Kage is Kira
NOTE:
"Doryaaaaaaaaaa!": normal talking
"Charge!": special case
'Darn!': thoughts
GWA HA HA HA! : Giant creature speech
DISCLAIMER: I OWN NOTHING!
Please… read and review
Chapter 15:
The Battle of Archangel Gulf
The massive Zaft fleet close in on the white fortress in the gulf. Leading them at the center is a gigantic star shaped ship, the Aquarius. Veia observe the situation on the Fortress. It's too quiet. They must've noticed them by now.
"Ready on the cannons."
The crew of Aquarius quickly moved to their battle stations and aimed their Tristan bombardment cannon.
Veia waited for a moment until the time is just right. And… "Fire all!"
"FIRE ALL!" The gun captain yelled the order.
"FIRE ALL!"
"FIRE ALL!" In various parts of the ship, the order was relayed and yelled. The next instance, every Tristan cannon on board of the Aquarius roared and launched their payload at the white fortress. The Cannonballs, with their fuse lit up, fly across the ocean before finally landed and crushed the target. When they've landed, the fuse burnt out and the projectile exploded, causing more damage.
Alliance soldiers inside the fortress winced at the massive explosion.
The Aquarius and other Battle Barges continue to bombard the base, time and again, causing huge damage to the buildings within.
"Funny… they didn't respond or shoot back…" Veia frowned.
"They're probably too busy cowering in fear." One of the Bladebanes gloated.
A cannon fire from the Archangel's rear wall answered that question. The cannon blast missed Veia by a hairbreadth and ripped the gloating bladebane's head off the socket.
"Well… there's your answer."
In the fortress, the careless soldier was slapped on the head by Natarle. "Have you been drinking? Hold your fire all of you! Now move!"
"So Mikhail's forces were wiped out after all." Raww commented next to Veia.
"I suppose." The old Hakutenkun was waiting for another shot, but apparently, that was it.
"What do you think Raww?"
"I think they were planning to lure us into the gulf. They want to shoot us as we try to approach the fortress, ignoring whatever damage we do to them."
"Well… if that is their idea… let em have it."
A few weeks ago, back during Athrun's final mission briefing…
"With the water towers gone, the fortress will be left with two options: the first one is to bunk down in their fort and repel enemy forces with their cannons. Archangel Fortress is located deep within a gulf. The gulf… the Archangel Gulf, is pinned between two steep cliffs, the Northern one and the Southern one. At the center is a relatively narrow water way which can only be passed by three Alliance Cruiser class ship at max so it won't make sense no matter how big of a fleet you sent at them, they'll all be funneled down in that narrow gulf, and slaughtered."
000
A few hours earlier, Kage's mission briefing…
"The paradox of this strategy is simple. Commanders are not administrators. They are lead actors. Instead of placing high ranking officers in a place to control the field, safe from harm, they are used on the field, in the fight…and ensure the plan was carried out successfully." Kage emphasize this by placing Rook, Queen, Bishop and Knight in close proximity with the Fort archangel on the map. "This principle holds true to both sides. They destroy our Water Towers to rob us of options, specifically the option to hold it out. They want us (the ranking officers) to come out, right into the open."
While constantly bombarding the fortress, the Aquarius continued to close in. The size of the ship was such, the narrow pathway of the gulf was completely closed off.
"The second option they can take is to launch their own ships at us. That, gentleman, is what we would want them to do."
000
"Whenever we think: There's no way he can take this step. He took it. He'll throw away his best piece if it means we'll do exactly what he wants us to do."
Three ships sailed out from the docks of the Archangel: Agamemnon, Menelaus and Nestor.
"They're coming with their ships." Raww smirked. Everything is going as planned.
"Cease bombardment. Get into ramming speed! Prepare for ship to ship battle! And tell other ships to get ready!"
Behind the Aquarius, the other Battle Barge began to disperse to two groups, each heading towards the two cliffs on opposite sides of the gulf.
"The battle barge fleet will wait just on the foot of the cliff. When the contact between the Aquarius and their main ships occurred, begin the act."
000
"The key is speed. Pre-emptive strike is their game. To change the game… we have to hit first." Kage rubbed his chin. "They want to draw all our attention by intentionally giving the big shots: the rook will be the cover."
"Here comes the rook." Kage sighed as the Aquarius close in on them. He sniffed the air several times and smelled rum. "…what the…" He turned around.
"Fill the Aquarius to the brim with brimstones, oil, tar and other flammable items… no pun intended."
000
"You gotta be kidding me." Murdock gulped. "Veia loved his flagship. There's no way he's gonna…" The mechanic stopped midway when he realized he was doing exactly as Kage had stated earlier.
"See? What did I tell you? When we think there's no way this can be done… it will be done."
The Aquarius picked up speed and come closer and closer towards the three ships.
"Ready to set the fire on the ship the moment we crash at them." Veia, without hesitation gave the order to his Bladebanes.
"You sure? This is your flagship."
"I've been called a lot of things Raww, sentimental ain't one of them."
"Now, the three ships that'll come to you will also be filled with flammable items and explosive as well. If the Bladebane team had burned the towers as I've instructed, we've goaded them into using fireship tactic. If not… they won't have any other options either."
000
"How can he know that we'll be using fire?" Natarle commented.
"Well, ask yourself this question. After what happened back then, with the burning of our Water Towers and all… before I said all this, any one of you thinking of wanting to repay the favor by burning them in turn, raise your hands."
Almost everyone in the meeting room raised their hands. Even Harlbarton. The old captain sighed. "Oh dear… the enemy strategist had us read from stage one…"
"So… we need to think of another alternative other than fire…" Mwu groaned.
"Nope." Kage shook his head. "I say, we fight fire with fire."
"…isn't that Murdock's rum?" Kage scratched his head several times in confusion, seeing barrels of rum strapped with explosive and fish oils loaded into his ship's cargo hold.
"Jackie told me we're short on gunpowders!" Mwu yelled from the other ship.
"Well… anything works."
"Question! What will the rest of the Carpentaria fleet do?" Raww asked.
"Get ready some mountain climbing gears." Athrun divided a whole bunch of pawn pieces and placed them on the cliffs on both sides of the gulf.
000
"This man loves peons. Most other people ignore peons and consider them weak and expendable. But not in this strategy. In here, Peon is the edge of the sword."
Yzak was with the battle barge unit and they had just closed in on the foot of the northern cliff. "Ready the climbing chains!"
At the southern cliff, a few soldiers, led by Dearka, used a massive crossbow and fired several hooked chains up to the top of the cliff. The other battalion of knights made ready to climb the cliff.
"The moment Aquarius crashed into the three ships and set them on fire, I want the soldiers to climb these cliffs… and provide support fire to Aquarius."
000
"That is their stated objective. But their true objective, is to use those cliffs sandwiching the narrow corridor of the Archangel Gulf… run along them… and went straight into our base in a two pronged assault." Kage showed this by pushing pawn pieces across the cliff, further in into the Archangel Bay until they landed on Archangel's rear walls from its flanks.
The Aquarius began firing its Isolde cannons at the three ships. Funny thing is, the ships didn't even bother to fire back. In fact, they're speeding up.
"Hrng. So they noticed what we're up to."
"Aquarius was designed with charging capability in mind. It has the strength to push back several ships at max ramming speed. The question is all about how to build up that speed to the point of it being unstoppable in a short amount of time."
Veia nodded in understanding. "Let me worry about that, Zala-kun."
"I'll leave that to you then, my lord. But remember, these ships WILL try to ram you first."
000
"Aquarius is a ship specifically designed to ram other ships. I don't know how that monster works, but we've seen that ship smash through several ships bigger than our currently biggest available ships." Murdock gave his analysis on the Aquarius.
