Disclaimer: I don't own Gundam
Zack Tempest and the Wild Arms Gundam, that debuts this chapter, is property of SSJ-Jolt
Gundam Seed Purpose Renew
Chapter 8: Mercenaries
Dogs of war we are called, but in the end, we're all just men and women who are only good at one thing. I know only one man who can be considered a true dog.
Ryder's Ginn was sparking, Julia heard her charges, Miriallia and Sai gasp. They were horrified by what had happened, but relieved that the Ginn had survived the beam. She watched as the Ginn and Merc quickly flew, avoiding more beams that flew out of the darkness. She looked at the Mistral's radar and cursed, an N-jammer was active, meaning a ZAFT vessel. Julia positioned her Mistral around a group of asteroids, and used the camera to zoom in through the gaps. Moving through the debris was a Laurasia Class vessel. It didn't have the ZAFT paint job though, and instead sported a skull and crossbones on its side.
"Archangel, Laurasia class carrier spotted, it's a mercenary band," she reported.
"What are mercenaries doing in the debris belt?" Natarle asked, as her Mistral landed in the Archangel's hanger.
"We chose the wrong time to come to Junius Seven, a VIP was lost in this area and there's a contract for their recovery," Bentos said. "Sean are you okay?"
Sean's face appeared on the screen, showing that his helmet had a crack in it. There was also blood floating around the cockpit, Sean was nursing his side.
"Side of the cockpit bent, stabbed into my, shit," he grit his teeth together, lighting up a flare.
He pushed the flare against his wound, cauterising it. Then he took out a roll of tape, patching up both his suit and visor. Sean opened the Ginn's cockpit, and increased the flare's setting before throwing it out. He looked at his communication screen and nodded to Bentos, who nodded back. Another blast, this one emerald came out of the debris, hitting the flare.
"Twenty degrees to the left," Sean said, closing the cockpit.
Bentos flew out of cover, firing at the area the sniper had been confirmed to be in. A two seat Ginn, painted grey like the debris, floated between cover, reloading its customised sniper rifle.
"Confirmed, Sensou-suit in the open," the sniper's spotter said.
The sniper hovered onto a chunk of broken colony, latching onto it with hooks on the Ginn's feet. He looked down his targeting camera, amplified by the sniper scope.
"He's closing the distance," the spotter said.
Suddenly, a pair of missiles flew into the Ginn's back. Flay screamed as Wade flew the Kutai past the mobile suit. He swerved, barely dodging a beam the sniper fired. The sniper cursed, trying to retarget the Merc. But several more bullets struck the Ginn's shoulder.
"Oh come on," the sniper huffed.
He turned the Ginn's head, looking towards the Mistral.
"I really hope I don't regret this," Tolle said.
He turned the Mistral, and the Ginn's fingers brushed against the side of the pod. A flurry of bullets flew into the Ginn, hitting the pilot's cockpit, rendering the machine lifeless.
"Kill confirmed, targeting spotter," Bentos said.
He fired the Merc's rifle, hitting the Ginn's shoulder until it blew apart. The Merc and Ginn flew alongside the Mistral, keeping their rifles raised.
"There's a secondary sniper out here," Sean said.
"He didn't fall for the old 'heat source' trick, the other ones good, probably doesn't have a spotter either," Bentos stated.
Julia continued watching the Laurasia class vessel. It opened its hanger, and began to launch three Proto-Ginns with customised chest armour, a skull and cross bone pattern. An additional Ginn was launched with the same customised chest plate.
"Four mobile suits confirmed, they're equipped with heavy weapons," Julia said.
"All hands level one battle stations, all salvage crews get back to the Archangel immediately," Murrue commanded. "Kira, Gekido, Canard, provide support for the returning crew. La Flaga, launch in the zero as soon as you've returned."
