Disclaimer: I don't own Gundam Seed
Gundam Seed Purpose Renew
Chapter 3: Leaving home
It can be difficult, leaving home, I suppose losing your home can be even worse. When I signed up I did so because it was the only way I could support my family. People have this ideal view, this stereotype on what it's like to live in the Plants. We're probably a lot better off than other colonies further away from Earth but it's not all paradise there and despite what blue cosmos says not all coordinators are super human, some of us suffer because of flaws in the genetic augmentation process. My little brother has an immune system weaker than most people, and health care isn't free in the Plants so someone needs to pay for his treatment and save for a procedure to fix his immune system. That's why I joined ZAFT, became a mobile suit pilot, I didn't think I'd do this well though. Serving with the Le Creuset team, with access to some of the best technology and pay green coats can get, being popular amongst the troops. They called me the magic bullet of dusk, but not even my training and reputation prepared me for everything I would experience when I met the Purpose's pilot.
Miguel flew back to the Vesalius with his head low. What had started out as such a simple though morally conflicting mission had turned into a matter of Plant security. The appearance of Mu La Flaga was unexpected and costly, two GINNs had been damaged but that paled in comparison to what a single Sensou mercenary had done. The form of that machine that mercenary used flashed in Miguel's mind. Not only was it unexpected but it wasn't an alliance designed machine, and it was deadly, so deadly that several pilots had already been killed. Fewer Ginns were returning to the ZAFT ships, dead or alive the commandos returned. Miguel docked with the Vesalius, positioning his Ginn on the makeshift arms built to hold some of the excess mobile suits. Similar to the Earth alliances way of storing mobile armours on the outside, ZAFT had adopted the technique for their mobile suits whenever the hangers were filled to capacity. Miguel climbed out of his machine, giving the mechanics the thumbs up and all clear to begin analysing his machine. Not only would looking at its scratches and marks help with repair but also study of the new machine, Miguel caught a scientist in a normal suit scraping paint off of the Ginn's arm.
"Olor, hold on, Olor," Miguel called out to his fellow pilot after adjusting his helmet's radio.
"We got a few decent hits in Miguel, but the EA resistance wasn't expected, I heard you got mauled by a dog," Olor said, smiling good naturedly.
"The dog let go, went after another bit of meat, the Black Storm was a disappointment," Miguel floated with Olor to a hatch, both using the boosters on their backpacks to control their direction.
The handles welded onto the surface of the ship also helped. Matthew followed close behind his team mates, holding onto the bars and wires like climbing tools.
"What happened to you?" Miguel asked.
"Equipment malfunction, as if this mission wasn't already one fuck up after another," Matthew's frustration was clear as he barged past Olor and Miguel.
He twisted the handle on the hatch and pried it open. Miguel and Olor barged into the airlock with him, Olor held him in an arm lock and laughed as he elbowed him back.
"Poor Matthew, got his GINN disabled by a mobile armour," Olor teased.
"It looked more like a jet," Matthew retorted.
Miguel sealed the hatch tight behind him and waited with his team as artificial air was sprayed into the room. After the green light above them lit up they removed their helmets, breathing in air. The hatch in front of them opened and a few mechanics helped them out. Matthew threw his pack back at one and pushed him against the wall.
"You son of a bitch, you gave me a rocket pack that doesn't work, what if my Ginn was left on its own out there?" he demanded.
The mechanic he had up against the wall was Nichol's age and Miguel noted his guilty expression. He knew he had made a terrible mistake, but seemed more like a child on a playground enduring abuse. Military ranks and protocol was less formal in ZAFT than it was in the Earth Alliance (though many commanders expected the same level of discipline and loyalty) and considering the ages of many recruits a lot of the time the ships and facilities of ZAFT became like campuses.
"I'm sorry, it-it won't happen again, I'm good with radios not rockets but the chief insisted..."
"I don't care for your excuses or your incompetence," Matthew said.
"That's rich coming from you Matt," Miguel found himself retorting.
He regretted getting involved but once Matt's eyes were on him he puffed out his chest and met the pilot's gaze.
"You got hit by a jet right, that was a Sensou fighter, fast but weak armour and sometimes called 'flying eggs' because they're so easy to break, if you lost to something like that then you need to seriously re-consider who you call incompetent," he explained.
