AN: I start with a message to make you the reader wonder...if Mwu is really dead, then why did I have him leave the cockpit instead of keeping him inside it...?
-ZAFT Space Fortress Jachin Due, November 1, C.E. 71, 1030
She had seen it coming. The red light that was coming straight towards her. The devastation that was ready to take her out of this world. Then it had happened. She had seen his mobile suit jump in front of the bridge and get hit by the red light. She couldn't fathom what was happening. It couldn't happen. Right in front of her eyes his mobile suit exploded in a ball of fire and the red light disappeared. She was unharmed...physically. As the seconds dragged on, her heart literally broke inside of her at the realization that he was gone. He was...just gone. The ship had stopped, the crew seeming to be feeling the same exact emotions as she was. But nothing could compare to the pain and sorrow that was running through Murrue's body. She slumped forward in her chair and clutched her hands close to her chest. Tears came rapidly out of her eyes and spilled onto her cheeks, dripping in a small puddle below her chair. She sobbed quietly. Mwu...you said...you said...you were going to come back to me...!
The rest of the bridge was completely silent at that time. No one dared spoke a word. The only sound that could be barely heard was the quiet sobbing of the Captain as she cried over her lost love. Mwu had just saved them and sacrificed himself in the process. It still seemed unreal to many of them. How could he...the man who made the impossible possible on so many occasions...be gone? Just like that.
Arnold Neumann stared through the front view port at nothing in particular. He was lost in his own mind. But suddenly, something jarred him out of his train of thought. "Arnie...Arnie!" Josef's voice warned him frantically. Neumann opened his eyes just in time to see another beam of light heading straight towards them. Neumann cursed as he pulled hard on his helm controls and jerked the Archangel to the right, trying desperately to avoid being skewered by the beam. Both he and Josef managed to turn the ship just enough so that the port leg was moved into the place just where the bridge had been and the shot struck the leg directly on the closed hatch, blowing right through the steel and decimating the hangar behind it. Crews inside were vaporized in an instant as the blast exploded portions of the hangar.
"Hard to port! Get us out of here!" Natarle shouted from the CIC. Neumann and Josef both strained against their controls as they turned the Archangel to starboard and out of the line of fire. But the damage had already been done. Inside the hangar, Murdoch tried to reinstate order among the deck crew, but his efforts grew futile when the fires ignited the fuel tank on the second Skygrasper sitting in the hangar and it exploded in a great shockwave that knocked Murdoch off his feet and onto the deck. Thick black smoke began to filter into the hangar as crews frantically raced to try and save what they could. Murdoch clambered back onto his feet and motioned for the fire hoses to be brought out and douse the fires that were rapidly expanding across the hangar. Ammunition that had been left out suddenly went off and bullets ricocheted off of the walls and all over the place. Some of the crew were burned badly by the fires and the explosions. Many lost limbs and others were wounded badly. Murdoch managed to pull the body of his friend Hank Rodriguez out of the fire, but the extreme heat had charred the right side of Hank's body almost a dead black and his right arm was completely gone below the shoulder. Blood was all over his face and body as Murdoch handed him to the medical crews who had come as quickly as they possibly could. Murdoch barked out orders to the fire crews and within minutes everyone who could move was working to put the fires out and keep the ship moving.
"Bulkheads ninety-four through one-o-five have been sealed!" Pal reported on the bridge.
"Thrust is decreasing by forty percent!" Neumann added.
"Thirty-three percent of sensors are off-line!" Miriallia put in.
"Get us away from the debris, Mr. Crew!" Natarle commanded. "There could be more enemies hiding in there and we're a sitting duck right now!" Josef put the ship through a series of turns and quick rolls so that the attacking forces couldn't get a bearing on them. "What's the status of the Kusanagi?" Natarle demanded.
"It hasn't moved," Chandra reported. "Still no contact from it."
"Radio's are still being jammed, ma'am," Miriallia told her.
"What about the Capricorn and the Peleuia?" Natarle asked. "Can you find them?"
"Peleuia's call sign has vanished, ma'am," Tonomura reported. "It looks like they got it. Capricorn's still on the other side of the Kusanagi."
Damn, Natarle swore to herself. Two ships down and we still don't have radio. Hope the Eternal'sstill fighting. We can't do a thing in this state. "Captain?" Natarle sounded. She got no response. Murrue was slumped in her seat with her hands over her eyes, sobbing quietly. Natarle felt a pain rise in her chest. She thought of what life had put Murrue through in the past and now this. Poor thing... Natarle thought quietly.
The Zero barrel rolled on its axis as three Strike Daggers tried to shoot it down. Frank's barrels were all dislodged and two managed to severely damage one of the mobile suits, sheering off its arm and blowing its head to pieces. "Damn, bastards!" Frank called. He fired the cannon beneath his cockpit and blew apart a second Dagger, reducing it to smoldering metal. He recalled his barrels and turned hard to port to avoid being hit by the third Dagger that was all over him. Frank knew the pilot was a seasoned veteran by the way he flew against him. Frank dislodged his top and bottom barrels and set them to single fire. While both dislodged barrels attacked the Dagger from one direction, Frank snuck behind the mobile suit and got some shots off with his two remaining barrels. These four barrels attacking from all directions had reduced the Dagger to nothing but a torso and that exploded from one final blast from Frank's cannon. He watched with a heavy heart inside his cockpit at the explosion. He thought of his friend who had just been killed. God damn it, Mwu...Frank thought sadly to himself. Why did it have to be you
Enemy Strike Daggers concentrated their energy on the retreating Archangel and damaged the ship further still. They were easy prey for the Strike Rouge and its 'rookie' pilot. "Damn you guys!" Cagalli shouted at them. A seed exploded before her eyes. Cagalli flipped the Strike Rouge onto its head and fired her rifle at the Daggers, blowing two of them to pieces. The third one tried to fire back but Cagalli was quicker and chopped the machine in half with her beam saber.
Yzak howled a battle cry as he charged at a Dagger, slicing it clean in half with his beam saber and then blowing the two separate pieces away with his rifle. Behind him, Shani fired his plasma cannon at the Duel, but Yzak dodged it. He returned fire with his own rifle, but the shots were deflected. Yzak scowled. He had to figure out a way to get past this guy's armor or else all of his guns would be useless. He juked to the right to dodge another shot fired at him and Yzak attempted to fire back, but once again his shots were deflected. "Damn you!" Yzak shouted. Shani just chuckled inside his cockpit.
The Buster combined its guns together and fired a rapid burst of energy, annihilating two K-bombers in one shot. Dearka pulled on the controls and retracted both of his guns so that he could use them both. Two exploding Strike Daggers later and Dearka found himself alone. Sweat was beading down his forehead as he searched frantically for any enemies that would try to attack him. For some odd reason he saw none. He checked the debris nearby for the source of the shot that had damaged the Archangel but he couldn't find it. Dearka had to settle for the fact that the ship had probably already left. Among the debris however, he spotted a head staring back at him. The Strike's head. Dearka stared into its eyes for a few seconds and then shut his own eyes tightly, thinking of the man who had just sacrificed himself to save others. "Damn it," Dearka swore sadly to himself as he reluctantly turned away and raced back to the Archangel.
Unknown to the others, the source of the shot was still among the debris and watching them all very closely. Azrael's face could not hide his disappointment over not destroying the Archangel, but he was thrilled to have seen the Strike take the shot instead. That meant that his old friend was finally out of his hair for good. Mwu la Flaga was finally out of his way and Azrael could now run about his business without interference. "Well, that was certainly interesting," Azrael commented slyly. Hal turned his head slowly to face Azrael, but said nothing. "I must say Omanney, I didn't actually think you'd be able to destroy the ship, but the fact that you damaged it is very impressive."
"Thank you, sir," Hal said quietly.
"Now we'll finish them off," Azrael continued. "Captain please attack that ship again and finish it off if you don't mind."
Hal glanced out the front view port and said, "We can't, sir."
"What?" Azrael asked, his eyebrows scrunching downward in a showing of anger.
"There's too much debris around us at the moment, sir," Hal pointed out. "Plus the Archangel's moved from its original location and we won't be able to get a clear shot unless we leave the debris."
"Then leave the debris, imbecile!" Azrael commanded. "General Bradford's forces should be nearing Jachin Due at this very moment and we must do our part and destroy the Archangel while we still have the chance. We'll finish them off for good!" Azrael scowled.
"Helm, turn about ninety degrees and change course to alpha one-niner!" Hal commanded. "Increase thrust to eighty percent and standby." As the Dominion turned beneath him, Hal breathed a sigh of relief. At least he'd been able to buy some time in order to think this situation through. As it turned out there was enough of a hole through the debris where they could have destroyed the Archangel right then and there, but Hal didn't want to at this moment. Not after the sacrifice he had just seen. That mobile suit pilot had given his own life to save his comrades and now they were trying to save their ship after the second strike had caused a huge explosion on its port leg. It was moving for Hal to watch and he wanted time to be able to evaluate his options. He only wished to fight that ship if he and his crew were in immediate danger. Otherwise, he felt that they should leave that ship alone. Who cares that it was filled with a bunch of deserters. They were just like him, fighting for a cause they believed in... A cause I believe in? Hal also was relieved that he had bought some time to think about his own situation regarding Azrael and the rest of the Earth Forces. The purpose for this battle had been stated as a strike against Jachin Due and the GENESIS weapon, but it had quickly turned into an assault on the PLANT homelands again. Azrael wanted the Coordinators wiped out, just as Hal's own father did after the death of Hal's brother and sister early in the war. But Hal wondered if it was really all worth it. He didn't doubt that Azrael still had a few surprises that he hadn't told Hal about and he was sure that Admiral Sutherland did as well. What surprise those were however, Hal would just have to wait and see. And hope that they were something he could deal with.
Meanwhile, camouflaged against the great black backdrop of space, the ghostly gray Providence was approaching the damaged Archangel and the units surrounding her. Rau scanned the area and located the wreckage of the Strike. He chuckled. "Mwu, Mwu, Mwu," he said. "What a fool you were."
Suddenly, the console in front of Miriallia began blaring intensely. "Incoming enemy mobile suit!" she reported.
Beside the ship, Cagalli and the remaining M1s watched as the ghost-like mobile suit approached them quickly. "What is that?" Juri asked.
"It's not one of ours, I can tell you that," Asagi said.
"Yzak?" Dearka asked his friend.
"I've never seen it before," Yzak answered, rushing to evade another attack from the Forbidden.
