I do not own Gundam Build Fighters/Try or any of the Gundam franchise.
This story is inspired by Eyes in SEED authored by Nemesis Astrea and is written with his permission.
CHAPTER 10:
Behind The Curtains
~ PLANTS, Clyne Residence ~
The warm, late afternoon light filtered into the room through a window strategically positioned to give the room the maximum amount of light without directly hitting any of its occupants. Rhythmic clicks could be heard from a corner as Lacus impatiently pressed a button on her computer whenever something appeared that didn't quite meet her requirements. Her normally serene face wore her scorn openly as the images flashed by.
High Maneuver GINN
"Useless in the atmosphere."
DINN
"Way too specialized."
LaGowe
"We all know how that's going to turn out."
In the end she was left with with only either aquatic mobile suits or the CGUE. The GUAIZ prototypes were out of the question as they could barely move without something popping off.
"Urgh! Fine," She said resignedly, "CGUE DEEP Arms it is then."
A second screen showed footage from the residence's security camera's. Athrun stumbled on the front porch, a bouquet of roses in hand, obviously attempting to make up for the lost time. Lacus' nose wrinkled in disapproval.
Late. Again.
"Oh wait!" She exclaimed as she quickly typed on the computer before locking it, "Make it red."
Color coding was convenient whenever she observed the after-action footage.
She pushed herself away from the table and rose to meet her fiancee. The Haros, all laying motionlessly on the floor suddenly bounced and emitted happy sounds.
"Not yet!" She snapped. The robots obeyed and dropped to the floor. As she walked past them they rolled noiselessly after her.
After the fourth Haro she decided she had had enough and reprogrammed them. She briefly suspected Athrun didn't like her at first and gave her the Haros to drive her crazy in order break off the marriage.
Well, too late for that.
Now they meekly followed her by rolling whenever she was alone. Soon after, the simple act of reprogramming gave her the inspiration to install the ECM devices inside them. So far she didn't need them but one could never be too careful.
"L-Lacus!" Athrun sputtered, "Sorry, I'm late again I was-"
"I wasn't counting the minutes Athrun," Lacus smiled gently.
~ Desert, Archangel ~
"Why are you looking at me that way?!" Mu said backing away defensively as Murrue and Natarle stared at him.
"Your answer Lieutenant?" Murrue demanded.
"I gave advice one time and now I'm suddenly an expert?" Mu asked.
"I recall more than one incident." Natarle unhelpfully provided.
The issue at hand was about the Martian Pilot. Aya.
"Why couldn't I be born in another time?" The pilot groaned internally.
- 0 -
"Wow! Look at her score!" Tolle exclaimed as Cagalli beat her own score for the second time in the hour.
The Heliopolis teens were clustered around the Skygrasper simulator. Sai and Kira stood in the back while Kuzzy, Tolle and Mirallia leaned in for a better look.
Flay was nowhere to be found. Probably spending time with her father.
Ever since the disastrous battle against the Desert Tiger, Cagalli insisted on piloting one of the planes in the hanger arguing that they fare much better with a third gun out on the field, intentionally omitting the unpredictable X2A Crossbone from the head count.
Kira looked at Aya who was leaning against a wall, silently observing them. By now he'd gotten used to her expressionless look and instead focused on her blue eyes. It looked like she was waiting for something.
"I want a go too!" Tolle declared, "You guys need all the help you can get out there! We're usually outnumbered."
The mood turned a bit somber at the last part as it reminded them of their predicament.
Tolle strapped himself in and started the simulation. He lasted seven seconds.
Several minutes passed as Cagalli, and occasionally Kira gave pointers to Tolle. His score improved steadily and soon only unexpected encounters did him in. Now they were going to move on to the shooting phase.
Just then Kira noticed movement and saw that Aya had detached herself from the wall and was headed their way.
"Maybe she's going to give pointers too." He thought.
The redhead bent down and pulled a thick wire.
"Hey!" Tolle exclaimed in surprise as he stuck his head out. The simulator had shut down.
"Aya! What gives?!"
"This." Aya held up the wire like the limp tentacle of a sea creature, "Quite easily, I might add."
"Why?!" Tolle whined, "I was moving on to the next phase!"
"Stay on the bridge," She replied, "Its safer there."
"But I want to help you guys out!" Tolle said.
