Chapter 2: The Silent Run
Disclaimer: I don't own this plot, or any of this besides the introduction on the new OCs determined in a New Saga such as mainly Aelan.
Warning, much of this is only altered scenes from Solid Sharks Brothers In Arms
The silence on the Vesalius's Bridge was profound.
The personnel couldn't decide whether to stare at the debris that had moments earlier been a space colony outside the viewports, or the newcomer on the Bridge itself.
At the Bridge hatch stood a figure in black battle armor, resembling an exoskeleton; it was completely featureless, even the visor opaque. Over his right shoulder, the twine-wrapped handle of a katana protruded, and a pistol was holstered at his right hip. Shorter than Le Creuset, he was nonetheless a terrifying presence.
The codename Invictus was only whispered throughout ZAFT. A man without a face, a name, or a past, he was only rumored of. A lethal assassin, all that was known of him for certain was that he was Rau Le Creuset's secret ace-in-the-hole, his own private agent.
That was all that was known, but rumors abounded. That he was a cyborg. That he truly had no face. That he was, in reality, a robot. Many rumors, each more outlandish than the last.
At this moment, Fredrik Ades was willing to believe every single one of them.
"You called, Commander?" Invictus spoke with a metallic-edged voice, quiet and frightening.
Le Creuset nodded. "Yes, I did." He glanced at Ades. "We'll deal with this situation, and the search for the legged ship, in a few moments. Keep an eye on things."
"Of course, Commander."
The masked man turned back to his agent. "Come with me."
Le Creuset lead the armored man to his office where Aelan was already waiting, where Invictus leaned against the wall. "I assume something's come up?"
"Yes." The Commander glanced out the viewport. "Hydra has resurfaced."
Invictus tensed. "You're sure?"
"Its not that far of a long shot." The crimson masked woman told him.
"There's no doubt of it Either. The beacon was his. When last I saw, he was piloting a stolen GINN on Heliopolis; by now, he's likely boarded the legged ship."
"Hydra. So he is alive." The agent shook his head, then touched a control on his helmet. Instantly, the faceplate turned transparent, revealing a surprisingly young face... one with jade eyes, framed by sandy hair. "Man, I hate this helmet," he muttered. Aelan suddenly got into a combat stance as she recognized the face of the man.
"Easy Aelan." Rau told her as he face was in anger. "He only looks Like Hydra but its not him." Rau told her as she didn't leave her defencsive stance.
"What is wrong with you?" Invictus asked the woman as she still kept her angered look.
It's because of your resemblance to Hydra himself, she and Hydra have had a very troubled past which she wants to be gotten rid of." Rau told him. "And about your helmet it's necessary," Le Creuset reminded him. "Unless you want your presence detected."
"Yeah, yeah, I know. This suit's all that's preventing Hydra from sensing me. Believe me, I know." Invictus cocked his head. "So. Hydra's resurfaced, and he's aboard a ship you're trying to blast to atoms. What do you want me to do?" There was a slight edge to his voice.
"Yes, yes," his superior said, somewhat impatiently. "I haven't forgotten our arrangement. You do missions for me, and in exchange, I give you intelligence to aid in your hunt, I don't ask you any questions about Hydra's true identity, and I don't ask you to fight him. No, I'm not asking you that. What I want is for you to shadow the legged ship; should we succeed in destroying it, I want you to rescue Hydra and bring him to me. I want to speak with him, find out exactly what happened to him thirty months ago when the project ended. If the rumors are true, I can't blame him for taking such dire actions... but I know she does, but I would like to know how he survived a fusion bomb."
"As Do I." Aelan said crossed arm. "He also must pay the price for what he did to me." Aelan told them with some seriousness in her voice as she lowered her stance but was ready to fight this look alike in a matter of seconds.
"And how did you survive." Invictus asked as he knew that she was in the area at the time.
"A secret that I don't want anyone to truly know." Aelan answered.