Kira let out deep and nervous breaths, the rush of combat again overpowering him. He looked up, seeing another light source in the distance, crashing through the debris was another battleship. It didn't have any beam weapons on it, and wasn't as brightly coloured as the Archangel or ZAFT vessels. The ship opened its hanger, launching bulky green mobile suits with Mono eye cameras, although the red dot was instead three triangles in a pyramid pattern. They 'weaved' through the pieces of debris, holding both machine guns and hand axes.
"We have Brewers on our flank, database confirms UGY-R41 Man Rodis, shit, I can't believe they actually completed those monstrosities," Wade explained.
"Kira, intercept them," Canard said.
The Hyperion folded out its twin cannons, and began shooting at the approaching 'cross bone' forces. He managed to destroy two of the Proto-Ginns, but then activated his energy shields, as the last two machines began firing their Ion cannons. Gekido flew around the Archangel, looking for any signs of the sniper. He swerved just in time, dodging a purple beam.
"I missed, wow, that's some good reaction time," a voice said over the radio.
Gekido kept the Purpose steady, especially as pieces of rock and metal bounced off of the armour. He kept his rifle at the ready, looking through the gaps in the debris. Gekido spotted it, black and gold armoured plates over circuitry, parts specific to a mobile suit frame. Then it disappeared, and Gekido grit his teeth together in frustration. He looked towards where the Strike was, it had targeted the Rodis, but hadn't fired yet.
"Take the shot Kira," he said.
Kira let out a yell as he fired his beam rifle, hitting one of the Rodis in the shoulder. The beam blew apart the machine, sending it crashing into one of the rocks. As the Strike engaged the other Rodis, the Kutai passed by. Flay looked out of the window, gasping at what she saw in the wreckage of the Rodi. It was a child much younger than her, his eyes wide opened, body unmoving.
"Oh my god, there's a child in that thing," she said.
"Damn it," Gekido snarled, not over the revelation, but the fact it came over the channel.
He imagined Kira's eyes widening in that pathetic manner of his. Then the obvious happened, the Strike pilot froze, making him easy pickings for the Rodis. Bullets slammed into the Strike, and two of the Rodis hit the Gundam with their axes.
"Kids, they're just like us," Kira whimpered.
"Damn it Kira, take the shot, TAKE THE SHOT OR THEY'LL KILL YOU!" Gekido yelled.
He moved the Purpose forward, weaving through the meteors. With a feral yell, Gekido tackled one of the Rodis, knocking it into another one. He fired his rifle, hitting the first Rodi until it exploded, knocking the second one into a meteor. But the fourth and fifth one moved towards the Purpose, one firing its rifle, the other brandishing an axe. The Purpose flipped, avoiding the axe strike and firing its rifle at the other Rodi, hitting it in the legs, head, and then finally in the chest.
"They're just children," Kira said, letting go of the controls and gripping his arms.
The sixth Rodi suddenly appeared in front of the Strike, smacking its head with its axe. Gekido turned, looking towards the Rodi. He swung his rifle around, shooting the machine's back and hitting the reactor. The resulting explosion threw the Strike backwards. Kira trembled, looking at his hands, hands that had killed someone younger than him. He saw the Archangel begin to move through a gap in the debris, moving between the 'Crossbone' ship and Brewers. The Gottfrieds and hell darts struck both ships, which barraged the Archangel too.
"The Archangel, everyone," Kira muttered.
He saw something suddenly appear in front of him. It was a mobile suit, it had its back to the Strike, small wing's on the back were folded down. The mobile suit had black and gold armour, and looked to be of the same design quality as the suits made at Heliopolis. It raised a sniper rifle of some kind, targeting the Archangel.
"No, I won't let you," Kira said.
The Strike drew its sabre and swung it at the vanishing suit. Suddenly, the machine activated its wings, 'jumping' over the Strike. The mobile suit turned in midair, revealing that it had a similar head design to the other new mobile suits, including a V shaped fin on the head. It was a Gundam, and it was almost as if the pilot was looking directly at Kira.
"LOOK!"
