Legacy Saga

Legacy Saga

Gundam Seed

Afterward the almost too brief, but relieving moment they shared, Kira and Flay lay on the bed together in each other's arms. Flay was exhausted, sleeping on top of Kira, who held her close.

"…Oh Kira…" Flay spoke out in her dream and nuzzled closer.

Kira stroke her head, a bit, and then fell asleep. He's never felt this way for anyone. As sleep overcame him, he swore that he will do everything he can to protect her and those he cared about.

In the distant, the ZAFT were already getting prepared for to attack the Archangel. They had known of the Archangel since it had landed three days ago, but refrained from taking action. They were observing it until the time was right to strike it.

"So that's the famous Archangel I've heard so much about?" The commander of the group said

"Yes, sir, it's been silent since it got here." The officer looking through the binocular said.

The man who was observing looked back to his commander, a man who had brown hair and was drinking from a cup of coffee. This man so happens to be Andrew Waltfield, an infamous ZAFT commander in the African region. He might not always look it, but he is said to be a great commander, a prowling "tiger" on his prey, hence the nickname people have given him, the "Desert Tiger"

Andrew took another drink from his cup and then made a weird reaction as if something had dawn on him.

"Wow…" Andrew said causing his subordinate to look back at the Archangel, thinking his commander saw something.

"What is it, sir?"

"I just realized that the mocha beams I added in this one are a really good mix." Andrew walked down the hill with the subordinate following behind.

On the other side of the dune were several tanks, a squad of attack helicopters and five BuCUEs. BuCUEs were land type Mobile Suits that were four legged machines, making look like huge dogs. They were all in the color blue. Each had their own configuration of weapons, like missile pods or twin laser cannons on their backs.

The dunes were hard to walk down, but Andrew preferred to slide down the hill as casually as possible. He was an eccentric man, whose personality doesn't always suit a war zone. He had finished his cup and tossed it back to the man following him and walked up to his troops.

"Alright everyone, time to begin the operation and attack the new Earth forces ship, Archangel. The goal is to evaluate the power of this ship as well as the Mobile Suits aboard."

"Can we just destroy them?" one of the pilots asked with great overconfidence.

Andrew smiled a bit,

"Hmmm, if you can, go for it, but take note that not even Colonel Creuset was able to take it out and his forces were the ones that wiped out the 8th Fleet. Keep that in mind. Godspeed to you all."

Everyone saluted and Andrew saluted back, but then he waved them off and walked off to his jeep. His subordinate took command and sent everyone out.

"Everyone to your machines!"

Andrew sat and savored the cup of coffee he had.

"Mmmm, a nice cup of coffee to start off a battle." Andrew then took on a more serious expression, "Alright, let's go."

Phase-9

The Sahara

"Sometimes, it's not about winning. It's about how well you play the game."

-- Treize Khushrenada,

The Archangel was preparing again for whatever would be coming. It was late and most of the crew were sleeping or were about to sleep. It was more difficult for those who were waking up from only a few hours of sleep and changing shifts.

In the hanger, Murdoch and Flaga were making final adjustments on one of the Skygraspers.

"We can't make the right corrections 'til we get to Alaska. I can try to get them both online anyway, but it'll take more time."

"Then let's get started."

Van was in his room, reading a letter from someone. There was a picture on the desk that came with the letter. It was a picture of a woman on a hospital bed. She was holding a baby in her arms, with the pink color of the blanket that wraps around the baby telling that it is a girl. Jacen had set the letter down and went out for a walk, remembering the last line of the letter.

'Your sister will be named, Leto…'

Tolle and Mille had woken to change shifts with the others. Tolle, who was unaccustomed to getting up so early and not getting too much sleep, was still yawning and trying to wake up entirely. Mille came out, all finished with putting on her clothes and sighed at how poor Tolle was.

"Come on, put your clothes on right," Mille said as she went to fix Tolle's shirt. Tolle was still half asleep and could reply to her with another yawn. "You will be scowled at by the Captain if you go up like this."

Van walked around the corner and ran into the two. Tolle managed to salute the guy, and Van respectful saluted back. Then, Van smiled at Tolle's condition and almost chuckled.

"Try to be awake if the enemy attacks, Tolle."

"Right, yes sir."

"Where are you headed?"

"We are starting our morning shifts on the bridge, sir." Mille answered for Tolle since he was trying to not fall over.

"Well, I'm going to the bridge too. Why don't we all walk there together?"

Sai was wondering around the corner and ran into the three who were about to head to the bridge.

"Have you two seen Flay?"

"No, I thought she would be in her room." Mille said

"I tried, but she didn't answer."

"She's probably as tired as we are. She's been taking care of Kira non stop…" Tolle let out a loud yawn again,

"Man, this soldier thing isn't me."

"Well, sorry to bother you guys." Sai walked off.

Tolle and Mille walked with Van to the bridge. Tolle leaned to Mille to tell talk to her.

"Never thought that it would be the fiancé that gets dumped."

"I didn't really saw it coming. Those two seemed so happy together, but it seemed that all this had changed everyone, but even so…Flay has not been acting like herself. It's like she's a changed person."

"Yeah," All Tolle could say

"You know, she never hated Kira before. It must be her hatred for Coordinators."

"Even though she's one year our junior, it wasn't unusual bumping into her in school since you two were in the same crowds. Kira's always saying sometimes how cute she is. I think he's never found the courage to go for it before Sai and Flay were arranged. Now with her change of heart I wonder will something more develop between Kira and Flay."

"Yeah," All Mille was able to say.

Natarle Badgiruel was in her room, thinking to herself and looking at several pictures from a photo album. It contained many picture about her past life back during the first Great War as Lucrezia Noin. She had married Milliardo Peacecraft a few years after the war, but they had never gotten the chance to have children. She remembers fighting along side the Gundam pilots back during the war, and alongside Van's father and mother, Jacen and Laura. She alone is one of the few that knows the true events that happened on the black year of AC 208 when the old Earth government fell and peace was lost. She looked at the ring she wore that Milliardo had given to her.