Invictus looked skeptical. "And by the way Commander, Rescue him? Sure. But I don't think he'd be very interested in talking to you, Commander. If the rumors are true, he won't want anything to do with ZAFT. Unless..." He paused. "If we can get him to Commander Waltfeld, it might work."
Le Creuset raised an eyebrow. "The Desert Tiger? Why him?"
"I would like to know why that he would talk to the Tiger." Aelan said shifting position.
"Because two years ago, he took in a young man going by the name Racher. Discounting a rather nasty scar, the teenager Waltfeld taught exactly matched Hydra's description." He shrugged. "Your call, Commander, but that seems to have the greatest chance of success."
The Commander considered that, then nodded. "Very well. I trust your judgment." He leaned back in his chair. "By the way, how is your hunt going?"
"Hard to say," Invictus replied. "I think Carter is the only one left, but since Oracle and his band of mad scientists didn't keep exact records, there could be more." He rolled his eyes. "And Carnehan hasn't been seen since that time in Siberia, so there's no telling when he'll turn up. But yeah, I think most of Hydra's copies have been terminated." He chuckled dryly. "One wonders how Hydra would react if he knew just how many of him were running around."
"And good ridance to the ones you killed already, I don't even like that the original is still running around." Aelan told him as she looked on. "This Carter one, are you sure he and Mike are the last of the copies, besides yourself." Aelan wondered as Invictus nodded.
"As far as I can tell yes, and Mike was part of the same project as him so he may be a bit more trouble than some people would think." Invictus said.
"And to answer my own queston, it seems you hunt is not as well as we hoped, from what you've said." Le Creuset frowned. "I'm not certain how Carter can be dealt with; he's currently stationed at Carpentaria, and it probably wouldn't be wise to eliminate him just now; difficult to explain, at least. But if he is indeed the last Serpent's Head remaining, that just leaves three people who share Hydra's DNA."
"Yeah, and only one of them is on my target list." Invictus smiled coldly. "Carnehan is just a bonus. I've heard a lot about that psychopath, though he's not in my memories. Hydra obviously wasn't aware that Carnehan was his brother."
"About that psychopath comment though." Aelan kicked in. "Is that how would you feel as the woman you loved sacrifice her own life to protect you. And that the murder was Hydra to begin with." Aelan said clenching her fist with the Veins popping out.
"And no, it seems he was not." Le Creuset stood. "I've got to deal with the aftermath of Heliopolis's destruction. I want you to transfer your operations to the Gamow. I trust your shuttle is up to the mission?"
"Yeah, it's got all the latest bells and whistles; matte-black radar-absorbent coating, engines with infrared shielding, the works." The agent walked to the hatch. "I'll be ready to move on your signal, Commander."
"Good." Rau said as he looked at Aelan. "You will be staying on the Vesalius for a while." Rau told her as she nodded then saluted her commander. "The two of you are dismissed." Rau told them.
Meanwhile, on the Archangel, the young man to whom Invictus bore a startling resemblance sat petrified in his Bridge chair.
An entire space colony, gone, just like that, Kevin Walker thought,all because those ZAFT bastards wanted to make absolutely certain they never faced this ship or the Strike in combat. He smiled coldly. Well, too bad, suckers. You missed, and we're going to make you pay for it.
He hardly noticed that he was slipping back into long-ago thought patterns, as the soldier in him awoke from its long sleep.
"It's gone..." La Flaga whispered, stunned. "It was... so fragile..."
Badgiruel was the only one who had kept her head; she was attempting to contact the Strike. "Strike, this is the Archangel, come in. Kira Yamato, do you read me? Please respond."
It took a couple minutes, but Kira's voice finally came over the radio. "Kira here," he said, sounding weary and just as shocked as everyone else.
The ensign sighed in relief. "Are you okay?"
"Yes."
"Do you have our position?"
"Yes."
"Then return." She paused. "You're able to, right?""Yes."
One-word answers, Kevin thought, concerned. That's not like him at all.
