Spectre: Updating new chapter's wouldn't be as fast as before, now that the phone I've been using just broke and I resorted to using my laptop to type new chapters. Personally, I had a hard time writing this chapter, so my apologies if you don't find it that much appealing as before. Also, this may stray from guerilla tactics but this is what I was told that it would do. Take note that there would be OOC elements here in this chapter.
Accelbreaker: He would in time, but as for the closeness between JOSH-A and East Asia, I had something planned for that.
Dragon Lord Syed 101: I'd like to build up the characters in the story, which also thicken the plot as a whole to make it interesting.
StyGian21: You'll see more of her character in time. And yeah I've been reviewing my previous chapters to find spelling mistakes, because I was working on a phone back then where I couldn't see much of the errors.
Chapter 17: Into Osaka
"So what brings you here, Setsuna?", Lowe inquired in a curious tone, offering him a cup of coffee to which the Gundam Meister accepted with a small smile. "It's not everyday that we get to find mobile suits floating in the middle of the ocean"
The Gundam Meister gave him a thankful look for a moment as he saw Haro bouncing around and Liam trying to get a hold of him to keep it from causing any damage inside the outpost. "I made an atmospheric re-entry to Earth after a battle against ZAFT. But my destination had been directed to somewhere else"
"So where you heading, supposedly?"
"JOSH-A, North America", Setsuna said, initially having second thoughts of actually telling the teen but then remembered, he wasn't actually part of the Earth Forces military, but rather in title. Lowe blinked for a moment, and was about to speak up himself until the other Junk Guild member expressed his rather visible dismay "You're from the Earth Forces!?", Liam suddenly spoke up in alarm, shifting his attention from Haro to the Gundam Meister and causing Setsuna to arch an eyebrow at the man's distress, to which Lowe sighed at him.
"Sorry", then brown-haired apologized on behalf of his fellow member. "It's just that Junk Guild had made treaties with both ZAFT and the Earth Alliance at this point, and, don't take it out of context, having an Earth Alliance pilot being sheltered is considered as a violation of the treaty. And we're just, in case you're looking for a better term, scavengers looking for scrap to sell, trade or to recycle"
Setsuna looked at him for a moment, understanding Liam's distress since the organization is neutral from either side and he could not add any more weight on his shoulders right now. Considering his (Although fake) place within the Earth Alliance, he needed to rendezvous with the Archangel as soon as possible. But then he remembered that if he is going on his own, he would need to re-supply his machine before he could move forward, and the last time he saw his GN Particle Gauge before exiting his Gundam, it was about 10% when Haro took over the reins in landing the 00 Raiser to Earth. Gladly enough, the new GN Drives that Ian installed had an emergency power converter to re-supply GN Particles with available power sources, so it shouldn't be that difficult to find.
Sometimes he wished he still had those two original Drives that he used to have. And he had Ribbons to thank for that.
"I understand what you mean", Setsuna assured them, giving them a sincere expression. "I will not be here for long, but I would simply need to make contact with Captain Ramius of the legged-ship to organize our rendezvous"
"That's not gonna be easy, you know", Liam said in-a-matter-of-fact tone, crossing his arms. "ZAFT has eyes and ears everywhere, and they probably could intercept transmissions made by anyone"
"ZAFT controls this area?", Setsuna inquired, alarmed. Then contacting the Archangel won't be as simple as I thought it would be.
"Well...", Lowe trailed off before pointing at a map of Japan pinned at one of the rooms. "Most of the country, including Osaka. Need help at getting to Kyushu?"
The location raised Setsuna's interest. "Kyushu?"
"A southern island in Japan, and an Earth Forces-occupied stronghold", Liam said. "Their last one, but going over there wouldn't be easy, especially when ZAFT forces around the area suddenly went on high alert for some reason that we don't know yet"
"I'll take note of that", Setsuna assured them, causing them to be surprised at his determination. "Is there a way to contact any Earth Alliance personnel at this point. Or re-supply my Gundam?
"You call your machine a Gundam?", Lowe wondered, staring at the machine in awe while Setsuna looked at him impassively.
"Is there something I need to know?"
