Chapter 25: Mobile suit Pilots Ready: FIGHT!
As seemed to be a common habit of the young super-soldier, Kevin vastly exceeded expectations and was able to walk on his own within two hours of waking up. He was by no means in "fighting trim", but he was at least mobile; a good thing, that.
Kevin, despite Cagalli's misgivings over his injuries, soon wandered back to the Archangel; still wearing bandages and with his right, bionic arm hanging limply at his side (the limb was powerful, enough so that he didn't want to risk smashing things until he was sure he had proper control over the replacement).
Before long, he found himself in the hanger, where two mobile suits stood motionless: his Stormhawk, and Kira's new Freedom. Mu La Flaga was already there, gazing up at the former ZAFT machine.
The older pilot turned at the sound of Kevin's footsteps. "Hey, Snake. Didn't expect to see you up and around so soon."
"The doc was a little pessimistic in his prognosis," he explained. "Of course, he'd never dealt with someone quite like me before. Nor will he again, unless I get smashed again."
"I see." La Flaga nodded at the metal arm. "So, how's that thing working out?"
Kevin sent a command to his augmentation, and the limb came to life. "Well, I've only consciously had it for about two hours, but so far, so good. I had to program in some overrides, though; it's far stronger than even my natural arm, so I don't want to go about breaking things before I get used to it. But, yeah, all in all it works well, and it'll be a nice surprise for the next guy who tries something on me. As if I needed any more."
"It affect your fast-draw any?" the other pilot asked with a grin; he'd seen the Snake's gunfighting skills in action, back at the Onishi Mansion.
The reply was the revolver that suddenly appeared in Snake's hand. "That move is ingrained enough I could do it by radio," he cracked. "Merely getting the limb replaced won't mean much."
La Flaga smirked as the super-solider rapidly twirled the weapon and returned it to its holster; then he turned, as Kira came up to them. "Even though you're alone, you still intend to fight?" he said without preamble.
Kira nodded. "I'll do my best; that's all I can really hope for." He met the Hawk's eyes levelly. "Things are difficult, but I don't think that this is the way to make them better."
La Flaga's eyes widened; but before he could respond, another voice spoke, and all three pilots turned. "Kira!" Cagalli called, running up to them. "Erica Simmons wants to see you ASAP; she says she has something important to show you."
Kevin raised his eyebrows at that; the things his engineer friend Erica Simmons cooked up did tend to be interesting.
Within minutes, Simmons was escorting them into the Morgenroete hanger they had become all too familiar with during the Archangel's previous stay in Orb; along the way, they had been joined by Ramius.
"Now that you're back," Erica said with a mysterious smile, "I thought I should probably return this to you."
Kira gasped audibly, for before them stood the GAT-X105 Strike, the mobile suit he had previously flown... and believed to have been destroyed when Athrun self-destructed the Aegis. "The Strike!"
Up on the shoulder was Garret Nexus doing some scans on it before it was offically given to them.
The engineer nodded. "After the repairs were done, I installed the new OS you wrote for us, because... well, because I figured someone else would be piloting it." Which made sense, since not even the Archangel had been aware of Kira's survival at the time.
"The OS designed for Naturals?" La Flaga asked.
"Yes."
"I'llpilot it," Cagalli said decisively. When Kira, Ramius, and Kevin looked at her, she looked at him, "What I have been practiceing with Juri and the others." She said with her hands on her hips.
"I'm afraid you can't," La Flaga said in an odd voice.
"And why not?"
He turned his head. "Because I will."
Kira smiled, Cagalli looked surprised and annoyed, and Ramius simply looked shocked. "Commander?"
"That doesn't apply to me anymore, now, does it?" he replied with a smile. "Ms. Murrue."
Kevin grinned. "Can't think of a better choice. No offense, tovarisch," he added hastily to Cagalli. In the process, something caught his eye, and an eyebrow rose as he studied another, half-complete mobile suit occupying the hanger. Big, black, with bat-like wings folded in front of it, it looked very menacing. "Hey, Erica; what's that?"
Simmons smiled, taking on the look of someone pleased with her work. "That is the second half of the series your machine started, our newest prototype, Baron: the MBF-M2000 Wraith. It's made out of the same radar-absorbent alloy as your M1000, and while it's relatively lightly armed, it makes up for it with a few interesting features." She pointed at what appeared to be a long staff clutched in its hand. "Its primary weapon is that beam scythe; when active, it's quite capable of slicing a mass-produced mobile suit in half. It also has the usual Igelstellungs in the head, a standard beam rifle, and an anti-beam shield. But it doesn't usually need it."
"Why's that?" Kira asked.
"Because we stole a certain amount of technology from the Defense Industries Association. See how it has color, even when powered down? It's equipped with Trans-Phase armor, a new development of PSA, which is even more durable." Erica pointed at the wings. "And those, while doubling as a propulsion system and aiding in its stealth capabilities -which I'll get to in a moment- are primarily for defense. It's called an active cloak, and it uses new energy-shielding technology to deflect energy weapons and greatly reduce the effectiveness of kinetic weapons." Her smile grew. "But it usually shouldn't even need those defensive measures, because it's also equipped with hyper jammers; a technology we're most grateful you came up with, Baron."
That was when Garret came down on the rope that allowed the pilot to descend from the machine. "Indeed, very impressive type of technology, I am guessing you used the Mirage Colloid system that the Blitz had as a prototype?" Garret Nexus asked as he landed on the ground.
"Think Mirage Colloid's good?" Garret said, raising an eyebrow. "This is better. Hyper jammers produce a cloaking field that defeats cameras, infrared, and the naked eye, just as Mirage Colloid does. The advantage this has is that it doesn't have the eighty-minute time limit, nor do you have to choose between it and phase-shift. Something we are planning on adding to the 3000 unit as well, but that will take some time with the predicament we are soon to be in" Garret told them.
Kevin muttered something incredulous in Russian. "So why is it incomplete? It looks like you've got it nearly finished."
Erica's smile faded. "We ran into a snag," she admitted. "Those great new technologies require an enormousamount of power, and existing energy batteries would run out far too quickly, if they could handle the load at all. We were working on a way of nullifying the effect of N-jammers, but we haven't had much success."
Snake came to an instant decision. "After being captured, the Stormhawk was retrofitted by ZAFT; and one of the additions was an N-jammer canceler. You can use the specs from that."
Kira shot a look at Kevin as this was going back on a promise from Lacus. (Kevin, what are you thinking, we promised Lacus.) Kira told him through their link.
(Kira don't worry, I will look over on the making of it then have the data deleted, this will be the only machine to have it other than ours.) Kevin told them not realising Aelan's machine also had the tech.
(Fine but make sure you do, we promised Lacus we wouldn't give this tech to anyone.) Kira concluded.
"Impressive," she said after a moment. "Thank you, Baron, we'll be sure to do that. And there's a couple of modifications I've thought of for the Stormhawk, too."
"I'll have Murdoch send it over. But try to be quick about it, if you would." Kevin stroked his chin. "I've... got an errand I'd like to take care of, and I'll need Stormhawk to get there."
"Indeed and who be the pilot of Wraith? You Mr. Nexus?" Mwu asked looking at Garret as he shook his head no.
"No I am sorry, but the 3000 unit will be piloted by me, when it is complete of course. But for now I am just one of the Astray pilots." He told them as the others nodded.
With the demands now being made upon Orb by the Atlantic Federation and the Earth Alliance (specifically, to get rid of their current government and completely disarm their military), Murrue Ramius and the rest of the Archangel's crew knew it was only a matter of time before some difficult decisions would have to be made.
So the Captain called the entire crew together in the hanger, and with La Flaga, Cagalli, and Kisaka flanking her and behind Kisaka was the newly appointed Captain Nexus, she began without preamble. "An Earth Alliance fleet is on its way here, to Orb," she said. "The government is being told that unless it accedes to the Earth Forces' demands within forty-eight hours, the Alliance will have no choice but to consider them an enemy nation, and a supporter of ZAFT."
