Old Friends Anew
Phase-26: The Waving Banner
The TV cameras were rolling as the waves lapped at their ships, for in a cold winter sea, innumerable ships from ZAFT and the allied EAF closed in upon Heaven's Base of the EAF/Logos faction. And those were just the ones on the surface. Submarines also cut through the water below the water's edge. The Minerva was in the center of it all, the most important man in ZAFT on the bridge. He sat in front of a map table with his aides and Talia by his side. The woman spoke first. "Just 5 more hours until the ultimatum runs out. They have to respond before then, don't they?"
"It might have been a waste of efforts after all." Dullindal sighed. "Just as I hoped it wouldn't be. I wanted to go with the best solution and end this peacefully."
In the hangar, Shinn and Ray were making condition checks to their new machines. "42 Destiny and 666 Legend rifle spares have arrived in paddock two." An announcement came over the PA. In a surprising turn of events, Lunamaria was in the seat of Core Splendor, getting the rundown from Vino and Youlan. There was an eerie forced normalcy to the place.
Inside the EAF's Supreme Headquarters, also dubbed Heaven's Base, the PA system was getting its workout as well. "Closing Gates C-18 through 30. All personnel, please run through your final checklists." The mechanics started evacuating the launch pads as fast as possible. "All F-class facilities, please begin evacuation to the underground sections." On the surface, something new was to be seen. New Dagger mobile suits, equipped with Launcher Strike equipment, guarded the mobile armor elevators, which raised the newest massed produced Euclid armors to ground level. The Euclid armor, equipped with multiple CWIS machine guns, and beam cannons on its fore seemed skimpy in comparison to the other two new mobile armors that had been created recently. But these were new, and their mettle would soon be tested. "Defensive formation Omega has been chosen. Positions everyone."
Deep inside the base, mechanics were still working hard, as another announcement came over the radios. "In 30 minutes, the Nibelung charging begins. Please be at your stations and clear of the main cables by that time."
"Heh!" Djibril stood, looking down at the command deck from his comfy overlook with the surviving members of Logos. "They send demands and expect an answer? Dullindal must be patting himself on the back right now."
One of his associates turned towards him. "But will our protection be assured with this, Djibril?"
"Protection? Huh? What the hell are you thinking about? This is an offensive! Starting today, in this place! If we are defeated, do you really think the world will turn out to be a peaceful place? Ha! The fools were tricked so easily into believing him, the populous, I mean. But, that's all the more reason we have to take him down! If we lose, then we go on the path of no return. If we lose, the world just becomes something he and all Coordinators will own!"
"Hmm, those statements are quite true. If they break us, then they'll replace us with their own."
A third member lit a cigar. "Champions of justice don't exist in this world, and neither do saints."
"Everything will start once the final preparations are made. Not even "Gichou" will be able to press further. He's there on the front line, showing off for the world. He'll regret doing that very soon, as he burns in hell!"
A certain green-haired boy stood on a platform with a very familiar black and red metallic mass behind him. A medic spoke with him. "Okay, now for one more shot before you hop in."
"I don't want any more damn shots!" He snarled, breaking away.
"Now, now, Sting. It's for your own good you know. We don't want you to lose in a fight."
"I won't fucking lose! I don't need any shots! And my name's not Sting! When Papa gets here, you'll see! You'll see! You'll all see!"
"Eh? Then what is your name?" The doctor smiled slyly.
"Um…um… Sting." He said proudly, his mood completely changed.
"Then, since you're Sting, then you won't mind getting this injection."
"Um…um…sure." Sting held out his arm.
"You may remember a few things as the drugs start to take effect, as usual, but don't worry, they'll be gone in a jiffy." The man squeezed the syringe into his arm.
Immediately, Sting grabbed his forehead with the other hand.
FLASH!
"There he is!" Three EAF medical personnel appeared above him. "Hang on, we'll get you out of here." Unblinking, he looked at the snowy sky and smiled. The peace was ruined by the three Murasame that flew above him. He screamed.
FLASH!
"We're losing him! Blood pressure is dropping fast!"
"Increase the dosage of the drug tenfold. He isn't expendable!" An authoritative man boomed.
"But that will nearly poison him!"
"Do it!"
"Doctor! He's awake!"
"What? Damn Extendeds! Increase the sedative by 5 times!"
FLASH!
He sat by his cradle, ready to go to sleep. The man with the authoritative voice spoke in whispers to a tech. "Go into his memories of the Destroy battle. Keep everything about Destroy, but cut out all else."
"Sir, that's extensive work. If we do that in his weakened condition, he might become almost as unstable as Stellar!"
"As long as he can fight, he's useful. Put in another block word if you have to." The man picked up his black cat and went to the door. "Oh! Delete that fool Neo and replace him."