The moment was shattered, as machine gun fire flew in from both sides of the Gundams. More Ginn trainers appeared, all of the Crossbone company.
"Easy pickings," one of the pilots said.
Without looking away from the Strike, the new Gundam clipped its rifle to its hip, and pulled two submachine guns out. The Gundam continued looking at the Strike as it fired the machine guns, spraying the surrounding Ginns with beams. Kira yelled as he thrust his sabre forward. But the new Gundam ignited bayonet beams on its machine guns, crossing them together and blocking Kira's sabre. The Gundam then kneed the Strike in the gut, before kicking it in the chest.
"You're not up to this," a voice spoke over the channel.
The machine moved so perfectly, as if the pilot was moving a part of his own body. He kicked the Strike one final time, throwing it into a meteor.
"When you're ready to take this seriously, only then will you be able to keep people safe, in the mean time, I've got a bounty to collect," the unknown pilot said.
Then, the Gundam vanished.
The first time I met Gekido Jaeger, was when he was at his most vulnerable. He was recovering from surgery on his spine. The device he had been implanted with was in effect a new spine. Much to everyone's shock, his body accepted the implant, everyone thought he was going to die, never before had someone lived through that kind of bio-implantation. So he was studied, I first met Gekido looking at him inside a glass tank, he'd been floating half naked in a blue liquid.
In the months that followed, I began to find out exactly what kind of man Gekido was. He was young, but well suited for the mercenary life, fighting was easy for him, especially piloting. The first time he stepped into a mobile suit was our first attempt at a mobile suit development project. He piloted a bulky mobile worker as well as any Ginn pilot would. His movements weren't fluid, they were bulky and ungraceful, he dispatched test targets like he was operating a machine for demolition.
But when it came time for other people to use the 'suits' they just couldn't fight. They could make the mobile workers move, but they weren't good enough to fight like Gekido had been. I started thinking maybe there was something special about Gekido, but there wasn't. He didn't care at all about the state of his machine, or fighting with fluid skill, just killing his enemy.
I began to think, that perhaps this man was a true dog of war.
Julia took off her helmet, as she and the other members of the salvage team exited their Mistrals. She looked towards the Kutai, where Wade and Flay disembarked. Flay had her head hung low, but Wade was already making his way to his Merc. Likewise, La Flaga was getting into his machine. Without wasting time, Julia floated to where Flay was going, the elevator. She placed her hands on the girl's shoulders, loosening her grip as she tensed.
"Gekido shouldn't have asked you to go," Julia said.
"I didn't want to see all of that," Flay said.
"He obviously felt somehow that you would learn something from it, he's flawed in that regard."
"You don't think I learnt anything?" Flay asked.
"Nothing that will matter, Gekido has too simplistic a view of the world, obviously he believes you should change somehow. I think if you are going to change, you shouldn't follow his advice about it, he's the one person you don't want to be more like," Julia explained.
"I know he's gruff and rude at times, but he said something out there, something about how far a person can take a 'reasonable belief'," Flay stated.
"People are capable of hiding who they really are, but I've seen who Gekido really is," Julia retorted.
They exited the elevator and began walking to the locker room.
"When he's out there, Gekido loses himself in the fight too much, he becomes just a wild beast," Julia elaborated.
"You're wrong," a voice spoke from behind the pair.
Julia and Flay turned, seeing Yamato there. He didn't have his usual, casual expression, but instead was frowning at them both.
"He cares, I know he does," he said.
His family are all fooled, but I saw it when I first saw his eyes. They were the eyes of an animal, something driven by its own lust for blood. Then came our first battle together, watching Gekido fly through the enemy forces in his customised jet, seeing him fight, hearing him growl like an animal, I knew the kind of man he was.
