Gundam SEED: Different Reality

by DreamersLTD

If you can dream, then anything is possible. – DreamersLTD Motto

Disclaimer: Same as before…

(Onboard the Archangel)

After the fateful battle with the Desert Tiger, the Archangel decided to follow Sahib's direction to take the Red Sea into the Indian Ocean, then into the Pacific, then finally on a direct course for Alaska.

The crew was in good spirits, as they haven't suffered a single attack for the past few days. Even better, Miriallia had finally recovered from her ordeal, though if she was to sortie, she would have to be relegated to a support role.

"…So, how are you feeling?"

Miriallia turned to the source of the voice. "Cagalli!" She smiled. "I'm feeling a bit weak and stiff, but being out here helps." Miriallia was just wearing a light-yellow sundress and standing on the back deck of the Archangel.

Cagalli smiled. "That's good to hear. I went to check up on you, only to find that your room was vacant." She then turned to stare at the sea. "It's very peaceful here… Almost as if we weren't in a war, doesn't it?"

Miriallia looked back at the sea. "Yeah… If only it was like this more often…" she murmured.

"Is this your first time on Earth?" question Cagalli.

"No, it's not the first, but it's been awhile since I was last here on Earth," replied Miri.

"I see. Well, that's good."

They were soon joined by Flay, who also asked Miri how she was doing and if she was enjoying the momentary peace. Soon the three girls just relaxed and enjoyed the day on deck, before turning in after watching the sunset.

Meanwhile at the same time, Athrun, Kira, and Nicol were quietly relaxing on the deck of a ZAFT Vosgulov.

"So that girl we saw back at Commander Waltfeld's base was the young Lioness of Orb?" questioned Nicol.

"Yes. I've only met her once before, and that was when we were younger…" Athrun trailed off before shaking his head. "She's always been so quiet…"

Kira sensed something was amiss. "Are you afraid that she might end up becoming a 'yes'-woman to you, Athrun?"

Athrun then looked up at Kira and wanly smiled. "You know me too well… But yes, I do worry that she may have been taught to act prim and proper. The marriage was arranged after all, so it could've been that they could've subdued some of her emotions. But really, I don't mind marrying her; I can learn to love her, but only if she has an independent spirit of her own."

"…Athrun, you're an idiot," Kira said with some humor.

"Eh? What do you mean by that?"

"You and your beliefs… so old worldish…" Kira smiled. "If her father is the fearsome Lion of Orb, Uzumi Nara Athha, then most likely, the Princess will have some of his bite. In fact, I think that her Princess side she showed us was just out of diplomacy and formality more than because of how she was raised."

Nicol lightly chuckled. "Athrun, you're obviously worried about her. But not as you say you are. Am I right?"

Athrun too, had to smile. "Yeah. Both of you know me too well. I am worried about her. After all, there were rebels back there in the desert, and combined that with Commander Waltfeld's death, makes it possible that she could've been kidnapped, injured, or killed."

"And though not trying to sound heartless, but why does that get to you?"

"…I honestly can't explain it… but I do worry a bit over her, despite the fact that we're still technically strangers to each other."

"Well, I'll just drop the subject then." Kira then paused for a while. "So Nicol, when will we hear you play?"

Nicol smiled. "At Athrun's wedding reception. I'm invited as a special performance guest, and I'll be playing two songs; one of them a solo, and the other a duet with a violinist."

"Sounds like it'll be fun. I'm looking forward to hearing it," stated Kira, before looking out to sea.

In another portion of the Red Sea, two MS landed on the deck of a ZAFT Vosgulov; one of four that was under the command of Commander Marco Morassim.

As soon as they entered the bridge, the two pilots introduced themselves as they saluted. "Ruby Maakan; reporting."

"Zander Maakan; same."

"You two married…?" questioned the blond commander in a gruff voice.

"Yes sir."

"Well then, I'm Commander Marco Morassim, and welcome aboard."

"Thank you sir."

"When you contacted me, you two said that you had something worth mentioning. What was it?"

