Mobile Suit Gundam/Kido Senshi Gundam: Peacekeepers
By: Ominae
Rating: T
NOTE:
All characters and machines of the various Gundam eras belong to Yoshiyuki Tomino, Hajime Yatate, Fumihiko Takayama, Takeyuki Kanda, Umanosuke Iida, Mitsuko Kase, Takashi Imanishi, Masashi Mukaeda, Mitsuo Fukuda, Seiji Mizushima, Susumu Yamaguchi, Satoshi Konno, Junichi Kamino, Bandai, Level 5 and Sunrise. The use of Full Metal Panic! concepts/organizations belong to Shoji Gato. The use of Ghost in the Shell concepts/organizations/etc. belong to Masamume Shirow and Kenji Kamiyama. I only own Mark Liu for now.
Summary:
Everyone on the Archangel, including the Heliopolis college students assisting the OMNI officers, were now on the Debris Belt searching for supplies. Meanwhile, Mithril has begun making preparation to extract their agents safely. Will Mithril be able to secure them? Can the Archangel make it to OMNI territory safely? Stay tune to this chapter to find out.
Chapter 9: Progress
Cockpit, MAW-01 Mistral
Kuzzey and Mark were at work on their assigned Mistral, working to get the needed ice blocks for the Archangel to survive until the ship can meet up with friendly forces at the longer run.
But that's not the only thing the two had in mind.
"Kira!" Mark used the earpiece placed on his right ear to contact Kira. Kuzzey and Sai would have probably have done it, except that they were busy driving their respective Mistrals.
"What is it?" Kira replied, conducting guard duty for the Mistrals.
GAT-X105+AQM/E-X01 Aile Strike Gundam
"Can you see if you can contact the others for an assessment of the area?"
Kira heard Mark's quesion on his earpiece, placed on his left ear once he got back in the Strike after being deployed by the Archangel.
"No problem, Mark. I'll go and ask as soon as I can."
"Please do, Kira. Gotta get back to work and extract more ice blocks before Lieutenant Ramius or Ensign Badgiruel catch me and throw in accusations that I'm slacking off the job."
Kira couldn't help but chuckle at his comrade's potential problems. "Alright. I'll contact you and the others when I can. Out."
The Coordinator went to work, getting his personal Mithril communication device that he had placed at the left side pocket of the cockpit.
"Good thing no ones knows that I have this." Kira said out loud as he began to make contact with the nearest friendly Mithril unit. "Otherwise, we're all doomed."
Okay. Now to get this to Feldt and Christina ASAP...
Bridge, MRS-70 Ptolemaios, near ruins of Junius 7, Debris Belt, Lagrange 3, Space
"I've got something." Feldt told Christina when she got a transmission from Kira's communication device.
"Is he alright?" Christina asked, who had just returned from using the nearby toilet. Lasse was away in order to use the toilet, leaving Lichty in charge of manning the helmsman position until he returns.
"He is." Feldt replied, nodding. "It seems he has a request."
"What kind of request?" Sumeragi said, a few minutes after getting inside the bridge.
Feldt turned around and told Sumeragi.
"It's a request for assistance to locate any mobile suits and ships from either the Titans, ZAFT, ROZ or pirates."
Sumeragi nodded.
"Understood, Feldt. Have the message sent to my station. I want to have a read."
The Eurasian sat down in the Ptolemaios' command chair and went to personally read the message Kira had transmitted to the ship.
ATTN: To Intleacht 1
Need help in surveying surroundings of Archangel if any mobile suits or armors belonging to the Titans, ZAFT, Axis/Republic of Zeon or pirates are in the Debris Field.
Thank you. Any response is appreciated.
Óglach 6
"Feldt, Christina." Sumeragi faced the two. "Scan the debris belt and make sure no other ships or mobile suits and armors are in the area."
"Understood." Christina replied before she told Feldt to help her check the Debris Belt for hostiles.
Hallway, PLANT Supreme Council Building, Aprilius One, PLANT
"That's done for now."
PLANT Supreme Council Representative Eileen Canaver left her office after being busy communicating to her subordinates as part of her official work in representing September City.
Eileen was also secretly an agent for Mithril, being one of their observers inside the council. Though she was sure that Mithril has another observer within the council, the brown-haired woman couldn't tell who it was.
I just hope the general was able to get my report before I even left the office...
"Representative Canaver."
The woman turned around and saw a ZAFT Black officer approach her. He was of African descent in his middle 40s with black hair in a buzz cut.
"Yes, is there something wrong?" The PLANT Supreme Council representative addressed the officer.
The officer nodded before he replied. "This hasn't been made officially public to everyone else aside from you and the other representatives, but Ms. Lacus Clyne's been declared missing from a planned trip to Junius 7."
"What?" Eileen was shocked.
"Commander Le Creuset's going to head up a search party and ensure Ms. Clyne's safety."
"Anything else?"
"Chairman Clyne's going to head up a short emergency meeting in a few minutes."
GAT-X105+AQM/E-X01 Aile Strike Gundam
Kira was on patrol duties to ensure the Mistrals were not hindered in any way.
It seems this job'll be easy.
Until Kira caught sight of a mobile suit lurking around the debris belt.
"A mobile suit?"
The brown-haired youth caught sight of a GINN.
Well, it looked like a GINN in structure and exterior appearance.
Except that this GINN was colored black and yellow, had dual radomes on its shoulders and was armed with a sniper rifle.
"Dammit..." Kira gritted his teeth as he got a hold of his comrades on his earpiece. "Bad news, we got a GINN Long Range Reconnaissance Type in the area."
"Should we contact the others? Sai replied on his own earpiece
"I got Feldt and Christina to make a check and all..."
"Something up, Kira?" Kuzzey made contact with Kira.
"There will be..." Kira replied. "Unless the others do something..."
