I don't own anything except Kevin Walker and Invictus
To an observer with no idea of the relative vessel strengths, the destruction of the Eighth Fleet would come as a shock; that mighty force of over a dozen warships, blown out of space by one Nazca-class battleship, two Laurasia-class, ten GINNs, and four G-weapons.
But Kevin Walker, putative Ensign, Earth Alliance Forces, knew all too well the relative strengths and weaknesses of the ships involved, and after that battle, whenever he overheard someone suggest that the Fleet's destruction was due to the unpreparedness of the crews, or the incompetence of Admiral Lewis Halberton, he would explain in great detail that the ZAFT forces simply had an enormous qualitative advantage.
After, of course, he threw the offender through a wall for having the temerity to suggest Admiral Halberton or his men were anything less than heroes. Having met Lewis Halberton personally, the Blade considered him one of the most brilliant and honorable men ever to command a fleet in space.
But even that brilliance seemed nothing before the superior ZAFT weapons and people who knew how to use them, and some brave souls would point that out to Kevin. Yet he always maintained that it took a miracle just for the Archangel to survive that battle, and Lewis Halberton provided that miracle.
At the time of the battle, however, no one had the least idea that Kevin Walker might still be near. He'd taken off from the Archangel hours before the battle began, flying his unique mobile suit down to Earth; and no one realized was that Kevin Walker was, in fact, still in orbit.
Least of all the ZAFT pilots, including his old friend, Athrun Zala. And, as Kevin would point out many a time, what you don't know can kill you.
And did.
Things were hectic on the Archangel's Bridge during that battle; Halberton had given much the same orders Captain Koopman, the commander of the advance force, had: keep the Archangel out of the fight for as long as possible. Had Kevin been under those orders at the time, of course, he would have sneered, and, probably, disobeyed them. But at the time, he did not even have any intention of intervening in the battle, let alone pay any attention to battle tactics.
Captain Ramius, as it happened, had no idea any of the volunteers from Heliopolis were still around, so she was startled to hear the Bridge hatch open behind her.
"We're late," Tolle said, floating in with the others. "Sorry about that!"
"Where did you people come from?" the Captain asked in surprise.
"They've officially enlisted," Badgiruel said from CIC. "Captain Hoffman accepted them, and I approved it personally."
Ramius stared at her in surprise, as the newly-official crew members took their familiar places.
On a lower deck, Kira opened the hatch and quickly floated into the pilot's locker room, where the room's other occupant took notice of him. "Kira!" Flay said in surprise, and launched herself across the room, catching him in an embrace and knocking him back.
As they bounced off the hatch, Kira blinked in surprise. "Flay, are you alright? What is this?"
She pulled back far enough to look him in the eye. "You went away!" she said. "Or at least I thought you'd left us!" She was nearly in tears. "So I decided, everyone is fighting except for me, even though I was the first to say I would remain." Flay buried her face in his shoulder again. "So I decided... I was going to..."
Kira looked past her, and saw the locker with his own flight suit open. "You're not saying...?" He held her at arm's length. "Flay, don't start getting foolish ideas," he said. "A girl like you in a mobile suit? You couldn't possibly pilot it."
"But you see... all I wanted to do..."
He smiled. "I'll get back in the Strike's cockpit, and I will fight for the both of us."
She blinked back tears. "Would you, Kira?"
Kira let go, and moved to the locker, where he paused, and turned back to her. "So, um... Listen..." he said, somewhat awkwardly. "I've, uh, taken what you said to heart. I'll never run away again." He turned away. "I've made up my mind; it's just the way it is. We have to keep at it till we end this war. We must do what we can."
Flay pushed off, floated over to him, and touched his shoulder. "Well then," she said, "let me also say... that I intend to protect you."
"Flay-" Kira was cut off as she kissed him. His eyes widened in surprise, and then he relaxed, eyes slowly closing. They hung there, in zero-gravity, and Kira thought perhaps, as he had once told Blade, life did go on.
