First up I would like to say a big thank you for all those guys and girls who have read this fic. (Sorry hard to tell gender over the internet) As you can see this story is coming to a close, well not yet, there is still so much left to write and all, but you guys get the idea that the story is now getting on to that last quarter of the show. It has been a long way, and I do appreciate all of you who have read through the whole thing so thank you. I'd also like to add, if you don't like the story here, I'm not forcing you to read it.
Please review and let me know what you think of the story so far. No flaming please.
Opening Song (Hologram)
"Masshiro na keshiki ni ima sosowarete" Bright Vermilion light shines from the eyes of the Agito Zero as the camera pans down to the torso to reveal Anthony with his eyes closed.
"Boku wa yuku no mada minu sekai e" Anthony opens his eyes and begins to move his suit. As he does this the entire screen is now engulfed with Vermilion light and the Logo of Gundam Agito SEED appears.
"Maigo no mama tabi shiteita" Anthony is sitting with his back to the Agito Zero, flipping through pages of his book.
"Nezumiiro no sora no shita." Anthony turns his head slightly to look in the direction of the camera.
"Higawari no chizu ikutsumo no yume ga nijindeita." This scene shows Kira sitting and looking at earth while Lacus comes from behind and places her hands over his eyes and then removes them as she smiles.
"Itsuka wa sa." The scene now shows Delilah as she now gets into a mobile suit and prepares to launch.
"Chippoke na boku no kono hohaba demo." This Scene show Andrew Waltfeld looking over the desert at night while the winds blows. The Camera pans out to show that Ashia and DeCosta are with him.
"Ano kumo no mukou made yukeru kana." The view now shows a line of the crew of the Archangel. It pans to the left showing Kuzzey, Flay, Sai, Miriallia, Tolle, Natarle, Mu and then it zooms in to show Murrue. Behind Murrue there is a flag of the Atlantic Federation.
"Tsuyogatte" Anthony looks straight ahead at a man, the wind blowing his crimson cape behind him, his eyes are narrowed and his face is empty of emotion.
"Kizutasutia" Rau Le Creuset Now turns his mask on and his hair being blown in the wind, he has a smirk on his face as he faces Anthony.
"Kokoro sukashita youni." The two of them are standing off and the image of the Earth's sphere is in between the two of them.
"Furidashita" A feminine hand reaches out for Anthony and he does the same, only the hand that is reaching out for him fades before the two can make contact.
"Amastubu tachi ga" Anthony wakes up in his mobile suit and holding a picture in his hands. The camera zooms in on during the last word to show him standing and smiling with a young woman.
"Ran hansha Kurikaesu" The scene shows a sign saying extend then three Mobile suits one Grey tinted Green, One Black and the last a Grey tinted Blue. A Man with Blonde hair in white stands smiling at them as the scene breaks to show Rau Le Creuset in front of the Dominion.
"Massugu na hikari ga, Kousa shite" The scene shows Kira in the Freedom cutting down to GINNs, the first it passes him, the other he uses the cannons on the Freedom to shoot down.
"Yukusaki mo tsugenumama" The ground is on fire and the Blitz, Duel and Buster emerge out of the flames to take on an unseen enemy.
"Doko made mo, Tsuknukeru" The view pans past Delilah in a custom GINN that is coloured bright yellow and turns to show that she is firing at an unseen enemy in space.
"Awai zanzou ryoume ni yakitsukete." This scene pans to the right as it reveals the Clamity, the Forbidden and the Raider, above the ocean trying to land a hit on the Agito Zero and each one being thrown back.
"Kono sora no shita" The scene shows Rau's Custom white GINN flying forth with its beam sabre.
"Donna toko ni itemo" This scene show Mu face and the Strike clashing beam sabres with Rau in his GINN. The scene is lit up with the light coming from the class.
"Tokoku hazu nanda, mada minu sekai e" The scene is of that when Anthony is facing the camera, he turns his head closes his book stands up and moves towards his cockpit.
Chapter Twenty Three
"It may be better to go and regret it rather than staying here and regretting it. If you don't move forward, you can't gain anything." Futaki Kanata (Little Busters)
The crew of the Archangel had come out to look at Kira, some of them were unsure if he was real or not.
That was too be expected.
Kira now walked up to them slowly and came in front of Mu and Murrue and then gave a smile as he said "I guess I made it, just in time."
Yes he had made it just in time, but the crew was still in a bit of shock, they were sure that Kira had died a little while back.
Murrue now asked though Kira was right in front of her now "Kira is that, really you?"
He then closed his eyes and gave nod just as he said "Yeah, it's me."
