"The defendant does not understand at all how much his actions endangered the ship." Kira silently stood in the middle of the room while his eyes were fixed on Murrue on the other side of the desk.
"What she just said was an analogy." Mu's voice said from his left. "I request for it to be erased from the court records."
"Request granted." Murrue said, closely looking back at Kira, while Natarle and Mu tried to come up with more accusations or justifications to decide the extent of Kira's actions.
"Umm, firstly, using civilians as hostages is in violation of …" Mu hurriedly browsed the regulations manual until he found what he was looking for. "Here it is! … It is in violation of Article four of the Kolska Treaty."
"Our actions correspond to the same article, Special Case, Item C. Which states that this rule doesn't apply during wartimes." Natarle instantly replied. She hadn't even opened her manual once and seemed to be knowing it by heart, whereas Mu…
"Eh? Special Case Item four?" He once again checked the manual. "What the … Wow, I didn't know about that." He continued to leaf trough the book, searching for a ray of hope. "Ahh, but because he released her, the Nazca class cruiser retreated, and we are safe."
"That is only a hindsight-based opinion." Natarle countered.
"Kira Yamato, do you have anything you would like to explain?" Murrue wanted to know why exactly Kira helped Lacus escape. "Why did you commit such an act?"
"Because I didn't rescue her to use her as a hostage." Kira replied seriously.
"That's right. You should have used her as a girlfriend instead." Mu quipped, earning a glare from Kira and Natarle.
"The counsel should be careful with his language." Murrue warned him, slightly upset that Mu was joking even in this situation. Then she focused her attention on Kira again. "Kira Yamato's actions are in violation with Clause B, Article three of the Martial Law. Clause F of Article ten, and infringement of Clause three of Article thirteen. This court passes the verdict … Execution." The sheer look of shock on Kira's face was priceless and almost made Murrue laugh. She managed to hold back the laughter though, but when she spoke again, her voice was much kinder. "However, that's only if you were in a military court. This court does not have the authority to judge civilians. I demand, however, that Kira Yamato considers his actions carefully from now on. This court is now adjourned."
"It means, don't do anything like that again." Mu gleefully explained, seeing that Kira was uncertain what it all meant and still worried about that "execution" part. "You're free to go." He added when Kira looked around, slightly uncertain about what he was supposed to do now.
"Oh, okay … then excuse me." Kira stammered and eagerly left the room. He was barely outside when he was met by Sai and Miriallia, who were impatiently waiting outside all this time and wanted to know the result of the court.
"Kira. How did it go?"
"What did they say?" Miriallia's question followed Sai's.
"Are you going to clean the toilet for a week?" Sai tried to brighten the mood, but was cut off when Mu came out of the cabin.
"That's a good idea! I'll take care of it, so you can start today." The older man laughed and gave Kira a friendly tap on the shoulder. Natarle soon followed Mu out of the room; she didn't say anything, but her scowl told Kira that she was displeased with Murrue's decision.
Kira waited until Natarle was out of the earshot. "It's okay now. They simply told me not to do anything like that again."
"I see. So it's only us who got into trouble." Sai mumbled discontentedly.
"Why? What happened?"
"We made Sergeant Murdoch very angry." Miriallia clarified. "He said "Don't you know the meaning of the word "Danger"?""
"I'm sorry, I'll see what I can do to help you…" Kira began, but Sai laughed it off.
"It doesn't matter. We're going to join up with the 8th and 11th fleets and after we deal with whatever problem they have, we'll be returning to Earth." He said as they walked down the hallway. After a short moment Sai spoke again, this time he sounded more serious. "We heard from Kuzzey … He said that he overheard your conversation with that girl." Kira, wondering where this conversation was going, didn't say anything. "That person, who pilots the Aegis is your friend, right?" Sai and Miriallia watched Kira let out a gasp and cast a worried look at them. "Relax, we don't mind you not telling us." Sai smiled reassuringly. "Although I'll admit, that I was a little worried … but you came back. That's all that matters."
Kira almost breathed in relief, but something still worried him. "Umm, does Daniel…"
"We don't know for sure." Miriallia slowly shook her head. "Still, judging by his actions yesterday, I think he does. You can always ask him if you're not sure."
Kira shook his head. "I don't think that talking to him might be a good idea."
"Maybe." Miriallia shrugged. "But you know very well what happened the last time when he realized that we were all keeping a secret from him."
"Okay, I'll think about it."
"Well, if you do decide to talk to him I wish you the best of luck. Right now, Mir and I must take our shifts now." Sai glanced at his watch.