Gekido's shoulders shook as he fired at the Brewer ship. He moved around the craft, hitting the guns and boosters. A Rodi flew towards him, drawing its axe. The Purpose ignited its elbow rocket, punching through the suit's chest. Gekido tore the cockpit out and threw the child pilot into the debris, not caring if he shattered his helmet visor. The Purpose then flew through the debris, returning to its allies on the Archangel. Canard was firing his machine gun, and Bentos and Ryder were firing their rifles.
"Wade, Merc launching," the other mobile suit pilot spoke over the radio.
The second Merc launched out of the ship, which began to hit the Laurasia class ship's right flank. Wade fired his bazooka, hitting the Crossbone ship alongside the Archangel's weapons. Canard turned and fired his own cannons, hitting the Laurasia's boosters.
"We have one less pursuer," the Hyperion pilot said.
"Hard to port, we'll hit the front of the Brewer ship," Murrue said.
"Hold fire on all weapons, focus power on port side thrusters," Natarle relayed her commands.
The Archangel began to pull off a hard turn, with the mobile suits on top of it struggling to stay on. Once the Archangel was facing the Brewer ship, it raised compartments on both legs, revealing the positron cannons, the Lohengrin.
"Lohengrins FIRE!" Murrue yelled.
Both cannons fired, unleashing two incredible blasts, that ripped through the front of the Brewer ship. Pieces of the hull were ripped open, sending crew flying out of the ship.
"The older bastards sent all the children to fight whilst they stayed on their ship," Ryder said.
"They call them human debris, better than cowardly shits," Bentos said.
Gekido looked at his screen as both Bentos and Wade's faces appeared.
"You want to end this Geki?" Wade asked, grinning slightly.
"He's going to do his thing isn't he?"
"That's right Bentos," Wade's Merc removed its axe, giving it to the Purpose.
Bentos did the same with his axe, giving it to the Gundam.
"Gekido, we're going to pick up Kira when we pass the Brewer," Miriallia said over the radio. "Gekido," the pilot seemed to pay no attention to the report, keeping his eyes closed.
He gripped his controls tightly before taking a deep breath. When he opened his eyes, the pupils were narrow, like a feral beast.
"AAAAAAAGH!"
His roar echoed over the radio, through the Archangel's bridge, through the ears of the Brewer child soldiers, and the bridge of the Brewer ship. The Purpose suddenly took off, leaving a trail of energy behind it. Panic spread across the Brewer captain's face as he watched the Purpose begin its stampede.
"FIRE EVERYTHING WE HAVE LEFT!" he yelled.
Gatling guns blazed, missiles were launched, and the remaining Rodis fired their machine guns. The Purpose flew from one side to the other, dodging and even taking some of the projectiles. Gekido crashed his axe through the cockpit of one Rodi, then spun, and threw the other axe, crashing it into another Rodi. He moved again, grabbing the axe and carrying the Rodi's corpse. Kicking the Rodi in the chest, he slammed it against another Rodi, then cleaved another one across the chest. The Purpose flew high, dodging the hail of gunfire the Brewer ship released. But he was only the distraction, beams, rockets and bullets came from the other Archangel suits. Inside the Brewer ship, the CIC crew panicked as their displays showed their weapons being destroyed one by one.
"He's an animal, he's an animal, an animal, an animal, an animal!" the captain's voice quivered.
He backed away in fear, as the Purpose floated over the bridge. Its eyes were narrowed, much like Gekido's. He raised his axe and crashed it through the bridge, crushing the captain with a splat, and exposing the rest of the crew to the vacuum.
Dogs of war we are called, but Gekido is capable of becoming a wild dog, someone driven only by a lust to kill. Whether you're a mercenary or not, someone who enjoys the kill can only be considered a murderer, a psychopath. Ryder and Bentos are men who have never known any other life than this one, Wade is a boy who has had no other option but this life. Gekido is a dog that knows nothing else but violence.
