Okay, Part 2! I also decided to introduce a certain pair of series, one of them a little earlier than initially intended, and the other a LOT earlier. Check it.
Chapter 23 - Birth of DREAM! The Land of the Desert Tiger! Part 2
The next thing the four DREAM members who had ran into Andrew Waltfield knew, they were escorted by the ZAFT commander's men to a rather lavish mansion at the top of the city, obviously the place the commander called home.
The commander actually chatted with them the whole way in a genuine, non-derisive way. Though his tone was much more serious, his attitude still came across as rather friendly and laid-back. They couldn't believe that this admittedly likable guy was the ruthless Desert Tiger!
Once inside, Cagalli was taken by a lovely middle-aged woman to get cleaned up after that harrowing encounter, and the preceding kebab to the face. Kira, Akito and Ryoko (whose gun was confiscated) were brought into his office. It was a large and simple, but tastefully-decorated room. Of particular note was a fossil of a skeleton of what appeared to be a whale with wings.
"Coffee?" Andrew asked to them as he poured himself a fresh cup. The trio awkwardly accepted. Almost immediately, the ZAFT commander began about the elephant in the room - or in this case, the whale.
"So, there it is, sitting on my mantel - Evidence 01," Andrew said with a bit of pride.
"What's so special about it?" Ryoko asked after taking a sip of coffee. "I mean, we've confirmed the existence of alien life forms now that the Vega Empire and Protodevlin have attacked,"
"Not to mention the Jovian Lizards," Akito added.
"Well, you've heard of the theory of alien life forms seeding the Earth? A First Ancestral Race, some have called them," Andrew began. "It's really what the whole war between Coordinators and Naturals is about...whether man can truly achieve more. To become like them."
"At this point, it really seems moot...we've already colonized Mars," Akito said with an awkward chuckle, memories of his not-so-happy childhood returning. All three youngsters then noticed Andrew get up and walk toward a small nightstand in the far corner of the room.
"Yeah, but since you're fighting for the Alliance, I just gotta ask, since your superiors obviously have their own ideas. Tell me, what do you think it will take to end this war? When every last enemy is destroyed?"
Andrew opened the drawer and calmly pulled out a pistol, pointing it right at the trio.
"I know it doesn't quite seem like it, but we're enemies..and if you're going to answer the same way your superiors do, then I have no choice but to kill you where you stand, since that is what it's going to take." The three were apprehensive, but Andrew could tell from the looks in their eyes that they weren't like other Alliance soldiers. He smiled, and put the pistol back in the drawer.
"Well, I guess there is some hope left in this world," he said. "Well, I bet your friend is all cleaned up by now. You're welcome to stay a little longer, but you're free to go right now if you want. It's been a long time since I've been able to just chat with kids like you, especially not from ZAFT."
Of course, the three were itching to get out. After all, they couldn't be sure how long Waltfield might keep up his facade. But as they walked out, they heard Andrew say something else:
"I'll see you all on the battlefield..."
"What? Keep waiting?" Murrue exclaimed when she heard Zero's suggestion to keep waiting for Kira and the others. She, Zero, Viral and Akatsuki were all standing around the courtyard, watching the supplies get loaded into the three ships. "For all we know, they could have been taken hostage, or they could even be dead!"
"Consider for a moment this one little tidbit about Waltfeld - he has a habit of warning villages that he's about to attack so civilians have time to evacuate, and then chooses not to go after them."
"You're expecting us to think of him as some sort of saint?" Viral said suspiciously. "Sounds like he just plays games with his victims."
"A man who actively demands that citizens evacuate the town he's about to burn must place high regard on human life," Zero answered, "Or at the very least considers even the most wretched of existences to be better than non-existence. Homes can be rebuilt and fields can be replanted, but loved ones can never be replaced...and that is something he must understand. That is why I think we will see Kira and the others soon."
"That's hardly reassurance," Akatsuki said grimly. "But going into town guns blazing is hardly a proper solution either, and we have no one who is good at infiltration." Suddenly, Ruri approached Akatsuki, appearing to have something important to say. The four looked over at her.