La Flaga turned in his chair. "Nice work, there, kid. I guess your reputation is well-deserved. Where'd you learn all that, anyway?"
"I'm afraid, Lieutenant, that I'm not going to answer that," Blade said coolly. "There are some things that should remain secret, even now."
"I see." The pilot declined to press the issue.
"As to my reputation," Kevin went on, "I'd say it's deserved. I've killed, by my count, three hundred forty-seven people." He shrugged. "Not one of them unprovoked, of course. I just seem to have a knack for attracting assassination attempts. Well..." he amended, "there were a few Blue Cosmos types that I went after, instead of vis-versa. But those people don't deserve to be called human."
Badgiruel shot him a suspicious look. "And why, exactly, should we trust you?" she said bluntly. "For all we know, you may have carried a weapon with you even in here."
Kevin snorted. "Of course I did." He opened his jacket to reveal the pair of Colt revolver handles sticking out of their holsters. "And if you think you're going to confiscate them, think again. I haven't dared go anywhere without a weapon in years."
Her eyes narrowed dangerously. "You're in violation of a number of regulations, Mr. Walker. And paranoid, to boot."
"If you'd been through half as much as I have," he shot back, "you'd be paranoid, too."
"Enough," Ramius said wearily; she had the unfortunate feeling that Blade and Badgiruel were going to clash frequently over the next few weeks. "I'll allow it, Ensign; if Blade had any interest in harming us, he'd have already taken over the entire ship. Don't doubt it."
"As you command, Ma'am," Badgiruel said in a tone just short of insubordinate. "But if he's going to be working with us, he should at least be in some kind of uniform."
"Whatever you say, Ensign," Kevin said, not bothering to disguise his sarcasm. "As long as you don't try to hurt me or confiscate my weaponry, we should get along just fine."
"You're not accustomed to hiding your feelings about superior officers, are you, Blade?" La Flaga said, quietly enough that no one else heard.
"As you've no doubt realized, Lieutenant, I'm a snake-eater," he replied. "They don't expect us to be spit-and-polish."
The pilot nodded, then drifted to the front of the Bridge. "So, what now, Captain? Think they'll be coming after us again?"
"I think we should proceed on that assumption," Ramius answered. "ZAFT is quite determined to destroy us and the Strike; I doubt they'll give up so easily." She glanced down into CIC. "Any sign of their ships?"
"It's impossible to sort out this mess," Tonomura replied after a moment. "Too many heat-sources within the debris. They could be anywhere."
"They'll have the same problem with us," Kevin put in. "Even a ship this size can't be distinguished in all this wreckage."
"Which just leaves us with the question of how to get out of here." La Flaga stroked his chin. "All we've got are the Strike, my damaged Zero, and one slightly-used GINN, which I gather Chief Murdoch still hasn't quite gotten all the blood out of yet." At that, Kevin didn't even look sheepish; his expression indicated he saw it as the price of doing business. "Should we just hit the engines and blast on out of here? This is a pretty fast ship; or so I've been led to believe," he added with a slight smile.
"The enemy's Nazca-class is a swift vessel as well," Ramius said, shaking her head. "There's no guarantee of us losing them."
"We could always surrender." La Flaga raised his hands. "That is an option, you know."
Before the Captain could decide how to respond to that, Badgiruel's voice cut in, sounding irate. "You're what? Who gave you authorization?"
"What's the problem?" Ramius demanded.
"The Strike is returning, but it seems to be carrying a lifeboat from the colony," she replied.
"And exactly what is the problem with that?" Kevin said icily; his eyes were frozen jade.
"This is a top-secret ship," Badgiruel said, glaring at him, "and we can't just go around picking up refugees when we're trying to escape!"
The Blade glared back. "I just punched up a damage estimate, Ensign, and from the looks of things, that lifeboat isn't going to make it without us. So are you suggesting we just leave them out here to die?"
