Camille drove as fast as possible, trying to see if he could find somewhere that he could take Emma for help. He still found it hard to believe that this could really be his friend and fellow pilot somehow back from the dead. There had to be more to it than sheer coincidence alone. He could still remember the final moment he had spent with her, watching helplessly as she died in his arms. He felt her spirit enter the cold expanse of space, his Newtype strength channeling it into the Zeta Gundam's final attack on Scirocco's mobile suit. For her to be the woman that was with him now was impossible. Yet he felt that it was her. Something TOLD him it was her, despite being robbed of his Newtype powers. He had to trust that feeling, since it may be all he had left.
Emma glanced towards Camille, seeing him pondering as he drove the stolen hovercar. She understood his confusion if not all of the reasoning behind it. Her last memory of him was looking up at his tear-filled face, feeling as if her entire body was giving out from the pain of her injuries. She saw a bright light and then... she found herself in a hospital on one of the new PLANT colonies, Junius 7. She later learned what had happened in her absense and went to Earth, eventually re-enlisting with the Earth Alliance as a special forces agent.
Her first assignment led her to investigate the activities of Blue Cosmos, terrorist action that the Atlantic Federation as well as OMNI were ignoring for an odd reason. Emma discovered that a black list was being kept of potential Coordinators and Newtypes on Earth as well as the moon, people that they considered dangerous and a potential threat. She had tried to tell her superiors what she had learned but was dismissed has having unofficial evidence. Bitter and angry for the second time in her life at the military, she left that life to seek out the only other one of her alumni that was still alive but on the list. Camille Bidan.
"We should probably get you some medical attention when we get there." Camille said, noting that blood was starting to seep through Emma's makeshift bandage and staining it a bright crimson. "That wound's starting to get nasty."
"Don't worry... about that." Emma replied, keeping her breathing stable as she straightened herself in the passenger seat. Truthfully, she knew Camille was right but couldn't take the risk. If she was taken to be treated, her superiors would track her down and eliminate them both for knowing what she does. Suddenly, her attention was drawn to the sky where she could see an aerial battle between mobile suits. One was the GAT-01 Strike Daggar, a newer model created by the Earth Alliance in an ironic tribute to the RGM-79 GM, and a mobile suit she didn't recognize. A few stray shots were headed towards them, forcing Emma to take the steering controls to avoid the weapons fire.
"What the..." Camille said in surprise as the hovercar veered to the right, barely dodging the stray beam shots as it careened through a fence and ejected it's passengers to the ground. Camille got to his feet and raced towards Emma, who was struggling to her feet. As he helped her up, he glanced skyward to see the two mobile suits still fighting each other violently.
"Damn military." Camille cursed as he helped his brown-haired friend to her feet. "When are they going to learn that things are more delicate in space than on Earth?" He looked around to see where they had been thrown, almost cursing at the irony. They had indeed come to a spaceport but it had been long since abandoned, most of it in a dilapidated state. At one time, it was once serving as a former testing ground for new technologies by the former Earth Federation, where mobile suits and weapons were developed under the top secret "MSV Project". It was that research that later went into building the RX-178 Gundam Mark II and was mishandled by the Titans. Now, it had been consigned to history in an undignified way.
"Looks like this place was abandoned a long time ago." Camille noted. He then saw that Emma was fighting back tears in her eyes, the pain from her wound probably akin to hot daggars being stabbed into her leg.
"There should... be some equipment... in the hangar." Emma tried to say. "We can use it..." She then started to drop to the ground, unable to walk or even stand anymore. Camille caught her, holding her up as he forced her to look at him.
"Don't start giving up on me now, Emma." Camille told her. "You have to hold on a little bit longer... please."
Emma almost smiled at the sentiment the blue-haired young man was giving, knowing it was a part of his character she respected. He always thought with his heart and not his head, a habit that followed him into unlocking his abilities as a Newtype. She nodded, letting Camille lead her towards the dormant hangar ahead of them. It was surprisingly in good condition, most of the metallic skin of the walls free of holes or defects from age. The air was much cooler, as if it was used to store sensitive equipment rather than military surplus over the years. Camille fumbled around on the wall closest to the doorway until he found a lightswitch, gasping as they saw what remained in the hangar. It was another ghost from his past, something he thought was long since gone.