"Replace him sir? With who?"
"Me." He stared directly at Sting. "Make me his… Papa." He let out a chuckle before the door closed in front of his nose.
FLASH!
Sting released his forehead and dropped his arm to his side, lowering his head in the process. A mechanic came up to him. "Here's your helmet." Sting took it slowly, then out of the blue punched the tech's face in, throwing him over the guardrail and to his doom down below.
The doctor sighed. "Another one? That's the third this week. Sting, how do you feel?"
"I feel…" He lifted his head up revealing a menacingly evil smile. "I feel like kicking some ass!"
"Well you'll get to do plenty of that soon. Your Papa told us to give you this machine. Have fun while you're in it, you'll love it, I swear."
"Papa did huh?" Sting looked to the massive mobile suit and sealed his helmet on. "Then let's find some asses worth kicking and some heads worth taking!"
The Minerva's pilot lounge seemed so very empty as Shinn looked out the window into the hangar. Technically, he wasn't really looking at anything, lost in his own thoughts, mostly painful ones. The silence was disturbed when female feet padded into the room. "Impulse…." Luna said as she approached him. "It's incredible, just like I thought." She stopped right next to him as he tilted his head towards her. "I'm having doubts as to if I'll be able to handle it. As well as you did, I mean." Her eyes turned sad.
"Luna…." He said quietly, understanding, but not knowing what to say.
Luna switched into an angry outburst unexpectedly. "Logos were the ones right? The ones that screwed with their minds, right? Athrun and Meyrin…" Until she spoke those two names, Shinn didn't know what she was talking about. But then…. "She never had the character to do anything of the sort… Meyrin…. Athrun was the same too, I know it!" She turned away and bit her lip. "He should have never gone to ORB after the war ended." The poor girl started to quiver.
"Luna…." Shinn was completely confounded about the situation and how to react.
The red-haired girl took a painful breath in an attempt to keep her tears from appearing. "He tricked us all, didn't he? Athrun…. We all got betrayed. I was a total fool." She stared at the floor. Shinn turned away from her and matched her position almost perfectly. "But… I don't give up so easily!" She turned her head towards the taller boy, and saw his frustration. Something took over inside of her, something that made her face change into a sad, sympathetic smile. She took a couple of steps closer and stroked his hair. Even though she couldn't feel it through her gloves it felt somehow relieving. That subtle petting brought Shinn out of his stupor, and he flinched, surprised that she would even come near him after what he had done. "You won't give up either, right Shinn?" He quivered under her touch. "Ne?"
Their eyes met, both starting to water. Trembling red and quivering blue. And something odd happened then. Luna's sad smile disappeared as she drew closer to Shinn. It was almost as if her body was being guided as she opened her mouth slightly. Shinn never picked up on that subtle movement. He dropped his helmet and brought her into a tight hug, one that took her completely off guard. "Luna…Luna!" Shinn sobbed into her shoulder. After the initial shock, Luna closed her eyes and finally let herself cry. She pressed her nose into his hair, and put her arms around him as well.
When they separated, they still held on to each other's sides as their eyes met again. Something took over in both their minds at that moment, as if guided by some unseen source. They drew each other's bodies towards them, and their lips touched. It was held for a long time, as their arms only held on to each other tighter.
To Lunamaria, it didn't make sense. In all logic, she should hate him, despise him, but then... why was she kissing him? What was she looking for in this boy, who was younger than she? Comfort? Some type of sick revenge? Love? She couldn't answer her own questions at that point. All she knew was that this action, of being pressed against Shinn as they held each other in tenderness, felt… felt… well, it felt a hell of a lot better than crying.
Shinn's mind was in a bit of turmoil as well. If anything, he had wanted to avoid Luna after that encounter in the hall, and yet here he was actually kissing her. He didn't even understand why he was kissing her. Did he really love her? Or was she just an outlet for all the suffering in his life? He didn't know. Whenever love came into his mind, he thought of Adam, and how happy he was. But thinking of that led to his girlfriend, Meyrin. The one he destroyed. It made him feel even more horrible, but somewhere, intermingled with their skin and saliva was something that made all the pain go away for a bit. It was… enjoyable.
They broke away from each other slowly, as the world around them continued in its regular time. "Gomen." He whispered to her. It was laden with hidden meaning. Sorry for the kiss, sorry for making you cry, and sorry for what I had done. That's what was hidden in that statement.
"It's okay." She responded in the same tone, in answer to the first meaning.
Shinn turned to pick up his helmet from the floor as Luna turned towards the window. They knew things had just changed drastically between them, but now was not the time to face it, as the battle was soon to be upon them. "You'll be fine." Shinn said, not looking at her.
