[Sounds of something rattling and muffled screams coming from a closet can be heard.]
Murrue: Uh do I even want to know what is...
AN: The better question is, do you even need to ask who is tied up in there? There is no way I'm letting Cagalli out of there unless necessary.
Murrue: You do know that is going to be quite often considering how often she is in this story right?
AN: Yeah I know, at which point I'll be having one of the two guys who she won't kill letting her out.
Murrue: And that would be...?
AN: Uh Kira and Athrun of course, duh. Oh look sharp we're on. Hey everybody! Now while Cagalli is currently...uh indisposed...this chapter's special guest is the fearless, fearsome captain of the Archangel herself, Murrue Ramius!
[Audience applause, closet screams muffled]
Murrue: Oh uh...thank you, thank you very much.
[muffled screams and banging continue] AN: Sorry, but you're not getting out of there for a long time...Princess. [muffled scream of anger sounds out]
Murrue: Okay so before we go on, or before Cagalli finds a way out to murder the author...
AN: Hey show some confidence in a guy's plan!
Murrue: Let's answer some reviews. First is a guest review asking which version of Jetfire is the Jetfire of this story, and another guest review asks if Jetfire will have an Earth mode.
AN: Ah yes. Well to answer the first question, the Jetfire of this story is most heavily based off of the version of Jetfire in Transformers War for Cybertron and Fall of Cybertron and as for the second one, well I don't want to give away spoilers, but I will say that question will be answered this chapter.
Murrue: Next is a question asking if the Dinobots...
AN: Stop! Don't even finish that question! I will answer it more fully at the ending Authors Note. That being said, let's get things started!
Murrue: Oooookay. Anyhow...lyokoMARVELanime does not own anything from any of the Gundam or Transformers franchises or any other franchise mentioned in this story.
Chapter 23: Realization of Truths
Everyone from both the Archangel and the Omega II stood on the desolated island that was once JOSH-A base looking towards the mysterious mobile suit that had helped saved them in silence after disembarking from the two ships. No one was entirely sure what to make of the machine or if they were simply imagining things when they heard Kira Yamato calling out to them from the winged mobile suit, and so they just stood there waiting for Bumblebee to walk back over to them with the mobile suit's pilot and the Autobot that they had identified as Jetfire not saying anything, with the only noise left to be heard being the waters lapping against the shore.
Finally, they all saw Bumblebee walking over to them with the Autobot flyer and the familiar face of their supposedly lost comrade. He was wearing a Z.A.F.T. pilot suit, but there was no mistaking the brown hair and purple eyes of the young man that was approaching them. Finally, after a short while, the two Autobots and Kira finally walked up and came to a stop in front of their friends as Kira smiled and broke the silence saying, "I guess we made it just in time."
"Is it really…you Kira," Murrue asked as she looked on in shock at the sight of seeing their friend who they had all thought to be dead.
Kira gave a small nod as he replied, "It's me. After all, aside from Cagalli how many other people do you know that can understand Bumblebee without being one of the Autobots?"
That statement was what finally did it, and what had prompted Miriallia to lead everyone in rushing over to their friend in happiness at seeing him alive to either place a hand on his shoulder in a gesture of welcoming him back or to ask him the ridiculous question of whether or not he was a ghost which led Jetfire and Bumblebee to chuckle at the notion. Even Sai had to give Kira a welcome back as he too stated that he was glad that he was still alive, which Kira truly appreciated.
Kira then looked to see the Autobots approaching, and walked over to meet them as Optimus knelt down and stated, "I am glad to see that you are still among us Kira Yamato. It is truly something to thank Primus for."
"Thanks Optimus. It's good to see all of you guys too," Kira stated with a smile as he extended a hand in thanks, which Optimus was only able to accept by extending one of his fingers.
After everyone had calmed down a bit, Kira then turned to Murrue and sighed as he asked, "I guess you've got about a couple million questions to ask me, don't you?"
"At least," Murrue chuckled.
"And there are a lot of things I want to ask you about too," Kira then told her.
"I'm sure there are."
"So were you with Z.A.F.T.," Mu finally asked as he walked over to Kira.
Kira looked between the Archangel captain and his fellow pilot as he replied, "I was with them, but I haven't become a Z.A.F.T. soldier. However, I'm not with the Earth Forces now either."
Nearly everyone there was confused by that statement except for the Autobots, who all simply smiled and nodded in understanding of that. They all had a very strong hunch as to what Kira truly meant by that, because they knew exactly what Kira was saying he was. Finally Murrue smiled in understanding as well and stated, "I understand. There are some things we'll have to talk about though, starting with this machine. What should we do about that?"
Knowing she was referring to the Freedom, Kira glanced at his new mobile suit for a moment before responding, "If you're talking about maintenance and resupplying, there's no need for that right now, because this machine is equipped with an Energon Reactor Core , and it's the first mobile suit that was ever designed using Cybertronian technology."
"An Energon Reactor Core," Mu asked in surprise.
"Wait are you saying that thing is powered by energon," Jazz then gasped, thinking that it was impossible for humans to have been able to create such a machine so soon.
"If you start asking about specifics, unless it's one of the Autobots, 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," Kira stated with a dangerous undertone in his voice just to show he was serious. "I was entrusted with it, and I'll take care of it."
Everyone stood there in shock at just how serious Kira was, giving off the impression that he would sooner destroy the machine than let anyone else get their hands on it. Optimus then asked, "Just what can you tell us Kira?"
