-New York City Harbor, July 6, C.E. 71, 1750.
Admiral Sutherland sat at his desk on board his flagship, the Valiant. The old Gerosian-class attack ship had been heavily modified which now made the ship look like the much newer Jani-class battleship. If all was going according to plan, the Archangel should have departed Nova Scotia by now, Sutherland thought. He had been waiting too long now to get Namora, la Flaga, Ramius, and the others out of his way. They had screwed his plans over at Alaska and he was going to have no more of that. The blasted Coordinators had to be wiped out now.
His door opened and in walked Seymour McKinley, the ship's captain. Sutherland had instructed McKinley to inform him the minute the Archangel departed Nova Scotia, the status of phase two of the plan and an update on their inside man's progress. McKinley was the by-the-book type of officer and had risen to the rank of captain only because the ship's previous ones had all been killed in action. He saluted Sutherland and when the admiral returned it, McKinley remained at attention waiting for Sutherland's word.
"Did you confirm it?" Sutherland asked. He had made sure to add emphasis on those words in order to make the captain sweat. He always enjoyed doing that and even now he could see Captain McKinley tense at the tone of his voice.
"Y-yes sir," McKinley said nervously, "She left Nova Scotia approximately an hour ago sir, w-with all of the equipment and men on board, sir." Sutherland smiled to himself as he saw the sweat start trickling down the captain's forehead.
"Excellent. That will be all captain, as you were." McKinley saluted and quickly sped out of the office. After his junior officer had left, Sutherland opened up the channel that had been installed to communicate directly with the Council. More importantly, directly with Murata Azrael. The screen showed static at first, but then it cleared showing Azrael's menacing face, sporting the psychotic grin Sutherland had noticed Azrael always had on.
"They've just left, Azrael. Everything's going according to plan." Sutherland said slyly.
"Good work Sutherland. I received word from our operative. He's 'modified' the planes so that they won't be able to find the homing beacons in Colombia." Azrael said.
Sutherland had an idea. "Sir, why don't we just not send the beacons all together. If they were...unable to arrive due to flight problems?"
Azrael's grin spread to the sides of his face. "I like that idea, admiral. Now, you're sure the intelligence report Namora received was altered."
"Yes, sir. The number of anti-aircraft installations on that document are exactly half the number that are actually there." Sutherland said as a smile caressed his own face.
"Good, work. After this is over, we'll both be very happy gentleman my friend." Azrael signed off the screen and Sutherland was alone once again. He leaned back in his chair and placed his hands behind his back. In one week, all of his opponents in the military would be dead. No more of la Flaga's fussing, Barkhesh's stubbornness, and more importantly, no more Kira Yamato and Athrun Zala. He'd had enough of dealing with those freaks long enough. Now he was finally going to be rid of him, and he and Azrael could begin their next plan. By the end of the month, every nation in the world would be involved in the war, and victory would be theirs.
-Archangel, Atlantic Ocean, July 6, C.E. 71, 2030.
Kira Yamato couldn't help but stare at her. She was a thing of beauty. The way she was designed made seem both beautiful and deadly. He wasn't sure which was the better trait. He had only been with her for several months, but he had terribly missed her since he had been away training. Now, they were together again.
Behind Kira, Athrun and Dearka stood side by side. Dearka leaned over and said, "Is he always like this?"
"As long as I've known him he has," Athrun replied. "He's staring at that thing like he's in love with it,"
Dearka chuckled. "Never knew you could feel that way about a mobile suit." They were standing in the Archangel's main hangar deck where the Freedom and Justice Gundams were being stored. Kira and Athrun had both made sure that no one but them could access the mobile suits' operation program because the two mobile suits were each equipped with N-Jammer Cancellers. The N-Jammer had been the device that had been preventing tragedies such as the 'Bloody Valentine' from occurring during the war's progress, which had now lasted more than a year. If the Cancellers fell into the wrong hands, there was no telling how much damage either side would do to each other.
Having changed out of their military dress uniforms hours earlier, Athrun and Dearka were more comfortable now wearing the uniforms that had been provided to them the first day at the Sheldon Air Base two months earlier, meaning the khaki uniform and brown leather jacket. The two of them still could not understand why they were even on this mission in the first place because neither of them had officially joined the Alliance military. They had just wanted to get away from the fighting for a while, but they both had ended up here on the ship anyway.
"So," Dearka remarked, "where's that blonde chick you're so head-over-heels about anyway?" He was referring to Cagalli of course, the girl Athrun could not stop thinking about.
"She went back to Orb with her father after Alaska. I haven't heard from her since," Athrun replied, almost sadly. He had hoped he would be able to see Cagalli again someday, but now he had to concentrate on his mission and could not let his own feelings interfere with his concentration.