The teen then grinned and he made his way to the hangar, motioning Setsuna to follow him, Haro in tow. When they got there, Setsuna widened his eyes in both shock and disbelief at the sight of the machine that Lowe apparently took pride of it. Its structure was similar to the Strike, except its color, or rather the inner frame of the machine was color red, which was the pre-dominant color before the white located mainly at the legs and portions of the arms and black covering most of the torso and to the feet. But what made it very unique, in Setsuna's point of view at least, that it has a sword sheathed on a scabbard at the left side skirt, a katana to be exact.
And it reminded him of a certain eccentric Flag pilot back at his own timeline, now starting to wishi that Lowe didn't share any characteristics as Graham did.
"The Gundam Astray Red Frame, it belonged to Orb back at Heliopolis but they haven't been searching for it since then", Lowe marvelled the machine before the Gundam Meister, who was still uncomfortable at the aspect that more Gundams apparently exist in this world. And the thought of them being less rare unlike back at Anno Domini was a surprise, but not a welcome one in his own point of view.
"This isn't the the only one of it's class", Lowe added, pointing his thumb at the machine behind him. "There are four more of them, though two are the ones working well for all I know. Green Frame is still in the works"
Four more Gundams?, Setsuna thought incredulously but shook his as he turned to address the Junk Guild member. "How did you maintain your machine? Especially if your organization lacked any support from its original manufacturers"
Lowe smiled and pointed at himself with his thumb. "You're looking right at him. While my job is to mainly find scrap that could be salvaged along the way, mechanics are my specialty", he proclaimed, where Liam sighed at his antics every now and then. And the mechanic figured what Setsuna was thinking about now ,"If you need help at resupplying, we'll go and scavenge at the countryside, and maybe find ourselves some energy packs left by ZAFT"
Setsuna mentally thanked lady luck and gave a small smile at the offer but quickly realized something. "But I don't have anything to give in exchange..."
"No problem with that", Lowe waved his hand in dismissal. "We may be neutral, but that doesn't mean we can't help those in need. How's that sound?"
Setsuna looked skeptical, especially when Lowe appeared to be too helpful, then glancing at Liam, who shrugged his shoulders. "That's just how Lowe is, Setsuna. Can't say he's lying about that one"
The Gundam Meister looked at him for a moment, nodding at his proposition, seeing this to be his best chance. "Very well.."
"So you're saying that Setsuna quantized when he used the Trans-Am System?", Tieria asked, sitting in a couch opposite to Ian in a room in the mothership, Celestial Being. After hearing the news on what had happened to Setsuna, Tieria created a clone body for him to use and meet up with their chief engineer to know what really happened. Needless to say, the report given to him was baffling as it is shocking.
"That's about it", Ian said, scratching the back of his head, unsure how could he address this. "We were testing the Trans-Am System by utilizing a new type of GN Drive, to see if we can replicate the abilities of the Original Drives. But we didn't expect that it would come into this..."
"Have you scanned the area or try and pick up the 00's signal?", Tieria inquired, trying his best not to have an outburst at this alarming news. "If that is the case, then we may not be dealing with another faulty system"
"We tried what we can", Ian dejectedly said, taking off his glasses and rubbing his temples. "We're planning to send in Lockon to try and find Setsuna around the area as soon as the Cherudim is ready"
Tieria held his chin for a moment, trying to figure out how he managed to quantize without the utilization of Original Drives. Through Veda's hypothesis, Quantum Teleportation is only possible through the extremely high purified GN Particle concentrations through the Twin-Drive System, particularly using the original GN Drives (Though the use of Large GN Condensers could also be possible). It shouldn't be possible, since the new Drives (Through scraping whatever funds they still had from Wang Liu Mei) being developed for Setsuna's new Gundam are the only ones made, as the Drives belonging to Seravee, Cherudim, and Arios were recycled and to be used for new and upgraded models.