"Zeta Gundam?" Camille said to himself. "It's... but how?" He had remembered hearing rumors that the AEUG and Earth Federation had wanted to mass-produce his mobile suit design, refine it's technologies further and use it in the wars that would come later. This one looked almost identical to the original except for the paint, which was midnight black and blue rather than the traditional colors. He wondered if this was one of the mass-production models or a test prototype. If so, why was it abandoned in an old hangar in the middle of nowhere? There were too many questions lately and not enough answers.
"So they DID build it." he heard Emma mutter, her breathing starting to become shallow as she struggled to remain conscious. "The MSZ-006-S01. Zeta Gundam S01."
"What is it, Emma?" Camille asked as he gently set her down onto the cold concrete, starting to become nervous and scared as he held the brown-haired female in his arms. "How do you know about what it is?"
"It's a... a long story, Camille." Emma tried to say, her mind already dizzy from both the pain and vertigo that threatened to take her into unconsciousness. She fought to stay awake, knowing the results if she passed out. She had to make sure that Camille knew what was happening so he would be able to trust her. Unless he did, he'd never be out of harm's way ever again, the corruption and bloodshed of those in power eventually swallowing the entire solar system.
Camille's heart began pounding rapidly, the scene before him almost a mirror image of the last time he had held her like this. She had died then, her soul along with many others aiding to destroy the evil that was Scirocco. He couldn't...
...NO!
He WOULDN'T let her die this time!
"I'm not letting you die here, Emma." Camille told her, hoping that she could still hear him against the sense of vertigo that threatened to take her away into the abyss. He picked her up and carried her to the Zeta Gundam S01, knowing that it was the only chance that the two of them had to escape Von Braum City alive...
The bridge of the Freeden was thick with tension as Jamil arrived, seeing the battle taking place withi the spaceport where their ship was moored. Most of the mobile suits belonged to the Crossbone Vanguard, whose advance fleets were busy in orbit at the moment, while the majority of the other models belonged to both the former Earth Federation. The RGM-110 Heavyguns and RGM-89K Jegan Kai mobile suits were heavily outnumbered and outclassed by the newer designs of the Crossbone forces, so much that any chance of their victory was extremely shortsighted. Any experienced commander would have seen that it was a hopeless battle.
Sala Tyrell glanced over to the silent man as she remained in the command chair, his body language saying that he wanted to observe rather than command right now. She was one of the few from their days on Earth as Vultures, people who salvaged obsolete mobile suits or parts and sometimes sold them, who chose to remain on the ship. In the twilight between the end of the Earth Federation and the emergence of the Earth Alliance, it was a commonplace way of life for the survivors of the colony drops. Thought diverse groups such as the Junk Guild now filled that role rather well, part of her did miss that life. Yet her existence as a soldier here satisfied her more now. Sala didn't have any regrets whatsoever.
Yet her captain and sometimes friend felt differently. That much was all that she could tell about him.
"Garrod hasn't launched yet, has he?" Jamil said to her, his attention still drawn to the battlefield outside.
"He's about to head out now." Sala told him. "Kid commented that the Gundam Double-X was upgraded recently while we were being resupplied. It doesn't have the twin satellite cannons anymore but it's still formidable enough."
"It will be." Jamil noted, the cryptic tone in his voice puzzling his first officer. His abilities as a Newtype were gone but, because of their encounter with the entity called D.O.M.E. one year ago, he trusted Garrod's abilites in combat via intuition. He had gotten to understand the young man's ceaseless faith in the world around them, staying eternally optimistic in the bleakest of scenarios. Jamil had to admire that devotion to his convictions, part of him wishing that he could also believe in blind optimism the same way. It was something that he had lost years ago along with his Newtype abilites.
"The Gundam Double-X is launching." one of the newest bridge officers, Ensign Asuma Uzuki, called from the COM/relay station. Most of the Freeden's core people such as Witz Sou, Roybea Loy, Paula Cis, Toynia Malme, and Ennil El had moved on with their lives and even started families by now. Jamil couldn't have expected them to come back like it was old times. Still, part of him missed the little family they had become over the years.
'Good luck, Garrod.' Jamil said mentally, thiking that maybe the young pilot might've heard his thoughts.
Garrod manuvered the Gundam Double-X through the battlefield, unleashing his hyper beam sword as he prepared to attack the enemy mobile suits. It had gone through several changes since he last used it against the Frost Brothers one year before. The framework was now equipped with the new N-Jammer Canceller, letting it operate as freely as before. Another side effect was the missing twin satellite cannons, ruined during the mobile suit's last battle with the Frost Brothers. Kid Salsamille, the mobile suit mechanic and resident 'miracle worker' of the Freeden, had recovered them and compressed it into a twin-barreled mega particle rifle. It was now the most powerful weapon on either side of the moon's forces.
