Nicol's Savior
Me: (hits head against table) Hate trying to write fight scenes...might as well split the chapter up, so there's no mood whiplash...
Rau le Creuset: So you keep insisting. Is that your excuse? How very human of you.
Me: (swats at him) Ah, shaddup, monologuer - that's what you are, you're Gundam Seed's champion monologuer. Each Gundam series has one...cept for Wing, which has everyone act as a monologuer. That show would be even better if they cut half of those out and let the situations speak for themselves. Don't have to beat me over the head with the fact 'war is BAD!' when I've already seen Quatre go nuts and nearly kill his best friend/maybe love interest.
Rau le Creuset: Maybe it's because you have trouble comprehending it.
Me: (glares at him) I will mute you - that's a promise. God knows you rattled on long enough in canon!
Disclaimer: I do not own Gundam SEED/Destiny/any of its variants.
Chapter 11: Battle for Orb part 1
Athrun woke slowly...he was comfortable in a way he hadn't felt in a long time. There were a pair of arms wrapped around him, holding him like something precious. The massive, soft mattress he was lying on creaked slightly as his eyes fluttered open...music was coming from the other room...his lips parted as he listened to it. It was a beautiful symphony, incomplete sounding but still awe inspiring in its complexity. "Nicol...?" He murmured, raising his head slightly.
The door slid open, revealing his green haired boyfriend holding a laptop in one hand. He was dressed in loose bed clothes and looked like he'd been awake for a little while...Athrun's hand on the bed on his left felt a warmth, where the other boy had been lying. "Did I wake you two?" He asked softly.
Athrun blinked and glanced to his right...his partner was a shirtless Kira, asleep with a passive sweet smile on his face. It was his arms around Athrun, like he was afraid something would steal his hard won beloved away after they'd finally reunited. Warmth spread through Athrun's chest, soft and welcome and intoxicating. "No. I was already waking up. Kira's sleeping soundly...he only wakes to alarm clocks and cold water." That admission drew a chuckle from Nicol, who had always been an early riser. Athrun smiled before nodding to the laptop; prompting Nicol to turn it off so as not to wake their other lover. "Is that new music of yours?"
"Yeah. It's a requiem and rebirth." Nicol set the machine down on the side table and sat down, swinging his legs onto the bed. "I was inspired by Miriallia back on the Archangel..." he hesitated; he still hadn't told Athrun about Tolle Koegn. He wasn't sure how. "...and Flay, later on. I wanted something that captured all the complexities and tragedies of this conflict..."
"It sounds amazing."
"Don't say that yet...it still isn't done. The program I'm using allows me to listen to what I have so far...and there are some changes I want to make. But I'm pleased with the beginning, which is what you were just listening to."
"Just the beginning, huh..." Athrun blinked, recalling the cantor of the opening piano sonata. "Reminds me a little of the opening from the Firebird suite."
Nicol grinned. "I can't believe you remember that...it's been ages since I got you to listen to it."
"Who said I never listened to classical on my own?" Athrun responded, acting wounded. "I can't listen to Lacus's music all the time."
"Yeah, you're probably one of five people native to the PLANTs who would actually say that..." Nicol remarked, amused. Athrun chuckled in agreement, before eyeing the other boy curiously.
"Miriallia and Flay inspired you, huh. Should I be jealous?"
Nicol rolled his eyes and turned over, putting one hand next to Athrun's head. "I don't think you're in any position to say things like that, Zala...considering the contents of your bed." He nodded significantly towards Kira.
Athrun couldn't help a grin. "I'm the luckiest man alive." He whispered. "It might be more than I deserve..."
Nicol scowled slightly. "Athrun...what did we both end up telling you last night about saying that kind of crap?" They ended up having a...discussion, before falling asleep last night (probably the only reason it hadn't become more animated was the relatively new waters of this new 'arrangement') about that. Mainly, that it wasn't true, and listening to him degrade himself upset them both...so he'd just have to be persuaded out of that mindset.
The blue haired pilot had the nerve to smirk at him. "Are you going to punish me, koishii?"