"You can't." The Martian replied in her emotionless voice, "You're not meant to be on the battlefield."
"The lieutenant is a career soldier," She looked right at Kira, "and he's getting used to it."
The teen took a step back in shock at the assessment, mercifully no one seemed to notice.
"As for me," her voice wavered, "Its the only thing I'm good for in this world."
"Well, its not like I'm going to dive in-" Tolle tried once again.
"Have you ever been shot at?" Aya cut in.
"Back at Heliopolis." Sai answered with a partially raised hand.
"I don't think they were actually shooting at us in particular." Kuzzy thought out loud.
"Oh! Good!" Aya exclaimed brightly, "So you do know its not a fun experience!"
"Bitch!" Cagalli exploded as she stomped over to Aya.
Kira tensed himself. It looked like a fight was going to erupt.
"He's going to fight for his friends and loved ones!" Cagalli roared in front of Aya, who was as affected as a wall.
"And this is your advice?! Stay inside?!"
"First you say fighting is bad," Aya answered, "And now you're encouraging them to fight? Which is it? Make up your mind. Are you willing to take responsibility if they get shot down?"
Aya walked past Cagalli who was speechless with rage.
"Stop being reckless."
~ Archangel, Bridge ~
"So, that's what happened," Mu finished his story, "They're just kids after all, if being subjected constant combat can unhinge trained soldiers, how much more for them? I mean, the way Chief Murdock said it those two were almost at each other's throats."
"So what I recommend is, we give 'em a day in the city," He continued, "If that seems a tad bit too irresponsible then we can have them buy some minor supplies to keep them from directionless wandering."
The blonde man crossed his arms as he waited on his fellow officer's response to his recommendation. It annoyed him that they acted like dealing with teenagers was an alien concept.
Murrue and Natarle looked at each for a moment.
"I agree with your proposal," Murrue said, "We were planning on going out to purchase ammunition from a black market dealer anyway."
"Also," the acting captain added with a smile, "Since you're so good at dealing with teenagers, you'll be the one to break the news to miss Melanthos."
"What?" Mu spluttered, completely forgetting decorum. Not that he paid much attention to it anyway.
"What do you mean?" He asked recovering, "What about Ensign Badgiruel? She's good with them too."
"Despite your overly negative opinion of me," Natarle said, her voice ever controlled, "I simply gave that child my hat and some chocolate. I didn't speak to him at all."
"Why are you so nervous?" Murrue asked, boxing him in, "She seems to respect you at the very least."
~ PLANTS, Clyne Residence ~
"Sorry about not spending enough time with you," Athrun apologized for the fourth time that afternoon, "But I'm-"
"-Scheduled to deploy in a few hours. I know. I know." Lacus finished while nodding her head sagely. Internally though, she was getting tired of the repeated apologies. It was as if she was deaf or brain damaged to Athrun.
"The fact that you came over made me very happy nonetheless." She spoke her pre-loaded line.
Athrun was at a loss for words so he decided that his actions would better express himself. So he leaned over slowly to give her a kiss.
Lacus turned her head away, absolutely rejecting it.
"S-Sorry" Athrun blurted out with embarrassment, "I didn't-"
His blubbering was cut off when Lacus' hand grabbed his collar and pulled him roughly into a kiss. The action stunned him to the point that his blood seemed to drain from his head and a moment later rush back up.
Lacus released him from the kiss after what appeared to be several seconds while wearing the same gentle smile she always wore.
"If I find out you cheated on me on Earth," She said still smiling, "I'll shove a Haro down your throat."
Athrun, who had blanked out for a few seconds because of the kiss, finally laughed with Lacus joining in. He couldn't really picture her doing anything violent.
"Don't worry about that," He chuckled now that the awkward moment had passed, "Now, I'll have an extra reason to come back in a hurry."
"And I'll be waiting." She said.
An hour after Athrun left, Lacus gathered her things and left the mansion for the next task of the day.
- 0 -
The sheets moved as the occupant shifted position underneath, vainly trying to find a semblance of comfortability.
The residence itself was quite modest, offering nothing luxurious despite what most people would be shown on television befitting the rank of the owner. The first reason was that being in the military, or the militia that was ZAFT to be accurate, did not pay all that much. The second reason was that it was intended merely as a place to sleep and eat, offering much needed privacy that a barracks or even a hotel could not furnish as well as some form of dignity. The third, and rarely spoken of reason, was that soldiers lived very short lives in these uncertain times. Death came for Natural and Coordinator alike.