"Shit!" Garrod cursed to himself as he saw the condition that his allies were in, most of the mobile suits heavily disabled. "Looks like it's pretty ugly already." He brought his beam sword down on some XM-01 De'nan Zon mobile suits as they came at him, slicing through their armor easily. He moved in closer, again and again slicing through the black mobile suits with ease. Beam shots from several places bombarded him but was reflected off of the mobile suit's armor, still lunar titanuim rather than the current Phase Shift armor.
"Piece of cake!" Garrod smiled to himself, ignoring that perhaps the battle was going too well. Suddenly, his sensors flared up as he noticed them, several mobile suits he had never seen before or even heard about. It was the one of the new ZAFT models, a high-performance mobile suit called GuAIZ. They were heading away from the battlefield, towards something else heading their way that he couldn't make out.
"Oh no, you don't!" Garrod said as he forced the Gundam Double-X after the unknown mobile suits. "You started this fight and now you're going to finish it!" He started to arm the mega particle rifle. He then decided not to, remembering how strong the satellite cannons were and knowing that was overkill. It didn't matter, since he knew the Double-X had more than enough to take them out. His sensors then scanned what it was the enemy was heading after and his eyes widened in amazement.
"A Zeta Gundam? Here? What the hell do they want with an antique like that?"
Camille checked over the COM system, trying again to hail any friendly ships that were nearby. Against Emma's advice, ignoring it and dismissing her as being delirious, he had taken the Zeta Gundam S01 into the skies. It felt nostalgic being at the controls of this mobile suit again, almost like reliving a piece of his childhood again. But it also resurrected bad memories as well, such as the death of Four Murasame because of it.
He turned briefly to Emma, who was unconscious and starting to shiver slightly. He had found some antibiotics in the mobile suit's supply kit but it was heavily limited, delaying the inevitable at least for a little while. He knew that there was no time for nostalgia now. His friend's life depended on the next few minutes.
"What the...?" Camille blurted as he saw several GuAIZ mobile suits heading towards them. They matched the unknown mobile suit that was fighting with the Strike Daggar earlier. He had finally had enough. Before he could fire the main weapons, a beam shot through one of the enemy mobile suits, obliterating it before his eyes. He checked the ID code quickly, a surge of relief moving through him when he saw that it matched the GX-9901-DX Gundam Double X he had heard about.
"You okay?" he heard the voice of the pilot, Garrod Ran, ask him over the COM channel.
"Yeah, I owe you for that." Camille replied. "Listen, I've got someone wounded in here with me. Do you have a ship nearby?"
"Sure. If you want, I can escort you to them." Garrod was about to open the COM circuit to the Freeden when the remaining GuAIZ mobile suits started towards them. He whipped out his hyper beam sword and prepared to attack when he saw the Zeta Gundam S01 start to move in front of him.
"Like I said, I owe you for helping us out." Camille told the young man over the COM. "Besides, I'm paying these guys back!"
"You said you have someone wounded with you, right?" Garrod asked him. "So take care of your friend first. My ship's about two minutes away from here. "I'll cover you so you can get some help."
"...Thanks." Camille told the young man, letting the Gundam Double-X move alongside him. He had to admit, it was definitely an impressive-looking mobile suit. "By the way, my name's Camille Bidan."
"Mine's Garrod." With that, the Double-X flew straight ahead into the squadron of ZAFT mobile suits, the Zeta Gundam S01 following behind as the two headed for the Freeden's position. Camile flew as steadily as he could, letting Garrod fight his way through the GuAIZ so he could care for his friend. He felt grateful but cheated at the same time. He wanted to pay them back not just for hurting his friend but for causing this needless violence, and in a NEUTRAL lunar city as well!
"...Camille..." he heard Emma stir, her eyes looking glazed over and glassy. The antibiotics weren't working anymore. She needed help now.
"Just a little longer, Emma." Camille said to her, seeing that the last of the GuAIZ had finally been wiped out. Garrod flew closer to them as he pointed down below.
"That's my ship down there." Garrod told them. "I already let them know we're bringing you guys in." With that, the two mobile suits headed down to the Freeden's fight deck. The battle was over, at least for a little while.