Moments of Time
ACT 4
JUST COMMUNICATION
By: JC Maxwell-Yuy
JC: Last act of this Arc. Then we move on. Same disclaimer as usual. I do not own Gundam Wing, Seed Destiny, and G.
"What the hell is that thing?" Lowe gaped at the mobile suit twisting around the space colony's outer wall.
"What's the matter?" Erica Simmons entered the cockpit as Lowe slowed the shuttle's speed. "Why haven't we arrived at our destination yet?"
"Er… Miss Simmons." Lowe pointed out the window, causing Erica to gasp.
"What is that thing? More importantly, at this rate it'll crush the colony!" Erica shoved Lowe out of the pilot's seat and sat down. "Get out to the back hatch! I'll jettison you as soon as you're strapped in!"
"いってててて。。。 (oouuuccch)" Lowe groaned as he rushed into the shuttle's cargo bay where his custom ASTRAY Red Frame was in. The Red Frame was equipped with all the weapons of the ASTRAY as well as a large custom katana.
"Don't screw this up!" Erica's voice echoed over the communication systems.
"Geez, didn't anyone tell you, I'm a genius!" Lowe shouted as he started the suit up. "This is Lowe, ASTRAY RED FRAME, 出ます! (heading out)"
The hatch doors slid open, and Lowe guided his MS out and headed straight for the colony. He drew the katana and charged in headfirst. The snake-like mobile suit unwrapped itself from around the colony as soon as it noticed the approaching MS. Lowe barely avoided it's charge, turned quickly and sliced the machine in half.
"Hah! Too easy!" Lowe crowed, but bit his lip as the radar alerted him to several other targets.
"Don't get so cocky! There's at least 4 more of those things!" Erica warned.
Meanwhile, inside the colony, alarms were going off.
'What the heck is going on?' Quatre wondered as he rushed into a security office and got video feed from the colony's outside. 'Mobile suit battle! At this rate, the colony'll be damaged!'
"Quatre-sama!" Rashid rushed in. "You should be moving to a shelter!"
"I know Rashid. But I have to do something!" Quatre argued.
"The only way you'll be able to do anything now is if you get to a safe place and think this through!" Rashid picked Quatre up and carried the heir out of the room.
Back outside the colony, Lowe blasted the head of another snake gundam head off, and cut through another. As he chased after the last tendril, he saw it vanish into the shadows. The dot on the radar vanished. He sighed.
"Lowe!" Erica's voice broke him out of his rest. "Return to the ship at once!"
"はい、はい。" Lowe replied as he headed back.
On the shuttle, Erica frowned. The colony they just saved wasn't on her charts… or in the database.
ORB
Unbeknownst of the strange activities going on in space, Cagalli Yula Atha moped in her room as preparations for her wedding continued in the castle and at the mountain temple. The Minerva had left only just hours ago, and already Yuuna wanted to have the wedding. She stomped her foot on the ground in anger… the council wasn't giving her much of a choice either. They also helped Yuuna push her to agree to have the wedding date moved up.
"Oh Father, what do I do?" Cagalli flopped down on her bed and stared at the flattering wedding dresses and veils hanging on the mannequins next to the dresser. She sat back up and reached for a paper and pen.
Preventer HQ
"Ooh!" Une growled as her secretary flinched, holding a stack of reports. The phones in the background were ringing off the hook, adding to the already large headache she now possessed. She slammed her fist down on the secretary's desk, scattering it's brick-a-brack.
"Ma'am?" the secretary asked meekly.
"Yes? Oh… I'm terribly sorry." Une apologized, and took a deep breath to recollect herself. "Please, just file those reports for now. I'll be in my office, not to be disturbed. Stop all other calls as well."
"Ye..yes… Ma'am." the secretary whimpered as Une stalked into her office and slammed the door.
As soon as the door was locked, Une walked over to her computer and began checking her messages for any from the Water unit： Sally and Wufei's team. Finding none, she cursed herself for launching the pod carrying the Wing Zero Angelus into space under such conditions. She switched from her messages to the news network.
"Reports are coming in from the L4 colony cluster. 3 of the L4 colonies have vanished from their orbits. Witnesses claim there was a mobile suit battle in progress on one of the missing colonies… in other reports…"
ZAFT MILITARY PLANT
Athrun Zala slowly walked back to his old apartment after meeting with PLANT Supreme Council head chair Dullindal. The chairman had a charismatic, but odd way of thinking. After meeting with him, Athrun was surprised to find that the young Lacus Clyne fanatic he'd met earlier was actually posing as the real thing. The bigger surprise was that Dullindal had offered Athrun a chance to rejoin the military, as well be the pilot of the newest ZAFT mobile suit, the ZGMF-X23S Saviour.
It was a lot to think about. Athrun sighed as he entered his room and sank into the dusty couch. He'd been lying there for no more than five minutes when the doorbell rang. Opening it, Yzak Jule burst into the room with an angered look on his face.
"ACHOO! Zala! You're a lousy housekeeper!" Yzak glared and grabbed Athrun by the collar. "What the hell are you doing back here, all of a sudden?"