"I hope I'm not interrupting anything important...but Hirata has come through for us once again. She knows much about the mysterious weapon that shot us down the other day. In fact, it's been targeting ZAFT and Britannian troops as well. It's been dubbed 'The Walking Stick' by the locals...and also, there's a plan by ZAFT to go and destroy it."
Almost immediately, a plan began to form in Zero's head - basic details, but it was enough to get started on a more thought-out strategy.
"Murrue, Akatsuki, come with me. We're going to deal with the Desert Tiger AND the Walking Stick at the same time."
Tara watched as the Lifthrasir, under the full control of Xemmey (it could perform non-combat functions on its own) returned with the four missing pilots in hand. Just as Zero predicted, Kira and company were safe and sound. Indeed, Cagalli was looking rather nice, having been dressed up in a mint green dress and a flower in her hair after all the sauce had been washed out of her hair.
"Welcome back, you guys," Tara called up to them as the white mech landed. "You had us all worried."
"Sorry," Ryoko said. "We had an unusual encounter with the notorious Desert Tiger." Tara's happy expression turned to worry when she heard this.
"Actually, he was a pretty nice guy," Kira replied. "Cagalli got her hair all messed up when some Blue Cosmos goons attacked him, so he took us back to his mansion, washed her up, gave us coffee, showed us another copy of Evidence 01, chatted with us a bit..."
"Pointed a gun at us, don't forget that!" Akito interrupted. "I actually thought he was going to kill us!"
"Well, what matters is that you're fine," the purple-haired pilot replied. "Oh, and welcome to DREAM!"
"Thanks...wait, what?" Ryoko exclaimed. "When did this suddenly happen? Did I miss something?"
"It's the name I came up with for our group," Tara answered, beaming with pride. "If you don't believe me, ask any of the guys in charge. Also, we've got a strategy meeting in about an hour. Zero's got some plan to kick ZAFT's ass and deal with that weapon that shot us down before."
Zero's plan was simple in theory. DREAM's attack force for this mission would be divided into two groups; a demolition team that would target the Walking Stick, and an ambush team that would assail the ZAFT forces that were coming to destroy it.
The two teams would wait for the ZAFT group to arrive and take on the guarding Jovian bugs. During the melee, the demolition team would sneak around, wipe out any remaining guards and wipe out the Walking Stick. The ambush team would snipe the ZAFT and Jovian forces, and then move in once their numbers were reduced or they were noticed.
The Walking Stick was a massive cannon the size of a city block, and was cloaked by unknown Jovian technology, which explained it had gone completely undetected. Its devastating power came from its ability to generate microscopic black holes, which would annihilate anything they touched before dissipating naturally. It could fire off three rounds in a single salvo, but took a lot of time to recharge. It would be in one of these charging periods that ZAFT would arrive.
The demolition team consisted of Akito, Ryoko, Hikaru Amano, Izumi, Kallen, Kyoshiro and led by Akatsuki, with the Aestivalis were all in either Land or Artillery Frames; meanwhile, the ambush team consisted of Kira, Shinji, the Cyber Beast Force, Janus, Rei, Volfogg, Loran, Harry, and led by Amuro. Other members were on standby if either group ran into problems.
As the demolition crew made their way toward the weapon, Akito started humming the Gekiganger 3 theme, with Hikaru humming with him. Kyoshiro and Kallen tried their best not to join in, tempting as it was, and Izumi was in her own little world. However, Akatsuki, as mission leader, couldn't help but get annoyed.
"Tenkawa! Amano! Cut it out!" he yelled over the radio. "We're on a mission!"
"Geez, what's your problem?" Akito retorted. "You're being louder than us, you know."
"You got some problem with Gekiganger, bucko?" Hikaru said.
