The Golden Age: Eden Disaster

by Maderfole

Book 2 of The Golden Age trilogy. If you had the ability... would you return Earth to Eden... against the will of its people? Is your Eden their Eden? What makes paradise be paradise? Sequel to Chaotic Cosmos, complete. Continued in The Reclamation War.

36. Pulling Weeds part 6

"Well, this certainly brings back some not altogether pleasant memories." Waltfeld commented, staring at the battle zone they were approaching, with the towering figure of the enemy Gundam rising up out of the destruction like some primeval demon. "Though I can only hope this one goes down as easily as the Judgement did. That was barely a fight at all. I've had coffee grinders put up stiffer fights than it did!" Waltfeld directed his attention to the gunnery control officers, seated off to his right and left in the CIC dugout on the Archangel's bridge. "Give me a lock on solution with the Gottfrieds, Valiants and all Anti-Ship missile tubes, loading with Sledgehammers. Prep the anti beam depth charges and countermeasures launchers for automatic dispersal deployment. Helldart launchers and 57mm Valkyros beam CIWS guns set to semi-automatic interdiction mode. ECM to maximum, entering battle stations level one, prepare for imminent anti... giant... thing... combat."

"Battle stations level one, aye Commander. Preparing for unilateral combat operations." The officer on the right replied with a smile.

"Lohengrin banks charging. Twenty five seconds to full charge." His counterpart on the left added.

"Hold off on the Lohengrin for now, Andrew, if we fire from this angle and miss, we'll only be doing his job for him by destroying part of the base." Murrue advised, as she settled more firmly into her Captain's chair, ensuring the seat restraints were tight and secure, if not necessarily comfortable. "All hands, this your Captain speaking. We are about to enter to combat zone. All hands, to level one battle stations, repeat, level one battle stations." Murrue took her hand off the 1MC transmit button, finishing her shipwide broadcast for the moment. "CIC, what is the status on our pilots?"

"Completing final readiness and pre-launch checks now, Ma'am. Pilots are beginning boarding their machines." The CIC officer, another young but definitely skilled Orb officer reported smartly. This was the first time for many of the Archangel's crew going into real combat, and she was definitely nervous, despite being alongside such legendary old hands as Commander Andrew Waltfeld, Captain Murrue Ramius and the other senior members of the bridge crew, for whom this sort of thing had to be almost droll and dull! They certainly didn't act nervous, or all that impressed with the terrifying engine of death they were bearing down on! Commander Waltfeld was even cracking jokes! "Seraph and Phoenix King are slated for first launch, followed by Dawn Goddess and Vorpal, and then the Warmaster and Colonel Kisaka's Dawndrake."

"Boy, that sorry bastard is never going to know what hit him." Waltfeld shook his head in mock pity. "I haven't seen Kira and the others this eager to take the field since the last time against Frost. The Brotherhood really kicked itself in the balls with their attack on the Orb Parliament building!"

"Eager isn't a term I would use for Kira, but he does seem less reluctant than usual." Murrue allowed. "He seems to be taking what happened to Cagalli rather personally, little wonder."

"Yeah, he even went so far as to swap out his auotcannons for dual 57 beam rifles from the Phoenix King's spares, and two beam sabers to replace those electric swords Dr. Simmons made. If I didn't know him better, I'd say the kid was in a killing mood." Waltfeld shrugged, not being able to blame Kira for those feelings, not at all. "As things are, it's definitely not going to be a gentle takedown, if it ever was going to be." He paused and considered things for a moment, before continuing in a quieter tone, for Murrue's ears only. "Should we really be letting her launch? She claims she's all right, but we all know that isn't the case..."

"She will launch, with our permission or without it. Better that she goes under our blessings and onus, so that we can do what we can to support her, rather than her going it alone. Cagalli just isn't the sort to sit back and nurse her wounds, not when she can be doing something for others in need. Its one of her most admirable qualities. I just hope it doesn't end up being her bane." Murrue replied, equally quietly. "Fortunately, the combat capabilities of the Dawn Goddess are more focused around staying at range, in a support role, so at least she should be spared the worst of the chaos and stress of trying to close with that monster."

"You're right. She only has to deal with the stress of that gigantic GENESIS laser wannabe the thing's got in its right arm. That's much easier." Waltfeld snorted and rolled his eye. "Speaking of, what exactly are we going to do about that?"

"We'll trust to our pilots capabilities, and fly around like an epileptic bat trying to escape hell." Murrue answered, matter of factly. "At the moment we are probably the most tempting target on the battlefield. I really need to remember to ask Erica to figure out some way of adding visual camouflage to the Archangel... this white and red color scheme practically screams "shoot me!"." She shook her head and smiled.

"Tiger stripes, like I said." Waltfeld told her seriously. "Nothing says "don't mess with me" like a series of good tiger stripes. Well, other than the Seraph. That is one machine even tiger stripes couldn't improve upon."

"Well, though we lack the psychological shielding properties of tiger stripes, we do have some new advantages to fall back on, courtesy of Morganroete's modernization programs." Murrue spoke slightly louder, to include all the crew, especially the younger, newer, more inexperienced ones. It never hurt to remind them how capable their own ship was, especially in a tense situation like this one. The replacement of the 75mm Iegelstellung CIWS turrets with the newer, 57mm Valkyros beam CIWS turrets was one of the more noticable improvements, but far from the only one. A large nuclear reactor had been added, in addition to the old ships battery and solar charging systems, providing not only effectively unlimited operating range and power, but vastly increased amounts of it, allowing for quicker and more powerful weapon attacks, and much improved degrees of manevering ability and speed. The Archangel didn't even need the assistance of extra boosters to reach escape velocity any more, though it still used the positronic interference tunnel of semi-vacuum created by firing the Lohengrin ahead of their path of ascent to lower air resistance, allowing faster acceleration.

In addition, Citadel Shield projectors, scaled up versions of the ones many of the new generation Gundams had in their forearms, were mounted over various vital locations on the ship, ready to be activated in the event of sudden enemy attacks against the bridge, engines, major weapon components or launch bays. Fully enveloping the ship in protective energy shields was a dream for the future still, as they worked out problems like the way full shields would limit the ship's thrust, like a jet inside a steel ball, especially in atmosphere, not to mention the trouble of firing or talking out through the shields, so for the moment they settled with only having shields over vital components. No longer would they have to worry, as much anyway, if an enemy machine or shot slipped past the defensive firepower to try and take out the bridge, as had almost happened on several past occasions. The ECM systems had also been upgraded, as well as the targeting systems and pretty much every piece of equipment that was run, fully or partially, by computers had some sort of software update making it better and more efficient than it had formerly been.

"Do we have any contact with the officers in charge down on the ground?" Murrue asked her communications officer, another young woman. For whatever reason, women seemed better suited for the tasks of CIC and Combat Communications Operator than men. Maybe it was just because women were, on a general level, better at multitasking than most men. She shrugged away the exterraneous thought.

"Nothing new from the Solar Knights yet, Ma'am. We are in contact with the Camelot, their CIC mothership, but it is far removed from the battle zone, and I have not yet managed to get in contact with Knight-Commander ze Burrel or anyone of higher rank than the commander of the Camelot. Ground reports are confusing, and it is not apparent if there is a central authority directing the battle at this point in time."

"Understood, Comms, thank you. Keep trying to raise someone in charge, go all the way up to the Secretary of Defense if you need to!" Murrue ordered, turning the situation over in her mind. "We'll go in as we discussed on the way here. The Archangel will place itself between the enemy Gundam and the Shipyard and Command districts, while the Phoenix King, Vorpal and Serpah engage at closer range. Meanwhile the Warmaster, Dawn Goddess and the Dawndrake will provide support fire from the opposite side. Hopefully we can keep him turning around and too distracted to orient his entire firepower on one or the other of us, or the rest of the base. Keep on your toes, everyone! This will not be a quick battle, judging from the capabilities of the enemy as we have seen so far. We're going to have to wear him down piece by piece, faster than he can wear us down the same way!"

"What the hell does he think he's doing, anyway?" One of the gunnery officers muttered, staring at the dancing, cavorting figure of the Revenant on his target screens. "How can something so big move like that!?"

"As soon as we figure that out, I'm sure Dr. Simmons will buy us all a small castle in thanks." Waltfeld smiled grimly. "He won't be dancing for too much longer, not after we blow a hole through his chest big enough to park a semi-trailer in. Just don't let him get to you... he's just trying to unsettle us."

"Incoming comms, blanketing all channels. Trying to filter it out, but its a powerful signal. Origin is the enemy Gundam..." The Comm officer reported. Even as she did so, the scratchy, buzzing voice of the enemy Gundam pilot blasted out over the bridge speakers.

"About fucking time you showed up! What took you!? Don't you know how long I've been waiting for this!? Get over here so I can break that pretty ship of yours into a hundred flaming pieces! Hurry! Hurry up! HURRY!" The image of the Revenant on their screens went into convulsions, or near enough as it pranced around like a toddler throwing a tantrum, reaching imploringly towards them with both arms, though he did not direct even a single iota of firepower at them. "AHAHAHA! YES! YES! Closer! Come closer... and BURN! Come closer, little Archangel, so that I may pluck off your wings and watch you wriggle in the dust before I stamp my heel down upon your neck and crush the life from your limp body! YAHAHAHAHA!"

