Fated Shift: Rearmed
By Centurious the Azure and Storm Wolf77415
Chapter 1
(January 25th, C.E. 71. Heliopolis Space Colony)
Kira and Yui were both lounging in their favorite study spot, a gazebo surrounded by a large grove of trees that provided plenty of shade for those looking to hit the books. As always, the young student's eyes were glued to his laptop screen, watching a news feed from Earth. "I am here at the spaceport in Kaohsiung, where ZAFT forces are currently pressing in, the Earth Forces are in retreat!" The reporter winced as an explosion landed near him.
His entire body stiffened when his girlfriend pressed in, her ample chest digging into his side. "Hey, are you slacking off on me?" Yui asked. Kira thought he was a relatively good student, but Yui had shown him a whole new level of being about diligent when it came to academics, then again, thanks to her relentless quizzing and drilling, he had aced his last four exams, so he couldn't really complain. "What are you watching?" frowning at the images of death flashing before her eyes. "Is that the news?"
"Yeah…ZAFT is trying to take the spaceport in Taiwan." Kira sighed as he closed the box. He didn't want Yui to see it. A lady such as her shouldn't need to be subjected to such violence. "Judging from the looks of it, they're succeeding." He rechecked the date of the stream. "Actually, I take that back. This is five days old, it could very well be that ZAFT captured it."
"Well, if this isn't a peculiar sight? Kira Yamato and Yui Takamura studying together?" The two looked up to see Tolle and Miriallia walking up to them. "Honestly, I knew the two of you would make a good match, I didn't know you'd be this good of a match."
"What do you guys want?" Kira rolled his eyes, while Yui failed to keep her cheeks from glowing.
"Professor Kato asked to see both of you." Mirialla said. "Did he give you two more work to do?"
"Sadly yes, we're still not done with the load he gave us last time." Yui huffed; Kira couldn't help but think she looked cute when she was annoyed.
"Well, the Prof wanted to see the two of you in the lab, he sent us to get you." Mirialla said. "You know he doesn't like to be kept waiting."
"We'll be there, give us a few minutes." Kira said, satisfied, his friends departed. He grabbed Yui's arm. "Hey, you know that production of Miss Saigon you wanted to see?" He smiled, reaching into his pocket and producing a pair of tickets decorated with an image of the sun and Asian writing. "I got us tickets for tomorrow night's show."
Yui's eyes lit up. "Oh, thank you, Kira!" She said taking one of them. "You remembered how much I love the theater!" She leaned in, giving him a huge kiss on the cheek. "Thanks for making my day!"
"Anything to make my girlfriend smile." He said, giving her a delicate kiss. As much as he thought she was cute when she was annoyed, it was an even greater joy to see her smile. "Come on, Yui. We don't want to keep Professor Kato waiting any longer than we already have. Let's head over to the campus." The two held hands, walking to join up with their friends.
(Haumea Plaza Heliopolis)
Haumea Plaza was one of Orb's most premier shopping locations, with numerous big name stores. Locals and tourists alike visited it daily, and was one of the Orb Union's top attractions. So it only made sense that it would be lovingly replicated on the Island 3 Colony, Heliopolis. Yukimasa and Flay were currently exploring one of the many boutiques that populated the plaza.
The redhead was currently knee deep in outfits, modeling those she liked. "Well, what do you think?" Flay asked her boyfriend, currently wearing an expensive pair of jeans and a fancy t-shirt colored baby blue. She struck a pose, "Come on, do you like it? Don't forget it's the reason I invited you along with me on this trip in the first place!"
Yukimasa said nothing; he supposed that being romantically involved getting dragged along if the girl wanted a 'man's opinion' when they were picking out clothes. Then again, he was getting his own private fashion show, so was it really such a bad thing? "I think you look smoking hot as always." He commented with his hand his chin. He nodded eagerly as he gave her a good look over. He smiled slightly as his reds met her greyish-blue eyes. "The color of the shirt goes well with your hair, and it really brings out your eyes."
Flay blushed at the compliment. "Then I guess we have a winner!" She went into the changing room to try on the next selection she had picked out. After a couple more outfits, the two left the store, with Yukimasa holding two very heavy shopping bags. The two headed down the street. She grabbed onto his arm. "Thanks for coming with me, I was surprised to hear you say yes. I figured you'd be working."
"Well, I'd much rather spend the day with you." Yukimasa said calmly, praying she didn't see him sweat. He actually was supposed to be at the lab. Both Murrue and Sharon were covering for him, and it would be his head if Kato or anyone else found out about it! He quickly shook it off, Flay was much better company anyway. "Come on, I'm getting hungry. It wouldn't do to shop on an empty stomach now, would it?"
"I am getting hungry." Flay admitted, hand going to her stomach. "There's a nice little Italian place down the street, shall we go there?"
"I'd be happy to." He said cheerfully, before seeing Kira and his friends approaching from another direction. Yukimasa was about to wave to them when a trio of people, a woman and two men, suddenly walked in front of them. He grabbed Flay by the arm, pulling her back to avoid colliding with the newcomers, resulting in the redhead crashing into his arms.
He quickly appraised them, the woman seemed to be in charge, short dark hair framed a stern looking face, a pair of silver framed sunglasses hid her eyes. Her posture was so rigid Yukimasa wondered if she had a steel rod rammed down her spine…or a stick up her ass. It was then it clicked in his head; these were soldiers from the Earth Alliance here to pick up their new toys. "Oh pardon me, I wasn't watching where I was going." The woman said apologetically.
"That's quite all right. Just as long as no one ends up hurt." Yukimasa just put on the charm, and smirked at the newcomers. "My name is Yukimasa Ikari, this vision of loveliness is my girlfriend, Flay Allster. Welcome to the Orb Union space colony of Heliopolis. It's the type of place where you'll never know what you'll find." He planted a delicate kiss on Flay's cheek. That elicited a huge blush on her pale cheeks. "Why…you may even find an angel." This got the woman's attention. "Perhaps I can at least get your name?"