"As a matter of fact, I do," Akatsuki said. "It fills your mind with unrealistic ideas, such as the so-called power of friendship or love or such nonsense; it causes you to assume that somehow love is worth seeking on the battlefield; not to mention it makes you see the world in black and white. I regret to inform you that it is not how the real world works. People like you need to get your faces out of your manga and your animes and see the world for what it really is."
"Okay, guys, let's cut the arguments, 'cause we've got bigger problems!" Kallen called out when her Knightmare Frame picked up a large number of enemy forces approaching.
As they rounded the next bend, they saw what must have been part of the defense force of the Walking Stick - a small army of Glasgows, Sutherlands and old Britannian tanks. What they might have lacked in individual strength, they made up in sheer numbers - Akatsuki counted at least three dozen enemy units.
"What the? The Jovians are seriously using these old pieces of scrap?" Hikaru exclaimed as the group stopped and prepared to meet the enemy.
"Actually, this is a sound tactic," Kyoshiro replied, his Gekka drawing an overlarge katana. "Utilizing resources left over by the enemy saves one's own resources."
"Then let's not waste too much ours on them," Akatsuki said. "Here's the plan...Subaru, Amano, Maki, Tohdoh, keep them busy and try to clear us a path. Tenkawa, Stadtfeld, you're with me. The Walking Stick can't be too far away."
"Kozuki..my name is Kallen Kozuki!" Kallen yelled, much preferring her Japanese surname to her Britannian one. "Get it right, you jerk!"
The ambush team waited atop a high ledge for the ZAFT troops to arrive. Thankfully, the high cliffs, along with Volfogg's ingenuity, allowed them to stay concealed from sight and scanning, even out in the desert.
Sure enough, the ninja robot spotted a sizable force of ZAFT mobile weapons charging along. But they weren't the humanoid mobile suits everyone (even Amuro) was used to seeing - these mobile weapons, BuCUEs, were more like cats or dogs in shape - they ran atop the sand with ease, and occasionally switched to a "tank" mode, where each leg folded up, allowing treads to propel the machine along the ground. Alongside it were numerous mobile suits that moved entirely on tank treads - ZuOOTs, they were more like humanoid weapons platforms than true mobile suits. These moved far more slowly than the BuCUEs.
Then came what the Archangel crew confirmed was Waltfeld's personal mech - a mech that looked like a larger, more menacing BuCUE, a fiery orange in color.
And coming from the other direction were a slew of Glasgows, Sutherlands and regular tanks, along with the odd Batta.
"We've spotted the enemy," Volfogg said over his communicator, uneasy about fighting humans. "They have engaged the Jovian defenders."
"So, how long do we wait?" Ryo asked uneasily.
"We have to wait until at least one of the two sides is sufficiently weakened or we hear that the demolition team succeeded," Amuro replied. "If we can settle this with a minimum of human casualties, that will be best. But it's likely we'll have to fight whoever wins to the last man."
"So in other words, we're gonna be like vultures..." Tara said. "I'd rather just dive in and give 'em hell. This just isn't fair."
"This is war, Miss Zifell," Harry said blunted. "Get used to it."
"I don't think any of us are happy to be using this sort of tactic," Loran added. "But it's better than us getting killed." Of course, Loran knew he could just Moonlight Butterfly them out of existence, but that would be far too dangerous. All he and the rest of the ambush team could do was wait...
Kallen, Akatsuki and Akito blazed down the winding desert road, having been able to get through the swarm of enemies. Finally, the Walking Stick came into view: it was indeed as Professor Hirata described it - a massive cannon the size of a city block. The body was roughly hexagonal, with a spiraling arrangements of lights that showed it was working. The barrel stuck out nearly a quarter mile.
"Well, we made it. How long until it can fire again?" Kallen asked.
"Another five minutes," Akatsuki said. "It doesn't look like it's locked on to anything yet, so we're not too late."
"You know, somehow I feel like this might have been too easy. Those Jovian bugs didn't put up much of a fight at all, and that's even without guys like Tohdoh around..."