However, no amount of opulence, even if furnished, would help its owner.
An unbearable pain flared once more resulting in the bed's occupant falling to the floor, spasming uncontrollably.
Le Creuset reached blindly over the desk, desperately searching for the suppressant pills Durandal gave him regularly.
WHERE ARE THEY?!
Even though he had conditioned himself never to voice his thoughts, because of the sheer amount of pain he couldn't even yell out willingly. He stuck his head his head out from under the sheets to search the desk and found them...gone.
Just then he noticed a shadow near the door of the room.
Lacus stood there holding up the pill container and studying it curiously, as if she didn't already know what his body was going through.
"Oh? Did I wake you commander?" She asked in her melodious voice.
"You." He ground out, casting her a baleful glare for all it was worth.
"Yes." Lacus smiled, "Thank you for reminding me. I almost forgot who I am for a moment there."
"Here." She placed a data device on the desk that his pills used to occupy, "Everything is listed there. All you need to do is request it in your name like always and it will be approved."
When he didn't answer she strode over to him, grabbed him by the throat and lifted him into the air.
"Didn't you hear me?" Lacus inquired gently.
Lacus Clyne was a Coordinator, physically granted everything a person could wish for while Le Creuset was secretly a Natural and clone to boot, already in the stages of cellular degeneration. If she wished to she could beat him to an inch of his life even on his best day, but that wasn't her approach to things. Lacus Clyne was far too cunning and careful to leave any sort of physical evidence behind no matter how circumstantial. At times she almost seemed prescient.
As he suffocated Le Creuset stared into her eyes finding the warm and caring expression she always had in public gone. The expression she now wore, whenever Lacus spoke to him in private, conveyed something utterly alien. It was almost like she wasn't even from this world. Lacus Clyne was never really the same after the assassination attempt on Earth years ago, but saying it like that was severely underplaying the change in personality of the Clyne girl.
"Yes..." He gasped out.
"Good." She dropped him as a graceless heap on the floor.
As Lacus turned to leave, Le Creuset saw a yellow ball-like thing roll into view and seemingly stare at him from his position on the floor.
It was a Haro.
Le Creuset had seen Athrun tinker with such things on more than one occasion during his free time, intending to gift them to Lacus. Now, the pink haired singer had apparently reprogrammed them into autonomous hacking devices. No doubt his security cameras and their recordings were an unreadable mess as was the case whenever she dropped by, never mind the electronic lock on his front door.
And she had more than one.
"Oh! How careless of me!" Lacus exclaimed as an afterthought.
She placed the container of pills on the floor. It was well out of reach of Le Creuset.
"Don't forget your medication~~"
- 0 -
After she left, and several agonizing moments of undignified crawling, Le Creuset swallowed a pill and waited for their effects to take place. As the pain subsided he began to chuckle maniacally.
Le Creuset tolerated the ignominies the Clyne girl subjected him to because she had revealed her own plan after she had brazenly disclosed his own to him. Whether or not his plan would fail, Lacus' own would continue it, though at a much slower pace regardless of her actual intent. While Lacus stated that no one would believe him if ever he divulged her plan, Le Creuset would be lucky to be simply lynched if ever his machinations would be "mysteriously" revealed to the council and the public at large. She had him pinned, or at least she thought she did.
"Keep up that arrogance of yours little girl." Rau giggled madly, "One often meets their destiny on the road they take to avoid it."
He drew strength from this particular insight of his unwitting collaborator and helped ease the pain considerably.
Poor Athrun. Poor, naive Athrun.
When Patrick Zala called to excitedly inform him that Operation Spitbreak was approved, it was icing on the cake.
"I should make these wishes more often."
~ Banadiya City, Kira Yamato ~
"We'll meet here at the designated time," Mu reminded the trio as they hopped off the vehicle, "Got it guys?"
"Yeah, sure." Cagalli muttered, not all that pleased to have been in the same vehicle as Aya.
Aya nodded gloomily in response, while Kira didn't seem to hear him as he was staring into space.
"Geez, I hope they won't start a fight in public." Mu prayed silently as they drove away.