The M1s began firing at the Providence as it closed in. Rau smiled inside the cockpit. They actually thought their feeble little machines could stop him. He released his funnels and waited for them to do their damage. All eleven funnels raced at the mobile suits at a startlingly quick speed and within seconds they were upon them. Every funnel unleashed its green energy blasts upon the mobile suits in a flash. Juri tried to maneuver away from the shots, but one caught her straight in the cockpit and she screamed as her M1 exploded.
"Juri!" Asagi cried out as she watched her friend die. An instant later a separate funnel pierced her own machine, blowing it to pieces in a matter of seconds.
Wayne managed to avoid being struck by the funnels as he executed a series of quick maneuvers to dodge them. Rau approached his machine quickly and fired his cannons at the M1. Wayne returned fire as best he could with his rifle, but a shot from one of Rau's funnels made quick work of his weapon. His shield was annihilated a moment later, leaving his machine defenseless. Even the seasoned veteran had run out of tricks as Rau slashed through his cockpit and cut his M1 in half, killing him.
"Damn you!" Cagalli shouted at the Providence as she fired her rifle at him. Rau chuckled at her futile attempts to destroy him and he began to concentrate his attacks on the Strike Rouge. Although it was more maneuverable, the Strike Rouge presented an even bigger target for Rau and his funnels made quick work of Cagalli's rifle and were preparing to tear her mobile suit to pieces just as they had done the M1s moments before. Before Rau could finish her off however, something hit him in his mind. A strange sensation that he had only felt once before. In the debris belt at the start of the month. When he had been near.
With his METEOR and machine appearing as a bright white angel skating across the black space, Kira fired both of the METEOR's cannons at the ghastly gray mobile suit. Rau sensed the attack coming and dodged it expertly. Kira activated both of the METEOR's beam sabers and charged quickly at Rau. "Kira!" Cagalli's voice called out to him.
Kira activated his radio. It seemed to be working somewhat. "Leave him to me, Cagalli," Kira warned her off. He swung the beam saber on his right at the Providence, but Rau soared above it.
Rau released his funnels to attack the Freedom. Inside his cockpit, Rau smiled. "So once again you have decided to come and see me, Kira!" The DRAGOON system's funnels fired rapid bursts of fire at the Freedom, but Kira pulled out the Freedom's own beam sabers and managed to deflect many of the shots, leaving him relatively undamaged. "But you again prove that you are nothing but an irritant. A pest!"
The funnels poured more fire at the Freedom and Kira had to move quickly in order to dodge the shots. "You're the pest, psycho!" Kira called back at him. He opened the METEOR's missile canisters and unleashed a volley at the Providence.
Rau led the missiles in a wide arc and managed to turn around and face them. He quickly used his funnels and his own weapons to destroy the missiles before they could even manage to touch him. "You are nothing but a fool who fights for foolish ideals, Kira Yamato!" Rau called out to him. "Even now as we speak you are taking the lives of innocents all around you! Just as the other humans do!"
"Shut up!" Kira shouted at him. One of Rau's funnels got a clean shot off and struck the METEOR's left beam saber. Kira strained against the Freedom's controls and released the beam saber before it exploded in a ball of fire.
"Just as the other pests do you destroy life without remorse!" Rau shouted.
"That's garbage!" Kira responded.
"You are no different than all the others in the universe," Rau told him. He fired his cannon at Kira and nicked the METEOR before Kira could get out of the way. "And you know what happens to all pests in the world...they must be exterminated!" Kira flew in a sharp right turn and managed to dodge the shots. He scowled inside the cockpit and started firing his cannons at the Providence again.
-1035
Calamity fired its Schlag cannons at the Justice and added its bazooka to the mix an instant later. Athrun wrestled with the controls of the Justice so he could get a good position on the Calamity. But with all the firepower the blue mobile suit supported that task proved to be almost impossible. "Come on!" Orga beckoned Athrun as he continued to fire at him. With his maneuverability cut by the METEOR's added weight, it was difficult to avoid his shots, but Athrun kept at it. Orga was able to stay in a single position the entire time because he had Athrun on the run from his guns. As long as he could keep firing, all Orga would have to do is turn whichever way the Justice went and fire at him. With all of this firepower, Athrun had no chance to even get close to the Calamity.
Athrun fired the METEOR's cannons at Orga and added the Justice's own guns to the fray. Orga had to cease firing for just an instant in order to intercept the shots with his chest cannon. That's it! Athrun told himself. He quickly developed a plan to defeat this maniac and end his terror once and for all.
"Bastard!" Orga shouted at him. "You know you're no match for me!" He fired his Schlag and ram cannons at the Justice.
Athrun dodged the attacks and activated both of the METEOR's beam sabers. "You know, you're right!" he said through the now cleared radio. Athrun juked the controls and swung this way and that to avoid the shots being fired at him. He extended his left beam saber at the Calamity and aimed directly for it. Orga ceased firing and used his chest cannon's powerful beam to shoot the beam saber off of the Justice and send it spiraling away in a fantastic explosion.
However, with Orga having stopped firing his heavy guns for that split second, Athrun was able to get close behind the Calamity so that he could attack. Athrun's plan had worked. By sacrificing one of the METEOR's beam sabers he had tricked Orga into attacking it instead of him. As soon as Orga fired his chest cannon, Athrun cut the METEOR's engines and swung the machine in an extremely tight port loop that put him right behind the Calamity in an instant. Orga had no chance and he knew this when he cried out in anguish as he saw the Justice coming at him from behind. Athrun plunged his right beam saber into the Calamity's middle, just below the cockpit and sliced the blue machine in half in one foul swoop. The two pieces of mobile suit floated away from one another, the legs and lower portion of the torso detonating in an explosion while the head and shoulders fell away into the black space beyond.
With the Calamity falling away from him, Athrun finally had a moment to catch his breath which was coming in shallow heaves. "I was...more...than a match for you..." Athrun panted quietly, though in his heart he wished he hadn't had to kill Orga. Orga only fought to keep himself alive and Athrun knew that he had no chance to turn him away from his ideals. It was a matter of survival after that and Athrun had survived. His METEOR was still functioning well enough to fight with only one beam saber so that was good. Athrun's radio worked in this area of space, but his diagnostic board showed that other areas were still blanketed by the interference from when the N-Jammer had exploded.
From where he floated, just a short distance from the PLANT homelands, Athrun could see the lights of the ferocious battle going on at Jachin Due just a short trip away. He couldn't see any of the ships he fought with and he couldn't find any of his friends in their mobile suits. Athrun deactivated the METEOR's beam saber and set off away from the PLANTs. He knew who he had to find at this very moment. He just hoped that Kira and Cagalli hadn't gotten themselves into too big a mess already.
Archangel had managed to reach a moderately safe location at a great enough distance so that neither the Earth Forces nor ZAFT were in too great a presence in the immediate area. "Current position, 15000 from Jachin Due and 5000 from the PLANTs, ma'am," Neumann reported. "Maximum engine output, seventy percent."
"Any sign of the Dominion?" Natarle asked. "Crewman Haw?"
"Have you guys seen it?" Miriallia asked the pilots through her radio, which was working at least on a minimum frequency at this moment. "The Dominion?"
"Nope, not a trace," Frank answered quickly.
"I haven't seen it," Cagalli put in.
"I'll go look for it," Dearka said. "They've got to be around here somewhere, they couldn't have gone too far."
"Be careful, Dearka," Miriallia told him. He nodded in response and his image disappeared.
"Damage report, Chief Murdoch!" Natarle commanded.
"Damage to the hangar's pretty extensive," Murdoch told her in a hurried voice. "We've got fires in at least three different parts of the ship, but we've got crews on all three locations working on 'em. The engines are relatively undamaged so we're good when it comes to maneuvering. We'll just have to be careful from now on."
"Keep it up down there," Natarle ordered. "We're counting on you."
"Roger, that," Murdoch answered.
"Captain?" Natarle called out to Murrue, but she didn't answer. She was still slumped forward in her chair crying bitter tears into her hands. Natarle sighed sadly as she saw her Captain just break down in tears over her lost love. But there was still a battle going on and Natarle had to get Murrue back into command of the ship. Sure Natarle was well qualified to lead this crew, but it was Murrue's ship, not hers. "Keep yours eyes on the situations down here, people," she told the crew in the CIC. "Make sure you don't miss anything that could kill us all later."
"Yes, ma'am!" Natarle sprang up from her chair and floated out of the CIC. She floated towards Murrue's chair and stopped beside it.
She got down on her haunches and whispered, "Captain." Murrue didn't answer. She just cried. "Captain, please," Natarle repeated. "We need you to take control of the ship. We're still in danger."
Murrue sobbed. "He...he promised..." she said in a husky voice, "...he promised me he'd come back..."
Natarle's heart ached. She thought Frank, the person she cared deeply for who was also fighting his heart out on the battlefield to protect them. There was a good chance that he would not return as well... Natarle gently took Murrue by the shoulders and turned Murrue's tear streaked face to her. "Murrue..." she whispered quietly so no one on the bridge could hear. "I know he promised you...he promised he'd come back to us. But...think of it from his point of view. Do you think Mwu would actually want to come back if you weren't there for him to come back to...?"
Murrue's expression softened and her tears suddenly stopped. That didn't stop her heart from aching though. "No..." she whispered back.
"He gave his life to save those who he cared out about..." Natarle reminded her. "He did that to save you Murrue. To save all of us. He sacrificed himself to save us...do you know why...?" Murrue shook her head. "Because he knew that we'd be a better help to the cause than he could be at this time..."
Murrue sniffed. "Still..."
"Murrue..." Natarle whispered to her. "...You know you can't just spend the rest of the day crying...we still have a mission to fulfill. One that Mwu would have wanted us to. You don't want his death to be left in vain...do you...?"
Murrue shook her head slowly. "Plus..." Natarle said, "...do you think Mwu would want to see you cry again...?" Murrue's brown orbs stared into Natarle's violet ones for what seemed like an eternity. They slowly closed and Natarle heard Murrue sob once again and one single tear escape from her right eye.
"Ensign Chandra!" Murrue's voice rang out after a short time. Her eyes opened to reveal a determined expression that had appeared out of nowhere. "Where's that enemy mobile suit?"
"Just off to our port side, Captain," Chandra reported. "It's engaged in a fight with the Freedom as we speak."
"Can we back Kira up?" Murrue asked.
"Not in this shape, I'm afraid," Chandra answered grimly.
"Crewman Haw, message the Strike Rouge and the Zero to go back up Kira!" Murrue commanded.
