull his sword, if necessary. After a few seconds, he relaxed, then walked away, thinking.
If boss doesn't pull me off this ship soon, I'll have a heart attack due to all these "surprises."
"Ma'am!"
Murrue looked at Romero.
"Receiving a message! ID confirmed! It's the Montgomery!"
Murrue smiled, relieved.
"Well, it looks like we'll finally be able to get a little breathing room," she said.
The main monitor suddenly opened a video link, revealing Vice Minister Allster and Captain Koopman. Alex couldn't help but want to laugh as he noticed Koopman's big nose.
Can't laugh yet, Alex. Might give them the wrong impression.
"Captain Ramius, I'm glad to see you're all right," George Allster said, relief on his face. "I look forward to seeing my daughter, Flay, as well."
"Sir, there'll be time for that later," Koopman said quietly.
"Yeah, that's Flay's father, all right," Sai replied softly.
On the Ark, Alex stayed silent.
"However, there is the matter of the other ship, captain," Koopman said glancing off screen. "I don't remember seeing that ship before, not even in production designs. I'd like to know who the captain is."
Zero looked at Murrue, and nodded.
"The ship is the Ark, sir. It's under command of Nicholas Mazer and Aleksander Kolodziej."
Mazer's name surprised Koopman, while the mention of Alex seemed to make Allster want to order Koopman to open fire.
"The Blue Blaze? Are you insane?! Why is a Coordinator-especially the man responsible for the disaster with the blockade-!"
Murrue stared at Alex wide-eyed, and Alex just smiled sheepishly.
Real smooth, boss, Zero thought, amused.
"Guilty as charged, sir. Yes, I am the Blue Blaze. Or rather, was. I'm not with ZAFT at the moment, for reasons which I will not discuss at the moment. You have nothing to fear from me."
"Why is he being permitted to walk around with no armed escort, captain?!" George frantically asked. "My daughter-"
"Was rescued by a fellow Coordinator, sir," Alex put in. "A civilian from Heliopolis, not military like myself. Thanks to his disregarding military protocol regarding top secret materials, he picked up a damaged lifepod, which your daughter was on. Would you like to continue this pointless argument?"
Allster sat back, a bit surprised.
Flay…saved by a Coordinator?
"Vice Minister, I suggest we stop the bickering," Koopman said. "Despite his ZAFT connection, Mister Kolodziej is right. Captain Ramius, head for the rendezvous point."
The connection terminated.
Natarle looked at the screen.
"Hard to believe you're the one responsible for the destruction of the blockade," she said.
Alex shrugged
"I was the first one who broke through. The fleet went nuts. They redirected all their fire on me," Alex explained. "But by doing that, they allowed all the others to come through, as well. If they'd just kept firing on the main force, they probably would have beaten us. A single GINN against a whole fleet? I was good, ensign, but with a standard payload, I would have been to destroy, at most, three ships. Besides, that was before I got name Blue Blaze."
In the hangar, Kira was in the Strike, working on the Strike.
"At it again, eh?" Murdoch asked, peering in.
"Just modifying the calibration," Kira replied, not taking his eyes off the screen. "I wonder if I'll still have to do this after we meet up with the fleet."
"Just keep doing what you're doing, kid," Murdoch replied, smacking him in the shoulder lightly. "It's still your job, at least until the rendezvous."
With that, he left.
"He's right, you know."
Kira looked up, startled to see Zero.
"Sorry. I tend to have that effect on people," Zero said.
"Its okay," Kira replied, once again typing.
"Alex told me you plan on leaving the ship."
"That's the plan," Kira said.
"Ever thought about staying?"
Kira looked up, mouth open.
"I know, I know, you're not a soldier. But I've seen my fair share of pilots. Granted, mobile armor pilots, but some of the things I've seen you do-not even I can pull half of it off. Alex did the right thing, forcing you to fight."
Kira suddenly grew angry.
"Don't take it the wrong way, Kira," Zero said bluntly. "I only meant that, by making you fight, you managed to save not just the people on this ship, but the Ark as well."
"But you guys have mobile suits," Kira said. "You could have handled it fine."
Zero shook his head.
"I'll let you in on a little secret, Kira. Not even Badgiruel knows this, but our units-those are the original prototypes the Earth Forces had planned."
"What?" Kira asked. "I thought-"
"The Earth forces realized, however, that the first units were too complicated, and they'd need exceptional pilots, almost on par with that of ZAFT pilots. Pilots like me."
