By: Shadow Chaser
Previously on Gundam SEED: Entropy Rising…
"But to defend Orb, one has to live battles for now. There will be time to study later, when war's over," she said in a quiet voice, "tell the crew of the Babylon that we're departing in a day. We'll load up the rest of the Astray Mark II models and head to Panama."
"You were the same almost three years ago…you know…after Nicol's death," Dearka started quietly, "and then when I fought Yzak in Colony Mendel, Kira told me that I shouldn't repeat the mistakes you and he did in your fight."
"Athrun, don't turn this into a quest for vengeance. It's not like you."
Haruka quirked up a small smile before she began to pick at her blankets. "Ha…you know… That's what my parents actually wanted me to be, but I guess you can say that I'm a failed genetic defect. The process went all wrong because of my mother's habits… I do possess a few of the genes that people associate with Coordinators like fast healing and that sort, but overall…I guess I'm a cross between a Natural and a Coordinator."
"Dammit," he shook his head, "I just want peace that's all. If someone was able to create another successful test of what Kira is, how the hell do you think they won't stop at that rate? If someone has that knowledge we have to stop them. The first step is to eliminate anymore information at Mendel and you need our help!"
"We begin the attack in 30 minutes," Griever said in a curt voice and Lya nodded.
"Roger that. All hands to battle stations," she sounded the general alarm before bringing up her tactical data onto her screens. With their fleet, anything should fall in their way. After all, those that betrayed them deserved to die along with the infidels.
Phase Eleven – Joined Forces
Cagalli stared at the open waters of the Pacific Ocean. She mentally willed the Babylon to move faster. Already they had received advanced warning that certain forces calling themselves the Talon were going to launch a massive attack on Panama. That was just a few hours ago in the midst of their crossing to join the Archangel and Eternal. The transmission had cut off abruptly, telling her that whoever had been sending the message had probably been captured by enemy forces.
She didn't know how long before the battle had started or was it even starting, but she knew that by the time the Babylon got to Panama, it might be over – and either the attackers had left no survivors or Panama was barely recovering. Judging by the way their forces had devastated Orb and wrecked havoc all over the PLANTs, she guessed their attack force was going to be big.
The real question was, how did they get so many armaments without alerting any of the three major governments? The only real conclusion Cagalli came up was that they had been preparing for their attacks before and during the war, recruiting dissents and AWOL soldiers and special ops personnel during the war to help better organize the Talon.
"Waiting is always the hard part, isn't it Cagalli?" a high pitched voice startled her out of her thoughts and she turned around, her eyes wide with surprise.
"Lacus?! What…" Cagalli felt her jaw drop a few centimeters as she stared at the pink-haired girl who was holding Pinky, her favorite Haro in her hands.
"Myta! Haro!"
"I sneaked aboard," Lacus smiled as if it was a simple answer, "the locks aboard the Babylon aren't that secure."
Cagalli balked slightly, remembering what Athrun and Kira had told her, Lacus had a penchant to have her Haro undo the toughest of security locks, enabling her to roam about. "If Athrun finds out you're here…if Kisaka…"
"No more different than if Athrun found out you've gone to join the battle in Strike Rouge. Piloting a mobile suit is far more dangerous than commanding tactical in a warship," Lacus said in a quiet voice and Cagalli stared at her, struck at how she came to that conclusion.
"I'm competent enough," she defended herself.
"Yes," Lacus nodded, "I've seen you in battle, but your presence might upset Athrun. Yes he is a soldier and would not allow himself to be distracted in his battles, but he's also a gentle soul like Kira. The two of them have so many similar attributes that if they see you or me in the middle of the battlefield… They will fight to protect us, but they will also act rashly if they perceive us in harm's way. Athrun will fight to protect you, he loves you dearly, but he will also hesitate if you are threatened."
"Then I won't let myself be threatened. I'm going there to help Athrun, to help the Liberation Forces. I don't need a lecture," Cagalli snapped at Lacus.