Zack Tempest was a mercenary, a dog of war. But he was no berserker, and he certainly didn't enjoy killing. The eighteen year old sat in his mobile suit, the Gundam, the 'Vanishing Trooper', the Wild Arms. He wore a gold and black flight suit, but at the moment had his helmet off, revealing his blue eyes and unruly black hair, which had streaks of blonde in it. The young man was looking at his screen, at the form of the Strike. He felt the blood lust from that other Gundam pilot, it was monstrous. But then he began to feel something else, a softness, a tranquillity. It wasn't from the Strike pilot, he was a powder keg of inner conflict, an emotional wreck.
"She's close by, I know it," he muttered.
His eyes focused on the mobile suit from the Archangel, the only one that really belonged on it. He knew the others were mercenaries, with no real loyalty to the Earth Alliance. But the Strike pilot didn't seem loyal either, at least not in terms of his dedication to fighting for the Archangel.
"What motivates you?" he wondered.
Zack narrowed his eyes as he saw something, a light, much like that energy trail that white Gundam gave off. He felt something else, a blood lust even worse than the one coming from the White Gundam. Then, he got a good look at them.
"Mobile suits!"
Gekido grit his teeth together, feeling a pain in his right eye, which was impossible, considering it was cybernetic. He then looked around the cockpit, seeing that feint, red lines were glowing across the alloys. His attention went to Biggs's display screen, which flickered slightly.
"Something's wrong with the Purpose, you guys collect Kira and I'll take a moment to collect myself," Gekido said.
Bentos and Ryder nodded their heads, before flying on ahead. Canard remained on top of the Archangel, whilst Gekido drifted away slightly.
"Talk to me Biggs, what was that just now?" Gekido asked.
"A resonance effect, a suit possessing the same mineral incorporated into the Purpose was nearby," Biggs explained. "This is similar to the effect the Massacre had on the Purpose when both machines first activated."
"Archangel, there may be more mobile suits in the area," Gekido reported.
"We haven't detected anything on the long range scanners," Natarle said.
"Wait, two heat sources detected, within the area of Junius Seven," Sai reported.
Without waiting for an order, Gekido left to investigate.
People like Gekido, are unfit to be in this world. I don't enjoy what I do, I don't smile at what I do, I'm not a monster. I'm not a monster.
Gekido continued flying until he saw two mobile suits. Both were emitting particles, like the Purpose did when its armour had been breached. These suits however weren't Gundams, or even as advanced as the mobile suits of ZAFT. They looked more like armour had been patched over the inner frame of a mobile suit. But the armour was smooth and well designed, two 'ears' extended past the helmet, and the head camera narrowed at the target both machines were heading for. It was a simple escape pod, one that had most likely come from the ship in the debris field. One of the machines slid a pair of swords out of the shields on its arms.
"Kira, are you all right?" Ryder asked, as he and Bentos grabbed the Strike.
"Yeah, I'm okay," Kira said half heartedly.
"First time fighting so intense a battle?"
"I suppose," Kira whispered.
"I remember my first time," Bentos said.
He hung his head back, his face devoid of its usual humour.
"I was a jet pilot then, wasn't the same kind of connection to killing that mobile suit piloting is, but still, I was in the fight, all those little emotions rushing through me, I was too afraid for my own life to worry about the morality of killing another man," he explained.
Kira heard the man sigh over the radio.
"I barely remember what it was like to shoot down another jet, but I got told by my superior to gun down rebel fighters, some southern African movement, had a problem with an alliance occupation, the usual shit coming out of that part of the world. I remember that, very well!"
"It was just one missile, that was it, one missile, one flyby, but on my way back I saw the smoke, I'd kept thinking when I got back to base, 'I've just destroyed someone's home, what if they had their children there?' that question haunted me until I found out, the kids weren't just living with the rebels, they were using them to fight too. Nothing as monstrous as getting them to suicide bomb patrols, but, some child hood destroying stuff either way, carry the ammo, drive the cars. I realised I had just killed kids."
"What did you do about it, to ease the guilt?" Kira asked.
"I didn't have to do anything, it gets easier Kira, it gets easier."
"That's no good to me, I don't want to do this anymore," Kira said.
