AN: I'd like to start this with a preface:
I am so, so very sorry for the delay.
I had not intended to take this long to get a chapter up. School work snuck up on me and suckerpunched my free time however. It's been all I could do to keep one story afloat, and that story was unfortunately not this one. I'm finally seeing my schedule clear up somewhat though, so hopefully it won't happen again...
On to the too-long delayed chapter...which is unfortunately more of a filler one before we get back to the combat.
Artemis
"Well now, you've been busy."
"This wasn't me sir, this was Lord Uzumi and Kira."
"Knew there was something special about that kid. So, Athha's here too?"
"...no actually. He stayed behind and..."
Andrew Waltfeld shook his head, "Damn shame. He was one of the few politicians out there I actually respected. Who's in charge then?"
"Captain Ramius," Athrun Zala answered, "though technically, the Eurasians have an admiral here. She tends to defer to the Captain on most things."
"Now that's interesting..."
The subject the two former ZAFT officers were discussing was readily apparent. The debris strewn area that used to be Heliopolis had given way to the base at Artemis. And, more importantly, given way to the sight of a decently large fleet orbiting said base. The Archangel was at the forefront, with dozens of other warships securing the area by blasting away floating debris. There had to be at least fifty ships in all, all of them carrying at least one mobile suit. By ZAFT or Alliance standards, that was a truly pitiful flotilla.
Considering the fact that these ships were a rebel third faction, it was probably a miracle they had as many as they did. Even if a good chunk of them were small and obsolescent Scandinavian warships. With some of the best engineers and pilots in the Earth Sphere, this group could certainly make do with far less than most others. Athrun knew that much. Waltfeld, not so much. He was just looking over the forces arrayed in front of him with the seasoned eye of a veteran commander.
And what he saw was...underwhelming.
"The Archangel, an Izumo, and Eternal are the only advanced warships here," the Tiger commented, "those old Wikings aren't going to be much in a fight. At least the Eurasians and Shadows have some good ships."
Athrun shrugged, "It's better than nothing."
"Good point. So, where should we go to meet with the others?"
"I..."
Before the teenage pilot could reply, the radio squawked. DaCosta blinked at his station, before tying the signal to the viewscreen in front of the General. Waltfeld, for his part, smirked when he saw a woman in Orb uniform. That had to be Ramius.
"This is Murrue Ramius of the Archangel," she confirmed that thought, "Am I correct in assuming you are Andrew Waltfeld?"
"Right in one Ramius," the Tiger nodded.
"That's good to hear. Kira said you would be joining up at some point."
Andrew just shook his head, "That kid...nothing surprises me about him these days. Where do you want us to dock?"
There was silence on the other end, as Murrue looked down into her crew pit. After a minute or so, she turned back to the Tiger, as a data stream was sent to the other warship. Andy skimmed it, before sending it down to his helmsman.
"I'm surprised you bothered fixing Artemis up honestly," he said, as the warship moved towards said base.
Murrue shrugged slightly, "It seemed logical. There was nothing out here other than Artemis and Heliopolis. With the latter gone and what Le Cresuet did to Artemis..."
"It makes the perfect hiding place."
"Indeed."
The Tiger nodded slightly. It did make a certain amount of sense to him to use Artemis like that. Out of the way even before being declared lost after the Blitz got done with it. No one in their right mind would camp out at L3 after that. There wasn't a damn thing out here to justify doing that. PLANTs were at L5, the only other colony cluster beyond that was at L4. Even Orb's Elysium was in that area. L3 had only had Artemis and Heliopolis for the longest time. And with the latter destroyed and the former believed destroyed, there was no reason to scout the area out. Especially since Kira had been leading the ZAFT forces on a wild goose chase to keep them from finding the Eternal's trail.
