Sorry for the lack of updates, been busy lately. ^_^ And if you've noticed,
I have changed my pen name for various reasons.
Two Men, One Force Chapter 8: True Blue
Lieutenant Carl leaped over next to Bright Noa and handed him a sheet of paper. Bright reached over and immediately went over it. "A threat from the Black Dream?" Bright said to himself. Bright mumbled the words while reading for himself. He crumpled the paper up in shock and disbelief. In anger, he shot up and threw it aside.
"What's wrong, sir?"
Bright shook his head. "Get in contact with the Ra Sierra and Ra Kiev. We're leaving the colony."
Terry Sanders was once again wandering the halls of the Titanic. From every door he passed by, he glanced at the names on the door. The one at the end was labeled "Nanai Miguel". He promptly knocked on the door. He waited a short while, and the door slid open with Nanai in her black uniform.
"Mr. Sanders? What're you doing here?"
He gazed into her room and saw various odd things. Nanai quickly slid the door shut.
"Well, Mr. Sanders?"
He gave her a stern look. "Hiding something from us?"
"Now why would I do that?"
"You tell me . . . Rear Admiral Kycilia Zabi."
She immediately put on a devilish smile and started walking away. "Come, Mr. Sanders, let's talk about Rear Admiral Kycilia Zabi."
"I'd rather talk about Johnny Ridden," he said in a both angered and curious voice, leaving Nanai in an unsettled position.
"What about him?"
"You're using him."
"And?" she said with a certain amount of cruelty in her voice.
"The guy is a complete nutcase!"
"He was once normal. I was once pretty normal to, you know . . . but then my boyfriend left me for a soul of a 14 year old girl."
"You're using some psycho nut that probably thinks it's still 0079."
"The same way you're using me to get what you want, right Mr. Sanders?" Her crooked smile turned into a grin.
He grunted at her. "You're not a psycho. I don't see you running around calling thin air "Char Aznable"."
"How do you know that?"
". . . I'm afraid to ask." He thought for a second. "And I don't call what we're doing an abusive agreement. I call it mutual gain."
"I suppose you can call it that."
"And I'm surprised you didn't go all nuts when I mentioned Mr. Aznable."
"In my eyes, he's a traitor, Mr. Sanders. Traitors don't get respect, nor should they deserve it." She sighed. "I did love him, though . . ."
"Whatever," he replied in his usual voice lacking the want for reason and only answers.
"So I'm hoping you have your answers now?"
"Not really. And I'm letting you get away until I do have my answers."
"Okay, shoot."
"Why?" he asked.
"Why? Why what?"
"What's the point of using that guy?"
Nanai looked away from Sanders and smiled once again. She stared out the window, deep into the depths of space. "Mr. Sanders, I thought that would've been obvious. The man is a wrecking machine. Just by asking him, I can have him destroy an entire Side. He's invincible when combined with EXAM . . ."
"And what is this EXAM? He said it was something to keep him from going crazy."
"It's the other way around. It's to make sure he goes on a psycho rampage. Soon, EXAM will become him and he will become EXAM, and as equal partners, they will be the personal fighter for Kycilia Zabi. No single person in Londo Bell can handle him. No one."
"You wanna' bet that?"
She started to fix her hair as if none of this really mattered to her, especially Sanders' opinion of the situation. "I wouldn't mind, actually. Londo Bell's best pilot, Amuro Ray, went down at the end of the last conflict. There will be no stopping us this time. I guarantee you of that."
"You don't talk to the other soldiers much, do you?"
"Not really. Why?"
"The blue nightmares they're calling 'em. And the names fit them."
"What are you talking about?"
"You're telling me you haven't seen the two new Feddie models? They say one's a Gundam."
"Really . . ."
"I fought the other one. The pilot's tough as nails. Both suits are colored dark blue."
". . . Hence the name "blue nightmares". Such a cliché name for our supposed two biggest rivals."
"So you did know about them . . ."
"What, you're a mind reader now? I try to be as frank as possible, Mr. Sanders. It's not good if everyone knew what I was thinking. My informant aboard the Ra Cailum informed me about the models, but I'm not worried. As long as I have you and Ridden on the front line, we can't be stopped."
"Whatever you say, Kycilia Zabi . . ."
Sanders turned to walk away. Nanai suddenly felt a wave of uneasiness take over her body and threw her sanity of aside.
"Can you feel that, Mr. Sanders?"
"Feel what?"
"That feeling in the air. That . . . oh God . . . what have I done . . ."