On the Bridge, Ramius watched grimly as the battle proceeded, and thought perhaps the Admiral had been wrong to keep the Archangel out of the fight.
Her thoughts were interrupted when her comm chimed. "Hey!" La Flaga said, when she answered. "Why am I still on standby? Those four machines are at it again! The Eighth Fleet is in deep trouble."
"Lieutenant La Flaga..."
"It's not as if my mobile armor alone will make much difference," he continued, "but still!"
"Our ship hasn't been ordered to join in yet," Ramius told him. "Please remain on standby."
"But that's-"
Ramius hung up, and turned to Kuzzey, at Communications. "Connect me to the Menelaos," she ordered.
A moment later, Halberton appeared on the monitor. "What do you want?" he asked curtly; he was in the middle of a fierce battle, after all.
"We wish to move away from the Fleet," she said. "It's imperative that we begin our descent sequence now, Admiral. Please authorize it."
"You can't be serious! Are you people trying to flee this battle to save yourselves?" Halberton demanded.
"This ship is the enemy's target," Ramius said stubbornly. "We must move away from you! Or else the whole fleet will be destroyed." She continued doggedly, "Alaska is out of the question, but from here we can still reach Earth Forces territory. We can shake off the GINNs and ZAFT vessels at the Earth's atmospheric interface. Admiral!"
Halberton paused for a long moment, watching as another of his ships was blown away before his eyes. Finally, he looked back at Ramius and smiled. "Murrue Ramius, you haven't changed a bit. Still reckless as ever."
She sighed in relief. "As you well know, a subordinate learns from her superior."
"All right, then. Begin preparations for the Archangel's descent now. We'll cover you up to the entry interface." He smiled. "We'll make sure not one single enemy gets past us."
"All hands, prepare for atmospheric entry interface."
Down in the hanger, La Flaga shook his head when the intercom sounded. "Descending? In the situation we're in?"
"What good's it gonna do you to yell at me?" Murdoch questioned. "But I guess it's better than sittin' around not doing anything."
"Yeah, well, you can understand-"
"Even if we shake off the ZAFT ships and GINNs, there's still those four machines," Kira said, floating past.
"Hey, kid!" Murdoch said in surprise.
Even more surprising, Kira was smiling; he'd never before looked that cheerful before going into battle. "I'll stand by in the Strike. Still at Level One Battlestations, right?"
"I thought he got off this ship," the Chief murmured to La Flaga.
"He's still at such a young age, and already he's seen his share of wars and battlefields," the pilot replied. "It's gonna make his life tough."
Murdoch glanced around at the largely-empty hanger and sighed. "Yeah, that's true. But I can't help wishing another guy who's seen a lot of battlefields were still here."
La Flaga nodded. "I know what you mean. Blade would really come in handy about now; especially in that crazy machine you guys came up with."
Neither knew that "that crazy machine" was still very close by.
Kevin Walker, the enigmatic pilot who had left the Archangel several hours before the ZAFT forces were sighted, had not descended from orbit as he had originally intended. He was, rather, studying the battle that was unfolding before him.
His cold jade eyes never flickered, even as ship after Earth Alliance ship exploded under the pounding of two Laurasia-class ships, one Nazca, ten GINNs, and four G-weapons... even as the Archangel herself finally came under direct attack.
Kevin's thoughts were conflicted, seeing that tangled battlefield. On the one hand, he had decided it was his time to leave, to continue his own private little war. On the other hand, fighting ZAFT was his "private little war", and as he'd told Ramius, there was a chance that he might turn up sometime to save their hides.
His fingers twitched on the control sticks, his right hand edging unconsciously toward the strange interface he'd installed himself on one arm of his seat. So what now, Walker? he asked himself. Are you Hydra, the unfeeling, uncaring warrior? Or are you the master of the blade, the soldier whose only allegiance is to his friends?
His eyes came up, the color of frozen jade, and one of Punisher's mighty hands reached for the hilt at its side.
"What's our status?" Ramius demanded. Only minutes before, the opposing forces had been more or less ignoring them; now, they had at least three GINNs singling the Archangel out for special attention.
