Disclaimer: I don't own Gundam
This chapters shorter than the others, I honestly couldn't find a way or a reason really to make this chapter any bigger.
Chapter 5's monologues come from Dagger Thanos
Gundam Seed Purpose Renew
Chapter 5: Arc breached, phase shift down
Starting with a slash, very foolish, a thrust would have take the Purpose's head clean off. I thought I taught him better than that. I thought the academy would teach them all better than that. Le Creuscet's rookies, they all look so eager.
Dagger Thanos sat at his chair, leaning his chin against his fist as he watched the battle taking place before him. The Argos's role was to cut off a possible escape route for the Archangel. He knew that Le Creuscet wanted the credit of destroying the legged ship for himself. Glory was something he cared little for, only the fight. The Gundams offered a new level of fighting, one that actually made his heart rush. Each machine was a work of art, both magnificent and terrible. They were of course weapons of destruction. But the commander couldn't help but admire them, until his warrior's judgement took over and he began to rate and critique.
One ship, target, two suits and an absent mobile armour. We have the advantage in formation, experience in space combat and a numerical advantage. Some of the pilots will probably feel encouraged after the death of their comrade and their earlier defeats. But revenge doesn't always overcome the primal instinct to survive.
"Gekido, Gekido are you all right?" Kira asked, yelling over the radio.
The Strike stood alone, facing its 'brothers' of the factory. Kira grit his teeth together as he looked between the other five prototypes and the damaged Purpose. He noticed the Gundam's fingers twitch as its flashed. Even the right eye, its inner light and circuitry exposed, blazed with the same anger as the Gundam's pilot. Inside the machine, Gekido let out deep breaths as he gripped the control sticks tightly. The Purpose squeezed its hands into fists before swinging its head around, looking at the other G-Weapon prototypes.
"RRAAAARGH!" Gekido roared, flipping the Purpose.
Its feet slammed into the Massacre's head, knocking it into the Aegis. Igniting its rockets, the Purpose flew at the Blitz, Duel and Buster, leaving a trail of energy behind it. Yzak widened his eyes as he detected the heat of the Purpose on his radar.
"WHAT THE!" the silver haired boy yelled as the Purpose shoulder barged him.
The Le Creuscet team pilots looked towards their ally in shock. Their shock amplified as the Purpose grabbed the Duel's leg and swung it around. Gekido's yell overrode Yzak's scream, sparks shooting out of the Purpose's right elbow joint. The strain of the action appeared on Gekido's main screen, but he didn't care. In one motion he bashed the Duel against the approaching Massacre, sending both machines flying back. Then the Purpose fired its wrist blasters in a rapid fire mode, bombarding the Blitz's shield. Nichol flew the Blitz out of the Purpose's firing range, and countered with shots from his rifle. A shot struck the Purpose's left shoulder and a second shot blew apart its right wrist blaster.
"Let's see how you deal with this natural," Dearka growled and advanced on the Purpose.
Dearka targeted the leak in the Purpose's chest and combined his rifle and gun launcher. The blast he fired flew straight into the Purpose's chest. But much to Dearka's shock, the energy leaking out of the Purpose split Dearka's round apart. Gekido ignited his left wrist sabre and flew towards the Buster. Dearka opened the Buster's shoulder panels, releasing a flurry of missiles. The Purpose instantly dropped downwards, performing rough and ungraceful manoeuvres to dodge the projectiles. Athrun and Kira watched the machine move, Gekido's care for the machine was a far cry from the beautiful trail of particles it left behind.
I've seen people move their machine gracefully, and I've seen pilots who are a little clunky. There are good and pilots amongst them both, but it's always the people who show off, or don't react the quickest that die. So many young pilots have died because they didn't take the Earth Alliance mobile armour seriously, because they overestimated the control they had over their machine. This young man, he's fighting the machine as much as he's fighting us. Except so far he hasn't aimed to kill, perhaps because he lacks the means to kill. What's his plan I wonder? What's the flaw in his opponents he's trying to take advantage of? The obvious flaw all of those machines have of course.
Thanos leant forward, a small smirk crossing his face as the Purpose locked sabres with the Duel. Yzak flew back, firing multiple beams from his rifle. Each one however was cut apart by the Purpose's wrist sabre. Gekido then switched to rapid fire mode, shooting down multiple missiles fired by the Buster. Missiles flew from the Archangel, never even touching the Blitz or the Massacre. Yzak shot down two corinthos rockets and blocked the Purpose's swipe.