Bridge, MRS-70 Ptolemaios, near ruins of Junius 7, Debris Belt, Lagrange 3, Space
"I've got a GINN Long Range Reconnaissance Type near where the Archangel is." Christina told Sumeragi.
"Understood." Sumeragi nodded. "Feldt, are Setsuna and Allelujah on standby?"
"They've reported in when I made contact, asking if something's up."
Sumeragi nodded. "All right. Tell them to get ready. I fear that GINN-type mobile suit could harm or harass the Mistrals supplying the Archangel, with the Strike included."
"I'm ready to move out." Allelujah reported in to the bridge, already inside the cockpit Kyrios, via Christina's console.
Cockpit, ZGMF-LRR704B GINN Long Range Reconnaissance Type
The pilot of the ZGMF-LRR704B GINN Long Range Reconnaissance Type had checked out the wrecked remains of what appeared to be a PLANT-made shuttle.
"It's the Silverwind." The mobile suit pilot murmured before he visually spotted some mobile vehicles up ahead.
"Are those OMNI vehicles..." The pilot tried to get a closeup with the camera mounted on the mobile suit's head module.
"Must be something else..." The GINN-type mobile suit was about to leave when the pilot caught sight of what appeared to be Mistrals. This alerted the pilot to their presence...
Which was followed up by the arrival of the Exia and Kyrios. The former was quick in using its GN Long Blade to slice the sniper rifle in half. The latter, on the other hand, was in mobile suit form when it had its GN Beam Saber pointed near the cockpit.
"Pilot of the GINN-type mobile suit..." The ZAFT pilot was alarmed to hear the voice in his comm system, albeit a bit distorted to hide the pilot's identity. "You will turn back to your mothership and report that no one is on board this ship."
"How dare you..." The ZAFT pilot retorted when he heard another voice.
"Careful now." Another voice was heard in the mobile suit's comm system, also distorted a bit to hide the other pilot's voice. "Make one wrong move and you'll be sorry for the fact that you'll be attempting to murder civilians."
"Civilians?" The pilot felt panic all over his body, not realizing that he could be attacking civilians in the Mistrals. He noted that the GN Beam Saber was a bit closer to the GINN Long Range Recon's cockpit after the second pilot made his threat.
"If you wish to live for another day, you will retreat now and you'll report back to your mothership that no one is in this vessel."
"How do you guys know anyway?"
"Trust us." The first voice replied back. "We know."
"All right, all right."
The GINN Long Range Recon made his retreat back.
"Don't try anything funny. We're monitoring your comms..."
Dammit... The pilot was a bit nervous. Just who are these guys?
GAT-X105+AQM/E-X01 Aile Strike Gundam
"Good news, Kira. We found a GINN Long Range Recon Type, but he's taken care of."
Kira was relieved to hear Christina's voice in the Strike's comms, which was placed in another channel.
"Thanks." Kira replied. "I'll go and tell the others."
"Appreciated, Kira."
Kira ended communication with Christina, reminding himself to immediately erase all comm logs in and out of the Strike before he would return back to the Archangel.
"All right. We did it..."
Cockpit, MAW-01 Mistral
"We did it."
Mark sighed as Kuzzey piloted the Mistral back to the Archangel with a final delivery of ice-frozen water.
"A mobile suit was around, I take it?"
"Yeah, Kuzzey. Seems reinforcements made short work of it."
"How?"
"Kira said the GINN Long Range Recon Type's pilot was threatened after his sniper rifle was sliced into two."
"Ouch." Kuzzey chuckled. "I wonder who did that?"
"I'm sure Setsuna could do it." Mark shrugged. "Maybe Tieria, but I'll be damned if Allelujah did his share in intimidating the pilot of the GINN-type mobile suit to leave."
"Oh well, least we'll be fine."
"I just wish a pirate ship or two would show up so that we can do a mobile suit jack or something to help out Kira until we can safely get out of here."
"Come on." Kuzzey began to frown. "Don't be like that..."
Bridge, OMNIS Archangel, near ruins of Debris Belt, Lagrange 3, Space
"It seems we're able to secure enough water to last until we can get close to Earth." Natarle told Murrue after the former came back to the bridge.
Murrue nodded. "As soon as all the Mistrals are accounted for, including the Strike, prepare to move out at once. We'll be at risk if any pirate ships show us."
"Understood."
Bridge, MRS-70 Ptolemaios, near ruins of Junius 7, Debris Belt, Lagrange 3, Space
Feldt reported to Sumeragi that Setsuna and Allelujah are approaching the Ptolemaios while Christina listened in for any nearby ZAFT vessels if the GINN Long Recon Type had reported back to his superiors.
"It seems Setsuna and Allelujah made it in time." Lichty sighed after hearing Feldt's report. "Otherwise Mark and the others would be doomed."
"You know I just don't get why Veda selected Mark, Kira, Kuzzey and Sai for the undercover mission in Heliopolis, except for the brief time off to conduct a VIP assignment in the Atlantic Fedearation." Lasse said out loud before he shrugged his shoulders.
"Perhaps Veda just wanted them to learn." Sumeragi gave her suggestion, overhearing the conversation between Lasse and Lichty. "Give them a life lesson or something."
"I don't know about what they can learn..." Christina offered her thoughts. "Considering... they used to be child soldiers for the Titans' COSMOS unit."
Everyone was suddenly quiet after hearing Christina out.
"I'm sure they'll be fine." Lasse insisted before he told Lichty. "Hold the fort. I need to take a leak."
"Got it."
Cockpit, GN-003 Gundam Kyrios
"What's that?"
Allelujah was just behind Setsuna's Exia, nearly approaching the Ptolemaios when the ex-HRL super soldier noted something floating around.
"It's a..." He had a visual analysis done on the floating object, which was confirmed to be a PLANT-made escape pod.
