Hey all. Here's a new chapter! I hope you like it. Review if you can.
Disclaimer: I do not own Gundam Seed or Seed Destiny
"Status, Mr. Marks." Suzuka replied.
"Maintaining speed." he said, "I had to make a minor course adjustment to avoid some debris, but we are now on course to the last known coordiantes of the Eternal."
"As the main support ship, we must follow the Archangel. Miss Reiah, if Captain Flaga sends us any information, tell me emediatly."
"Aye, sir."
"Alright." she unbuckled her belt from the chair, floating gently in the zero gravity, "We will begin the nightshift. Anyone who does not need to be here is free to go."
Ezekiel let out a sigh.
"Would you like me to take over for a while?" Rey looked at the younger solider.
The boy smiled, "Sure, Rey-san."
Ezekiel stood up and Rey took the seat for him. It had been a while since he had sat in the helmsman chair, but it was all old knowledge to him. Standing up, Ezekiel scanned the room. Tess was already gone, but Virgil was still there. Bouncing up the deck, he landed next to Virgil,
"Hey Virg, you wanna go get something to eat?"
Virgil shrugged, "Kay."
They stood in the elevator. Ezekiel caulked and eyebrow at the taller man. There was definantly something wrong with him, something that he could not quite place. He had been on edge ever since Tess left the bridge.
"Is something wrong?" Ezekiel asked him.
"Nope."
Okay, there was something wrong.
Virgil let out a sigh as they strolled into the mess hall. Their ship still resembled a cargo transport, which meant the mess halls were not as nice as the Nazca Class ships that Virgil had originally been on. It was not that big of a deal.
There was laughing from the corner of the lunchroom.
Ryuo Yuji.
From what Virgil could gather, Yuji was highly intelligent, skilled, and sociable. Sitting at the table with his dinner, Virgil watched the other man as he ate with Ezekiel, who was praddling on about his conversation with Vana the day before.
The way Yuji carried himself, he probably was very athletic. In which sports, Virgil could not directly tell, but probably baseketball, tennis, or some sort of endurance sport. As the door to the hall opened, Tess walked in. Virgil watched as she caught him looking at her.
She glared at him.
What the hell was her problem now?
The first time he had met Tesslia Reiah was when they were first assigned to the Kamaitachi. They were both younger back then, and his gangster streak was fadding, but still there. He remembered walking through the shipyard and seeing a could of gaurds picking on her. Already in a bad mood from getting ragged on by a superior officer for being late, he proceded to punch their lights out.
Tess stared at him, her eyes wide.
"Take that you sick bastards!" he bellowed at them, "What kind of a man forces himself on a woman?"
He had done many things, but mis-treating women was not on his rapt sheet.
"Excuse me?"
He looked at her, his eyes grew wide. She was gorgeous. Virgil had seen a lot of woman in his time, but she seemed different.
"I'm Leutinant Tesslia Reiah." she shook his hand, "You can call me Tess."
It was then that he fell in love with her.
If he wanted too, he could get up that moment and drag her out of the mess hall kicking and screaming. He would pull her into his room, tell her how he felt, and then-
"Virg?"
"Huh?" Virgil blinked, snapping back to his regular, non-chalant personality.
"Are you sure nothing is wrong?"
He watched Tess walk over to Yuji. The man instantly stood up and kissed her hand. She giggled, turning bright red before sitting down with him and his fellow sqaud members. Ryuo Yuji was proper, graceful, polite, and personable.
He was the exact opposite of Virgil Brooks.
Ryuo Yuji would be good for her. He was a better man then Virgil thought he would ever be.
"Nah, nothings wrong." Virgil then smirked, "So, when are you going to tell Vana you love her?"
All that was in his mind now, was that his ears hurt from Ezekiel yelling at him so much. After all, as Ezekiel put it, the 'ship had ears'.
Yes, Tess was better off without him.
But now he had to convince himself of that.
Meyrin walked down the hallway of the Eternal. They would be going to battle soon.
It had been a long time since she had really seen in battle. She was used to this ship now, and it seemed almost like a second home to her. Of course, Lunamaria had questioned her wanting to stay in the military, but it seemed, that after everything she went through with Athrun-san it was hard to sit still.
