Thank you all for reading. :) Here's Chapter Three. And I will fix the "the ZAFT" issue in the future, when I have time to go back and edit. It's a common mistake I make when writing GS fanfiction.
And no, some things never change no matter what the universe. XD But some things do. Here, though . . . nothing much changes. Chapters 4 and 5 you will get to see some alternate events, though.
Chapter Three: Eruption
The Aegis still didn't move. I realized Athrun had to be in shock to see me, like I was stunned to see him. And he couldn't quite bring himself to attack us, knowing I could be inside.
No, he knew I was inside. I knew Athrun from prep school. He would never attack a friend, even if he didn't know for sure that his friend would be endangered. He erred on the side of caution.
But moreover, he knew me. He knew I would be foolhardy enough to climb in here.
But before any words could be said, another Mobile Suit landed near Athrun. A GINN.
"Can you listen in?" Kira asked.
"They're not talking on a public channel," Murrue said, fighting with buttons. The O.S. even to my eyes, looked particularly clumsy. I was no ace with mechanics and computers but even I knew enough to see that the O.S. was cumbersome and slow.
"You got any weapons?" Kira asked.
"I have Igelstellung machine-guns. They can do some damage," Murrue said.
"That's it?" Kira asked in disbelief.
"We're weren't expecting this machine to go into battle, Prince Kira!"
Suddenly, the Aegis blasted off. And with Athrun went every hope I had of coming out of this alive. The GINN pilot had probably ordered Athrun away, and Athrun had to obey orders, he was a soldier.
The GINN faced us, and drew its melee weapon, a heavy sword.
"Lieutenant, he's gonna skewer us," Kira said, his voice becoming higher-pitched and squeakier with each word.
"You don't say!" Murrue snapped. She immediately fired the machine-guns, but the GINN easily dodged her volley and rocketed right at us.
Murrue gave up shooting at the last second and instead hit a button on the console. A brief flashing light appeared around the Strike, and the sword failed to penetrate the Strike's armor. It was like it had magically transformed into a blunt instrument, a club. The blow knocked all three of us around, and Kira hit his head, but other than that, it didn't do a lot of damage.
"What did you do?" I asked.
"I activated the Phase Shift Armor," Murrue said. "It'll offer us some protection, but its lifespan is limited."
The GINN backed up a few steps, as if sizing us up. Clearly, it hadn't expected Murrue's trick, and was now wondering what to do.
Kira moaned "You're not gonna win with that kind of O.S."
"What do you suggest, then?" Murrue asked.
"Cagalli, do you have any experience in this?" Kira asked as he rubbed the left side of his head.
"Some. I got Bs in my electronic science classes and a C in code."
"Good enough. Take the keyboard out," Kira said.
I did. Murrue looked at both of us with puzzlement. "What the hell are you kids doing?"
"Saving our lives," Kira said.
I took the keyboard out. "Okay, what do I do?"
"Now listen, Cagalli. First, calibrate the zero moment point. Then reconfigure the CPG. Link the control module to the artificial cortex molecular ion pump. Finally, reformat the neural image network."
Judging by the look on Murrue's face, she was baffled. And if I wasn't a Coordinator, I wouldn't have kept up with Kira's instructions. I wasn't the greatest with interface systems and electronics, but I knew what Kira was asking for. And I typed as fast as I could. The GINN seemed to be preparing itself for another charge.
It occurred to me that the pilot wasn't trying to destroy the Mobile Suit. The pilot was trying to take the Mobile Suit intact. He was intending on stealing it away from us. So he wasn't going to pull out a gun and blow the Strike to smithereens. He wanted to fly this thing back to the ZAFT, he wanted this to be their shiny new trophy.
"All right," Kira said. "The O.S. should be more efficient, but you're not gonna be able to fly it, Lieutenant."
"Why not?" Murrue asked.