"But that's ridiculous!" Tonomura protested.
Ramius nodded in agreement. "Yes, it is. And I assure you, every effort is being made to find a diplomatic solution. Unfortunately, judging from the Earth Alliance's reaction so far, the chances of avoiding a battle are rather slim. If that is the case, the battle will begin at 0900 hours the day after tomorrow."
In the front row, next to Kira, Kevin nodded to himself. (Hardly a surprise, eh, tovarisch?)
Kira nodded in weary agreement. (Yeah.)
"Each of us has a personal decision to make, as well," the Captain went on. "That is, whether to stay and fight to protect Orb, or not. At this moment, the Archangel is a runaway ship; there's no one to give us our orders or tell us what we're to do about the Orb situation. And technically, you are no longer under my jurisdiction. Personally, I intend to remain here, but you must all choose your own paths, as well."
Some had already chosen, of course. In addition to Orb being his homeland, however little loyalty he had to its actual government, Kevin was... very fond of the daughter of the former Chief Representative. He would never abandon Cagalli Yula Athha not until he was sent to the grave. And Kira, of course, had gotten some wild save-the-world altruistic streak since being blown out of the Strike months before. The Snake had no such motivations (or at least he claimed never to have them), but he really couldn't care less. Kira was one of his best friends, and his Freedom would no doubt come in handy in the coming battles.
Ramius departed from her prepared speech then. "I know I wasn't the most reliable of captains," she told the assembled crew, eyes shining, "and I want to thank each one of you for sticking with me. It was a privilege to have led you," she finished with a bow. Garret put a hand on her shoulder and nodded.
"I will be glad to serve under you captain." He said leaving and going to do some work on his M1.
After the announcement, Kira headed off down one of the Archangel's side passages, a habit he'd picked up when he was still moody and ambiguous about flying the Strike against his fellow Coordinators. Now it was just that, a habit, for he was quite committed to helping his ship and Orb.
"Kira!" He turned to see Cagalli running to catch up with him, coming to halt a half-meter away. "Kira," she said in a slightly calmer voice, "it's... it's all so..."
"Just take a deep breath and relax," Kira advised her with a smile. "If people see you getting flustered in that outfit, it's gonna make them nervous."
Anyone else, she would probably have snapped at for a comment like that, but from him Cagalli took it seriously; she checked her uniform as if she had forgotten she was wearing one. "You think so? I guess you're right. But this is terrible! Orb is going to become a battlefield! How could this happen?" She began running her hands through her hair in agitation.
"I think the right choice is being made," Kira said reassuringly. When she looked up, he continued, "Although I think this path is the hardest Orb could have chosen."
"Kira..."
"Calm down and don't worry, Cagalli. I don't know how well I can protect it, but I'll do what I can; just like your father and a lot of other people are gonna do their best to protect this country." He smiled again. "It's worth fighting for."
"Kira!" Cagalli flung her arms around Kira's neck, hugging him tight.
He looked startled for a moment. "Uh, well, just hang in there, okay?" he managed, returning the embrace.
"It'll be fine," another voice said, and Cagalli pulled back to see Kevin approaching. "I mean, look, Orb's got plenty of Astrays, there's my Stormhawk, the Freedom, the Strike, and, if we find a pilot for it somehow, the Buster. Personally, I just don't see the Earth Forces matching that, at least not with just those mass-produced models."
"There might be something else, though," Cagalli said nervously. "Frank says there's rumors of some new Earth Forces machines, with some pretty skilled pilots. They might..."
Kevin smiled and squeezed her shoulder. "If they're tougher than I am, I'll be much surprised."
Kira grinned to himself as the girl looked at Kevin "Yeah," he murmured, "and if things get really bad, we'll just give you a pocket knife and throw you at them."
Cagalli managed a chuckle. "Come on, you haven't even met them and you hate them that much?"
A little later, Kevin stepped out of a side passage to see Kuzzey going past in civilian clothing, carrying a suitcase. "So, you're leaving, huh?" he said softly.
Kuzzey nodded. "Yeah. I know you'll probably think I'm a coward or something, but..."
Snake shook his head. "No, I don't think you're a coward. To be sure, I found your... complaints about being aboard somewhat annoying, since I always thought you must have known what you were getting into when you volunteered in orbit, but there's no way you could have anticipated something like Alaska. Besides," he added with a shrug, "some of us just aren't cut out for this kind of thing; sometimes I wish I wasn't."
"I guess I don't need to ask if you're staying, huh?" his classmate said, managing a smile.
"No, you don't. You know how it is with me: I was literally designedto be a soldier, from before I was even born. That, by the way, is why I hate my father's guts," Kevin added, somewhat grimly. "But we all have our parts to play. For example, I'd never make it as a concert pianist, and the concert pianist never made it as a soldier." He closed his eyes for a moment. "Solkin syn, if Nicol had only realized he wasn't cut out for this, if he'd just stuck with what he was good at."
"Who's Nicol?" Kuzzey asked, confused.
"Nicol Amalfi," Snake clarified. "Pilot of the Blitz. He was a friend of mine, once upon a time. He joined ZAFT to protect his homeland... and because of it, he was blown to atoms by my hand." He held out a hand. "Just as well that you're getting out, Kuzzey. Your talents lie in a more peaceful area; leave the fighting to us, and live."
The young student, who until recently had never even seen the homeland that controlled the colony where he had been born, shook the hand. "Good luck, Snake."
"Same to you, mon ami."
The next morning, as Kevin suited up in preparation for his mysterious "errand", there were two other functional mobile suits sharing the Morgenroete hanger: the Freedom and the Strike. Kira and La Flaga were preparing for another sparring match, to make certain La Flaga was ready for the coming battle.
The Hawk meandered over to the Stormhawk, helmet under his arm, just as Snake was fastening his flight suit. "I suppose it would be pointless to ask you where you're going."
"Yeah, pretty much," Kevin agreed, fastening his gunbelt over the suit. "Sorry, tovarisch, but this is something I'd rather not discuss just now."
"I understand." La Flaga clapped the younger pilot on the shoulder. "Well, good luck."
"Thanks."
As the older pilot headed back to his own machine, Cagalli walked up. "So, where are you going?" she asked quietly.
"To see a friend," Kevin answered simply. "The one who got my head straightened out. And I want to take a look at the place where Aegis met its end."
She nodded. The fact that he didn't elaborate didn't bother her; she knew that there were times, especially since going through the horrifying procedures at ABADON, when he simply had to go off somewhere, away from even his closest friends. Cagalli suspected that, even now that he no longer had a death wish, Kevin still had to struggle sometimes with his past, and with whatever conditioning he'd been through.
And this "friend", from what he'd said, could possibly help him do that. "Okay."
"Thanks for understanding." He put a hand on her shoulder. "That means a lot, you know."
"Of course I understand, idiot," Cagalli said with a tolerant smile. "I have known you all your life, remember? So, when do you think you'll be back?"
"No more than a few hours," Kevin replied. "It's a short flight, and I don't want to be gone too long, anyway. I have a very bad feeling about tomorrow; Fate is taking a hand once again."
That was one peculiarity than not even his oldest friend quite understood. Snake was not normally superstitious, though he had his quietly-held beliefs, and he scoffed at things like astrology. Yet he still believed in Fate... and perhaps, when one thought of how many times he'd escaped certain death, or even returned from the grave, it made sense. Surely there had to be some reason he kept coming back.
"Be careful, okay? Last time you went there, you nearly got your brain fried." She stepped forward and gave him a quick hug. "Come back to us ok."
Kevin half-smiled. "I will. See you tonight, tovarisch." Without further ado, he climbed up into the silent mobile suit's cockpit.
