Old Friends Anew 36
Phase-36: Ray and Fllay
The tension had hit its critical point as Athrun and the others gathered in conference after shuffling to their respective ships. "As we thought, the first station is critical for the firing of Requiem. If it isn't taken out first, we won't have any clue where they'll strike next, or when."
"That's not quite true, Daicho." Adam spoke from his position on the Archangel bridge. "I think we all know where that beam is going to be heading."
"Orb." Lacus furrowed her brow.
"Unh." Kira agreed.
Neo crossed his arms and summarized the strategy. "The two fastest ships, meaning Archangel and Eternal, will go and destroy the first relay point, and the main Orb fleet will attack Requiem proper. Include in that the fact that the ZAFT Lunar fleet is nearby… yadday yadday. That'll be a mess."
"But we can't lose them now, Orb I mean." Murrue looked at him with a grave face.
"Speed will determine the victor in this battle. We will destroy the relay station before we're completely overrun by the enemy. The attack force will consist of Freedom, Justice, and Eagle. The DOMs, Murasame, and Akatsuki will assist with defense." Lacus stated with a hardened tone. "Let us all return from this battle."
"Ah, for sure." Murrue responded with a nod.
"Daicho!" Adam spoke up. "Milly, can I borrow your earpiece?"
"Um… sure…." The brunette shrugged as she handed it over. Meyrin did the same for Athrun, aboard the Eternal.
"What's up?" Athrun spoke into it quietly.
"Athrun, you have Destiny's communications frequency, right? I want you to give it to me."
"Adam… I… I don't think that's such a good idea. Do you really think you can turn him?"
"No, he's obviously too far gone for that, but if I can just get him to stop fighting, that will be enough. Daicho, this is important to me."
"Adam, we're going into the middle of hell out there. He'll be trying to kill you, you know that! Talk is cheap in a life and death struggle, and could cause a major…."
"Athrun…" Lacus silenced him curtly. "Give him the codes." She had guessed earlier from his end of the conversation.
"But…."
"I too agree with you, Athrun, but Adam has a dear friend on that side who he wishes to save. Didn't you also have such a person once?"
"Ah…."
"Look at what Adam has done in the past. I believe he is wise enough to know when to speak, and when to fight, but he has learned that talk is far from cheap. He has taught me that as well. Please, give him the codes."
"Hai."
Adam let a small smile touch his lips. "Thank you, both of you."
A gray GINN with gold highlights hid behind a small asteroid, watching as the beams sprayed from Destroy MKII totaled the moonscape. "Tch. This thing is a demon. I've got to get as much data as I can." Suddenly his collision sensors went off behind him. "What?" He yelled as he turned around. A long beam-rifle barrel hit him in the chest. It was attached to a small, white, spherical object with two extendable grappling arms. There were no power readings coming from it. "What is this thing? Some kind of old mobile armor?" Suddenly a light came on in the window in the center of the sphere, and the rifle discharged at point blank range. "GAHHH!" He cried in his last breath.
Shinn and Ray launched from the Minerva, their mobile suits' engines flashing in the darkness of space. Though Ray had his usual stoic look on his face, Shinn was nervous and confused. A battle was about to start, and yet he was being summoned to the fortress Messiah by the Supreme Chairman himself. Why?
"Gichou, Archangel and Eternal are approaching Station One." One of the generals spoke.
"Reports are coming in about a fleet of Nazca-, Laurasia-, and Earth Alliance class ships centering around ORB vessels vectoring in on Daedalus."
"I know. Have Minerva, Gondwana and half of the Lunar Fleet sent to Station One. The rest should help Roland at Daedalus." Dullindal stared at his chess board.
"Yes, sir!"
"What's the conditions at Station Two?"
"Two ships have just entered sensor range. Identification has not been made as of yet."
"Gichou!" A communications officer yelled. "I'm pulling something up on screen three. You have to see this for yourself!" The smoking form of Destroy MKII coming to life again sending powerful beams throughout the vacuum was displayed, getting gasps from everyone.
Dullindal stood up. "What the hell is that?"
"We tracked the source of the remote hacking to this location. This is what our Reconnaissance GINN sent back. Sir, that's a ten to one scale."
"Ten to one? This must be Djibril's Legacy. Obliterate it, quickly. Send up to a half of the Lunar fleet at Requiem to finish it off, and tell them to go full burn, we can't chance it taking over again."
"But sir, that would reduce our defenses around Requiem significantly."
"Don't worry, we have something to take care of that." He smiled as he sat back down. 'The problem isn't numbers or firepower. The problem is…'
"This is the Eternal, Lacus Clyne commanding."
'…her.'
Sheridan took a dive the moment the Destroy fired its cannons along its UFO ring. The Panzer pods slid into place deflecting them into different and near impossible angles. "Kuso!" His entire cockpit shook as he barrel rolled in his dive. One of the powerful beams cut a swath along ShEZAMS leg.
"I'LL KILL YOU!" Stellar screamed. "YOU DESTROYED MOTHER!"
Curving under the saucer proved to be a bad choice for Sheridan, getting caught directly under some engine backwash, forcing him lower. "Damn that's strong!" He rolled out from under the pressure and then saw something. A small opening in the torso of the mobile armor was revealed from his verniers' light, originally covered in shadow by the massive umbrella above. "Is that a hangar?"
"Begin condition red alert." A ZAFT ship commander ordered. "Have all defensive squads launch immediately." ZAKUs of all types, from Gunner Warrior to Slash Phantom were catapulted from the defense line ships.
"Lacus, I'm launching. That's fine, right?" Kira leaned forward.
"Hai."
"Athrun!"
"Ah, let's go. Adam?"
"I heard you."
The Eternal's runway hatch opened up as Waltfeld barked orders. "Prep the METEORs. All hands, begin level one battle status! I repeat…." The boosters in Strike Freedom's legs opened and started to increase their power level.
Archangel's portside catapult opened up, giving Eagle a view of the stars. "Once Adam-kun launches, we'll take point and cover the Eternal. Gottfried and Valiant, activate. All missile tubes, load Corinthos type."
"Kira Yamato, Freedom, ikkimas!" The golden-jointed suit was thrust forward and it spread its wings out as soon as it was free.
"Athrun Zala, Justice, delu!" The silver-jointed suit coated itself with its dark purple Phase Shifting as the sublight lifter on its back stretched out to its full length.
"Adam Cancho, Eagle, aim for the stars!" The Astray-type mobile suit was shot out of the hold, it spun into flight mode and went to join the other two as its blue and brown color scheme covered its body.
"Meyrin, please open a communications channel, all known frequencies. It's time to put what Adam taught me to use." Lacus looked down to the comm. station.
"Hai."
"METEOR, lift off!" Waltfeld announced in the meantime. The weapons platforms released from their locks on Eternal's bow. Adam sped in front of them and switched back into mobile suit, immediately having his beam rifle at the ready, covering the nuclear-powered suits as they began their docking run.
