Chapter 14: The Gang's All Back Together
Fuji: Welcome to this fic! I also found it annoying that the Fukada decided to break Dearka and Miriallia up!
Tandiien: Sorry about the spelling, Japanese R's and L's sound very alike so it is easy to get confused...also I'm a big romantic
wellduh: Welcome! Hope you enjoy the fic!
LodisLord, Chaos Dragon, RVD: Thanks for you reviews and sorry that I couldn't update sooner...work piled up.
On videoscreens all over the world, the music of Fields of Hope started to play, the screens were black as a voice emerged, the voice of Lacus Clyne. Video sprang up on the screen as the seemingly 'dead' Lacus Clyne appeared on screens all over the world. People started to stare at the video screens, on PLANT, people were surprised, they had thought that Lacus had been dead but it was definitely her, in fact some realised that after the first war, the new Lacus had acted differently. "Mina-san, I, Lacus Clyne am not dead, I knew that someone was trying to kill me so I arranged a fake stand-in who has been acting as me for the past year, while I tried to find out who was really trying to kill me. That is why my performances have been changed to cover as best as possible the difference in singing voice. Unfortunately, my brave stand-in was killed on Earth. However, when she was killed, the person who wanted me dead unwittingly revealed himself to be Chairman Dullindal of PLANT. Citizens of the world, Chairman Dullindal still wants to kill me, when he found out that I was still alive and that the fake stand-in was killed, he sent elite ZAFT troops to where I was hiding. Only by the brave actions of the crew of the Archangel did I survive the attack. Citizens, I urge you all to put down your grudges and open your hearts in forgiveness and to force Chairman Dullindal and the leaders of the Earth Alliance to stand-down, to end the war and bring back peace, the peace we all laboured for in the last war. We cannot repeat history again, we must move onwards towards the future."
Lacus, transmitting from Heliopolis 2 finished her message and began to sing 'Fields of Hope' "konna ni tsumetai tobari fu no fukaku de, anata wa hitori de nemutteru," her voice resounding through all the videoscreens as people stopped on the street to look at her, "inori no utagoe sabishii nohara wo, chiisana hikari ga terashi-teta," everyone was entranced by the new song, heralding the return of Lacus Clyne to the stage, particularly on PLANT where ZAFT military commanders under the direction of Chairman Dullindal tried to stop the transmission, issuing statements that this was a faked recording and that Lacus was really dead, "anata no yume wo miteta, kodomo no youni waratteta," Lacus continued to sing from her heart, from within Heliopolis 2, "natsukashiku mada tooku sore wa mirai no yakusoku."
"itsuka midori no asa ni itsuka tadoritsukeru to ,fuyugareta kono sora wo shinjiteiru kara, Fields of hope," the song continued to roll out in PLANT and on Earth, as the citizens of PLANT marched towards the PLANT headquarters, joined by some of the politicians, demanding the immediate resignation of Chariman Dullindal.
"umarete kita hi ni dakishimete kureta, yasashii ano te wo sagashi-teru," Some ZAFT troops joined the demonstration and began to clear traffic, the flood of people increasing second by second, minute by minute, as Lacus's song continued to damn Dullindal as she continued to sing, she destroyed his plan to rule through subtle power.
"inori no utagoe hitotsu kiete, mata hajimaru tayorinaku setsunaku tsudzuku," on board the Minerva, Shinn and Stellar watched Lacus sing, knowing in their hearts that she was right, that the war had to stop and that Dullindal for all his outward gestures of peace and friendship were there to hide his secret desire to become the supreme ruler of humanity. Shinn felt that he and Stellar had to leave as soon as possible, the Archangel was not the real enemy, the enemy was Dullindal. He had wanted to wield power to protect the innocent, not to hurt them; he vowed inwardly that he would not be used like this by anyone from now on.
"itsuka midori no asa e subete no yoru wo koete, sore wa tada hitori tsutsu mitsukete yuku basho dakara, ima ga tada kono mune de anata wo atatametai," FAITH units continued to fly towards Heliopolis 2 to destroy the Archangel. Dullindal stood onboard his flagship, as it charged towards Heliopolis 2. He was quietly confident that once he squashed the problem represented by the Archangel everything would work out fine.
"natsukashiku mada tooi yasuragi no tame ni, Fields of hope," The crew of the Archangel prepared for battle against whatever would come, knowing that what remained of the ZAFT fleet would come to destroy them, including the Minerva. The mobile suit pilots were undergoing the last briefing given by Andy and Mwu, as they prepared to take on at least thirty times their number of mobile suits, plus whatever extra capital ships there would be.