"Something the matter?" Allelujah could hear Christina hailing the Mithril agent.
"I saw a PLANT escape pod near the Ptolemaios! What do I do with it? I don't feel like leaving it around here..."
"Ms. Sumeragi advises to hang onto it for a while. She's making personal contacts to handle things."
"I got it."
The Kyrios moved in to handle the escape pod as Setsuna had already got back to the Ptolemaios.
Rau Le Creuset's Quarters, ZAFT Officer's Barracks, Aprilius One, PLANT
Wearing a bathrobe and unmasked, Le Creuset sat down near his desk and went through data displayed on his PC. This PC had two widescreens monitors, which displayed a couple of files for the Vesalius officer to read.
"Yamato... Yamato..." Le Creuset read on the left widescreen monitor data on the names of personnel, which was certainly "taken" from the Titans without them knowing. On the right contained the names of persons who had been in the Mendel colony.
"There!" Le Creuset tapped the left screen with his left index finger, pointing to Kira's name on a Titans-based name file. "Yamato, Argyle, Buskirk..."
The blond man had checked their names against their pictures as placed on the file.
"So it seems Athrun is telling the truth." Le Creuset smirked, leaning on his chair. "I never expected that these three were able to get away from their COSMOS programming."
As Le Creuset looked at who was next after Kuzzey, he noted that he was not able to get any name or picture since it was the end of the file. According to his "contact", Le Creuset was told that the Titans had experienced a cyberattack which resulted in the destruction of a lot of sensitive files.
"Can't be helped now, can it?" Le Creuset sighed. He then went to the right widescreen to check Kira's name against the names of subjects interned temporarily in the Mendel colony.
"I wonder, Kira Yamato..." Le Creuset murmured, followed by a smirk on his face. "What have you been up to ever since you left the Titans?"
He then looked at the right widescreen once more, reading the names of the test subjects in the Mendel colony. One name caught his interest after Kira's.
Canard Pars
Cemetery, somewhere in Junius One, PLANT
"We all fight because it's the only way we can protect ourselves! If we must fight so that we can protect our fellow citizens, then we have no choice but to fight! Remember our Zeon brothers and sisters, who were forced to agree to OMNI's terms in establishing their government in Side 3 as the Republic of Zeon when Maharaja Karn led those who did not surrender to OMNI and the UN towards Axis!"
Athrun thought about the last words his father had said while he laid a bouquet of flowers in front of the gravestone that belonged to his mother, Lenore Zala.
"Hi mom." Athrun said as he laid the bouquet down. "I hope you're doing well." He sighed. "Well, except the war and that dad's willing to cause more war to protect the PLANTs after Zeon's been defeated."
Athrun stood up and stared at the gravestone. "I'll be deployed again soon, so I hope I can come again and visit you once I got some time before I'm deployed on the Vesalius."
The ZAFT Red then left the cemetery, intending on returning back to Aprilius One.
Dining Room, Amalfi Residence, somewhere in Aprilius One, PLANT
Nicol was in civilian clothes when he was in the dining room by himself. His father, Yuri, had been called in for an emergency meeting and as such, would not be back for a while. The green-haired ZAFT Red was with his mother, Romina, was eating early dinner with her son.
"Are you all set with your piano concert tonight?" Romina asked her son while she handed him a glass of water.
"Oh thanks, mom." Nicol replied before he got the glass. "And yeah, I am. I just Athrun would be there. He told me a while that he'd try to make it with Lacus."
"I'm very confident that he'll be there with Ms. Lacus, dear." Romina told her son with confidence in her voice.
"Thanks for that, mom." Nicol smiled at his mom.
Covert Mithril supply base, somewhere in Lagrange 3
Sumeragi had informed Kira that the Ptolemaios had to temporarily pulled out after Kyrios secured the PLANT-made escape pod. The ship docked inside the covert base with a Junk Guild-affiliated ship, which was just a Marseille III-class in red and yellow.
Mithril personnel stationed in the supply base had begun immediate maintenance on the Ptolemaios while a few had secured the escape pod, which was revealed to be Lacus Clyne. Almost everyone had been a bit surprised, wondering if she had been dead or alive.
"I hope that you'll be able to take Ms. Clyne back to the PLANTs." Sumeragi told a black-haired woman wearing glasses, who was simply known as the Professor. She was flanked by Lichy and Lasse while the others were busy making last minute checks on the Ptolemaios.
"Not at all." The Professor replied when she nodded. "Though I'm surprised that you're asking someone from the Junk Guild to do the rest for you."
"We can't reveal our existence yet. At least... until we're ready." Sumeragi gave her reason. "Considering what the organization had went through in the Cold War."
The Professor nodded. "Don't worry. We'll take her off your hands."
"I thank you for what all of you have done." Lacus thanked Sumeragi before she walked off alongside The Professor towards the Marseille III-class ship.
Bridge, OMNIS Archangel, somewhere between Lagranges 3 and 4, Space
The Archangel already made its journey after leaving the Debris Belt, allowing most of the personnel, Kira included, to get some sleep. Murrue excused herself from the bridge to get some sleep. Mu was also getting some sleep, leaving Natarle in charge of the bridge.
"All is quiet." The ensign murmured as she was on the commander's chair. She, Arnold and Jackie were the only ones manning the bridge on the first shift. "Anything?"
"Nothing, ensign." Jackie replied, manning a CIC console. "Things are pretty quiet. Looks like the Debris Belt gave us the advantage in letting us get away from any ZAFT search parties."
"At least we can get some decent rest out here." Arnold said, piloting the Archangel by himself despite insistence from Tolle that he can help. That was before Mir told him that he needed some sleep.
"Probably be another day or so when we're going to approach the moon after we pass by Lagrange 4."
Natarle didn't say anything else except to grab her water bottle and take a drink.
Enlisted Quarters Section, OMNIS Archangel, somewhere between Lagranges 3 and 4, Space
"We have got to stop meeting like this."