"Yes, ma'am!" Natarle stood up back onto her feet and breathed a sigh of relief. She turned to head back to the CIC, but something caught her arm. She turned back to face Murrue who said quietly, "Thank you, Natarle." Natarle managed a small smile and nodded her head in response. With that, she ducked back into the CIC and her post.
Outside, Rau and Kira continued to claw at one another with their mobile suits. Kira used both of the Freedom's beam sabers against the Providence, but Rau was quick to avoid the attack. Rau then used some of his funnels as a diversion in order to get Kira's attention elsewhere. Kira suddenly found himself under attack by at least five funnels, spraying green streaks of destruction at him. Kira was quick to avoid the shots, but as he did so Rau plunged through the beams and attacked with his own beam saber, slicing off the beam saber on the right side.
"You're something that shouldn't have been allowed to exist, boy!" Rau shouted at Kira. He fired the Providence's cannon at the Freedom and his shot struck the beam saber on the left of the METEOR.
"Shut up!" Kira responded angrily. He was quick to release the beam saber attachment before it exploded in front of him.
"Can you not see with your own eyes what humanity's insatiable desires will lead to?" Rau asked as he fired his funnels at the Freedom again. Kira dodged most of the shots but a few scattered ones managed to hit the METEOR, causing more damage to the weapons unit.
"Kira!" Kira suddenly turned his head to his right to see a bright white streak approaching from his right. Athrun fired both of his METEOR's cannons at the Providence, but Rau evaded them expertly.
"Athrun!" Kira called out to his friend as the scarlet red Justice came closer too him. "You okay?"
"Fine. But who's that?" Athrun asked, referring to the ghastly gray mobile suit that was now firing at him.
Kira raced upwards to avoid being hit and Athrun followed him. "le Creuset," Kira said simply. Athrun's eyes widened slightly and his teeth ground together gently. Rau fired all of the guns that were part of the Providence's main body at the two machines, but both pilots managed to get through the mess unchecked.
"Kira, go help the others," Athrun said quickly.
"What?" Kira answered, dumbfounded.
"I have my own score to settle with him right now," Athrun replied. He used both of his METEOR's cannons to drive the Providence away from them for a few seconds. "Go and help the others. Find them and make sure they're okay."
"Athrun..." Kira said uneasily.
"Don't worry Kira, I'll be fine," Athrun reassured his friend quickly. "I have to do this, okay?"
Kira sighed quietly and uneasily in the Freedom's cockpit. "I'll go find the others and be back here quick," he told Athrun as he turned the Freedom away. "Be careful, Athrun."
"Right." Athrun watched his friend soar away from him, leaving just the scarlet red Justice and the ghastly gray Providence in the area. Both machines stared at one another, neither making a single move against the other as they hovered in space. Athrun breathed deeply and thoroughly inside the Justice's cockpit, trying to keep his mind calm. Rau smiled inside his own cockpit and his heart could not hold back his excitement.
At the same instant, both machines sprinted off in opposite directions, but not allowing the other to leave their line of sight. "Well, well, Athrun," Rau said humbly. "It seems that destiny has once again brought us together on the battlefield." He fired the Providence's cannon at the Justice, but Athrun dodged his attack quickly.
Athrun scowled inside the Justice and returned fire with the METEOR's missiles. Rau soared in a high, wide arc to give him distance between he and the missiles. When they got close to him, Rau was ready with his beam saber and cut every single one to pieces, causing a series of explosions that lit up space. Athrun came at the Providence again, this time with the METEOR's cannons blazing energy across the vicinity. Rau unleashed his funnels upon Athrun and put up a blockade of fire that caused Athrun to have to maneuver quickly to avoid being hit, but nevertheless some shots got in clean and struck the METEOR, causing damage that rattled the Justice.
"How fitting it is that after all this time we once again find ourselves in the same area of conflict," Rau commented as he continued his attacks on the Justice.
"Be quiet!" Athrun retorted sternly.
"After all this time you still haven't changed one single bit, Athrun," Rau called out to him as he fired his cannon at the Justice. "You're still crippled with indecision when it comes to what's happening around you."
One of Rau's funnels damaged Athrun's METEOR and rendered his last beam saber inoperable. "You're the one who doesn't understand what's happening here!" He returned fire at the Providence with his two cannons and put up a shield to buy him some time to think things over. "You're the one who's trying to destroy all of humanity!"
Rau smirked. "When will you and your friends understand that it's not I who accepted this as my destiny? Mankind decided this destiny for itself and it's only right that they fulfill it out until the end!" He brought his funnels back onto the Providence's back and soared away from the Justice.
Athrun fired back with the Justice's own guns and stayed right behind the Providence. "That's crazy!" Athrun said lightly.
"You should know this yourself Athrun!" Rau sneered. "You've also walked the path of humanity's destiny in the past! You've killed without any remorse and even tried to kill your friend!"
Athrun seethed. He thought of that horrible day earlier this year when he and Kira had fought to the death and he had almost killed Kira in revenge. Revenge because of what had happened to his friend Nicol. Athrun had vowed that he would kill Kira and that he didn't care who else got in the way. That was what led him to kill Kira's friend Tolle in cold blood. He thought of others he had killed without any feelings of remorse. The soldiers at Heliopolis he had shot, the pilots he had killed, the warships he had destroyed without any concern. "That's in the past, Commander!" Athrun yelled. "I've seen what I've caused and I've vowed never to take that path again!"
Rau released his funnels yet again and said, "You may have seen the light Athrun, but there are others who still refuse to accept it. Refuse to accept their destiny!" His funnels attacked Athrun from different directions, but this time Athrun was able to get out of the melee unscathed. "That's what is going to happen here today, Athrun! Mankind will find its destiny and burn like it so rightfully should! It's all gone according to my plan and you yourself helped me greatly in making it a reality!"
"Liar!" Athrun cried as he attacked the Providence with his own cannons again.
"It's right in front of your eyes Athrun. You...Yzak...Dearka...Nicol, you all helped me accomplish what I needed!" Rau said. "You helped me steal the Earth Forces weapons which made ZAFT escalate the war. That eventually led to the Naturals fighting back with a vengeance and renewing their hatred of the Coordinators! Don't you see, it is a cycle that reached full motion because of your actions Athrun! Actions you took in protection of your home!"
Athrun scowled. "So this has all been part of your plan the entire time," Athrun realized. "This entire grand scheme of yours was put together inside that sick head of yours. You used the people around you to get what you desired and now it's this close to coming true." He pulled out both of the Justice's beam sabers and yelled, "Well I won't allow it to happen!"
As the Justice charged at him, Rau executed a series of turns and flips to avoid Athrun's attacks. "Don't you think you've suffered enough already, Athrun?" Rau asked him almost kindly. "The death of your mother has taken much out of you, boy, as has this long and tiresome fight you've been keeping up. Why don't you just give up and accept yours and everyone else's destiny!"
The Justice stopped almost completely and Athrun answered, "I already have decided my destiny, Commander!" He held both beam sabers high over the Justice's head. "My destiny is to stop you and your idiotic ideals from succeeding!" With a great burst of speed, Athrun raced at the Providence, both beam sabers in hand.
-Eternal, 1040
Blazing through the columns and stacks of warships desperately trying to stop her, Eternal surged through them all with all of her weapons firing madly into the mass of warships and mobile suits. The ship shook every once in a while from a hit that it had taken, but she kept pressing forward towards Jachin Due and the mystifying eyeball that was GENESIS. Lacus could see the new alignment mirror being moved into position in front of the weapon which to her meant that ZAFT was preparing to fire it again. "Do we have radio yet, General Watlfeld?" she asked.
"As of now we do, but it's minimal at best," Andy answered, his voice high from barking out commands to keep the Eternal moving forward.
Lacus pressed a button on her chair to activate the ship's radio and she heard the sound of quiet static in the background as she began to speak. "This is Lacus Clyne speaking to the soldiers of ZAFT," she began, her voice ringing across the vastness of space. Some pilots stopped dead in their tracks when they heard her beautiful voice call out to them. "I demand that you cease firing GENESIS immediately!"
Inside Jachin Due, Patrick heard the girl's voice over the static filled radio channel and spat in response. "We've experienced the pain and sorrow of nuclear attacks, yet we are inflicting the same suffering upon them now!"
"Those ships are run by a little girl and some Naturals!" Patrick said roughly to the soldiers around him. "Why can't you destroy them!"
Behind him, Yuri stood at attention with his hands behind his back and his face calm. "Will anything be made right if we fire it?" Lacus' voice sang. Yuri felt himself exhale quietly through his nostrils as his breath began to trail out of him slowly at those words. I must protect the PLANTs and my family, Yuri told himself again. That's why we fired it before. But...must we fire it again...?
"Or if more innocent men, women, and children keep losing their lives...is this justice?" Lacus asked. Ezalia stirred uneasily behind Patrick's form as he barked out commands to the soldiers around them. She thought of Yzak...fighting out there to protect the PLANTs...what was he going through at this moment...was he okay? Innocent men, women, and children... Ezalia thought sadly to herself. We must end the war...but...is it worth it? Is it worth taking the lives of innocents who have done nothing wrong...worth the lives of our own people...?
Lacus sang again, "Don't you realize what these attacks on each other are giving birth to?" Gilbert thought to himself, Of course I realize what they lead to. Hatred...jealousy...anger... We'll just create more hatred and destruction if we fire it again...but...what can I do? There's no doubt Zala will fire it again...and I can't do anything to stop him...
"Do we want more sacrifices?" Lacus asked again, her voice stretching out across the echelons of space. As she spoke those words, Jachin Due grew larger and larger in the front view port.
Approaching Jachin Due from a different direction was the main fleet of the Earth Forces, led by the Valiant and the Intrepid. "Distance to Jachin Due?" Sutherland demanded.
"26000, Admiral!" Tomer replied quickly.
"Turn to port twenty degrees!" Seymour commanded as they neared a group of Nazca's that were firing at the ships. "Aim starboard cannons and have them target the Nazcas! Fire!" The two remaining cannons fired at the nearest blue ship, scoring several hits that ripped holes into the hull. The third cannon had been wiped out in an earlier attack and the Valiant itself had been damaged heavily in several locations on the hull.
Outside, two Strike Daggers fought against a trio of GINNs that outnumbered them. One Dagger had its rifle destroy by a GINNs cannon and tried to escape, but an instant later another GINN surged forward and stuck its sword into the cockpit. In a flash, the Dagger exploded in a ball of fire. "Keryuoko!" Jessie's voice cried in anguish as she watched her friend's mobile suit explode. She scowled inside her cockpit and fired her own rifle at the GINNs, decapitating one and blowing another to pieces with a shot to its torso. Instantly two more GINNs took their places and fired madly at her. Jessie strained against the controls as she escaped through a hole in the formation behind her, but not before the left leg of her machine was torn apart by a shot from a GINN. Inside the cockpit, Jessie cried a few bitter tears in memory of her wingmate.