"Thanks." Kira smiled watching Sai and Miriallia leave in the direction of the bridge. Maybe Mir is right … Maybe I should talk to Daniel. He thought and finally decided to give it a shot. Fine, let's see how this'll turn out. All I have to do now is to find him, but where should I start? Kira noticed the elevator nearby and decided that the reasonable place to start his search would be the hangar. With the thought in mind he entered the elevator. What he failed to notice was that there was someone else in the hallway.
xxxxx
With the Vesalius gone to return Lacus back to PLANTs, it was up to Gamov to continue the pursuit of the Archangel. Being more heavily armed and carrying pilots who had no qualms about destroying their target, the Laurasia class in question was more eager to attack than simply pursuit the Archangel. Also, the three Mobile Suit pilots had other, more important reason to attack.
"Damn, those bastards are almost home free." Yzak said trough gritted teeth as he studied the display.
Nicole trailed the projected courses of both ships. "According to this, we'll catch up with them before they meet up with their fleets." He nervously chewed his lip. "But we will only have ten minutes before entering 8th and 11th fleets' firing range." Yzak glanced at him with a derisive look.
"We have ten WHOLE minutes." Dearka corrected, whilst casually leaning against the console.
"Yeah, if you are scared just say so." Yzak grinned and stood upright, waiting for an answer.
"I'm not scared. But I am worried … Worried because there are two fleets heading towards us. And even our new Mobile Suits won't hold out for long against such odds."
Without loosing a fraction of his grin Yzak shook his head. "Like I said, you're a coward, and you even think like one. We don't have just ten minutes … we have ten whole minutes. After that, it just becomes a target rich environment." Nicole met Yzak's gaze, but he didn't say anything. Arguing with Yzak was completely pointless and Dearka was sure to take Yzak's side. "I'd be sorry if I let them slip away with those ten minutes we have." Yzak continued when Nicole didn't say anything.
"I agree. The success of a surprise attack has nothing to do with the amount of time we have." Dearka voiced his opinion as well.
"I know that, but…"
"Vesalius will come back as soon as they drop off Lady Lacus." Yzak interrupted Nicole without even looking at him. "Until then that ship is ours to destroy, got it you two?"
"Agreed."
"Understood."
xxxxx
Aboard Vesalius, Athrun rised his hand in front of his face just in time to intercept a pink ball that was ricocheting trough the corridors. "Lacus." He sighed by himself. As expected, she wasn't far behind.
"Haro is really glad to meet you again." She floated towards him.
Athrun helped her to stop and handed the small robot back to her. "It doesn't have that kind of feelings." He pointed out and looked both ways. "Besides, you're a guest on a battleship, it's not good for you to be wandering around outside your room."
"I hear the same thing wherever I go. How boring." Lacus mumbled as Athrun escorted her back to her room.
"There's nothing I can do. That's the situation we're in right now." Athrun reminded her. Despite his words, Athrun clearly understood how Lacus felt. Lacus wasn't that would silently sit in her corner and do nothing. Lacus always wanted someone to keep her company, so she wouldn't become bored. She probably tried to find someone to talk to on Archangel as well. He stifled a chuckle.
Apparently his thoughts were reflected on his face, because Lacus gave him a puzzled look. "What is it, Athrun?"
"Oh, nothing. I was just wondering how they treated you on the Archangel."
"Everything as fine." The girl smiled reassuringly. "Your friend took good care of me."
"Is that so?"
"Kira is a very kind person, and strong."
Athrun shook his head in denial. "He's an idiot! Despite saying that he's not military personnel, he still pilots that thing. Can't he see that he's being used?" Athrun clenched his fists in frustration. "He's just using his friends as an excuse…" His voice became more desperate. "Why can't he see that!?"
Lacus reached out to brush some of his hair out of his eyes, but Athrun took a step back, out of her reach. "He said that he doesn't want to fight you." Lacus tried to calm him down.
"I feel the same way!" Athrun retorted. "I don't want to fight him." He stood silent for a moment while he composed himself. "Excuse me, I have to leave now." He quickly said and turned to leave.
"You always look so sad these days." Lacus quietly sighed.
"No one puts up a cheery smile while they're at war." Athrun replied over his shoulder and left.
xxxxx
A cheery smile settled on Daniel's face as he browsed the data on the disk. The copy contained most of the data from the disk his father gave to him and a few more data Daniel himself had gathered from the Pulverizer's computer. The only difference was that the copy didn't hold the Core Protocol program, which remained secured on the original disk. After a lot of thinking he had decided to keep the original for himself while letting Admiral Halberton have the copy. The reason for this was that he was eager to continue his work on the Pulverizer. And a copy would allow him to continue his work if the Admiral wouldn't allow that.
One thing that made him pause was the thought about the Core Protocol program. He dimly recalled his father saying that it was supposed to be some kind of a control program for the Pulverizer, but the thing that concerned him was that the machine seemed to be operating perfectly even without the program and the computer hadn't stated anything about requiring such a thing. Naturally he'd thought about simply installing it and finding out what would happen, but something had made him change his mind. Daniel wasn't sure why, but whenever he though about the Core Protocol, he felt something like a bad premonition as if something bad would happen if he installed the program. This feeling scared and amused him at the same time. What could possibly happen? It was just a program. A code. There was nothing to be scared of. But his worries didn't vanish. They remained, faintly nagging the back of his mind whenever he thought about the Core Protocol.
