I don't own anything except Kevin Walker and Invictus
The Desert Dawn's camp was suddenly busier than a beehive as reports came in that the town where most of them lived, Tassil, was under attack by ZAFT forces.
One of the resistance fighters, manning a radio, slammed his fist down on the machine. "I can't get through!"
"Those filthy pigs!"
Kira, Flay, and Sai were equally startled, especially when Cagalli raced past, and the Coordinator broke into a run, wondering what was going on. "Kira, wait!" Flay protested, and ran after him; Sai brought up the rear.
"I need at least half of you to remain here, at the base," Sahib was telling his men. "There could be a second force."
"This isn't good, Commander," Ramius observed to La Flaga. "What do you think we should do?"
"If there's one thing about the Desert Tiger, it's that he's not known to be needlessly violent," the Hawk of Endymion said. "But it's not as if I'm personally acquainted with the guy; Blade would be the one to ask." He shrugged. "What'll we do? Do you think we should go too?"
She thought for a moment. "It wouldn't be a good idea to have the Archangel go anywhere," she said slowly. "We can't rule out the possibility of a second attack force." She smiled at him. "Someone should go, so how about it, Commander?"
"You mean me?" he said in mock surprise.
"The Skygrasper is the quickest way to get there, right?"
"That is true... Okay. I'll be right there." La Flaga ran back toward the ship.
"Just try and help out the best you can, Commander!" Ramius called after him. "I'll also send a jeep with the doctor and some other crew to help!"
Cagalli rushed out of one of the caves, carrying a rocket launcher. She glanced around, looking for transportation, and one of the group's artillery vehicles pulled up in front of her. "Climb aboard, Cagalli," its driver, Ahmed, said.
"Thanks, Ahmed!" As she climbed in, Kisaka leapt into the back, carrying another launcher and several rockets.
A moment later, a figure coalesced out of the darkness. "Mind if I tag along?" Kevin said; he'd split up with her when the alarms sounded, presumably to retrieve equipment.
Cagalli smiled. "Get in, Kevin." She noted that he wore a black leather jacket over a flak vest. He wasn't visibly carrying weapons, but there was a suspicious bulge in his jacket suggesting a shoulder-holstered revolver, and a knife hilt was barely visible on his hip.
Kevin grinned back, then held on for dear life as Ahmed kicked the truck into high gear, tearing off in a spray of sand. "Ah, stability, I miss thee so," he muttered. His hand darted reflexively under his jacket, caressing the wooden grips of his Colt. "You sure this thing is safe?"
"Ahmed will get us there intact," Cagalli assured him. "A little shaken, but fast."
"Shaken, not stirred," he muttered; his death wish seemed to have been replaced with a tendency towards wisecracking during stressful situations. It certainly wasn't his way of dealing with tension; Kevin Walker didn't get tense. He did, on the other hand, have a healthy dislike of bumpy rides, and hoped that Ahmed would try driving a little more carefully.
Long before they got anywhere near Tassil, Kevin felt ready to throw up.
Cagalli, her driver, and her bodyguard were horrified when the flames became visible over Tassil, yet Kevin was more relaxed. "Don't worry too much, tovarisch. I know it looks bad, and the town itself is certainly going to need some work, but there won't many, if any, fatalities."
Cagalli jerked her head around, fury evident on her face. "How do you know that? The Desert Tiger-"
"I know Andy Waltfeld," Kevin shot back, "and I know he'd never just burn down a town without warning the people to leave first! Look beyond the fact that he's the enemy, Cagalli; the Desert Tiger is probably the most honorable commander you'll find in ZAFT! And be honest with yourself: the fact that Tassil was chock full of weapons made it a legitimate military target. As long as they took care to harm as few civilians as possible, this action is no more dishonorable than any other."
She stared at him in shock. "Just whose side are you on, anyway?"