Miriallia now close her eyes before with tears in her eyes said "Kira." As she now ran towards him.
Some of the other crew now did the same and they all crowed around him, one of them now said "How the hell did you?"
One of the others then asked "So you're real right, you're not a ghost are you?"
Sai and Kuzzey now walked up, both of them were glad that Kira was here, with tears in his eyes Sai said "I'm real glad that, you're alive."
Kira in turn put his hand on Sai's shoulder and said "Yeah, I'm sorry, thank you Sai."
It was just at this point a voice that put Murrue on edge a little sounded "Is it, is it really you Kira!"
All of the crew now spun on the spot to see that Flay Alster was present and she was now coming out of the Archangel.
Murrue was in shock while Mu gave a little bit of a smile at all of this.
Murrue then stated "Flay Alster, what is the meaning of this, you were meant to be transferred, did you disobey orders?"
At this point the very sarcastic voice of Anthony Hitoro said "Oh I am sure that you can give her a crash course in following orders after this battle."
Yep no doubt about that, the voice had to be Anthony.
It had come from the speakers in his suit, so far he had not gotten out of the MS Agito nor did he show that he intended to do so.
After they had gotten over the fact that Flay was here, Kira now said "I am guessing you have like a million questions to ask me, don't you?"
Murrue in kind gave him a smile as she said "At least." Kira now said "There are a lot of things I want to ask you about too."
Murrue now said "I'm sure there are." Mu instead got to the point as he now asked "So are you with ZAFT?"
Kira now turned to face Mu and said "I was with them, but I haven't become a ZAFT soldier."
He now turned back to face Murrue as he said "However, I'm not with the Earth forces now either."
That made sense, it was due to the fact that the EA had just tried to get them all killed in a gambit to kill of part of ZAFT forces.
Murrue gave him a nod and said "I understand, there are some things that we will have to talk about."
She now turned to look at the MS Freedom as she said "First this machine, what should we do about that?"
Kira just said "If you are talking about maintenance and resupplying, there is no need for that right now, because this machine is equipped with an N-Jammer Canceller."
To get it clear in his head Mu had to go and say "An N-Jammer Canceller?"
One of the other crew then asked "So that is that thing powered by nuclear energy?"
Another then asked "Where did you get it from?"
Kira's face was serious as he now said "If you start asking about specifics, you're not going to get anything from me and I'll have to leave and even if I had to fight you, I wouldn't let you take it from me."
To say that he was a bit taken aback about how much he almost sounded like Anthony would not do it justice.
In the end though, the rest of the crew was able to pick up on this, though they got that Kira was just doing what he had to in order to protect the identity of the one who gave him that suit, it was clear the topic was a no go at least for now.
Murrue was able to tell that the person who gave them this was dear to him so she said "But Kira?"
In direct contrast to that Mu could only stare and said "This kid?"
Kira now spoke in a very serious tone "I was entrusted with it and I'll take care of it."
The tone that Kira used was a tad harsh and a bit direct, it made all of the crew take a step back or at least move back a little.
This was the line that made the way Kira kept his secrets and Anthony kept his secrets different.
Kira was open to conflict and was ready to fight them.
Anthony was too, but the way Anthony did things was a tad bit more indirect, Kira did say he would fight if he had to.
Anthony had said he would blow them all up if he had to, but the way the said it, Kira was harsh as well as firm.
Kira was now in a similar situation that Anthony had been in when he first met all of them.
Only that Kira knew all of them and was close to all of them.
He was also very direct, it is not that Anthony wasn't but Kira was not as skilled at diplomacy as Anthony was nor as good a speaker.
In this case, it was better for him to be direct about what he had to do rather than just leave them guessing.
Murrue managed to defuse the tension when she said "Alright I understand, you have my word that we will leave the machine and the equipment inside alone."
She then turned her head and called out "Is that clear!" Kira in turn said "Thank you for understanding."
Kira now looked up at the MS Agito Zero he then called out "Anthony, are you going to come out?"
The voice on the other end of the speakers said "I will when I deem fit to, what did catch my eye is that the MS Buster does have a person inside of it, I do wonder who it is though."
Mu gave a slight tense sure the MS Buster was in no position to do a thing to any one, but the fact alone that there was a man inside of it would put the whole crew on edge.
Him more so due to the fact that he was the one to open it and let either Flay or that prisoner hide in there.
Sai, Kuzzey, Flay and Miriallia were also a little tense as well, they had been the one to put him in it, if he had decided to turn on them, they may have been in a tough spot or they would just be dead.
But now the main question that was on all the minds there was "How the hell did he know of there was a guy in the MS Buster?"
Either Anthony had some sort of heat sensor in his suit or he could see the future.