Lacus held up a hand, trying to calm her down, "I'm not lecturing you, Cagalli. I'm only telling you to be careful out there. Things have been going downhill since the attack on your country that I only see your safety as a priority. You are an integral part of the peace process. If you were to fall in battle, then the ramifications would destroy this peace that we've tried so hard to create. OMNI and ZAFT would be all over each other at a moment's notice and war would resume with a deadly vengeance. Entropy would rule the Earth and the colonies."
"Even though entropy is rising, we still can't let the Talon get away with this," Cagalli understood what she was saying, "thank you Lacus for telling me the truth."
"It's what friends do for each other," Lacus replied.
He sat hunched in the cell that he had been thrown in, beaten and bruised, but not too injured. He had realized that his captors wanted him in semi-good condition, perhaps to bargain with PLANT for his release. Well they would be sorely out of touch as he had barely kept in touch with his mother for the last two years – not after what he had seen during the war, the destructive power of Genesis, the ugly face of war with both sides trying to just kill each other because of some petty hatred.
It was also why he had secretly joined the underground faction of the Liberation Forces, a secret group of soldiers, spies, and civilians located in PLANT. They were under the direct command of Lacus Clyne, and acted like an extension of the Clyne Faction. During the last phases of the war, he had heard the propaganda spewed from his mother and the late Patrick Zala, declaring Lacus a traitor – but he didn't believe it.
He believed that she was too much of a pacifist to consider that she sold the secrets of ZAFT to OMNI – and his beliefs were confirmed when he found out that Dearka and Athrun, his remaining teammates had joined her to try to bring about peace and stop the endless slaughter of innocents, whether Natural or Coordinator.
For Yzak Joule, he had become a spy to prevent something like what the Talon was doing. He did it to help redeem his own conscience that had been in turmoil, to help others, and to finally see some peace. He had joined without his mother or father's consent, the only thing that he had kept in mind was what Dearka had told him – that even though enemies Coordinators and Naturals were, they were all still human and had their own vulnerabilities.
He joined the Clyne Faction of the Liberation Forces to help ferret out any dissent from those who wanted war again – and it kept him out of the media spotlight that had been shed on his mother's activities under Patrick Zala's rule. But now, he had been captured and taken prisoner aboard the ship he had infiltrated – his position compromised by his haste to warn those in Panama, PLANT, and Orb to try to get all of them to concentrate their three-way allied forces to destroy the Talon once and for all.
He knew that it was reckless and knew that he probably deserved to be captured, but the Talon never knew who they were dealing with. This also gave him a good opportunity to return to the front lines and perhaps take out a few of the Talon's mobile suits before any serious damage occurred and if he survived, warn Panama of the second wave that was probably going to follow if they succeeded in defeating the first wave.
Sven Anderson was one who never liked to leave things alone, and Yzak knew that as he had been undercover for nearly seven months prior to their attack on Orb. He had tried to warn Senator Amalfi that his aide Roger was a traitor, but apparently his messages didn't get through in time. He had hoped it was a small repayment of him not being able to protect Amalfi's son, Nicol, from his death in the war – but it wasn't enough.
He would have done more to sabotage the Talon and reveal more of their plans to his contacts and to Lacus, except for Anderson's right hand man, the boy with a wicked looking scar down his left side named Nikolai Mercus. The boy's voice and mannerism reminded him a lot of the pilot of the Freedom and Strike and he had inquired about it – and found out that Nikolai, or his codename, Griever, was the clone-brother of the pilot of the Gundams, Kira Yamato.
That had been a shock…
He wasn't able to do anything about Griever because of the boy's uncanny abilities that almost rivaled ESPer status, something Yzak thought only existed in legends and myths of the old days. And those abilities prevented him from sending out more messages to PLANT and Orb about the Talon – for the fear of compromising his position early.
But now…now he had to escape – and it had been easy lifting the keys from the guard that had escorted him to his cell. It was an electronic panel cell, but Yzak had tinkered with its inner system, using the keys he had pilfered from the guard's belt, making it so that a bit of the door slid open, enough for him to put his hands through and pull it open, slowly and inch by inch.