"Mine," he said flatly. "It just so happens that 'my' side includes you, the Archangel, and the Desert Dawn; ZAFT is even more my enemy than they are yours." His tone softened. "I didn't say that ZAFT was in the right, Cagalli. I just said that when you have a town filled with weapons, that makes the town a legitimate target. Would you refrain from attacking a church or a hospital that was full of terrorists, just because of what it was? You don't hold your fire, you just use tactics that minimize collateral damage." Kevin shook his head as the truck came to a stop, noting absently the Skygrasper going overhead. "You can call me a monster if you want," he said, climbing out. "Others have, and I no longer deny it. Just don't expect me to blindly think everyone in ZAFT and everything they do is evil."
Cagalli stared after him as his black-clad form disappeared into the night. "You have changed, Kevin," she said to herself. "Maybe the boy I once knew is dead." She winced, ashamed, and regretting now her choice of words. "But you're no monster."
As she saw it, the name Blade fit him perfectly. He had been cast into the fire, and came out tempered and purified: the perfect warrior, one with the skills of a soldier and a warrior monk's knowledge of when to use them.
Perhaps, she thought, others would benefit from his attitude.
Lieutenant Commander Mu La Flaga nearly had a heart attack when the shadows next to his grounded Skygrasper suddenly coalesced into Blade, standing a mere meter away. "What the? Oh, it's you, Blade. I didn't even know you were out here."
"Hitched a ride with Cagalli," Kevin said; he was absently flipping his knife. "Wanted to see if I was right about what Waltfeld would do."
La Flaga shrugged. "It was pretty surprising, wasn't it? A few injuries, sure, but not one death. I didn't expect that."
"I did," the younger pilot said. "I've met Andrew Waltfeld, and the Waltfeld I knew wasn't the type to slaughter innocent civilians. Destroy weapons stockpiles, sure. But murder? I don't think so." He grimaced. "Unfortunately, Cagalli didn't quite see it that way."
The Hawk of Endymion took a closer look at his young comrade, and inwardly raised his eyebrows in surprise at the changes he saw there. No longer did Kevin's eyes bear the haunted look of someone who has seen too much and desires only death; the brush with insanity had left its mark, but in its place was a new strength, the strength of one who has seen, and experienced, the depths to which men can fall.
He wondered if the change had anything to do with the young girl with whom he'd arrived; La Flaga had seen them spending quite a bit of time together, and heard Kevin's classmates speaking of them. Since their arrival at the resistance base, the two had been nearly inseparable, and he suspected they'd known each other since long before.
"So," La Flaga said, "how are things going with the girl?"
Kevin half-smiled. "I know what you're thinking, Commander, but I'm afraid you're incorrect. It's not like Flay and Kira; she's just an old friend I hadn't seen in years, and who thought me dead. That's all there is to it."
The older pilot raised an eyebrow. "Kira and Flay? I know she was worried about him when he was unconscious, but I thought she was Argyle's girlfriend."
"That's what I thought, too," Kevin said, staring into the flames. "More to the point, Sai thought so. But he had a pretty acrimonious exchange with Kira just before the alarms started, and Sai ended up flat on his back in the dirt." He nodded approvingly. "Kira's not in my league, but then neither is anybody else. I can think of very few Naturals who could take him."
"Was anybody hurt?"
"Just Sai's pride." Blade scowled, looking wise beyond his years. "But I'm going to keep an eye on all three of them. Sai's starting to look a little unstable -I should know the signs, having been so myself- Kira's been a little messed up since the battle in orbit, and Flay..." He glanced at La Flaga. "Commander, she scares the daylights out of me. I didn't know her as well as the others did before all this started, but I remember that she was a friendly, naive girl. After her father died... I could understand the anger she expressed toward us, even the hate, but just before our little run-in before the orbital disaster, she starting acting real friendly. Now this thing with Kira... An unpredictable Flay scares me. She has... a certain amount of sympathy for Blue Cosmos, and I would not put it past her to tell them my whereabouts if she suddenly decides she doesn't like me. And if that happens, people are going to get hurt."