Kira looked at Optimus before stating, "Like I said, the Freedom Gundam is equipped with an Energon Reactor Core and that alone makes it much more powerful than most mobile suits we've seen thus far. From what I can tell, it's even more powerful than a mobile suit that's nuclear powered and that gives it a pretty strong edge on its own. Also the machine is equipped with the same metal that makes up a Cybertronian's armor which makes it much more difficult to damage in battle even against a beam weapon. Nothing short of a Cybertronian or another machine that was powered by an Energon Core Reactor with similar armaments could so much as scratch it. In a sense, it's Z.A.F.T.'s way around the N-Jammers."
At this information, everyone was completely shocked. A machine that was possibly more powerful than a nuclear powered device? Such a thing was completely unheard of until now, but when everyone stopped to think for a moment, they began to suppose that it was possible given that energon was the very thing that kept the Transformers alive and given what Optimus had told them, it was a very effective power source as well so to suggest that a mobile suit could be powered by something like this was not all that much of a stretch to be completely honest.
Finally, Murrue nodded as she gave Kira her word that they would leave the Freedom and all the equipment inside it alone. Kira thanked her for understanding and suggested that anything else should be discussed aboard one of the two ships to which everyone agreed. Before anyone could move to board one of the ships though, Wheeljack thought that one thing needed to cleared up right away as he turned to the lone Autobot flyer that had helped Kira save them. "So how'd you get here anyways Fire," Wheeljack finally asked.
Everyone turned to look at Jetfire as Wheeljack asked his question in anticipation of the answer, which Jetfire sighed at as he answered. "Well it's a long story lads, but I suppose I could try and give as short a version of it as I can."
"That would be appreciative Jetfire," Optimus assured him.
Jetfire nodded as he began his tale. "Well I suppose the battle at the portal aboard the Ark is about as good a place to start as any. After the other Aerialbots and I had helped to send that oversized bugger Bruticus falling back to Cybertron, we found ourselves getting thrown around by the vortex's energy discharges until we ended up falling back down to Cybertron ourselves. When we came to, it turned out that we were not the only ones who had ended up staying behind on Cybertron for whatever reason. We found out that after we had landed, we were rescued by Grimlock and his team."
"Wait, wait. Hold up a cycle," Bulkhead interrupted. "I think you lost me for a second there. Did you say that you were rescued by Grimlock? As in the 'Bot with anger management issues that both Autobot and Decepticon should be in fear of, and who has at times made it seem like the Wreckers were just foot soldiers? The same 'Bot and team that we all had thought was taken down by a swarm of Insecticons?"
"Yeah it came as a shock to us too actually," Jetfire replied. "Apparently, the only one who didn't make it was Sludge, while the others were captured by Shockwave and the overgrown bugs. Sometime during their imprisonment, Shockwave used them for some sick experiments and changed them completely from what they were. From my understanding, they were altered into new forms that were based off of some of this world's prehistoric life forms. They actually ended up changing their team's name because of that, and they're now known as the Dinobots."
"Huh," Hound stated in shock. "Well good to know the big guy's still kicking, and you know I think I actually like that new name. It's actually a lot better than Lightning Strike Coalition Force."
"Yeah, apparently Swoop and Slug thought so too. Anyways, the whole thing ended up coming back to bite Shockwave when one of the guards made the mistake of stopping to mock Grimlock too much for too long. We all know Grimlock was tough before, and Shockwave made the mistake of making him even stronger, which led to him liberating the rest of the Dinobots and eventually, coming to save our tailpipes. A few days after we had woken up in their care though we found out a few things that had happened while we were out…"
"Shockwave is still alive," Jetfire exclaimed in shock.
"And here I thought any 'Con dumb enough to cross you always ended up scrap. You're losing your touch Grimlock," a red and black Aerialbot with broad shoulders stated to the large, sword wielding, red visored leader of the Dinobots.
"Shut it Air Raid," Grimlock snarled. "Shockwave not small, stupid drone or vehicon. He slip away with sneaky trick."
"Uh Grimlock, you sure you're okay," a silver Aerialbot with four wings extending from his back asked. "You're talking kind of strange."
"Shockwave made a bit of a mess with Grimlock's head in his experiments when he was trying to increase Grimlock's strength to match the power of his new form," replied the only flight capable Dinobot, Swoop.
"Me, Grimlock fine," Grimlock snarled. "Just hard to think as well as used to."
"Okay if you say so," an all white Aerialbot with a gold chest, and large wings agreed in a surrendering gesture.
"Don't worry Wing Saber. Grimlock may not be as smart as he used to be, but he is definitely still able to know when and where to cut loose and who he should or shouldn't tear apart," a large Dinobot with red spikes on his leg reassured Wing Saber.
"Thanks Snarl, that makes me feel so much better," Wing Saber flatly stated. Just then, the fourth and final Dinobot stumbled into the room, nearly falling on the fifth and final Aerialbot who actually looked a lot like Jetfire, except for the fact that his armor was blue in the places where Jetfire's was red.
"Excuse me Jetstorm," the Dinobot, who had a pair of horns extending from his back and small blades extending from his arms apologized.
"Hey don't sweat it Slug," Jetstorm replied.
"Hey can we get back on topic please," Jetfire shouted.
"Fire's right," Silverbolt agreed. "Grimlock, you were saying something about how Shockwave was left in charge during Megatron's absence?"
