I don't own anything except Kevin Walker, Jack Carter, Invictus, and Max
As the Archangel and Kusanagi cruised onward toward the L4 colony group, Cagalli roamed the Orb carrier, searching. Her good friend the Snake hadn't been seen in days, though it seemed apparent that he had been wandering the ship for at least part of the time. None of the crew had seen him, and there was no security imagery of his movements, but she knew Kevin could avoid the former simply by going where he didn't sense presences, and the later via his formidable hacking skills.
His absence would not have been considered unusual on the Archangel; Kevin had always had a habit of simply disappearing for long periods. Nor did most of the Kusanagi's crew think anything of it, now that he'd transferred over. But Cagalli found it peculiar that even she hadn't seen him during that time; usually, when they were on the same ship, Kevin tended to stick close to her. She was perhaps the only person in the world he trusted with his secrets; even Kira did not know everything there was to know about the super-soldier.
So it was that Cagalli finally found her way to Kevin's quarters, the one place she had not yet searched. She didn't bother knocking; it hadn't taken her long to figure out his door lock, and in the days before his wilderness years she hadn't found it necessary to announce herself. For one thing, Kevin was quite capable of sensing her coming long before she actually arrived; and besides, he'd never seemed to mind...
"Kevin?" Cagalli said hesitantly as the hatch slid open.
Snake looked up from his bunk, where he was sharpening a wicked-looking dagger. "Hi, Cagalli," he said with a smile. "Something up?"
"I was just wondering if you were okay, that's all," she replied, puzzled. She'd expected to find him in one of his depressed moods, but he seemed cheerful enough, if slightly apprehensive. "I haven't seen you for days, so..."
"Sorry about that; I just needed some time to think." Kevin set the knife aside. "Not, perhaps, the healthiest thing for me at the moment," he admitted, sitting up. "I've found that sometimes it is best not to be alone with one's thoughts for too long."
"That's true." Cagalli realized then with a start that he wasn't wearing his trademark jacket and gloves; instead, Kevin wore a simple black t-shirt, completely unmarked as was his custom.
The absence of the jacket startled her. It hadn't surprised her to learn that his current taste in attire stemmed originally from a desire to conceal the marks of the many wounds he had suffered, particularly during the torture he'd endured before being brainwashed. To be sure, Cagalli was by now quite familiar with the scars that covered his chest and back, and down his arms and hands, but it was still unusual for Kevin to show any of them, even in the privacy of his own quarters, with none to see but the mirror and his closest friend.
She drifted over to him. "So what's wrong?" she asked quietly.
Kevin shrugged. "Bad memories, that's all. Parts of the past that should stay buried, parts that I don't want to remember." He met her eyes. "I think we're going to find out something at L4, tovarisch. At Mendel. I think we're going to find out something that neither one of us really wants to know."
Cagalli gripped his shoulder, noting absently the powerful muscles that a casual observer would never even realize were there. "Look, Kevin," she said softly. "That's in the past. If you really did do that, it's not your fault. You were brainwashed, remember? The people who are really to blame are already dead."
"Not quite," he said slowly. "Oracle is gone, but Patrick Zala gave the orders to create the unit, and if I'm right, Muruta Azrael was the one in charge of that op -something which I'm pretty sure Zala is not aware of; no way he'd have let Oracle do that if he'd been briefed- and they're both still alive. And whether I'm truly guilty or not, I'm still the one who has to live with it."
She shook her head, perplexed as always by her friend's mood swings. He didn't used to be like that, she thought, then chided herself. He also hadn't used to be a super-soldier, either. A lot of things had changed in three and a half years.
But some things hadn't, and Cagalli lightly wrapped her arms around Kevin's shoulders. "You can't go on beating yourself up for something that happened when you were with ZAFT," she said in his ear. "And you can't even be sure it happened; you might have been conditioned to think you did. You said yourself Oracle was a mad scientist. And I thought you were the one who didn't worry about things you couldn't do anything about."
"I know." He managed a quiet chuckle, arms going around her. "It's just that I'm not used to having worries I can't do anything about. Most of the time, I just kinda shoot at everything and sort 'em out later."
"Yeah." Cagalli laughed and pulled back, looking into his bright jade eyes. "I swear, Kevin, if you met a tyrannosaurus you'd jump down its throat and claw your way out the tail." Her eyes traveled down to the scars on his left arm (oddly, the synthetic flesh on his right arm had been designed to emulate his old arm in every detail, down to the scar pattern; she supposed it was partly to keep a reminder of the past, however dark, and partly to avoid having the bionic limb stand out from the flesh-and-blood parts of his body). "Come to think of it, you look like you already have." She lightly traced one of the old, white marks down the arm.
"Power cable," Kevin said quietly, following her gaze. "The benefits of whipping and electroshock in one convenient length of cable." His peculiar sense of humor was present even when speaking of the torture he had endured. "Fortunately, the electroshock physically damaged portions of my brain, making memories of those days rather hazy. But I can still put a name to every scar I bear."
"I'm surprised you didn't have them erased," she murmured.
"One should remember the mistakes of the past, whether they are one's own or not," he said soberly, "lest they be repeated in the future. The scars are a part of my past, unpleasant though it may be, and I choose to remember it." He smiled. "And you know me, always clinging to the past, the last one to accept anything new."
Cagalli snorted. "Yeah, right." Releasing her grip on him, she drifted over to the bulkhead, where a large, heavy rifle hung. "And this is old-fashioned?"
Kevin pulled himself over and lifted the hundred-kilo weapon. "Yeah, I guess a plasma rifle is pretty high-tech," he conceded. "But the next time I run into Carter, I'm not messing around. I'm just gonna flash-fry the bastard before he can blink." He shook his head, checking the rifle's charge. "And the thing of it is, I haven't the slightest notion of why he's trying to kill me. I mean, I know he's with ZAFT, or at least he was, but if he's a copy of me, shouldn't he think like me, too?"
She raised an eyebrow. "And exactly how do you react when you think someone's wronged you?"
"You have a point," he admitted. "But I don't know what he's trying to avenge. All he said was something about there not being enough room in this world for two of us." He ran a hand through his sandy hair. "Of course. As long as I exist, he can be no more than a mere shadow; but if I'm gone, the shadow is all that remains. Huh. The scary thing is, in his place I might do the very same thing."
"I don't think so," Cagalli disagreed. "But we'll never have to find out, now will we?"
