Chapter 8: The Day of Wrath and the Final Light
The airwaves were alive with orders and screams from both sides. Chaos truly reigned today.
"Stay with me Kale!"
"Two GINNs coming in from high above!"
"EXTERMINATE!"
"Pull back and defend the Petrovalosk"
"They've breached at green alpha 7!"
"Aleong squad requesting backup immediately!"
"Sikorsky squad launching!"
"Don't let any of those missiles touch the PLANTs!"
The last voice Athrun knew very well. Yzak was out there somewhere. Kira pinpointed where the nuclear missiles were and relayed the information to Athrun. "Let's do it!"
Two GINNs and two GuAIZ units started their attack runs against the nuke carrying Moebius armors, only to be stopped by the three escorting Gundams. The targeting computers onboard the Justice and the Freedom popped up and began to acquire targets.
Locked onto half of the missiles, Kira armed and fired all of the weapons at his disposal, the beams lancing out and destroying the missiles in a blinding light show. Athrun mimicked his friend's move and wiped out the remaining missiles as the other suits and the three ships finally caught up.
"I demand that the Earth Forces stop their attacks at once! Do you even know what you are attacking? Cease your attacks immediately!" Lacus pleaded over an open channel.
Apparently not listening, several more nukes were fired at the PLANTs. Before Kira and Athrun could turn their attention to the new threats, the rest of the pilots stepped up to the plate. Dearka's hyper impulse beam tore through three of the armors before striking a cluster of nukes.
Yzak fired his missiles, railgun and beam rifle all at once, taking out another cluster. Mu, and Flay took out the remaining missiles, saving the PLANTs once again. An urgent beeping alerted Yzak to an incoming coded message from Jachin Due. His eyes widened with shock as he read the message.
"Justice! Freedom! Get out here! GENESIS is about to fire!" he warned.
Behind the large asteroid fortress known as Jachin Due, the enormous GENESIS array uncloaked and activated its Phase Shift feature. As the Natural force wondered what it was, Patrick Zala gave the order to fire.
Bouncing off of the mirror block, the gamma rays hit the main section where secondary mirrors focused the energy into a coherent laser beam, which tore through the heart of the Earth Alliance fleet, inflicting massive damage upon any ship it passed, and destroying many more.
After several long minutes, the beam finally faded, leaving the Earth Alliance wallowing in confusion as the survivors attempted to figure out just who was still alive. Even the ZAFT forces were left in shock, having witnessed the power of the GENESIS cannon.
Forming into a semi-organized fleet, the Earth forces began a general retreat to the lunar base. Now empowered and encouraged by their victory, the ZAFT forces pressed forward to beleaguer the retreating Naturals.
"Captain Ramius, we'll have to pull back as well. Recall our mobile suit forces." Captain Bartfelt advised.
Kira couldn't stand watching the slaughter that was now going on. He separated the Freedom from the METEOR and armed his rifle. "Stop it! Don't attack those who aren't fighting back!" he yelled.
Athrun followed suit, but stayed attached to the METEOR, using the beam weapons to disable GINNs, CGUEs and GuAIZ alongside Kira.
"Freedom! Justice! Get back here now!" Andrew reprimanded.
Both pilots heeded their orders and returned to the Eternal, shocked along with the rest of the crews at how callous both sides were. With all of their suits secured inside their respective hangars, the three ships took off to find some cover and try to explain what had just happened.
The explanation was ready before a suitable hiding place was found thanks to Erica Simmons' tireless work. Barely an hour later, the Kusanagi had spotted a suitable area to stop and conduct repairs. The senior crew of all three ships met on the Kusanagi's bridge, all of them semi-eager to hear how the GENESIS had ripped through the Earth Alliance.
"It's basically a gamma ray laser. A nuclear cartridge is detonated and the resulting radiation bounces off of a mirror which then bounces off of an even bigger one which concentrates the rays into what we saw. Perhaps the only weakness is its inability to fire successively." Erica explained.
"What do you mean 'only weakness'?" Cagalli asked.
"The array was cloaked with a Mirage Colloid similar to the GAT-X207 Blitz's and it has the phase shift feature, along with the might of the Jachin Due defense force." She replied.
"Is there no way to stop that monstrosity?" Flay asked quietly.
"We won't know until we try." Athrun growled.
"I can tell you right now that the Earth Alliance will attack the PLANTs again." Mu said.