Hence the reason he wasn't currently around. The crazy son of a bitch was lucky his machine had a nuke as its power source. Otherwise Andy might have worried about him, even with the absurd skill Kira had at piloting. As it sat though, he'd show back up as soon as he lost ZAFT. And tying into the aforementioned piloting skills, Andy had zero doubt that Kira could lose them. Might take a bit, but he was perfectly capable of it.
"It's odd seeing Artemis like this," Athrun commented.
"Right, you weren't around to attack it were you?"
A shake of the bluenette's head answered that, "No, I was heading back to the PLANTs at the time. Nicol's told me about the attack, but not much. Seeing it this intact is..."
"I know what you mean. I've seen footage of that attack when I was briefed on the Blitz," Andy nodded, "those explosions looked nasty. But she's still intact after all."
"Yeah...good thing too," Athrun agreed.
No point denying that statement. Having a safe haven was a very good thing. Even if Artemis was rather small as far as asteroid bases went- just compare even Boaz to the old Eurasian fortress -it was still a haven. With the rebuilt Umbrella now permanently covered by at least one G-Weapon on the off-chance someone pulled a Nicol, it was possibly even more secure than it had been before. Couple hat with its out of the way position, and it made the perfect base to hold out at.
Admittedly, it would make it difficult to launch raids on Alliance or ZAFT forces. But that was always going to be the case, no matter where they hid out really. In this case, security trumped ease of raiding.
"Wonder what comes next," the Tiger mused.
"I think we all do Andy," Aisha commented, having arrived on the bridge at that very moment.
"'bout time you got back up here."
"Oh, you missed me that much?"
Shaking his head in clear amusement, Athrun stepped out of the bridge. He had to track down Lacus...she hadn't made it obvious, but he could tell she was hurting about something. And now, he had to find out what...she was the love of his life after all.
Meanwhile, floating alongside the Eternal, Yzak Joule scowled at the sight in front of him.
"If I never saw this place again I would have been fine with it."
A snort came over his comm system, as Commander Lacross floated next to Duel, "Can't say I blame you there. Though I think you did the world a favor if even half of what I've heard about Garcia was accurate."
"Huh?"
"Suffice to say he wasn't a good man," the woman replied, "I'm actually a bit surprised the Eurasians are willing to work with us after that though. Must have hated him just as much."
Yzak nodded, "Not sure why they're here myself. Not that I'm going to complain about it. This whole plan is crazy enough as is."
"That it is. At least there is a plan though. We could be doing this half-cocked."
"God, don't remind me."
Lacross couldn't help laughing at that. She hadn't known Yzak Joule for long, but the idea of him complaining about going off half-cocked was just plain amusing. Especially with the sour look on his face at her laughter. He had mellowed out significantly after Panama though...that Joule would have been ranting at her for daring to laugh at him. As it was though, he just sent said sour look before turning back to Artemis. Seeing the Umbrella up was something that he had seen before. And while it still burned slightly to admit it, they wouldn't have gotten past it without Nicol and the Blitz.
That being said, the base was far more menacing now. With dozens of warships patrolling the nearby space, that was a given. Toss in the fact that there were even more Mobile Suits floating about, and it was worse. Especially as a decent amount were Orb designs. Yzak and his Commander had both watched combat recordings from Orb. Those M1s of theirs were easily as good as the GuAIZ, leave alone the M1Rs which might well be a match for the Duel in good enough hands. Frankly, the Strike Daggers that made up the majority of the machines weren't that big a worry in comparison. Even though they looked modified somewhat.
"Yeah yeah," Yzak finally groused, "I know how that sounds. Anyway..."
"Yzak?"
"That is the Duel! What's he doing here?"
The teen blinked, looking at his sensors, "I'll be damned...Dearka? Nicol? What the hell are you two doing out here?"
And indeed, Blitz and Buster were flying towards Duel and its ZAFT-built counterparts. Lacross though, she respectfully backed up to give the silver-haired pilot space.
"Damn man, I thought you'd still be with ZAFT!" Dearka said, shock lacing his tone, "Not that it's not nice to see you."