Each machine has its strong points, because they are built for a specific type of combat. Regardless of the weakness they all share, they are each designed to excel. The key to each machine reaching its full potential is the pilot being able to reach theirs, for the pilots to make those machines theirs. Like the Duel and Yzak Joule, the man who fancies himself a leader. He certainly has the drive and the passion, as well as the education but application of the skills he honed at the academy are another thing. Yzak's ranked first in mass mobile suit combat, but tied in close quarters both in and out of the suit with another student. He was also top of the class in politics and lone combat, which says everything really. The Duel is designed to fight well at close quarters, but is not an all round machine. Statistically speaking it won't last long on its own without support units or significant upgrades to its armour and weapons.
Yzak yelled, drawing both sabres and continually swinging them at Gekido. The Purpose slammed its elbow into the Duel's face and then kicked off of it, firing a few shots at the Buster to draw it away from the Archangel. Helldarts flew at the Buster, which easily shot them down with its rifle. Dearka targetted the Purpose, only for Yzak to fly in the way.
"Yzak move," Dearka said.
There, Joule's greatest flaw is that he's too easy to anger. He holds grudges, lacking the patience of his mother, but not lacking the naiveté. They both share the belief that their genetics makes them superior to others. Whilst Yzak's isn't as strong as his mother's, he suffers from the arrogance that comes with youth and talent. But stepping into a real battle, I can see his confidence is quivering. He's already lost friends, so he's determined to get some misguided revenge, no matter the cost. Anger in a battle can be a double edged sword, it can drive you to strike harder, or to move into a situation you can't escape from. Unless it gets that extra armour, the Duel isn't the best kind of machine to get trapped. Yzak Joule will either get himself killed, or his anger will lead to him doing something he cannot take back.
Sai, Tolle, Kuzzey and Miriallia were fighting the first battle of their lives, they weren't just witnessed, they were loosely involved. They were just as astonished as the other more experienced crew members when they witnessed the Purpose fight. Its durability seemed as extraordinary as the effect its unique energy gave off. As the Purpose grabbed its gunblade, Kuzzey analysed the energy levels of the machine. It was already at 70 percent energy, still more than what the Strike had. The Strike and the Aegis seemed intent on staring one another down, with both attacking the other's ally. Mirillia tried to establish communication with Kira again, but every time she did his frequency shifted. She thought nothing of it, as the Strike was still drawing the attention of the Massacre and the Duel.
"Incredible," she heard Chandra mutter behind her.
The crew looked at the sight taking place in front of them. The Purpose stood in front of the bridge, crossing its arms together and using its own body as a shield to take the blasts of the Buster.
"Helldarts fire," Natarle commanded.
The missiles flew at the Buster, forcing Dearka to shoot them down with his gun launcher. He opened the Buster's missile pods, releasing a flurry that the Archangel's CIWs shot down. Dearka flew upwards to avoid several shots from the Strike.
"The Aegis is pursuing the Strike," Tolle said.
"Purpose's energy levels have fallen to sixty percent," Kuzzey reported.
"What about the Strike's levels?" Natarle asked.
"Forty percent, but the Strike has been out for as long as the Purpose, and it's generator isn't leaking."
Kuzzey's confusion soon faded when Yamato came onto the bridge. He floated to Murrue's side, looking at the battle with an expression she had seen tacticians use.
"The Strike just like the other prototypes utilises a defensive system that renders shell based weaponry useless, unfortunately the phase shift armour is connected to the main battery," the man explained, filling the Heliopolis children with even more concern for their friend.
The machines are truly magnificent, but each one possesses the same weakness. They cannot fight indefinitely, or without the support of a capital ship. Right now the Strike is the most vulnerable of the machines because it lacks the back up the other suits should have provided. Each G-Weapon's phase shift and weapons drain their batteries as much as that leaking machine. Every time they pull the trigger or take a hit, they get one step closer to running out of energy and out of time. The Earth Alliance obviously believes the future of warfare lies in space, they haven't accounted for battles on Earth. If there are people of even small intellect in the Alliance, then they'll know that they must abandon the use of phase shift armour. The risks are simply too great.
The crew members of the Argos gasped in awe as the Blitz seemed to disappear. Shots flew out of nowhere, striking the Archangel. A direct hit from a Triskeros missile took out one of the helldart ports.
"Release fragmentation missiles around the area the Blitz was once seen in," Murrue commanded.