"This is the Eternal, Lacus Clyne commanding. I am hearby issuing a warning to the relay station and the ZAFT soldiers guarding it. We will hereby begin the elimination of that weapon of mass destruction." As she said this, Justice and Freedom were hooked up by their waists to the weapons platforms. Adam returned to his speedier jet form and entered formation as they gunned the engines.
"Lacus-sama?"
"But… which one is it?"
"Nani?" Three ZAFT pilots began to argue with themselves.
"Such a weapon is a blight on humanity, it is not needed to protect nor to fight a battle. As you sit there in that uniform, if you still retain the pride you had when you first put it on with the goal of peace, then lower your weapons and stay out of our way!"
The two ZAFT FAITH Red Coats stepped onto the bridge of Messiah and went straight to the center seat. Ray saluted instantly. "Gichou."
"Yo, Ray. Shinn too. I'm glad you came."
Alan flipped over and dove for the hangar. Suddenly the positron cannons going down Destroy's chest lit up, and the Panzer pods set up for a deflection attack. "Shit, NO! I'm almost there!"
"GYEEEAAAAHHH!" Stellar screamed, inaudible to the outside world. The intense beams of energy and light lanced out towards the deflection point.
"LOHENGRIN, FIRE!" Two matching red and blue beams appeared from empty space, connecting with the other attack before it could redirect. Both attacks canceled each other out.
"What was that?" Alan was in shock, hovering and watching the light show.
A video window appeared above his head, containing a woman with long red hair. "Sherridan, are you alright?"
"Fllay?"
"Drop Mirage Colloid." She ordered and Archangel's sister ship, the green and grey colored Gabriel, appeared in mid-space. "We've come to help. Where do you need assistance?"
"I'd feel a lot better if you guys retreated. This thing could slice up a battleship in seconds. Cover me as I go in. I'll try to find a way to destroy it from the inside. After that, get out of here, and quick!"
"Fine by us. But be quick about it. One of our mobile armors took out a Reconnaissance GINN. There's no doubt other ZAFT forces are on the way."
"Understood." His transmission cut out.
"Okay, you heard the man." Fllay ordered the bridge crew.
"I want everything we've got targeting the enemy at the furthest points from the hangar. Give it more to shoot at. It can't deflect all our hits." Appolly commanded. "Lohengrin, Valiant, Gottfried, and all Corinthos missiles. Let 'er rip!" The ship discharged all its offensive weaponry.
"That's my cue!" Sherridan dove for the hangar at full speed.
The pods quickly skitted to the four targeted points. Fllay's eyes went wide. "Helldart anti-beam charges, launch a spray, NOW!" No sooner had she said that then the reflectors sent the attack back. The Helldarts exploded just in time, shaking the entire ship as they tried to absorb the attacks.
One stray pod aimed a beam down at ShEZAMS. It caught his right leg and amputated it. "Gah!" Sheridan grunted as he was rattled by the explosion. It also gave him a little extra propulsion boost into the hangar.
"He's in! Break off attack, activate Mirage Colloid, give us some distance!" The XO ordered.
"Helm, set course for Station Three." Fllay yelled over everyone else.
"Eh?" Appolly blinked at her.
"Because of this thing, the Lunar forces will be divided. If we can draw out some more defenders, then the Archangel's forces won't have to handle as many. Set course for Station Three and prepare for all forms of attack!"
The three fast-moving mobile suits shot through the first line of defenders. "Yes!" Adam pumped his fist. The initial shock of Lacus's announcement left them unresponsive. None of the pilots even moved a muscle.
"Tch!" The fleet commander hissed as he picked up a microphone. "What the hell are you doing? They're what's left of Logos! They are those who ignore the Chairman's words, and only want to keep their own riches and privileges! Shoot! Bring them down! For all of ZAFT! That's a direct order!" Though some were reluctant, all pilots obeyed.
"No!" Adam hissed, looking behind him. Nazca class opened fire as fast as possible, sending volleys of beam energy and missiles at the two speedy ships. Archangel returned fire with all its weapons, sending beams, projectiles and large missiles at the enemy. Eternal fired its main cannon and fired countless missiles from its bays. The CWIS on both ships spun up, sending shrapnel into the vicinity.
The three on the blitz team turned around. Kira's METEOR stretched out and fired off all of its weapons, with the core cannon and railguns added to the mix. Athrun's wasn't too far behind, with his shoulder cannons taking the extra. Adam let loose four beams of his own from his weapons. An entire squadron of ZAKUs and GOUFs were destroyed within seconds.
On the Minerva, Abby turned to the Captain. "Orders from HQ. Currently the Station Once defense force is in battle against Archangel and Eternal. The Lunar Fleet and Minerva are to assist immediately."
A Gunner ZAKU fired a shot at Eternal. The pink flagship barreled away as its weapons streaked across the sky. Justice switched to the METEOR's massive beam blades and sliced a ZAKU up as a nearby GOUF rushed to get out of the way. Adam typed away at his computer after shooting down said GOUF.
"A…Archangel?" Arthur twitched at the name.
"Those pricks!" Yzak snarled, getting the same order.
"You know you shouldn't feel bad. They didn't contact us because we're ZAFT, after all." Dearka sighed.
"I know that! We'll launch anyway! Hurry up and get this crate moving!"
"S…Sir!" The XO of his ship said quickly.
"What's up?" Dullindal tilted his head to one side. "You seem a bit out of sorts, Shinn."
"Uh? No, sir."
"With all that's happened, I bet you're all jumbled up inside, aren't you?"
"Yeah…." He looked at the smooth paneling under his feet.
"I'll admit, after what happened at Armory One and the Junius Seven incident, everything has deteriorated to this very moment. I can't blame you for getting confused, but this world filled with fighting and despair will soon change forever."
"Hai." Ray spoke, surprisingly out of turn. Shinn wasn't so convinced.
"I think I worded that wrong though. 'Please change it forever' sounds more accurate. With the powers you possess."
"Hai."
"As we speak, Requiem's Station One is under attack. It's the Archangel and Eternal that are doing so."
"Eh?" Shinn still couldn't get much in the way of coherence out.
"It looks as though they're using my using Requiem to destroy Arzachel as an excuse." He smiled as he took credit for his own military blunder. "It's really a bother, isn't it? Even after all the steps we took to stop the fighting… If things keep going like this, they'll just never end!"
"Hai." Ray spoke quickly. "Even so this is unavoidable. They are incapable of listening to reason. We cannot give into them right now, even if we wanted to. The world would only return to darkness if we did. Even with their sorrows, men will keep fighting, and history will continue to repeat itself. It won't change. If that's so, then behind those people that want that peace and happiness, a new Logos will be born. No one is to blame for that, that's where mankind stands at this point. I cannot stand idly by and let such a world exist again, especially after all we've done."
