Disclaimer: see chapter 1, Kazuma and Kumiko Sasaki are Spartan-251's.
Song of the Storm Wolf
By Storm Wolf77415
Stories to Tell
The Storm Wolf could only gape at the scene in front of him. He wasn't so surprised to see Lewis Halberton present. The blonde admiral had admitted they'd be seeing each other again. But what did shock was the fact he was apparently allied with a very much alive Desert Tiger. Earth Alliance and ZAFT soldiers alike were intermingled with each other.
"I told you our paths would cross again, Sebastian, ironic it would be in your team's old headquarters, By the way, congrats on your promotion, Head of one of the Five Noble Houses of Orb? Very impressive. I doubt my appearance here is nothing compared to the sight of Commander Waltfeld still living? And Earth Alliance and ZAFT soldiers are here working together no less?" Halberton's voice was smug.
"Just a little bit, I suppose. You certainly made yourselves at home here." Was the Storm Wolf's terse reply, "Did you empty the fridge while I was away?"
"Now now, you know perfectly well Alliance Headquarters already knew about this place when the Second Fleet discovered it before Endymion. The Earth Forces just never had the chance to utilize it. We've been staying on our ships, and haven't ventured any further into your home. Commander Waltfeld saw to that."
A weight lifted off Sebastian's shoulders with those words. He knew Andy wouldn't let anyone desecrate the space of the other Storm Wolves. "I will say it's good to see you're alive, Andy. But judging from the looks of things…" He indicated to the long scar where the Tiger's left eye once had been, and the limp, empty sleeve of the trenchcoat he wore over his uniform, "…You had it pretty rough."
The Desert Tiger shrugged it off, "I'm not holding it to the kid…like I told him, in war there are winners and losers. I lost, and that's all there is to it. We're not enemies anymore. This situation has evolved beyond just being about Naturals vs. Coordinators."
"Kira and Flay will be glad to hear you survived. They really took it hard after Africa. Also, I'd like to thank you for sparing Tolle. He learned a very valuable lesson from the experience, namely how many strokes of the toothbrush it takes to clean three mobile suits, a mobile armor, and two fighter jets." Everyone had a good laugh from that one. "But, all joking aside, I'd really like to know how you both came to be here."
"Well, after the battle in Africa, Aisha and I were in critical condition, so the higher ups shipped the two of us back to the PLANTs for treatment. I lost an eye, an arm, and a leg to shrapnel protecting Aisha." He ran his finger over the scar where his eye was. "After I got released from the hospital, I went to see the chairman like you said to, Sebastian. GENESIS, quite a nasty little piece of work, I must say. Chairman Clyne told me everything, Sebastian, and how you faked your death to protect Lacus. I wouldn't expect anything less out of you for the little lady."
"How did the Chairman die? I heard about the shuttle accident, but I'm willing to bet there was more than what they were letting on." Sebastian's eyes were hard, and his voice was cold at the mention of his father-in-law's death. He would never get to meet his grandchild, watch him or her grow up. Sebastian had a pretty good idea of who did it, he just needed some confirmation. Andy was on the same wavelength, because he nodded his head.
"Your guess is correct my lupine friend. It was a bomb, courtesy of Patrick Zala himself. He's turned a corner, and he's determined to see all Naturals exterminated. He was desperate enough to betray his oldest friend to boost his own position after he lost the election by the narrowest of margins. Clyne feared exactly that very thing, and didn't want him to become any more powerful."
"The reason he sent Lacus, myself, and Mr. Amalfi to Orb with Freedom and Justice," Shiho stated.
"In the meantime, I remained here in the PLANTs, taking control of those forces still loyal to Lacus' father…sad to say, there aren't many supporters. Zala's speeches have whipped the people into a frenzy. Everyone's foaming at the mouth for blood."
"How can that be possible? Siegel Clyne was loved and respected by all the members of the PLANTs."
"Public opinion can be swayed, most of Clyne's supporters are either too scared to speak out, or switched sides after the fact," Andy said, taking a sip of his coffee, "I remained in the PLANTs because I was waiting for the Eternal to be completed. It was meant to be used as a carrier for Freedom and Justice, but after they got sent to Earth it was refitted to be used for a very different purpose."
