Heine lay under a tree in the middle of an olive plantation. He slept and dreamed of better days. The days before he enlisted in the Zodiac Alliance of Freedom Treaty. Commonly known as ZAFT. Heine reflected upon his days as a top pilot in the militia of PLANT and as a person who killed for peace. But can peace truly be considered peace if it drips with the blood of man, woman and child alike. Those days were behind him…he wanted them to be behind him. But can a man who has taken the lives of other men who wished for peace truly move on? Heine had survived the explosion of the X2000 GOUF Ignited, he could remember little from the events proceeding the battle. All he could remember was waking up on a beach, the salty water stung the wounds caused by shards of metal that broke from his cockpit. Heine could remember a white and grey flight suit carrying him from the damaged cockpit of the GOUF over to a caped Mobile Unit that resembled Impulse. The next thing he remembered was waking up on another beach out side Malchio's cottage.
A blue and white beach ball bounced over to where Heine was resting. Timothy the oldest of the Orphans, now 11 years old ran over and picked up the ball, which surprisingly was nearly as big as his chest. Heine slowly sat up and looked at the boy.
"Oh hey Heine, sorry if we woke you" blushed Tim as he rubbed his foot in the dirt.
"It's okay, really" smiled Heine as he slowly stood up and shook off the leaves that had fallen on him as he slept.
"You wanna play?" asked Timothy as he looked up at Heine.
"Sure…what ya playing?" asked Heine as he flicked his long golden hair out of his eyes. Though it had only been a few months since the battle where he had gone MIA Heine's hair had grown at a fast rate, it was now down to his wing bones but still retained its customary curve above his forehead. Heine had ditched the ZAFT uniform for a more relaxed set of cloths, a pair of loose non tapered grey jeans, a blue t shirt and a white unbuttoned button down shirt.
"Ball Tag" replied Timothy with a smile.
"Ball Tag?…you sure I am not too good for you?" laughed Heine taking on a gallant pose.
"You lost to Kira at Dardanelles. And we have all beaten Kira at Ball Tag ya know" boasted Timothy.
"Well then. The Golden Saint accepts you're challenged" smiled Heine as he ran off towards the other kids.
"Hey! Come back here!" Timothy turned on his heels and chased Heine off down the beach. Timothy lined up Heine in his sights and pulled his arm back. The boy they the ball with all his might while yelling "BUSTER BALL!" the Ball bounced down the beach and barely missed Heine's face.
"Phew Not bad Tim…your good" Kira may have been the hero of Jachin Due, but Heine was used to ground combat for he had first enlisted in the ZAFT Infantry before he joined the Mobile units.
All of a sudden Tim stopped running towards Heine and stopped in his tracks, all the colour had drained from his face.
"Come on Tim" laughed Heine "Fine. I will be it" Heine turned to grab the ball but found himself face to face with someone he never knew…but had met before. Two teenagers stood in front of him holding the ball. One had wild yellow hair and wore a blue and white dress. The other had a black trench coat and a purple shirt, these both contrasted with his green hair.
"Heine…Westenfluss?" asked the girl. She had a stern look in her purple eyes.
"Yes…can I help you?" asked Heine. Heine's senses were afire when it came to this girl. He KNEW he should be wary of her…and her partner.
"Heine?" Timothy walked up to Heine's side and grabbed his white shirt.
"Tim…go back to the house…tell Malchio and Mrs Yamato I will be late" Heine did not even turn to face Tim as he spoke.
"But Heine" the boy gripped Heine's shirt even tighter.
"It's okay. I will be back for pudding at the latest" Heine placed his hand on the boys head. Timothy looked up from the parting in his dull brown hair.
"O-Okay" Tim turned and ran back along the beach to the house. Heine breathed out and turned back to the two strangers. He could feel that this place would become a battlefield once again. Pieces of the last battle fought here littered the ground, the head of Aegis stood behind Heine, the Gundams shattered shield lay behind the two strangers and bits of the once powerful Gundam dotted the shore.
"Please…can we have our ball back?" asked Heine extending his hand to them.
"Sure" Snared the green headed boy as the blonde threw it into the air. Heine saw him reach behind his jacket. With out a second thought Heine jumped behind Aegis's broken hand as three bullets bounced off the sand in a line that traced his movement.