"Natarle…Natarle Badgiruel." The woman said placidly, pulling down her sunglasses to reveal purple eyes with a commanding gleam. "Perhaps you can direct my associates and I to Morgenroete, then, Mr. Ikari? I have important business there, and I can't afford to be late."
"My friends and I can take you there." Kira said, having caught the tail end of the conversation. "We're all students and take classes at the technical college that's located on the factory grounds. We can show you how to get there. Do you know exactly where you're supposed to go?"
"Yes. Yes we do." Natarle said, locking eyes with Yui for the barest fraction of a second.
"I'll go with you as well." Yukimasa offered, flashing an apologetic glance to Flay. "Sorry sweetheart, it looks like we have to go to work after all. Can I get you a rain check on lunch?" The pretty redhead just smiled, kissing him lightly on the cheek. "Thanks babe, when this is over I'll take you out for a real nice dinner, all the trimmings!"
Flay giggled. "I'm going to hold you to that!" She cuddled his arm. Everyone piled into a row of electric cars that would take them to Morgenroete.
(PSV Vesalius, just outside Heliopolis.)
The pilot's locker room was bustling with activity, as the soldiers of the Le Creuset Team suited up to prepare for their covert operation. A young man with dark blue hair and piercing emerald eyes donned his flight suit, colored a brilliant red, with gray trim. Lieutenant Athrun Zala looked at himself in the small mirror set up in his locker door. It was then a young man wearing the same color flight suit as him, just a few shades darker than his red hair. "Hey Rusty." He said.
"So this is it, Athrun. Our first real taste of action." Rusty Mackenzie clapped his squadmate on the shoulder. "Bet you never thought our first real assignment would be something so sensitive." It was pure luck that the White Meteor's squadron had happened upon intel about the G-Weapons, and they weren't about to let the Earth Alliance get any kind of leg up on ZAFT.
"Orb has shown their true colors, all their talk about neutrality is nothing but a load of bullshit." Yzak Joule snapped, fastening up his own red flightsuit. "I guess we'll just have to show those Naturals what we think of them trying to create their own mobile suits."
"They can't be any better than our GINNs." Dearka Elsman scoffed.
"Don't be so sure about that." Nicol Amalfi piped up. "There are Naturals out there who are just as talented as Coordinators."
Rusty stretched his arms. "Well, either way, once this operation is over, I'm looking forward to going back to the PLANTs and spending time with my girl." He picked up a small photograph looking at it with a fond expression. "I proposed to her just before we shipped out."
It was then a blonde man wearing a green flight suit poked his head in. "Hey guys, the boss man wants us in the briefing room in fifteen, so get the lead out." The five pilots grabbed their helmets. Rusty replaced the picture in his locker, giving it a final look. It was a young woman wearing a simple pink t-shirt, with long black hair, and narrow almond shaped eyes. On the back written in delicate, feminine handwriting was "To RM, from MC."
(Morgenroete Technical College, Robotics Lab)
Natarle and her companions had separated from the group of students, and were now heading for the primary robotics lab, having been called there by Keijiro. He was currently sitting at one of the lab tables, feet up on the counter when everyone walked in.
"Heya, Masa! I was wondering when you were going to show your ugly mug around here. Kato was about to throw a conniption fit!" He waved. "And hello to you, Ladies! I certainly don't mind being surrounded by women as brilliant…and beautiful as the three of you. You can program my computer any time!" He grinned at Flay, Yui, and Mirialla. All three girls just gave him dirty looks, they were all too familiar with his womanizing.
"Down boy…don't make me turn the garden hose on you. It will be very cold." Yukimasa said, eliciting giggles from Flay and Mirialla. "So what's so important that I had to show up here when I could have been spending time with my hot, oh so sexy girlfriend?" He looked to Flay, her face quickly turning the same shade as her hair.
"The Prof wanted you guys to help with the exoskeleton." Keijiro jerked a thumb over to the crude assembly in the corner. "He also wanted me to take care of our…guests. Pay them no mind. They're…mostly harmless."
Yukimasa raised an eyebrow at the other two occupants of the room. A young man with eyes as black as his hair, he was currently staring at his phone while his companion was leaning against the wall, wearing a brown coat and dark pants, blonde hair under a hat. He couldn't help but feel uncomfortable at the way the person was glaring at him with those hard golden-colored eyes. That sensation intensified when the blonde beckoned him
"Uh, can you excuse me for a minute guys? I need to have a chat with our guests." He grabbed Keijiro by the arm, dragging him out into the corridor. The other two following very close behind them, and Yukimasa was certain the blonde was still glaring a hole into the back of his head. The door slammed shut, and Yukimasa turned on his heel, red eyes meeting gold. "Hello Cagalli, can I just say you look absolutely gorgeous today? I was not expecting you to come all the way out from the homeland just to see little old me."
"Oh can the sweet talk, Sahaku!" Cagalli Yula Attha snapped, putting her hands on her hips. "You know exactly why I'm here, and don't try and change the subject. It is true? Did Morgenroete really help the Atlantic Federation and the Earth Alliance create their own mobile suits?" He winced inwardly at the sorrow in his old friend's voice. "Please don't lie to me, Yukimasa. I've had enough of that already from my father. No one would give me a straight answer, so I came out here to see it for myself."
"Just say yes to her, Bro." The black haired young man said, exasperation colored his voice as his eyes swept across him and Keijiro. "It will save everyone a lot of trouble down the line. All three of us know once her temper gets stoked, it takes forever before it dies down." Kuro Takeshi Sahaku was Yukimasa's younger brother.
"It's been a while, K." Keijiro drawled. "So you joined our favorite princess on this little expedition?" He paid no attention to the furious glare Cagalli shot him; everyone knew how much she hated being called 'princess.'