Ramius winced, rubbing her head; the two were beginning to give her a headache. It's going to be a very long trip, she thought tiredly. Thank goodness Blade will be flying, not taking a regular post on the Bridge. I don't think I could stand much more of this.
"All right," she said finally. "Give him permission."
Badgiruel looked at her, surprised. "Captain..."
"We can't afford to waste time on little things like this. We can't leave until we recover the Strike, so we don't have time to argue."
The ensign saluted, looking most unhappy with the decision. "Very well, Captain; it will be done."
Ramius turned to Kevin. "Blade, perhaps you should go down to the hanger; your GINN may be critical to our survival, and you seem to have the most knowledge of ZAFT technology of any of us. Chief Murdoch may need your assistance."
He saluted. "Aye, Captain."
Watching Kevin leave the Bridge, Badgiruel scowled after him. "Now, if he could just show that kind of obedience to officers he doesn't respect," she muttered under her breath.
Kevin half-walked, half-floated down the Archangel's corridors toward the hanger with the ease of someone who had spent most of his life in space.
To be honest, though, he preferred gravity wells; weightlessness was not the easiest of environments to fight in, and it was difficult to stay in proper shape. The seven years he'd spent on the moon, his time in the colonies, and his early childhood in Orb had given him a healthy appreciation for gravity.
That, however, was far from his mind. Kevin Walker was instead brooding, something that he had done frequently in the three years since leaving since Copernicus, since parting from Kira and Athrun Zala... since the day his parents died. They had been victims of Blue Cosmos, government officials from Orb who had chosen the wrong day to launch from the Panama Spaceport for the PLANTs on a diplomatic mission. The anti-Coordinator terrorists had sabotaged the mass driver, causing the passenger shuttle to head for space at accelerations meant for cargo... accelerations that had turned everyone onboard into human-flavored toothpaste.
Since that day, he'd been on the run, assuming various identities as necessary, and never revealing just how important his parents had truly been, just how high-born he truly was. Not even Kira knew, for even at six years old, Kevin's parents had opted to send him to school under an alias, as a security measure.
Which meant that even ZAFT had no idea who their old "secret weapon" really was; they had, in fact, ensured that they couldn't know... the day they wiped his memory.
Kevin gritted his teeth, fists clenching, as he remembered what they had done to him. The only evidence of the work those maniacal scientists had produced lay within him; at least, as far as he knew. He'd done his best to insure that, and he devoutly hoped he'd succeeded; both for revenge, and because he didn't want anyone else to have their life ruined like his had been.
Blade shook off these dire thoughts as he entered the hanger; they were the same thoughts he'd been thinking for two and a half years, and besides, it wouldn't do for anyone to notice his inner turmoil.
He drifted into the huge open space and propelled himself up to a "height" from where he could see the lifeboat's hatch as it opened; at the same time, he twitched the muscles of his right eye socket, and the view suddenly appeared much closer.
The Strike's cockpit opened above the lifeboat, and Kira emerged, looking curiously at the object. His eyes widened as he recognized the first person to emerge... as did Birdy, the robot bird Athrun Zala had given him when they parted, three years earlier. The bird swooped down toward the young girl, twittering.
Kira chased after it, and Flay Allster spotted him. "Hey! I know you! You're one of Sai's friends, right?" She pushed off from the hatch and slammed into him, sending them both drifting toward the deckhead above.
He was, to say the least, startled; and it was probably fortunate for all concerned that he couldn't see Kevin's highly amused reaction. As it was... "Flay? Is it really you, Flay Allster?"
She looked up at Kira, a mixture of confusion and fear evident on her face and in her voice. "Please, tell me what's going on! What in the world happened?"
"Bad things, Flay," Kevin said, coming up near them. "But we seem to be okay for now."
Flay looked at him with a slight frown. "Um... Have we met?"
"Oh, sorry." He shrugged apologetically. "We have, actually, but you may not remember. The name's Walker, Kevin Walker. You can call me-"
"Blade," she said suddenly. "That's right; I remember Sai introducing us." The fearful look came back. "This is a ZAFT ship, right? What's gonna happen to us? And what are you two doing here?"