Zander spoke up. "The Earth Alliance's newest warship, the Archangel, is en-route to the Pacific, and they're route will run across yours."

Commander Morassim looked sharply at them. "Are you two sure about your information?"

"Yes sir. We tailed them throughout the day. They are most likely to attempt crossing the Red Sea, into the Indian Ocean, then into the Pacific, on their way to Alaska."

"Hmm… This could be a chance to gain a rank promotion. If you two are correct, then leave that ship and its defenders to me and my team. We'll sink them in our territory."

"Just remember that ship has three, maybe four fully functional MS to help defend it," warned Ruby.

"Heh. We'll see how well they'll fare in the sea."

While Morassim began formulating a plan, Ruby and Zander took their leave and retired in a spare cabin that they were assigned.

"He's an idiot. I give him only a matter of hours after he engages the Archangel before he meets Davy Jones," stated Ruby as she stripped down to the bare essentials before climbing into the bed.

Zander lightly laughed. "I probably only give him less than an hour." He too, stripped to the bare essentials, and joined Ruby in bed. Pulling her close, they shared a quick kiss. "We better rest. Tailing that ship for a whole day was rather stressing."

Ruby just smiled. "Indeed." She gave him a quick kiss. "Goodnight."

Zander returned the smile and kissed her forehead. "Goodnight." And with that, both teens fell asleep in each others' arms.

Another day passed for the crew of the Archangel, and once again, they were granted some time off (in shifts) to enjoy the scenery. While Natarle disapproved of it on the grounds of possible enemy attack, Murrue knew that some R&R would help.

This time, the deck was occupied by Sai, Flay, Tolle, and Kuzzey; who all stood at the railings and stared into the deep blue water.

"So is this your first time on the ocean, Kuzzey?" questioned Sai upon seeing his friend's timid gaze at the water.

"Yeah, I thought the desert was something, but this seems just as unusual to me. How far does it go down?" As with Tolle, Kuzzey was born and raised in outer space, and obviously wasn't quite used to some things on Earth.

"I'm guessing pretty deep," replied Tolle, who was way more willing to see new things.

"Yeah, and they say there are sea monsters too…" Flay stated, sparking a light round of laughter.

When everyone returned back inside to begin their shift, Canard then came out to relax. He was bored and annoyed at the same time. He had been so close to Kira Yamato, but yet, the situation had prevented him from killing the teen and properly claiming the title of Ultimate Coordinator.

A door opened behind him and he heard Cagalli call out, "There you are." She came out and sat next to him. "What's the matter? You look bothered."

"Nothing's wrong; I'm just bored out of my mind," lied Canard.

"Are you sure? You've been annoyed since we left the desert," Cagalli stated.

"It's something personal. Sorry, but I don't feel like sharing it."

Cagalli shugged. "I understand. Sorry I pried."

"Nah, don't worry about it," responded Canard.

"By the way, did you know that Miri had recovered?"

"Yeah. I'm glad that she was able to. She had been out for week."

"Same here," responded Cagalli. As there wasn't much more to talk about, they just sat with their backs near the deck entrance and stared out to the sea for what seemed like eternity.

Canard then remembered something. "Where's your bodyguard?"

She turned to him. "I can take care of myself, thank you very much!"

Canard laughed then shrugged. "Well, he usually follows you around."

"He simply needs to mind his own business!" muttered the girl as she folded her arms.

Canard had to laugh. "But then again, you're the Princess of Orb."

"Shush! Don't shout that out loud! No one's supposed to know!"

"I thought that everyone on the ship knows," stated Canard as he calmed down.

"Well, other than the bridge officers, and maybe the security personnel, but most of the others (the civilians that stayed on to assist, such as the doctor, or a nurse, etc) that stayed aboard the ship doesn't!"

"Okay… fine… fine… I'll just shut up now…"

Eventually, after just a peaceful time, they went back in to begin their shifts; cleaning and checking on the status of their units.