Suddenly, a white portal opened up from the Walking Stick itself, and out strode what appeared to be another angel...it was made of flesh and blood, though its skin was mostly a milky white, its wings and eyes seemed to be made entirely of blood-red ruby, while its neatly arranged hair seemed to be formed of liquid jade. In his hands, he wielded a sword that thrummed with heat.
Crap...not another one! Kallen thought, assuming it was another Zohar general. But the two Aestivalis pilots noticed that it resembled the angel they had fought before...this one was an Arubboth general.
"You who seek to lay waste to this hammer of judgment," the red angel boomed, pointing his sword at them, "I will not allow you to achieve your goal."
"Oh no, you don't!" Akatsuki yelled, firing several rounds from his Aestivalis' artillery cannons. They struck home, but didn't substantially damage the being.
"You would attack the likes of me with explosives?" the angel scoffed. "Such folly."
Now would be a good time to bail us out, mister mysterious savior that pops out of nowhere, Akito thought, bracing himself for what could only be oblivion.
But Akito's wish came true.
"GOD...GORGON!"
Out of another white portal, three arrows whizzed out, one of them knocking the sword out of his hands, and the other two lodging themselves in his leg and belly and sending him staggering backward. Then the source of the arrows strode heroically out of the portal – a red and blue Super Robot with a cyan and red samurai helmet with gold horns on top and on its sides, a gold mechanical beard on its chin, and golden eyes. On its left arm was a bow, which Akito figured was used to fire the arrows.
"Uriel of Arubboth, your fight is with me!" a deep voice resonated from within the mech.
"Legacy of Mu, you get in our way AGAIN?"
"Hey, you need a hand?" Kallen called up as the Super Robot readied its next attack.
"I think he's got it," Akito said. "C'mon, let's lay the explosives!" Kallen looked back at their sudden savior, and then started after Akatsuki and Akito. Uriel tried to rush after them, but the Super Robot rushed into his path and kicked him away.
"I will not repeat myself again...your fight is with me and Raideen!" the mech's pilot bellowed. "GOD-O...ALPHAAAAAAA! RAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAIIIII!" Raideen posed as if flexing both biceps while its mouth opened up wide. A massive blast of cyan and white energy burst forth from its entire body, striking both the Walking Stick and Uriel with incredible force.
Meanwhile, the demolition crew quickly went to work. Each of them carried three powerful bombs that could be remotely detonated. While the two Aestivalis worked their way around the base of the structure, Kallen sprang about, laying her bombs atop the structure itself. It took less than three minutes to lay and set all of the bombs.
"That ought to do it," Akatsuki said with some relief. "Now to put some distance between us and the bombs."
"I'm gonna go help the guy who saved our tails!" Kallen said as she sped the Guren mk II to the other side of the structure.
"You're not going to, are you, Tenkawa?" the pilot of the black Aestivalis said cynically to Akito as they sped away from the Jovian cannon.
"I would, but I'm running kinda low on juice," Akito replied with a sigh as they kept moving. "Still, I hate to bail on them."
"It's their funeral," Akatsuki replied. "I'm going to give the word to Zero to detonate the bombs, Stadfeld...or Kozuki...or whatever - be damned. We're a safe distance now."
"No! Not with Kallen still there!" the young man yelled. He was about to lash out at Akatsuki's mech when the last of his battery power ran out. Akatsuki, who still had some to spare, went ahead with the call.
"Zero, we've laid the bombs. Go ahead and blast that Jovian abomination to kingdom come!" he yelled.
"Is Kallen with you?" Zero asked.
"Um..." Akatsuki said, not realizing that Zero would care.
"No! We got attacked by this weird angel guy," Akito interrupted, his mech still having enough power to use its communicator, "but then some big Super Robot appeared and saved us, and they've been fighting! Kallen went back to help him."
Murmurs could be heard over the radio, then Zero gave his answer.
"I will not detonate them until Kallen is safely out of range," Zero said coldly.
"But the cannon will fire in less than thirty seconds!" Akatsuki screamed. "If we don't destroy it, then..."
"Be silent. The rest of the team agrees. We will not allow a companion to die if they can find a way to live."