"natsukashiku mada tooi yakusoku no nohara, Fields of Hope," the last three words faded away, repeating themselves as Lacus personally urged both armies to drop their arms and make peace. With the transmission ended, Lacus Clyne resumed her position on the Eternal as it prepared for battle.
On the FAITH flagship, Dullindal fumed inwardly, but remained calm on the outside. Lacus Clyne and her cohorts had managed to pierce through his ploy to subvert the world through LOGOS and FAITH, now he had to fall back on the alternate plan, to rule by force and that meant destroying the Archangel and all resistance against him both external and internal. Dullindal knew that he now had to play this final gambit if he was to win, the veterans of Jachin Due and their allies were starting gathering support quickly, both from Earth Alliance forces that remained and from elements of PLANT. The pilot of the Providence 2 was ready for battle and this would the perfect chance to remove all his problems in one fell swoop. Dullindal smiled, knowing that victory would soon be his. Any damage done to his image by Lacus Clyne could be undone once she was really dead.
He retired to his office and pulled out the secret LOGOS communication device that would transmit the attack order, whatever was left of the Earth Alliance fleet was on its way to Heliopolis 2 to destroy the Archangel, he planned to throw those forces at the Archangel in the first wave, keeping his FAITH forces back, out of sensor range until they were destroyed and then FAITH forces would wipe out any resistance.
The Archangel had expected the ZAFT fleet to come, but when the sensors board on the Archangel beeped, the suits were identified as Windams and Daggers, in attack formation, it seemed as if the Earth Alliance was on its way. Murrue ordered the launch of all six Gundams onboard and raised the alert status to condition red. Archangel's crew ran to combat station as the pilots ran into the hangar from their briefing, jumping into their Gundams getting ready to launch. Kira's Freedom and Athrun's Saviour were lined up by the crew on the linear catapults, one on the left bay and the other on the right, Miriallia gave clearance for the launch.
"Kira Yamato, Freedom, launching," the Freedom went into space, grim determination outlining Kira's face as it was left to him and his friends to save the world again, this time he would do it right. Kira let the calm wash over him as he entered Seed Mode.
"Athrun Zala, Saviour, launching," he followed Kira out, knowing that PLANT leadership was corrupt and needed to be put down before any real peace could be achieved. To prevent any more tragedies from happening he would pilot to the best of his abilities, to fight the real enemy which had been identified now he would do his best. Athrun entered Seed Mode as smoothly as Kira did, now that he had his mind sorted out.
The hangar was a buzz of activity as the next two suits were bought to launch positions, Mu saluted Murrue and the bridge crew over the comm. as the Endymion was bought into position, along with the Murasame. Launch clearance was given as they prepared to be fired out of the hangar
"Mu La Flaga, Endymion, going out," he made a grim promise to himself that he would not leave Murrue again as the Endymion shot out into space.
"Andrew Waltfield, Murasame, let's go," the gold and black Murasame activated its phase-shift armour as it flew into space, turning around to engage the enemy in its mobile suit mode.
The last two Gundams were quickly put into position for launch, as Miriallia gave the launch orders, Dearka blew her a phantom kiss in his mind, as he concentrated on the battle to come.
"Cagalli Yula Athha, Strike Rouge, launching," equipped with the ISWP pack, giving it the most firepower and flexibility to handle any combat situation.
"Dearka Elthman, Assassin, away," the sleek black Gundam catapulted out of the Archangel's hangar, joining the fight.
At PLANT headquarters, with people clambering to enter the meeting chamber, a hastily convened Cabinet of PLANT chaired by Ezaria Jule passed a unanimous motion to impeach Chairman Gilbert Dullindal and to withdraw the ZAFT fleet headed towards Heliopolis 2. Orders were issued to the ZAFT forces to withdraw and return to PLANT and that Chairman Dullindal no longer had any authority. The first ZAFT ships to withdraw were fired upon by FAITH forces, loyal to Dullindal and destroyed, a small firefight broke out between the ZAFT and FAITH forces, as ZAFT forces withdrew, breaking away from the FAITH fleet, the Minerva after receiving the order from PLANT saw FAITH forces fire on the withdrawing ZAFT forces, Captain Gladys opened a comm. channel to Dullindal, "Chairman, stop firing on our own forces," Talia requested, shocked both at the news that Lacus Clyne was still alive and that she had accused Gilbert of trying to kill her. Arthur also refused to believe that the chairman had tried to kill Lacus Clyne.