"But you're not leaving?" La Flaga said, recalling Kevin's words before the rendezvous with the Eighth Fleet.
"No, sir, I'm not." His expression was chilling; frozen jade eyes reflecting raging fires. "I'm through running from my past. If they come after me, it'll be the worst, and last, mistake they'll ever make." Kevin smoothly drew his Colt, sighting it against the fiery scene before him. "They'll learn, as have so many others, that to hunt the Blade is to die," he said softly, voice even colder than his eyes.
As the resistance fighters conferred and began getting a handle on the fire, Kevin wandered over to Cagalli's driver. "It's Ahmed, isn't it?" he said, stopping in front of him. "Cagalli's driver?"
The younger fighter nodded. "That's me." Ahmed raised his eyebrows. "You're the guy Sahib and the others called Racher, right? I remember them taking about you sometimes, wondering if you'd gotten to safety. That was before I was old enough to fight."
"That's right. You can call me Blade." Kevin glanced toward Cagalli, who was conversing with Ashman. "I saw your reckless stunts, by the way, when you showed up at the Archangel. I suggest you be a little more careful. If Cagalli gets hurt, I'm going to be very angry." He delivered the warning in a conversational tone, but his feelings were not at all calm.
Ahmed cocked his head. "What's with you?"
Kevin's right hand shot forward, grabbing a fistful of Ahmed's shirt and hoisting him off the ground. "I've seen how you act around her; don't even bother denying your feelings. If one of your reckless attempts to impress her gets her killed, you'd better hope you don't survive it either." He smiled coldly, eyes jade ice. "Because if you do, I'll hunt you, and I guarantee you won't survive me. Consider this a friendly warning; you won't get another. But if you just learn to drive a little more carefully, that situation will never arise, will it?"
The resistance fighter shook his head convulsively. "Of course not," he said, mildly terrified of the killer that had been revealed within the other teenager, little older than he was.
"Good." Kevin dropped him, and walked away.
Cagalli caught up with him a few steps into the darkness. "Hey, Kevin. I see you had a little talk with Ahmed."
He shrugged. "We reached an understanding." He steps out of line and I shoot him. I'd call that an understanding.
She touched his arm. "I'm sorry about I said earlier; you were right. It's just, after seeing something like this..."
He nodded. "I understand. And I probably wouldn't have been so blunt, but things like compassion and tact were burned out of me a long time ago." Kevin grinned. "Be glad we're not in Orb; if someone caught me talking to you like that there, I'd probably be stoned in the street."
"So you're serious about not returning to Orb?"
"Yeah." He sighed. "You know how much I grew to hate my high status there, and the royal treatment that went with it. And face it: your father never did approve of me. I expect that if he hadn't needed my parents' support in the government, he wouldn't have allowed me anywhere near you."
Cagalli frowned. "Come on, Kevin, it wasn't that bad."
"Yes, it was," he disagreed. "There was something about me Lord Uzumi didn't like, and to be honest, he might even be right, now. These days, I'm not exactly the kind of guy people expect princesses to associate with. Used to be, I was considered something of a prince myself; now I'm not even a proverbial Knight in Shining Armor. Lord Uzumi would probably want me summarily shot. Lucky for me, Orb thinks I'm dead and the Chief Representative doesn't have that kind of power." Kevin met her eyes. "When next you speak with your father, I'd appreciate it if you not mention I'm alive. Even if he really doesn't disapprove of me that much, I would really, really hate it if I got dragged back into that life. I had to die to escape it once; there is no way I'm going back."
"I understand," she said, which was partly true; she understood perfectly his desire to remain anonymous. But it had not before occurred to her that her father might have had something against the then-fencing champion. Now that she thought about it, though... Uzumi Nara Athha was very good at concealing his feelings, but whenever he thought no one was looking, he'd slipped and showed something besides amused tolerance, on those occasions when Kevin and Cagalli had been together.
