Thanks to all who reviewed! This chapter is not as important as some others that will be comming after this, but I've been trying hard not to make the chapters too long. This one was originally a lot longer, but I ended up splitting it into two. Oh well...
Disclaimer: I do not own Gundam Seed or Seed Destiny
Rey stood next to Suzuka has she compared notes with Commander Bjorkland.
"...we have enough replacement parts to repair the vital systems."Bjorkland said, "We'll need to repair the ship enough to survive atmospheric entry. All mobile suits have returned, and we're commencing repairs on them as well, however, many of them are damaged. Pretty much all we have now are ten functioning GINNS and four Zaku's. However, Major Hahneufuss' DEEP Arms remains undamaged and Major Elthman's Gun Zaku was undamaged as well."
"Figures. Elite piolets are more skilled then we give them credit." she said, "My ship will take over defense detail then."
"The Debris Belt should offer us enough protection from being detected by enemy forces." Rey replied absently, as if he did not remember he was a civilian, "As long as we keep scanning the area and communication line secure we should be fine-"
Both Suzuka and Bjorkland were staring at him.
"Please excuse my outburst." he said, bowing sligthly.
"No, it's perfectly fine." Bjorkland said, "You're absolutly right."
Suzuka looked at him worriedly as Rey nodded his head.
"Rey?"
He looked up at her.
"Would you like to go help the crew with mobile suit repair? I'm sure Ralph has his hands full."
"Of course." he got up and disappeared in the elevator.
"Holy crap, who was that?" Bjorkland said, "Don't tell me he's just a civilian."
"He is." she smiled, "However, he used to be a ZAFT elite."
"Somehow, I can see why." he said, "It's like he knew the ship like the back of his hand and he hasn't seen past the main deck."
"He's..." Suzuka smiled, "...very smart."
"No kidding."
Rey walked down the hallway. Helping on mobile suit detail for a while would help calm him. Being on a ZAFT ship again was making him uneasy, and doing something familiar would relax him. He never admitted it in the past, it mobile suits and target practice were the two things that would help him relax at the end of the day.
As he walked past the mess hall, it reminded him off all the times he ate lucnh with Shinn and Lunamaria.
"Dude, Rey, you eat like a girl." Luna made a face.
"What the hell is that supposed to mean?" Rey raised an eyebrow at her.
"Luna, you know my mother used to say to me that if you don't have anything nice to say, you shouldn't say anything at all." Shinn chugged down his tea.
"My mother said that too." Rey continued eating.
"Are you telling me to shut up, Asuka!" she snapped at him.
"Yup."
"I'll shut you up, dork!"
"Come on, children." Rey smiled at them, "No need to make a scene in the cafeteria."
"Hey, I'm not the one getting all flustered and pissed off. You should learn a lesson from Rey and be more ladylike."
Lunamaria burst out laughing.
"Did you just say what I think you said?" Rey glarred at him.
"Wait-" Shinn frowned, "That didn't come out right..."
"It sure as hell did not!" Luna continued laughing at the two boys.
Rey was smiling now, it was hard to believe that both his fellow team mates fell in love at the end of the war. He chuckled to himself and walked down the hallway just in time to hear a curse erupting from the mobile suit launch bay.
"Damn you! I told you to follow the manuals, god...do I have to do everything myself!" Ralph spotted Rey, "Yo, Rey! Come deal with these idiots! I have to head down to the engine room."
"Yes sir!" Rey chuckled, saluting to him.
"Tsk..." Ralph smirked at him and shook his head as he left.
"Isn't he fascinating?" Vana smiled as she sat with her back against the tank, "It's interesting to see that someone who was cloned is doing so well. It makes me jealous."
Ezekiel sat on the floor, his long slendor legs bent slightly with his laptop sitting on the floor in between them. The laptop was hooked up to the main OS operator by mutiple cables. He let out a curse, and Vana turned to look at him.
"Is something wrong?"
"This system devised by General Yamato is hard to keep track of." he said, "They told me it would be hard to update so I would have to do it manually. But I'm still having trouble."
"Do you need help?"
"No." he said, "I think it'll be okay. This is the only time we may get to update your life support system for a while, and I'm the only one that can do it."
"That's because you're so smart." she grinned at him.
He blushed and looked away. Vana giggled,
"I like the way you started doing your hair."
Ezekiel had white-greyish hair. Long, straight bangs fell in front of his eyes, and it was cut short except for a single long tendral that he let grow long past his shoulder. Those few pieces of hair were braided, and there were beads tied into them.
"It's a family thing." he said, "When I turned 20, it's customary from men in my family to start wearing their hair this way. Of course, it starting to go out of style, but since my father died five years ago, I vowed to it in honor of him."
"Sounds like you have a wonderful family."
"Yeah." he smiled, "On the holidays we all get together and-"
Ezekiel stopped, she looked at him with the smile on her face and the same sad eyes. He had forgotten again that she had never had a family.
"Vanalivka." he said, "When you get out of there...when I find a cure for you...you can come and live with me and my family. My mother and my relatives would love to meet you."
"REALLY!" she grinned.
Her eyes were smiling at him. For some reason whenever she smiled, it always made him happy.
Trent sat at his desk, a frown on his face.
"So tell me again, Captain Honoka..." he said, "...how was it that I sent you, one of my most skilled, best captains in ZAFT, and you were bested by a kid?"
"Captain Yzak Jule is not a normal kid, sir." Yuri Honoka replied over the com link, "Hedelt quite a large amount of damage tothe shipbefore we escaped. But sir, there was another ship."
"Another ship?"
"Yes, it looked like a ZAFT frieghtor but it had a Tanhauser cannon, sir."
Kojimura Trent glanced at the window, looking out onto the landscape of Apirilius One.
"Sir, may I speak off the record?"
"Explain."
"I have my suspicions sir, but I don't know for sure. It's just an instinct."
"Alright, speak."
"It was Orb."
The glass of wine that Trent had been holding instantly shattered. Orb, the thorn in his side. The rebel faction that continued to fight him, and bring in more followers every month. He opened his eyes,
"Thank you, Captain, I will take that under advisement."
"Yes sir."
He cut the transmission. Standing up, he left the office, walking down the hallway. Chairman Trent nodded his head a few advisors who passed him in the hallway, one handing him a file. He continued down the hallway to the elevator, swiping his card, he pressed the basement level. The sunlight slowly blinked out as he desended into the lower levels of the complex. Leaving at the sub-level floor, he walked down the hallway with the concrete floors.
"Chairman." the white-cloaked doctor stood in the hallway.
"Doctor Hersh." Trent said, "And how was the session today?"
The old doctor was placing the instruments on the cart to be cleaned.
"Nothing sir."
Trent let out a sigh, "May I see our young princess today?"
"Of course sir, right threw the door. But I can't garrentee that she'll co-operate."
"Ah, I have read the reports." he said, opening the door, "I think I'll be fine."
Trent stood in the dim lit room.
She hung by her wrists, her clothes tattered and torn. Blood soaked the dirty fabric, and her blonde hair and since grown long past her waist. Looking up at him, her head swayed and rested uneasily on her left arm.
"Good evening, my dear goddess of triumph..." he said, "...dear...Princess Cagali Zala..."
"...damn...you..." she whispered, "...damn you to hell..."
I'm almost done with the next chapter, so it should be up really soon. I have a little more free time then what I've had for the past couple weeks, with books sales in the campus store and everything...so it's nice that I don't have to work on mondays and fridays anymore, which are the two worse days to work in my opinion.