"This isn't a ZAFT ship," Kira said reassuringly. "It's actually an Earth Forces vessel."
"You're lying; there's a couple of mobile suits in here!"
"No, the Strike belongs to the Earth Alliance, too."
"And that GINN," Kevin added with a slight smile, "is mine. Let's just say I have a certain... way with people. The original pilot came down with a bad case of death while I was discussing the matter with him, and I just appropriated things he no longer needed."
Kira felt a slight chill at the easy way his friend talked of killing people, but he let it pass; he really had no idea what Blade had been through, after all. It wasn't his place to judge him.
"Wow," he said after a moment. "I'm so relieved to see you here. Hey, guess what? Sai and Miriallia are here too. Don't worry; everything's going to be just fine."
Speak for yourself, Kevin thought, turning moody again. I don't know if things'll ever be "just fine" for me again.
Some time later, the students from Heliopolis gathered in the crew quarters they'd been assigned, while out in the corridor the ship's crew sorted out the rescued refugees.
"I wish they'd tell us where the ship is going," Kuzzey said plaintively.
"Don't complain," Kevin said absently; he was sitting on an upper bunk, cleaning his revolvers; something which bemused Flay, but she assumed she'd get an explanation eventually. "It might have slipped your notice, Kuzzey, but we're not exactly high on the list of people who 'need to know' about the ship's movements and operations. If it weren't for some rather nasty and unusual circumstances, we wouldn't be here at all. As it is, we're just passengers; so try not to get too much of a swelled head, okay?"
Kira looked sharply at his friend of ten years; in the few hours since boarding the ship, he'd begun to change quite noticeably. Kevin was less patient with those who irritated him, he was far more at ease with weaponry and military terminology than even Kira had suspected, and he seemed to be increasingly moody.
"Well, we are still in a combat situation," Mir pointed out, after an uncomfortable silence. "Those ZAFT ships are still out there."
Flay looked alarmed. "What? You mean we're less safe now that we're onboard?" She turned to Sai. "Say it isn't so!"
"Relax, mon ami," Kevin said quietly. "Personally, given a choice between being stuck on a warship that's about to be attacked, but has a fighting chance, and being stuck on a lifeboat without working engines and the possibility of breathing vacuum staring me in the face, I'll take the fighting chance." Quicker, too, he thought, but prudently did not say it aloud.
"I guess you're right," she agreed, though she still looked nervous.
"Bloody ZAFT," Blade muttered to himself. "I'm getting real tired of those bastards. Solkin syn." He double-checked the cylinders of his revolvers, snapped the loading gates shut, and holstered them. That done, he proceeded to sharpen the various knives scattered liberally about his body; the metal-on-stone noise grated somewhat on most of them, but Kira found it oddly comforting. A familiar sound, one which he'd heard countless times during the year since Kevin joined him on Heliopolis.
"Kira Yamato," called a voice from the doorway.
Kira turned to see La Flaga standing there, having appeared almost as silently as Kevin could have managed. "Lieutenant?"
"Mr. Murdoch's not very happy, you know," the Lieutenant said, an apparent non sequitur. "He doesn't have enough people. So, you maintain your machine."
"My machine?" The younger pilot looked puzzled for a moment, then suspicious. "What do you mean, my machine?"
"Let's just say that's how things worked out," La Flaga said with a slight smile.
Kira's expression turned to indignation. "Sure, I flew it twice, but that doesn't mean I can fight or anything. I don't want this to make people think I'm a soldier or anything."
La Flaga rubbed his head, looking mildly disgusted. "So, when the battle starts again, are those going to be your last words?" he said sarcastically. "Kira, you have the power to make a difference, don't you? So why not put it to good use?" He waved a hand. "Right now, you guys and I are the only ones who can protect this ship, you know?" He turned to leave. "There's precious little time, by the way; including time to think it over."
