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:
NukeDawg, most likely, I won't let Xander re-join ZAFT but he will get a new suit though. SOON.

ChibiRulz, you...might be disappointed with the pair I've been planning to put for Luna. But I think most of the guys probably seen that coming.

Thanx for the reviews. Keep 'em coming!

Jess Rabble is the main character from the SEED DESTINY Astray manga. I haven't read it, so don't go around shooting me about his characteristic and/or his placement in this chapter.

Credits to MAHQ for the small info about SEED DESTINY Astray.

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

Chapter 9: Missing In Action

Earth Forces started to dispatch numerous of their latest mobile suits Strike Dagger L. Xander and Shinn didn't waste any time in engaging these massively produced units.

Shinn yelled a battle cry. "GO!" The Force Impulse shot forward and attacked the ones in front of him. Xander grinned and took out the ones on the other side. Shinn shot down a few of them as Xander sliced up his opponents without killing the pilots.

"Tch. Easy." Xander muttered as he avoided the shots from another group of Daggers and replied with a few rounds from his 4-barreled beam gun. Another wave came in and Xander easily dispatched them.

Seeing that his side was clear at the moment, Xander pulled back to aid Minerva against another wave of Daggers. Lunamaria and Rey were too busy with their task that they didn't noticed Xander's return.

"Yo. Let me help." Xander said as he sliced each part of a Dagger unit and kicked its cockpit into sea. "You cleared them already?" Lunamaria asked.

Xander engaged a dozen of them and eventually shot them down. "Eh, yeah. They're pathetic, really."

With Xander aiding Minerva, the intense pressure were let off from Lunamaria and Rey. This had enabled them to take their time in choosing their own target to shoot down. Noticing this, Xander smiled.

(Good. If we keep this up, we'll be clear in no time.)

Shinn was taking his anger out of the poor Dagger units with the equipped beam saber.

"I won't be shot down by these things!"

Moments later, the Earth carriers dispatched more waves of Daggers at them. Lunamaria gasped.

"Look at the number...You've got to be kidding!"

"Do we have time to be complaining?" Rey retorts.

Xander chimed in. "Indeed we don't. Remember what the Captain said?"

Lunamaria nods. Xander gave a thumb up. "Good."

Suddenly, a warning came in. Xander checked out his display. A crab-like mobile armor was approaching fast. Xander moaned sarcastically. "Oh, great. More fun."

Moments later, the compartment for the Tannhäuser's opened up and begun charging. Realizing that he was in the line of fire, Xander steered clear and took out a few more Daggers while at it. The large mobile armor projects some sort of barrier in front of it and as soon as it did that, the Tannhäuser fired. The massive red energy smashed everything in its path and slammed into the barrier the mobile armor made. After a while, a huge explosion occurred. Shinn, Lunamaria and Rey gasped when they saw the result. The mobile armor survived the blast unscathed.

"It deflected the Tannhäuser? No way!" Shinn said in astonishment. Moments later, Minerva changed its direction back to Orb and the mobile armor approached towards it. Suddenly, Xander called Shinn out. "There's no time to gawk! The ship's in danger. Get back here and take that monster out!"

Without delay, Shinn dived in towards the approaching mobile armor. It easily avoided his attack, despite its size. It then deployed its claws that radiated an intense red energy. Sensing danger, Shinn avoided the close range attack and appeared at the back. But the mobile armor shot out a beam attack from its rear.

Shinn was having a hard time coping with the mobile armor's attack power and its defensive strength. On Minerva, Xander Lunamaria and Rey were busy taking out another wave of Daggers.

"Tch. Why this kinda thing just HAVE to happen? TO ME?" Xander cursed as he shot down another Dagger unit.

"Oh, stop moaning." Lunamaria said as she took out another one.

Then, a voice from the Orb military echoed. "Calling the ZAFT battleship Minerva. You are currently approaching the territorial waters of the Orb Union. Our country will not permit you to enter our territory. Please change your course immediately." Seeing that Minerva didn't change its course, the ships from Orb fired a few rounds of cannon that just hit the waters near it.

"Scum. They finally joined the Feds." Xander muttered a curse. Then, his sense tingled and saw Shinn was distracted by the events happened as the mobile armor approaching in. Xander quickly adjusted the output settings for his unit and zoomed out towards the distracted young ace.

"Shinn! Look out!"

"Eh?" Shinn turned to his display but it was too late avoid it but because Xander adjusted the output for his thrusters, he slammed into Impluse, pushing it away from harm. By now, the Gundam had lost its Phase Shift ability.

Now, it was Xander who was caught between the mobile armor's massive claw, just waiting to be crushed.

"XANDER!" Both Shinn and Lunamaria shouted. Xander smiled as the screen fuzzed. Internal explosions could be heard from his cockpit.

He managed a wink. "Ah, I messed up. Sorry guys. Looks like this the end of the line. Be seein' you guys later. Oh, before I go, take care of that bastard for me..."

With that parting words, Xander's ZGMF-2000 GOUF was crushed and exploded into pieces.

For a few moments, the crew on Minerva were stunned. Talia had lost for words and so does Arthur. Talia suddenly recalled of what Xander had said during their only meeting.

"I...I'm tired of all this fighting, sir. I just want to live as long as I can. I promised someone for that."