This was the first thing Kuzzey had said after he was the last one to enter one of the unused quarters, which was becoming the meeting place of all the undercover Mithril agents, Wang Liu Mei and Hong Long included. Kira was not present because he needed the rest by sleeping in the quarters he was sharing with Mark.
"I would agree." Wang Liu Mei shared Kuzzey's sentiment. "But since we're out of the Debris Belt and almost approaching any OMNI or Atlantic Federation-led forces, considering the presence of Ms. Allster, we all need to get into a meeting in order to figure things out."
"I know that the Titans would most likely secure the Archangel since the Heliopolis incident." Sai offered his thoughts to the group.
"That may be bad news for you, Kira, Kuzzey and Mark." Hong Long told Said. "Especially since the four of you used to be COSMOS soldiers."
"Hong Long may be right." Mark seemed to agree with Hong Long's assessment. "But it's not like the rank and file of the Titans know who we are." He frowned. "Probably except if Om shows up. COSMOS did some bodyguard work if I recall."
"I'll assume that the four of you did some share in that work?" Wang asked Mark. He nodded in reply.
"All the more reason why we should be careful." Hong told Mark. "We don't know if they'll be with a Titans force to assist the Archangel."
"I have a feeling that we'll meet with an advance force sooner or later, especially since Flay's father in an important politician in the Atlantic Federation government." Sai said. "So as this point, I'm convinced that we'll meet with an AF unit."
"Let's assume that they'll meet with us," Wang began to talk, taking Sai's suggestion. "then what? Unless Mithril has covertly inserted a ship within the OMNI slash Titans slash AF force, some of your identities could be known to the Titans eventually."
"I'm pretty sure Ms. Sumeragi's plan will include that part." Kuzzey told Wang. "After all, it seems to be the only way we can get out of here and head back to our base."
"So we'll be around Lagrange 4 soon." Sai said, shrugging his shoulders. "I'm sure Flay's dad would be on the AF's Ptolemaeus Lunar Base, using his authority to scramble an advance force."
Wang grinned. "What an interesting father Ms. Allster certainly has."
"I wonder if we're going to get Plans A to Z from Ms. Sumeragi later on?" Mark threw out a question, stretching his legs from one of the chairs he was using to sit down.
Briefing Room A, somewhere in unknown Mithril base, somewhere in space
Kowen had entered one of the briefing rooms, greeted by Mithril personnel as they stood up from their seats and saluted the ex-OMNI general. Kowen returned their salute before he approached the podium. The man was cordially greeted by Brigadier General Blex Forer, who had sought out Mithril after he angrily resigned from OMNI following the rise of the Titans. A few high-ranking officers were also present in the briefing room.
"Please be seated everyone. This briefing is of the utmost urgency that I urge everyone to pay attention to all the details as much as possible."
Blex saw that everyone had taken their seats. Fortunately, the room was big enough for them to get an immediate seat. Kowen nodded to acknowledge his gratitude to Blex before the general started to speak.
"I'm assuming that all of you are aware of what has happened to the Orb Union's only space colony, Heliopolis, a few days ago due to a ZAFT incursion."
Some murmurs were heard from within the crowd.
"Silence. Silence, everyone." Blex reminded the Mithril agents to keep quiet to give Kowen some time to speak.
"As I was saying," Kowen resumed his debriefing. "some of your colleagues are with the Archangel after spending some time in Heliopolis undercover to determine whether Orb's Morgenroete was working together with OMNI to provide new mobile suits for the Titans."
He cleared his throat before he resumed. The projector showed the pictures of the five Gundams ranging from the Strike to the Aegis. "As you can see, these five models taken by our agents in Heliopolis is proof that Orb is collaborating with OMNI to create these mobile suits."
"Has Orb gone nuts now?"
"I thought they were suppose to be neutral like the UOS and the HRL?"
"Maybe the leaders decided to drop the neutrality policy?"
"Who knows?"
"Quiet now everyone." Blex clapped his hands to remind the Mithril agents inside the briefing room to stay quiet. A few minutes later, a map of the Earth and the various Lagranges were shown on screen, including the route the Archangel was taking, which was provided courtesy of Sumeragi.
"According to intelligence, the Archangel is going to pass by Lagrange 4 in a while in order to take the approach towards the moon." The projector screen showed the moon with a red circle around it. "But we have received recent word that George Allster, the foreign secretary of the Atlantic Federation, is preparing to get an AF military task force to mobilize and meet with the ship. Their presence would certainly invite either ZAFT or renegade Zeon forces to attack them."
Captain's Quarters, OMNIS Archangel, somewhere between Lagranges 3 and 4, Space
Murrue was now sleeping in the captain's quarters, which was technically not suppose to be used by her in the first place. But with the original commanding officer of the Archangel killed from the commando attack, the brown-haired woman had decided to make good use of it anyway.
It had been almost an hour since Murrue had fallen asleep. She had personally told Mu, Kira and the other off-duty personnel to get some rest.
And she had made it an order.
No noise was heard from Murrue when she was fast asleep in the bed. Not even a peep of noise.
Well. Except for inhaling and exhaling as Murrue was sleeping.
But she turned left and right in her bed.
Something was bothering her.
Murrue saw herself back in her teenager years. She knew that she was in a house located in Orb. Taking a look at herself, the brown-haired woman noted that she was wearing a light blue dress shirt and black pants with brown dubblegum loafer shoes.
"Oh Murrue. There you are." A purple-haired woman greeted Murrue, who had a white apron covering her chest and waist since she came from the kitchen. "I'm sorry that I wasn't able to greet you properly."
"It's alright. I got some assistance with the door and all..."
"I swear that I got the door fixed with those troublesome hinges days ago."
Murrue took off her loafer shoes and placed them in a shoe rack nearby.