Nicol scoffed, before placing his hands on Athrun's shoulders – somewhat carefully, so as not to jostle the still sleeping Kira – pushing him down into the mattress. "It doesn't have the same effect when you're asking for it," He pointed out mock seriously.
"And here I was getting my hopes up..." Athrun pouted. "I need a new strategy."
"You sneaky little..." Nicol's admonishment was half hearted; he leaned over and kissed Athrun soundly, cutting off the older boy's snickers. In turn Athrun wrapped his free arm around Nicol and gently pulled him closer. The last time they had been this intimate, it had been just after the battle with the Eighth Fleet in orbit. Without such a massive stress trigger involved, this felt less urgent and in many ways more welcome.
Athrun unbuttoned Nicol's shirt and gently traced his fingers over his chest as they kissed...after a few seconds, they came to a stop at the long scar on his left side. One of the wounds he had received after the Blitz was damaged. Athrun brushed his fingers across the length of the scar, his eyes closing slightly. Nicol felt it and broke their deep kiss to look sternly at him. "That's not your fault," He murmured. "Don't even start thinking it."
To his relief, Athrun managed to smile. "Can't get away with anything, can I..."
Nicol kissed him again, and Athrun shifted enough in response that he jarred Kira's arms, causing him to stir. The other boy's violet eyes blinked open, wondering where he was for a moment, before his vision came into focus and he took in his two friends. A small smile crossed his lips at the sight. "Mmmph...morning already?"
"Sorry," Nicol said contritely, releasing Athrun and sliding back onto the right side of the bed. "You looked so peaceful, Kira. Didn't want to wake you."
"It's fine...it's way better than an alarm clock," Kira said dreamily, prompting both Nicol and Athrun to blush slightly. He batted his eyes at the pair before murmuring, "Are you always going to wake me like this? I'd like that."
"Hah. Only when we feel like spoiling you," Athrun responded affectionately, placing one hand on Kira's chest. The brunette looked adoringly at him, muttering, 'tease'. Athrun smirked in response and continued, "How else am I going to have fun, if I'm not annoying you with a new alarm system?"
Kira's eyes narrowed. "Oh, I can think of a few things..." He said, before trailing off and blushing at the surprised-then-borderline-predatory gleam in Athrun's eyes. "My god, did I just say that out loud?" He stammered; gasping as Athrun's hand wandered down to his stomach, lightly tracing circles on him as it moved. "W-Wha..."
"I like the sound of that," His bluenette lover responded mischievously.
"You've been holding this in for a while, haven't you Athrun?" Nicol asked with a small smirk. "Usually I have to get you drunk to get you this frisky."
Athrun blushed, momentarily distracted from his prize, and protested, "Nick!" Kira's eyes widened momentarily, then he chuckled, silently filing away that little fact for later use – maybe for one of the many parties when this war was over.
"Tell me I'm wrong!" Nicol responded with a laugh. "Kira, you should have seen it – we got three rounds on the house when we graduated with red coat status from the academy. A couple glasses in and Athrun was wasted; though to be fair, so was Yzak – Dearka was the only one relatively in his own mind, and he still thought it was a good idea to hack the sound system and turn on some old rock music." He grinned at the memory. "About the halfway point Athrun had me pinned to the wall, quoting from a soap opera. It was pretty wild...especially once he got it in his head to drag me off to the dorms."
"It's a miracle we weren't caught," Athrun admitted, flushed. Despite his attempts to be professional and/or chivalrous, too much alcohol caused him to adopt tendencies scarily similar to Dearka; a natural charmer.
Kira's imagination was wildly filling in the blanks; if he hadn't felt hot before, he did now. "That sounds exciting." He said, swallowing.
Nicol grinned, the decision solidifying in his mind. He got up, walked around the bed and gave Kira a kiss. The brunette moaned softly before looking up at his other boyfriend with wide eyes. "I'm going to go have a shower," the pianist announced, before winking at the pair. "You two have fun...just remember that the Council's expecting us at noon." With that, he stepped out of the room, grabbing a change of clothes as he went.
