Disclaimer: See the first chapter, in any case I'm glad to have been able to graduate from college but am trying to find a job and trust me it isn't easy, hopefully I'll get one especially as I am looking forward to doing something special this coming November to celebrate becoming a college graduate. Plus I'd like to thank thedarkpokemaster for helping me with the story and for Wingcommander Whitewolf for letting me use Anthony Russo and the White Wolves.
Gundam Seed DX
Phase 20: Enter the SeaWolf
By EmperorDraco7
The GOOhN pilots sent by Morassim were caught off-guard by the appearance of two white GOOhNs, each one bearing the White Wolves symbol but the moment they saw that these underwater mobile suits were assisting the Strike and the Blue Destiny… they were not too pleased with the matter at all so they got ready to make their next move. "You bastards!" yelled the ZAFT GOOhN pilot, firing missiles at one of the two white GOOhNs and they proved to do well in dodging the enemy fire from Morassim's pilots.
"No way…." began Kira, unsure of what to make of the event that's taking place then turned his attention towards the Blue Destiny who was also just as speechless as he was and the fact that both of the Archangel's mobile suits were still in combat made the pilots wonder on if they should get involved or not. "Do you think we can trust them Marion? I mean sure they are helping us but…"
"Don't worry; I've heard Maria mentioning that the SeaWolf is arriving to meet with us and as it turns out… these guys must be from the submarine she's been talking about" responded Marion with a slight nod despite the fact her soul is trapped in the machine she is controlling like she was an AI that can operate it without the need for a pilot. "Still, if there are more GOOhNs present then yes we are getting involved since it's no use in letting our equipment go to waste."
Nodding his head, he knew that she made a good point and got ready to take action when the GOOhN pilots from the SeaWolf needed their assistance but from the looks of this, it might not be needed right now. "Damn you hold still!" snapped Hans' partner only to be caught off-guard again and met his end when missile fire struck his machine.
With a slight grin, one of the two WhiteWolves from the SeaWolf was glad they still have a good shot in underwater combat. "Shit!" cursed Hans, realizing that the attack force was now at a disadvantage then made contact with his commander. "Commander Morassim, we might have a small problem!"
"What?!" exclaimed Morassim via communications, as above he was having a tough time against the Archangel's two Skygraspers, the Strike Rouge and Anthony's GINN LRRT with his DINN so he didn't need to hear of any other problems that will hinder their chances of taking out the ship and the traitor. "What are you talking about?"
"I'm saying that the SeaWolf's GOOhNs have just shown up and they are assisting the two mobile suits from the Legged Ship, one of our own GOOhNs got destroyed as a result of this!"
"Damn It all to hell why did they have to show up, now of all times?!" Morassim muttered a curse, barely dodging a shot from one of the Skygraspers though his mobile suit's wing got blasted off as a result yet at the same time…. he knew that he would be foolish to remain in the battlefield for much longer. "Inform our submarine, we're returning for the time being… with the losses we've suffer, we might not survive for much longer anyway."
Kira and the others all began to notice that Morassim and his men were starting to pull away something that Kira was happy about, as it meant no need to take any lives. With a sigh Kira soon headed back to the Archangel alongside Marion, while the SeaWolf's GOOhNs followed and Kira had a feeling that they wanted to meet the others on the ship.
Once they had all landed, the two pilots of the GOOhNs from the SeaWolf wanted to speak to Anthony, Maria, Mu, Murrue, Natarle, Neumann and Rena. Flay meanwhile was with both her mother and Anthony as the three were headed towards the loading bay where the GOOhN pilots were waiting for them. "Mum, Anthony do you know them?" She asked as she looked at the two.
"Well sweet heart you could say that." Maria said with a smile on her face as she knew that she would tell Flay about the two pilots from the SeaWolf. "Besides, my commander knows how to be prepared for the worse case scenario should it ever occur"
"Your mother is right Flay best we tell everyone together." Anthony said as he gave a smile to the young red -head, who just nodded at this, as she trusted the two and what they are doing.
"Well in any case, it's a good thing that these guys came when they did" commented Rena, especially as the Strike and the Blue Destiny were good machines but they had their limits when it came to battles in the ocean… sure the mobile suits are the only ones they have along with the Strike Rouge, the GINN LRRT and the Artic Fang but none of them were designed for combat in the sea. "Odds are we wouldn't have stood a chance against the ZAFT GOOhNs even though the DINNs weren't that difficult."
"I'll say." added Mu, giving his fellow ace a slight nod and the fact remains is that at least Orb has a way to battle against aquatic mobile suits while the Earth Alliance so far has none unless they can develop their own to counter the GOOhNs sent by the enemy. "Odds are we haven't seen the last of Morassim or his attack force."
"Fortunately now that the SeaWolf has arrived with its two pilots…. I'll be joining in on the next sortie, remember it has something that can help with my mobile suit's lack of flight capabilities" reminded Anthony, referring to the custom Guul that the SeaWolf brought with it which has modifications that the regular Guuls used by ZAFT doesn't have. "The submarine should be preparing it just so you know."
"Oh?" wondered Natarle, somewhat curious by what Anthony meant by "it" though she had a feeling that she actually knew what he's talking about since he brought it up in the bridge prior to the battle they had. "Are you referring to that custom Guul you mentioned earlier?"
Nodding his head, he confirmed that it was indeed what he's talking about. "That is correct Lieutenant, beside if Morassim does attack us again then we need to be prepared to take out that submarine of his and take him down on our next strike." he replied, knowing that Morassim may resort to using his personal underwater mobile suit in his second attempt in attacking the Archangel and unfortunately it wasn't a GOOhN either. "He may actually focus his attention in taking the Strike out while the GOOhNs he has left along with the remaining DINNs may go straight for the Archangel."
"Well then…" Mu began with a slight smile as he looked at the others. "It's a good thing that Kira is not going out there alone now is he, I mean with your help I think the kid should be okay, since he has back up to help if he gets into trouble."
Anthony only nodded but was still worried after all since this mess had started he had a worried look that something else was going on, and what Rau would be planning next. As he was sure the masked commander was up to no good, but so far luck was on their side and he just hopped that their luck would keep up.
"So then what's the plan if Morassim does attack again?" Murrue said as she looked at the others. "After all Anthony you said it best, we'll have to deal with Morassim underwater mobile suit, and we have nothing that can fight under water."
Rena gave a nod as this as she cupped her chin and closed her eyes thinking on what they should do, when the next attacks comes. "She's right the Strike was not made for underwater combat and we have no idea how it would handle in the sea."