"Eh?"
"Impulse will protect you now, and so will I."
"Shinn…." She looked back at him with a look that couldn't be placed. It was never on her face until after their intimate contact. It's as if it created it.
Whether it was perfect timing or the worst timing, no one could say, but Ray entered the lounge. The sound of the door sent Luna and Shinn walking towards the elevator at different paces. Ray was not an idiot though. He noticed right away that something had changed between them, but as to what, his imagination couldn't fathom. He shrugged it off and followed.
"Currently, we are reporting from a small civilian ship aside the fleet gathered near Heaven's Base." The broadcaster said into the microphone. "The countdown now stands at three hours remaining until the Dullindal Ultimatum deadline runs out."
The girl with the long red hair sipped a cup of tea. She sighed. Her second in command entered the room. "Watching the battle?"
"Ah." She took another sip. "Depending on this battle may decide the best move to take."
"But, as of right now, the Alliance has yet to respond." The reporter continued. "If the situation remains and the deadline elapses, then Chairman Dullindal, as ZAFT's supreme commander, and leader of the anti-Logos forces, will begin the assault on Heaven's Base personally."
The girl sighed again. "Both sides are doing unnecessary things. They should stop showing off so much."
"The men are taking bets as to who takes the victory in this one."
"Find the people who started it and discipline them." She said from behind her teacup. "And return the men their money. A battle shouldn't be a gambler's profit."
"Ma'am!" Her second saluted and left.
"But this is one of the biggest strongholds in the Alliance. It holds many armaments, and is itself a military factory." The announcer cared not about their discussion.
The ORB plane that took off from the hidden atoll in ZAFT territory was once again hidden in another atoll, but this time in its homeland. Underneath the surface of the water was a cave with some of the best repair equipment and mechanics known to man. "Re-supply sections, bring out unit number 112." The PA called out as the docked Archangel continued to be repaired.
Neo watched the broadcast from sickbay with earphones. "When the attack begins, the battle is expected to be extremely intense for both sides." Cagalli sat next to a familiar unconscious face, with a bandage wrapped around under his dark blue hair, a bandage on his cheek. Kira also watched over him as Kisaka nodded to the girl, taking his leave to check on the patient in the other room.
"All preparations complete." An EAF General said to the observation booth.
"Then let's start the operation." Djibril stood in front of the window with his hands behind his back.
"Um… but will this really…."
"To the victor go the spoils. And to be the victor, one must be the first to strike. It's not like we can avoid fighting. They think we've got no where to go. Let's show them that isn't true."
The General turned back to his station. "All forces, begin operation!"
Hundreds of missiles and projectile weaponry launched from the base and its battleships. On the Minerva, Burt's screen lit up faster than flash paper. "The enemy… detecting missile fire!"
"EH?" Arthur, who was sitting in the captain's chair for once, twitched.
"What the hell?" Dullindal was taken by surprise as well. All ships immediately began their attempts to shoot down the artillery hurtling towards them. It was too late for some. The brutal attacks turned the frontal force into fireballs in the sea.
All mobile suit hatches opened at the base. "Begin operation! Mobile Armor squads, Mobile Suit squads, hashin! Second and Third divisions, launch! All weapons free! Seventh and Fifteenth squadrons, take off!" Windams, flight Daggers, and the new mobile armors took to the air. Not only that, but a newer mass produced mobile suit squad, the Forbidden Blue, based on the old Forbidden Gundam, shot out of the underwater hatches.
"Mobile Suits, Mobile Armors, approaching rapidly." Burt spoke again. "The attack is underway!"
"That can't…." Talia gasped. "They haven't said a word yet!"
"But what is this?" The announcer came back on the television. "Heaven's Base has begun to attack!"
"Eh?" The beauty with flowing red hair put her tea down and left the room rapidly.
"They still have not responded to the ultimatum, with neither an agreement nor a declaration of war, but they still have begun their assault."
"Living CPU, linkage is holding at 87 percent. Systems, all green. X-1 Destroy, prepare to launch." The cables on the black devil released, and the hatches above began to open.
Sting laughed as he finished his system check. "Now! LET'S GO!" He hit the thrusters in the saucer section and lifted off. More than one of its radar shadow appeared coming from the base.
In sickbay, the boy on watch gasped as his best friend struggled to wake. "Athrun." He attempted to help him concentrate. "Athrun."
The blue haired teen's eyes focused on someone he never thought he'd see again. "Kira…?" He whispered in pain, his eyes filling with tears at the sight. Remembering when Impulse stabbed Freedom, Athrun shot up, trying to sit upright, but his injuries took him over.
Kira pushed him back onto the bed and covered him up again. "Oh no you don't. You're not allowed to move."