"Yeah, Shockwave lead while Megatron run to follow Optimus. Doing more experiments in lab, and using other captured Autobots to do so," Grimlock stated. "That not worst thing though."
"It gets worse than that," Silverbolt moaned.
"Me, Grimlock and Dinobots find out Shockwave building new Space Bridge tower to try and reach world that first portal led to. He think he find Megatron if he rebuild tower. Has Combaticons guarding it."
"There's no way are we gonna let Shockwave get that thing operational right," Air Raid asked.
"Well we weren't planning on doing nothing about it fly bomber," Swoop retorted.
"Dinobots take down tower, flying Bots stay here and get better," Grimlock cut in.
"No Grimlock wait a minute. Maybe we shouldn't stop Shockwave from using the tower to open a portal to that world," Silverbolt interjected.
"Has your processor been completely fragged Silver," Wing Saber demanded. "If Shockwave gets that Space Bridge tower working, there's no telling what could happen to that world."
"Not if we're the ones who use it to reach that world," Silverbolt explained. "We can try to sneak in, steal a shuttle, and then use the portal to try and reach the world that Optimus and the Ark were headed for. That way we can at least get the other Autobots some back up, because we all know that Megatron will have followed the Ark all the way across space to any world that Optimus goes to."
"But we can't just let Shockwave keep that tower working," Snarl cut in. "I mean, we were lucky enough to stop him from keeping it for too long the last time he used it, and now you're saying we should let him use the thing just so we can go and help Optimus while Shockwave is left free to do whatever he wants with it?"
"Not necessarily," Silverbolt told him. "You'll be coming with us to, and once we're ready, you're going to do what you guys do best."
"Dinobots, smash tower," Grimlock asked.
"You know it big guy, and this time you'll be making sure that he can't rebuild it."
"Me, Grimlock like puny Silverbolt plan."
"Well we'd better get some rest then lads. We won't be able to do any of that right now so I say we head out first thing in the morning," Jetfire stated sleepily.
"Fine by Grimlock," Grimlock stated as he and the other Dinobots left for their own rooms in the make-shift base that they had set up.
"…so as soon as morning came, we headed out and made sure to do everything we could to make sure that Shockwave's tower stayed down this time, all the while Grimlock and his Dinobots were smashing and bashing away, keeping the 'Cons attention on them. As soon as the tower had opened a portal, we gave Grimlock the signal to put it out of commission for good and had immediately lifted off with him and the other Dinobots right behind us a few cycles later. Unfortunately we weren't the only ones who were headed that way, because somehow those buggers in the Combaticons had found a way to pursue us and were soon on us like a Scraplet on metal."
"We were able to fight them off long enough to get through, but what we didn't count on was the ship becoming seriously banged up along the way. Silverbolt then ordered all of us into escape stasis pods and had them programmed for this planet here in the hopes that we would be found by you guys, but something went wrong after mine was launched and I ended up being sent flying off to the Nemesis instead where I was captured and imprisoned by Megatron. I was soon forced to help develop the Freedom there and was only able to even think of escaping with help from a girl named Lacus Clyne. That pretty much leads us up to where we are now," Jetfire concluded.
"Wait, what about this Grimlock and the other Dinobots," Mu asked.
"Honestly, I don't know what happened to the Dinobots after we went through the portal, but we all knew that they had made it through shortly after we did. We didn't have time to look for them before escaping our ship," Jetfire stated sadly.
"There is no need to worry Jetfire. If Grimlock was able to survive Shockwave's experimentations, then I am certain that he is still out there somewhere, and I have a hunch that he and the 'Dinobots' are actually somewhere on this world. If the other Aerialbots were able to make it here, then there should be little reason to doubt that Grimlock and his team did as well, but there will be time to look for them later. Right now we have much more pressing matters to discuss," Optimus stated. Everyone agreed with Optimus on that, and soon moved to board the Omega II so that they could all plan their next move together.
Meanwhile, the PLANTs were in an uproar, or more specifically, the officials in the PLANTs were in an uproar over the theft of the Freedom and the fact that the Clyne family was nowhere to be found. After Athrun had confronted his father on the matter, he was shocked to hear his father accuse some of the other PLANT supreme council members of aiding the Clynes in this alleged crime, and the fact that Chairman Zala had agreed with Megatron's suggestion of doing whatever it took to hunt down the Clynes and having the justice department detain the council members that were in support of Former Chairman Clyne did not help Athrun's feelings on the matter.
For some reason, the fact that Operation: Spitbreak had appeared to have been leaked gave Chairman Zala reason to believe that Clyne had betrayed them while Lacus aided an enemy spy in stealing the Freedom and freeing the Autobot prisoner that Dreadwing had later found out to be the Aerialbot known as Jetfire. Athrun had made it clear to his father that he was still having a hard time believing that Lacus had lent assistance to a spy, but when Chairman Zala showed him surveillance footage of Lacus with the thief and Jetfire, Athrun found he was starting to believe it a little.
Chairman Zala thought that these facts, along with the fact that Lacus was now being treated as a fugitive charged for treason, led it to have to go without saying that Lacus was no longer Athrun's fiancé, though it did not mean that it was not still shocking to Athrun. Zala then told Athrun that his next mission was for him and Dreadwing to track down and either recover or destroy the stolen Freedom and eliminate its pilot, along with everything he had come into contact with. When Athrun asked why, his father told him it was because that the Freedom, like the new machine that Athrun was being given was powered by an Energon Reactor Core and was the result of combining Cybertronian technology with that of Z.A.F.T.