"Damn it" Heine flicked open his back pocket and pulled out his pistol. The peace maker was a small stubby six shooter, not a tempest beam sword or a laser rifle, but it was better than nothing.
A small clump of sand fell onto his shoulder as the blonde jumped down onto the hand that Heine had sought refuge behind.
"Crap!" he whirled around and took aim. The girl jumped over the orange haired boy and slashed at his neck. "Oh crap!" Heine dodged it with ease and fired a shot at the girl. The small lead projectile clipped the girls shoulder and she fell to the ground while letting out a shrill scream.
"Stellar!" the green haired boy rand over to the girl and picked her up. Both him and Heine lined each other up in their gun sights and refused to let the other blink.
"Sting…" the blonde slowly stood up and rested against Sting's shoulder Sting reached into his pocket and pressed a button on a remote. Stellar did the same before the duo ran off leaving Heine to watch them run back around the cove. Two small clunking noises filled the air…Heine knew what they meant
"Shit! Mobile Suits" Heine ran with all his might back to the cottage where he pulled out his cell phone and dialled the number for the National Defence HQ. "Hey! There are two enemy Mobile suits at Yashima bay! HELP!" yelled Heine into the small phone.
"What? Is this a joke?" replied the operator.
"No! Even if it was, you can still spare the units to make sure!"
"Okay, we will send over a squadron of Murusame" replied the girl in a fairly panicked voice.
"One Murusame Squad won't be enough. Send as many as you can…and that GOUF you have been repairing!" barked Heine, Mrs Yamato and Malchio began to move the children into their shelter.
"GOUF…how did you?" stuttered the girl.
"How isn't important. I am an ex ZAFT veteran, I piloted the first GOUF produced, MY NAME IS HEINE WESTENFLUSS! HURRY UP AND SEND IT!" Ordered Heine as he hung up the phone. "Mrs Yamato, keep the children in the shelter until I tell you to come out" Heine's voice had completely changed, he now sounded kind and caring instead of loud and aggravated.
"O-o-ka-ay" replied Mrs Yamato as she huddled the children together and took them down into the shelter. "There doesn't seem to be as many as I remember…" thought Mrs Yamato as she closed the large white door. The children all looked around in a worried daze, this was the third time this year they had entered a shelter, first during the Junis 7 drop, and then again when ASH units attacked
Heine looked around and picked up his phone before he ran out of the house. He ran into the bushes and watched as Cerberus and Harpy arrived and began to fire at the cottage. Sure enough a large number of Murusame appeared on the scene and began to engage the two Gundams. Heine scanned the sky for a GOUF. Sure enough the Blue unit was not far behind the ORB suits.
"NDHQ, tell the GOUF to land behind the light house!" ordered Heine back into his cell as he ran off up the cliff to a white house. The Blue unit touched down and the pilot opened the cockpit.
"Your Heine?" asked the pilot as he descended down on a cable.
"Yeah" replied Heine as he climbed onto the cable once the pilot dismounted.
"Good luck!" smiled the pilot as Heine began to close the cockpit.
"YOU CAN DO IT HEINE!" yelled a familiar voice.
"Tim!" Heine's screens activated and he zoomed in on a small boy standing behind the bushes, he was Timothy and he was waving to Heine, cheering him on.
"The idiot!" snapped Heine as the Gouf finished loading to his settings. The alert sirens in his cockpit went off as a missile from Cerberus approached his unit. The blue Gouf dodged the missile and jumped off the cliff.
"HEINE!" yelled Timothy, thinking that Heine had been glanced off the cliff.
"Not like this!" The Gouf extended its wings and took off along the water. It drew the Tempest Beam Sword and slashed at Harpy. The large green unit dodged the attack easily. "Crap, this thing is to fast!" Heine shot out his left handed whip at Harpy.
"Tsh" Sting just dodged Heine's sneaky attack. Sting grabbed one of his beam sabres and locked swords with Heine. Both Heine and Sting pushed their accelerators causing both of the units to rise up into the air, still in their weapons dead lock.
"Damn it, he's good" muttered Sting as the two unit's heads moved closer together.
Heine examined the unit in front of him and noticed a valuable feature, upon its crest was the serial "GAT X323" GAT was the type used by the Earth Alliance's forces. So why would the Earth Alliance be attacking ORB, they had not broke from the Alliance yet "A pre emptive strike?" thought Heine out loud. The golden haired boy was distracted long enough for Sting to break the dead lock and slash at the Gouf.