"I thought… you died…."
"It's okay now, Athrun. You're not dead either." Kira smiled. The joke wasn't wasted on the weakened boy, as he smiled before he passed out again.
"Adam!" The girl burst into the boy's room.
"I'm telling you there has to be something I can use as a chisel!" Adam sat up instantly, still groggy. When the sleep exited his eyes, he found the redhead working the keys to the cuffs on his legs. "Oh hey Miss Anonymous. Man, I was having such a good long rest, too."
"Complain about it later." She said as she tossed off the last cuff. "Come with me. There's something you should see." She grabbed his wrist roughly and yanked him out the door.
"Bruises! Ow, bruises! Don't be so rough! OWW!"
Hell's Representative had returned, and this time, it cloned itself. "That thing is…" Gladys was in a near panic.
"Five units of the Destroy type confirmed!" Burt sent back.
"Eeehhh?" Arthur squawked. "We're going against five of those things?"
"ALL RIGHT!" Sting yelled as he activated the twin double barrel cannons over Destroy's Mobile Armored shoulders. The four other units took his lead and also launched their massive positron beams at the enemy, disintegrating any vessel that was in the way.
"This is absolutely horrid!" Dullindal said. "Curse you Djibril!"
"Chairman, with those on the battlefield…." One of his advisors spoke.
"Ah. I understand. There's no other choice. We must counterattack immediately!"
"Sir!"
Alarms began to blare. "Condition Red announced. Prepare for battle of all types!"
In orbit around Heaven's Base, ZAFT drop ships received the signal. "Operation Ragnarok has begun. All descent troops, launch immediately." The drop pods released and dove into the atmosphere.
Underwater, the brand new and speedy Forbidden Blue units had the advantage. One launched the missiles hidden under its shields into a helpless GhOON. Another lifted its covering from its head and whipped out its trident, stabbing an ASSHU in the camera eye. Above the water level, five of hells gates had opened, as the Destroys began their attack anew, delivering the massive payload of countless missiles launched from their batteries. The submarines could advance no further, so they surfaced and sent a bombing barrage of missiles into the surface of the base. The floating harbinger of doom glowed in twenty places around its UFO ring. They erupted into rifle beams that shot straight through the submarine fleet and the mobile suits around. Sting let out a high pitched laugh. "This is awesome!" Another round of blasts from the rotating cannons was sent into the sky, eliminating Babis, DINNs, and any other flying enemy in the vicinity.
The young woman pulled Adam into the room with the broadcast on it and told him to sit down. When he saw the screen, he didn't. In fact he leaned forward, almost over the coffee table. "That's…! But… Kira and I took that thing down!" He started to tremble as he saw the silhouette of the living nightmare.
"Ah, you did. But as they say…. 'Why make one at face value, when you can make two at twice the price.'" She took a long sip of her tea.
"Then how do you explain that?" Adam pointed at the screen as it panned over the EAF lines.
Her tea suddenly left her mouth in a warm, wet spray. "They made five?"
Adam eyed her with a look of annoyance, a drop of tea falling off his nose. "Hey, I hope you have a towel or something. This tea is hot."
She nodded and quickly went to a drawer. "I had no idea they would make five more." She handed him a small handkerchief. "I underestimated their strength. Oh, and don't go blowing your nose in that thing."
"Tempting as it is, I'm not such an evil houseguest." Adam said through the towel as he wiped his face off. "Anyway. So what's up with this? The EAF and ZAFT going at it again? Was this what you wanted me to see?"
"No, it's not just another battle. This is the battle to end Logos for ZAFT, but the battle for the Earth for the EAF. This is the battle for Heaven's Base. Everything may change depending on the outcome."
"So why show it to me? I'm just a teen in a strange place."
"But you're also a mobile suit pilot. Adam, I looked up your records, and I know all about the pain you've had in being forced to do things you never wanted to, but now…." She paused and looked away.
"Eh?"
"I told you before that you choose your own path in this place. Adam, I never intended to force you, but I may have to ask you to make your choice soon. The reason I'm showing this to you is because it may help guide you to the path you want to go."
"I see." Adam turned back towards the screen as a Babi landed in the ocean right next to the broadcast boat. The girl sat down next to him. "So, which are you?"
"Hmm?"
"Your side, which are you on?"
"I have none. I am merely someone who wants peace, whichever way it may come. One who has been through the hell of war from the start. One who has been given scars from it. One who has scarred others because of it. One who shouldn't exist, but lives on as punishment for her deeds. One that wishes no more suffering upon anyone anymore." She met his eyes in sorrow, as she let her defenses fall away. Two tears ran down to her soft chin.