"Peaceful place," she heard Kevin murmur beside her, "even if it is hotter than bloody blue blazes."
She turned to him. "You know, Kevin, there's something I've been wondering about since you disappeared two years ago."
He turned his head and raised an eyebrow. "What's that?"
"I remember the times you visited home from the Moon pretty well," Cagalli said, "and I've been wondering for awhile now: why did you spend so little of that time with your parents?"
Kevin froze for a moment, then turned back to the flames. For a time, she thought he wasn't going to answer, but he finally spoke, voice barely audible over the crackling fires. "Ever since I was first sent to that school in Copernicus," he said slowly, "I've been exposed to how normal people live. Ten years ago, I saw what it was like to be treated as a simple human being, not some kind of nobility. It was... refreshing, you know? No special treatment, no obsequious servants... and most of all, no political maneuvering or unwanted attention." He looked up at the starry sky. "Up there, beyond the grip of gravity, I could just be myself. The only other times I felt that way were when I was with you. You see, my parents never understood that; they lived for politics. It was their life, and they never understood that I hated it. They expected me to follow them into politics, expected it to consume me, too. It was part and parcel of how they treated me, so the only way I could get away from it was to get away from them."
She gazed at his scarred face, and nodded slowly, understanding. "I had no idea..."
"Neither does anybody else." He gave a hollow laugh. "And the thing of it is, the real irony, is that they finally got a clue about it just before they died. They promised me that that trip to the PLANTs would be the last bit of politics I'd ever have to endure, and then I could get on with my own life, do what I wanted to do. They didn't understand it, but they recognized it." Kevin closed his eyes in remembered pain. "And then they died, and I was set adrift. The next time I felt at home was two years later, when the Yamato family took me in. I'd known Kira for a long time, ever since Copernicus, so his parents took me in on Heliopolis. I lived with Kira for that year of peace." He finally looked at her again. "You can trust Kira, Cagalli. With your life. He's tovarisch."
Cagalli nodded again, this time with a hint of surprise. "Tovarisch" meant "comrade", but when Kevin Walker said it, he meant something more. There were few people he called that, but when he did, it meant he trusted them implicitly, and considered them very close friends. They were the ones with whom his loyalty truly was.
Kevin sighed, and it took her a moment to realize it was contentment, something which seemed almost alien to this new, darker incarnation of the friend who had been almost a brother to her. "Ahh, it's good to see you again, mon ami," he said, staring into the flames. "This war is the darkest thing I've ever seen, but somehow it's a little easier to endure when I've got someone I can talk to, someone who knows who I really am." He put an arm around her shoulders. "I've lived in the shadows for far too long; I've lived far too many lives in the last three years. That there's someone I don't have to hide from... It's a great relief." He smiled. "You're the only person alive who knows who I really am."
She nodded. "I can't imagine what the last few years must have been like for you, but it's good to see you, too." Cagalli smiled, a mischievous look in her eyes. "Unless you've got a friend who'd object...?"
He glanced away. "She died," he said softly. "At my own hand." Kevin drew a ragged breath. "But I guess it's just as well; I'll never know if we would have been that close had I been in my right mind."
She winced. "I'm sorry, Kevin."
"It's an old wound now," he said. "Just another part of my dark history. You're right; I should remember the past, but not let it dominate my present."
Cagalli looked at his face, seeing the scar that adorned it. "Speaking of old wounds, Kevin, I've been meaning to ask you... how'd you get that scar?"
"Oh, this?" Kevin shrugged, thinking back. "Remember how I ended up in Orb, two years ago? I'd just been chased through the Debris Belt by some pirates; ended up crash-landing on Earth, and in the process the controls blew up in my face. When I came to, my right eye was gone, and there were pirates standing over me; I remained conscious long enough to take care of them, then dropped off again. When next I awoke, it wasn't long before I ran into you."