"Ray…" Shinn stood in awe, amazed by his roommate's resolve.
"The Destiny Plan must be carried out without fail."
"Exactly right." Dullindal smiled. "And what about you, Shinn?"
"Uh?" He was unprepared for the question.
"If I'm right, you feel the same way?"
Alan clipped a two-gun holster on his hips, cocked those pistols, and pulled out a third. He took a deep breath. "Okay… let's go!" He hit the door toggle, and the moment the panel slid open, a peppering of bullets shot in from the corner, shattering one of the readouts. Sherridan slammed his back against the opposite side and slammed his hand on the door switch again. "Damn it!" He turned on his sensors and looked around. On his lefthand side were two EAF military men with machine guns, taking cover and reloading. On his right was the exit to space, so no one would be expected to come from there. In front of him was an open passageway, it would just take a while to float over to it. "Argh! How am I supposed to get there when I'm pinned down like this? DAMN IT!" He pistolwhipped his radar screen in frustration, and the entire cockpit went black. "Huh?"
"This is purple 3. We've got him cornered in his mobile suit. He'll be dead before he can even touch ground." One EAF officer reported on his radio. A large creaking noise emanated from the mobile suit. "What the…?"
BOOM! "GYEEEAAAAHHHH!" Alan was ejected, with a trail of smoke following him. He drifted onto the platform before the soldiers could react, and he whipped out his pistol and fired four shots, taking them both down. "Well what do you know, you're actually useful after all." He pointed to ShEZAMS with his pistol. "Doesn't mean I'm still not pissed at you though!" He fired one shot into the BaCOE's forehead. It didn't do any damage, but at least it made him feel better. He pushed off the platform into the halls.
Athrun took the initiative and drove forward, slicing up the bridge of a Nazca class. "Saberbarrel Program 2, activate!" Adam keyed the enter button. The two lower of his six wings popped off and thrust in front of him. His mobile suit's reflector shield was latched onto by the two of them and the entire structure went forward, becoming a mobile reflector platform. Eagle latched its beam rifle behind its back momentarily as its top wings separated and went to its hands. The nozzle of one was inserted into the back end of the other. The new weapon spawned from Gunbarrel Program 2 was shifted to the right hand while the left pulled out the original beam rifle. He gunned the engines, spreading a plasma illusion of four wings the color of the autumn leaves as he went forward. As he closed in on his target, a Laurasia class, two GOUFs sent whips his way. The low road was taken as he dove under the position and fired both his handheld weapons at the same time, piercing the cockpits. Adam turned Eagle's torso around to face the reflector and fired his core cannon. The mobile reflector tilted to a 45 degree angle and the attack shot straight up through the middle of the battleship. As the reflector combo lost ground, it only increased the damage to the ship as it continued to slice it into ribbons.
ZAKU Phantoms leaned forward, launching volleys of missiles at the Eternal. One Gunner sent a grenade canister at the bridge, but some shrapnel caught it before it hit the ship. It still shook everyone up well. Freedom's METEOR opened all of its missile hatches and unleashed its hellfire while Justice let fly its buster blasts. "From starboard, missiles, four!" Milly yelled.
"Kaihee! Helldart, tei!" Ramius ordered, as the Archangel's anti-missile missile system launched from the "neck" of the ship. More ZAKUs sprayed missiles into the system.
"Lower your weapons and leave us a path!" Lacus continued speaking her demands. "Mankind doesn't exist to fire such a weapon! It shall never do so, ever again! Return to your ships!"
A GuAIZ R stopped, and the commander's GOUF noticed. "Baka! What are you thinking?"
Justice took advantage of the situation and disabled both, taking great strides not to injure the pilot of the halted suit. He next ran into GuAIZ troops, and fired his midoric beams into them, removing heads. One came in from behind him on a turn, and a thick beam rent it through. "Thanks Adam."
"Just returning the favor. Now get to that relay point!"
A stray shot hit a ZAKU Gunner, and it detonated past the Eternal's window, a view Lacus was used to by now, but still hated to see. Kira came down from above, launching missiles into a Nazca's guns. "Eeehhh!" Athrun's attack effectively disabled her engines.
"Hhhaaa!" Adam's core cannon streaked through the sky, piercing three mobile suits before redirecting to slice off a Laurasia's engine. The mobile suits that escaped the blast were caught by his rifle and buster. He and the two other pilots met up above the exploding ships.
"Athrun, Adam!" Kira yelled.
"Ah!" Athrun acknowledged. He knew as well as the others that time was running out.
Adam's sensor alarms went off. "Incoming!" All his programs returned to normal as he pushed his shield forward, the others dodging an attack by eight simultaneous positron cannons. When he finally lowered his shield, he and everyone else gasped. Reinforcements had arrived in force, including… "Minerva?"
"KGH!" Athrun was tempted to spit.
"I…" Shinn was still struggling for an answer.
"Heh. Let's just say that I don't have much of a future left. My telomeres… were naturally short. After all… I am a clone."
"HUH?"
"The only reason we exist is as an experiment to raise funds for the dream known as Kira Yamato." Ray leaned back in his chair, speaking in a tone of voice that was completely unheard by the black-haired coordinator before.
"What?"
"The reason probably is just because they could. But because of that, I… heh, what am I supposed to do? My mother doesn't exist. My father was merely a sample of sperm from a man that thought he could live forever. The fool. I have no feelings towards the dreams he had. That and my body ages faster than the normal human rate, and eventually I will die so I can't think of my body either. And they call this a marvelous advancement of science."
"Ray…" To see him opening up was not only odd, but scary.
"My previous self would not accept fate, and he died, in an attempt to take the entire world with him. But seriously, who's fault is that? Who should be blamed for it?" As Ray spoke those words, Shinn was thrown into a pit of his own doubts and memories, falling down even though he was standing still. "I'm a child that is a victim of this manipulative world. That's why I want to end this world, before my life ends, before my… heh… Ray of light extinguishes. Children like me should never be born again and will never have to. That's why I need you, Shinn."
"Me?"
"To protect that future in my place."
Shinn clenched his jaw and let out a quick sob, remembering what his friend entrusted to him. With that his answer to Dullindal was clear. "Hai. Mine and Ray's feelings are the same." Ray let a relieved smile touch his lips.
Kira's HiMat system popped up behind his main controls and began locking onto multiple enemies. He let loose another volley of attacks, effectively disabling every weapon the mobile suits in front of him had. A missile hit the front neck of the legged ship, giving everyone a jolt. "Orange 12, more mobile suits, four of them!" Milly cried over the explosion.
"Portside, ten degrees! Corinthos, TEI!" The rear launchers released their payloads.
"Neo Lorrnoke, Akatsuki, iguzei!" Orb's signature golden MS, fresh with a brand new DRAGOON Striker, headed into the battle. The Murasame squad aboard hit the runway and were out of the gate.