He shelved the thoughts for now. He wasn't that stupid as to think that he would never run the program. Curiosity would sooner or later gain the upper hand. Hopefully by then he would know more about the Core Protocol. As for now Daniel decided to leave the program on the disk and far away from the Pulverizer's computers.
After he was sure that the copy looked "real" enough, he shifted into more comfortable position and begun working on his recent hobby, studying the Pulverizer's computer. It's a good thing that now I don't have to sit in that dark cockpit. He cast a quick glance at the dark pit next to him. He himself was sitting on its edge, reclining against the machine's head while a pair of cables stretched from the laptop into the dark confines of the cockpit where they were connected to the Pulverizer itself. Of course he could make things easier by doing this while sitting in the pilot's seat and forgoing the need of the laptop however, those needles were still there. While Daniel understood that they were needed to improve his ability to move the Muscle Tracer, he'd resolved to stay as far away from them as and when possible.
While the painful part made Daniel uneasy, all other aspects simply amazed him. Just by running basic diagnostics he discovered several features that were almost unbelievable. First and foremost: the power source. According to his findings the Pulverizer was powered by a 3rd generation advanced compact tokamak generator system. While Daniel had no idea what exactly was an advanced tokamak generator system and how it worked, he had discovered that the thing produced a vast amount of power for unlimited periods of time. For a brief moment Daniel suspected that it was a type of nuclear reactor, but then he remembered that the N-jammers rendered all nuclear reactors useless. Exactly what powered the machine under him remained a mystery for now.
Another feature that the machine contained was a very customizable operating system. He hadn't dared to tinker with it, but it seemingly allowed him to change pretty much everything from plasma cannon firing speed to neural impulse tracing sensitivity. That last part made him think. Apparently it had something to do with controlling the Pulverizer, but once again he was too worried about messing up, that he just let it be.
He was so focused on his work that he failed to notice someone landing on the other side of the Pulverizer's head behind him. The person looked at the laptop's monitor over his shoulder before mustering the courage to speak. "Uhh, Daniel. Can we talk for a moment?"
Daniel jumped slightly and turned around, his mood decreasing a few notches when the person turned out to be Kira. "What do you want?" He demanded, turning his attention back to the computer.
"I want to talk to you about…" Daniel struck several keys at once.
"I already told you, I didn't do it for you." He replied, before Kira could finish the sentence. "It was between me and that girl." He added in a low voice.
Kira shook his head, unaware that Daniel couldn't see him. "No, no, you misunderstood me … It's about the time when the advance force was wiped out. I wanted to explain why I couldn't kill that Mobile Suit's pilot." Kira said, unsure if his determination had changed since then.
"Is it because Aegis is piloted by a friend of yours?" Daniel asked a bit more calmly, staring at the monitor without really seeing it.
Kira sighed. "So you know that already."
"Yes, I know. I overheard Kuzzey telling it to our friends." Although Kira was surprised by the fact, that Daniel said "our friends", he still wasn't sure what to expect. Meanwhile Daniel turned around to finally look him in the eye. "What I want to know is why are you telling me this?"
"Because I think you should know … When, I mean if we have to fight them again I want you to know that it might be hard for me to fight against that Mobile Suit." Kira answered after a brief thought.
"Something, that doesn't mean much, because we're soon meeting up with the Alliance's forces." Daniel pointed out as he stood up.
"Yes, but another reason is that I don't want this to turn out like that problem before and I really want us to remain…"
"That's enough! Now you listen … I've been thinking about this for a while and here's what I've come up with. Before this shit began you was my friend. Then I found out that you've been keeping a major fucking secret from me and that you're actually just like those bastards who are responsible for my parents' deaths … And recently I learned that all this time you've been fighting against a friend of yours. So here's what I have to say. Leave me alone! … Just because I didn't immediately report you to the Captain doesn't mean that we're buddies again and I don't think that will change in the near future. However…" He took a deep breath. "Now that I partially understand you, I will do as Mir said and go easier on you. A ceasefire if you will. Also, like I said before, leave me alone, I want to think this trough before I make my decision. And if anything I said leaves this hangar you can forget we had this conversation."
Kira looked back at him and considered that. It wasn't the result he wanted to achieve, but it was far better than nothing and in some ways he was glad that Daniel wanted to make the final decision, otherwise Kira would have probably caused more conflicts between them by trying to make up again and again. After silently nodding in agreement he pushed off from the Pulverizer's head, heading towards the elevator, while smiling a small, cheery smile.
xxxxx
The doors slid open allowing the man to enter Viktor's quarters aboard the 11th fleet's flagship the Aggressor. "You wanted to see me, sir?"
Viktor nodded. "Yes, I wanted to have some company." He leaned back in his chair and beckoned the other man to sit down on the other side of the small desk.