"A ramming damage isn't only determined by mass… but also by speed. Simple math. Three ships have enough mass. The idea is to make all those three ships accelerate to the same speed, a speed which is greater than the Aquarius and they have to hit the Aquarius at the same time."
Mwu caught the logic in the craziness of that plan but, there's only one problem. "…how the on earth are we going to build the power needed to propel three cruisers? I just don't see it."
"Let ME worry about that." Kage replied casually.
The Aquarius Steam engine's massive furnace was burning hotter than the blazes of hell, coupled with soldiers rowing non stop down below. The Aquarius even smashed some part of the cliff as it charge in closer and closer.
"Errhh… Lord Veia? I can't control this thing anymore! And the steam engine is about to blow!"
"Then let her blow!" Veia roared in an almost maniacal laughter. "This is exactly what it's all about, ha ha!"
At the sight of the giant ship charging at them, Mwu gulped. "Here she comes."
"To your stations!" Harlbarton roared.
"The idea is that we will use as the Aquarius as a demolition fire ship, crash those three ships and went as deep as the ship can into the gulf and set everything on fire." Athrun showed this by having a rook push forward a set of bishop, Knight and Queen deep into the Archangel Gulf on the map. "The ship must be deep enough to prevent the enemy from launching more ships at us. With everything ablaze and the path to the ocean is blocked, they will be left with only two options, stand their ground and fight a losing battle in men to men to combat inside their obliterated fortress or, preferably, escape to the forest, and we can conquer the fortress with minimal bloodshed."
000
Kage, mimicking Athrun's motion, followed. "That's where the soldiers from the Battle Barge play their part. Right when the crashed ships are pushing into the fortress, they must have already climbed the cliffs, run along it all the way to the rear wall, and overtake it by our flanks from the cliffs during the chaos. They will then use the rear cannon batteries and began bombarding our trapped fleet from behind. Once the ocean is pacified, they will turn those cannons towards our soldiers from the elevated rear wall."
Everyone gulped and for a moment, they truly are grateful to have Kage on their side.
Seeing the Aquarius is in direct collision course with the three battleships, Yzak began ordering the elite Bladebanes on board the battle barges to begin climbing the cliff. Other barges also began doing the same. The soldiers were already halfway to the cliff.
"Speed… and total concert plays a significant role. If Aquarius ram the three ships too soon before the Bladebanes had climbed the cliff, it will give them a chance to retaliate and obliterate the now trapped ship."
000
"On the other hand, if the Bladebanes climb and run across the cliff too soon, we'll be able to notice them coming and we would've known that Aquarius was just one big ass and expensive decoy."
The three ships suddenly slowed down slightly.
Veia noticed this. "Eh?"
"What are they up to now?"
The climbing soldiers, with their view closed by the massive Aquarius, didn't see this strange behavior and so they continue climbing in a well disciplined pace.
A few kilometers away from the base and from view, Fuji knelt on a sprint position.
An entire section of the forest in front of him had been chopped down to make a straight undeterred path all the way to the Fortress.
"Timing is everything. We have to make them play our game, with our rules."
000
"And so…" Kage concluded. "To change the game and made them play our rules… we'll cheat with Mother Nature a little bit."
"Do it Kage!" Harlbarton yelled.
Kage rose out and stood on the edge of Nestor's front bow, the lead ship of the three.
Veia blinked when he saw the black clad warrior on the edge of the ship.
The ninja took out a kunai with a flashbang bomb, and threw it high into the sky.
The Flashbang sets out, creating a blinding light in the sky, a signal.
Fuji saw the signal and realized the time has come. Stomping the ground, the giant of a man began his sprint towards the white fortress.
Kage quickly braced himself to the deck of Nestor. Mwu hold for his dear life on Menelaus' main mast, while Harlbarton held on to Agamemnon's railings.
"…what are they doing?" Even Raww couldn't read their behavior.
Veia observed the Nestor and noticed several ominous barrels strapped on the ship's cargo. 'That's the explosives… then why didn't they…?' And then Veia noticed another bizarre weirdness: all the ship's crew, barring its three leaders had abandoned ship and moved to the shores as quickly as possible.
Fuji's sprint had reached maximum speed. The sound of his massive legs stomping had reached everyone's ears.
Veia heard the noises and looked at the distance. His eyes widened when he saw the giant figure of Fuji running at top towards the base.
Raww was the first to piece things together. "PULL BACK NOW!"
"Wha… there's no way we can…" The helmsman was confused at his superior's outburst
"HERE IT COMES!" Harlbarton roared.
Fuji stomped on the Archangel's front wall… and leap across the base in a high jump and descent in a cannonball dive right into the ocean right behind the three ships, screaming: "GERONIMOOO!"
When an 80 feet tall human cannonball dived into a body of water, the resulting splash is a giant tidal wave that swept across the narrow alleyway of the gulf. The massive ripple went straight towards the three ships.
"Okay, this is the part of the plan that I don't trust!" Mwu yelled in sheer terror.
The three ship's current speed matched the speed of the tidal wave just enough, allowing the three battleships to literally surf the incoming tidal wave. The massive wave also further propelled their speed to unfathomable knots.
Every single crew on board the Aquarius stared wide eyed when they saw three battleships charging at them atop a tidal wave.
"ABANDON SHIP!" The helmsman screamed without a second thought. Other crews jumped to the ocean, thinking it would mean their survival.
Raww and Veia stared wide eyed knowing the futility of jumping into an ocean with a tsunami literally staring in the face but they were too shocked to even reprimand their reckless subordinates. The enemy battleships current velocity and direction… this is beyond coincidence…
As expected, the three ships literally and simultaneously stabbed into the Aquarius with a horrifying impact, causing massive destruction on the ships while the artificial tidal wave continue to propel the wreckage back towards the edge of the gulf. The three ships' explosive cargo were thrown off the hold, scattered and mixing with Aquarius' own and some of them break apart and splash the entangled ships with the flammable materials it carried.
The thunderous sound of ships crashing one another can be heard by everyone in that area.
Yzak gaped when he saw the Aquarius was suddenly pushed back by a tidal wave, with no less than three Alliance Cruisers nailed on its frontal deck.
Dearka, who was on the other cliff, also gaped as he looked at the spectacle below and mouthed "…what the Hell…"
Still holding on the cruisers, Harlbarton yelled at the top of his lung to match the roaring wave. "The exit of the gulf is coming fast!"
Kage noticed that. Sticking with Chakra on the deck of his Cruiser, now in a nearly upright position; Kage formed one seal: "Katsu!"
The explosive Mwu buried on the cliffs finally set out, and exploded with an earth shattering force, blowing up the entire rear side of the cliff. The Bladebanes who had just finished climbing or were in the middle of the climb were horrified when the cliff suddenly break apart and became a massive landslide. The Battle Barges positioned below were also caught by dreaded surprise when the landslide fell and crushed them.
Another set of well timed explosion occurred, and another portion of the cliff on both sides within the gulf, just near the exit, went down. The resulting twin landslide completely sealed off the way out of the Archangel gulf. The damaged and entangled Aquarius, Menelaus, Agamemnon and Nestor were slammed mercilessly by the now weakening wave upon the newly formed giant rock formations. Some of the burning rocks also collided with the flammable materials scattered on both ships, and in a blink of an eye, a massive conflagration engulfed the four ships.
From the distance, with the backup fleet, Nichol gazed with his binoculars and a horrified expression at the sudden turn of events. "…who in God's name can came up with such a plan?" Cold sweat drenched Nichol's neck.
The captain of Nichol's ship break out of the stupor and yelled the order. "ADVANCE! Give aid to our brethren now!"
Nichol blinked and realize they are moving into a trap. "NO! Don't go in there!"
"Our brethren will be slaughtered in there! We must give aid!"
"It's a trap!"
Alas, most of the Zaft reserve fleet took the initiative to reinforce the trapped ships at front and advanced forward.