"Well we better tell Kira this last thing we need is him going under water." Murrue added as she couldn't help but frown at this.
Meanwhile the young teens were out on deck once more since for now at least they were safe and they were off duty as well. "Oh I love the nice warm air." Mir said as she gave a smile feeling the ocean breeze on her face.
"Hmmmm I know what you mean, just wish we could head to the beach." Flay said with a smile on her face.
Mir just laughed a little and nodded at what her friend said to her and couldn't help but agree. "Well I know that once this war is over you and Kira need to go on a date I mean have you two even had one yet since you got together." she asked as she looked over to Flay.
With a blush now forming on her face, all Flay could do was shake her head at what Mir had just asked her as it was true since she and Kira and gotten together neither of them had really gone on a date yet at least and official date that is. Mainly as they hadn't had the time to go on one, and she hopped that once this war was over and if they both lived she and Kira would go on one.
Slowly Flay just looked at Mir and to make sure Kira was not hearing her on this. "Well no not yet Mir, but I can understand I mean we are in a war after all."
"That is true I mean a lot has changed since all this has happened." Mir said knowing a month ago things were so different but they had meet new friends since then and Flay found out her mother was alive. "While not all of it has been good, at least you found you mum, Flay."
"Yeah I'm happy for that Mir." She said and looked over to Kira and smile at him as she and Mir decided to talk some more.
"You know I do wonder what Misha and Jessica are doing right now." Mir asked with a smile at the thought of her two other female friends that she was happy that had gotten away to safety.
Flay couldn't but let out a laugh as she knew what they were doing right now. "Well I bet you they are shopping Mir." she said with a smile forming at her two friends are most likely fight over some new clothes that have been made.
"Oh don't remind me I still remember back last year at that part we were going to have and they both fought over a dress they wanted." Mir said with a sigh as she and Flay both had to pull the other girls away from each other since they had started fighting over the same dress.
With a slight nod, the younger girl had to admit that her childhood friend made a good point. "Still, as long as they managed to get to a shelter on time then I'm happy." she spoke, especially since like Mir, she too hoped that their friends were alright since the red-haired half-coordinator managed to get to a shelter, which happened to the one that Kira ended up bringing onboard the Archangel following the destruction of Heliopolis. "Though it depends on if we end up stopping at Orb or not."
"Well it is possible since the SeaWolf is gonna be our escort till we reach the homeland." reminded Mir, hopefully it would mean Kuzzey had made it there without too much of a hassle himself since he gotten himself to a shelter after separating from herself, Tolle and Sai during the attack. "Even more so since we managed to fend off Morassim's first attack but he'll strike again soon."
"I know, plus I really want to help in some form or another." explained Flay with a slight frown on her face due to being concerned for Kira's well-being whenever he was to head into battle against the enemy, sure he had Mu, Rena, Cagalli, Marion and Anthony to assist him but sometimes she felt that she needed to do what she can too. "Then again, the only mobile suit left available is the Artic Fang and it isn't gonna do much good in this kind of situation plus we don't have a suitable OS to allow Naturals to operate mobile suits."
"You already are helping out a lot, Flay… after all you are a communications officer on the Archangel." she tried her best to reassure Flay, even giving her a light smile to prove I though the younger girl in question shook her head.
"I know that, but there's not what I mean." she replied back to Mir with a frown on her face, causing the brunette to wonder what she actually meant by the fact that she wanted to help out more. "What I'm trying to say is that I actually want to be a reserve pilot just in case Commander La Flaga and Lieutenant Imelia are unavailable to operate their respective Skygraspers."
"Wait, what did you say?!" asked Mir in complete shock, not liking the idea of someone she cared about risking their own life in battle since to be honest, she didn't approve of Kira doing so with the Strike but it was unavoidable since he is was the only one capable of piloting it cause of the matter that Flay brought up concerning the Artic Fang. "You have no training on how to use a Skygrasper, besides what if you got shot down or worse?"
Giving a frown of concern, Flay again admitted that Mir was right though it didn't stop her from making her next argument. "Well we still have the Skygrasper simulator, so I can at least practice on it from time to time and all I'm doing is provide support for the Strikes." she replied back, giving a serious expression to the brunette. "Plus the odds of me needing to actually head into battle are slim since Commander La Flaga and Lieutenant Imelia are skilled aces."
"Yeah, I am aware of that but even so…" Mir spoke again, especially as it was a similar look whenever Tolle got himself into trouble at some points during their time living in Heliopolis before they became soldiers in this damned war to begin with. "I just don't think you should be throwing your life away even if it's to help Kira in more difficult situations."
"Why not? We only have to deal with DINNs and those GOOhNs that Morassim's forces have, plus they lack PS Armor which the machines developed at Heliopolis have to protect them from projectile weapons and impact weapons." said Flay, a part of her knew that with the Duel and the Buster being on Earth, she can only hope that they won't have to fight those two Gundams again anytime soon. "The only ones we'll have the most difficulty with are the mobile suits that the Le Creuset Team stole from us and two of them are on Earth while the other two stayed in space."
"I realized that, though what's to say the Aegis and the Blitz won't come to Earth to rejoin with the Duel and the Buster sooner or later?" Mir countered back, suspecting that ZAFT won't actually let the stolen Gundams remain idle for the rest of the war since the Strike still being in EA hands would make them consider use the four G-Weapons in question again. "It could happen eventually."
Letting out a small sigh, Flay began frowning again at the thought of needing to deal with the Duel, the Buster, the Aegis and the Blitz on Earth as they already had to fight the Duel and the Buster on Earth which made facing the Desert Tiger's forces in the final battle in the Libyan Desert more problematic than they originally thought. "Good point, still we have four mobile suits and one of them is piloted by a former ZAFT ace so it would make things more even." she said, knowing that the Archangel's four mobile suits would be more than capable of fending off the Le Creuset Team's four top pilots.
"Maybe, but once we reach Orb then it is more likely that Commander Russo, Kisaka and Cagalli will disembark from the ship along with the Strike Rouge, the GINN Long Range Reconnaissance Type and the Artic Fang" reminded Mir, making Flay think on the matter deeply for a brief moment in order to reflect on and process what she's mentioning. "That would mean we'll only have the Strike and the Blue Destiny, making it four mobile suits against two again should we decide to continue our way to Alaska."
"Oh yeah, I forgot about that."