And then Ian mentioned a new GN Drive that they were testing, and he surmised that this new Drive had something to do with Setsuna quantizing, but he was still unsure. Though the ESF practically controlled Veda, Tierria, being its overseer, had access in the stored knowledge that the AI had, as well as the tactical adaptations and hypothesis on certain upgrades or capabilities of machines such as the Seven Sword Variant of the 00, or the Full Saber, a codename for another upgrade prepared for the new Gundam being developed.
"Mr. Vashti, could you give me a copy of the new GN Drives installed onto the 00 Raiser?", Tierria requested, which Ian widened his eyes at the request. Despite the organization's now limited resources following Wang Liu Mei's death, Tieria would make sure that he use the full extent of Veda and the mothership to help his friends, especially Setsuna, and he had an idea on how to go through with this as soon as possible.
"I still have the original schematics for the new GN Drive", the engineer told him. "Do you have something in mind?"
"Apparently, I do" Tierria said, narrowing his eyes. "Lyle and I will have to take a look at it"
"Yzak Joule, in violation of Article 89, Section 2, and of Article 95 Section 6, of insubordination and attempted deliberate harm on non-combatants, you are found guilty at Military Tribunal", Siegel declared, as the silver-haired pilot stood before them, visibly holding off his frustration while his mother looked down on him for his deeds. And, although they could not brand him for it, the indirect loss of life that the 6th Division and the others had endured when the Blue Flash went berserk, is what caused the higher-ups within the ZAFT military to panic when they saw the new machine that sortied from the legged ship.
"As such, you hereby suspended of duty for a certain period of time, and further demotion to Green Uniform", Eileen Canaver added, further adding salt to the hot-headed pilot's wounded pride as Rau watched as the proceedings went through. His mask made it difficult to see his expression, but long story short, Rau didn't care that much nor he had anything to say about it. "A temporary transfer will be placed onto Le Creuset Team while you are to served as a backup and auxiliary support whenever needed. Do you have any objections?"
Gritting his teeth, Yzak barely spoke out. "No, ma'am"
"Very well, this tribunal has concluded", Siegel finally said, as the Council began to disperse. "We can only hope that this does not repeat in the future, Joule", he added Yzak looked at his mother, who only shook her head in disappointment, and unconsciously clenched his fist in frustration, barely containing his rage.
It was the Strike that caused all of this. Not just the Strike, but that blasted legged ship that caused all of this. But one problem is out there, and just thinking about him made him shiver.
The one machine that proved that he was nothing more than a mere bug to him. One who had the ability to wiped them all out if it wanted to.
Despite this, he has to show to everyone that he didn't deserve to be relegated to a mere Green uniform. His fury is focused mainly on the two things that got in their way: the Strike and the legged ship, but he had to be careful at every turn and move he made.
Even if that meant working under a woman who obviously don't like him since day one.
Nicol Amalfi was worried.
Okay, maybe very worried, as he walked along the hallways in the PLANT Supreme Council building, just after receiving their new orders from them, orders that involve pursuing the legged ship to Earth. Honestly for him, it would be fine if it only involved a G-Weapon and the two new prototypes that the Earth Alliance had made. Call him boastful or whatever they wanted to call him, but this shouldn't be an issue, especially when they pilot G-Weapons that outperform their current mobile suit models.
Had it not involve another machine capable that is capable of wiping them all out.
The thought of the machine was enough to give him chills. He had to be honest, it was Lady Luck that he was already aboard the Vesalius before the Blue Flash activated an unknown system that made them look like roaches to be exterminated. He was there, along with Athrun and Dearka, whose wounds had been healed after his fight with the Moebius Zero and a prototype based on the Buster, where they watched as the unknown mobile suit tore apart the fleet like a red blur.
He could also recall hearing the panicked and dreadful final words of the GINN pilots who were unfortunate enough to get in his way, something that haunts him to this day.
He wasn't sure whether he should express his worries to his team. Yzak and Dearka aren't the exact people he wanted to listen with, and he wasn't sure if Athrun would agree, since he didn't want to get in the way of the bluenette's own problems that he was currently facing right now. The same could be said for his parents; a part of him was sure that they wouldn't accept the mission and are both worried about his safety just as he was.
His mind ran in circles that he never noticed a red and orange blur coming past him until it was quite too late.