Just then, the sound of Uriel screaming could be heard. "CURSE YOU, RED GNAT! CURSE YOU, RAIDEEN! YOU'LL PAY FOR THIS!" Moments later, Kallen zoomed out from behind the cliff, and skidded to a stop.
"Thanks a ton for the help," she said sarcastically. "We could have beaten him down in seconds flat if you two weren't such wusses."
"Kallen's safe, Zero!" Akito said joyfully, happy to see Kallen okay than angry to be called a wuss. "Go ahead and blow that sucker sky high!"
A series of massive explosions rocked the area as the nine sakuradite bombs went off simultaneously with a press of Zero's remote detonator. Even the heaviest armor could not withstand such powerful blasts – and nor could the power source within. A tenth explosion, much larger than the last, heralded the demise of the Walking Stick.
That explosion was the signal the ambush team was waiting for. The ZAFT forces were proving to be much more effective fighters than the army of Jovians, but the sheer numbers was enough to reduce the ZAFT troops' fighting strength a little.
"UNIVEEEEEERSE!" Harry yelled, launching a blast from his arm cannon, striking a BuCUE and blasting it apart in one shot.
"GRAN FIRE!" Janus bellowed.
"DANCOUHOU FORMATION, SHOOT!" Shinobu cried.
The rest of the group let out their own ranged weapons, pounding the unsuspecting ZAFT troops. Kira aimed more for the Jovians, since they didn't have human pilots, and killing humans was still something he couldn't make himself do.
"What the?!" Andrew exclaimed as the enemy rained death on his forces from a distance, while his LaGOWE bounded away. "An ambush?! Never thought they'd try THAT, huh, Aisha?"
"Don't worry, I'll get them down here," his gunner Aisha answered. She fired two shots from the mobile weapon's back-mounted cannons. But she didn't aim for the DREAM mechs themselves...she aimed right below them, at the cliff itself.
The projectiles struck the cliff explosively, collapsing the weakened rock and causing all of those present to tumble down to the ground below.
Kira and Shinji were the first to get back up. They were immediately assailed by the ZAFT forces. The ZuOOTs let out numerous blasts, peppering the Super Robots with heavy ordinance, only for it to be blocked by Shinji's AT Field.
"Heh, so that's an Evangelion," Andrew said with a grin. "I always wondered how well we would fare against one." The Desert Tiger spurred his LaGOWE into a charge. Unit 01 readied a machine gun and then cut loose, but the fire hydrant-sized bullets couldn't find their mark – the LaGOWE was far too agile.
Before anyone else could react, the mobile suit was right next to Unit 01. The dog-like mech bounded upward, and extended a two-bladed beam saber from the area where its mouth would be, and with two quick swipes, sliced open the EVA's neck, causing red ichor to squirt out of it like a high pressure hose. The Evangelion staggered about as Shinji let out a blood-curdling scream of pain, clasping his throat as if it had been slashed as well. Finally, it collapsed several hundred yards away.
The ZuOOTs fired another round of heavy ordinance as the others began to rise, but were quickly pounded into the ground as it landed. Only the Strike was agile enough to get away. Kira watched in terror as his friends got pounded repeatedly. Even Rei's own EVA couldn't put up an AT Field quickly enough.
Suddenly, Cagalli's voice came from over his radio.
"You idiot, what are you doing?!" she screamed. "You're just gonna let Waltfeld blast our friends to death?! Stop them!"
"But..." Kira said weakly.
"Fine! If you won't, then I WILL!"
Barely a few seconds passed after Cagalli yelled those words than did a white, blue and red plane streak across his field of vision, equipped with the Strike's Launcher pack...it was the Skygrasper, a plane designed to help the Strike switch packs more easily.
"Cagalli! Wait!" Kira cried out.
But Andrew had already spotted her. As the plane dove down and charged up the Agni, the LaGOWE fired off one of its cannons. It struck the Skygrasper, and it immediately tumbled towards the ground.