"Have the remaining nuclear attack forces begin preparations for launch!" Sutherland commanded harshly.
"We can't Admiral, we're at too great a distance!" Bradford pointed out. Sutherland turned to him and glared. "Plus there's still too many ZAFT forces between us and the weapon, they'd never get through."
"Incoming missiles!" someone shouted.
"Evade!" Seymour commanded. The ship turned quickly enough so that the missiles missed, by inches. "Where'd that come from?" Seymour demanded.
"New contacts at delta thirty-eight, Captain!" Lester reported frantically. "Three Nazca-class and one Laurasia-class, closing in fast!"
Just ahead of the Earth Forces lurked four vessels that were ready to tear the fleet apart. In front of Jachin Due, very likely the last line of defense, were the Vesalius, Hellderton, Hoisingert, and Ziegler, ready to pounce upon the interlopers. On the bridge of the Vesalius, Captain Ades gave the order. "Turn to starboard as soon as I give the order to fire. All ships concentrate your fire on the lead Jani-class!" The Vesaluis' mighty cannons pointed upwards to target the Intrepid. "Fire!" Ades shouted.
With a great burst of energy, the cannons unleashed their fury. The other ships behind the Vesalius also poured fire into the Earth Forces formation. As soon as the shots were fired the Vesalius swung to its left in order to take itself out of the Earth Forces' line of fire. The shots fired struck the Intrepid at the tip of the spiked bow and ripped a hole into the hull. Fires broke out when explosions dotted the starboard side of the ship after the other shots scored direct hits. Captain Norris barely was able to keep his round form in his chair as damage reports flooded into the bridge.
"We've lost main weapons control, Captain!"
"Power supplies to main engines are dropping dangerously low!"
"Plasma surge is reaching critical levels!"
"Damn," Norris swore to himself. It was looking bad. He knew he had to save his crew because the Intrepid was surely doomed now with no weapons and their main engines almost at a stop. But how could he get them out? They were still in too much danger and too close to Jachin Due. Even if they did escape they would be captured or more likely killed out there. What would he do? His thoughts were jarred as the ship took another hit, this one blowing its hangar hatches to pieces and causing explosions to rip the facility apart.
"Intrepid's been hit!" Tomer reported on the Valiant. "We've got distress signals coming in from all over, General!"
"We can't go on like this forever, General," Seymour told Bradford in a strained voice. "We've lost most of our mobile units and our own ships are dropping like flies."
Bradford opened his mouth to answer, but Sutherland cut him off angrily. "Keep going, Captain, we're almost there."
"But, sir-!"
"That's an order, Captain!" Sutherland commanded. "We still have nuclear weapons with us and when we use them the Coordinators will have no chance against us. We'll destroy that weapon and the PLANTs! Just keep this ship moving!"
Seymour reluctantly ordered the ship forward and they pressed on towards Jachin Due. We're never going to make it out of here at this rate...Seymour thought to himself. Even if we do destroy the weapon, we'll be slaughtered by ZAFT as soon as we do. He shook his head in anguish. He thought of Jessie and prayed, Please be okay, Jess. I don't care if I get killed...just you make it out, please. The Valiant shook from another hit.
Buster darted in and out of the stationary debris field that had once been the group of warships behind the Dominion, but there was no sign of the ship anywhere in the debris. Dearka was starting to assume that the ship had gone off and was now at a different location when his diagnostic board began chiming. He glanced at it hoping to find some trace of the Dominion, but the only thing the console was picking up was a small heat source just beyond the debris. Heat source? Dearka pressed a few buttons and zoomed in on the source that was making his board go nuts. He couldn't believe what he saw. Instantly his eyes widened and his pulse quickened inside of his body at the sight. No way...! Dearka quickly turned the Buster at the heat source and soared towards it as quickly as he possibly could.
His mind unconscious and his body seemingly lifeless, Mwu floated in space after being knocked out by the shockwaves from his mobile suit exploding. His body didn't move and his mind didn't think. However, inside his head it seemed that a million voices were calling out to him. Friends, family, long lost comrades now gone. The noise increased to a crescendo until it suddenly stopped abruptly. Slowly, Mwu opened his eyes.
He found himself staring at the most beautiful shade of colors he'd ever seen. Bright white mixed in with strands of blue, purple, and turquoise that seemed to form a misty aura all around him. There was no movement around him and he could hear not even the faintest sound. He tried to stand up but for some reason he couldn't. "That won't do you any good." Mwu's eyes shot open. He knew that voice! But he thought he'd never hear it again!
He managed to raise his head just enough to see his form standing before him, his jet black hair combed to perfection and his stance perfect. "John...?" Mwu's voice managed, just above a whisper. The figure nodded its head, but didn't say anything more. Mwu glanced around him at the pearly lights and the noiseless atmosphere. A sinking feeling began to take hold of his heart and he closed his eyes. "I'm dead aren't I..." he whispered.
The figure that resembled John Namora shook its head slowly. "No...you're not dead, Mwu. Not by a long shot."
"But...why?" Mwu asked quietly. "I shouldn't...have survived that..."
"Mwu..." John's voice said kindly to him. "What you did was one of the most admirable acts that has ever been done. You willingly sacrificed yourself in order to save your friends...regardless of what happened to yourself..."
"But I...jumped out..." Mwu reminded him. "I didn't...try to sacrifice myself. I tried to...save myself first..."
"It doesn't matter," the voice said softly. "What you did...what you were thinking about when you did the act...that's all that matters, Mwu. Because of what you've done...I don't care how improbable it is...you've been given the chance to live again."
Mwu's voice caught in his throat at John's choice of words. Chance to live again! Mwu's mouth closed slowly and so did his eyes. He felt like crying at that moment, but for some reason no tears came. "What...am I supposed to do?" he asked hoarsely.
"What you've been doing," came a different voice, this one with the slightest trail of an accent. Mwu glanced behind him and saw another figure. This one with a long, black pony-tail and a matching black goatee.
"Niada."
The figure smiled at him. "When you get back there will still be a battle happening, Mwu," Niada's voice said. "You still have a mission to fulfill before you go..."
"Peace..." Niada's figure nodded its head.
"There's also another reason you've survived, Mwu." A voice with a heavy English made Mwu's heart jump. He turned his head the other way to see a figure with blonde hair like his own and a tall form. Hugh Swanson's form.
"Another reason...?" Mwu asked his friend. "What reason...?"
The figure nodded. Around him, John and Niada's figures dissolved into the light and he never saw them again. Just before Hugh's followed suit, it said, "If you want to know why...you must look inside your heart, Mwu..." With that, his friend's image disappeared, leaving Mwu alone once again.
He closed his eyes and retreated into his mind, trying to figure out what Hugh meant. When he opened them again, he saw a batch of tiny light above him. Slowly, they came together to form a new image above him. A face and a body behind it. Mwu felt like crying once again when he saw it. This time the tears did come, splattering onto his helmet visor and making a giant pool there. Mwu reopened his eyes and stared into the likeness of Murrue that was hovering above him. "Oh, Murrue..." Mwu's voice cried as he sobbed quietly. "...I'm sorry. I'm sorry I was such a fool..." He managed to reach his hand up to stroke the figure's beautiful face and he said, "I promise...now that I've been given a second chance...I'll never leave you again Murrue Ramius..." He moved his face close to hers and kissed her on the lips. "Never again, my love..." In a flash, the lights and the figure disappeared.
Slowly the deep blue eyes opened and his mind turned back on. He was back in space, floating silently on his back just beyond the sheath of debris from the destruction of warships and mobile suits. It was a grizzly scene indeed. Mwu checked his vital signs and found that nothing appeared to be hurt or damaged. The only thing that seemed to hurt was a stiffness that rang throughout his body. He also noticed a crack in his helmet's visor that ran from the top of it to just more than half-way down the material. If that thing broke...! Mwu was about to panic when he saw something else. Something big and green was approaching him quickly. He squinted his eyes and took in the clear picture. His eyes widened and his panic disappeared. The Buster was approaching him quickly, its green phase shift armor and big guns standing out. The mobile suit came to within a few yards of Mwu's body and the cockpit shield opened. Onto the open doors stepped a figure clad in a red and white flight suit and helmet. "Mwu!" Dearka's voice called out to him. "Mwu can you hear me!"
Mwu managed to slowly give Dearka the thumb's up sign to signal that he was okay and he slowly turned his body towards the Buster and began to move towards it. He was swimming more or less in the weightless state of space, his arms moving in a swift stroke and his legs kicking behind him as he went. The Buster got closer and closer to him as he neared safety at last.
"Gotcha!" Suddenly, a bright green flash appeared just off to the side. The Forbidden. Shani saw the Buster just sitting there and he saw his chance to finally take it down. He brought his backpack above his machine's form and fired his plasma cannon at the non-moving mobile suit. As Mwu stepped onto the open door, he and Dearka saw the incoming shot. Their eyes widened and they braced themselves for the impact, but it never came. Just before the shot could strike, another machine jumped in front of it and absorbed the shot with its shield. The Duel. Yzak then fired back at the Forbidden with his own rifle, but the shots were deflected. Yzak turned his head to see the Buster and said in a calm voice, "Get out of here, you guys. We'll deal with this bastard."
"We...?" Shani asked sarcastically. As if to answer his question, an instant later the Zero soared through the black space towards him and released its gun barrels. Frank howled inside the cockpit as he fired all of his weapons at the machine, causing Shani to have to pull his backpack down over his machine in order to protect himself. Shani scowled inside the cockpit and raised his backpack to attack the mobile armor, but he never got the chance. The instant he raised his backpack, Kisaka was on him with the Skygrasper, the green Agni cannon in its wings firing a single shot at the Forbidden, striking it cleanly in the torso and sending it sprawling backwards. Yzak pulled out one of the Duel's beam sabers and cried out as he charged at the Forbidden. Shani smirked at his futile attempt and fired his plasma cannon at the Duel, the shot striking the Duel in the shoulders, causing a massive explosion. Both Dearka's and Mwu's eyes widened in shock, but an instant later it was Shani's eyes who were wide with shock. As it happened, Yzak had not been killed at all. He had wanted Shani to attack him. Since he had fought the Forbidden earlier, Yzak had lost the weapons in his assault shroud which had made it just basically added weight. With no use for it anymore, Yzak had allowed Shani to hit him there and had blown up his assault shroud to make it seem like the Duel itself had exploded. As the fire expanded, that gave Yzak the time to draw his other beam saber and come flying out of the fireball at top speed at the Forbidden. It happened so quickly that one second Shani was staring in wide eyed horror and the next the Forbidden's arms were gone and Yzak had plunged a beam saber through the cockpit. Another second later, the Forbidden was nothing but a mass of fire and debris.