The concealed hatch leading to the hidden Morgenroete facility slid open, and the Stormhawk stepped out. As the door closed behind, the machine lifted into the air, converted to mobile armor mode, and flickered out of sight as the newly-installed hyper jammers kicked in.
In the cockpit, Kevin manipulated the controls with practiced ease, coaxing the mobile-suit-cum-fighter-plane into a climb and a leisurely turn to the northeast, following the route Archangel had taken upon leaving Orb, nearly two months earlier.
So much has happened since then, he thought, relaxing in the seat as he settled in for the flight.Some have died, some have been saved... and through it all, I live on. What does Fate have in store for me? Is my destiny to live or die, in this useless war? For what purpose does my life go on?
Kevin chuckled at himself, thinking of Cagalli's reaction to hearing such words. He could hear it now... "Stop worrying so much about the philosophical, you idiot, and worry about getting out of this war with your armored hide intact!"
"Yeah, that's just what she'd say, isn't it, Sturm Falke?" He spoke to the machine, for he had nothing else to speak to. (He was, however, somewhat cautious about it; on overhearing him muttering to the console in Russian on one occasion, Erica Simmons had threatened to give the machine the intelligence to talk back. He wasn't sure if she could actually build a sentient AI... but he wasn't taking chances.)
And that's one thing this thing is missing: a passenger seat. I don't like being away from her like this. 'Course, the whole point of this exercise is to get away from everyone isn't it?
Through all his tangled thoughts, Kevin's machine faithfully followed the instructions given to its autopilot, cruising over the slightly meandering path the "legged ship" had taken on its way to the spot where the Aegis had been destroyed. And in the process, it overflew a tiny island that still held black armor debris.
Kevin felt a touch of sadness, gazing down at that lonely spot where the remains of the GAT-X207 Blitz still lay, exactly as they had lain since the day Stormhawk's enormous beam cannon blew it apart. I'm sorry, Nicol Amalfi, he thought sadly. He did not grieve -he had no more tears to shed- but he did regret the tragedy. You shouldn't have been here, mon ami. You were a pianist, not a warrior... though I am yet in your debt for Artemis. Had you not struck, escaping might have been a far more difficult proposition... though in any case I would have ensured that Garcia died first, that bastard.
Soon, the little island was out of sight, forgotten by all but those who had seen the great, tragic battle there. But a glimpse of a mobile suit moving moved after the Sturmfalke. Kevin did not notice it at all.
Athrun Zala was on a similar jaunt at that time, his Justice riding its Fatum-00 subflight unit. He hovered now over the island where his last machine had met its end, and he saw that no one had bothered to recover the remains. The scattered pieces of Aegis still remained... as did something else.
He wasn't sure what had gotten his attention, but Athrun felt instinct itching, telling him to land near the scattered wreckage. And so he did, setting down near the battered head and powering down.
Somehow, he was not surprised by the sight that greeted him: not far away, Kevin Walker, wearing his usual black flight suit, leaned against nothing, hands cushioning his head, and an odd smile on his face. "Hello, Athrun," he said, almost cheerfully. "I had a feeling I'd be seeing you soon. It's been awhile since we met face-to-face."
"Yeah, it has," Athrun acknowledged. "As I remember it, you were threatening to break me in half at the time." He looked curiously at his former friend's gravity-defying posture. "And have you decided to become a mime or something?"
Snake blinked, then chuckled. "Oh, yeah. I forgot." He tapped a control on what looked like a wristwatch but was obviously not, and the thing he'd been leaning against suddenly became visible: the right foot of the Stormhawk, which now towered above them both. "I apparently forgot to deactivate the hyper jammers. So, mon ami, are you surprised to see me?"
"Actually, no," Athrun admitted. "I've already run into two of you since we last fought."
Kevin grimaced. "So you met Carter, huh? So have I. And if you've met two, I guess the twenty-third clone has been accounted for."
"Second," the ZAFT pilot corrected. "Carter was the first, and this guy was the second; one which ZAFT at large is unaware of. Carter I ran into at Carpentaria, by the way; how'd you meet him?"
"He turned up at my mansion the other day." Snake winced, flexing his right arm, and pulled off the glove, revealing the metal hand beneath. "Took a depleted-uranium slug to the shoulder, had to have the arm replaced. Not fun." as then Kevin was having a familiar sensation as not far from them, Aelan watched under Mirage Colloid.
"I guess not." Athrun's eyes narrowed. "You know, shouldn't you be trying to kill me or something? I remember you swore to, and you don't break your oaths."
"Oh, right." Kevin reached down and lifted a pair of sheathed fencing blades from the ground, one of which he clipped to his belt; the other he tossed to Athrun. "As it happens, I'm not terribly inclined to slay you anymore, Athrun; it's now clear to me that you had no knowledge whatsoever of ABADON, so your betrayal was quite unknowing. The problem is, like you said, I don't break oaths. So, since I half-expected to run into you out here, I brought these along. The blade you're holding is the twin to the one Carter tried to assassinate me with a few days ago; mine is the sword I used professionally. Both are of top quality, centuries old."
Athrun drew the slender sword and stared at it. "You're telling me the only way for you honorably discharge your oath without killing me is to fight a duel? Seems to me that I'll be just as dead when you finish with me with these."
"Not under the rules of a live-blade fencing match," Kevin disagreed. "First blood is sufficient; though if I catch you tryingto lose, I'll simply run you through. And don't worry about my arm; this isn't about brute strength, and I've stepped it down to merely Coordinator strength."
"I guess there's no alternative, is there?" Athrun knew perfectly well he had no chance at all of killing his old friend, not after the enhancements he'd been put through. And even without trying, there was no possible way he'd win this match; "The Fencing Prince" had climbed from relative obscurity to the top of the world's fencing ranks at a very young age, and with the very sword he held this day. It would be no contest... which at least had the advantage of being fast.
"Not really." The super-soldier settled into his distinctive stance, presenting a narrow profile with his blade stretched at arm's length, granting him formidable reach. "I wonder if Aelan is watching near by?" Kevin wondered.
Athrun moved awkwardly into a stance of his own; since learning his old friend's true identity, he'd watched recordings of the Fencing Prince's matches, but he could only imitate. "What is it they say...?"
"En garde,"Kevin supplied, and quickly sidestepped his opponent's first, clumsy slash. "It's all about the thrust and parry, mon ami," he advised, making a conservative jab of his own. "It's not like the popularized broadsword, or the katana. In a real battle to the death, you either aim for the heart or throat, or, failing that, inflict enough small wounds to bleed your adversary to death."
"I'll keep that in mind." Athrun, while still uncertain of the moves, at least had no trouble with his footwork, which allowed him to dodge the next thrust. He knew, of course, that he was but delaying the inevitable, and only for a few seconds at that.
He was quite correct; the Fencing Prince had had a reputation for cutting right to the heart of matters, and Kevin had no intention of letting this go on any longer than necessary. With this in mind, he parried Athrun's counterattack, pushed the blade aside, and flicked his wrist. The swift movement drew the rapier's point across the Athrun's face, opening a shallow cut, and the blade instantly swept around to his throat, pressing very lightly against the jugular.
"Yield," Kevin said simply.
Athrun set his sword point-first in the ground. "Gladly."
The blade pulled away, and Snake sheathed it. "Honor is satisfied. I must warn you, though, that if we meet again in battle, I'll still kill you if necessary, but now I at least have the option of merely disabling you. Though," he added, eyes turning for a moment to jade ice, "if Cagalli is involved all bets are off. Those who threaten her, I do not hesitate to eliminate."
"Good show, and how does that explain the death of Nicol?" came the female voice of Aelan who was siting above on a cliff. "I've done some research on you Hydra." She said jumping down as Kevin extended his claws.
"What sort of research?" Kevin asked making sure she made no sudden moves. Her long silver hair flew in the wind as she cracked her wrist.