"It doesn't look good," Pal admitted. "Those machines aren't letting up, and even if we wanted to, we couldn't launch the Zero; those GINNs would take it -or the catapult- out in a heartbeat."
"So what do we do?" Badgiruel demanded of the air.
"Mobile suits approaching!" Tonomura suddenly called. "They're zeroing in on the Bridge-"
Ramius' gaze snapped back to the forward viewport just in time to see one of the GINNs position itself for a direct attack on the ship's nerve center. "Intercept-!"
At the precise instant the enemy machine began to raise its weapon, bright metal burst out through its chest. Transfixed like a butterfly in an insect collection, the GINN remained frozen in place for a split second, before the mobile suit-sized katana ripped out one side.
By the light of the resultant explosion, another, eerily-similar machine was visible. Striped in red and black, with six wings on its back, the frightening apparition immediately tore into the remaining pair of GINNs. The first was split from head to pelvis; the second bisected diagonally down its torso.
The new arrival then turned to the Archangel, single eye staring directly through the Bridge viewport. And a moment later, a familiar, helmeted face appeared on the main display. "Was my timing appropriate, Captain?" Kevin Walker inquired, smiling faintly.
Surprisingly, it was Badgiruel who answered. "Your timing couldn't be better, Blade. But what in the world are you still doing here? I thought you were on your way to Earth."
The smiled remained. "Come now, Ensign. Did you really think I could leave without giving ZAFT a bloody nose? Besides, I figured you could use the help. You complaining?"
"Of course not," Ramius said, finally managing to get out a coherent sentence. "Thanks for your assistance, Blade."
"No problem." Kevin's outer, opaque visor slid down. "I'll give you an escort until you reach atmospheric entry interface; after that, you're on your own."
"Understood." She managed a smile. "That's another one we owe you, Blade."
"Buy me a beer in about five years and I'll call it even," he said sardonically, and signed off.
Badgiruel slowly shook her head. "Just when I think I've got the measure of the guy, he turns out to be a human being after all."
Kevin's eyes had frozen again as he returned his attention to the battle at hand. The conditioning that had made him what he was was back in force, and however much he hated what had produced it, he embraced it now.
One against nearly a dozen, a corner of his mind thought. I'm out of my mind... but I'm also the only one who can protect the Archangel right now.
He'd made a good start, certainly. Those three GINNs never knew what hit them. On the other hand, they now knew something else was out here... which meant a G-weapon was likely about to come calling.
As it happened, Athrun Zala had just noticed the interloper and decided to check things out himself. What is that thing? he wondered, deftly angling his Aegis toward it. Whoever he is, he's good. But I've never seen anything like that machine before...
As he drew closer, his mouth tightened. True, he'd never seen anything like it, but it was clearly based on a GINN's fuselage... and only one pilot flew under those colors. "Kevin..." Athrun whispered.
The hybrid mobile suit turned as the Aegis approached. "So there you are, Athrun," Kevin said calmly. "I wondered if I'd have to face you today." He took a moment to sheathe Punisher's gigantic blade; it would do no good at all against Aegis' Phase-shift. "I suppose we must fight, eh?"
"It doesn't have to be this way," Athrun replied, nonetheless holding his beam rifle at the ready. "Come on, Kevin; you know we don't have to be on opposite sides."
"You've said that before, Athrun," the soldier said softly, grasping his own rifle. "And I'll say it again: I cannot join ZAFT. Ever."
"But you're a Coordinator!" his old friend protested. "Why fight against your own people?"
"Any man who chooses his allegiance based on his genetic code is a fool," Kevin answered, voice implacable. "And as you well know, I was born in Orb; if I gave my allegiance to any government or nation, it would be my motherland." The rifle suddenly snapped up to firing position. "But my only true allegiance is to those like the men and women on that ship!" he shouted. "To the people I can trust! You used to be one of them, Athrun; now you're nothing more than a pawn!"
"What are you saying?" Athrun demanded.