"No. And the problem isn't going to exist for much longer, anyway. Not if I have anything to say about it." Kevin retrieved the knife he'd been sharpening earlier, slid it into its sheath, and strapped it to his left forearm; with his jacket on, it would be concealed by his sleeve.
That done, he strapped a trio of throwing knives to his right arm, buckled on a gunbelt with his Colt in a holster tied down to his thigh, and slipped on a shoulder holster with a .45 automatic. Then he clipped his rapier to his belt (despite its awkwardness, he seldom went anywhere without it anymore), pulled on his jacket, and slung the plasma rifle behind his back.
Cagalli gripped Kevin's right hand before he pulled on the gloves, noting absently as she did so that the flesh felt just as natural as the rest of him. "You're going out there, aren't you?" she said quietly.
Kevin nodded. "Yeah. When Athrun makes his little trip, I'm going to escort him, with Kira. Unlike Kira, though, I'm going all the way to the PLANTs; Stormhawk's hyper jammers will suffice to get me past Jachin Due's defenses, and from there it's a relatively simple matter to sneak in."
"Are you going after Chairman Zala?"
He shook his head with a chuckle. "Not this time. Athrun said he wanted to talk; I don't think he'd appreciate it if I vaporized his father in the middle of it. No, I'm going there to check on my cousin. Athrun said Lacus has been declared a traitor, which means she must be on the run; if they catch up with her..."
"I understand." She knew how much family ties meant to her friend; and that he'd always been particularly close to this cousin. "But for now," Cagalli said with a smile, taking Kevin's arm, "I think it's time you got out of here for a while, don't you? Before you get so depressed that I have to shoot you again."
He laughed. "Yeah, you're right. Let Mendel worry about itself for now; that's the past and the future, not the present."
"By the way," she asked on the way out, "why did you abort your last attack, back in Orb? I'd have thought nothing would have gotten in your way back there..."
Kevin paused. "I couldn't take the risk," he said simply. "Powerful though Stormhawk may be, that was still an entire fleet out there; if I'd continued after Azrael, especially in that emotional state, I might've gotten myself killed, and I couldn't afford that. Not when I swore to Lord Uzumi that I'd be there for you."
Cagalli blinked back sudden tears. My father... asked Kevin to take care of me? "He asked you to do that?" she asked softly.
He nodded. "Yes, he did. In the end, he decided he was wrong about me, and charged me with taking care of you, especially now, so soon after the battle." He also told me that if anything were to happen between us we had his blessing, but let's skip that, shall we? No need to give her ideas, when it can never happen.
She sensed he was leaving something unsaid, but decided not to push it. If it's something I should know, he'll tell me. Maybe not isn't the time, but maybe it's something else... but I trust his judgment. In fact, she trusted him implicitly, and he'd never given her any reason to doubt him. That was one of many reasons she valued his company.
"Thanks for telling me," Cagalli said quietly.
Kevin smiled and squeezed her shoulder. "Thought you'd like to know, tovarisch; though I hope you never doubted I'd do it anyway, oath or no oath." He jerked his head at the hatch. "C'mon, let's go get something to eat, eh?"
The next day, after Kevin had temporarily transferred his machine back to the Archangel, Athrun prepared to launch in one of the ship's small, single-seat shuttles.
While the mechanics prepared the vessel in the hanger, he was clearing up a few last-minute details with Kevin, Kira, and Dearka. "If I don't come back," Athrun said to his fellow ZAFT deserter, "I want you to pilot the Justice."
Dearka vehemently shook his head. "Forget about it," he said forcefully. "You're the only one who should be in that thing."
"Wait a minute!" Cagalli shouted, coming through the air toward them. She caught Athrun's shoulders and shook him. "Athrun! Why are you doing this?"
"Cagalli?"
She glared at him. "Tell me you're not really going back to the PLANTs!"
He looked away. "I'm sorry."
"Sorry doesn't cut it." She glanced up at the Justice. "What'll happen to you if you return without that?"
"It's better if the Justice stays here," Athrun replied, evading the question. "And if worse comes to worst, I'm sure Kira will take care of it."
"That's not what I meant!"
"I know. But I have to know." He sighed. "One way or the other... I have to know."
Kira drifted over. "Cagalli, you know he has to. It's his father."
She looked away. "I know." Cagalli looked up at Kevin, who had also joined them. "You take care of him, got it?"
He half-smiled. "Yeah, sure, tovarisch. Not a problem." Snake pushed away from the deck, heading for his own machine. Kind of ironic, given the number of times they nearly killed each other, but...
Cagalli caught up with him at the Stormhawk's hatch and pulled him close. "Take care of yourself, too, okay?" she whispered.
Kevin grinned. "Don't worry, Cagalli. Anybody looks at me cross-eyed and I'll fry 'em."
A half hour later, Ramius watched from the Bridge as the shuttle launched. "Kira here," Kira said from the main monitor. "Freedom and Stormhawk launching to escort the shuttle."
She nodded. "Very well. Be careful."
Two mobile suits and a shuttle flew onward toward the homeland of the enemy, one pilot on his way to confront his father, one to escort him... and one with a mission all his own.
It was a long trip from where the Archangel and Kusanagi cruised to the L5 point, where the PLANTs hung in space, but at last the journey was nearly over.
"We're approaching Jachin Due's defensive perimeter," Athrun informed his comrades. "You two should head back now."
"Roger that," Snake acknowledged, though he made no move to break off.
"Okay," Kira echoed. "I'll wait for you here."
Athrun looked sharply at the Freedom. "No, you should go back."
Kira was silent for several moments. "Athrun," he said finally.
"Huh?"
"It's not your time to go. You know that, don't you?"
"Kira..."
"It's not our time to go," he repeated. "For any of us."
Athrun thought about that, right hand idly fingering the amulet Cagalli had given him for luck months earlier, soon after the destruction of the Aegis. "Not yet," he murmured.
"Not yet," Kira agreed.
"Okay, then. I'll remember that," Athrun promised.
"Make sure you do." Kira glanced over at the Stormhawk, even as he reversed thrust and let the shuttle go on ahead. "You remember that, too, Snake, okay? I don't think Cagalli would be very happy if you forgot it."
"That's true," Kevin acknowledged.
A moment later, the Sturm Falke converted to mobile armor mode and then vanished into cloak as its hyper jammers activated.
Athrun glanced back. "Kira? What's Kevin up to?"