"I get the impression it wasn't as a courier vessel or a diplomatic cruiser," Sebastian's hands tightened.
"After you returned to space, Zala put out orders to bring you and the Archangel down. The Eternal was meant to be the flagship of a special task force with one purpose, your total destruction. I was given command of the fleet and Zala himself ordered me to personally kill you," Andy replied.
"What about Rau? He's the one who we initially faced in space. He had the most experience fighting "the legged ship". I'm surprised Le Creuset wasn't put in command."
"I asked Zala about it, but he said Le Creuset had 'other duties' he was attending to. But after him, Zala thought I had the best chance of defeating you. He gave me a brand new Gundam to do it with. ZGMF-X15A Cerberus, nuclear powered, can transform into a three-headed LAGOWE. The ship also carries five of ZAFT's newest mass-production model, ZGMF-600 GuAlZ. I think you should be familiar with that particular machine."
"Just a bit," Sebastian chuckled, Since it was an early prototype of said mobile suit that he used to fake his death in when making his initial escape from the PLANTs last year. "I bet Zala threw a fit when you upped and left."
Halberton laughed heartily, "If he did, I'd have loved to see the look on his face. My story picks up at this point, and it's pretty much the same. After Alaska, I went up to Ptoleamaeus, where the second of the Archangel-class was being built."
"There are more being built?" Shiho asked.
"Of course young lady! You didn't think we'd just have the one now, did you?" Halberton teased, "Five ships were planned, the Archangel was the first, but you already know that. Construction on the Dominion, the second ship of the class, started at Ptoleamaeus about a month after the Archangel's launch from Heliopolis. I went up to space so I would be in a position to steal it when it was completed. I, along with the survivors of the Menelaos, scoured the Earth Forces looking for people who could be trusted to pull the heist off. Luckily there were plenty of volunteers after the whole fiasco at Alaska."
"Yeah, like me, although in my case it was Panama which clinched my decision," A gruff voice, with a hint of a French accent declared. Sebastian and Shiho's eyes widened as the Moonlight Mad Dog emerged from the crowd. "Put a new weapon in their hands and they acted like they were invincible. Alaska was bad enough in that most of my nation's military power was decimated, but those guys at Panama were just having too much fun slaughtering defenseless soldiers. It didn't take too much convincing from the Admiral to take part in this little scheme."
"Captain Chevelier, it's an honor to meet you," Sebastian said, shaking the older man's hand. He turned to Halberton, "Lewis, I have to hand it to you. If you managed to get one of the Alliance's top aces, you really have cemented your spot as a devious son of a bitch."
"We didn't make off with just the ship, either. You see, the Dominion was also meant to be flagship of a special task force charged with capturing you, or rather your mobile suits," Halberton took a cigar from Morgan, and lit it up, "Azrael guessed they were nuclear powered, and I'm certain he'd love to figure out how ZAFT got around the N-Jammers. Because of what happened at Orb, he ordered that a full complement of the new 105 Daggers be put on the Dominion, rather than just Strike Daggers. Now those babies were what the Earth Alliance's first mass-production mobile suit was truly meant to be, Laminated armor, Striker Pack capability. Captain Chevelier's unit is unique, in that it not only possesses Trans-Phase Shift Armor, but it's outfitted with a special Striker Pack which makes use of his…unique ability. One shared by Commander La Flaga and Commander Le Creuset."
"Wired Gunbarrels?" Sebastian said in amazement.
"Beam equipped Wired Gunbarrels in fact," Chevelier puffed out his chest as a matter of pride, "I had a hand in designing it actually. We have a spare in fact, which I'm willing to give to your little bird friend, but only because I'm such a nice guy."
"It's after we escaped from Ptolemeaus that my path crossed with Lewis," Andy said. "We had been on the run for about a week, and since we knew about the Wolf's Den. I decided it would be a good place to hide until we could figure out our next move. Irony kicked in big time, when we arrived at the exact same time as Halberton did. It was a rather tense standoff. But then the units pursuing him from the lunar base showed up, and once the Dominion opened fire on them, we reasoned we could trust them."