When Athrun found out that the Energon Reactor Core technology was even more powerful than nuclear technology, he was quick to protest, but his arguments were shot down and considered meaningless considering that the technology had already been developed and so many thought that they would need the technology in order to win the war. Athrun was actually glad to hear that any thoughts of developing N-Jammer cancellers were halted the minute that Z.A.F.T. had learned of energon, but it still did nothing to make him feel better about the fact that his new machine, the X09-A Justice, was more dangerous than the nuclear technology that the PLANTs had elected to abandon.
That was actually a few hours ago, and now Athrun and Dreadwing were both standing on the grounds of the Clyne estate, or what was left of it anyway. Were it not for the fact that there was little to no dust in the building, the broken windows and overall ruined state of the place would have led Athrun to think that the home was abandoned for years.
"What exactly are we doing here Athrun," Dreadwing asked. "It was made clear to your father and you that the investigation team Chairman Zala sent here did not find anything and that Clyne seemed to have set up an escape route."
"I know Dreadwing," Athrun stated solemnly. "But still, I feel like I might find something here that might help me understand why Lacus would do something like this."
Dreadwing gave Athrun a sad, understanding nod at this and proceeded to try and find something himself when the two of them heard something rustling in the bushes nearby. The two were instantly on guard when they saw that the source was actually a familiar pink, spherical robot that they knew all too well bouncing along one of the paths.
"Haro," Athrun called out as he chased after the little robot. That got the robot's attention, as was evidenced by how Haro instantly turned around and bounced back to Athrun, into his hands. Athrun gazed at Haro for a moment as he gave a few beeps in greeting and saw that the poor little guy was covered in dirt, suggesting that he had been left out there for some time now, when he noticed the flowers that were nearby.
"What is it Athrun," Dreadwing asked when he saw Athrun had adopted a nostalgic look.
"Oh nothing it's just…" Athrun stated before pausing for a moment. "I remember Lacus telling me about these flowers. She said they came from the theater where she first sang in public. She said that they were something to remember it by."
Dreadwing simply gave a short "I see" in response to this before the two gazed at the flowers together, both completely confused about why Lacus would have done all of this. They were eventually brought out of there musing when Haro called out, "Haro fine! And so are you."
That was when Athrun suddenly gasped in surprise as he realized something he felt he should have before. "Dreadwing, I need a lift!"
"Why? What is it," Dreadwing asked.
"I think I know where Lacus is," Athrun stated with confidence. That was all the prompting Dreadwing needed to assume his jet mode and open the hatch so that Athrun could climb aboard with Haro in his hand. A moment later, Dreadwing was taking off for the place that Athrun believed to be where Lacus was.
It turned out that Athrun had led them to the exact same theater he was just telling Dreadwing about, a fact that was only reinforced to Athrun after what Haro had said. As soon as they had arrived and Dreadwing landed, Athrun had climbed out into the rain that had started coming down while they were flying there, allowing the blue and gold Decepticon to transform to robot mode. The two then made their way inside, Athrun through the front entrance and Dreadwing through another entrance that he could actually fit through.
As soon as Athrun had walked in, he almost immediately heard a familiar singing voice ring out through the theater, singing a new song he did not recognize but understood the meaning of clearly. It was a song that spoke of a never-ending hope for peace, and prayed that the day that it was achieved would soon come. Even though it made him pause for a moment, it did not stop Athrun from continuing on with what he intended to do.
Athrun then made his way into the theater as quietly as he could, until finally, he saw Lacus herself sitting on the some rumble of the stage as she sang. Athrun then intended to make his way towards her as quietly as he could, but had that plan shot down as soon as Haro called out to Lacus and bounced into her lap.
When Lacus saw her dear little friend had hopped into her hands, she could not help but smile as she greeted him and then turn to face Athrun as she stated, "I was certain that you'd be the one to find him and bring him here Athrun. Thank you very much."
Athrun stood there staring at the pink songstress for a moment before he felt that he could not take it anymore and immediately demanded, "Why Lacus?"
"Why what," Lacus asked in an innocent tone that was matched by a similar look on her face.
Athrun was not about to let her just beat around the bush and immediately jumped up onto the stage so that they were directly in front of one and other with his side arm in plain sight. "Explain yourself. What've you done," Athrun then repeated.
Lacus just gave a small shrug as she stated, "I'm sure you've heard all about it, and that's why you came to see me isn't it? Well you and Dreadwing that is."
Immediately after she had said that, Dreadwing stepped out of the shadows with his cannon in hand and at the ready. "I see that you are far more perceptive than I ever realized Lacus Clyne," Dreadwing commented.
"Why thank you Dreadwing," Lacus stated happily.
"Is it true what they're saying about you," Athrun then demanded, getting them back on track. "That you're guilty of providing assistance to an enemy spy?! How could you do that?"
"I did not provide assistance to an enemy spy." That statement Lacus gave started to confuse Athrun greatly, but at the same time gave him some relief. That is, until Lacus told him something that Athrun was not expecting at all. "All I did was decide to provide Kira with a newer, better sword, because I felt he had need of it now, and it would ultimately serve its purpose best in Kira's hands. As for Jetfire, he didn't ever need my help escaping, because he had already been doing so for some time now without anyone even noticing. All he did was act as both a guide and support for Kira when he left that last time."