"I was assigned to be her bodyguard." Kuro put his hands in his pockets. "Once she decided to come out here, I figured it was best to just come along."
"Getting back to the topic at the hand!" Cagalli stamped her foot impatiently. "So tell me, Yukimasa…are the mobile suits here? Did I come out all the way out here for nothing?"
"…Yes, it's true." Yukimasa almost wished he wasn't looking Cagalli in the eye as he uttered those three words. The heartbreak and anguish was written across the Attha heiress's face. "The Atlantic Federation came to Morgenroete because no one knows mobile suits better than we do, and they wanted the very best minds available."
"So it's true! Father betrayed us all!" Cagalli lamented, only to be cuffed upside the back of the head by Keijiro. "Ow! What the hell was that for?" She whined, rubbing the sore spot.
"Because there's nothing worse than listening to you whine, Cagalli!" Keijiro snapped, raising his pointer finger up to her face. "Make no mistake, I respect your old man, but I have no use for this whole neutrality bullshit! You can't possibly be so arrogant to think we can just sit back with all the chaos the world is currently going through! My opinion is if we can't beat them, join them! And we may as well join the side we share the damn planet with!"
"While I don't exactly share Keijiro's desire to join the Earth Alliance, he's not wrong, Cagalli." Yukimasa scratched behind his head. "Sooner or later, someone's going to come banging on the door, wanting something from us. Whether it's Morgenroete's technology and resources, or the mass driver. Neutrality doesn't mean a thing when survival is at stake."
"But it goes against everything Orb stands for! Certainly both of you can see how wrong this all is!" Cagalli shot back, looking imploringly to her bodyguard. "Kuro, back me on this!" The Lioness of Orb wanted to cry when she saw him suddenly become very interested in the grain of the carpet. "Not you too…am I the only one who believes in Orb's ideals?"
"Both Keijiro and Yukimasa make valid points, Caggy." Kuro said in a soft voice. "To be honest, I don't trust either side. The Earth Alliance's stance on Coordinators is well known, if Orb were to join them, it's a given they'd grind down hard on us, and I don't trust ZAFT and the PLANTs because Patrick Zala is a diehard racist who's in line to be elected Chairman in three months' time." He straightened himself up a little, and looked his charge in the eye. He slowly shook his head. "I could care less about the politics, Cagalli. My job is protect you, nothing more."
"If it's any consolation, we're not walking away from this completely empty handed, Cagalli." Keijiro grinned slyly, crossing his arms. "We've managed to copy all the data from the Earth Alliance's weapons, and have been quietly funneling it back home to Erica for use in developing the Astrays, from what I've heard, it's already starting to pay big dividends. Although we still need to work on getting a proper Operating System for Naturals, poor Asagi, Mayura, and Juri, are barely able to get the things to move."
"And that's automatically supposed to make me feel better?" Cagalli frowned, feeling even more betrayed. Kuro just sighed, this was the kind of thing he expected.
"No…but if I know your old man well enough, even he might have approved of this. For how stubborn he is. He wants to be able to protect Orb and all of its citizens. It's always been his first priority." Keijiro straightened his shirt a little. "Let's face it…Ideals aren't always great for policy. Sometimes…you need stone cold firepower to back those ideals up." Cagalli had no further words for that.
(Heliopolis Exterior)
The fact that space is a vacuum and thus silent is one of the oldest jokes in the book, but still, that silence served the line of commandos, clad in both red and green as they made a covert entrance to the space colony. Athrun activated the manual release, letting the hatch slide open. He gave a curt nod to his squadmates, and they all quietly advanced inside.
They all reached the colony interior, hunching down. "Okay, we all know what needs to be done." Athrun laid out the plan. "The greens will set up bombs around the Earth Forces' new carrier, while the reds go after the mobile suits directly. Miguel will be coming in with the GINNs to cover our escape."
"Then let's get to work." One of the lead greens said, the two groups broke off, each heading for their respective targets. It didn't take long for the first squad of greens to find the ship, secure in its berth.
With aid from their jetpacks, the ZAFT commandos began planting explosives all over the place. "Set the timers for five minutes, that should be enough for us to get away." One of them said. The bombs were set, and the soldiers all quickly exited.
(Morgenroete Technical College, Hallway)
Yukimasa was about to throw in his two cents, when the entire building began shaking. "What the?" He started to say before everything shook again, even more violent than the last time, knocking the three off their feet. Kuro grabbed onto Cagalli to cushion her landing. "The hell is going on here?" He staggered to his feet. "Was that…an explosion?"
"I don't know!" Kuro said, quickly checking on Cagalli. "You all right?" He asked, to which the blonde just gave a brief dark, serious gaze snapped to his older brother. "Yukimasa, I think we better get to the shelters."
"Yeah, but I need to go check on something first." He made his way to the classroom, only for the door to bang open, showing a visibly panicked Flay, who quickly threw her arms around his neck. "Hey, I was just going to come get you." He gently rubbed her back. "Are you all right? Is anyone else hurt?"
The redhead shook her head. "No, but what's going on here? The entire building started shaking without any kind of warning." Flay was visibly frightened, Yukimasa simply ran his hand along her delicate, swanlike cheek, taking in the sight of her bluish-gray eyes. She smiled a little at the comforting gesture.
"You can relax, dear. You know I would never let anything happen to you." He looked inside the classroom to see the other students. Kira was holding Yui, while Mirialla fussed over Tolle, Sai and Kuzzey were looking at dismay at the mess scattered on the floor. "Hey you guys!" He called out to the other teenagers. "It would probably be good idea for us to get out of here and make for the shelters."
The students wasted no time in vacated the premises. They were greeted with a sight none of them ever imagined…the entire Heliopolis Morgenroete facility was in flames, and rubble was strewn everywhere. The entire group was in varying degrees of shock. "Who could have done this?" Mirialla exclaimed, clinging onto Tolle.