There was a short, soft pause...then Athrun turned over and straddled Kira, cupping his face in his hands. "So," the boy whispered to his star crossed partner, "do you want to see heaven?"
**~Several Hours Later~**
"'By giving military and political support to a ZAFT organization, including the landing of troops and provisions, the Orb Union has abandoned its inherit responsibilities as a nation of earth. In light of this, the Earth Alliance demands the following concessions from the Orb Union. First, an immediate renunciation of alliance with this 'True ZAFT' entity and the PLANTs. Second, the resignation of the Union's current government. Third, the disarmament and subsequent demobilization of it's armed forces'." Yuri Amalfi quoted from the manifesto, before placing it on the table in the conference room and taking a deep, steadying breath. Nicol stepped over to his side and placed a concerned hand on his shoulder. "Well...I can't say I was expecting anything less."
Diana Elsman didn't bother to conceal her contempt. "Of all the absurd nonsense those bastards could have come up with...after the announcement of our true intentions, they'd have to be patently ignorant to come up with this."
Uzumi's lip curled; he was visibly struggling to keep his anger under control. "So they demand it come to war. Damn Murata and his ilk! Did he truly expect us to compromise our ideals to become his attack dogs?"
"I'm inclined to think he's hoping we'll refuse," Rondo Ghina Sahaku said idly, his eyes narrow. "Azreal finds violence appealing, and detests our immigration policy. I think he would have come knocking with a list like this even without our new allies in the equation."
Kira scowled at the remark; he knew it was probably true. He had upgraded to a white commander suit to fit his promotion; Athrun stood on his right, still in red, as his capacity as Kira's XO. They stood to the right of Murrue Ramius and Mu la Flaga, now a Captain and Commander respectively of the new Orb air/space force. Nicol was on the left, next to a (for once) serious looking Dearka – they had been inducted into Kira's unit (Athrun had pulled Dearka aside and warned him not to give Kira the kind of trouble he'd gotten himself. Dearka would have made a joke, but Athrun's death serious frown made him decide that discretion was the better part of valour) after some mapping of the forces. Cagalli was next to her father, full of righteous fury.
Captain Heidi Jones and Captain Felicity Marcross were standing on the other side of the room, Heidi scowling, Felicity impassive as ever. Heidi Jones was as tall as Murrue, and in some ways her visual opposite – silver blonde hair similar to Ezaila Joule (ironic, considering her famously low opinion of the other woman) sharp golden eyes, and darker skin – Heidi considered it a point of pride to call herself 'mixed race, twice'. She was dressed in a custom black and white uniform and held her cap in her left (dominant) hand. Felicity, meanwhile, was a shorter woman; Heidi had at least three inches on her. Her bronze hair was cut short not unlike Natarle, and her face and dark eyes were just as stern. Her skin was so pale it made her seem ghostly; it was part of the reason she was called 'the ghost of space' by the EA. Her custom uniform was black and gold and she listened to the absurd demands with only the slight trembling of her right hand betraying her stoicism.
Captain General Tristan Jackson and Jason Campbell, meanwhile, were standing on either side of Seigel Clyne. Tristan shared Diana's visible contempt towards the manifesto and the ones who had written it; despite being in his fifties he looked like he was still thirty five, a mess of brown hair turning silver framing his pale angular face and cool green eyes. He was wearing commander white; having been the first to do so before Rau le Creuset entered ZAFT. Jason, meanwhile, looked his age more – loosing two of his three children to the conflict had exhausted him, though he remained standing with determined purpose. His close cropped black hair was the only thing he shared with his last living child; a plucky young girl with a massive, raging crush on Lacus Clyne. He was dressed fully in black, and he cut a grim spectre compared to the others in the room.
"I think it goes without saying that we're going to ignore this," Rondo Mina Sahaku guessed. She was somewhat less sinister than her brother, and she loved her home country. She had no desire to kowtow to the EA or their Blue Cosmos masters.
"Of course," Uzumi said sternly. "That was never a question. Orb shall never negotiate with terrorists, and with Blue Cosmos controlling them, that is all that the Earth Alliance is."
