Chapter 23: Twilight
Dearka cursed under his breath and used one hand to make a rude gesture while using the other to keep the car level. Athrun could only stare, and held on tightly to the side handle to prevent getting thrown out in one of Dearka's more unfriendly maneuvers.
"Who gave you your driving license!"
Dearka laughed, "The same guy that gave you yours three years ago, that bark breath trainer, remember?"
Athrun did remember, but he wasn't about to spend time thinking on it. Not when they were recklessly smashing Yzak's car all over Aprillius's main streets just to shave time off their journey.
"And dude…" Dearka muttered over the roar of the engines and traffic, "I'm sorry yeah…"
"For what?"
"I knew my dad's on your trail. Overheard him talking with Sedna in the living room one fine afternoon…"
"Miss Ileisus! She's involved too?"
Dearka gave one of his trademark smirks, "She's not involved, she just supposed to kill you." Athrun continued to stare in shock as he continued, "Yzak stopped her, can't believe how smitten he is with her…"
"……How long have you known?"
"Since forever…don't look at me that way. You know Yzak Will kill me if I tell you." When Athrun continued glaring at him, he became nervous, "You won't really kill me, would you! Okay, I admit, I knew and I didn't tell you. All of us knew about the Ephraim and the idiot declaration thingy before hand…"
"All of you…!" Athrun asked in disbelief, unable to accept just how deep the conspiracy went as to what extent Yzak would go to keep him in the dark. For a lady he hardly knew for a month……
They pulled over in front of what was apparently a deserted warehouse and Dearka called, "We're here!" And the next instant the most unlikely person came out to meet them, "Meyrin!"
"Long time no see, Commander." She greeted cheerily, and she directed the next sentence at Dearka, "Hurry, they'll be burning our tail feathers any moment now."
"Right on." Dearka replied as he got out of the car, took Meyrin's hand and kissed her cheek, then beckoning the stunned Athrun to follow.
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Shinn body-slammed into the Nicholea guy and slipped his hand into the guy's pocket and drew out a card key, a very important card key for the matter. Shinn was lucky, he held up the card for the guards to see and bent it threateningly, it was their ticket to life. No one dare fire at him, and he drew Luna to his side as they silently backed towards the door, and made a graceful and swift departure…
He felt great, it was the first moment in his young life that made him feel cool. Even if now they were being chased.
Mr Calputhir cursed and ordered his guards to go after them, not knowing how to face the TV screen now. His Zaft prisoners escaped right under his nose, and even stole the activation key for the cannon. The nerve of the obnoxious little boy… He vowed inwardly to make him pay for it, as he decided to look at his lovely new mobile suits now. And tune in to see how those imbeciles can stand up against the might of the suit named Nova Destruction…
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Kira Yamato was given a run for his money. In front of him was a mobile suit eight times his height and with the proportional amount of fire power. What's adds the icing on top of the cake? It's wickedly fast as well. It's a big, black war machine with claws for hands and Kira thought it resembled a bat, a large, dangerous bat…
S.Freedom dodged left and he stabilized his suit, aiming to shoot at the torso of the black suit as the next strike came, which forced him to flip backwards and attempt to fire again. The cycle repeated itself till Kira was dizzy, the shots were numerous and most required extensive maneuvers just to dodge the blows, being just hit by one beam was enough to send S.Freedom spinning, even in space where thrusters are supposedly your best friends.