"FIRE!" Natarle yelled.
The Archangel fired a missile, which split and released a storm of shrapnel. Nichol quickly deactivated the Blitz's ultimate weapon. Its phase shift armour activated and the shrapnel bounced off of it. Nichol then raised his shield, blocking a shot from one of the Gottfrieds.
"You built this machine, its only natural you'd know the best way to fight it," the boy muttered.
Nichol Amalfi and the Blitz seem made for each other. The Blitz's primary weapons are long range types, its beam sabre has only one practical use, stealth attacks in conjunction with the system that sets the Blitz apart from its brothers. Like the London Blitz, attacks from the machine have only a small window in which the intended targets can avoid damage. Mirage Colloid particles coat the machine and once activated it renders the suit invisible to electronic sensors for eighty minutes and some say the Blitz becomes invisible. I've noticed however, a very subtle distortion in space when the Blitz moves. The observational skills and reflexes of the opponent would have to be an ace class to see the Blitz before it attack. If they do notice the distortion and attack the Blitz, it would be the end of Nichol. Mirage Colloid and Phase shit armour cannot be used at the same time.
Despite these flaws in the machine, Nichol Amalfi is already proving to be more adept at using his machine than the other pilots, even Athrun Zala. He has patience and he thinks ahead, in terms of his fighting skills his test scores are lower than his fellow pilots, but it hasn't lowered his confidence. The young man's dedication to the Plants and to backing up his allies is unquestionable. He also doesn't hold grudges or vendettas, or at least his psychological profile doesn't indicate much. His lack of aggression makes him the perfect pilot to use a machine like the Blitz, but one on one against an opponent, without the aid of an ally he wouldn't last. Nichol Amalfi is a soldier, he follows orders and he'll ask the questions after the mission, but he's not a warrior. He doesn't have killer instinct, he doesn't enjoy the fight just that little bit to make his attacks fast and ruthless. As a person, he is the best of the Le Creuscet team, the soul that holds them together. If only he had chosen another form of employment.
"Kira, Kira Yamato!"
"Athrun, that is you."
Two friends had met on the battlefield for the very first time. The Strike and the Aegis had their sabres ready, but neither pilot could attack one another. They flew in the midst of their clashing allies, both seemingly ignored by both sides. Inside the machines, both friends could look one another in the eye. Neither believed they would ever see one another in opposing uniforms. For Athrun it seemed to be a confirmation of Kira's allegiance. Kira however felt as if Athrun had abandoned the principles they shared before Junius Seven. He didn't consider the effect the event had on his friend, and how his principles had matured since the tragedy.
"You and I are not enemies Kira, what happened? Why are you siding with the Alliance?"Athrun asked.
"I'm not with the alliance, but my friends are on that ship, what about you?" Kira's question shocked Athrun, causing him to lower his head slightly. "You used to tell me you hated the very idea of fighting, so why attack Heliopolis?"
"Because they built these things there, the Alliance, Orb officials, whoever they were turned the colony into a target," Athrun said.
"I'm sure that what the people who attacked Junius Seven said," a distorted retort came over the radio.
Gekido charged at the Aegis, firing shots from his gun blade that knocked the machine back. From the Aegis's side came shots that hit the Strike's shield. The Massacre and Purpose flew past their allies and slammed their fists together. Arc energy seeped into the Massacre, cracking the armour on its knuckles. Both machines released a surge of energy that mingled together, blue and red colours collided and formed a cloud of particles.
"They're both taking this matter so personally aren't they Gekido?" the pilot of the Massacre asked.
"It can't be, why are you on that side?" Gekido asked.
"ATHRUN!"
Both machines turned their heads, looking towards the approaching Duel.
"Why aren't you fighting Athrun?" Yzak asked.
"(sigh) later Gekido," the Massacre pilot said.
The Duel fired its beam rifle, hitting the cloud, creating an explosion. Both Gundams flew out of the dust cloud and headed for different targets, the Purpose for the Aegis and the Massacre for the Strike. Alongside the Duel, the Massacre hit the Strike's shield and forced Kira to keep the Strike on the evasive.
"I heard what you were saying, you really think Kira's been manipulated? That he's been forced?" Gekido asked as he blocked Athrun's sabre strikes with his gunblade. "You're damn right he's been forced, by you people," the young man snarled.
"What," Athrun widened his eyes at the man's statement.