Yzak gasped for much needed air as he burst out of the ocean, littered with floating splintered debris and wreckages of what's left of his ship, crushed by the landslide. He looked back and saw the reserve fleet is coming. "About damn time."
Dearka burst out of the ground on the cliff above. Gasping and wheezing having outran the landslide. And then all the sudden, he caught sight of a spear bearing an iron maiden design. The tanned boy groaned. "Oh hell no…"
Raww burst out amidst the smoldering husk in a blaze that was Veia's flagship. He looked at the approaching reinforcement fleet and yelled angrily. "PULL BACK YOU FOOLS!"
Yzak's relief was quickly replaced with worry as the reserve ships gets closer, feeling something amiss, he gazed upward and gaped when he saw rows upon rows of Gottfried Cannons suddenly appearing out of nowhere upon the edge of the still intact cliff top. The elevation was perfect and the gunners up there can get a clear shot on any ship coming close. The silver haired teen gritted his teeth in sheer horror. "…this… this doesn't look like a base that has been obliterated from within?"
Slamming her spear to the reeling Dearka's Dragon Buster tonfa, Murrue can still issue her order. "GUN CREWS, FIRE AT WILL!"
The Gottfried cannons, wrapped in rug and straws for its camouflage, burst out from its hiding place along with the hidden gun crews. Following Murrue's orders, Natarle revealed herself along with at least a few dozen Gottfried cannon squad and roared at the top of her lungs. "FIRE ALL!"
The cliff top on both side were soon filled with exhaust smokes from the cannon barrels, releasing their entire payload.
The massive Zaft fleet was caught in a hailstorm of cannonballs and arrows. When some ships in front tried to pull back, the ships in the rear prevented their escape. The first row of the fleet was soon reduced to shipwreck.
Raww stared in disbelief… and above all, in awe. Someone had read their strategy from stage one and respond properly. Too properly, in fact. If he didn't know any better, he would say Athrun had leaked the information and betrayed them all.
"Surprised, Nemesis?"
Raww smirked. He turned around and lo and behold, Mwu was looking at him with his widest, biggest 'you're screwed' grin.
"Very much so, my dear nemesis." Raww clean himself the best he could amidst the flames. "Did Harlbarton have a few new sharp minds in his employ?"
Mwu answered with a smirk and turned around as an entire curtain of flame suddenly opened up, revealing Kage walking calmly amidst the inferno, unbothered by the heat. In fact, the ninja didn't even suffer a burn.
Raww held his breath. "Kage."
"We meet again, Lord Raww."
"Again? I believe this is the first time we met, dark one."
"For you. Not for me." Kage's whispery voice can be heard even amidst the roaring fire. "Your reputation precedes you."
"And so are yours. Though… I wasn't referring to you in particular, not that your… recent infamy was not unheard. But I've heard of you. Your people. Your kind."
"Hrmmm…"
"The ninjas… the shinobis… a secret army of elite assassins, ones who have served the dark secret will of the Lions of Orb for generations."
"You're well informed."
"Tales of your legendary warriors are known far and wide, dark one. Even in our home country, we still fear the wrath of Orb's great army." Even with the situation around them, Kage had to admit he must give Raww's manner and gift of gab a credit.
But he's far too familiar with that sort of speech to be swayed by it. "You burned my home to the ground."
Raww paused for a moment and suddenly realized the Ninja was referring to Amaterasu. "An unfortunate casualty of the war the Naturals have brought upon the people of Orb. They are the ones who brought the war into your city."
"Unfortunate? Quite frankly, I'm not that angry with you about that. What you burned is but a pile of woods and bricks. No live is lost. Cities can be rebuilt. Crops, replanted."
"Spoken like one who are willing to consider a diplomatic alternative."
Mwu twitched while Kage simply rolled his eyes.
Taking this as his cue to go on, Raww continued. "We of the Zaft Empire had never saw Orb as an enemy. We considered them… a model nation. A nation where people of every origin can live together in peace. The sort of nation the Empire tries to achieve. What happened to Amaterasu was indeed… unfortunate and I assume direct responsibility, there can be no excuse to that."
The ninja nodded in seemingly approval.
"If you like, I'm well prepared to do what is necessary. Hand myself to you and your country's judgment. And perhaps… you can be the intermediary. I ask no defense for my case… only that I asked of you… to know and understand that the Zaft Empire wish not to become Orb's enemy… but an ally."
Kage contemplate over this proposal. "…and what of this battle?"
"I'm well prepared to call off the attack. Feel free to take me with you, if you wish. Allow me to make amends."
Mwu was a bit worried. This is exactly the same tactic Raww used to split his men apart back in Endiminion. The masked fox had an incredible gift of gab that can sway even the most stubborn man.
All the sudden, Kage shook… and finally exploded into full blow laughter.
A laughter which erased Mwu's worries and bewildered Raww.
"My God… Mwu… you were right. This man sure knows how to spout bullshits that people like to hear." Kage looked at Mwu and the elder man can see in his eyes, Raww's promises were rejected outright.
Mwu sighed in relief. Raww waited in silence.
Kage turned to Raww and his tone no longer in glee. "True. It was not you who caused the war to be brought upon my home. But your soldiers are ones who crashed into our homes like robbers in broad daylight. You took away our food, starving my people using glorified excuses. How many women your soldiers had raped in their zeal? How many children you've separated from their families?"
"Surely you would not allow your personal feelings and anger clouded you of the potential-"
"You and I… are guilty of ignorance." Kage's head bent down. "Spare me your self-righteous excuses. Even if you are a good person at heart, you do nothing but empty words and you just watched when your enraged soldiers torch the city and causing irreparable damage to some of its inhabitants. I too… are guilty. I did not want to fight. I keep saying it's not my fight. I didn't do anything… and it finally costs me a friend. Good men do nothing that is evil enough."
Silence for a few moments as Raww let Kage's word sinks in.
Mwu decided that's enough diplomatic negotiation for one day. "Raww… I suggest you give up trying to talk this guy. Right now, you're facing a man whom you've unknowingly wronged to such extent… this is a guy with dead set motivation you can no longer bargain with."
Mwu's word was more like an advice directed to an old friend rather than to an arch enemy. An advice that Raww, who looked as if he also had received a personal epiphany, gratefully accepted. "…Indeed."
"Then at last, it is time for combat."
The sound came from amidst the wreckage, followed by a sudden burst of cold gale. A fully armored warrior wearing a samurai helmet with Antler horns burst out at the center of the wind. Goud Veia had joined the fray.
A loud crash resounded as an entire wood block was chopped to two. Harlbarton walked out of the rubble dusting a part of his singed vest. "I agree."
Mwu grabbed his kodachi and eyed Raww who also returned the sentiment by pulling out his sword.
Kage and Harlbarton looked at Veia preparing to gang up on him. Kage inwardly gulped. 'Now HERE'S the part of the plan I don't really trust…'
"Well, well… two on one eh? Not that I mind but I'm a bit disappointed Harlbarton, I though you're more gallant than this." Veia snorted behind his helmet.
"Well… after that little mishap your men pulled on us, gallantry has become a luxury."
"Oh well… two can play the game." Veia raised his hand. All the sudden, amidst the flames, a pack of knights, mostly dressed in bright orange and red walked out of the flame. Their armor is of differing in design, but they have a uniform theme: skulls and torches.
"The Ruby Exorcists? Nemesis! You…!" Mwu gasped and glared at Raww, who gave him his version of 'you're-screwed' grin.
"What? Did you seriously think we didn't prepare for any possibilities?"
Athrun's final briefing…
"What if… in the most unlikely event that…"
Athrun cut Veia's comment. "There is 1% of chance that they might be able to slam all three of their ships simultaneously at the Aquarius before it manage to go far. When that happens I think it is best if you, Lord Klueze, commission your crack Ruby Exorcists secretly. A battalion, perhaps."