The answer came in the form of a pair of ZGMF-1017 GINNs wrecking everything in sight with their 76mm heavy machine guns. "ZAFT is here? This is a neutral colony! They don't have the right to do this!" Kuzzey shook all over, only for Kejiro to swat him up side the back of the head. "Ow! What was that for?" He whined, tears poking out of the corner of his eyes.
"Oh grow up you big baby!" He barked, flashing a fierce gaze to the rest of them. "I suggest you kids accept the reality in front of you right now! ZAFT could give two shits about your precious neutrality. So don't presume that you can just pretend that what's been going on doesn't affect you! Because guess what?" He held his arm out so they could see all the destruction. "From here on out it does!"
"Let's just get to the shelters. We're vulnerable if we stay here!" Yui urged, squeezing Kira's hand. They made their way along the streets; every so often they'd hear another explosion, or the telltale rattling of gunfire. Flay holding onto Yukimasa's arm in a death grip. They found elevators leading to the shelters, but to their dismay, most of them were fully occupied, as indicated by the red lights over the entrance.
"Here's one that doesn't seem full." Tolle said, indicating to one who had a green light. He keyed the intercom. "Hey, is there room in there? We have people and everything is going to absolute hell up here."
"The shelters filled up really quick. We've only got room for one or two people in here." A voice said from the intercom. Everyone looked to each other. It was the last thing any of the kids wanted to hear.
Yukimasa didn't hesitate, grabbing Flay and tossing her inside. "Yukimasa no!" the redhead cried, only for her protest to be stopped by a deep and passionate kiss. His lips crashed against hers. There was no hiding their secret from the rest of the group now.
"Don't worry…I will come back for you." he ran his hand along her cheek, relishing the feel of her soft, creamy skin. "I love you so much, Flay Allster." He gave her a gentle shove to push her inside the elevator and pushed the button, his girlfriend gave a tearful wave before the door closed, and the elevator sank down to the shelter. He looked to his companions. "I'm sorry, guys, but there wasn't time to debate who got in. We need to find another shelter and now."
(Morgenroete Facility)
Lieutenant Junior Grade Sharon Heim was a woman many would consider extremely attractive, with her slender figure, breasts that were in the upper D-range easily, and long curly pink hair, but she was still a soldier of the Atlantic Federation Armed Forces, and right now she was certain the ZAFT soldiers trying to steal the G-weapon prototypes would find attractive.
"This is the absolute pits, Murrue!" Sharon opened fire with her assault rifle, trying to keep the heads of the ZAFT forces down. "How in the hell did ZAFT find out about what we were doing here? Orb gave us their word that their security was top notch and no one would ever know we were here!"
"Not really the time to think about that, Sharon!" Murrue called out, firing a few rounds at the green clad soldiers. "We have to keep the Strike and the Aegis out of enemy hands!" She took a shot at one of the soldiers, this one wearing red, who managed to duck behind some crates, barely avoiding getting plugged in the head.
"I just thought of something!" Sharon frowned. "I had a date tonight, and now I'm going to have to cancel it." This just earned her a frustrated groan and roll of the eyes from Murrue. She had long gotten used to her pink haired friend's eccentricities, and went back to defending their precious cargo.
(Morgenroete Facility)
The students were still struggling to find a shelter they could take refuge in. Every time they heard an explosion or the colony shook, they would wince. Kuzzey was on the verge of a nervous breakdown, and Miriallia was keeping a death grip on Tolle's hand, as she offered a silent prayer to Haumea to help them get out of this alive.
"There has to be a shelter around here that can take all of us." Kira said, "Damn it!" He pounded the door in anger. To their dismay, all the shelters they found were full up, and the young student was getting desperate. There was no worse feeling than being powerless in a disaster.
He felt a hand rest on his shoulder; Yui gave him a reassuring smile. "We'll get through this, Kira. Just remember what I've always said. Take a deep breath and focus. You can't think clearly if you're constantly worrying." She gave him a light hug. "I figured you would have learned that during our study sessions."
"You really going to make out here when our lives are in danger?" Cagalli groaned, only to feel someone take her hand and squeeze it. She found herself looking into Kuro's eyes. She sighed, knowing this trip might have been a mistake after all. However, she had hidden faith her bodyguard would make good on his duty to protect her at all costs.
"Let's go this way. There should be some shelters over here." Yukimasa waved them all over, kicking open a door with some help from Sai and Tolle. They made their way down the corridors, everything still shaking. After trying the first door, they burst in on a balcony, where they saw two carriers carrying what appeared to be mobile suits.
"What is going on here?" Sai wondered, only to be greeted by the sound of machine gun fire. There were two women in orange coveralls, one with brown hair, the other with pink, as they struggled to hold off the ZAFT forces.
"So that's them…" Cagalli looked on at the two machines. She wanted to throw up at the sight of them, knowing that Orb technology had been used to create these mechanical demons. Apparently her words were loud enough for the people on the ground to hear, as the brown haired woman aimed and fired at them.
Murrue lined up a shot, managing to hit one of the red clad soldiers, punching clean through the faceplate of his helmet. Only to get plugged in the shoulder, her arm burned as she dropped her rifle. She pulled out her pistol as the soldier who wounded her made a rush for the Gundams.
Kira couldn't wait any more, seeing the two women struggling with these invaders to their homeland. He hopped over the railing, leaping down from the balcony and racing for the trucks. "Kira! Get back here!" Yui cried, ducking down to avoid getting shot at by one of the ZAFT soldiers.
Murrue winced as she backed up, hand grabbing for her pistol. Shooting the rifle out of the red clad pilot's hand. He drew a knife, coming at her with the intent to finish her off, only for a third person to enter the conflict, "A civilian? What are they thinking?"
Kira put himself between Murrue and the ZAFT pilot. He was about to demand they stop this right now, but all the words died on his mouth when the soldier spoke one single word that made his entire world shatter.