"Have a seat Murrue. I'll go and call him since he's upstairs."
"Thank you." The brown-haired woman took a seat at the sofa, being at ease. She knew the woman and her family for some time during her stay in Orb, which made things quite easy whenever Murrue came to visit them and vice versa.
"You can come down now. Murrue's here!"
The purple-haired woman shouted from the bottom of the stairs. In response, footsteps were heard from the top of the staircase as someone came running down to meet with Murrue.
"I apologize if he'll be a bit difficult to handle, Murrue. He's very excited to see you again."
"Not a problem."
Murrue shook her head as she faced the young boy who was running towards the sofa.
"Murrue!"
The woman saw the brown-haired boy was near her, but she was not able to get a good look at his face yet.
"Don't run around the house. You could hurt Murrue after all, K-."
Captain's Quarters, OMNIS Archangel, somewhere between Lagranges 3 and 4, Space
Murrue instantly got up from her bed, sitting up the moment the dream had ended.
"What was that?"
The woman checked herself and noted that she was fine and was just sweating a bit.
"Dammit..." Murrue muttered. "Now I need to talk to Kira after this fiasco is over."
The brown-haired woman laid back down on the bed, intending to get more sleep as much as she can.
She went to whisper one name, placing her right arm over her forearm before the OMNI officer was claimed by sleep once more.
"Kira."
Enlisted Quarters Section, OMNIS Archangel, somewhere between Lagranges 3 and 4, Space
"I do have a question for you, Ms. Wang." Kuzzey directed his question to Wang.
"Yes, dear?" Wang replied, waiting for the young Mithril agent to pose his question to her.
"I know that the four of us have an extraction plan taken care of," Kuzzey began before he asked the Chinese woman. "but I'd like to inquire if you and your bodyguard will come with us?"
Wang was silent after hearing Kuzzey, reflecting on his question before the socialite replied.
"Hong Long and I will accompany you four until we can find a way to get back to the Human Reform League." Wang grinned before she stared at Hong from behind. "Isn't that right?"
"Indeed mistress." Hong nodded in reply.
"I guess that ends the meeting for now." Sai said, stretching his arms up towards the ceiling.
Everyone inside the room began to disperse, intending to get some sleep.
Kira and Mark's quarters, Enlisted Quarters Section, OMNIS Archangel, somewhere between Lagranges 3 and 4, Space
Until Mark had returned to the quarters he had been sharing with Kira ever since the Archangel from the now destroyed Heliopolis colony, the brown-haired teenager had been sleeping for a while in his white shirt and black yoga pants that he took from the closet (Who the owner of those pants was, Kira didn't bother pondering on it since they were a good fit around his waist). His OMNI uniform had been stored away, but were within easy reach in case he needed to be mobilized once more.
Like Murrue a while ago, Kira too had been sleeping well. No noises were heard from him except for inhaling and exhaling.
Instead of turning left and right, Kira's hands gripped his blanket hard that his knuckles may have turned white.
Something was clearly bothering him.
Kira saw himself back in his boyhood days in Orb, already running out of the room as fast as his legs could take him.
"Coming, mom!"
The boy ran all the way down until he got to the ground floor, being distracted that he didn't hear what his mom told a brown-haired woman.
"Ah, there you are!"
The young Kira smiled, running a bit so that he could get to the sofa in less than a minute.
"Your mom told me that you were excited to see me."
Kira kept his smile at the woman, although he had yet to look at her face.
"Of course I am!" Kira shouted, beating his chest with his clenched left fist. This made the woman giggle. "You know that, M-."
Kira and Mark's quarters, Enlisted Quarters Section, OMNIS Archangel, somewhere between Lagranges 3 and 4, Space
"Kira? Are you okay?"
Kira bolted up from sleep, sitting up when he realized that it was Mark who woke him up.
"Oh, Mark?" The brown-haired teenager sighed and wiped some of the sweat from his forehead with his right arm. "Don't worry. I'm alright."
"Nightmare?" Mark asked Kira, already changing from his OMAPF uniform after he got inside the room.
Kira shook his head. "Could be an old memory that I don't know of yet."
"I see." Mark nodded. "Well, try and get some sleep yeah? I'll head out and clean up."
"Right. And I've taken care of our weapons so far."
"Good work, Kira." Mark then stepped out of the room. "Let's keep it that way until we can make contact with our comrades."
Briefing Room A, somewhere in unknown Mithril base, somewhere in space
"I have a question, sir."
General Kowen heard the voice calling for his attention, which came from First Lieutenant Emma Sheen. An ex-officer of the OMNI's Titans, she had been very troubled by the fact that the four ex-COSMOS soldiers were deployed in the undercover mission since the woman knew that this was suppose to be the job for the Intelligence Division.
"So ahead, Lieutenant Sheen."
Emma nodded, knowing that she had the floor. "Will everyone be deployed in the retrieval operation? My concern is with regards to any Titans presence."
Kowen shook his head. "That isn't going to be the case, Lieutenant." He then explained. "However, you're right to say that the Titans would be involved. Intelligence has uncovered new information that several Titans ships will meet up with the Archangel from the moon before the ship will continue on the last leg of its journey to Alaska. The first thing the ship's officers will have to do is to unload the refugees before they can get away."
"We'll take advantage of the Titans' massive presence to mask ourselves in the retrieval operation by disguising ourselves as a military ship from a neutral nation." Blex explained further to Emma and everyone in the briefing room. "I understand that Mithril has an easier time by disguising themselves as UN peacekeepers back in the 20th and 21st century when the organization first started."
"But considering the atrocities that OMNI had committed in the OYBW, it'll be hard for us to dress up as OMNI soldiers and officers." Kowen continued to explain the situation.
More murmurs came about on how to resolve their current situation. Blex and some of the high-ranking officers reminded the personnel murmuring to keep quiet since the debriefing was not over.