Kira now turned to see that the other two ships still had not come out.
"They must be treating the wounded, is only right since their ships are not as good as the Archangel."
It had been the voice of to say this, he still did not get out of his suit.
Mu and a few other members of the crew now had to go to check on the MS Buster, Kira in turn moved to get into his mobile suit.
Murrue was going to head back to the bridge in order to try and contact the other two ships.
At this point most of the crew who were out were now heading back inside the Archangel.
For now it seemed that Kira would be with them, at least for at this point in time.
To most of the crew it felt so, so weird to know that Kira may just leave if he felt that he had to.
Not the they would stop him, but it felt out of place wrong as if he was Anthony or at least had a similar attitude to Anthony.
That said, Anthony was yet to leave his suit or even move it to the Archangel.
This did cause Murrue some concern as Anthony had been more open with Kira then he had with most of the crew.
"Did the two of them get into a fight of shorts, Anthony is keeping quiet, a bit too quiet for me."
She would have to find that out later, at this point in time she had to try to get a link to the other ships.
Archangel Brig
Dearka did not put up a fight when they came for them and had been escorted back to the brig.
He had got the gist of what went down as JOSH-A though he did not comment on it.
Even he could see that the people on board this ship had been through enough crap for one day at least.
Though he did resent the fact that he had to go back to the brig, it was not like he had tried to kill them during the battle.
In fact he had chosen not to do so, why he had done so, he had no idea at all, but he had felt at the time it was the right thing to do.
Sure for his efforts he now lay here in a cell just doing nothing, but if there was a God his good deed should get him some points.
Now just as he lay here, he heard a voice at his cell door, he was sure he had heard it before, but he was not quite sure where the hell he had heard it.
"I take it that you are not too happy about being back in a cell huh?"
Dearka got up to see who it was who had come to speak to him. At first he asked "Just who, who the heck are you?"
He had not heard this voice, he was all to sure that he also was unable to see the man or the young man who had spoken to him just then too.
"Who the heck am I, the question of my life, if the question is who am I too you, well then that I may be able to answer."
It was in this moment that the voice, the tone and the way that the person spoke, it all clicked into place, though he had only ever heard this voice once.
That was a while ago in space and if he was right the person who had been called this was Sedecim.
"So you are Sedecim, you are the pilot of the Omega, am I right?"
In reply the voice said "I may or may not have gone or been known by that call sign in the past, but I can tell you that I do not pilot a suit by the name of Omega."
Dearka now got the feeling that this guy was messing with him a little and said "Do you act so friendly to people who wanted to kill you, all the time?"
At this point the man said "That is where I differ from most, I fight and defeat the foe who comes at me, I do not kill them if I don't have to nor do I hate them."
Dearka was able to pick up on the honesty in those words and he knew that the Omega had not killed him nor a single ZAFT pilot ever.
With a sigh he now said "I guess all I need to know is why you are here now, I thought that you must have left the legged ship for your own reasons."
In reply the man said "I had things I had to do, that I was not able to do from the Archangel, but with those things done I can return and stay here if I want to do so."
Dearka now said "It must be nice to pick and choose your battles."
He did not expect the reply was just about to get to have such venom in it.
"Is it nice, it is nice not to hate a person due to an event that was not in their control, you should give it a try once in a while."
Dearka still was unable to see the man so he just said "Man that was harsh and the fact that you said it so politely is well, it puts your point across all the more."
In reply to that the man said "That may or may not be the point of it all, that is if you take all at face value, do you tell, are the people here all demons that eat kids and devour the souls of the pure?"
Dearka now said "Well, I never did think of them like that, but you could say that I did not think much of them."
The man now said what of the pilot of this Omega, did you think that he was a loser did you think he was one of you or one of your enemy?"
In reply to this Dearka just said "At first I thought he could not be, but then after all that stuff I saw about his past, I had to ask if he was human or not."
Now he heard a slight scoff and the words quietly said "Imbeciles."
Dearka had to give a little bit of a laugh at this now.
It was at this point Dearka asked "So if you are done with this all, why I suck, can you tell me why you are here?"
In reply to this the man just said "Isn't that the question we all want to know, if what you want is to know why I am here, it is because I feel like it."
In reply to this Dearka now said "Not to be rude, but no person in all Earth and Space would want to just spend time at the brig."
It was at this point that the man said "Hey can you stop talking for just a minute and listen in for a sec?"
Dearka was able to wise up to the fact that he was not meant to say sure and kept his mouth shut for a whole minute.
After this was done he had to ask "Sorry I could not hear a thing, what was it that we are listening for?"