Giving her friend another light smile, Mir gave her a rather sisterly hug in order to help her out. "Don't worry about it too much; we'll cross that bridge when we get to it." she informed the red-haired girl, wanting to do what she can to get her mind off of the matter. "Also you should know that during the battles in space and here on Earth, Kira's skills as a pilot are starting to improve a lot so it might make this less difficult than when we started along with the updates and modifications added to the Strike's OS."
With a slight nod, Flay thought about the words carefully and gave the brown-haired female Natural a slight smile of her own. "Alright, let's hope it would help us get to Orb and possibly to Alaska." she responded to Mir, which made the brunette a bit relieved that her friend was starting to see her reasoning for talking her out of becoming a pilot. "You know Mir maybe you should try becoming a pilot as well." she then said as she looked over to her friend as she gave Mir a smile.
Mir was a little shocked by this as she looked over to her friend. "But Flay I'm not sure I mean…" she said as she looked away.
"Well you just need to keep trying I mean I hear Cagalli is doing it and after all we girls need to show the boys that we can fight just as good as they do after all." Flay said as she gave her friend a smile.
Mir couldn't help but node at this and looked at Flay as the Archangel passed by over the Red sea. "That is try Flay need to show we girls can do what the boys do."
"Yep and I'm sure Cagalli will give you some pointers." Flay added as she turned around to see if Cagalli was around to at least tell her what she was planning and that she wanted to be a pilot as well. "Aside from her piloting the Strike Rouge, you did mention before we took on the Desert Tiger one last time that she has been on the Skygrasper simulator during her spare time ever since we got back from our time at Bandiya."
"Yeah, thing is she was never in a fighter before but she did amazing on the simulator." responded Mir, reflecting on the time that they were at the Desert Dawn's hidden base preparing to fight Andy and his Libyan Forces for the very last time. "She only got hit twice and yet I was shot down the moment I took off into the battlefield on it."
"I know considering how she never once used an actual fighter let alone one of the two Skygraspers on the Archangel." commented Flay, thinking back to that moment which she was still surprised on even now. "Then again she is the pilot of the Strike Rouge so using a Skygrasper would be redundant to her."
With a slight nod, Mir had to agree with Flay since it is weird since usually the Heliopolis Gundams had the original OS yet the Strike Rouge seemed to be the only one with an actual working OS that can be used by Naturals, which makes her wonder on how it was developed. "Not only that, her mobile suit is the only one with a working Natural OS, albeit a prototype one but never the less it's allowing her to use it effectively without too much problems." she said once again, knowing the possibility of the prototype OS leading to mobile suits that can be used by Naturals could take less time than originally thought depending on what happens. "Its hard to imagine that she used it to help us during our escape to Earth despite her being a civilian at the time."
"It couldn't be helped I guess." Flay spoke again, looking out at the ocean and was in deep thought about the events that occurred leading up to this very day… each time they were in action, it was usually against a specific type of mobile suit that they've never encountered before and slowly learning to adapt to fighting against them even with some help aiding them. "Maybe it could help if we ever get the chance to pilot actual mobile suits in the near future, though for now let's focus on at least starting small and working our way up."
Mir remained silent for a brief moment, especially as she's been taking what she was suggested into consideration though never the less she does intend to try the simulator again in order to improve on her skills with a more respectable attempt. "At least it would give us something to do when not doing our respective jobs on the bridge." she replied, giving the red-haired girl a light smile since it wasn't like they had anything else planned.
With another smile both friends looked out to the sea, yet before long Flay felt someone hug her from behind and she couldn't help but smile. "So what are you two talking about?" Kira said hugging Flay from behind.
Flay however just smiled as she turned around to look at the one she loved. "Well Mir and I want to become pilots so we can help out better."
Hearing this, Kira was a little taken back as he was wondering why they wanted to do this. "But Why…." he asked as he was about to say more when Flay stopped him by placing her finger on his lips and only continued to smile at him lovingly.
"We all want to help Kira, and I hate that there is nothing that I can do but watch." Flay said as she looked over to Mir. "I mean we are your friends Kira and I love you with all my heart."
"She's right Kira I mean she had to convince me on trying to be a pilot." She said and looked over to Flay, who just laughed a little.
"We are going to both ask Cagalli when we see her to help us and give us a few pointers on what we either do wrong and right." Flay said as she knew she was going to have to try and tell Kira that she was going to do this.
Even Mir knew she was going to have to tell Tolle she was going to be doing this. "Well I need to tell Tolle what I will be doing, true he may not like it but I think I can tell him that it's the right thing to do."
With that said Mir left so that she could go and tell Tolle what she and Flay had been talking about, and so Kira and Flay could talk more on Flay becoming a pilot as she knew that this was something that both needed to talk about.
Once Mir was gone Kira looked back at Flay as he began to think over what she had said and in truth it worried him that not only was the woman he loved was going to be out there but now Mir might be out there as well. And it worried him mainly as he didn't know what could happen if they went out there as part of him was worried that they might be killed, but knew that he wouldn't let it happen.
Flay could even see this and knew Mir was going to have a hard time telling Tolle this. "Kira look I know that you and Tolle will be worried for me and Mir, but we are going to ask Cagalli to teach us, I will ask my mum as well to teach me." Flay said as she gave Kira a smile. "I know you're worried about me Kira I worry about you whenever you go out there."
Remaining silent, Kira wasn't sure how to respond to that especially as he wouldn't want to feel Maria's wrath should he let anything bad happen to her only child. "Even so, how would your mother feel if she learned of this anyway?" he asked her, wanting to make her at least think on the matter before she decided to go through with it or not. "Besides, if anything was to happen to you in the war then I'm gonna be held responsible."
"Oh yeah, well I need to speak with her on that later when I get the chance." she replied back, having nearly forgotten about that while reflecting on what made Maria become part of ZAFT until defecting to the Orb military. "Besides, the chances of me or Mir actually heading into battle are slim to none since Commander La Flaga and Lieutenant Imelia, are both ace pilots as I mentioned to Mir when I told of what I wanted to do for the later battles of the war."
"Yes it's true that they are ace pilots, but Commander La Flaga is new to battling on Earth though Lieutenant Imelia is more familiar with this." Kira responded back, recalling that Mu is still getting used to fighting ZAFT forces on Earth since his Moebius Zero was the only thing that could effectively make use of his Newtype capabilities but can only be used in space, hence having to go to the Skygrasper from this point forward. "Besides, you already have a good role in the bridge so why risk your own life to help me?"