Kira, finally snapping out of the hypnotic trance he had been in, seeing that his two friends were watching him, sauntered over to the two of them and said, "Eh...sorry guys. I didn't know you were there."
"Yeah, we kinda noticed that," Dearka remarked.
"Sorry. It's just I haven't been able to work on the mobile suit for almost two months now. I still haven't figured out the O.S. on this thing. Athrun, did you have any more luck with yours?" Kira asked.
"Not really. I mean, the calibration's all balanced and the phase shift works, but other than that, I've still got to work on getting it to move at maximum speed and velocity." Athrun and Kira had been working for hours a day trying to get the Freedom and the Justice ready for full combat. Kira had been able to use her for a little while at Alaska, but other than that, the Freedom still wasn't flying the way it should. Now with him on this mission, he didn't have the time to tinker with the O.S. now.
"Heh," Dearka chuckled. "At least you guys can say you have mobile suits. They still won't let me near Buster and I've been here for almost five months."
"As a POW Dearka," Athrun said. "They're still hesitant about letting you take her. Frankly, I don't understand why they let me work on Justice as it is."
"Alright guys, it's getting late and I'm hungry. Let's go get something to eat. What do you say?" Kira said trying to cheer his friends up.
"I think I'll pass, thanks," Dearka answered managing a slight yawn in the process. "I've got work to do back in my quarters." He then marched off out of the hangar and into the dark causeway beyond leaving Kira and Athrun alone.
"Come on Kira, let's go eat." Athrun said and they too walked out toward the mess hall.
Along the way, Kira wondered out loud why they had to use the bombers on the mission instead of just attacking with mobile suits. Athrun just stared at Kira as if he was crazy. "Are you nuts," he said. "There's no way a mobile suit can get into that place, much less do any damage."
Kira looked at Athrun in disbelief. "How is that even possible?"
Athrun's eyes displayed the serious aspect of this conversation. "Because, it's protected by assortments of BuCue's, GOOhN's, GINN's, and virtually everything else you can think of. They have enough firepower there to blow a hole the size of Texas into the planet! Not to mention that the troops stationed there are the best ZAFT has to offer!"
Finally it seemed Kira understood. "Alright, Athrun I'm sorry...I didn't know. Now...can we go get something to eat, I'm starving."
"Yeah, I'm sorry too," Athrun replied with a smile, "I didn't mean to go off like that and frankly I was as surprised as you were that I went off like that."
"No problem Athrun," Kira said and the two stalked off to the mess hall where their dinner was awaiting them.
-Archangel, 2045.
Geez...this place is a maze... Hugh Swanson could hardly believe that this ship had so many corridors and causeways on board. Not even the most complex base he had been on had this many access points and causeways. I have no idea how the hell Mwu knows his way around this place. I can't even find my own room...
Hugh had spent the afternoon leading some of the men in the unit in calisthenic exercises out in the hangar. Since Hugh was arguably the most athletic of the officers, John had assigned him to lead the pilots and crews in their daily exercise routines in order for them to be in top shape when they began the mission. Sweat still trickled down his forehead and stung his eyes as he walked through the ship.
Haven't sweated this much since I started usin' the sword... he was referring to the sword he always kept with him wherever he went. At the age of ten, his father had taught him how to use the sword in combat and since that day, Hugh had been an expert at the proper handling, footwork, and mental capacity that it took to win a sword fight. It was back in his quarters at the moment, and he made a mental note to himself to go over his skills once he returned.
He also made a note to send a message to his wife back home in England. Hugh had married his wife Maria five years ago and together they had two young sons, Martin and George. When he had enlisted in the Earth Forces, he had told his wife that should he be killed, she must remarry and move on. With tears in her eyes, they had shared one last kiss before he had departed on this mission months earlier. He hadn't seen her face in almost a month, god, what an ass I've been, I've left her all alone all this time and-.
Suddenly a sound broke Hugh's line of thought. It was a hollow sound like someone popping the cap off of a soda bottle. He back stepped a few feet to the opened door he passed a couple of steps before and peered inside. It was an enlisted man's quarters and there was someone inside. Hugh found the light-switch and flicked it on. Inside the room, the man jumped and turned back to face him.
"Elsman?" Hugh said, "What the hell are you doin'? Your supposed to be slacked off,"
"Uh...I was...just..." Hugh had to admit, it was kind of confusing. Dearka held a cardboard roll of some sort in his hands as if it were a sword. It was as if he was actually trying to practice swordsmanship with a cardboard tube.
"Were you fighting like it was a sword, Dearka?"
"Uh...I guess you could say that, " Dearka answered stutteringly.