"Xander..."

In her ZAKU unit, Lunamaria was already in tears after looking at what's left of Xander's unit.

"I...I have so many things to say to him..." she sobbed.

Rey didn't say a word. He just closed his eyes.

After crushing the GOUF, the mobile armor turned towards Shinn, intending to deliver the fatal blow. Shinn was still shivering about what happened as he remembered the gruesome death of his family. Losing a comrade who sacrificed himself to save him was equally the same.

"I won't...I won't let him die in vain!" he cried as his eyes turned dark. The mobile armor fired another round of beam attacks and he easily dodge it. He then turned towards Minerva.

"Minerva, Meyrin. Please fire the Deuterion beam!" he instructed as he avoided another blast. "And prepare to launch the Sword Silhouette!"

Shinn managed to get his unit in the line of fire and the beam hits the forehead of Impulse, recharging its battery and re-enabled the Phase Shift Armor. He then took out his beam saber and shot towards his opponent. The mobile armor fired a massive blast and Impulse used its beam saber to counter it. He managed to cut through and buried the weapon into the enemy's cockpit. It exploded and Shinn jumped away.

"Launch the Sword Silhouette!" he said.

Moments later, the Sword Silhouette was launched and Shinn detached the Force pack. The moment he attached the Sword pack, he jumped down onto Earth's ship armada and lay waste upon it with the twin swords equipped. Everyone were now speechless on the sudden change of battle.

Lunamaria gasped. "Shinn!"

After a few minutes, he easily decimated the entire fleet without any trouble.

After the battle, Minerva was on its way to Carpentaria after the intense battle.

"Rey's and Lunamaria's unit had been received. The Impulse has returned."

Talia looked forward. "Although I like to think that they won't pursue us any further, I don't know for sure. Either way, please give the pilot a rest. Arthur, hurry up with the damage report."

"Yes ma'am!"

"Recover anything from Xander's unit?" Talia asked.

"We only recovered the remains of the GOUF." Meyrin replied.

Talia closed her eyes. "I see. Today, we lost one good pilot. Put him under the list of M.I.A." she said.

The Impulse was walking into the hangar. Shinn opened up the hatch, with his eyes closed as he remembered Xander's last words.

"Oh, before I go, take care of that bastard for me..."

"Xander..."

Suddenly, someone called him from below. "Shinn!" Shinn opened his eyes to see Youran was waving at him. He got out of the cockpit and was hugged by the spiky haired engineer the moment he landed. Then, the entire mobile suit crew gathered around. "Good job!"

"I heard you did a phenomenal job out there!"

"You sure did a good job!"

"You should earn a medal!"

Those were the compliments he had heard. Shinn cleared his throat.

"Everyone, if not because of Xander saving my life, I would have never even did the my part. He was the one that should earned our praises." he said sadly. Everyone looked at the remains of Xander's GOUF after they were picked up from the sea. Rey was already there, inspecting what it's left of the cockpit. He pulled out a photo.

"Lunamaria." he said. She blinked as she made her way towards Rey.

Rey handed her the photo. "Here."

Lunamaria took the photo. Despite the massive damage on the GOUF, the picture was barely harmed. She looked at it. It was Xander standing beside a blonde haired woman. She was beautiful with jade colored eyes matching with equally beautiful smile. Like Xander in the picture, she was bearing the emblem of Dark Crimson on her uniform. She turned it around and saw a writing at the back;

Xander Darklighter, Claire Whitestar – CE 70

Lunamaria gasped in astonishment. "Claire Whitestar?"

"Xan, wake up. Xan..."

Xander slowly opened his eyes. He was lying on the ground with a campfire not far from him. To his relief, he saw his sword on his side. He looked up to the sky. It was already dark. He could see that his ribs was covered in bandages. He slowly sat up, bearing the pain from all over his body.

"Don't overdo it." A voice said to him. He turned to the source and saw a man sitting in front of the fire, with a few sticks of fish fried and ready to be eaten. His hair was dark blue with some parts of it were dyed in blonde. A camera could be seen not far from him.

"Ugh. Where...am I..?"

"An empty island in Orb, my friend. Your friends already long gone."

Xander flashed a weak smile. "I see. M.I.A. Not a good way to end my association with ZAFT."

He nods. "You're lucky that I found you on the shore around here. You were a wreck. The physical injury isn't much but you suffered a lot of internal injuries. You might wanna check if you're having any bone dislocation in your body."

"I see." Xander briefly checked every joint on his body. Thankfully, there wasn't any. He just need some rest and all will be fine.

The man smiled. "You have the body of a warrior, I see."

Xander sat up forcefully. "Heh. Probably."

The man turned to him. He looked young. Probably just a few years older than him. "You...Xander Darklighter of the Dark Crimson, correct?"

Xander shook. "I used to be one."

The man sat in front of him with two sticks of fish. "My mistake. Want some?" He offered the freshly cooked fish. Xander accepted it gratefully.

"Who are you and how do you know about me?" Xander asked as they ate their food.

"I'm a freelance photographer. I saw you and your friends once. At Banidiya three years ago."

Xander blinked his eyes. He then extended his right hand. "Jess Rabble, by the way. Just call me Jess."

Xander nods and shook his hand. "Pleasure to meet you, Jess."

To Be Continued...