Kira looked at the screen on his right to see Fallen flying beside his own mobile suit. Instead of the normal jet pack, the black and red mobile suit was carrying something that looked like a diamond on its back, resembling the ancient F-22 Raptor he saw in aeronautical museum back at Heliopolis. The device made it almost similar to Providence Raww La Creuset had piloted, except that it didn't have any DRAGOON units and has two long booster rockets with rocket launcher attached to it. He was told that Fallen's design was based on Freedom and Providence, and he could see the similarities.
As the two flew toward the towering mobile armor, Kira used the time to think about Fallen's pilot. Athrun knew that the pilot was female; that means he has communicated with the pilot. Kira pressed a few button, trying to open a communication channel between the two mobile suits. "Hello? Fallen's pilot?"
There was no answer.
Kira tried few more times in vain. He also hacked into Cherubim's channel but was unsuccessful in getting Fallen to answer. Its pilot was simply not responding to all kind of visual and auditory communications. He switched to text input. "Hello? Fallen's pilot?"
Few moments passed before a text message notification appeared on one of the screens. "Yes?"
Kira quickly typed a reply. "Are you a female?"
"Yes. Why do you ask?"
Kira smiled. The expression disappeared when he had that tell tale flash again. It was impossible for such thing to happen, he told himself. He himself saw what happened. Impossible. "Just wondering. Are you the one piloting it at previous battles?"
"Yes. Don't take it personally"
"None taken. Your piloting is very good"
"Thank you, but are you flirting?"
Kira gulped. "No. I'm just stating a fact"
"In that case, thank you"
"Are you an Alliance officer?"
Few seconds passed by before the reply came. It was obvious that the pilot hesitated to answer the question. "Not exactly… But you can say that I'm with OMNI"
Oppose Militancy and Neutralize Invasion. The hidden meaning told him much about Cherubim. He quickly typed on the keyboard. "It wouldn't do for us to be working together without knowing each other's name. I'm Kira. What's yours?"
He didn't have the opportunity to send the message as a laser forced them to move away from each other. Fallen sped ahead, firing its beam gattling. Kira pressed the throttle forward while calibrating Freedom's weapons toward Destroy.
The battle in Berlin has begun.
As Fallen twisted and turned to evade the attacks from the escorting Windams, its pilot tried to get the bearing on Destroy. After much maneuvering, she found the energy shield generators. But when a green gunbarrel appeared in front of her, Fllay has to abort her intention of targeting the generators.
Fallen fired few bursts at Chaos, but the human CPU piloting wasn't an easy prey. Chaos then unleashed its Firefly missiles. Fallen destroyed most of them, letting the others hit its body. Fllay knew the Phase armor will protect Fallen from the resulting explosions, and she prepared herself for the subsequent attacks. Chaos didn't disappoint her and shot, but it could easily be blocked by Fallen's shield.
She looked for Freedom to see it battling a purple Windam and its escorts. "Flaga" Her right hand moved toward the keyboard to type a message to Freedom, but she had to withdraw it to control her mobile suit and executed a loop to escape from two incoming rockets. A rookie Windam pilot was eager to add her name to his list of kills. Fallen flew behind it and grabbed its pack. The immobilized Windam was used as a shield as Fallen shoots down a few of its colleagues.
But Fallen had to release its grip on the Windam's pack to escape when Chaos attacked. Fallen managed to get away, but the shots hit the Windam's energy reactor and it exploded. The explosion propelled Fallen away.
Sting would have gave chase to it, but Fallen's gattling spewing green laser at Chaos convinced him to be more cautious.
Barzhakov looked at his former protégé. "Is Lady Cagalli ready to launch? We have no time to waste"
Archangel's launch bays opened. The pink mobile suit launched followed by a section of Murasames
"CAGALLI HAS LAUNCHED"
He signaled for Cherubim's Murasame section to launch. "Please take care of them"
Cagalli's face appeared on another screen. "OF COURSE I WILL. THEY BELONG TO ORB, AFTER ALL"
He smiled and bit a snide comment from escaping from his lip. "Let's get this thing over with" He turned toward the weapon operator and nodded. "Give them fire support"
The weapon operator inputted some data. "Attention, load all missile tubes with Soyuz. Gottfried and Valiant deployed. Target designated: Destroy"
Barzhakov shifted his view toward the screen showing Murrue's image. Besides it was another screen was showing Fallen and Freedom's battle against Destroy and its escorts. "Ready, Murrue? Synchronized volleys"
Murrue nodded. "READY"
"FIRE!"