"Enough talk, Athrun," Kevin said harshly. "You want the Archangel, you'll have to get through me first. So let's fight, mon ami; we'll settle this in battle... and maybe you'll understand what I'm trying to tell you when the clash of our swords echoes!"
Athrun's eyes went wide as the first shot spat out from Punisher's rifle; his surprise was so great he barely managed to interpose his shield in time. But... Kevin doesn't do that-
He cut off his own thoughts, even as he began maneuvering to counterattack. It was clear by now that the Kevin Walker he knew was long gone, replaced by a calculating soldier who cared only about getting the job done... and he had to admit Kevin had done a very good job of catching him off-guard.
No, Athrun thought, reconsidering his earlier thought, not a soldier; a super-soldier. But how...?
He decided now wasn't the time to worry about it when another energy blast lanced out at him, and he finally came to the reluctant conclusion that he had no choice but to follow through on his words the day Lacus had been returned to him. He could afford to show no mercy now.
Athrun Zala, pilot of GAT-X303 Aegis, returned fire against someone who had once been one of his best friends.
This is crazy, Kira thought to himself. The Strike's the only thing we've got that'll do any good against G-weapons -well, it and Blade- so why haven't I been ordered to launch?
He shook his head in frustration. Worse, perhaps, he'd been tapping into battle chatter... including the encrypted transmissions between Athrun and Kevin. The two were obviously engaged in battle now, and that was something he'd hoped would never happen again.
Of course, that wasn't the only problem. It was becoming increasingly clear to Kira that the Eighth Fleet was being torn apart. And if they were finished, Archangel would doubtless be next.
The next thing he heard seemed almost to seal the Fleet's fate. "The Duel and the Buster have broken through the frontlines!" Chandra reported over the intercom. "The Menelaos is engaged in combat!"
Kira cursed. "Lieutenant La Flaga, if we don't do something-"
"Yeah, I know." The Hawk of Endymion keyed his own radio, connecting with the Bridge. "Captain! We need to be out there! How much time do we have?"
Ramius' image stared at him in disbelief from the screen. "You've got to be kidding! You want us to-?"
"According to the technical specs," Kira interrupted, "the Strike is capable of reentering the atmosphere independently."
If the Captain had been surprised before, she was at least twice as astonished now. "Kira, what are you-? I thought you left!"
"We've got other problems," he replied, shrugging it off. "What matters is that if this keeps up, the Menelaos will be destroyed! Come on, Captain!"
Before Ramius could fully assimilate what was going on, Badgiruel came to a decision. "All right, then. But return before we reach Phase Three," she added sternly. "The specs may say it's possible, but it hasn't actually been tested outside the labs; we don't know what'll happen to the Strike's interior. Keep a constant eye on the altitude and time."
"Yes, Ma'am!" Anything to be doing something.
On the Bridge, however, Ramius looked down at her XO in anger. "Ensign Badgiruel!"
"If this ship is destroyed," the Ensign hotly replied, a slight catch in her voice, "then the sacrifices of the Eighth Fleet will have been in vain!"
She glared at her superior, and Ramius returned it in full.
Unaware of the clash of wills on the Bridge, Kira and La Flaga readied themselves for takeoff. "Even I've never flown a sortie in this kind of situation," the Hawk murmured. "Be careful out there, kid."
"Right," Kira acknowledged.
The Moebius Zero moved into the port catapult. "Mu La Flaga, launching!" Rising from its support, the last remaining Zero shot forward under the invisible propulsion of magnetic repulsion.
Kira was next up, in the starboard launch bay. Here goes, he thought, guiltily aware that Kevin's battle with the Aegis meant he wouldn't have to face Athrun. At least I won't have that distracting me. "Kira Yamato, launching!"
The Vesalius took note of the action. "At a time like this," Le Creuset whispered, silently cursing. "Why now?" He turned his head to look at his ominous hired hand. "Was this Hydra's idea, you think?"