Domenic did as he was told, but something didn't sit right with him. A closer look on the Colonel explained everything. "Sir, have you been drinking again?"
"I just can't stand being in space. All this micro gravity shit makes me feel like I'm not in control of myself … You want a drink?"
"That's not much of a choice is it, sir?" Domenic slightly tilted his head as Viktor reached in the built-in cupboard behind him and pulled out a bottle of clear liquid and two glasses, which he placed on the desk.
"That's right. And stop it with that formal talk. We're just two guys having a drink … or lots of drink."
"Yes, sir." Domenic smirked and emptied his glass in one swing. "Holy… This stuff will kill you … No thanks, I had enough." He said when Viktor poured himself another glass.
"That's why you're my number one. Always keeping a clear head."
"Not always, but I had enough problems getting here. According to the Captain, Scipio's engines will need more serious repairs later ... But I'm guessing that you didn't ask me to come here to tell you about my problems."
Viktor slowly twiddled the now-empty glass in his hand, gazing at the light's reflection before replying. "We have problems. Spy kind of problems."
"Did they find out something about our secret?" Domenic leaned closer, his voice dead serious.
"We caught them when they tried to infiltrate Bastion." He said, referring to the military base in the Appalachian Mountains. "They are being interrogated now, but we can't discount the possibility that the base's security has already been compromised."
"So what now?"
"We continue our mission. Circ-City comes first, then we can concentrate on eliminating spies."
"Fine. By the way what's this I heard about a ceasefire? It can't be true."
"It is. Now that the PLANTs know about Circ-City, they want to contact them as well and it's obvious that it will be impossible with both sides trying to kill each other. Besides, there is a possibility, however unlikely, that a conflict might break out between us and our guests, so if we work together with ZAFT we will have better hopes at making it out alive."
"Better hopes at survival?" Domenic snorted incredulously. "Are you afraid … Sir?" He quickly corrected his somewhat rude question, realizing that he was slightly pushing the line talking like that.
Fortunately Viktor paid it no attention. For a brief moment he even looked to be a bit worried about the whole deal. "Honestly … I am nervous. Even with the fragmented data we have, it is clear that in some aspects they are years ahead of us … even PLANTS."
Domenic arched his eyebrows. "So, I'm guessing that this will turn into a race about who can grab most of their technology?"
"That's right. Except that we need it even more than PLANTs, since we're the ones at disadvantage. Especially since most of our tide-turning projects are in initial phases."
"What about Strike, Archangel and Pulverizer?"
"Useless if we can't get our hands on them. Besides, Admiral Halberton will do anything to prevent us from getting them. I'm afraid that we're stuck unless something extraordinary happens."
"Damn … can't we just get that bastard out of our way? I'm sure mister Azrael can pull a few strings."
Viktor poured himself another glass and shook his head. "We can't. As you know, Halberton is one of the major leaders of the group that is completely against Blue Cosmos expanding its influence in the armed forces. Since he is an influential person any action against him will be seen by public as Blue Cosmos's attempt to take control of OMNI Enforcer. We must wait until our support is strong enough to get rid of him without killing him."
"If Azrael can't touch him, maybe you can take care of him?" Domenic suggested, searching for an alternative, but once again the older man shook his head in denial.
"No. As a member of Blue Cosmos, I won't disobey my boss. As a soldier, I respect him and what he does. Even if it complicates things."
"All in all it turns out that our secret might be exposed, the Pulverizer is out of our reach and there is nothing we can do about Admiral Halberton, so that's why we are waiting to see if the meeting in Circ-City will set things in motion again." Domenic gloomily summed up, staring at his empty glass in defeat. "Fuck clear head! I need a drink!"
"I knew you'd break eventually." Viktor smiled as he leaned forward to fill Domenic's glass.
xxxxx
The Archangel's mess hall had become something of a cursed place for certain people. In the recent past a lot of conflicts had taken place here. Even though some of them were eventually resolved, the room retained its unpleasant reputation. Therefore, in fear of sparking another unwanted issue, Sai, Kuzzey and Daniel ate their food without their usual discussions. There had been one discussion at first, where Kuzzey and Sai wanted to know how did Kira's talk with Daniel go, but when Daniel strictly refused to pursue this matter it sort of died down and no one had said a word for a long time.
After careful thinking Kuzzey came up with a topic that was more or less neutral and relatively safe to talk about, since everyone was probably thinking about it at some point in time. He quietly coughed to get everyone's attention. "Guys, I've been thinking about this for a while … In less than an hour the Archangel will reach the fleets and the thing on my mind is … what are they going to do with us?" Both boys stared at him, each composing his answer. As usual, in situations like this, Sai was the first to answer.
"Well, I guess they will let us go, right?" He looked at Daniel, who just shrugged his shoulders.
"Yes, but, at that time, Lieutenant Ramius said, that we have seen a top military secret and she can't let us go like that until said otherwise by appropriate authorities." Kuzzey had his doubts.
"Well, I guess someone from one of those fleets will be that "appropriate authority"."