"I am officially declaring myself unsettled." The CIC officer volunteered in a shaky voice, swallowing hard as she fought to keep her hands steady on her console controls. "Who talks like that!? What sort of...?"

"It sounds familiar for some reason. I know I've been threatened like this before..." Waltfeld mused, as he fought down his own case of the willies. Such maniacal hatred, such disgusting joy... it was a loathsome voice, definitely! And damnably familiar! "But surely not... everyone who spoke like this is dead and gone!"

"He does seem to know us, though I would think I would remember a pilot with a Gundam like this one." Murrue acknowledged. "The last time we encountered anything like this, it was the Judgement, and it was piloted by that Zacharis Frost individual, but he is dead. We all saw him die. Nothing could have lived through being at the heart of a thermonuclear detonation!"

It's NOT Frost. The thought appeared in all of their minds simultaneously, as loud as a voice speaking in their ears. Everyone on the bridge froze, since the person the voice belonged to was nowhere near the bridge. All eyes went to the Comms officer, who shook her head slowly from side to side, her eyes wide and her mouth dry, indicating that it most definitely wasn't an internal comm.

"Katie... is that...?" Murrue managed to gasp out, her voice tight, her eyes as wide as anyone else's on the bridge. "How are you...?"

Yeah, it's me. Hello! And Ysak is helping me of course. Everyone on the bridge got the impression of a cheery smile, coupled with a flash of intense affection. Murrue looked around, seeing that many of the younger officers were looking a bit faint, staring around themselves wildly, looking for the source of the voice, even though they all knew it was not a voice at all. Andrew was massaging his temple with his flesh hand, while his mechanical one clenched tightly enough around the bridge railing to make the metal rail creak and groan. Just wanted to tell you all not to worry too much. It's not Frost come back from the dead, thank god. Whelp, we gotta go board the Vorpal now, according to Ysak. See ya all in a bit! Cheers! The voice in their mind's ear went away, like a door closing behind someone you'd not even known was in the room with you at all.

"Did... did that really... just happen...?" Andrew asked, his voice more shaken than it had been in a long time.

"Someone is going to have to talk to that girl about pulling inappropriate stunts like this!" Murrue said, her own voice somewhat hoarse, as her hands clenched into fists on the arms of her chair. She knew Katie wasn't being malicious, but really, couldn't a simple comm have sufficed!? Was there really a need to deeply unsettle the entire bridge crew by contacting their minds, something most of them probably hadn't even realized was possible, judging from their stunned and fearful looks!? Katie was going to find herself given a VERY wide berth indeed when she got back, and Ysak too likely! Newtypes may not be something the world could ignore forever, but having Katie rub it in your face wasn't exactly conducive to a positive relationship with that fact! Honestly, it was like she didn't care or even realize that her actions were bothersome to other people, especially non-Newtypes! "Keep sharp everyone... we have a battle to fight!" Murrue called, attempting to refocus everyone on the situation at hand. She just wished it would work as well for herself...

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"We could have just used a comm system. I think they might have preferred that." Ysak noted, somewhat reluctantly stepping away from Katie, whom he'd been holding with her back pressed to his bare chest, shrugging into the top half of his flight suit and zipping it up to complete his pre flight preparations.

"And appear on the comm screen like this? What do you think I am, some kind of exhibitionist?" Katie retorted impishly, spinning around in the low gravity and throwing her arms wide, proud of the way Ysak's eyes caught on her figure, unburdened as it was by a single scrap of clothing. "Don't answer that, by the way. Exibitionism has its time and place, and even I can agree that they aren't this time or this place. It was simply the most expedient method of communication. Just a tool, like a gun or a pencil."

"I get you." Ysak replied, forcibly turning his eyes away to look past her, trying to ignore the hormonal urge to step forward and gather her up in a tight embrace once more. There was simply no time for such antics! "I should stress the "I" part of that though. They're Stumps... they DON'T get you."

"Well, they need to try." Katie retorted, somewhat petulantly. "Better they get used to something as benign as a cheerful conversation now, before they have to deal with something hostile, trying to take over their willpower or shut down their bodily system control. It's for their own good."

"All the same, you should definitely apologize to Ramius and the others when we get back. Using a comm system if you must, but face to face, verbally would probably be best. I know your intentions are good, but most of them probably won't see it that way. They might even see it as an attack on their privacy."

"But I'm NOT reading their minds! Not like that! I don't care about their private thoughts! The minds of most other people don't interest me, and those that do I respect far too highly to ever just dig around inside without asking permission first! I do AGREE with Lacus, that using Newtype powers for personal or material gain by compromising the privacy or free will of others is wrong in most situations, but I DON'T agree with her decision to just try and pretend like her powers don't exist most of the time to avoid unsettling other people! I might as well deny that I have breasts, just because other people find them distracting!" Katie complained.

"There's some difference between your mental abilities and your physical assets, don't you think?" Ysak asked, collecting his helmet.

No, I see no difference in them at all, actually. Katie's voice echoed around the inside of his skull with vehement force.

Don't yell at me, I'm on your side. Ysak replied, his own tones much quieter, turning to take her firmly by the hand. You need to walk around in their shoes a little, look at this from their perspective.

Its THEM that needs to do that for me! Katie retorted, entangling her fingers in his and squeezing his hand tightly. They might as well be telling me I need to cut off my breasts and mutilate my privates, just because I can use them to unsettle and distract people! My Newtype abilities are a fundamental part of my genetics, just like my physical looks! I find it offensive when people expect me to conform to their comfort zones, when it means pretending that I don't have something which is an integral part of my life! You don't see me telling Cagalli and Miriallia how they should dress, or talk, or otherwise express themselves, even if I find it uncomfortable... why is it okay for them to tell me when I should and should not use my Newtype abilities!?

Since when has anything Cagalli or Miriallia said made you uncomfortable? I know for a fact that they're both prudes compared to...

That isn't the point! Whether or not they have made me uncomfortable, the point is that they are trying to tell me how I should live my life, and that is an invasion of my privacy every bit as dire as the imaginary one they see in my use of my abilities around them! Plainly put, it's discrimination! I offered Cagalli my help with her problem, the best help she could ever get for what happened to her, and she flat out refused, just because it was a Newtype solution! Wouldn't even consider it! Pretty much told me to fuck off and keep my mind to my own damn self, though in nicer terms! I just wanted to help!

She wants to solve the problem her own way. I can respect that, even if I do agree its pretty stupid of her. Ysak shrugged sympathetically. It was her choice and hers alone to accept or deny your help, and while she definitely could have been more polite about it, something I will discuss very firmly with Athrun when we have the time, she made her choice and its up to us as friends to live with it.

Yeah, I know. I just... I just can't help but think that if it was a medical solution I'd offered her, instead of a mental one, that she'd have leapt at the chance. Katie sighed, and leaned her head against Ysak's shoulder. This far from the Moon's surface, gravity was practically nonexistant, so she just floated there for a moment or two. It hurts a little to get turned down because someone you care about is afraid of you. Cagalli didn't turn me down because I was an outsider, trying to help correct a personal problem. She turned me down because I was a Newtype, plain and simple. And Cagalli is... afraid... of Newtypes. So is Miriallia. So is Dearka. So is Athrun, probably. So are most of the people on this ship, and pretty much everywhere we go, Ysak. Everyone is afraid of me, and you to a lesser extent, and we haven't done anything but be who we are! Lacus feels the same way, though she hides it from herself. She was hurt by Cagalli's decision even more than I was. Katie felt Ysak envelope her comfortingly in his arms, staring over his shoulder at the infinite distance. I'm afraid that there might come a time in the future when being a Newtype might force us away from our friends, and I simply don't see a way to stop it from happening. I'm not even sure if I should try, because I refuse to believe that I should need to cave in to their fear just because of who I am!

This is hardly the time for this conversation. When we get back, we need to have a serious heart to heart talk with them. All of them. We need to get this out into the open between us all, because you are right, this isn't something we should be forced to pretend never happened! We are who we are, and as much as it is our duty to accept their choices and actions and natures, so to is it their responsibility to reciprocate, and that means dealing with the fact that we are Newtypes! Ysak slowly released her from the embrace, but kept her hand in his, pulling her along after him as he headed towards the hanger and the Vorpal. Let's go show them the difference between what Newtypes do to their friends, and what they do to their enemies, shall we? Maybe that will put things in a better perspective for them...

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"Though I hate the necessity of this, I'm glad we're going to be going in together." Kira clapped Athrun on the shoulder in a friendly manner, drawing him away from the last set of pre-flight diagnostics he was running. "As far as reprehensible tasks go, these no better company to do them in."

"Well, if it really bothers you that much, you could always just sit it out." Athrun replied, with a slight smile. "I'll take the Seraph, Ysak will grab the Phoenix King and we'll find someone to take over the Vorpal, assuming we can find anyone willing to deal with Katie."

"That's not nearly as funny a joke as it might have been sometime in the past." Kira sighed regretfully. "Not after what happened between Lacus, Katie and Cagalli."

"You should really pick a better time to bring up things no one wants to talk about." Athrun noted irritably. "Whether or not Cagalli's choice was the right one in my eyes or yours, or anyone elses, it was the choice she felt was right, and its our obligation to support her in that, as her family and friends!" He turned away from Kira and finished up the diagnostic, and then snagged his helmet and made as if to jump up towards the Phoenix King's cockpit. Kira's hand on his shoulder stopped him.