"Excuse me, sir," Sai called after him, "but where are we headed?"
"To a Eurasian military base." The Hawk looked more than a little disgusted. "We'll be lucky if things go according to plan."
"Eurasian..." Kevin's eyes narrowed. "Artemis? The backwater fortress with the Umbrella shield?"
"That's right. You've heard of it?"
"Something like that." He unleashed a torrent of Russian invective under his breath. "Eurasians. Bloody lovely. I don't trust those guys."
"Just between you and me, I don't either," La Flaga said gravely. "But we don't have much choice. We don't have the supplies to reach the Moon." He walked away. "I'll see you guys later."
Kira stared at the deck for a moment. "But I don't-" He shook his head sharply and fled the room.
Flay glanced between the other students. "Wait a minute? What was all that about?"
"You remember that your lifeboat was brought in by a mobile suit, right?" Sai said. "Well, Kira was the one piloting it."
"But why?" That left her even more confused. "Why would someone like him be in a mobile suit?"
Kevin lowered himself to the deck. "It's because... we're both Coordinators," he said softly. "And because I used to be the famous 'Crimson Tiger'." He, too, left the room, heading in a different direction from where Kira had gone.
Flay looked shocked. "You mean... they're really Coordinators? And that 'Blade' guy is Jack Carter?"
"They're still cherished friends," Mir said reassuringly. "Kira's one of the best friends I've ever had, and before today he'd never fought a battle in his life. I don't know Kevin quite as well, but I know he'd never hurt any of us. He's one of the kindest people I've ever met, even if he doesn't show it much. Kevin doesn't talk much, but he's as loyal a friend as you could have."
"Besides, you won't find him working for ZAFT," Tolle put in. "If there's one thing Blade hates, it's ZAFT. I don't know why, but he won't hesitate to protect us from them."
"I think I know part of it," his girlfriend said slowly. "Kira says Kevin talks in his sleep sometimes, and he used to mutter 'who am I'. I think maybe ZAFT did something to him, erased his memory or something. He seems to know who he is now, but he won't forgive them for it."
"I can't say I would either," Sai said. "But Mir's right, they're both on our side."
"I see..." Flay said thoughtfully.
Kevin stood in an empty, abandoned room at the very aft of the Archangel's superstructure, at the end of a long, equally-empty corridor, with a large viewport overlooking the rear of the ship. He remembered the chamber from his long-ago perusal of the blueprints, during a time when his life hadn't been filled with death and destruction.
He was thinking of those times now because of a person he'd met during those last hours on Heliopolis, a girl with blonde hair who went by the name Cagalli. In retrospect, she had his undivided attention; for it was now evident there were still gaps in his memory.
The one called Blade stared blankly out into space. Who is she? and who is this Red Queen, I feel a strange Sensation when she is around. he wondered. That was a very important question for he was absolutely convinced that he knew her and wondered why for the feeling, as he only got it when he was near a Zoanthrope or someone he knew. Thinking of of Cagalli though brought a strange rush of emotion, which told him that they knew each other very well indeed... as her strong reaction to seeing him unmasked further indicated. That told Kevin that they had been very close... and that something had happened to make her believe him dead.
That, in itself, wasn't too surprising, for he knew for a fact that he'd been dead before. How he could be standing where he was, Kevin didn't know, but the fact remained that he had been engulfed by the intense heat and radiation when he touched off the Project's thermonuclear fusion self-destruct device.
He cursed ZAFT vilely as he remembered how much they had taken from him. For nearly six months after the spectacular end to the Project, he'd had no idea who he was, and now it was clear that at least one secret remained deep within him. Those bastards! Who is Cagalli? Does she have anything to do with that ring? And why do I have the feeling I know the Red Queen?
Kevin pulled off his right glove, revealing a gold ring on his finger; inscribed upon it were stylized letters, an intertwined K and C. He had long ago determined that the K was for his own name, and he suspected he had now met the C. But who was she to him? And how could he find out, without meeting her again?