"Kira," Athrun gasped. He then mentally shook off the shock of what Lacus had said before he started to get angry. "What're you talking about Lacus? Kira's gone! I…"
"Killed him with your own hands," Lacus interrupted, shocking Athrun even more. Lacus then gave an understanding smile as she told him, "Don't look so worried. It's true, Kira's still alive."
"You're lying! What kind of trick are you trying to pull now Lacus Clyne," Athrun shouted as he did something that he thought he would never do. He aimed his gun right at Lacus. "What you're saying is crazy. It's impossible. There's no way he could be alive!"
Lacus simply continued to smile as she explained, "Reverend Malchio found him and brought him to me, and then I learned about what happened between you two. Kira told me. Don't you believe what I'm telling you? Do you even believe what you've seen with your own eyes? On the battlefield, or now that you've returned to the PLANTs after being away for quite some time. Haven't you noticed things are different?"
Athrun found himself hesitating as he thought about what Lacus was saying, and could not help but admit to himself that what she was saying was true. Things were different in the PLANTs since he had returned, and his father seemed to have changed quite a great deal as well, and not for the better. Athrun felt almost as though he did not quite recognize his own father anymore.
Seeing that Athrun had begun thinking about what she was saying, Lacus continued by asking, "What is it you believe in? What is it you're fighting for now? Is it for that medal you received, or your father's orders?"
Athrun found that he could not ignore the way Lacus was speaking to him. It was not with anger, it was more like terrible, terrible disappointment. "Because if that is so, you'll likely find yourself fighting Kira as his enemy again, and you'll be fighting me too. So if I am to be your enemy then you might as well shoot me now, Athrun Zala soldier of Z.A.F.T."
Athrun found that under that stern gaze Lacus held, and with the way she just referred to him as, he could no longer hold his emotions back or even hold his gun up as his shoulders shook with sadness, and he found himself more confused than ever on what he really should be doing. Dreadwing then attempted to snap him out of it by stating, "Don't listen to her Athrun! She's just trying to mess with your head."
"I am not trying to do any such thing Dreadwing," Lacus then rounded on him, and Dreadwing found that he himself was somewhat fearful of the pink songstress himself. It was not that he was afraid her exactly, but more of how she seemed to be preparing to give him a talking to like she had just done with Athrun. However, Lacus then adopted a look of pity as she held out a small blue card to Dreadwing.
"Where did you get that," Dreadwing whispered.
"Jetfire found this and gave it to me shortly before he left, because he knew that I would be able to get it to you," Lacus explained. "On this data card is information concerning something that Megatron had decided to hide from you. It's about your brother, and how your lord and master had disgraced him more than the Autobots ever could, and how Optimus Prime and the other Autobots righted the wrong."
"No you're…that's not true. It can't be," Dreadwing tried to insist, but all the same he could not hide that he was trying to restrain himself from reaching out and taking the data card.
"It is true Dreadwing," Lacus insisted. "This was taken from a private storage server that belongs to Soundwave himself, and Jetfire had only found it after doing weeks of hacking without anyone knowing, further risking his freedom to do so. Please Dreadwing, before you do anything else, you need to see this."
Dreadwing looked at the pink haired girl for a moment, before he found he could no longer stop himself, and reached out to accept the data card. As soon as it left Lacus's hand, it grew to a larger size that would be more appropriate for a Cybertronian to easily carry it in. Before anything more could be said though, a secret service team ran in, armed with weapons and surrounded the three, revealing that Athrun and Dreadwing were being followed ever since they had left Chairman Zala's office, since they knew Lacus's ex-fiancé would know her best enough to know where to look for her.
Before any of their potential attackers could make a move on them though, after revealing that they were authorized to use lethal force if necessary, someone shot at one of them, killing him instantly. Dreadwing instinctively reacted along with Athrun, as Athrun pulled Lacus behind some cover while Dreadwing used his own body to act as a shield for the two.
When the shooting finally stopped, a man in a green Z.A.F.T. uniform, with dark skin and red hair stepped out and asked, "Ready Miss Lacus?"
"You're DaCosta," Dreadwing gasped, recognizing the former second-in-command of Andrew Waltfeld.
"Well you're pretty sharp aren't you," a female voice then stated. Dreadwing turned to see a woman with long dark hair that had orange highlights step into the light as well. The woman in question wore a blue shirt and dark colored pants with the Z.A.F.T. symbol on the right sleeve of the shirt, but the most notable thing about her was that both of her arms were robotic prosthetics with clear Cybertronian origin.
"You really should have stayed behind Aisha," DaCosta stated.
"After being cooped up for so long, you can't really resist any chance to stretch your legs," Aisha retorted. DaCosta just shrugged in response to this, finding himself unable to argue that logic.
"Thank you both so much Athrun and Dreadwing," Lacus told the two with a true, grateful smile.
"Are you finished Miss Lacus," Aisha asked. "I think we should get going as well."
"And Reverend Malchio," Lacus asked.
"He was able to take off safely."
Lacus nodded at this and then turned to Athrun and Dreadwing with one final thing to say. "Goodbye Athrun, Dreadwing. Thank you both for bringing my dear Pink back to me." She then paused for a moment to allow the two a moment to simply nod before stating, "Athrun, you'll find Kira on Earth. I suggest that you have a talk with him. He is your friend, and Dreadwing, once you've seen what's on that data card, I suggest you try to have a talk with the Autobots, or at least with Optimus. You'll find that you actually owe him a great deal."