"Are you afraid of Lacus and me because we're Newtypes?" Kira asked quietly but earnestly. Athrun paused for a long moment, and didn't look over at him.

"Are you afraid of the concept of Death, Kira?" Athrun replied at last.

"Concept of Death?"

"Yeah. The knowledge that, at some point in your life, you are going to die, because that is what humans do. Its inevitable, no matter how virtuous a person is, or how undeserving of dying. People die. Its a constant, and the only thing we can even somewhat control is the time and manner of it, and even then it isn't really up to us alone. Does that scare you?" Athrun clarified.

"Well, yeah, of course it does, but its not like it's something I dwell on all the time." Kira responded with a frown.

"Newtypes, whether they be you and Lacus, or Ysak and Katie, or who knows who else in the world... scare me like that." Athrun continued. "Its a part of life I can't control, don't want to control even. It's a constant, and there is nothing that can be done about it, not by you, not by me, not by anyone. I do my best not to dwell on it, but out of mind doesn't mean gone for good. I don't like contemplating it, I hate talking about it, and it bothers me when other people constantly try to bring it up as a topic of conversation, even my best friends. You are who you are, Kira, as is Lacus, as am I, as is Cagalli, and everyone else. I'm not afraid of you, Kira, nor of Lacus or any of my other friends. You are good people, the best I've ever met. But that does not mean I can fully accept everything about you, and I would not expect you to accept everything about me. Look, what I'm trying to say is... no, I'm not afraid... but, yes, I am bothered by it, and, if Cagalli's situation had happened to me... I don't know if I would have chosen a different solution than hers, okay? Now really, this isn't the time for this!" Athrun shrugged off Kira's hand again.

"Its not going to go away, no matter how much it bothers you." Kira called after him. Athrun didn't reply, obviously pretending he hadn't heard. "Damn it, I just don't want this wall to form between us!" Kira muttered fiercely. "But I can't tear it down if no one is willing to talk about it!" Lacus... Kira directed his thoughts out into the void, feeling the brush of her mind against his, a comforting touch like an invisible kiss trailing down his cheek. Lacus, after much deliberation, had elected to remain on Earth, in Orb, in case any major political emergencies cropped up as fallout from this latest Brotherhood attack. Jiro Kurenai had a good heart, but he was woefully inexperienced in international politics, and Orb needed a steady hand in the shadows, ready to take the wheel if something unexpected happened, and with Cagalli up in space, that left Lacus to step up. Not satisfied with the result of his conversation, but unable to progress any further if Athrun wasn't willing to talk with him, Kira headed back to the other hanger mandible and boarded the Seraph.

He'd had the flight crews swap out the twin 80mm autocannons for a pair of dual barreled 57mm beam rifles, and turned in his electrified physical swords for a pair of beam sabers, much like he'd used on the Freedom and Liberty. The reasons for this were both because the majority of the Brotherhood machines were unpiloted, and thus he didn't need to worry about destroying them, and also because, frankly, he was just about at the end of his rope when it came to the Brotherhood and their brutal tactics. The innocent civilians who'd been beheaded or left to die of exposure in Switzerland. The pilot canidates the Traitor had gunned down and gassed in their beds here at Galileo. The Orb civilians who were crushed and pulped by the Tormented's sonic attack. The people of LAS who had suffered from that Brotherhood incursion. The members of Orb Parliament who had been tortured and skinned alive, for no reason at all other than cruel amusement! The injecting of Cagalli, his own sister, with a baleful drug that may have permanently damaged her brain and personality! Not to mention the beating he'd suffered from Randolf, and what had happened to Ysak and Katie! No, Kira was definitely not feeling anywhere close to his most merciful with regards to the Brotherhood, not at all. They'd get their lumps, and like them, and be grateful he was proud of the fact that he was a much better person than they could even pretend to be!

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"So we're going to be working together this time." Cagalli not quite asked, leaning against the cold metal wall, switching her raised glance between the Dawn Goddess and the Warmaster every few seconds. Dearka and Miriallia stood nearby, as the flight crew worked in the background, loading the Earthshaker Magnus, preparing extra clips of shells should they need to return for more of the massive ammunition, and running final checks on the still experimental Spear of Ares system. Kisaka lurked on the far side of the hanger, watching carefully but silently, keeping a wary distance from his beloved Queen, not trusting her volatile mood. Triggering a scene, even in the semi-private of the hanger bay, would not be good. So far they'd managed to keep the number of people who knew of Cagalli's... injury... to immediate family and friends, plus a few people with definite need to knows, like Cyprus and the senior Stormhounds. If she suffered a breakdown in the hanger, he could at least swear the crew to silence, but he'd definitely prefer not to have to do that. His best bet was just to not provoke her with his protective instincts, and trust to her own strength of will and character to keep her safe, though that chafed at his instincts something fierce!

"Uh, yeah." Dearka replied, somewhat awkwardly, not quite looking at Cagalli. To say he was damned uncomfortable with the situation was one hell of an understatement, but what the hell choice did they have? Tell the others that no, they didn't want the responsibility of watching out for Cagalli should she have a problem? Well, that was the truth, but tactically speaking, they were the best equipped for the job, since the combat roles of the Warmaster and Dawn Goddess were similar. He just didn't have a foot to stand on, so to speak.

"Don't treat me with kid gloves. I'm not made of porcelain." Cagalli warned, narrowing her eyes. "As I've been stressing for some time now, I can handle myself!"

"No one is questioning that, Cagalli." Miriallia assured her, though she was far from pleased with the babysitting side job they seemed to have been saddled with by default herself. "All the same though, don't feel like you have something to prove, to anyone. No one is going to judge you, no matter what happens."

"From that tone of voice, I get the feeling you're all expecting something bad TO happen, whether you want to say it out loud or not." Cagalli replied, hugging herself and turning partly away. "Look, I don't blame you for feeling like that. I'd feel the same way if I was in your shoes. But I'm going to be fine, really. I need to do this, for my own sanity's sake."

"Well, if you want us to speak plainly..." Dearka folded his own arms across his chest and adopted an icier demeanor, like he'd used to have around Nichole and Athrun when he was angry with them, back during the le Creuset Team days. "Simply put, I don't want to have to cover for you if you do have a problem, because this is a seriously big battle we're going into. I'll do whatever I can to help you anyway of course, but don't get the idea that Mir and I are babysitting you because we have any choice in the matter. No matter what you say, the rest of us feel you need extra looking out for right now, and Mir and I are the best people for the job, but we don't like it any more than you do, okay? So don't get snippy with us, your Highness. You could have taken an easy road out, but you didn't and so now we're all stuck in this disagreeable situation."

"That was no choice at all." Cagalli said, somewhat sadly. "Allow them to tinker around in my head, modify my memories!? How could I let anyone do that, no matter how pure their motivations? Maybe it's just because I'm not a nearly perfect person like some others I could name, but I've got some thoughts in my head that aren't exactly totally charitable all the time, and I would be mortally embarassed if other people stumbled across them! There is such a thing as TOO HONEST an opinion, and I have more than a few of them sometimes!" She looked at Dearka and Miriallia imploringly, much more vulnerable than was usual for her around anyone but Athrun, or maybe Kira. "Lacus and Katie are offended, Kira and Ysak are pissed off because of that, and Athrun won't tell me how he really feels, other than that he'll support me no matter what, which is less comfort than it sounds! Isn't there anyone that understands why I made the choice I did? Was it really so wrong of me to turn them down?"

"I can't say what choice I would have made." Miriallia replied slowly. "I hope I never have to. But I do agree with you... my mind and my memories are very precious to me, both the good ones and the bad ones, no matter how much I sometimes wish they would go away! They serve to remind me of who I am, what I've faced, where I want to go, what I want to do, or not do... I wouldn't want anyone to change them, not even my best friends. I too sometimes have less than charitable thoughts about my friends, which I never want anyone but me to know about... it would be just too awkward if other people heard those kinds of things! Its a human thing... being entirely honest with people sounds so good... but if people ever try it out, they find themselves consumed by petty hatreds! There's just some things other people aren't meant to fully know about you!"

"I wasn't there for the conversation, thank god, so I'd hesitate to make a statement based on second or third hand stories, but hypothetically speaking, I also agree with your thoughts on memories and opinions." Dearka admitted. "This Newtype-psychic things just creeps me out, that's all there is to it. They can't help but be the way that they are, well neither can I! I can try not to be bothered by it, but it just feels WRONG to me! I mean, I trust Lacus and Katie implicitly, but what about others? There's bound to be more, like the guy that mauled Ysak and Katie! The thought that someone could just rip my thoughts and memories right out of my head, sort through them, copy down what they want and then put it all back, all without me even knowing about it... it would keep me up at night, if I let it! And though I know Katie and Lacus would never do that except in emergencies... what if their definition of emergency is different from mine? No, scratch that... their definition of emergency IS different from mine! And when it comes down to it, its them that have the powers, and me that doesn't, so there's not a whole hell of a lot I can do besides hope they don't see an emergency! That really BOTHERS me!"

"Launching in sixty!" One of the mechanics called, from where they were finishing up the Warmaster's preparations. "All weapon systems primed and ready to go! We installed some new updates for the Spear of Ares, it should be able to target much faster now, if you decide to use it."

"Try not to use it." Cagalli directed, recalling her initial misgivings apout the weapon system. "The last thing we need to do is start up another WMD arms race."