"Your past, and why you are so different then when you worked for Oracle, yeah I know of the brainwashing." She told him as she touched a button on her watch as a fully active Red Queen appeared behind her with its cannons aiming at Kevin. "So that is why I have not decided to kill you today." She said as the Red Machine went into its dull gray state.
"Why in the change of heart?" Kevin asked her as she just shrugged.
"Oh, just the way ZAFT has been treating the Natural's lately, I don't like it when we kill the defenceless, so in a way I have left them." She told him. "And that Lady Clyne doesn't want me to kill you, since I joined her not to long ago." Aelan said as Kevin had the look of shock in his eyes. "But I added unless he decides to threaten any of my friends, like Athrun there." She told him walking closer to the storm hawk.
"What exactly are you planning Aelan." Kevin said in a slightly annoyed voice.
"Easy, I'm a agent of the Clyne Faction, I provide information for Mr. Clyne and your dear friend Lacus." She added. "Besides, I came to thank the same man you have for taking me back to the PLANTs after the Hyperion was taken out." She told him looking over to a severed right hand of the Aegis.
"Well. That's that. Keep the sword, by the way; a memento, if you will." Kevin held out a hand. "It's good to see you, Athrun." Kevin then added. "And for once glad to see you Aelan, or Red Queen or whatever you wished to be called." Kevin added.
Athrun cautiously shook it. "Likewise, but... You should know that part of my mission on Earth is to eliminate you, and your machine."
Snake snorted. "You're welcome to try." With a blindingly fast movement, he drew his Colt and fired over Athrun's shoulder, missing by a millimeter.
He smiled. "Yeah, I kinda figured that. I can always tell my father I didn't have the opportunity. It's true, after all." Athrun glanced away. "But my orders are also to kill Kira, the Freedom, and anyone he's come into contact with."
Kevin laughed outright. "Well, tell your father this: your Justice, powerful though it may be, has no chance at all of single-handedly wiping out me, the Freedom, the Archangel, and Orb. We'd blast you to cinders."
"Figured that, too." Athrun glanced around the little island, at the pieces of debris. "So what brings you out here, Kevin? I'd've thought you'd be back in Orb still, getting some rest."
"There's someone here I wanted to visit like Aelan." Movement drew Kevin's eye to the same place Aelan was looking at, and they both turned to see several young children cautiously watching them from behind the Aegis' severed right hand. "And I think those are some of his charges."
Indeed, soon a pale man with a walking stick, apparently blind, came into view. "What's the matter?"
"Hello, Reverend," Snake said, bowing respectfully; beside him, a startled Athrun did the same Aelan however didn't. "I thought I would pay you a visit, since I have the time." Kevin told him as Aelan grabbed a bag from the Red Queen's finger and went towards the kids. Kevin looked over to her as she brought out several candy bars.
"Here you go kids." She told them as they looked at the Reverend. He nodded as though he knew as each kid took a chocolate bar from Aelan.
"Thank you!" They called as she smiled as Kevin never saw this from another Destroyer, she was not a savage he thought the Destroyers would be.
"No thanks is required, war is a terrible thing, and I wanted to cheer you all up in some way." She told them as a little girl wanted up as Aelan sat her on her shoulder.
"A pleasure to see you again, Baron." Reverend Malchio tilted his head. "And who might your companion be?"
"Reverend, this is Athrun Zala, ZAFT pilot and -at least formerly- Lacus' fiancé," Kevin replied. "Athrun, this is Reverend Malchio, friend of the Clyne family and the man who straightened my head out."
"An honor to meet you, sir," Athrun said formally.
Malchio waved a hand. "Please, come with me everyone. My home, while somewhat isolated, does have access to the news, and it seems there are events of which you three should be aware of."
A tight feeling in his stomach, Kevin nodded. "All right."
"It is inevitable now," Malchio said a few minutes later; the television was playing a news report, from a correspondent on one of the Earth Forces' carriers. "Orb is going to fight the Earth Alliance."
"As the countdown to the attack on Orb continues," the reporter was saying, "the troops are willing, even eager for the coming battle. We're now being told that there is proof that Orb assisted ZAFT in the attacks on Panama and the Alaskan Headquarters."
"Now that is a load of bs." Aelan said from where she was with the children. "ZAFT did those attacks on their own, I should know I was at both places, and both area's disgusted me." She said holding one kid by both hands and having her feet give the kid a airplane ride as the child laughed.
"'Proof'," Kevin said bitterly. "They're not even waiting for Orb's reply before stating that they have proof of those ridiculous allegations. Solkin syn, they're bastards."
"But why Orb and the Earth Forces?" Athrun mused, then looked down as one of the orphans ran up to him.
"I hate ZAFT, and when I get bigger I'm gonna come and get all of you!" The kid, less than half Athrun's size, kicked him in the shin and ran off towards Aelan.
"Hey Kid you know I am with ZAFT as well." She said in a sweet voice.
"Yeah but you are different Miss Aelan. You are kind and wish to protect those who can't defend themselves, unlike most of ZAFT." The kid said as Aelan somewhat smiled at the comment.
"Hey," Malchio said sharply. "My apologies," he said to Athrun. "He lost his parents during the occupation of Carpentaria."
"Occupation?" Snake said sharply. "But Oceania was with ZAFT from the beginning, right?"
"What decision is ever truly unanimous?" the monk said sagely. "If there was but another way. Wars spread so easily, but are so difficult to end," he whispered.
"That's the truth, Reverend." Kevin picked up his helmet and headed for the door.
Athrun followed him. "Where are you going?"
"Home." He broke into a run, heading back to his mobile suit. "If the fleet is that close, then Frank's predictions were right: the attack comes tomorrow."
"Who's Frank?"
"My cousin Frank Castile; he's Orb's top intelligence analyst." Kevin stopped at Stormhawk's foot. "A pity we're on opposite sides, Athrun. I think we've got the forces to defeat this attack, but I'm not certain. What of you Aelan?" Kevin asked her as she left the kids and left the sack she brought that was full of food with the Reverend when the three left the house.
"Easy the Earth Forces have no right to make such a thing to ORB, so I am going." She said then turned to Athrun. "Athrun, the choice is yours, you choose your own fate." She told him.
"Yeah." Athrun nodded grimly, then smiled suddenly, expression turning sly as a thought occurred to him. "By the way, Kevin, is it true what the books say? That you and the princess were -or are- an item?"
Had the blow been with Snake's bionic hand, the slap would probably have been fatal. As it was, it knocked Athrun to the ground. "Is everybody going to ask me that? Dearka, Frank, now you? Athrun, take my advice: don't ask me that again, or I'll blow your head off."
"Right..." the ZAFT pilot replied groggily, climbing back to his feet. "Hey, wait a minute; Dearka?"
Kevin shrugged. "They tell me he was captured in the same battle in which you nearly killed yourself, me, and Kira; the top brass in Alaska never got around to unloading him." He smiled. "Of course, now they think he's dead, and the Archangel, too. Which means they've got some nasty surprises coming: they thought the Archangeland the Strike were gone, and they never knew about my Stormhawk or the Freedom. That'll give us a priceless advantage." He started to climb up into the cockpit, then paused, reached into a pocket, and tossed Athrun a disc. "Take this; it's got the frequency for my implant radio. If you ever need to call me, use that."
Before Athrun could reply, he was in the cockpit as was Aelan in her own, and moments later the Sturm Falke and Red Queen took to the skies and vanished, leaving one confused pilot behind.
"Listen Kevin, once this threat is over, and the threat of you know what is no more, I will be hunting you again." Aelan radioed to him as Kevin smiled.
"I wouldn't have it any other way." He said as the Sturm Falke went faster than the Red Queen back to ORB. "I will meet you there."
No one was aware that Kevin had even returned until he unexpectedly turned up near the brig an hour later.