Olor moved in between Miguel and Matthew as the latter raised his fists.
"Sensou was retreating from the area," a voice said from further down the corridor.
Miguel smiled as he watched Nichol walk towards them, dressed in his red uniform.
Nichol Amalfi, a council kid like the others, but not stuck up about it. None of the others are stuck up about it. Athrun's dad is a defence committee chairman, Yzak's mother is part of the council as is Dearka's father. They all came from privileged backgrounds but they aren't snobby, well Yzak maybe but they didn't get red coats because of special privileges and they didn't get into the unit because of connections either. True they aren't as good as they brag they are, put them against the commander or Dagger Thanos and they wouldn't stand a chance. They're better than me that much I can tell you, but there's no difference in pay between red or green coats. The economy of the Plants differs from Earth, we still struggle but I'm not stupid enough to say we have it worse than Earth at the moment. Earth Alliance sponsored colonies have it worse than Earth because they're left as a secondary priority. On the Plants we grow up well, having plenty of opportunities to work so that we cannot struggle. I miss you brother and Nichol reminds me the most of you.
"Sensou wasn't paid to fight drawn out battles with ZAFT, they were returning to their space home at the Asgard station," Nichol explained.
"Asgard station?" Olor looked at Nichol in confusion.
"Well Sensou is a registered company, only really known in military circles and nowhere near as advanced as ZAFT. But the thing is they convert low tech into high tech, those jets used to be used in atmospheres until they were heavily modified. Sensou provides relief aid, infantrymen, scouts and raiders to anyone willing to pay regardless of ideological or national beliefs, they are an army for hire, often their interventions in foreign regions have more successful than if official EA forces went in."
There was a short pause after Nichol spoke, causing the young man to blink in confusion. He lowered his head slightly as Olor and Matt clicked their fingers, swaying their hips in a dance.
"Nerd, you're a nerd, and nobody likes you," they sang.
"His assessment was right on the mark though," a voice spoke from the doorway.
The pilots immediately saluted as their masked commander floated into the room. He smoothly stopped in the centre of the group, his eyes focused on Miguel.
"You're recordings of the dog's capabilities have saved my reputation Miguel, I'd be a laughing stock if people thought I'd ran from the remaining EA prototype, no matter what kind of report I gave the council concerning its power, and well done Nichol, you should join the others in the observation deck. As for the rest of you make no mistake if Sensou gets involved do not underestimate them, they have produced a mobile suit capable of being used by a natural and their methods are crude and simplistic, but devastatingly effective, they backed up the Alliance forces at the Grimaldi front, the CEO of Sensou was even willing to sacrifice his own men to the Cyclops system in order to get paid," Le Creuset explained.
There was an odd delight in his voice, almost as if he admired the CEO for the choice he made. Though he hid it well, from Rau's mouth even a threat could sound like a compliment. But his orders were often firm and so the pilots wasted no time in following those orders. After changing into their uniforms, Miguel, Matt and Olor went to the bridge where Athrun waited. There were little words spoken, they could tell that something was bothering Athrun but assumed it was simply Rusty's death. He'd witnessed it and in some ways failed to avenge it. Not even Matt bothered him about it though, he simply patted Athrun on the shoulder as sympathy for his loss and respect for his achievements.
Rusty, so full of life and hope, he didn't have any baggage or anything to prove. He was a great guy, good to have around at parties but responsible in his own way. Rusty's motivation for joining wasn't glory or approval from his council parents or even revenge for what happened at Junius Seven. The guy was a realist, he knew we weren't any better than the EA but he felt that there needed to be a code of conduct that guided both forces, lines that you just didn't cross. He felt that the raid as right if it was carried out justly.
Miguel remembered the fury of the dog's words and wondered if perhaps to some degree he was right, that good intentions weren't enough, that the EA and ZAFT were like Sensou, dogs of war.
Is that why Rusty died, was he so bothered by what was going on around him that he lost his edge. Or was he just never as good as his academy records stated. For so long we've been told that we can beat the Earth Alliance, the naturals because we are better than them. I think Athrun's father once said to rally us that 'evolution is an outdated concept, naturals have reached the limit of their evolution, we are their engineered evolution, their future,' he said a load of other things too but I was more focused on work. Most of us aren't interested in an agenda, we just want a quick end to this war.