Earlier on, in the presence of Murrue and Natarle, when he told her of their plan to give them a day off he expected her to be happy or at least curious as to Earth towns in general. What he did not expect was for her to vehemently oppose her leaving the ship. Mu couldn't remember all the reasons she had said but it was safe to say it was everything. Period.
- 0 -
Mindless slaughter here we come!
He's getting used to it.
It's the only thing I'm good at in this world.
Kira felt someone slap him on the back, jostling him out of his thoughts.
"Hey! Snap out of it!" Cagalli said, "Come on, let's get this over with."
"R-right." He mumbled still a bit absent minded.
Cagalli walked past him and began to head in the direction of the places where they were suppose to buy supplies.
"Stay close, only Cagalli knows the way." Kira said to Aya, seeing as Cagalli made no move to talk to her since the hanger incident.
Aya mumbled something in response but followed him anyway. For the occasion she wore a black shirt over blue cargo pants as well as boots. She also wore boots and wore her reddish orange hair freely making her relatively easy to spot in the crowd. The jacket she also brought along was open and Kira could see the shirt was just a bit too-
Aya turned to him with a frosty glare, seemingly sensing his attention.
Stupid hormones!
"Its a lot more lively than I thought." Kira remarked, punching the proverbial eject button hard.
"That's only on the surface." Cagalli said, probably mistaking the question to be directed at her.
She turned suddenly and the two sped up to keep pace. Finally she stopped in front of what used to be a building. It was now just a giant crater. The former structure was leveled to its foundations and no one had bothered to even cordon the hazard it now posed.
"This is what happens if you oppose the Desert Tiger." She said gesturing towards the crater.
Kira checked Aya's response and saw that her lips had curled up, as if she expected this to happen. She probably did.
"Then they shouldn't have done so," Aya said giving Cagalli a look, "Especially for an imagined slight."
"That's it! I've had it with you!" Cagalli exploded.
Kira restrained her and thanked the small mercy that Aya didn't move from her place. He wasn't sure if he could restrain both of them.
"What did he do anyway?" Aya asked, "Other than roll into town after driving away the Alliance forces stationed here of course."
"Please stop provoking her." Kira pleaded internally. He honestly didn't want to get involved or visibly take sides in the brewing animosity between the two females so he just did his best by preventing Cagalli from jumping Aya by holding her.
"You! You could never understand!" Cagalli, "You're from-"
"Not from around here. I know." Aya interrupted, "Do you Earthnoids respond to harmless questions by punching people in the face?"
Unnoticed by the trio, a man with a pencil mustache and forked goatee peeked over his newspaper with interest as he heard the argument escalate.
Somehow Kira had managed to calm Cagalli down and they resumed making their way to the market.
"Go get us lunch!" Cagalli pointed imperiously in another direction. A far away direction.
"This is going to take a while."
Cagalli locked hands with Kira and dragged the surprised teen away. Kira turned to see Aya's receding form.
"Wait!" He tried reasoning with Cagalli, "Are you sure she's going to be alright?"
"She can take care of herself!" Cagalli answered loudly.
- 0 -
The nearby crowd saw the entire incident.
And completely mistook it for what it was.
Several young men looked enviously at Kira who was being pulled away by apparently the more aggressive one of two women. While both were fairly attractive in their own right, the one with reddish-orange hair seemed more feminine in contrast to the blonde who was loud and tomboyish to the extreme. The younger women were also astounded at the brashness of the blonde as they had an "o" expression on their faces as she had pulled off a victory along with the young boy away hand in hand. Gossip would abound that day in their circles as well as bets as to who would win over the young man. The most favored odds was 3:7.
Smoldering from the apparent defeat the redhead turned angrily and marched off. The crowd, still under its mistaken impression, gave her a sympathetically wide berth. Some even shouted encouragement at her to try harder.
Aya felt a bit light as she walked through the crowd, too wrapped up in her thoughts to notice their attention on her. She was feeling weird again. It wasn't the same constricting feeling she had felt back in Tassil, but rather something else. Almost like someone was being amused at her expense.
Probably Cagalli.
She was annoying in the show and she was even more annoying in real life.
"What the hell?" She thought angrily, "I was just asking a question!"
It was never really explained in the show why the Desert Dawn fought Andrew Waltfeld so she thought she'd find out why. Instead Cagalli blew up for reasons only known to the Orb princess and even tried to attack her. Good thing Kira stopped her otherwise Aya would have done something...mean to her.