She began to fall to the ground. Sanders quickly runs over to her to help her. She pushes him away and brings herself back to her feet.
"It's . . . It's nothing . . ."
"You sure?" he asked, limiting the amount of congeniality he had in his voice.
"Yes. It's just hard being me sometimes . . ."
* * * * *
The Londo Bell fleet was now in space. In a rage, Bright Noa tossed a random object across the lounge. It smacked against the wall and began to float in the zero gravity. Jill shook her head.
"I can't believe it . . ."
The men surrounded Bright Noa and calmed him down. He sat down and put his hands around his head. "We left the colony, and they still set off that microwave bomb . . . those bastards."
Everyone either sat or stood in silence. Bright looked across the room and shrugged.
"Someone make contact with Yuu and Yazan and tell them we need them ASAP." He got up. "Everyone to their battle stations. Expect a heavy attack."
Philip and Jill leave the room. Philip sighs and takes a deep breath. "Looks like we're on our way into a huge clash."
"Quite."
"Quite? What's quite?"
"Pardon?"
". . . Nevermind."
"Have a problem understanding my tongue, Ensign Hughes?"
"No . . . well, umm . . . sort of, no . . . yeah . . ."
She giggles.
"What's so funny?" he asked. Not too happy with the way he was being treated.
"Nothing, nothing . . ."
"And the name's "Philip"." He threw himself against the wall and put his hands behind his head. "I hate formalities."
"Understood."
He shook his head and smiled.
"What?" she asked, curious on what she was doing wrong.
"You need to loosen up a bit," Philip threw in. "You sound a bit uptight."
"I'm just used to talking this way. You talk like you have an issue with it."
"I don't . . . I never said that. I only said you sounded a bit uptight. We're talking off the job, not dogfighting in Mobile Suits."
"I'm not used to talking to people outside of business. I've never had much of a social life."
"Me neither, but that doesn't keep me from being normal."
"Normal? What are you implying?" She put hr hands on her hips and gave Philip a strict look. "That I'm . . . weird?"
"No, no . . . see, you did it again," he said while shaking his head.
"Did what again?"
"You're so serious."
She looks away and smiles. "I guess that's always been an issue of mine . . ."
Bright Noa comes out of the lounge.
"I want you two at your Mobile Suits, now"
"Yes, sir," they both replied simultaneously.
* * * * *
On a small ship making its way from the moon towards Side3, Yuu and Yazan continued to bide their time as they made their way back to the Londo Bell fleet. Yuu came out of the bathroom and swung the door shut.
"Kid, we're being ringed up," said Yazan, handing him a sheet of paper.
"Londo Bell?" He examined it. "They want us back ASAP. How far are we? From there?"
"We're not all that off."
Yuu got up from his seat and eyes his normal suit. "What's the situation over there? I thought they were docked in a colony?"
"You talk too much, kid. Read the rest of the letter and it'll probably answer your question."
Yuu continued reading. His eyes widened in shock. "The Black Dream . . . they just fried everyone in a colony? But how?!"
"Yep. Oven roasted 30 million of 'em. And they threatened to cook more of Side 3 if we didn't get out of there."
"Dammit! How could they?!" Yuu shouted, smashing his fist against the wall.
"Bright expects a battle," said Yazan, ignoring Yuu's "drama".
"Already? Is there a way we can speed this thing up?"
Yazan had immediately felt Yuu was going want to do something either crazy and stupid and responded to it with a deep sigh. "Kid, we're going the fastest now. Just calm down, Londo Bell will hold up until we get back."
"No! If that Regalus or those Jinn Dogas are in that battle, not much is going to be left of that fleet."
Yazan was just about sick and tired of Yuu's complaining. "So then, smart guy, what do you plan on doing?"
"I'm going to launch independently in the Miracle. You can wait until you reach Ra Cailum . . . or whatever's going to be left of it."
"You're crazy, kid. Do whatever you want."
"Fine. I'm gone."
* * * * *
Nanai walked onto the upper bridge area of the Titanic and observed the status of the fleet.
"Ma'am, the Rewloola has arrived."
"Excellent. How many ships will we have for this battle?"
"We have the Rewloola plus the Titanic and 4 out of the 11 other ships. We outnumber Londo Bell for now."
She nodded in satisfaction. "I want the Jinn Dogas in a platoon of their own just like the last time."
"Yes, ma'am."
"I want Sanders at the head of the fleet. After out men have launched, we'll wait awhile and then deploy the Regalus."