"I don't know," Kira replied, checking his radio. As he'd suspected, Stormhawk could not be contacted, which left him one avenue. He concentrated for a moment, then blinked in surprise. "I can't get through to him, either; he's blocking me." That in itself didn't surprise Kira; he didn't know how to put up mental barriers like that, but Kevin knew far more about psychosomatic phenomena.
"I hope he knows what he's doing," Athrun muttered.
The Freedom swiftly dwindled to a speck, and then less than that, as the small shuttle neared Jachin Due. It was fairly essential that ZAFT not realize the Freedom was there, of course; especially since Athrun's mission had been to retrieve the stolen machine.
"Jachin Due Defense Forces, please respond," he radioed. "This is Special Forces Agent Athrun Zala..."
At the very moment Athrun was making his transmission, Snake was approaching the massive fortress himself. Jachin Due, he mused. Formerly a resource satellite. The last time I came here, it was still just that, and in a different section of orbit. My, what a make-over they've given the place.
Jachin Due. Its name came from one of the pillars of Solomon's Temple, called 'Due' to signify its status as the second of two fortresses guarding the Coordinator homeland. Originally a resource asteroid, it had been the site of a huge battle in the early days of the war. By the time the space dust settled, the Earth Alliance's Fifth and Sixth Fleets had been virtually annihilated, and the Earth Forces were driven into retreat.
Following that, ZAFT forces had relocated the asteroid to a location strategically important to the PLANTs and transformed it into the fortress known as Jachin Due, twin to the asteroid base Boaz. It was a formidable obstacle, with dozens of mobile suits stationed within and countless fixed defenses. Alone, it had been sufficient to stop another Alliance attack in its tracks. It was impregnable.
Unless, of course, you're invisible. You can't fight what you can't see.
Smiling to himself, Snake easily guided his stealthed machine past the mighty fortress and toward the PLANTs themselves. His destination was Aprilius One, the center of the PLANT government and the most likely location of Lacus Clyne. Knowing his cousin as he did, she would no doubt be careful... but she would also want to remain near the seat of power. There, Lacus' people could keep a closer eye on Zala's regime, with the added bonus of hiding in plain sight.
One would normally expect that to make the search very challenging, but no one had ever accused Kevin Walker of being normal. He would succeed.
Confident of his success, he flew on, nearing the massive colony.
In Aprilius One itself, Martin DaCosta, dressed in a business suit, abandoned his usual caution and raced up the stairs to a nondescript building, where a similarly-dressed soldier quickly opened the door for him.
Inside, in a room cluttered with people and portable computers, Lacus Clyne turned to him. "Hello, Martin. What's the word on the street?"
"Not good," he admitted. "A lot of people were disturbed by what Ezalia Joule said about you in her broadcast." That was hardly a surprise, of course; Yzak's mother, a member of the PLANT Supreme Council, in a recent news conference had claimed that Lacus was still the idol of the PLANTs she had always been, but that she was now being manipulated by the Earth Forces. She had called on citizens to turn her in, so that she could be "saved", and that had unfortunately struck a chord with far too many people. "And the news about Master Siegel hasn't been released to the public yet. I know it's a little sooner than we planned," DaCosta went on, "but I think we should consider leaving."
"I understand your concern," Lacus said slowly. "And I'm inclined to agree with you. Very well. Everyone, it is time for us to move forward!"
"Been busy, eh?"
Heads turned as people realized there was someone else in the room, and DaCosta reached into his jacket for the pistol hidden there.
But the black-clad figure raised a hand. "Relax, people," Kevin said quietly. "I'm Kevin Walker. Most of you don't know me, but your leader and I are quite well acquainted. Right, Cousin?"
Lacus smiled broadly. "Kevin! What are you doing here?" She quickly embraced her cousin. "I had no idea you were in the PLANTs!"
"Until earlier today, I wasn't," he replied with a smile. He looked over at the red-haired ex-ZAFT man. "Martin DaCosta, isn't it? It's a pleasure to finally meet you during a time other than a Blue Cosmos attack. I'm the guy your old boss knew as Racher."
DaCosta shook his hand. "An honor, sir; Commander Waltfeld always spoke highly of you." He raised an eyebrow. "I'd heard your real name, after the attack on Orb, but I had no idea you were related to Miss Lacus."
"Most people don't," Snake agreed. "My genealogy is pretty complex, though I've never really understood why so few people know that my mother was Uncle Siegel's sister." He frowned. "Speaking of whom, what did you mean by 'news' about him?"
Lacus swallowed hard. "Chairman Zala... had him assassinated," she said softly.
Kevin's eyes turned to jade ice. "Uncle Siegel? No... One more thing Zala must pay for..." He took a deep breath, calming himself. "I'm sorry, Lacus. But that's why I'm here; Athrun told us his father was hunting you, so I thought I'd come out here and check on you."
The smile returned to her face. "Athrun? Then he did find you?"
He nodded. "That he did, and helped protect us on the way out of Orb, to space. He's here, by the way; he said he needed to talk to his father."
Lacus looked worried. "That could be very dangerous. Chairman Zala is not one to forgive failure these days; I hope he'll be all right."
"Me, too." Snake glanced around at the computer equipment. "Look, if you guys can lend me a little computer time, I've got a way to check on him; I've got a personal message to deliver to the good Chairman, anyway."
"If they trace it-" DaCosta warned.
"They won't," Kevin assured him. "I'll bounce the signal through my mobile suit, and they'll never get a fix on that."
"Then please, go ahead," Lacus said, showing him to an unoccupied computer. "Might I ask what you intend to do?"
"Something very, very crazy," he replied, pulling a neural-link adapter out of his pocket. "Something I don't think anyone has ever tried before, and probably for very good reason." He connected the device and pressed his palm against it. "Give me a few minutes, and don't disturb me."
Kevin sat in a chair, and suddenly his eyes were vacant, as though nobody was home.
Kevin's eyes soon saw a different room, one with low lighting, that was occupied by eight other people: Patrick Zala, his son Athrun, and six armed guards.
He was nervous, and not because of the soldiers, or even the fact that his friend was on the floor, with his own father pointing a gun at him. No, he was apprehensive because of the extreme risk he was taking. What Kevin was doing was linking his mind through one computer, via a neural link, to his mobile suit; which in turn relayed his signal to Patrick Zala's office, where he appeared as a hologram.
His body was safe enough, but there were enough links in the chain to make it a very real possibility that Kevin's mind would be cut off from his body completely. If any of the relays failed...