"Shit" Heine blocked the slash with his shield.
"HA!" Smiled Sting as he spun Harpy vertically, using its foot mounted sabre to slice off Heine's left arm.
"Oh hell!" Heine saw Sting spiral around for a vertical kick, this time he was aiming for his head. "Here! TAKE THIS INSTEAD!" Heine raised his right leg and dropped it down on Harpy's foot. The explosion provided Heine with a chance to get away.
Heine saw Stellar in the new Cerberus Gundam decimating the Murusame as they tried to stop her. She used Cerberus's laser hand to tear apart the Murusame that attacked her with their sabres. Cerberus's right hand glowed pink as it pushed its way through the mass produced Mobile Suit's bodies.
"Damn it!" Heine brought the sword down on Stellar's hands. The two pink energies collided and sent out masses of EMP waves. Stellar used both of her hands to block the Tempest's strike, neither hand grabbed the sword but instead put out a large amount of energy that acted like a giant flat Beam Sabre
"You?...YOU AGAIN!" Stellar remembered her last battle with a GOUF. Something about this unit reminded her of it.
"This one too?" Heine looked at Cerberuss crest and saw the usual GAT X marking along side serial number 219. "HELL!" Heine just dodged Cerberus's beam lasers. "Crap!" Heine dropped the Tempest into the water as his unit lost its last leg.
"IT ENDS!" yelled Stellar as she thrust her hand forwards ready to obliterate Heine.
"Not YET!" Heine slapped Stellar's unit's hand with his whip, the electro whip disabled the 'shinning finger' effect and allowed Heine to escape. "I have to lead them away from the shelter!" thought Heine as he passed a fleeing Murusame. "You, go back to the National Defence Head Quarters. Tell that we were attacked by GAT X units" ordered Heine as he grabbed the Murusame's beam rifle and fired it at the two GAT units.
"Sting" Both Stellar and Sting evaded the blasts with ease. "Bastard!" Stellar gritted her teeth and moved Cerberus into the water. She soon realized that following the Gouf was not possible, mostly when her unit fell over on a dislodged rock.
"STELLAR!" Sting's Gundam approached in its MA form. "JUMP ON!" he ordered as the two larger funnels detached from his back and allowed Stellar to climb up, her units feet slotted into the empty area's and were locked in place. The two units chased after Heine.
"Excellent its working…now what do I do?" Heine went as fast as he could go but was unable to out run the two units. "I should think my plans over BETTER next time!" Heine fired one more shot at the duo before his unit's battery began to run low. The beams began to phase out before they could hit the target, if they did hit their mark, the level of energy they retained did little at all.
"DIE!" Stellar as Sting activated all their weapons and fired them at Heine.
"HELL!" Heine leaned back into his seat, closed his eyes and braced himself for the end…it never came. When he opened his eyes he saw a new unit was blocking the beams with an anti beam shield.
"This is Freedom, Kira Yamato. Are you okay?" asked a face from one of the GOUF's screens. The boy wore a dull blue flight suit, his purple eyes seemed emit an ominous air around him, and his dark hair was a few shades lighter than his tan.
"Kira…Yamato…Oh uh, Yes!" Replied Heine as his unit began to slowly descend into the water. Freedom turned to help the unit but was told other wise "Don't worry about me, I can swim. Take care of those guys" smiled Heine as he undid his straps.
"Understood" Kira drew his two beam sabres and charged at the new units.
"NO!" Stellar grunted as she held her hands out in front of herself. The pink light formed a shield that Freedom's sabres hit hard. Harpy's two large funnels came about behind Freedom and fired.
"Damn it!" Kira just evaded them but was caught in both Cerberus and Harpy's sights. Sting lined up for the kill shot but was thrown off when a large metal trident shot up through the water; it was followed by an entire Mobile Armour. This unit bore a striking resemblance to RGX X02 Abyss.