On the bridge, Kuzzey was given a crash course on how the radar system works and why they keep getting interference in combat. Then Tolle and Mille entered the bridge with Van in tow.

"Change shifts," Mille said

"You're late," Tonomura said

"Sorry about that, we got hung up," Mille said glaring at Tolle, who smiled a bit.

Kuzzey was looking at a map that displays all the Neutron Jammers across the globe. They were the one major thing that prevents the Earth forces from gaining a military advantage with nuclear power.

"Can't we get rid of those things?" Kuzzey asked

"It's really hard to do so. ZAFT has employed so many of these devices that we weren't able to even keep count. If it was possible, we would have done that now. All those NJs might even cause permanent damage to the planet's electrical field and energy, but it's also good for us. If there was ever a nuclear retaliation after Junius 7, Earth might not be like this now."

Just then, Ramius entered the bridge holding a tray of water for everyone who was on duty.

"Anything?" Ramius asked

"No, nothing, Cap." Neumann said

Tonomura was still working when Ramius handed him a bottle.

"Are the figures out yet?"

"Yes, thanks," He takes the water and drinks from the straw. "Though they are just preliminary tests, the results are well within the average range. Object-"

Tonomura had then let go of his bottle after he moved it aside, being too used to zero-g, and expected the bottle to stay afloat, but the bottle had landed on the floor.

"Oops, I forgot where we are."

Van had went over and picked up the man's bottle and gave it back.

"Well, someone's spend too much time in Space." Van said as he went over to reveal the results of the tests. "Have our sensors detected the field or the mines?"

"What about fields and mines?"

"According to pre-war information, there is supposed to be an oil field or natural gas mine nearby. If we land around or on top of an oil or gas field, we might be in trouble."

Just then, there was a warning alarm and it sent the entire bridge crew on alert.

"This ship has been laser targeted!" Neumann shouted, "Detecting enemies 5,000 kilometers to our rear!"

Ramius went to her chair and sat.

"Red alert! All hands to battle station!"

"Level 1 combat has been issued! All hands report to their assigned stations!" Kuzzey shouted through the internal comm. "I repeat! All hands level 1 battle stations!"

Everyone who was asleep had bolted out of their rooms, barely able to get their shirts on and rushed to their posts. Flaga was in his room, drinking some coffee and jumped out his chair, grabbing his jacket and rushing out his door, but not before spilling his hot coffee on the floor.

Kira was sound asleep, having covered the bed sheets over him and Flay and held her close. Then, he heard the alarm and almost jumped out of bed, disturbing Flay from her sleep.

"The enemy?" Kira shouted and he got out of bed, rushing to put his clothes back on that was scattered all over the floor.

Flay sat up, rubbing her eyes and seeing that Kira was dressed.

"Kira? What is it?" Flay asked sleepily.

"Sorry to wake you, Flay. The enemy is here. I have to go!" Kira had finished buttoning up his shirt and went back to Flay to give her a kiss, "Everything will be alright."

"Please be safe, Kira."

"I will!" Then, he left the room in a mad dash to the hanger.

The ship was being bombarded with missile fire. After the first wave of missiles stopped, Ramius looked back up at the main screen.

"Report!"

"The enemy's first wave of missiles has hit us. They've stopped for now!"

"Where are they firing from? Get a lock and return fire!" Ramius looked back at Pal, "Can we get our shields up!"

"No, ma'am! Shields are still down!" Pal shouted, "And our sensors are being jammed!"

"The attacks came from the shadows! I can't get a lock on their location!" Chandra shouted

"Have all fighters ready for launch at once! Have our Mobile Suits ready. Send scouts to recon the area of the enemy's positions!"

On the hanger, the ship's current fighters, Spearheads, were being prepped for combat. The ship had about ten F-7D Spearheads

"All pilots scramble!" The hanger controller shouted through the PA as pilots and techs ran across the deck. "I repeat! All pilots scramble!"

The pilots rushed to their fighters and readied to launch. Two fighters were already for launch and were on the catapults.

Andrew Waltfield was watching on his jeep with great anticipation. He was itching to test the mettle of the Archangel. He saw that the Archangel had opened its hanger doors to launch two of its fighters out.

"All right, let's begin!"

Andrew's second in command, Martin Da Costa, picked up his radio and ordered their forces to attack.

"Attack helicopters advance now!"

From behind then, three attack helicopters lifted off and headed toward the Archangel. The Archangel's scout fighters saw the enemy coming.

"We got 3 bandits coming from the east!" the lead scout radioed back to the ship. "Looks like Agiles. We are now engaging the enemy!"

The two Spearheads fired their missiles and machine guns, taking out one of the "Agile" attack helicopters. The two fighters banked left and made a quick pass to finish the other remaining ones off, but they had retreated behind dunes and the darkness was too black for anyone to see a thing.

"This is Alpha 1! Lost sight on bogeys!"

Alpha one and two, swing back to the Archangel and cover the area! Badgiruel shouted over the radio, Watch out for surprise attacks from the dunes! We can't see anything! What yourselves!

"Roger that, Archangel! Alpha 1 and 2 returning!"

In the hanger of the Archangel, Flaga was trying to hurry with the preparations of his new fighter, but the Skygrasper was far from ready. Murdoch and his team were busy like ants trying to finish putting the huge fighter together.

"Aren't you being a little rash?" Murdoch asked, "There isn't even enough time to load the ammunition!"

"Then let's hurry up! We're getting our asses kicked out there!"

Van and Kira had rushed into the hanger and ran to their units, prepping them for battle.

On the bridge, the crew saw more "Agiles" fly towards them. Eight more were coming from all directions.

"Five more Agiles at 5 o'clock! Three from our rear!" Neumann shouted

The new "Agiles" fired their load of missiles and hid behind the protections of the sand dunes.

"Missiles approaching!"