Athrun and Dreadwing could both only stand there and watch as Lacus left with DaCosta and Aisha, neither one of them knowing what to say and both of them now unsure of many things. As he watched the three disappear, Dreadwing's gaze drifted to the data card that Lacus had given him, wondering just what was on it that would give him reason to owe anything to Optimus Prime.
After everyone had boarded the Omega II to discuss their plans, it was agreed that everyone thought it was obvious that if the two ships headed to Panama to join up with the rest of the fleet, then they would all be branded as either traitors or deserters simply because they knew too much. It did not help matters saying it aloud, but it still had to be said. Finally, Kira had spoken up asking everyone what they thought they should be fighting, and saying whatever that thing was, then they should start fighting against it now.
Another thing that everyone agreed on was that the Decepticons were now without a doubt the one enemy they knew for certain that they had to fight since they seemed to be everywhere, a fact reinforced when Jetfire revealed that the 'Cons had a rumor going around about them having a spy within the Earth Forces and Blue Cosmos. As for the identity of said spy, everyone could only guess, but they figured that Starscream was an unlikely candidate given his history and what had transpired and decided that whoever it was most likely had a connection to Soundwave somehow. Though that did not help them in solving the mystery.
In the end, Kira suggested that they travel to Orb, since it seemed to be the only safe haven they have had at this point and since there was also an Autobot base there with Ratchet and Ironhide waiting for them. With that decided, the two ships had set off as soon as the Archangel's crew had boarded their ship once more, and within little to no time at all, they were soon being escorted into the same secret hangars that the two ships had used the last time they were in Orb.
As soon as the two ships had docked, Kira found himself wandering the hallways of the Archangel, wondering what would happen now that they were actually here. He figured that Optimus would be going to meet with Ratchet and Ironhide as soon as he finished meeting with Lord Uzumi along with Murrue, but beyond that he did not really know. He did not have much time to think on any of that though when someone called out, "Kira!"
Kira immediately paused in his stroll and turned around to see who had called him, only to find himself getting tackled to the ground by someone as they wrapped him in a hug. "You are such an idiot," the person told Kira as she pounded on his chest, and he instantly recognized the voice of the person. As he opened his eyes he saw that it was indeed Cagalli who was now lying on top of him looking down at him with an angry look that did not hide just how happy she was to see he was alive. "You're just…you're so…" Cagalli stuttered as she started crying into Kira's chest. "I never thought I'd see you again! How could you do that to me!"
Kira just gave a small smile as he allowed Cagalli a moment to let it all out before finally saying, "Sorry."
Cagalli raised her head to meet Kira's smiling face with her own tear stained one as she quietly asked, "So you're…really alive?"
I'm going to be hearing people ask me that a lot for a while aren't I, Kira thought to himself as his smile grew a little while he replied, "Yeah I'm alive, and I did come back."
Cagalli just smiled at him for a little while longer until she finally realized the position the two were in and quickly got off of Kira, with a small blush on her face. The two then figured they should talk and they ended up doing so in the hangar right in front of the Freedom along with Arcee, who had taken a Ground Bridge from the Omega II to the Archangel when she heard that Cagalli was aboard the latter. The reunion between the two girls was much more subdued than the one that Kira and Cagalli had for obvious reasons.
"I see," Kira said later on in the conversation that the three had. "So you talked to Athrun?"
"Yeah. We'd gone out searching for you, but we found him instead," Cagalli replied. "He was devastated. Kept crying and saying how he'd been the one who killed you."
"And you were making fun of me having a relationship with Bumblebee, yet first chance you get you decide to hook up with the big, tough Z.A.F.T. pilot that we met on that island," Arcee smirked.
Cagalli's face went crimson at that comment. "Arcee! It wasn't like that!"
"Sure, you just wanted to find out what happened to Kira, that's why you gave him a good luck charm that would keep him alive," Arcee retorted, still smirking.
Cagalli's face was doing a better impression of a tomato by the minute at Arcee's teasing, clearly not missing that the tough femme Autobot was getting payback for all the times the blonde had teased her for being in a relationship with Bumblebee, when Kira cut in. "There was another battle before that where I killed his friend, and then he killed Tolle. There was no other option for me, and I'm sure for Athrun as well."
Cagalli and Arcee both stared at Kira in quiet shock for a moment before the blonde turned to gaze at the Freedom before speaking again. "You'd been friends since you were kids, right?"
Kira smiled at Cagalli when she asked that. "As long as I've known him, Athrun's always been a loyal friend, and I could count on him to help me out."
"You must've known that eventually you'd end up having to fight him, so what made you decide to stick with the Earth Forces? I mean, because after all you are a Coordinator, so it seems pretty stupid to stay knowing that sooner or later you'd have to fight your friend," Cagalli asked.
Kira looked down in thought for a moment trying to decide how to best answer, when Arcee answered for him. "I'm guessing it was for a similar reason as to why Optimus stuck with the Autobots knowing he would eventually have to fight someone he once considered a brother."
Kira nodded as he replied. "Yeah I thought if I didn't, my other friends would die, so I did it because I am a Coordinator." Kira paused for a moment as he turned to face the Freedom. "Truth is…the honest truth is I guess I never honestly believed that I would have to kill Athrun, or that Athrun might have to kill me."