He slammed his fist into his palm. He didn't remember someone who was once very close to him, but he remembered all too well what had made him forget. He remembered exactly what ZAFT had done to him. And for that, he would never forgive them.
Things were coming to a head. On the Bridge, the battle was all but begun.
"Heats source detected, Captain," Tonomura reported. "But- it's coming from beside us!"
La Flaga joined him at the scan station. "The Nazca-class," he noted. "If it's next to us on a parallel course, they must have figured out where we're going. Le Creuset always was the crafty sort and with his step daughter, the two can think of it rather well."
"Where's their Laurasia-class?" Ramius asked.
Pal studied his displays. "Heat source detected behind us, Ma'am. When'd that appear?"
"So they've found us," La Flaga muttered. He drifted over to the copilot's chair, thinking. "Now what? Hey, bring me up a space map and the technical readouts of those ships."
"Do you have a plan?" Badgiruel asked.
He smiled. "I'm getting ready to think about it."
Ramius nodded, then activated her intercom. "Mr. Murdoch, status?"
"The Lieutenant's Zero is fully repaired," Murdoch reported. "The kid's GINN is fixed, too, but we're still getting it set up to accept some of the Strike's spare weaponry; it'll be awhile yet."
"Expedite, please. We're going to need all the help we can get." She signed off.
Badgiruel looked unhappy. "I still think we shouldn't be relying on someone like him. By his own admission, he's killed hundreds of people. Do we really want someone with that kind of record serving with us?"
"I don't see we've got a choice," La Flaga cut in. "That GINN might not have phase-shift, but with better weapons it'll give even a G-weapon trouble. Since Blade and Kira are the only people we have who can even fly those things..." He shrugged. "Besides, his reputation is a point in his favor, at least in this situation. Before the war, Atlantic Federation Intelligence had quite the file on Mr. Carter, and one interesting incident occurred not long before he vanished. It seems Blue Cosmos was getting desperate to kill the Crimson Tiger, so they set up an ambush for him at an underground facility in New Mexico, North America; someplace called 'Area 51', of all things. They sent in more than a hundred of their terrorists, with equipment up to and including a couple of main battle tanks."
"So how come he's still alive?" Neumann put in. "Did he smell a trap and avoid it completely?"
The pilot shook his head. "Not at all. Oh, there's little doubt he knew there was a trap, but he went in anyway. The resulting gunfire and explosions were reported a good distance away, in fact. But when it was all over, the Tiger came out barely scratched... and none of the terrorists emerged. That's one hard to kill teenager, and that could mean the difference between life and death for this entire ship." La Flaga looked back at Badgiruel. "I know you don't like or trust him, Ensign, but we don't have time to be choosy. Now, let's get down to planning."
Down in the cafeteria, the Heliopolis students, minus Kira and Kevin, sat together at a table. "Sounds like the battle's starting soon," Kuzzey said gloomily.
"Yeah," Tolle agreed. "I guess they saw through the deception."
Their fears were shortly confirmed. "All hands to Level One Battlestations," the PA system announced. "All hands to Level One Battlestations. Kira Yamato, to the Bridge."
"Kira..." Mir said quietly as the echoes faded. "I wonder what he decided."
"If Kira decides not to fight, the future won't be looking to good for us," Sai mused.
She turned to her boyfriend. "You know, Tolle, we're always sitting on the bench, waiting for Kira to get in the game and protect us," she said slowly.
"Yeah..." Tolle looked up. "If we have the power to make a difference, why not put it to good use?" he said, echoing La Flaga.
After a moment, Sai and Kuzzey both nodded; and by silent agreement, they got up and headed for the Bridge.
Kevin, too, had heard the PA announcement, and he was heading for the pilot's locker room; his mobile suit still wasn't ready, but it would be before the battle was over.
He ran into La Flaga along the way. "We got a plan, Lieutenant?"
"Something resembling one, anyway," the older pilot acknowledged. "You going out there?"