The boy could swear his heart had stopped for a moment. Every word she said, she had meant, and he could tell. The eyes he stared into weren't the ones he normally saw, they held now the true pain of the beating her psyche had taken. When he found his breath and voice again, he spoke. "What …who are you?"
"My name is of one assumed dead. By all rights I should be killed in painful ways. But I live on in my temperance. My name… is one I never wished to say, but for you, so you know the truth, I'll say it." She held her arm to her chest as she looked away. "My name is… my name is…" She sobbed weakly. "Fllay Alster."
Djibril cackled away. "Condemn us all you like, but it doesn't mean a thing if you can't win. After all, throughout recorded history, wars have always been winner-take-all."
The heat shields of the drop pods burned red hot as they hurtled towards the base. The spacial radar in Heaven's Base picked them up. "ZAFT descent pods incoming from directly overhead. Routes 26 through 31 were the deployment angles."
The general began another order. "Prep the Nibelung for firing."
"Sir! Releasing all safeties on the Nibelung system now. Give the evacuation order for the blast range."
Suddenly a mountain started to split apart directly behind the base. "Camouflage is receeding." An announcement went out as the mountain opened up to reveal what looked like a giant satellite dish.
The drop pod's locks blew open at their set altitude, falling apart around the mobile suits inside. They pushed off from what was left of the pod and re-activated. The middle section of the Nibelung antenna raised to its set level. "Irradiation angle correction: set between 20 and 32 degrees. Nibelung firing solution has been obtained."
"Hasha!" The general ordered without hesitation.
The central core of the Nibelung began to glow. It sent out beams of energy to the reflective surface of the dish. Soon, the air was electrified around the weapon. The power had nowhere to go but up from that point, and the irradiation beam, a defensive version of G.E.N.E.S.I.S., coated the sky above Heaven's Base.
The drop troops could do nothing to evade, and everything turned into a pressure cooker. "Gwah!" "AAGH!" The pilots cried out as their units disintegrated in midair.
"Fllay… Alster…." The word touched a memory in Adam's brain. "The monument… you're…."
Fllay put her face in her hands. "Don't! Please don't! Just watch the battle for now. I can't… can't answer you're questions… in this condition."
Adam's mouth closed. He gripped her shoulder, and put the handkerchief back in her hand. She still continued to sob. The boy did as he was told and turned back to the screen. "Oh my… God! The drop troops!" The redhead's eyes shot open between her fingers as her crying was stunned out of her. "They've been… annihilated!"
"Eh?" The presumed dead beauty sat back up and stared at the screen. "Oh God! Oh God, oh God, oh God! They made another. The damn bastards made another!"
"Another? What the hell is that thing?"
"Another. They made another."
"Hey, answer me!" Adam took her thin arms and shook her once. "Answer me! Look at me! FLLAY!" The word snapped her out of her stupor. "Just what the hell is that thing?"
"An irradiation cannon. That technology almost wiped out the entire planet at the end of the last war."
"Shit!" Adam slammed back into his seat. "Has everything become that desperate?"
Everyone aboard the Minerva was shocked. "That thing is…. No way!" Arthur said what everyone was thinking as they stared at the explosions above them.
Even the pilots, sitting in their mobile suits saw the carnage in the sky, broadcast to them courtesy of the new intelligence officer. "Just what the hell is that thing?" Shinn blew up.
"All descent troops have been… disintegrated!" One of the officers reported on the bridge.
"How could this happen?" Malik hissed under his breath. "Curse you, Logos!"
Shinn's mug appeared on an internal communications screen. "Captain! I'm heading out! Hurry and start the launch sequence!"
"Shinn…." Talia said quietly.
"Something like this can't be forgiven, and I won't sit by anymore!"
"But… the chaos out there is…."
"Permission granted." The chairman interrupted. "I'm counting on you all."
After a stunned pause by the captain, she spoke authoritatively once again. "Destiny, Legend, Impulse, hashin!"
"Shinn Asuka, Destiny, prepare for launch. System bootup confirmed. Launch sequence initiated." The currently gray mobile suit was moved into the port hatch. "Hatch opening. Ejection system engaged. Catapult, online. Ejection thrust, nominal. Course is clear. Destiny, hashin, go ahead." The clamps dropped Destiny's feet onto the catapult and locked them into place.
Bee, bee, bee, buzzzz! "Shinn Asuka, Destiny, ikkimas!" The brand new mobile suit leaned forward as the skids sent it on its way, yanking out the umbilical cable in the process. As it spread its plasma wings, the phase shift armor coated the unit in primary colors.
In the starboard hatch, another new mobile suit was ready to go. "Legend, launch, dozo."
"Ray za Burrel, Legend, hashin salu!" As he cleared the ship, the large backpack he carried spread out evenly as the gray armor came to life.