Hearing this, made the red-haired girl's eyes narrow and a glare formed as a result. "Oh come on Kira, try to think about this for a second… first you nearly got captured by the Aegis in space, then you nearly got separated from us when we made our way to Earth and finally had you not been sent a different pack to replenish the Strike's energy at the Libyan Desert, you would have died!" she remarked, making him remember the times he could have either been captured, killed or separated from the Archangel in some form or another. "Plus the GOOhNs sent to attack us aren't so easily to destroy either."
"I realized that, though I found out that the only pack that can be used to help us out is the Sword Striker in case we get attacked against." commented Kira, since it does give the Sword Striker Pack some more use than normally and to be honest, aside from the Aile Striker, he does wish to use the Sword Striker as an alternative until he is able to properly master using the IWSP and Lightning Strikers in actual battle. "I'm still trying to master using the IWSP and Cagalli is doing her best to do the same, while the Lightning Striker is still being tested in case there is a flaw but what surprised me is that the Lightning Striker is compatible with the Skygraspers."
"I see and I take it the IWSP might not be as lucky then?" asked Flay, curious to know if the IWSP can be mounted on the Skygrasper as well or not since the two Strikes are capable of mounting it before launching from the Archangel into battle. The downside being there is only one IWSP and one Lightning Striker and two Strikes.
"We don't know yet, we never actually attempted to mount the IWSP onto the Skygraspers." answered Kira with a frown; he too didn't have any clue on how the IWSP could be mounted on either of the Skygraspers since they never had any time to see if it was possible. "In any case, let's focus on the more important matter such as what promoted you and Mir to decide to actually head out into the frontlines yourselves."
"You already know the reason, plus I'd be damned if I lose you to this war" responded Flay with another serious expression on her face, one he remembered seeing when she first used to hate Coordinators until discovering she herself was part Coordinator. "Not only that but all we'll be doing is provide support for the Strike and the Strike Rouge, we're not doing anything too reckless you know."
Birdy, being on Kira's shoulder glanced at its owner then Kira gave a small sigh since there was a chance that nothing he can do in order to make her change her mind much like when she decided to join the military and convinced himself as well as the others to stay onboard the Archangel following their linking up with the Eighth Fleet back in space. "I'm holding you to that Flay." he finally spoke after a moment of silence and trying to be careful on what he needed to say so he doesn't make a mistake. "Unfortunately we don't have anything for you two to pilot since the Moebius Zero and the Artic Fang are out of the question due to their limited use and the fact Commander La Flaga and Captain Russo prefer to keep them for the worse case scenario."
"I'm already aware of that which is why Mir and I are gonna volunteer to simply be reserve pilots for the two Skygraspers for now." said Flay, giving him a light smile on her face as she hugged him out of gratitude for understanding where she's getting at. "I promise we'll do our best to stay safe if we do end up being pilots in the front lines."
Once he heard this is was a lot more relieved to hear this at least but looked at her knowing that he was going to help her as well. "Okay then Flay but I'm going to help you as well." He said with a smile as he went into and slowly kissed her.
For a while the two lovers just enjoyed the kiss they were having both wishing that it could last at least, that was until they both heard a cough from behind them. Stopping what they were doing both Kira and Flay looked over to see who it was. "Oh Hi Cagalli is there something that we can do?" he asked wondering what was going on
"Well yeah you see I ran into Mir a while ago and she and I had a talk about what she and you are planning Flay." The blonde hair girl said as she crossed her arms over her chest.
With a smile and a little blush Flay just nodded at this and looked at Kira first and then to Kira. "Yeah we were both talking and were both wanted to do more to help Kira and the others out, but I agreed with Kira it's only going to be when it's really needed." she said and hoped that Cagalli would agree to this idea. "After all we want to show the girls can do just as good as the boys."
Cagalli however just gave a sigh as she remembered what happened when she was talking to Mir about this as well and how Flay got her into the idea as well and Cagalli had to admit that both Flay and Mir had a very good point the more help they had out in battles the less likely someone would be hurt.
"Is that so?" asked Cagalli with a slight smirk on her face, especially thinking back to the conversation in question she had with the brunette earlier though at the same time is actually looking forward to helping the two in becoming great reserve pilots. "What made you two decided on that aside from the fact you brought up."
"Oh?" answered Flay, then a light smile formed on her face as she figured that she may as well explain the other reason for her deciding to become a reserve pilot alongside Mir. "Let's just say that we wanted to do our best in helping other than just being on the bridge watching the battles taking place right before our eyes especially in case Commander La Flaga and/or Lieutenant Imelia are unavailable to use their Skygraspers. "
"Point taken, but hey at least it's something that can help the Archangel regardless." commented the blonde-haired girl then turned her attention towards Kira, giving a smile on her own face as there was the fact that he usually has to deal with most battles on his own even with help but that needs to change. "Besides, I'm starting to get the hang of using the Strike Rouge and the pilot-assisting AI is adding to this as well plus I may use the IWSP more often in the difficult battles to come."
"Yeah, such as the battle we had against the stolen Gundams from Heliopolis when we were heading for Earth and the battle against the Desert Tiger at the Libyan Desert?" added Flay, knowing where Cagalli was getting at since those were two large examples of the Strike Rouge using that Striker Pack to better benefit the Archangel's survival. "That's a very smart decision since what I heard from Captain Russo and my mom, Morassim isn't that hard to beat if we know what we're doing."
Nodding her head again, Cagalli had to agree with Flay as even despite this… Morassim isn't that stupid or predictable so they needed to be prepared to make their next move. "Oh yeah, there's something I've been meaning to ask you…" she said to the red-haired girl, especially as she is curious on what was recently brought up. "Why did you refer to the G-Weapons that the Le Creuset Team stole as Gundams rather than G-Weapons?"
"Well you see Cagalli you see it's like this." Kira began as he told the blonde why he called it a Gundam, it sort of shocked Cagalli when she heard this but all the same she smiled at this.
With another smile Cagalli just nodded as she looked over to Flay. "Okay then, but I think you should tell your mother what you're going to do Flay she should know after all." Cagalli said to Flay knowing she would need to at least run this by Maria first.
"Okay then." She said as she looked over to Kira and gave him a smile. "I'll go do that now, since we have no idea when the next attack will be." Flay said as she quickly gave Kira a kiss on the cheek before leaving the deck of the Archangel, and headed to go find her mother, but she did look at Cagalli once more as she smiled at the blonde hair girl. "Beside me and Mir thought it would be best that you train us."
