Chapter 27: The two Ships get together
The MBF-M1000 Sturm Falke exited the Earth's atmosphere like a great bird of prey, wings extended in mobile armor mode and face hidden by the "beak" of its shield.
Kevin Walker, alias the Snake, commanded his powerful machine to return to its usual, equally-menacing mobile suit form, even as he guided it toward the waiting carriers above: Archangel and Kusanagi. While he saw the M1's guiding and llinking the Kusanagi's separate components, he keyed his radio and opened a link with the Archangel. "Snake to Archangel, do you read me?"
Murrue Ramius' face instantly appeared in his cockpit, within a holographic screen produced by the machine's highly advanced communications system. "Loud and clear, Snake. It's a relief to see you; we were starting to think you'd gone and blown yourself up down there. What about the Red Queen she leave in time?" She asked as Kevin nodded.
Kevin managed a smile. "Sorry, not today. But I felt obligated to make those bastards feel it." Then he answered her other question. "Yeah, Aelan went and rejoined ZAFT, at least now I know, she is working for us in a way. And her rivalry with me is the perfect cover." Kevin told her as she nodded.
"I'm sure,"Ramius said softly, an understanding look on her face. Many thought that the Snake cared little for anything but his own survival, but those who had fought by his side knew differently, knew the pain he must be feeling now that his homeland had been conquered by the Earth Alliance. "Are you coming aboard, Snake?"
He shook his head. "Not yet. I... need to be on the Kusanagi right now."
She nodded. "I understand. Do what you have to do, Kevin." Everyone on the Archangelknew by now that Kevin Walker had in fact been born Kevin Onishi, Baron of one of Orb's five noble families, and a close friend of the princess Cagalli Yula Athha; as she had just lost her father as well as her homeland, it was to be expected that he would want to be by her side.
"I'll rendezvous with you later, Murrue." Kevin switched frequencies. "Kira, Athrun, you guys read me?"
"Right here, Snake," Kira replied, his Freedom settling into formation on Stormhawk's right. Then the Garret's Custom M1 floated above them.
"Me, too," Athrun added, Justice moving to Snake's left. "Quite the thermal signatures we picked up there," he went on. "Just what did you do?"
"Blew up everything within reach," Kevin said simply. "Wanted to take Azrael, too, but I couldn't take the risk." His eyes narrowed dangerously, turning to jade ice. "One day, Muruta Azrael will pay. But first, I have a friend to see to." He told them as Garret calmed in.
"What of Aelan?" Garret asked wanting to get with her to talk about his brother.
"Aelan is fine as far as I know until Patrick finds out what she has been up to." Kevin told him. "But I doubt that most of ZAFT can face a destroyer like her. His features softened. "Any word on how Cagalli's doing?"
Kira shook his head. "Not yet. I guess we'll just have to see for ourselves." As he spoke, the three mobile suits floated into the Kusanagi's hanger as Garret left to do some patroling.
Meanwhile, Mir had finally found the time to berate Tolle for his -in her opinion- reckless actions.
"Were you out of your mind?" she demanded of him, in the Archangel's crew quarters. "You could have been killed! You'd never even flown a mobile suit before, you-!"
"Hey, hey," Tolle said, hands raised, trying to placate her. "It wasn't that dangerous, Mir; Wraith has the new PSA, cloaking, and deflectors. I was perfectly-"
"Don't say you were safe!" she yelled, shoving him against the wall. "Phase-shift doesn't do anything against energy weapons, and you know it! That was very dangerous!"
"She's right, you know," a wall speaker said. "It was bad enough when you took that Skygrasper against the Aegis; at least you'd flown in a simulator before. What you did out there was completely insane."
"Keep out of this, Max," Tolle said sullenly. "You're not helping."
"Wasn't trying to," the AI said cheerfully.
That broke the tension. "You're really... okay?" Mir whispered. "I don't want to lose you again."
He smiled. "I'll be fine, Mir. Besides, the battles are over for now, right? Let's just relax for now; let the officers figure out what to do next." He pulled her into an embrace.
Max the computer discretely withdrew her electronic essence from the compartment, and went looking for other kinds of trouble. Hmm... the AI thought, scarcely noticing how human-like her thought processes were (though they were, of course, much faster). Methinks I should jack into the Kusanagi, see how Snake and his girlfriend are doing. She snickered to herself. Of course, if I called her that, Snake would erase me. But it's true, isn't? No matter what they might pretend to each other... and themselves.
Then her flawless memory recalled the recent death of Uzumi Nara Athha, and the conquest of Orb. I'm betting neither of 'em is feeling too great just now, she thought soberly. Definitely better go check on them.
Manipulating other computers with ease, Max hacked into the Archangel's radio and hardrive and made a copy of herself just in case. And then plugged herself into Kusanagi's computer network.
After leaving their mobile suits behind in the hanger, the three pilots took the time to change out of their flight suits; Kira into his usual blue uniform, Athrun into a Morgenroete outfit, and Kevin into an anachronistic ensemble that he had not worn in some years. Black boots, trousers, shirt, scaled gloves, and tunic, with a black cloak lined with crimson, clasped on the left side of his chest with a pin in the shape of a crimson dragon rampant; his old rapier, with black scabbard, completed the outfit.