He stopped, as if realizing he'd said too much.
"At any rate, they cancelled the project, after building just one unit. Blade. Later, I found the plans, and Alex's friends began building. A bit here, a bit there. We didn't exactly have a set place to make this."
"How about the Ark?" Kira asked.
"You'd have to ask Alex that. Not even I know that part of the story," Zero answered. Well, I'll leave you to it, ace."
And he was gone again.
"It appears the legged ship is very close to the rendezvous," Rau said. "We'll have to attack the fleet before it catches up to them."
"Sir-"
"Yes, I know we're to search for Miss Lacus, Athrun, but we can't pass the opportunity to attack."
James turned around, frowning.
That man is obsessed. Sure, the ship is a priority target, but for crying out loud, Miss Clyne might very well be dying out there. If I was in charge-or Alex, for that matter-I'd leave the ship be and do my job.
Pal almost fell out of his seat when his screen began acting up.
"Ma'am! I'm picking up three signatures! ID's confirmed! Montgomery, Bernard, and Law!"
"Finally," Murrue breathed.
Pal suddenly frowned as his radar hissed with static.
"Captain, we have a problem."
Three GINNs launched from the Vesalius, followed by the X-303. The Zacynthus launched its own GINN.
"Sir, is it really okay for you to launch alone?" Athrun asked over the comm.
"It's alright, Zala," Daurio answered. "I'm not gonna try to kill Kolodziej. Not even the Strike pilot. I just wanna find why he's doing this. The Blue Blaze doesn't do anything for no reason at all. He was one of our best, though he'd never admit it."
Athrun thought about that.
One of our BEST? Alex, what happened?
The Suits launched, and Alex watched the three ships grow larger on his screen. Then his system detected a lock on, and Athrun wrenched the controls. The missiles went right past him.
The Aegis pulled up its 60 mm beam rifle and fired, destroying a passing Moebius.
On the Montgomery, Koopman ordered the mobile armors to launch, then signaled the Archangel.
"Captain Ramius, abort mission! Repeat, abort mission!" Koopman transmitted, all the while trying to coordinate his forces.
"They came all this way-and you're telling them to retreat?" Allster asked, shocked.
"Vice minister, that ship is important to our forces. If it is lost, then the sacrifice of this fleet will have been for nothing. In the end, we are all expendable."
Allster just sat there, frozen.
Kira ran down the corridor, already in his flight suit. Just as he made the turn for the elevator, he ran into Lacus.
"Wha-what are you doing out here? You need to stay inside during the battle," Kira told her, trying to gently pull her towards her room.
"I'm sorry, but Mr. Pink wanted to go outside," Lacus replied, following him.
A few minutes later, Kira ran into another person. Flay.
"What's going on?" She asked, worry etched on her face.
"I don't know, I'm heading for the hangar right now."
"Most likely, Creuset decided to pay us a visit," Zero said, walking up behind them. "I'm heading to the bridge. No way I can help in this fight. Sorry."
"Wha-I thought you were supposed to help us!" Kira yelled suddenly.
Zero turned around.
"I am. But my mobile armor isn't working right, and even if it was, it had no IFF signature. It wouldn't just be ZAFT shooting, it'd also be the Earth Forces. I'll be on the bridge. Sorry."
He walked off quickly.
"Kira, I'm worried about my father," Flay said suddenly. Zero had unnerved her, just popping up like that.
"It'll be all right," Kira said, smiling. "I promise."
The GINNs kept the attack up, peppering the Earth forces fleet. The Bernard's engines suddenly exploded, and the ship began spiraling slowly, all the while slowly breaking apart.
"What kind of sick joke is this? Being attacked by one of our own units?" Allster asked, panicking.
Koopman just looked at the screens.
If he could shut up for just one second, I might be able to think of something.
Mu launched in the Zero, heading straight for the battle. Kira waited as the Aile pack attached to the Strike's back.
"Kira."
Kira looked at the screen.
"Flay's father is on the Montgomery. Try to keep them safe."
Kira nodded and launched.
On the Ark, Alex and Steve prepared to launch. Wrath was of no use in the battle, since it was equipped with just close range weapons. Likewise, Linear still had no energy weapons, since a recent technical glitch shorted out its experimental energy cannon. And the other unit wouldn't ready for quite a while.
"Think we'll be fine?" Steve asked.
"Us? No doubt. Archangel? Probably. The fleet? Doubt it."
Steve looked up at the screen.
"You sound sure."