"After that, we met in person, and decided our chances of survival would improve a great deal if we joined forces. Once we heard about Orb's fall, we knew our best bet would be to contact you, Sebastian. Hence the transmission on your team's old frequency. And here we are now," Andy said.
Sebastian was about to speak, when the man in the exoskeleton cut in.
"Hey, anyone forget I'm here? My bare crotch is rubbing against the cheap naugahyde! It hurts like hell! I'm not asking for Corinthian leather, but, you'd think the Atlantic Federation could have sunk a few extra bucks for a better quality covering for its piloting seats and benches?" He griped. Many of the female soldiers, Shiho included, blushed at the image.
"O…kay, Kazuma, a little too much information there." Lewis said, faking a cough. "Oh, that's right, General Connor, there's one other player in this little production. One of your own, Sebastian Connor, meet Lord Kazuma Kurokawa Sasaki."
The name made Sebastian remember the day of Panana, when Cagalli mentioned his name. H-he was kidnapped when I was six. "Kazuma…Sasaki? As in Kumiko Sasaki's son?"
"You…know my mom?" The Thanatos exoskeleton took a half-step backward, if Sebastian could see Kazuma's face, it most certainly would be full of surprise. "Wait a minute, was Halberton telling the truth earlier? You're leader of one of the Five Noble Houses of Orb? You, a former ZAFT pilot? How in the hell did that happen? Which family got deposed for your family to be named as a noble house? Because there must be five main houses to rule, it's law." A wave of pleasure rolled the Storm Wolf. If Kazuma was as close to Cagalli as she said they were. He would love to hear about the Seirans' downfall.
"I'm fully aware of the law. Lord Arashi told me when I was given the Seirans' titles. The bare bones story is this. Yuna had been beating Cagalli for over a year and a half now, and she was getting just a little tired of it. So we set the Seirans, both the pig and his whale of a father, up for a major fall. We had a live video feed running straight to Uzumi's office, and caught a beautiful shot of Yuna backhanding Cagalli, and admitting they both wanted to dispose of her father, and use her as a figurehead while they gained control of the country. Let's just say Uzumi lived up to his name as the Lion of Orb. He tore both of them to shreds."
"Aw man! I can't believe I missed that! I wanted to get a good shot in on that weasel for years!" Kazuma said, the sheer disappointment coloring his tone all too well. "Tell me, did they suffer? Did Cagalli's father really lay into them?" Sebastian's lips twisted into a feral grin.
"And how! Uzumi stripped the Seirans of all their titles, seized all their land and other assets, and for the cherry on top, exiled them from Orb altogether. Yuna was a moron as usual, and tried to shoot Cagalli! Luckily he's really bad with a gun, and one of my people ventilated his brain pan! Unato got a one way ticket straight to the Atlantic Federation. Uzumi said, and I quote. 'You love the Atlantic Federation so much, Unato? I'm certain that they'd welcome you.' So ended the reign of the Seiran family in Orb, It was just a pity no one missed them!"
Kazuma couldn't stop laughing. "That. Is. BEAUTIFUL! Oh, I really wish I could have been there now!"
"Remember I said there was a video feed? I made copies! LOTS of them!"
"Then I want one. We get a chance, get me a copy of that video. I want to watch Yuna get humiliated over, and over, and over again!" Kazuma said, "Sebastian, You just became one of my best friends! So, after the Seirans' disgrace, they gave you their titles."
"I'll admit it was a big surprise for me as well. I got called into Uzumi's office with my wife, and he was there, along with your mom, Lord Arashi, and Lord Ghina, they explained to me how it was tradition for five families to share power, and how despite being so unpopular with the population, the Seirans did have much of the Parliament's support. Uzumi and your mother especially wanted the titles to go to someone they trusted. One of the minor houses gained the Seiran family's old status, they wouldn't be nearly as subtle in trying to get Orb to join the Earth Alliance."