It was after he said this he wanted to hit himself in the face but chose not to do so, he got why he this guy had come down here.
"I gather that you are able to get why I chose to come down here now, Dearka Elsman?"
Yeah he got it, this guy just wanted to have some nice peace and quiet, though the quiet here was eerie at best.
It was just at this point the two of them began to laugh together at the fact that he had not got this at all.
Archangel
Murrue was both shocked and a bit angry at what Flay, Sai, Miriallia, Kuzzey and even Mu had done.
In his defence Mu had just unlocked it so Flay could hide in it, but he was still part of it and they had to know that they put an enemy into a weapon that could have been easily turned on them.
It was only made worse by the fact that the other two ships Captains were dead.
Also the ships were all beat up and most of the crew were dead and those who were alive were in a bad way.
Despite this she had to at least maintain a certain level of discipline on her own ship.
"Not only did you help a prisoner get out of his cell, all of you gave him a mobile suit, one that he used to pilot, we are all very lucky that he did not turn the guns of the MS Buster on us!"
All 5 of them gave a slight tense in them, well all except Mu who was more than ready to get this scolding.
He unlike the other 4, was a soldier and he knew that a crime had to be punished.
Though he had no idea what Murrue would do to them, she did not ever come across as a bad or a spiteful person.
What all 5 of them had done, it could have killed the entire crew, that said, it did not, why they had no idea yet, but in the military that does not excuse the fact that it did occur and if there was to be some form of order on the Archangel, there had to be a form of punishment for things like this.
As Murrue was about to speak once more a slow clap cut her off.
The clap clearly mocked her and what she was doing and a voice now said "Bravo, you have to punish those that break the rules, those who go against orders, am I right Captain Ramius?"
Murrue froze, she knew it was true and she knew that at this point in time she was guilt of this as well.
Anthony had come on board the Archangel with his suit but the last time any of the crew saw him was when he got out of his suit.
Murrue did not turn to see him, no as she face the 5 before her she said "What reason did you come here for Anthony, you are not part of this, I will ask you to leave, or I will have to force you."
In reply Anthony politely said "Force me to leave, is that how you'd put it?"
Murrue now narrowed her eyes and turned to look at him "Fine, I'll listen to what you have to say, but Anthony, this is a matter that you have no part in."
In reply to her, he said "Okay, you just tried to make a threat, but its okay, I'm going to chill, it's water under the bridge."
Safe to say none of the 5 or Murrue had any idea as to what the hell he meant by this.
He now went on to say "You see a guy like me."
Anthony gave a pause and gave a sigh then said "A guy like me, well he just hates seeing a guy or girl give another person shit for doing the exact same thing, that they did, it just, I really just can't stand it."
Murrue gave a blink, she had no clue what it was that Anthony was saying so she now said "What is this about, what do you mean the same thing?"
With a shrug Anthony said "Oh, I don't know, that said may or may not have been a soldier from the Earth Alliance that put a young man who was clearly not a natural in a mobile suit, not to mention forced him to fight his own brothers and sister, not to mention the fact that he had to do this due to the hostages that said Earth Alliance forces had on the ship."
If he had not said enough already, the silence that followed what he said sure did the job for him.
Now in a very friendly manner Anthony said "Oh, why are you all looking at me like that, did I get a part wrong or are you all looking at me like that due to me being right, insanely right I might at."
Mu at this point just said "Well, he does have a point, though I feel really bad now that he had to go and say all of that out loud."
At this point Anthony said "Thanks Rau, shit I mean, you do know that he looks a crap load like you he just has longer hair."
All in the room visibly blinked or took a step back, how the hell did he know this!
Safe to say they all knew the moment they asked him he would either say 'magic' or tell them to shut up.
"Just to let you know, I found a picture of him with a mini him, the picture I got from his doctor."
At this point Murrue asked "So tell me, how did you get his doctor give it to you."
In reply to this he said "I think you got the wrong impression, you see I did not get given it, I simply took it or at least a digital copy of it, cause I heard you liked picture so I got a picture of a picture."
It was safe to say that the guy they knew was back, though he did seem a tad bit more snide than before.
Mu looked at him and had to ask "Is this a joke?"
Anthony's face went blank as he said "It may be a joke on your whole life, but I was not the one to do, plus am I laughing?"
True of this was a joke Anthony would laugh at it, he was the guy who did get a bit of a chuckle out of his own jokes.
This had lead to many of the crew to think him a tad bit weird on more than one occasion.
Mu then asked "If it is true as you say, may I see said photo?"
In reply to this Anthony gave him a nod and said "Sure do you want to see it alone or do you wish for some or all of the crew to see it as well?"