"You attack his home, regardless of who made it a target you're the one who shot first, neither he nor his friends could get to shelters so what else are they left with? The Archangel, the only safe haven, the only place where they can have a fighting chance. If it's between compromising his personal beliefs or dying what did you think he's gonna choose? If it's between a few strangers and his friends what do you think he's gonna choose? It's the same principle you should be following, either strangers or your brothers of the unit," Gekido explained.
Athrun was left speechless, but he still fought on. In a way he was applying the principle of friends over strangers. He split Gekido's gunblade apart and delivered a kick to his chest. Gekido threw what was left of his gunblade and fired his vulcans, hitting the weapon and triggering an explosion that threw the Aegis back.
"Kira," Gekido snarled, looking towards the outnumbered machine.
"Coward, all he can do is dodge," Yzak said.
"Yzak," Dearka immediately took note of his friend's attack and fired at the Strike.
The Buster and Massacre fired their missiles, hitting the Strike from all directions. Kira screamed as his machine rolled around from the force of the explosions.
Dearka Elsman is a good shot, especially when it comes to heavy weapons. Whilst others may attempt to overwhelm an enemy with the sheer number of weapons the Buster has, Dearka would never waste a shot. As eager and arrogant as Joule, but have a degree of patient like Athrun and Nichol. All four boys have parents who are on the council, perhaps fuelling their need to serve the Plants. Dearka is the balance of the greatest qualities each of his team mates have, but some of their weaknesses as well. Like Yzak he believes his genetics alone make him superior, that he won't come across an opponent he'll have difficulty with. He's too loyal to his friends like Nichol, quick to come to their aid even if it means endangering the results of the mission, case in point him helping his best friend.
Dearka linked his weapons together and fired a yellow blast that flew into the Strike's shield, breaking it apart. Kira struggled to regain control of the machine as it was sent flying towards the Archangel.
"The Strike won't last long," Gekido said.
"Neither will we," said Biggs, seemingly his first report.
"What do you mean?" Gekido asked.
"Our energy is at ten percent," Biggs said.
"Why didn't you update me on the energy reserves?"
"I was updating you pilot, you were ignoring me!"
Gekido widened his eyes slightly, he knew he often lost himself in battle but before using a mobile suit he was able to main enough control to be aware of his ammo and fuel. The Gundam cockpit however was different, his focus had been on the enemy, what they were doing or saying. He hadn't been aware of the AI's warnings, of Miriallia's pleas for him to help Kira. There had only been the enemy in his eyes. His anger boiled, but not for the enemy, his rage had shifted to self-hatred and chiding his own actions. Hitting the screen, Gekido turned the Purpose and dashed towards the Strike.
"I agreed to protect the Strike and the Archangel, time to earn a good reputation," Gekido said.
Suddenly, an explosion rocked the Vesalius. The members of the Creuscet team and Thanos looked towards the ship in shock.
Mu La Flaga, 'the man who makes the impossible possible', more like the man with a good plan. Moving through the debris field and attacking the Vesalius directly. He'd have had to have used one part eye sight and another part instinct to be able to find the Vesalius, considering the debris would have affected his monitors as well. I wonder Rau, if you're as angry as I am or if you're still smug enough to disregard this failure on our part?
"Send out the order, tell all pilots to retreat, and prepare a repair team to aid the Vesalius," Dagger said.
"Yes sir," the communications officer nodded before turning to his console.
Dagger stood up and narrowed his eyes at the battle, waiting for the pilots to respond to his order. When Yzak didn't he sighed and turned to the communication officer. Taking the boy's head set he put it on and contacted Yzak specifically.
"Joule, you were given a direct order, explain yourself," he said.
"Commander Thanos, I believe this may be our best chance to take out both that white machine and the Strike, both are low on power," Yzak explained.
"Then make sure you don't miss!"
I believe men should disobey orders if they have a better plan. If they fail however, they should be held accountable. Unfortunately during a war things are permitted, or rather swept aside and sometimes forgotten when the war ends. The advancements to technology that can come from the development of the reactor both the Massacre and its brother unit the Purpose uses? They could revolutionise the energy business, they could make the energy business the thing of the past and solve the power crisis. But at the same time, the power both machines are capable of can change warfare, amplifying the skill of pilots to make them even more destructive. I see wasted potential when I look at them, Arcs for the survival of human kind, turned into weapons.
Gekido ignited his wrist sabre and blocked the slashes of the Massacre. He looked at his back screen, watching as the Duel targeted the Strike.
