Space, Outside the Forseti and
Jormungand:
Higure aimed upwards and way from the ship, his targeting system alerting him to the presence of a single GuAIZ R heading towards him. Inside the cockpit, Higure was working hard to keep the moving MS in his sights, more used to firing small weapons repeatedly or using melee weapons than firing a big weapon like the High-Energy Beam Rifle.
Just before firing, Dante's face appeared on one of the Murasame's view screens as he ordered the Thirteenth Squadron to take up defensive positions on the ship. Second later, a pair of Murasame crossed in front of his sights, the flash of Railgun fire from a GuAIZ R chasing after them.
"Dammit!"
Readjusting his aim, Higure fired the CIWS mounted on the Murasame's head; the controlled burst of machine gun fire halting the GuAIZ R before he let loose with the High-Energy Beam Rifle. The shot tore straight through its left leg then chest before bursting out the other side of the suit, the pilot dead in the explosion.
"That's three down guys, good shooting Higure!" Dante's words echoed inside the small cockpit but this time his face didn't appear, Higure was already moving the MS and the targeting system to acquire a new enemy. He found his first target again, its Railguns locked into place as it prepared to fire at the ship. Swinging the High-Energy Beam Rifle around he fired quickly, not waiting to perfect the shot. It missed the GuAIZ R by less than a meter but caused the MS to move backwards, rotating around to aim at Higure instead.
Abandoning the heavy weapon, Higure switched the Murasame to mobile armor mode and flew straight towards his enemy. He saw the Railguns fire at the same time as he rolled to the left, turning the suit back into its previous form and pulling one of its beam sabers from the hip. Using the shield attached to the other arm he charged forwards, accepting as little fire as possible while getting in close enough to do damage.
A burst of green light struck the shield, cracking it into fragments, and Higure immediately pulled back on the controls of the Murasame; activating the jets to push him away from the shield as he checked for enemies visually. Coming into view, one of its several guns raised in front of it to fire at Higure, was the ZX-243. A yellow and black color scheme partially blended into its background, but the glowing bluish-white wings on its back stuck out like a huge target. Wielding twin blasters and with weapons attached to its arms and hips, it fired them all at once.
Six shots, four from Railguns and two from Beam Rifles, spread out then arced back in to strike the Murasame as Higure attempted to evade them, twisting and jetting upwards. Both wings were pierced in moments, the right arm blasted off from its socket, and the left leg was severed but the cockpit and head remained intact.
"Shit!"
With no weapons other than the head mounted CIWS, Higure jetted back towards the ship facing the ZX-243. A face appeared on the view screen, a pilot with a dark colored suit, taunting Higure.
"Think you can evade the sting of the Suzume a second time?"
Firing off bursts at random intervals, Higure attempted to keep the Suzume away from him as it lined up for a second volley of shots. He could see the barrels of the weapons change direction slightly as the pinpointed him then something inside him snapped.
He felt strangely detached from the battle, yet at the same time his awareness seemed to rise. It felt almost as if he was watching someone else fight, yet guiding there movements at the same time. Dante's face appeared on a video screen, ordering the Murasame's to defend the ship, and the radar aboard Higure's Murasame told him that Dante was battling the ZX-814. As Dante stared at each of his team members, he saw the vacant eyed expression of Higure and frowned slightly, wondering what was wrong.
But in the Murasame, Higure was ignoring Dante's orders and even the appearance of his face on the screen. Every muscle in his body felt strained as he waited for the Suzume to fire, and when it did he reacted. Moving with incredible speed the Murasame moved upwards, dodging the blasts of the Suzume as if everything was moving in slow motion. He saw the right arm floating before him in space and reached out with the Murasame's left arm, gripping the Beam Saber before moving away.
He kept the weapon inactivated, not wanting to show the Suzume that he was armed, and moved towards the enemy GUNDAM in spirals and sudden upwards and downwards movements so that the GUNDAM could not target it properly. It moved out of the way of misplaced shots and fired back with the CIWS until it was close enough to enter into melee combat with, activating the pink blade of the Beam Saber and chopping downwards. The Suzume raised its right arm, abandoning the gun it held and activating the Beam Shield. The Beam Saber crashed down upon the glowing shield without any effect but Higure was already reacting, kicking the Suzume in the chest and dashing upwards with the jets, then to the left slightly before slashing down in a diagonal attack with the Beam Saber.
