Mobile Suit Gundam SEED DESTINY

The New Coordinate

Story:
AU of GSD. Xander Darklighter, a pilot with attitude problem was just assigned to Minerva when three new mobile suits were stolen from Armory One. What will happen when he decided to take that path in front of him?

Notes:
Thanx for the reviews, guys. I appreciate 'em a lot.

By any chance, do any of you know the name of Kira's mother?

I don't own GSD, their characters or anything else aside from Xander Darklighter.

Chapter 6: The Journey Home

Temprature inside Minerva rised rapidly as it enters Earth's armosphere along with a large chunk of Junius Seven. Lunamaria went down on her knees, panting and gasping. Rey too, feel the effects but he still managed to stay calm. Lunamaria looked at Xander, who was still standing and gazing at Junius Seven. He doesn't seem to flinch or shown any movements. He just stood there, cool as ice.

(How did he do it..?)

Suddenly, the ship shifted its direction and fired massive blast from the positron cannon Tannhauser. The blast took away another piece of Junius Seven. Xander looked at the falling debris, fearing the safety of Athrun and Shinn.

(Boss, Shinn...)

Another blast from the cannon and Minerva managed to divide the falling colony further into smaller pieces. Xander suddenly went down on his knees as he was pulled by Earth's gravity.

(I hate atmosphere re-entries...)

Minerva successfully entered Eath and deployed its wings for atmospheric flight. Xander's senses tingles. Without a word, he left for the hangar with Lunamaria and Rey followed from behind.

Xander smiled as he looked at the familiar figure climbing down from the beat up ZAKU. Suddenly, Cagalli burst in and stopped in front of him. Athrun smiled. Suddenly, further vibrations occurred.

"What is it? Is there something..." Youran said.

"That's probably the shockwave from the magnetic field." Rey informed. "Yeah. It's kinda like a side effect when you enter Earth." Xander added.

Athrun's expression turned gloom. Xander noticed this but he simply dismissed it.

"Good to see you in one piece, Boss." Xander said.

Athrun smiled again. "Yeah. You're pretty good at getting yourself out of the mess."

"Hey, I ain't a hero here. I just...wanna live. Give it a rest, eh?" Xander defends himself.

Xander, Athrun, Shinn, Lunamaria, Rey and Cagalli were at lounge when the Captain's voice echoed.

"All hands, prepare for impact."

Within moments, nasty vibrations occurred as Minerva landed on surface of the ocean.

"Water landing complete. Disengaging the alert. Although no water leakage is detected, all hands should continue to be on the lookout."

With that, all of them left the lounge towards their quarters to change.

All the crew were outside on one of Minerva's wings admiring the beauty of the vast ocean and fresh air.

"We landed on the Pacific Ocean, right?"

"It's huge!"

"How can you say something this pleasant?"

"What about you?"

Despite standing on the edge of the area, Xander could hear the coversation between Vino and Youran. He smiled.

(Well, can't blame them for that. Earth, it's been a year...)

Xander stretched his arms wide as he listened to the sound of water and the gentle breeze that was coming at him.

(This is what I really wanted. Being around with nature, ignoring anything else, no constraint...)

"Xander?"

He almost jumped when Lunamaria called him right from behind.

"Y-yes?"

"You're gonna fall if you're not careful." Lunamaria remarked, referring to Xander's feet that are just a few centimeters away from the edge.

"Hey, hey. I'm with the Dark Crimson, remember? Maintaining balance was part of my training."

"Oh, is that why you were not moving when we entered atmosphere earlier?"

Xander nods. "Yeah. I was trained to the art of stealth. So, standing on the same spot for hours is nothing."

"That sounds cool! Hey, can you teach me a few things?"

"Yeah. Sure, why not?"

There's a silent between them and Xander's gaze fell to Lunamaria's miniskirt that was blowing gently with the wind. He shook his head and wiped his eyes.

(Gosh. If the wind is a little stronger, I might have a heart attack.)

Lunamaria tilts her head. "Hmm? Xander, is there anything wrong?"

Xander scrambled for reply. "Ahh, no. I mean, yes. Uh no, nothing! Nothing at all. Hahaha."

Then, he heard the conversation between Athrun and Cagalli not far away.

The Orb Chief Representative took a few steps forward. "No, that's okay. I know how good your skills are. I'm actually glad that you went out."

"The situation is terrible but thanks to Minerva and Yzak's team, the damage has been kept to a minimum. The people of Earth should be..."

Suddenly, Shinn burst out. "Stop it already, you idiot!"

Within moments, everyone turned to him. "Eh, again?" Youran whined. Xander sighed.

(Oh, boy. I really have to teach that Shinn to control his temprament.)

"Weren't you on the bridge?" he continued. "Then shouldn't you understand how serious the situation is?"

"Shinn..." Athrun tried to stop him but Shinn continued.

"The fall of Junius Seven wasn't a natural occurrence. Someone was responsible for it! Coordinators were the ones who dropped it!"

Cagalli gasped.

"The people whose families were killed there, and are still bitter over it, dropped it saying that the Naturals should be exterminated!"

The whole area became tense but Xander tried to ignore it by looking at the sea.

"I-I know that. But..." Cagalli muttered.

"But what?"

"Didn't you guys tried your best to prevent it from happening?" she said.

The young ace yelled. "But of course!"

The young leader gasped.

"However, the fragments still fell." Athrun finally said. "We weren't able to stop it in time..."

"Athrun..."

"Even though it was done by just a few, it doesn't change the fact that it was done by Coordinators like us. I wonder if they will still forgive us..." he went on.