"NO!" he yelled as the Duel fired a beam.
He shoved the Massacre aside and flew for the Strike, the Purpose opened its fingers as if reaching for the G-Weapon. The Strike itself hadn't even the power to fire back at the Duel. Kira himself let out a helpless yell as the beam drew closer and closer towards him. Suddenly, a red object hit the Strike, four arms wrapped themselves around the suit and flew away from the Duel.
"KIRA!" Gekido yelled.
The Archangel crew and the ZAFT teams were shocked more by Athrun's actions than the Aegis's sudden transformation. Athrun ignored the curses of his team mates, focusing on his captive's struggle.
"Athrun let me go," Kira said.
"No Kira, I'm taking you back to the Vesalius, don't bother struggling," Athrun's tone had a finality to it.
It was final really, the Purpose stopped moving, and no matter how hard Gekido pushed the controls he couldn't make it move. The Gundam hung its head back and the light left its eyes.
"I'm not stepping one foot in any ZAFT ship," Kira said.
"Enough Kira, my mother died at Junius Seven, that's why I'm fighting now," Athrun said.
He gripped his controls tightly, but his actions gave him some relief. Whether his oldest friend hated him or not, he would still be alive.
"ATHRUN LOOK OUT!" Nichol yelled.
"YAAAHOOH!"
Kira's eyes lit up as the Moebius Zero swooped downwards, bombarding the Aegis with blasts from its gun barrels. Athrun grit his teeth together, transforming the Aegis and firing at the mobile armour. He then flew back as the zero shot back, drawing him away from the Strike.
Athrun Zala is top of his class, a good shot, a good hand to hand fighter and all the makings of a competent leader. He reminds me a lot of myself at that age, dedicated to the Plants enough to believe that ZAFT is incorruptible, that everything we do is for a valid reason. As pilot of the Aegis he should have been the most effective pilot out there. But his heart isn't in the fight, he is naturally a man who prefers peace to war but it's not his disdain for combat, its deeper than that. The Strike, he had so many opportunities to destroy that machine, likewise the Strike had an opening. They weren't psyching each other out before, or looking for an opening, they were talking. Athrun was communicating with that pilot. He knows the Strike's pilot.
Dagger's eyes narrowed not just in anger but a begrudging realisation that this was a battle ZAFT would lose. He saw the green launcher pack float out of the Archangel and the Zero keeping the other prototypes occupied. Then he saw Athrun and Yzak, both proofing to be polar opposites. Yzak threw the Duel into the fight, eager to claim glory. Athrun however hesitated, and the Aegis drifted as a witness like Thanos. The Duel raised its rifle as the Strike shed its Aile Striker. Kira never actually heard himself breath fast before, and he could've sworn he felt his heart pounding against his chest.
"TAKE THIS!" Yzak yelled.
The Duel fired the grenade on its rifle, sending it flying towards the Strike, just as the Launcher slammed into the Strike's back. Yzak widened his eyes as the Strike flew out of the smoke. Kira slid the Strike's targeting scope over his eye and targeted the Duel. He swung the launcher up and fired. The red and blue beam flew towards the Duel, prompting Yzak to fly to his right. The beam melted the Duel's arm and blew apart its rifle.
"Damn it," Yzak cursed.
"Now you will follow orders, all forces retreat," Thanos said.
He looked at the Archangel and the Strike as it kept on firing its Agni cannon. The victor had been decided today, the ship had been saved through the actions of a volunteer and not an employee. The Purpose floated in front of the Archangel, its damaged state a reflection of the poor performance of its pilot.
The greatest advantage the Strike has over the other prototypes isn't its weapons or striker packs. It's the support the Archangel offers, it can recharge its barrier in the middle of the battle. Of course, the Alliance will evolve the striker packs and create a means to deliver the packs to the Strike safely. Your gamble paid off today La Flaga, but unless you change your tactics you'll only get so far. Case in point being this victory today, whoever the pilot of the Strike is, this will have uplifted him. His confidence as a fighter and protector will grow. But then there's the white suit, sometimes defeat can make a person change. I look forward to seeing whether his defeat has humbled him. Wolf amongst the sheep, pilot of the white light, we'll see if you are a true warrior when we meet in battle.
Next Chapter 6: Umbrella breaks
Hope everyone enjoyed the chapter, I imagined the Purpose face looks a lot like the first Exia Repair.
Next time, well you guys have watched the anime so wait and see what I've done differently :)