Mu gave a shrug "It is better if it is out in the open, well at least for me it is."
At this point Anthony turned to face Murrue and said "Do you think that they need to be punished, no ill came of their actions, are you the same as the ones who sent you to your death?"
If that did not with Murrue in the face then what would.
The Admirals at JOSH-A had been rude as very damning about the fact that Kira was in the MS Strike.
Kira had only been in it for the time he was there due to the fact that Murrue had made the decision to put him into it.
Kira had not done any harm to the Archangel or her crew, in fact he had saved them from harm.
Here and now though, she was about to do a lesser evil of what the 3 Admirals had done to here.
It was almost as if Anthony was telling her to wake up and take a look at herself before it was too late.
To further drive that point home to her, Anthony said "I do have to ask what you do intend to do now, I am not so sure that the ones who tried to have you die will be willing to accept you back?"
That to was true, it was not like they could go back, it was clear in the minds of all in the Archangel that the ones who did make that plan will kill them to cover up their own dirty little plan.
It was after he had said all of this Anthony said "I've said what I wished to, I'll be in my suit if you need me."
With Anthony
After he had said what he had wished to say Anthony had gone to his suit to catch some quick shut eye.
But it did not last, less than half an hour later, he was disturbed from his short rest.
For now, Mu La Flaga was calling out to him "Hey if you're in there, we are about to have a meeting in the bridge to try to try and make sense of where we will be going."
Anthony felt a bit lazy and said "I am sure that you can do that, do I really need to be there?"
Mu gave a shrug and called out once more "Well since your record did say that you were well a strategist of a sort?"
With a sigh Anthony said "I guess I can't catch a break, for the record, this sucks."
As he now came out of his suit Mu did say "Oh by the way thanks for what did for me and the kids before."
As the two of them now made their way from the hangar to the bridge Anthony just said "Did you want to see that photo or not?"
Mu in turn just gave a playful answer and said "I think I will pass for now, with all this going on, I am not really able to make a choice like that right now."
In reply to this Anthony just said "Smart man."
Mu was not too sure what to make of it, but he also knew he may or may not be reading a bit too much into it for his own good.
At this point Mu asked "Not on the record to say, but what do you think the ships should do per say at this point in time, just your opinion?"
In reply to Mu, Anthony just said "I do not like doing the same thing again and again so I will save it so all of you can here it."
Mu gave a sigh and said "Well that is fair enough, I am not going to try to force you to tell me."
Anthony now made a joke and said "Beef La Flaga, do you think that you'd be able to take me on in a fight?"
Mu just laughed at that and said "I hope we never get to test that, I am not too sure it will be good for my health?"
Now to carry on the joke Anthony said "If I were a bit more silly, I may make a joke at you not wanting to get your face scarred up, all the girls would hit on me then and not you."
If he had a reply to that witty remark, Mu did not say it, he only gave a laugh now as the two of them drew closer to the bridge.
Just before they were about to enter Anthony said "Want to here a joke?"
Mu in reply did not even bother to answer, he was going to get told it in any case.
"A ZAFT solider was unsure of what he'd do while he was eating lunch on the Archangel."
Mu got the joke and gave a smile as he said "He should be used to getting served by that ship and her crew."
Anthony gave him a smile and said "Right on La Flaga!"
Now at the bridge Anthony saw three officers that he did not know, one of them had his arm in a sling the other two were women and seemed to stand a little bit like Natarle did.
"I guess they are the type in story who may also have a pole stuck up their asses."
As Anthony thought this he also knew that if the event at JOSH-A did not get that pole crapped out in fear or in anger, well then nothing in this world is going to.
Murrue now saw that Mu and Anthony were on the bridge, so she now began to speak.
"I see that you have come, to my left is Captain Relta and Lieutenant Nu, they are the captain of the ship the Winston, to my left is the current highest ranking officer of the Clinton, Lieutenant Luymia."
Mu gave a salute to Captain Relta while Nu and Luymia gave Mu a salute."
They all knew who the Hawk of Endymion was, but they were a little curious to know of the young man who stood beside him in a uniform they had not seen before.
Murrue saw that and said "This young man is Anthony Hitoro, he is the pilot of the black Mobile Suit that saved the Clinton from the Cyclops system."
Anthony gave them a nod and then said "If what Mu said was right, I take it that I am here for more than just an intro to who I am Murrue Ramius."
The three new officer now gave a small flinch at the fact that he did not address Murrue by her rank as well as the fact that he chose to call her by her first name as well as her last name.
Murrue gave him a nod and said "That is true, base on what Commander La Flaga has told us, the entire area was a trap, it was a plan to lure in ZAFT to get rid of at least half their fighting force."