"Besides, now that ZAFT has those machines, I don't think that's much of a secret anyway." Daniel added. After a slightly unsure pause, he continued in a quieter voice. "By the way, I haven't decided yet, but I'm planning to ask them to let me stay with the Pulverizer." Both Sai and Kuzzey gave him incredulous looks.
"You what!? You can't be serious!" Sai couldn't believe his ears. Kuzzey nodded in agreement.
"He's right. There is no way that they will let you keep that thing."
Daniel held up his hands, telling them not to speak so loud. "I know, I know! I told you, that I haven't decided yet. I'm just thinking about it, considering … My parents worked tirelessly on that thing, therefore I feel it's my duty to continue their work and find out everything about it."
"Still, I don't think they will let you. No matter how you look at it, you're just a student." Kuzzey pointed out.
"I know that!" Daniel glared at him. "But I have a trump card … I think." Kuzzey cast a worried glance at Sai who shared the expression. Daniel's plans sometimes had a nasty habit of backfiring.
"A trump card? What exactly?"
"It's a secret. One that I want to keep." Daniel replied with a knowing grin. "Don't worry, it won't cause you any trouble." Sai considered that and slowly shook his head.
"If you say so, but be careful." He said and turned his head when he heard someone coming. His heart quivered slightly when he saw Kira entering the mess hall.
Kira stopped for a moment when he saw them, but after exchanging brief glances with them, he went towards the water dispenser to get himself a drink. He couldn't help feel an aura of uneasiness in the room. As if something bad would happen if he tried to start a conversation. He also felt a slight irritation when he saw Kuzzey. He was the one who told everyone about Athrun being Kira's friend. Not that it was supposed to be some kind of a secret, but now they were looking at him as if he might betray them any second. However, he shrugged it off before the feeling could affect his mood. Just as he picked up his cup, Kira realized that someone else had entered the cafeteria.
"Flay?" Sai stood up. "How are you feeling?" Kira turned around and saw the girl standing in the doorway, closely observing him with an appraising look. She continued to stare at him, seemingly ignoring everyone else. Only when Sai walked across the room and stood next to her did she respond to his question.
"I'm okay. It's nothing." She waved off the question, heading over to Kira. "Kira, I wanted to apologize for what I said earlier … At that time I was shocked and I said things I shouldn't have … I'm really sorry. You were trying your best to protect us."
"Flay, it's okay." Kira, caught off guard by the sudden apology, tried to calm her down as Flay's voice became more desperate with every word she said. "I unders…"
"I realize now as well, that you've tried hard for us, but I …"
"Thank you, Flay." Kira said and looked away. "I'm sorry that I couldn't protect your father." Flay stood silent for a moment, when she spoke again, her voice was more thoughtful.
"War is terrible … I wish it would end quickly."
"I agree." Kira smiled, looking back at her.
"All hands, Level 1 Battle Alert! I repeat, all hands, Level 1 Battle Alert." The PA system blared as the alarm went off, interrupting their conversation and bringing back the harsh reality.
"ZAFT is attacking again!" Sai said as everyone began leaving the mess hall. "They probably want to try one last time before we're out of reach."
"Bastards!" Daniel cursed, already out in the hallway, running towards the nearest lift with Sai, Kuzzey and Kira bringing up the rear.
Kira was in such a hurry that he didn't notice a little girl also running in the hallway and ended up running into her and knocking her down. "Sorry." He skidded to a halt. "Are you okay? Here, let me help you." Before he could do anything, Flay rushed out of the mess hall and helped the little girl get up.
"Sorry, the big boy is in a hurry. It's a battle again, but it'll be fine." Flay smiled reassuringly and glanced at Kira. "He will fight for us and protect us."
"Really?"
"Yes." Flay's smile became wider. "He will shoot down all the bad guys."
Kira frowned when he heard Flay's words, but now was not the time to argue about that. Everyone else was waiting for him. "Don't worry. It'll be fine." He promised and ran off, leaving Flay and the little girl behind him. What Kira didn't see was that Flay's smile became cold as she watched him leave.
xxxxx
The massive magnetic discharge, that launched Mu's Zero, echoed across the entire hangar, reminding Kira to hurry up. With a corner of his eye he saw Daniel rushing towards the Muscle Tracer. Already clad in his flight suit he reached the Strike's cockpit and quickly strapped himself in while activating the Mobile Suit at the same time.
His video communications screen flickered to life as Miriallia informed Kira and Daniel about the opposition. "Kira, Daniel. ZAFT force includes one Laurasia class, the Duel, Buster and Blitz."
"So it's four against… urgh … four, right?" Daniel replied, suppressing a grunt when the control system connected with his body.
"Yes, but be careful out there. Remember, we only need to hold out until the Alliance forces arrive." Miriallia replied and signed off.