"Hmm..." Hugh said thinking. "Well, go on ahead. Show me what you got kid." He folded his arms and leaned against the door frame. Dearka looked at his commanding officer suspiciously, but then resumed his act. Dearka parried and struck blows against the bed post of his bunk with clunking sounds marking the times he made contact. He moved swiftly across the floor with his feet scrapping against the tiles making annoying noises. While that may have been impressive for an ordinary person, for Hugh, it was amateurish.
"Pfft. That was your best?" Hugh said.
Dearka eyed him suspiciously. "Oh, and I assume you could do better?"
Hugh lifted an eyebrow and smiled. "Toss me one of those tubes then kid." After Dearka had complied, Hugh took up position facing Dearka holding the base of the tube with his right hand and his feet planted firmly on the floor. He had discarded his jacket and now stood just in his white T-shirt and uniform pants. He licked his lips in anticipation. It had been a while since he had been able to take someone to school.
Dearka made the first move. A quick strike at Hugh's left side, was easily deflected by Hugh's quick shoulder turn, all the while never moving his stare from Dearka's face. Hugh could tell that the quick deflection had caught Dearka off guard and that was exactly what Hugh wanted. Dearka then tried an overhead strike which Hugh also deflected with relative ease. The frustration began to show on the young man's face and Hugh knew he had gotten under the kid's skin.
Hugh then glided across the floor so that he was now facing the doorway from which he came, and while this gave Dearka a space advantage, it also allowed Hugh to become harder to see. At that moment, Hugh executed a brilliant fake to the left side, which Dearka bought, and came around with a chop kick, cutting Dearka's legs out from under him, dropping him to the floor. But Dearka was much faster than Hugh anticipated and quickly rolled to his right and out of Hugh's line of fire. Dearka, once he had regained his footing, charged blindly in a Hugh, but with a quick right-hand parry, Hugh sent Dearka's tube flying across the room and left Dearka weaponless.
"Hey, come on that's not fair..." Dearka complained after being so completely beaten. Hugh allowed himself the dignity of helping Dearka to his feet.
"Elsman...you can't just complain every time you lose. You actually did alright, but you still have a lot to learn."
"Oh yeah," Dearka said sarcastically, "and what might that be."
"Well..." Hugh started, "First off, you always want to hold your sword with one hand, whichever hand you use for everything," he said as he held out his tube with his right hand enclosed around the base. "Never use two hands in a sword fight. The other one is only used to help balance yourself while you're moving.
Dearka raised an eyebrow as if to question the advice, but then he said, "'Kay...?"
Seeing his opportunity, Hugh continued. "Secondly, you always want to be smooth on your feet during combat." He indicated this by gliding across the floor never banging his feet or tripping over himself."
"How can you do that?" Dearka asked.
"Most important rule for footwork," Hugh answered, "is never to cross your legs. When you move sideways, always move one foot in front or behind the other, never directly behind or else you'll trip and fall. Your first step is always critical because it shows what kind of fighter you are and what kind of fighter your opponent is. When you bunched your legs up, I knew I had you beat right then and there," He added that last part with a smile.
"Yeah, right," Dearka commented sarcastically. He folded his armed and responded, "Anything else you need to teach me?"
"Yeah, as a matter of fact I do." After seeing no despair or agitation from the young man, he went on. "The most important rule of sword-fighting: Never Take Your Eyes Off Your Opponent. You remember when I deflected your first shot. After that you stared off into space for a while. That meant you didn't know what you were doing and gave me the easy victory. No matter what, you cannot take your eyes off your opponent because if you do, you're dead meat."
"Alright, alright," Dearka commented. "I get it already. I suck at sword-fighting and I'll never be a good fighter. May as well just stick to being a pilot."
Hugh was shocked. "Hey, hey wait a minute, I never said that." He approached the young man and gave him back the tube he had discarded minutes ago. "If you put your mind to it, you could be the greatest fighter ever to live. As a matter of fact, if you were willing to learn, I could teach you everything I know about the sword."
"Really!?" Dearka beamed. "You'd do that for me?"
"Sure kid. As long as your willing to sweat a little, work very hard, and spend countless hours studying and working on your exercises."
Dearka smiled. "Yes, yes. Of course I'll be willing to."
"Alright then. We'll be on this ship for a few days. If you meet with me for a couple of hours a day, we'll spar and work on your stances. By the end of the week, you'll be as good as me." Hugh turned around and began to walk away, but Dearka stopped him.
"Commander?" he said hesitantly.
"Yes, Ensign?" Hugh responded.
"You know, I always thought you were just a pilot, but now, you're actually pretty cool."
Hugh smiled to himself at the compliment. "That makes me feel so much better coming from a mobile-suit pilot Elsman," he laughed to himself and left the room heading to his own quarters for a good night sleep. This mission is going to be interesting indeed...