They entered the bridge, before the CIC was the map table, that doubled as the briefing area. Whilst Ades commanded the ship, Rau stood at the head of the table, waiting to provide his briefing.
Maybe if we destroy this ship, it'll take us one step closer to the end.
The Archangel was a truly brilliant spectacle, it was too bad there was only a small group out to marvel at it. Every other shelter was on lockdown, so Gekido naturally assumed the logical outcome. That ship would be the shelter for the Heliopolis youths. He also assumed the natural outcome when the Alliance forces discovered the Strike pilot's identity. Gekido strapped a holster to his hip in preparation for that inevitability. Ramias was already leading the Heliopolis group to the Archangel's entrance as Gekido looked over his pistol. He watched the Hawk exit his Moebius and rotated the chamber. Gekido put on his coat and picked up his duffel bag before exiting his machine. He came down the line as a few officers, soldiers and a mechanic emerged from the Archangel's main hatch.
'Ensign, officer graduate and military family background,' his eyes crossed over the woman in front, he took note of the state of her uniform, dirty with a bit of blood but she still held herself with a strong sense of dignity and professionalism, one she used to hide her relief that they were alive. 'Too easy, he's definitely a mechanic over a soldier,' he looked at the dark haired man behind her, his orange jumpsuit was a dead giveaway of his role on the ship and his age, demeanour and the fact he was with the Ensign told Gekido that he was the head mechanic, his skin was tanned and dirty in some areas and his stubble showed he had minimum care for his appearance.
Like a machine he was capable of analysing them and processing what they were saying. There were a few gasps from Murrue and she looked nervous with good reason. The captain of the ship was dead along with a few other crew members from an explosion. Though the Archangel was designed to be able to fly with a bare minimal crew, the operation of the weapons systems, CIC and repairs to machines had to have a great number of crew members to manage them. So as it was now the Archangel was understaffed and in need of a captain, La Flaga was a senior officer but he knew nothing about the ship, so that left Murrue Ramias, the woman who was desperate enough to conscript high school students to help her.
"Natarle Badgiruel, Murdoch, it's good to see you are both okay," Yamato said, shaking their hands.
"Yamato, you helped us with some of the prototypes, what can you tell us about that one?" Natarle asked, pointing at the Purpose.
"That is the Gundam, Sensou was working on it from data collected in my research, the pilot there has called it Purpose, he is or was with Sensou, did they fire you for damaging the prototypes Gekido?" Yamato asked.
"I'm strictly freelance now," Gekido said, crossing his arms as he leant against the Purpose's leg.
He remained calm as the soldiers pointed their rifles at him. Yamato and the students, even Murrue and Mu seemed shocked by what the soldiers had suddenly done.
"Ensign Badgiruel what is the meaning of this?" Yamato asked.
"He's a mercenary, he could have been behind the sabotages to the Archangel," Natarle stated, narrowing her eyes in fury.
'So she has a heart, she lost friends to those explosions,' Gekido thought.
"What happened?" Murrue asked.
"The captain, members of the other crew members, they were killed by planted explosives, someone with access had to have planted to those explosives," Natarle explained.
"Right, cause no one in the Earth Alliance betrays their own," Gekido commented as he brushed a bit of dirt off of his coat, "Although it is possible I could have done it, not true but possible...if ZAFT paid me enough for it," he muttered the last bit casually even as the soldiers took a few steps closer.
La Flaga let out a whistle, catching the attention of the soldiers and ordering them to lower their weapons.
"I don't think this guy would have bothered considering security over Heliopolis was a permanent means of income, that and he fought with us, he could have just ran but he didn't, that tells me he has just as much stake in this fight as we have," the last of the Zero pilots explained.
"What about them?" Natarle asked, gesturing to the Heliopolis students.
"My son Tachi and daughter Kisagi, and their friends Sai, Kuzzey, Miriallia, Tolle and Kira, they're students of the nearby technical college," Yamato explained.
"Kira was at the factory for some reason, it was thanks to him we were able to save the Strike," Murrue said.
La Flaga took a few steps towards the students and looked Kira in the eyes.
"Let me ask you something, are you a coordinator?"