"Here's an idea." Dearka retorted thinly. "You don't tell us how to fight with the Warmaster... and we won't tell you that you should be in bed, in a hospital, like all the other recovering potential drug addicts?"

"Dearka!" Miriallia reprimanded, digging her elbow sharpely into his side. "She has a legitimate point."

"So do I. If we decide we need to use the Spear of Ares to stop this monster, then we're going to use it, and I don't want anyone second guessing us or pushing recriminations down on us afterwards. Either its part of our aresnal or its not, not something in between."

"Fair enough." Cagalli said after chewing her lip for a few seconds. "I hope you don't have to use it, but if you think you need to do it, then I won't stop you, and I'll stand behind you one hundred percent later. How can I ask other people to trust me if I won't trust them, right?" She held out her hand and shook theirs, in turn. "Thanks for being honest. Its not always fun, but at the moment, I prefer brutal honesty to people trying to sequester me." She did not quite flick her gaze over towards Kisaka when she said that. She then headed for the Dawn Goddess without another word.

Dearka looked at his hand, and then at Cagalli, and then at Miriallia. "I hadn't realized trustworthiness was on the table." He muttered out of the side of his mouth.

"Remember what the doctor's said." Miriallia replied, equally quietly. "She's definitely going to feel like we don't trust her, no matter what we do. All we can do is hope she doesn't let it get to her too much. The way the conversation with Katie and Lacus backfired certainly didn't help matters. Honestly, what did they think was going to happen, proposing something like that?"

"Well, I'm sure it seemed perfectly reasonable to them. Just another miscommunication, like what sparks most interpersonal problems. Happens to you and me all the time." Dearka returned, with a shrug. "Problem is, both sides believe, rightly I think, that the problem is because the other person or persons doesn't understand their inherent, fundamental nature. And that's going to make reconciliation... messy. And not, "oh crap, we got condiments and chili dogs all over the couch" messy either."

"That WAS a memorable reconciliation, I will admit." Miriallia chuckled, shaking her head at the memory as they began boarding the Warmaster. "That poor couch was never the same."

"Yeah, we really wore out the cushions and springs that night, didn't we...? Oww!" Dearka rubbed at the back of his head, where Mirialla had slapped.

"I meant that the stains never washed out, perv! Honestly..."

---------------------------------------------------

Cray watched them launch with avidity shining in his eyes. In most cases that would merely be a descriptive term, but the Revenant's yellow eyes actually grew brighter and brighter as extra power flooded into them as Cray tuned up his cameras and other sensors, to not only take in the maximum amount of data, but also to permanently record these moments for posterity's sake! He wanted to be able to look back on this fight for the rest of his days, however long they might be. He ignored the pitiful remnants of the base defenders, and the slightly less pitiful yet still ultimately inadequate Solar Knights, as inconcsequential. They were bugs, and drones at that! Let the others take them... he wanted to sink his teeth into some real meat! Oh, but he was almost giddy with excitement as he watched them come on, like figures stepping forth from a grand painting! The entire scene was just perfect... him on the ground, devastation expanding out around him in rings of smoke, rubble and fire, them in the sky, charging down towards him on streams of brilliant blue thruster jets, more valiant heroes come to slay the dragon, or feed his hunger trying!

Leading the pack, armored wings spread wide, were the Phoenix King and Seraph, guns in either hand already spitting hyphenated dual bolts of green energy at the Revenant, the precise, chillingly well aimed shots boring into already darkened places on the Revenant's hide, eating into the armor beneath the disabled or deactived Citadel Scales, leaving glowing yellow and orange divots visible like distant stars against the blackness of the Revenant's form. Just behind those two, cloak flying out behind it, came one of the ones he was looking forward to the most, the Vorpal, piloted by good old Scarface, Ysak Joule, that bastard who'd come back from the grave Cray had personally buried him in, to bring Cray down in his moments of triumph. Well, now Cray was the one who'd come back from the grave, and he had every intention of repaying the disfavor Scarface had shown him, a hundred times over if possible! And then he'd go find Ysak's other girlfriend and blow her brains out too and lick the blood off his hands, just like he'd done to the first one back in JIHAD!

Hanging further back, as the Archangel turned and started maneuvering around behind the Revenant, positioning itself between him and the rest of the base, were the Dawn Goddess and then the Warmaster, plus a single worthless Dawndrake. Cray was looking forward to settling things with those in the misnamed Warmaster, that Dearka Elsman and Miriallia Haww, as well, though they were a lesser priority than Ysak, who'd been the one to kill him last time. Dearka and Miriallia had definitely helped set him up for failure, and he well remembered their artillery cannon and the havoc it had wrought on him several times, but the Revenant was a whole different animal from the Merciless, and their Warmaster failed to impress him. So what, their cannon could fire multiple times in a row... it was still nothing compared to the destructive forces he now wielded! Let them fire... let them carve out a fistful of his chest... it would just make his blood sing all the warmer! He wanted this to be a fight! Like the ones he used to have... something to make him feel alive! Something to make him forget what he was now...

He was still basking in the arm glow their appearance had suffused his half dead heart with when he saw the rest of the Brotherhood forces erupt from hiding a few kilometers away, from behind a low range of hills that had been shielding them from line of sight sensors and accidental firepower from either the defending forces or the Revenant. Twenty Zealots, ten Martyrs, the Haunted, the Tormented and the Traitor, which was still Mirage Colloided. A formidable force by any standard, and definitely enough to send new shafts of dismay and despair through the battered souls of the defenders. Even the Archangel veered wildly away from the Brotherhood reinforcements, like a great ungainly bird avoiding a suddenly erupting volcano. The Orb Gundam's strategy was visibly thrown into disarray, and they halted their relentless charge at the Revenant to take stock of this new development.

Cray frowned as he saw some of the Zealots and Martyrs begin firing upon the Archangel, Warmaster and Dawn Goddess. Not that any of them were particularly skilled shots or pilots, but even a bunch of drooling idiots could overwhelm a Gundam Pilot through enough numbers, if their Mobile Suits had a certain degree of base ability, and by the standards which Cray judged things, even before his unfair interrance in this mighty shell, neither the Warmaster nor the Dawn Goddess's pilots had ever been in the top ranks of the Gundam Pilots. Cray lifted his left arm and sent a ravaging barrage of Gottfried bolts across a long line between the Brotherhood forces and the Orb forces, blasting two Zealots and a Martyr to molten pieces and bringing the remainder of the ambush forces to a screaming halt. "Back off! Those ones are mine!" Cray directed furiously.

"Michael told us to wipe them out first, working together with you!" Dylan replied, his cowardly unsurety plain with every whiny word. An especial worm, even among humans, a race of worms if there ever was one, that was Dylan. "They're the most dangerous..."

"I'M THE MOST DANGEROUS!" Cray corrected thunderously. He pointed his right arm more or less in the direction of the Traitor and the bulk of the Brotherhood forces. "Next one to take a shot at them learns why!"

"You would destroy your own allies!?" Old man Randolf protested, his words harsh but his posture faltering as he stared Death in the arm. "You cannot prevail against them alone..."

"In the words of someone famous... I have not yet begun to fight!" Cray announced fiercely. "I was just larking around before. You guys can clean up my mess here, and be grateful I allow you to do that much! And you aren't my allies... at best I could call you lesser enemies, though meat slaves is probably closer to the truth. Once I get through with the rest of the people I need to kill around here, I'll do the bunch of you as well!"

"Foolish to admit your treachery so openly, construct!" Randolf spat back. "The Boss is listening..."

"You assume he did not know what sort of person he'd built this body for?" Cray snorted in contempt. "If I destroy the Clyne Faction for him, I don't think our dear Prophet will cry overly hard for you worthless fools. After all, I would have single handedly achieved something all three of you, plus your reinforcements, were unable to do! Why should he need deadweight like you when he has me?"

"He will return the loyalty we show to him, and reward treachery in kind. He is that sort of man." Mary answered resolutely. Cray twitched his radiation cannon over to place its crosshairs over the Tormented.

"I should blast you now and turn your body to bloody vapor... and save you the later pain of discovering what a total moron you are!" Cray snarled, both impressed and disgusted, as he'd started being more and more lately, at the self deceptive nature of humanity. They would believe anything if it made them happy, no matter how ludicrous. He lowered his arm after a moment. "On second thought, who am I to deny a girl her masochism? Believe what you want... I just hope I'm there to watch you cut your own throat when he decides he doesn't need you anymore! Watching the vapidity steal into your eyes while your hot blood pours out around you is all the vindication I could hope for." Cray was about to say more when a speeding dart like missile, trailing a huge streamer of white hot plasma energy, speared into the Revenant just over the groin region, the missile exploding and sending small shards of armor flying like chaff, before the plasma wavefront arrived and drilled into him, chewing a orange rimmed hole almost five meters across down to the inner Citadel Shield, impacting hard enough to give him a slight tremor! He was almost impressed, as he turned back to the Clyne Faction, who had been far from idle during Cray's conversation.