"Countermeasures!" Ramius shouted

One of the missiles knocked out the left wing of one of the Spearheads and it fell from the sky from the damage and exploded from the crash.

"We've lost Alpha two!"

Kira called the bridge, impatient to get out for some action,

"I'm ready to go!" Kira shouted

"We're not sure of the enemy's location or strength, yet!" Badgiruel shouted, "Charging blindly won't help us!"

"Then let me and Van go find out!"

"Captain?" Natarle asked the Ramius

"You need to work on your interpersonal skills, Lieutenant." Ramius said half annoyed with Kira's new attitude, "Let them launch and send out a few more fighters to back them up!"

"Open hanger doors." Badgiruel said, "Strike and Escaflowne will proceed to eliminate enemy elements in the area. Spearheads will provide support!"

Kira had equipped his unit with the Launcher pack, the one armed with the powerful beam cannon.

"Strike and Escaflowne, you are both cleared for launch!" Mille shouted

Escaflowne took to the air while Kira landed on the ground, but realized that his unit was ready for how much the Earth's gravity had on it. His unit was having problems getting a hold on the loose ground. He tried to aim at his targets, but the "Agiles" took cover behind the dunes again right after they fired another volley of missiles at him.

Escaflowne flew high, trying to get a layout, but saw only darkness, even with his night vision on.

"Alpha 1 and two, take flanking positions. The enemy is here somewhere."

Andrew and Martin watched the battle unfold.

"That must be the X-105 Strike," Andrew said, then he looked up, "And that is the Escaflowne…impressive machines…Let loose the BuCUEs…let's see what happens next."

Kira had landed on another dune, but the sands collapse beneath him and his suit was unable to adjust to the environment. Then, Kira looked up to see three BuCUEs jump on him like wild cats, knocking him flat on the ground. Van turned his unit back and saw Kira needed help. He flew back and gave Kira some cover, fending off the BuCUEs.

The Archangel was powerless to provide Kira or Van with any support, as they were pinned down and the two were beyond accurate firing range.

"TMF/A-802s BuCUEs!" Sai said from his computer's readout.

Kira readied his cannon again and readied to fire, but when he did, he was unable to get a solid lock on his enemies. Even Van was having a hard time keeping track of the enemy.

"Heh, I don't care what it was able to do in Space," one of the BuCUE pilot said, "On Earth the BuCUE is the king of the battlefield!"

Badgiruel had enough of watching and looked to Pal, knowing that she had to make a fast decision at once if they were to save the two out there.

"Ready torpedoes!"

"But, ma'am, both the Strike and the Escaflowne might get hit by friendly fire!"

"They have their PS armor on. The torpedoes won't hurt them if they get hit. We can't cover them just by watching. Give them some cover fire!"

"Kira, Van, get out of the way!" Mille shouted to the two, but the torpedoes had launched, but the BuCUEs had evaded the attack.

Andrew was intrigued with the new tactic that the Archangel would risk friendly fire in order to drive back the enemy.

"The commander of that ship either doesn't care about the pilots of those suits…or he trusts their abilities completely."

Knowing that staying on the unstable ground was a death wish for him, Kira jumped up to the air and tried to stay their as he tried to get a better shot at the enemies. Van flew his Gundam on the sands as if he was skating on them and took out one of his beam saber, then ignited it and slide right under a BuCUE and diced it in half.

While Kira was falling again back to the ground, he rushed as quickly as he can to reconfigure his unit to respond as if it were a desert type. He needed to work quickly as he was almost saying the equations and numbers out loud,

"If the ground pressure falls, adjust the settings, making sure that the pressure level will push the molecular standard to -20…and for friction coefficient, if I estimate the pressure differential…I can set the sand's fluidity at -20 as well…"

Van fired his rifle again and looked back at Kira as he was about to hit the sands again.

"Watch out, Kira!"

Strike had landed back on the sand, but it has gain a better foothold on the loose ground and was walking solidly on firm ground. Just then, a BuCUE was about to jump him again, but Kira reacted quickly enough and bent his knee then launched it at the BuCUE, sending it flying back. Another BuCUE came behind him, but Kira swung his cannon around like a bat and swat the MS out of the sky and into the sands. The BuCUE was trying to get up, but Kira stepped on him with his feet and points his weapon at it.

"Die, you bastard!" Kira shouted as he fired

The other BuCUE went back and fired at where the Strike was when it destroyed the first BuCUE, but Kira had ducked his MS and used it as a foothold for Van, who ran and jumped off Kira's back and fired his rifle at the BuCUEs cockpit.

Andrew was watching the battle and was quite intrigued by what he was seeing.

"Hmmm…Can that pilot really be human to turn his Mobile Suit's motor program to desert conditions in such a short time?" He watched and then without looking to Martin, "Radio the Lesseps to attack the enemy with their main cannon."

The other BuCUE flew back and attack,

"Damn it, they got Marek and Josh!" the last BuCUE fired all his missiles, but Kira armed his powerful and large Vulcan cannon and destroyed the incoming missiles, then jumped up to avoid being rammed.

Not too far away, the ZAFT land battleship, Lesseps, was readying to attack. It aimed its four twin cannons and fired at where the Archangel was.

Flaga's Skygrasper was ready to attack,

"I'm ready to move out with my wing!"

"Captain!" Pal shouted, "Heat source detected at starboard side! Looks like cannon fire!"

"Evasive actions! Takes us away from our current position!"

The Archangel moved almost violently to avoid the shells from the Lesseps.

"Where the hell did those come from?" Badgiruel shouted

"20 kilometers southwest! Looks like a battleship!"

Flaga then raised the bridge again.

"Let me go out with my wing. We'll set the trajectory of your attack from our recon of where the enemy battleship is! Don't hit us as well when you attack."

Flaga and three more Spearhead were loaded onto the catapult and launched out.

"Captain! Second wave of missiles!"

"Evade!"