She reached out and touched his face. "How much...?"
He felt the scar with his hand. "The scar marks the boundary... between flesh and machine." His hand moved over, touching hers. "Feels real, doesn't it? But that explosion blew off fully half my face, and everything to the right of the scar is synthetic, including the eye. Doesn't feel right, either; not to me."
Cagalli smiled, lightly stroking the synthetic flesh. "Feels okay to me."
"It would." Kevin glanced up abruptly, noticing Ashman arguing with some of the other resistance fighters. "What the...?"
Cagalli's eyes widened as the fighters suddenly drove off. "They're chasing the BuCUEs!" She took off running, trying to catch Ashman.
"Are you out of your mind?" Kevin followed her, catching up just as Ashman pushed her away. "Are you trying to get yourself killed?" he demanded.
Before she could reply, another truck drove up. "Climb aboard, Cagalli," Ahmed said.
Kevin sighed and hopped in after her. "Well, if you're gonna pull a crazy stunt like this, I'd better tag along." Sitting back, he closed his eyes, apparently concentrating.
Cagalli jumped slightly and glanced at him when she heard a click come from the general direction of his skull. "Kevin, what are you...?"
He smiled, opening his eyes. "Just summoning reinforcements. Not sure if it'll get here in time, though."
Back at the remains of Tassil, La Flaga and Badgiruel watched the Desert Dawn guerrillas go. "What can I say," the pilot said. "This is a land where both the wind and people get very heated."
"They're going to be wiped out!" Badgiruel protested. "With their mediocre equipment, they don't stand a chance against the BuCUEs."
"You're so right." La Flaga looked at her, an amused smile on his face. "What'll we do?"
She blinked. "Don't ask me, I haven't a clue."
"What did you say?" Ramius said when La Flaga reported at daybreak. "They went after the enemy? But don't they know how crazy that is? Why didn't you try to stop them, Commander?"
He winced at the volume. "Like I could," he said. "They were so determined that if we'd tried, they'd attack us." La Flaga looked out over the refugees from his vantage point on his fighter. "More importantly, there are many injured here who need treatment. And there's the problem of food, and especially water. What'll we do?"
The Captain pondered the problem, recalling as she did so the young woman who had been among the resistance fighters, whom both Kira and the Blade had recognized. "I'll send Ensign Yamato to check up on them," she said finally. "We can't just sit by while they get wiped out. I'll also send our remaining vehicles with water and medical supplies."
"Roger that." La Flaga's image winked out.
"Crewman Haw, order the Strike to launch at once."
"Yes, Ma'am." Mir turned back to her console. "Kira, prepare the Strike for launch."
"Roger that. Kira Yamato, launching!"
As the Strike lifted off and headed out on its mission, Mir noticed activity on the displays linked to the other launch bay. She frowned. "Captain, the Punisher is preparing itself for launch."
Ramius spun around. "What? I thought Ensign Walker wasn't back yet."
"Ma'am, he isn't; Commander La Flaga reported he left with the resistance fighters." Mir shook her head in confusion. "According to Chief Murdoch, it just sealed its own hatch and started moving for the catapult." She looked back at the Captain. "Shall I cancel the launch sequence, Captain?"
Ramius paused. "No, Crewman," she said after a moment. "Let it go. I'm not sure what's going on, but I am sure Ensign Walker arranged it somehow. I'll trust his judgment."
"Yes, Ma'am."
Ensign Walker himself was questioning his own judgment at that moment, and wondering if his signal had gotten through at all.
He also thought himself to be completely and totally insane. "Is it just me, or are we crazy?" Kevin asked, glancing at Cagalli. "Eight artillery trucks against three BuCUEs?"
"If you think it's so crazy, why'd you tag along?" she riposted, loading a rocket launcher.