By now, both machines were already inside the catapults and the final preparations were almost complete. Daniel was first to launch, since his weapons were integrated into the machine. Kira however, had to wait for the Strike to be equipped with the Aile Striker. Finally he also received the green light and was instantly pushed back into the seat as the Strike was launched from the Archangel.
xxxxx
The radar picked up three contacts heading towards them. "There they are." Yzak grinned while keeping an eye on one of the secondary displays, where a signal from the Gamov should arrive any second now. "NOW! SCATTER!" He ordered his partners when the signal came and moved Duel out of a well-aimed shot's path as it speared trough the location where he had been just moments ago.
The shot was indeed well aimed, since it scorched the Archangel's port side and probably took out a few systems as well. However, the ship continued to move, a legacy from the laminated armor. But even the new armor would fail eventually; it was only a question of time. And time was what they didn't have.
"Dearka, Nicole, listen up! We want this to be over nice and quick, so here's what we're going to do. I'll take on Strike. Nicole, I want you to ignore everyone and head straight for the ship. Dearka, you handle that Mobile Armor and Mantis. Remember, ZAFT wants Mantis captured if possible, so try to disable it, if you can." Yzak ordered and began searching for Strike. Nicole voiced his agreement and fell behind Duel, ready to charge past the enemy formations once they met.
Dearka took a quick look at the radar and cursed under his breath. He instantly located the Zero, the small fighter was charging right at him, but the Mantis turned out to be a problem. Whoever the pilot was, that bastard had decided to hang back, out of the main fighting, forcing Dearka to hunt him down while fighting off the Mobile Armor at the same time. But that didn't slow him down. He was an elite after all. "Okay you Natural bastard! Come 'ere so I can fuck you up!" The blond pilot muttered and took a careful aim.
Both trios met between the two warships. The nearby area quickly became a heated battlefield as everyone opened fire. Meanwhile, Archangel and Gamov continued to exchange volley after volley from their weapons, adding more to the list that the six pilots had to watch out from. Paying close attention to the massive beams and occasional missiles or linear cannon rounds, both sides acted according to plans they had come up with.
Mu deployed the gunbarrels and began peppering the enemy Mobile Suits, forcing them to break the formation and start fighting independently. The three Gundams dispersed far too early, making him suspect that they planned to fight one on one from the start. His suspicions were correct when they fired back, mostly saturating the area rather than firing at specific targets, making Strike, Pulverizer and Zero break their formation as well.
Seeing no use in firing wildly anymore, Mu focused his attention on the closest target – Buster. Both machines opened up with everything they had, but neither could gain an advantage. Even though the Buster was outmaneuvered by the much faster Zero, it's Phase Shift armor rendered useless every shot Mu managed to land.
Kira took several beam shots to his shield and snapped off a few potshots of his own. He saw Blitz making a beeline for the Archangel and tried to shoot it down, but before he could get a better aim, the Duel forced him to dodge to the side by firing several precise shots that barely missed. "It's that Mobile Suit again." Kira muttered and concentrated his attention on Duel. Since the last time Kira had fought against Duel, his skills had improved and he was able to go on the offensive from time to time, instead of constantly falling back and hiding behind the shield.
The problem was that it was the same for Yzak, who had spent a lot of time on the simulators honing his skills. His attacks were more aggressive than before and more accurate as well. Beam after beam splattered against Strike's shield as he pressed the attack, evading or blocking the return fire. But no matter how hard Yzak tried, he was unable to land a shot on any other surface than the shield. Every time he slowed down in order to aim better, Kira would fire back, forcing him to defend. Sometimes for longer than he liked.
The Blitz darted past the Zero and avoided several poorly aimed shots from the Strike, but when a pair of highly charged orbs of plasma nearly blew off its legs, the black Nicole was forced to dodge, something which killed all the speed he had built up. "Damn you!"Nicole moved out of the way as another pair of azure bolts were fired at him. It didn't take long for him to locate the Muscle Tracer, especially when it constantly kept on firing at him. "Dearka, where are you? Mantis is here and I can't reach Archangel if that thing is in the way!" Nicole fired a few shots in attempt to ward off the enemy. The enemy machine awkwardly dodged the handful of beams, but quickly recovered and renewed its attack.
"…ing bastard! … I'm coming! Hold on!" Nicole noted that Dearka sounded like he was seriously pissed off. That Mobile Armor was probably putting up quite a fight. Nicole didn't waste any time replying, his friend's hands were full already. Instead he turned around and switched to offensive. He wasn't afraid to fight this enemy. Nicole simply understood that attacking the Archangel while being pursued by the Mantis might cause him to make a mistake. A mistake, which might prove fatal. That's why he decided to fight, maybe disable the strange Mobile Suit until Dearka got here and wasted the bastard, leaving him free to destroy the Archangel.