"Sorry!", Nicol quickly apologized, to the red uniform as he crept down to help the individual, and that is where he recognized her as one of the members of Team Nova back aboard the Ares. "Are you hurt?"
Riika rubbed her forehead, opening her eyes to see nothing but blurs before her, where she immediately reached out her hand onto the floor, indicating to the Blitz's pilot that she was trying to find something.
"You have to be kidding...", Riika groaned, trying to find her glasses that was scattered around at the other side of the hall. Figuring that she needed them, Nicol went over to retrieve her those where he gently put them over the girl's ears, whose vision was restored upon doing so, and first thing she saw were brown orb's belonging to the boy she recognized as one of the stolen G-Weapon pilots.
His brown eyes gazed at her as she looked directly at them. They were friendly ones, unlike the usual hard gazes of soldiers that she met all throughout her service at ZAFT. Without a moment's pass, she felt connected with him.
Nicol felt as if she had resonated with him, as if something had touched him along the way upon gazing at her eyes. They looked peaceful at first glance, but in it, contained a fiery spirit whose compassion defined her at best.
And he felt a kindred spirit with her
Clearing his throat, he reached out a hand, to help her up, trying not to act like a total weirdo in front of her. Riika blinked a few times as she stared at him for a moment, not before getting ahold of his hand as soon as she got her bearings back.
"Uh...thanks?", she said, apparently trying to do the same as he did.
"Nothing beats than a good day collecting scrap!", Lowe proclaimed, his Red Frame picking up what appears to be a blown off arm of a GINN before storing it to the truck compartment. "Gotta say, this has to be the cleanest work we got so far!"
Setsuna, meanwhile in Liam's Works GINN, picked up a rusty mobile suit bazooka and placed it onto the cargo bay of the truck. It had been at least in an hour since they have arrived at the city outskirts to search for parts that could be recycled or sold to the black market, something that Lowe had lectured him around. "What do you mean by cleanest?", the Gundam Meister asked, adding emphasis on the last word.
"He means without any body parts of corpses at the field...", Liam interjected, feeling queasy at the thought. "So any luck at finding battery packs lying around?"
"Not at the moment", Setsuna said, a little bit frustrated but he can't afford to give up just now. He needed to get back on the road as soon as he re-supplied, because while the Archangel should be safe now, it may have also gained notoriety because of his presence being aboard that ship, which he deduced that ZAFT will go and try to go after it in greater numbers, something that he could not afford, provided they have already landed in JOSH-A.
But another factor that he couldn't get his mind off, was one of the pilots that he fought against back at Orbit.
Logically, it shouldn't be possible that Anew was still alive, since that he himself had given the fatal blow to save Lyle from her brutal assault against him, though he later found out that Ribbons had been controlling her that forced his hand. From what he knew, the only other Innovade that had shared the same template was that of Revive Revival, but has since been a living consciousness within Veda. As to how she got here, there is no other way that she could have been teleported to this timeline, unless she had had a Twin Drive System of her own, which shouldn't be possible too unless they immediately made their own as soon as Anew returned to them when she betrayed Ptolemy, which apparently caused similar results as he did. Either way, he intended to find out whenever possible.
"I have been wondering, who is the head of Junk Guild?", he asked, deciding to change the subject at the meantime.
Lowe's Astray turned towards him. "No one, really. Junk Guild is de-centralized as a whole, so we could pretty much accept any help from anyone without any approval from any higher ups"
Raising an eyebrow, Setsuna asked. "Could I say that this isn't the first time this had happened?"
"Well, yeah", Lowe trailed off, where the Gundam Meister figured that he may have stepped over the line at the question based on his change of demeanor. "We ran into one pilot that one time back at space where she stayed and worked as a mechanic before she left a year before Junius Seven was nuked."
Narrowing his eyes a bit, Setsuna nodded in understanding, not before he heard the teen's voice calling out to him. "Hey, Setsuna! I think we got it!"
The Works GINN that Setsuna piloted approached the Red Frame where it held a reactor-like device, where the Gundam Meister surmised that it might be an energy fuel cell lying around. "Is this it?", asked Setsuna, a little hopeful.
