A New Beginning - Chapter 26
Disclaimer: I don't own any of the Gundam series, nor any of the various series which are used or referenced in my fic, so please point that damned lawsuit cannon at someone else, also, don't read this if you are not of legal age to read such material. The story contains possibly disturbing content and should not be read by close-minded people (i.e., people who are easily offended.) Everything in the story is fictional. I am also not responsible for any actions taken by people who read this story and society's problems. I do, however, own my original character; Hope Yamato.
"What did you say!?" Kira Yamato asked in shock as he, Cagalli, Hope and Lacus sat in the Excalibur's briefing room, while Murrue stood at the head of the table, with a large screen behind her. The screen was currently displaying what appeared to be nothing more than a large field of debris.
"The Aprilius One colony has been destroyed by the Freedom Gundam." Murrue repeated, gesturing towards the screen behind her, although to be honest she wasn't able to believe it herself.
"Do we know who was piloting the Freedom Gundam?" Hope asked after a few seconds of silence.
"Yes, the pilot of the Freedom Gundam was Lacus Clyne." Murrue replied as the screen changed to display a picture of Lacus Clyne, sitting in the cockpit of the Freedom Gundam and dressed in a pink ZAFT flight suit. After a moment of silence Kira finally stood up and quickly moved towards the door.
"Where are you going, Kira?" Cagalli asked.
"I'm going to end all of these battles." Kira replied as he walked out of the briefing room and quickly headed towards the hanger.
About an hour later, as Kira zoomed towards the scattered remains of the Aprilius One colony, a dozen crimson-colored Royal Guard TIE Interceptors suddenly appeared on his radar, all of the starfighters approaching him from the rear.
"Bring it on!" Kira roared as he turned his machine towards the approaching fighters, quickly igniting a beam saber before then boosting towards the enemy craft. Kira smirked within the cockpit as he effortlessly sliced three of the Royal Guard TIE Interceptors cleanly in half before then boosting back towards Earth, easily outrunning the remaining nine fighters in the process.
Within the cockpit of the ZAFT-built Freedom Gundam, which was silently floating among the wreckage of the Aprilius One colony, Lacus Clyne silently cried, she had been labeled as a traitor and her father had been killed; she now had nowhere to go. Suddenly an alarm blared at her, she glanced at it, expecting a ZAFT attack force, but instead she saw the angelic-looking Freedom Gundam of Celestial Being.
As the angelic Gundam of Celestial Being sped back towards Earth, Lacus activated her own machine's Mirage Colloid Stealth System and quickly followed it.
As the Freedom Gundam descended into the atmosphere, Lacus sat at the controls; hoping that the leaders of Celestial Being might forgive her for what she had done and accept her. After all, she had nowhere else to go.
"The rage I am experiencing at this very moment in time could combust some sort of nuclear weapon." Kira Yamato growled as he stormed onto the Excalibur's bridge twenty minutes later.
"What happened, Kira?" Faith Yamato asked as she turned to face Kira.
"As soon as I got to the remains of the Aprilius One colony, I came under attack." Kira sighed. "I also couldn't find the Freedom Gundam."
"It's always possible that the pilot had fled after the destruction of the colony." Cagalli offered, after hesitating for a moment she added. "It's also completely possible that the machine had been captured before you got there."
"I've picked up two signals, both of which are quickly approaching us from port" Lacus suddenly yelled, just as Kira had begun to contemplate what could have possibly happened to the ZAFT-built Freedom Gundam. "The computer has already identified both of the approaching signals. The first is the Freedom Gundam and the second, directly behind the Freedom, is a Minerva-class battleship!"
Before anyone could reply, the voice of Kale Khan suddenly boomed from the Excalibur's PA System. "Attention, Freedom Gundam pilot, Lacus Clyne, Celestial Being Warship Excalibur; this is PLANT Chairman, Kale Khan, onboard the ZAFT battleship Bismarck! Surrender now and we may just spare your lives, if you fight back against us, you will be destroyed!"
After a few seconds of silence, Kale continued. "The armies of the ZAFT empire now descend upon you. Our bullets and shells will blot out the sun!"
"We are the ones who will blot out the Sun, not you, or your shitty weapons." Kira smirked, and as he forced the communications line closed, and a massive gun barrel rose out of the Excalibur's bow, aiming at the distant Sun and firing a single blood red beam blast into the sky. A few short seconds later Kira opened a different communications line to the Freedom Gundam as it once again came under fire from the ZAFT battleship Bismarck.
"Attention, Lacus Clyne, this is Kira Yamato, onboard the Celestial Being Warship Excalibur, please land in the starboard-side hanger bay, we will cover you while you land."
"Understood, and thank you." Lacus answered, sighing in relief as the Excalibur's positron reflector flared to life, blocking the shells and beam blasts that had been fired from the Bismarck a few seconds earlier.
As the ZAFT weapons slammed uselessly against the Excalibur's positron reflector, Celestial Being's own Freedom Gundam streaked towards the winged warship of ZAFT.
"So, they're still stealing our designs." Kira muttered to himself as he glared at the form of a Minerva-class battleship, the design of which had been copyrighted by Celestial Being thousands of years earlier.