"Nice try... but you're about five years too late to castrate me, ya bastards!" Cray snapped, insulted by their choice of target location. Seriously, what sort of bastard deliberately targeted the family jewels? Well, besides him... but it was okay for the hero to use any tactic available against his dastardly foes. Or maybe he was getting that backward, as well as his role as a protagonist versus an antagonist? It was so hard to keep track of sometimes. He switched his left arm over towards where the Clyne Faction Gundams were all bunched up, the Phoenix King charging up another large ball of plasma for the Dawn Goddess to thread with her dart launcher, undeterred by the lack of real effect of the last shot. Artillery shells from the Warmaster's torso mounts kicked up plumes of moonrock around the Revenant's feet and legs, while missiles, barrages of beam bolts and hyper impulse beams lashed out at Cray like a sprinkler directed at a rhino. Cray's return volley of Gottfried fire hammered out at them, enough energy to scour the lot of them from existence with just the first few shots, not to mention the dozens behind those!

That is, if it ever reached them, which was not by any means an assured thing Cray discovered, as he watched his assault sizzle its way along the ground, each bolt carving out a glowing hole about two meters across in the ground, before his arm tracked up into and through the Clyne Faction position. The beams didn't follow that course though, instead they bent and twisted like snakes veering away from a sudden bright light, encountering the Fractal Wings of the Serpah in Geischmedig-Panzer mode, the reinforced defensive shielding being more than capable of handling even the repeated pounding from the Revenant. Kira even managed to catch a few blasts and sent them back in the Revenant's general direction, though his accuracy was down. Cray still flinched backwards slightly, his firepower sailing off into the void as his arm twitched. The Phoenix King and the Vorpal wasted no time in hurling themselves out from behind the Seraph and splitting up, moving in on the Revenant from either side, while another dart and plasma streamer rocketed at Cray from directly ahead, allowed to slip through a hole in the Seraph's defensive tapestry.

Cray's defensive weapons caught the missile this time, and blew it into space dust almost a hundred meters short of him, but there was no stopping the now uncontrolled plasma streamer, which expanded and widened its effect without the guiding magnetic fields of the missile to corral it. As a result it was more a wave of energy than a stream that hit him, chewing a layer or two deep into exposed armor across his chest, or else swirling harmlessly against operable Citadel Scales. One or two defensive turrets cooked off, overheated barrels melting in the onslaught, but it was nothing to cry about. Cray smiled, dropping the Revenant into an eager crouch as his enemies closed in on him from three directions... this was it! This was the kind of fight, the kind of feeling he was looking for! He felt a sudden odd welling up inside his head, like someone surfacing from a pool of sticky oil, but he paid it no real mind... there were more important things to worry about than his waking dreams! "Come to Cray, darling foes! Come to feed this dragon!"

-------------------------------------------------

Give me something, Katie. Ysak directed, advancing at the maximum pace he could muster, shield to the front blocking most of his body, Minion pods circling close by, ready to align into a large Citadel Shield should the monstrous Gundam look like it was orienting too much firepower in his direction. Weaknesses, name of the pilot, name of the Gundam, what the hell he thinks he's doing... something, anything!

Hold on just a sec... Katie replied distractedly. I'm almost... what the HELL!? AAAIIEEE!

Ysak felt her flinch, and the psychic backwash of her surprise, disgust and fear was enough to almost make him lose control of the Vorpal for a moment, a stumble that might have been much more costly if the enemy hadn't been distracted by more punishing ranged fire from Kira, Cagalli and Dearka. What!? What's wrong? Katie? Are you...

IT'S CRAY! I'D REMEMBER THAT TWISTED MIND OF HIS ANYWHERE, AFTER WHAT HE DID TO CHANEL! I JUST DIDN'T WANT TO BELIEVE IT! Katie's reply made Ysak flinch again, given that it came at a volume that felt loud enough to shatter wood.

"What's wrong? Are you and Katie all right?" Kira commed, concern in his voice. "I felt something just now."

"Peachy." Ysak snarled, staring balefully at the monstrous enemy Gundam. Cray? Cray Thresher, that devilish BCPU that had manhandled him to that fateful encounter with Asmodeus in the bowels of JIHAD!? The one who had stood by, chuckling and dancing, as Ysak was forced to tear his own heart in half, and make a choice that had nearly broken his mind and soul permanently!? The despoiler of Carpentaria, the madman who'd perpetrated Purgatory Day, gleefully taking to the streets of Orb in the Merciless to slaughter the peaceful protesters in their tens of thousands!? The man... or thing... that had murdered Chanel right in front of his eyes and then made light of it to his face!? That Cray!?

That Cray. Katie confirmed, her own emotions boiling along with Ysak's as she relived many of the same memories, which had affected her just as deeply, if not more so, than Ysak himself! The one you and Dearka killed to stop Purgatory Day. We never did find a body...

We turned the Merciless into a molten slag heap! Even if the initial takedown didn't kill him, the blast furnace we turned the cockpit into, plus the radiation, HAD to have killed him! Nothing could have survived that sort of treatment! That would have been enough to kill a healthy man in a full hazard suit! I shoved a pair of beam sabers right through his cockpit! He can't be alive! Ysak protested, shaking his head in denial, hot tears of frustration welling up in his eyes. We sacrificed so much that day to take him down... how could he be alive!? Ysak's mind flip flashed through the horrid memories of Purgatory Day, some of which still haunted him to this day... the thrown cars, filled with people... the hospital going up in flames... the skyscrapers collapsing around him and burying him and the Duelist under tons of rubble... the blocks upon blocks of populated buildings that Cray had indiscriminately hosed his fire through trying to kill them... the buildings Ysak's own missed shots had taken out... and many more besides. He can't be...

He is. We all saw what sort of shit Frost was capable of living through. We probably shouldn't be surprised that Cray has similar resilience. Katie said, both soothing and stern. It just means we're going to have to be extra sure this time! She steeled herself, gripping Ysak tight like a lifeline, and dipped her mind back into the mental cesspool that was Cray. Katie knew she was by no means an innocent or even particularly pure person. Somewhat the opposite sometimes... she was not afraid of violence or killing as a means of living, she saw little problem in using just about any means necessary to perserve peace, especially against people like the Brotherhood who refused to play by the rules themselves, and she definitely had to admit she had a dirty mind when it came to intimate habits. She liked a lot of things that would probably make her other female friends VERY uncomfortable... both emotionally and physically. But that didn't make her a bad person... just a person. Cray on the other hand... he WAS a bad person. Evil, that was simply the best way of putting it. He was having FUN slaughtering people! And the images she saw populating his subconscious, which was about as close to his conscious as she'd ever seen in a thinking being, were simply loathsome to behold! Physically sickening, a whirling parade of degeneracy that would have made a demon either salivitate or blush!

It's called the Revenant. Katie reported after several seconds of gingerly rooting around, afraid to delve too deeply lest she be swamped by the foul muck. She'd talked with Lacus about what it had been like inside Frosts's head during the final confrontation with him at the end of the Second Valentine War, and though Lacus's explanation had been exceedingly fragmentary at the time, Katie was suddenly starting to get a handle on why! Insane minds were never pleasant places to explore, and that was the benign ones! Someone like Cray, an unrepentent sociopath and maniac who enjoyed his excesses, even worshipped them, had a mind that hurt to look at even from a distance! Walking around inside it was like wading through a chest deep swamp of mixed blood, sulferic acid and intimate fluids! He was incredibly open to her intrusions, but the degenerative structure of his mind was as much a defence as any shield or trick she'd ever thought to deploy herself... simply put, no one sane would WANT to be in his mind, and indeed, staying too long could be detrimental to her own mental health! She didn't want to know what it would be like to get sucked into some of the dreams she steered past... the coma and rape she'd suffered at Noah's hands were a pleasant vacation to some of the stuff Cray dreamed about!

Any weaknesses? Ysak asked gently. He couldn't get a full picture, but some of the horrors Katie was witnessing were bleeding back to him, vicariously through her reaction to them. Be careful... its not worth you getting hurt to get extra information. Just his identity is more than enough!

I know... Katie's fingers tightened on Ysak's skin as she shuddered, passing a particularly vivid memory-dream... one that featured Ysak and herself and what Cray was hoping to do to them. I won't stay much longer. But I haven't found much in the way of weaknesses... or if there are any, he doesn't know about them! The big Radiation Cannon on the right arm can only fire once per minute, and his "Rigor Mortis" defence pods only activate if people get within fifty meters, but I'm not sure if those are "weaknesses". Oh, and despite how he looks, nobody has really damaged him yet... he's got those outer Citadel Scales, then EIGHT layers of armor, and then ANOTHER Citadel Shield, far stronger than the outer one, before you get to anything vital inside him! He... he's GLAD to see us, Ysak. He's looking forward to paying us back for what you and Dearka and Miriallia did to him on Purgatory Day! He's... NAHHHG! Katie coughed and gagged as bile rose in her throat, as she confronted a memory of what Cray had done to Chanel at JIHAD... though from a perspective she never, EVER wanted to think about again!

OUT! NOW!! Ysak ordered frantically, feeling Katie's arms and legs lock tightly around him, squeezing him almost painfully as she jerked away, both mentally and physically, from the terrible trauma of that memory. Ysak stopped the Vorpal, covering himself with his Photon Cloak, his Bulwark Shield and then the Minion Shield in a triple layer of protection for his stationary position. Katie...?

P-present... Her voice came back to him weakly, as her limbs slowly let go of their death grip. I really oughta learn to listen what you say a little bit sooner, Ysak-y... might save me a lot of pain down the line...

Are you okay? Ysak asked tenderly.