"Kira?" He got a good look at the pilot's face, purple eyes meeting green. There was no disputing it…Athrun Zala was here in front of him. The two old friends could only gape at each other, as the shadows of the licking flames danced across their faces.
"What those two doing?" Miriallia asked in confusion, not sure just what was going on. Kira was just standing there, staring at the soldier who moments ago was inches away from killing him and the woman. "Could those two…know each other?"
"We can worry about that later." Yukimasa shot a glance to both Cagalli and Kuro. "You guys stay here and get Kira. I have some business to tend to." With that the three Orb nobles took off, leaving the students alone. It wasn't long until they finally found a shelter that had open space.
"Will you be okay?" Cagalli asked Yukimasa as she and Kuro got into the elevator, it was a very tight squeeze, and she couldn't help but flush a little at being so close to her bodyguard.
"You should know me well enough, Caggy." Yukimasa flashed his trademark grin. "I need to go check on something anyway." He looked to his brother. "In the meantime, you just keep her safe." Kuro gave a slight nod and Yukimasa hit the button, sending them both down to the shelter.
Yukimasa then made his way to a part of the compound few frequented, a place not even the Earth Alliance soldiers he and Keijiro had been working on the G-Weapons with went. Walking with purpose, he walked down the hallway, when a sliver of light under a door caught his eye. Yukimasa reached for the straight double sided style combat knife shoved between his belt behind his back. "Who in the hell is that?" He wondered, raising his knife in a reverse grip.
He took hold of the doorknob, a few deep breaths to calm himself and Yukimasa threw the door open, prepared for whatever or whoever might be in there. His jaw dropped. "You!" He exclaimed, lowering his blade. He still bore his teeth at the person he saw in a disgusted sneer.
A regal looking man in his mid-twenties stood at a file cabinet, apparently in the middle of pulling folders and papers out. "Ah…hello there, little brother. I'm sorry for not visiting you, but I was here on business." Rondo Ghina Sahaku drawled, adjusting the sleeve of his very expensive dark purple suit.
"What are you doing here, Ghina?" Yukimasa snarled. He wasn't expecting his oldest brother to be present on the colony. There wasn't a lot of love lost between the two Sahaku brothers to begin with.
"I just came here to claim what's rightfully mine." Ghina finished packing the files into his briefcase. "As long as you're here, perhaps you should help yourself to Kato's other project? I'm certain you would be able to put it to better use than that old fool ever could." Ghina picked up his briefcase. "Until next time Yukimasa. I hope to see you again soon." With that he left the room.
Having no time to think, Yukimasa left the office, heading back down the hallway. It opened up into a large hangar, brilliant red eyes looked up to see three identical looking mobile suits, the only difference being their colors, gold, red, and blue. "The Astray Frame prototypes…so they're completed as well."
Remembering his brother's words. He headed into the next hangar, where he found a large figure covered in a large dark blue tarp. Yukimasa grabbed the corner of the sheet. "Let's see what the old coot has for me." He gave it a strong tug, and it fell off. His eyes widened. "Wow…" was all he had to say.
(G-Weapon Hangar)
Kira and Athrun had taken a few minutes, neither certain what to make of their unexpected reunion. It was cut short when Murrue took stock of the situation, opening fire with her pistol, causing Athrun to leap off. Putting thoughts of his friend aside, he ran across the room to the second truck while Murrue grabbed Kira, pulling him into the Strike's cockpit.
"Get in here if you don't want to die!" Murrue hollered, sitting down into the pilot's seat, while Kira got stuffed off to the side. She began flipping switches and pushing buttons, bringing the mighty war machine to life. She noted with dismay as the other mobile suit slowly emerged as well.
Kira's friends were still rooted to their spot, their minds were still processing everything they were seeing. First their home was attacked, and now they were looking at strange new mobile suits. "We need to get out of here." Sai finally broke the silence, as the entire hangar began to shake.
"Yeah, this place is going to come down on our heads if we don't leave now!" Tolle said, taking hold of Mirialla, to keep her from falling over.
"But we can't run that fast!" Kuzzey whined, only for Tolle and Sai to glare at him, hopping down with Mirialla just behind. "I can't believe these guys!" He said, only for Yui to grab him by his belt, bodily chucking him over the side before leaping down herself.
Everyone turned at the sound of a honking horn, to see the busty pink haired woman in a pickup truck waving at them. "Come on, kiddies! Get in unless you want to get blown sky high!" everyone piled into the back of the truck as Sharon hit the gas, driving out just before the entire hangar collapsed in on itself.
The truck skidded across the grassy field, Sharon rapidly spun the wheel to avoid crashing headlong into the side of building before coming to a stop. "Everyone all right?" She looked back to the pickup bed, where the ashen faced teenagers were still trying to catch their breath and give their internal organs time to catch up with them.
Their own aches were forgotten at the sight of the two G-Weapons and a GINN converging on each other. The machine Kira and the woman had gotten into stumbling along like it had way too much to drink. A hollow feeling crept into everyone's stomachs. Tolle summed up their situation best. "I believe we just leapt out of the frying pan into the fire!"
Athrun hadn't taken long to rewrite the operating system for the machine known as the GAT-X303 Aegis. He saw the GINN approaching. "Athrun, good job, I see you and Rusty came through." Miguel's voice piped in on the radio.
"Rusty is dead, an Earth Alliance soldier managed to get into the last mobile suit!" Athrun said flatly, a bit of grief showing in his voice.
"I'm sorry to hear that." Miguel didn't let his sorrow show. "In that case, take your prize and head back to the ship. I'll grab this last mobile suit and we'll get out of here. Good luck, Athrun." He received the standard two click response, and the Aegis's engines flared to life, it kicked off from the ground. The pilot known as the Magic Bullet of Dusk stared down the last remaining mobile suit. It hardly seemed like much of a challenge the way it was moving.