Cagalli however couldn't help but sigh at this as she looked over to where Flay had been, before she looked over to Kira. "Well seems like I'm a teacher now." She said which only caused Kira to laugh and Cagalli to frown at this. "Hey it not funny you know Kira!" she yelled at him as she turned her back on Kira and crossed her arms over her chest.
Still laughing Kira did the best that he could to stop as he looked at her. "Sorry Cagalli but I have to admit its a little funny." He said as he soon managed to stop laughing. "I mean just the thought of you being a teacher is funny." Kira added as he soon began to laugh once again.
"Well at least I can be a better teacher than you, no offence Kira!" commented Cagalli, having never actually seen Kira teaching anyone on how to be a pilot then again, he never once operated a fighter let alone any mobile armor just the Strike. "Besides, I doubt your natural gift as a Coordinator can save you against more skilled aces… I mean you were only lucky that you had our help otherwise Waltfeld would have killed you out there at the desert."
Kira didn't need to be reminded of this as memories of when he had to destroy the LaGOWE which Andy piloted against him in the climax of the Desert arc. "You had to bring that up…" he muttered to her, not wanting to remember what he did without thinking since his friend's safety came first.
"Sorry, still I didn't think you felt that way about Waltfeld considering how he tried to kill us" responded Cagalli with a frown, especially as this was a first time she heard Kira even saying something like that as if he didn't actually want to kill the Desert Tiger. "Well if it makes you feel any better then Anthony mentioned that he doesn't hold any ill-will towards you having to kill Waltfeld, and that if he had a choice… he would have tried to stop the LaGOWE with his Artic Fang."
Remaining silent, the brown-haired young man was somewhat relieved to hear this and Cagalli hugged him not long afterwards. "What…. Cagalli?!" he became completely flustered the moment the blonde-haired girl suddenly hugged him which was a lot like before their first battle against Morassim's team earlier in their travels through the sea.
"Try not to think about it too much, besides you need to know that this is war and that sometimes you need to do what is right to protect those you care about." she spoke, even though she hated to tell him this but it has to be said for not only his own sake but for the sake of everyone else onboard the ship in question. "Even if it means you have to kill enemy pilots in order to do so and unfortunately as much as you wanted to hate hearing this, sometimes killing the enemy is unavoidable in battle."
Kira just nodded at this which, as much as he hated it and Cagalli could see it. "I know Cagalli but I still don't like it" he said with a frown forming on his face and Cagalli just placed her hand on his.
Cagalli just smiled even more as the two just looked out at the ocean while Kira was hoping that another battle wouldn't happen for at least a while. 'I just hope Flay's talk with Maria goes well.' He thought to himself.
Inside the Archangel, Flay was in her room and talking to her mother over what she wanted to do, something that Maria felt very worried about as she wasn't too sure if this was a good idea. "Flay sweet heart…" She began as she sat down next to her daughter.
"Mum look I know that it's not the best thing to do and the risks of me getting killed are high." Flay said as she stopped her mother, knowing that this was something she needed to do. "Both Mir and I want to do this we want to help mum." she continued as she looked away and Maria could tell that Flay was not going to take no for an answer.
Maria knew that that Flay had made up her mind after all Flay was like her when she was that age once she made up her mind it was no use in even trying to change it and with a smile on her face she soon closed her eyes and lightly laughed. "I was just like you Flay at your age sweet heart." She said with a smile on her face. "Once I decided to do something nothing was going to change it."
Flay just smiled as she looked at her mum and gave a smile to her and couldn't help but think what her mum was done as a child. "Well I hope that you didn't get into trouble then mum?" she asked her mother, as she noticed that she looked away.
Maria just blushed at this as she looked away from Flay who soon began to laugh a little at what her mother could have done when she was her age. "Well you see, I sort of did I was a little rebel when I was sixteen honey." She said as she felt a little embarrassed.
Flay however couldn't help but laugh a little more as she looked at her mum. "Anyway I know Cagalli will be teaching me a Mir so I hope that will help you worry less about us."
Maria only nodded, after all she knew that Cagalli was skilled and she could help her daughter and her friend out. "Okay then Flay you can do it just please when you do go out there please true to be careful okay." She said as she pulled her daughter into a loving hug.
With a smile on her face Flay simple nodded at what her mother asked of her to do and she was going to be sure that she kept her self alive. "Don't worry mum I will and me and Mir both agreed that we would only go out if there is no other chose for us."
Hearing this from Flay made Maria feel even better as she nodded at her and gave a smile at Flay, she was going to say something when she heard the alarm going off and gave a sigh. "Seems we may need to talk more about this later we're under stack again."
Flay just nodded at this she knew that Kira and the others would all be going out there again, yet she had faith that they would all be find when they were out there. After all from what she had seen they did work very well together and with the SeaWolf now helping them it would make all the difference.
Needless to say, the submarine carrier belonging to Morassim was preparing to launch its GOOhNs first along with a new aquatic machine as the sea commander was not going to take any chances, especially due to hearing that Rau Le Creuset and his team had managed to land on Earth, so if he wanted to take out the enemy warship before the masked commander gets the chance to do so then he better do it now. "Hmmmp… They're traveling through shallow waters which is perfect for this ZnO" he commented to himself with an evil grin on his face, his machine known as the UMF-5 ZnO was more than enough to destroy the Strike the moment it comes into the ocean. "Since Le Creuset has already landed… we better sink that ship now!"
The ZnO launched from the submarine alongside the GOOhNs that remained onboard his carrier; he wanted to wait till the right moment for the remaining DINN pilots to sortie as he wanted the element of surprise to remain on his side. In the meantime, the Archangel had detected the heat sources making their way towards the ship. "Torpedoes approaching fast!" reported Tonomoura from the bridge, alerting the rest of the crew present on what's headed their way.
"Mr. Neumann, take us up!" ordered Murrue, which the blue-haired male Ensign managed to get the Archangel raised above the ocean enough so that while the won't get hit by most of the torpedoes, two of which made contact and shook the entire vessel but they got a few GOOhNs approaching and continuing their assault on the ship.
"Lower Igelstellungs, commence interception!" commanded Natarle, they needed to fight back right away and soon before the GOOhNS get too close to the ship. "Aim Valiants, fire!"
The two powerful Valiants fired at the approaching GOOhNs but they proved ineffective as the two enemy ZAFT mobile suits dove underwater to avoid being hit though the good news was, the Archangel's three mobile suit pilots were preparing to launch alongside the two Skygraspers that were also onboard the warship. "You wanna go with the Sword Striker Pack?" asked Murdoch, making contact with the Strike from within the mobile suit hanger.