The weapon tore straight through the Suzume's left arm and Higure used the jets to move far enough away to watch the explosion rather than be apart of it, seeing the gun the left hand had held floating away with a crumpled barrel. The Suzume moved backwards suddenly, its wings seemingly giving it a greater speed and maneuverability, but Higure fired with the CIWS and chased straight after it, jetting downwards and spinning 180° to slice through the two hip mounted Railguns.
As Higure righted the Murasame and fired again with the CIWS the Suzume jetted away, abandoning the fight and fleeing back to the ship. Higure could see on the radar that the ZX-814 was also fleeing, Dante returning to the Forseti, and that four of the six Murasame, excluding the one he was in, had survived the fight. The GuAIZ R however were all destroyed, or too far away from the fight to register on his radar. Either way, the Forseti had won.
Forseti:
Higure stood on the edge of the Murasame's cockpit inside the hangar of the Forseti, watching the other Murasame pilots below as the spoke to each other in a mix of hushed tones and excited words. Yes, they had won, but they had payed the price with the lives of two men. Breathing out a sigh of relief he slowly sat down, his legs dangling, and closed his eyes. He could remember that battle between himself and the Suzume, see it in his mind almost as if it was recorded there, but he couldn't quiet figure out how he had done it.
"Congratulations." Dante's words pulled him out of his thoughts, forcing him to open his eyes and look up at the pilot.
"For what? Your team did the most work; I just did what I had to do."
"Yet you didn't hesitate, when you saw that the Forseti was in danger you acted." The small grin on Dante's face was almost infectious.
"You fought against the ZX-814?"
"The Taisho."
"Pardon?"
"The pilot called it the Taisho, I managed to take out its guns but the thing started firing missiles out of areas on its back."
Higure nodded slightly, pushing himself away from the cockpit of the Murasame and floating towards the changing area and then, hopefully, to the room he was sharing.
"The pilot of the ZX-243 called it the Suzume; it has a high rate of fire with those weapons..."
Dante followed him, floating along side Higure. They spoke in hushed tones, not wanting to worry the pilots of the Murasame with there talk.
"Higure, what would you think if I told you that they aren't from the Earth Alliance?"
"I would think that you may be right, that ship was a ZAFT transport and the skill of those pilots… I heard about those Human CPU's but these guys were coordinators, I'm sure of it."
Dante stared at Higure for several moments then stayed as Higure turned down a corridor towards the room they shared. Dante stood there for a few moments then headed towards the Bridge.
Jormungand:
"I told you not to return unless you had destroyed that ship and everyone on board it!"
The two pilots nodded slowly, neither one wanting to be the first to talk, but eventually the slightly shorter one spoke.
"Sir, I-I tried! I was almost at the ship when a Murasame came close; I attacked it and destroyed most of its parts but… It was like nothing I've ever seen before sir, it dodged the Suzume's shots and sliced through the Railguns! The Murasame's attacks were so precise I never managed to get another shot in…"
"And I was carving a way through that Astray sir when backup arrived, two other Murasame that were firing at me in a crossfire while giving a chance for the Astray pilot to approach from a different angle. The Taisho was almost destroyed!"
The man, dressed in a white and black uniform of a ranking officer in the ZAFT military, stared at them and the two GUNDAM thoughtfully for a few moments before turning around and heading away.
"You returned the GUNDAM; we will repair them and meet up with the Hildisvini, the ZX-192, the ZX-972 and there pilots. Perhaps they can show you how to pilot a Mobile Suit properly."
The two pilots waited until he was far enough away and then started to complain to each other, insulting the officer and threatening the pilots and crew of the Forseti.