Cagalli and Arcee both looked at Kira sadly for a moment after hearing that, until Arcee stated, "Optimus felt the same way the first few times he met Megatron on the battle field, but the difference between that and how it is with you and Athrun, is that Megatron was always brutal right from the start and one could only try to seriously kill you so many times before you finally realize that you have to do the same, like how it was with Optimus. I'm sure Optimus has already said this, but there is still hope for you and Athrun to patch things up, and I have a feeling that you definitely will."
Kira nodded to Arcee in thanks for that, and the three stood there for another moment in silence before Bumblebee walked in to tell Kira something that the scout thought he should hear.
Sometimes Miriallia thought that she could be too nice to people, and this was one of those times. After the brown haired girl had noticed that a pair of food trays had not been claimed yet, she found out that they were actually for the Archangel's prisoners, Dearka and Nicol, and so she found herself taking the trays to the two herself. That was why she was in the brig right now walking towards the two cells.
"Dinner time," Miriallia called out as she slid the trays into the slot at the bottom of the doors, stirring both Coordinators from their naps. "Things got a bit crazy. Sorry for the delay."
They both sat up and while Nicol actually claimed his food tray, saying thanks as he did, Dearka just sat on his bed staring at Miriallia for a moment, a fact that the girl noticed pretty quickly. "What is it," Miriallia demanded.
"Uh nothing," Dearka replied with a smile. "I guess I'm a little surprised to see that you're the one who brought it honey."
"Honey," Miriallia shouted in annoyance.
"Dearka, you do remember that this is the same girl who tried to stab you earlier because of your big mouth a little while back right," Nicol sternly reminded his blonde friend.
"Sorry, I meant no insult ma'am," Dearka quickly stated while throwing a side glare to Nicol.
"I told you Dearka, my name's Miriallia and that I don't want you calling me ma'am," Miriallia reminded him.
"So…it's okay for me to call you by your name now," Dearka asked with a hopeful tone.
"Ugh, no," Miriallia snapped as she spun on her heel to leave, only to be stopped by a smirking Coordinator in blue Earth Forces uniform.
"If she's getting annoyed with you like this, it usual means that it is okay for you to call her by her name," Kira told Dearka.
"Kira! Don't say weird stuff like that," Miriallia snapped.
"What's so weird about it?" Before Kira could get any further, he noticed that Dearka and Nicol were both staring at him in surprise. "What," Kira asked.
"Nothing it's just, I figured I wouldn't run into you again, especially after that last battle we had," Dearka stated, leading Nicol to give him a confused look. "How'd you even know we were down here?"
"A little bee told me," Kira replied, leading everyone but Nicol to chuckle at his little joke after a moment, while meanwhile Bumblebee had let out the Cybertronian equivalent of a sneeze.
"Uh Dearka, do you know this guy," Nicol finally asked. That seemed to put a slight damper on the mood, as everyone was suddenly unsure about what to say in response.
In the end Dearka did answer the question by simply saying, "Yeah Nicol. This guy's Kira."
Nicol gasped in surprise at this, and then looked back at Kira in surprise as he realized that he was actually now face to face with Athrun's old friend and the guy who had killed Jaylen. Nicol was not sure what to say and barely even registered Dearka introducing Kira to him until Kira walked up so that both of them could see him well enough and stated, "You guys both have pretty good reasons to hate me, but even if it doesn't mean much, I still want to apologize for everything."
"Hey don't worry about it," Dearka waved him off. "I know you didn't mean to do it, and after meeting you in the cave with Athrun I could tell that you'd never kill without reason or unless it was an accident."
Kira nodded in thanks to the blonde and then turned to see what Nicol would say. At that point, Nicol had finally come out of his shock, and surprisingly, gave Kira a small smile as he stated, "It's alright. It's not like I knew you at the time, but I've got to say, you're actually not quite what I had been expecting you to be like."
"What do you mean," Kira asked.
"Well when Athrun was telling me about you, somehow I had pictured you being a little bit bigger and with some of the usual physical signs of being a workaholic."
"Why does everyone say that about me," Kira muttered under his breath, getting everyone to laugh, only this time at his expense.
"Say can I ask you something Mister Yamato," Nicol asked.
"Sure, but you can just call me Kira."
Nicol nodded before continuing. "I was wondering if you could tell me his name." At Kira's confused glance, Nicol elaborated, "The name of the Autobot that had saved me in that battle. I want to know so I can properly thank him if I get a chance."
Kira smiled and told him, "His name is Bumblebee, Autobot scout of Team Prime."
Nicol smiled at that for a moment, before he burst out laughing a bit, finally getting what Kira meant when he had said that a little bee had told him. The four continued to talk for a minute, with Kira and Miriallia informing the two Z.A.F.T. pilots that they were currently in Orb and that there was nothing they could do about their current imprisonment at the moment, and Nicol and Dearka getting to know Kira a bit better, until Kira was contacted by Bumblebee who said that Optimus and Lord Uzumi wanted to speak with him, the other Autobots, Mu, and Murrue at the Autobots' base. With that Kira bade the three goodbye and quickly headed off to the hangar where the two former Earth Forces commanders and Cagalli were waiting by an open Ground Bridge for him.
"I cannot believe this," Ratchet muttered. "A Cyclops System is bad enough, but this one had elements of raw energon in it to give it the added bonus of being even more potent to humans while also being potent to Cybertronians as well."