But now, his attention was entirely on the scene before him. "Answer me, Athrun!" Zala demanded. "Where are the Justice and the Freedom? Where is the mobile suit we captured and upgraded? Answer me!"
Athrun just looked at him, eyes narrow, amulet glowing. "To make matters worse, the PLANTs are being led by someone who believes that Coordinators are a new species, for Patrick Zala rules them now... Patrick Zala rules them now..."
The words kept echoing in his head, and something in him snapped. With a wordless snarl of pure rage, he launched himself at his father, hands reaching for Zala's throat.
Startled, the Chairman fired, grazing his son's shoulder. "Hold your fire!" he ordered the guards. "There are some things he still needs to tell me. Take him away, and get the answers from him. Use whatever means necessary."
"Yes, sir!"
"I'm very disappointed, Athrun," Zala said harshly.
"I feel the same way," his son replied.
As Athrun was dragged away, he caught sight of the hologram, and his eyes widened for an instant. Then they narrowed again, and he nodded almost imperceptibly.
"Well, well," Kevin said coldly. "How the mighty have fallen. Treating your son that way, Zala? Not a good sign, not at all."
Zala spun around. "What the- Who are you, and how did you get in here?" He leveled the pistol.
"Save it, Chairman," Snake advised. "I'm not really here; this is only a hologram. And my name, since you asked, is Kevin Walker, also known as Baron Onishi. You should remember me."
The Chairman's eyes narrowed. "You. The one called Hydra. Another traitor."
"Shut up," Kevin said coolly. "I'm not a traitor to anything; unless you think I ought to be loyal to the people who kidnapped me, tortured me, brainwashed me? No, I never betrayed that which I truly believed in." His holographic form began to pace. "It's been a long time, Chairman, since we last saw each other face-to-face. Once I respected you, but now that you seem to have completely lost your marbles, the only thing that keeps me from wishing that you never existed is the fact that Athrun is your son. But I'm warning you now, bastard, if anything happens to Athrun I'll come right over and kill you."
"So you're nearby? Then that will make it all the easier to track you down." Zala's eyes were hard. "And then we'll see what secrets you've been keeping."
"Not a chance, Zala. You can't trace this transmission, I'd kill anyone you sent after me, and I wouldn't break under interrogation anyway. I've endured far worse, thanks to you." Snake's eyes were equally hard. "Understand this, Patrick Zala: I really don't have the time to kill you now, however much you may deserve it. Therefore, you may have as much as a few months left. But if you hurt Athrun in any way, I'll bloody well make time." He smiled very, very coldly. "'Beware the fury of a patient man'," he quoted. "I have waited three long years for this, Zala, ever since I annihilated Oracle and the lab. I can wait a little longer. But the day is coming soon when my patience will pay off, and on that day, you will die."
He drew the illusory rapier that hung at his side, sketched a salute, and then ran the holographic blade through Zala's chest. "Una salus victus nullam sperare salutem," Kevin said. "You are the doomed, Chairman. Your only hope is not to hope for safety, for you will never find it as long as I survive."
Before Patrick Zala could think of a suitable retort, the phantom figure had vanished.
Kevin came back to himself with a start, his consciousness returning to his body fairly abruptly; he shook his head quickly to clear it.
"Did you learn anything?" Lacus asked.
He nodded. "Yeah. Chairman Zala's gone completely off the deep end. Lacus, he shot Athrun."
She gasped. "Is he alright?" If we lost Athrun, too...!
"Just a flesh wound; but he's being taken away for interrogation. ZAFT has drugs that could make a dead man speak, so we'd better do something." Snake looked around the room. "Can we?"
DaCosta smiled. "Yes, Baron, I believe we can. And there's someone you should meet." He turned. "Invictus?"
A shadow detached itself from the wall, a barely perceptible blurring of the air that quickly resolved itself into the figure of an armored man as he deactivated the optic camouflage. "Hello, Hydra," Invictus said quietly, pulling off his helmet. "I've wanted to meet you for a long time."
Kevin stared, hand reflexively reaching for a weapon as he came face-to-face with himself. "What the-!"
"Relax, Kevin," Lacus said soothingly, laying a hand on her cousin's arm. "It's all right; he's one of us." She smiled. "I'm sure you two will get along; you have so much in common, after all."
He watched the other sandy-haired soldier warily. "You're another clone," Snake stated. "Or are you really Carter, trying another little trick?"
Invictus shook his head. "No trick, Hydra... Kevin, I mean. I'm the second clone, the reason there are only two copies left; I killed all the rest."
Snake's revolver was suddenly in his hand, pointed directly at the assassin's forehead. Ignoring Lacus' dismayed expression, he thumbed back the hammer. "Prove it, pal. Give me a good reason to believe you're not the same guy I tossed through a window, or I'll kill you."
Invictus thought very carefully about his next words. He knew perfectly well that, even sharing Kevin's unique genetic abilities, he stood no chance in a gunfight with him. "Okay, Kevin," he said finally. "Here's the proof: you have a certain female friend whom you literally grew up with. You have the same birthday, and you have always been very close, despite the fact that her father disliked you. More importantly, this is a girl you l-"
"Shut up!" Kevin lowered the Colt, but continued to glare. "Okay, you are who you say you are. But if you really have all my memories prior to that time, you should know that there are certain things I don't want spoken of. Understand?"
"Yeah. Just wanted you to be sure." Invictus the cybernetic assassin, trained via chemical learning techniques in the ancient art of ninjutsu, held out a hand. "A pleasure to finally meet the original."
"A pleasure to meet someone who shares my DNA without wanting to kill me," Snake replied, shaking the hand. "I'll want to hear your story later, but right now I think we have a mutual friend to rescue, don't we?"
"That we do." Invictus glanced at the plasma rifle. "That big ugly thing any use?"
Snake smiled. "You could say that." He turned to DaCosta. "C'mon, DaCosta. Let's get things going, shall we?"
Athrun walked numbly along in the center of the ring of guards, hands cuffed behind him and shoulder burning from the wound his father had inflicted.
He almost wanted to try some suicidal stunt, a fatal attempt at escape, but Kira's words came back to him. "It's not your time to go... it's not your time to go... You know that, right?... you know that, right?..." The words buoyed him, and gave him the beginnings of a plan.
Soon enough, they had arrived at the vehicle that would take him off to be interrogated, probably brutally, and Athrun had an idea. Reckless, but just possibly workable, with a little luck, good timing, and (hopefully) a good amount of surprise on the part of the guards.