It wasn't over, as a familiar sight showed itself. Core Splendor rose to the Central Catapult launch position. "Core Splendor, launch when ready."
The engines came to life. Luna flipped down her visor. "Lunamaria Hawke, Core Splendor, ikkuwayo!" She hit the throttle, and once free of the ship, she emulated her new boyfriend, by barrel rolling away. As Splendor rose into the air, the jet folded in half as it ejected its missile pods. Docking with the legs first, Luna throttled up to meet the chest. As all of its limbs stretched out, the Force Silhouette delivered its payload as it attached to Impulse's back, sending the internal computer the signal to turn the armor's colors into red, blue, yellow, and white. The shield stretched out and the girl with a Gundam was on her way.
"Let's move!" Shinn growled.
"Eh!" Luna acknowledged.
"Ah!" Ray agreed. They flew into the middle of the fray.
As all of ZAFT was worrying about the battle, two idiots in the ORB chambers were watching the news. "Mah, I had a feeling." Yuuna threw his arms over the sofa he was sitting on. "ZAFT can say all they want, but the EAF has a huge amount of people and resources to use. They can't be taken out that easily."
"Ah." Unato grunted as he reached for the remote.
"They may have lost JOSH-A Alaska last time around, but Heaven's Base is still a stronghold. And even then, they still own the Moon, if HB ever falls."
"Unh."
"To be truthful, Dullindal's speech took me by surprise. But when the smoke clears, the EAF will have won!" Yuuna spoke calmly, with a sly smile on his face. We took the best road, ne Tou-san?"
"Ah." Unato rumbled again. "We can only hope that Dullindal gets killed in the midst of it all. If that happens it's all over."
Destiny was firing at a rapid pace, taking out the assaulting Windams closing in on him by piercing their cockpits one by one. "Kuso! Why you!" The buster cannon attached to Shinn's back released its locks and he put it into his hands, firing the red and blue beam straight into and through two Windams. "I'm not letting you get away with your heresy anymore!" With a quick tug by the arm to the right shoulder, Shinn pulled out the boomerang blade and whipped it forward, slicing up two more mobile suits with lightning speed. As half a Windam fell past him, Sting took notice of the new mobile suit in the sky and observed the boy making his shots as he drove straight through an attacking front of blue and white enemies.
"TEI!" Luna cried out as her rifle discharged. Her Impulse danced around the beams of her opponents as she took shots into them. "I can do it. I'll be like him!" One Euclid mobile armor whooshed in on the water's surface and fired its beam cannons at the girl. Destiny slid in front of her and spread its reflector shield, rendering the attack useless. Luna noticed and gasped too late. If Shinn hadn't been there, she would have been dead.
"Don't get careless, Lunamaria! Keep flying that way and you'll get shot down from below!" Shinn yelled at her. She winced under his chastisement, her hope of being similar dashed upon the rocks.
Sting's giant can opener turned into its mobile suit form. All four other Destroy pilots followed suit as they took up defensive positions on the rocks around the base. Standing up to its full height, Sting's machine fired all four positron cannons, taking out Zakus, Babis, and Goufs in its path. Another's hands launched into the sky, becoming two giant gunbarrels that set their sights on DINNs that did their best to shoot the hands down. Of course, they failed miserably as they disappeared into thick orange flames of explosions. Destiny and Legend touched back to back as they fired two more shots into the smaller mobile suits. "Shinn! Our main target has to be those things! Can you break through?"
"Ah!" A Destroy fired all of its hand beams into the sky, dashing apart mobile suits in horrid and very deadly ways. Shinn snarled. "Why you! KUSO!" Sting, not fully paying attention just laughed on an open channel. "All of you are… All of you are also… EXTENDED!"
"HhhhaaaaAAAA!" Sting yelled in a voice that would hurt a normal person's throat as he lined up his rifle hands at Destiny and fired.
Shinn spread his beam shield just in time, and they bounced off harmlessly. "CHIKSHOU!" His mind became clear and cunning as his eyes turned to the pure red of his berserker self. With the flip of a switch, he whipped out the anti-ship sword on his back. Pointing it straight ahead, the wings spread to their fullest extent. Placing the sword over his shoulder, Shinn thrust forward, unzipping the sky with his monstrous speed. "Those people… the ones who do such evil… LOGOS!" Sting's Destroy fired its positron cannons once again, followed by the hand beams. Destiny used the capability that only it could do, dodge horizontally. With expert precision, the energy never touched him. "IT'S UNFORGIVEABLE!" With one swing, nearly half of the Destroy's saucer section was taken off, including one arm. "The world is in shambles because you exist!" He closed in from the opposite side, charging his palm cannon and clamping it directly onto Destroy's forehead, sending its ugly face into oblivion.