"We have to stop them, both ZAFT and the Earth Forces." Lacus declared.
"There's another thing: if the GENESIS beam was fired at the Earth, the resulting gamma radiation would sear the surface to a crisp and virtually destroy the atmosphere, leaving the planet uninhabitable." Erica added.
"Do you really think they'll fire that thing again?" Murrue asked.
"The purpose of any long-range weapon is self-defense." Andy said. "You know, when I first shot someone, it turned my stomach. They told me that I would get used to it, and over time I did."
"Are you saying that firing a gun is the same as launching nukes or using the GENESIS?" Dearka demanded.
"It's exactly the same." Andy confirmed.
"Look, it'll be at least a day before the Earth Alliance fleets move out again, and that's before they receive reinforcements from the Ptolemaeus crater. I suggest we all take the opportunity to rest a little before we fight again." Kisaka suggested, seeing where this conversation could go.
"I agree, it would be unwise to waste this time." Murrue said.
"Then I suggest we reconvene in 36 hours time, sooner if both sides go at it again." Andrew dismissed them.
Flay latched onto Kira's arm as the entered the lift. "So where are you going to be staying on our time off?" she asked.
"On the Eternal. I've got make sure that the Freedom and my METEOR are fully operational." Kira replied.
"They've got technicians for that, why don't you stay with me on the Archangel?" Flay suggested.
"I'd love to, but I need to do some of it myself with the OS mods I've done." Kira felt a little bad at having to turn down her offer, but it was true, he modified the OS to fit his exact needs.
Flay gave her boyfriend a pleading look. "Please Kira, stay with me?"
He regarded her for a moment. "It's Sai isn't it? You're scared of what he might try to do if I'm not there."
The faint nod she did confirmed his statements. An idea struck him. "Why don't you get the Strike and stay with me on the Eternal?"
She smiled, it was so simple. "Wait, but what about Athrun? There's not a lot of room in your hangar you know."
"Athrun and the Justice are staying here on the Kusanagi, and Mu and Dearka are staying on the Archangel. It'll just be me," he pointed to himself, "and you." And then he pulled her in close.
"Hold that thought flyboy." She said putting a finger on his lips.
He was about to ask why when the lift came to a stop and the doors opened onto a very busy and crowded flight deck. The Strike, Buster, 105 Dagger, Freedom and Justice were against the back wall as much as possible to allow room for the shuttles from the Archangel and Eternal.
Had things been planned a little better, the suits and shuttles would have been staggered so there would be an escort at all times. Neither ship was far apart, but it made little sense to take any chances this stage of the fight. Kira and Flay watched from the Pilot's Waiting Room as the shuttle for the Eternal containing Andrew, Lacus and DaCosta took off, leaving the shuttle for the Archangel next in line.
Murrue, Arnold and Miriallia boarded that shuttle as Mu and Dearka sealed and powered up their Gundams. All three were granted clearance to leave and they did. Still wearing their flight suits, Kira and Flay were last in line, with Athrun still staying on the Kusanagi.
The hangar was a lot more spacious with only a handful of M1 Astrays and the Justice, Kira noted as he and Flay floated out of the bay. Their trip to the Eternal was uneventful, and so was their shutdown procedure. Kira had an idea of what Flay wanted to do during their time off, but no specifics.
Emerging from the changing rooms, Flay embraced Kira tightly and refused to let go for several minutes. Kira hugged her back and comforted her. The day had been a tiring and stressful one, dealing with both the repeated nuclear attacks from the Earth Forces, and the powerful GENESIS ray from ZAFT.
"So what did you have in mind for our time off?" Kira asked her.
"I can think of a few things, but let's play this by ear right now." Flay smirked at him. Her expression melted as Kira kissed her full on the lips.
Parting lips after a few moments, Flay spoke quietly "I thought you wanted to work on the Freedom."
"Freedom can wait, you come first." He said kissing her again. A few crewmembers passed them by; paying little attention to the kissing couple, and neither one of them noticed or particularly cared.They somehow made it to his room, and Flay managed to push Kira onto his bed before kissing him softly. And then time had no meaning for them.
"Did you ever think that the war would progress to this level?" Cagalli asked Athrun as they floated near a viewport.
Athrun regarded Kira's twin sister for a second before responding. "I never even thought the war would start, and even when it did, I believed that every thing would be fine."
"Even with your father leading the PLANTs at the time?"