Raww understood, but Veia was slightly skeptic. "A battalion of the 'Undead Purger' over a 1% chance that they might-"
"-get a slightest chance to completely derail the strategy and change the direction of the battle? That's right. On 2nd thoughts Lord Klueze, bring two battalions."
Veia looked at Raww as if asking: 'Tell me you're not seriously considering this.'
Athrun can guess what Veia was thinking and followed. "There is a 99% chance of success, but that also means we're 1% defeated. 1% chance of failure is still a chance. Truth be told this plan has so many unknown factors in it, I would even go so far to call it inadequate by my standards. But… well… battle is not a chess where every variant is a known and definite value. There are many probabilities… many uncertainties. There's no such thing as a perfect plan. But we can prepare for any situation we might end up on. Think of it this way: even if the Aquarius did eventually succeed as planned, the exorcists could come in handy in case they decided to do something drastic."
"There's no such thing as too much firepower, my friend." Raww further convince his fellow Hakutenkun.
Veia sighed. "Alright. Fine, fine. Raww, since your… well… demotion, you're practically a Fire Knight… relatively speaking you've become a grunt soldier. But with the sort influence you had… that was in name only. I'm giving you a field promotion as my advisor. Take a pick of your finest Exorcists, assemble a battalion and station them on Aquarius."
"A battalion? I did suggest-"
"To cover one battalion… I'm bringing a firepower equivalent… to a battalion." Veia added, giving an eye to Raww.
The recently promoted Masked Advisor caught the message.
"I'm reaaaally glad I listened to that Zala boy." Veia chuckled.
A pillar of blue flame rose up in the middle of the Exorcists. At first, the three alliance army leaders thought it was a burst of flame from one of Zaft's foreign compound, but then, they began to notice a few things. A person is standing in the midst of the infernal pillars… engulfed in blue flame and screaming, not in pain, but in mad fury.
"Oh no." Mwu gasped.
"Not him again." Kage groaned.
Miguel Aiman screaming while constantly emitting high temperature blue flame from his body while his other four limbs were held in layers of chains. Eight exorcists struggled to hold the said chains.
Compounding everything, the flames from crashed fireships further increase the blue flame's strength and temperature. The Exorcists doesn't seem to be bothered by the heat. Mwu looked at their situation and realized… they were trapped.
An entire battalion of enemy elite soldiers, two Hakutenkun and one insane Fire Elemental vs two captain level fighters and one ninja. No matter how he looked at it, this doesn't look like a situation that they can easily get out unscathed.
"You KNOW that we will hit you first?" Mwu groaned in obvious frustration and shock.
"Well… we… predict the slightest possibility you guys managed to perform the impossible. Naturally we don't take into account of the Poseidon Trident maneuver and the multi explosion-blow off the cliff tactic. That was a genius stroke, Kage." Veia bowed in admiration to the black clad warrior, who remained silent.
"Kage… Am I right to assume… that this is…" Harlbarton frowned.
"Distraction. Division. And isolation." Kage listed each with his fingers. "Distraction in form of giant fireship, division to separate our army from its key personnel-which is us; and isolation… in that we're surrounded and completely cut off from support."
"I could not say it better."
"The original idea… the giant Ship… Aquarius was never meant simply force us to try and counter with our own fire ship strike. No, from the get go, it was never intended to block our naval capability at all." Kage gritted his teeth in realization.
"I realized of course." Athrun said calmly. "That with Mwu La Flagga's employ of explosives, he could just blow up everything as the ship crashed. Doing so will severely reduce the effectiveness of the blockade. That is why… I want you guys to be on board the ship when it crashed."
"So that we can prevent any attempt to break the blockade." Raww followed.
"You realized you'll put us both in harm's way?" Said Veia. "…and there's also a chance that even if they were goaded into sending their own fire ships… there's no guarantee that they will send in their big shots to do the job just because we're on board."
"Put it this way: knowing that two Hakutenkun level soldiers are making sure the fire attack succeed, they will not send just any soldiers to break down the blockade knowing that we could defeat normal soldiers almost effortlessly. No. They will have to send in Captain level warriors." Athrun moved the enemy king, queen and bishop pieces where it is surrounded by knights, peons, rooks, completely trapping the pieces with his own king, queen, and bishops. Athrun thought for a moment and finished with: "Though… well… getting aboard a ship on a suicide run and remain in it even as it burn and sink is pretty insane… borderline suicide…"
"You have a problem with suicide missions Veia?"
"Do I look like I have that sort of problem?"
"And that brings us… to this situation…" Kage frowned. "We hit first… they hit first… it never mattered which ship is faster… we, and I mean WE, are the target."
"Sacrificing an entire flagship to isolate the aces of the enemy units in a deathtrap…"
"I didn't take into account of the landslide…"
"We didn't take into account on many things too. Athrun-kun was right. This plan has so many flaws in it, it can be considered inadequate."
At the mention of the name, Kage's eyes bulged. "Athrun… Zala?"
Raww looked at Kage in obvious surprise. "…You know of Athrun-kun?"
And suddenly, Kage momentarily forget he was in disguise. He became Kira again for a briefest moment of laxity. "He's… still alive? I thought he was executed for… treason?"
Raww frowned for a moment and looked at Kira's expression… well concealed by his mask. The tone was hard to make out in the midst of the roaring fire, but there's shock in it. In short, Raww was still unable to deduce anything, but then he saw a chance to try to find Kage's true self.
"You knew Athrun Zala?" Raww repeated the question.
"…yes."
"Will it elate you then… if I tell you he's still very much alive and well."
Kira was overcome with an incredible sense of relief. He's alive. Athrun is still alive. Kira held his palm over his face. Thank god…
But then, a wave of realization hit him and he realized everyone's watching. And Kage resurface once more. "…no." He made his whispery tone to be cold, bitter, and icy. "…no, that's not a comfort to me at all. It simply proved my suspicions." Yes. It's the fact that it was Athrun who was indirectly responsible for the many plots and schemes befallen him in this fortress… and of course, there's also the death of Kuzzey. All this fact piled into one had done a wonderful job of darkening his eye with bitterness.
"…suspicions?" Raww frowned. He really can't make out Kage's characteristics at all but he saw… anger and pain and most of all, betrayal in the teen's eyes. '…were they…'
Kage decided there's enough distraction. Any longer he might lose his composure. "Mwu-san. Phase… two."
"What?" Mwu gasped, as if he had just heard the most outrageous news of the day. Suddenly, his strained and frustrated face disappeared. "Oh come on, can't you let me work on my poker scared face a little longer?"
It took a few seconds for the Hakutenkun to catch the meaning of Mwu's last words and they reacted with "…erh… what?" Raww and Veia echoed.
"While we dilly dally, the Carpentaris fleet is making a progress towards us. We must hurry. Murrue and Natarle-san can't hold them for long."
"Indeed." Harlbarton looked across the fields of destruction and burned debris. "I can see them coming… suffering heavy losses… but they are still coming."
Back with the Carpentaria fleet, the captain of Nichol's ship had finally managed to get the situation under control after the initial chaos. "Battle barge at front! Suck up those cannonballs! We're going to those landslides!"
The Carpentaria fleet reassembled their formation. The large and tough Battle barge form the forward line and advance forward, withstanding salvo after salvo from the enemy cannon barrage from the cliff top.
Natarle frowned as she saw how the cannon fire became less and less effective. She looked at Murrue who are still locked in a skirmish with the Zaft Earth Knight.
Dearka's smirk grew bigger as the fight went on. He glanced from his back and saw the approaching friendly fleet, withstanding the cannon barrage. "Tick-tock, pretty captain. Our time for duel is almost up."
Murrue also glanced worriedly throughout the fight at the closing in fleet. Though she merely voiced her worries in angry grunts.