Kira stared in shock at as Destroy transformed into a giant mobile suit. Then, Freedom's radar signaled incoming barrage from behind. He quickly moved Freedom away from its path. Just before the barrage hit Destroy, it activated its shields. The shots, be it projectiles or beams, were deflected harmlessly.
"Impossible…," he uttered.
Before he could do anything else, a warning tone warned him to take evasive action.
It was that purple Windam and the units it commanded. As Freedom twisted and turned, the Windam could easily catch up to it, despite being inferior in capabilities. The pilot was obviously very skilled and experienced.
Kira shot its hip cannons and the purple Windam flew behind some tall buildings, evading them. It then emerged and fired its rifle. As Freedom blocked its shots, Kira was busy trying to target it. But he couldn't do that as the Windam's escorts fired. The shots were much synchronized, forcing Freedom not to stop for even a second. "What's up with this Windam? How come I seem to know him?"
Another tone beeped. Destroy has launched numerous missiles toward Freedom. Kira activated his SEED ability.
Meanwhile, Fllay was having a hard time too. Chaos has transformed into mobile armor and flew around the battle field at high speed. She tried to shoot at it using Fallen's beam rifle, but it was destroyed by a shot from a Windam.
Fllay looked at a red triangle button in front of her. The Delimiter button. She could only use it effectively if she released her locked capabilities. Although she could take down the Windams and perhaps Chaos with given time, she couldn't waste any more time as her radar showed that the section carrying AMREADs has just launched. The longer they stay in the air without launching the missiles, the more vulnerable they will be. After much vacillation she decided that she needed to do it.
Making a hand signal, she then pressed the button. Instantly the visor on her helmet came down, covering her view while the instruments in Fallen's cockpit stopped glowing. Fllay felt fleeting sensation engulfing her being. It was as if her awareness has merged with Fallen; it optical viewers became her eyes and its sound receptor became her ears. She would have believed that if she hadn't done it before. The figures and numbers being displayed along with the outside view of the cockpit on her visor also reminded her that she was still in her body.
She looked around her and saw Chaos and five Windams. Her eyes darted from one to another, pausing on each one for a fraction of second. The array of optical sensors embedded inside her helmet picked up the changes in the movement and processed the information to triangulate the position of her targets. "Bling" The tone indicated that the targeting computer has acquired the targets and a round crosshair appeared on each of them. Fallen then launched eight missiles from its twin Valor boosters.
As the missiles were moving toward on their respective targets, Fllay imagined in her mind everything around her; the missiles, all nearby Windams, Chaos, Freedom and Destroy. The information extracted from her brain was fed to the missiles navigation system. Besides helping her to achieve locks on her targets, the visor on her helmet made it easier for her to focus as it cut out possible distraction. It also provided her with better view of what was behind Fallen. Fllay has just finished creating the imaginary paths for the missiles when the warning beep went off. She pressed the left pedal and Fallen moved to the left, evading lasers coming from behind her. It was Destroy.
It was almost time for Fallen to carry out its mission as the Murasames had launched. Using lasers illuminators mounted on its head, just above the CIWS, it began pinpointing the energy shield generators with laser lights. But at the same time, Fllay maintained her attention on the missiles as she directed their vectors. Blue dots on Fallen's radar told her that the Murasames have found their targets and were moving into bombing run. Gritting her teeth, she tried to concentrate on all the information presented by the computer. She had to maintain the laser illumination most of the time as well as keep track of the missiles she launched.
Sting Oakley looked at the incoming missiles on the radar. Then as three broke away and began to pursue him, he let out a string of curse. He targeted one of it and was surprised when the missile seemed to have a mind of its own and changed direction.
"What the hell…" He couldn't think about what happened as two missiles were closing in from his behind.
Chaos turned and raised its shield just in time to block a missile from slamming into it. The explosion threw the green mobile suit backward.