"Dearka's right," Nicol sounded slightly more reserved, but even he had shock in his voice.
"Being here wasn't my idea," Yzak rolled his eyes, nodding behind him at the CGUE currently crossing its arms, "what about you bastards? What are you doing here?"
There was snickering on the other end, "Same 'ole Yzak all right. After Alaska, we were asked if we wanted to help or not. Kira gave us evidence that Athrun's papa is crazier than Mu La Flaga so here we are."
Leave it to Dearka to compare Mu's admittedly odd sense of humor to Patrick Zala...
"More or less what he said," Nicol added, "When I learned about how both sides want this war to end...joining Orb seemed like the only option. At least working with them we can keep the war from killing too many more people. When you get to Artemis, I'll let you know more...don't want to talk on an open channel."
Yzak couldn't help but blink at that. Nicol was the most trusting person he knew. If something was serious enough for him to want to talk in person, some major shit was going down. Not to mention the fact that he had clearly matured somewhat. The aforementioned trusting bit had always annoyed Yzak. Nicol had been too kind for his own damn good. Now?
Well, to him at least, it was a serious improvement.
"Mind if I join in?" Lacross chimed in.
Buster and Blitz turned their heads to look at the other in unison. Even Yzak snorted at that sight.
"No offense, but who the hell are you?" Dearka asked.
"My new Commander," Yzak replied grouchily, "She snapped me up after...Panama."
Both former ZAFT pilots winced at that. Yzak could hardly blame him...nightmares of Panama would probably follow him until the day he died. It was in large part why he had even been willing to leave old Metal Mask, as the Tiger called him.
"Jane Lacross at your service," the woman in question added, "Formerly team commander of the Blue Shadows. We're under General Waltfeld now and would probably be shot if we returned to ZAFT."
Dearka snorted, "I like her."
"You get used to it."
"I resent that Joule."
"No, you resemble it."
Nicol and Dearka were laughing now. Yzak just scowled and glared at nothing in particular. For someone unused to how familiar Lacross acted with her subordinates, it would look odd from the outside. Then again, it looked odd from the inside too. ZAFT had never been particularly formal insofar as military precision went, but damn if the blonde woman didn't buck the trend. It was admittedly nice in a way, but frustrating at the same time. Thus, very odd in the long run. At least it was better than Le Creuset though...Yzak had never known what was going on in his head. Lacross was quite open in comparison.
"Anyway, where should we land to talk?" the young pilot got out.
"Follow us."
The two G-Weapons boosted away from Duel and the CGUE, heading towards a smaller side-dock on Artemis. Even from there Yzak could see two other Gundams inside, the Aegis and one that looked like a Strike-knock off. Eyebrow rising at the sight, Yzak chose not to comment on it. One of his friends would answer that question when he landed in all likelihood...
ONS Kusanagi
Far away from Artemis, the relatively small Kusanagi coasted through space. On the bridge of her family's warship, Cagalli Yula Athha bit her lip as she looked out the windows. When Kira hadn't come back with the Eternal, she had immediately set out to find him. It wasn't that the blonde didn't trust her...boyfriend...to keep himself in one piece. Now that she knew just how much experience Kira had and how powerful ZGMF-X10A Freedom was, she had no doubts that he could handle himself. That wasn't why she was out here. No, she was out here because she had promised Kira she would drag him back to her if he did something stupid.
Such as leading ZAFT on a merry chase across the Earth Sphere to keep them from following Eternal. If she could see Kira right now, she'd probably punch his nose in for doing something so reckless. As much as she trusted his skills and machine, getting that big of a target painted on his back was bound to frustrate her.
"I'm sure he's okay Cagalli," Kisaka commented from his Captain's chair. He wasn't a naval officer, but from lack of anyone more qualified...he was the impromptu captain of the warship.
"I know he's fine," the blonde replied testily, "at least until I get my hands on him. I swear, he's more reckless than..."
"You?" Erica Simmons chimed in.