"It's configured for a Coordinator now," Kira said. He grinned at me, I could see signs of a shiner already appearing around his left eye. "And we got a Coordinator onboard."
Murrue stared at me. "You . . . You are a . . ."
"Yes," I said.
I stared at the controls. "You sure this is a good idea?"
"You're the only one who can fly it now. I've studied ZAFT interfaces. This is a pretty good facsimile of one," Kira replied. "Now hurry, before he charges us again."
Murrue and I looked at each other. She sighed and threw up her hands. "We're dead if I keep trying to move this thing. Go ahead."
Thanks for the responsibility. Murrue and I swapped seats just in time to see the GINN charge right at us.
"What do I do?" I shrieked.
"Dodge it!" Kira yelled, but it was too late. The GINN led with its unarmed left shoulder, and slammed us into a nearby building, causing it to crumble behind us into thousands of pieces. I hoped no one was inside when that had happened.
"He's got us pinned!" Murrue shouted.
The Phase Shift Armor was starting to crack as the sword attempted to slice through the Strike's left arm. It was like a knife slowly slicing through butter.
"Punch him!" Kira shouted.
"How?" I asked.
"Just do something!"
I took a wild guess as to how the controls worked and moved a lever forward. Somehow, I had guessed right, and the Strike raised its right fist and punched the GINN in the gut. The GINN backed up again, and a sizable dent could be seen in the Mobile Suit's torso.
"Good guess," Kira said, sighing with relief.
"Does this thing have any more weapons?" I asked.
"There's a pair of Armor Schneider knives. That's it," Murrue said.
"Come on!" I growled.
"I told you, we weren't expecting the Strike to actually fight yet!"
I fumbled with my system until I figured out how to draw the knives, and put them in a defensive position. The GINN continued to sit and wait, like it was studying us.
But then Murrue said "He's waiting for the Phase Shift to run out of energy. Cagalli, you're going to have to rush him."
"Are you serious?" I asked.
"Dead serious. We're finished the moment our Phase Shift Armor is down," Murrue said. "Rush him. We have to take him down before we run out of time."
I sighed, and quickly accelerated the Strike. It seemed easier with the new interface and controls that Kira had suggested, but it still didn't feel quite natural. I was going to have to do a lot of fixing with Kira later to make the machine more to my liking.
The GINN barely reacted in time to block us, and I kept going on the offensive, slashing away with the knives, but I couldn't get a death blow. We knocked over another office building as we battled, and destroyed an elevated expressway in the process too.
Finally, the GINN backed off, and then rocketed right at me. It was trying to retake the initiative, to catch me off balance.
I had no intention of letting that happen.
I let the moment get the better of me, and I yelled something unintelligible as I got my knives in the right position to stab the ZAFT machine in the torso, causing sparks to erupt. Immediately, the ZAFT pilot ejected, I saw his seat rocket into the air and blast out of sight.
Suddenly, Murrue shouted "Get away from the GINN! It's gonna blow!"
"It's going to what?"
Then the GINN exploded.
The Phase Shift Armor saved us, but it knocked us incredibly off balance and sent the Strike staggering backwards multiple steps before I got control of it. Immediately, the Phase Shift armor died, and I suddenly felt a lot more vulnerable than I had.
"It ran out of energy," Kira said.
"Like I said . . ." Murrue trailed off.
I finished for her. "Let me guess. You weren't planning on sending this into combat yet."
"Yeah," Murrue said. "There's a park nearby. Walk us over there. I need to patch up my wound, and we need to wait for some kind of help. There isn't any choice."
I saw what Murrue was talking about, and steadily guided the Mobile Suit over there. It had seemed so sleek with the Phase Shift armor, but now it was just a lumbering beast, and difficult to keep control of.
I could not wait until I was out of the cockpit.
After we set down, Kira and I bandaged Murrue's shoulder injury. She sighed wistfully. "Cagalli, I assume you know that since you've witnessed a military secret, you're stuck with us until further notice."