"My father ... has changed a lot. I believe that Former Chairman Clyne was doing a better job at trying to end the war peacefully than my father will ever achieve. We took up arms in the name of self-defense, but now that has changed." Athrun told her.
"Do … do you think that the war will end? Without resorting to genocide, I mean."
"We have to make it end, if it drags on then nobody will survive."
The watched the stars for a long time in silence.
Miriallia stretched her arms as the lift doors opened, feeling some of the tension drain out of her shoulders. Looking up, she saw Dearka leaning against the wall. He smiled at her. "Hey, want to grab a cup of coffee?" he asked.
"Sure." She agreed. After all, why not? With Kira and Flay over on the Eternal, and Sai acting very strange towards almost everyone since the night of the dance, it seemed that Dearka was the only stable one left on the ship.
Grabbing two steaming cups of coffee from the dispenser, Dearka set one in front of Mir and then sat down beside her. "So how has your day been so far?"
"Bordering on terrible. I expected to see both sides start another engagement all day, and even now, I'm worried." She explained.
"When the fighting starts again, I promise I'll do everything I can to protect you." Dearka stated.
Mir started to laugh, confusing Dearka. "What? Why are you laughing? It's true you know; I'd do anything for you." He repeated.
Her laughter toned down a lot, but didn't disappear. "I'm sorry; it's just a little odd to hear such serious words coming from you. It's not new to me, but it's still different." She said while trying to massage her neck.
Dearka gently moved her hands away and started to massage her neck himself. "That feels nice." She murmured. He continued and moved to her shoulders as well.
"Hey Elsman!"
"What!" Dearka demanded as he looked at Mu standing in the door way.
"I need your help in the hangar." Mu smiled.
"Now?" he groaned.
"Yes now, now move!" Mu ordered.
Dearka shook his head irritably then stood up and smiled apologetically to Miriallia. "Sorry, I guess duty calls."
"FLAY!" Kira woke up again, the same nightmare having reoccurred. He was breathing heavily and sweating, but he was certain he didn't scream this time. Rolling his head to his left, he saw Flay once more sleeping peacefully.
"This has to stop." He muttered to himself. But who could help? The answer struck him, it was very obvious and it was a chance to kill two birds with one stone. If anyone could help, it would be Captain Bartfelt.
If there was a competition to get dressed and make it to the bridge of the Eternal, then Kira probably would have won it. The bridge was deserted except for Andrew and a few of Lacus' Haros floating around.
"Captain Bartfelt?"
"What is it Youngster?" his tone was inviting.
"Can I ask you something?"
"Go right ahead."
Kira paused for a second, remembering the horrors his nightmares brought him. "I've been having these … dreams, well more like nightmares … and … Flay … she …" he couldn't finish his sentence.
"You're afraid to lose her." Kira nodded. "I'm no doctor or therapist, but as a soldier and a commander, I know these things happen frequently. The pain of loss is powerful Kira, believe me. You must learn to face your fears."
"There's another thing … and I think this one is more dangerous." Kira explained the enemy Gundam that he believed Rau Le Creuset was piloting in his dreams. He went in to great detail the weapons system the Gundam apparently used.
Andrew sat back in his seat, his light smile replaced with a frown. "Have you ever heard of anything like that?" Kira asked.
"Heard of ? No. Something like that would be top secret, very hush-hush, like the Freedom and the Justice were. But seen? Unfortunately, yes. If you're describing the same one I'm thinking of, then we could be in very big trouble."
"You've seen it?" Kira was shocked.
"Not in action, or in person, but I've seen the schematics for a few prototypes before the Clyne Faction's exodus. It was codenamed the Providence, and I thought it would be impossible to build. I could be wrong."
Now Kira wasn't so sure this talk was such a good idea.
"The Earth Forces vessels have begun their assault!" Miriallia announced.
"All vessels prepare to move out, all pilots to their ships." Kisaka ordered.
Kira watched as the Strike left for the Archangel, and then went to change into his pilot's suit. "This is it." He told himself. "We have to make this the final battle. I won't let anymore of my friends die!"
On the Kusanagi, Athrun was floating down the corridor with Cagalli. She stared at him for second before turning away when he noticed. "What?" he asked.
"Oh nothing. I'll be out there as well, we had all the parts for the Strike Rouge in storage and it's just been assembled. Well, see you!" she said as they came to a t-intersection.