"Yes, if I disengage the beam then I'll be able to use it as a regular sword" answered Kira, preparing himself to have the Sword Striker mounted onto his Gundam in order to make effective use of its ability to be used in underwater combat. "Skygrasper 2 should have the Aile Striker ready just in case."
"Roger that."
Soon Murrue's image came on the screen especially to wish the young pilot luck for the upcoming battle that he may be going into. "Kira, be careful out there… Marion and Ms. Cagalli will be joining you on this sortie followed by the two GOOhNs on the SeaWolf, unfortunately the Strike Rouge will only be equipped with the bazooka and the standard shield but she's aware of the risk she's taking" she explained the mission briefly. "Commander La Flaga and Lieutenant Imelia sortie afterwards while Captain Russo's GINN Long Range Reconnaissance Type provides cover fire from the deck."
"Understood, I'll try to be careful Captain" responded Kira, somewhat surprised that Cagalli is gonna be joining him in fighting the GOOhNs underwater since like the Strike and the Blue Destiny, the Strike Rouge was not designed for underwater combat which made him ask. "Is there any particular reason why Cagalli is accompanying me and Marion?"
Shaking her head, Murrue had no clue herself as it was something she hadn't been informed of until recently concerning the blonde-haired young woman from Heliopolis. "I'm not sure, but make sure to watch her back just to be certain she doesn't do anything reckless like she did at Orbit!" she gave her next order
"Okay, I'll try my best." said Kira, then made contact to Cagalli as he's certain the regular shield and the bazooka were being mounted onto her machine at the Port-side catapult while the Strike is receiving the Sword Striker within the Starboard catapult. "Cagalli, are you sure that you want to join me and Marion on this battle? I think the two of us and the GOOhNs onboard the SeaWolf are…"
"Look, I know you aren't happy about this but I'm joining in on this battle whether you like it or not Kira!" Cagalli replied back via communications, especially as she wanted to show that she can handle fighting underwater against the enemy GOOhNS just like Kira and Marion managed to do even before the Orb-allied GOOhNs from the SeaWolf came to their aide. "It's not like that I haven't provided assistance to you before so you should be glad I decided to stay on the ship instead of returning to Earth with the refugees you previously picked up."
Morassim grinned behind his helmet's visor. They had complete and total advantage here, not only did they have a substantial number of air superiority mobile suits otherwise known as DINNs but the submarine that was also a part of his unit also carried a number of GOOhNs which were aquatic mobile suits designed specifically for combat in a water based environment. It took quite a bit of foresight on part of the engineers who had designed that particular type of mobile suit.
It was as though ZAFT had known that they would probably have to take some of their battles under the waves if they went to war with the Earth Forces, especially if they wanted to bring the fight to their own territory rather than just stay up in space and risk damage to the PLANTs.
The Legged Ship however only had a few ground and space capable mobile suits which weren't built for combat in and around large bodies of water. The only thing that they had to really concern themselves with was the Strike that was onboard the Archangel but even then it didn't exactly have water combat capabilities and most of its weapons were energy based so it would probably be near completely useless if it was dragged underneath the water.
"This is Commander Morassim, deploy the GOOhN team immediately" he ordered while several launch tubes inside his command sub as well as the escorts opened and out launched a number of GOOhN's out towards the Archangel. He saw the blips that represented the GOOhN's slowly make their way towards the Archangel. Soon victory would be his and he would be remembered in history books for generations to come as the man who managed to sink the Legged Ship while so many other commanders of higher caliber had failed.
As the flight of around six DINNs flew onwards the ZAFT commander quickly noticed that the Archangel's stern missile launchers open fire with high explosive rounds meant for taking out MS targets. He and the three other DINNs that had accompanied him broke formation and began evasive maneuvers.
None of the missiles that had been fired managed hit their intended targets but fortunately one of the DINN's was hit several times by the Igelstellung CIWS turrets when he went into their line of sight and although it didn't down the DINN in an instant like the crew of the Archangel had probably hoped, it did however damage its right wing just enough that it was sent spiralling out of control as it was hit over and over again by the CIWS turrets and one stray shot from one of the turrets punched straight through the cockpit's armor and into the machine's primary reactor causing the power source to explode which made the DINN go down in flames.
Morassim scowled, this wasn't going exactly as he had planned, the bearded commander had already lost one of his DINNs and the enemy mobile suits hadn't even gotten out of the ship yet. However he didn't have to wait very long for that to happen wouldn't last long as the Blue Destiny began to launch right on out of the Archangel's hanger along with the two Skygraspers. Once the Strike and Strike Rouge had finally launched, the GOOhN team recognized it almost immediately due to the commander having them memorize what the machine looked like until it had been burned into their minds.
The second GOOhN team which was comprised of three mobile suits had been under the strictest of orders not to open fire until the Strike, the Strike Rouge and the Blue Destiny were out of the Legged Ship and in their line of fire where they would use their shoulder mounted beam weapons to draw it into their trap. As for the first team, they were to engage the two GOOhNs from the SeaWolf when they are sent into action.
A few seconds after both Skygraspers had finished leaving the hanger the Strike had finally made its appearance as it soared out of the Archangel. One of the GOOhN's that had been watching the launcher just above the surface of the water targeted the Strike with its beam launchers and opened fire.
The shots missed by a wide margin but that was the original intention for the GOOhN team. They were to lure the Strike into the water and overwhelm it with their superior mobility and either destroy or capture it, commander Morassim wasn't very particular on which but given the trouble the Strike had caused they resolved to simply destroy the enemy mobile suit which would probably be far easier for them than if they were to try and capture it.
Kira looked down and spotted them instantly and opened fire with the CIWS while Cagalli joined in with the bazooka equipped onto the Strike Rouge and sent an explosive round into the water that blew up after a second before the Strike, the Strike Rouge and the Blue Destiny dived into the water after the GOOhN team.
Once both Orb-allied GOOhNs were deployed from the SeaWolf, the five mobile suits prepared themselves to confront the enemy forces though Kira was still hoping that Cagalli knows what she's doing by joining on the battle as the two Skygraspers each had the Launcher Striker and the Aile Striker respectively to aid them for their part of the task… the good thing was Anthony is staying on deck in his mobile suit to provide support fire. "Here they come" commented one of the GOOhN pilots from the SeaWolf as the ZAFT GOOhNs approached them but Kira armed himself with the Schwert Gewehr, in order to go onto the offensive. "Be careful kid, odds are they'll take no chances in eliminating you first before focusing on us."