While Kevin walked alongside them, Athrun glanced curiously at him. "What's with the noble costume, Kevin? I thought..."
Snake quirked his mouth. "I'm through hiding from the past, Athrun. It's time I wore my proper colors again. Besides, it just wouldn't do for me not to uphold the Onishi tradition of being very strange; not that I intend to make a habit of wearing it." Evidently the clothing was a private joke; it lightened their moods for a moment, before the reality of recent events came crashing down on them once more as they reached a certain hatch.
One of those recent events, of course, was Kevin's last assault on the Atlantic Federation fleet. Kira and Athrun might have been a little disturbed by it -after all, they were trying to stopwholesale massacres- but Kira had seen, through their psychic link, the final moments; and Athrun knew Kevin well enough to know how he must have been feeling just then.
At last, Kira pressed an intercom button next to the hatch controls. "Cagalli?" There was no answer, so he opened the hatch and entered anyway.
Cagalli was seated on her bunk, still in uniform; tears were in her eyes, and she did not look up as Kira and Kevin entered (Athrun coming only as far as the hatch behind them, watching silently).
"Cagalli..." Kira said again; and this time she took note of it. She looked up at him silently, then pushed off toward him, burying her face in his chest as she sobbed.
Not knowing what to say, Kira simply put an arm around her, his other hand lightly stroking her hair. As he did so, Kevin stood impassively nearby, inwardly swearing viciously at himself. Solkin syn! I should have been able to do something! Designed from birth to be a soldier, there ought to have been a way to prevent this! Instead, I can do nothing but stand here, watching the one person who means everything to me go through this!
He was not accustomed to feeling helpless (indeed, he was far more accustomed to simply shooting at problems until they Went Away), and it was made far worse by the fact that this girl was not merely his best friend, the friend he'd known all his life. No, Cagalli Yula Athha was also the girl Kevin Walker cared for more than anything, even his huge collection of old day guns, though he had only ever admitted that to one person. He would never admit it to her, never act on it, because he had long ago learned the painful lessons of what happened to those whom he allowed that close; but he had sworn, to Lord Uzumi Nara Athha and, long ago, himself, that he would protect her... but this was something he could not affect.
Kevin knew it was irrational, but he blamed himself, and hated himself for it. That Cagalli herself would have berated him for it never even entered his head. He knew only that she was in pain, and he was helpless to do anything about it.
He did not realize Cagalli's closest friend's presence was enough.
Elsewhere aboard the Orb carrier, Ramius and La Flaga had arrived and were following Ledonir Kisaka, Kusanagi's CO and, at least formerly, Cagalli's bodyguard, And the head pilot of the M1 core toward the ship's Bridge.
"I see," La Flaga said appreciatively, drifting down the corridor. "The ship consists of five sections, and the crew travels between them via the central area. Very efficient."
"Yeah it's designed in my view for quick access to the weapons needed for battle." Garret mentioned as Kisaka just shrugged.
"The Kusanagiwas originally used to maintain contact with Heliopolis. It's fairly well-armed, and I suppose it's a capable enough mobile suit transport, but it's nowhere near Archangel's league."
They came through a hatch onto the Bridge, and Ramius raised her eyebrows; it looked very familiar. "This is just like the Archangel's."
Kisaka halted next to the fire control/ communications stations. "Or more accurately, the Archangel's is just like this," he said with a smile, reminding them that the Izumo-class came first. "After all, they were both built by Morgenroete." He looked down at one of the stations toward the starboard bow. "Can you bring me up a map of this region of space?."
"Coming right up," the woman in the Morgenroete uniform answered.
La Flaga raised an eyebrow. "Chief Erica Simmons; fancy meeting you here."
"Nice to see you too, Commander," Simmons replied with a smile. "You're using M1s in the unfamiliar environment of space. How would you guys ever manage without me?" She tapped keys, bringing up the desired map.
"What am I Erica, Chopped liver?" He asked her as she laughed at what he said. As the map was brought up.
Kisaka turned to the display. "As you can see, Artemis is at L3, while the PLANTs are at L5..."
Deeper in the ship, Cagalli floated in a curtained-off alcove, drying her face with a towel. As she did so, she noticed the photograph her father had given her drifting past, and she caught it, examining again the mysteries Uzumi had left her with. A photo of a woman holding two babies, one brown-haired, the other blonde and another four year old boy... and on the reverse, the names 'Kira, Cagalli and Jason my angels' written on the back. "I still can't belive he is my brother as well." Cagalli thought to herself.
"Cagalli? Are you okay?" Kira called softly.
"Yeah; I'll be right there." She tucked the photo into a pocket and drew the curtain open; outside, the three pilots waited for her. Cagalli quickly took note of Kevin's non-expression as he stood near the hatch, and she frowned inwardly. Even Kira and Athrun were unable to read Snake when he was in that kind of mood, but she could, and she could tell he was blaming himself for the events in Orb.