"KIRA!" A blue haired boy called out as the unit spun around and formed a Mobile Suit. This unit was even more like Abyss. The fin's of Abyss now housed Panzer units, mounted inside those fin's was an array of deadly weapons, the guns on Abyss's back could now fold over its shoulders or under its arms like that of Saviours. Abyss was also armed with palm mounted Photon Masser cannons; in fact all the weapons except his chest cannon were armed as Photon Massers. Heine could see that the unit was armed with a lesser version of Strike Freedom's wings and claws like that of Raider, but with three prongs not 2, he really hoped this unit was friendly.
"Auel" replied Kira as he returned next to Abyss.
"Who are they?" asked Auel as he flicked his head at Sting and Stellar.
"I don't know. They are GAT X units though" Replied Kira as he grabbed his rifles.
"Well it doesn't matter who they are. THEY ARE GOING DOWN!" Yelled Auel as he flicked over the twin large cannons and fired them at Cerberus and Harpy.
The two units separated and Cerberus used its boosters at attack the Abyss unit. As Stellar hit the Panzers and tried to force her way through she yelled over and over "You're not AUEL! You can't USE!"
"Stellar?" Auel looked dumbfounded as he saw Stellar in her white and blue dress looking at him. Auel had been with the other members of ORB's aqua division at a beach off Orogono, he had no time to change so he was sitting in Abyss's cockpit wearing only his togs and no shirt.
"AUEL!" smiled Stellar as she lessened the ferocity of her assault.
"GOT YA!" Auel grabbed one of Cerberuss claws and threw it down into the ocean. Auel dived in using his unit soon after.
"Auel? Why is Auel fighting Sting and Stellar? Why is Auel using Abyss? Stellar thought it was gone?" Stellar floated underneath the water, poised to strike.
"Stellar, go away…or you will die!" yelled Auel in an attempt to use Stellar's Block Word, unfortunately it failed.
"Auel used a cheap trick! Stellar MAD!" Stellar fired two missiles at Auel and then used her Shinning Finger. The black unit closed on Auel's blue one.
"NOT LIKE THIS!" Auel swum back and used the 4 cannons in his fins to blow up Stellar's missiles, he then fired the palm mounted beam guns at Stellar's cannons. He was able to hit them and short circuit them.
"AHHH!" cried Stellar as sparks shot about her cockpit.
"PLEASE LEAVE! I won't ask again!" Auel swung at Stellar's head with his pike. The blonde blocked the assault and turned away.
"Stellar sorry Auel" Cerberus began to make its retreat as Auel headed back for the surface. As his unit broke the water it activated the Wings of Light.
"Kira back off for now" Abyss did loops around Harpy as Auel opened a com line to Sting "Sting, stand down and retreat, Stellar already has, you are out matched and out gunned" ordered Auel as he occasionally fired at Sting with his crest mounted Vulcan.
"What? Like hell!" the giant claws on Harpy's feet detached and linked onto his hands. "Auel YOU! Come back with us!" yelled Sting as he stabbed at Auel with the giant heat claws.
"NO!" replied Auel as he blocked the attack with a panzer.
"What would MOTHER think of this!" yelled Sting as he clearly saw the battle was against him.
"Mo-the-er" Auel stopped and began to clutch his face. "Mother…mother…MotHER!" Auel began to speak incoherently as his block word made him remember the time he spent at 'the lab'. Auel traced back all the kind things Alexia did for him...her irreplaceable kindness.
Sting saw the gap in Auel defence and went for his head, he noticed the crest had two markings on it ORB-02 was engraved above a scratched out serial number GAT X333. "SO YOU STOLE THAT UNIT!" yelled Sting, he now altered the target of his attack to Auel's cockpit.
As the heat claw closed in on the cockpit Auel remembered Alexia's final words to him, they felt so real, as if she was speaking to him over a com link. Auel readied to strike Harpy but the claw was to close. All of a sudden the claw was pulled toward the ocean, Heine's Gouf had wrapped the whip around Harpy's claw as it examined Abyss's crest. Heine submerged his Gouf and gave Auel a big enough window to repay Sting for one of Heine's injuries. Auel brought his pike down across the units head and crushed it. Sting had not choice but to return to the newly conquered Carpentaria base.
Auel closed his eyes and whispered "Thank you Alexia" Auel cracked a smile which turned to shock when a voice came over the intercom.
"Your welcome" the voice belonged to Alexia.