Kira barely knew this girl, but just watching the plane fall out of the sky, and assuming that Waltfeld had killed her...
"Sorry, kiddo, but this is war," Andrew's voice came from over his radio. "And as an unfortunate result, that makes you my enemy. I really mean it when I say it's not personal...it's just that way it is. So, do you want to end this or not?"
Something inside Kira's mind snapped and suddenly his senses went into overdrive. His pupils contracted immensely and his purple iris seemed to fade a bit, but most of all, the Coordinator wanted to fight and end this stupid war. He turned the Strike towards the enemy troops and began firing its beam rifle madly. Each hit, however, struck home and instantly disabled the enemy mobile weapons. Even the heavy ZuOOTs couldn't withstand more than a few hits in the face of Kira's berserk state.
Everyone else could only stand and watch as the usually kind and gentle Kira tore into the enemies with ruthless efficiency. He didn't see that Cagalli had managed to eject in time, and she too watched in horror. Finally, Kira set his sights on Andrew. But as he was about to lock on, everyone heard a surprising statement come from the man's lips.
"That's enough...I surrender."
Kira shook off his berserk state of mind when he heard this.
"Yeah, I'm gonna get called a coward...but I know when I'm beat. Do whatever you want with me, just leave my men alone, okay."
Surrendering? Just like that? Zero thought. Is he trying something? As tempting as it is to accept his offer, we can't just...
Suddenly, Unit 01 twitched.
Shinji heard a loud, low heartbeat resonating in the entire entry plug. It was something he was all too familiar with...in fact, this had happened in his battle against the First Angel.
Frantically he started to yank on the controls over, and over again...
"...No no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no..."
But all begging and pleading in the world would do nothing to stop Unit 01 now. Even though its throat had been slashed apart by Waltfeld's LaGOWE, it rose up, but maintained a hunched-over, feral state. It let out an unearthly howl, which sent shivers down the spines of everyone present. Of course, they had no idea what was going on, so for all they knew, Shinji had simply flipped his lid.
The Evangelion whirled around and lunged at the LaGOWE, which bounded away. But Unit 01 was right at his heels, its massive hands groping at the ZAFT mech. The others stood dumbfounded, watching the events unfold, too terrified to do anything. What kind of person was Shinji to attack someone who had just surrendered?
Finally, Unit 01 grabbed hold of one of the LaGOWE's back legs and lifted the whole machine up. Shinji could only watch in terror as the Evangelion let out another howl, then bit down hard at the rear end of it. Inside, Aisha was crushed to a bloody pulp by the EVA's massive teeth. With its other hand, it grabbed the front section, and tore the machine in half, causing sparks, oil and flames to fly everywhere.
"STOP! SHINJI! STOP IT!" Kira screamed, rushing the Strike at Unit 01. But the Evangelion simply put up an AT Field, causing it to bounce right off. It did, however, make the Evangelion turn toward the others, and readied to attack once more.
"Oh man, he's really lost it now..." Masato whimpered.
However, Janus finally snapped out of his shock as well, and rushed Granlif forward, Gran Claymore drawn. The sword struck Unit 01's AT Field, but it bounced off.
"Damn it, Shinji, I don't know what you're doing, but snap out of it!" Janus yelled as Granlif tried in vain to break through the powerful barrier.
"I-I-I can't stop it...Unit 01 won't listen to me!" Shinji's voice came over the radio at last as Unit 01 clawed at Janus. "I-I-I didn't want to kill Andrew...but Unit 01...I don't know...I-I-I..."
"Shinji, eject! You can stop the EVA if you remove the entry plug!" Misato called out. Immediately, Unit 01's pilot frantically yanked on an emergency lever. It wouldn't budge.
"Misato, the lever won't move! It's stuck!"
Suddenly EVA Unit 00 jumped in between Shinji and Janus, progressive knife drawn. With startling ease, she sliced through the AT Field and held it open with all her might. Unit 01 seemed to falter when it saw Unit 00.
"Big brother! Now!" Rei called out.