That question alone put everyone on edge, Gekido put a hand to his holster as the soldiers focused their attention on Kira. He didn't like how they brushed the triggers of their guns.
"I am," Kira said.
The soldiers suddenly raised their rifles. For a moment Gekido thought the Heliopolis students would be overcome by fear, though that didn't seem to be the case with one. Tolle stepped between Kira and the soldiers and spread his arms out, as if to say 'you shoot me before you shoot him'. It was a gesture Gekido was familiar with, he had a friend in Sensou who would take a bullet for him. But see it from a civilian actually shocked him. Yamato saw the shock in his eyes and grinned.
"Your guys must be out of your mind, Kira fought those guys he's not with them," Tolle said.
"Lower your guns," Murrue ordered.
"Lieutenant?"
"There's no big mystery," Murrue turned to Natarle, "Orb is a neutral colony so it's easy to see it accepting coordinators as citizens," she explained.
"I am a first gen coordinator too," Kira said.
"Making your parents naturals, I understand and I'm sorry I caused trouble, I just needed to confirm that's all," Mu said.
"Earth Alliance policy isn't it," Gekido called out.
"No, that's a gross misinterpretation, there are no regulations keeping coordinators from being citizens," Natarle said.
"Other than the social stigma that goes with being one, causing you to have to hide who you really are, a lot like homosexuals from a century ago or honest working immigrants," Gekido explained.
"We shouldn't stay here, if you all want to continue a debate about this then you can do it on the ship, Kira please help us a little more and take the Strike onto the Archangel, Murdoch if you have anyone left help get the Moebius Zero on board, Yamato please see to it that the students reach suitable quarters," Murrue explained.
La Flaga smirked, Ramias was already proving to be a capable leader. She organised the crew into getting the equipment they gathered onto the Archangel. Gekido climbed back into his machine and began starting it up. He turned the Purpose, taking a look at the ruins of Heliopolis, then at the Archangel. Once his adopted siblings went through the main hatch he turned and flew upwards.
"Where is Gekido going?" Kira wondered.
"Is that guy just going to leave us here?" Murdoch asked.
"Maybe he is just a mercenary," Mu lowered his head slightly, regretting that there wasn't more to the young man than met the eye.
Kira let out a sigh of relief when he finally finished loading the Strike onto the Archangel. He marvelled slightly, only slightly at the inside of the hanger. Even though there were no machines inside it Kira could still appreciate the technology, the cranes, catapults and compartments that stored equipment. It was far more advanced than anything Kira had seen in the classroom. But as he exited his machine he retreated quickly from the mechanics and made his way to the exit. The halls of the Archangel had more light than Kira had seen in a room before, it made him feel like he was back in the classroom. But when he fell onto a bunk bed, feeling the fabric of the sheets on his hand the reality hit him, that there was a good chance he wouldn't be going home.
'Home,' Gekido thought enviously of the people whom had retreated into the shelters.
They had left homes behind, some intact, some damaged. Some people had taken possessions whilst others had left only with the possessions that mattered. But the reality was that people who stopped to get their intentions were either ruthless enough to step on others to get to shelters, or they were naive to think they could make it to a shelter in time. There were people on the streets, looking up at the Purpose and waving to it, yelling for help as if it was a rescue ship. Gekido however didn't waste time, he didn't stop, he didn't sympathise with those whom chose material over life. Nor did he sympathise or pity those killed by falling debris or caught underneath the masses of the fleeing. He did however feel disgust and anger, that Orb's people were weak willed enough to allow this, to step on people and to allow themselves to be stepped on. Even the looters, mere scavengers and opportunists didn't have his respect. They were too weak to rob stores in peace so they waited, even prayed for a conflict to provide them with the opportunity, a justification.
"There's no justice or fairness in the world," Gekido said. "This world is cruel and those people down there are all going to die, but there's nothing I can do about that is there!"
"You speak as if I am judging you Gekido Jaeger, I am an AI, I am incapable of judging your actions or inaction and I am incapable of caring for their results. But you are correct, those people, the looters, the ones left behind are all going to die, they will suffocate in the vacuum of space as the colony breaks apart," Biggs explained.