Liam moved the truck in between the two of them and observed the device. "Yep, pretty much it. Except we lost the power cable when Serpent Tail went on our heels one time", he said, where the Gundam Meister became curious of hearing another organization.
"Serpent Tail?"
Lowe shrugged, narrowing his eyes as he moved the reactor to the truck compartment. "Mercenary organization. Would just do any job for the highest bidder. Thing is, the guy piloting the Blue Frame works with them. A bit of a nutcase but a good pilot", he explained, before promptly changing the subject. "Anyways, we're gonna have to trade or buy a new power cable with the loot that we got to the Black Market. That's when we'll get to re-supply your machine"
Setsuna nodded with a small but thankful smile. "I appreciate your assistance. I'll see to it that I'll return the favor as soon as possible"
"We already talked about this, there's no need!", Lowe insisted, looking over the two the two truck compartments filled with weapons and parts that could be salvaged. "We gotta get back. Market's not operating for 24 hours, you know!"
Busy crowds covered the district as people from occupied Osaka flocked the area, where the two Junk Guild members, and Setsuna walked along the open streets en route to the Black Market Convention where they would reserve a spot for the upcoming auction. Setsuna wore the civilian clothing that he had a few years ago, a white long sleeved jacket, black pants and a red scarf. He didn't bring much with him, other than the I.D card that Mu and Murrue gave him provided by Halberton after saying that he had lost his own during the transfer. And he kept it with him just in case something out of the blue happens. While they walked the streets, Setsuna saw the desolate and the despair of many of the citizens at the area. Some were outright begging while others resorted to thievery, resulting of them being beaten by ZAFT guard patrols before promptly arresting them and some were downright smug or arrogant because of their position as conquerors to these Naturals. The sight sickened Setsuna, memories of the hard times that had occurred back at the Republic of Krugis when it was invaded by Azadistan, where it led to his choice on being a terrorist and eventually.....
He quickly shook his head, narrowing his eyes before memories from a distant past would come back to him. If there is anything that could soothe him down amidst the tyrant-like mannerisms of the soldiers present, the refugees of Heliopolis were safe and are out of harm's way, and that he needed to be careful at every move he made, otherwise going back to the Archangel would prove to be more difficult if he didn't.
Liam noticed his grim aura as they walked, and poked him at the elbow, his expression a bit worried. "Something wrong, Setsuna?"
"Nothing...", Setsuna immediately replied, shrugging off their worries and breaking the silence that surrounded the three. "If you don't mind me asking. What has happened here?"
The long-haired man turned to explain. "When the war began, ZAFT had launched a massive invasion as soon as the N-Jammers took effect. They were faster than expected, and the Eurasian and East Asian military were quickly driven off to the island of Kyushu where the government and what's left of their military had fled to make their final stand as soon as the East Asian Mass Driver was destroyed. Since then, ZAFT occupation forces had imposed Martial Law and pretty much exploited the nation's resources for their war effort"
The Gundam Meister suppressed a scowl, the actions of ZAFT apparently had parallels to A-Laws when they were in command of the ESF, who imposed tyranny and fear as their weapon to enforce their will.
"Hang on guys", Lowe chimed in between the two, stopping them both at their tracks. "ZAFT Convoy dead ahead"
Indeed, two trucks carrying prisoners were being transported at the streets drove close to them, who were escorted by a group of ZAFT soldiers marching. From Setsuna's observation, there hasn't been mobile suit presence at the area, given that the nearest ZAFT base was at least a few miles away from their position from what he read at the map. Needing to learn some information outside Osaka, Setsuna excused himself to the two Junk Guild members.
"You two go ahead", he said. "There is something that I need to do for the moment"
Lowe and Liam glanced at one another before the former nodded in understanding. "Well okay, meet us at the Auction at the eastern district there. That's where we gonna have to post our findings and have them weighed"
The Gundam Meister nodded and seperated himself from the group for his own research, but not before Lowe picked up a black card pouch as Setsuna was already out of sight of the two members. "He dropped this", Lowe uttered before giving the pouch to Liam. "We'll just give it back to him when we meet up at the auction"
In the meanwhile, Setsuna walked at nearby stalls where he found a newspaper stand with them. No one seemed to noticed and he grabbed ahold on one of the papers to read if there had been any news out in the open. The same reports such as the increasing death toll from the result of Operation Uroboros and terrorist attacks staged by Blue Cosmos were present, which was something that Setsuna wasn't so keen at reading. When he turned towards the News of the Front section, what he saw nearly caused him to spat his water bottle.