At that time, Mir was entering Dearka's cell. "Questioning, or transfer?" the POW asked warily.
"The ship is entering battle again," Mir told him. "An Earth Alliance fleet is on its way here. Apparently, you're free to go." She tossed his flight suit in his lap and left the cell.
Dearka followed her out. "Wait a minute! What did you mean by that?"
"Exactly what I told you," she responded, opening the brig hatch and walking out into the corridor. "The Earth Forces will be attacking soon, and there isn't a good reason to keep you onboard anymore. So get off."
"But I want to know why you people decided to fight against the Earth Forces."
"Because Orb refused to join forces with the Earth Alliance."
Dearka stopped in his tracks. "But that's just nuts. Are Naturals really that stupid?"
"Who cares what you think?" Mir said angrily. "Things are gonna get chaotic around here; I'm sorry, but you're on your own."
"Easy for you to say," the pilot muttered. "Hey!" he said suddenly. "What about my Buster?"
"That was ours to begin with! Morgenroete has it now." She couldn't help, however, but to take a certain amount of pity on him. "I'm sorry things turned out... this way."
Dearka caught up with her and grabbed her arm. "Are... are you fighting, too?"
"I'd better be!" Mir replied hotly. "I'm in charge of the Archangel's CIC. Besides," she added in a calmer voice, "Orb is my homeland."
"And mine, too," Kevin agreed, coalescing out of the shadows. "And I'm glad you're taking over CIC, by the way; I imagine I'll be needed in the air." He glanced past Mir. "Hey, Dearka. I see they're setting you loose."
"For whatever good it does me," the ZAFT -or former ZAFT- pilot agreed. "Haven't seen you around much lately, Walker. Busy rubbing elbows with the rich and famous?"
"Busy getting Orb ready for a major war," Snake countered. "And it's Snake, remember? I don't like formalities." He half-smiled. "In point of fact, by the way, most of Orb has no idea I'm even still alive. For the moment, I find it far more convenient to be dead. Besides, I really, really hate the royal treatment I'd get under my true identity."
"Though you wouldn't give up the access it gives you to the princess, right?" Dearka observed with a sly look.
It was all Kevin could do not to throttle the pilot. So instead, gritting his teeth, he reached out with his right arm and lifted Dearka by his collar. "Listen to me, egghead," he said in a harsh whisper, "this arm of mine has sufficient strength to toss you halfway to the Moon. If you persist in badgering me about that, you'll find out firsthand, capisch?"
Dearka swallowed as something suddenly occurred to him: he was no longer a prisoner, which meant Snake was now free to carry out the threat. "Okay, okay," he managed.
Kevin set him down and stepped back, carefully ignoring Mir's snickering. "Good," he said calmly, and turned away; a moment later, though, he turned back. "By the way, Dearka, take this." He handed him a small comm device. "That's preset to my implant radio frequency; if you need me, use it."
As Snake performed his trademark vanishing act, Mir glanced at Dearka, eyebrows raised. "I guess he does like you," she said softly.
"What do you mean?"
"He doesn't give that frequency to just anybody; only those he trusts." She looked back down the corridor, where the super-soldier had disappeared. "Weird..."
So it seemed to Mir, but Dearka found it even weirder to be having a civilized conversation with her. He remembered quite well the time she ripped into him over the super-soldier. It had been during one of his meals...
"I can't be believe how you can even have the nerve to mention that name," Mir snapped, after he made a comment about Kevin Walker. "After everything your people did to him!"
Dearka frowned. "I don't know what you're talking about. I know he was a special ZAFT unit, but-"
"That's exactly what you did to him!" she snapped. "ZAFT's super-soldier program; he's never forgiven them for it, and yet you have the nerve-!"
"Wait a minute," he protested. "The Destroyers were an all-volunteer outfit-"
"Volunteers? Are you out of your mind? You think those scars came from voluntary participation? Kevin was brainwashed an tortured by you people!"
Dearka drew back away from the cell bars. "But- No, it couldn't..."
"It doesn't matter now, anyway," Mir said bitterly. "He died out there, too, in that last attack of yours."
He swallowed. "It... it wasn't me. I was already on the ground-"
"I know," she said, suddenly sounding weary. "But it doesn't change the fact that he's dead, and your people are responsible for everything that happened to him."
Mir left then, and Dearka was left to puzzle over her words. He'd have liked to dismiss them, but even he was starting to wonder about ZAFT's aims...
Dearka brought his mind back to the present. "Well, I guess I'd better be leaving."
Unexpectedly, Mir's expression was softer now. "Good luck, wherever you're going."
He snorted. "You'rethe ones who need luck; you're going to be fighting the Earth Forces, after all." He turned to leave. "If you survive, maybe we'll meet again."
She nodded, with a small smile. "Maybe we will. Besides, Tolle might want to meet you sometime."
On the Archangel's Bridge, Murrue Ramius leaned against the forward viewport, looking absently out at the activity below. We've come so far, she mused. To think, when all this started, I was just a lieutenant on a ship that hadn't even launched yet. Now I'm the Captain, and the ship isn't even with the Earth Forces anymore; yet so many of the crew stayed, anyway.
"You know," Mu La Flaga said, coming up behind her, "the Captain really shouldn't look that depressed. All told, only eleven crew left the ship; that's incredible. JOSHUA must have really riled them up."
Ramius nodded absently. "Commander," she said slowly, "there's something I want to know about JOSHUA. Why'd you return?"
"Huh? Oh, yeah." La Flaga looked at the deck for a moment, then winked. "Your question just made me remember what I'd forgotten to do."
To her surprise, the Strike's pilot suddenly pulled her close and kissed her. She blinked, then relaxed into it; a few moments later, she pulled away. "You... ought to know I really can't stand mobile armor pilots," Ramius said, voice a little rough.
La Flaga smiled. "Well, I guess it's a good thing I'm a mobile suit pilot now." He leaned forward again.
A moment later, the Bridge hatch opened, and Neumann entered, flanked by Chandra and Tonomura. "Excuse me, is anyone up h-" He broke off, and three jaws dropped in shock.
"Payback," observed Snake, who had appeared on the Bridge through unknown means. When Ramius and La Flaga both looked his way, he smiled. "Consider this your comeuppance for badgering me about Cagalli since the desert, Mu."
For his part, he was not in the least surprised. The Snake was a shrewd student of character, a necessity given his endless race against the Grim Reaper; he liked to think he could "read" any human being with just a glance. And in the case of the Captain and the Strike pilot, he'd had far more than a glance. This was something he'd seen coming months earlier.
"Where did you come from?" Ramius demanded.
The smile became a grin. "The eyes of the Snake are always upon you," he intoned. An instant later, he was gone again.
Ramius and La Flaga looked at each other. "I guess we shouldn't be so surprised," the pilot said, resigned. "He only turns up where people don't expect him. I'd love to know how he does it, though."
"Well," the Captain replied with a smile of her own, "if you believe Mr. Murdoch's mechanics, he's a supernatural being. Personally, I wouldn't be too surprised."
The time had finally come. On the fifteenth of June, C.E. 71, the Orb Union's position of neutrality was shattered by the Earth Alliance's attack. What made matters worse for them any other nation, of course, was the fact that they weren't allied with the PLANTs, either. Orb stood alone.
Yet, for all their small size and lack of allies, the Orb military had quite possibly more firepower than both sides combined. In addition to their conventional forces, they had a number of their mass-produced M1 Astrays, which would soon prove to be more than a match for the mass-produced weapons of either side; and they had the Freedom, the Stormhawk, the M2000 Wraith (which might or might not be ready in time), and two weapons the Earth Forces believed to be destroyed: the Archangel and the X105 Strike Gundam. All in all, it was a formidable fighting force. And unkown to them besides Kevin the Red Queen waited under the Mirage Colloid thanks to the Neutron Jammer Canceler giving her the power to be under the colloid for a long time.