Invictus shook his head. "Unlikely. Judging from that hybrid machine's vector, he was headed for Earth when the battle started; I would guess he decided on his own to return, and someone on the legged ship with half a brain realized launching the Strike and the Moebius Zero would be a good idea."
"You're probably right," his employer agreed. "But I suppose one never knows, with that man. His kind is dangerous as much for their minds as for their augmented bodies."
This isn't how it should be, Kevin thought distantly, exchanging another round of fire with the Aegis. This should be a clash of wills. A battle like this should be fought barehanded... in a minefield, maybe, the more manic part of his mind added.
Whatever he might have wanted, though, what he had was a battle between mobile suits, and it appeared he and Athrun were more or less equally matched.
"Tell me something, Athrun," Kevin began, twisting to one side to dodge a shot from Aegis' Scylla, "why do you think I'd leave my friends and join ZAFT?"
"Because it's where you belong," Athrun replied, wincing; a wince that became worse when he saw the Punisher put away its beam rifle and draw a saber instead. "You're a Coordinator, just like us-"
"So I should betray those who trust me with their lives, because their genes are different?" Blade's teeth were bared in a snarl as he swept down with his saber; he noticed absently that his comrades had launched, with the Strike engaged in a running duel with the Duel. "I told you, that's foolish! And let me tell you something else," he added, blocking one of the Aegis' blades, "when we came aboard the Archangel, and Kira was revealed to be a Coordinator, four security guards immediately trained their weapons on him. But a good friend of mine -who happens to be a Natural- stepped between Kira and their guns. Is that the mark of someone who hates Coordinators? I don't think so."
"But still-"
Another slash cut Athrun off, forcing him to raise his shield. "And there's something else," Kevin continuing, voice rising. "You're asking me to basically turn my coat and kill people who trust me! I already did that once, and I will never do it again!"
Athrun was now getting nervous. The only time Kevin Walker shouted at all, much less in battle, was when his formidable self-control cracked. In the current situation, that could well mean his death.
"So what should I do?" he demanded. "Give up on talking, and kill you instead?"
"You're half-right," Kevin replied. "You give up on talking... but if you think you can kill a man who survived a close encounter with a fusion bomb, you're out of your mind."
"What are you talking about?" Athrun grew more confused every time he ran into his former friend; he kept alluding to some past incident which had scarred him, physically and emotionally, but refused to give specifics. "What happened to you?"
"If you're with ZAFT, you bloody well ought to know. But you know what they call me in the desert?"
He blinked at the apparent non sequitur, and was afraid to ask. But he did anyway. "What's that, Kevin?"
"Racher." Kevin's eyes were hard. "It means 'Revenger', and there's a very good reason I'm called that. Because three years ago, vengeance became my reason for living!"
"What?"
Elsewhere in the melee, Kira fought against the Duel with desperate haste. He could see the atmosphere was coming closer and closer all the time... and the Duel refused to let up. "You're finished!" Yzak snarled.
"Not a chance!" Beam sabers clashed, and they went at each other again.
It was around then that it became clear all was not right in another region. The Gamow was edging ahead of her fellows, altering her vector to head straight for the Menelaos.
"Gamow, you're out too far!" Ades called from the Vesalius. "Just what are you doing, Zelman?"
"We've cornered them," Zelman replied defiantly. "We can't let up now; that's Halberton's flagship. He's the one who started all this, and today we'll see the end of him and the legged ship!"
"You'll never make it!" Ades protested. "Even if that Agamemnon doesn't get you, you'll never be able to pull out of the gravity well!"
"We know, Captain Ades. And it's a price we're willing to pay."
Zelman's image vanished, and Invictus slowly shook his head. "He's got guts, I'll grant him that. Too bad it's getting him and his entire crew killed."
"Yes..." Le Creuset agreed quietly. "No doubt if the attack succeeds, he'll get the Order of the Nebula... posthumously."
La Flaga saw the danger. "Not if I can help it," he whispered, and momentarily broke off his attack on the Buster to strafe the Laurasia-class.
Unfortunately, under the circumstances a mobile armor's firepower was negligible; particularly against a ship already on a suicide run.