She watched from her position as Captain DaCoasta went over a few reports from his chair. He was very young for a captain. Not the young captain in history, but for being the military for such a long time it still seemed odd. Apart from Captain Yzak Jule, there were not a lot of young captains left these days. Orb had started employing some teenagers in key positions, but Twilight had prevented anyone under the age of 30 to become a captain now.
If they were in Twilight, Martin DaCoasta would not be captain right now, and most likely she would be dead. Meyrin Hawke probably would have been executed for her defection to Orb.
She shivered, the whole idea generally gave her the creeps, and she wanted everyone to just get along and respect each other's personal space. Then there would never be any wars like the ones they are facing right now.
He spotted her staring at him, and he smiled.
Captain DaCoasta was always a little upbeat to make up for the fact that everyone else was always acting depressed every time a battle loomed over them. Sometimes the fact that he was usually trying to be optimistic, at least on the bridge anyway, helped everyone else try to look on the bright side of things.
Handing the signed reports to the officer, he sighed,
"Miss Hawke, would you like to go for that dinner now?"
"Sure." she said.
Except for the captain, people did not really use ranks around the Eternal. Maybe if someone was being insubordinate, but no one ever was. Lacus had hand-picked the crew herself, and everyone was mild and calm.
"How is your sister and Shinn-san?"
"They are doing well." Meyrin smiled at him, "Shinn works at an auto repair shop."
"Oh?"
"He was getting too restless. Because their house is sometimes used by a safehouse for Orb, they get all of their expenses paid. But Shinn is not the type to sit around, so he got a job to keep himself occupied."
"Sounds like fun." Martin folded his arms behind his head, "I miss my car."
"Athrun-san would probably give you time off if you asked for it."
"Probably. But I would feel guilty leaving while everyone else was marooned here."
"I see."
He smiled at her.
"You don't take days off either."
Meyrin shrugged, "I like to work. It's hard for me to sit still."
Martin nodded his head in agreement, "It seems we have a lot in common." He stopped in front of the mess hall door, shifting his weight on his feet. "Say, when we get to earth..."
"Yes?" she looked at him.
"Um..."
They were standing outside the mess hall. Martin figeted slightly under her curious gaze.
"Is something wrong, sir?" she asked, suddenly worried.
"Ah..no! I'm just fine!" he said a little too loudly, "I was just wondering if you would like to hang out...or something."
"Sure." she smiled brightly at him.
"It's probably a drag staying with only your sister all the time." he said, "We can...go take a tour of Orb."
"Sounds fun." she nodded, "I'll look foreward to it."
The door opened and Meyrin headed into the mess hall. Martin followed her inside, sure that at that moment, he was grinning like a complete idiot.
Cagali had entertained herself most of that day by staring blankly out of the window. Doctor Hersh walked over to her cell, and stared at her. She hated it when he did that because it made her feel like she was in a peep show.
"You're very deep in thought, hime."
"I suppose." she said, "Not a whole lot to do in this damn cell other than to sleep and wait for another one of our 'talks',"
"What are you thinking about?"
Cagali caulked her head to the side, letting out a small sigh.
"I'm hoping that Mana has been feeding the goldfish in my bedroom, that Kisaka has the roof on the west wing repaired by now, that Athrun has been getting enough sleep, and that the Emirs aren't talking advantage of him. He's too kind sometimes, I'm well aware that I am more aggressive then he is...maybe we'll have some kids after I get out of this hole. I'm not getting any younger."
"You're quite optimistic about that, hime. Is there something your not telling us?"
There was silence.
"Sometimes, Mr. Hersh, this cell is more painful then anything you or your damn Chairman could ever do to me."
Doctor Hersh laughed, "Spoken like a true leader."
"Thank you. Now, can you leave me alone. I would like to return to my thoughts."
Doctor Hersh stared at her a few moments, "You're going to be executed in a week. Chairman Trent has ordered me to tell you that if you try to escape, he will order the destruction of Orb."
Cagali smiled.
It was the first time he had ever really seen the young woman smile while in captivity, other then when she saw Athrun Zala on the television.