"Because," he replied, loading another, "it's far more difficult to kill me than any of you, so I'm the perfect choice to try and keep you out of trouble. Failing that..." He slammed the rocket home. "I'm a good shot. Thing is, I hate rocket launchers."
Cagalli grinned fondly. "Don't like the brute-force approach?"
Kevin raised the weapon to his shoulder, peering down the rudimentary sights as the mobile suits came into view. "Something like that; it's like taking a broadsword to a fencing match." His eyes narrowed. "And if you remember, one of my opponents back in Orb actually tried that, with some crazy idea that sheer strength would work against me where others had failed with technique."
"And you took him apart," she said, recalling the incident.
"Taught him a valuable lesson: speed and maneuverability can make up for a lack of brute strength; that's why axe-wielders have fallen to the sword so much over the centuries." His bionic eye registered as close to a target lock as one could get with a rocket launcher. "Okay, I'm on target. Firing now." Kevin squeezed the firing mechanism, sending a rocket-propelled grenade speeding through the air not toward the mobile suits, but rather the jeep ahead of them; Andrew Waltfeld may have been his mentor, but now he was the enemy, and Kevin had no aversion to assassination.
The BuCUEs' pilots, however, were not interested in letting their commander die, and one of them interposed itself between missile and target, causing the explosive charge to detonate on the BuCUE's heavy armor.
"Nice trick," he muttered. "But I'm smarter than you are." Kevin began reloading his weapon, while Cagalli and Kisaka opened fire on the mobile suit.
"Yeah!" Ahmed shouted as the rockets connected, hitting the BuCUE right in the ankle. "We did it!"
Blade nodded approvingly. "That's right, go for the joints; it's our only chance against mobile suits." He raised the weapon to his shoulder again, wincing as one of their comrades' vehicles exploded, run over by a BuCUE. "That one is out of action; concentrate your fire on the two still mobile."
His next shot was delayed, as Ahmed's next trick had him holding on for dear life: the young resistance fighter slipped the truck neatly between the legs of a BuCUE, giving them a perfect belly shot. Kevin, Cagalli, and Kisaka opened fire simultaneously, striking the mobile suit's belly armor... which was barely scratched by the barrage.
"I'll get you!" its pilot shouted, and raised a foot.
"Jump off!" Kisaka shouted, hauling his charge out while Kevin leapt out as if made of springs.
Ahmed glanced around in confusion, and thus was still in the driver's seat when the BuCUE struck, knocking the truck flying. "Aaaahhhh!" he screamed, hurtling through the air.
"Ahmed!" Cagalli cried out, seeing her friend land heavily a few meters away.
"This is bad," Kevin muttered, staring up at the mobile suit, which was preparing to strike them again. "This had better work..."
His hand darted into his jacket and came out with a fistful of revolver; in the space of less than half a second, he slipped into the two-handed Weaver stance, aimed high, and pulled the trigger twice.
Ordinarily, this move would have been less than useless. But Kevin Walker did not use ordinary bullets; though he could do nothing but pray as the projectiles sped toward their target, striking it in the optical sensor lens... and temporarily blinding it, with a pair of small explosions that cracked the lens.
Take a hollowpoint bullet. Fill it with mercury. Cap it with wax. You've got a miniature high-explosive bullet with a slim chance of damaging even a mobile suit's optics; had the target been human, he would probably have been blown apart.
Of course, that still wouldn't have stopped the BuCUE from making a blind, and probably lethal, swipe at them, but Sahib Ashman was angry. Anger a man of the desert, and he will make you hurt.
This Ashman did, by firing two RPGs at once, thoroughly distracting the gigantic weapon from its intended prey. And he continued to be a great distraction, until a BuCUE came up behind him, and was itself greatly distracted a moment later.
Martin DaCosta was the first to see the incoming enemy. "Inbound heat source detected! Commander, it's coming from-"
A beam lanced out of the sky, vaporizing sand directly to the left of one of the BuCUEs. "What the-"
"It's the Strike, really?" Cagalli said in surprise, watching with relief as the humanoid mobile suit flew into view in Aile Striker mode, firing its beam rifle.
