Disclaimer: Gundam Seed is the property of Sotsu Agency, Sunrise, Bandai, etc. The author claims no right over any of its concepts, characters and locations aside from those created originally for the purposes of the storyline.
A/N: Yay an update ! Busy-ness. This WAS supposed to be released during the holiday season, but it took longer to write than expected, and I've decided to cut the chapter into two because the chapter was getting so long.
Chapter 7 Revised Summary:
Athrun boards the reconstructed Gundam, and while Aya Vasil has completes Phase 1, he also prepares for his next step to realizing his goals.
Chapter 7: Challenge!
Athrun could not move. Cold shivers ran down his back, his eyes fixed on the screen in front of him. The shuttle had exploded right in front of him, illuminating the sky with a bright red hue. His mind barely registered the static coming through the channel as communications with the shuttle was violently cut off. Athrun's body hunched forward as his hands gripped the controls, feeling a familiar, violent rush within him as his mind's eye saw a green seed break into tiny pieces.
Anger surged through him as his heightened senses took over, his hands and feet moving of their own accord with a single intent—to defeat the Zakus.
Athrun's GINN moved forward, throwing its shoulder against the Zaku, throwing it off course. As the Zaku fell back, damage on its circuitry sent sparks into the air. Athrun pushed forward, locking onto the Zaku and firing consecutive rounds from the GINN's armaments. The Zaku exploded, but Athrun wasted no time in staring at the mobile suit that just exploded in front of him. Instead, he turned to the Zaku that had fired at him, pushing the GINN to its speed limits. Athrun focused on the Zaku that had made the shot, a little closer, and it would be over. He was dimly aware of Kira engaging the other Zaku as he dodged the shots fired by the Zaku in front of him. The Zaku's shot hit true, destroying the GINN's leg. Athrun paid no heed to the destroyed leg as he released the sword on the GINN's waist, swinging it down onto the Zaku, slicing it in half.
"Athrun!"
Athrun glanced at the communicator as it flashed, revealing Kira's face. The Zaku that Kira was engaged with had pulled back, retreating.
"The Gundam seems to be gone, and the other GINNs are low on power."
Athrun frowned, scanning his sensors, confirming what Kira said. He saw a brief flash at the edge of his sensors, before it disappeared. The sensors indicated a heat source moving away at high speed. Turning the damaged GINN, Athrun pressed down, allowing the thrusters to propel him forward in the correct direction, hoping that the sensors would pick up the heat source again.
"Tell the others to fall back. Moving in a group will just slow us down." Athrun commanded, his eyes searching the screen.
Kira matched Athrun's speed, his thrusters at full power. He understood what Athrun was thinking, they wouldn't rest until they found out what happened to Cagalli.
Gundam Fusillade came into view, but surprisingly, it did not pursue either Athrun or Kira as they came to view. Instead, it seemed to be heading towards a small object. Athrun felt his heart constrict painfully as his monitor zoomed in on the object.
Cagalli's unconscious form was floating in space, having had been thrown off from the explosion. Fusillade reached Cagalli first, and Athrun caught his first glimpse of the pilot who had single handedly shaken peace efforts from both sides. Clad in a pilot suit of blue, white and gray, the pilot had opened up communications with Athrun and Kira's GINNs.
"If you don't want her to become one of those tiny particles floating around in space, I suggest you stop where you are." Aya's voice rang clear through the communicator, while Fusillade's arm moved, the barrel of Fusillade's beam rifle aiming directly at Cagalli.
"Who are you?" Athrun's voice was low, jade eyes staring intently at Aya's cold gray ones. He wanted to go to Cagalli, to check if she was alive. If she wasn't…Athrun pushed the thought away, trying to focus on the situation they were currently in.
"You'll figure it out." Aya smiled, albeit cruelly.
"What do you want from us?" Kira interjected, his eyes dashing from the prone form of his sister to his communicator.
"Why two Coordinators would protect a Natural is surprising. In fact, it's downright absurd." Aya remarked.
"I believe it's more absurd indiscriminately kill innocents for some selfish, unknown motive." Athrun answered, wishing he could just check on Cagalli.
"I can't believe that two men, who must have killed hundreds of people for their own personal, unexplained motives, along with the daughter of a man who burned down a whole country, could honestly believe that they were 'discriminate' in killing." Aya retorted, eyes narrowing. "But that's beside the point. Right now, we're going to play a little game. It's where you and your GINNs, will be my puppets, and me, of course, will be the puppeteer."
"What?!" Kira and Athrun exclaimed in unison.
Aya only smirked again. "If the puppets don't want to cooperate, then I pull the trigger that turns her into space dust."
"We don't even know if she's alive!" Kira protested.
"Would you like to wait longer to find out? I'm sure that life suit will last only a few more seconds before the oxygen runs out, then she'll really be dead." Aya mocked.
"Now, what will it be?"
Athrun bit back a curse. The question of how were they going to get out of this ran through his head. He knew he had no choice. His mind quickly ran through his options, hoping for an alternative, finding none. Athrun took a deep breath, taking a quick glance at Kira, who grudgingly nodded.