I'll have to talk to him about that, the idiot, she thought fondly; as always, her old friend's presence cheered her for some obscure reason.
Kevin, for his part, was unsure of what to say. He'd never been in the position of speaking with someone who'd just lost her father, except for Flay Allster... whom he'd threatened to kill more than once. So he simply settled for, "Hi, tovarisch."
Cagalli took a deep breath, and managed a small smile. "Hi, Kevin." She turned to the hatch. "I guess we'd better go to the Bridge."
"I suggest we set course for the L4 colonies," Kisaka said, indicating them on the display.
"L4?" La Flaga repeated.
"Neither the Archangel nor the Kusanagiwill need to worry about supplies for awhile, but it won't last forever," the bigger man pointed out. "Water in particular will start to be a problem fairly soon. The colonies were damaged and abandoned soon after the war began, but they'll serve admirably for water supplies."
"That sounds good to me Commander." Garret said as he was studying the information on a laptop on the Mendel Colony. For someone who wasn't agumented his hacking skills were top notch.
"That sounds awfully familiar," Ramius said, remembering the last time they'd gone scavenging for supplies.
"Don't worry," La Flaga said reassuringly. "This is different from Junius Seven."
As they were speaking, Kira, Athrun, and Cagalli had entered, Kevin behind them... still wearing anachronistic clothing.
The sight was just strange enough to get La Flaga's attention. "Snake, have you turned into a vampire or something?" That caused Garret to laugh a little bit seeing Kevin in that get up for the first time even though he learned who Kevin once was.
Kevin glanced at him curiously. "No, Mu," he said, seemingly puzzled.
"Then why are you dressed like one?" La Flaga asked with exaggerated patience.
"Habit, Mu," he replied. "I could never let people get a real fix on how I normally behaved, lest they notice a pattern and track me down."
"Besides," Kira put in, "he wouldn't let us down and actually act normal, now would he?"
"He's got a point there," Athrun agreed. The former ZAFT pilot then took a closer look at the space map. "You know," he began, "I'm pretty sure some of the colonies at L4 are still viable." When all eyes turned to him, he shrugged. "ZAFT investigated the area after receiving reports of a suspicious group holed up there. This was quite a long time ago, but while no one really lives there anymore, there should still be functioning facilities on some of the colonies."
"That sounds perfect for us," Kira said after a moment's consideration.
"Yes..." La Flaga said slowly, voice ambivalent. The reason became clear when he turned to look directly at Athrun. "But there's one question: are youokay with this?" His blue eyes narrowed. "And this question's not just for you; it's also for that other guy from ZAFT, as well."
"Commander?" Ramius inquired, wondering where this was going.
"I saw how you fought in Orb, and your actions speak for themselves," the pilot granted. "But I can't help noticing the uniforms you're still wearing."
Kevin cocked his head and looked from Athrun's Morgenroete outfit to La Flaga's Earth Forces uniform. "Excuse me, Mu," he interjected smoothly. "Correct me if I'm wrong, but that doesn't look like a ZAFT uniform to me." The Hawk began to speak, but he continued, "And is that or is that not an Earth Forces uniform you're wearing?" The older man closed his mouth, a grudging look on his face, and Snake smiled slightly. "Pot, kettle, black?"
"I'll grant you that," La Flaga acknowledged finally. "But still, depending on how things turn out there's a good chance we'll end up fighting against ZAFT forces. It won't be like Orb at all." His eyes locked on Athrun's. "Are you ready? Really ready? After all, you are Patrick Zala's son, right? Heck I don't even trust Aelan because she is Rau's daughter."
"Adopted Daughter." Garret blurted out. "Listen I know Aelan better then any one of you, and she cares for life more than her own. And if anyone hurts her or someone close to her, she will hunt the person down and slaughter him or her." Garret told him. "Trust me, my father and her father were close friends and made our families rather close." Garret said as everyone looked at each other. "Especially when Chris became friends with a what was her name?" Garret explained. "Oh nevermind, when Chris met her, that was when our families were together non stop. I just realized she was part of the experiments dad was doing to my brother."
"What about you were you experimented on?" Mwu asked as Garret shrugged.
"No clue, but I will say this, Aelan doesn't go back on her word." He told Mwu in a determined voice.
"Alright Garret, but what about you Mr. Zala?" Mwu asked.
"What does it matter to youwhose son he is?" Cagalli snapped; Snake, curiously, was silent; possibly because he understood the matter better than his friend did. "Athrun is his-"
"For a soldier to desert his army is a much more serious matter than you seem to think," La Flaga told her harshly. "Unlike Kira, he's a regular member of the ZAFT military! You have to believe in your nation's cause in order to fight for it, and it's much more complicated when you turn that belief on its head. Now imagine if your father were the leader of that nation." His jaw set, and he stared right at Athrun. "I hate to force the issue, but can I count on you if we fight together? Well? Can I?"