"Is that what you're going to say when they kill your mates?" Bentos asked.
"Hey, Bentos, he's just a kid," Ryder said. "It's all right Kira, there's no shame in saying that you don't have the mindset for this kind of work. I heard you and your friends were from that technical college from Heliopolis, what were you studying?" he asked.
"Engineering, physics, chemistry, mostly things related to colonial development."
"Is that what you want to do?"
"I don't know," Kira muttered, looking nervously at the screen.
"That's all right, you've got your whole life to decide what you want to do. Did you know a kid called James?" Ryder asked, "I think he was studying computer programming."
"I can't say I did, who is he?" Kira asked.
"My son," that revelation made Kira widen his eyes, and Ryder laughed at his reaction. "The divorce had nothing to do with my work, or what it did to me, turns out she was a complete and utter bitch," he explained.
"But she had a great rack," Bentos added.
Kira laughed with Bentos, and even Ryder chuckled.
"Yeah, even though she made my life more of a hell than war, I could never blame her for giving me James. For everything that my life had become, he was out there, alive, happy, going to the school he wanted, and that made me happier than I can describe. I don't know whether his mum told him about what I did, but she never allowed me to see him. There's probably a really good retort to what I'm about to say Kira, but this, all this, the pain and the suffering we're inflicting and enduring, if it gives our precious people more time to live, it was worth it," Ryder explained.
"I think I understand," Kira said.
"Good, you're a good kid Kira, I hope you make it to where you want to go," the mercenary smiled, and it put a smile on Kira's face.
Suddenly, the side of Ryder's Ginn blew apart. Kira felt the force push his suit to the side, felt the debris hitting the Strike. Turning the suit around, he looked towards where Ryder's Ginn was. It was limp, unmoving, and drifting further and further away. The Strike moved closer to it, grabbing its shoulders as Kira opened his cockpit.
"Ryder, Ryder," he called out to the man.
But the boy froze, seeing the damage to the Ginn, how its chest had been torn open. Then he saw Ryder and recoiled in shock, the glass on his helmet was shattered, his skin lacked any colour, and his eyes were so empty. Bentos's Merc flew behind Kira, the older man's face was gentle and so filled with understanding. He didn't need to tell Kira that, this was the reality of a damaged mobile suit, they weren't invincible, one shot was all it took sometimes to destroy one. Kira leant back on his chair, closing the cockpit and taking deep breaths, keeping his composure as he grabbed the Ginn.
"Leave it kid, he wouldn't care what was done with his body," Bentos said.
"How can you be like this, just be so casual about what happened?" Kira asked.
"Ryder was my friend, you knew him for a few seconds, you're just in shock kid, I'm the one whose hurting, I just don't cry like you probably would. But fine, if you want to do something special for the body, take it back to the Junius Seven wreckage, it was his home once after all, the suit however, it'll make good spare parts," Bentos explained.
He grabbed the shoulder of the Ginn with one hand, and tore Ryder out of the cockpit with the other. Kira tried to fight back the bile in his throat, as he took hold of what was once Ryder.
"This is just how we are kid, it's how Ryder was too, there's nothing good about it, nothing even necessary about it, it just is what it is," Bentos said.
Kira cut communication, and took the Strike into the debris field again. He flew towards Junius Seven again. Lifting his visor up, he wiped the tears from his eyes.
"Ryder," he whispered.
The Strike moved its fingers, letting the body go. Kira watched it drift off, wiping his eyes again.
"I don't want to do this anymore but, I'll remember what you said," the young man turned the mobile suit.
But an object drew Kira's attention. In truth it should have drawn everyone's attention. A luxury ship with a white and green hull, damaged though and lifeless. Kira flew the Strike around the ship, checking visually for any sign of activity. He then saw something else that made him raise his rifle. A yellow armoured mobile suit had had its cockpit crushed. Kira brushed the suit aside and looked towards the debris. He saw a life pod imbedded on a small meteor. Ahead of it, the Purpose had pinned a red armoured and eared mobile suit to the side of a ruined ship.