Janus was surprised that the girl chose to call him that so quickly, but he wasn't going to let Rei take that nasty hit like she did before in the fight against Shamsel. Quickly, Janus thrust one of Granlif's arms through the barrier.
"Alright, Shinji...let's see you grit those teeth...KARMAAAAA KNUCKLE!"
At point blank range, Granlif fired off its fist with explosive force, smacking Unit 01 in the jaw. This staggered it long enough for NERV HQ to engage the emergency entry plug ejection sequence. The entry plug, a long capsule-shaped object, shot out of EVA 01's back, and no sooner did that happen than did than did it finally go silent.
As the remaining ZAFT forces struggled to pick up the pieces of their once mighty group, Martin DaCosta, Andrew's right-hand man, heard the sound of another battleship approaching. But the ship wasn't one of the three that had ambushed them. Out of it came an unusual looking mobile suit, somewhat resembling the Strike. However, it was not the Strike, but a similar mobile suit - the Astray Red Frame. Unbeknownst to anyone, even ZAFT, Orb had built this and two other suits - the Astray Blue Frame and the Astray Gold Frame, alongside the Strike, Duel, Aegis, Buster and Blitz.
Riding inside was Lowe Gear, the de facto leader of the Junk Guild, a group, neutral in all conflicts, that specialized in the salvaging and sale of mobile suit parts, and serving as copilot was a computer system only known as Hachi. Hachi was an OS designed to allow Naturals to use mobile suits, thus the team of Lowe and Hachi was a combination not unlike Tara and Xemmey.
He landed the Red Frame on the ground and got out, surveying the results of the mayhem.
"Hey, you guys need a hand?" he called out. The ZAFT soldiers stopped and watched as he climbed down onto the ground. The Junk Guild's ship, simply dubbed HOME, landed not far away.
"Oh, thank you," Martin called back. "But our immediate concern is freeing our commander..."
"Say no more!" Lowe said eagerly. He got back in the suit, and headed toward Waltfield's fallen LaGOWE. It was completely scrapped thanks to Kira's and Unit 01's berserk rage. He wondered how anyone could survive a wreck like this, but the least he could do was try. He had nothing against ZAFT or Coordinators, and indeed, didn't like fighting very much.
"Hachi, be a pal and initiate MSurgeon protocol. We'll need it to free their commander."
"Understood. Initiating MSurgeon protocol."
The Astray's eyes flashed, and it pulled out what appeared to be a small beam saber, modified by Lowe to use as a sort of surgical tool for mechs. With careful precision, the suit carved out a hole in the wreck, and then folded it out. Martin winced, fearing the worst.
But then he looked inside and saw Andrew...and he was alive! Barely breathing, and a massive gash had torn through his left eye in addition to other nasty injuries (including severe burns and his left arm appearing to be shattered), but the man somehow stayed alive for this long.
Unfortunately, Aisha was clearly dead...and was barely recognizable in that her corpse was so severely burned and mangled. Martin shook his head mournfully as he requested any and all help with getting the commander out of the wreck and to the medical team.
Lowe watched silently as several men rushed over, gently pulled Andrew out of the wreckage, and laid him on a stretcher, and hustled him over to another group of soldiers that were preparing medical supplies.
Man, this looks like a killer opportunity to get some nice parts to sell," the man said to himself but I'd hate to just take stuff and run. Let's stay and help.
But as he looked up, he saw something coming over the horizon...Alliance mobile armors, and based on Hachi's data, they were Blue Cosmos terrorists. Had they come at the heels of whatever force had just scrapped these ZAFT guys?
"Well, well, these guys just don't like me, do they?" he said, shaking his head. "Welp, I hate to do it, but it looks like we're gonna have to teach 'em a lesson...AGAIN. Let's get ready, Hachi!"
"Initiating combat protocols..."
I hope I handled that well. I wanted to involve Unit 01 going berserk in the chapter before, but never got around to it, so I figured I'd have IT take out Waltfeld instead of Kira doing it.