There was silence on the Bridge for a time, and then Athrun began to speak, trying to put his thoughts into words. "When I was in Orb," he began slowly, "no, even before that, in the PLANTs and on Earth, I thought about a lot things, like what it is right and what is wrong, what am I understanding, and what am I not. I don't have the answers to these basic questions yet... but I can already tell that all of you have the same hopes for this world that I do." He met La Flaga's eyes levelly. "And that's what I'm feeling right now."
La Flaga turned his gaze toward Snake's impassive visage. "And what do you think, oh professional paranoid?"
Kevin let him wait a moment, then said one word. "Tovarisch."
Kisaka looked blank for a moment (he hadn't known the super-soldier anywhere near as long as the rest of them) Garret on the other hand studied Russian back on Junius 7, and Kira hastened to explain. "That's what he calls those he trusts the most."
La Flaga smiled and looked back at Athrun. "You sound like a pretty determined fellow; nothing like our Kira here."
Kira looked startled for a moment, then looked back at Athrun with a smile of his own. "Since we were little."
"You know, it's a huge responsibility Orb has entrusted us with," Mu said thoughtfully.
"Yes, it is," Ramius agreed.
"And we're only two ships; honestly, our task may be impossible." He looked at Athrun again. "And you're still okay with this?"
Kira was the one who replied. "A strong light may be small, but it won't go out. We have faith."
There was general agreement on that; and Athrun looked thoughtful. "You know, there are those in the PLANTs who feel the same way."
"Lacus?" Kira guessed.
"Yeah."
"That singer," La Flaga mused. "The pink princess."
"She's Athrun's fiancé," Kira commented; the news surprised Cagalli, who hadn't heard it before.
"They're hunting for her right now," Athrun said moodily. "She was declared a traitor... by my father."
"Hope she's okay," Mu said sympathetically.
"I wouldn't worry that much, she has two special body guards protecting her. And in a way you all know the two of them. But all I can say is that Jason Hibiki is one of them." Athrun told everyone as Cagalli looked in shock.
"So my brother is still alive." Cagalli thought to herself.
Then a memory, half-forgotten, came to mind to Mwu. "Hey, Snake, there's something I've always wondered about. You said you'd known that girl longer even than you'd known Kira, but you didn't say exactly how."
"Yeah," Cagalli concurred. "You said you were staying with the Clynes when your parents died, but that was before Siegel Clyne was elected Chairman. So why them?"
As she spoke, the hatch opened again to admit Frank Castile, Kevin's super-spy cousin. "There is, of course, a reason for it, my dear. Do you want to tell them, or shall I, Cousin?"
"Button it, Frank," was Snake's succinct reply. "I guess I never got around to mentioning it, did I?" he went on, apparently now oblivious to Castile's presence. "Well, Lacus always was a favored cousin of mine, you know."
Utter silence (though Kira looked amused; he already knew, after all).
La Flaga was the first to find his voice. "Uh, you are speaking metaphorically, right?"
"Not at all, Mu." Kevin looked sober for an instant. "My mother, you see, was Scandinavian."
It took but a moment for those present to recall that Siegel Clyne was born in the Kingdom of Scandinavia. "You mean...?" Cagalli began. Even she didn't know all the ins and outs of Onishi genealogy.
"Yes," he confirmed. "My mother was Siegel Clyne's sister." He noticed Athrun's poleaxed looked and grinned. "What, she never told you? If this engagement thing had gone through, Athrun, you'd have ended up as one of my in-laws."
La Flaga stared at the younger man, more startled by this revelation than any other besides that of his augmentation and noble blood. "Let me get this straight," he said finally. "You're the head of one of the five noble families of Orb, and you're the nephew of the former Chairman of the PLANT Supreme Council?"
Kevin nodded complacently. "Yup."
"Relatives in high orbits," Castile put in, slipping into his Bond persona.
Snake's reply to this comment was short, sharp, and had way too many consonants. Most of those present had no idea what the Russian words meant, but Cagalli looked taken aback (she'd been unable to avoid acquiring a working knowledge of conversational Russian, given her friend's frequent usage of it) and Castile actually turned green.
Moments later, as the greenish blur left the Bridge, Ramius quirked an eyebrow at the super-soldier. "What did you say to him?"
"You don't want to know," Cagalli said quickly, sending Kevin a quelling look (he had, after all, been quite willing to explain). "You really, really don't want to know."
"Yeah take Cagalli's advice you so don't want to know at all." Garret said as Kevin looked at him.
"You know Russian Garret?" Kevin asked as he nodded.
"Yeah third language, first is English the Japenese and then finally Russian." Garret told them. "I had nothing else to do back on Junius 7." Garret said shrugging his shoulders.
Later, Kevin wandered the Kusanagi, feeling more disturbed than he looked. Their destination had struck a nerve in him, and he wished he could talk with Cagalli. But he judged that she probably wanted to be alone just then, so he settled for simply roaming little-used corridors, using his zoanthrope empathic senses to avoid others until he reached the chamber he sought.