"Like the Hyuuga, or the Uchiha…I couldn't stand those jerks," Kazuma muttered. "Well, it seems quite a bit has happened in the last few months. Understandable, I haven't seen home in eleven years. I should expect a lot has changed. I've been busy fighting my own little one man war against Blue Cosmos for the past three years, trapped in this glorified tin can while I did it."
"Do explain how you ended up in that thing," Shiho said. "Naked of all things."
"Well, since you asked so nicely," Kazuma said, he gestured to Halberton, "Let's activate the Wayback machine, and go back to C.E. 60, where this story began. Cagalli and I were in the back yard of my family's home playing on this large wooden playfort mom built for me, and generally doing what all six year olds are supposed to do. Neither of us saw the squad of Blue Cosmos thugs hiding in the woods behind our house, and grabbed us both."
"Both of you? Cagalli and Kumiko never mentioned that at all." Sebastian said, in the reaches of his mind, The Wolf wasn't surprised. If they knew Cagalli was an offspring of the Ultimate Coordinator program, it would make sense to try and capture. Even if they didn't it would have been a big score for them anyway. He thought. "How did she escape?" Even through the slight distortion of the speaker, Kazuma's voice had an air of pride.
"Even at a young age, Cagalli always was a scrapper. She never backed down from anyone. The one guy grabbed her, and she bit his hand, hard. So hard she drew blood. He dropped her, and Cagalli started kicking this guy in the shins but good, at least until one of his buddies knocked her out by bashing her in the head with his rifle butt, but those few seconds were enough to bring the guards. They decided to cut their losses and make off with just me," Kazuma said, "A good thing, I wouldn't want Cagalli enduring what I did. It was that brutal."
"Kazuma was taken to one of Blue Cosmos' many training camps in Africa. He was taken into their child soldier conscription program, tried to turn him into a Coordinator killing machine," Halberton picked up the story for the younger man, sensing the painful memories being dredged up, "However, the brainwashing didn't work. Kazuma resisted somehow."
"No clue how it happened, but it did," Kazuma shot back, "since I wouldn't be able to be part of their…regular forces. I was put on a "special project." This bad boy right here, the Thanatos Combat Exoskeleton, designed to give a single soldier the combat strength of an entire squad. However, it didn't go over the way they planned. I had prepared for an escape for years, and thanks to the Thanatos' firepower, I managed to make my escape. But this thing has been a double-edged sword. Each suit has its own unique three-digit ID code. Known only to the commander of the unit, and I kind of killed him, this happened in 69, I think you can do the math from there."
Shiho and Sebastian both were horrified at the implications of what Kazuma meant, "You've been sealed in that tin can for three years now? The whole time you've never been out?" The brunette said.
"You got it. Three years in my own little personal, metallic hell. The only touch I've known is the plastic of the grips for the manipulators, the occasional prick of a needle for stimulants, and my ballsack rubbing against the cheap leather of this piloting bench as I mentioned earlier. I was determined to find a way out of this, though. I ransacked every Blue Cosmos lab, training camp, base, and outpost I could find. Even if I didn't get the code, I could still take solace in the fact I was giving Blue Cosmos as much hurt as I could! But I never stopped searching."
"How did you end up here anyway?" Sebastian asked, "I mean, no offense, but that huge exoskeleton of yours would draw just a bit of attention."
"I know. I made it a point to stay away from heavily populated areas on general principle. Should Blue Cosmos be looking for me, and most of the installations I attacked were in out of the way places to begin with, so that helped a lot too. However, after three years of tromping across three continents and not finding anything, I decided to try my luck in space. I made my way to Panama and stored away on a cargo shuttle heading for Ptoleamaeus. I kept to the storerooms in the bowels of the Lunar Base, and I ran into Halberton. He was quite gracious, hiding me as we waited for the Dominion to be completed. When we escaped, I stood on the forward deck, and provided covering fire while we flew out of the port. It was fun."
"Well, once we make it back to the station, we'll see about getting you out of that thing. If anyone can crack it open, it's Miss Simmons. I can attest to that," Sebastian remarked.
"Good, it'll be nice to finally go home," Kazuma said fondly.