Lacus nodded severely. To her right, her adoring aide Meer Campbell bounced on her heels and muttered, "Down with the EA!" She was wearing her black hair in a similar style to Lacus's.
Athrun had noticed that the songstress didn't seem to quite understand the attention Meer was giving her. Kira agreed and warned him not to leave the matter entirely in Dearka's hands.
"I know the manifesto says seventy two hours," Miriallia prefaced, before squeaking as everyone turned their attention to her. She had officially been given the job of managing the Archangel's CIC (Natarle's old post) so she was welcome in the meeting. It was something that made her nervous, despite encouragement from both Kira and Murrue. She was wearing standard Orb military uniform, much to her relief – she'd hated the tacky, form fitting pink of the EA equivalent. It drew too much attention to her sexuality. Though given the admiring looks a certain blonde pilot was shooting her whenever he thought she wasn't looking, perhaps this uniform simply did the job better. "but what if they invite themselves in before then?" She managed after a moment. "If this thing is just an extension of a trap, they might try to surprise us."
"We already have a perimeter set up at the border," Tristan said, his tone calm and reassuring while lacking any condescension. Some of the tension left Miriallia's shoulders almost instantly; he hadn't told her outright but the old Captain admired her and the other Heliopolis refugees for stepping up to the plate the way they had in this conflict. "It isn't reinforced, but it will give us a warning if they do attack early."
"They'll be after Kaguya first and foremost," Jason noted calmly. His voice was a deep baritone, strong and commanding. "Therefore the heaviest fighting will hit Onogoro island."
"The Ashtrays will be concentrated there, along with Commander Yamato and his unit. The Eternal and Odin's Lance will provide air support." Tristan offered. Odin's Lance was his command ship; one of the biggest of the older classes. Old, but not obsolete described the man and his unit to a T. "The Archangel and Blizzard will be taking on the approaching sea and aircraft at the ocean border."
Jason bowed his hand and turned towards Murrue. "Captain Ramius? You find this acceptable?"
"Of course, sir." Murrue responded. "I'd be grateful for any assistance."
Jason snorted, a rare smile crossing his face. "Considering the stories I've heard about your ship, Captain, you may be the one assisting me."
"I, will take that as a compliment, Captain Campbell. You flatter us."
"It's not a matter of flattery, Miss – it's the simple fact that logically, you and your men should not have survived your trek to and across Earth. Yet not only have you done so, but you have also won all your engagements. This is your time, Miss Ramius; if you would show an old man the way, he would be grateful." Jason said this all with utmost seriousness, and there was a spark of admiration in his eyes. Meer looked mildly jealous to see it; she knew her father was a hard man to impress.
Murrue blushed slightly; it was high praise coming from one of the most weathered and experienced men in the system. "I'd be happy to, sir."
Uzumi politely cleared his throat and pointed at the map again. "Captain Jones, Captain Macross, you and your forces will take the east and the west. Keep one eye on the sky; I don't expect to see any of ZAFT joining the fight, but if they do, fighting on two fronts could back some of our forces into a corner."
"Understood, Lord Uzumi," Felicity said coolly. "None will get past us." Heidi added, clenching her fingers on her cap.
"Evacuating the citizens should be our first priority," Siegel said, his concern on that situation very audible. "Unfortunately, the land and sea routes are likely being cut off by the Earth Alliance. Does Onogoro still have underground bunkers?"
Uzumi closed his eyes. "There are some, yes, but they'll need to be cleared out, and there aren't enough to contain the entire civilian population of Orb. A country-wide evacuation under these circumstances hasn't been seen as a possibility for generations."
"I'll tell DeCosta, Aisha and the men to start emptying them," Andrew Waltfeld offered. "Even if they can't take everyone, it's better than nothing. Women and children take priority."
"Yes...of course. I leave it in your hands, Commander Waltfeld." Uzumi said with a nod. The Desert Tiger immediately pulled out his phone and started to speak with his protege.
**~Elsewhere~**
"Shinn!"
"Mayu!"