He stopped just behind the van. "Hey, what are you-" a guard demanded; and Athrun acted.
He slammed his foot into the soldier to his right, and body-slammed the one to his left, then started running away. At the same time, another guard, though appearing surprised, suddenly turned and slammed the butt of his rifle into his partner's face, knocking him out. "Didn't expect this," he muttered, and ran over to Athrun. "This way! Hurry!"
They ducked around a corner just as a bolt of fiery-red plasma streaked down from a rooftop and struck the Justice Ministry van, causing it to explode in a most satisfactory manner, while at the same time a figure appeared from nowhere, sword in hand. "When the shadow strikes..." A quick flurry of slashes, brief screams, and silence. "...only death remains!"
The duplicitous soldier turned to Athrun. "Get down and turn your back to me! I'm gonna shoot your handcuffs!" Doing so, he shook his head. "You're way too reckless. Don't you wanna live? You even knocked out one of my guys!" He handed the pilot a machine pistol as he spoke.
"Who are you guys?" Athrun asked, cocking the weapon.
DaCosta lifted his helmet. "I'm a member of what they're calling the Clyne Faction," he explained. "You've thrown quite a wrench into our plans."
"I'm sorry," Athrun said sardonically. "I had no idea."
"Well, naturally. How could you?" The ex-ZAFT soldier looked to his right as two figures approached. "There you are. We gotta hurry!"
The blue-haired pilot blinked as he realized both young men had the same face, then noticed the scar one of them bore. "Kevin! Invictus! What are you two doing here?"
"Saving your hide," Invictus answered.
"From your psychotic father," Kevin agreed. He appeared to concentrate for a moment, then nodded. "Okay, Stormhawk's set up for the homing signal. Martin, where are we going?"
The four began moving again. "To our getaway ship," DaCosta answered. "By the time we arrive, the Eternal should be secure."
Snake looked blank for a moment, then impressed as data streamed to the front of his mind from his implanted computers. "The battleship with the METEOR units. Not bad, Martin. Who's in command?"
"You'll want to see for yourself," the man replied with a cryptic smile. "I think you'll be pleased."
Meanwhile, on the battleship Eternal, Andrew "Desert Tiger" Waltfeld sat in the Bridge's command chair. "Well," he said to the Bridge crew at large. "I guess it's time." He lifted the intercom handset. "All hands, the ship is entering final preparations. Repeat, the ship is beginning final preparations. Get to work!"
On a lower deck, two crew members looked confused, then froze as their crewmates suddenly held guns on them. "What the-"
"Easy, now," a female crew member, already under the gun, advised.
As the ZAFT loyalists among the crew were debarked, Lacus entered the Bridge. "Sorry for the delay!" she apologized, setting down in the flag chair.
"No worries," Waltfeld replied. "So long as you arrived safely." He turned, raising an inquiring eyebrow. "Shall we launch?"
"Yes," Lacus said firmly. "Invictus is already aboard, Martin should be on his way with Athrun, and I believe Kevin's mobile suit will be meeting us outside. I'm not sure if he'll be in it," she conceded, "but he'll be coming somehow."
"Indeed," Snake agreed, entering through the same hatch Lacus had. "Stormhawk will be meeting us outside." He turned to his cousin. "So tell me, Lacus, who is the commander here?"
Waltfeld swiveled in his chair. "It's been a while, Racher," he said with a smile. "Welcome aboard."
Kevin froze, not even breathing, as he stared in shock at the apparition before him. The Desert Tiger had lost an arm, and a wicked, inverted-Y scar ran over his left eye socket, but it was definitely his old mentor. "Andy?" he whispered, stunned.
"Congratulations, Commander," Lacus commented to Waltfeld. "You've surprised him; that doesn't happen very often."
"Yeah, I know," he agreed. "I taught this guy everything I know about tactics and strategy, and it looks like you built on it, eh, youngster?"
Snake shut his mouth. "Yeah, you could say that... Andy, I thought-"
"I nearly died," Waltfeld acknowledged. "Your buddy Kira did a pretty thorough job; but I got out. Yeah, I got out," he repeated with a smile, "but it cost me an arm and a leg. And an eye."
"Aisha?" the super-soldier asked quietly.
The Tiger just shook his head.
"Solkin syn," Snake murmured. He had come to know Aisha well, in the two weeks he was Waltfeld's pupil; he would miss her. But you can't exactly seek vengeance for her, now can you, Snake? It was Kira that did it, after all. And that was war, not like the sort of things you do avenge. "I'm sorry."
Waltfeld shrugged. "These things happen in a war. Right now, our duty is to the living; though I suppose in your case, that means making more of the dead, doesn't it?"
"Each step I take is paved with the corpses of my enemies," Snake agreed, half-smiling as he quoted his mentor's words to him some years earlier. "So, when do we launch?"
"Right now." Waltfeld looked forward at the helmsman. "Start up main engines."
In the control room overlooking the Eternal's dock, the engine startup caused pandemonium. "Eternal, what are you doing? You don't have clearance to launch!"
The helmsman turned in his chair. "The code on the gate was just changed," he reported.
"What a clever bunch they are," Waltfeld commented. "They'd have been better off leaving it as is. Activate main cannon and prepare to fire as soon as we launch." The Tiger looked back at Lacus. "Shall we?"
"Yes. The time has come for us to move forward." Lacus straightened in her chair. "Eternal, please go ahead and launch!"
The powerful ship's engines flared to life, and the Eternal began to move forward. "Commander Waltfeld, what are you doing?" The port authority demanded irately. "You don't have orders to leave. Cut your engines, Eternal!"
Waltfeld ignored them completely. "Fire main cannon! Target: primary gate!"
The Eternal's large, centerline beam cannon fired, discharging its huge green beam into the gate blocking off the harbor's exit, allowing the ship to slip through and into open space.
"They should sell tickets," Snake muttered, pressed against the wall; he'd forgotten to sit before acceleration hit, and now paid the price for his unusual slipup.
"Where's DaCosta?" Waltfeld inquired of his crew.
"On his way, sir."
At that moment, Martin DaCosta piloted a small, two-seat shuttle with Athrun in the rear, racing through a launch tunnel, completely ignoring the lightly-armed work shuttles that hung in their path. "Here we go!" he advised Athrun as they flew out into space, above the Eternal.
"Head to the aft hatch, DaCosta!" the Tiger ordered. "Maximum thrust as soon as he's aboard," he added to the helmsman. "This is a fast ship; we'll shake 'em."