"This almost seems too easy." Miguel smirked, raising his rifle. "You're mine, Natural!" He opened fire, only for the machine to dodge to the left, just avoiding get a face full of 76mm rounds. "Hmph, you got lucky, but this is just getting started!"
Murrue struggled with the controls. "Damn that was close!" From his vantage point, Kira watched as she struggled with the controls. It was evident she was not a pilot, and the way they were moving, it was just a matter of time before they ended up getting hit. The Strike continued moving around, it was then Murrue pushed a button on the console. "There, Phase Shift Armor activated. That GINN's rifle is about as effective as paper balls now."
To Miguel and the rest of Kira's friends, they were now witnessing an incredible sight. The Strike, which had once been a stark, plain gray, underwent a startling transformation as the machine's entire frame began buzzing as color started running over it, turning the machine white with a blue and red torso, along with red trim along the feet.
The bullets simply bounced off, not even leaving a scratch. "What the?" Miguel gaped, his golden brown eyes narrowing. "Okay, so you have a fancy little party trick. If bullets won't work." He stowed his rifle, replacing it with the heavy sword. "Let's see how you like this bad boy!" He wound up with the blade, only for it bounce off.
Murrue struggled to keep the Strike on a vertical base. Kira finally had enough. "Move over!" He yelled, and pushed her aside so he could take a seat in the pilot's seat. His face twisted in disgust. "You've been using an operating system like this?" He pulled out the keyboard, beginning to rapidly type. "No wonder it's moving around the way it has been. This OS is garbage!"
"We haven't had time to fully complete it." Murrue weakly protested. It was then Kira quit typing, and the Strike suddenly smoothed out. Her eyes widened in shock, certainly this kid didn't just rewrite the Strike's entire OS in the span of a few short seconds?
"Where are the weapons on this thing?" Kira cycled through the menu. He noted there was a beam rifle and shield it was supposed to carry, but neither of them were present. "A pair of knives and CIWS? That's it!" Reasoning he no other choice, he grabbed the weapons from their storage compartments on the Strike's hips. He danced around the GINN's Heavy Sword, burying one of them in the ZAFT mobile suit's neck, the other in the shoulder. The damaged joints sparked, and flamed. The cockpit alarm blared above Miguel's head, signaling significant internal damage. Thanks to this: Migel had no way of moving his GINN effectively!
"Shit!" Miguel cursed, realizing he had been bested. He quickly keyed the self-destruct sequence, before bailing out. Kira watched as the green clad pilot flew away. He thus missed Murrue's warning, and the GINN exploded, causing the Strike to crash into the side of a building. Kira panted as he guided the mobile suit back to its feet. The battle was over, but at the very least his friends were safe.
Murrue could only stare at Kira. She winced at the stabbing pain in her shoulder, as she remembered that yes she had been shot, and her vision began to blur at the loss of blood. "Oh crap…" was all she time to say before she finally slumped against Kira's shoulder, not able to keep conscious for any longer.
(Morgenroete Park)
The Strike came to a stop, and Kira watched as Yui and the rest of his friends run up. He emerged from the mobile suit, Murrue hanging off his shoulder. "Kira, you all right man?" Tolle asked as the two descended. "That was insane! What happened out there?" He helped Kira guide Murrue's unconscious form over to a bench, while Sai took his jacket to cover her.
"I'm still trying to figure it out myself." Kira said, as Yui began rubbing his shoulders. "I got pulled into the cockpit, and we ended up having to deal with that GINN. I realized if I didn't do something fast, we'd both end up dead. You wouldn't believe how crude the OS for that thing is. I had to rewrite the whole thing on the fly!"
"Excuse me?" He looked up to see Sharon, surprise on her face as she walked up. Kira had to try very hard to keep focus on her face and not her chest if just not to make Yui mad. "Tell me if I heard you right…did you just say you rewrote the Strike's entire operating system while you were fighting that GINN?"
"Uh…yes ma'am. It was a necessary measure." Kira said nervously. Sharon smiled coyly, running a delicate hand along his cheek.
"Well…either way, if not for your quick actions, then my friend here wouldn't have made it. Thank you." She said, before her face became all business. "Okay kids. I hate to do this, because you all seem pretty nice. I am Lieutenant Sharon Heim, with the Atlantic Federation Navy. I'm going to need you kids to stay by my side for the immediate future."
"Why should we listen to you?" Sai protested, only to find Sharon inches from his face.
"For starters, you're civilians and you've seen sensitive military technology. Standard procedure requires me to detain you until we can sort this whole problem out. Odds are, all you'll be required to do is sign a nondisclosure agreement saying you won't speak of anything that's happened today." She frowned as she surveyed the destruction. "Although, that's dependent on us actually getting out of here alive. I can't exactly throw you kids into a shelter now, they're all full and on lockdown. So I'm your best chance for survival right now. Take it or leave it."
"I think we should do what Lieutenant Heim says." Yui spoke up, as all eyes looked to her. "She's right…we don't have time to consider other options or debate this." She looked to Sharon. "Tell me, Lieutenant…do you have a way for us to escape Heliopolis before anything else happens?"
"As a matter of fact I do." Sharon immediately took charge, issuing orders to the other kids. She looked to Sai. "Head for the hangar, and bring back the Number 5 equipment trunk, it will have armaments and a fresh battery for the Strike. As for you two." She looked to Tolle and Mirialla. "Find a first aid kid, we need to tend to my comrade's injuries before she bleeds out."
Murrue slowly came to, looking into Sharon's face. "Hey there! You had me worried for a while." The pinkette helped her to sit up. "Careful, don't want to aggravate anything."
"What are those civilians doing?" Murrue exclaimed, about to reach for her sidearm, only for Sharon to grab her arm. "Let go of me right now!"