"Watch it," Cagalli growled, though there wasn't any bite to it as the older woman laughed softly.
Kisaka just watched the byplay with a small smile, "I am certain he's okay, of that I was not joking. Kira Yamato is the best pilot I have ever had the honor of meeting."
"I know all of that. But still, this is stupid. He could have at least had the Testament tag along."
"Perhaps."
If there was one thing the giant of a man had learned while he was Cagalli's bodyguard, it was that it was pointless to argue with her on some subjects. Such as this. If she got something in her head, it would take a miracle to get it out of her head. Such was the facts of life when dealing with the Lioness of Orb. At least she was less stubborn than she used to be...something he tied to Kira Yamato's influence.
"That's a lotta debris..." one of the crew muttered.
"Kira must have done this," Cagalli said with absolute conviction in her voice.
Considering that the sight greeting the crew was what it was...that would be a safe assumption to make. The wreckage of dozens of ZAFT mobile suits surrounded the Kusanagi, all at least missing most of their limbs. At least. Those that still had functioning thrusters were moving to those that didn't, and out of the path of the Orb warship. Not one attempted to fire on the Kusanagi, even those that had managed to secure loose weapons. They knew they weren't in any shape to fight...and as of now, ZAFT was not the enemy of Orb...so far as these pilots were aware, at least.
For every marginally intact machine, there was cooling debris that used to be a mobile suit however. Kira hated killing and avoided it when possible. Even though Cagalli thought it was somewhat stupid to leave an enemy alive, she didn't judge or attempt to change her boyfriend's mind. That didn't mean she didn't think he was going too easy on them though.
"I've got something," Erica's voice broke in.
Cagalli's eyes snapped to the debris, looking for the tell-tale red glow of Freedom's thrusters. And her sharp amber orbs soon found it...the majestic blue wings spread as the Gundam approached.
"Kusanagi?" Kira's confused voice came over the radio.
"Kira you jerk!" Cagalli snapped back, "I thought we agreed no more reckless stunts!"
There was silence, before the teen time-traveler chuckled, "Nice to see you too Cagalli."
She might have been more inclined to yell at him, were it not for the fact that Freedom was perfectly okay as it floated next to the Orb warship. Intellectually, Cagalli knew it would be...very few pilots could touch Kira Yamato. And not one of the ZAFT machines they had passed would have had beam weapons...by extension, none of them could hope to hurt Freedom through it's basically unlimited PSA.
"Yeah yeah," the Princess grumbled, "Just get aboard already."
"Will do."
Freedom angled to the now open dock at Kusanagi's bow, the machine easily entering the hangar. For her part, Cagalli nodded at her bodyguard and left the bridge. Kira didn't really have space in the hangar, so knowing him, he'd probably stay down there to make sure nothing happened.
-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-
As it turned out, Cagalli was right in that regard. When the time-traveler left his Gundam, he didn't stray far from it. Freedom was unsecured in the hangar, already full to the bursting point with M1s and M1Rs. And while he trusted the Orb crew to not knock it over or something like that, it was far better to be safe than sorry. The absolute last thing he wanted was Freedom falling on someone.
I'm probably being paranoid...
Shaking his head bemusedly, Kira nearly floated into Cagalli as she entered the hangar. The two teenager spun slightly, only the male one's enhanced reflexes preventing them from smacking into something. Not that avoiding painful collisions kept the Astray Trio from laughing at the pair. Kira just shook his head slightly, while Cagalli- predictably -sent a glare their way. Which only succeeded in getting an eye roll from the girls.
"Damn they annoy me sometimes," the blonde grumbled.
"They're not that bad," Kira shrugged.
"You didn't have to spend months with them."
Well, there wasn't any disputing that point. Not even bringing up his whole 'reliving his life' thing.
"True," the Coordinator conceded, "So, did the Eternal get to Artemis safely?"
"Of course they did," Cagalli rolled her eyes.
Kira just nodded with a smile on his face, "Good. I was worried about them."