Forseti:
Higure watched as the engineers repaired the Astray and Murasame, using spare parts that they sometimes had to carry in with the functioning Mistral. He was dressed once again in boring and plain clothes, not wanting to wear a uniform or pilots suit, and was getting bored of the scenery. It had been just over twenty-four hours since the attack on the Forseti and things had gone quietly since, no battles and no arguments. Only repair work.
"Higure, suit up."
At Dante's words Higure turned around, raising an eyebrow slightly as he looked at him. They had found they had a lot in common, both having lived with a single parent, both enjoying piloting Mobile Suit but less so battling them, and both were good with computers and at the firing range.
"The Forseti reaches Utgard tomorrow but I have been speaking to Cagalli, she has ordered me to bring you to Orb. There is an Izumo class ship in orbit that is waiting for us; it will then use a drop-pod to send us towards Onogoro Island."
Higure nodded slightly and went through to the changing room, wondering what was going on but glad to be leaving the Forseti. He had not liked the captain, and most of the crew seemed unsure about him.
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The captain watched from the bridge as both Dante and Higure launched, an M1 Astray and a slightly battle damaged Murasame. Higure Cross… Well, that is interesting.
Ringhorn, Izumo class Battleship:
Higure and Dante had just landed aboard the Ringhorn, an Izumo class Battleship with a fiery red and orange paint design. They had been greeted by a representative of Cagalli Athha and shown an area where they could talk, rest and eat. Dante had done the latter two, where as Higure had eaten very little and waited to speak to his friend.
"What's on your mind?" Dante spoke without opening his eyes, apparently asleep sitting on a chair.
"…A few days ago I was attempting to join the ZAFT military, now I'm onboard an Orb vessel preparing to head to Earth… My mother is dead and so are the friends I had on Asgard."
"You're wondering what purpose you have now?"
"Yes, pretty much."
"Cagalli told me that Lacus Cylne and a few of her supporters have been keeping an eye on ZAFT operations and apparently there are a few… anomalies. Recently, four ZAFT scientists were killed, apparently by a small remnant of Blue Cosmos, and just under a week later one of Lacus's agents heard about four new Mobile Suits."
"The GUNDAM? We fought two… There are more?" Higure stared at Dante, his eyes slightly widened, as he nodded.
"Yes, two more both belonging to ZAFT. Between them they have gathered enough information to come to a conclusion, although neither know if it is correct… They believe that ZAFT wishes to return to war, this time without a warning. They have ships and Mobile Suits posted around space and all of there bases on Earth have been quiet active lately…"
"They want to go back to war? Even after everything that has happened in the last two!"
"They want Earth, all of it."
Higure sank into silence as he thought about Dante's words and the possible purposes of such a plan, his head spinning. Before he could think too much about what he had just heard a knock at the door signaled the arrival of the representative.
"We are at the correct point to launch the pod; Cagalli Athha has asked that you report straight to her when you land. She said you would know where Dante…"
Dante nodded and followed the representative out of the door, Higure quickly following them. Earth…
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Dante's face appeared on a view screen inside the Murasame Higure was inside, waiting patiently for the drop pod to be launched. He had experienced, virtually, the effects of one of these things and he wasn't looking forwards to it again. Plummeting towards Earth in, basically, a semi-circular casing just big enough for four Mobile Suits. Admittedly, it was safer this way than piloting a Mobile Suit straight down.
"One minute to launch, ready?"
"Yes, but only just. I hate these things!"
Dante grinned slightly and turned off the communications after giving the crewmember responsible for launching the drop pod an all clear. It was towed into position, partly by a pair of Mistral and a conveyor belt-like system and then launched straight out of the Ringhorn and towards Earth. It took very little time for it to enter the atmosphere and from there it was one hell of a bumpy ride down.
Space:
The pilot of the Suzume watched as the drop pod was launched from the Izumo class ship, a grin on his face as he activated all of the GUNDAM's jets and its wings to propel itself towards Earths atmosphere. All of its weapons had been repaired, a quick job that was made quicker by spare parts, and it had left the Jormungand separately to come after the Murasame pilot after it had heard about its destination.
"Run, run as fast as you can."