On his way back to the Archangel, at 0800 hours, Kevin stopped by the Morgenroete Operations Room, from which the battle would be directed. He had a particular reason for being there: despite her young age, his good friend Cagalli would be in overall command of the battle.
Snake stepped in and saluted. "Morning, Marshall."
"Morning, Kevin, and- What did you just call me?" she demanded.
He raised his eyebrows. "Well, you arein charge of the entire Orb military right now, and that sort of post usually goes to someone higher than a mere General. Since the only rank higher than full general is Field Marshall..."
"You and your historical trivia," Cagalli sighed, shaking her head. "And don't call me that, or I'll have you hung."
"'By the neck until dead'?" Kevin chuckled. "I think Orb uses a firing squad these days, but I guess you've got the authority to have me executed just about any way you please."
"Only if I wanted to have a vengeful ghost coming after me," she rejoined with a smile. "I don't trust you to stay dead, and I suspect you'd haunt me for the rest of my life if you did."
"So how's the tactical situation?" he asked more seriously.
"It could be better," Cagalli admitted. "But it's better than the strategic front. Everyone else in the world has joined forces with one side or the other. We are just lucky Jason gave us the Plans for defending the area."
"Not our problem right now. Earth's pretty hard-pressed right now: after Panama, this is pretty much the only major force they have left.If we can smash this fleet, it'll put a major crimp in their designs on Kaguya." Kevin gripped her shoulder reassuringly. "Hey, tovarisch, remember that we've got the best military technology in the world. We may have lower absolute numbers, but here it's quality, not quantity, that counts. Especially with Kira, Mu, and me up there."
"You're right." She took a deep, calming breath. "So, what are the chances the Wraith will be ready for the battle? I hear you designed a lot of the systems."
"True. The hyper jammers were my brainchild, and so were a few other major components; when this is all over, maybe I'll go into engineering. Or maybe not," he added cheerfully, then went on more seriously. "But I'm afraid the chances of it being up and running by the start of the battle are nil. It's possible it'll be up before the battle is over; the problem isn't in the machine itself, it's that we don't have any trained pilots. Every mobile suit pilot we have, besides the Archangel's complement, is assigned to the Astrays; we can't spare any from there because, however good the Wraith is supposed to be, the M1 is a proven design that works. This, unfortunately, isn't a time for risks, however calculated."
Cagalli scratched her head. "What about Tolle? I heard he's conscious..."
"He is," Kevin conceded, "and I talked to him about an hour ago. He's raring to go, but I honestly don't think he's ready. Not when he's just been conscious a few days, after being out for a month and a half."
"Mobile suit piloting is pretty stressful, but it's not exactly physically demanding," she pointed out. "I mean, sure, under normal circumstances I wouldn't be suggesting it either. But if there's a chance he could help, in the situation we're in..."
Snake sighed. "I know. But Tolle nearly got himself killed last time -something which he blamed Jason for, by the way, until he heard the story from Mir- and Mir doesn't want him risking himself like that. But I suppose it ishis decision." He shrugged. "Even so, there's no way he'll be ready in the next hour. I give at least until half an hour into the battle before we can possibly expect Wraith to be up."
"Guess you're right. By the way," Cagalli added with a grin, "if you're still dead-set against politics, you might not want to stick around after the war."
"And why," he asked suspiciously, "might that be?"
"There's talk of making you the next DCI," she said simply.
Kevin blinked (the strongest reaction of surprise he'd usually allow himself). "Director of Central Intelligence? Me? Over my dead body! Besides, Frank's the super-spy, not me. No, there's not a chance in the world I'll allow that."
"Figured you'd say that." Cagalli looked at the tactical displays. "You'd better get going," she said more seriously. "You don't want to be late for this battle."
"Da," he agreed, and turned to leave.
"Be careful, okay?" she called after him.
Snake waved a hand. "Da, tovarisch. Aren't I always? And Besides, we have another Ally out there that doesn't like to see death of the innocent" He said leaving.
The battle began without Orb's newest weapons. The first line of defense was, instead, the numerous Astrays Orb had built, and Kira Yamato had programmed; in the lead were the four test pilots: Asagi Caldwell, Juri Wu Nien, and Mayura Labatt and Garret Nexus with his own customized M1 which was pure white and had a IWSP pack and its own Phase Shift Generator. (Aka the IWSP Striker pack). They were green, but so were the Earth Alliance mobile suit pilots; only the 13th Autonomous Corps had seen combat, and they had been wiped out at Panama. Which meant the first stage of the battle came down to which was a better machine, and Erica Simmons' weapons had gone through a far longer development cycle than the rush-job GAT-01 Strike Daggers and with Garret as one of the leaders of the squads, the Earth Forces will have one hell of a time.
So the land battle was first left to the M1s; at the same time, Orb's Aegis ships set sail, followed closely by the Archangel. Here the experience was about even for both sides... but once again, Orb's technology, with the help of a former Earth Alliance ship whose computers were the brainchildren of one Kevin Walker, held the advantage.
To this point, the Earth Forces' only advantage was in pure numbers.
"It's time," Muruta Azrael, who had come in person aboard a Powell-class carrier, ordered; and the missiles began to take flight.
Immediately, the Orb forces began shooting them down; Aegis ships were designed for that sort of work, and the Archangel's weapons worked admirably in that regard, as well. And with the M1's doing some as well they were destroying several of the Missiles.
"Target the ship's Gottfrieds," Ramius ordered from Archangel's Bridge. "Fire!"
The enormous anti-ship cannons blasted many a missile out of the sky with a single shot, and the Igelstellungs added their computer-directed firepower to the melee.
Round One went to Orb.
Round Two began very shortly, as the Powellsopened their modified flanks to deploy the Daggers. This did not go unnoticed. "Juri!" Mayura warned. "The Earth Forces are deploying their mobile suits!"
In the Operations Room, Cagalli was receiving similar reports. "Enemy mobile suits have landed on the Izanagi shoreline!"
"Dispatch the 8th Armored Battalion to hold them off," she ordered.
"Large carriers detected above Onogoro Island."
"What?" Cagalli looked down at the display. "All right. Signal the Archangel to deploy mobile suits immediately."
"Yes, Ma'am."
"Signal from HQ," Mir reported; with Kuzzey gone, she'd taken over the communications station, with Sai at fire control and Romero Pal now down in CIC. "We're to launch mobile suits at once."
"Very well." Ramius punched up her intercom. "Hanger, prepare mobile suits for launch."
"Good," Kevin replied. "Ready when you are."
Kira was the first into the catapults. "Kira Yamato; Freedom, let's do it!" The linear accelerator spat the Freedom Gundam out the port flight deck, and the starboard warmed up.
"Strike, go ahead!" Mir said from the Bridge.
La Flaga sealed his visor, feeling downright eager to go into battle. For the first time, he could actually do something significant against mobile suits. "Mu La Flaga, launching in Strike!"
Snake was the last into the catapults, his Stormhawk practically humming with power. Erica Simmons had made the machine more powerful than ever, and he looked forward to getting some of his own back from the Earth Forces bastards who had tried to incinerate him at JOSHUA. Besides which, he'd just heard Muruta Azrael was here in person; that was an opportunity that could not be passed up.
"Snake here. Stormhawk launching!"
On the lead Earth Forces carrier, three special pilots were getting ready for launch, imbibing a special drug and climbing into their new, untested mobile suits. Reckless bookworm Orga Sabnak in the GAT-X131 Calamity, antisocial music-lover Shani Andras piloting X252 Forbidden, and hotheaded video game-player Clotho Buer flying X370 Raider.
"Say, boys..." Azrael began as they readied for launch.
"What?" Orga demanded.
"Huh?" Shani grunted.
"Yeah," Clotho said warily.
"It's extremely important that you not damage Morgenroete or the mass driver," their boss told them. "Do you understand?"