Wait.
Aya froze in place.
The way Kira seemed to be a little too close to Cagalli, or the way the blonde princess grabbed his hand like that.
"No. No. No. No." Aya repeated to herself. She in very real danger of projectile vomiting.
Kira was a hormonal teenager, as was established by the show. Earlier on she had caught him staring at her chest. Aya also realized that Flay and Sai never broke up due to her intervention. It showed since they were pretty close during dinner time. If things went on like this...
"There isn't going to be any twincest while I'm around!" She raged internally as she continued to walk.
She'd have to contrive someway to get Kira to back off. Hmmm...maybe if it was somehow outed that Cagalli was Orb's princess. Yes! That was it!
Once he knew, Aya was sure Kira would lose interest. After all, he was way too meek to try anything with Flay to begin with. Aya's mood greatly improved, pleased that she could prevent squick from happening in the behind her back.
"Come on! Pick up damn you! Why are you always like-!" A voice hissed at her phone and was cut off as the owner bumped into Aya.
"Oh, I'm terribly sorry," A feminine voice apologized.
Aya looked up to see a woman wearing a desert cloak and the corresponding headwear. From what little Aya could see from behind the cloth and large aviator sunglasses she had a fair complexion and midnight black hair.
"No worries." Aya quickly accepted the apology, "To tell you the truth, I was not looking as well."
"Yes, well its just that someone is making my job nearly impossible to do." The woman tilted her head sideways, "Are you new here?"
"I just arrived," Aya said and suddenly thought of something.
"Do you happen to know a place where I can eat? As I said, I'm new here."
During her walk Aya realized something. She couldn't read the foreign language. Due to some strange quirk of the transition she could understand what most people said but she could'n't read the middle-eastern language on the signs.
"I'll take you there," The woman offered, "It'll be good to help someone for a change, unlike some people who actively avoid it!"
She shook her phone angrily, behaving like she wanted to strangle whoever she had tried to reach earlier.
Minutes later they arrived at an outdoor restaurant and ordered something called a Kebab. After Aya paid for it with the money Mu had given her, she bit into it. The spicy sauce was good but a bit too much for her as it buried the taste of the other ingredients.
"Here try this." Noticing Aya's expression, the woman offered Aya another container, "Its Tzatziki sauce."
Aya tried it, and found that it was much better. Rather than smother the ingredients, the Tzatziki sauce seemed to enhance the overall flavor.
"It is good." Aya admitted with a smile.
"Fufu, you have good taste!" The woman exclaimed happily as she bit into her own meal.
They ate in silence and a few minutes later, the woman left after paying for herself. Probably to get back to whatever she was doing earlier. The sun traveled slowly overhead as Aya watched the crowd pass by for some time, attempting to get a feel of the first city she visited in Cosmic Era.
"Hey!" a familiar grating voice called out.
Aya turned to see Cagalli with Kira in tow walk up to her table.
"You ate ahead of us?!" Cagalli asked in indignation, noticing the discarded wrappers.
"I wasn't under the impression that I had an obligation to wait," Aya smiled cooly, "You did say it would take a while."
"I'm surprised you didn't get lost," Cagalli said, "Let alone be able to read the menu."
Aya shrugged, not rising to the bait. She wasn't even sure if Cagalli was still mad at her. The blonde always sounded angry.
Kira slumped on the seat without an invitation, breathing heavily. Cagalli had, for all intents and purposes, treated him like a pack mule by making him carry all but one of the bags.
"Geez! Are you guys for real?!" Cagalli complained waiving a piece of paper in the air, "You can't find any of these lotions or shampoos here! Never mind video games!"
Earlier on, Flay had approached Aya and mumbled something about how her hair looked great. After the awkward delivery, she asked Aya to buy some of her lotions and other "necessities" since she couldn't find Kira. Sai couldn't go because George Allster had expressly forbidden him. Aya took the paper, made a non-commitant answer and stuffed it in the small bag that housed the actual list Captain Ramius had given them without a word.
"I mean, do guys really know the sit-" Cagalli's voice droned on and Aya ordered something as a distraction. Anything was better than listening to the Orb Princess' ramble. She was probably just hungry.
"Thank you for waiting." A waiter placed their orders on the table which was exactly the same type of Kebab Aya had eaten earlier.