Yzak finally managed to get to the shores and stood on the newly formed mounds, caused by the massive landslide. The Water Knight grasped this idea back when he looked at the new landscape caused by the series of explosion.
"We may have lost a lot of my Bladebanes… but I have reserve, and there's still an entire fleet at our back. And let's not forget the fact that you guys are trapped in this burning stage, without backup and outnumbered."
"Oh… crap…" And for a moment, Mwu lost his humor face.
Not.
"BAAAKA! What? Did you seriously think we didn't prepare for any possibilities?" Mwu give another you're-screwed smile, copying Raww's earlier statement.
"Enough of this. Exorcists! Attack!" Veia signaled the red knights to charge forward.
The skull knights marched forward, the flames in their torches burn brighter… before the flames literally fly away from them. In fact, every flame around the exorcists suddenly moved. The Exorcist's subsequent bewildered reaction showed that this is not the usual occurrence.
Then again, an entire flock of flame spin around with a life of its own around a single being is not a usual occurrence at all.
"What in the name of…"
Kage, forming the dragon seal before his chest while closing his eyes, concentrating. The flame in the close vicinity around them suddenly swished and twirled, leaving behind the exorcists and joined together, spinning around the black clad figure, like a loyal pet standing by around its master.
Raww gained another revelation. "Oh hell no…"
"Oh hell yes." Mwu's smile threatened to tear his face if it can go any wider.
"You predicted that Mwu will use explosives." Harlbarton grinned, less mischievously. "You predicted correctly. But I doubt you predicted on how we will use the explosion."
"…and I can bet my ass you didn't see exactly how we set those explosions." Mwu finished.
"What magic is this?" Veia glared disbelievingly as he saw Kage stood in the center of a firestorm.
"See… when we blow off a portion of the cliff, the explosive was set off… by Kage's jutsu. Well prepared before hand. You can say the flame you're looking right now is his making."
The Zaft knights looked on, wondering what the blond captain was getting at.
"What I'm trying to say is, it doesn't matter what keeps these flames going, since this conflagration originated from Kage's jutsu… hence the resulting inferno all bear his mark."
Veia finally get a full grasp of the situation, but still in slight disbelief of the concept. "…you mean he can command this fire?"
"So you see, Goud Veia." Harlbarton calmly concluded. "We're not exactly outnumbered or without reinforcements."
"Reinforcements do exist." Mwu swing around his arm to gestured at the flame around them. "Every spark of fireworks you see right now… is OUR reinforcement."
As if to emphasize this point, Kage opened his eyes and while the other hand maintain the seal, the other hand balled to a fist, and like following its master's orders, the flame around Kage stop circling and burst out erect, like soldiers waiting its commander's orders.
Kage mused in his head. 'Mwu-san was right. It was so much less of a burden to manipulate pre-existing fire than to actually produce them… other than the first explosion, I didn't even had to spend any Chakra at all…'
The Ruby Exorcists were all terrified and looked at each other in fear, not so eager anymore to fight a man who can control an inferno.
"But there's still one fire that you cannot control." Raww smiled.
Kage groaned as he looked at Miguel's blue fire. The fire clearly was not of his making, and therefore, he was unable to control it with the Dragon seal. It only makes sense. "You guys planned to use him to set off the flame."
"You beat us to it, Kage. Congratulations." Raww nodded. "And though you have stopped our navy, I think you should understand that your current situation is still far from winning."
Veia followed. "Using explosive to blow up the sides of cliff to devastate our flankers was a good idea. But look what you've done."
The three warriors looked at their handiwork that is the cliff. With the cliff blown off, the resulting landslide had created a slope. Climbable and now anyone (specifically the approaching Zaft fleet infantry) can now literally walk all the way to the top of the cliff on foot.
Mwu snorted again. "You're getting boring, Klueze. You seriously think we didn't foresee this as well?"
Kage sent two fire blasts to the sky. Another signal.
Dearka saw the signal and wondered what that is. He looked at Murrue who also saw the sign and on cue back away. "Hey, where are you going? I'm not done with y-"
The tanned teen's eyes widened when he caught sight of Murdock's figure from the distance. The subsequent sight of the cannon fire cloud that followed was a cue for the Earth Knight to quickly jump away from the spot. The wave of explosion from the Mechanist's customized hand held Gottfried dual barrel cannon threw Dearka off balance midair, resulting in his not so graceful landing. He quickly rose up and stared wide eyed, as rows of infantry of the combined forces of the 7th, 9th, and 12th division are all gathered at the top of the cliff. Ready to fight.
Dearka looked to his back and noticed the reserve battle barge fleet had almost reached the shores under the constant barrage of the Alliance's Gottfried cannons.
Yzak was also witnessing the same thing, as Prayer showed up and stood side by side with Natarle, and their soldiers also came to view.
It didn't take a genius to see what will come next, and the two elemental knights surmised: "You've gotta be fucking kidding me…"
Seeing that even the enemy had even covered this eventuality, for the first time in the longest period, Raww felt something akin to fear at the back of his spine. The enemy had truly known their plan… read it, prepare and respond to any possibility. This Kage knew Athrun? Suspicions? Raww, who prided himself to be quite a fox, never won a single chess match against Athrun showing the boy's unmatched strategic genius. The thought that there's someone out there who can actually out-think the prodigal boy is preposterous. 'My, my… the new seeds of warriors of this generation had truly surpassed the old…'
"Raww, pull yourself together! We can still win this!" Goud Veia barked. "Part of Zala's strategy still worked. As long as we cut off the heads…" The Hakutenkun pointed at the three of the Alliance's strongest warriors. "We can still win this."
Kage, Mwu and Harlbarton knew this to be true. The reason they allow themselves to fell in this situation was to counter and stop the enemies' finest from making any move. Preventing them from making any trouble if left unchecked.
A clash echoed throughout the battle ground as Mwu's kodachi clashed with Raww's saber.
Kage ready Shiki in his hand, eying Miguel, still chained and raving mad.
Harlbarton pointed his sword at Veia and charged first.
But Veia had something else in mind. "I'm afraid that's not how it's going to be, Captain Harlbarton."
Avoiding Harlbarton's stab, Veia jumped past the old captain and head straight towards his TRUE target: Kage.
Kage was obviously caught off guard by this sudden attack and quickly reacted.
"HAIYAAH!" Veia brought out his Ice Nodachi and slam it straight to the ninja. Kage barely able to roll to the side, avoiding the slash. By the time Kage reassert himself, Veia had already sheathed his long nodachi for a batoujutsu. Almost simultaneously, Kage jumped and Veia slashed. The ninja managed to dodge the attack entirely by jumping away but it cut off a small portion of the upper deck, causing the already shambling floor to give out when Kage landed, and he fell into ship's lower floor, which is ablaze.
Veia rubbed his armored chin. "He fell into the inferno… now normally this would constitute a boring kill… IF however, the flame does bear his mark… he should be invulnerable to any fire not belonging to anyone, yes?"
Harlbarton gritted his teeth in unease. Oh no. They didn't take into account of Veia's profound interest to Kage. Sure, with the sort of reputation Kage had amassed thus far, he was expecting a response… but what crossed their mind was a crack team of the entire set of Elemental Knights (Fire, water, earth, wood, and steel) at the worst, not an elite Hakutenkun. Especially this Hakutenkun. Before Harlbarton can react, Veia hopped into the blazing hole, intent on chasing his chosen prey.
The Exorcists charged at the elder Captain, having been ordered to do so beforehand not to interrupt or aid other Hakutenkuns duels. Harlbarton grunted in a rarely displayed anger and let out a powerful horizontal slash. An entire row of Exorcists were thrown away to a great distance, some lose a limb or two.
Holding his Glamm with two hands, the Captain made ready to fight the overwhelming odds. 'Kage-kun… I hope you survive until we can help you.' "Who wants to die next?"