On the nearby Vesalius, Rau Le Creuset stroked his chin. "Is that so? The Eternal's gone? And Athrun, too?" The latter didn't terribly surprise him; he'd known of Athrun's divided loyalties since the day the Archangel had departed Heliopolis.
"We've orders to pursue them, sir!"
He shook his head. "Even the Vesalius can't catch up to them at this point; we'll have to let the Jachin forces handle it."
Le Creuset smiled to himself. Oh, this is highly entertaining, Chairman Zala!
Aboard the Eternal, the Bridge hatch opened once more, this time to admit Martin DaCosta and Athrun Zala, the latter with his arm in a sling.
"Athrun, there you are! Good!" Lacus pushed away from her chair and floated over to the pilot. "Are you all right?"
"Lacus?" Athrun said in surprise, steadying her with his left hand.
"Welcome aboard the ship of the songstress," the Desert Tiger said, turning. "I'm Andrew Waltfeld, kid."
He blinked. "The Desert Tiger? Kevin's teacher? But you're-"
"That's what I thought, too," Snake commented, walking over. "Good to see you safely aboard, tovarisch."
His cousin glanced at him. "Kevin, I thought you said your mobile suit would be joining us?"
There was a thud against the outer hull. "There it is," he said conversationally. "Attached to the hull by landing claw, till it can be brought inside."
Athrun met Snake's eyes. "Kevin, I saw you in my father's office back there. Did you...?"
Kevin shook his head. "No, Athrun, your father's still alive; I wasn't actually there, you see, just manifesting as a hologram. If looks could kill, though, he would be dead." He raised an eyebrow. "So just what did he say that made you try to kill him?"
Athrun looked away. "He said... he said that there would be peace only when the last Natural was gone," he said, voice barely audible.
Snake winced. "Solkin syn. That explains some of Carnehan's words, back in Banadiya. I didn't think the good Chairman was that far gone, though."
"We're approaching Jachin Due," Waltfeld called, interrupting them. "The Jachin forces are launching to intercept. Well, can't say I'm that surprised." He looked at the crew. "Ready main cannon! Activate CIWS!"
"Do you have any mobile suits aboard?' Athrun asked.
The Tiger smiled grimly. "Sorry, we're fresh out of those, unless you count the one attached to the hull. This ship was intended for the exclusive use of the Justice and the Freedom, and was later modified for the Stormhawk."
"The Stormhawk?" Snake repeated. "Why- oh, of course."
"Right," Waltfeld concurred. "Your wonder suit was briefly in the possession of ZAFT, and they liked what they saw." He shrugged. "But unfortunately, it means we don't even have any GINNs."
"And there's no time for me to board Stormhawk," Snake muttered. "Solkin syn."
Lacus stood. "Give me an open channel for outgoing communication," she requested.
"Roger that," Waltfeld agreed. A moment later, "Okay, you're on."
"Attention, Jachin Defense Forces," she began. "My name is Lacus Clyne. Though I am an enemy of Patrick Zala, because we have differing views on what the future should be like, I still have no desire to fight against you. Please, let our ship go in peace, and I beseech you all once again to think carefully about we should really be fighting against."
Some of the ZAFT pilots hesitated. "Commander?" one of them called, uncertain.
"Don't be swayed by her words," his squad leader told him. "Our orders are to attack, and that's what we're gonna do!"
One the Eternal's Bridge, Waltfeld saw the lines of missile trajectories appear on the display. "It won't be easy for them to change their beliefs so quickly," he commented. "Very well, then. Commence interception!"
The rogue ship's countless missile launchers opened fire, sending out dozens of missiles to intercept the incoming warheads, detonating them well clear of the ship's hull.
"Are we having fun yet?" Snake's mutter went unnoticed, but it made him slightly happier; he hated being in a battle without being able to affect the outcome.
"Please, try to avoid hitting the cockpits," Lacus requested.
"That won't be easy either," the Commander replied. "Main cannon, fire!"
Almost instantly several contacts faded from the display, but more were still appearing. "Never underestimate Jachin's defenses," Snake commented. "Something to remember; now I see how the Alliance's Fifth and Sixth Fleets were so easily stopped. And that was before the place was converted into a fortress."
Another wave of missiles came in. "There's too many contacts to intercept!"
Waltfeld looked grim, Athrun nervous, and Lacus merely defiant. But the Snake looked oddly calm, eyes closed as his mind reached out. Then the jade eyes opened, and he smiled. "Kira's coming."
Not a second later, a green beam lanced out and blasted a missile to cinders, followed by two more as the Freedom sliced across space towards them. "It is Kira!" Athrun said in surprise. "But-"
"He was hiding behind a resource rock," Snake informed him. "Just waiting for us to turn up."
Kira continued blasting missiles until there were few enough for the Eternal's point defense to handle, then armed all his weapons and locked onto every mobile suit in range, before firing off his trademark multi-beam attack.
Within seconds, every GINN and CGUE in range was either disarmed or headless, leaving the Eternal to fly on unhindered, with the Freedom providing escort.
"This is Kira Yamato, in the Freedom," came the call over the radio.
"Kira!" Lacus called happily.
Kira's face appeared on the screen. "Is that Lacus?"
"Yes!"
"Great work, youngster," Waltfeld said with a smile. "You saved our hides."
Kira's eyes were wide as saucers. "Andrew Waltfeld? But... but I..."
"No hard feelings, kid." The Tiger looked back at Snake. "So, Racher, where to? I think it'd be best if we link up with your friends."
"The L4 colonies," Snake replied. "Mendel was the place we were headed."
"Roger that." Waltfeld raised an eyebrow. "Still got the Archangel with you? And your girlfriend?"
To Athrun's amusement, the super-soldier slowly drew his .45 Long Colt revolver and pointed it at his mentor's nose. "Andrushka," he said softly, dangerously (using the familiar form of Andrey, the Russian equivalent of Andrew), "do not badger me about my love life, or lack thereof. I already have Kira, Athrun, and a battle computer doing it; I don't need you adding to it, understand? And if you say any such thing in Cagalli's hearing, I'll plant a claymore mine where it'll really hurt... like your chair."
It was a long trip to the Mendel colony, which gave Kevin and Lacus a chance to catch up along the way. "You're looking better than when I last saw you," she commented; they were in the quarters he'd been assigned for the duration. "Last time..."