Kira looked at the approaching missiles and drew upon a different kind of power from within and looked back up almost blank eyes. He fired up his jets and took to the air and when the last BuCUE tired to follow, he gave it a punch and sent it falling back to the ground, but didn't even give it a chance to crash before he fired his cannon on it, causing it to rain a shower of Mobile Suit debris. Then he fired several well placed shots from his cannon and the beams intercepted the missiles coming to bear on the Archangel. This gave everyone including Andrew a shock.

Inside the Archangel, Flay had been watching the battle through the screen next to her bed. She showed no reaction to what was happening; only chanting about Kira.

"He'll protect me…Kira's protecting us…"

Several more BuCUEs had appeared and Van and Kira were hard pressed.

"Strike's energy levels are entering the red zone!" Mille shouted

Andrew looked at a data pad he was holding and reviewing what it has on Strike.

"This doesn't say much about the limits of the Escaflowne unit, but that other one's power is almost use up…I should finish him off…"

Kira was being pressed hard down by enemy fire and only Van was able to shield him.

"Shit, Kira! We're surrounded!" Van shouted

"Got any bright ideas?" Kira shouted back

"Let's break through the center and go back to the Archangel to reload our ammo and energy!"

Just then, a rocket from an unknown source flew into one of the "Agiles" and destroyed it. Everyone looked in the direction of where the sun was about to rise, and saw about a dozen jeeps and HUMVEES, all armed with rocket launchers or large machine guns on their roofs giving Strike and Escaflowne cover fire.

One of the drivers of the HUMVEES was a familiar blonde girl who turned on her radio to Kira.

"If you fellows want to live, follow us. There are booby traps about a couple kilometers ahead. Go there and lure the enemy MS's with you."

Martin was extremely worried about their situation now,

"Sir, it's the Desert Dawn resistance!"

Kira and Van gave each other a look as the rebel forces led the way.

"Well, I guess we have little choice." Van thrusts first and Kira followed with the BuCUEs following behind them.

Kira and Van had landed on what looked like to be a deep valley and then jumped out of there before the BuCUEs were able to catch up. Then they landed on the coordinates given to them.

"Ok, now all we have to do is wait for the right moment." Van said

"Call it, Van!"

The BuCUEs jumped and were ready to pounce on them.

"Ok….now!" Van and Kira jumped away and the BuCUEs landed on the trap.

"Time to spring the trap!" the girl pressed a detonator and several large explosions ignited all around the BuCUEs and destroyed them all in a huge fire storm.

Kira and Van landed back on the ground when the explosion died down, and parts of destroyed BuCUEs stopped falling from the sky. Kira's Strike had powered down and he was exhausted as was Van who also powered down his Gundam.

Andrew Waltfield had enough of watching and walked away.

"Retreat for now. Pull back all remaining forces."

The Archangel Bridge crew was stunned by what just happened.

"Captain, Colonel Flaga had reported that the enemy ship is the Lesseps and is retreating!" Mille said

"The Lesseps?" Ramius was almost as surprised as Badgiruel was confused.

"What is a Lesseps?"

"It's the mothership of the ZAFT's North African troop commander, Andrew Waltfield…one also called, the Desert Tiger."

The sun was rising on the horizon and the new day has come at last. The Archangel had moved itself to a clearer area of the desert and the Escaflowne and Strike were positioned on the left and right of the ship. Some of the Spearheads that had left the ship had landed vertically on the middle deck of the ship, where they can easily ready themselves for combat. A few others had left the ship to scout for more enemy contacts.

The resistance group, calling themselves the "Desert Dawn", had parked themselves in front of the Archangel with several others on the hills around them to provide them with cover. The military vehicles that the group were using, mostly like stolen from ZAFT or Alliance bases had parked themselves in neat formations and the main one where the girl, who had commanded the group, had parked in the middle.

Kira took a look at the girl who seemed to stand out from the others. He could tell from her hair, the color of her skin and just the way she carried herself that she was not born or raised in these parts. He zoom his camera to get a closer look and noticed that she was the same girl he had helped back on Heliopolis. Kira wondered why she was doing here.

Flaga had landed his Skygrasper into the hanger and stepped out to meet Ramius and Natarle in one of the airlocks. They were followed by a security detail, armed with assault rifles and handguns. They weren't taking any chances with even people that would help them out of the blue.

"A resistance group?" Flaga guessed

"I think so," Natarle said

"Think they are friendly?"

"Well at least they aren't pointing guns at our faces like our ZAFT hosts. We might get some help from these people if we negotiate well with them. They must have found us to be of some interest to risk their lives to save us."

"Well feel free, Captain. I'm bad at diplomacy."

"I can tell from all the other times you tried to 'bargain' with people, except you rely on your gut instead of your head."

"Well, look where that gut instinct got us!"

Ramius went to the door and pressed the code to open, which unsealed the hatch and blew in the hot air of the Sahara into their faces as if they had opened a hot oven door.

"Let me think, that gut of yours got us here." Ramius smiled a bit before she walked out with a more serious business look.

Flaga had moved first, tapping his gun that was holstered at his side ever so casually to make sure he had his piece on him.

"I am Captain Murrue Ramius of the ISS Archangel...We thank you all for your help. How may we repay your kindness?"

As Kira had guessed from his cockpit, an older man who was the most likely representative of the group instead of the girl stepped forward.

"We are called the 'Dawn of the Desert'." The older, more distinguished man said in a deep tone of voice. His English had an England accent to it, meaning he had learned it from the English no doubt which was common in the area, "…Our enemies commonly call us just simply, 'Desert Dawn'. I am the Sebu Asuma. You don't have to thank us. We were just shooting at our enemies."

Flaga never want to keep quiet in an open negotiation, so he stepped forward to have his say.

"Well, even so, we thank you for your support."

Sebu walked closer to Flaga and narrowed his eyes almost suspiciously.

"You look familiar, sir…"

"I'm Mwu La Flaga…but, I don't think we've met."