"For now, I want those assigned to the Argama and the Albion to be ready on standby." Kowen gave the last words before the debriefing came to an end. "I will personally mention any additional changes in the final debriefing before the ships will be deployed. That is all. Dismissed, everyone!"
Kowen stepped away from the podium as he watched Mithril personnel file out of the briefing room.
Kira and Mark's quarters, Enlisted Quarters Section, OMNIS Archangel, Lagrange 4, Space
Mark had returned back to his quarters when he saw Kira was now fast asleep.
"Now we better have some damn good sleep." muttered the ex-COSMOS soldier, who was now wearing a white shirt and a pair of black gym pants he found from searching around the enlisted quarters for some clothing after he had asked some of the off-duty crew for "assistance" after his secret rendezvous with his comrades. Since he and the others didn't have a lot of sleep due to being hounded by ZAFT and potentially by pirates, they didn't have time to get the sleep they wanted. Until they were in a different Lagrange zone.
"Aahhhh..." The young man yawned and got into his bunk, eventually allowing sleep to claim him.
As the two Mithril agents began to sleep, the Archangel continued with its journey to pass through Lagrange 4 and get to the outskirts of the moon.
Bridge, OMNIS Archangel, Lagrange 4, Space
Arnold was the only person in the Archangel's bridge in the journey to get to the moon. Natarle told everyone that she needed to go to the nearest toilet and relieve herself. Jackie took the shift off to his quarters and get some sleep. Romero and Dalida came to the bridge and on their shift.
"Hey." Dalida greeted Arnold.
"Hey yourself." Arnold greeted back as worked on controlling the ship.
"Aren't you going to get some sleep?" Romero asked as he took his seat in the bridge after getting some sleep.
"I'll let that Tolle kid do that in an hour or so." Arnold insisted. "I'm not that sleepy yet, so I'll use the opportunity to drive the ship."
"How are things since I left?" Natarle asked the bridge crew after she came back.
"Things are quiet." Arnold told Natarle. "Just the ways things should be."
"Good." Natarle nodded before she took the commander's chair. "Lieutenant Ramius will be taking over in a while, so I'll be handing back command of the bridge to her."
"Yes, ma'am." Arnold, Dalida and Romero said in unison as the trio worked on their assigned positions.
Bridge, JGS Home, somewhere in Lagrange 3, en route to PLANT, Space
The Professor had just entered the bridge, wearing her white coat over her red technician's uniform, after ensuring Lacus' well-being by leaving her in an unused room on board the Marseille III-class ship.
"Hi, Professor!" A red-haired teenage girl greeted the Professor, manning the bridge as a helmsman. "How's our guest?"
"Oh, she's doing well, Kisato." The Professor smirked before she sat down on the commander's chair. "She seems to take it quite well that the Junk Guild is going to bring her back to the PLANTs."
"It's quite the unusual job handed to us." Kisato Yamabuki frowned after hearing the Professor's reply. "I was suppose to get some quality time off and sleep, but isn't this suppose to be their job?"
"I would agree with you to that matter, Kisato." A long black-haired man replied to Kisato, studying the Home's CIC very carefully. The Home didn't have any visible offensive weapons, which makes the ship a tempting target for anyone to attack them like pirate or the occasional fringe Zeon guerrilla force looking for a good score in order to bolster their forces. "But I suppose that they have their reasons why they don't want to be public yet."
"Perhaps that is a good reason they didn't want to be known yet, Liam." The Professor looked at the direction of Liam Garfield, who was the only Coordinator among the group. But the man didn't have any reason to worry since the Junk Guild is a neutral organization that doesn't discriminate against anyone whether he or she had been from an OMNI, PLANT, Zeon or a neutral nation, with emphasis if the person had Natural or Coordinator origins, like other like-minded organizations such as the DSSD.
"You could be right, Professor. Still, we should do our job and help bring back Ms. Clyne back as soon as possible."
"Is Lowe still in the hangar?" Kisato asked out loud, wondering about Lowe Guele, who had been done in Junk Guild circles for coming across an Orban-made mobile suit known as the MBF-P02 Gundam Astray Red Frame. He had previously used the MBF-P03 Gundam Astray Blue Frame as his supposed mobile suit before the brown-haired man "surrendered" it to someone else in a ploy to get his assailant distracted.
"I think so." Liam replied. "He's working on the Astray Red Frame of his with Eight to make sure it's in top condition. Given that we don't have much supplies that we can use to make sure the mobile suit's well-equipped."
"That's the Junk Guild for you." The Professor smirked. "Our job is to perform upkeep, maintenance, and salvage of the technology that exists in the Universal Era."
Gate 12, ZAFT Spaceport, Aprilius One, PLANT
Athrun had been told via video message from his quarters in the ZAFT Red Barracks that he was to be mobilized at once.
At least it's in the morning... But isn't Nicol suppose to come with me? He had saluted two ZAFT Greens guarding the elevator lobby once he stepped out of the elevator.
"Hold it..." Patrick told Athrun to stop after he had saluted him and Le Creuset before he could board the Vesalius.
"Yes?"
"I assume that you heard about what happened to the Silverwind?"
Athrun nodded.
"We're to be deployed at once." Le Creuset explained to his subordinate.
"I understand, but a search party to locate Lacus and the crew?" Athrun was confused. "We don't know if she's still alive."
"This hasn't been made public." Patrick told Athrun. "But I've received a report that one of the pilots of a GINN Long Range Reconnaissance Type reported that he didn't see anyone on the ship. But he did report that the escape pod was most likely used."
"But that can't be." Athrun protested. "I thought Chairman Clyne made it clear to all the nations, including OMNI, that the Silverwind is a civilian ship."