"Last time about half my face was missing," he recalled. "Not fun, but I got over it." Kevin leaned against the wall. "So. I hear you've been 'singing the Song of Peace'; made a real nuisance of yourself to Chairman Zala, I gather."
"True," she agreed. Then she frowned, and folded her arms. "But I've heard you haven't."
He blinked in surprise. "What do you mean? I think I just did a very adequate job of causing Patrick Zala trouble; or didn't you notice I helped break Athrun loose?"
"I didn't mean that," Lacus said, eyes uncharacteristically narrow. "I mean you haven't exactly been going out of your way to try reduce casualties in this war; or did I hear wrong about what happened in Orb?"
Kevin's own eyes narrowed. "Did you expect otherwise, Cousin? You know what they just did to my homeland; I don't care about the government, but they took away my home, and they hurt the one most important to me. How did you expect I would react?"
"Killing isn't the answer, Kevin," she said sternly. "I've heard you talk so much of avenging yourself; but is that really how you want to be remembered? As a cold-blooded killer?"
"I can't help what I am, Lacus," he answered. "Let me remind you that this is a war; people die in war. That's a fact, and I think you know it. All we can do is try to end it as quickly as possible, and if that means using the tactics I have, so be it. They're a sight better than either side has used in the past. And as for avenging myself..." His eyes chilled. "You know what they did to me, Lacus. Both sides. Can you really blame me?"
"Revenge is an endless cycle-" Lacus began.
"I don't think so," Kevin interrupted. "And even were it true, I wouldn't really care just now." He closed his eyes. "First: Blue Cosmos, the group which is currently manipulating Earth Alliance policy, assassinated my parents, and later chased me across the entire bloody planet for over a year. Second: ZAFT kidnapped me, turned me into a cybernetically-augmented killing machine, wiped my memory, and made my life a living hell for six months- no, even longer than that!" Unexpectedly, he pulled off his jacket and gloves, baring his arms and hands. "See these, Lacus? See the scars? You should know by now how I got them. Do you really expect to leave the people who did this to me unpunished?" He reached down, drew his combat knife, and, to Lacus' shock and horror, sliced open the skin of his own right arm.
She gasped, and then noticed something very strange about the wound. "Kevin, what on earth-"
"See this?" Kevin demanded. "It doesn't bleed, Lacus. It doesn't bleed, because it's not flesh and blood anymore. It's a mechanical construct, just a collection of metal and polymer, no longer human. I lost the original when Jack Carter nearly blew me in half with an antitank gun; and Jack Carter wouldn't have existed had ZAFT not already done so much to me!"
Lacus realized then that trying to convince her cousin to change his ways was a complete waste of time. It's too ingrained, she realized. He's spent so much time fighting for his life that he doesn't no how else to solve problems. And, she admitted to herself, deep down, maybe this time... he's right. Vengeance certainly isn't the answer, but those who did this to him have to be punished somehow; anyway, there's no way to convince him not to.
She decided it was time to change the subject. The one she had in mind would also likely irritate him, but not nearly as badly. Besides, if she didn't have the right to tease him about it, who did?
"So," Lacus asked sweetly, "just who is this 'girlfriend' Commander Waltfeld mentioned?"
As anticipated, Kevin looked about ready to explode. But it's Lacus, your favored cousin, he told himself. So you can't threaten to blow her head off.
He took a deep, calming breath. "First of all, Lacus," he said with forced patience, "she isn't my girlfriend, rumors to the contrary notwithstanding. She's merely a very good friend; the very one we discussed some months ago, on the Archangel. Her name is Cagalli Yula Athha, and, up until a few days ago, her father was leader of Orb."
Lacus nodded in comprehension. "I should have realized; the Princess of Orb. I've heard of her, of course, but she always kept a low profile." She tilted her head. "So, why are you so irritated by the rumors if there's no truth to them?"
Kevin paused, looking at her uncertainly, then shrugged. If I can't tell her, who can I tell?
He took a deep breath. "Because it should have been true, Lacus. Had things not gone as they did three and a half years ago, it probably would have been; maybe the one thing those old -deceased- idiots in the Orb nobility ever got right."
She frowned, confused. "But why...?"
"Remember Project ABADDON? Remember how that ended? Bad things happen to those whom I care too much for, Lacus. That's been an inescapable part of my life for years now." Kevin shook his head. "No, I can't risk it."
Lacus lightly touched his face. "Kevin... that was years ago. It's over. You should have the chance to be happy, too."
"Didn't say I was unhappy, tovarisch; just that I wish it could be more. But it can't, and that's that. I'd really appreciate it if you not argue with me, either, okay?" He managed a rueful chuckle. "I've already got both surrogate brothers, the Hawk of Endymion, the Desert Tiger, and a battle computer doing it. I really don't want to hear it, okay?"
"Very well, then," she agreed. But don't think this is over, Cousin. No matter how hard you try to deny it, it'll come out, sooner or later... "So tell me," she said aloud. "About her. What's she like? There's never been much publicized about her..."
"You don't know the half of it," Kevin told her. "Let me give you some advice about dealing with Cagalli: first of all, she hates being a princess, and really hates being called one. Second, if you value your life, never suggest to her that she wear a dress..."
Four days later, the Eternal slowly slid backwards into the Mendel colony's harbor, joining the Archangel and Kusanagi, both of which had arrived days earlier.
Soon, small contingents from the Eternal and Archangel met in a room overlooking the harbor. "Begging your pardon, Ma'am," Waltfeld said, saluting with his remaining hand, "but I'm Andrew Waltfeld. It's a pleasure to finally meet you."
Ramius returned the salute. "Likewise, Commander." Lowering her hand, she smiled. "I have to admit, this is quite a surprise."
"I'd say the feeling's mutual, right, youngster?" he replied, turning to Kira.
The young pilot looked troubled. "You have a real reason to want revenge on me."
"That's what happens in a war," Waltfeld said, shrugging it off. "Everybody has some kind of reason... yet no one does."
"Thank you." Kira glanced pointedly at Snake, but gave up when the super-soldier met his gaze behind his shades. We'll never convince him of that; and maybe we wouldn't want to. Kevin is Kevin, even if he's earned the name Snake; we wouldn't have him any other way. He thought momentarily of his sister, which prompted a smile. Cagalli wouldn't, anyway.
"You're always getting hurt," Cagalli observed to Athrun a little later; they were the only ones left in the room. "You should try being a little more careful," she advised, looking at the sling his right arm rested in.
"Yeah." Athrun tilted his head. "It was your amulet that saved me."