From the Eternal, the DOM Troopers took to heavens. The pirate/mercenary Hilda took the lead. "I don't know what kind of stuff you're on, but you're totally out of it trying to take down Lacus-sama's ship!" Two of the three shot pinpoint accurate rifle shots at two ZAKUs while the third went to point blank range and sent the bazooka attack flying.
"Huh? What the hell kind of mobile suits are those?" Yzak blinked at the screen.
"Ignoring them, what are we supposed to be doing, Commander?" Dearka spoke from his cockpit.
"Huh?"
"Should we go out right now and get cut to ribbons?"
"Fucking idiot! If you're thinking that then don't launch from the start!"
"Yeah, well…."
"I'm heading out too!"
"Hah?"
"Commander!" Yzak's XO yelled after him as he kicked off towards the elevator.
"Make sure the Voltaire stays at the rear of the fleet. You get that? Disregard all orders to go to the front! You'll die!"
"H…hai…."
The captains of the Archangel and Minerva stared down at each other. "Umm… Captain…." Arthur fidgeted.
"I know, Arthur." She quickly said back, silencing him for the time being. She bit her lip for a moment. "Abby, put me through to Archangel."
"EH?" The XO turned his chair around and slammed back into it.
"I know what I'm doing, Arthur." She picked up her phone and looked up into the screen.
"Captain!" Milliaria spoke. "We've got a laser transmission incoming from the Minerva!"
"Eh?" Ramius picked up her receiver and the woman's image displayed on screen.
"This transmission is not about peace talks I'm afraid, Captain Ramius. Our battle is inevitable."
"Ah, I knew that from the start."
"I merely want to confirm something. Meyrin Hawke, is she well?"
"Hai. She and Adam are doing just fine."
"Gwah?" Arthur looked on in disbelief, as the other bridge crew let out stunned gasps as well.
"Adam? He's alive?"
"Apparently your pilots haven't been giving you accurate reports, Captain." Murrue shrugged.
"I don't suppose I would be able to talk with them?"
"This situation makes that impossible I'm afraid."
"I should have expected that. Then one more thing before we begin, Captain Murrue Ramius. I feel the same way as you, which is why I must fight you, to put an end to this madness with my heart as my guide. No hard feelings."
"None taken, Captain Talia Gladys." She saluted her before the transmission cut out.
The blonde sighed as she put down the receiver. Instantly she straightened. "This ship will now join the battle! Have Impulse launch! All weapons free. Target: Archangel!"
"Hai!" Arthur snapped out of his stupor with minimal delay.
"We'll sink that ship today, for all of ZAFT's sake!" All of the launcher tubes loaded charges, the Tristan cannons calibrated their aim, and the Isolde projectile launchers emerged from their hidden cradle.
"Minerva, incoming!" Milly stated the obvious.
"Port ten degrees, down fifteen. Gottfried's target: Minerva!"
"EEEHHH!" Neo growled as his Dragoons shot off from his back. Three ZAKU Phantoms approached, firing their rifles. The center one was pierced by a DRAGOON shot in the hip. The one to its right was taken out from the rear, slicing off its Wizard from another blast. The third was split through the center. All three exploded as the pods returned to Akatsuki and he moved on to the next target.
Two mobile-armor mode Murasame twirled around each other in a nose dive, firing the rifles underneath their wings. A Gouf's flight pack was turned to scrap, and a second's shield arm was ripped completely off. A Slash ZAKU Warrior lowered its gattling cannons at Eternal and fired away, peppering a CWIS until it exploded. The three DOMs hovered in formation. The first fired its bazooka, impacting the ZAKU's shield, the second taking a rifle shot into its chest.
Yzak was on the flightline in less than a minute, and his white GOUF shot out of the catapult, shortly followed by Dearka's black and grey ZAKU Phantom. "What are you thinking of, Yzak? You're not thinking of…."
"There's only one guy I want to take a swing at right now!"
"Huh?"
"Yet again the bastard shows up in a place like this! How dare he?" Dearka just sighed at his outburst.
Eagle returned to mobile armor mode and bared its claws. As the brown suit dove forward, its core cannon discharged from its nose, taking out the mobile suit on the left of the formation. Adam rolled below and to that left side to avoid taking hits from the other GuAIZ. The beam claws activated as he tilted to the side, tearing up two mobile suits torsos. His claws opened up and fired to the rear, taking out two more with headshots. "Now, Kira! Athrun!" He returned to mobile suit mode and sent out his DRAGOONs. Freedom activated the giant saber and sliced off a battleship's main engine. Justice came from below, taking out its weapon systems with a missile barrage.
The Impulse's first platform was at the Central Catapult runway, heating up its engines. Bee, bee, bee, buzzzz! The red-headed pilot's hand went to her helmet, lowering the visor. "Lunamaria Hawke, Core Splendor, ikkuwayo!" She went to meet her other parts in the sky, joining with the Force Silhouette to form the blue, red, and white form it was known for. "Kgh!" She grunted as she accelerated to full speed.
"TEI!" Both captains said at once. All of the weapon systems on both ships fired at once.
White Angel bounded down the halls in the low gravity, the red emergency lighting making the directional markings hard to see. Both she and Alan appeared at opposite ends of a hallway. "Agh!" She whipped out her pistol and fired. The only sound was a click. "Empty?"
"Crap!" Alan took two shots when he noticed her. The woman ducked into another room, quickly. He pushed off the wall and entered the other access door to it. The place he entered would haunt his dreams for all eternity.
Station Three's defense line went on alert. "Attention. Attention. Unidentified vessel, you are entering a restricted zone. Alter your course immediately or we will shoot."
"…ay. Ma….. Mayday! ZAFT forces, do… read me?" A girl in a space suit's picture came onto the screen, scrolling and staticy.
"Unidentified vessel, you are entering a…."
"Oh thank God. Hold your fire, please! This is the passenger ship, Gabriel, flying out of Copernicus. We were caught in crossfire, and the bridge was hit."
"Passenger ship, Gabriel, this is the ZAFT regional command center. What is your cargo?"
"We're refugees. We're trying to get to PLANT and escape the fighting. Please, help us! Everyone's dead up here, and I can't fly this thing!"
"Understood. Please remain calm. We're sending a wing of ZAKUs to escort you. I want you to try and find the hangar controls and open them so we can get a pilot aboard. Does your ship have any weapons?"
"I don't think so. It was modeled after the Archangel, but it's strictly a passenger ship."
"I'm not detecting any energy readings here either. Have you found the controls?"
"Is this it?" The girl pressed a button, and the legs of the ship opened up.
"Yes, that's it. Now just standby. We'll get someone to take over for you."
"Thank you." She sniffed. The transmission cut out and her helmet came off. She shook her hair out and grumbled. "It's way too hot in these things. Okay, people, get ready. This is going to be really critical on timing, so don't space out." Fllay unzipped the suit and stepped out of it, straightening her vest.