"Heh. Intelligent missiles, huh? I'll show you who's intelligent. Chaos launched its gun barrels to intercept the remaining missiles, but to Sting's surprise, the missiles changed their course again . His gun barrels were destroyed almost instantly.
"Shit"
Explosions around Chaos told him that the Windams escorting it were taken out
"Damn you!" he uttered, cursing Fallen.
"Lady Cagalli, we have achieved lock on!"
Cagalli looked at the screen to see the red Murasames behind her spreading out. They were going to launch the missiles. Fallen has probably locked on for them. "LAUNCH AMREAD!"
One by one, the Murasames released their payload. At first, the missiles were floating in the air. Then their engines started and missiles streaked toward their target, leaving white smoky trails behind them.
"Lady Cagalli," Vince, piloting one of the red Murasames contacted. "What should we do now?"
"You guys from Cherubim will follow me and protect any civilians nearby, whereby those from ORB will help engage Destroy's escorts" She felt a bit guilty for treating the Murasames from Cherubim as if they were from another team. She was not sure how to classify them; they were based in Cherubim, after all, despite their pilots' allegiance. "We still have lot to do. Everyone, please lend me your strength"
"YES!" Everyone answered.
Freedom's radar registered the missiles launched by the Murasames. But the pilot of the Destroy saw them coming too. Before it launches its hands to intercept the missiles, Kira quickly fires its weapons at the towering mobile suit to distract it. The tactic was successful and Destroy turned toward Freedom and fired a volley of rockets.
Kira quickly destroyed the rockets. Just as the rockets exploded, he heard secondary explosions. Three of AMREAD missiles were destroyed by the purple Windams, leaving only three left. He shifted his attention toward it to see that the purple Windam has received additional backups.
He must defeat them to make sure the missiles could found their targets safely. Somehow targeting the Alliance mobile suits all at once was impossible as the purple Windam was very agile. The pilot must be very skilled. Very skilled, just like…
Kira gasped as a name crossed his mind.
Fllay looked as Freedom tried to stop the remaining missiles from being destroyed. However, doing it would be hard because by shifting its attention the Windams, the Destroy was free to destroy the missiles. She had to do something. Then the alarm screamed and she had to take evasive action against Chaos's rifle shots.
Fallen engage its boosters and sped toward Destroy while simultaneously launching its last missiles. Two of them were directed at Chaos while the rest were to distract Destroy.
She must ensure the three remaining AMREADs find their marks or everything would have been for naught.
Captain Talia Gladys narrowed her eyes at the screen showing the two ships and their mobile suits working together. It was the first time she and the crew of Minerva saw Cherubim. Unlike Chairman Gilbert's prediction, the ships were dissimilar in appearance.
The other fact that interested her more was that it seemed that the two ships have closer ties than she thought. It would be best for the chairman to be advised of this fact, despite him wanting to meet with Cherubim's captain and perhaps discuss its entry into ZAFT's fold.
Arthur Trine, her assistant turned toward her. "Captain. What should we do? The two ships are there"
"We do what we were ordered to. Launch Impulse and Gaia to fight Destroy"
"But Captain, who should we ask to launch? Athrun or Heine?"
As if answering Arthur's question, Heine's face came on screen. "I would like to volunteer for this mission as I have piloted a BeCue before"
Talia nodded. "What does Athrun say?"
Athrun came to the screen. "I agree with the suggestion. I believe he can handle Gaia better than me, as Gaia is suited to close combat"
She nodded. "Very well. Heine, will you lead the mission"
"No"
"Why?"
"Because I believe that we should have our own initiative. After all, in the battle field, ZAFT's pilots are considered equal. Perhaps the two of us can come up with something"
"Very well. But only this time" Talia wondered why Heine was so insistent about Shinn being allowed a free reign. The young ace has just been released from custody along with Rey because of what they did. Knocking medical and security personnel, releasing enemy soldier, went missing without authorization and piloting mobile suit without permission; those offences were more than adequate enough to warrant death by firing squad. Even she and Arthur were supposed to face disciplinarian action due to the fact that the pilots, Impulse, the enemy's Extended and Minerva's security were under their command.