"Wait a minute, Cagalli!" Athrun called out, grabbing her hand. "You're going out there, in the Strike Rouge?" he questioned.
"What's the problem? I've had more than enough mobile suit training, and I'm much better than those Astray pilots."
"Yeah, but … I mean …"
"What we want to do, what we can do, what we must do, it's the same for everyone. For you, for Kira, for Lacus, Dearka, Mu and even Flay. It seems pointless sometimes to go out and fight but with everything that's going on now, we must. Besides, you take a lot more chances out there than I ever would."
Athrun was stunned, but not all that surprised. "I'm not going to let you die Athrun, no way. And I'll be watching over that guy who could be my little brother."
"Little brother? Wouldn't he be your big brother?"
"Not a chance! He's definitely the younger one."
"I guess you're right." Athrun pulled her into a hug. "I'm pretty lucky to have met you."
"Athrun?"
"You and I, we can protect each other." Athrun said right before kissing her with the Earth as their backdrop.
Dearka sat in the Buster, his face showing up on Mir's monitor. "So they want us to stop both GENESIS and the nukes at the same time while fighting?"
"Then just give up." Mir said, terminating the connection.
After a second, she reestablished the link. "Just kidding, I'm sorry." She said with no mirth in her voice. "Be careful out there." She turned her head.
"Thank you." He said graciously.
"Captain, all mobile suits onboard the Archangel are ready to launch." Mir reported.
"The Kusanagi's suits are ready to fly." Kisaka reported.
"There must be a separate group carrying the nukes. Find them!"
"Vessel detected at Orange 25, Mark 12 Alpha. It's the Dominion!"
"Please have all vessels launch their mobile suits." Lacus ordered.
"All ships deploy your mobile suits!" Andrew repeated.
"Mu La Flaga, 105 Dagger taking off!"
"Dearka Elsman, Buster taking off!"
"Flay Alster, Aile Strike launching!"
"Strike Rouge, LET'S GO!"
"Athrun Zala, Justice, launching!"
"Kira Yamato, Freedom let's do it!"
"METEORs lift off!"
"Energy surge detected from the GENESIS array, it's going to fire." Erica reported.
"Prepare for evasive maneuvers." Kisaka ordered calmly.
"Its firing!" the GENESIS cannon fired again.
The destructive beam punched though the reinforcements from the lunar base and then smashed into the Ptolemaeus base itself, killing everyone horribly as the base exploded, a giant mushroom cloud of lunar dust forming, marking the base like a gravestone.
"Not again." Kira whispered.
"This is our window of opportunity! GENESIS can't fire again for at least an hour! Mobile suits go!" Andrew ordered.
"The Alliance won't take this sitting down. Head for the PLANTs, we'll take out the nukes first, then GENESIS." Athrun ordered, taking command for now.
"Mu, Flay, Dearka, keep them off our backs!" Kira said.
Athrun was right. Escorting the Peacemaker force were the Calamity, Forbidden and Raider currently in combat with Yzak in the Duel Gundam and the remains of the Jule Squad. "Missiles have launched! Kira, let's go!"
"How can you fire those things with no remorse!" Kira entered SEED mode and fired a full spread, wiping out half of the missiles in one go.
Athrun entered his own SEED mode and finished off the salvo, destroying the rest of the nukes as Yzak tried to track the agile Raider. He was hit from behind and Crot charged his Zorn mouth cannon, only to have Dearka blast him from behind.
"Dearka …"
Several more nuclear missiles were launched and the Forbidden came roaring in, forcing Athrun on the defensive as he ignited his beam sabers. "You! You won't stop them!" Shani growled.
"Oh no!" Athrun yelled.
Cagalli stepped up. "They're mine!" she fired and managed to destroy them.
Athrun fended off the Forbidden and then moved to help Kira against the Raider. His com unit came alive as the pilot spoke. "What's the deal with you two anyways? Why are you fighting so desperately?" he demanded.
"I could ask you the same thing! What do you think you're fighting for?"
"It's kill or be killed, and I won't die!"
"What?"
"Not that you could kill me!"
Cagalli dealt with a few straggling mobile armors and before she could try to help Athrun against the Raider, the Forbidden fired its arcing induction cannon, the plasma beam aimed right at her. And in a move that surprised them all, Yzak intercepted and blocked the beam, firing twice at the Forbidden.