"Here." She handed one to Kira who looked starved.
"Thanks." Kira replied as he reached out for his food.
However, before he could touch it Cagalli grabbed it.
"Try it with the spicy sauce!" She said, suddenly less irritable, "Its dee-licious!"
"No, its not." Aya interjected, "Tzatziki is better. Even yoghurt sauce would be better."
"Don't listed to her!" Cagalli growled, "She doesn't know what she's talking about! She'd probably eat it with ketchup!"
Kira seemed to panic at another impending confrontation and looked about for an escape.
"Behold the ultimate coordinator!" Aya thought snidely as Kira struggled (unsuccessfully) to stop Cagalli from filling his Kebab with the sauce, "Does this guy have a spine? Even Alex had more guts than this."
Just as the forced feeding was about to turn terminal a figure suddenly approached their table.
"Hey! This seat taken? No? Thanks." A man with a white shirt, mustache and forked goatee sat down before any of them could answer, "Its a jungle out there."
"Who the hell are you?!" Orb's princess protested.
"Local Authorities." The man responded lazily, "Did you happen to see a robed person come by here?"
Aya pointed in the direction the woman earlier headed for.
"The other direction huh?" The officer mumbled thoughtfully, suddenly becoming less merry. The movement revealed a gun strapped to his body in a holster.
Just then Aya bristled. Due to Cagalli's antics she completely forgotten why she vehemently opposed coming here! Fortunately this man wasn't obviously Andrew Waltfeld, so there was still time to-
"Whoohoo!" The officer cheered, "The opposite direction! I'm free!"
Aya saw a thin red line appear near their table and the world exploded.
~ Banadiya, Kira Yamato ~
"Why does this keep happening to me?" Kira whined inside the confines of his head.
All he wanted to do was get away from the fighting but it seemed that the universe wasn't content with him fighting inside a cockpit and extended its whims outside.
"Cagalli!" He thought it alarm, some of the initial shock wearing off. He looked around and found her on the ground attempting to rise.
Men in civilian clothes suddenly stormed out of hiding places and began firing even if there were still people around. Some opted for precision fire behind cover while others rushed their direction shooting madly. Others also seemed to emerge from more hidden positions and fired retaliatory shots. They were obviously, however, coordinators as only they could possibly wield such large caliber guns and still aim accurately with them.
"Over here!" the officer called when Kira lifted Cagalli up.
Taking refuge behind the upturned table, which was thicker than it initially appeared, Kira pulled Cagalli between them and protected her as best he he could. Meanwhile, the shooting intensified. A clip dropped next to him as the officer reloaded and emerged to fire a burst before returning to cover.
Movement caught his eye as one of the attackers emerged at an angle from the officer. Kira knew he wasn't on their side due to the murderous hate the man directed towards them as he aimed his rifle.
"Shit! I'm too far away!" Kira realized.
Even with his speed there was no way he could clear the distance before a shot was fired. However, just before the man could fire a figure in a traveling cloak and dark shades stepped up behind him and dragged a combat knife across his neck. The man fell to the ground with disgusting wet gurgling sound as he bled to death. The person, Kira could see it was a woman because of the lipstick, crouched beside them, making the location suddenly crowded.
"Hey! Where's your friend?" the officer asked as he reloaded.
"Aya!" He realized that she was nowhere to be seen.
As Kira peeked over the table he saw that Aya was stumbling, walking as if in a daze...towards the attacker's position.
"She must have been nearer to the blast area!" Kira deduced.
Numerous options raced in his mind and he discarded them just as fast as they emerged. There was no way to cross the street without getting riddled by bullets. It was only by pure luck that Aya hadn't gotten hit by a stray bullet, but even that wouldn't last as she was nearing the cover of two of the enemies.
As if emboldened by the stunned girl, the two emerged from their cover and took aim. Kira ran, no longer hesitant. If he could do something he would or he would regret it for the rest of his life.
The bullets fired, riddling the Martian pilot's body and reducing it to a bloody mess. Or rather, that was what was supposed to happen.