"Shinn…." On Minerva, everyone looked on in amazement as Talia spoke. Unnoticed, Dullindal smiled almost knowingly.
"Sugoi! He's turned amazing again, that Shinn! Captain!" Arthur nearly jumped out of his chair as he rejoiced.
"They're giving it their all." Dullindal responded. "Let's reorganize to support them."
"Hai!"
Luna swooped in and cut up an unsuspecting Windam. With a quick midair u-turn, another was filleted. "We'll clear a path. All mobile suits, form up on me!" What was left of the ZAFT mobile suits slid into line behind her. The first amphibious ZAFT troops jumped onto land. One ZnO extended its arms and smashed into two tanks upon its landing. A GhOON fired its missile arms upon landing, but the effort was short lived as it soon was shot down.
A Destroy, still in its mobile armor form attempted to advance on the troops. Its flying hands fired into the sky, Ray sliding free of them with his reflector shield. "Tch! I won't be defeated by that!" Legend pulled out a double-edged beam saber and quickly split both gunbarrels in one pass. Under the sea, the battle was being waged, with missiles firing from GhOONs left and right. A ZnO transformed from its mobile armor state and fired both of its close range beam weapons in its claws into a Forbidden Blue before the energy had a chance to dissipate. A Euclid took a hit from the side and exploded. If it weren't for the Destroys, ZAFT would have had the advantage.
In the Heaven's Base control room, things were in a panic. "Second defense line, breach imminent!"
"Enemy mobile suits are invading the bay!"
"Argh! Just what are those three units? Get the Destroy's back into position! Target those three mobile suits!"
"We just lost Unit-02!"
"Nani?" The flaming black and red wreckage slowly began to sink into the depths of hell, where it belonged, while a certain gray Gundam looked at it from above.
Shinn's speed was nearly supersonic as the afterimages flowed from Destiny. None of the energy weapons fired by the Destroys could even touch him now. He saw his opening and sliced his sword straight down actually cutting the mobile fortress in half.
Another demon in mobile armor form was moving across the land. Luna decided it was her turn to shine as she began to close in. A communication window opened up before she got close. "Lunamaria!" It was Shinn. "Switch to Sword Silhouette!"
"Eh?"
"Excalibur can win against it! Give one to Ray!"
"Understood!" She said as the silhouette took to the sky.
The girl ejected the Force Silhouette and the Sword Silhouette clipped on in its place. The packs signal changed the armor to red, black, and white. Pulling an Excalibur from over Impulse's shoulder, she threw it at Legend, which quickly grabbed it, and activated it. DINNs and Babis started their bombing runs on the base itself as the Destroys were being distracted. More amphibious suits stomped forward, coming out of the water like mutated fish invaders. From over both shoulders, Luna pulled out her Flash Edge boomerangs and let them fly. Legend came up from below and sliced off one double positron cannon on the targeted Destroy as both boomerangs cut into the saucer section's armor. Impulse came down for the final cut with the second Excalibur. The devil's advocate was sent to the ground, and within moments it was enveloped in flames, and sent to the hell it belonged. "Way to go, Lunamaria!" Ray complimented her. "That kill goes to you!"
"Have you been forgetting? I also wear red, you know." She smiled back.
"Unit-03 has extensive damage!" An officer inside the base reported. As everyone began to react to the carnage, a certain man on the observation deck began to walk silently away, his black cat following him quickly.
Sting's headless Destroy fired its remaining three cannons, all of which Destiny took in its positron reflector as his thrusters fought against it and won. "Gwwwaaaaaahhhh!" Sting let out an insane battlecry.
"Deeeyaaaaaaahhh!" Shinn countered with his own as he finally broke free of the blast, propelling forward with his sword straight ahead. Destiny plunged the blade into the cockpit, crushing Sting against the back wall.
The green haired boy with blood in his helmet and metal in his body looked up and chuckled. "Heh, my papa will…." He was cut off as Shinn hit the throttle and tore the blade straight up the mobile suit. The Destroy exploded as it collapsed, shutting another gate to hell permanently.
"Unit-01, eliminated." The report came in.
"Djibril, now what are we going to do?" One of the troupe of Logos turned to where he was a moment before. "Hmm? Djibril?"
"Just what is all this?" The said man was turning tail and running as they spoke, as he boarded a submarine with his cat and took off as fast as possible.
Legend and the last Destroy clashed beam shield to beam shield as the EAF evacuated on foot below them. A deflected shot from Destroy hit the mass of people and eliminated a large portion of them. Gray and green ASSHU suits were making short work of destroying the buildings, landing on shore just moments before. Seeing that Ray was having trouble with this one, Shinn turned towards it, remembering his promise to fight anyone that opposed the Chairman.