As they watched the fireball, Dearka and Mwu stood transfixed. Then Dearka snapped out of it and slapped Mwu on the shoulder. "Come on, let's go!" he shouted as he ducked back into the cockpit. Mwu followed suit and stood behind the seat as the cockpit shield closed around them, cutting off the blackness of space. "Hang on!" Dearka told him as he reactivated the Buster's thrusters and zoomed back towards the battle. The Duel, Zero, and Skygrasper followed right behind him.
-1045
Athrun continued to move about in a very quick manner so that he could at least get away from Rau's funnels that were continuously firing at him from seemingly every direction. "Why do you continue to fight on Athrun?" Rau asked him from inside the Providence's cockpit. "Why can't you just accept your destiny as it has been handed to you?" Rau fired several shots with the Providence's cannon, but Athrun managed to dodge them.
"I'll never give up!" Athrun returned confidently. "Not while madmen like you continue to kill and destroy without remorse!" He fired the METEOR's cannons again, this time managing to take out two of Rau's funnels in the process. "I will not allow you to bring about the end of the world!"
Rau saw the Justice pull out a double sided beam saber and twirl it around in its hands as Athrun readied himself for another attack. Then Rau thought of something. He smiled. "How little you know about these turn of events, Athrun," Rau told him. "Mankind has had this destiny ever since the start of the war and even before that!"
"Bull-shit!" Athrun shouted back at him.
Rau pulled out the Providence's beam saber and met Athrun's charge with his own. Sparks flew as their weapons intersected. "That was my mind-set before the war too, Athrun!" Rau said calmly. "But before I could be sure I needed to test the Earth Alliance and see if they were on this path towards their destiny."
"What test?" Athrun demanded as he jumped away from the Providence to get a quick breather.
"Oh, nothing more than a little information passed on towards them," Rau said. "A little sliver of data on ZAFT's fleet movements on the 13th and 14th of February last year!"
Thirteenth and Fourteenth...? Athrun was confused. What did all of this have to do with...
Athrun's hands went limp on the controls of the Justice as his mind dawned with realization. "All I had to do was give them the opportunity...to see if they would choose this path...and they gleefully did, Athrun!" Rau continued. "They used that information against ZAFT in the most horrific way possible!"
No... Athrun thought to himself.
"They attacked Junius Seven with a nuclear warhead!" Rau finished.
Athrun's green eyes widened and his mouth went aghast. His hands began trembling on the controls of the Justice. He saw Junius Seven explode before his eyes once again. His mother's grave sight. The Naturals had attacked without warning and had mutilated thousands of innocents without any remorse whatsoever. And...and this bastard was the reason why!
"Do you not see it now, Athrun?" Rau asked him. "That mankind has always walked this path. And they proved it once again when they killed your mother!"
Athrun's breath was now coming in shallow heaves through his now clenched teeth that were grinding against once another like stones. His trembling hands squeezed the controls more tightly than he ever had before. Rage began to swirl through him like a typhoon. The photo of he and Cagalli, the one that had kept him sane and calm during all the previous battles, was replaced by an image of his mother. The caring and beautiful woman who had been killed by the Naturals in their barbaric attack on Junius Seven. Who's death had been caused by the very man who he fought for in the early part of the war! Athrun cried out in anger and anguish as a seed exploded before his eyes. Rau heard his cry and he smiled. It had worked. His eyes now hollow and his anger at its peak, Athrun charged madly at Rau with his voice crying out in anger. He opened up all the METEOR's missile canisters and fired them at the Providence along with the METEOR and the Justice's cannons. The shots went all over the place and only a few even got close to Rau. Rau's excitement could not be held in as he worked the controls of the Providence in order to evade the shots. Athrun was now in the palm of his hands.
Meanwhile, Cagalli had managed to find a break in the action and was waiting calmly for any word on enemy movements in the area. Suddenly, the Freedom came up beside her, its METEOR a little worse for wear though. "Kira!" Cagalli called out to him.
"I'm fine, Cagalli," Kira answered quickly.
"Where's Athrun?" she asked.
"He's back there. He sent me to make sure you were okay," Kira told her.
"What! You left him alone out there?" Cagalli shouted at him.
"Why, what-?" Kira's voice was cut off as the Strike Rouge sped past him heading in the direction where Athrun was. "Cagalli!"
"The way Athrun fights he's likely to get himself killed if he's fighting by himself, Kira!" Cagalli told him uneasily. "You've seen the stupid risks he takes when he's in battle. He could be in real trouble right now if we don't go help him!" Kira groaned heavily as he turned the Freedom around and followed Cagalli back towards Athrun.
Before they got there, both of them had to pull hard on their sticks to avoid being struck by beam shots that seemingly came from out of nowhere. "What the-?" Kira stammered.
"Athrun!" Cagalli shouted. She saw the Justice engaged in a fierce duel with the Providence just up ahead of them. Athrun wouldn't respond and was firing all over the place, all of the Justice's weapons blazing colors across space. Rau made a quick series of maneuvers that put him at a safe distance from Athrun. In his rage, Athrun lost the Providence for just a moment and that was all that Rau needed. Rau released the Providence's funnels at the Justice and concentrated their attacks not on the Justice itself, but on the METEOR behind it. Destroy that, Rau knew, and the Justice would be crippled. Athrun saw the funnels coming towards him and he quickly jumped upwards and caught one with the Justice's rifle. He unleashed a barrage of missiles at another pair, but several managed to get past him because they were all attacking at once and he couldn't get them all. Once the funnels managed to position themselves behind the Justice, they fired striking both of the METEOR's engines and some of the weapons pods which detonated in huge explosions that blossomed across the machine. Athrun scowled inside the cockpit as he saw the precarious position he was in. He sprang away from the funnels, but because his attention was diverted, Rau managed to sneak in close to the Justice and attacked with his beam saber, slicing off a portion of the METEOR with the saber and then blowing another hole into it with his cannon once he was behind the Justice. One of the METEOR's engines exploded and rocked the Justice, causing Athrun to cry out as pieces of the METEOR exploded, damaging the Justice. Another explosion occurred when the second engine went up in flames. Athrun barely was able to disengage the Justice from the METEOR before the weapons pack exploded in a gigantic ball of flames and debris. Athrun did not escape unscathed however, as some of the flares from the explosions damaged the Justice's exterior and two of its five thrusters, making it almost impossible to go anywhere fast. A piece of shrapnel scathed Athrun on the left arm and another hit his ribs, piercing his skin and causing blood to begin to spurt out in tiny amounts. Athrun grabbed at his chest and slumped forward in the cockpit, moaning in agony as the pain began to course through his body.
Rau watched the damaged Justice struggle to stay intact and he smiled. All that was left for him to do was put Athrun out of his agony once and for all. Rau aimed his cannon at the smoking Justice and prepared to fire. Suddenly, a sensation hit Rau in the brain. "Athrun!" Rau managed to swing the Providence away from the incoming shots from the Freedom as Kira soared at him. Rau turned his cannon towards the Freedom and fired at it, but Kira evaded the shots and attacked Rau. Cagalli followed Kira in the Strike Rouge and while Kira fought Rau again, she sprinted towards the Justice and Athrun.
"Athrun? Athrun!" Cagalli cried out to him. "Say something!"
Inside the cockpit, Athrun pressed his gloved hand against the tiny cut on his chest and looked at the red stains that had stuck to his glove. He could see small droplets of tears against his visor from his own anguished cries as he let his rage take him over. His eyes returned to their normal green glow and the hollowness dissolved away. Athrun felt like just breaking down in tears over what he had just done. He'd promised never to let his anger and frustration get the better of him again. But he had let himself down. And because of it he almost got himself killed.
From her cockpit, Cagalli heard what she thought sounded like sobbing. "Athrun," she said softly. "Are you okay?"
Athrun glanced up at his monitor and saw the blonde haired girl's pretty face, masked slightly by the helmet she wore. Her face was concerned and somewhat sad from what he could tell. That made Athrun's pain even more deadly. "Yeah..." Athrun breathed in response. "I'll...be okay..."
Rau's funnels attacked Kira from several directions, but Kira managed to avoid all the shots as he soared at the Providence, both of the Freedom's beam sabers drawn. "I won't allow your twisted ideals to do any harm to my friends, le Creuset!" Kira shouted at him. He chopped at the Providence with both beam sabers, but Rau dodged the attacks and fired back with the Providence's cannon.
"Shout all you want, Kira but it's too late now. Athrun was already swallowed by the darkness inside of him. Don't let yourself falter the same way he did!" Rau shouted back at him.
Providence soared upwards and Kira flipped the Freedom onto its back. "I won't falter. I won't succumb!" Kira yelled. He fired the METEOR's cannons at Rau and added, "You won't break me! You'll see!"
Rau smirked inside his cockpit. "We will indeed, Kira! We will indeed!"
Behind them, Cagalli helped Athrun get his machine back under control. "Athrun, Cagalli!" came another voice. Both individuals turned their heads to see two more mobile suits approaching. The Duel and the Buster.
"Dearka!" Athrun called out to him weakly. "Yzak? What are you-?"
"Don't ask," Yzak answered quickly and unemotionally. "It's not the right time anyway."
"Kid, you okay?" came a new voice. Both Athrun and Cagalli gasped sharply at the sound. "Kid?" Mwu's voice repeated.
"Commander la Flaga?" Cagalli breathed quietly. "But...I thought...I mean...we saw..."
"I know, I know," Mwu answered calmly. "Don't worry about me, okay. Are you two hurt?"
"I'm fine, but Athrun's..." Cagalli's voice trailed off.
"I'm fine too, Mwu," Athrun answered. He sat back up straight in his chair and added, "A little worse for wear mentally...but otherwise I'm okay..."
"Augh...dammit!" another voice sounded over the open radio.
"Stevy!" Mwu said, recognizing the voice.
The trio of K-bombers were fighting for their lives amid a swarm of Strike Daggers that had descended upon them from their hiding spots in the debris of the destroyed ships. Now all three of them were under heavy attack and taking significant damage. "Mike turn it to port!" Stevy told his co-pilot. "Jay, what the hell's going on back there, you guys?"