--

"So are they crazy or stupid?" questioned Kisaka after hearing the current state of things.

"Maybe a little bit of both?" Mu replied.

"It's stupid for the Earth Alliance military to leave us to our own devices," muttered Kisaka.

Murrue sighed. While the Archangel and Strike (II) were the state of the art weapons that were meant to tip the scales in the favor of the Earth Forces, HQ had repeatedly denied their requests for reinforcements and supplies. She wondered if the upper brass thought they were expendable. "The only thing I'm certain of is that we must try to avoid enemy contact until we reach Alaska."

"However, if we try to run the gauntlet to get to the Indian Ocean, we'll have nowhere to go if we do come across enemy forces," Natarle said.

"Perhaps, but then again the likelihood of meeting a major ZAFT force out here is slim," Kisaka said, "At most, we may run into a patrol, but nothing more."

"Yes, but a patrol can still report our location," reminded Natarle.

"We'll have to do the best that we can…" Murrue trailed off, "The rest will be up to luck."

But the big question was; would luck carry them all the way to Alaska?

"Will you two knock it off?" Tonomura's voice suddenly erupted from their right, "You both are giving me a headache."

"What is it?" Natarle asked.

"These two nutcases one the consoles here have been bickering about something with the sonar for the past twenty minutes."

"Well, these blips keep coming and going," Chandra stated, "I don't know what they are, or if it's just a glitch somewhere." He looked at the gauge again. "See, they've appeared again."

Pal looked at the gauge as well. "They might be civilian craft, but their signals are too faint to properly tell."

Natarle took a look for herself. "Wait a moment… they can't be civilian craft, their moving too fast!"

"Then you think they might be…?"

"Enemies? Yes, I'd say so."

"All hands, battle stations!" Murrue shouted.

As the alarms blared, a pair of AMF-101 DINN mobile suits streaked across the sky, rapidly closing on their target. They were constructed in a similar manner to the GINNs, but with atmospheric flight capabilities in mind. Their armaments included the standard assault rifle, a shotgun, and missile launchers. The moment the Archangel was in sight, they moved in to attack. The Archangel returned fire as Mu launched in the Strike II equipped with the Hyperion Pack; closely followed by the Zeo Astray with the Aile Pack. Canard remained on deck to defend the ship from any enemies that managed to get past Mu and Cagalli.

As Miriallia boarded her unit and started it up, Flay called her from the bridge. "Are you sure that you can fight?" she questioned.

Miri responded. "I can. Please open the hatch!"

Flay was about to say something when she turned and listened to someone giving her a command. "The Captain says that you are to watch the back of the ship. As your unit's the heaviest, there's a chance that recovery will be tough if you fall in." Flay then winked. "And besides, we can't let you hurt yourself just after recovering! So take care!"

Miri had to smile. "Sure thing!"

--

Just as Miriallia launched and made her way towards the back of the ship, Tonomura gave a new warning. "I've picked up three more blips on sonar!"

"What?!" Natarle exclaimed, "What are they!?"

"Judging from their speed and propulsion, they have to be mobile suits!!"

"What, how could mobile suits attack from the water!?" Natarle demanded.

"Whatever they are," Tonomura replied, "they've just fired torpedoes!"

"Engines, maximum thrust!" Murrue ordered, "Neumann, get us out of water!!"

Neumann yanked the control stick, bringing the ship out of the water. Moments after they got above the surface, they saw the wakes of the torpedoes as they passed right under. They then spotted an off-white colored mobile suit bob out of the water before diving back down.

"Enemy mobile suit indentified!" Chandra called out, "It's a UMF-4A GOOhH!"

As a specialized amphibious attack unit, the GOOhN could attack enemy ships and bases from the water. With its armaments, it was a fairly dangerous machine in and out of the water.

As soon as the Archangel locked on, the GOOhNs then just disappeared beneath the water and resurface elsewhere to resume their attack. From their spots, Canard and Miri tried to follow their movements and took some potshots only to miss. After several attempts, the GOOhNs simply kept away from the firing arcs of both units. But two new units then came charging in, going directly for Miri.