Sebu let out a small laugh,

"Heh, never though that I meet the legendary 'Eagle'."

"You seem to be well informed about us." Ramius said cautiously, but in a friendly manner.

"We've been watching you since you got here, but refrained from revealing ourselves until now when the enemy attacked." Sebu then looked at the Archangel and seemed to marvel in its size and likeness. "The Archangel, the newest battleship of the Imperial Alliance. This was the same ship that had survived several close encounters from the infamous Creuset team. Feats like that don't go unnoticed even in these parts of the world."

Sebu then looked at Escaflowne, and seemed to size it up.

"The Escaflowne, the advanced Mobile Suits piloted by the Prince of the Alliance, Van Fanel, and this other one," Sebu said looking at Strike, but the girl standing next to him spoke out before he was able to,

"The GAT-X 105 unit, also known as Strike. A prototype of the Earth forces' latest mobile weapon."

Sebu moved a little so that he would not let the girl reveal too much of herself,

"So, as you can see, we all know what we are dealing with here. So what do you guys plan to do?"

Ramius and Flaga looked to each other and then back to Sebu,

"We would like to ask you people to help us."

Sebu looked at the two with one of his eyebrows up high and then spoke out in a casual, but almost sarcastic tone,

"Well…if you want to talk then I suggest you put away your guns." Sebu grinned a bit, "We have set aside our arms…I suggest you people do the same…And that goes for the pilots of all your machines…I want them all to step put of their machines."

Ramius inhaled deeply another batch of hot air into her lungs and the sigh,

"Very well…Lieutenant…Major…and all Spearhead pilots, please power down and step out of your units."

Van had taken off his helmet and then took off the safety belts around him. He had grabbed his sword and wore it to his side before he exist his Gundam. Kira did the same, and noting Van's precaution, he had made sure his gun was also at his side before he stepped down from Strike, but unlike Van, Kira had left his helmet on when he grabbed the cable and lowered himself down.

Everyone had paid as much attention to Van when he approached them as with Kira who slowed took off his helmet, revealing to everyone that Kira was not some top of the line elite pilot of the military, but some boy that wasn't even at the age to drink or smoke a cigarette. The resistance group was more surprised at Kira then with Van since they all know his face and his apparent age. The girl was especially shocked to see Kira since she had burned to memory of the same boy who had helped her back at Heliopolis.

The girl ran to Kira to get a better look and was reconfirmed that it was Kira, the boy she didn't get his name before he sent her down to the escape pods.

"You!" the girl shouted and Kira had an almost equal reaction

"You?" but Kira was more confused in why she was here than seeing her again.

"I…I thought you were just some student at the school! Why are you piloting that thing?"

Kira looked closer to the girl to reconfirm who she was and it was unmistaken. She was the girl he had met on the colony and had saved.

"You were the one I saw back at the lab. Why are you here?"

"I would like to ask you the same question!"

Before the unusual moment could go on, a tall man, with tan skinned and long black hair called out to the girl.

"Cagalli…" The man said the girl's name and then turned to walk away.

The girl, Cagalli, walked away back in line with the others.

Elsewhere at the ZAFT military base at Morocco, Yzak and Dearka were talking to their commander, Creuset through long range. Rau Le Creuset was heading back to PLANT with Athrun and Nicol, while these two were to stay on Earth.

"Well, I'm glad to see you both have reached the safety of the base. It's going to be hard on you two, but be on your best behavior. Your performance on Earth will reflect on him."

"Hey, come on, sir. We almost died back there. Don't remind us." Dearka said with his usual flare

"Well, it was a shame that we weren't able to take out 'Longlegs' or the Strike. Though it is a partial blessing that he two of you will be here and will pursue after them until I am ordered back. I wish you two the best of luck."

The screen went dark, showing the insignia of ZAFT and then went to what the screen was showing before.

"I guess that means we aren't going back home for a while now…" Dearka said, "Man, I was really looking for some shore leave…So, you think we'll get the chance to find that ship and that Mobile Suit?"

Yzak was silent for the whole time and then began to remove the protective patch that had covered about a third of his face and his right eye. Dearka jumped from his chair.

"Hey, wait Yzak! You can't take it off now. It's not done healing!"

The patch was to provide the Yzak keep it on and in time, his wound would be completely healed without a scratch on him, but he had taken it off too soon and there was a massive scar across the upper right part of his face, going down from the right side of his nose and all the way to his right cheek. His eye was destroyed in the explosion that injured him, but thanks to modern technology, he was given a biomechanical eye that function like any ordinary one, except for the fact that it looked a bit weird compared to his left eye, which was still the real thing. Yzak was building up his temper again and was ready to kill anyone who resembles Kira.

"If there is a chance will you?" Yzak asked the almost screamed out loud, "I'm, sure I will take it!"

The Archangel was led to a canyon part of the area and had to navigate through the tough terrain, since it was hard to fit such a huge ship in between the canyons. The ship had scratched itself along the walls and grinded parts of its wings into the rocks a bit a few times.

After the ship was safely docked, Kira was put to work in pulling camouflage over the ship in order to obscure it from the watchful eyes that ZAFT has if they ever recon the area.

Ramius, Flaga, Natarle, and Van had left the ship, following the man Sebu inside the rebel base. They had entered what looks to be a command center, where there were computers hooked together on tables and on the walls with a tactical table in the center. A part of the wall they were facing at the other end was a large screen, for the moment blank. Flaga was impressed at the set up of the rebel base, then he noticed the same girl, Cagalli, was sitting in front of a computer with a boy about her age, talking and discussing while they work on the computers.

"Nice place you have here." Van said

"This is our front line base camp." Sebu said as he drank a cup of coffee, "All our homes are in the towns and villages not too far off…before most of them were burnt down by ZAFT. I'm sure your sensors were able to detect what remains of those towns. The largest of them were Tashau and Banadia. We were all once separate community, but we have all united together to fight."