"Intelligence has reported the possibility of false information being fed to OMNI and to the Republic of Zeon." Patrick frowned. "At least, this was what I've read from a friendly intel source from Axis Zeon." He looked at his son carefully. "For now, you're to play the part of the hero and ensure Lacus' safety since everyone in the PLANTs know that the two of you will be together someday. She is a well-known idol in the PLANTs and throughout most of the Side colonies."
Athrun kept silent as he father continued to explain.
"You're known to be in the Le Creuset team and since you can't sit back idly, neither can they."
"The remains of the PLANT and Zeon colonies from the war, including Junius 7 are drawn by Earth's gravity and is now in the Debris Belt." Le Creuset told Athrun. "After all, that's where the Gamow last reported the legged ship's position."
"I'm counting on you." Patrick faced Athrun and Le Creuset before he left the spaceport. "Le Creuset, Athrun."
The two saluted Patrick before they saw him depart from the spaceport via elevator.
"So I'm to go out and rescue her. And then come back, playing the part of a hero?" Athrun questioned his commanding officer. For some reason, he was beginning to feel a bit upset.
"Or come back. And in a public display, weep bitter tears over her still corpse." Le Creuset replied, sounding very serious. Athrun was alarmed by this.
The masked ZAFT White officer stared at Athrun and reminded him. "Whichever it is, Chairman Zala believes he knows who has the greater duty to go and find her. It's you."
The ZAFT Red saw Le Creuset going inside the passenger walkway, which directly connects to the Vesalius.
"Does this mean I'll see Kira out there again?" Athrun whispered, clenching his right fist holding the carry handle of his bag.
I hope not.
Athrun sighed before walking on the walkway, heading to the Vesalius.
A few minutes after all ZAFT personnel assigned to the Vesalius are accounted for inside the vessel, Ades and the bridge crew were given the all-clear to leave the spaceport at once.
Bridge, OMNIS Archangel, Lagrange 4, Space
Murrue had just entered the bridge, looking well-rested. Tolle and Sai were already at work at their respective stations alongside Dalida and Romero. Arnold and Natarle were officially off-duty in order to get some rest an hour ago. Jackie was still off-duty and he would not be needed until an hour later. As for Mir, she was already up. Except she went to get a shower alongside Flay.
If this keeps up, we'll all be in good hands. She frowned a bit. But I wonder the M organization will make an intervention at this point or not?
"I'm getting the silhouettes of a few ships on radar, captain." Romero reported to Murrue from his station, double checking the signatures with the IFF frequencies of all known OMNI ships. "Officially registered as the Bernard, Montgomery and the Law."
Some cheers were heard on the bridge, giving Murrue good spirits when they were able to make some contact with OMNI ships.
"Are they with OMNI or with the Titans, Petty Officer Pal?"
Romero nodded when he heard Murrue's question. "Definitely with OMNI forces. I'm also reading up on three more ships. Give me a second to make some inquiries..."
The OMNI Petty Officer 2nd Class went over his console and checked the radar with the IFF frequencies of all Atlantic Federation military vehicles. He later got an answer a few minutes when the computer informed the man that the additional ships belonged to the Virginia-class fleet of the AF space force.
"All right. The additional ships belong to the Atlantic Federation space forces." Romero told the crew, which resulted in more cheering and laughter from his comrades. "They belong to the Benford, Covington and the Danville."
Kuzzey and Sai frowned a bit when they heard the names of the OMNI-based spacecraft. They knew that the Montgomery was the leading ship of an advance force from the OMNI's 8th Fleet, which was a Nelson-class. The Bernard and the Law were simply Drake-class escort ships.
Flay's old man is on board the Montgomery, which should be since he's an AF politician. Sai thought after he heard from some of the other OMNI bridge crew that the Montgomery was now trying to make contact with the Archangel.
If I heard right, Flay's dad was suppose to be a key member of Blue Cosmos. Kuzzey was busy trying to ensure that the Montgomery was able to get to the Archangel and make contact with them.
Does that mean that we'll have to kill him too eventually?
Briefing Room A, somewhere in unknown Mithril base, somewhere in space
General Kowen returned back to the briefing room after being well-rested himself in his personal quarters, seeing everyone assigned from the Argama and the Albion inside.
The ex-OMNI officer saluted all of the personnel once he got inside, putting his right arm down before he made his way to the podium. Beside him, a map of the Earth and space was already up with some routes mapped out.
"I'm glad to see everyone has made it for this debriefing." Kowen greeted everyone from the Argama and the Albion before the general started with the final debriefing. "As all of you know, the Argama and the Albion will be deployed for this operation."
"Is there going to be additional support?" A young man in his 20s with blond hair and shades asked the general after he raised a question.
Kowen nodded and replied. "Yes there will be support, but they'll go in disguised as OMNI ships at least for this operation in order to blend in with the 8th Fleet." He stopped for a second and looked at the screen next to him before he added. "Be aware that there will be Titans ships in the area to protect the fleet from any renegade Zeon or ZAFT incursions."
"I wonder if it's a good way that Mithril's main base is covertly located between the moon and the abandoned Mendel colony." A blue-haired teenager asked Emma, who sat down next to her during the debriefing.
"I don't like it as much as you do, Kamille." Emma told Kamille Bidan, ex-Green Noa I and current Titans fugitive for helping Mithril forces steal the Gundam Mk-II, as the general explained that the Argama and Albion will be the main forces out to protect the Archangel in case of any attacks on the ships until their comrades and the refugees could leave the ship. "But given the position of Mithril's covert base, it does makes sense for rapid deployment."
Kamille stayed silent, only nodding in agreement. The young man held the rank of 2nd Lieutenant ever since he joined Mithril, partly to get back at the Titans for what they're doing.
"Any other questions?" Kowen asked the Argama and Albion crew and personnel if they have other question.
Kowen looked left and right, seeing no one raising a question or anything.
"If there are no further questions, then your next order is to prepare to immediate deployment at once."