"But we can do anything else we want to, right?" Shani said hopefully.
"Oh, yeah," Clotho said, satisfied.
"Why don't you guys just shut up," their theoretical leader, Orga, said impatiently.
The carrier's side hatches opened, and the Forbidden flew out, followed closely by the Raider; a second later, the Calamity (incapable of independent flight) landed atop the Raider. The trio were a formidable team.
Or would have been, if they fought as a team.
Kevin might have thought the situation "good" beforelaunching, but once in the air he was not so sure. On the other hand, he thought with a tight grin, at least he was flying one of the most advanced mobile suits in existence, with powerful ranged weapons and melee weapons fit to slice almost anything in half.
He was not, however, using the Zero System. It took a lot to scare the Snake, but having his brain nearly fried when the system was damaged managed it quite nicely. He absolutely refused to use it if he could possibly avoid it.
Of course, with all these targets, that might be a difficult resolution to stick to.
I think some would call this being surrounded, Snake thought to himself. I, on the other hand, prefer to think of it as a "target-rich environment".
Things weren't going so well for the Astrays; there were simply too many targets. But the three test pilots were holding their own... mostly. Juri was being pressed backwards into a cliff by a persistent Dagger... until Mayura showed up, firing her beam rifle. "Back off!"
Not far away, Asagi was driven backwards by another determined enemy, her shield the only thing between her and a nasty beam saber. "Mayura!" she called desperately.
The help came not from her fellow Astray pilot, however; instead, the Freedom came down from the sky. Kira's face was quite expressionless as his targeting computer locked onto the various Daggers in the area and allocated the Freedom's firepower accordingly. Balaena plasma cannons, Xiphias railguns, and Lupus beam rifle all opened up at once, destroying or disarming all but two of the directly opposing foes.
And the two survivors found out why you do not irritate Kira Yamato. He stowed his beam rifle, let go of his shield, and whipped out both Lacertas; with a pair of flashing blows, he cut off their weapons arms and legs, leaving them to drop uselessly to the dirt. Without a wasted second, he then snatched up his shield and was back in the skies.
"Awesome!" Asagi whispered.
Another Dagger exploded, victim of a beam straight through the cockpit, and the rebuilt Strike landed in a crouch where the enemy had been. "Wow, this is pretty cool," La Flaga muttered cheerfully. "Though I'm still kinda new at this."
"Could've fooled me, Mu," Snake told him, materializing nearby. He, too, was a force to be reckoned with, despite his earlier difficulties with mobile suit warfare.
This time, when a Dagger tried for him, he reacted quite well: Stormhawk's right shoulder compartment opened up, his hand snatched out the beam saber stowed within, and he slashed the mass-produced piece of junk in half.
"Not bad, Snake," Mu judged. "Better than last time, huh?"
"Last time, I got swarmed by about twenty ZAFT machines," Snake retorted. "These Daggers are better, to be sure, but I don't have as many coming at me at once." On the heels of the remark, a fighter attempted to attack him; his reply was to pull out his twin buster rifle, switch it to the new mode Erica had installed (which allowed him to fire it in a simple double-beam mode, rather than an overpowering blast that wiped out everything for a kilometer or so), and point it almost straight up. At the proper moment, he pulled the trigger.
Zap. No more fighter.
"Glad to see you, Baron," Asagi called.
"For the last time," Snake replied, taking to the air, "don't call me Baron!" His shoulder-mounted machine guns popped up, and he blew another fighter into oblivion.
"Look out!" Kira warned from out over the water. "Three new machines, twelve o'clock."
"Don't we ever get a day off?" Snake complained to Mu. As Garret jumped into the air and combined his anti ship swords into a double blade and sliced a dagger into three pieces each of the exploding.
"Not in War!" Garret called as he opened fire his Gatling guns at the Dagger's as they did not have PS armor.
"No rest for the wicked, Snake," the Hawk replied with a chuckle. "Let's get 'em."
"Roger that."
Raider, with Calamity aboard, swooped in on the Archangel. "That white one," Clotho muttered, obviously not realizing what it was, "it's mine!"
It was actually the Calamity that opened fire, however; unfortunately for him, Archangel saw it coming. "Incoming heat source!" Sai called.
"Evade!" Ramius ordered instantly, and the ship swerved to the side... which, regrettably, resulted in an Aegis ship getting blasted.
"Figures," Clotho muttered to his nominal superior. "You missed it!"
Raider tipped to the side, dropping its passenger onto one of the islands, then resumed its attack on the Archangel. "Annihilate!" he shouted, using one of his patented video game-inspired battle cries.
Freedom, however, took a dim view of his attempt to smash his mace-like spherical breaker through the ship's forward viewport, and kicked him in the head.
Clotho dropped like a sack of bricks, and Shani took up the challenge, taking a swipe at Kira with his scythe. Unluckily for him, the Coordinator dodged with absurd ease, and the Forbidden took off to find easier prey.
With a laugh, the green-haired pilot sliced an Aegis ship's superstructure in half before the Freedom could get close, and then the Raider emerged from the water. "Surprise! You're terminated!" He flung the Mjollnir ball 'n chain at the winged mobile suit, narrowly missing.
The attack did not go unnoticed. "Terminate this," Snake radioed to the other pilot, and blasted him in the back. The energy fire wasn't quite sufficient to "terminate" him, but it temporarily knocked him out of the fight.
Round Two was, so far, a draw.
On the ground, well away from the main battle, Dearka Elsman stood watching, as he had since the battle began. Now what? I can't exactly get out of here like this.
He glanced up, and saw that the Calamity was still where he had last seen it, all too close for comfort. Must be the successor to my Buster... And it's blowing up a country just because they wanted to mind their own business!
Mir's words went through his head again. "I'd better be! I'm in charge of the Archangel's CIC. Besides... Orb is my homeland."
I have got to be crazy,Dearka thought, even as he turned to run toward the Morgenroete factory. Without stopping, he pulled out the radio Snake had given him, and turned it on. Just as a mobile suit turned into existance running at the Calamity as it turned into its true form. "OH no you don't!" Aelan called on the inside and rammed into the Calamity.
Snake had just blown up another of the seemingly endless cannon-fodder mobile suits when he felt the distinctive click in his head. "Walker here," he subvocalized, maneuvering against another fighter.
"Snake!" Dearka said quickly. "I need to ask you something."
"Dearka? Look, I'm a little busy right now-"
"Just tell me where the Buster is, okay?"
"What?" Snake hit the hyper jammers, giving himself a moment to think. "What makes you think I'll tell you?"
"Look, do you want some help or not?" Dearka said, exasperated. "You can always blow me up later."
"True." The super-solider thought fast. "Okay. It's in the main hanger, next to the big bat-like thing. It's password-protected; the code is 'the Holy Hand Grenade of Antioch'. Got that?"
"Yeah, yeah, I got it. Let me guess: you set the password."
"Da. Now get going, before I change my mind."
"Oh and who is piloting the red Mobile suit?" Dearka questioned heading to the factory.
"That Dearka, will be your commander Aelan." Kevin told him as the Red Queen was lashing at the Calamity with its beam sabres.
While Snake was having his conversation with Dearka, Kira was tangling with the Forbidden again. After dodging a pair of railgun shots, he flipped over, deployed his plasma cannons, and fired... to absolutely no effect. The beams were bent by some kind of shield technology.
"Deflected... the beams?" Kira muttered, incredulous.
"Deflected, eh?" Snake switched his twin buster rifle to full power, tight beam. "Deflect this!"
The powerful azure beam, too strong to be deflected by the anti-beam Colloid the Forbidden mounted, was seen by Muruta Azrael. The industrialist/ head of Blue Cosmos frowned. The pilot's technique seemed familiar...
The Archangelwas, for once, being left alone by the main forces; at the moment, it was merely being attacked by a squadron of missile-armed fighter craft.