As fortress Messiah continued forward towards the moon, Shinn went to the pilot's lounge to float around for a while and think. While doing so, Ray and Dullindal met. "Station One will probably go down soon. But that's all right. We still have two more. I have a feeling they'll come here next. They need all the help they can get, after all."
"Hai."
"The Minerva and the defense fleet should deplete them significantly, but you already know how strong they are. They must be defeated or this madness won't end."
"I know." Ray said. "But what about that?" He motioned towards Destroy MKII.
"That one might be a problem, actually. Its attack patterns are random, uncoordinated, like it's a child throwing a tantrum. It was heavily damaged before we got there, but its armor is extremely hard to pierce. I've authorized an infiltration team to detonate it from the inside."
"But what could be powerful enough to destroy something of that size?"
"Isn't that obvious, Ray?"
Ray smiled and raised an eyebrow. "A nuke. You supplied them with a nuke, didn't you?"
"I suddenly feel like a father, outwitted by his son." Dullindal laughed.
"This is Exterminator 1. Pest in sight."
"Well yeah, it's kind of hard to miss. Exterminator 2 confirms."
"Quit your yapping. Exterminator 3 confirms." Three small transports came over the horizon, slowly drifting towards Destroy MKII.
"Attention Exterminator group, this is the FAITH battlegroup HGhost. Dullindal has given us a go. We're delivering your packages now." Two Nazca-class and one Laurasia came up behind them and launched supplies for the transports.
"Finally, hook them up quick. For the sake of Dullindal's dream, we need to finish this thing off fast!"
Alan's gun rattled in his hand as he stared at the sight with his mouth hanging open in fright. He was in a room covered in thick wires, attached to rows and rows of small square containers with lights blinking down below. Inside each container was some kind of bubbling unknown liquid, and a human brain. "Wh… what…."
"Beautiful, isn't it?" The voice of White Angel spoke. A shot blew through one of the containers by his head, shattering the glass. He ducked and rolled out of the way, with his sense of survival renewed. That is, until one of the brains stared at him with still connected eyes, even though they couldn't see. "Truly a marvel."
Alan broke his gaze in time to see a shadow skit across the other side of the room. "What is this? Did you make this?"
"Well in part, yes. And what is it? Don't you recognize a computer when you see one?" She shot out a capsule above what she hoped to be his head. The contents spilled out a few feet away from him.
"You call THIS a computer?"
"It indeed is a computer. You see the human brain is the fastest computer known to man. And we only use only ten percent of our brains at once. Imagine what we could do with a person at full power, and linked together with so many other minds. No supercomputer in existence would be able to go against it!"
Alan got up and slid along the isle. "How many? How many did you kill to make this … abomination?" He rounded a corner and shot. He didn't hit a thing.
"Kill? Oh we didn't kill anyone. You see so many were dying before at Lodonia, that it was a waste of resources. You only have one body, and if it gets ruined then that's it. But at least we managed to salvage the cerebellum for a better use. It was their wish. They wanted to be successes, and not failures. Now the failures have become the success. 200 minds linked together to form the ultimate computer, unchalleneged by anyone!" She laughed as she shot through three canisters, dropping one of the brains on Alan's head.
"Kah!" Luna spun past CWIS bullets and dove straight for Eternal's bridge.
Meyrin gasped as she looked at her screen. "This is… Impulse? Lumi!"
'This is what we need to do, right? This is what we need to do, right Shinn?' Luna whispered in her head.
"No Onee-chan! STOP!"
Luna pulled back on the control stick. "Meyrin? She's on the Eternal?"
"Why are you fighting like this? Why are you fighting me? Why can't you see the signs I did, Onee-chan? The Lacus-sama you knew was the fake!" Tears stung Meyrin's eyes. "Do you hate me that much for leaving that you'd kill me?"
"Mars, Herbert," Hilda and the DOMs locked onto Impulse. "Tear that one apart, copy?"
"You got it."
"Ah!"
"Jet Stream Attack!"
"Agh!" Luna squeaked as she saw the red streak vectoring in on her. She fired her rifle, but it just bounced off the particles being emitted from the first suit. It took a swing at her with its beam saber, but she went high. The second took a rifle shot which she twitched to the left to dodge, and it sideswiped her on the way out. The third fired a bazooka into her shield and she lost control of her craft as alarms blared around her. "Aaaaahhh!"
"Haa!" Meyrin squeaked. "Lacus-sama, that's my sister out there!"
"DaCosta, order the DOMs to disable that suit at once. Make sure they keep the cockpit intact." She said quickly.
"Hai!"
"Haven't Kira and the others made it to the relay station yet?" Waltfeld fidgeted.
Archangel turned as its CWIS guns knocked Minerva's missiles out of the sky. "We've got them! Port 30 degrees. Tannhauser, active!" The positron cannon emerged from its hatch in the bow.
"Minerva's main weapon is in position to fire!"
"Eh?" Ramius looked to her right. "Shit! If we move, the Eternal will take the blow!"
"TEI!" The massive energy burst erupted from the cannon.
Ramius gasped and slammed into her chair as she saw the wave coming straight for the bridge. A single mobile suit slid into the path and spread out, the energy crackling against its golden hull. "Archangel won't go down!" Neo yelled. The explosion in front of him triggered something in his mind. The scene was all too familiar. 'Murrue…. I'm….' The glistening mobile suit whipped out its rifle and fired through Minerva's main cannon, detonating it. "I'm okay."
"Eh?" Murrue blinked, still in shock.
"I'm not going to heaven for a while!" Akatsuki's DRAGOONs detatched and assumed positions around the legged ship as Minerva fired a secondary round with its Tristans. The DRAGOONs thrusted backwards while firing off a strange energy. It expanded into a lightwave barrier, deflecting the attack. "Let's finish this up and go home together, Murrue!"
"Mwu!" She smiled, fighting back tears.
"Ah! The fortress is back!"
As the wing of five ZAKUs approached the open bays of the Gabriel, Fllay leaned forward, squinting. "Wait for it. We've got only one shot. We need to be precise." The tactical readout turned red on the two outermost mobile suits. "Fire!" From the launch bays, two beams of green light pierced the second and fourth Zaku. Gottfried beams cast their energy outward, two of the four beams catching the first and fifth Zaku, while the others blew past them, piercing two Nazca-class bridges. "Now, launch Balls, drop Mirage Colloid on the weapons. Valiant, target closest enemy vessel. Fire!"
Three of the white spheres catapulted out of the bays and surrounded the Zaku. One grappled onto it and fired. "It's an ambush!" The pilot cried before he died.
The three troop transporters were hooked up to booster rockets as each one was given a crate marked with a radiation symbol on it. "Delivery complete. We're going out in front, Exterminator team. You know what to do once the shooting starts."
"Copy."
Stellar's alarms went off. "Nani?" She looked at the screen. "Are you also going to KEEP ME FROM SHINN!" Her saucer cannons set the sky ablaze.