* * * * *
The Jegan pilots on the Ra Cailum all prepared for battle.
"You scared?" Jill asked Philip.
"Scared? Scared of what? The enemy?"
"Yeah, I mean, with those aces out there . . ."
"Me? Scared? Hell no."
"To tell you the truth, I'm frightened."
Philip swung his helmet over his shoulder and continued listening as they made their way towards their suits.
Jill brushed through hair and fixed it so that it would fit in her helmet. She looked very depressed. "I've always been frightened in battle. I remember when I was living on Earth and told my dad goodbye before he went into battle. He never came home. Everyday, I prayed that he survived and that he'd come home. But . . . it never happened . . ."
"So, you're dad was a Federal Forces pilot also?"
"No, he was Kalaba." She lifted her helmet and watched her reflection in the glass. "The battle was at Kilimanjaro."
Philip looked heavily saddened for a moment.
"What's wrong?"
"Nothing . . . I just lost a friend of mine at Kilimanjaro. That's all."
"Well, then we have something in common."
Philip was now the depressed one, with an incredible wave of sorrow washing across his face. He shut his eyes. ". . . But of all the things, it has to be this."
There's a short silence. Jill smiles.
"I like it a whole lot more when you show how you're really feeling."
"What?"
"You . . . I mean, sometimes you act like a different person. A bit more . . . arrogant."
"Yeah, well, that's what remains of the old me."
"You're a good guy, Philip Hughes."
She leaps up into the lack of gravity and into her Jegan. Philip forces himself to smile and does the same.
The Nuremburg shot out of the Titanic and drove out into space and waited. From afar, Sanders could see the Ra Cailum.
"Just on time . . ."
Slowly, one by one, Geara Dogas launched from the ships and lined up behind Sanders.
"I never used to accept myself as the Reaper . . . but if that's what I'm meant to do, then I guess that's what I'm going to have to go with."
The Miracle Gundam detached from the carrier ship and took off.
"Wait." Yuu heard. He turned around and saw the Lionheart in Mobile Armor mode detach from the carrier ship.
"I knew you'd follow me."
"Save it kid. Ride on the back."
The Miracle got on the back of the Lionheart. At full speed, the Lionheart took off, heading towards what would soon become the battlefield . . .
To Be Continued . . .
Two Men, One Force Chapter 8: True Blue
Lieutenant Carl leaped over next to Bright Noa and handed him a sheet of paper. Bright reached over and immediately went over it. "A threat from the Black Dream?" Bright said to himself. Bright mumbled the words while reading for himself. He crumpled the paper up in shock and disbelief. In anger, he shot up and threw it aside.
"What's wrong, sir?"
Bright shook his head. "Get in contact with the Ra Sierra and Ra Kiev. We're leaving the colony."
Terry Sanders was once again wandering the halls of the Titanic. From every door he passed by, he glanced at the names on the door. The one at the end was labeled "Nanai Miguel". He promptly knocked on the door. He waited a short while, and the door slid open with Nanai in her black uniform.
"Mr. Sanders? What're you doing here?"
He gazed into her room and saw various odd things. Nanai quickly slid the door shut.
"Well, Mr. Sanders?"
He gave her a stern look. "Hiding something from us?"
"Now why would I do that?"
"You tell me . . . Rear Admiral Kycilia Zabi."
She immediately put on a devilish smile and started walking away. "Come, Mr. Sanders, let's talk about Rear Admiral Kycilia Zabi."
"I'd rather talk about Johnny Ridden," he said in a both angered and curious voice, leaving Nanai in an unsettled position.
"What about him?"
"You're using him."
"And?" she said with a certain amount of cruelty in her voice.
"The guy is a complete nutcase!"
"He was once normal. I was once pretty normal to, you know . . . but then my boyfriend left me for a soul of a 14 year old girl."
"You're using some psycho nut that probably thinks it's still 0079."
"The same way you're using me to get what you want, right Mr. Sanders?" Her crooked smile turned into a grin.
He grunted at her. "You're not a psycho. I don't see you running around calling thin air "Char Aznable"."
"How do you know that?"
". . . I'm afraid to ask." He thought for a second. "And I don't call what we're doing an abusive agreement. I call it mutual gain."
"I suppose you can call it that."
"And I'm surprised you didn't go all nuts when I mentioned Mr. Aznable."
"In my eyes, he's a traitor, Mr. Sanders. Traitors don't get respect, nor should they deserve it." She sighed. "I did love him, though . . ."