It was essentially just an observation room, a place Kevin remembered from studying the blueprints for the Izumo-class and correctly anticipated would be empty, since the ship's crew was quite busy just getting everything shipshape.
It was, all in all, a perfect place from which to stargaze and think. The L4 colonies... I should have known. Will we reach Mendel? Will that tell me if my memories are right, that I was responsible for the events at double-Sierra two niner?
Snake felt a twinge at the edge of his consciousness, and he turned toward the hatch several moments before Athrun stepped through. "Hello, Athrun."
"Hi, Kevin." Athrun raised an eyebrow. "Let me guess: you knew I was coming."
"Your presence has a distinctive feel," Kevin acknowledged. "So, what brings you to an out of the way place like this?" He was, as it happened, grateful for the distraction; he no longer had the self-destructive urge, but he still tended to become moody when given too much time to think.
"Figured now might be a good time to catch up on things. I mean, aside from a few attempts to kill each other and that brief meeting on that island, we haven't seen each other in three and a half years." The blue-haired pilot smiled. "And even back then, I wasn't exactly aware of who you really were."
"Huh. Yeah." Snake gazed out into space. "You know, Athrun, in a way that makes two of us. I'mnot really sure who I am, either." He looked at Athrun through the corner of his eye. "By now, you've probably heard about my somewhat... strange background."
"Yeah; they tell me you were designed to be a soldier from before you were born," Athrun agreed. "And I knew about the rest of it. But I thought you had it all sorted out."
"Not exactly." Kevin (who had by this time resumed his normal black civilian attire, having made his point with the finery) leaned against the bulkhead. "I know who I am, to be sure; but I'm still not precisely certain what."
Athrun frowned for a moment, then began to recall small incidents that had puzzled him since he had joined Kira and Kevin at Orb. Times when the Freedom and Stormhawk had seemingly coordinated without any contact, times when the two had seemed to exchange information without a word. At first he'd simply assumed it came from knowing each other so well, but Snake's last comment changed that. "You've been holding out on me, haven't you?"
"Not precisely," Snake corrected. "More like there simply hasn't been time to mention it. Since there is now, and since you're on our side these days, you should know: my empathic sense has... evolved somewhat, since the days back at school."
That was about what he'd expected to hear. "You mean you're telepathic?"
"In a very limited sense, yes. Kira and I can communicate mentally, and we can feel each other's emotions. Could ever since a little skirmish just before reaching the Eighth Fleet, back in February." Kevin shrugged. "At first, it was just a dim sense of emotion, and Kira didn't realize it at all. But it's been getting stronger, and ever since you blew Aegis to bits we've been capable of true communication."
Athrun felt a cold tingle go down his spine at the prospect, though intellectually he knew Kevin better than that. "So can you read my mind?"
Snake firmly shook his head. "No. Even with Kira, I can only hear the thoughts if they're directed at me, or if they're particularly 'loud'. Other than that, I can feel only his emotions... though I've noticed that that, too, has begun to strengthen of late. I'm beginning to get a dim sense of the feelings of those around me, though the range is considerably shorter than my other abilities. I don't know what tomorrow may bring."
Athrun frowned again. "Still getting stronger? Kevin, I thought that it was your zoanthrope powers..."
"So did I; and to a certain extant I still believe that to be the case. But what you have to understand is that my mental talents are still in a state of flux; and I suspect that might have been the case even without the various enhancements I've received over the years." Kevin closed his eyes, thinking. "Athrun, you probably know this already, but the augmentation process boosted more than just my physical senses. It improved my mental processes, as well... and the results are impossible to predict, because my mind doesn't work the same way yours does."
The other pilot tilted his head. "The genetic engineering...?"
"Right." Snake sighed. "Athrun, I make no secret of the fact that I'm not very fond of my father. Before I was even born, he decided to use me and my brother for an experiment. He had the best of intentions, but you know the old saying about the road to hell. What John Tyler Onishi did was make a cold-blooded decision to make his own offspring into purpose-built soldiers. We were to be Orb's ace-in-the-hole, so he applied his design talents to genetic engineering... and the result is that parts of my genetic code literally cannotbe analyzed. Orb's scientists, when they finally got the chance to examine me, where completely at a loss about parts of it; it's light-years beyond what anyone else has ever done. And one of those areas happens to be my brain. It is physically different from any other sentient being."
Athrun noted the phrasing. "Kevin, are you human?"
"Technically... no." He seemed quite cheerful about the statement, for whatever reason. "Not with the cybernetics and such, anyway. But whether I am or not, I have certain... abilities that no one else does."
A thought struck his friend. "Could you use your mind as a weapon? I mean, for some kind of psychic attack?"
Athrun was rather relieved by the answer. "I don't know, tovarisch. And I don't think I'd ever want to find out." Kevin shrugged. "But it isn't really relevant; those talents are too new for them to matter much. It's just an example of how strange I am."
"I guess." Athrun raised an eyebrow. "You know, Kevin, after seeing you in action for the past few months, I would never have expected you to care so much about what happened to your homeland. I remember you used to say you weren't loyal to any government. You've changed."