He filled his cup again,

"How about a cup of coffee? Please help yourselves."

"Umm, we'll be counting on you to help with the ship." Ramius said

Sebu then remembered Cagalli walked passed her back when they met with the Archangel. She had ordered him to let the Archangel stay with them and he had complied as if she was a superior officer. Flaga and Van had both silently noted the relationship and wondered how a young girl would how so much power.

"Who is she?" Flaga asked, gesturing to Cagalli, who was oblivious of the meeting behind her.

"Her?" Sebu asked, "She's our goddess of victory."

"Really?" Flaga asked, "Does your goddess have a name?"

Sebu shrugged a bit, not wanting to give that even. Then, Van looked at with his dark blue eyes,

"She's a deity after all…it's not very proper to have a nameless goddess walking around."

"Hmp, her name is Cagalli Yula." Sebu said finally. He had then changed the subject by pressing a button on the tactical table that made the room a little dark. The table changed to a large map of the world with their position glowing red, which tells them they were in the middle of Libya. "You guys were on your way to Alaska, right?"

Sebu began to tell them about the area they were in and what they would have to face to get to where they have to go.

Outside, on top of a cliff, Kira had finished covering the Archangel with the camouflage and had sat the Strike down on the side of the cliff and then left the comforts of the cockpit to sit outside, looking around the area. The hot desert air had blew passed him with some dust and the sun seem to have been getting hotter as noon approaches. Sai was helping Kira and was packing up the equipment and taking them back to the ship.

"I'll be going back. See ya later."

Sai then passed Cagalli, who walked up the hill to see Kira.

"Sorry for my outburst. I was just caught up in a wave of emotion…please forgive me…" Cagalli said with a degree of difficulty from her voice, as if she never had to apologize to a soul in her life or at least meant it, which Kira suddenly found funny, "What is so funny?"

"Heh…nothing," Kira got up from his seat ad patted his pants to rid himself of the sand.

"I have wondered what happened to you since then back at the colony….I wondered if you had survived when the colony was destroyed."

Kira had remembered that moment when the two parted as if it were yesterday.

"I never though I find you out here and most certainly not piloting that thing. So you are an Imperial soldier. Never saw that coming from my impression of you."

"A lot of things have happened since then…a lot…" Kira said, remembering all those moments that had led him to this point.

Since Heliopolis, Kira had killed nearly a dozen of his own fellow Coordinators and fought four former friends he had known that were Coordinators as well, maiming one in a battle. He had pointed his beam rifle at Athrun when he returned Lacus to him and had pointed his gun for the first time to someone, to Murrue Ramius back at Heliopolis. It has been tough for him to accept and to cope with his situation.

"What about you?" Kira finally asked, changing the subject, "What are you doing here? Of my impression of you, I never figure this would be your home. I thought you were from Orb, like I was."

Cagalli thought for a second, before thinking of the right answer, but knowing that she didn't have a good answer for Kira. She was really here because she felt like it. She had asked her guardian, Kisaka, who had wanted to go back to his native land to fight. Cagalli to all too convincing and wounded up in the middle of a loosing war between the local resistance and ZAFT.

"I'm here for my own reasons. That's all I can tell you."

In the command center, Sebu continued to tell his new Imperial acquaintances about the area.

"Even though this is under ZAFT jurisdiction, we don't really see many of their forces everywhere. See, usually this is quite a remote area for any ZAFT military operations, but that all changed three days after the fall of the Lake Victoria base."

"Victoria fell?" Ramius asked, knowing that since the Archangel had been away from Imperial updates, they had missed several new events such as the fall of Lake Victoria, known for being one of the finest training facilities for the Earth forces since the predating the first Great War. Natarle had trained there when she was much younger. "The African Federation has always been more inclined towards PLANT even the South African United Organization has been deserted by the Earth forces and the borders have changed almost overnight."

"How rare to find you still so hardworking under such conditions."

"Hmp, from our point of view, either side are the same thing. They are all here just to exploit us. Anyway, how's your ship doing? Can it fly?"

"It can go up to too high an altitude so we can't escape to Space."

"If it can't go above the Alps, it'll have to break through the canyon areas, but not before going through miles of open fields of sand and you can't cross the ocean by sheer will. I suggest you enter the Pacific Ocean through the Indian Ocean via from the Red Sea. It'll be better than going through several countries occupied by ZAFT and of course there main problem if you are heading towards the US from the west is the base at Morocco."

"The other way isn't easy either," Natarle said, "Either way we have no reinforcements to back us up."

"If Africa has completely succumbed to war, I wonder about the Middle Eastern Red United are still neutral."

"Hold your horses, you're thinking too far ahead of yourselves." Sebu said. He then pointed to one part of the map, "Here in Banadia is where the Lesseps is."

"So that's the obstacle you were talking about." Van asked

Not too far off, the Lesseps had stood down from red alert for a while and waited for further orders from their commander who ponders in his room.

Inside, Martin rang the commander's doorbell,

"It's DaCosta, sir."

"Enter,"

Martin walked into the room to see his commander, instead of planning tactics and strategy is making coffee. Andrew's desk had bags of beans from all over the world and the room was filled with an exotic smell that was not entirely comfortable to Martin who politely managed to ignore it.

"Commander, our forces are ready."

Andrew had finished preparing his next batch of coffee and poured himself.

"Alright, I don't want to push it to the extreme either." He then took a sip of his new coffee mix, "Mmmm, not bad…not great…but not bad…The Hawaiian beans were a little extreme."

Back at the Desert Dawn base, the sun was setting again and everyone was getting ready for dinner.

Sai, Mille, Tolle, and Kuzzey were sitting together, relaxing after the hard day's work.

"To think that we are in a resistance organization's base camp now." Sai said, "Things have certainly taken strange turns."

"Man, stuck in the desert." Kuzzey said, "Why of all the places on Earth did we have to land in the middle of the desert? I wish I never stayed with the ship if I knew we were going to end up here."