Bridge, ZMS Vesalius, between Lagranges 1 and 5, somewhere in Space
"There you are."
Ades greeted Le Creuset when he got in the Vesalius' bridge hours after the ship had deployed to intercept the Archangel before it got to the Earth.
"Anything, Ades?"
"Aside from the fact that we'll have short manpower until the Gamow arrives..." Ades told Le Creuset as the two went towards their command chairs. "Intelligence has sent us a short notice that some Atlantic Federation space force vessels mobilized out from the Ptolemaeus Lunar Base alongside most of the OMNI's 8th Orbital Fleet. They mentioned that the Titans are also preparing to mobilize in order to act as escorts."
Le Creuset frowned when he got to his command chair. "This is not good for us, Ades. Considering the Titans' massive space force, their numbers will be bad for us even if the teams will eventually come along with us, including the Gamow."
"Indeed, sir. Unless we move out fast and arrive fast to intercept the legged ship, it'll be too late for us and we'll potentially be in trouble with Chairman Zala."
The masked ZAFT White officer nodded. "Agreed, Ades. For now, have CIC keep an eye out for the legged ship ASAP. We'll need to get the jump on them at once."
Ades nodded in reply.
Bridge, OMNIS Archangel, Lagrange 4, Space
A few minute after the bridge crew was informed that the Montgomery was trying to establish contact with the ship, the main screen showed the bridge of the said Nelson-class ship with the commanding officer seated on a command chair alongside a man in his late 40s, who had brown hair. The man wore a white dress shirt, a red necktie and a light brown suit and pants with black Venetian style shoes.
"My greetings to everyone on the Archangel." The brown-haired man greeted everyone on board the Archangel's bridge with a pleasant smile shown on his face. "My name is George Allster, Secretary of State of the Atlantic Federation."
"Greetings sir. Secretary Allster." Murrue greeted the Montgomery's commanding officer and Secretary Allster, rendering the two a salute.
"I trust that everyone is all right from the journey so far starting from Heliopolis?"
"We are sir and we appreciate the help."
George nodded before he continued. "I was able to get the ship's manifest and to my surprise, my daughter Flay is on board the Archangel with the refugees." He then asked. "I was wondering if I would be able to talk to her before we would be able to meet up together?"
"Secretary Allster." The Montgomery's CO informed the man. "There's going to be enough time for you to see your daughter once we meet with the Archangel."
Sai smirked while working in the CIC station. "That's Flay's dad for you..." The glasses-wearing Mithril agent then wondered about the situation.
If Flay's dad is here, does this mean that he used his position in the AF government to get the Titans out here to escort the Archangel?
Chapter 9 END
PS - Decided to use the Irish language for the callsigns of all operatives for the newly revived Mithril. Quite an interesting one, in addition that no other country is speaking it aside from Ireland.
So allow me to break down the codenames used:
* Sonraí (Sun - ree) - Means Data. Given to agents/officers/personnel working under Mithril's Intelligence Division.
* Taighde (Tai - dah) - Means Research. Given to agents/officers/personnel working under Mithril's R&D Division.
* Monatóir (Mona - toi) - Means Monitor. Given to Mithril observers placed in the PLANTs, Republic of Zeon and other colonies/places in space that are aligned with either OMNI, the various Zeon factions or are neutral.
* Ceannaire (Can - a - ri) - Means Leader. Given to General John Kowen as he is the commanding officer of Mithril's space-based division, located between the moon and the abandoned Mendel Colony.
* Teagasc (Tea - iskh) - Means Instruction. Given to officers who are in charge of military forces of a Mithril-aligned ship.
* Intleacht (Int - lyakht) - Means Intellect. Usually given to officers placed in charge of ships stationed at Mithril's space division.
* Cara (Kah - ruh) - Means Friend. Given to all transport ships (usually) that transport personnel and materiel.
* Garda (Guar - da) - Means Guardian or Guard. Given to pilots of any space-based fighter crafts called in to support Mithril forces.
* Soitheach (Sa-yach) - Means Vessel. Given to ships that are deployed into combat operations.
* Deisigh (De-she) - Means Repair. Given to personnel who are assigned as Mithril technicians and engineers.
* Tús (Toose) - Means Beginning. Given to operatives assigned to Mithril's Primary Response Team (PRT) Division, since they are usually in charge of setting the early stages of an operation either on foot or on a mobile suit.
* Óglach (Ogg - la) - Means Volunteer or Warrior. Given to operatives assigned to Mithril's Special Response Team (SRT) Division, the main force in charge of the latter stages of an operation either on foot or on a mobile suit.
To anyone who's fluent in Irish, let me know if I screw with the pronunciation I've provided here.
Alrighty, my first break from Gundam SEED canon is starting to come into light from this chapter onward folks. In the next few chapters or so, I will totally break up from Gundam SEED and from there on, events will be majorly different. Starting with Lacus' rescue by Allelujah and the Ptolemaios. That's something I wanted to do ever since I got this story up.
I must also note that you will notice a majority of the characters from the OMNI military uses a navy-based ranking system. I am trying to give some of those who are in Mithril equivalents to their ranks like Blex, who was a Commodore in the EFF military. But for rank conversion, Blex is a Brigadier General based on the Army-based ranking system I cooked up last chapter. But OMNI's ranks doesn't have any Commodore ranks on it except the EFF. For argument's sake, let's pretend OMNI does have a Commodore rank. Any corrections in this process, please let me know.
Hopefully I could do a breather chapter where Kira, Sai, Kuzzey and Mark are having a day in Mithril's space HQ before their next main mission of sorts.
Yes, you read it right regarding George Allster's BC links. Most of the Gundam SEED-related games describe it as such, so I'd like to explore this angle in the story.
So stay tune and have a good read for this chapter at least. I await any reviews, comments, thoughts or ideas for the chapter.