Back to the Cliff top
"Archers ready!" On the Southern Cliff, Prayer shouted the order. An entire row of his division pulled out their bows and arrows.
The battle barges are closing in upon the shores of what was once a steep cliff. Inside its creaking cargo hold, scores of Emerald Knight waited eagerly to pour out.
"Take aim!" Murdock roared to the soldiers on the Northern cliff to took an arrow, set it on fire and mounted it on the bow, and pulled the string. Meanwhile, the cannons had yet to cease fire, intending to do as much damage as possible to the other ships.
Fighting through the barrage of cannonballs, the barges finally landed with a series of thuds upon the shores.
"Aim on the barge's hatches as they opened." Natarle instructed.
And finally, the barges' hatch door opened and Emerald Knights poured out of its cargo hold.
"Loose!" Murrue yelled.
The sky was soon filled with flaming arrows. The first groups of Emerald knights who jumped out of the barge hatches were riddled with burning arrows. The cannons also continued to fire non-stop, with its focus partially shifted from battleships to the infantry spilling out from it.
A cannon ball misfired and bounce around the battlefield, smashing through a knight's head off its socket. Another rolls around and went through a knight's leg.
"Lock your shields!" The battalion leader roared above the screams and groans of pain of his injured knights and the hailstorm of arrows and roaring cannon fires. The Knights bring together their shields and formed a cube like formation. "MARCH!" The interlocked Knights moved slowly forward, most of the arrows bounced harmlessly on the shield surface.
"Keep firing!" Prayer momentarily fall back from the front line while the alliance soldiers continue to shower the enemy with arrows, hoping that their sharp projectiles will hit someone from the chinks of their armor and shields.
The knights began to climb the slope and head straight towards the cliff top amidst the shower of arrows and cannonballs. One of the cannons fired and blew off an entire group of knights. But the green warriors took no heed and marched on.
When they're already halfway through the slope though, they paused as Prayer was back with another group of soldiers… rolling around a series of huge spiked cylinders and a couple of large barrels (with rum written on it).
"Hurl it down!" Murdock roared (with great, GREAT reluctance) to his soldiers, as they stabbed a hole in each of the barrels and tossed it down, leaving a trail of the alcoholic beverage as it rolled down. Some of them rammed the marching Zaft knights, still in their tightly packed formation. The other soldiers let loose their burning arrows and set off the rum, creating a trail of fire which quickly chased after the rolling down barrels. Once the fire reached the end of the trail, the barrel exploded in a gargantuan conflagration, engulfing many knights in its wake. Some of them break off their disciplined formation and screamed in pain as their whole body caught fire. Some of the barrel also rolled down long enough to reach the Barges' opened hatches. When they exploded, the knights inside the ship also fell victim to the conflagration and ran out to the field to no direction in particular.
All this fire assault had broken the enemy's formation and Prayer, seeing the enemy is now in utter chaos, gave the next command. The soldiers, in threes, pushed down the heavy spiked rollers, sending them down the slope towards the knights below. The rollers plow through the knights' now chaotic formation. The rollers grind the knights over, its spikes punch through their shields and armor, crushing their flesh and bone; and more. Due to the spikes, those who had been stabbed by these spikes (either still alive or already dead) are hooked to the rollers and dragged down along with them, crushing the unfortunate victims even further, ensuring a messy result. Even worse for the Zaft knights, the rollers burst into flames when they moved through the fire (having been laced with tar before hand), adding to their lethality. The same was also happening on the other cliff.
All this coupled with the never ending rain of arrows and cannon shelling, both slopes were soon drenched in trails of blood and flame, coupled with dozens of still alive knights, either burned, or lost a limb to the spike rollers, or both and piles and piles of the hundreds of knights who died with their bodies no longer recognizable. The slope was soon littered with hundreds of Zaft knight's disfigured corpses.
A flaming, blood drenched spiked roller was suddenly cut in two by an angry Yzak. He roared, rallying his forces. "To me! All of you! Reform the line! To me!" Some of the knights regained their senses and return forward and gathered around the Water Knight.
On the other part, Dearka returned fire with his Dragon Buster. Murdock who was shelling his hiding spot again and again until a moment ago had to duck and cover. Using the chance to catch his breath, Dearka yelled. "COME ON! Reform the line! Form ranks! FORM RANKS!"
Seeing the enemy had regained their bearings, Prayer took out his Lance. The other soldiers also understood that the time has come for all out melee.
The remaining knights climbed up in a less than orderly manner than their initial charge.
Murrue raised her spear and yelled. "CHARGE!"
The knights ran up, the soldiers rushed down.
On the burning and corpse littered slopes of the Archangel gulf, the two armies finally clashed.
Back to the wrecked ships…
Mwu found it hard to concentrate on Raww when he learned that his protégé is being chased by one of Zaft most powerful generals.
"You're slipping nemesis." Said Raww in a singsong tone. The masked knight appeared just behind Mwu, who was able to barely block his masked enemy's assault. Raww get into his stance and repeatedly stabbed the 9th Division Captain. Mwu's hand had to move lightning fast to block all those stabs and slashes. But even with his speed, his mind just wasn't in it, and he ended up with three light stab wounds on his chest and shoulders.
Mwu jumped away from Raww, creating some distance between them.
Raww shook his head. "Your protégé is in danger, and you're worried sick. I have a protégé of my own who was until a moment ago was in danger of death for a crime he did not commit… So I know how you feel. But please… can you at least focus on the situation at hand?"
Mwu groaned knowing how right his opponent is. If he didn't finish this fight quickly, how can he help Kira? "Alright. Alright, Raww. You're getting what you want." And with that, Mwu undo his weight one by one, starting from his arms, legs, and finally the vest on his chest. Each weight sank deeply to the wooden floor as it fell. Once the last weight has been undone, Raww lost sight of Mwu in an instant.
And in a heartbeat, Raww had to block 6 consecutive slashes from out of nowhere from every direction. Suddenly he heard a sound like a high pitched noise coming from his flank. The masked man turned around and saw Mwu approaching fast with one of his arm encircled in a spiraling chakra. Raww recognized the technique and bring out his rarely used buckler.
When Mwu's fist hit the shield, the energy literally pulverized and turned it into a contoured piece of junk, while the impact force generate a shockwave that pushed all the fire in area away. It was still powerful enough to knock Raww a few meters back, with his feet sank through the floor when he landed.
Quickly throwing his useless buckler away, the Hakutenkun clawed across the surface of his saber, engulfing it in Hellfire. "Now that's more like it. NEMESIS!" Grinning in excitement, Raww charged again without catching a breath.
Mwu roared and welcomed his attack. Another shockwave was generated as their two weapons clashed.
A Ruby Exorcist was split in two after another futile attack upon the Iron Wall.
Harlbarton grimly swing his massive sword again and tossed the mutilated remains out of his sight. He pointed his now blood drenched Glamm at his enemies, glaring menacingly at the Ruby Exorcists' warriors, which has been greatly reduced in number. "Up your game or scram. As you can see, I am, to quote one of my boys, in a pretty shitty mood."
The exorcists looked at one another and realized they have little choice left. "You! Let him loose!"
Miguel's jailors need not to be told twice. Two exorcists grabbed a pair of huge swords and cut all the 8 chains that bind him. Miguel roared, and as expected, his blue flame also increased in intensity and size. The surrounding exorcists didn't even have the time to get to safety; the flame burnt them all to their bones. Now there's only Harlbarton and Miguel left.
Miguel, still screaming in his insane bouts, melted all the leftover armors and weapons of the Exorcists, gathering them and, through some mad ingenuity, shaped a pair of massive jagged blade from them; melded to the mad knight's binding chains.
"Crazy, not stupid eh? Now I see why Kage and Mwu were quite wary of you."
"RAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARGH! Destroy! Annihilate! DIEDIEDIEDIEDIEDIE! ALL HAIL ZAFT!" Miguel spin his chain sword several times, encasing it in his blue flame before bring it down upon Harlbarton.
The old captain noticed the amount of force the mad knight put into this attack and realized he can't simply block this attack. With that understanding, the captain dodged away from the incoming attack. A small blue inferno exploded where the blades landed.
Harlbarton took the chance while the sword is still stretched and charged forward with his Stinger.
Miguel saw the incoming attack, roared and swing his heavy chain in a large circle. The burning chains lashed upon Harlbarton, who blocked it midway. The sparks from the clash slightly singed his Captain's vest and stopped his attack.
The crazed fire knight retracted his blade and holds it in his hands, roaring angrily.
Harlbarton looked at his slightly burnt vest and back to Miguel. "Okay. This is getting hotter."
Within the destroyed bowels of the Aquarius' insides, now completely covered in flames…
Veia walked calmly along the alley, looking around, searching for his prey. That being said, the prey did a very good job hiding in the inferno of his making. Not that it bothered the Hakutenkun in anyway. He looked at every corner of his ship. Rubbles everywhere, but none, he knew, are big enough to hid Kage's body entirely. Which leaves only one possible hiding spot, taking into consideration of Kage's ability. "Hiding in the flames are we? I've seen Fire Knights immolate themselves to use what they call Fire Jacket technique… but I don't think any of them ever thought of using the flame as a hiding spot."
True enough, Kage hid within the brightness of one of the biggest flames around. But even the camouflage of flame cannot stop the Ninja from shivering in fear. The Hakutenkun, despite the hot atmosphere around them, mysteriously continue to unleash this… dreadfully cold aura of terror. All the while, the ninja was wondering why on earth Veia chased after him. Putting aside the question how come the knight wasn't even bothered by the flame.
"…it's a good idea and all. But you can't win this battle if you hide forever."
"…just one question." Kage's voice echoed allover the room.
"Yes?"
"Why did you pick me?"
"…because you, and I quote, are an unknown quantity. We can somewhat measure Mwu and Harlbarton strength… but seriously, after what you've done to our Elemental knights, we would not send any one of them after you any time soon."
"…so he sent the strongest piece to suppress the unknown quantity… it is Athrun's strategy alright."
"Yeessiree. But speaking for myself… I pick you because… remember that day, when I let you go in that forest? I saw… something… in you."
"…and you picked me just because of that spark of interest?"
"I don't know what it was… but it… it's not just your ingenuity… something else catch my interest. I don't know what." And suddenly, Veia appeared right on Kage's back. "So help me figure it out will you?"
It took half a second for Kage to realize the enemy had found his location and another half a second to quickly roll away from the spot. But Veia's murderous intent delayed those reactions by a fraction of a second. Veia brought his sword down and sliced everything in its path to two. Kage felt a searing sharp pain on his back. A long fortunately shallow cut appeared on his back.
Seeing his prey dodged the attack, Veia grinned widely and now swing horizontally, sending a blue sharp shockwave. Kage ducked just in time. The shockwave really cut everything in its path and cut just a tip of Kage's hair.
Veia scowled at the boy's constant dodging. He swished the long nodachi in his hand, and the ice blade disappeared, replaced with four balls of water. Kage recognized the move.
"Hyomonken… the crossing of four rivers of Hell… Mizunari Hebi (water Serpent)!" Veia swing his Nodachi upward. A giant serpent of water, significantly larger than what Yzak produced back then, burst forth and charged straight at Kage.
Thinking fast, Kage finished a set of handseals and perform his jutsu. "Katon, Karyuu Endan!" The flame from the surrounding area burst out and converged before the ninja before forming a large raging fire dragon. The Dragon burst forward.
The water serpent and the fire dragon collide with one another, and in a catastrophic chain reaction, generated a massive explosion.
The explosion reached all the way to the Aquarius' upper deck quaking every fighter above. Further damaging the already crumbling ship.
Kage jumped away from the massive explosion. Surprised at the destruction it caused. Just as his feet touched the ground, Veia appeared right next to him, his nodachi ready to slice again. Kage shunshin away just as the Hakutenkun cuts an entire pillar to pieces.
The ninja jumped into another flame and disappeared again. Veia quickly cut that flame but his sword slice nothing.
"Hide and seek is it? You know what, I grew tire of this." Veia unleashed a small breathe of cold air. Suddenly, despite the flame around him, the air which is close to his proximity grew cold as the temperature dropped sharply. Small flakes of ice began to form around his Nodachi. "Hyomonken: Tsurara-mai! (Icicle Dance)"
The Hakutenkun stab his Nodachi to the ground and like its namesake, gigantic icicle burst out. The Hakutenkun had apparently draw water straight from the ocean below and freeze it to form the attack. On the outside, giant ice spikes burst through the crashed ships. At this point, every fighter aboard the deck had to stop fighting for a moment and dodged the rampaging icicles as it burst through the upper deck.
The icicle blew away some of the flames around, forcing Kage to once again jump away from his hiding spot. He try to move to another flock of flame, but the icicle quickly blow them away. Soon, Veia's devastating icicle attack completely changed the battlefield from the fire ridden arena into an icy glacier. Landing on this new terrain on the surface, Kage looked at the surrounding and realized one thing: the Hakutenkun had practically put out every fire that's burning in his ship. There are some spots that are still on fire, but they're too far from Kage now.
Veia smirked beneath his helmet and took one menacing step towards the ninja. "Now, you have no more places to hide. And stop that fearful expression, it's unsightly."
Fearful? Kage looked around. Mwu is deadlocked in a fight with his nemesis. Another turn and he saw Harlbarton clashing with the mad knight's burning chain swords. And then he looked at himself and noticed his right arm that hold Shiki are trembling and his leg felt cold all the sudden, unrelated to the fact he was standing on the surface of ice.
He's alone. He IS afraid.
'Goddamnit, STOP SHAKING!' With his other equally trembling hands, Kage tried to stop the other arm from shaking but to little success.
Then, all the sudden, the sound of explosion came from the Archangel Fortress. Veia, for the briefest instance, turn around and looked at the Archangel. To his surprise, the cannons in Archangel Rear wall are firing one after another.
'The rear cannons fired? True we didn't bring every cannon on the base with us… but then… who's firing them?' Kage's mind quickly thought hard, trying to remember who was left on the fortress. 'There are only a few cadet soldiers…' the ninja's eyes suddenly widened in realization. His friends.
Back to the fortress…
True enough, on the rear walls, Sai, Tolle and Milly, lead the other cadet soldiers from the inner barrack to fire the rear wall's remaining Gottfried cannons at the trapped Aquarius.
"Are you sure we're supposed to be doing this?" One of the young cadets had just fired another shot of the Gottfried cannons asked worriedly.
"I thought it was strange. Here I was sneaking out of the barrack to check on how the battle is going and I saw that. Kage's plan specifically detailed the use of fire. So why in God's name there's an iceberg straight from frozen hell over there?" Tolle growled.
"It's the Hakutenkun. It must be his doing. We have to help Ki… Kage. You wanna help them win soldier?" Sai glared at one of the cadets. The cadet nodded furiously. "Then keep firing. Break the ice!" the bespectacled boy roared.
The cannonballs repeatedly hammer through the icicles, slowly but steadily breaking the iceberg one fragment at a time.
"Oh my… this is exactly the kind of situation we would not want to happen." Veia turned his gaze to the slope to the cliffs and saw the battle is still going, with the Alliance soldiers were aided with the cannon fire from the top prove sufficient to hold back the more superior Zaft forces. He turned back to Kage who held Shiki firmly. Ready to fight.