"No, I haven't," Snake said easily, looking back out at the stars. "I'm the same self-centered, egotistical jerk I've always been. I just didn't want them taking my property, that's all; you'll notice my mansion is on Izanagi. The rest of the country didn't matter a wit to me."
"I don't believe you." The Justice's pilot was openly skeptical. "If you were really a 'self-centered, egotistical jerk' you wouldn't have gone to such lengths to protect Cagalli."
"Sure I would." Kevin half-smiled. "I have lost many friends, and I almost lost you, I don't want to lose her, she is close to my life."
Athrun leaned on the observation window as he smiled. "If only Aelan was here to hear such a thing, she would say you actually do have a heart, and you have to really care about something for her to say that." Athrun smiled as Kevin did as well. "I am thinking you two nobles should get together." Athrun told him as Kevin shook his head and stood there for a few minutes.
"No, you're wrong," he said finally. "Those crusty old noble bastards were right, you know; I do want that. But I'd never tell her that; it is something that I cannot allow to happen."
His friend tilted his head. "Why not?" The super-soldier's words puzzled him; Kevin Walker was a man who usually did whatever he bloody well pleased, and hang the consequences. For him to hold back from something he (and, Athrun suspected, Cagalli as well, whether she consciously realized it or not) wanted was very unusual.
"Athrun," Kevin said slowly, "do you know what happened to the lastgirl I fell for? Her name was Rachel Carver; I don't know if you know the name, though Frank does." He took a deep breath. "She died, Athrun, about three years ago."
"Yeah she is the main reason why Aelan wants you dead." Athrun told him as Kevin looked at him. "Aelan's story was that when she held the near dead body to her, she swore to kill you for vengence." Athrun said looking away. "She swore that she will either kill you or you kill her." Athrun told him. "Her name was Rachel Carver right?" Athrun asked.
Kevin's breathing turned ragged. "Yeah, her Alias was Medusa was my second-in-command in the Destroyers, the 'Walker team'. She was a ZAFT soldier, one whom I cared for, and she died for it. I killed her with my own teeth and claws, Athrun! I went berserk and used my zoanthrope powers in a display of savagery and horror that haunts me to this day! Not only do I have her blood on my hands, I have it in me! I tore out her throat with my fangs, and I tasted her blood. Do you have any idea how that feels?"
Athrun drew back, beginning to understand. Kevin feared more than merely losing Cagalli. He feared that if he allowed himself to feel anything more than friendship, that he would do the deed himself. He's terrified, he realized, understanding now that there was something even the Snake feared. After all that's happened, even though he can use those powers again, Kevin's terrified he'll snap again, and have history repeat itself.
"Kevin," he began, "that's in the past. It's got nothing to do with who you are now."
"There's more to it than that, Athrun," Snake replied, not surprised at his friend's deductions. "Do you know how many true friends I have? Those whom I would call tovarisch?" He didn't wait for a reply. "You, Kira, Cagalli, Tolle, Mu, Dearka, Murrue, and Mir. Eight people, Athrun; even Sai doesn't merit that accolade. But there used to be more. Nicol Amalfi, Nikolai Arkadeyevich Tupolev, Sergei Ivanovich Gregorov, Andy Waltfeld... They're all gone, Athrun. People who get that close to me, except for a few who have proven more resilient to the Grim Reaper, have a way of dying rather violently."
"What about Lacus? Or Castile?"
"They're different; family, not friends. Lacus in particular, since she lacks Frank's predilection toward bad puns and jokes at my expense." Kevin slowly shook his head. "You see, Athrun? I'm always running from the Grim Reaper, always a step ahead, but only a step ahead; and if he cannot catch me, he will take those I am close to."
"Seems to me," Athrun said somewhat archly, "that it's their choice to make, whether they take the risk. Not yours."
"Then call me an arrogant bastard, I don't care." Snake clenched his fists. "I've lost too much, tovarisch," he said softly. "The Grim Reaper has taken so much from me... I can't do it anymore. I can't keep losing people that way. It's too much."
"You see Kevin that is what makes you different from Aelan, she has many friends and many of them were taken by the Grim Reaper as well." Athrun told him. "As far as she knows, her only family member she has left." Athrun scolded him. "Me and her are actually friends now, along with Dearka, and Yzak." Athrun told him. "Currently only 5 of her friends have died recently in war." Athrun turned away for a second. "Nicol, Waltfeld, Aisha, Miguel and Rusty." Athrun said to Kevin.
"Indeed." Kevin said looking outside.
Athrun was about to respond when another voice cut in from a wall speaker. "You ever get the impression, Athrun, that this guy goes in for way too much self-pity?"
Kevin started in surprise, and the Justice's pilot turned to the speaker. "Yeah, Max, he does."
"Well, Snake," the computer said (she was linked into the Kusanagi's intercom system via the Wraith's radio gear), "I've got two words for you: shut up."