I'll be better once we stick Siegfried through his leering face! Katie came back with more strength, energized by his staunch support and love. She buried the side of her face against his back and hugged him firmly, though not like the death grip. 'Fraid you'd going to have to go this one without psychic warnings... I don't dare touch him again, or I might get dragged in! Just being nearby hurts. Not enough to run away though, in case you were considering it! You killed him once, we can definitely kill him together! And this time, don't stop stabbing until I tell you there's no mind left!

Deal. Ysak promised with a wide smirk. Let me break the harsh news. You rest. I bet he was expecting his identity to shock us... well it has, but it's not the kind of shock he's hoping for! Cray, you may have escaped our reckoning once, but you WON'T be so lucky twice!

--------------------------------------------------

"Cray..." Dearka swallowed heavily, assaulted by a host of unpleasant memories just from hearing the name. "How is that...? Could there be a mistake?"

"There is no mistake." Ysak replied, his tone banishing all doubt. "I thought he was dead too. We all did. But apparently we thought wrong. Because he is most definitely alive, and he's piloting that thing... that Revenant. An apt name, I do have to admit! But this is one Revenant that is going to go back to its grave without achieving its revenge!"

"Did she discover any weaknesses?" Kira asked, his tone introspective. All of them had had run ins with Cray in one form or another, and none of them were things they liked remembering. The memory of the crushed wads of innocent civilians being hurled like game balls at Carpentaria was enough to make Kira's hands clench tightly on the control yokes. Well, at least he didn't need to worry about holding back any when it came to the BCPU... he'd long ago talked things over with Lacus, and they'd both decided that people like Cray, unrepentant, mass destructive, genocidal maniacs, were best served by being put down like rabid dogs as quickly as possible. Getting them help would be preferrable, but to be plain, they were no longer something humans could really help, or relate to. They had had their humanity stripped from them by the Doc's experiments, and they weren't exactly looking to get it back!

"We haven't even hurt him yet. Not more than a bruise anyway." Ysak reported with frustration evident. "His main gun can't repeatedly fire, requiring about a minute to charge, and his last line of defence, a bunch of disabling pods, can only attack you if you get within about fifty meters of him."

"We'll do him like we did the Judgement. Soon as he lines up for a shot with that main gun..." Athrun began.

"It's not going to be that easy this time." Miriallia cut him off, one hand pressed to her chest to help still her hammering heart. Cray!? That monster!? He was alive... and he had it out for her and Dearka, almost as much as he had it out for Ysak! It was not a quieting realization. "Look at how he moves... he's got one of those special control systems. We can try and put a shot down his barrel, but I think that if it was that easy, someone would have done it before now. The Solar Knights if no one else... they have people with enough skill."

"Its the best strategy we have so far." Cagalli cut in. "Especially if regular attacks won't really work against him." She fired her Arbalest beam at him, watching it bore into the Revenant's right hip armor, leaving a glowing hole, but for all the overall good it did, she might as well not have fired! The retaliatory Linear Cannon volley struck Kira's protective Fractal Wing, tuned to Citadel Shield mode, which extended before her to catch the projectiles well short of the mark. Kira's other wing swept in front of the Warmaster, bouncing fat green plasma bolts up into the infinite sky, or else down into the ground, digging a molten trench in the ground. Redirecting the Gottfried blasts was hard, because they came so fast that if he started shifting his wings into a redirecting pattern, it would leave holes for the following shots to slip through. Bouncing even one took several feather pods at each point of impact, unlike when dealing with most regular Mobile Suit weaponry.

"He's not going to give us time to debate." Kira said tightly. "Its only a matter of time before he decides to use the main gun, and my Fractal Wings won't be able to defend against that... its every person for themselves if that occurs! And we can't ignore the rest of the Brotherhood reinforcements forever either... the garrison forces need time to recover before they can adequately combat the Brotherhood, especially with those three Gundams leading them!"

"Dearka, Miriallia, Katie and I will handle the Revenant, along with the Archangel." Ysak decided firmly. "The rest of you take out the other Brotherhood forces and then come back to help us."

"But Ysak...!" Athrun made as if to protest.

"He's right." Dearka interrupted in a cold voice. "The Phoenix King and the Seraph just don't have the kind of brute power to do anything productive against that monster, and the Dawn Goddess can only do enough when combined with the Phoenix King, which limits both of your mobility's, which is our only advantage against him, and likely to be a slim one! We'll be fine... take out the appetizers and we'll bring down the main course, just you watch!" Dearka jumped the Warmaster over to the side, avoiding a barrage of Linear Cannon shells, each almost the size of an Earthshaker round! He swept his left arm through the firing path between him and the Revenant, gatling beam cannons spraying green death into the void, intercepting the second volley well short of its target point. Well, they might be big, but they lacked the armor of the Earthshaker rounds, and that was definitely to his advantage!

The Phoenix King transformed to Mobile Armor form, and allowed the Dawn Goddess to board, before following in the wake of the Seraph as Kira led the way past Cray, his defensive wings deflecting and blocking a deluge of shell and beam attacks, cutting a swathe of clear space, even through the CIWS barrages, for Cagalli and Athrun, as well as Kisaka in his Dawndrake to follow. Cagalli blasted Cray several more times with her Arbalest and shoulder hyper-impulse cannons as she passed, but she might as well have been a fly biting a horse, because Cray didn't even bother to try and dodge her attacks, dismissing them as worthless. He half turned after them, but once he saw the two Gundams that chiefly concerned him had remained behind, he refocused on them. There was a brief lull as Cray stopped firing, stepping closer to regard them casually. "It's been a long time, you three..." Cray announced, over the public channels. "I hope you didn't think I'd gone away for good, did you? My name is..."

"Cray. Shut up." Ysak cut him off. "We didn't have time to listen to your babbeling before, and we sure don't now."

"You knew?" Cray sounded surprised. There was a brief pause, followed by a liquid chuckle. "Ah, I see. You have a mind-walker of your own. I remember, the Doc talked with her, right before you guys broke free. Yes, she was the one that got away, wasn't she? I'll be crushing her skull and smearing her blood into pretty pictures on my face as soon as I'm done with you maggots, mind tricks or not, just like I did to her sister!"

"That's in the past." Ysak's voice was filled with anger and sorrow all the same. "If all you have to hurt us with are old memories, you'll find that you came underequipped!" The Vorpal stowed its 120mm auto shotcannon and drew Siegfried, the bright blue field edges springing to brilliant life as the Vorpal settled its grip. Ysak pointed the tip of the sword at the Revenant, striking an arrogant pose he knew would grate at the egotistical and childish BCPU. "We hope you don't like living too much, because we're going to be killing you again shortly! That Revenant doesn't impress us much." Ysak taunted, watching the Archangel start to slip into place on the other side of Cray, Gottfried's swiveling in target lock, the bottom part of the hanger mandibles opening up to reveal the twin Lohengrin positron cannons. Ysak stepped closer and flourished his blade. "Oh, are you scared now? Good, you'd better be! You have a lot to be frightened of!" Ysak watched the Archangel reach its position, and an icon lit up on his tactical display. He ducked and covered behind his Bulwark shield and Minion Citadel Array, standing squarely between the Revenant and the Warmaster.

The Archangel opened fire on the Revenant's back with all available weapons, leading with the Gottfried's and Lohengrin, following with the Valiants and Sledgehammer missiles, and even getting the Helldart and Valkyros defensive guns into the action. Cray waited until the last possible moment, before the Revenant turned a literal hands free cartwheel, removing itself from the path of the bombardment, which sailed off towards the distant Earth on the horizon, petering out over the course of millions of kilometers. Cray landed with bent knees and spun, firing a pair of anti-ship missiles from his shoulder launchers and a volley of Linear Cannon shells at the Archangel as way of reply. The Archangel frantically turned and maneuvered, CIWS firing madly, but explosions still dotted its armored hull, sometimes blocked by the blue-green flare of Citadel Shields, sometimes not, causing the ship to reel and shudder heavily.

Ysak didn't wait for the Revenant to make a smart comeback, instead charging forward as fast as he could, his own shoulder mounted rapidfire 75mm Linear Cannons spitting yellow tracers in a stready stream, while the beam spike son the front face of his Bulwark shield activated, while the chainsaw edge on the side began spooling up to operational velocity. This was going to be a lot of bloody, close up fighting... just the sort of work he needed to indulge in to wash away bad memories! Beam, hyper-impulse, missile and artillery cannon shots whizzed by overhead, courtesy of Dearka and Miriallia, and Ysak observed a sudden drop in the accuracy of the Cray's automated defense turrets as the Warmaster engaged the Pandemonium ECM jammers. They couldn't be kept on for too long, or else they'd start interfering with the Vorpal's and Warmaster's systems, but when used with proper timing, the system might make all the difference when dealing with the Revenant's extensive defenses.

Dearka sighted and fired the Earthshaker Magnus with one motion, sending the massive shell hurtling downrange. He gritted his teeth in frustration as his shot went slightly wide, striking the Revenant on the left hip. The thunderous explosion still staggered the Gundam, and mangled the remaining hip mounted Linear Cannon turret, but since he'd been aiming for the lower abdominal hole Cagalli's first Arbalest and Vulcan's Forge combined shot had created, he couldn't feel too triumphant. Destroying the weapon was a good thing, but a good shot to the inner defensive layer might be enough to penetrate to the vital systems and cause some real damage, which would greatly enhance their chances! Dearka moved the Warmaster as soon as he'd fired his shot... trying to stand still and exchange volleys with the Revenant was a quick trip to the cemetary! Miriallia cried out in wordless warning as the Revenant's right arm came around suddenly and pointed at them, or rather at Ysak as the Vorpal charged in on a beeline. Dearka threw the Warmaster violently to the side, out of the line of effect of the shot, gritting his teeth as the Radiation Cannon fired, his cameras and sensors washing out for a moment because of the energy released.