The Igelstellungs handled the missiles, but the aircraft themselves escaped... until a green beam came out of nowhere to smite part of the formation from the skies.
"What the-" Ramius craned her neck, wondering what had fired the shot.
Sai looked at his displays in complete shock. "The Buster!"
The Captain's head snapped around, and Mir gasped audibly. For indeed, standing knee-deep in the harbor was the Buster, both rifles leveled at the fighter squadron. Looking nice and shiny after its recent refit, it fired its shoulder-mounted missile launchers, then obliterated the stragglers with his beam rifle."Archangel, fall back, quickly!"
Mir couldn't take her eyes off the display, she was so stunned. "But why... is he...?"
Circling above in mobile armor mode, Stormhawk waggled its wings at the Buster. "Nice one, Dearka, thanks for the assist."
"Thank me later; I'm still not sure what on earth I'm doing." Dearka snapped off another shot. "By the way, Snake, there wasn't any other mobile suit in the hanger; it must have taken off already."
"What?"
At that moment, a batwinged mobile suit appeared out of thin air and cleaved a Dagger in half with its mighty beam scythe. "Hey, guys," Tolle said cheerfully, appearing in hologram form in Snake's cockpit. "Need some help?"
First things first, Snake told himself with a deep, calming breath. "Tolle, ignore the Buster and the Red Machine that is handling the Blue machine down below; They are on our side here. Now, just what the blazes are you doing out here? You're not ready."
Another, female voice broke in with a sigh. "I keep telling him that myself, Baron. Or is it Lieutenant? This dunce couldn't make up his mind."
Okay, just kill me now. Taking firm control of his emotions, Snake spoke into his radio. "Who is this?"
"Mobile suit operational-assistance Application eXperimental," Tolle said with a grimace. "Your pal Simmons' latest brainstorm."
"Call me Max," the voice said cheerfully. "I'm Wraith's battle computer; Erica with the help of Garret created me in part to help this reckless idiot keep himself alive while he learned the ropes. Of course," the computer sniffed, "it'd help if he actually took my advice."
"Like I need a keeper," Tolle protested.
"Well, you do, at least until you learn you shouldn't take mobile armors into battle with G-machines. So, to repeat my first question, do I call you Baron or Lieutenant?"
"Actually, I settle for Snake," Snake said, fighting a sense of the unreal. "I'm not in the military anymore, and I hate being a nobleman... as Tolle well knows."
"Well, why didn't you say so, idiot?" Max demanded of Tolle. "Instead of getting all-"
The super-soldier switched frequencies. Man, he thought. It's a good thing she's a computer, or Mir would pitch a fit!
It occurred to him then that perhaps he ought to call the Archangel and inform them that Tolle was in the air. "Archangel," Snake radioed, "this is Snake. Mir, you ought to know that Tolle is airborne."
"What? Is he crazy? He's only been able to walk since yesterday!" Mir protested. "He'll get himself killed!"
"Uh, possibly not," he replied with a chuckle. "I think Erica shared your opinion of Tolle's brains, so she gave the mobile suit he's flying -the new M2000- a self-aware battle computer. If you hear him arguing with a woman, it's actually Max, his AI. And she seems pretty determined to keep him in one piece."
"She'd better be," she muttered. "Though if she's that protective, I ought to meet her... or however it is you get acquainted with a computer."
"Right." Snake had the unpleasant feeling the Mir and Max were going to get along like a house on fire, given their mutual interest in keeping Tolle alive and the fact that since one of them was a computer, jealousy was not a factor. "Anyway, I've got a battle to fight."
During this time, Aelan had bashed the Calamity into the water as it fired its shoulder cannons at her. She activated her Lightwave Shield to block the attack completely then turned and fired her own shoulder cannons at two incoming daggers blowing them out of the sky.
Meanwhile, Tolle was jockeying the Wraith around, actually half-ways enjoying the battle. It was his first time flying a mobile suit in combat, and even with his overprotective AI, it was an exhilarating experience. Better than flying a Skygrasper, that's for sure... and maybe this time, I won't be knocked down by friendly fire.
He remembered when he'd first awakened from his coma, and winced; he'd said a few things he really shouldn't have. On the other hand, at least he'd been alive to say them.
Tolle slowly pulled himself out of the darkness to full consciousness, thinking muzzily that if he wasn't dead, he wished he was.
"Mir, he's waking up," a familiar voice said. "Tolle, can you hear me?"
"Snake?" Tolle slowly opened his eyes. "What happened?" He seemed to be in some kind of hospital room; he couldn't tell where, except that it wasn't the Archangel's Infirmary. "Where am I?"
"You're in an Orb military hospital," Mir told him; then she broke down, holding Tolle's hand and crying.
"Hey," he said drowsily, "it's okay, Mir, really. I'm fine." He looked over at Snake, who leaned against a wall; his arm looked a little odd, though Tolle was too sleepy to understand why. "What happened, Snake? I can't quite remember..."
The super-soldier cleared his throat. "The Aegis threw its shield at you, in the Marshall Islands, while you were flying a Skygrasper. Jason managed to intercept it with his machine, but-"
"That's right," Tolle said, suddenly awake and angry. "He nearly killed me!"
"Tolle!" Mir protested.
"He saved your life, old friend, in case you didn't notice," Kevin pointed out coolly. "He may have knocked you out of the sky, but at least you had time to eject. Unlike him he did survive however"
Tolle's anger deflated; besides, he was too tired. "You're right, Snake. Sorry."
"Forget it." Snake smiled. "At least you're alive, my friend."
And now, Tolle thought, I don't have to worry about kinetic weapons. Which means maybe I wouldn't give Mir heart failure again. His mood darkened. Besides, this blasted computer won't let me.
"Hey, Snake," Tolle called suddenly over the Stormhawk's radio, "there's-"
"Something else out here," Max broke in. "I'm reading increased nuclear fission levels, and that means-"
"Two things equipped with a nuclear engine and an N-jammer canceler," Tolle finished. His image glared at something off-screen. "And shouldn't I be the one doing the talking?"
"Hey, you're busy doing the fighting," the computer said defensively. "I thought I'd save you the trouble. Besides, distractions in combat can be fatal."
Snake hung his head and moaned as the pilot and his AI bickered. Oh, man. And I thought it was bad when Kira and Cagalli used to argue. This... this... Ugh.
"Back to the original point," Max said finally, "the only mobile suits I know of with N-jammer cancellers are Stormhawk, Freedom, and me. And since I'm the only Orb machine with it, and ZAFT is the only other group who knows how to build them..."
"Yeah." Athrun, Snake thought. "Okay, Max, keep an eye out. Not you, Tolle. Concentrate on getting out alive. And one of them is that Red Machine down below I believe."
"Yeah, whatever," Tolle said glumly. He glared at the computer's speaker. "How come you obey his orders, huh?"
"Because it so happens he came up with most of the principles behind my simulated cerebral cortex," Max replied sweetly. "And besides, you do need a keeper."
Snake shut off his radio link with the Wraith. Trouble. Definitely trouble. Erica, if you'd set her on me I'd have had you shot.
Things were coming to a head, as the Freedom and the Red Queen madly dodged blasts coming from all three new Gundams. Finally, though, he took a hit on his shield from the Forbidden's scythe, and Kira fell back a pace. In the interval it took him to recover, the Raider powered up its head-mounted short-range hyper-impulse cannon. "Game over," Clotho whispered, and fired.
At the last instant, another red machine interposed itself and its shield between the beam and the Freedom, then raised its beam rifle and fired, catching the Raider in the shoulder. As the Red Queen fired at the Calamity with her beam machine guns.
The three pilots stared at the machine in shock, as did Kira and Snake, Aelan inside the Red Queen just smiled... as the Justice and Athrun Zala floated protectively in front of the friend he had tried time and time again to kill. "Its about time Athrun." Aelan said in radio silence.