Eternal was under open fire now, but he couldn't do anything about it. For the Nova Destruction had apparently locked on him as a target. He needed to win this fast, he needed it desperately, but he could hardly find the time and space to aim, much less shoot. Changing stradegies, he employed the DRAGOON system and sent out the funnels, which emitted high energy beams from different directions independently and randomly at his command. He liked that, it took a lot of concentration, but his enemy will be more confused than he was. Seeing the chance, Kira swiftly activated his Callidus beam cannon, and pulled the trigger…
Nova Destruction did the unexpected, as if in slow motion, Kira saw it lazily lift a hand and spread the three prongs of its hands. And the force of his beam cannon was dispersed…just like that. A built-in beam shield in the palm…
Kira realized in horror as he saw the monster activate its own large beam cannon, and a firing hole flipped out of it's chest plate and it fired. S.Freedom didn't have time to react, he just closed his eyes as the beam advanced towards his windscreen and he lifted his beam shield…
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Athrun Zala almost smiled at the sight in front of him. Standing before him was a red mobile suit, towering nineteen meters above him… it was the Infinite Justice. Its flight pack rebuilt and the damages repaired, its glory restored to the moment Athrun pilot it for the very first time. Its silver joints gleamed alluringly even under the dull lighting of the docking bay. Athrun felt like he was greeting an old friend, a comrade, someone who will help him out now. Athrun took off his stiff coat and began to walk towards the suit.
"Sure you still can ride the thing…?" Dearka asked doubtfully, gesturing at Athrun's shoulder, where a maroon patch stained the white shirt…
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The impact sent the Strike Freedom flying and it smashed against the moon surface. Though the pilot's seat provided enough cushion to prevent Kira from breaking anything, it didn't protect him from feeling dizzy. Kira gingerly touched the spot where he hit himself on the head, and decided he could do nothing about it except fight back…
Swiftly he recalled the funnels and leaped off the moon surface, opening the thrusters to full blast as he launched towards the black mobile suit which was aiming at the Eternal…
"LACUS!"
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The Zaft forces were having a hard time defending their nation, and the two black mobile suits in conjunction with the EAF forces were the reason why.
Mr Elthsman cursed and swore loudly as he watched the Zaft forces dropping like flies. They are basically in disarray with the flagship Minerva nowhere to be found, and as the forces were hastily sent out into space, they emerged in small pockets which the enemy forces easily penetrated and decimated. Athrun Zala eluded capture with the help of his own son, and Yzak Jule was apparently missing. The Orb fleet had abandoned their efforts at the Earth base and is advancing towards PLANTs at alarming speeds with unknown intend. He was in a terrible mood, for everything seems to be going wrong. Watching battle crafts exchange fire was one thing, but seeing the pair of Nova Destructions at work was another…
Mr Elthman hated to admit it, but those suits were really a pair of beauteous beast. He watched as an immensely large clawed hand plunged through the chest plate of a GOUF, probably killing the pilot and all, then casually tossed the remains towards a Nazca class, and both exploded upon impact. The black suit then turned and fired at the battle ships crossing its path, and was thoroughly invincible. Ballistic weapons didn't have a chance of penetrating its phase shift armor, beam weapons will just get defected by its beam shield, and on top of that they were very fast as well. These suits prove that power is everything, with that suit, even useless Natural pilots could best coordinators. One good pilot (Or suit) made all the difference, ZAFT has the advantage of neither. The last top gun, Shinn Asuka went missing one month ago, and now he's on TV, having escaped from the clutches of Blue Cosmos. It was rumoured that Destiny wasn't destroyed at all, but kept in his private collection. Mr Elthman sighed, it wasn't something he could possibly use, he was starting to have doubts about whether to just let Athrun Zala go out there. And hope that he'll be utterly destroyed by the Nova Destructions in the most undignified fashion, it will indeed save him a lot of trouble. Or maybe not, before Shinn Asuka emerged, Athrun Zala was top gun. And probably still is, he made legend in Zaft, by taking on both Destiny and Impulse and won.
Just as he shrugged off the idea of having Athrun Zala fight for them, a gleam of red shot out from the flagship Minerva and charged into the ranks of the two Nova Destructions...
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Shinn Asuka was running, his euphoria of the escape wearing off and his cognitive functions began to kick in. What to do now? How to prevent the second shot from hitting the PLANTs? How to make full use of the card key?
The Calpuhthir person would have a couple of spares, but how will that affect its usefulness? And how are the people in space coping with the Nova Destructions? Will they be good enough to defeat the upgraded version of Destroy? Should they just run for it now to prevent getting captured again.
He was frustrated, so many questions, no answers, too little time…
And he stopped short at the sight in front of him, "Shinn?" Luna asked as she nearly crashed into him.