Blitz's transition form defensive to offensive startled Daniel. He tried to put some distance between them, but it was too late. He had nowhere to run. Greeeaat, you pissed him off! What now, genius? A tiny voice in his mind said, when Blitz let loose with the beam rifle and even fired the Gleipnir anchor. Daniel had no time to answer as he put the Pulverizer trough a series of twists, which almost moved him out of the line of fire. Almost. He did manage to evade the beams, but the Gpleipnir anchor connected. Slamming into Pulverizer's right shin, the armor-piercing tip penetrated deep into the leg while knocking back the Muscle Tracer.
"FUCK! NO!" Daniel outcried the alarms. A glance at the damage displays showed him that, despite the impressive power behind it, the anchor had failed to actually sever the leg. Mostly due to the toughness of the armor, which had prevented the projectile from punching cleanly trough the limb. Then the line tightened, the Blitz was pulling him closer in order to finish the job.
Ashamed and angry by being treated like some sort of a fish, Daniel growled and ignited the laser blades and used them to cut the cable. Now that he was able to move freely again, Daniel wanted nothing more than to kill the bastard. Mashing down the triggers for his plasma cannons, he charged the Blitz, waving the laser blades like a madman, while screaming like one too. "I'LL KILL YOU! I'LL FUCKING KILL YOU, YOU SONUVA BITCH!" He announced to the entire battlefield trough an open channel.
"Not if you can't see me." Nicole blocked few of the better-aimed plasma bolts and engaged the Mirage Colloid. He was sure to quickly evacuate the area since his enemy proceeded to saturate his former location, hoping to score a lucky hit.
No such luck. The enemy was gone. "Come out you cowardly bastard. Where are you!" Daniel foamed, shooting wildly in every direction, a fraction of his mind noticed that one of the displays was blinking, or he thought it was blinking. But he quickly dismissed it as the thought failed to register in his rage-driven mind.
"I'm right here." His enemy replied and a second later shot the Pulverizer twice in the back. The armor smoked, sparked and melted, but held. Daniel was thrown forward by the impact and pulled back by the restraints a second later, leaving him slightly dizzy and confused. Things didn't look good, if it went on like this, the Blitz will eventually destroy him. He had to find a way to find his enemy.
"Daniel, watch out! Get away from there!" Miriallia's voice scared him. Not bothering to pick a specific location he gunned the boosters launching the machine forward at full speed. Once he dared to spare a look behind he find out the reason for Miriallia's warning.
About a half of dozen cluster missiles saturated a huge area more thoroughly than he could ever possibly do. Countless, tiny bomblets, fired from the missiles, were a nightmare for aircrafts, lightly armored vehicles and other, relatively unarmored targets. If the enemy pilot was somewhere in that area, he had only two opinions. One was to die for his country by being turned into Swiss cheese or, drop the Mirage Colloid to activate the Phase Shift armor and risk being exposed to further attacks.
And there he was. One the far side of the bombarded area, Blitz appeared from nowhere only scant seconds before being pelted by dozens of explosive fragments. All of which exploded harmlessly against the advanced armor.
"Got you!" Daniel grinned and ignited his boosters, ready to fight again. He didn't get very far before a high caliber beam crossed his path.
"Where are you going off to? C'mere I can kill you just as good as the other guy." Dearka taunted, forcing himself to sound casual even as he tried to fight off the damaged, but still persistent Mobile Armor.
Daniel risked a glance at the Blitz. The black Mobile Suit had abandoned the fight, favoring the Archangel instead. "Fuck you!" Daniel yelled back and once again pressed the triggers. However, he didn't get much shots off when the cannons stopped firing, the laser blades flickered and died along with most of the displays in the cockpit, leaving Daniel with only the main screen and a severely limited movement performance.
"What the fuck! Shoot, damn you!" Daniel pressed the triggers, but nothing happened. He noticed that one of the few remaining screens was blinking, but before he could take a closer look, the Buster's pilot spoke again.
"If you're not moving, it only makes it easier." Dearka sensed an excellent opportunity. Dropping the defense for a moment and receiving a few harmless hits from the gunbarrels, he pointed his beam cannon at the immobile machine's already damaged back and fired.
xxxxx
The entire ship trembled when Gamov scored another hit to the stern. The attempt to help Daniel by launching the cluster missiles had cost precious time to get a better aim at the Laurassia class. The Archangel was able to fire its port Gottfried only and after continuous use, the weapon was close to overheating.
"Damage report!" Murrue straightened herself from the impact. "How long until the rendezvous?"
"Seventy two percent armor failure on port side and stern. The temperature is rising rapidly, we won't be able to survive for long."
"Approximately three minutes, elements of the 11th fleet should be entering visual range soon."
Murrue listened to the reports and gritted her teeth. We are on the finish line already. We can't stop now. Not after we went trough all that trouble. There must be a way out of this! There must be!
"Blitz approaching!"
"Shoot it down!" Natarle ordered, fighting not to let her emotions bleed into her voice. "What are the Strike, Pulverizer and Zero doing?"
"Strike is currently engaged with Duel. Zero and Pulverizer are fighting Bu…" Sai's voice suddenly broke. Miriallia cast a puzzled look at him, but a signal from her console explained everything.