Snake glared. "Eavesdropping, are we? If I catch you doing that again, Max, I'll-"
"Break my neck?" Max sounded amused. "Tolle tells me you once threatened that Buskirk fellow with that. Well, permit me to point out that I don't have a neck for you to break -except maybe the Wraith's, and I think even your bionic arm would have quite a time trying that- and that I just happen to be right. You're stuck thinking in the past, Snake; you need to remember that those things happened years ago, that it's over. The dead should be remembered, but the living are the ones you should be worried about right now. Oh, you may think it's the living you're worried about, but it's your survivor's guilt over the dead that's really on your mind."
"And what do you know about psychology, you collection of transistors and microchips?" Kevin said acidly.
"Oh, tut, tut," the AI said mock-sorrowfully. "You know, usually it's Tolle who calls me names like that. I'll have you know, My Lord, that I'm a quantumcomputer, just like any other modern CPU. Haven't got a transistor in me anywhere." She sighed. "Okay, maybe you know yourself better than I do, Snake. But let me say this: if you're gonna get yourself blown up or anything, which isn't exactly improbable in this situation, then don't leave things undone, and don't be such a reclusive worrier that you lose whatever small measure of dignity -which, now that I think about it, may be very small- that you may have. 'Go to your God like a soldier, soldier of the Queen'."
Snake's eyes narrowed. "Someone introduced you to poetry, I see. Well, Max, maybe you've got some small point in there; but human beings are far more complex than that." Without another word, he left the room, apparently searching for an even lonelier place.
Athrun turned to the speaker after he'd left. "Well, you tried. Thanks."
"No problem." The AI sighed again. "Well, at least he's not as bad as he used to be; Tolle tells me he was once on the verge of blowing his own head off."
"So I hear." He raised an eyebrow. "That last thing you said, that was poetry?"
"Yeah," Max acknowledged. "Rudyard Kipling, 'The Young British Soldier'. Commander La Flaga mentioned it to me. That Kipling guy could be pretty downbeat, but he talked a lot about wars and battlefields; since I'm a battle computer, I figured I should check it out, and Mir downloaded a copy of Kipling's complete works into my mainframe." She chuckled. "You know, Athrun, I'm really not getting paid enough for this. Erica set me loose to look after Tolle, and here I am trying to unravel the mysterious Kevin Walker at the same time. I should be getting bonus -or maybe hazard- pay for this."
"And how, exactly," Athrun asked carefully, "does an artificial intelligence get 'paid'?"
"Hey, kemo sabe -and by the way, that's a really strange thing to call someone; I mean, 'soggy shrub'?- assuming that crazy idiot Tolle doesn't manage to get the Wraith blown up before the end of the war, I won't be a battle computer forever. I mean, without a war, I'm kinda out of work. So, in case I should for some reason need some cash after my career change, I'm getting paid the usual rate for soldiers. That is, 'whatever we can afford, and we'll give you the rest ten years after you're dead'."
He had to laugh at that. "You know, you're the strangest AI I've ever met. You sure you're not human?"
Max chuckled. "Oh, no, Athrun; I mean, I like you carbon-based guys, and I may be able to kind of understand you, but you people are waytoo illogical. Of course, there's a certain amount of irrationality in me, too -Erica and Garret used a program Snake came up with, some kind of 'random element personality synthesizer' something or other- but I don't think I'd want to be human. Besides, I like Tolle enough that Mir and I would probably kill each other if I were flesh-and-blood. I think," she added, in a more thoughtful tone, "that that's part of why I'm not actually owned by Morgenroete; they made me my own person 'cause they didn't want liability problems."
Athrun raised an eyebrow. "So you're an Orb citizen, not a piece of equipment? Does that mean you have to pay taxes?"
"Yeah," Max agreed ruefully. "Another reason why I'm getting paid. Lucky for me, Orb doesn't have any tax collectors right now." He got the strong impression of a grin in her voice. "But it also means I get to vote; I bet nobody thought about that."
Later, Athrun floated in the observation room overlooking the Kusanagi's hanger/ launch area. Seeing the bustle of activity without really looking at it, his mind replayed a few moments at Kaguya's mass driver facilities.
"The Earth Forces' current actions are being guided by the leader of Blue Cosmos, Muruta Azrael," Lord Uzumi said. "To make matters worse, the PLANTs are being led by someone who believes Coordinators are a new species, for Patrick Zala rules them now."
The words echoed in his head, over and over, as he remembered the other things he'd seen recently, in the PLANTs and elsewhere. His father, very much a changed man; Yuri Amalfi, Nicol's father, now more interested in vengeance than peace; the N-jammer cancellers that allowed nuclear power; and Lacus Clyne's biting, challenging words at the White Symphony theater, in Junius Five...
"Athrun?" Athrun looked up, to see Kira and Kevin entering, already in their flight suits; he noticed that the super-soldier had no trace of his earlier depression on his face. "It looks like things are all settled here now, so we should probably head back to the Archangel." Kira shrugged. "It doesn't really matter, but this ship is full of M1s."
"And our mobile suits are taking up space," Kevin said laconically. He tilted his head at his friend's lack of reaction. "Athrun?"