Dullindal ordered the FAITH forces to cease fire, the Archangel was the important target, they needed every resource they had to defeat the Archangel and its complement of mobile suits. He said that he alone knew the truth, that Lacus Clyne had been held by Earth Alliance troops and forced to say what she had said, and that FAITH would rescue her.
Shinn and Stellar heard the PLANT council's announcement of the impeachment of Dullindal, which only confirmed to them that Dullindal was in fact evil. Yzak and Shiho both saw his mother on the communications screen publicly announcing the immediate expulsion of Chairman Dullindal and the appointment of an interim chairman. This gave him the excuse to leave the Minerva if he wished to return to ZAFT and not have to face his friends in battle. Yzak and Shiho walked towards the hangar, ready to take her mobile suits and leave as his was severely damaged, they met Shinn and Stellar on the way, who were similarly leaving, but they were leaving for the Archangel, to bring Gaia and Destiny over to the side headed by the Archangel who wished for genuine peace.
Meanwhile, the Archangel was engaged in battle with the LOGOS troops, led by the Girty Lue. The Archangel fired its Lohengrin cannons at the Earth Alliance troops who were directed by LOGOS to destroy the Archangel. The Lohengrin cannons found their mark obliterating two of the opposing capital ships in a devastating light show. Murrue directed the Archangel CIWS and missile bays to fire as the Earth Alliance reply came. The Archangel broke hard to port and upwards away from the incoming fire as it fired its Gottfried cannons destroying the incoming missiles. The Gundams off the Archangel flew straight towards the Earth Alliance fleet, Kira and Athrun in Seed Mode devastated any opposition mobile suits, hacking off limbs of the Daggers and Windams and even the Gerzu-Gehs, as they steamrolled the enemy into submission, taking care not to kill anyone in the process.
Dearka sat back behind the other Gundams, using its long-distance rifle to destroy the enemy capital ship armaments and engines, preventing loss of life wherever possible. As he picked off more targets, he saw that enemy mobile suits were charging towards him, he switched modes, breaking up his rifle into its two smaller components for closer combat. He fired while dodging, taking out enemy suits two at a time, but the enemy still kept coming. He saw the Murasame and the Endymion flash by strafing the enemy suits while being chased by their own enemies, he saw the tactic, he fired on the enemies which were oblivious to his position, they were too focused on their enemies, their lack of situational awareness would cost them their lives. The Strike Rouge fired at its enemies, destroying them, as the Earth Alliance fleet came rampaging in, its Windams charging towards the Archangel's forces.
ZAFT forces were ordered to start to press the attack, followed by the FAITH forces. The Minerva led the ZAFT contingent which still took orders from Dullindal. Shinn and Stellar were ready to launch, followed by Shiho who had smuggled Yzak onboard her mobile suit without any of the crew noticing, they would break off at the first opportunity to PLANT to sort out this mess.
Onboard the Minerva, Meyrin began to count down the launch sequence for the Minerva's mobile suits.
"Shinn Asuka, Destiny, launching," the Destiny launched away into space awaiting the Gaia and then starting to run to the other side.
"Stellar Loussier, Gaia, launching," the Gaia flew out next to the Destiny and then suddenly they boosted forward out of formation and began to fly towards the Archangel.
Meanwhile, on the bridge Arthur was so surprised when he saw the Gaia and the Destiny break and run towards the Archangel that he didn't notice the beeping of the sensor array until he heard Captain Gladys ask him what it was, when he saw the sensor screen, he saw that there were now six enemy Gundams and an enemy capital ship. On the screen, up came the Freedom, the Saviour, the Murasame and the Strike Rouge as well as two unknowns which he reported to Captain Gladys.
"Shiho Hahnenfuss, launching," Shiho and Yzak launched together and looped around the back of ZAFT forces, where she would be "leading" the rearguard of ZAFT forces. Her sensors picked up more ZAFT forces in the direction that they would have to head to get to PLANT and those forces were stationary, there was no way to get independent confirmation of the news yet, they would have to wait a while.