"I lost the Pulverizer's signal." Miriallia whispered before her mind caught up with her. "We lost the Pulverizer." She repeated, shocked to the very core by the realization. Next to her Sai stared blankly at the monitor, which showed the same thing. The Pulverizer was gone.
"What!?" Natarle glanced at the monitors herself and pursed her lips. Dammit! Just when this is almost over! She let out a heavy sigh and prepared to inform Murrue about their first casualty, but a forceful explosion interrupted her.
"Blitz has broken trough the defensive perimeter! He's in a blind spot! Our guns can't track him!" Some one called.
"Recall the Strike!" Natarle felt her cold bloodiness kick in. The Pulverizer could wait. The Archangel could not. "Now!" She ordered when Miriallia didn't respond.
"Kira … You must return! … The Blitz is attacking the ship!" The girl said slightly sobbing, while tears ran down her cheeks. Afterwards, she put down the radio and apathetically stared at the display.
xxxxx
Kira ducked under a beheading slice and knocked Duel away with the shield. For several minutes they were using beam sabers, but no one was able to get the upper hand. He was about to begin another round, when his communications display beeped.
"Kira … You must return! … The Blitz is attacking the ship!" Miriallia's voice was a mixture of fear and overwhelming sadness.
For a moment Kira could have sworn his heart had stopped. The Archangel is under attack! He turned his Mobile Suit around just in time to witness an explosion beneath the bridge. No, it can't be! He remembered the destruction of the advance party and how he promised Flay to protect everyone. I can't allow that to happen! I promised! The single thought pushed away any other thoughts or doubts. He felt resole unlike ever before, fill his body and mind.
And then, in his mind he saw a purple jewel slowly falling trough darkness, hitting an invisible surface and explode in a shower of bright light, which instead of blinding him made everything perfectly clear and obvious. Any doubts were gone. He was going to save the Archangel. It was that simple.
Kira jerked the controls just in time to avoid being sliced in half by Duel. The Strike adroitly spun around the blue Mobile Suit before Yzak could realize what was going on. A second later, Strike's beam saber struck the side of the cockpit and only Yzak's reflexes saved him from certain death as he unconsciously pulled away barely far enough to survive.
The Strike didn't stay to finish the job; Kira had other, more pressing matters to attend to. The white Mobile Suit took off with all the speed it could muster towards the Archangel. Still, undefeated, Yzak pulled out his beam rifle and fired, but he was surprised how easily Kira dodged the beams. It was as if Yzak was intentionally trying not to hit the Strike.
"I missed? What the hell is going on?" Yzak exchanged the beam rifle for a beam saber. "If I can't shoot him, then I'll just have to cut him to pieces." He said and went after his enemy.
To Nicole, it reminded a bit about his fight with the Mantis, when Kira suddenly charged him with the beam saber. He managed to jump away, but was caught off guard when Kira recovered almost instantly and charged him again, this time kicking the Blitz in the chest, sending it tumbling away as Nicole fought to regain control of his machine.
Kira was about to continue his attack on Blitz, when Yzak caught up with him and tried to take him out with a thrust to the chest. However, for Kira everything seemed to happen so slowly, that he managed not only to dodge by dropping Strike to its knees, but also attack by releasing his beam saber and pulling out the combat knife from the hips. With a lightning fast motion, he jabbed the knife into Duel's side. Exactly the same place, which was damaged by his beam saber a few moments ago.
This time Yzak was unable to move Duel away. Everything happened too fast for him to follow. With a dreadful noise, the combat knife cut trough the internal stricture, partially breaching the cockpit and causing serious damage to most of the control systems. Several screens exploded directly into Yzak's face, shattering the visor and leaving deep cuts on his face.
Without giving the enemy a chance to recover, Strike kicked Duel in the chest, propelling it away from the Archangel, where it was soon picked up by Nicole's Blitz. "Yzak, Yzak are you okay?" When Yzak didn't answer he contacted Dearka. "Dearka, Duel is damaged! I can't get a response from Yzak."
"What!? Yzak is wounded?"
"I think so. He took a bad hit to the cockpit."
"Shit!" Dearka punched the main screen. "Okay, we're falling back! We've done enough here already."
Kira landed the Strike back on the Archangel, watching as the enemy Mobile Suits fell back to Gamov with Blitz holding the damaged Duel and Buster providing cover if anyone tried to pursue them. Kira let them leave; he had no intention of continuing this battle. Especially when the Archangel was safe and he could already see several Alliance ships in the distance.
"It's over." He sighed, surprised how tired he actually was. He had no idea what caused him to be able to dispatch his enemies so quickly, but it seemed to be taking a lot out of him. He'd never felt so tired in his life.
Suddenly, he had a bad feeling that something was wrong. Very wrong. He glanced at his communications display. Usually he could hear his friends cheerfully welcoming him back, but this time there was nothing, but eerie silence.