As he spoke the AI displayed numerous diagrams of the colony and simulated its breaking apart. Numbers came up showing that there was a seventy five percent chance that the colony would break apart if there was another conflict involving the use of the Archangel's weapons. It was designed for Anti-warship combat, its hell darts and gottfrieds were bunker breakers and if fired in the inside of a colony could lead to only one logical outcome. Even if they were manually controlled and regardless of the skill of the gunner, the use of warship weapons inside a colony would damage it, and considering the Strike had already damaged the interior the colony's destruction was inevitable.
"ZAFT is going to force a confrontation, and they'll tell themselves that they're right to do it, 'justice for Junius Seven', 'let them understand our pain', 'it's the naturals fault not ours'."
"Humans are judgemental, perhaps hypocritically so," Biggs said.
"I know the reality of the world, I accept it, and I accept that I'm a hypocrite, coordinator or natural I accept that I am a dog of war. Every dog needs teeth," Gekido smirked as he landed the Purpose at the remains of where it was 'born'.
The Purpose fired several devices from its finger tips, they were scanning probes. Biggs used them to scan the environment, determining any adjustments he would have to make to the Purpose's internal systems. Holographic displays appeared before Gekido's eyes, revealing hidden amongst the wreckage weapons. A long barrelled bazooka was buried underneath a warehouse, it already had five rocket propelled grenades loaded into it. Gekido saw an interesting weapon that he could only describe as a gun blade, a pistol with a foldable sword blade attached to it. It was the Purpose's foot that found a shield, which already had a beam rifle attached to the inside.
"Let's see what we can find to load this up," Gekido said, spotting a truck nearby.
"Load up for what, the Archangel has already taken off," Biggs said.
"It'll be forced into a battle soon, and then, everyone's home will shatter," Gekido rubbed his eyebrows and closed his eyes for a moment.
To some it could be interpreted as him praying, Gekido followed no religion. He thought about the concept of home, what people were losing everyday in this war, without some even realising. In truth he had no idea how many people had lost their homes, he'd have to have a mind capable of processing and memorising just how many people lived on the colony. Instead he directed his mind to composing a flyer of sorts.
"What is this Gekido Jeager?" Biggs asked.
"Consider it an advertisement, send it to both ZAFT and the EA, then we'll wait," Gekido said.
"For what?"
"For someone to meet my price!"
Our ideals are right in principal, at least I believe that. Coordinators didn't go to the Plants with the intention of starting a conflict. We just wanted to be free, to have rights and homes. Junius Seven ruined that ideal, we were put on a false trial, classed as anarchists and terrorists, a threat to the order the Earth Alliance had created. The Earth Alliance have used the word peace as a mask, to hide their injustices, the people of Earth aren't united, just the rich people. There's an aristocratic movement within the Earth government, that so far hasn't done a thing to treat the energy shortage and depression that is spreading across nations. That's why we launched the N-Jammers, to give them a taste of what life in space can be like. But instead their efforts to bury us are worse than ever, and the great Orb, a nation that could actually do something to help all the injured parties just sits on the side lines, living in a peace whilst others bleed. Orb and the Earth Alliance, their ideals are money and power, ours are sacrifice for peace. We put our lives on the line so that others don't have to, we stand firm so that our people can live in peace. That is the ideal of ZAFT, freedom.
Miguel floated into his GINN, prepping it for launch. An Ion cannon was thrown out of the main hanger and Miguel locked onto it, intending to make it his weapon for the assault. Matthew and Olor were having their GINN's equipped with heavy armour and missile launchers. The magic bullet of dusk on the other hand preferred speed, he looked at the Heliopolis colony and thought of the operation ahead. Rusty had died there, along with a few other good men and women, people who chose to fight rather than live a false peace.
Everything that happens now is their fault. They didn't condemn the Earth Alliance when they shattered our homes, so what right do they have to condemn us?
The orange GINN grabbed the ion cannon as it flew with its comrades. For this mission, Le Creuset had decided that three machines would go out and face the Archangel, which was to be their primary focus. Thanos refused to take part in the operation, he said the Archangel would be a better target in open space. Miguel detected some hostility between the two commanders and wondered whether it had something to do with the sudden appearance of the mercenary mobile suit. Le Creuset was in charge of intelligence gathering whatever mistake had been made fell on him.