The visor of his pilots' suit darkened as he entered Earths atmosphere, moving faster than the drop pod in able to catch up with it. This time, the Murasame and its pilot would be destroyed!
Earth, above Onogoro Island:
The face of Cagalli's representative appeared on the view screen of the Murasame Higure was waiting in, a look of urgency on his face as he spoke quickly.
"Our sensors just detected the Suzume enter Earths atmosphere. It is on a collision course to the drop pod."
"Thank you for the warning." Higure closed the transmission just as Dante's face appeared on a second view screen, a sigh escaping his lips before he spoke.
"Looks like that pilot really doesn't like you…"
"Tell me about it, can you contact Orb and warn them about it? If it takes us out then they'll need to be ready for it."
"Always the positive, huh Higure?"
Higure grinned before closing the transmission and activating the Murasame, leaving the weapons alone as he knew he would have to shift it straight into Mobile Armor mode. Moments later, the drop pod started to fall to pieces and the Murasame leaped out; transforming into the plane-like Mobile Armor.
"You will not get away a second time Murasame!"
Higure ignored the taunt of the Suzume as he performed a roll, altering the angle of the MA to climb upwards and meet the Suzume. He fired at random intervals with the CIWS but the Suzume, its yellow and black Phase Shift armor activated, used its Beam Shield to harmlessly accept the shots.
"Is that it?"
Close to reaching the Suzume Higure fired the High-Energy Beam Rifle mounted in the back of the Murasame. It struck the other arm of the Suzume just as it was about to shoot back and Higure pulled right into another roll, firing Hayate air-to-air missiles. Several struck the shield on the Suzume's arm but two struck the right hip, blowing the Railgun on that side to pieces. As the Murasame reached the head of the Suzume Higure transformed it back into MS mode and began to fire with the Beam Rifle, noticing that the Suzume was down to either using the shield and defending or blasting back at him with the Railgun.
A quick burst of CIWS fire from the Suzume struck the Beam Rifle of the Murasame, blowing it up and taking a chunk out of the right arm. Unable to hover in Earths atmosphere Higure used the left arm of the Murasame to grab onto the Suzume's leg, firing upwards with the CIWS. It shredded through the skirt-like armor of the Suzume slowly, but there was very little else that Higure could do.
The Suzume kept shifting about, attempting to break free of the Murasame's grasp, whilst using the jets and wings to pull itself gradually free. After several moments the Murasame lost its grip and Higure began to plummet once again towards the ground, just about to switch into MA form a stray shot from the one remaining Railgun on the Suzume's hip tore straight through one of the two wings, crippling it and leaving him unable to fly.
"Shit!"
He checked his co-ordinates, happy at least to be falling towards the ocean, and then looked up to see the Suzume flying down at him at full speed. The Murasame pulled its Beam Saber and activated it, meeting the attack of the Suzume but being pushed off course at the same time. A quick look at his radar showed that the Suzume was pushing him closer towards a volcano on Onogoro Island.
"Said goodbye to your friends?"
As the words echoed around inside the cockpit of the Murasame a feeling took over Higure, both strange and familiar at the same time. His eyes became dull and the muscles in his body strained as he reacted to the Suzume.
He kneed it in the chest, using the momentum to push the Suzume underneath the Murasame at the same time as he pushed away with the Beam Saber. Firing with the CIWS at the Suzume's head he sore chunks being torn off before plunging down with the Beam Saber. It struck the Beam Shield on the Suzume's arm but Higure didn't stop. He kept pushing downwards as the Suzume plunged its own Beam Saber through the Murasame's side. Higure felt an explosion rock the Murasame but at the same time he felt the Beam Shield beneath the Beam Saber break and the energy blade tear straight through the arm and then torso of the GUNDAM causing an explosion that threw the Murasame away.
As the mostly destroyed Murasame plunged down to the
ground Higure saw a team of M1 Astray equipped with a Shrike Rotor,
a device much looking much like a fan, hovering upwards to meet him.
He saw them grip the Murasame and then slouched back into the seat
inside the cockpit, passing out.