I had figured as much. "Yeah."
Kira's eyes widened. "You're not even going to argue it?"
"You can argue it. You're the prince," I said.
"Oh." Kira's eyes widened in realization. "Oh yeah. Lieutenant Ramius, as prince of my nation, I demand you release this citizen immediately!"
He looked at me with a sheepish look. "Like that?"
"Good enough," I said with a sigh.
Murrue just gave Kira a look. "Prince Kira, while you theoretically could do that, there is a strong possibility the ZAFT could destroy Heliopolis at any moment. Do you want to risk Cagalli's life as well as your own?"
"Uh . . ."
"If we have to, we can shelter inside the Strike's cockpit, though the air won't last for long."
"Um . . ."
"Also, all of the shelters in the immediate vicinity are either full or destroyed. You and Cagalli would need a vehicle in order to reach a shelter with openings in a half-hour. You really think the colony has that long to live?"
Kira scratched the back of his head, and I sighed in dismay. An ordinary lieutenant had just outsmarted the prince of my nation, and I was not pleased by that.
Some son of the Lion of Orb. He would be lucky to be compared to a house cat, I thought.
"Okay, you win," Kira said.
"Good," Murrue said. She sighed and then looked at me. "Cagalli Yamato, what is a Coordinator like you doing here? Nearly all of the Coordinators who lived in the EA and neutral nations emigrated to the ZAFT in the wake of the Bloody Valentine to show solidarity. But you didn't. Why?"
I tried to crack a joke. "Would you believe I'm a pacifist?"
Murrue's eyes narrowed. She was not in a joking mood.
The Bloody Valentine was just over eleven months ago. A PLANT called Junius Seven had been nuked without warning by Earth Alliance ships. Over a million Coordinators perished, and it automatically ignited the current war.
It was debatable whether it was a sanctioned EA operation, a rogue element, or simply terrorists. Whatever the case, the EA was blamed, despite denials from the Eurasian Federation and the North American Federation. The Republic of East Asia remained curiously silent, offering no comment other than they were "investigating".
"I stayed for my parents," I finally answered. "And for my friends. My parents wanted me to get an education, not join a military. And I have some friends in Orb, and I didn't want to leave them behind. I've already left a set of friends behind in the ZAFT. I didn't want to leave my Orb friends behind too."
"So you were part of the ZAFT," Murrue said.
"Until high school, yes." I could tell Murrue was suspicious of me, just judging by the look in her eyes. "What are you gonna do, shoot me for it?"
"No," Murrue said after a brief pause. "No, I'm not. In fact, I need you."
"Oh, really?"
"Yes. I think I, and any Earth Alliance personnel that's left, are going to need you if we want to live," Murrue said.
Suddenly, a distant explosion erupted in the distance, and I saw a ZAFT Mobile Suit emerge from it, closely followed by some kind of Mobile Armor.
"It's not over yet?" Kira cried.
"No," Murrue said. "I guess not."
The Mobile Armor and the ZAFT machine continued to battle each other, until the ZAFT machine, which was a CGUE by the looks of it, suddenly got behind the Mobile Armor by coming to a complete halt. The Mobile Armor was left exposed and was shot multiple times in the rear, and went spiraling away, smoking.
"That's not good," Murrue said.
The CGUE immediately flew right towards us. Kira's eyes widened and he tried to back away. "Oh crap! What do we do?"
"Prince Kira, we'll hide. Cagalli, try to do what you can," Murrue said.
"What?" I asked.
"It's our only chance-"
Suddenly, a massive cannon burst came out of nowhere. The CGUE pilot barely saw the beam coming in time and swerved to avoid it, but one of its arms was vaporized. The giant blue beam of light flashed onward, out of sight, and only a distant rumble hinted it had finally impacted a target big enough to stop it.
"What was that?" Kira asked.
"The Archangel," Murrue yelled, a wide grin appearing across her face. "It survived!"