It was at this point that Anthony chose to chime in and add "Not to mention tip the balance of power in favour to the Atlantic Federation."
Again the 3 new officers gave a slight tense when he just added in what he wanted to, it was clear to all 3 of them that Murrue had no intent to reprimand Anthony for what he just did.
Murrue now asked him "Is there anything else you can add to that?"
Anthony gave a nod "Yes, if you turn back now, all of you will be put to death to cover it up, so they can use it as military propaganda to spur on new recruits to join in on the war."
That was a given, but it had not hit all of the officers yet, the fact that the EA would do such a deed and then use it as a set up to get more soldiers, but after JOSH-A it was really no surprise to them.
Murrue then said "I see, you do think far ahead, I was yet to think of such things."
In reply to her Anthony said "In war, if one does not have enough fire power as well as the versatility to utilise it, one must rely on the data as well as the information they can gather to win."
That was true and Captain Relta had to just said "The last part was right out of a book."
Now in direct response to that Anthony tapped his book as he said "Yes, yes it is not this book, but put into practice under the right conditions it is lethal but that is not always immediate and takes time to build up, a slight edge approach."
It was at this point that Relta now asked "Sorry, excuse me for asking this, but what is your rank and why are you here?"
In reply to him Anthony just gave a shrug as he sad "My rank is of no concern to a no name, do a feat no other is capable of, then come back and ask me."
Murrue at this point said "Anthony, that was harsh."
In reply to her he said "That may be so, but had I not chosen to save the Clinton, Ms Luymia would not be here right now, I also do take offence at the fact that am I asked why I am here, was I not request to be here, if not I am about to go back and sleep in my suit?"
Mu gave a sigh and said "Captain Relta, Anthony here is an ally of the Archangel who has helped us since we were in space, all of the crew trust his judgement and he also has intel that many of us do not."
Anthony gave a nod and said "Thank you Mu, now Captain Ramius, I do what is it that you plan to do?"
Murrue now said "I will, at this point in time we don't have many options to choose from."
At this point Mu said "Before you say it, going back to the Earth Alliance is just suicide."
Anthony at this point said "Then one can assume that you will not being going back to them, not with all they have done and have yet to do."
Murrue gave him a nod and said "I know what I have planned, but I cannot speak for you."
Captain Relta said "I can't say that I have much of a plan, my ship will have to do on field repairs before we can leave, but as said we will be killed if we return to the Earth Alliance, that does not leave many options open to us."
Lieutenant Luymia now said "With all due respect, the Clinton will not be able to leave this place, we sustained major damaged during the battle and most of the crew who survived are badly injured, the only reason we are alive is because of Mr Hitoro's actions while he was in the field."
She now turned to Anthony "On behalf of myself and that of the crew who are now in my care, I wish to thank you for what you did, we may not be able to use our ship, but we are alive."
All Anthony did was gave her a nod as he said "I just did what I saw was right, that is all is all that I ever do."
Luymia then said "Then I am grateful that you did not leave us to die."
To this Anthony gave her a nod "It is just as I said, I also take on the approach that I fight the enemy, I do not hate them, it is who I am."
Murrue now said "Back on topic, there are few options open to us and with the Clinton in such a state, it is safe to say that either my ship or yours Captain Relta will have to take on the surviving crew."
There was a pause, Mu was able to tell that Murrue wished for Anthony to give his input, but he kept silent, for now his counsel was his own.
Mu at this point stated "At any rate, we can't just sit here, we're sitting ducks, I don't think we have a choice of who we can go to."
Captain Relta gave him a nod "I can agree with that, if we are able to salvage what we can, both the Archangel and the Winston can make it to a neutral nation, once we are there, we can try to negotiate a deal."
Lieutenant Luymia now said "We could travel to ORB, but I am not sure that they will welcome us?"
Murrue said "I can see your point, we will have to find a way to split the remaining crew of the Clinton, Lieutenant Luymia, how many of your crew are fit for to fight or to do any kind of work."
There was a pause before Lieutenant Luymia spoke and when she did it was not good news.
"Around ¾ of the crew are dead and out of the ¼ that are alive more than ¾ of us are unfit for duty.
That reminded Murrue the true brutality of this war, ships were no match for MS at all.
Murrue now said "If you and the fit crew of the Clinton can transfer over to the Winston, the Archangel will take on your wounded, most of our crew is fit and our medical supplies are well stocked as well."
In reply to this Lieutenant Luymia said "My thanks Captain Ramius."
Murrue gave her a smile and a nod as she now turned her face to look at Captain Relta "How long before you're ready to leave Captain Relta?"