"There's a lot of them, that's what!" Jay answered from the plane's tail, turning this way and that in order to aim the tail gun in separate directions. "Coop, get the ones on the starboard side, I'll get port!"
"What about the ones in front of us?" Coop asked.
"I've got 'em," Sai answered from his post in the nose turret. He was virtually spinning the turning radius around and around, again and again so that all of his fire was directed every which way.
"Be careful, you guys, there's more of 'em coming in," Stevy warned them as he pulled on the control stick to gently turn the wounded plane to the right. Jay managed to get off a burst with the tail gun and blew a Strike Dagger to pieces on the port side. However, with his concentration diverted, Jay didn't see the two Daggers coming at him from the rear until they were almost upon them. Jay got off a few quick shots with the tail gun and destroyed one of the mobile suits, but its wingmate got in right next to the tail and fired its rifle at the plane. The shot struck Jay's position square on, blowing the tail gun to pieces and causing an explosion that ripped through the rear portion of the plane.
In the cockpit, Stevy and Mike were jolted forward onto their controls by the force of the impact. "We've been hit!" Mike called out.
"Hang on, Mike," Stevy answered, regaining control of the stick as the plane tossed and turned with enemies still all over it. "Jay, you okay?" No answer. "Jay?" Stevy repeated. Still no response.
"It's no use, Stevy," Coop's voice came grimly over the comm. "Everyone behind the bomb doors was just killed."
Stevy shut his eyes and sighed in anguish at the news of another friend dying. "Sai, you okay?"
"Fine...I'm fine..." Sai panted back.
"Kurk?" Mike asked, leaning back into the fuselage of the plane.
"Right here," came a response.
"Mike, concentrate on your flying!" Stevy yelled as another Dagger came close to them and tried to destroy them. Stevy barely managed to turn the plane before the Dagger could hit it. Just then a massive explosion erupted to their starboard. Stevy glanced out the window and saw the flaming wreckage of one of his wing mates, the dying plane sloping downwards before exploding in a brilliant fireball.
"Damn," Stevy swore quietly. At that instant however, multiple enemies that were surrounding the two remaining planes were vaporized. The explosions startled Stevy and Mike who turned their heads to see the Zero and the Skygrasper rapidly approaching. Frank used all of his barrels in a quadruple attack on a single Strike Dagger, obliterating it in a split second. Kisaka added his own weapons to the mix and managed to clear a small hole in the mobile suit formation for the bombers to slip through.
"Stevy, you okay?" Frank called through the radio.
"Jay's dead, Frank," Stevy answered quietly. "So's half the crew." Inside his own cockpit, Frank swore violently to himself. He'd lost another friend to this stupid war just barely half an hour after he'd lost his first.
"Follow us," Kisaka ordered them. "We're regrouping our mobile units as we speak."
A few minutes later the survivors formed up in a small group away from the battlefield. They could see Jachin Due, GENESIS, and the PLANTs from where they sat and the battle was still being fiercely contested in other areas of space. "Everybody here?" Mwu asked through the radio.
Frank froze inside his cockpit when he heard Mwu's voice. "Mwu...?" he whispered.
"Yeah that's right I'm alive, Frank," Mwu answered lightly.
"But, I thought-!"
"I'll tell you all about it later," Mwu responded to all of them. "Right now we have more important matters to attend to. Like what the hell are we gonna do now that the battle's virtually taken the final turn." He addressed everyone from behind Dearka's seat inside the Buster's cockpit. "At this moment our unit consists of the Buster, Duel, Justice, Zero, Skygrasper, Strike Rouge, two K-bombers, and two M1s."
"What happened to the other M1s?" Cagalli asked. "Where's the team?"
"We are the team, Miss Cagalli," Mitch answered grimly. "Me and Orel, that's it."
"Where's Kira?" Mwu demanded.
"He's engaged in combat right now, Mwu," Athrun answered as best he could. "He's fighting Commander le Creuset as we speak, but I didn't see where they went."
"Should we go help him?" Stevy asked.
"He has to this himself," Athrun answered plainly. "Something Kira needs to do, I think."
"Right. Anyway, where do we stand now. What's the current situation?" Mwu asked everyone.
"ZAFT is getting ready to fire GENESIS again," Cagalli began. All eyes turned towards the eyeball that was GENESIS behind Jachin Due. "You can see it from here. They've replaced the alignment mirror and it'll only be a matter of time before they're ready to use it again."
"Would ZAFT really...fire that thing at Earth...?" Mitch wondered out loud.
"What do you think?" Yzak answered roughly. "The way the people running the PLANTs have been doing things lately I'm guessing they won't hesitate to fire GENESIS again. And the Earth is the only target they have left," he added quietly.
"We're in no position to take that thing down at this time, though," Stevy pointed out. "Like Admiral Cantarii said the only thing that will make a dent in that weapon's phase shift armor is the guns on the warships."
"And they're bogged down as it is," Athrun finished. He thought about it for a second and then decided. "We'll have to take it down from the inside then."
"What?" Mwu asked.
"We'll force our way into Jachin and destroy the controls," Athrun told them.
"What?" Frank answered incredulously.
"You've got to be kidding!" Mitch added.
"Do you have any better ideas?" Athrun demanded. "It's the only option we have at this time and we've got to try. If we don't then ZAFT will fire it again."
"Athrun," Mwu started.
"Forget it, Commander, I'm going." Athrun turned the Justice towards Jachin Due, but before he could move, something grabbed hold of its shoulder. "Let me go!" Athrun commanded.
"You're not going anywhere!" Cagalli told him harshly. Then she added, "Without me that is. If you're forcing your way in, I'm coming too."
"Cagalli..." Athrun said uneasily.
"Don't give me that crap!" Cagalli shouted. "You almost got yourself killed the last time I let you go by yourself! I'm not gonna let you kill yourself, Athrun."
Athrun sighed uneasily inside his cockpit. Then he took a deep breath. "Okay then. Let's go!" He activated the Justice's remaining thrusters and sped towards Jachin Due, the Strike Rouge following in his wake.
"Mitch, Orel, go with them," Mwu ordered the two M1 pilots.
"Right!" Orel's thick accented voice answered. Moving quickly, the two smaller machines were hot on the Justice and Strike Rouge's trails.
"Mwu, what happens if they don't get it done?" Frank asked dumbfounded.
"Then we attack it ourselves," Mwu answered firmly.
"But that still doesn't answer another key question, Mwu," Stevy pointed out. "What are we gonna do about the Earth Forces? Judging by their actions they ain't gonna stop anytime soon until they destroy either the PLANTs or Jachin Due."
"Not to mention that we have to find our own ships," Kisaka added.
"We have to find a way to get the Earth Forces to stand down," Mwu said. "To get them to stop this aggression already before they destroy any more innocents."
"How are we going to do that?" Coop broke in. "Sutherland and Azrael are the two most racist bastards in the entire universe and they're running the show for the Earth Forces," he pointed out. "Other than that the only person out here who could have any semblance of a clear head is..." His voice trailed off. Mwu smiled inside his helmet, knowing what Coop had just dawned upon. "Oh my God, I'm a dumb-ass!" he heard Coop's voice shout over the radio.
"Your father, right?" Mwu asked.
"Of course, I can't believe I didn't see it." Coop regained his composure and said, "I think I know how we can get the Earth Forces to stop." He told everyone what he had in mind and they listened intently.
Finally when he was finished, Frank asked, "Are you sure about that? That's an awfully big risk to take, Coop. How can you be sure you won't get your asses toasted before you even come close to him?"
"It's a chance we have to take, Commander," Coop answered. "And one I'm willing to take."
"Me too," Stevy added. "Anything to stop this damn war."
"Go then," Mwu ordered. "Frank, Kisaka, cover them until they get within range. Be careful you guys."
"Be careful, Mwu," Frank told his friend as the two K-bombers, Zero, and Skygrasper left the group, leaving just the Duel and the Buster.
"Hey, Coop!" Mwu said through the radio. "Any suggestions for us?"
Coop smiled. "Find whatever ship Azrael's on and blow the shit out of it!"
Mwu smirked. After his friends left, he turned to Dearka who had been uncharacteristically silent. "You okay, kid?"
"Never been better," Dearka answered sarcastically. "But we've got a job to do. Yzak you ready?"
"Ready when you are," Yzak answered carefully.
"Let's go!" Mwu ordered quietly and the Buster and Duel were soon speeding towards the battle once again.
-Archangel, 1055
Archangel had managed to elude both enemy forces and now stood silently with the damaged Kusanagi and Capricorn in an isolated area of space. The fires still burned on the ship, but many of them had been brought under control by the quick actions of the fire control crews. "The fires in the hangar are almost doused, but we've still got small spots of it in the rear hatches," Murdoch reported to Murrue beneath his fire-proof suit and helmet.
"Good," Murrue answered. "Keep up the good work, Chief Murdoch. Give my best to the fire crews." Murdoch nodded his head and his image disappeared. "Any sign of our mobile suits?" Murrue asked.
"Nothing in the immediate area, ma'am," Miriallia reported. "I can't find them and the radar is still acting up somewhat."
"Radio's back online, but only in small bursts of clarity, Captain," Pal told Murrue.
"We've only got half of our weapons still operational, Captain," Natarle pointed out. "That doesn't include the port Valient and both Lohengrins. How are you coming on the muzzle choke, Ensign Chandra?"
"It's still jammed, Lieutenant Badgiruel," Chandra reported grimly. "Mechanics say it'll take at least two hours to clear."
"Tell them to hurry. We don't have much time left," Natarle told him.
Behind the Archangel, a dark shadow was creeping across space towards it. Tonomura's console detected the shadow as it approached and he typed in several commands on his keypad to get a better reading on what it was. "Silhouette detected at charlie nineteen, Captain!" he reported. Murrue turned towards the CIC and heard, "It's the Dominion."
"Damn, it's still out there," Natarle cursed. "With our weapons in this shape we can't hope to fight back."
"Ensign Neumann, can we outrun them?" Murrue asked.
"Not a chance in this shape, Captain," Neumann replied. "Engines are all operational, but they're only up to eighty percent maximum output."
"Plus the rudder isn't working properly for some reason," Josef put in. "So we won't be able to make the turns necessary for evasive maneuvers, I'm afraid."
Murrue sighed uneasily. They couldn't fight back, they couldn't outrun them. So what options did that leave them with. What else? Murrue told herself. They would have to fight back as best they could against a ship that was the exact same as theirs. "Mr. Crue, get the ship moving as best you can. Lieutenant Badgiruel, have all weapons installations prepared."
"Yes, ma'am!" Natarle answered.