"Gekido," Kira called to the pilot.
"Be with you in a second...no...ten seconds I'd say," Gekido said.
The Purpose was holding the two arms of the enemy suit, its foot pushed against the chest. It was pulling the arms and pushing down with its foot. Either the arms would snap off, or the cockpit would buckle under the pressure. Gekido began to count down, grunting as if he was the one pulling and not the Gundam.
"Gekido stop, let's just go," Kira said.
"Sorry did you say something?" Kira knew that Gekido could hear him, he just didn't care.
"OH GOD!" the Orb teen shot up in surprise.
It was a woman speaking, and she was terrified.
"Please, please, please, please, please stop please, I won't go after you I swear," she said.
"Oh I don't give a shit if you go after me or not, why did you attack the pod? The Plants are paying a fortune for her retrieval," Gekido explained.
"Yes but Blue Cosmos was willing to pay for her life."
Gekido snarled, the Purpose itself stopping for a moment. Kira watched the confrontation, his heart thumping hard against his chest. He didn't know the woman, or even what they were talking about. But he felt sympathy for her, she sounded just as scared as Flay and that blonde girl in Heliopolis had been. The Purpose's eyes suddenly turned red, and it continued to pull the suit's arms.
"No, NO!" the girl screamed.
"You piece of shit, the Plants were offering more than Blue Cosmos. But oh well, hatred sometimes influences my decisions, like right now, I hate bigots," Gekido snarled.
The Purpose raised its foot up, and then brought it down hard. With a crunch, the Purpose crushed the enemy suit's cockpit and ripped off its arms. Kira looked at the scene in horror. Still holding the arms of the suit, along with its swords and shields, the Purpose turned away. The Gundam prepared to fly away, but then turned back to the suit. Again the Purpose stomped on the cockpit, drawing blood out of it.
"Right, I'm done, hey Kira, you like picking up strays huh? Think you can convince the captain to let in another one, I'm sure this pod won't last much longer," Gekido explained.
"What the hell is wrong with you?" Kira suddenly asked.
Gekido raised his eyebrows curiously at Kira.
"Mr Ryder is dead," he said.
"Did he get shot down?" Gekido asked.
"His suit just blew up, it was damaged in the fight," Kira said.
Gekido shrugged his shoulders and huffed.
"What is that?" Kira demanded.
"We weren't exactly close, did Bentos recover what was left of his machine, I think we could all use some spare parts."
"What the hell is wrong with you? He's dead, one of your allies is dead, someone who was going to protect us, someone with a family. You just murdered someone who couldn't fight back," Kira explained.
"Yeah she was an angel who liked blowing up escape pods, which coincidentally couldn't fight back either," Gekido retorted.
"You and Bentos, you both..."
"What were you expecting Bentos to cry?" Gekido asked, interrupting Kira. "He didn't cry did he? Whether he cries for his friend or not is up to him, not you, him, he's the one feeling the pain so let him feel it. It isn't for you to decide whether we're honouring or not honouring his memory, you knew him for a few seconds Kira, a few seconds. If the death of a stranger paralyses you, then you'll never be able to protect your friends, it isn't a matter of opinion, its fact!"
Gekido again huffed and flew past Kira. The boy lowered his head for a moment, and then looked up at the retreating Purpose. Inside the machine, Gekido's face remained firm, angry. He punched his main monitor, letting out a strong growl. His eyes looking at his side screen, at the remains of Junius Seven.
"You people talk to me about how I am, you get all high and mighty about it. Yet still you're working for bastards that would do this, we're all a bunch of hypocrites, aren't we...Ryder?" he asked.
He looked back one more time, before moving forward.
Next Chapter 9: Songstress of the enemy
Hope everyone enjoyed the chapter, next time we get back to the episodes of Seed and a new first meeting for Gekido and Lacus.