One of the Nazca class was it. "Portside cannon destroyed, sir! Hell, the entire portside is gone!"
"All hands, full speed ahead, return fire at will, and you'd better have a lot of will!" All of the ships sent out their weaponry at once, missiles and beams coated the vacuum. The missiles just bounced harmlessly off the armor before detonating, and the Panzers were swinging every which way to deflect the beams.
"That's our cue!" The captain of the Exterminator team commented. "Activate rockets!" All three of the boosters lit up, and the crews were slammed back into their chairs as they accelerated.
Stellar's screen brought them up instantly. "No…" She whispered as her mind changed them from ships into Impulse and a Murasame, diving forward to cut her cockpit open. "NOOOO!" She went on a random rampage, firing everything she had at once. The two Nazca class were obliterated by the positron cannons.
A multi-phasic beam was deflected and cut through the lead transport. "GYAH!" One of the men cried as the nuke onboard detonated behind the other two.
"Keep going! Don't let their loss be in vain!" The captain cried as he squinted, targeting the hangar. "Jettison boosters!" The first transport's equipment released from the ship as it powered down.
Alarms rang through the second ship. "It won't disengage! Captain, I'm sorry!" The pilot of the second ship pulled up and plunged into the closest positron cannon. "For ZAFT's sake!" The explosion caused the Destroy to tilt back and regain its balance.
"NO!" The captain slammed his fist as his ship was the only one to survive and enter the hangar.
"AGH!" Stellar cried. "It feels like my head is splitting apart! Why?" She searched everywhere for an answer, and eventually accessed a security camera, in a room full of canisters of brains. White Angel dropped the clip from her gun and slammed in another. "Mother?" She turned on the sound for the room.
"Lodonia?" Alan said as he removed the grey matter from his hair. "I read that report. So you're a part of Blue Cosmos, huh? And these are all the Extended failures!" He rounded the corner of another shelf and he saw her. "Kgh!" He fired a shot that chipped off a chunk of glass as she rounded another corner. "But you're wrong, the human brain can't function without an essence, a will, a personality. There is no possible way it could work, no matter how many children you killed!"
"Foolish little man." She let fly a little laugh. "If we could erase memories and control behavior of our Extended, why do you think we couldn't take it a step further, and turn an entire brain pattern into data? That's what we did to Stellar, our best little assassin." She spun around the corner and pointed the barrel at his head as he did the same.
"I've heard that name before, too, yelled out by a young boy during the fight with the first Destroy."
"Yes, that would be Stellar Lousier. Of course that's not her real name, we reprogrammed her with a new identity. Even I don't remember what her name used to be. I suppose I should, though."
"Stellar isn't… Stellar?" The girl inside the computer blinked in confusion.
"What do you mean by that?" Sherridan snarled.
"Do you really think all of these brains came from orphaned children? No. You see, Stellar wasn't completely there in the head, so her parents brought them to our cover organization to seek help for her. We helped ourselves to the girl and never looked back."
"You murdered her parents, didn't you? Didn't you!"
"I had no choice, they were becoming so bothersome, begging to see their child. At one point they threatened to sue, and take her back by force, and I couldn't allow that to happen. What a waste, such a pretty couple, Stellar would have been a sister in a few months had they not persisted."
"You fucking bitch…. So you're saying the one that's piloting this fortress, the one that is encoded into this system is Stellar?"
"Of course. Where her parents only saw insanity, we saw potential. She was the only one in the entire program that was 100 percent compatible with the Destroy system. During the battle we encoded all her data in every detail, and installed it here. Of course we never expected her to die in that battle, but it's no waste since we have her mind."
"D…die?" Stellar's mind entered shock mode again.
"No waste? You… wait… you didn't tell her! You didn't tell her anything, did you? You didn't tell her that she's made of data. You didn't tell her that in the real world she's dead. Never living, never learning, never ageing, never loving, how could you do that to someone?"
"A war machine has no use for feelings. That's all she is, a machine. Of course, unexpectedly, she did fall in love, with of all people some ZAFT red coat. Falling in love with the enemy, ridiculous. Of course, with that, we were able to put a new control on her. She never understood from the beginning that she could never experience that kind of love. If she went on a date, we'd erase it. If she ran away with him, she would die without her chemical booster. She could never marry, have children, or live a human's life. Her precious Shinn was out of her reach from the start."
"You're sick. You'll pay for your crimes right now." Alan's finger twitched on the trigger.
"Oh, but can you do it without me killing you first? Haven't you figured it out yet?" She lowered her voice. "I'm an Extended too."
"What?" Alan's eyes went wide. With lightning reflexes, the woman whipped him with the butt of her pistol and spun him around. "GAAAAAAAHHH!" He fell to his knees as he cried out in pain, a fresh hole blown straight through his right arm. The pistol in his hand dropped to the floor.
Some warm, wet metal was pressed against the back of his head. "This is where you die."
Out in space, all activity on the part of Destroy MKII stopped. The Panzer pods floated freely, no energy emanating from any of the weapons. The remaining Laurasia-class cruiser and its mobile suits stared at the strange sight. "Hold your fire, but keep your distance. This might be a trap."
The innards of the facility went completely dark. "What?" White Angel looked around for a moment. Then all the lights in the room lit up again, and the row of glass containers nearest to her started to shatter on their own, covering both of them with sharp splinters of glass.
"MOTHER!" Stellar roared over the intercom. "How could you? How could you? Stellar is Stellar! Stellar loves oceans, seashells, and… Shinn. Mother lied! You kept me from Shinn, not the scary people! Stellar will never… Shinn will… I WON'T FORGIVE!" The entire shelf of brains next to her exploded.
"AGH!" She squeaked as she covered her head with her arms. Alan got up and spun around, using whatever muscles in his right arm that would move to swipe a his blood-covered hand across her wide open eyes. "GAH! My eyes! I can only see red!"
"You'll see a lot more of it in hell!" He pulled out the gun in his left holster and let loose a shot straight between her eyes.
The initial surprise attack was over. Now the Balls were up against GINNs and ZAKUs from the remaining Laurasia-class, which had accelerated to combat speed. "Down pitch 20 degrees, starboard 15. Give him a taste of our portside weapons. FIRE!" Appolly yelled. The Valiant shot a charged projectile into one of the lower CWIS guns, but the Gottfried blast was countered by an anti-beam charge.
As the energy disbursed, something caught Fllay's eye in the corner of the screen. After squinting for a second, her eyes went wide, her color palate inverting. "No. It can't be." She whispered. Taking another look, she was most certain, it was a dark gray mobile suit with yellow and blue trimmings on the chest, and had a humanoid face. It also had a backpack covered in spines. "Appolly, I'll leave this to you!" She said as she dove into the elevator. "Why? How?"
"Agh!" Athrun yelled as throttled back, missiles heading straight for him.
"Daicho!" Adam turned quickly.