"I see your comrades are brave," Kevin commented to Athrun. "But they won't survive this."
"They might get the escape pods out," Athrun disagreed; they had both broken off fighting for a moment. They were, momentarily, more interested in events they could not affect than in blasting at each other.
"That they might. But they won't survive me, if I catch them some other time." Blade shrugged. "Though they're safe enough for now; I refuse to fire on escape pods."
It was inevitable. Within moments, the Gamow was immolated by the Menelaos' fire... but the Menelaos herself was also doomed. She died soon after her victim, ripped apart by reentry.
No one noticed the shuttle of civilians that had made it off in the ship's last moments.
"Farewell, Admiral," Kevin said softly, sketching a salute.
On Archangel's Bridge, Ramius silently wept. Admiral... Rear Admiral Lewis C. Halberton had been her mentor throughout her career, had been the man behind the project which had produced the ship she now commanded... and now he was gone. For her, time seemed to stop.
For others, time was still moving, and fast. "We're nearly at Phase Three!" Neumann called. "One minute!"
"Order the Strike and the Zero to return at once!" Badgiruel snapped. "Blade, what about you?" Her opinion of the young soldier had changed drastically in the last few minutes.
"Negative," Kevin responded, already turning back to Athrun. "You're headed for Alaska; I'm not. I'll be fine on my own."
"Be careful, Blade," Ramius requested.
"Always am..." He cut the connection.
The battle was all but over. The entire Eighth Fleet was gone, leaving only the Archangel; the Gamow had been blown apart, leaving just the Vesalius and the Ziegler, and their prey was rapidly descending toward Earth.
"Blast!" La Flaga cursed, hearing the ship's recall order. "That's as long as I can go!" His Zero spun around and powered toward the Archangel, using its piton to haul itself in through the ship's massive aft hatch.
His erstwhile opponent, the Buster, was having his own problems. He'd reversed course, trying to boost himself into a higher orbit, but it wasn't working. "It's too late!" Dearka shouted over the radio. "I can't break free!" Now he had to hope the G-weapons were really as durable as they were supposed to be.
Blitz, Aegis, and Punisher were all safely above the point of no return, which left only the Strike and the Duel, which were still battling each other, while ignoring orders from their respective ships to return.
Kira, though, was finally getting the upper hand. He body-checked his adversary, then slammed the Strike's foot into the Duel's head, shoving him deeper into the atmosphere. "Take that!"
Yzak snarled in utter fury. "You bastard!" He raised his beam rifle, taking careful aim at the now-retreating Strike, and began to pull the trigger... and the small, previously-unnoticed shuttle from the Menelaos flew right through his sights, ruining him aim. "What?"
Kira's eyes widened in fear; and not at the sight of the beams blasting blindly toward him. "No, not now!" The shuttle, full of the people he'd escorted so far...
The Duel's white-haired pilot saw it, and mistook it for a troop transport. An understandable mistake, since it was a military shuttle; it had been pressed into service for carrying refugees because of a unique set of circumstances, which one would not expect to occur to the angry pilot.
That misidentification was about to result in tragedy. "How dare you get in my way?" Yzak snarled, taking aim at the shuttle.
Kira kicked in the Strike's vernier's, trying to stop him. "Don't do it!" he shouted frantically. "They're only civilians!"
Yzak did not even hear him; and probably wouldn't have believed him if he had. "You soldiers wanna be cowards and run away, do ya?" He pulled the trigger.
The Strike raced across space, coming close, so close to intercepting the shot...
Kira didn't make it. The beam speared the shuttle an instant before the Strike could reach it, and an instant later it exploded. "Nooooo!"
Kevin's eyes were colder than the space surrounding him now, seeing those refugees murdered before his eyes. "How dare you-!"
The Aegis' beam rifle had begun to lift again. "Kevin, what are you-" Athrun never finished the sentence.