--

On Miriallia's end, she had only begun to fight when two distinct warning blips caused her to look down at her control band. Her eyes widened as she recognized the personnel codes. She then quickly linked her control band into her unit's comm. system. "Ruby!? Zander!? What are you two doing here!?" Miriallia exclaimed as she sent off a warning volley at the two new units that appeared.

Ruby effortlessly dodged several shots that came her way while responding. "We were just sent under orders to check up on you, PC #XX01; or rather, Miriallia Haww."

"What!? Why!?" The Heavyarms Leopard then unleashed a volley of missiles.

"Because, now that you've been found again after disappearing on us for several years, the project heads are still interested in how their favorite assassin is doing," replied Zander as he shot down and dodged the missile volley.

"…I no longer want to be a part of that!"

"It's too bad. We, as the final results of the Perfect Coordinator project, were to become assassins for the current Chairman after the initial project plan was a success. Remember, he was the one that allowed our existence, granting the necessary funds to the splinter group that created us," stated Ruby as she mostly hovered and dodged.

"And as such, we have no choice but to follow their orders. And right now, we simply have orders to check up on you," added Zander.

Miri vigorously shook her head in denial. "I don't want to go back! I've killed so many… And the worst part, I killed them hiding behind the façade of a young girl!"

"Well, all of us Perfect Coordinators are being recalled after disappearing to hide from anti-Natural sentiments. And you're the last one. Only you can use that special unit; only you can pull its trigger. Once you're taken back into the fold, your intended mission plan will become public assassinations."

"I won't! I will not use that unit! It's too dangerous! And besides, the program was never intended to create assassins!"

Ruby gave a resigned smile. "We were meant as breeders for the Coordinator race. But the project needed money, and the lenders attached a footnote concerning what they get out of funding in return. And unfortunately, there were children 'fresh from the kettle' who wouldn't know better. We were turned from breeder coordinators to assassins. How sad is that?"

"I had my own reasons for not checking in after the initial anti-Natural propaganda spread on the PLANTs."

"You wanted to forget the killing you did behind the scenes, right? Just like the so-called 'disappearance' of a passenger shuttle that carried several Blue Cosmos members, right?" questioned Zander.

"Shut… UP!!" Miri renewed her assault; mostly aimed at the GOOhNs and DINNs that kept harassing the ship. "I didn't know that there were innocents aboard as well! It was…! It was only Dearka that ever told me the truth of what I had done!"

"But had they told you, you would've never killed the former head of Blue Cosmos. Your actions bought all Coordinators some time to further counter and undermine Blue Cosmos while they scrambled to find a new leader. Which was more important? Cutting the head off Blue Cosmos and granting valuable time? Or the loss of a few innocents?"

"SHUT UP!!" Miri unleashed a fusillade of beams directly at Ruby and Zander; which they barely dodged.

"You know that it was the right choice. It was the best choice. At least… you didn't have to annihilate a whole town."

Miri froze. "What…!?"

Zander grimly smiled. "While you got to kill the head of Blue Cosmos, the other teams, Ruby and myself included, were ordered to raze towns aligned with Blue Cosmos. Suffice to say, we don't think anyone could've survived the result." Zander's unit then shrugged. "Who do you think got the short stick?" He then fired off his weapons, more to look like he was fighting rather than talking.

Miri blocked the shot with the Heavyarms Leopard's gatling shield. "…If you knew what you're doing, why don't you leave!?"

"Because it was orders directly from the current Chairman. And besides, these pretty bomb-necklaces don't need to go off."

Miri silently cursed. "What's going on!?" she angrily exclaimed as she mostly kept up a volley of warning shots.

--

On Canard's end of things, he decided to try something new. Suddenly remembering, he went back into the hangar, looking for something.

"Hey!? What are you looking for!?" yelled Murdoch.