Veia smiled beneath his mask. "Why… Now… that's much better." Indeed, the Hakutenkun no longer saw fear in his younger opponent's eyes.
Kage gripped his Shiki tightly. That's right. Hiding and running will get him nowhere. All his friends are fighting. Why should he be the only one hiding? He had made the resolve to fight, had he not? "Okay… Let see my chances."
Veia was quite pleased and now took a more slow approach, observing his opponent. Then, just like before, four balls of water formed around his nodachi.
Responding quickly, Kage made a series of lightning fast handseal.
"You have no fire to manipulate around here, boy!" The Hakutenkun seem trying to remind Kage of the fact. "The crossing of four rivers of Hell: Mizunari Hebi!" The water serpent burst forth again.
Kage inhaled deeply, and, to the shock of the unknowing parties, exhaled a giant fire dragon from his mouth. 'Katon, KARYUU ENDAN!'
The fire dragon and the water serpent collided once more that day. The resulting explosion, now unhindered by any obstacles, was massive and flashy, attracting everyone's attention.
On the Northern slope, Yzak stared in aghast at the giant explosion. 'Lord Veia is really dueling Kage one on one!'
Veia stared wide eyed. There was no fire to manipulate… but it turns out Kage could produce the fire needed internally in the first place. His shock turned into a pleasant one. "Ha… HAHAHAHA! This is great! You've lost none of your edge! Good. VERY GOOD!" The Hakutenkun suddenly flickered and disappeared.
Kage steady his stance. Instead of dodging, he waited on the spot. It took half a second for Kage to notice the Hakutenkun appeared right next to him. And it took another half a second… for both fighters to finish their swing at each other.
Holding Shiki with both of his hands, Kage swing his katana to Veia's sword just as the latter also swing his sword. The two swords clashed, with Veia only using his one arm while Kage struggled to hold the attack with both of his thin arms. The two swords grind one another in a heated power struggle both of their wielders intend on knocking the other's attack back. Alas, for Kage, the difference in strength was too obvious. With a grunt from Veia, the power of his swing suddenly doubled, and the force sent Kage flying a few meters away. But Veia himself also stumbled a step back due to the residual momentum of Kage's counter.
"You can actually stop my Hyomonken techniques…?"
"Other than the Tsuraramai… I've seen that water snake move before… that Water knight… Yzak was it?"
"Ah yes… you've fought my student before. But Hyomonken is not that easy to defeat." Immediately regaining his bearings, Veia prepare another one of his Hyomonken. "And water kills fire, boy!" He stabbed his nodachi to the icy ground. Kage made a series of handseals, ending with a tiger seal.
"Hyomon-ken: Tsuraramai!" A series of icicle burst forth and rushed forward in a straight line.
"Katon: Gokyaku no jutsu!" a highly concentrated fireball were shot from Kage's mouth.
The fireball, much to Veia's surprise, plow through the wave of icicles and went straight towards him. But the icicle visibly corroded the said fireball, by the time it reached Veia, it was less than a tenth of its original size. The Hakutenkun opened his palm and catch the fireball. The burning projectile exploded in a small bonfire, but the Water Hakutenkun was visibly unfazed.
"But fire…" Kage retorted Veia's earlier statement. "…can vaporize water." Beneath his mask, Kage grinned, both in elation and confidence. He can do it. He may… he may be able to win this! "Now I've suppressed your precious Hyomonken."
As the smoke settles, Veia was shaking. Not of fear… but ecstasy and excitement. "Yeeessss… Yes… this is it! This is what I see in you… boy! Yes… will you be the one who will finally finish me?"
"What?" Kage was confused at Veia's statement. Even more confusing when the Hakutenkun in question suddenly stabbed his Nodachi to the ground, and raised both of his arms to the side, showing his chest area bare.
"Come. Gather your courage… gather your strength… Strike me down boy! Show me what you REALLY got."
Kage looked at Veia and wondered: 'Is he off his rocker?' He raised Shiki, still hesitant and vigilant, wondering if this is some form of trap.
"What's the matter boy? Come! As you can see, I'm unarmed and defenseless! Finish me!"
He's not joking is he? Kage suddenly found his recently new found courage disappeared. Replaced now with a new kind of fear, mixed with great confusion. He lifted Shiki and made ready for a stabbing motion.
"Yes…"
He steadied his feet, preparing to dash.
"That's right…"
He aimed his stab to pierce through the Hakutenkun's heart on his chest.
"Good… good…"
All he needed to do is dash as fast as he could and ram the sword to the enemy's chest. And he hesitated on this step.
"Come on! COME ON! I want you to do it. I want you to stab me."
Kage was really confused. Why on earth this man wants him to…
"Stab me. Come on!"
Is he suicidal?
"Stab me!"
'I…'
"STAB ME! COME ON! STAB ME!"
"I don't… I don't get this… I… I…" When Kage came to, he suddenly realized his breathings had hastened and his heart is beating a mile a minute.
"STAB ME! STAB ME!"
"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARGH!" More terrified than ever, Kage finally disappeared in a puff of smoke and with a force of a bullet, Shiki actually stabbed through Veia's chest, right into his heart, and the sword even went through his back.
When Kage came to his senses, he realized he had just gut through the Hakutenkun. The ninja back away and looked at his handiwork.
Shiki had pierced through the now dead Hakutenkun's chest. "I… I can't believe it… I did it? I did it!" He's still having a hard time believing he had defeated one of Zaft's greatest generals.
Until all the sudden, a cold, bitter voice brought him into shock.
"No." The voice… belong to Veia. "You did not."
The supposedly dead Hakutenkun suddenly twitched back to life. Kage looked on with horror as Veia pulled out Shiki from his body and toss it back to Kage, who, still staring in shock at the Hakutenkun, took it in a hurry.
Veia flexed his neck and looked at Kage. His empty, sorrowful gaze look straight to Kage's horrified purple eyes. "So." His laid back and happy voice was gone, now it's heavy with disappointment and misery. "You're not the one."
Kage was so shocked of the fact that his opponent can actually survive after a stab to the heart; terror gripped his form once more. Veia ignored the terrified boy and grabbed his nodachi again. That unforgiving dreadful cold aura suddenly emanated again, this time seemingly amplified a hundred fold. "You… have potential… I thought I saw that in you… but now… I'm sorry. You'll have to join the many others who have failed and died by my blade. You did give me some fun… and hope. So allow me to give you… a quick death."
Veia stabbed his Nodachi to the ground. When the sword fell, a burst of steam shot out from where the blade sank. The man lifted his nodachi overhead. "You said earlier… you have suppressed Hyomonken. Perhaps you've made this assumption under the basis on what you've experienced with Yzak…and that you thought Hyomonken is a water sword?"
Kage was trembling in fear. Awaiting the verdict.
"A good assumption, albeit flawed. You were right that Hyomonken is a sword style centered on water… but water has three forms. The liquid state of water itself, the solid state of ice… and the form that Yzak had yet to master… hence you have definitely never seen."
The steam from all the ice that had been melted by Kage and Veia's bouts earlier on gathered and whirled around Veia's sword, creating a massive mass. "The gaseous state of steam." Veia finished.
Kage was about to do something when Veia uttered the final word: "Hyomonken: Zanmai!"
Kage had seen this technique before, but Veia's version was unbelievably huge and massive it's so overwhelming like a whale swallowing a krill. What's more… instead of using water, the White Noble used steam! A massive pillar of concentrated razor sharp steam shockwave fell upon the boy, pulverizing the floor he stood on.
With a loud explosion, the steam dispersed, leaving Kage on the crushed floor, seemingly unscathed and in one piece. "Wha… what are you?"
Veia answered. "I'm an immortal… who cannot become a mortal."
And with that, blood splattered from every inch of Kage's ravaged body.
00000000000000
00000000000000
00000000000000
And that's the lot.
Ja ne.
Please read and review.