"Yzak!" Athrun stared in shock as Yzak continued to complain and sneeze.
"Lighten up on him Yzak." Dearka Elthsman stepped into the room and coughed. "Though you're right, Athrun sucks as a housekeeper."
"Dearka? You too?" Athrun asked as Yzak relaxed his grip.
"Of course him too! But what I want to know is, why the hell am I babysitting Zala at a time like this?" Yzak shouted.
"Easy baby…" Dearka wrapped his arms around the ranting man. "Maybe you'll let me relieve your stress later on…"
Athrun didn't know which was stranger. Dearka's sudden 'closeness' with Yzak, or the fact that Yzak shut up and let Dearka's touch him AND speak in sultry tones at the same time. He coughed. Really loudly.
"Oh. Right." Dearka stopped and released Yzak, who luckily for Athrun, still had most of his clothes on. "We have orders from the military to keep an eye on you. And as Yzak so clearly pointed out, I too, feel this is a waste of time."
"For more reasons than one…" Athrun muttered under his breath.
"Zala! You dare…" Yzak was once again cut of by Dearka snatching him into his arms.
"You two… please. Not in front of me." Athrun shook his head.
WATER
"First people go missing and now entire colonies?" Wufei stared at the report on screen.
"This is getting even more confusing." Sally sat back in her chair. "What in the world could whoever's doing this be after?"
"Sally. The target's approaching range." Heero reported.
"Good. At least with this, it'll hopefully make things much easier." Sally pulled off her headset. "I'll go retrieve it."
When she was gone, Wufei turned to Heero, who'd been even more silent than usual.
"Heero…" he started to say, but shut his mouth when Heero slammed his fist on the control panel. The silence continued before the radio static and Sally's voice interrupted it.
"I've got it! Open the hatch now!"
Minutes later, Heero and Wufei joined Sally in the shuttle bay as she unlocked the containment unit they'd just picked up.
"コレは。。。(This is…)" Wufei gasped. Even Sally's jaw dropped.
"Wing Zero." Heero stepped forward.
"Who in the world could have…" Sally wondered, but alarms went off. "That's the mobile suit alert!"
The three rushed back into the cockpit in time to see several blips on the radar move closer to the shuttle.
"Mobile suits detected." Wufei sat down. "Checking library… unknown!"
"Heero!" Sally said, but the door was already closing. "Well, that's to be expected."
ORB
"Archangel, all systems green!" Arnold Neuman, the Archangel's pilot, reported.
"Excuse me, Commander Waltfeld?" Murrue Ramius stood beside the empty captain's chair. "I guess it would be better… won't you sit here?"
"Of course not! I won't do at all!" Andy laughed. "Besides, that is your seat if I'm not mistaken, Captain Ramius?"
At that, the bridge crew, all from the war who'd came running the instant she'd put out a request, turned to smile at her. She nodded, and took her place at the captain's chair. The only new face on the bridge was Lacus Clyne, who now sat at the communications panel.
"All set down there Kira?" Lacus asked.
"Yes. Thank you." Kira's face vanished from the bridge screen.
"Begin to move out as soon as the chamber gates open!" Ramius ordered. It felt strange, to suddenly be back on the ship she'd stayed on for over a year. But now, they needed it again. There were still things that had to be done.
Lacus looked forward as the chamber began filling with water. It was as if fate itself was actually wrapping around them. But now, they could only defy and break free by looking ahead.
"Move us slowly out!" Ramius barked as the ship slowly moved out of the cavern and into the open ocean. "Pitch bow 30 degrees! アークエンジャル、ハッシン！(Archangel, take flight!)"
The Archangel broke the waters' surface and took to the skies. In the hangar, Chief Murdoch and his tech crew ran out of the way as the Freedom moved to the linear catapult.
"Bring Cagalli back safely." Ramius instructed Kira. "As soon as you'll get back, we'll submerge."
"I understand." Kira replied.
"フリダム ハッシン， よろしいです。(It's ok Freedom, take off.)" Lacus announced as the course cleared up.
"Kira Yamato, Freedom! 行きます！" The Freedom shot out of the Archangel's open hatch and took flight.
"It'll be fine." Ramius assured Lacus. "He'll protect her just like you."
"You're right." Lacus agreed. The night before, strange mobile suits had attacked them. Luckily, Kira had gotten to the Freedom in time to stop them, but the darkness she felt eminating from the remains continued to haunt ORB. And then, Cagalli's announcement of a wedding , telling Kira not to come.
Dear Kira,
This may… seem strange. But I'm getting married today. That's right, married… and by the time you get this, I'd probably already be in my dress. I wish you could be there… but because of the union with the Federation… those bastards, I'll… I want you to be happy. For me. As for the ring enclosed in this envelope… please give it to Athrun if you see him. Tell him I've no right to wear it, seeing as I've broken my promise. Keep him safe little brother. You're the lucky one.
Your older sister,
Cagalli
Space
Heero couldn't help but breathe hard. The Wing Zero Angelus was just like the Custom, powerful and hard to handle. The Zero System seemed even more vindictive than before, but the upside was the buster rifle was able to get off more shots than before, and the weapons hidden in the 'wings' had come in handy. The snake-like mobile suits had been like a swarm of angry bees. Now it was over, and the shuttle was out of danger. But still…
"Zero… what are you telling me? Why won't you show me where Duo is?" Heero panted. "Why are you pointing at the Earth?"