7000 confirmed dead at the Battle of Orbit. New Earth Alliance mobile suit, dubbed the Blue Flash, nearly wipes out ZAFT Fleet.
In all honesty, Setsuna knew that this was bound to happen, but he had to do it as a means to protect the Archangel and the civilians that were being caught in the crossfire, but at this point, he hoped that neither of the two had learned of what had really happened back at Orbit, otherwise he had a lot of explaining to do. He was used to it, especially whenever he and the others had free time and would see their mobile suits being in front of newspaper outlets or even the media of their exploits, something that none of them are a fan of.
And the last thing he wanted to happen to him is the Earth Alliance using him as propaganda against ZAFT and their impending attempts to coerce him into giving sharing them classified information regarding this Gundam, something that he isn't looking forward to.
Deciding that he had read enough, Setsuna threw the paper in a nearby bin and reached out to his pocket, where his eyes widened upon realizing that his card pouch was missing. Immediately, he walked briskly to meet up with Liam and Lowe, hoping that they haven't gotten anywhere.
"Uh, what is this all about?", Lowe asked as the two were halted by ZAFT patrol guards as soon as they made their entries for the auction.
"Standard protocol", one of the said plainly as they search for their pockets. Lowe tried to reason out that they were neutral and were helping out a friend as the guards searched the two members, with their hands raised up in the air. When one of them went to Liam, he continued to search him, until they found a small card holder in Liam's wallet, where the two members froze. Apparently, the card pouch that Liam picked up had an Earth Alliance emblem and when they flipped it open, it turned out to be Setsuna's I.D, complete with certain details, enough for the guards to be angered to the supposedly neutral organization. Liam paled at the implication as one of them held him by the collar.
"Helping a friend, eh?!", one of them snarled towards the man, who paled. "So Junk Guild has resorted to aiding Earth Alliance scum, have we?"
"Natural scum!", one of the guards added as they punched Liam in the stomach, resulting of him groaning in pain as he clutched his stomach. "Hey, leave him alone!", Lowe tried to intervene but was pushed aside to one of the guards who grabbed him by the arms.
"Take these two at the compound and see if there are any more spies at area", he ordered, but before they could be detained and be transported, Setsuna walked towards them, his gaze hardened but was inwardly fuming to himself at risking these two of his bearings.
"They are not the people you are looking for", Setsuna said, trying to find a way out of this before things would get even worse. But by the looks of it, he didn't have much of a choice. "You do not have to involve neutral parties for one man"
"Check him and see if he's armed", the squad leader ordered to one of his soldiers to search Setsuna, who narrowed his eyes. Without warning, Setsuna grabbed the guard's wrist and promptly dislocating it by elbowing it downwards, causing four of them to open fire at them, resulting of a commotion that caused nearby civilians to run to safety. Unfortunately, the soldiers only shot their own as Setsuna turned the guard over and used him as a human shield and getting ahold to his holstered pistol to shoot down one of the guards straight at the chest. Realizing the commotion he was causing, he grabbed Liam and Lowe by their shirts and get them to cover behind a torn down warehouse. "Damn it, Lowe! I told you it was a bad idea to bring him along!", Liam exclaimed in complete dismay, covering his ears from the gunfire rained upon them by the patrol guards. Setsuna narrowly avoided a bullet by the corner and returned fire.
"Not the good time for whining, Liam!", Lowe said back, ducking his head as one of the shots nearly got close to him while Setsuna scowled as he looked behind at the soldiers calling out for the three to surrender. "So much for another day for collecting scrap, how in the world are we going to get through this!?"