"Incoming transmission from the Iwano squad." On Minerva, Burt decrypted a message. "Their HQ has been spotted with a white flag waving. The enemy no longer wishes to fight."
"Get that confirmed." Dullindal ordered.
"Sir!"
"Keep your guards up until all hostilities have ceased."
"Hai!"
"With this!" Shinn's rage throbbed through his veins as he went on the attack. "It'll be done once this is destroyed! Everything!" Shinn dodged a hand beam shot and took a diagonal cut upwards into the Destroy. While still recovering from the backlash, Legend made a second cut in the same fashion the opposite way. The final attack was Luna's as she came down from above, making a straight slice. With that last massive explosion, the demon was vanquished, and the fighting ceased.
Athrun woke up a second time on Kira's watch. Slightly more rested, but still severely damaged, he managed to speak, although very slowly. "I… how did…?"
"Kisaka-san found you. Really, we were all surprised. Cagalli just wouldn't stop crying. She was by your side the whole time. I even had to force her to let me take watch."
"Ugh!" He winced. "Meyrin…. How's she…?"
"It's okay. She'll recover. You shielded her from that finishing blow, didn't you? She's asleep, but she's doing better than you. When she wakes up, I'm sure she'll be glad to see some familiar faces."
Athrun smiled and closed his eyes for a second. They snapped open an instant later. "Adam! Is he… by her?" Kira looked away and paused. "Kira…."
"Nai. We couldn't find him or hail him after the blast. I don't think he survived."
A tear came to the injured teen's eye. "She wanted… so much… to… ACK! … see him."
"Ah. I know. She loved him. Iie. She'll always love him, even through death."
"Athrun!" The sound of a girl barged in and ran to his bedside. Cagalli looked into his eyes as Miriallia and Kisaka walked up to Kira and nodded to him. Her eyes began to tremble as her tears welled up once again. The girl's affection needed no words as she gently pushed a lock of hair out of his eyes. She braced her hands on her knees as tears dripped down from her face. "But why? Why did this have to happen?"
"I wanted… to see you…." Athrun's breath was weak. "Cagalli… and Kira…. Also to… bring Meyrin… back… to Adam. But my… power was…."
"Athrun!"
"The Chairman… he knew my… UNGH!" He winced in pain. "He…." He couldn't talk anymore without serious strain.
"No more today, Athrun." Kira told him. "Don't try to talk anymore."
"People are…."
"You can stop now. Just try to sleep some more. We'll talk more later, I promise."
Fllay dried her eyes as she stood. "Well, looks like that settles it. Probably ZAFT will get our resources after all." She moved to the door.
"You may want to put that on hold." Adam stared at the screen with clenched teeth.
"Hmm?"
"It's impossible. Coming back from that… it's impossible! Do you realize what just happened there? Those were DESTROYS!"
"What are you…?"
"I fought against one of those and it was nearly impossible to defeat! But those new suits… they're too strong! Something's up. Something is up and it doesn't feel right!" He got up and started pacing. "To take down that base is a feat in and of itself, but to come back from losing all of their drop troops, and breaking through 5 Destroys, it's too much! They've become far too powerful. And with Dullindal…. No, he shouldn't get anymore strength behind his forces." Adam walked to the door with a worried look on his face. When his shoulder just barely passed the girl's, he stopped. "I'm going back to my room to soak this all up, but I've got a bad gut feeling. Please, don't make any alliances yet, Fllay."
Hearing her name, she flinched as he walked away. She stared at his back. "'Who are you,' eh? I should be asking you that, Adam Cancho. Because you're the same as me." She whispered before she went on her way.
"Kira-kun…." Murrue said as she noticed him entering the bridge.
"How's Athrun doing?" Milly asked what everyone was wondering.
"He passed out again. But he'll recover."
"I see. I'm relieved."
"Unh." He nodded as he turned to the captain. "Any news on the battle?"
"We're not completely certain, but it looks as though the EAF lost."
"I see." It was the worst case scenario after all. "Just what has this world come to? Has the world…."
Three Gundams floated over the wreckage of the demons with their blades drawn, as if like Musketeers. As infantry invaded and searched the buildings, back on Minerva, Dullindal leaned back in his chair with his eyes closed, a coy smile on his face.
Chapter 27 Preview: Everyone has their own reasons. Everyone has their own story. Their reasons to fight are what keeps them from letting go. Their stories are ones they want to forget. As dark secrets are revealed, what is this new silhouette from the blackness of space? Next time on Old Friends Anew: Miracles in the Heavens. Come forth from your lover's embrace, Freedom!