A white GOUF's gattling arm shot off in front of Justice, detonating the attacks. "You piece of shit!" Yzak yelled. "In a place like this, are you even using that brain of yours?"
"Yzak?"
"You're the one that's not using your brain." The black ZAKU slid next to him. "Didn't they already say their objective was to destroy that thing?"
"Dearka…"
A third video appeared on his screen. "You know these two weirdos, Daicho?"
"Who are you calling a weirdo? You bastards shouldn't even be here!" Yzak snapped.
"Geez, who cares about that anymore?" Dearka shrugged. "What do you say we save the bickering for later?"
"Eh?" Athrun tilted his head.
"Dearka… you prick!"
"You're gonna destroy the relay point right? Care for an escort?" The cooler headed of the three shrugged again. He went forward, with Yzak and Athrun right behind him.
"WILL SOMEONE PLEASE TELL ME WHAT'S GOING ON?" Adam yelled before going to catch up.
"Go buy the fucking DVD." Yzak shot back.
"Athrun, are they…" Kira entered formation.
"Ah."
The two ZAFT units took out the cover as they entered the center of the colony. The METEORs spread their beam sabers and both plunged them deep into the armor of the colony. Their arms spread wide, cutting the cylinder in half. "Now Adam, push it apart!" Kira ordered.
"Yokhai!" Adam's cockpit receded into the unit as the wings shifted back. The cannon detached from the nose as the arms unfolded from the hold in the chest cavity. The legs extended from the base as the nose cone popped off, and the core cannon set into the chest tightly. The magnetic seals on the cone released, and each half landed squarely on its shoulders. It took a pose that made it look like it was flexing its muscles as the DRAGOONs popped off. The gunbarrels each went into his hands and he spread his arms out. The saberbarrels pushed his mobile suit into a spin with their engines as he began firing both gunbarrels and the core cannon. The streaks of red, blue, and green filled the tunnel with light as the two halves tore apart from each other. Adam returned the DRAGOONs to his back. "Objective complete!"
"Let's get the hell out of here!" Waltfeld ordered as the five mobile suits retreated.
"Initiating the get-the-hell-out-of-here maneuver." DaCosta smiled.
"Joke when we have time!"
"Sorry, sir!"
"Break off engagement with Minerva and rendezvous with Eternal. We're heading back to Requiem." Ramius ordered.
The Minerva fired the return flares. Luna shook her head. "Minerva, Duterion Beam! I'll stay out, but I need a recharge."
Fllay winced as she struggled to finish zipping up her flight suit. "Damn it, of all the times to have another growth spurt." She hurried into the hangar and jumped into the mobile suit that was waiting there. "Open the hatch! Do it fast or I'll blow it open!"
"H…hai!" A frightened engineer skitted off.
Her mobile suit stepped out onto the catapult, and a weapons pack came down from the ceiling while a shield came out of the wall. "Fllay Alster, Strike Rouge IWSP, delu!" She leaned forward and the catapult shot her out into the stars, the bright red color covering her mobile suit. She searched the heavens for what she saw before. Her eyes got a lock on the target, and she gunned forward. "It is you! How? Why?"
"Huh?" The man in the other suit laughed. "That voice… could it be? Why yes, my dear little servant, Fllay Alster. Didn't I kill you a year or two back?"
"RAU LE CRUSET!" Fllay yelled at the top of her lungs. "Why are you here? How are you even alive?" She fired the CWIS mounted on her shield at the opponent.
He simply laughed again as he sidestepped it. "My my, such toys you've got too. Does your beloved little Coordinator know you're playing with them?"
"He's not my beloved anymore, you saw to that! Answer me! Why are you here?"
"Now now, let's not be so hasty. We haven't even had the chance to catch up. I'm sure your figure has developed quite a bit since I last saw you."
"You want to catch up? Fine, let me fill you in with four words." She drew two swords from her hips. "You ruined my life! HaaaaaaAAAHHH!" Rouge charged towards the mobile suit and swung both swords at once. Providence merely blocked them with its shield.
"You've certainly gotten more courageous. You were cowering with fear most of the time. I loved that you know."
"You… you took away everything from me! It was your team that killed my father. It was you who kidnapped me, took me away from everything I held dear. And it was you who kept me from re-uniting with him. My Kira... now I can never be with him because of you!" Her shoulder cannons lowered and fired rapidfire at point blank range as they broke away from each other.
"Oh come now, have you forgotten about my phase shift armor? That will hardly even make a dent. And 'your Kira'? I thought you only wanted him as a shield." Cruset fired his beam rifle, and she blocked it.
"You're wrong! Yes, I did use him. He was the only foothold I had for my own survival. I gave up my own virginity just to make him mine to control, but whenever I saw him hanging around with the other girls, be it Cagalli, or Milly, and especially Lacus, I hated it, loathed it. And then after the Flashing Blades battle, when I thought I had lost him, I realized it. I loved him. I loved him and I needed him, not as my shield, but as my equal. But because of you… BECAUSE OF YOU!" She skitted around his beam shots, and pulled out the Flash Edge housed in her shield, brandishing it like a saber. Hers and his beams showered sparks in the sky. "Because of you, I never got to see him again! If you had never taken me away, I would have been there when he returned! Instead he fell in love with Lacus Clyne. And when you tried to execute me, it was obvious I couldn't return to him. I was erased from existence because of you! So I'll erase YOU!"
"What can a weak little girl like you do against me?"
"You forgot something, Cruset! I should have died when you shot that shuttle. I have nothing left to lose, so I'll take you with me!" She wrapped the Rouge's legs around Providence's waist. "At this range, your DRAGOONs are useless. You can't hit me without hitting yourself. And when I self destruct, you'll go up too, just as soon as your Phase Shift armor drops." She lowered her cannons to the mobile suit's face and locked the switch in the firing position, launching burst after burst.
"Hahahaha! You foolish girl! You don't get it, do you? As long as you hate me forever in your heart, I will never die! I am the personification of your hatred! I will not die!"
"Then you'll die along with me, Rau le Cruset!" She pressed a button and the self destruct keypad slid out from her armrest. "Now, let's see where we wind up going."
A large jolt shook her before she could press a button. Her cockpit opened and a man in a green pilot suit came up and shook her. "Alster-sama… Alster-sama! Snap out of it!"
"Roberto, what are you doing? Get out of here, quickly! If I don't take Cruset out then…." She looked over his shoulder to the outside. The only view was of Station Three and space. "Where'd he go? Did you force me to lose my grip on him? Roberto!"
"Alster-sama, what are you talking about? You launched and were just shooting and slashing at nothing. We had to keep the mobile suits busy so they wouldn't shoot you down. And you weren't answering any hails."
"What? You mean… was that all in my head?"
"Come on, sensors are picking up ZAFT reinforcements. We need to get out of here." He kicked back from her control panel and drifted into the cockpit of his Ball.