"We're not the target," Alex said. "Archangel is. The fleet will try to protect them, which won't work out too well."
Steve nodded, then launched.
Aegis wove in between the energy blasts and transformed into mobile armor mode. It fired its cannon, punching a massive hole through Law. The Strike, followed closely by Blade, made its way towards it. A GINN decided to interfere, and Blade broke off as it opened fire.
"Kira!" Alex yelled. "Get going! I've got him!"
The GINN kept a stream of bullets going at Blade, which brought its shield up. The rounds bounced off. Blade reached behind, and pulled out a beam saber. The shield swung back, and The GINN was suddenly armless. Blade twirled the saber, then swung again behind it, bisecting the suit at the hip joints. It exploded, and Alex groaned as the brightness blinded him temporarily. He looked at his energy screen. The explosion had dropped his phase shift a bit.
That's the problem with older units.
Kira and Athrun exchanged saber swipes, neither gaining the advantage. Mu fired a shot from his cannon, missing Aegis. The shot, however, struck a damaged GINN, destroying it entirely.
"Whaddya know?" Mu asked smugly. Then another GINN fired a round that struck him dead on.
"Damn! Archangel, I'm returning!"
Hellshadow came up behind him, covering his retreat.
"Thanks," Mu said.
"No problem," Steve replied, firing his arm mounted beam rifle, scoring a hit that cost the GINN its arm.
On the Archangel, Flay ran onto the bridge, frantic.
"Papa! Is papa all right?"
"We're in the middle of a battle! All non-personnel are to be off the bridge!" Murrue said, trying to keep track of the battle.
Suddenly, the bridge was illuminated, and Murrue realized it was the Law. Destroyed.
Flay froze, then panicked. She struggled against Sai, who tried to pull her away.
"Kira? Where's Kira? He promised-"
"He's fighting, Flay! Now, come on!"
The two suddenly stopped as they heard a soft voice singing.
That girl, Flay thought, then wrenched herself put of Sai's arms.
The Strike's shield came up again, Aegis's blade crackling against it. Kira spared a glance at the monitors, noticing the GINNs were damaging the Montgomery.
On the ship, Koopman tried to do his best to persuade Allster.
"Sir, you must escape! Get to the hangar bay, and into an escape pod!"
The door hissed open, and Flay dragged Lacus onto the bridge, angry.
"Tell them I'll kill this girl if they hurt papa's ship! TELL THEM!" Flay screamed.
The bridge was blanketed with light again, and Murrue looked in shock.
"Montgomery destroyed!"
Flay let go of Lacus and screamed in horror. Natarle just calmly walked over to Pal and activated his audio transmitter.
"Attention, ZAFT forces! We are holding Lacus Clyne! We cannot guarantee her safety if you continue to attack!"
The Aegis stopped in its tracks, its pilot shocked.
"How dare you!"
Aegis whirled to face the Strike.
"Well, Kira? Can you continue protecting these people?"
Blade suddenly retreated at full thrust, Alex thinking hard.
OK, ensign. You wanna play this game? You're on.
Blade came in hard, and the technicians scrambled as it landed, sliding on the deck. People fell down groaning, and Murdoch shook his head.
Something's definitely pissed the guy off.
Rau sat back, thinking.
"I certainly didn't expect this. Recall our forces. I really don't feel like testing them in this situation. Though I find hard to believe Aleksander Kolodziej had a hand in this."
James shook his head slowly. He didn't. If anything, whoever DID do this is gonna be hurting for a long time.
Alex walked right into the bridge, and Natarle turned around.
"Kolodziej, I did nothing-"
Alex punched her right in the face, while Zero pulled Lacus away from Flay, his sword pointed at her.
"The hell you did nothing! There's a reason regulations exist, ensign! You're lucky you did have Lacus on the ship, and not us! Because if you made that claim under that circumstance, I would have ordered the destruction of this ship immediately! What the hell are you thinking, antagonizing ZAFT?! As if your blockade and Junius Seven weren't bad enough!"
He punched her again, then glared at Murrue. She actually flinched.
"Keep your military dog on a leash, Ramius, or you'll see firsthand what the Blue Blaze can do when he's truly angered."
Zero sheathed his sword and followed Alex out.
In his quarters, Sai watched over a distraught Flay.
AUTHOR'S NOTE: Late again. Sorry. I added pieces here and there, and then I realized it was taking too long, so I just furiously typed away. Hope it's to everyone's satisfaction. Next chapter in one to two weeks. Till then, Hellshadow, signing off.