"Yeah, I know…" responded Kira, then attempted to stab at one of the ZAFT GOOhNs with his Anti-Ship Sword only for it to dodge with ease… fortunately, it left the enemy mobile suit open to missile-fire from one of the Orb GOOhNs. "Huh?"
He was suddenly hit by missile-fire that came out of nowhere which caught him off-guard. "Kira!" yelled Cagalli, attempting to head out there to help the Strike but was forced on the defensive as two beams fired from one of Morassim Team's GOOhNs targeted the Strike Rouge, causing her to get her shield up to block the attack. "Dammit!"
Arriving on the scene was the ZnO which Morassim himself piloted as he wanted the pleasure of destroying the Strike himself and the rest of the GOOhN team will focus on taking out the Strike Rouge, the Blue Destiny and the two traitorous GOOhNs. "That's it, I got it!" grinned the sea commander, making his way towards the Sword Strike at top speed. "You go guys after the other mobile suits underwater!"
The ZnO then fired two beams from the palms of its hands and the Strike managed to barely avoid being hit on time though with the speed of this new model he was up against, Kira needed to be more careful as one careless mistake could cost him his life. "That must be…" he muttered to himself, suspecting that it was a commander's unit much like Rau's CGUE and Andy's LaGOWE before it.
"I'm gonna tear that machine to pieces with this ZnO!" laughed Morassim, taking advantage of his machine's superiority in underwater combat and got ready to make the next move against the EA Gundam that he's already engaging. "Get ready punk!"
The Blue Destiny fired its own CIWS bullets but the GOOhNs that she was fighting proved able to dodge the bullet fire without too much trouble. "They're tougher than they look!" muttered Marion, even though her soul was trapped in the machine… she is still a skilled pilot but underwater combat is something she never actually handled prior to coming onboard the Archangel and saw how much of a hard time Kira is having with the ZnO. "Oh man, Kira!"
"Don't worry about me, keep those enemy mobile suits away from the Archangel!" he responded, wanting to be the one to defeat the ZnO since the Archangel only has Anthony to defend it from above against the DINNs and it will mean more trouble if any of the enemy GOOhNs get passed them to strike at the EA warship. "Odds are, he might be up to something and I'm not sure what!"
Cagalli bit her lower lip as she's trying to get a clear shot against the GOOhNs that she's fighting against but their speed is proving to be a disadvantage against her. "Easier said than done!" she muttered to herself, mentally cursing at the fact that she was hit by missile-fire from behind. "Aaahhh!"
"Cagalli!" yelled one of the two GOOhN pilots from the SeaWolf, deciding to join in on keeping those ZAFT GOOhNs from outnumbering her and proceeded with using their speed in an effort to keep their attention away from the three space-model machines from the Archangel.
Above the water, Anthony took aim with the sniper rifle and managed to get a clear shot as he fired which led to the destruction of another DINN that was part of the battle. "This is just crazy, what is Morassim hoping to accomplish by striking us again right away?" he asked himself, preparing to fire another shot as the SeaWolf should be able to take out Morassim's own submarine carrier once they are in position to make their sneak attack. "Ren, how are you and Commander La Flaga holding up out there?"
"Well so far we're both doing alright." Rena said with a frown, grateful that the Aile Striker's extra mobility was allowing her to do more evasive maneuvers as she managed to shoot down a DINN that tried to get too close to the Archangel.
Mu nodded as well this battle was starting to get a little more deadly but he and all the others knew that they needed to stay sharp. Mu could only hope that Kira was doing alright as he has lost sight of the young pilot. "Hey kid can you hear me? How are thing your end."
At first Kira was expecting underwater combat to be similar to that of space combat. Unfortunately he was one hundred percent wrong, once under the waves he began to sink quickly and the Strike's movements were much more sluggish than if he was in space, not only that but he couldn't use any of his beam weapons under the water but at least the Sword Striker was making this easier than his first time. Cagalli on the other hand was having a lot of trouble due to her fighting against mobile suits without any Striker Packs and being underwater to boot.
Fortunately she at least had more than enough foresight to take out the bazooka that Kira had to use before he went underwater the first time rather than the beam rifle that they normally used with the Aile Striker or the IWSP. The GOOhN's immediately surrounded the Strike Rouge again and the blonde-haired female pilot aimed the bazooka right at one of the approaching mobile suits and opened fire. The bazooka's round exited the weapon and made its way towards the GOOhN that was closing in on his position.
Since the weapon was being fired underwater its movements were far slower than when it was used above the water's surface. This made it incredibly easy for the GOOhNs to completely evade since they were in the perfect environment to maneuver which gave them the complete advantage over the Rouge as well as the Strike.
Kira activated the Strike's thrusters to avoid having to go to far under the water where the pressure would completely crush the Strike but the ZnO he's fighting was making things a bit difficult. After he did that he fired the CIWS bullet at one of the GOOhNs that were coming straight for him, allowing Cagalli to take the chance in firing another shot from the bazooka. Since the GOOhN was much closer than the last group that she had fired at the bazooka round had no problem hitting the GOOhN and it blew a giant hole that went clean through the armor of the aquatic mobile suit before it exploded.
The resulting shockwave sent the Strike Rouge spiralling backwards and Kira and Cagalli both thanked heaven that the Strikes had Phase Shift Armor or else the pieces that were once part of the GOOhN Cagalli had just destroyed would have shredded either of the two Gundams to pieces but thanks to the PS Armor System it didn't happen. One of the two remaining GOOhN's attempted to avenge their fallen compatriot by charging headlong at the Strike Rouge.
Since the bazooka was now completely out of ammunition, the blonde mentally cursed as she tossed the now useless weapon aside and drew one of the Strike Rouge's Armor Schneider knives and side stepped the attack but not before she grabbed onto the GOOhN's dorsal fin and activated the knife before shoving it right into the GOOhN's back and the weapon dug in for a few seconds before Cagalli pulled it out and let go of the mobile suit.
The sudden change in pressure on the inside machinery of the GOOhN caused it to be quickly crushed in a similar way that a soda can in a trash compactor would before it exploded. The last remaining GOOhN opened fire with its torpedo launcher repeatedly trying to keep its distance away from the Strike which had proven to still be more than lethal despite the fact that it was in a completely different environment that it was normally used to.