Mistakes have been made, but we can't let that divide us. We have to remain in the right otherwise there's no point in us winning this war. If the legged ship fights back, if it fires those big guns at us and they hit the interior of the colony...if the colony shatters, it'll be their fault. The Earth Alliance, they seem to exist to endanger and even destroy colonies. I know ZAFT will continue to be victorious both militarily and morally.
Miguel turned his head in surprise as the Aegis flew in next to him.
"What are you doing Athrun?" he asked.
"Leave him be Aiman, we all know the red boy isn't going to face any punishment, not his dad being who he is," Matt said.
"You back off too Matt, Athrun's got a friend to avenge," Olor said.
"Fine Athrun, take back the fifth prototype, and show us that enthusiasm that drove you to defy orders!"
Miguel wasn't the only one smirking, Rau too smiled at Athrun's performance. He wasn't the type to defy orders, so there had to be a very interesting reason for it. Rau was eager to find out that reason, and like a play he sat back to watch the actors perform. The four ZAFT machines infiltrated the colony interior and saw for the first time up close the legged ship, the Earth Alliance's Archangel. Miguel heard Athrun gulp over the radio and shared the sentiment, the Archangel was a truly intimidating sight.
We just want peace, that's all we want, to show the Earth Alliance that we won't be intimidated anymore, that we won't tolerate their grabbing of power for the sake of power. The size of that ship, the weapons, the money that must have gone into it. They could have put that towards helping their people. That's the difference between us and the Earth Alliance, we don't disregard the innocent...I won't disregard them.
'It's not fair,' Kira thought as the Archangel's launch catapult opened.
Despite the protests and defences from his friends, Kira was still forced back into the cockpit of the Strike. Orb had nothing to do with the alliance, the war wasn't there's to fight.
"Will those be your last words," he remembered La Flaga telling him.
The Moebius Zero was too damaged to fight, the Purpose was nowhere to be seen and Kira was the only one who could pilot the Strike. His cleverness was his undoing, his modifications to the Strike's operating system made an already complicated machine even more complicated. The machine was a technological marvel, but what it was disgusted Kira. He despised war and the weapons that were built to fight them. But he had made a weapon his and he needed to use it to protect the Archangel otherwise his friends would die.
"A sword, hopefully that'll help us avoid what happened last time," Kira muttered.
The appropriately named Sword striker was equipped to the suit's shoulder and back. On the outside the machine's blue phase shift armour paled, matching the colours of the shoulder unit and shield. Kira also found that the pack also had a beam boomerang and a hook attached to a cable that could be fired from the shield. He let out a few nervous breaths and braced himself.
"X105 Strike you are cleared for launch," Natarle said over the radio.
"R-right, Strike launching," Kira said half-heartedly.
The Strike slid across the catapult, forcing Kira to hold on tight. He underestimated the G-forces still present in the colony. Kira kept firm control over the Strike, ignited its thrusters as he looked towards the approaching forces.
"Targets identified as three GINNs and...they've deployed the Aegis Ma'am," said Jackie Tonomura, he was in charge of CIC's detection systems.
The Archangel's pilot Arnold Neumann, or Neumann to his comrades adjusted his bearing. He wanted to give La Flaga a good angle to shoot at the incoming forces. With his Zero in repair, Mu volunteered as a gunner for the Gottfrieds. Murrue looked at the Strike in concern as it drew its sword, facing the approaching ZAFT machines alone. It was a concern his friends shared as they watched the imminent battle from the cameras installed with the Intercom. Outer cameras captured everything that was going on outside the ship. The Strike looked clumsy in how it was holding its Anti-ship sword. Kira flew forward, letting out a yell of veined bravery as he swung his sword at the nearest Ginn. The bright orange GINN flew back and then instantly flew forward as the Strike raised its sword. It knocked the Strike back, giving the other two Ginns time to fire their leg mounted missiles. The missiles struck the Strike, causing it to roll in midair. Kira recovered, dodging a beam that hurtled towards the ground.
"Lucky dodge, Athrun back me up as I take on the Strike, Olor, Matt, focus on the legged ship," Miguel said over the radio.
"It'll be a pleasure, time to repay you bastards for my humiliation," Matt eagerly flew at the Archangel, firing the missiles attached to his Ginn's arms.