"Did it really? That's good to hear." Cagalli looked out across the harbor, to a room on another wall, where Kira and Lacus were talking. "It's amazing," she said quietly. "She escaped with that huge ship. She's... really something."
"Hm. Yeah, she is," Athrun agreed.
She turned to him. "Don't you mind? She is your fiancé, after all."
He thought for a few moments, observing; it was obvious to him that Lacus was head over heals for his friend. Probably had been for some time now. "Ex-fiancé," Athrun said finally. "Because I was such a fool."
Cagalli blinked, then smiled. "Well... better to realize that now, than when it's too late, right?" She looked up at the two again. "And I think Kira's just as much of a fool. Mm-hmm. I guess even Coordinators do stupid things. So, I guess we should just get used to it."
Athrun cracked a smile. "You think so? I guess you're right."
"I think Kevin's one, too," she went on, more seriously. Her friend was in his flight suit, hanging in the vacuum of the harbor, apparently deep in thought. "He's dwelling too much on the past," Cagalli said. "He's still worried about what he did when he was with ZAFT."
"Not as much as he used to be," Athrun pointed out. "I think he's coming to terms with it." He looked very sober, and a little sad for a moment. "He'll be even better off after he kills the Chairman," he continued, no longer even calling Zala his father. "I wish him luck."
Cagalli looked at him in surprise. What did your father do to you, she wondered, to make you actively hope Kevin manages to kill him? She turned back to the window, and smiled. "Yeah, maybe. But when are we going to find him a girlfriend?" she said fondly.
Athrun gave her a strange look.
Author's note: The Three Ships Alliance is assembled, and Kevin Walker has met his assassin clone at last. Very soon, the Mendel colony will come under attack, and the final secrets of the super-soldier's origins will be revealed…
Daniel Lynx, I imagine nothing here surprised you; but upcoming events, I suspect, almost certainly will. You'll see what I mean.
RVD, I hope it lived up to your expectations.
As for Athrun having a conversation with Max, part of it was that I prefer to have my OCs properly tied into the plot; this is the first story where I've really managed that. In past efforts, it was almost exclusively only the main OC who interacted with the canonical cast at all; I think I've finally broken free of that trend, though.
Arekuruu-inabikari-no-She, let's just that it's getting fairly close to that. It won't be too long now.
Shinji Ikari, first of all, my apologies for the spoiler; I'll be more careful in the future (though I might point out there are considerably more such references in various reviews).
As for the hyper jammers… we'll see. I'm not sure where such an explanation would fit, though I'm giving consideration to your notion of a glossary. Something I'll have to think about.
With the Kevin/Cagalli aspects, my original intention was to have them merely as close friends; but that was when I first started the story, before I'd seen past Phase 25 or so. I'd assumed a different paring at the time, and when I did learn how things went later in the series, just didn't think it made any sense. Besides, as is often the case, that's just how the story worked out.
I'll give a certain amount of consideration to your comments regarding the character interaction; however, I'm afraid I don't quite agree that it's as bad as you say. I've read more science fiction than I can keep track off, and from my experience I'd say I'm not doing too badly.
Some of the concerns, as it has happens, I was intending to address anyway: after the completion of Brothers in Arms, I'll be posting a series of one-shots, a sort of side story to Brothers in Arms, with scenes that just didn't seem to fit anywhere in the main story, or scenes from the main story that I want to expand upon, from a given character's perspective. I've already got a couple of these in the works, and I think there will be several more.
As you can see, I did finally provide an explanation for Kevin breaking off his attack on Azrael; again, it was apparently a case of my being accidentally subtle.
Now… I'm afraid I do not agree with your main criticism of the chapter. First of all, you're forgetting Kira's link with Kevin; he, at least, would likely already know exactly what went down in those final moments.
Second, just how the blazes would they expect Kevin to react? He just had his homeland conquered by one of the people he hates most in the entire world; they know him well enough to know what he'd do, and why; and perhaps I should mention Kira's goal was also the defeat of the Atlantic Federation forces? Maybe he wouldn't use the same tactics, but he'd know full well what Kevin would do if it came down to it. I believe it's also already established that he's somewhat resigned to it by now.
As for Athrun, remember that, unlike Kira, he doesn't seem to have any problem with outright destroying his enemies. And, again, he should know Kevin well enough by then.
And Cagalli certainly wouldn't chew him out over it, even if she hadn't just lost her father. For example, you quite clearly see her "blowing up everything in sight" in Phase 49, after the Astray test pilot get offed. I find it very difficult to believe she'd have any problem with his actions, particularly since they were in Orb's defense.
You'll note that I already addressed the point regarding Lacus, so I don't see any need to expound upon it further.
I might well have included events involving the characters from the Astray series… except that I know next to nothing about it. A little difficult to talk about events one has no knowledge of, wouldn't you say? They may well be mentioned from time to time, but I can do nothing more than that.
I'm glad you at least approved of my tweaking of the various scenes; it was a little tricky, modifying Athrun and Mu's discussion without changing the tone of it, which seemed fairly important. As for Frank Castile, well, fortunately for your blood pressure he's a fairly minor character. That wasn't his last appearance, but he doesn't turn up very often, either.
Now, the Kevin/Athrun/Max conversation was kind of spur of the moment; it started essentially as filler, and ended up being very long and involved. Covered some points I figured needed to be covered, and had Athrun interacting with an OC besides Kevin or one of his clones.
I actually had no intention of using that particular cliché for the actual event. For one thing, telling Kevin to "enjoy the time he has left" is probably not a smart move, especially when you consider the fact that his life expectancy is on the order of two centuries; considerably longer than those close to him. Of course, since no Destroyer has actually had the chance to live that long yet, there's no way to know how long he'll actually live. (I seem to be getting off-topic; compulsive explanations seem to be a habit of mine.)
As it happens, the reason I thought it obvious Cagalli is a Coordinator is her "What am I?" line in Phase 41. I do agree, though, that it's a little strange no Natural in the series seems to "bear the SEED". I always suspected La Flaga did, but you never see anything of that sort.
It won't be much longer till it reaches the encounter with Le Creuset in the GARM facility. I'll go over it again, of course, but I think I pulled off his mannerisms well (of course, there are a few things I need to add, based on more recent plot decisions I've made).
Sigh. Another hour spent writing author's notes; I sometimes think I spend more time on them than on the chapters themselves. Oh, well, at least it tends to be interesting. Anyway, read and let me know what you think. -Solid Shark