For her part, the Lioness just sighed at that. Typical Kira really, always worrying about others before himself. Understandable considering, but still annoying to her.
He needs to start caring more about his own safety. Sometimes I wonder about him.
"Try caring more about yourself next time," she poked him in the chest, "That was a really stupid move Kira, almost as bad as the stunt back in the Marshalls. Eternal had escorts, you went alone!"
The Ultimate Coordinator knew that the way Cagalli was acting was just her way of showing she cared. She was blunt about it, but he knew her more than well enough by now to know when the blonde was showing her care, as opposed to just being blunt or ranting about something. And he knew just as well that she acted this way because of his own stupid move that she referenced back at Earth. If dealing with a Cagalli who got onto his case every time he did something she viewed as stupid was the price he had to pay...
Well, it could have been far worse for him really.
"I had to do it," that didn't mean he wouldn't argue his point, "ZAFT tracked the Eternal last time. I couldn't risk them finding us."
"We've got more than enough to handle them if they did," Cagalli pointed out, gesturing at the closed hangar door.
A shake of the head answered that, "No, we don't...not if they bring the Providence."
Even Cagalli couldn't help but wince at that. Every time Kira brought up the 'missing' member of ZAFT's nuclear mobile suits, his voice and entire appearance grew haunted. Part of her still believed he was overestimating what that machine coupled with Metal Mask was capable of. They had nine G-Weapons of their own, including three nuclear ones. Surely that was enough to handle one ZAFT machine?
But, she couldn't deny that something that scarred Kira that badly had to be terrifying.
"Look Kira, we're being careful already," she tried to get his mind off the bad memories that she could already see taking hold, "you didn't need to do this."
A sigh answered her, "Maybe not. But I still did it because I wanted to Cagalli. It might not have been needed, but...you know..."
"That you've got a real problem with leaving things in others hands," it was her turn to sigh, "Yes, I am well aware of that. Look, you need to get over that Kira. We're all here to help you...you aren't alone anymore."
It was clear that the other teen appreciated those words, as he pulled the startled blonde into his side. After recovering from the shock, she hugged him back. The physical side of their relationship hadn't gone any further than this...but that worked just fine for both teens. Kira was still somewhat scarred by Flay- though he had no issues with this timeline's surprisingly mature counterpart -and Cagalli had never been one for physical signs of affection. So awkward hugs and the occasional kiss was really about it.
"Thanks for that Cagalli," Kira whispered softly, "it really is good to know you and the others have my back."
"Yeah, and don't forget it," she grumbled without any real bite, "come on, nothing is going to happen to Freedom if you take a break for a few minutes. You've been in that cockpit for how long now?"
Kira blinked, "Uh...probably nearly a day."
"It's a miracle you're still standing," the Lioness rolled her eyes, "Or floating, whatever. I swear, if you weren't a Coordinator you'd kill yourself doing stuff like this. Time to get some rest you stubborn idiot."
"Pot mee..."
Cagalli squeezed a bit tighter than needed, "Don't finish that."
All she got in return for that was a laugh. Electing to ignore that, the Princess of Orb dragged Kira Yamato out of the hangar. They were going to eat the best food they could reasonably expect on a warship, and then relax for the trip back to Artemis. Because if there was one thing both of them knew without even relying on future knowledge- that was quickly becoming 'outdated' so to speak -it was that time to rest was going to become rather scarce soon enough. The as-yet unnamed rebel group wouldn't do any good just sitting around.
Especially as both ZAFT and the Alliance rushed towards the inevitable final battle...pushed along by the whims of a madman even now plotting a way to get the Earth Forces their nuclear option back...
AN: There we go. Again, I really truly apologize for the absurd delay. It shouldn't happen again, in theory. I only have a little over two weeks left of school, so unless I end up at a job that takes up all my free time, I should be able to get back on schedule. I hope...
No review replies this time...I just want to get this up while I have the chance.