-Archangel, 2100.
Oh boy...what a day...Mwu thought to himself as he stretched his arms out over his head. He stood in the ship's elevator waiting for it to arrive at his destination. He had spent the entire day after he had arrived on the ship monitoring the pilots he was responsible for. Overall it had been a boring and hectic day all at the same time. He'd been lucky that John wasn't angry at him for oversleeping and let him off easy.
Mwu had wanted to take a long walk around the ship to see if anything had changed since he had been gone, but his duties had taken him elsewhere and now he was virtually sleep-walking. He yawned loudly as he stretched his arms behind him and leaned against the elevator's wall. I think I deserved a long rest now...just gotta remember to set my alarm this time. I wonder if my room's still the same...
Before Mwu could finish the thought, the elevator stopped. Mwu looked up at the monitor and saw that it was still three decks above where his quarters were. He groaned to himself wondering who would still be awake at this hour. Most of the pilots in his squadron were either slacked off or in the mess hall so he wondered who else would be awake at this time of night. The elevator door chimed and the doors opened to the side. All of Mwu's annoyance disappeared when he found himself staring into a pair of deep brown eyes.
Those eyes had been in his dreams ever since the day he had left the Archangel months ago. He had been lost in their multi-colored beauty for many nights on end. The eyes were supported by a beautifully delicate face with smooth cheek-bones and a gleaming smile. Autumn colored hair cascaded down to the woman's shoulders, perfectly combed as was military, not to mention her own regulations, as he had learned. Her figure was still tall and slender and her Earth Forces uniform was sparkly white as he had remembered it. It wasn't until then he realized he was staring at her, but then surprisingly, he noticed she was staring back at him in much the same way.
Murrue stepped silently into the elevator and turned to press the elevator button only to find that it was already set on her destination. She moved toward the back to stand next to Mwu and said, "Commander." She saluted.
"Captain." Mwu replied trying to keep himself from expressing to much happiness. Murrue moved beside him just a few inches away, but Mwu was already happier than he had been in months. His eyes were still locked on her. She hadn't changed at all. She was still the incredibly beautiful woman he had first met at Heliopolis. She appeared to be the same kind-
hearted military woman who he had worked together with for months. He had missed her terribly in his absence.
"You can stop staring now Commander," Murrue said, jarring Mwu out of his trance. He regained his composure and saw her smiling at him.
"Oh...sorry...just lost my head there for a minute," he replied laughing as he did so. He smoothed his hair out with his left hand and placed his right on his hip. "So...nothing's really changed has it?"
"No not really," Murrue replied. "I mean, some people got promoted and we've got the two new mobile weapons."
"Yeah, I noticed those. Those are nice. Let me guess...Kira and Athrun?" Mwu asked.
Murrue eyes moved toward him and she smiled. "Now how did you figure that out?" she laughed and Mwu did to. It had been a while since either of them had been able to have a conversation like this, just for fun.
The elevator stopped at their destination and both officers exited the car. They walked down the causeway side-by-side until they reached Murrue's office. "I expect you want to get some sleep Commander, so-."
"I got time," Mwu replied. "I'm not going to miss anything by going to sleep."
"Oh...O.K. then. Would you like to come in?" Murrue asked politely.
"Sure, I need to catch up on a few things anyway."
He walked into her office following in her footsteps. It hadn't changed either. The simple desk and chair were still in the same exact point with the viewport of their surroundings still gleaming with the moonlight reflecting off of it. There wasn't a cloud in the sky that night. The stars were gleaming specks across the night sky making the ocean seem like it was filled with fire-flies.
Murrue sat down in the comfortable arm-chair behind her desk and motioned for Mwu to take the seat in front of the desk. He did so and rested his left elbow on the arm-rest, leaning his head on it and said, "So...how's it been here? Anything interesting happen while I was gone?"
Murrue smiled, "Other than a major battle in which we barely escaped from and making countless supply runs to China, no, nothing's happened."
"Lieutenant Badgiruel still the same?" Mwu said with a smirk.
Murrue could only smile at her friend's attempted humor. "Somewhat. She's simmered down a little, but in battle she's still the same. You should've seen her in the last battle. She actually listened to me."
"You're kidding? You're talking about Alaska right?" Mwu asked.
"Yes, of course. I'm sure you already know the details and such."
Mwu frowned. "Well...actually I really don't. I mean, I've heard bits of information and stuff like that, but otherwise I was already gone once the battle started so I don't really have the clear picture yet. What exactly did happen?"
Mwu could see the pain course across Murrue's face once he asked her that. Oh crap...I shouldn't have asked her that. It was probably bad enough...but Murrue regained her composure, rested her hands on her desk, and began. "Well...from where I was...it happened like this..."