The Revenant's shot gouged a ten meter deep, twenty meter wide trench in the moonrock that stretched almost a half kilometer into the distance, but the Warmaster had managed to get clear of the target zone, and the Vorpal had managed to eke out enough speed to get in underneath the firing angle, so that the scintillating radiation beam touched down several tens of meters behind him and expended its energy uselessly, if spectacularly into the ground. The Revenant stabbed its left arm at the Warmaster, forcing them to keep scrambling for cover or distance, making it hard for Dearka or Miriallia to line up any sort of good shot. Cray trusted to his cannon and beam CIWS to impede the Vorpal's maneuvers, even as he drew his right arm back, anti-ship chain disenganging from the upper arm and uncoiling into the ready to use position. He dipped and rocked the arm, imparting a rolling motion that soon had the chain spinning like a rotor blade, yellow beam spikes springing into existence all along its length.

The Revenant staggered, taken squarely in the small of the back by a pair of Valiant shots from the still maneuvering Archangel, which Cray had counted out a bit too soon. The Archangel was still retreating for the moment, but its Valiant's were pointed straight back. Snarling like a beast, Cray arched around and pointed his left arm at the red and white warship, but he only got off a few shots, which either splashed ineffectually against Citadel Shields placed over the aft quarter and engines, or were absorbed by the beam diffusing depth charges. The reason for his abridged volley was the Earthshaker round that came in high from the Warmaster and quite literally blew half the Revenan't skull away, almost bisecting the head and making Cray stagger in the opposite direction. Ysak saw his opportunity and leaped for the Revenant's lower torso, aiming his arm and Siegfried's point towards the hole in the frontal armor Cagalli's first shot had carved.

Katie's screamed warning came just milliseconds ahead of Dearka and Miriallia's cries, but it was her sudden emotional surge, not her voice, that caused Ysak to brace behind his shield and bring his Minion pod Shield up on the right hand side, as Cray, not nearly as off balance as he'd appeared, suddenly straightened and whipped his right arm around, bringing the anti-ship chain to bear in less than a second. The gargantuan, beam spiked mass slammed into the Minion Citadel Shield and shattered it in an explosion of golden sparks, sending the three pods spinning off into the distance, arcing light blue electricity and smoking from feedback. However, the Minion pods had done their job, and ebbed enough energy from the blow so that when it continued on to strike Ysak's Bulwark shield, with its combined layers of Geischmedig-Panzer, Citadel and Phase Shift effects, it did so with only a fraction of its original impetus. It was still enough to slap the Ysak from the sky like a small bird hit by a baseball bat, but he more or less retained control, and the Vorpal didn't just come apart from the force of impact, like what had happened to most other Mobile Suits struck by the chain, regardless of what kind of armor they had.

The Vorpal touched down, bent its knees, flared its thrusters to help absorb the inertia imparted by the blow and then sprang back, resuming its original course towards the Revenant. Dearka and Miriallia walked their fire up and down the length of the Revenant's torso, blowing out geysers of molten armor and opening up yet more deep reaching holes in its skin, wrecking more point defense turrets, but that one, vital blow continued to elude them. The Revenant started to bring its right arm back across in a backhanded blow towards Ysak's unshielded side, but this time he'd seen the blow coming from some time out, and needed no warning nor hasty defensive measure. He'd already observed that the Revenant's chain, while grossly powerful, and capable of being swung much more rapidly than should really be possible for something so large, had one characteristic he could use to his advantage. Namely, it didn't change course well, since it was a chain, not a solid object like a sword or axe. Even if the Revenant redirected its arm, the chain would continue on along the initial path, at least for a little while. And a little while was all the time Ysak had ever needed.

A vibrant blue Seed dropped through the vastness of Ysak's mind, to bounce and explode with a briliant light that illuminated the universe in a manner that made everything seem slower and more understandable. Katie felt the surge like a tide of lightning coursing through Ysak's body and into hers, a backwash effect that left her tingling and gasping from several involuntary reactions, some of which had no place happening on a battlefield! She watched, through Ysak's perceptions, as the chain seemed to creep closer, moving in slow motion. Everything was moving in slow motion... she could almost swear she could see individual cannon shells and beam bolts hanging in space, crawling towards them as if boring their way through thick glass. Just before the chain got within arm's reach, Ysak half spun the Vorpal and dropped down about five meters of altitude, bringing his shield up over his head, heald at a glancing angle, as Siegfried's impossibly keen magnetic field edge bit effortlessly through the beam spikes festooning Cray's chain, cutting through the material of the chain itself with equal ease, and passing out the other side completely undamaged. The chain barely touched Ysak's shield, unable to correct down that quickly, though the impact still spun the Vorpal like a top, but the damage was done!

When the chain reached the end of its path and Cray started bringing it around to finally bludgeon the impudent Vorpal to death, the top two thirds of the chain just kept on moving in the direction they'd been going, severed neatly and flawlessly by Siegfried's opposed monopole edges. The bisected part of the chain spun end over end, beam spikes sputtering out as they lost their power source, disapearing from view as they headed away in a straight line, moving well past the Moon's escape velocity. Cray aborted his swing and glared furiously at his maimed hand. "Betcha think you're real cute now, don't ya!?" Cray challenged. He was about to say more when a actinic blue-white beam spat from the Vorpal's right shoulder, cutting down in a constant stream, slicing deeply into the Revenant's left shoulder, slicing apart the anti-ship missile launcher mounted there, before cutting into the Revenant's upper left torso like a blowtorch into soft metal. Unusually, for a FRALA attack, the beam didn't penetrate all the way through the target's mass, stopped this time by the inner Citadel Shield, though not without enough strain to make the Revenant shine like a star on thermal energy scans as extra power was drawn from the FPR reactor to the defensive systems.

"We're beginning to think we might be on to something, yes." Ysak and Katie replied together, speaking in near synchronity. Though to be honest, they'd been expecting a little more out of the FRALA beam, which was several times as powerful as the first units which had been deployed back during the last Lunar battle during the Isolation. That inner Citadel Shield was no joke, that was for sure! Of course, to Siegfried, it didn't matter how powerful the shield was... it just couldn't deal with the magnetic field edge! It was simply a matter of getting close enough to use it! "How does it feel to be on the verge of death, Cray?" They asked, identical smirks on their faces.

"No different than any other day!" Cray spat back, ignoring the Warmaster for a moment to fully orient his attention on these annoying motherfuckers! He snapped his left arm around in a slicing strike that the Vorpal dodged, deeply notching one axe blade in the process. "Damn it, hold still! You're really starting to bug me!"

"Aww, whatsamatter... not dealing with a bunch of newbies in wanna be Gundams anymore? Face it, Cray, even with that Revenant, you're still a relic, five years or more out of date! The world has moved on since you died... Katie and I have moved on, same for Dearka and Miriallia. You're just an empty ghost of the past, refusing to stay quiet in its tomb like a good corpse. You hold still... and I promise not to make this any more painful than you deserve!" Ysak retorted smugly.

You're really pissing him off. Katie noted, with a hint of trepidition. I mean, I think its a major turn on when you're like this... but he's really, pretty much foaming at the mouth right now, and I get the feeling... uh oh...

"THIS IS IT! THIS IS WHAT I WANTED! THIS ANGER! THIS HATRED! THIS LIFE! I'M ALIVE! I'M ALIVE AGAIN!" Cray roared, actually crying a single tear of mixed joy and outrage. "I'M ALIVEEE!" He whipped his left arm at the Vorpal in a Left-Right-Left combination attack that had Ysak flying backwards desperately, dodging frantically, afraid to take even one such blow directly, shield or no shield. He was paying so much attention to the left arm that when the right arm came around, with chain stowed, he made the mistake of dismissing it as a threat for a bare moment, before realizing that even without a chain, the arm was still a mass of armor weighing close to a thousand tons. By then though, no amount of Seed enhanced reflexes could get him fully out of the way, and his shield was of little use against such a massive object. The Vorpal flattened against the Revenant's right forearm like a bug under a person's palm, and spiralled down to the ground below, out of control, both Ysak and Katie greying out from the force of the blow. The Vorpal hit hard and gouged out a small crater with its back, sending cracks racing through the rock around it. Stunned, the Vorpal just lay there for a moment as Cray loomed overhead. "I'M ALIVE... AND YOU ARE DEAD!"

Cray didn't carry out his threat immediately though, as that would have done very little to expunge his hatred. He needed them to suffer first! To cry out in pain... in agony! To beg for mercy! That might be a start on salving his burning shame and anger! Might! Nothing less though! So instead of burning them to stray particles with his gatling Gottfried, or even blasting them apart with his beam point defense, he instead oritented all his remaining frontal quad 120mm gatling cannon point defense turrets on the fallen Vorpal and let fly, bathing the helpless Gundam under a torrent of hundreds of high caliber explosive shells per second. His aim was still off, because of that damn jamming system the Warmaster was using, but when that many shots were being fired, the diminishment was slight overall. The Vorpal vanished from easy view under a carpet of fire and explosions, the ground shaking for a score of meters in every direction around it as the Vorpal was steadily pounded into the ground by the continual impacts, which deepened and widened its crash crater until the Vorpal was half buried in smashed rubble, which continued to grow more and more dustlike as the onslaught continued.