Setsuna observed the area and their current predicament. No exit could be seen or to be used as an escape route, and if Lowe and Liam were involved in his escape, then the neutrality of Junk Guild would be violated, hence possible consequences may be placed not only to the two members, but of the entire organization as well and he had to find a way for the two to get out of here, or at least ZAFT letting them go. Sighing indignantly, he turned towards Liam, who paled at the hard gaze that he was giving him. "I have an idea, but you won't like it one bit"
"You are surrounded! Throw down your weapons and put your hands in the air!", their Captain shoutedto the trio. From the corner, Liam emerged from their hiding spot, whose neck was held by the Gundam Meister by his left arm, while his right held the pistol that he had stolen form earlier. Lowe watched the two as he bit his thumb, silently praying for lady luck for Liam's safety.
"One move, or the man gets it!", Setsuna proclaimed, the barrel of the pistol pointed at Liam's head. "These two are my hostages!"
"Let him go!", the squad leader ordered, increasing the grip of his rifle as the rest of the soldiers present. "We have you surrounded! Let them go and we can ensure their safety!"
A lie, Setsuna thought as he glared at the squad but saw his chance. To the guard's credit, the Gundam Meister wore a defeated expression and visible anger upon seeing the circumstances, where he eventually let go of Liam and putting his hands up, glancing at Lowe who nodded and proceeded to go to a safe distance. "Now was that so hard?", the squad leader said as he pulled out a set of handcuffs to arrest Setsuna, while his free right hand still carried the firearm. However, the Gundam Meister's eyes flashed as he ran towards him, who only had seconds to raise his rifle towards Setsuna who grabbed the muzzle and forced it upwards, leaving a free hand to grab one of the pistols from his holster and quickly shot the two other guards behind him and shot the one in front of him at the neck, point black range.
The squad opened fired, but Setsuna made a move and threw an can-like object from of the dead squad leader's vest, throwing the projectile as the others immediately took notice of this and shouted. "FLASHBANG!"
The blast disoriented the guards, temporarily taking away their hearing senses as well as their vision from the white flash. As they tried to regain their bearings, Setsuna took this chance and charged at the group where one attempted to shoot him with his pistol but the Gundam Meister ducked as he kneed the man by the stomach and caught the pistol's barrel where he knocked him out with the butt of his gun, and shooting another at the knee and knocking him out using the handle of the pistol. And then, he saw one of them approaching him. "You bastard!" Brandishing a combat knife, one of them charged towards Setsuna, who sidestepped from the impending stab and slightly bended backwards to evade three more slashes before getting ahold of the man's right forearm, gripping it so hard that he dropped the knife out of pain before Setsuna caught it with his free hand where he twisted back and sliced the guard's throat, resulting in a slow but painful death as he bled over.
Angered at the sight of the Natural murdering their comrade, another soldier charged towards Setsuna, who ducked and grabbed the man by the arm and throwing him behind him. The soldier got up as he tried to charge onto the Gundam Meister once more, but the latter merely threw away what appeared to be small metal object where his anger was replaced in horror where he began to scramble in removing his vest, but seconds later, he exploded in bits of blood and gore when Setsuna took off one the pins of his grenade pouch.
The remaining soldiers, wounded or not, trembled at the sight of the young man approaching them, his white jacket stained with blood as he wiped a few drops from his eyes. When he opened them once more, his brown eyes turned into a flashing gold color, which was the last straw for the remaining six soldiers. Without a second thought, they ran away in fear of the man, dropping their weapons along the way.
Sighing to himself in disappointment, having been forced to kill to ensure the safety of the two Junk Guild members, Setsuna poised at checking the two of them whether or not they have been out of harm's way, until he felt a hand on his shoulder. Initially startled, he calmed down as soon as he looked at Lowe and Liam, who was breathing heavily from what has transpired.
"I. Am not doing that again.", Liam told the Gundam Meister in a indignant tone, after being used as a hostage to save their skins while Lowe let out a small chuckle at what had happened to him, despite the rather dire situation they got into.
"Could be worse, Liam. But hey, least we got out!", Lowe pointed out in an attempt to brighten things up between them, but sighed dejectedly. "But ZAFT is going to be after us, are they?"