When she opened the order from ZAFT's headquarter, she already steeled herself for a very harsh punishment for all parties involved. But when she discovered that the sentence was merely a slap on the wrist for Shinn and Rey while she and Arthur weren't even mentioned at all, she felt weird. But Talia was relieved enough to let the matter drop. But now Heine asked her to allow the hotheaded ace to be allowed to do anything that he wants. That could cause the young firebrand pilot's ego to inflate. A big and hot headed Shinn would surely be hard to handle. "I just hope that if after this he becomes bigheaded, his head isn't empty because then he would be full of hot air," she mumbled.
"Sorry, Captain. You were saying?" Arthur asked, not understanding what his captain was saying.
"Nothing. Meyrin, launched Gaia and Impulse"
"Yes, ma'am"
As her final missile slammed into Destroy's head, obscuring its view, Fllay watched with satisfaction as the remaining shield disruptor missiles hitting their target at almost the same time.
Not wasting any time, she fired a few shots. Few manage to get through Destroy's torso before it defended itself. But the shots almost left on mark on its thick armor. It was probably protected with beam dissipation coating. Fllay narrowed her eyes. Since the armor was very thick, the only way to stop it was to use beam swords.
Then display inside her helmet displayed two dots on the 3D radar, with one on the ground while another was airborne. Impulse and Gaia.
Gaia attacked Destroy from far away using its rifles. The attack distracted it long enough for Impulse to move closer to it and slashed at the cockpit area. Despite the long gash the ZAFT's mobile suit inflicted, the mobile suit's pilot was still alive as the section had very thick armor. In response to the attack, Destroy shot multiple streams of beam from its laser ports, incinerating everything in their paths.
Fllay moved Fallen in front of Destroy to take a look and perhaps snipe at pilot if the opening was big enough. It was enough for a beam shot to go through. Fallen raised its gattling gun, flicking the single shot option. Besides it, Impulse was engaging its boosters to attack the cockpit once more. Fllay magnified the screen more than hundred times until she could see the pilot. Her finger was already on the trigger. The targeting crosshairs finally stop a point, indicating that the shot would be accurate. Just one shot would be enough.
But that shot never left the gattling gun. Fllay choked as multiple images and sensations assailed her, images, emotions and sensations that didn't belong to her. Waves of betrayal, pain, desolation, fear, anger and confusion also swept through her.
She managed to gain control of herself after a while. She disengaged the Delimiter system and leaned back. Breathing heavily while, ignoring sweats pouring from her forehead, Fllay zoomed the camera to the pilot's face and saw a very scared girl. The girl must have gone through worse trauma than she had. The fact that they have some similarities probably explains why she had some kind of a bond with the human CPU. Fllay released her hold on the trigger button, fingers shaking.
For the first time since she started piloting Fallen, Fllay didn't know what to do.
1
Author's note (14 December 2005)
1)This is the first out of the three chapters for Berlin. I know this chapter can't fit inside a stockin unless you print it up and stuff it inside the stockin; or get a big burlap bag, pretend as if it's a stockin and cover your computer screen with it. But, Merry Christmass and Happy New Year. I was going to wait until 24 or 25, but then I thought, "Oh well, just upload it now." As for the rest of the month, I'm going to take a look at the earlier chapters to rid them of grammatical errors while adding newer errors at the same time.
2) You know, I somehow like the way a typical Japanese will mention English name a bit differently. Freedom – 'Fridam', Legend – 'Legento', Destiny – 'Dess 'ti' ny'. My favorite one will be Buster – 'Basta'. I could imagine the crew of Archangel calling out, "Kore wa Aegis, Blis (Blitz), Duel, Basta (Buster)". I don't know why, but I really, really like the way they mentioned it. So, guessing a bit, Fallen will be 'Fa len'. Hmm... I'm babbling nonsense here.
3) I put in Mobile Suits Stats and Weapon Glossary in chapter 1 & 3. Should you have no idea about some of the weapons, feel free to visit the chapter. It's not mentioned in the mobile suit stats page, but I'm planning for Duel and Buster predecessors in later chapters. Even the names for them I have picked up. I'm thinking about another two or three mobile suits.