"Chill out for a minute, Murrue. These kids are working at my order." Sharon explained. She knew Murrue was a reasonable woman, and would accept their aid, the pinkette just needed to sell her on the idea first. "You remember what happened during the firefight earlier? You got clipped in the shoulder."
It started coming back to Murrue then, the shooting pain in her arm. How the mysterious young man had come to defend her, and jumping into the Strike before the entire hangar was destroyed. How they were struggling with the GINN before he rewrote the OS. "That one kid. He…"
"Rewrote the Strike's Operating System in the middle of combat?" Sharon said, a knowing smile on her face. "I've already spoken to the boy. He's quite an interesting person. These kids are all aware of what has happened and have agreed to cooperate with us until we can get to the Archangel."
"Have you managed to contact the Captain yet?" Murrue asked, happy to have something else to focus on.
Sharon just shook her head. "Not yet, I don't want to assume the worst yet, but if ZAFT was after the mobile suits, it's a safe bet they went after the ship meant to carry them as well. Although, I've heard they built the Archangel pretty tough. It wouldn't be right to have her in a million pieces before she even made it out of dock."
It was then a tractor-trailer barreled toward them. Everyone was afraid that they might get run over, so it was much to their relief that it skidded to a stop near the Strike, leaving long skid marks in the garage. A large number five was stenciled on the side. "Is this it, Lieutenant Heim?" Sai asked as he hopped out.
"That's it!" Sharon clapped before she turned to Kira. "There's weaponry and spare power packs in the trailer, get into the Strike and get it equipped. We may need to fight our way out of here." Kira nodded, and was about to do so before he caught something out of the corner of his eye, a figure wearing a ZAFT red flightsuit bolted by him, making straight for the Strike.
"Somebody Stop him!" Sharon cried out. The Strike's zipline was still down, and all it would take is a single button press to get into the cockpit. The red clad figure suddenly found himself falling head over heels, tumbling across the grass, thanks to a well-timed extension of the foot courtesy of Mirialla Haw herself. She proceeded to start kicking him in the side.
"Ow! Ow! Okay! Okay I give!" the figure cried, the helmet coming off to reveal Keijiro. He tried to sit up, wincing at the pain in his ribs. "Damn, you've got a mean kick, girl! That takes a lot of guts to kick Keijiro Mishima like that."
"Don't even think of moving!" Sharon hissed, sticking her gun right in Keijiro's face, inches from his left eye. "I have nothing against Coordinators personally, but you and the rest of your ZAFT buddies just killed quite a few of my friends just now. Not to mention making off with all our hard work. I have a half a mind to kill you right now!" It was then that she slammed the butt of the gun in his face,
"I'm tellin' you people I'm not with ZAFT!"
Murrue messaged her temples. She never wanted to shoot anybody more now. The ZAFT soldier who was KO-ed by Sharon a couple of minutes ago woke up. He hadn't stopped talking ever since… He'd denied allegations of being a ZAFT soldier despite the overwhelmingly red evidence he wore on his person. You couldn't catch a criminal more red handed if he were dipped in evil intent and sent into town with a death ray. With that in mind… Why didn't she put a bullet in his head? She supposed she was much too nice for her own good.
"Yeah right…" Tolle sitting on the red's back to restrain him snorted derisively. "If that's so, why're you wearing that uniform? Nobody who's not in ZAFT would dream of wearing that."
"Duh, Asshole!" The ZAFT soldier said loudly. Murrue could imagine him rolling his eyes. He explained to him as if he were a tad simple. "That's 'cause I stole it! The guy wearing it didn't need it anymore! Bein' dead and all! I was lucky to find 'im… He was the only guy who didn't shit himself. Guy was smart enough to evacuate himself beforehand. He didn't wanna embarrass himself when he came home in a pine box, I guess." He shrugged under Tolle's weight. Tolle made a disgusted face. Murrue felt her own stomach turn. She hoped this brat was lying. His story was simply too screwed up for words.
"If I could, Rusty Mckenzie…" The 'ZAFT' soldier continued sadly. "I'd salute ya right now… You were obviously not a total douche bag. Not like some dicks who call themselves friends. 'I'll pick you up when ZAFT attacks' my finely tanned ass." He did a mocking interpretation of some else's voice. It was high pitched and dumb sounding. "'We can't do this, Keijiro. That's wrong…'. You'd think he was my effin' conscience or somethin'." He said in a low growl. "I swear I'll kick his douche bag ass all the way to…"
"Wait…" Miriallia spoke up, cutting him off all together. "You're Keijiro aren't you? Yukimasa's friend?"
"Huh?" The restrained soldier tilted his head slightly. "How d'ya know my name, hot stuff?"
Tolle scowled. He punched Keijiro in the arm. Keijiro would've stifled a few choice words of his if he were the type with a clean mouth. "Her name is Miriallia Haw, dufus. She's my girl so keep the smooth talk to a minimum."
"Fair enough." Keijiro allowed. He scowled under his helmet. "You've got a lot of balls hittin' Keijiro Mishima like that. I think I like you…" He added with a snuggery sweet voice. "Get off me and I'll be your best friend."
"Not a chance, Mister ZAFT…" Tolle said simply. "If I let you go… Well, I dunno what might happen. Just because you're Yukimasa's friend doesn't mean you're gonna get off. To think you were with ZAFT this entire time… You ought to be ashamed of yourself using your friend to infiltrate our home."
"I told ya I'm not with ZAFT!" Keijiro snapped once again. Murrue wondered if this dumb kid knew how to do an inside voice. "I stole this smelly assed suit from a dead guy. Besides-"
"Where's the truck?" Murrue groaned out of pure irritation. She was starting to get a headache from Keijiro's incessant babbling. She got from the bench she sat on and walked forward a dozen paces. She furiously squinted at the distance… It didn't make the truck come any faster. "I sent them out to get it fifteen minutes ago… What's taking them so long?"