"The Archangel?" I asked.
"It's a brand-new ship, it practically finished construction yesterday," Murrue said. "I had lost contact with it right before Morgenroete came under attack. I was wondering if it had been destroyed."
"Clearly not," Kira said.
Suddenly, Murrue slapped herself on the head. "Oh God, I'm a moron."
She ran into the Strike's cockpit and turned something on. "Archangel? Archangel, do you read me?"
Somebody answered. "This is Petty Officier Pal onboard the Archangel. Who is this?"
"This is Lieutenant Murrue Ramius. I have the Prince of Orb and the Strike GUNDAM. I request immediate extraction."
Pal answered instantly. "You got it, ma''re on our way, we found a landing spot right next to your position."
Murrue sighed with relief. "Thank you, Petty Officer. Over and out."
She leaned against the cockpit seat. "What a day. What a day."
The Archangel's engines roared louder as it approached us, but it was surprisingly quiet for such a big ship. It seemed to have legs outstretched in front of it, giving it a unique, odd appearance. Very difficult to describe in words.
Murrue's smile changed from joy to something more relaxed, relieved. "We're safe. That's what matters. We're safe."
I personally doubted it.
When the Archangel landed, immediately personnel ran out to loud the Strike into the hangar bay at the rear of the ship. It was while we were at the rear when an officer, followed by group of noncommissioned officers, ran towards us. I heard the officer yell "Lieutenant Ramius! You're all right!"
"Ensign Badgiruel," Murrue said.
Ensign Badgiruel was a woman who seemed to be around Murrue's age, but she had a more severe appearance, and her raven-colored hair was cropped much shorter than Murrue's.
She stopped in front of us. "I recognize the prince, but I don't recognize the civilian girl. Who's she?" Badgiruel asked.
"Oh," Murrue said. "She is Cagalli Yamato. She took control of the Strike and defeated an enemy GINN opposing us."
"That's impossible! No ordinary civilian could do that!" Badgiruel exclaimed.
"You're wrong," said a male voice to our left. "Nothing is impossible."
Out from the hangar bay appeared a man who seemed slightly older than a woman, with blonde hair parted in a professional manner. I could already tell he fashioned himself as a confident, swaggering ladies' man.
"Oh! Lieutenant Ramius . . ." Badgiruel paused.
The man chuckled. "It's all right, I can introduce myself. I am Lieutenant Mu La Flaga of the Earth Forces 7th Orbital Fleet. At your service."
"I am Lieutenant Murrue Ramius of the 5th Special Division," Murrue said.
"And for the convenience of the prince and the civilian, I am Ensign Natarle Badgiruel, also of the 5th Special Division." Poof, there went 'Badgiruel', now I had a first name to remember her by.
The man stood in front of me and seemed to study me for a second. "What?" I finally asked.
Mu sighed. "There is a reason why the civilian accomplished such a feat, beating a GINN while piloting a new Mobile Suit she has never seen before. Not to mention said Mobile Suit is underpowered because it wasn't combat ready, and the controls are cumbersome due to a flawed O.S. When I saw the test pilots move them into the Morgenroete factory, just getting them to walk was no easy feat."
"What are you saying?" Natarle asked.
I saw the crewmen starting to stare at me, and I realized what Mu La Flaga was leading up towards.
Murrue tried to step in. "Lieutenant La Flaga, this isn't the right time for an interrogation. Please, wait."
Mu looked at her. "I am not interrogating her, but I think this is for the relief of everyone on board."
He looked back at me.
"You are a Coordinator, aren't you?"
There was the magic word. Coordinator. Just by the look on everyone's faces, it was like the word would open up a rift into hell and send demons scurrying everywhere around them.
The accusation meant there was no point in lying or bluffing my way out of this.
I took a deep breath, and exhaled. "Yes."
I closed my eyes, and waited for all hell to break loose.