Xander turned away from the ocean and walked back silently. A few moments later, Athrun left.

(Forgiveness, huh?)

Shinn turned away from Cagalli. "Their leader said this in the end. That for us Coordinators, the path chosen by Patrick Zala was the right one to take!"

Everyone gasped. But Xander had enough of this thrash talking. Using the skill he learned, he leapt forward and stood in front of Shinn.

"Shinn, stop that this instant!"

"It's a fact." he retorts. "Am I right?"

With an amazing speed, Xander pulled Shinn by the collar. He gave Shinn a stone cold look with an equally chilling tone in his voice. "Don't you ever. Mention. That name. Again. Clear?"

Shinn didn't reply and maintained his expression. Realizing that he now just attracted the attention, Xander released his grip on Shinn and left without a word.

Xander walked in the hallway and stopped when he remembered Claire's death.

"Goodbye, Xander Darklighter. Being with you, is the best time of my life. Take care, my love. Please live. For my sake..."

"Claire..."

He then continued his way, unaware that Lunamaria was standing just a dozen steps away from him.

"Claire?"

Xander left his room after taking a nap and loitered his way around until he heard gunfire from the outside. He went out to see Lunamaria, Rey and Meyrin were practicing their skills at the shooting range. Then, he turned to Athrun who was silently watching them.

"Hi Boss." He salutes.

Athrun grinned. "I think you can stop calling me that for now. I'm no longer piloting mobile suits."

"Oh, alright, Boss. I mean, Athrun."

"I've heard of what you did to Shinn earlier."

"Oh, that? I just snapped when he mentioned your father's name. Can't help it."

"Yeah. He will understand if you tell him that."

Lunamaria took off the headphone as she turned to them. "Ah!"

Xander waved. "Yo."

"Training exercises, huh?" Athrun asked.

"Yeah. I figured that if it needs to be done, it would feel better outside." she replied. "But I'm not doing that well." she sighed.

Athrun and Xander nods. "Yup, yup."

Rey continued his training and his shots hits the intended target multiple times over. Lunamaria reloads her gun then turned to both of them.

"Would you two like to give it a try?"

"Oh, no, I..." Athrun muttered a reply. Xander shook his head. "Nuh-uh."

Lunamaria turned her attention to Athrun. "All of us actually know you pretty well."

Athrun looked at her in surprise.

"A former ZAFT Red and a member of Creuset Team. During the last war, you destroyed the Strike, then known as the most powerful unit. Later, you became a member of the special ops team reporting directly to the High Council." she went on.

"The pilot of ZGMF-X09A Justice, Athrun Zala, right?" she finally asked.

Athrun sighed. Xander blinked his eyes.

"Although I don't know much about your father, you're a hero among us. That includes of what you did at Jachin Due."

"Um, uh...that's..." Athrun muttered.

Xander slapped his back. "Hey, hey Athrun. You have built quite a rep among the juniors, you know? Just don't mind him. He's just not used of getting all the glory."

Athrun chuckled. "Hahaha. You can put it that way."

Lunamaria then handed Athrun her gun. "I heard that your shooting skills are pretty good. Can you show me? To tell the truth, I'm not good at this."

Athrun smiled and turned to Xander. "Uh, what?"

"How about a shootout with me?" he asked.

Xander laughed. "Are you kidding me? Your scores are bound to be higher than me."

"Define higher, Xander. Your scores were actually higher than mine if not because of your problem with the instructors."

Xander sighed in resignation. "Oh, okay, okay. But don't expect much from me. It's been a while since the last time I actually used a gun. Hey Meyrin. Can I borrow your gun for a while?"

Meyrin nods and handed him her gun while Athrun took Lunamaria's gun. The two then approached the range. Xander reloads the gun. "Say, Athrun. What level should we go for? You know, the higher the level, the faster the target is."

Athrun grinned. "How about...the highest one?"

Xander hesitates for a second. "Level 9? Oh, very well then. Just bring it."

With that both started the shootout on the highest difficulty, both were hitting their shots on target with great precision and accuracy. The others, along with Shinn who just entered, looked in awe at the impressive skills of sharpshooting. Within moments, they finished the round with both posting the same scores.

"Phew." Xander sighed. "Thank the lucky stars that I actually posted an even score with the legendary Athrun Zala."

Athrun grinned as he checked on Xander's shots. "Heh. Your concentration is amazing as always. Despite posting even scores, your shots were actually accurate than mine."

"Eh, you're right." Lunamaria said. Meyrin and Shinn looked at them in awe. All the shots were 'dead on' with the holes were on the points where the vertical and horizontal lines met.

Xander returned the gun to Meyrin. "Well, I guess that the training I got during the Dark Crimson days really helps, eh?"

Athrun nods. "Indeed it is. Actually, I'm glad to have that shootout with you."

"What, because there's no instructors to screw me around?" Xander said sarcastically.

Athrun laughed. "Hahaha. That's right."

"Ah, well. All this stuff that requires concentrating really wears me off. How about some drink?" Xander suggested.

Athrun nods. "Yeah, sounds good."

As they left, Shinn looked at both of them. Ignoring Xander, he turned to Athrun. "I heard this ship is heading to Orb. Will you return to Orb?"

"Yeah."

"Why? What do you do there?"

Athrun didn't reply as he and Xander left. The thought of heading to Orb gave Xander a mixed feeling.

(Orb. It's been a while. Wonder how is the orphanage after the catastrophe?)

To Be Continued...