"What do you want us to do?"
Aya chuckled. "It's simple really." His eyes narrowed as looked at Cagalli. "Bring her to me."
Fusillade raised its other arm, pointing it towards Athrun's damaged GINN.
"I want you to do it. Hover your GINN close enough and get her yourself."
Athrun swallowed, doing as Aya instructed. He debated on snatching up Cagalli and retreating back into the GINN.
"Don't even think about it." Aya's voice interrupted Athrun's thoughts. "If you make a move in the wrong direction, I'm going to just kill you both. And even if you get back to the GINN, you'll have 1.2 seconds before that hatch closes. How much are you willing to bet that I can fire this beam rifle through that GINN before that?"
Athrun scowled. It'd do no good to keep debating about it and have Cagalli die as he took his time trying to decide. Obediently, he hovered his GINN beside Cagalli. Unfastening the straps that held him to his seat, he pushed himself in Cagalli's direction. He took her limp form against him, quickly assessing Cagalli's condition. There was still oxygen left in the suit, and relief passed through Athrun as he noticed her breathing. A glimpse of Fusillade's beam rifle and its barrel brought Athrun back to reality. He slipped an arm around Cagalli's waist, turning both of them in the direction of the Gundam.
The hatch opened, revealing Aya's lithe form. He was pointing a gun at the approaching couple, seemingly calm.
Inside the GINN, Kira bit his lip in frustration. Aya had positioned Fusillade perfectly. He couldn't fire on Fusillade without risking Athrun or Cagalli being caught in the ensuing explosion.
Athrun stepped onto the Gundam, holding Cagalli's limp form. Aya still had his gun pointed at them.
"Very good." Aya drawled out, his gray eyes following Athrun's movements carefully. "Now, I'd like you to push her in my direction."
Athrun's hand tightened voluntarily on Cagalli, but he did as Aya said, slowly letting go of Cagalli.
Aya caught Cagalli, his free hand wrapping around her shoulders. Shooting the ground in front of Athrun,
"You can go." He declared.
"What are you going to do with her?!" Athrun demanded.
"That's none of your business." Aya replied, taking a few steps back until he was inside the cockpit, hitting a button that closed the hatch. Athrun was left no choice but to step back, or be crushed between two pieces of reinforced Gundanium.
Athrun fell back, silently cursing.
Aya glanced at the unconscious girl beside him, her face obscured by the face cover that had helped her survive. He mused at her luck. He had fully intended to kill her earlier. But he had found a better idea as soon as he saw the two GINN pilots he had confronted. Aya's lips quirked in amusement. Even with the enhanced abilities of coordinators, they still had not conquered what Aya considered the greatest weakness of all—human emotion.
Aya had honed himself into not allowing sentimentality to get in his way. There was only one thing important to him, and he would achieve it once everything was over. For Aya, to see that his opponents felt sentimentality was an affirmation of their weakness which Aya fully intended to exploit.
Aya landed back on to base. Exiting Fusillade, he relinquished Cagalli to the medics, who were on standby at the hangars.
"Make sure she's still alive." He instructed as he pulled off his helmet, loosening the zipper that held the collar of his suit closed.
The medics saluted, whisking Cagalli off to the infirmary. Aya walked through the narrow hallway leading back to the main hall.
He entered the boardroom, flipping switches that turned monitors on in front of him. Faces filled up the video screen, illuminating the room with a soft glow. Aya sat down and leaned back at his chair.
"I have her."
The men facing him nodded; their satisfaction evident through the flat monitor. Aya kept his face impassive as a wave of disgust went through him. He was facing men who were traitors to their own kind. Too cowardly to act on their own, they choose to let people like him do their dirty work.
They had approached a war-hardened youth, offering him chances for revenge and change. They hid under masks of generosity, while all they wanted was to secure their places in the world as Coordinators with power who could wield their influence over masses of Coordinators, enriching themselves through pushing so-called ideals which naïve Coordinators believed and funded.
"We need to launch Phase 2." One of the men scowled at Aya. "You have yet to get Lacus Clyne and Yzak Joule out of the way."
Aya stared at him, his gray eyes flashing dangerously. "Of course. How could I forget? Apparently all 9 of you don't have enough influence to convince 7 other members to declare war, when three 20 year-olds can convince them to do what they want in a matter of an hour."
Aya watched as his statement caused brows to snap together irritably, and nearly all of them started speaking at the same time to try and put him in his place.
"I'll contact you again, gentlemen." Aya interrupted smoothly, and shut off the monitors.
Cagalli's eyes opened slightly, her gaze settling on an unfamiliar ceiling. Every part of her body felt sore and bruised. Trying to remember the events that had transpired, she recalled that she put on a body suit and had tried to close the hatch on the lifepod. It had gotten stuck, and as she was trying to close it, there was an explosion that threw her back…and then everything had went black. She didn't remember how she could have gotten where she was, and it didn't look like a place which she had been to before.