"Once my GINN is ready." Kevin paused at the hatch. "Look, Lieutenant, understand this: I'm not doing this for the Earth Forces, and I'm not doing this out of some altruistic purity of motive. I'm not loyal to any government, but if I were, it would be Orb, my homeland. I'm doing this to protect myself, my friends, and, strange as it may seem, this crew; you're people I feel I can trust. But I'm also doing this because I swore to destroy ZAFT, and this is one more way to further that goal. Besides after you said who the pilot of that Red Machine has go t me interested on who she really is."
"I see. Somehow, coming from the guy they used to call Crimson Tiger, that doesn't surprise me."
Blade frowned slightly. "That reminds me, Lieutenant. Just how did Atlantic Federation Intelligence get so much information about that identity?"
La Flaga shrugged. "An operative of theirs. Bit of an oddball; he acted like something out of an old spy novel. Name of-"
"Lieutenant Commander Alex Jackson," Kevin said darkly. "Codename: CARDINAL."
"You've heard of him?"
He snorted. "You didn't think I evaded Blue Cosmos solely on instinct, did you? We exchanged information for about a year, until his intel started getting unreliable and I severed communications. Now I'm glad of it."
Without further ado, he opened the locker room hatch. Inside, Kira was just fastening a blue-and-white flight suit, looking grimly determined.
"Well," La Flaga said, gliding in," if that outfit's any indication, I'd say you decided to do it."
"It's like you said Lieutenant," Kira said. "We're the only ones who can protect this ship. It's not that I want to fight; I only want to protect."
"It's the same for all of us." La Flaga smiled. "You won't find very many people who want to fight for no reason at all. We fight because it's the only way that we can protect ourselves."
The two were distracted by a sound of utter disgust from Kevin. When they turned, they saw that he was holding a flight suit in his hands... blood red, with black stripes. "Cute," he growled. "Whose idea was the tiger stripe look?"
La Flaga attempted to look innocent. "Who knows?"
Soon, the three pilots were in the hanger; Kevin peeled off and headed toward his GINN, to help Murdoch and his people get it ready.
Kira followed the Hawk of Endymion to his Moebius Zero. "No matter what," La Flaga advised, "think only of protecting this ship and yourself."
"Right. Be careful, Lieutenant." He pushed off and was soon ensconced in the Strike's cockpit, feeling tense. He'd fought before, but only against GINNs, not these state-of-the-art "Gundams". And there was the possibility of facing Athrun again...
The Strike was moved into the catapult, and preparations for launch began as the Aile Striker pack was mounted. Then Kira's comm screen lit up. "Kira!"
He was startled. "Miriallia?" He'd known that his friends were volunteering, but this...
"From this point on, I will be in charge of communications for the mobile suits and the mobile armor." She smiled. "I'm counting on you!"
"We're all counting on you," said another voice.
Kira smiled back. "Right." Soon, everything read green, and he tightened his grip on the controls. "Kira Yamato. Strike Gundam, heading out!"
The Strike flashed out from the catapult, heading straight into battle again... with an old friend.
A/N: Ha ha just to tell everyone, this will be Aelan's final battle inside the CGUE as she will be getting a new machine in the next chapter. But if need be she can still pilot her original CGUE Oh and just to tell yeahs, I will update a Chapter per day unless I get writers Cramp. And to tell yeahs the truth I am working on Chapter 4 lol
Centurous-I am glad you are likeing this story. Keep in touch
Blitz12- Thanks for calling me incredible, stay tuned for later
Infinite Freedom - Altering Bro in Arms, most will be altered to fit Aelan into the equation and most likely most of the time She will be fighting Kevin when she engages the Legged Ship. And good luck on your second plan
Solid- I was wondering when you would figure out the pilot of the BuCUE look alike. And yeah, I am finding it easier than I thought to fit parts in to your story, but in some spots its still rather odd. And I even put into kevins account that he could sense people he knew. So basicly I have given him the same ability as Rau and Mu and but for him and Aelan.