"ALEXIA! Where are you?" asked Auel as he began to trace the signal. He found it was coming from the horizon, over the horizon Auel could see a mobile suit, the unit was a new unit. It had a light purple chest section, a fan like neck guard with a red fin running across the top. The unit had a pair of scale like shoulder pads with a pair of LARGE curved blades attached to its back, The last feature of the unit was a cape that wrapped around its arms and chest.
"ALEXIA!" Auel headed over to the new unit. At the same time Heine was being helped out of the water by Kira.
"That unit…it saved me" whispered Heine as he clambered into Kira's cockpit.
"Auel-San, lets return to the shore" sighed Kira as he moved Strike Freedom over to the wreckage of the old home occupied by Mrs Yamato and Malchio.
The three units landed on the beach just a few metres between the shattered home and the light house. Auel descended from his unit's cockpit and looked over at Alexia's unit. Heine and Kira approached Auel from Strike Freedom and stood behind him as the cape around Alexia's unit slowly did itself up at her back and left the chest section open. The upper chest section slid up to reveal Alexia's cockpit. A person in a white and grey flight suit descended down the cable and walked towards the group. The person walked the group and slowly removed the helmet. Kira's throat began to dry out as the figure walked towards them. The figure was a male boy, about 17 years old, he had shaggy brown hair and eyes to match, his skin was pale and he almost looked like a ghost, because in reality…he had died. In Cosmic Era 71 in a battle with GAT X303 Aegis, his Sky Grasper was obliterated by the units shield.
"Ja, Kira" smiled the boy.
"TOLLE!" Kira ran across the beach and hugged boy. "Tolle! Tolle!" Kira began to cry uncontrollably. A clicking noise filled the air and all attention moved to Auel, whose gun was poised at Tolle's head.
"Sorry man, but where's Alexia" Auel's voice was as cocky as ever, his smirk uncontrollable, Auel was a boy who like to be drastic and keep people off guard, he succeeded in this case.
"Right here Auel" a women walked onto the edge of the new units Cockpit. "Hey" she winked. Auel looked up at the women in shock as he came eye to eye with her. The last time he had seen Alexia's face, she was covered in blood and then detonated Washington.
"Alexia…" Auel dropped his pistol and began to walk over to the unit's legs.
Heine watched everything unfold, two people had been reunited with people they loved. I was a great day…but he felt as if something was amiss, as if he had forgotten someone…then he remembered as the sound of a boys whimper came from behind a bush. Heine picked up Auel's gun and raced over to a tree, he held the gun close to his face and then bolted over the bush. When Heine hit the ground she spun 180 and aimed the gun at the whimpering boy.
"Tim?" Heine dropped the gun as he to dropped to the ground next to the boy. Tim was in a bad state, he had caught shrapnel from a falling Murusame in the chest. His grey shirt was covered in blood and his chest wound deep.
"Hi…Heine…" Tim struggled to speak as he looked at the golden haired boy. "Is it supper already?" asked Tim with a laugh.
"No…not yet" Heine fought back his tears. But he failed a silver droplet fell down onto his cheek. No one had ever seen Care Free Heine cry, he had built a reputation up in ZAFT as being, cool, calm, collected and up beat in all situations.
"Heine…are you alright?" asked a female voice from behind the shrubbery. "OH lord!" Ms. Yamato clasped her hands over her mouth as she saw Tim's injuries.
"Caridad…please don't let the children see" ordered Heine as he kept his gazed fixed on the boy.
"Heine…I'm hungry" joked Tim as blood continued to flow from his wound.
"I will fetch you something later…now just close your eyes and rest" smiled Heine as another tear came down his cheek. Heine picked up Tim's stray hand and clasped it tight
"Okay…Heine…am I going to be alright?" asked Tim in a shaky voice.
"Sure man, you will be fine…then when your all better I will take you to see space…it will be stellar" smiled Heine as he brushed a stray hair from the boys face.
"Great…I always wanted to go there, to spACE…UH!" Timothy's body jerked as a trickle of blood came from his mouth. "Heine…my eyes are getting heavy…its all going dark" Tim's voice began to break into more whimpers.
"Close your eyes for now, rest…I will take you to space tomorrow…I promise" smiled Heine.
"Sure…see ya in the morning" smiled Tim as he closed his eyes. His hand went limp in Heine's grasp. Shock took over Heine as he leaned closer to the boy. Heine felt no breath come from the boy's mouth, the trial of blood from his wound was slowing.