Punisher's katana was suddenly out again, this time chopping off the barrel of Athrun's weapon. "Now you've done it, Athrun!" Kevin shouted in elemental rage. "Can you still claim to hold the moral high ground, after blowing dozens of innocent civilians away? Tell me, Athrun! Is that the price of freedom?"
Athrun's eyes widened. "Civilians...? Kevin, what..."
"Forget it, Athrun," the Blade said harshly. "I'll say this now, 'old friend': what you have just done is beyond the pale. I swear to you that if we meet again, you are a dead man. Consider our friendship terminated."
The Aegis' pilot felt the blood drain from his face. If there was one thing that had not changed about Kevin Walker, is was that fact that he never, ever violated an oath. Combined with his newfound combat skills, Athrun Zala knew it was in his best interests if he stayed as far away from the Racher as possible.
Before he could think of anything else to say, the Punisher sheathed its weapon, turned, and activated its verniers. His course would take him down to Earth, and fast. One of his objectives would soon be within his grasp.
Kevin had no idea the other was in that region, as well...
By now, the Archangel had reached Phase Three of atmospheric reentry, which that even had they been able to before, it was now totally impossible to recover the Strike. At least, impossible to bring it within the ship's hull.
"Where's the Strike?" Ramius demanded. "Is he still all right?"
"It seems to be intact, Ma'am," Mir replied, "but Kira's not responding. And his descent point differs greatly from our own."
"And there's no way for him to get back here," Badgiruel mused grimly. "The Strike's thrusters aren't powerful enough to overcome the descent rate."
The Captain came to a quick decision. "Then we have no choice. Chief Neumann, bring us closer to the Strike at once!"
"But then the Archangel will also miss its descent point!" Neumann protested.
"Making it there won't mean a thing if we lose the Strike," Ramius countered. "Without that, we stand no chance of reaching Alaska. Now do it!"
"Yes, Ma'am."
The Archangel's lateral maneuvering thrusters fired, bringing the ship slowly but surely closer to the falling Strike. Whatever Kira's condition now, he'd clearly been conscious at the start of his descent; his machine was on a proper descent profile, which was probably the only thing that had kept him alive till now.
It was obvious that he regained consciousness again once the Archangel reached a position beneath him. The Strike flipped, going from head-down to feet-first, and touched down on the waiting deck.
"The Strike has landed on the ship," Pal reported, relieved.
"Kira, are you okay?" Mir called.
Kira did not have the strength to respond. He thought only, Made it, before collapsing under the fierce heat against the seat straps.
In the deserts of the African Community, in a region once called Libya, a group of people wearing brown cloaks against the cold desert night watched the shooting star's descent.
Only it wasn't a shooting star, their leader, Sahib Ashman, knew. He couldn't tell exactly what it was, but through his binoculars he could clearly see it was a ship coming down from orbit, and headed for a landing not far away. I wonder who they are?
The blond-haired, golden-eyed young woman at his side stared through her own binoculars with narrowed eyes. Could that be...?
They were the Desert Dawn, a local group of guerrilla fighters facing off against ZAFT's legendary Desert Tiger. They were committed to forcing ZAFT off their land... and they weren't too fond of the Earth Alliance, either, which was why they were keeping such a close eye on arrivals from the sky.
Sahib glanced back at the huge man who stood at the young woman's shoulder, and got a nod in return. The man saw no danger at this point. Not that he'd stop her from coming along even if he did, he thought with a mental snort. Nobody can stop that girl from going where she wants, when she wants! Being an old friend of the family, he knew her, and her bodyguard, well.
His thoughts were interrupted by a sudden shout. "Sahib, look!"
The resistance leader looked nearly straight up, in time to see a much closer object dropping in on them. "What is that...?"
Whatever "it" was, it was coming in for a hard landing. The humanoid shape plummeted to the ground, swapping end-for-end at the last moment to land on its feet.
It sank to one knee almost immediately, giving Sahib and his fellows their first clear look at it. For starters, it had clearly started life as a ZAFT GINN, despite its ominous red-and-black stripes; but it had now been modified heavily, with the addition of a six-winged flight unit on its back, Earth Forces energy weapons on its hip and shoulders, and a gigantic samurai blade on its left hip.