Aya's head suddenly snapped up as if realizing something and she began to move. Fast. Just as the bullets left their barrel Aya was no longer where she stood. She dodged left and right nimbly and quickly cleared the distance. Once she was close enough she leapt up executing a spinning kick, aimed vertically. Her foot crashed onto the gunner's wrist, audibly snapping it. Aya landed as he screamed in pain while his conspirator took aim. Before he could fire though, she erupted from her crouched position, knocking him upward with an uppercut. By now the first attacker had recovered and tried to punch her, but she spun out of the way on her heel. Upon completion of the turn her arm extended outwards with her own punch and knocked him down on the pavement.
There was a flash of robes as the woman behind the table leaped outwards and stormed the suddenly defenseless position. They were dead before they knew what killed them.
She vaulted gracefully over and in seconds, an attacker was cut to ribbons before he could scream with her knife. Having a clear shot at all of the assailants she emptied the entire clip of her weapon with precision fire.
It was over before Kira had reached them. As he neared he heard Aya whisper quietly, almost as if it was to herself:
"Seiken-Zuki"*
"Uh, Aya..."
She whirled around, with an embarrassed- no, surprised look on her face?
Kira backed away as he saw murder in her eyes.
"Did you hear?!" She hissed.
"What? Hear what?" Kira asked confused. It wasn't like he actually heard anything. He could have just been imagining it.
"If you tell anyone about this," Aya said in a dangerous tone, "I'll-"
"Hehey! Great job guys!" The officer patted them enthusiastically on the back, now that the fighting had died down, completely missing (or ignoring) the murderous look Aya was giving Kira.
"Kira!" Cagalli ran over to them but stopped just short of hugging him.
Before anything could happen, melodious humming could be heard behind him. It wasn't as nice as Lacus' voice but it was still soothing. Then there was a thunderclap.
The woman had shot one of Aya's attackers who were on their backs in the head. The second one quickly met the same fate. Her weapon still smoking, and her robe splashed with blood the woman approached the group. Kira eyed her warily as her knife still dripped freely with the life liquid.
"Andy~~" She said sweetly as she removed her shades, "What did I tell you about going into the city?"
"Andrew Waltfeld..." Cagalli's eyes widened with recognition as the man removed his fake beard, "The Desert Tiger!"
"What is it this time Ai?" Andrew asked, throwing his arms up, "I didn't wear that bright yellow and red shirt you hate so much. Its still my favorite shirt by the way."
"Sorry about the mess guys," Andrew apologized as he tried to divert the conversation, "Tell you what, why don't come over to get your clothes washed hmm? My people will clear this up by then."
"No thank you, we're fine." Aya said grumpily, "A little dirt never killed anyone. We can clean it ourselves."
A shot rang out and Kira turned to see the survivors in a line, kneeling as a ZAFT soldier prepared to shoot the next one.
"Mr. Waltfeld!" Kira pleaded, "Please stop this! They're already beaten! They can't harm us anymore!"
Andrew looked unsure, but it was Aisha that acted.
"Criminal waste." Kira heard her mumble. She gestured to the soldiers who halted. He was relieved he wouldn't see any more senseless bloodshed.
"Don't they teach recruits to use their head anymore?"
Aisha stood beside the prisoners so that they were lined up in front of her to the side. Whipping out her still-warm weapon she fired once, the large caliber bullet traveling through all five prisoners' heads.
The ZAFT soldiers took an involuntary step back.
"See?" She said, "One bullet, five enemies. Think of the environment!"
"Oh dear!" Aisha exclaimed as she neared Aya, "I am so sorry for that!"
Brain and bits of skull littered Aya's pants as she was relatively close by. She looked really angry.
"Now that won't be easy to remove," Aisha chuckled, "We do have something to wash that off back home though."
When Aya gave Aisha her usual blank look, the black haired beauty smiled evilly.
"I insist."
Author's note:
* Jigen Haō-Ryū for everyone!
Well, this was getting way too long for my liking so it'll have to end here. Originally the Lacus section was not part of this, and there some parts that I cut out but I didn't think it would be this long.
Anyway, I ran into some problems with this as meeting Andrew Waltfeld would have been too close to the original. Guess who leapt in (and slashing) to save the day?
Aisha was a blank character and this made it very easy for me to add her to the event that would have been otherwise a cut and paste affair and so her role has been expanded to include soldier and bodyguard here.
As to how Aya can do those moves the hint is there in Chapter 1. While some stuff here might be a bit exaggerated, especially towards the end, I decided it was still plausible in a Gundamverse.
Until next time.