"Tim…othy…DAMN IT!" Heine punched the ground with all his might, he closed his eyes and began to weep over Tim's body. 'No more…no more deaths' he thought to himself. Heine opened his eyes with a new sense of justice and revelation. He reached over for a piece of metal and began to stab at the ground, he stabbed again and again, each time pulling away more dirt. A whole began to form and when it was big enough, Heine placed Tim's lifeless boy in the whole before crossing his chest (like some religious people do when referring to the dead)
"Caridad…come here" Heine spoke in a dry tone. The woman soon appeared next to Heine and bowed out of respect to the dead. "Get me a cloth…have the children pick flowers…any they can find" ordered Heine, not giving Caridad a chance to weep.
"O-okay…" Caridad bowed one more time and then walked over to the group of depressed Orphans. The children sat next to Kira on the beach and with hands together prayed for their friend's safe journey. "Children…please go and pick flowers…Tim needs them" Caridad put on a fake smile for the children as she approached.
"Okay Ms Yamato" the Children all scurried off into the bushes (None of the ones near Tim's grave)
"Mum…" Kira stood up and looked at his aging mother. She looked so frail…just as frail as the day dad left them.
"Kira…KIRA!" Caridad threw herself into Kira's arms; the purple haired women began to cry endlessly.
Knowing when to leave people alone Tolle returned to the feet of his unit where Auel and Alexia sat."So that's it really. We found Tolle's body…he was as dead as can be really…so we trued something…Tolle is the base product for what we did on Mwu La Flaga…we used nano technology like that of the Mirage Colloid to reconnect his vital systems…unfortunately the lab was destroyed soon after 'Neo' was completed…no one will ever be resurrected using that method" explained Alexia as she pushed her feet in the sand.
"So…how badly was he hurt?" asked Auel looking at Tolle.
"I was headless" replied Tolle with a smile.
"But…this defies everything I learned about science, human nature and biology" Auel tried to wrap his brain around it all.
"Not really…unfortunately this process is not fool proof, I take a large amounts of drugs to keep my body stable" explained Tolle as sat on the foot of his unit, opposite Auel and Alexia.
All the people on the beach gathered behind the bush where Tim's grave was. Caridad along with the children fought back tears and failed. Auel, Alexia and Tolle stood away from the grave, they never knew the boy…Kira and Heine how ever stood on either side of the pit. Timothy was laid on a white sheet, each child dropped a bunch of flowers onto the boys body and said their parting words. Finally Kira and Heine closed the sheet and put in a final flower before covering up the body with dirt. Heine stabbed in a shard of metal with the words 'Lasci la vostra anima riposarsi nella pace' or 'Let your soul rest in peace' the congregation departed back to the wreckage of the orphanage and began to try to find other things they could salvage.
All were engaged in this act bar, Auel, Alexia and Tolle. The trio discussed the situation with Kira and decided to return to the mainland and brief Cagalli on what had happened.
Both Auel's unit and Animus took off into the sky and returned to the National Defence Head Quarters. As the units approached Tolle's unit (the Animus) slowed to a near stop
"Auel, when we arrive, tell no one about Tolle. It is better if no one knows" explained Alexia.
"Okay…This is Leviathan Gundam to National Defence Head Quarters. I am bringing in a VIP, please clear a landing pad for us" ordered Auel as he pressed one of the many keys on his console.
"Understood Leviathan, we are clearing you for landing on pad two" replied the operator.
-One hour later-Heine stood on the end of the beach on a tall cliff. Heine was lost deep in thought. Today everything changed, Timothy died, he learned he had something to protect…and he had the power to do so. Heine looked at his hands, they were covered in minor scratched due to the use of a sharp piece of shrapnel to dig Tim's grave. Heine looked at them; to everyone else they had a few scratches. To others they looked like minor scratched, to Heine they were dripping with the blood of hundreds.
ZGMF X2000 Gouf Ignited, ZGMF X1001 Blaze Zaku Phantom…the weapons in which he caused both great heart ache, and great joy in. That is what he fought for in ZAFT, to make the people in PLANT happy and to protect them. Now to Heine had a more important cause to fight, to protect life itself!