"So I take it all of you are coming back with us?" Sebastian said, a wave of answers in the affirmative. "Then let's get out of here, and let the Storm Wolves rest in peace."
December Seven Military Prison, L5
Rau stalked silently through the corridors, his white uniform coat standing out against the dark metal walls. He stopped in front of a cell. He looked through the narrow slot to see the occupant. A young woman in her early twenties with brown hair, dressed in the standard prison uniform, slept on the bare metal cot in the corner of the room. Rau fingered the lock, and then slammed it down hard, waking her.
"What is it?" she said in a hard voice, the guards with Rau opened the door, and to her surprise, ushered her out, "What's going on here?"
"Angela Ramius?" Rau said, "Congratulations, you're going home."
Angela snorted derisively, "Home? For the past year and a half this shithole of a prison has been my 'home.' As far as my family knows, I'm dead and it should remain that way…I should be dead for what happened at Junius. I'm kind of wishing the pilot of that green and white GINN had finished the job after I ejected."
"Ah, you mean Sebastian…yes, I'm certain he'd have an axe to grind with you. What with nuking his entire family," Rau said smugly.
"How was I supposed to know I was carrying a nuclear missile? I wasn't told anything about it! I'm a soldier, not a murderer!" Angela snapped, fighting to hold back the tears, Murrue, sister, could you ever forgive me for what I've done?
"You can't change the past. But you can help keep more people from dying. Which is the reason I've come to you."
Angela's eyes widened, "For…real? What do I have to do?"
"Come with me young lady, and you'll see," Rau smirked deviously. And the two walked down the corridor together. My plan is one step closer to completion. Rau thought.
Ame-No-Mihashara
It was a surreal scene as the Dominion settled into the berth next to its white armored counterpart. The Eternal landed next to the Amaterasu, now repainted in the green and white of the Storm Wolves.
Murrue stood at the dock, the brunette especially happy to see her mentor return. Murrue had been rather guilty she missed the chance to see him at Alaska. Murrue hugged the man who had become a second father to her.
"I never thought I'd see you again, especially after what happened in Orbit. I was so relieved to hear you survived. Sebastian told me you were at Alaska. So this is the 'other plans' you mentioned?" She indicated with a broad sweeping motion to the Dominion and the Eternal, "Joining forces with renegade ZAFT soldiers. I'd never imagine it."
"My plans called simply to make off with the Dominion, meeting with the Desert Tiger was more a meeting of convenience, but it paid off in the end," Halberton admitted. "By banding together, our forces were stronger, and now we've allied with Orb, our chances are even better."
"It's good to see you again, Admiral." Murrue said, and the older man put a comforting hand on her shoulder.
"How about you and I sit down for a drink and catch up?" He asked.
"I'd like that," the brunette replied. At least in the chaos of war, a small bit of happiness was found.
Meanwhile, in a secluded lab, three people stood, Sebastian, Erica, and Kazuma, still in his exosuit.
"Thanks for sneaking me and not letting anyone see me. I don't want my first meeting with my mom and Cagalli in a decade to be separated by plate glass." Kazuma said.
"Think you can crack it open?" Sebastian asked Erica, whom connected a cable from her console to the exosuit and was now running a diagnostic on the machine. Erica held up a hand to silence the Storm Wolf.
"Give me a minute here, the computer can cycle through the possible code combinations, and…" there was beeping from the console, and then a pinging in the affirmative. "Done," She said. There was a hiss, a rushing of air, and a slight smell of hydraulic fluid. The top of the exosuit split open like a clamshell. A shadowy figure emerged from the steam, and Kazuma Kurokawa Sasaski walked on his own feet for the first time in three years.
He was about 5'11, His skin was pale, a product of not being exposed to sunlight for three years. His shoulder length brown hair was tangled and matted. "I'M FREEEEEEEE!!" He cried, dancing about in joy, he then stopped before turning to look at Erica and Sebastian, "Why is it so cold? I feel a draft." He then looked down. "Oh…stupid me. Uhh, after I take a leak, a shower, and get a haircut…could someone get me some clothes?"