In reply to her Captain Relta said "4 to 7 hours at the most, the Wiston was able to avoid any direct fire for most of the battle."
Murrue gave him a nod and said "Then you must see to it then, are we agreed on this matter?"
Captain Relta and his XO gave a nod while Lieutenant Luymia gave a nod, Mu did as well, it was Anthony who just said "I understand."
With that the meeting was over and they all went to do what they had to do, except Murrue who said to Anthony "Meet me in the officers lounge in half an hour."
She now turned to Mu and said "I expect to see you there as well, we have a few things to discuss now."
Mu gave her a nod and said "I will be there Captain."
Anthony just gave her a shrug "I do not have things to do so I might as well tag along."
Captain Relta gave a slight tense at this, he was not use to Anthony, yet.
Officers Lounge
Murrue now sat down in front of Anthony, Mu sat beside her and she now had a short stare down with the pilot of the MS Agito Zero.
After she lost this when she looked away she asked "I know this may be rude after all you have done for us, but how do you know all that you know?"
Anthony said "I will answer that truthfully if you answer a question of my own first, Ramius."
Mu at this point saw the absolute lack of emotion within Anthony as well as the fact that he used the last name and had to think "Yep he is mad now, oh boy we are in for it."
Murrue now said "That I can do, what is the question that you wish to ask me?"
Anthony now pointed at her or rather to an item on her "After that stunt your higher ups pulled, I want to know if you can say that you are proud to wear that uniform and can you still wear it after that?"
This caught Murrue off guard as she did not expect him to ask this of her, sure it was not safe to try to assume a thing about the pilot of the MS Agito Zero, but at times, if one had been able to get him to talk, you could find a way to get a hint as to what he may be thinking.
In reply to him Murrue said "I guess, I am not really sure what I should be fighting against any longer, all that I did wish to fight for is gone now."
Anthony closed his eyes gave a sigh and said "At least you admit it, tell you what, if it helps Class Zero was left to die by our high command as well, though in the end we fought our way out, with a bit of help."
If there was a connection to what she had asked Murrue was unclear about it so she now asked "I gave you what you asked for Anthony, can you show me that same level of respect and do the same?"
In reply to her Anthony gave her a nod then said to Mu "Did you ever wonder why I have so many screens in my suit or why I would need them?"
Mu gave a blink as he recalled the time he had been in the MS Agito Zero, it had been around the same time that Kira had picked up Lacus Clyne.
Mu just shook his head as he said "I guess I did not, I was more interested in the ample amount of room you had in your suit, you were able to fit 3 people and have space to spare."
Anthony just gave a small smirk as he said "That was not what I asked, but you do recall the multiple screens, right?"
Mu gave a slow nod of his head "Yeah I do, what of them?"
It was now Anthony said "Before I say this, I ask that you do not repeat what I am about to say to you to any one else no matter who they are, can I trust you to do that, oh please turn off that device."
Murrue was a little shocked at the fact he knew she was trying to record him, but she also knew if she wanted to get any further she had to do as he asked.
She now put it out on the table and turned it off as she now said "You have my word that I will not tell a soul about what you are about to say."
Mu in turn said "You have my word as well and I don't break my word once I have given it to you."
Anthony now gave a nod as he said "My suit, the Agito Zero, has a complex system put into it, that system allows for the suit to gather data for combat and other purposes."
Both Mu and Murrue did not know where this was going to go, but they did not speak, if Anthony was talking about a secret, best let him finish it.
If they did ask him about other things, he might use it as a chance not to tell them what they wished to know.
"It is able to give me a visual display on what may or may not happen in battle and what I may or may not do in it."
Okay that got the attention of both Mu and Murrue who had not heard of a thing that was capable of that before.
"Those screens show me the different paths in battle, I try to follow the one I see as the best fit."
That did make sense that he would try to do that, heck if a person could see multiple futures they'd go mad if they saw a better future and did not try to get it.
Might go mad seeing so many thing any way.
"Safe to say the system is complex enough to gather data people as well, and predict the course of action an individual or a group will take."
Mu chose to speak at this point to say "I take it, that this system works on armies as well, I mean you did take a force that was bigger than just a group."
Anthony gave him a nod "That it does, but as the scale of the battle goes up, the more chance you have of seeing yourself die, not to mention the stress of seeing so many future at once."
Anthony now added "It also allows me to run a simulation of battles that I have been through and in some cases yet to come, it can also tap into intel and data that others cannot, most net and digital security you guys have is a bad joke and worse then my own jokes at that."
Mu gave a slight cringe after Anthony had said this "Did you just tell us that the digital security was a bad joke in a bad joke."