"Uh… yeah. And Roberto… thanks." She closed the cockpit and sighed. "Strike Rouge, returning to ship. Set a course for Requiem and signal Sherridan for a rendezvous. We're backing up the Archangel." She turned back towards Gabriel and started for her docking run. Suddenly her computer beeped and zoomed in on a mobile suit with spines on its back. She gasped for a second, but shook it off and turned off her HUD. "It's just my imagination again."
From that coordinate in space, an MSV ZAKU with a DRAGOON pack on its back watched the ship disappear into space. "What was that?" A young boy said. "And why did she yell my father's name?" He turned back towards his mothership, to land and ponder the entire scene he saw before him.
Ray entered the pilot lounge. "Did you manage to rest up a bit? We'll be heading out soon.
Shinn snapped his sister's phone shut, which he had been looking at once again. "Ah. I'm fine. The situation? Minerva?"
"Minerva fought valiantly, but Station One was lost just the same. Right now they're pursuing the Archangel and Eternal, which is heading our way. Don't worry about it. Lunamaria is safe."
"Uh?"
"You need to believe in her some more, my friend. She has a very admirable strength and determination. You chose well." Shinn looked away in embarrassment. "Most likely they'll head back to their main fleet heading for Daedalus with the goal of showing ORB's strength by obliterating Requiem. We can't let that happen, or else the world will fissure again."
"Orb is… really…."
"You'll save that country, you know. You have to. That's all there is to it."
"Target distance: 8000." A hand on the Kusanagi reported.
"Aim the Lohengrin!" Soga-san ordered XO Amagi. From the sides of the ship, four launchers folded out. "FIRE!"
All four beams erupted from the ship, targeting the center of the hole. Without warning, three crystals lit up on the rim and energy spread out from them, deflecting the attack, sending a backlash wave of dust on the lunar surface. Dullindal had installed reflectors onto the weapon.
"Damn it!" Alan yelled as he tied up his torn up arm using the dead woman's lab coat.
"Hey Mister, are you okay?"
"Huh? Who's there? Who's that?"
A video projection popped up on the back wall. "Stellar."
"You're…"
"Unh…."
"Too young…" Alan shook his head. "I'm so sorry."
"Stellar is fine. But… my time is gone. Stellar will die today." She giggled.
"What's so funny?"
"For the first time, that word doesn't scare Stellar. Shinn protected me from that word. Now Stellar must die, to protect Shinn."
"Why? Why must you die? Maybe some way, we can save you."
She shook her head. "Stellar is already dead. Stellar's body can't move anymore, see anymore, or feel Shinn's touch anymore. Mother was right. Stellar is a machine, a machine made to kill the creepy things from space. Shinn is from that creepy space. Stellar must die, so I won't attack Shinn. Besides," She moved her hand and a smaller window popped up next to her image showing the Exterminator task force, running down the halls with the large crate in tow. "These people will destroy Stellar soon."
"But…."
"Escape, Mister. You shouldn't die because of Stellar either."
"Stellar…. But what about your family? There are bound to be some relatives of yours left. Even if you can't remember your name I'm sure…."
"It's fine. Stellar is Stellar. I don't have a mother or father. It's all Stellar knew, until I met Shinn. Mister, escape, but do me one favor when you do, please."
"Messiah will be entering battle." An announcement went over the intercom. "Condition Red. I repeat…."
"Activate all weapon options. Neo Genesis, stand by." A relatively small metallic frame moved into position over a dish with a hole in the center at the side of the base.
Shinn and Ray did their final checks in their cockpits as the lunar fleet pursued the others. Suddenly everyone's screens lit up. A new energy signature appeared on the moon, a big one. "Captain!" Milly gasped. "Orange 186, a massive structure is coming over the horizon!"
"A fortress?"
"How'd they hide something that big?" Waltfeld growled.
"The target will be in range in 20." One of the Messiah ops personel reported.
"Neutron Jammer Canceller active. Nuclear cartridge at the detonation point."
"I'm reading a high energy weapon being focused from the structure!" Meyrin yelled.
"A positron cannon?" Lacus asked quickly.
"BIGGER!"
"It's targeting the fleet!" Kira realized.
"Damn it!" Athrun pushed his controls.
"We're not gonna make it in time!" Adam was already at maximum burn.
"The target is now in range."
"Shoot." Dullindal ordered. A focused burst of energy shot out of the hole onto a reflective panel on the wire frame. It scattered to separate panels on the dish, bouncing back and forth until the buildup was so much that the radiation overtook the panel and launched forward.
"Engines to max! All ships evade!" Soga ordered. The ORB Izumo-class ships went vertical, but the slower EAF and ZAFT ships were overtaken by the irradiation wave. The sheer power disintegrated them in an instant as the rest looked on. The weapon cut a swath in the crust wide enough to fit two Destroy MKIIs.
Everyone was taken aback by the damage that was done, and the revival of the weapon itself. The original Genesis was compacted into this new, smaller, more focused version. With the old one, at least there were scrap parts left. This only left molecules. "I suggest you hurry up charging the next shot." Dullindal spoke. "Destiny, Legend, take off!"
Ray was first to the end of the bay, his phase shift armor already on. "Ray za Burrel, Legend, hashin salu!"
"Shinn Asuka, Destiny, ikkimas!" Destiny's blue and red armor appeared mid launch, and he spread his plasma wings to meet up with his comrade.
"Shit, to think they had something that powerful in their arsenal." Waltfeld hissed.
"Is… is that…" Meyrin quaked.
"Genesis, another abomination of human creation. Dullindal has gone too far." Lacus pounded her armrest.
"Minerva is approaching from the rear, distance: 22!"
"Khh!" The Archangel's captain spat.
"Well now, I suppose this is where I should say goodbye, Lacus Clyne. This is when you disappear."
Freedom and Justice's sensors picked up Legend and Destiny first. "Athrun!"
"Ah! This is it, Kira!" They ejected the METEOR weapons and went to intercept.
"Daicho!" Adam followed.
"No, Adam!" He yelled back. "Minerva is still on Archangel's tail. Stay with her and Eternal! Keep Meyrin safe!"
"But…."
"No arguments, now go!" He cut off the transmission.
"Kuso!" Adam turned back towards his mothership.
Destiny and Justice circled each other in the sky, shooting rifle shots that just would not connect. Freedom fired its core cannon at Legend, and it quickly rolled away. Turning all of its spikes to fire at the eight-winged suit. Kira flipped out of the way of the discharge, and they stared each other down. "Kira Yamato. Your existence is the only thing that's unforgiveable!"
Chapter 37 Preview: Who really understands the current situation they're in? Why do they fight against each other incessantly? Why do they create such horrific things? As the final pairings are made, the matches will decide the victor. Can those who are best of friends bring themselves to destroy the other? How will the essence of one passed effect the future? Next time on Old Friends Anew: True Power. Reveal your dream and spread it to the world, Freedom!