Josef flipped a few switches and pressed a few buttons. The crew could feel the engines roar to life behind them and the ship shuddered to life once again. "Engines at fifty percent. Pressure in containment tubes is rising. We have main rudder controls online."
"Turn about one hundred degrees and proceed at maximum speed!" Murrue ordered. "We'll hit them on the port side. Tell the Capricorn to cover the Kusanagi and see if they can escape."
"Aim the Gottfrieds and starboard Valient!" Natarle ordered. "Load all missile tubes with Sledgehammers!" Archangel began to make its turn back towards the rapidly approaching Dominion. This turn put the Kusanagi directly in the path of the Dominion.
On the bridge of the Dominion, Azrael watched the Archangel start to make its turn towards them. He smiled devilishly. The fools were actually going to try and defeat them anyway with their ship as damaged as it was. "Now's the time, Omanney. Attack!"
Hal hesitated. "Director Azrael, our ship is in just as bad a shape as theirs is. It's not guaranteed that we'd even last a minute against them with barely half of our weapons operational. Not to mention that all three of your machines appear to have been destroyed."
"So what?" Azrael said. "It's only one ship, you idiot! We've still got enough firepower here to take down anything they've still got! So attack!"
"But, sir-!" Hal started, but Azrael interrupted yet again.
"Fire you moron!" Azrael shouted.
Hal thinned his lips into a straight line and sighed uneasily. "Prepare Lohengrin cannons and standby," he ordered calmly. At the front of the ship's legs, the mighty plasma cannons began to surge with life. Azrael smiled yet again, his eyes almost ready to bulge out of their sockets it appeared. "Target, Archangel-!" Hal's order was cut abruptly when something smashed into the Dominion and caused the ship to shudder violently. "What?"
"Where'd that come from!" Azrael demanded.
"Kusanagi just attacked, ma'am!" Chandra told Murrue in a shocked manner. Murrue was just as shocked. She turned her head to see that indeed the blue Orb vessel was moving and its Gottfried cannons had been activated.
"Captain Ramius!" came a voice over the radio.
Murrue turned to the console on her chair and saw a face staring back at her. "Lieutenant Manchisco!" Murrue exclaimed. Josh was a little worse for wear with a few cuts on his face, but otherwise he was completely serious. "Where's Admiral-?"
"Dead," Manchisco said plainly. "Piece of shrapnel caught him across the throat when that mobile armor hit us. Killed him instantly, along with half of the bridge crew."
"What about Captain Jackson?" Murrue asked again.
Manchisco paused for a moment and then said reluctantly, "Well...other than the molten hot piece of shrapnel that went through his right eye...he's okay..." Murrue groaned in disgust at the notion. "Those of us that survived have retreated to the secondary bridge at the base of the tower. We still have operational weapons and maneuverability. We can't put up as good a fight as we could, but we'll give them hell anyway. If you're attacking the Dominion, we'll be right there beside you."
Murrue smiled. "Thank you, Lieutenant."
On the Kusanagi, Manchisco nodded in return. He punched his radio and said, "Nate, what's the status down below?"
"Positron bank is completely drained so we can't use the Lohengrin and the number two engine is still trailing a wake of fire behind us," Nathan's voice came in reply. "But otherwise, we're good to go."
"Give me maximum output," Manchisco ordered.
"Yes, sir."
Azrael rushed out of his chair in a rage and came up behind the weapon's officer's console and yelled, "Fire you imbecile!" Hal glanced back in anger as Azrael added, "Hurry and destroy that thing! Aim the Lohengrin already!"
Hal turned away and scowled. "No! Stop it!" came a high pitched voice that made Hal jump. Azrael turned behind him to the red haired girl who was yelling into the radio. "Archangel get out of there!"
Azrael grabbed Flay and hauled her up out of her chair. "You stupid little bitch, what's wrong with you!" His fist struck her face and sent her body flailing into the weightless state. Her head crashed into a bulkhead and she fell to the floor.
"Director Azrael!" Hal shouted, bolting out of his chair.
BANG! Flay screamed at the top of her lungs in horror. All of the bridge crew watched with wide eyes and frightened expressions as the smoke continued to billow from the barrel of Azrael's pistol. Hal's body slumped backwards and laid down on the deck with a soft sound, a small red hole placed perfectly between his wide open eyes, a small trickle of red blood coming from the hole. "Stupid bastard!" Azrael seethed angrily. He turned and pointed his gun at the startled crew who were motionless at their posts. "Listen up people! You see what happens when you disobey my commands? Now unless all of you get back to work and destroy that ship, I swear I'll-aah!"
Something hard crashed into Azrael from behind, sending him sprawling forward onto his knees. He turned his head around just in time to get a round about kick right to his jaw, knocking him to the deck, his gun clattering away. Rutherford breathed heavily as he watched his boss fall to the ground in agony, but he didn't care. Azrael had just passed the line to him. Killing an innocent soldier for his own selfish goals.
"Captain Rutherford?" a crewman said unbelievably.
Rutherford walked up to Flay's console and took the head-set to the radio in his hands. "This is Captain Bernard Rutherford," he said calmly into the ship's comm. "Attention all hands, abandon ship! I repeat, all hands abandon ship immediately! Man the escape craft and head for the nearest Earth Alliance ship!"
That was all many of the bridge crew needed to hear and seconds later they were all bolting for the door. Yeardley came out of the CIC and up to Rutherford who said, "Go with them, Lieutenant. They'll need an officer to get aboard another ship." Yeardley paused and glanced at Hal's lifeless body, a small tear escaping from her eyes. She nodded and floated towards the elevator. Flay glanced up at Rutherford who turned to face her and said, "Go on, Ms. Allster. They're waiting for you." He motioned towards the door and after a slight pause, Flay floated through the doors where the other members of the crew were waiting. The doors shut, leaving Rutherford alone on the bridge. As a precaution, Rutherford then locked the doors behind him.
"You bastard!" came Azrael's enraged voice. He had the gun in his hand again and he fired one shot which struck Rutherford in the right shoulder. Rutherford grabbed at his wound and felt the blood begin to trickle out. He jumped up into the weightless state and landed a seemingly safe distance from Azrael at the front of the bridge, drawing his combat knife out with his left hand and extending it towards Azrael. "What the hell is going through your mind!"
"Something I should have realized a long time ago, Mr. Azrael," Rutherford said calmly as the two began to circle one another on the bridge, waiting for the other to make the first move. But Rutherford had no intention of letting either of them make a move. "I realize now what a fool I've been for following you as long as I did. For allowing you to manipulate my thoughts for your own goals. Well not anymore. You're a monster who deserves to die...right here with me!"
"Bastard!" Azrael seethed, his back now turned to the front view port.
A short distance away, Buster was racing towards them. Mwu had his head listening to the radio, trying desperately to find where that bastard Azrael was. He finally heard his high pitched, ugly voice shout out its usual tone. "He's on the Dominion," he told Dearka. That was all the blonde haired pilot needed and soon they and the Duel were heading towards the Dominion. "How much energy does this thing have left?" Mwu asked.
"Enough for one last shot," Dearka answered quickly. Mwu smiled. One shot was all he needed.
Back on the Archangel another burst of luck came over the ship. The radio waves finally cleared. "We've got radio again, Captain!" Pal reported excitedly.
"Incoming machines!" Miriallia reported. Murrue began to fret, but was relieved when Miriallia added, "Duel and Buster, don't worry."
"Buster's online, ma'am," Pal reported. The Buster's radio was instantly integrated with the Archangel's.
They heard Dearka's voice. "Hey pops, are you sure this is gonna work?"
"Don't call me pops!" Murrue gasped. Her eyes widened. Her pulse quickened. Her body went rigid. That was...that was...Mwu's voice...! "Do you trust me?" Mwu's voice said again.
"Not really, but since I've got no choice," Dearka responded. An instant later, the Buster and Duel raced past the Archangel and on towards the stopped Dominion.
"Escape craft are leaving the Dominion, ma'am," Tonomura reported to Murrue.
Out of the Dominion's hatch soared three civilian shuttles. Crammed into each of them were the scared crew, huddled together in their cramped space. Flay was one of them, holding close to herself as she waited for what would happen next. On the bridge, Rutherford and Azrael stared each other down. "You think you can kill me?" Azrael asked. "You can't kill me. You're a weakling like the rest of them! There is no way you will be able to stop me."
At the rear of the bridge, Rutherford smiled. "Actually I don't plan on killing you."
"What?" Azrael gasped.
"Look behind you, bastard!" Rutherford whispered. Azrael turned around and instantly his expression changed from anger to fear. Sitting directly in front of the bridge, was the Buster, its guns combined and pointed straight at him.
Inside the cockpit, Mwu saw Azrael's scared form through the small view port. He smiled. "See you in hell, you bastard!" he whispered. He thought of John, Hugh, and Niada as he punched the switch that unleashed all the power the Buster had left in one final shot at the bridge. Azrael screamed as the beam raced towards the bridge, engulfing it in flames and causing it to explode in one gigantic fireball. Azrael and Rutherford were both killed as the Buster soared above the rapidly expanding fireball that eventually consumed the entire ship as the magazines detonated in a fantastic explosion. When the fire cleared, the Dominion was gone.
-Valiant, 1100
"Fire!" Vesalius fired its main cannons at the Valiant, striking the ship in the right front corner of the spiked bow, causing an explosion that detonated explosives in its holds. The bridge shook violently from the impacts. Tomer's console exploded in a shower of sparks and he threw himself back onto the deck to avoid being hurt. Wires were everywhere on his destroyed console.
"Seal the bulkheads in the front quadrant!" Seymour commanded. "Send the fire crews to B-deck to put the fires out!"
"Order the ships behind us to fall back, Ensign!" Bradford ordered Lester. "We can't do anything in this position with ZAFT all around us."
"Belay that, Ensign!" Sutherland rebuked. Bradford looked at him with an annoyed expression and Sutherland added, "Tell them to stay behind us. We're almost through."
"But those Nazca's will tear us apart before we even get close enough to GENESIS!" Seymour pointed out. "The way they're positioned we won't be able to get around them or through them."
"Are you the commander here, Captain?" Sutherland inquired. Seymour didn't respond. "I didn't think so. Push onward!"
Ahead, the two Nazcas and one Laurasia poured shot after shot into the now slowing Intrepid beside the Valiant. Fires were spreading quickly along the hull as more and more holes were ripped into the ship. Many of the crew had already been burned alive by the fires as the ship slowly began to cease all movement. Seymour watched the dying ship beside him, the ship he'd fought beside for so many battles was going down. Slowly, he brought his right hand up in a salute, paying homage to the crew. Lester, Tomer, and the ship's helmsman followed suit. Bradford also brought up a salute as the Intrepid began to break apart, his friend Captain Norris going down with it. On the Intrepid's bridge, now being consumed by fire, big Captain Norris offered one last salute before the fires consumed his ship. In one great heave, the Intrepid exploded.