Cray probably would have continued his barrage until the Vorpal or its contents had been shaken apart by the battering explosions, regardless of how long that took, if it weren't for the intervention of the Warmaster, which fired a brace of Earthshaker shells, one impacting on the Revenant's right upper torso, and the second nearby, on the right shoulder joint, blasting away the Linear Cannon turret there and almost dislocating the entire massive limb. Cray jerked and stepped backward, favoring the right side, which was starting to show a serious lack of armor, to the point where the Inner Shield was visible from outside along medium sized swatches on the upper torso. "Ysak! Katie! Are you all right!?" Miriallia demanded, heart in her mouth after seeing the punishing mauling the Vorpal had taken. Even with Phase Shift armor, just lying there while taking those kind of impacts would be like lying down while a herd of ponies trampled over you!

Owww... Katie's reply was mental, but Miriallia was so relieved to hear anything at all she hardly noticed. I think I bruised my... everything... sorry Ysak... I really gotta remember not to dig in my fingernails...

"Take your time. We'll keep him busy." Dearak said confidently. He still had three shots for the Earthshaker Magnus left, and beyond even those he still had the Spear of Ares, which he'd been itching to use ever since he first had the system described to him! If this wasn't a situation that called for that level of force, he didn't know what would be! He stepped forward, a yellow Seed falling through the depths of his mind, exploding with a warm yellow glare that seemed to highlight the Revenant and every other potential target nearby, revealing the best palces to aim for maximum effect, while also slowing down their movements to a crawl. Dearka grinned and fired another two shots from the Magnus, wrecking the right shoulder missile launcher and left upper arm Linear Cannon turret on the Revenant, which was now starting to look rather less mighty than it initally had, with large plumes of smoke and fire trailing from many parts of its body, its armor sagging and running in steady molten drips from where secondary explosions chewed at its armor from the inside every few seconds.

"Busy!? More like passingly entertained!" Cray charged directly at the Warmaster, stepping right over the Vorpal in his haste to smack down the taunting Warmaster. They were probably nothing more than paste anyway, by now! He could peel them out of their shell later! He swung with the right arm first this time, which the Warmaster managed to backstep, only to catch a short downwards chop from the left arm axe. The Warmaster got it's shield in the way, but had its legs shudder and spark, driven almost two meters straight down into the solid rock from the force of the shortened blow. It was only the specially reinforced body, designed to handle the continuous recoil of multiple artillery weapon systems, that allowed the Gundam to bear up under the attack at all, and Dearka definitely made a note not to try and block a full on swing the same way. It was just too much mass, too much force, for anything, even a Gundam like the Warmaster, to take with strength versus strength. If he was lucky, he'd only lose his legs... if not... well... better not to let it happen at all!

Singe marks appeared like disease sores across the Warmaster's body as the Revenant deluged them with its beam point defense turrets, but the Warmaster's dual layered Phase Shift armor was better at handling energy attacks than regular Phase Shift, and it kept the damage to a bare minimum. Dearka ignored Miriallia's worried looks, keeping the Warmaster steady and stationary, after stepping out of the holes his legs had made, lining up his shot as precisely as possible. It was probably going to mean taking a hit but... Dearka watched the Revenant level its left arm at them and winced, bringing his own left arm, with shield, across the cockpit, the best defense he could currently muster. Dearka and Cray fired at roughly the same time, with their shots arriving closer together still, because beams moved faster than shells. The first three Gottfried blasts were absorbed by the Citadel Shield effect, before that overloaded and vanished in a series of shuddering golden arcs of protesting energy. The fourth blast superheated the four 375mm artillery cannon barrels on the Warmaster's chest, causing them to glow white hot and droop downward, bending into useless, sagging shapes. That same blast melted halfway through the armored portion of the Warmaster's shield before petering out at last.

At the same time though, Dearka's shot had struck home, right in the spot he'd aimed his first Magnus shot at, the deep crater Cagalli had created with her combined shot with Athrun at the beginning of their part of the battle. Without impacting the armor or Citadel Scales to either side, none of the force of the shell's explosion was wasted against anything but the Inner Citadel Shield, which rippled like a pond with a boulder tossed into it before briefly flickering and tearing apart. Fire gouted from the Revenant's lower torso, and the entire machine shook with convulsions as various internal mechanisms, including most of both hip and leg actuator movement systems, were boiled to metallic steam by the devouring blast wave. Thruster systems remained active, but in most meanings of the word, the Revenant had just been paralyzed from the waist down! Cray's aim faltered as he felt the damage done as a series of bright red warning lights and a throbbing alarm in his skull, but he quickly recorrected, vowing to make the Warmaster pay for the blow, now that it was all but helpless!

The Revenant slewed forward, as a Gottfried and Valiant shot from the Archangel's port broadside, slammed into its back flank again, followed shortly thereafter by six Sledgehammer anti-ship missiles in a row, slipping through the diminished point defense fire because Cray had directed most of it either at the Vorpal or Warmaster. Each Sledgehammer struck like a blow from its namesake, and after the fourth, the Revenant was tottering. The fifth and sixth completely ruined its balance, and Cray toppled forward, unable to move his legs to regain his balance. He caught himself by jamming his left arm into the ground, holding the Revenant at close to a forty five degree angle, like a man doing a one armed pushup. Spitting in wordless rage, Cray craned his halved head around and glared at the offending ship, before pointing his right arm back at them. Let them taste the fruits of disaster for interfering in his life! For the last time! "Daddy, they're being very mea..." Cray started to whine.

He was still completing that sentence when the Vorpal re-engaged, Ysak and Katie still shaking the pounding out of their heads, but in Seed mode he could deal with that kind of disorientation. Jetting up beneath the Revenant's armpit, keeping ahead of the frantically launching Rigor Mortis pods, which he sprayed with fire from the plasma flamethrowers attached to his shield, impaling or dicing the closer ones with the beam spikes or chainsaw edge on the same, Ysak stabbed the Siegfried in to the hilt into the Revenant's right shoulder joint, piercing the Inner Citadel Shield like a needle through a soap bubble. He dragged the blade upward, cleaving the Shield and the joint inside, until the weight of the arm, even in the Moon's reduced gravity, was too much for the damaged join to handle, and the right arm twisted and flopped awkwardly before ripping away from the Revenant's shoulder, falling to the ground below and raising a large cloud of dust. "AHHGGH! WHAT THE FUCK!?" Cray screamed in denial, even as a huge mass of Rigor Mortis pods finally managed to swarm the Vorpal, covering it from head to toe in glistening black pods, like a plague victim's buboes. Its body and limbs stiffened, and its thrusters conked out, carrying it helplessly up and away along its former course, a sitting target... but one he couldn't shoot at right now!

Now it was the Revenant's turn to lie there unable to defend itself effectively, as Dearka and Miriallia hosed him down with missiles, gatling beam fire and hyper-impulse blasts, aided by more missiles, Gottfried and Valiant shots from the Archangel, which was starting to turn to bring its Lohengrin to bear. Discarding the empty Earthshaker Magnus for the moment, Dearka drew the anti-ship axe the Warmaster was equipped with for melee combat. Clearing a path through the Rigor Mortis pods with their gatling beams and hyper impulse cannon under Miriallia's able control, Dearka stepped forward and began hacking at the Revenant's left arm, like a lumberjack heweing at a particularly doughty and annoying root. "Daddy... they're being very cruel to me! What should I do!? What should I do!?"

"Talk to your mother, or are you afraid she'll spank you?" Miriallia suggested wryly. "Maybe its YOU that's the problem, you disgusting freak!"

"You bitch!? YOU would mock me now!? YOU!?" Cray was shocked at her temerity. Surely they didn't think that they'd won already did they? They didn't think this was the endgame!? Surely not! He'd just come back to life, he wasn't ready to die again yet! He thrust backward with his left arm before they could completely undermine its ability to hold his weight, and activated his thrusters, slowly bringing the Revenant back up to a standing position. Even with one arm and most of his external weapons gone, as long as he had just the left arm, he could still destroy them all! And if they took that from him, he could fucking RAM them to death, or fall on them, whatever he needed to do! He was the Revenant! He could not be defeated! He turned his attention to the Archangel now, as the greater threat, since he could finished off the warmaster, now that it lacked its heavy weapons, at almost any time.

"Dearka!" Miriallia called, seeing Cray turn away from them.

"Already on it!" He called back, bringing down the secondary keyboards that controlled the Spear of Ares. The accelerator-drivers began deploying from the back mounted storage bins, the first one snagging one of the eighth of a pound munitions from a slot on the top of the bin, ensnaring it in powerful magnetic fields that were still but the merest precursor to the ones that would be sued to fire it. The Warmaster jumped backwards a long distance, before Dearka and Miriallia started inputting the commands that began aligning the thirty two accelerators they'd chosen to utilize... a "standard" shot, rather than the full out one hundred twenty eight the bins carried. They'd try a standard shot first, and if that wasn't enough, they'd know to use more later. Besides, setting up even thirty two took three point two kilometers of free space, and several minutes of time even with the new software update. Setting up all took almost fifteen kilometers of open space, and closer to twenty minutes of time! Now if only the Archangel could keep the Revenant occupied...

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