Canard quickly looked around before he found it. "This," he stated; holding up a large, silver sword. "I'm going for a Grand Slam with this thing!" (Yes, it's the Grand Slam Sword from the Perfect Grade Strike Model)

"What…!? How are you going to fight with a sword!?" yelled Murdoch.

"Don't worry, old man, I'll take care of it!" he stated as he rushed back outside. He then made some quick movement adjustments and dove into the water. Spotting a GOOhN leaving the water, he engaged his thrusters and charged it. The GOOhN fired in an attempt to stop him, but his Armor Lumiere shield rendered it useless.

"We're having fish tonight!!" Canard manically roared as he 'harpooned' the GOOhN dead center. Just before it exploded, he pushed off it, and sped back towards the deck of the ship. "One down!" he exclaimed. Spotting another GOOhN, he jumped for it, and managed to impale it as well. But as he was about to jump off, another GOOhN rammed into him, sending him into the water as the GOOhN he stabbed exploded.

"Damn it!" he muttered. His adjustments for underwater movement worked, but not to the extent he had hoped for. "I guess I have to fight here," he muttered as another GOOhN slammed into him, knocking the Hyperion aside before quickly speeding off in another direction. Then another GOOhN moved in, and due to overconfidence, lost its dorsal fin and some armor, but not enough to count it out. The first came back for another attack, but Canard dodged it and grabbed hold of its fuselage as it passed. As he was pulled along, he tried to impale it, but his proximity alarm blared. Before he could react, a heavy shock struck him, causing him to lose his grip. A torpedo had hit him, but it didn't come from the other GOOhN. As he looked for the source of the torpedo, a new machine then appeared before him. He quickly scanned the unit and ran the data, finding out that it was one of the newest ZAFT mobile suits, the UMF-5 ZnO.

As it began its own attack run against him, the two GOOhNs resurfaced to attack the Archangel once more. Canard couldn't chase them as the ZnO extended its long arms and fired two green beams. He managed to evade, but he realized that he was in even more trouble.

"Aww, shit…" His unit didn't have phase-shift armor, but that wouldn't have mattered against a unit that could use beams underwater. "I'm screwed."

--

In the air, both the Zeo Astray and the Strike II quickly gained the advantage. The DINNs were no match against the two Gundams, and found themselves sliced by the Zeo and made 'holey' by the Hyperion Pack equipped Strike II.

The GOOhNs however, proved to be tougher, as they bobbed and weaved in the water while evading any form of effective counter fire. No matter what, whenever the guns would swing to target them, the mobile suits would simply dive down to avoid the guns' firing arcs and resume their attack on another side of the ship. Eventually, the Strike II and the Zeo just used themselves as phase-shift equipped shields for the Archangel, as their beam weaponry didn't penetrate the water well at all.

"Damn it, we can't take this kind of beating for much longer!" Natarle shouted, "What's Mr. Pars and Ms. Haww doing!?"

Murrue then thought up an unorthodox idea. "Neumann, can you get the ship to do a barrel roll!?"

"What…?" Neumann was surprised. That sort of maneuver was more suited for lighter craft, not a massive battleship. "It's possible… but why?"

"Then do it!" She yelled, "Get the GOOhNs into the Gottfrieds' line of fire and take them out! Natarle, remember we only have one shot at this."

"Understood!"

Murrue grabbed the comm. "All hands, brace yourselves!" She then turned to Neumann, "Execute barrel roll on my mark!" She quickly fastened her seatbelt. Tonomura reported the GOOhNs were approaching. "Mark!"

Neumann twisted the controls, maneuvering the ship sideways. Everyone hung on as the ship inverted.

"What tha-!?" exclaimed one of the GOOhN pilots as he and his attack partner surfaced… right in front of two turrets. They were directly in the Gottfrieds' line of fire. Natarle gave the order to fire and the beams caught the mobile suits, obliterating them.

--

As for Miriallia, she had forced her unit to hover as the Archangel did its barrel roll; stunning both herself as well as the two that were just playing observer to the battle. And as soon as it was once again under her, she landed and continued to act like she was fending off the two new MS.