He pulled on the door slightly, quirking a small smile as a loud scrape of metal against metal got the door further open. This time a fairly large shaft of light poured in from the hall and he knew he had alerted the guards surrounding the cells. He moved behind the darkened section of the door, crouched and waited.
"What the…" the voice of a guard sudden said and Yzak sprang from his hiding place, tackling the guard in the waist. His right arm grabbed the guard's rifle before his left hand knocked out the guard with a vicious left hook. Swinging the weapon he had acquired to bear upon the second guard, Yzak didn't hesitate as he pressed the trigger, unleashing a hail of bullets that struck the second guard – killing her instantly.
He paused for a moment, his eyes and ears alert for any signs of additional guards. He knew that he didn't have too much time as his captors always checked in regularly. He gathered a few clips from the knocked out guard's belt before he stood up and walked out of his now opened cell.
Moving quickly through the corridors he ducked into unoccupied passage ways on board the Retribution as soldiers or technicians ran through, the general alarm klaxon sounding for all hands to battle stations. Based on when he was captured, he estimated that the battle had been going for at least almost an hour…which meant that Panama was putting up a really strong fight.
As he slipped into the Retribution's hangar bay he crouched behind a stack of crates, his blue eyes narrowed as he watched the Strike Daggers, GINNs, and many of the other motley assortments of mobile suits the Talon had collected over the years in secret, launch away.
He spotted his own mobile suit, the Duel, still sitting in its place in the hangar bay…except it had been surrounded by quite a few armed guards – to prevent him from reaching his suit if he escaped from his cell.
This was going to take some tricky stealth work, he realized as he pursed his lips and counted the guards, noting what kind of weapons they were carrying. He wasn't that great at hand-to-hand combat, no that was Dearka's forte, but he was an excellent sniper…
Glancing down at the rifle he carried, he switched its settings to a single shot sniper and looked through the scope. Sighting with the farthest guard from the pack of guards, he waited until the loud rumbling of the other MS launching to muffle the sound of his rifle. He squeezed off a single shot, a wry grin forming as the guard fell, oblivious to the others and immediately sighted again. Pulling the trigger again and again, he felled each one of the guards, until three guards in the front remained – their eyes staring straight ahead, unaware of the others' demise.
"Hey! What the hell are you doing here!" a voice suddenly boomed behind him and Yzak spun without thinking, jabbing the butt of his rifle into the stomach of the soldier that had spotted him, before he brought up the rifle again and knocked the guard down to the floor, blood running from a fairly deep cut on the man's temple.
He was about to turn back to figure out a way to distract the guards when he spotted the soldier he had knocked out was carrying a few grenades for the land invasion after they had beaten down Panama's forces. A small grin lit up his face as he reached down and pulled one of the grenades from the soldier's belt.
He took the pin out and threw the grenade to the far side of the wall, where after a few seconds it exploded, throwing shrapnel into the air and alerting the three guards that had been guarding the Duel, along with other soldiers who were in the hangar bay. Like moths to the light, they converged on the area where the grenade exploded and Yzak made his break for the Duel.
He quickly climbed aboard the Duel and closed the cockpit before any of the soldiers realized what had happened. Fingers flying over the keyboard, he brought up the specs and data for his Duel and activated the thrusters.
Stepping forward, he heard the metallic ping of soldiers firing rifles at him, and activated his phase-shift armor. The bullets started to ricochet off of his Gundam and he walked forward before jamming the thrusters forward and flying out of the hangar bay of the Retribution.
What greeted him was the golden sun, dripping its halo on a bloodied battlefield…
Athrun activated his double-bladed beam saber once more and brought it down on a Strike Dagger, cutting it in half. He spun around and decapitated a Dagger and a GINN. He knew that he had promised Cagalli not to kill any soldiers, but at the rate he was fighting, his promise to her wasn't going to last that long.
There seemed to be no end to the wave of Talon forces. For them to accumulate so many mobile suits…were that many people displeased with the peace, so much to even go up against their own forces?