Dearka armed and fired his anti-armor shotgun, blinding Shani for a second. Yzak holstered his beam rifle and drew a beam saber and charged. Reacting faster than he thought possible, Shani fired his plasma cannon again and watched as an explosion engulfed the Duel.
Emerging from the explosion and screaming in rage was Yzak with both beam sabers drawn. He sliced off the Forbidden's arms and then stabbed the other saber into the cockpit, killing Shani instantly before the suit exploded.
"Shani!" Orga cried out.
Momentarily distracted by his comrade's death, Orga barely avoided Kira's giant beam saber by backing up. Unfortunately, he ran into Athrun's saber which sliced him in half. "Let's go support the Archangel"
And out in space, rapidly taking out ZAFT mobile suits was Mu La Flaga. He felt the familiar feeling of an electric jolt run through his body, and he knew that Rau Le Creuset was nearby.
Neither of them was quite sure who found whom first, but to an outside viewer, the fight between them was one of the weirdest anyone had ever seen. Mu's four gunbarrels were deployed and moving around and firing, the same with Rau's eleven funnels. Both mobile suits were firing at each other as each pilot evaded all of the shots being fired.
Unfortunately, even though Mu had greater control over his gunbarrels compared to Rau and his funnels, Rau still managed to destroy all four gunbarrels due to the sheer firepower at his disposal. Mu felt the familiar jolt run through his body and raised the 105's shield in time to block a shot from Rau's judicium beam rifle.
"Is this what you want you demented bastard!" Mu yelled.
"This is mankind's dream, their future! To envy, to hate, to fight! I will end it all!" Rau yelled back.
A shot from a funnel hit Mu's rifle so he discarded it and activated a beam saber in its place. Both pilots clashed sabers as they continued to argue and fight. "And what the hell gives you the right to kill everyone!" Mu demanded
"Humans know only what they have experienced, and I am the product of all this! That alone gives me the right to decide!" Rau deployed his funnels again, trapping the 105 Dagger in a cone of fire and destroying the arm holding the beam saber and the leg on the same side.
Mu gunned his verniers and managed to escape his enemy, plotting a course for the Archangel. His Moebius Zero was still in storage onboard, and there was a chance, however slim that he could continue to fight.
Rau was unable to pursue Mu for a brief moment thanks to an attacking squad of Strike Daggers. But he knew the only place Mu would return to, the legged ship. "I will find you again Mu La Flaga."
The clash between the Archangel and the Dominion was nearly over by the time Mu came within transmission range. The Archangel was missing a Gottfried turret and had sustained damage all over, and it was nearly a mirror image on the Dominion, similarly missing a Gottfried turret but also a Lohengrin cannon.
Receiving clearance to land his damaged unit, the Archangel opened the portside hangar bay and ceased firing for just a moment. Mu had seen lifeboats emerge from the dark grey sister ship of the Archangel, and wondered what they were doing. His thoughts came to an abrupt halt when whoever was still on the Earth Alliance battleship readied the other Lohengrin Positron Blaster Cannon.
The Archangel moved to evade as the destructive beam of anti-matter, but they wouldn't clear it in time, and it looked as though the ship would be hit along the starboard engines. At least it looked like that until Mu acted.
Using the shield to block the Lohengrin, Mu could feel the particles of his mobile suit disappearing into nothing as the beam ate through his shield. "I told you I could make the impossible … POSSIBLE!" it was his one last victory, for the woman he loved.
The 105 Dagger disappeared under the intensity of the Lohengrin beam, and the Archangel avoided the rest of the attack thanks to Mu's selfless sacrifice. "MUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU!" Murrue cried out, not wanting to believe Mu had died.
And in a manner that spoke of revenge, the Archangel armed and charged its own Lohengrin, firing the positron cannon right through the ship, causing the reactor onboard the Dominion to redline and go critical, taking the rest of the ship with it.
The Dominion and the nuclear attacks had been stopped. Kira, Athrun and Cagalli were on their way to back-up and aid the Eternal and Kusanagi with destroying the GENESIS array. Yzak, Dearka and Flay patrolled around the Archangel as battlefield repairs commenced.
Everyone hoped this would be the last chapter in the war. They were all fast approaching the Never Ending Tomorrow, the Endless Future.
A/N: Well, I managed to update. For some reason I didn't enjoy writing this chapter all that much, and I attribute that lack of feeling to preparation of V90. One more chapter in True Feelings to go!
Prayer