"Heero?" Wufei's voice broke over the commlink. "Get back here. We need to return to Earth with the samples Sally collected."
"りょうかい。。。" Heero acknowledged.
ORB
"The Freedom's back." Lacus reported. "Cagalli is unharmed."
"Close the vents!" Murrue ordered. "Begin submerging the Archangel!"
But before the ship could vanish beneath the waves, a shape erupted from the water.
"It's snake mobile suits!" a crewman reported.
"Activate Gottfrieds and FIRE!" Murrue shouted. "Tell Kira to prepare to launch again! Get the Valiants charged and load all missile tubes with anti-MS missiles!"
Earth's Orbit
"We're beginning re-entry now." Sally announced. "Hang on… what's this?"
"Another enemy!" Wufei shouted.
"Here?" Sally cried. "But we've already entered the atmosphere."
"Change the course woman! Hopefully we can shake it off!" Wufei ordered.
"But we'll end up somewhere else!" Sally glared.
"Better than being shot down! We can't send out the Zero in these conditions!" Wufei turned around. "Do it!"
"All right." Sally tapped in a new trajectory and the shuttle veered away from the pursuing suits. "Prepare for aquatic landing! We're going to touch down somewhere in the Pacific Ocean!"
ORB, Pacific Ocean
"Hell darts, FIRE!" Ramius shouted over the noise of gunfire. The bridge screen showed the Freedom fighting off several of the snake-heads while others moved away to attack the Archangel.
"This isn't good!" Andy threw down his headset. "Prep Murasame! I'm launching too!"
"Captain, incoming shuttle!" The radar crew reported.
"Huh?" Ramius looked stressed. This wasn't going to be easy.
Meanwhile, onboard the shuttle, Sally tugged at the steering controls.
"More enemies." Heero observed. "I'm launching."
"Heero!" Wufei shouted as the door shut.
"What's going on?" Sally asked.
"Enemy mobile suits are attacking another vessel." Wufei explained. "As usual, Yuy's lost it. He wants to launch in these conditions!"
"Well, we might as well. The drag from the hatch opening might slow us down!" Sally said. "You'll have to do all the conversions on your side."
"Fine." Wufei's fingers flew over the keys. "Hatch opening!"
"Captain! The shuttle is dropping a mobile suit!" Ramius turned to the viewing screen where a window popped up, enlarging the white winged suit as it descended quickly towards the battlefield.
"What's Commander Waltfeld's status?" Ramius asked.
"There's no clear course to launch. He'll have to exit without the use of the catapult!" Lacus said.
"Incoming mobile suits!" The CIC shouted. "Two of the snakes have gotten past our defenses!"
"AH!" Ramius screamed as the head wound itself up to the bridge.
An explosion blew the head away, and the snake fell harmlessly off the ship. The Angelus flew past the Archangel's bridge with it's wings spread, the sparks from the verniers raining down like feathers.
"The mobile suit from the shuttle has destroyed both snakes. Now it's supporting the Freedom!" Lacus said.
"Murrue-san!" Kira's voice called over the link. "What's with this mobile suit?"
"I don't know." Ramius replied. "Keep your priority on the snakes."
"Enemy turning their attack on the shuttle." Lacus warned.
"Do you have their location locked?" Ramius asked.
"Yes." CIC replied promptly.
"Be careful not to hit the shuttle. Gottfried number two, FIRE!" Ramius shouted.
"That was close!" Sally breathed as the legged ship's weapons blew the approaching enemies away.
Meanwhile, Kira had broken free from the hold of two snakes and used the Freedom's multi-target system to blast the heads off all the snakes. Then Wing Zero used it's buster rifle to finish the job.
As the wreckages sank, Sally's shuttle landed safely in the water. The Freedom and the Zero landed on the Archangel's top deck.
"This one… is not an enemy." Heero whispered as the Zero system shut down. A communication window opened from the Archangel.
"Thank you for your assistance." Murrue's face appeared on the screen.
"ああ…" Heero replied. "Er…"
"Is something wrong?" Murrue asked.
"No." Heero said. "I have to go pick up that shuttle."
"Thank you." Kira's face popped up in another window.
"Could we all talk somewhere else? Someplace… dryer. I think Wufei's getting sick." Sally's face popped up on another window.
"Who's that?" Murrue asked.
"That's why… talk later. Rescue us from sinking shuttle, now?" Wufei pushed Sally aside so he was seen. "What the… who the hell is laughing?"
つつく
They were supposed to be separate. They were never supposed to meet. The mysterious message from another world shakes the hearts of those aboard the ship of time as it sails non-stop towards tomorrow. Moments of Time is over… next time, Various Emotion Stage 1, World's Birth. Arise from the ashes and shine in the new world, Saviour!
JC: After this, Moments of Time be over. Check out Various Emotion coming soon, probably in the Gundam Wing section. Thanks for reading! Hope to see you next time!