Unfortunately for the Strike Rouge the remaining GOOhN's tactic seemed to be working as the machine kept the female pilot at a distance when the explosions from the torpedoes kept the Strike Rouge suppressed and prevented her from joining Kira against the ZnO. One of the torpedoes from the GOOhN managed to hit the Strike Rouge's arm and caused it to drop its combat knife which was Cagalli's last remaining defensive option.
As the battle continued above the water yet another one of the DINNs that had been launched to help Commander Morassim was instead blasted to pieces by a shot from one of the Skygraspers' Agni Cannon. By a bizarre stroke of luck for the pilot of the Strike the remains from the mobile suit fell into the water directly above where Kira had been fighting. The second that the remaining pieces of the DINN hit the water they quickly started to float downwards under the water.
Kira immediately noticed the falling pieces but mostly ignored them until he saw a machine gun still clutched in a DINN's severed hand. That weapon was probably the best chance that Cagalli had of taking out the last GOOhN. "Cagalli, quick grab it!" he alerted the Rouge's pilot, making her wonder what he was talking about at first though she saw the machine gun as well then headed off to retrieve it. Before the GOOhN realized what it was Cagalli was doing she quickly grabbed the machine gun and without hesitation opened fire on the GOOhN. The pilot wasn't able to react quickly enough and was cut down in a hail of automatic machinegun fire. The remains of the now destroyed GOOhN slowly started to quickly float down to the sea floor.
As the destroyed piece of slag that was once a mobile suit continued to float downwards into the dark abyss, Kira knew the only mobile suit left was that ZnO that he's fighting against then proceeded with firing the Panzer Eisen, he hoped to deal some meaning for damage only for the Rocket Anchor to miss and the ZnO rammed right into the Sword Striker with ease but the good news was the missiles fired missed the EA Gundam as Kira barely had enough time to dodge them.
Not too far away, Morassim's submarine command vessel was nearby preparing for the next phase of the ZAFT commander's plan to sink the Archangel and its mobile weapons so that Rau won't be bothered with continuing his pursuit of the EA warship any longer. "Prepare to send out the remaining DINNs!" ordered the captain, however the before the submarine could attempt rise to the surface, the alarms went off. "What the?!"
"Captain, the Radar detected something coming our way!" informed one of the crew members onboard, though he didn't look too happy when he detected what it was and the expression of fear formed on his face the moment he turned his attention towards his superior officer. "Oh no, its enemy fire from the ocean and it's about to make contact in any moment!"
"What?!"
Needless to say, he wondered what it was and before he could give the command to evade it… enemy fire was shown striking their submarine carrier, delivering massive damage until the carrier couldn't withstand the assault anymore… resulting in its complete destruction as a huge explosion was shown by everyone present during the ensuring battle. "Looks like the plan worked perfectly" smirked Anthony, casually destroying one of the remaining DINNs with a shot from a distance as his GINN LRRT took to the sky on his customized Guul, deciding to take the battle to the enemy. "Archangel, the SeaWolf has taken out the enemy carrier… mission accomplished."
From the bridge, Murrue was in a way relieved and everyone watching saw Marion managing to destroy one of the remaining enemy GOOhNs with a well placed shot from the machine gun that the Blue Destiny was equipped with before the ZAFT machine could even get close to the Archangel then the final GOOhN fell against one of the Orb allied GOOhNs from the SeaWolf. "That takes care of those guys!" commented one of the pilots from the SeaWolf then frowned as there was still one more problem to deal with. "The Strike's having some trouble though… it's fighting a machine piloted by Morassim himself, the ZnO to be more specific!"
"What?!" muttered Murrue, having never expected that Morassim would actually go after the Strike though the explosion caused by one of remaining GOOhN pilots being killed caught him off-guard long enough to allow Kira to impale his ZnO's left shoulder with the Schwert Gewehr but managed to grab onto the Strike and pinned it onto the ground in an effort to at least rid himself of one problem.
"Oh no you don't!" snapped Kira, getting out both of the Strike's own Armor Scheiders and impaled them onto the ZAFT mobile suit, causing it to start short-circuiting then with all of his might he kicked the ZnO off while managing to retrieve the Schwert Gewehr as he did so and everyone present underwater watched as the ZnO crashed onto the ground before exploding, taking Morassim with it.
Now that the battle was over, the Strike Rouge made its way towards the Sword Strike as while the blue, white and red Gundam wasn't too banged up… she had a feeling she knew how the brown-haired young man was feeling right now. "Kira!" she called, hoping that he would hear her. "You okay?"
"Yeah, I think so…" he replied, an image of Andy was shown as he glanced at the wreckage of what was once Morassim's Zno… causing him to remember having to kill the Desert Tiger in their final confrontation but unlike Andy, the ZnO pilot wanted nothing more than to see him meet his end so he had no choice but to take his opponent's life. "What about you?"
"I'm not too banged up right now, I'll be fine" responded Cagalli, checking to make sure the Strike Rouge still had some energy left as she definitely didn't want to have to fight anymore enemy mobile suits in the area for a while. "Good news is that there aren't anymore ZAFT pilots in the area so we should be safe."
"That's a relief at least…."
The Blue Destiny joined with the Strike and the Strike Rouge, while she enjoyed having to assist the two Gundam in fighting the GOOhNs, they shouldn't be wasting anymore time being in the area since they should be focused on heading for their next destination as soon as possible. "We better return… odds are the others might become worried about us if we stay here too long" came Marion's voice, making contact with the two teens since the two GOOhN pilots from Orbn were already returning to the SeaWolf as they speak. "Besides, you don't want to let your girlfriend get too worried about you."
"Okay" said Kira while nodding his head, he wasted no time since the Strike was once again almost out of energy much like when he fought the LaGOWE back at the desert, Kira, Cagalli and Marion used the thrusters from their respective mobile suits and rocketed back up to the surface.
A/Ns: Well here it is, another chapter in my DX story finished and more so with the permanent defeat of Morassim himself. Yes, I am well aware that Cagalli being in the Strike Rouge doesn't get shot down and the fact her being in the Rouge prevents her and Athrun from ending up being stranded on the island together… which pretty much takes Phase 24's events out of the picture as a result. Meaning that soon the Archangel may end up dealing with the Zala Team sooner than in canon but will have some much needed assistance when the time comes but anyway I hope you enjoy this chapter and look forward to doing the next one fairly soon (plus I need to get my Mortal Kombat Reckoning fic updated too because it's been a long time since I did so and hope you'll like it as well if you are a fan of MK).