"Huh?" Athrun looked up again, but before he could speak, the hatch on the other side of the compartment opened, and Cagalli entered.
"Kira," she began quietly, "we should talk."
Athrun began to head for the hatch. "Excuse me; I'll see you guys later..."
She caught his arm on her way over to Kira. "Athrun, wait. Stay here, okay?" Leaving the Coordinator with a puzzled expression, Cagalli caught herself on the pole Kira held onto.
He looked at her in concern. "Something bothering you, Cagalli?" Kira asked, as Athrun and Kevin drifted to either side of the princess.
She hesitated, then reached into her pocket. "It's this," Cagalli said, and handed him the photo.
Kira took it, puzzled. "A photo? Of who?"
"Other side."
He turned it over, and his eyes instantly widened, as did Athrun's, as he read the words on the back. What the?
"My father gave it to me, just as I was boarding the Kusanagi," Cagalli told him. "He said... that I wouldn't be alone. That I'd be with my brothers someday!"
"What?" Kira stared at her, then looked back at the photo. Two babies, one brown haired, the other blond and a young boy...
She unconsciously gripped Athrun's arm, clinging to a measure of familiarity, comfort, and security. "What does it all mean?"
"I-I don't know," Kira managed. "I honestly don't have a clue."
"Twins...?" Athrun whispered. None of them realized that Snake was acting completely unsurprised.
"There's no point in dwelling on it now, Cagalli," Kira finally said, minutes later. "This doesn't tell us anything, really." Yet he knew in his heart that it was true; perhaps he always had.
"If you and I are siblings," Cagalli said, tears in her eyes, "then what am I?"
She tightened her hold on Athrun, who for his part had just frozen in surprise. Lord Uzumi had told Kevin of the connection between his friends, but he hadn't thought it through. Idiot! he thought now. All these years, and you never saw it! She's a Coordinator, too or is she! How could we not have realized that or do we still not know?
From the depths of his memory, things that Cagalli had mentioned of a conversation she'd had with Kira came to mind. "But you guys can do so much more stuff than we can," she protested. "You're talented in all these different ways, from birth."
"Only if we sharpen our skills by practicing, studying, and training properly," Kira disagreed. "Like Naturals, we're born with potential; we're not gifted just because we're Coordinators."
Of course, Kevin realized now. You're only as good as you think you are; she isn't up to our level only because she didn't know she could be. She hasn't trained to her limits... yet.
"Don't worry so much, Cagalli," Kira said at last. "Even if it's true, it doesn't change the fact that Lord Uzumi was still... your father."
There was only silence in the room, as Cagalli leaned against Kevin's comforting, powerful frame, and pondered Kira's words.
Later, as Cagalli watched from the observation room, the Freedom, Justice, and Stormhawk prepared for launch, on their way back to the Archangel.
Even as he went through his preflight, Athrun looked up at the comm screen linked to the Freedom. "Kira," he said quietly, "don't you think you should be with her at a time like this?"
Kira was silent for a few moments. "No," he said finally. "If I'm with her, she won't be able to stop thinking about it."
Athrun nodded. "Makes sense."
The three machines slowly flew out of the Kusanagi's hanger, on a return course to the Archangel; as they did so, Kira glanced over at the Stormhawk. (Hey, Snake,) he called over their link. (I figured you'd want to be with her right now. So why are you leaving?)
(It's only temporary,) Kevin replied. (I need to retrieve a few items from my quarters on the Archangel.I know, I could always ask Murrue to send them over, but... Cagalli doesn't need me around just now. It's better if I'm away, if only for a couple hours.)
(But why?)
Snake sighed silently. (Kira, I'm a freak. We can debate whether or not that's a bad thing some other time, but what matters is this: I was designed, from birth, to be a soldier; I was brought into this world with a single purpose in mind, and I happen to be very, very good at it. These are the facts. So, if Cagalli really is a Coordinator, a part of her will have to wonder if that's what happened with her. I don't believe it, and I'm sure she wouldn't really, but if I'm with her right now she'll wonder anyway.)
Kira frowned. (It's not like she'd blame you, Snake. I mean-)
(I know. But she'll think about it anyway. If I just give her a little space, things should be fine.) Kevin's mental voice was firm. (Rest assured, I'll be back with her soon. She just... needs a little time.)
Kira gave up arguing. His friend did, after all, know Cagalli better than he did; and few people were shrewder students of character than Kevin Walker. (I guess you know what you're talking about.)
He looked up as the Justice's hand reached out to grip Freedom's shoulder. "Hey, Kira," Athrun said, oblivious to the silent conversation that had just taken place. "Do you think they'd let me borrow the Archangel's shuttle when we get back? I need to make a little trip, to the PLANTs. I feel like I need to sit down and have a serious talk with my father."
"But, Athrun," Kira protested.
"I know! But still... he's my father."
The Freedom's pilot finally nodded. "I understand. I'll talk to Murrue and the others."
Athrun smiled. "Thanks. I appreciate it."
The three machines flew onward, into the endless sky.