"Whatever," he replied in his usual voice lacking the want for reason and only answers.
"So I'm hoping you have your answers now?"
"Not really. And I'm letting you get away until I do have my answers."
"Okay, shoot."
"Why?" he asked.
"Why? Why what?"
"What's the point of using that guy?"
Nanai looked away from Sanders and smiled once again. She stared out the window, deep into the depths of space. "Mr. Sanders, I thought that would've been obvious. The man is a wrecking machine. Just by asking him, I can have him destroy an entire Side. He's invincible when combined with EXAM . . ."
"And what is this EXAM? He said it was something to keep him from going crazy."
"It's the other way around. It's to make sure he goes on a psycho rampage. Soon, EXAM will become him and he will become EXAM, and as equal partners, they will be the personal fighter for Kycilia Zabi. No single person in Londo Bell can handle him. No one."
"You wanna' bet that?"
She started to fix her hair as if none of this really mattered to her, especially Sanders' opinion of the situation. "I wouldn't mind, actually. Londo Bell's best pilot, Amuro Ray, went down at the end of the last conflict. There will be no stopping us this time. I guarantee you of that."
"You don't talk to the other soldiers much, do you?"
"Not really. Why?"
"The blue nightmares they're calling 'em. And the names fit them."
"What are you talking about?"
"You're telling me you haven't seen the two new Feddie models? They say one's a Gundam."
"Really . . ."
"I fought the other one. The pilot's tough as nails. Both suits are colored dark blue."
". . . Hence the name "blue nightmares". Such a cliché name for our supposed two biggest rivals."
"So you did know about them . . ."
"What, you're a mind reader now? I try to be as frank as possible, Mr. Sanders. It's not good if everyone knew what I was thinking. My informant aboard the Ra Cailum informed me about the models, but I'm not worried. As long as I have you and Ridden on the front line, we can't be stopped."
"Whatever you say, Kycilia Zabi . . ."
Sanders turned to walk away. Nanai suddenly felt a wave of uneasiness take over her body and threw her sanity of aside.
"Can you feel that, Mr. Sanders?"
"Feel what?"
"That feeling in the air. That . . . oh God . . . what have I done . . ."
She began to fall to the ground. Sanders quickly runs over to her to help her. She pushes him away and brings herself back to her feet.
"It's . . . It's nothing . . ."
"You sure?" he asked, limiting the amount of congeniality he had in his voice.
"Yes. It's just hard being me sometimes . . ."
* * * * *
The Londo Bell fleet was now in space. In a rage, Bright Noa tossed a random object across the lounge. It smacked against the wall and began to float in the zero gravity. Jill shook her head.
"I can't believe it . . ."
The men surrounded Bright Noa and calmed him down. He sat down and put his hands around his head. "We left the colony, and they still set off that microwave bomb . . . those bastards."
Everyone either sat or stood in silence. Bright looked across the room and shrugged.
"Someone make contact with Yuu and Yazan and tell them we need them ASAP." He got up. "Everyone to their battle stations. Expect a heavy attack."
Philip and Jill leave the room. Philip sighs and takes a deep breath. "Looks like we're on our way into a huge clash."
"Quite."
"Quite? What's quite?"
"Pardon?"
". . . Nevermind."
"Have a problem understanding my tongue, Ensign Hughes?"
"No . . . well, umm . . . sort of, no . . . yeah . . ."
She giggles.
"What's so funny?" he asked. Not too happy with the way he was being treated.
"Nothing, nothing . . ."
"And the name's "Philip"." He threw himself against the wall and put his hands behind his head. "I hate formalities."
"Understood."
He shook his head and smiled.
"What?" she asked, curious on what she was doing wrong.
"You need to loosen up a bit," Philip threw in. "You sound a bit uptight."
"I'm just used to talking this way. You talk like you have an issue with it."
"I don't . . . I never said that. I only said you sounded a bit uptight. We're talking off the job, not dogfighting in Mobile Suits."
"I'm not used to talking to people outside of business. I've never had much of a social life."
"Me neither, but that doesn't keep me from being normal."
"Normal? What are you implying?" She put hr hands on her hips and gave Philip a strict look. "That I'm . . . weird?"
"No, no . . . see, you did it again," he said while shaking his head.
"Did what again?"
"You're so serious."
She looks away and smiles. "I guess that's always been an issue of mine . . ."
Bright Noa comes out of the lounge.