"INCOMING!" Jackie yelled.
"FIRE IGESTELLUNGS!" Murrue yelled.
Gatling guns blazed, pelting the missiles with bullets. Matt grit his teeth together as he manoeuvred out of their range. He fired a few of his feet mounted missiles, hitting the side of the ship. Olor likewise fired his own missiles, but the appropriately named hell darts intercepted them. Mu smiled slightly as he targeted Olor's Ginn, he finally had a decent shot. Emerald beams flew from the Gottfrieds, consuming the Ginn's legs. Olor flew his Ginn upwards and drew the Gottfrieds fire. That gave Matt an opening to fire his missiles again, further damaging the ship. An explosion went off in the hanger, throwing a few mechanics off of their posts.
"Damn it," Murdoch muttered as he pulled a badly burnt crew member out of the rubble.
Tolle supported Miriallia as the ship shook. Kuzzey's fear was visible, and Sai did his best to stay brave. Much to Yamato's dismay, Kisagi seemed perfectly all right.
"He'll come, big brother, he'll save us all just you wait and see," she said.
"Don't give up on Kira yet," Tolle retorted.
Athrun looked at the Strike as it barely dodged Miguel's beams. It only confirmed his suspicion that Kira Yamato was piloting the suit. He adjusted his position, giving the Strike more room to dodge. As Miguel continued to attack, Athrun began cycling through radio frequencies, hoping to match Kira's so they could talk.
"Get behind it Athrun," Miguel commanded him.
'Kira, lower your sword, just surrender now,' Athrun thought and hoped.
Kira widened his eyes as Miguel lined up for a kill shot. He fired his grappling hook, latching it onto Matt's leg. The Strike slammed into the Ginn, knocking it off balance. Then a pair of corinthos missiles hit its belly. Matt let out a yell before his machine blew up, knocking the Strike back into its fight with Miguel and Athrun. The orange Ginn kicked off of the Strikes chest and fired its cannon. Kira raised his shield just in time, screaming as the flash from the cannon dazed his sight. He widened his eyes as the Ginn dived in, crashing its sword into the Strike's head. Miguel dragged his blade against the Strike's armour and threw it towards the Aegis.
"NOW ATHRUN FINISH HIM!" he yelled.
Athrun hesitantly raised his rifle, delaying his shot for as long as he could. He heard an alarm blare to his right and swerved just in time, dodging a hail of missiles that slammed against the colony support pillar.
"Careful, if that thing takes too many hits then the colony's done for," Murrue said.
"I know, damn it, ZAFT have the advantage, Kira the one without the legs just need to fly to the right then he'll be in the position for our hell darts, fire a volley of your CIWS, just a few pot shots to his left, make him fly right," Mu explained.
Kira nodded his head, his survival instincts took over as he blindly fired at Olor's Ginn. He hit the Ginn's shoulder and made it swerve to the left. Kira and Mu both cursed, but the Strike's pilot wasn't going to let it end like that. As Olor fired his missiles, Kira threw his beam boomerang. The spinning blade struck the Ginns eye camera and knocked it against the side of the Archangel. Olor looked at his main screen, it had gone black, his eyes were truly gone. Bullets suddenly pierced through the cockpit, shredding his skin. Miguel and Athrun looked at Olor's Ginn in horror as it was ripped apart by Gatling gun fire.
"DAMN IT!" Miguel yelled.
He targeted and fired, hitting the Archangel. The magic bullet of dusk flew a circuit around the ship, dodging hell darts and gun fire. Miguel then came towards the Strike, targeting it with his Ion cannon.
"MIGUEL LOOK OUT!" Athrun yelled.
A beam suddenly flew towards the Ginn, forcing Miguel to raise his shield and block the shot. The occupants of the battlefield looked towards where the shot came from and widened their eyes. Yamato lowered his head, he seemed ashamed, especially when he saw the bright look in his daughter's eyes. But the sudden reappearance of the Purpose gave some reason to hope again. For Kira it was a sign or relief from his fight. Athrun finally saw someone he didn't have to be afraid to shoot at. Miguel narrowed his eyes in fury at the Purpose, it was different from before, it had a shield attached to its left arm and a bazooka attached to its right shoulder. The Purpose raised its beam rifle, light reflecting off of its sight.