They have arrived at their designated escape point, the place where Impulse was safely kept away, supposedly. But what he saw made his blood run cold, it has been discovered…by EAF soldiers who stood around, clamping down the limbs of the mobile suit with large docking vices, so much for running… Just then the most absurd idea hit Shinn, and he wanted to laugh…
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I.Justice sliced through the space between the two black suits with its outstretched beam sabers and turned around for a second assault. This time it dove right into the abdomen of one, aiming to attack at close range, where its arms will be too long and inflexible to reach him. But instead, Athrun saw as a firing hole flipped out from its chest plate and a beam began to gather. I. Justice changed direction suddenly, just in time to avoid the beam cannon, which hit the damaged ship behind him instead. And soon it exploded into infinitesimal pieces, the notion filled Athrun with dread, For he suddenly realized this is what will happen to Aprilius…if even one shot successfully hits…
The suit used his moment of distraction to its advantage, before Athrun realized it, one had advanced towards him and swing down its enormous arm atop I.Justice, as if attempting to smash its head. Athrun hardly had time to raise the pair of beam sabers in defense, he pushed against the mountain that threaten to crash him with all his might. But his efforts were in vain as his defenses withered away with the strength in his arms, he managed to get clear only for a moment before bumping into the other Nova Destruction behind him as it activated its palm beam cannon…
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Yzak and Sedna were hopelessly lost, but still threading their way through a maze made of aqua ducts, activating and deactivating hermetic seals and here and there in order to find their way out. And soon Yzak noticed something's different, "What is it?" Sedna asked as her fingers probed along the moist wall, looking for a button or panel.
"The water level, it's getting higher." Yzak declared. Sedna looked at him, then at her knees where the water level is… "Well… we didn't walk down slope or anything. But wasn't it at…ankle level?"
"Damn it!" Yzak cursed as he angrily banged his fist on the wall.
"I think we better go back…" offered Sedna.
"And face your subordinate without weapons? He probably did this to trap us in here, and force us to return the way we came..."
"Better than drowning in here." She was referring to him, in her suit, she was water-proofed and ready, but he isn't.
"Fine…" He replied reluctantly, still unwilling to take the risk.
The water level rose steadily to waist while they walked, and now they were half swimming, and the pair of them wadded on grimly.
By the time they swam back to hatches which they dropped through, their feet could no longer touch the ground and there was a bare ten centimeter margin between their heads and the ceiling above. Sedna's helmet visor slid shut with a pneumatic hiss as she proceeded to key in the code to open it, and she almost panicked, for she realized a problem. She didn't know which of the four hatches the code belonged to… They changed direction in their walk one to many times for her to still recognize which direction they came and went. Yzak realized it too, and told her to stay calm as he held on to anything he could hold on to in order to prevent from getting swept away by the strong currents that threatened to separate them. Then he took and deep breath and went under as the water covered over their heads, trapping them in the dark abyss of churning waters. She found her way to the general direction of the first hatch and her fingers frantically searched the ceiling for the panel and found it. Swiftly her fingers touched the string of buttons on the first hatch, it took fifteen precious seconds to key in the entire code but it didn't open, and she swam over to the second, dragging Yzak with her as they had no means to communicate. And she did the same but it didn't open either, she began to panic, wondering how long Yzak can hold his breath under these circumstances.
She was afraid, her heart was pounding in her ears and her breathing was quick, but her suit was meant to allow survival even in space, Yzak didn't have the same chances as her…she realized as she quickly pulled Yzak with her towards the third one and keyed in the same code, but realized in horror that he had gone limp. She turned to find him unconscious, silver strands of hair floated about his face eerily.
Quicklyshe took a deep breath and flipped open her visor and ignored the water rushing into her suit, pulling Yzak towards herself, she cupped her mouth over his and blew air into his lungs. His eyes snapped open immediately, and looked at Sedna in wonder. She gave him a quick smile before the hatch opened and both of them got out…
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Chapter 23…next one last chapter. Oh yar...Dearka and Meyrin, how do you guys like that...?