"But if we went with that shuttle…we would all be dead right now," Tolle pointed out.

"I wonder what will happen to us now" Mille asked. She leaned her head on Tolle's shoulder for support.

Sai had then decided to take a walk and went back to the Archangel. The night was coming quickly and he was beginning to have problems seeing what was in front of him until lights from the camp and external lights from the Archangel turned on.

Not too far away, Andrew Waltfield was addressing some of his forces before they left for an operation.

"The rebel attacks on us have cost us valuable resources as well as man power. It is time for them to learn their place. Naughty children should be punished. The target is the town of Tashau where suspected rebels are hiding out…level the place, but let them a warning first. I want no deaths on our hands yet. Let them all live to learn the lesson of messing with us."

Martin stepped up after Andrew's little pep speech,

"All forces move out!"

Back at the camp, Flaga, Ramius, and Natarle were sitting around front of a fire drinking some hot coffee. No one was talking, but reflecting on the events that had passed.

In the Archangel, Van was inside the recreational room where he was working out. In the hanger, Kira was doing more modifications on Strike to improve its ability to fight.

"What are you doing?" Murdoch asked Kira when he was done with his chores.

"During the fight last night, Strike was having trouble adjusting to the desert settings. I'm making corrections to fix that."

"I see. You know, you're a great pilot and all, but you're working a little too hard lately. Get some rest; you'll need it when the time comes to use it again. Take a break at least."

"After I'm done with these calibrations." Kira then ignored the man and quickly ran his fingers over the board.

Outside, Cagalli was looking for Kira to talk to him some more. He had been the first person he had things in common with since she had left Orb to come all the way here. She walked passed a few of her friends.

"Hey, Cagalli, come join us."

"I'm looking for that Mobile Suit pilot. The younger one. I forgot his name."

"I thought you knew him." The boy asked her.

"Well, in a way I do know him, but…"

"Cagalli," Kisaka called her and she understood not to tell her friend too much,

"Sorry guys, I have to go do something."

Cagalli and Kisaka were alone and he tried his best to remind her of her position.

"Please watch yourself. You'll give yourself away again. Just be glad Prince Van didn't give you away first."

"Sorry,"

"You are always so easily distracted by something."

"Whatever." Cagalli turned and walked away.

At the town of Tashau, Andrew watched over a cliff as he was about to unleash his hounds on a quiet sleeping town.

"They must all be sound asleep by now…we should let them sleep forever," Andrew said, "Heh, just kidding. I'm not that cruel. We'll give them…20 minutes. Hurry up and tell them, Martin."

Martin saluted and road down the hill in his own jeep to the town.

Kira had finished his modifications on his unit and had taken a walk outside. He ran into Flay on the way.

"Oh, I was looking for you, Kira,"

"I see," Kira asked, "It's a beautiful night. Let's walk together."

Kira extended his hand and Flay took it. The two walked alone to behind the ship, just below the engines. They stared up at the glowing moon over them. The two were at a silence and Flay leaned on Kira a bit.

"Flay…you've been very kind to me."

"I'm just doing my best to help you get well…"

"Thank you…for helping me."

Kira looked at Flay for a second before he backed down, chuckling to himself,

"Sorry, I'm a little embarrassed right now."

"…Well, you weren't this shy last night…"

Kira began to blush a bit, remember what happened.

"It's just, I've never done this. Standing alone with a girl. I don't know what to say to you next."

Flay smiled a bit,

"Well, usually, the guy tells the girl she's pretty or something, and holds her…" Flay joked, "That's how I remember romantic moments like this."

"No…you're not pretty Flay…you're like a goddess under the moon light…I wish we can stay like this forever." Kira then chuckled at himself again, "Sorry, I'm kinda new to this romance thing."

"It's fine, Kira. What you said was very sweet…I'll always stay beside you when ever you need me."

Cagalli, who heard some people talking, went to check it out, and then saw that it was Kira and Flay.

Flay had moved closer to Kira and the two kissed, letting the moment grow with passion and desire.

Cagalli had hid herself behind a rock and was taken a back from what she just saw, blushing from watching. She then decided to walk away and not intrude in their privacy. Then she turned to hear the rushing of the others as they seem to be in a panic.

"What is it?" Cagalli shouted to one of her comrades

"There's been an attack! The skies are in flames over Tashau!"

Cagalli was shocked and ran to see if she can help.

Kira had stopped kissing Flay when he felt the presence of danger in the air and looked over to the horizon to see smoke and flames in the distant. Then he heard footsteps of the crew running back to the ship.

To be continued…

Andrew Waltfield

Andrew is the commander of a ZAFT force based in the occupied city of Banadiya in northern Africa. Renowned as the "Desert Tiger" for his exploits on the African front, Waltfeld proves a formidable opponent for the Archangel crew and the Desert Dawn resistance fighters, and he often leaves the bridge of his land battleship Lesseps and enters the battlefield to observe his enemies up close. Even in the heat of combat, Waltfeld retains his relaxed and casual attitude, and only a few things seem to excite his emotions.

Martin DaCosta

Martin is Andrew Waltfeld's long-suffering aide, an earnest junior officer who is often perplexed by his eccentric commander. DaCosta's main job is to relay Waltfeld's orders to the team's underlings, and he also commands the land battleship Lesseps when Waltfeld makes one of his personal sorties into the battlefield.

Sebu Asuma

Sebu is the grizzled leader of the Desert Dawn resistance group, a ragtag band of guerilla soldiers drawn from the townships of northern Africa. Although he has little use for the arrogant superpowers which make up the Earth Alliance, Sahib makes common cause with the Archangel crew against their mutual enemy. As an old friend of Cagalli's family, Sahib is one of the few resistance members who know the secret of her true identity.