"I want you two at your Mobile Suits, now"
"Yes, sir," they both replied simultaneously.
* * * * *
On a small ship making its way from the moon towards Side3, Yuu and Yazan continued to bide their time as they made their way back to the Londo Bell fleet. Yuu came out of the bathroom and swung the door shut.
"Kid, we're being ringed up," said Yazan, handing him a sheet of paper.
"Londo Bell?" He examined it. "They want us back ASAP. How far are we? From there?"
"We're not all that off."
Yuu got up from his seat and eyes his normal suit. "What's the situation over there? I thought they were docked in a colony?"
"You talk too much, kid. Read the rest of the letter and it'll probably answer your question."
Yuu continued reading. His eyes widened in shock. "The Black Dream . . . they just fried everyone in a colony? But how?!"
"Yep. Oven roasted 30 million of 'em. And they threatened to cook more of Side 3 if we didn't get out of there."
"Dammit! How could they?!" Yuu shouted, smashing his fist against the wall.
"Bright expects a battle," said Yazan, ignoring Yuu's "drama".
"Already? Is there a way we can speed this thing up?"
Yazan had immediately felt Yuu was going want to do something either crazy and stupid and responded to it with a deep sigh. "Kid, we're going the fastest now. Just calm down, Londo Bell will hold up until we get back."
"No! If that Regalus or those Jinn Dogas are in that battle, not much is going to be left of that fleet."
Yazan was just about sick and tired of Yuu's complaining. "So then, smart guy, what do you plan on doing?"
"I'm going to launch independently in the Miracle. You can wait until you reach Ra Cailum . . . or whatever's going to be left of it."
"You're crazy, kid. Do whatever you want."
"Fine. I'm gone."
* * * * *
Nanai walked onto the upper bridge area of the Titanic and observed the status of the fleet.
"Ma'am, the Rewloola has arrived."
"Excellent. How many ships will we have for this battle?"
"We have the Rewloola plus the Titanic and 4 out of the 11 other ships. We outnumber Londo Bell for now."
She nodded in satisfaction. "I want the Jinn Dogas in a platoon of their own just like the last time."
"Yes, ma'am."
"I want Sanders at the head of the fleet. After out men have launched, we'll wait awhile and then deploy the Regalus."
* * * * *
The Jegan pilots on the Ra Cailum all prepared for battle.
"You scared?" Jill asked Philip.
"Scared? Scared of what? The enemy?"
"Yeah, I mean, with those aces out there . . ."
"Me? Scared? Hell no."
"To tell you the truth, I'm frightened."
Philip swung his helmet over his shoulder and continued listening as they made their way towards their suits.
Jill brushed through hair and fixed it so that it would fit in her helmet. She looked very depressed. "I've always been frightened in battle. I remember when I was living on Earth and told my dad goodbye before he went into battle. He never came home. Everyday, I prayed that he survived and that he'd come home. But . . . it never happened . . ."
"So, you're dad was a Federal Forces pilot also?"
"No, he was Kalaba." She lifted her helmet and watched her reflection in the glass. "The battle was at Kilimanjaro."
Philip looked heavily saddened for a moment.
"What's wrong?"
"Nothing . . . I just lost a friend of mine at Kilimanjaro. That's all."
"Well, then we have something in common."
Philip was now the depressed one, with an incredible wave of sorrow washing across his face. He shut his eyes. ". . . But of all the things, it has to be this."
There's a short silence. Jill smiles.
"I like it a whole lot more when you show how you're really feeling."
"What?"
"You . . . I mean, sometimes you act like a different person. A bit more . . . arrogant."
"Yeah, well, that's what remains of the old me."
"You're a good guy, Philip Hughes."
She leaps up into the lack of gravity and into her Jegan. Philip forces himself to smile and does the same.
The Nuremburg shot out of the Titanic and drove out into space and waited. From afar, Sanders could see the Ra Cailum.
"Just on time . . ."
Slowly, one by one, Geara Dogas launched from the ships and lined up behind Sanders.
"I never used to accept myself as the Reaper . . . but if that's what I'm meant to do, then I guess that's what I'm going to have to go with."
The Miracle Gundam detached from the carrier ship and took off.
"Wait." Yuu heard. He turned around and saw the Lionheart in Mobile Armor mode detach from the carrier ship.
"I knew you'd follow me."
"Save it kid. Ride on the back."
The Miracle got on the back of the Lionheart. At full speed, the Lionheart took off, heading towards what would soon become the battlefield . . .
To Be Continued . . .