"She'll be fine, kid!" The soldier promised the young man, pulling him away from the door of the cramped school bus. The girl tried to get off, to stay with her family, but was stopped by the driver closing the door on her. The ZAFT man was sympathetic but stern; there were a lot of people to wrangle and not enough transport or time."It's going to be fine! You're both going to the same place, but that bus has hit capacity! You'll just have to take the next one!"
Shinn Asuka swallowed hard, watching as the camo-coloured vehicle containing his beloved little sister started to drive away. Mayu was pounding on the window, crying out for him and her parents. Maybe she annoyed him and didn't want to share her video games and forced him to play with her stuffed animals, but he loved her a lot, and the stark realization that they were both in danger had awakened a number of instincts he'd never had a need for before. "Take care of her!" He yelled after the bus as it turned onto the already crowded roads, honking at the civilian cars. "Don't let anything happen to her!"
His mother sobbed and pulled him into a hug from behind; Shinn grabbed her arm and looked fearfully up at her. He'd never seen his parents cry or act upset; they always tried to project calm or happiness for the sake of their children.
"Come on, Shinn," His father said encouragingly, though he sounded like he was speaking around a lump in his throat. "There will be another bus in a moment; let's get you in line."
"Just me? But what about you?" Shinn asked. His father shook his head and started pulling his son through the throngs of people pushing and shoving and crying out, cramming the once tranquil sidewalk. They weren't the only family there – school children ranging from Shinn's age to little kids about four or five were being hustled from their homes to be taken to the shelters. Often their mothers were with them, but sometimes when there wasn't enough space the older women would give their spots up for others.
"I'm going to go and help at Morganrate," His father responded decisively. "They're undermanned, considering what's coming."
"Then take me with you!" Shinn protested. "I want to help to!"
"No, Shinn!" His father snapped, turning and placing both hands on the younger boy's shoulders. As typical for him, Shinn immediately opened his mouth to argue, but the man went on stridently, "I need you to be somewhere safe; I won't be of any use to anyone unless I'm sure you're going to make it out of this."
"I'm strong, dad." Shinn insisted, digging his heels into the ground and forcing them to stop for a moment. "I could do more, and I want to."
"Do this for me, Shinn!" His father responded sharply. The next bus showed up at that moment; Shinn's mother pushed him from behind and herded him towards the bus. "You have to live, you understand? If something happens to us, who will take care of Mayu if not you?!"
Shinn gulped as he considered that. A rush of anger spiked in his heart, clearing his mind. "I...I wouldn't let anything happen to her!"
His father managed a smile. "I know you won't! But you have to be alive to do that – so go!"
Shinn boarded the bus near the front, leaning against the window and staring into the sky. He imagined it full of Skygraspers and EA airships, here to destroy the only home he'd known...here to destroy him, his sister, his family – everything that mattered to him. His hands curled into fists, clenching deep enough to draw blood, and his teeth were set on edge. Damn those racist monsters...! Do they really hate us that much? The cracking of the sound barrier caught his attention. Shinn looked up, out the window where many of the other kids were pointing and calling out in awe.
His breath hitched as he saw something magnificent...The Freedom, flying overhead. He'd seen footage of the magnificent machine fighting at Alaska, despite the EA's best attempt to suppress any images of it. He thought it looked like an angel, an avatar of protective strength. Following it was the Justice, the Blitzkrieg, Grand Buster, and several next generation ZAKUs of varying colours.
And all at once, Shinn knew where he wanted to be the minute he got out of this bunker.
End Chapter
I never figured out why Uzumi Nara Athha waited until THE MIDDLE OF THE FINAL BATTLE to evacuate his citizens. It made me genuinely dislike him and side with Shinn in Destiny - he knew that the EA was going to come in guns blazing, that Murata Azreal would be taking over once he lost (which he knew about) yet he didn't take any precautions for the civilians who would be in harms way until AFTER the horrible damage was already done? I guess Orb's principles and ideals (gah, hated getting that mantra constantly shoved down my throat in Destiny!) were more important than the living people who needed protection to him...
Read and Review please!