Doctor Hersh headed out of the brig. Cagali pulled her legs up to her chest. She had to get out of here. Many times, she had gone over ways to escape in her head, many times she had thought about escaping, but if she left what would happen to Orb?
What would happen to Athrun?
She stared at her left hand, and a memory began to float back into her mind. It was something that puzzled her, and she still did not understand it.
She rolled over on her side, too see the three figures standing outside of her cell. Cagali frowned, and rubbed her eyes.
A pair of emerald green eyes stared at her.
"Whatever the hell it is, it better be fast."
"Your bravery astounds me, hime-sama." the red-haired elite walked into the moonlight that shown through the window, "I know that I would have notlasted this long if I had been in your position."
"I have higher goals in mind then to rot in this cell forever." she said.
He was quiet a moment.
"My name is Katsuya Kiriyuhi, and I am here to help you."
Cagali was sure that she laughed out loud as she sat up, leaning against the wall. The other two elites stood behind him.
"I assure you, I am telling the truth." Katsuya looked at her, "The security cameras have be deactivated for 5 minutes, so I must be brief."
Cagali stared at him a moment.
"Go on." she said.
"In a few days, I am being shipped to earth with the rest of my team, we will be conducting the pre-invasion of Orb." he said, "However, I have no intention of following Chairman Trent for the rest of my life."
"Oh?"
"Let's just say...I have a debt that needs to be repaid." Katsuya closed his eyes a moment, "And I will help you, if you help me."
Cagali folded her arms, "I knew there was a price. Tell me."
"There is someone in Orb that I need to find. Someone important."
Cagali stared at him a moment, "This is a lot of trouble to go through."
Katsuya glarred at the blond princess a moment, "There is a woman that lives in Orb that I have a duty to find. Now, if you promise to help me, I will help you."
"I have a few conditions of my own. If you don't agree, then no deal."
"Fine."
"When the time comes, you and your squad must defend Orb." she said, "And you will make sure that Athrun is not harmed."
"Deal." he said, "I knew you would understand, hime-sama."
Cagali nodded, standing up, she limped towards the bars. She slipped off her wedding and engagement rings.
"Before the final attack, you must sneak into the palace and tell Athrun." she said, "Give these to him. He will know what to do. If you don't inform him, you will be treated as an enemy, and he will probably kill you on the spot. Take good care of these, I expect them back."
He took the rings, "What makes you think you can trust me?"
Cagali smirked at him, "Your eyes."
"Eyes?"
"You have a terrifying aura about you. I have no doubt that you more then enough deserve that uniform. But your eyes are very honest."
Katsuya then smirked back at her.
"So are yours, hime-sama."
Cagali sat in the cell and smirked.
Chairman Trent...I swear that when all of this is over, I will kill you myself.
Katsuya was buttoning up his uniform. Staring at the black bag in the corner of his room; he would going alone to Orb tommorrow. He needed Alex to stay and watch the troops, and Micka needed to be there to mandate Alex.
He reached into his pocket, and in his hand were two silver rings.
They were expensive, probably cost a small fortune. Whoever Athrun Zala really was, Katsuya was familiar with Zala's past but had never met him, he must have really cared for the princess.
But there was something else that was worrying him now.
He was well aware that June was in Orb army. There was a high possiblity that she might be fighting now. What if they ended up fighting each other?
Katsuya let out a loud sigh as the door knocked.
"Enter."
Alex peered in.
"You're taking your sweet-old time." he said, "Move your ass."
"I'm comming." Katsuya smirked at him, "You're too anxious."
"Is it so wrong that I like to fight in battles?" Alex folded his arms, "I happend to really want to make a name for myself. If that's so bad, then you're a damn facist."
Katsuya chuckled at that comment.
"Kat." Alex said, "Are you sure about this? If we go against Twlight, there will be nowhere for us to hide."
Katsuya lead him out of the room, and closed the door.
"I'm sure."
He had never been so sure in his life.
Thanks for being patient. I was planning to update earlier, but it just didn't happen. Oh well.
Next chapter on friday. I have a whole week to write it.
Arigato
Lilith