"What in the world is that?" the girl's bodyguard, Ledonir Kisaka, wondered.
"Your guess is as good as mine," Sahib responded; and then broke off, seeing the bizarre machine's hatch open abruptly.
A figure in a flight suit with the same colors as his mobile suit stepped out onto the hatch, glanced around, and majestically toppled off, his helmet flying off in the process.
The sight broke the spell, and the resistance fighters quickly moved forward. Whoever he was, he was, his mobile suit's markings told them he wasn't affiliated with either side; which meant they had no reason not to help the man. Besides, he might prove useful...
A young guerrilla by the name of Ahmed was the first to reach the fallen pilot, who lay face-down in the sand, and reached out to roll him over. He immediately jerked his hand back. "Youch! Sahib, this guy's red-hot!"
"Get some water over here!" Sahib ordered, and reached out himself. With infinite caution, minding the heat, he rolled the pilot onto his back... and gasped. It can't be! He's dead! He knew those features well, however long it had been since he had seen them.
"What's wrong?" Kisaka asked him; unlike Ashman, he'd never seen the fellow in the flesh.
Sahib didn't answer, turning instead to the young woman. "Cagalli, come here. Isn't this...?"
Cagalli, the girl Kira had met on Heliopolis, came closer... and if anything, she was even more shocked than the guerrilla leader. "It can't be...!"
The sandy hair, the jade eyes staring unconsciously at the sky... they were features she had last seen on Heliopolis, on a young man with the strength of ten men and a virulent hatred of ZAFT.
It can't be... she thought, staring at the unconscious youth. He died, two years ago... But he was on Heliopolis... What's going on?
"It is him, isn't it?" Sahib said softly, breaking into her thoughts. "There's no mistake?"
"One way to find out..." Cagalli whispered. Carefully, hand shaking, she reached for the pilot's right-hand glove and pealed it off... revealing what she had known would be there: a gold ring. Even without a closer look, she knew what was engraved upon it. Its twin yet remained upon her own finger. "Kevin...?"
The other resistance fighters had begun to recognize him, too, but under a different name. "Sahib, that's Racher!" one of the other guerrillas called, recalling the mysterious youth they'd helped reach Victoria spaceport two years before.
"That's not all he is," Sahib told them, feeling a profound sense of unreality. "Get him back to the camp. Now!"
A small group stayed behind to guard the hybrid machine, one of them tossing a duffel bag from the now-cooling cockpit to Kisaka, while the others loaded the unconscious Kevin Walker into a jeep.
Cagalli went with them. There was no way in the world she would allow this patient to be taken away without her; especially since she knew far better than anyone else the impossibility of his presence.
Because he'd died in her arms, two years before, with a bullet through his heart.
Author's note: All right, the Eighth Fleet has been wiped out, the Punisher has seen its first battle, Kevin Walker has sworn to kill Athrun Zala, and now's come to Earth… and finally met the girl from Heliopolis once again. Soon, his past will be revealed, from his mysterious origins to the source of his skill and the reason he hates ZAFT.
I was intending to upload this chapter over twenty-four hours ago, as it happens, but for some reason I was unable to log in (since nothing seems to have been updated since the 29th, I'm guessing I'm not the only who had this problem). But, now it's here.
Daniel Lynx, I have also played Battle Assault 3, and if I'm not greatly mistaken it's been highly underrated by most reviewers. It is, perhaps, not the best fighting game in existence, but it is far better than its critics claim.
You're correct, obviously, in that Kevin will soon be joining the Archangel again, and that he realizes something isn't quite right with Flay; more will be revealed later. And as you can see, he's met Cagalli, even if he is unconscious. I trust the next chapter will meet with your approval.
NukeDawg, thanks for reviewing, and I hope the battle was acceptable.
Well, that should cover everything; now I shall post this (lest the site go to read-only mode again before I can). Read and review, would you? -Solid Shark