-In the National Defence Head Quarters-
"So you are Heine Westenfluss…the one who piloted that GOUF Ignited against the Alliances two new units" Cagalli leaned back in her chair and looked at Heine, the golden haired boy looked at Cagalli. Heine had a sense of power that Cagalli had not seen since she lookd at Kira when he first arrived in Strike Freedom, she was moved and frightend by it
"Yes" he replied with a nod.
"Why do you want to join the ORB military?" asked Cagalli
"Because I want to protect life, is that not the reason ORB is fighting ZAFT? Because you want to protect the lives of your citizens?" asked Heine
"Yes…it is…" Cagalli looked at Heine, she knew he was a man who knew greatly the meaning of war, maybe as well as Kira and Athrun did.
"I am well trained in the use of Mobile suits…I will pilot anything you have…just let me go to space…with him" Heine looked over to the window, the west window looked out onto the harbour, beyond the harbour was the Island where Tim rest.
"Very well" nodded Cagalli. Something deep down in her said that he was like Auel, miss lead at first…but know knew what he had to do.
"Thank you" smiled Heine "Will I be piloting a Murusame or an Astray?" asked Heine as Cagalli stood up.
"Neither, we have a new unit for you" Cagalli walked over to the door and gestured for Heine to follow.
The duo walked through the dark blue halls of the National Defence Head Quarters (NDHQ) they reached a large metal door. The two guards nodded at Cagalli before they twisted two keys, they opened the large doors and revealed a large golden unit.
"Isn't this the Akatsuki?" asked Heine as he looked at Cagalli.
"Not quiet. This is the ORB-Alpha, Bokuro" explained Cagalli. "It is the…prototype Akatsuki for lack of better term. It is mounted with the same hard point and Weapons system as Strike"
Your giving this to me?" asked Heine as he looked at Cagalli
"Yes, you will join Leviathan and Aminus in our elite forces. You will be attached to the Masamune. Our newest warship. ZAFT has been massing forced in sector 94. We believe they intend to attack our mid range colony Hinode" replied Cagalli as she looked at Heine and smiled.
"Thank you" Heine looked over at the unit. Bokuro was built like Strike but more rounded like a the mass produced models in ZAFT's army, with added features, extra boosters on the side of its legs and a small set of laser guns in its wrists. The head was like that of Strike and Akatsuki, in the place where Strike had its large red clip, Bokuro had a horn. The flight pack was the same as that used by Akatsuki.
"Heine…Please take something to space for me when you go" Cagalli reached into her pocket and pulled out three silver crossed.
"What are these?" asked Heine as he took the three small silver crosses.
"They represent all the Emirs who died when ORB was first burned by the Alliance" explained Cagalli
"I understand" Heine placed them in his pocket before saluting the representative.
"Your uniform will be waiting for you aboard the Masamune" smiled Cagalli before she turned to leave.
-Aboard the Masamune-
"All systems check out normal" the blonde com officer turned to the captain of the vessel, the captain was none other than Alexia.
"Good, thank you Charlotte" smiled Alexia.
"All stations report in as at optimal" reported another officer
"Thank you…we are ready to go then" smiled Alexia as she turned to Auel who sat in a seat towards the front of the ship.
"Yes, Let's hit it!" smiled Auel.
"Lets…" Alexia picked up the intercom phone and pressed the code for ship wide communications. "This is Alexia Keys. We will soon be launching via the Mass Driver. All hands report to your stations" ordered Alexia.
The Masamune was a totally Black and white version of the standard Izumo class ship. Following the deaths of the Sarans there personal cruiser had been remodelled with experimental systems. The Masamune had two large wing like devices on its sides and the back of the vessel now resembled the back of the Archangel, only the part where the Valiants were located.
"Masamune, you are cleared for launch…good hunting" the operator's voice was clearly Miriallia. Tolle's heart wrenched as he heard her voice, he wanted more than anything to tell her he loved her and that he was alive.
"Thank you ORB control, Masamune HASHIN!" yelled Alexia. The black and white vessel tore down the catapult and began to ascend into the sky, it tore through the atmosphere with a loud defining whistle.
"I love you Miri" whispered Tolle as the Island nation turned into a small dot and then vanished.
The vessel tore through the atmosphere and reached ORBS staging ground Space colony Yagami. Multiple of vessels gathered there. The units were also joined by mulitple Allaince and ZAFT vessels, all of which had defected from their forces to join ORB.