His targeting computer bleeped at him and showed him another wave of mobile suits coming towards him. Behind him, the various cannons and missiles from the Panama OMNI warships, the Archangel, and Eternal spoke to defend themselves. He was tired, frustrated, and generally pissed at the Talon…
A seed forming in his mind suddenly broke and Athrun narrowed his eyes, everything suddenly becoming clearer by the second. As he lined up a targeting solution, a part of him realized that this was what Lacus had told him, the seed-mode he usually fell into during combat.
He didn't know what ramifications it had on him, but right now, he used all of the skills he had. Firing, he watched as a multitude of green and red as his beam weaponry found their targets and destroyed some of them. Letting the trigger go before it depleted anymore of the energy expended from his phase shift armor, he flew forward and slashed down at the remaining mobile suits that were still left, destroying all of them.
An explosion behind him made him turn around to see the Eternal hit by a few missiles from a nearby Talon ship and he dived down towards it. Holding his double beamed saber in one hand, he took out his single saber and activated it before throwing it like a boomerang at the ship. The saber tore through the ship before spinning back to him. As he caught the hilt of his saber and deactivated it, the ship exploded.
Shielding his eyes against the explosion, Athrun was suddenly thrown forward against his controls and he grunted against the force. He turned slightly to see a mobile suit that looked like a cross between his Justice and Kira's Freedom. It bristled with heavy weaponry…
"We've have some unfinished business Athrun Zala," Kira's voice spoke over the comm., but Athrun realized it wasn't Kira, but his look alike.
"Just tell me this, who are you and why does the Talon want to destroy the peace?" Athrun replied, flying a bit away before holding out his double beam saber in a defensive position.
"I am Griever and as for why the Talon want to take peace away? You of all people should know why," the Kira look-alike replied, "take a look at what your father did and tell me then why should we not have our revenge against ZAFT and OMNI."
The comm. suddenly clicked off and Athrun ducked as Griever charged at him with two beam sabers in his hands. His specs read that Griever's Gundam was called the Liberty, an ironic name, he thought and it was armed to the toe. The Gundam was a walking death machine…
He parried with his double saber before lashing out with his feet, kicking Griever away.
Athrun fired one of his cannons, but it missed the Liberty and he defended himself in a flurry of movements as the Liberty attacked with relentless force. Suddenly a niggling sense told him to get out of the way and he pushed upward, just as a crimson beam of a Lohengrin cannon passed through where he had been, narrowly missing Griever.
He didn't get a chance to get a breather as the Liberty tackled him from below. Athrun batted him away and turned slightly to see who had fired the beam and noticed that a mobile suit was shimmering out of what looked like a mirage colloid like the one on Nicol's Blitz. Except the mobile suit that deactivated its mirage colloid was not jet black, but a dark blue-green. He didn't have anymore time as he parried another attack from the Liberty.
"You will fall today Justice," the pilot of the other mobile suit suddenly blared from his comm. system and he blinked, surprised to hear an angry female voice.
He paid for his momentary surprise as the Liberty slammed into him and he fell towards the water. Athrun quickly activated his thrusters at the last moment to prevent himself from smashing into the water at the wrong angle and hovered above the water. He suddenly moved to his right as missiles exploded out of the water, headed towards the Liberty and the unknown mobile suit.
Cursing silently at the ineptitude of OMNI's military forces for nearly killing him, he followed the path of the missiles and as they exploded, activated his heat seeking screens. He burst through the cloud the missiles created and yelled a war cry as he brought his beam saber down upon the Liberty.
He met resistance as Griever brought his two sabers up in an 'x' above his head, but Athrun wasn't finished with him yet and kicked the mobile suit hard in the middle, sending the Liberty spiraling away.
"Look behind you!" the female voice suddenly blared and Athrun narrowed his eyes as he was tossed around his cockpit, the mirage colloid mobile suit slamming into him. He twisted slightly to avoid being skewered by the suit's beam saber and tried to stab his own into the suit, but without success.
Suddenly the pressure on him was released and he looked up to see a rouge colored suit crashing against the mirage colloid suit, sending it hard down into the water.
"Watch your own back bitch," Cagalli's voice broadcasted over the battle comm. System and Athrun stared at the Strike Rouge, shocked.
"Cagalli…" he whispered.