The shockwaves reached the Valiant and shook the ship. Nothing was spoken. Nothing until one of the consoles began beeping insanely. "Detecting silhouettes approaching from mark twenty charlie, Captain," Lester reported quietly. "Bombers. Two of them."
"Friendlies?" Seymour asked.
"Checking numbers..." Lester looked to his Captain and said, "Two of the ones from the Archangel, Captain."
"How far are they?" Sutherland interjected before Seymour could answer.
"2000, sir. Closing fast," Lester reported.
"Destroy them, Captain McKinley," Sutherland ordered quickly. "Destroy them now!"
"Do we have any signs of a target lock upon us?" Seymour asked as the ship shook once again.
"No, sir," Lester answered.
"Attack them, Captain!" Sutherland ordered again. "Do you want them to destroy us?"
"No, but-!"
"Then destroy them!" Sutherland shouted. Seymour glanced at the images of the two bombers closing in on their position. Both were trailing smoke behind them from damage. One didn't even have a nose turret anymore. It saddened Seymour to see them. But...he had his orders. No matter how much he objected to them.
"Weapons, target those planes," Seymour ordered quietly. Sutherland smiled behind them, unnoticeable to everyone except the person sitting next to him. Sutherland's smile confused Bradford for an instant. What was he smiling for? The bombers came ever closer still, they could now see them through the front view port. "Aim cannons." The cannons swirled on their axis to target the planes as they came ever more closer. Seymour was just about to utter the word fire, when it happened.
"Dad! Stop!" The voice came over the radio, into the Valiant's bridge and was intercepted by everyone there. Seymour froze in his chair. Bradford couldn't believe his ears. It couldn't be... "Coop..." Seymour uttered to himself. Behind them, Sutherland squirmed in his chair, realizing what was about to happen.
On the Vesalius, Ades saw the enemy forces stop all of a sudden. "What?" he gasped.
"Dad, it's me! Coop! Your son!" Coop's voice rang over the radio.
"Son..." Bradford whispered. "Cooper...where...where are you...?"
"McKinley, shoot the planes down!" Sutherland ordered.
"Hold your fire!" Seymour commanded, Coop's voice again ringing over the radio.
"I'm on the bomber you're about to shoot down, dad!" Coop called out. "So are the other Cuban Raiders."
Cuban Raiders? Bradford was shocked. They're supposed to be all dead...that's what... Bradford narrowed his eyes and glared to his right at Sutherland. He had lied to him again. "Coop, is that really you?" Seymour asked, sticking his phone to his ear as he stood up from his chair.
"Seymour!" Coop gasped. "What the hell are you doing here?"
"What am I doing here? What are you doing here, you're supposed to be dead!" Seymour exclaimed.
"Not exactly," Coop told him slowly. Seymour was here. This could prove to his advantage even more. "Seymour...do you remember what happened at Alaska? Us and your brother, Stanley?"
"Yeah..." Seymour breathed. "What about it?"
Behind him, Sutherland reached into the pocket of his jacket and touched the object underneath it. "Listen Seymour...dad...Inner Council lied to you. ZAFT didn't do anything to destroy the base at JOSH-A...reactor didn't blow. It was something else."
Seymour was shocked. Someone else? ZAFT hadn't killed his brother? Then...then...that meant. Seymour's heart ached. That meant that all this fighting he had done had been for naught. He'd been fighting against an enemy that had done nothing to him. "Who...?" Seymour breathed.
Coop paused. "Look behind you, Seymour." Seymour slowly turned his head, craning his neck in the process. He saw Sutherland, the former Chief of Staff at JOSH-A, the person in charge of the base. "You see Sutherland...you're looking at the guy who destroyed JOSH-A on purpose to wipe out ZAFT...the guy who deliberately set us up over Cuba. That mission was a scam...designed to kill everyone involved. Conceived by the Inner Council of the Earth Alliance themselves." Oh my God... Seymour thought to himself. I've been...I've been fighting for...the people that killed my brother...!
"I suggest you destroy those bombers now, Captain McKinley," Sutherland ordered. "Or else I'll be forced to-!"
"Hold your fire, Ensign!" That voice belonged to Bradford. "You have some explaining to do Sutherland."
"I want the truth, Admiral," Seymour demanded, his voice now filled with quiet anger. "The truth of what happened at Alaska. You killed my brother...you tried to kill my friend...you tried to kill me, didn't you?"
Sutherland stood up slowly and shrugged his broad shoulders. "Well, I guess there's no point in holding it back now." He brought the pistol out of his jacket in a flash and fired one shot. Seymour was thrown backwards onto the deck, the hole in his chest in the middle of his ribs. Lester and Tomer were on their feet in an instant, trying to go and help him, but Sutherland aimed the gun at them. Bradford too bolted from his chair and tried to attack Sutherland, but the Admiral trained his pistol right between Bradford's burning eyes. Bradford glared at the man for what seemed like an eternity. The man who had lied to him so many times had tried to kill his own son, Cooper. Now he had shot his comrade and was holding the bridge hostage with a pistol he had secretly brought on board. Another lie. "I wouldn't move if I were you, General." Sutherland swung his hand back towards the front and fired the gun again, the second shot striking Seymour in the pelvis, shattering the bone and causing him to cry out in pain once again. Blood was seeping out of his wounds as he lay in still agony on the deck. Seymour managed to raise his head just enough to take in the bastard that had murdered his brother just because his use had been deemed unnecessary. Seymour's rage was building to a climax. "Yes, I admit it, Bradford, I have lied to you in the past. I did destroy JOSH-A on purpose to wipe out the Coordinators' attack force. I did plot to annihilate Namora and the Cuban Raiders because they had become useless to us."
"All in the sake of achieving your goal of ultimate annihilation of the Coordinators," Bradford finished, his now filled with anger and frustration.
"Exactly, old friend," Sutherland said, slowly backing up towards Tomer's smoking console. "Now before I kill you...I must tell you that I've been guilty of keeping another little secret from you, Woodrow." He glanced at Seymour's body on the deck. "And you Captain McKinley. You two may not know it...but there's a nuclear warhead on board this ship." Bradford scowled, but said nothing. Seymour wanted to shout out, but he couldn't find his voice. He was losing blood fast. Sutherland again pointed the gun at Seymour and this time shot him in the shoulder, causing Seymour to cry out in anguish once again. "You see what happens when you defy me, Woodrow? I always get what I want and I'm going to get what I want now. With the nuclear warhead on board this ship I will personally annihilate a single PLANT and inspire the Earth Alliance anew. We will once and for all destroy the Coordinators and their insane logic." Seymour looked all around him, trying to find some way to stop this madman. He couldn't find anything. Just a mass of electric wires and a few scattered parts-! The wires! Seymour had it suddenly. Sutherland was right against the console now, his hand hovering over the controls. "You people are the most foolish people I've ever known," Sutherland continued, waving the gun at all of the people on the bridge. "I've managed to smuggle this much information and equipment past your judgment and yet you don't even catch a whiff of it. How pathetic you all really are." Sutherland's hand gripped the controls on the console and hovered over the firing button. "That nuke is going to destroy the Coordinators and will eventually lead to the preservation of our blue and pure-!" Seymour scrambled his wounded body off the deck and towards Tomer's console. He gripped one of the electric wires and shoved it into the console Sutherland was at, sending a massive electric current through the device. The metallic console made the perfect conductor for electricity as the energy coursed through the machine and struck Sutherland's hand on the console. Sutherland cried out in anguish as the electricity began surging through his body, rendering his limbs and systems useless. Bradford, Lester, and Tomer watched in shock as Sutherland's body vibrated with the tremendous electric shock. Seymour clenched his teeth as he watched Sutherland burned...just as he deserved. The electricity finally ran out and Sutherland's body stood erect for several seconds, black burns covering his limbs, his hand almost completely charred away on the console. With one great crash, Sutherland's lifeless body collapsed onto the deck, dead.
Seymour watched Sutherland die and finally felt as if he was at peace with h is brother Stanley. His eyes rolled into his head and he passed out. "Seymour!" both Lester and Tomer shouted to their friend, rushing over to his body which was bleeding profusely. Bradford stared at Sutherland's charred remains for the longest time and said nothing. Sutherland was dead. McCarthy was dead. That left him in charge. General Bradford, commander of the Earth Alliance Orbital Fleet. He could see the ZAFT forces closing in on his remaining ships from all directions. Jachin Due and GENESIS were directly ahead of them. They were in a bottleneck and Bradford knew they had no chance of escape. He activated the radio in his chair and picked up the phone. This was the hardest decision he would ever have to make in all his years in the military. But Woodrow Bradford knew that unless he did it now...they would all be dead soon enough.
"This is General Woodrow Bradford of the Earth Alliance 5th Orbital Fleet," his powerful voice rang out over the open channel that stretched across the entire battlefield. Ades and the ships with the Vesalius heard his voice. So did Coop, Stevy, Sai, and the others aboard the K-bombers. Frank and Kisaka heard it. Mwu, Dearka, and Yzak heard his voice inside their cockpits. Murrue and the Archangel's crew heard him. So did Patrick, Gilbert, Ezalia, Yuri and those inside Jachin Due. Kira and Rau heard it, their duel increasing as they listened. Athrun and Cagalli heard his voice. What they heard next was beyond their wildest dreams. "This is a message to all Earth Alliance forces operating in the Jachin Due area. Stand down. I repeat, all Earth Alliance forces operating within the vicinity of Jachin Due and the PLANTs are to stand down at once. To the ZAFT forces I concede my forces defeat. You have won the battle. I hope this will allow you to stop your weapon and spare the Earth. Once again, this is an order to all Earth Alliance forces in the area. Stand down."
AN: To people who posted questions.
Shinji Ikari: Chapters 3, 13, and 14 have been altered. Thanks for your input.
Red and Gold Phoenix: I'm sorry if I frightened you, but I needed to emphasize the drama that I wanted in my story that I believed was absent in the series. I'll try to avoid it in the future.
jazdia-san: What Mwu meant was that everything that happened to he and the Archangel throughout the story. They had stayed alive through all of that and now they were going to die because of something like the Dominion's sneak attack. Sorry if I confused you!
lithiumflower56: I DID NOT JUST KILL MWU!