Cagalli groaned as she tried to sit up. It was taking more effort than she thought. It sent sparks of pain shooting through her as she put pressure on tender parts of her body, making think she was probably thrown back against something rather hard. Making a face at the thin hospital gown she was in, she slipped from the bed, intending to roam around to see where she was. Before she could act on the thought, the door opening, revealing the man standing behind it.
"I see you're finally awake."
Cagalli's honey brown eyes met with Aya Vasil's steel gray ones. Something about him seemed familiar to her, yet she couldn't recall a time when she would have met him.
"Who are you? Where am I?" She inquired, her voice slightly wary.
Aya bowed slightly.
"I am Aya Vasil. You're at an infirmary at this military base, you've been unconscious for two days now."
Aya held Cagalli's gaze as he answered her question. He seemed to be watching her closely, waiting for a reaction. Her face showed no fear at all, only curiosity as she regarded him frankly.
"What do you want?"
Aya felt himself shake his head at the girl in front of him. It seemed like she didn't understand the situation she was in.
"I think a member of the United Council wouldn't even need to ask that." He replied. "I'm sure your influence would be helpful in a lot of ways, Cagalli Yula Attha."
Cagalli frowned as she understood what he was implying. She shook her head at him, her gaze defiant. "I won't let you manipulate me so easily, Aya Vasil."
Aya's lips quirked.
"I look forward to the challenge, Ms. Attha"
With that, Aya bowed and left.
Lacus had met up with Kira when he and Athrun had come back. Neither of the two boys had spoken after they had landed the GINNs, their somber expressions on their faces told the story for them. Piece by piece, Kira and Athrun relayed the situation to both Lacus and Yzak. The rest of his time was spent trying to figure out the locations where the Gundam they had encountered could have landed on. So far, they had no leads onto where it could have gone. It would take more time to narrow it down. Cagalli's kidnapper had not contacted them with any demands. To not know her situation, and to not know how to get her back had started to wear Athrun out. Lacus had pulled Athrun aside, firmly telling him to get some rest. He had reluctantly left the room which he had been working in, and returned to his assigned room. He had no plans of getting rest, as even if he had wanted to, it would elude him until he was able to find some answers. Deciding on a shower to clear his head, Athrun entered the bathroom. He rested a hand against the cold tile of the bathroom wall, steadying himself. Warm water trickled down his bare back as he tried to contain his frustration. It had been a week since he had landed the damaged GINN, and fury still consumed him. He had carefully kept it in check, reasoning to himself that there was nothing he could do now but try to get her back. It was his fault that he had handed her over to their current adversary, and in doing so, had given them an important instrument wherein they could be coerced to do whatever their adversary wanted. Now, she was lost somewhere in space, and there were a thousand possibilities on where that Gundam could have landed. A soft beeping sound interrupted his thoughts of self-reproach and frustration, alerting him that someone was on the other end of the communication line.
He slipped on a bathrobe, and pressed a red button that allowed the communication lines to be opened. The video screen beside the button popped up, bringing him face to face with Yzak.
"Do you remember where we convened for our first mission?"
Athrun nodded his assent.
"We'll meet you there."
The monitor abruptly went off, leaving Athrun to his thoughts. He went and got dressed, slipping on a military uniform that they had recently issued to him; something that he had not thought he'd wear ever again. It bore a new insignia representing the United Council's defense forces.
Athrun arrived at the base, remembering the first time he was there, as they prepared to invade Orb and capture the G units, as they had once called them. Things had seemed so simple then, everything in black and white. However, in their present situation, there was no distinction between committing acts of right and wrong; only a hope to live in a world where everyone could live peacefully. Athrun walked over to the entrance, and soldiers who were on guard saluted him, and allowed him access. He made his way down the once familiar hallways, and entered the hangar area.
Yzak was already there, accompanied with Dearkka. Both their faces were solemn as Athrun made his way towards them.
Yzak faced him as the lights behind him turned on one by one, slowly revealing a familiar silhouette.
"Ready for your first mission under the United Council's Defense Forces?"
Athrun nodded silently, his gaze drawn onto the Mobile Suit behind Yzak.
"I hereby order you to rendezvous with Kira Yamato according to my navigation instructions, and bring back Representative Athha to safety."
Athrun's hand went up as he saluted Yzak, who mirrored his actions.
Boarding the Gundam, he pressed the buttons that brought Justice to full power. Athrun maneuvered the Gundam to the platform where the catapult was located, and waited for his turn to launch.
The lights went from red to green, as the CIC's face popped up on the screen, confirming his clearance.
"Athrun Zala, Justice, Taking Off!
Chapter 8 Summary:
Members of United Council increases pressure on both Yzak and Lacus to go into war as another attack on Naturals ensue, while Milly realizes she has her own battles to fight while the rest go to the battlefield.
To all those who review and push me to update:
Yuugiri, Transmobilesuit, Fukari, KingArthur6687, MS Arashi Sumeragi, DeathZealot, Angel of Dreams, XStarryNightX, Tintin-chan, Doctor Kiba, Miyama, lightyearsaway, FreedomT1, Fantasia3, hlin, Maya, xxravenwingxx, xiaoj, Demonlover355
Thanks again!