Suddenly, things got very quiet. Murrue grabbed her gun… Did the ZAFT Soldier escape? Instead of getting violent, Murrue raised an eyebrow at the strange interaction going on before her eyes.
"Thank you!" Keijiro exclaimed happily. Tolle slipped the red helmet off his head, revealing a black colored mane of red splotched hair. Not all of it was the dark red highlights going along jagged paths in his hair. He looked up at them with big yellow cat like eyes framed by a tan face. A messy goatee sprouted around his equally dirty mouth. The fingers of black flames from a tattoo unseen thanks to the space suit's collar licked at his neck. For his age, he was a very big boy. He was almost about the size of a full grown man. A lot of things about this boy seemed to scream punk. If this kid was a ZAFT soldier, she was the Chief Representative of Orb.
Tolle held the helmet up to his face and grimaced. "God… You were right this thing smells like ass."
"And death…" Keijiro said humorlessly. Frowning deeply, he shook himself at the very thought of the smell. "I didn't clean all the brains out of there. Can somebody pick this shit outta of my hair? I think it might be settling into my scalp." He whined, practically begging for their help. Murrue never thought she'd hear the "legendary" Keijiro Mishima groveling. She heard rumors of a gang of Mishima "Yakuza" led by the just and strong Keijiro. They righted wrongs and brought the unjust to justice. Within the space of six months of him appearing, all the local gangs and known crime syndicates vanished off the face of the map. He either forced them to join his gang or spaced them. That was the rumor, anyhow… She never read anything in the paper about space based deaths recently. More than enough arrests were prominent. Just the other week a major crime boss visiting from Earth was jailed for possessing illegal goods. The newspaper credited the police with big break on the major case. The word on the street was the exact opposite. The aptly named Akumetsu, named by local Japanese store owner whose shop was saved from robbery by the vigilantes, were the real heroes. The name Akumetsu quickly caught on for the people of Heliopolis. The "Destroyers of Evil" or Akumetsu became a name synonymous with Justice, Hope, Peace, Goodness, and Fear. Justice for the criminals who threatened the Peace of society, Hope for those trapped in a darkening world at war, a boon to let people know there was still Goodness thriving in the world, and finally Fear for those outlaws hiding in the shadows possibly thinking of sparking their recidivism.
Some people considered them heroes to be praised for their goodhearted efforts. Others had only scorn for them… thinking Akumetsu wasn't any better than the criminals they persecuted. Murrue kept out of the discussion when it was brought up in her local drinking hole. She didn't want to get into it… It wasn't her home. No matter how much she wanted this peaceful haven to be just that.
Murrue closed her eyes for a moment. She took a moment to get her head back in the game. Once again, Murrue Ramius was composed for business. She left the weird sight of Tolle scratching Keijiro's multicolored head for the kneeling Strike. Maybe the X-105 was an eerie thing to witness itself. Murrue never thought she would see Natural use combat mobile suits come into being. Yet, here it was before her kowtowing to her like she was royalty. Weirder still… Her theoretical enemy was piloting her titanic knight. Murrue wished the irony had failed to reach her.
Letting out a long suffering sigh, she thought to herself. Just take it one step at a time, Murrue. Just take it one step at a time. It was a mantra she'd used over and over again until she finally settled her uneasy mind. "Alright…" She breathed in and out. "Time to let your officer training take control."
She hoped to Jesus, God, and the Holy Spirit nobody heard her right then. Last thing she needed to show to these children was weakness. She was the final wall between them and complete destruction. She felt confidence flowing through her again. She hoped her reassurances instilled a permanent firmness inside her.
"Kira!" She called up to his perch in the Strike. All she could hear for a moment was furious typing. It was good to know someone else other than her was doing their job. "Can you try and make contact with allied forces again? There has to be somebody alive out there!"
A weary "Yes, ma'am" was all she got from him. Considering the way Sharon had coerced these young people into helping the two Earth Alliance officers, a weary answer was the best Murrue could continue to hope for.
They looked up to see the colony's central shaft shake. "This place has taken a lot of serious damage. I don't think it's going to last much longer." Murrue said. "We need to establish contact with the Archangel and now." She silently wondered if things could get any worse, only for an explosion to bloom on the shaft. A ZGMF-515 CGUE painted brilliant white flew out, followed by a TS-MA2mod.00 Moebius Zero mobile armor. The two machines began exchanging fire.
"Get one of those weapon packages loaded right now!" Sharon cried to Kira, who quickly began preparing. He looked inside the trailer to see a weapons pod that seemed to go on one of the Strike's shoulder mountings containing a six barreled Gatling gun and a pair of gun launchers, along with a very large cannon. He wasted little time in putting the weapon pod on the right shoulder, and was happy to see his energy meter refill with the cannon attached.
The white CGUE dove on their position, firing its machine gun. Kira raised the cannon, not able to hear the joint warnings from Murrue and Sharon. He squeezed the trigger, a massive orange and blue beam erupted, streaking across the sky toward the CGUE, which barely managed to get out of the way. The beam smashed into the colony wall, leaving a gaping hole as air began rushing out. "Uh…oops?" Kira said.
In the cockpit of the CGUE, ZAFT commander Rau Le Creuset could only gape in disbelief at the show of firepower the new mobile suit had given just now. His face was obscured by the narrow mask he wore, but if the way his lips twisted in concern was anything to go by, he had reached the conclusion that this last mobile suit was incredibly dangerous. He turned his machine, making for the hole to regroup.
"Why don't you think before messing with something you don't know how it works, you dumbass!" Keijiro snapped, before his eyes fell on the gaping hole in the colony interior. "Why do I get the feeling that I'm going to be blamed for this one?"
It was then another explosion rocked the colony, forcing everyone to stay on their feet. A majestic starship entered the colony interior from the harbor. The lighting of the colony reflected off the white hull plating. The EAS Archangel really did resemble the Celestial Being it was named for.