F-7D Spearhead

Model number: F-7D
Code name:
Spearhead
Unit type:
VTOL (Vertical Take Off and Landing) fighter
Manufacturer: Earth Alliance
Operator: Earth Alliance
Accommodation: pilot & navigator, in standard canopy-style cockpit
Fixed armaments: many x anti-air missile; 2 x 20mm machine gun

The Earth Alliance's F-7D Spearhead VTOL fighter is a mass production unit deployed all across Earth as the Alliance's main terrestrial fighting unit. The Spearhead is armed with two 20mm machine guns and several anti-air missiles. These armaments make it vastly inferior to any of ZAFT's mobile weapons deployed on Earth.

FX-550 Sky Grasper

Model number: FX-550
Code name:
Sky Grasper
Unit type:
atmospheric support fighter for use with GAT-X105 Strike Gundam
Manufacturer: Earth Alliance (Atlantic Federation)
Operator: Earth Alliance
First deployment: 16 February C.E. 71
Accommodation: pilot & navigator, in standard canopy-style cockpit
Wingspan: 13.2m
Fixed armaments: 4 x machine gun; 2 x machine cannon, mounted on wings; beam cannon, mounted on main body; 2 x missile launch bay, mounted underneath wings
Optional fixed armaments: FX-550+AQM/E-X01 Aile Grasper, FX-550+AQM/E-X02 Sword Grasper, FX-550+AQM/E-X03 Launcher Grasper

Although the GAT-X105 Strike Gundam's Striker packs allow it to operate under various mission roles, the switching of the Striker packs is a major problem. Normally, switching a pack during battle requires returning to the Archangel for a swap out. To minimize this downtime, the Earth Alliance develops the atmospheric support fighter FX-550 Sky Grasper. The Sky Grasper is an agile fighter on its own, but its main mission is to deliver Striker packs to the Strike Gundam on the battlefield. The Sky Grasper comes armed with a beam cannon, two machine cannons, machine guns and missile bays. However, it can also use the Striker pack armaments, allowing it to function as a powerful independent air unit. The 8th Fleet transfers two Sky Grasper units to the Archangel. After landing on Earth, ace pilot Mu La Flaga uses the Sky Grasper as his main unit to replace the space-only TS-MA2mod.00 Moebius Zero.

TMF/A-802 BuCUE

Model number: TMF/A 802
Code name:
BuCUE
Unit type:
mass production ground assault mobile suit
Manufacturer: ZAFT
Operator: ZAFT
First deployment: C.E. 70
Accommodation: pilot only, in standard cockpit in torso
Dimensions: head height 11.07 meters (base of turret)
Weight: max gross weight 69.3 metric tons
Power plant: Ultra compact energy battery, power output rating unknown
Equipment and design features: sensors, range unknown
Fixed armaments: double-blade beam saber mounted on mouth
Optional fixed armaments: 2-barrel 450mm railgun, mounted on back; 13-tube 400mm missile launcher, mounted on back

As war begins, ZAFT produces specific mobile suits for certain environments. One such design is the ground assault TMF/A-802 BuCUE. Unlike the humanoid ZGMF-1017 GINN, the BuCUE is a quadruped suit resembling a dog or cat. However, the BuCUE's unique design allows it to be faster and more maneuverable than a humanoid mobile suit on the Earth's surface. The BuCUE is capable of running or sliding across the ground with tank treads, and it can also jump across great distances. The BuCUE's armament consists of a double-edged beam saber mounted on the mouth, which is added to later models after ZAFT acquires beam saber technology from the stolen Gundams. The BuCUE's back can be fitted with either a 2-barrel railgun or a 13-tube missile launcher. BuCUEs are deployed all over Earth in ZAFT's campaigns of conquest. Aside from the main BuCUE model, ZAFT also produces the TMF/TR-2 BuCUE Tactical Reconnaissance Type. Another variant, the TMF/A-802 P-Mod.W Waltfeld Custom Type serves as the prototype for the upgraded TMF/A-803 LaGOWE. The BuCUE is the preferred mobile suit of North African commander Andrew 'Andy' Waltfeld (AKA "Desert Tiger") for use by his forces operating in Libya. In Libya, the BuCUE's abilities are unchallenged until the arrival of the Earth Alliance battleship Archangel and the GAT-X105 Strike Gundam.

Agile attack helicopters

Model number: N/A
Code name:
Agile
Unit type:
attack helicopter
Manufacturer: ZAFT
Operator: ZAFT
Accommodation: pilot and co-pilot, in standard canopy-style cockpit
Propulsion: rotor and twin engine system
Fixed armaments: 4 x missile launcher, mounted underneath wings; machine cannon, mounted underneath cockpit

As its name implies, the Agile is a light attack helicopter. ZAFT deploys this helicopter unit across Earth for search and patrol missions. The Agile is armed with machine cannon and four missile launchers. Its armament works best against non-mobile suit targets, such as the Desert Dawn guerillas fighting against ZAFT in Africa.

Lesseps class

Class: Lesseps
Code name:
Lesseps
Ships of the line:
Lesseps, Desmond
Unit type:
land battleship
Manufacturer: ZAFT (Zodiac Alliance of Freedom Treaty)
Operator(s): ZAFT; Junk Guild
Dimensions: overall length 250 meters; overall height unknown
Propulsion: scale system
Fixed armaments: 3 x 40cm dual cannon; 32 x vertical missile launcher; 10 x torpedo launcher; 34 x smoke/chaff/flare dispenser; optional side turret

For the occupation of Earth, ZAFT develops two classes of land battleships: the Lesseps class and the Petrie class. The Lesseps employs a scale propulsion system that liquefies sand and allows it to sail across the desert. This scale system also allows the Lesseps to travel across the open sea. The Lesseps' heavy armament includes three 40cm dual cannons, as well as 32 missile launchers and 10 torpedo launchers. The internal storage hangar also provides space for several mobile suits.

The land battleship Lesseps serves as the flagship of Andrew Waltfeld's North African occupation forces in C.E. 71. When not in the battlefield, the Lesseps is stationed at Andy's center of operations, the occupied city of Banadiya.