Dearka saw Shiho's suit launch from the hold of the Minerva, he knew that he would have to fight, possibly to the death, against his best friend and his best friend's girlfriend, which was something that was quite undesirable in his mind. He had thought that Lacus Clyne's public denouncement of Dullindal would be sufficient to convince the Minerva to change sides, but it seemed as if that wasn't enough. Taking mental note of the position of the enemy he switched on the Assassin's mirage colloid and took position, ready to shoot.
Shinn was frantically trying to hail the Archangel's forces, as they flew in a straight line towards the Archangel. He tried the international distress channel, even though that would betray his intentions to ZAFT forces, it was the best thing he could do now, he sent a message out, changing his and Stellar's allegiance to the crew of the Archangel.
Onboard the Archangel, Miriallia put Shinn's message up on the visual display, text displayed itself on the screen, as the crew read, "Shinn Asuka hailing the Archangel, the Destiny and the Gaia are now on the side of the Archangel, don't shoot, we want to stop the war too. And I also publicly denounce Chairman Dullindal, all ZAFT forces the real enemy is the disgraced chairman and FAITH. Shinn Asuka, out." A cheer broke out from the crew of the Archangel, they were forces that they needed desperately, without enemy Gundams the battle became more even.
Dullindal fumed as FAITH officers brought news of Shinn's message, he would be forced to launch his last weapon now, "we attack on my command, all forces launch," he ordered as the FAITH forces started their ships forward. After the defection of the Destiny and the Gaia, the ZAFT forces were steeped in confusion. Shiho and Yzak decided that they would run, not away, as the saw the FAITH fleet approach, but to the Archangel. Her CGUE unit swung forward, shooting past the Minerva, Yzak dialled up Athrun's comm. and declared his intention to defect.
On the Minerva, the whole bridge crew was shocked that Shinn and Stellar had left and gone over to the side of the Archangel. Arthur regarded it as betrayal of the worst kind. The PLANT council continued to send out messages saying that Dullindal was not in charge anymore and that ZAFT forces would be recalled to headquarters, some more ZAFT ships started to peel off to return to PLANT and await further orders, skirting away from the battlefield and then turning back towards PLANT. Captain Gladys still had three left on her ship when a panicked cry came from the door to the bridge, "Captain Gladys, Commander Jule is gone and it seems as if he was in the CGUE with Lieutenant Hahnenfuss, and now they've gone over to the other side." That left the Minerva's mobile suit contingent down to two, the Blaze Zaku Phantom and the Gunner Zaku Warrior.
"Launch the last two mobile suits, in defensive positions only, shield the bridge and prepare for combat but stop all ZAFT forces, we should attack in numbers," Captain Gladys ordered, a delaying tactic to give time for her to consider the Minerva's next move. On one side was the Archangel with its complement of high-powered mobile suits, what it lacked in quantity it certainly made up in quality. On the other side, her current side, was ZAFT forces and FAITH forces, they had the numbers but the individual firepower of each unit was much smaller. But in the end it really came down to what was the right thing to do, those words of advice from the Archangel's Captain Ramius came back to her, because I don't know what's going to happen in the future, we have no choice but to do what we feel is right at the moment. If we find out later that we've made a mistake, then we'll cry and get angry. And then we'll think of the future again, she faced the decision now, she would not make another mistake.
Abruptly messages from PLANT headquarters changed from leave and regroup, to ally with the Archangel, apparently, Lacus Clyne and Ezaria Jule had been negotiating in the past few minutes and had come to the same conclusion, that FAITH forces must be destroyed or made to surrender. The details of the alliance displayed themselves on screens of all ZAFT ships, appended with the digital signatures of all the members of PLANT's High Council except for the Chairman. Some of the ZAFT forces that had earlier turned around for home, now took another turn to the Archangel, where they were put into contact Lacus Clyne who started to arrange the fleet into a defensive screen, awaiting the arrival of enemy forces.
Captain Gladys saw more ZAFT ships fire up their engines and swing towards the Archangel in an escort formation. It was time to decide what to do, as the last ZAFT ships complied with the orders of the PLANT High Council and the ZAFT commanders. Talia had to decide what to do with the new treaty.
So what will Talia do? Especially as more of Minerva's mobile suit forces defect?
A/N: Please REVIEW this...I love your feedback. Also don't forget to check out the Mwu x Murrue C2 and if you want to recomment fics for it please name them in your review...and I will add. Lastly, don't forget to check out my new Gundam SEED fanfic "Rogue Squadron: Gundam Style" (intro is up, Chapter 1 will be up as soon as I finish this fic - got about 2 chappies left of this one)