Anthony gave a shrug "I wanted you to feel weak and cringe at the same time."
Both Murrue and move gave a cringe at this, so Anthony continued "So in theory with ease I can access things such as top secret military plans that are stored digitally."
Mu got a bit if not very upset at this point as he asked "Wait you knew about this the whole time, is this why you did not wish to come to JOSH-A at all, that means you knew about this since before we touched down on Earth, you knew it!"
Anthony in reply to this said "You were all very wary of me at the time and it was not relevant to you, I can see that you are angry, but had I told you when you first touched down on earth you would have just told me that it wasn't possible."
It was now that Anthony said "You are your own worst enemies, if I had warned you, I can tell you without a doubt that you would not have listened to me."
Mu at this point just yelled "How the hell do you know that, you did not give us the chance to know about it!"
In the face of Mu La Flaga, Anthony did not lose his cool, in fact he kept it and took this head on.
"I did what I saw was best, I know that all of us know that none of you'd taken what I said to heart about JOSH-A if I said it out loud to you."
Anthony now went on to say "I do believe that I did warn your Captain about that place, so I did warn you, it was just that I was ignored."
Mu turned to Murrue and asked "Wait, he told you that it was not going to go down well, why didn't you say a thing?"
Anthony now said "I just told her that it was no haven, that and that it was not safe at all, but as usual you thought that you knew better than I did, so you chose to do what you thought was right and go there, but I have to ask, what has it all been for now."
Mu now said "You make it out to be as if wasted our time."
He now thought over this and came to see, it had all been a waste.
"To think that all I fought for, all that I did to save this ship, only for it to be cast aside along with her crew in plan to kill as many of the foe as possible, it is a waste, it has all gone to waste."
As Mu said this he came to see the cruel irony of it all, as he said, it had all gone to waste, it was as if the EA did not think that they were worth it.
Sure they had tried to get him out of there, but it was only to put him to train others.
Natarle would just follow orders if she had to and Flay, well Flay did have a high ranking father so that must be the reason why she was chosen to leave.
Anthony now said "Is it done, can you tell me that all that you did to get to JOSH-A was not in vain, I'll hear you out if you do wish to try."
Mu shook his head and said "Damn this war, all of it, it is turning those higher ups into right royal bastards."
Anthony at this point said to Murrue "I take it that we are done here or do you wish to talk to me some more."
Murrue gave him a nod and said "There are a few things that I wish to have you look over."
Anthony said "I can do that."
Murrue gave him a nod and said "Well first thing is getting to ORB."
Anthony gave her a nod "We will have some down time for the crew, your morale is low, Kira did make it go up, but it went up from absolute zero, from what I can tell the ship is alright so that allows for you to get the wounded on board as well as allow the none medical staff to rest up."
Murrue gave a blink he had just said a lot there and all of it was true. Mu then said "You're right, moral is low even with Kira here."
In reply to this Anthony said "It is better than none, all of the crew at this point will want to find out who they are, it is hard once one loses what it is they fight for, at least Kira has got his shit sorted."
Both Mu and Murrue gave a blink and then asked "Sorry what?"
Anthony just gave a sigh as he now said "He will tell you, I can't speak for him, but you are not exempt from this, the two of you will have to try to find out the direction you will be heading after ORB."
Mu at this point said "Sage advice from a teen, I never think to hear that in my life."
Anthony gave a shrug and said "You can keep waiting for a teen to say it then."
He now said "The day still has many hours of daylight left, but if the repairs on the other ship take as long as he said, we will be moving at night, it is the best course of action if we do not move, you will be found."
Murrue gave him a nod and said "That is true, I guess we will have to tell the crew about this."
In reply to her Anthony gave a nod and said "I did suggest you let them have down time, till you have to leave."
Murrue closed her eyes and said "We will do that, I'll see you when I see you next."
Anthony gave her a nod and the 3 of them now left the room to do what each of them had to do.
A few tense moments in there, but that is acceptable due to the fact that JOSH-A just happened to all of them so emotions are a little high. Next stop ORB and what they will do in ORB, I sped things up a little in the story from cannon, but I am going to do a at least 2 chapters set in ORB before the battle if I can. That is not set in stone as of yet so it might just be one chapter in ORB. What do you guys want to happen, PM me if you have any ideas. Do you think that it was a good thing for Anthony to tell Mu and Murrue about the Zero System? It was a way out of him saying "Hey I watched all your lives on TV or PC." No he is not going to come clean with them on that ever, sorry to say, but that'd get him locked up as a madman or drive everyone else mad. (though Anthony is kinda already doing that or has been for a while now.)
PLEASE REVIEW my story and let me know what you think, no flaming please.