"No", Setsuna assured them, glancing over the bodies of the dead ZAFT guards he had been forced to dispatch. "They have the impression that I took you as bargaining tools to save my own skin. To their eyes at least, I have only involved neutral citizens in the crossfire. Therefore, I do not think they would have the impression of the two of you being allies with the Earth Alliance"
"Thanks for the re-assurance I guess", Liam said, sighing and crossing his arms. "But with the commotion you just caused, you think the auction would still be held?"
Lowe was about to say that it was unlikely as they heard broken bottles and shouts from angered citizens. Deciding to go after it, the three ran to the streets and found the citizens began to riot against ZAFT regional guards, who they guessed have taken advantage of the commotion from earlier. They saw the citizens rounding up and beating up captured guards as they freed the prisoners inside the trucks that Setsuna and the others ran into. As they did, they found a brown-haired man, mouth taped and blind folded, where Setsuna glanced at the man's shirt pocket and noticed the Earth Alliance emblem attached. He went to the man, prompting the two Junk Guild members to go after him where the man's tape covering his mouth was removed.
"Where am I?! What's going on?!", he said hysterically as soon as Setsuna removed the tape.
"Calm down, you're being freed", Setsuna assured him, untying his restraints before removing his blindfold. The man blinked for a moment before he clutched his wrists where Setsuna offered a hand to help him up, a gesture he took appreciatively.
"I thought I was done for there, thanks for the assist!", the man thanked the three, where Liam gave Setsuna his card pouch where the man noticed the Earth Alliance emblem at his I.D card.
"Are you part of the Earth Alliance by any chance?", he inquired, something that Liam grimaced since that was the reason as to why they were nearly caught in the crossfire.
"Commander Setsuna F. Seiei of the 8th Orbital Fleet", the Gundam Meister introduced himself. Still can't get used to that..', he internally mused, wondering if he needed to do that whenever he met with Earth Alliance personnel. "And yours?"
The brown-haired man realized the rank what this man carried and quickly saluted him. "Second Lieutenant Xist Elwes of the 3rd Regiment, sir!", he said, trying to look an ideal soldier, to the trio's expense. "And what brings you here, commander?"
"I made an atmospheric entry from Orbit just as soon as the battle between ZAFT and the 8th Fleet came to a close", Setsuna said, causing the man to gasp at the spectacle. "It seems that we are both caught in a crossfire in enemy territory"
"What were you doing here, by the way?", Liam curiously asked, glancing at the dead ZAFT guards. "And what do they want with you?"
Xist looked at Setsuna, who assumed was asking for his approval, where he nodded to give his permission. "I was sent here to observe ZAFT troop movements around here in East Asia, where I leaned that they are going to launch a massive surprise attack onto the island of Kyushu. But I didn't lucky at getting out to warn command about it, and I got into their cells for two days, trying to dish me out for information"
Lowe crossed his arms. "And when you didn't, they decided to transport you along with the others in a nearby labor camp instead?"
"Got that right", Xist said, narrowing his eyes before balling his fists in frustration. "But I didn't get to warn General Shiratori and Captain Chevalier of the attack, who knows what could have happened to them now?"
Setsuna may have found his chance, but as always, he had to be careful at his next move. "If that is the case then we would have to move to Kyushu right away.", he said with finality, before turning towards the two Junk Guild members. "Is it still possible to obtain a power cable for resupplying?"
The group turned to find the auction apparently deserted, where Lowe whistled at the prospect that they may have to trade somewhere else and his eyes became fixated on one of the items posted at the auction, which was now their's for the taking. "We do now", he said, though sighing afterwards after the fiasco. "So much for another day's work..."
Spectre: Yeah, I think I found this a bit underwhelming and crossed a line for a bit at Setsuna's lethality as a guerilla fighter, which we could have Ali to thank for that. Also, I would have to think on who would take Yzak's place as a member of the Le Creuset team, as I said that he would not get scotch-free from what he did back at Orbit. Also this is more like a stepping-stone at the next chapter, where it would be the defense of Kyushu where three characters from the Astray series would make their debut here.