"It's about time, Kira," Kevin muttered, also relieved; even his augmentation wouldn't have allowed him to survive if a BuCUE had decided to sit on him.
"I missed it?" Kira said, surprised. "Right. The heat convection must be causing it!" The Strike hit the ground, running on foot as Kira hastily reprogrammed the targeting systems.
His next shot caught the enemy mobile suit in the back, causing its missile launcher to break off, exploding some distance behind. "How did he-"
"The weapon from the Earth Forces," DaCosta said, somewhat dazed. "It came to rescue them?"
"It's equipped with different hardware than the last time," Waltfeld observed. "Check out that beam targeting; has he instantly included the heat convection within the parameters?"
While the Strike engaged the BuCUEs, Cagalli knelt beside Ahmed's broken body. "Ahmed! Ahmed, speak to me! You have to pull through!"
Finally, the young man's eyes opened, and he reached up toward her. "Cagalli..." he said weakly. "To me... you are the..."
His hand fell back, and his eyes closed forever.
Cagalli cradled Ahmed's motionless body in her arms. "Ahhhhmedddd!"
Behind her, Kevin stood silently, feeling helpless; grief was an emotion with which he had long ago parted company, so all he could do was stand there, with a hand on his friend's shoulder, simply being there. But, perhaps, it was enough. "Even though..." he murmured, "...I don't have any more tears to shed."
Without warning, a nearby sand dune erupted as a giant form burst into view: the Punisher, obeying its master's call. A strange fire lit Kevin's eyes as he released Cagalli and ran over to his machine, an odd contrast to the jade ice that they usually became.
"Where are you going?" Cagalli called after him.
"To avenge Ahmed," he replied, swarming up toward the hybrid suit's hatch. "And all those these ZAFT flunkies would kill. The desert sun will truly be bloody this day!" The hatch sealed behind him.
Cagalli and her bodyguard shielded their eyes from the sand as the Punisher's verniers propelled it into the sky, right hand already darting to its hip to draw its katana.
Once Kevin Walker had been known as Orb's greatest fencer; today these ZAFT pilots would learn why.
Observing the strange, hybrid mobile suit coming to life, Andrew Waltfeld lowered his binoculars. "Well, well. I had no idea Racher was in the area."
DaCosta glanced at his superior in confusion. "Sir?"
Waltfeld looked at him. "Around two years ago, a young fellow, barely fifteen, going by the name of Racher, passed through this region. I encountered him in Banadiya; he was seeking instruction in the art of war. I obliged him, teaching him both tactics and strategy, and the psychology of war. In the process, I learned some of the youngster's history; I never found out who he really was, but he did mention that he was officially dead, and that he had Blue Cosmos tailing him." His gaze returned to the Punisher. "Racher was quite the pupil; it appears he's built on that foundation since then."
Over his radio, the pilot of the immobilized BuCUE made a satisfied sound. "Okay! Back in the game!"
Waltfeld raised his microphone. "Kirkwood!"
"Yes, sir?" the pilot replied instantly.
"Let me get in and pilot that BuCUE."
His aide looked at him in surprise. "Commander...?"
He smiled. "Some things you can't be sure of until exchanging fire with one another." He climbed out of the jeep and made for the mobile suit.
Meanwhile, Kevin faced another of the BuCUEs with a sword in hand. His face a mask, his only extraneous thought was that it was fortunate this battle was in atmosphere; this way, despite his lack of flight suit, he at least wouldn't have to worry about explosive decompression if his cockpit were breached.
Kira, on the other hand, was quite busy with his target. He knocked it off its feet, and, crosshairs narrowing toward a lock, prepared to fire his beam rifle.
"Give me a break!" the pilot complained... and he got it.