"Contract accepted, don't feel too bad magic bullet, it just shows that the EA is more desperate than ZAFT," Gekido said.
He smirked at Miguel, appearing on his main screen. The action infuriated Miguel, the green pilot gripped his controls tightly, letting out deep, anguished breaths that were a mix of sorrow and fury.
My friends, the EA killed my friends, forced things to come to this and that dog is laughing about it. It's just another day at the office for him. The Earth Alliance, Sensou, Blue Cosmos, they turned this place into a battlefield. It's their fault, it's their fault!
Miguel let out a yell before charging at the Purpose. Gekido aimed his rifle, only for a beam to split it in two. He dodged the second and third shot the Aegis fired and looked between the Strike and the Aegis. Kira made no move to defend him, other than flying in between him and the Aegis. Either he didn't like using guns in fights or he didn't want to harm the Aegis. Gekido swerved to the right as Miguel pursued him, coming in close and landing a kick to his back.
"YOU BASTARD!" Miguel yelled.
"Tell me bullet did ZAFT send demands or did it go in all guns blazing as it did before?" Gekido asked.
He drew his gun blade, firing a few solid shell rounds at the Defrock. Miguel blocked them with his shield, not caring that one pierced through and hit his Ginn's shoulder. Both machines slammed their shields together, the eyes of their suits staring at one another.
"SHUT UP! You don't care who you fight for do you, the alliance brought the fire here, Orb accepted them, these homes are burning now because they didn't care," Miguel explained.
"Whilst you didn't care enough to watch where you were shooting," Gekido retorted.
"No, you don't get to pin that on me," Miguel snarled.
"IF I DON'T WHO WILL!" Gekido yelled.
He pushed the Ginn back and fired his a few more shots from his gun blade.
Our ideals, we're fighting for something good, we're fighting to protect our homes. To keep more colonies from shattering. They'll never understand that!
Time seemed to slow for the witnesses as the Ginn raised its ion cannon. It all happened to so fast for Gekido and Miguel however, consumed by rage they fought. Miguel bullet the trigger and Gekido dodged, both widened their eyes in horror as the beam struck the support pillar of the colony. Then they like the others felt time slow as the pillar blew apart. The hope in Kisagi's eyes shattered as she looked away from the screen. Her elders however were drawn in, enthralled but horrified by the sight before them. Even Natarle was shocked as the colony began to break apart. Gekido turned to Miguel and pointed his sword at him.
"Like I said, you didn't care enough to watch where you were shooting," he said.
A piece of debris fell, splitting the rivals apart. Miguel let go of his Ion cannon and looked at his crumbling surroundings. The vacuum drew him into space and he felt numerous objects strike his Ginn. He regained control, flying his suit through a field of cars, trucks and even houses and pieces of garden, people's homes.
Our ideals...
He looked towards Athrun's Aegis, the suit swerved between pieces of metal until joining it orange ally. Miguel and Athrun widened their eyes as an object came into view. It was small, tiny and fragile, as broken as the colony even though there wasn't any sign of damage. It was a body, the race and gender didn't matter, it was the first time both had seen a body after exposure to space. The sight was horrifying to Athrun as he remembered that this was possibly how his mother died. Miguel however thought something completely different. He remembered what the dog said.
This is war, sacrifices have to be made, the Alliance made this place a target and we couldn't ignore it. Our ideals...our ideals demand for this...right?
Next Chapter 4: Silent run
Hope everyone enjoyed the chapter, next time Athrun and Miguel answer to Le Creuset as Kira find's a damaged escape pod. Gekido officially joins the crew next chapter with some tension as the one who paid his bill is revealed.
Gekido's current arsenal isn't permanent, the rifle was the RX's (very First Gundam, it made that epic sound when it was fired) and the shoulder bazooka and gunblade were from the Amazing Red Warrior seen in Gundam Build Fighters Try (the bazooka will have its uses, but I just loved the gunblade). Also in this chapter I deliberately switched from referring to mass production suits with capital letters to lower case, I've come to feel that using GINN as opposed to simply Ginn all the time is a bit unnecessary, what do you guys think? Also tell me what you thought of the chapter itself (old fans comment on the changes too please, do they meet your approval?)