"It seems like you have a clever Captain, Miriallia!" exclaimed Ruby as she fired off several beam shots.

"I didn't think that she'd do something as unorthodox as that!" countered Miri.

--

Meanwhile, back in the water, Canard was having major trouble. The ZnO was fast, and his beam sub-machine gun was useless underwater. "Damn you!!" he roared as he attempted to swipe it with the Grand Slam.

"This sea will be your grave, boy!" taunted the ZnO pilot via water-sound conduction.

"And I say, f—k you!" Canard flipped off the ZnO. At the same time, the explosions of two MS reverberated through the water, causing the ZnO to momentarily look away. "Now I have you!" Canard then closed the distance between them and thrusted the sword at the enemy mobile suit's body. At the very last moment, the ZnO spun back, causing the attack to only disable the left arm.

"Pathetic." It recovered fast and grabbed the Hyperion with its clawed hand and began to pound it against the sea floor. "What!?"

Canard managed to endure the blows until he saw found an opening. Activating his unit's forearms' energy shields, he created a furious bubble curtain out of the mixture of water and heat. Taking advantage of the ZnO's confusion, he grabbed the unit's head, and slammed the solid sword directly into the cockpit. "Perish!!" he roared, as he stabbed the unit several more times.

"Urk!! Damn you… Gundam!!" The ZnO then powered down and began to sink.

Canard then immediately pulled the sword out and began to make his way towards the surface. As the ZnO's exploded, the force futher pushed Canard up. "Hell yeah!!" he whooped as he shot out of the water. "I killed the bastard!!"

--

The crew lightly cheered and let out sighs of relief. "Recall all units," ordered Natarle.

Murrue then made a new decision. "Attention crew of the Archangel. Because we were attacked at sea, we will be taking an alternate route to get to Alaska." She then turned to Neumann. "We'll that the alternate route that Sahib had suggested. We'll make our way into Saudi Arabia, then speed through the Himalayan Mountain Range until we get near Bhutan. Once there, we'll speed directly for Laos and into the Pacific Ocean. Understood?"

"Yes ma'am!" replied Neumann as he slightly altered the course.

"Captain, why the direction change?" questioned Natarle.

"We're at a major disadvantage in sea combat. We have no choice but to take the land route; as we can better defend ourselves. And the mountains could afford us some extra protection."

--

As word of Commander Morassim's defeat reached Ruby and Zander, they began to fall back.

"Well, it's good to see that you're back in action, Miriallia Haww," stated Zander.

"This is where we'll part ways for now. But don't worry; we'll still be watching over you!" cheerfully stated Ruby as she waved.

"…Somehow, I don't find that at all reassuring…" muttered Miri.

"That's open for debate, but since we're all 'brothers' and 'sisters' under the program, it's necessary for us all to watch over each other. But… it's time for us to run. Take care, Miriallia!" stated Ruby as she and Zander turned and sped off for destinations unknown.

--

Back onboard a different Vosgulov, Nicol immediately reported to Kira. "Hey, we've just received word that Commander Morassim was defeated by the legged-ship!"

Kira turned. "How long ago?" he questioned as he then looked back to a battle map.

"Two hours ago. The lead sub sent a communications dispatch from this point," Nicol pointed on the map.

"Don't pursue. We'll make our way into the Pacific as planned," Kira ordered.

"Huh? We're not going to pursue it?" questioned Athrun as he joined in.

"No. Given how fast that ship is, it's probably already near land. But that won't matter; there's a chance that they'll run into the Artic Wolf, Commander Dubrinsky, if they decide to hide in the mountains on their way to the Pacific."

"And you base your guess on…?"

"I'd do the same thing if I didn't have any way to effectively fight at sea," replied Kira. "And besides, those mountains were just recently taken by ZAFT. If the legged-ship doesn't know about it, all the better." He smirked. "And besides, I doubt that any of them have fought in cold climate."

To Be Continued…