The Strike was hit from behind by the third BuCUE's sudden missile barrage. "The third machine? It's still up and running?" Kira twisted around, evading another salvo midair... and came face-to-face with Waltfeld's machine, which proceeded to knock him out of the sky.
"Even if you only use regular missiles, the phase shift loses its effect after seventy-six hits," the ZAFT commander said, launching more warheads at his enemy. "When that happens, the rifle simultaneously runs out of power."
Kira engaged his verniers at the last moment, slowing his descent and blasting away in another direction, attempting to evade the ZAFT suits.
"Now, you weird and wonderful pilot," Waltfeld said through a grin, firing more missiles, "how are you gonna get out of this jam?"
Kira's eyes went wide, and once more he entered a clearer state of consciousness. He throttled back his verniers, allowing the incoming warheads to detonate ahead of him, and he wrenched the Strike around, bringing it back to face the BuCUEs.
The Strike released its shield, and the fast-moving mass of metal collided with a BuCUE, knocking it out of formation. "What?"
Kira spun, unleashing a blast from his rifle at the solitary target, which barely jumped out of the way. "Attack him separately!" Waltfeld ordered. "Let's try and throw him off balance."
Unfortunately for them, their target was several steps ahead of them; when the first BuCUE leapt for him, the Strike's left hand yanked out a beam saber and sliced off a wing, sending shrapnel flying and the four-legged suit off course... where it collided with the Punisher's katana, cutting it into two distinct pieces, neither of which contained a living pilot.
Snarling in frustration, the remaining BuCUEs charged directly at Kira's mobile suit. "Now you've taken this way too far!" Waltfeld shouted, and fired yet another missile salvo.
Two things happened at once: the Strike flipped in midair, kicking up an obscuring sand cloud, and Kevin targeted the Punisher's hyper-impulse cannon on the missiles. He, too, had entered the Berserker state, and his shot was unerring... as was Kira's.
The warheads detonated, and so did Waltfeld's remaining subordinate. "Hurry, DaCosta!" he ordered, turning around. "We're retreating."
"Right, sir."
The Desert Tiger smiled. "Now that's my kind of guy. Been awhile since I had this much fun."
The battle over, the Strike and Punisher powered down, and their pilots lowered to the ground, where the surviving resistance fighters awaited.
Kira pulled off his helmet and stopped. "Are you looking to get wiped out," he said, face grim, "in a place like this?" Cagalli began to glare; he took no notice. "There's absolutely no reason for any of you-"
"That's the last straw!" Cagalli shouted, running up to him. "You heartless moron! They all fought desperately! We're all fighting desperately! All so that we can protect the things and people that are so important to us!"
Kira slapped her in the face, while Kevin looked on, motionless. The resistance fighters stared at him, but he didn't look away from her. "What can you hope to protect when your feelings are the only weapons you've got?"
Author's note: Tassil's been set ablaze, and Andrew Waltfeld has discovered just who it is he's fighting. Soon, now, Kevin Walker will come face-to-face with his old mentor… and exact a little vengeance along the way.
Arekuruu-inabikari-no-She, for various reasons, including the fact that properly localized material tends to have better translations, I'll wait for Destiny to reach our shores; which, from what I can tell, won't be that long a wait, anyway. In the meantime, however, I have another story on the drawing board: another AU novelization of the series, one with a somewhat different focus and a much greater alteration to the storyline; I'll be working on that by the time Brothers in Arms is finished.
And, yes, I was being deliberately cryptic. I prefer not to spoil any surprises. I will say, however, that Kevin will be upgrading to a Gundam-type mobile suit later on; a couple of battles earlier than Kira, as it happens. Fans of other Gundam series will no doubt recognize it.
Bigronnie17, I will reiterate what I said earlier: Kevin will have a confrontation with Flay, but not yet; he is, after all, subtle when he chooses to be.
That seems to cover everything. Read it and let me know what you think. -Solid Shark