"Yes I agree," Lord Uzumi stated from the raised platform that he, Kisaka, Mu, Murrue, Kira, and Cagalli now all stood upon in the Autobot base with all the Autobots. "Even if the details of the enemy's invasion plan were leaked, that still seems like a rather extreme course of action to take."
"However, you can't deny that what happened in Alaska eliminated eighty percent of Z.A.F.T.'s fighting strength with one blow, along with a large number of Megatron's Decepticon forces. To the people who planned this, it was just a logical calculation, and sacrificing unwanted forces to accomplish this was an added bonus."
"And here is the result," Ratchet finished as he turned one of the monitors in the base to a news channel. As soon as he had, they all heard the person speaking about how the destruction of JOSH-A was a "terrible loss" and how despite the fact that it would forever be a day marked in history they would not submit to the "arrogant Coordinators" in order to protect the Earth in what was basically an entire anti-Coordinator tirade. Finally one of the Autobots had heard enough, and immediately blasted the monitor, ending any further listening of the program.
"Bulkhead," Ratchet shouted as he turned to the big green Wrecker.
"Whoa, hey, don't look at me Doc! I may do stuff like that a lot, but this time it was not me," Bulkhead shouted in protest.
"Well then who did," Ratchet demanded.
All three Wreckers replied at once as the pointed at the culprit. "He did it!"
Everyone looked to see Bumblebee with his blaster pointed at the now destroyed monitor, and upon seeing everyone looking at him, the scout simply shrugged and whirred out something in his defense that Mu immediately asked someone to translate for those who could not understand him.
Cagalli answered saying, "Bumblebee said, and I quote, 'What? We were all thinking of doing it, I just decided to actually step up and do it.'."
"Even so Bumblebee, we needed that," Ratchet whined in the usual tone he used whenever he said that line.
Kira looked to Lord Uzumi and asked, "Lord Uzumi, did we really still need that?"
"For this meeting, no I don't think so, but afterwards the Autobots might have. Of course I'm only guessing to be honest," Lord Uzumi replied.
"I guess Mister Murdoch was right to start thinking that Ratchet's started saying that on impulse," Kira then chuckled, and was soon joined in his chuckling by Cagalli.
"I understand why it's happening, but it's sure tough to swallow," Mu commented, getting everyone back on track.
"To go along with the tone of its rhetoric, the Atlantic Federation has been increasing its political pressure on all the neutral nations. They're being told that any state that refuses to join the alliance will subsequently be considered an enemy nation. Of course, our own nation of Orb is no exception," Lord Uzumi then revealed.
Cagalli scowled at the fact she knew what the Atlantic Federation was really after was Orb's power as her father continued, "I'm sure you are all aware of this, but our nation does not refuse entry to Coordinators. We are one of the few countries that will allow anyone to enter and reside within our boarders as long as they uphold the ideals and laws of our state. We believe that no one should be judged by whether his or her genes have been engineered. The only thing that labeling a person as either a Coordinator or a Natural does is create friction between people." Lord Uzumi then turned to Cagalli and Kira and smiled as he stated, "Cagalli is a Natural, and Kira, of course is a Coordinator. These are facts that they have absolutely no control over, and yet they are still good friends."
Kira smiled and immediately agreed with the former chief representative of Orb on what he was saying, which prompted Uzumi to continue. "I cannot support the policies of the Atlantic Federation, because it labels every Coordinator as evil and an enemy, insisting on attacking them for that biased reason alone. Who is really fighting who here, and what is the real reason behind it?"
"But sir, I understand the point of what you're saying, and excuse me for arguing, but isn't your position kind of idealistic," Mu pointed out. "Those all sound like wonderful ideas, but Coordinators will continue to look down on Naturals, and in turn Naturals will be jealous of Coordinators. That's just the way things are."
"I am aware of that," Lord Uzumi assured him. "It goes without saying that our nation has difficulty living up to this, but if we gave up on trying to improve our situation then in the end we'd be left with no other choice but to eliminate each other. At that point it would be too late to do anything but reflect and regret what had passed. My friends, you would suggest that we keep silent and let this happen because that is what the rest of the world is doing would you?"
Everyone paused for a moment to think that over for a moment before Lord Uzumi turned to everyone in the room who was still wearing the Earth Forces uniform. "From this point you can choose your own course in life. I can understand if you still feel loyalty to those whose uniform you wear, but you're all young and capable. Make your decisions carefully, and be sure to choose the future you truly desire. There's still time."
"I agree with Lord Uzumi," Optimus stated, getting everyone's attention as he carried on. "From where I stand, many of Orb's ideals actually coincide with those of the Autobots in some senses. While we do consider the Decepticons to be our enemy, that does not mean that we would turn them away should any of them decide that they wish to join our cause, because even after all this time, freedom is still something that the Autobots stand for. While that is the case, Megatron stands as the greatest opposition to those ideals, and it would not be all that surprising if he would consider anyone such as those of Orb to be an enemy, which is why to this day we still carry on our war with the Decepticons, and it has become more and more clear that the only way for the war for Cybertron to end would be if Megatron's existence were to end."
"Do you really believe that Optimus Prime," Lord Uzumi asked. "Do you really believe that one who you called brother must be sacrificed in order for peace to be obtained?"
"I did not always Lord Uzumi. In fact there are still days that I wish that Megatron would see the error of his ways, but after eons of conflict one can only hold onto such hopes for so long, especially when given the horrors and atrocities that Megatron has condoned to happen. Nevertheless, the facts still remain the same. So long as the Decepticons seek to rule through domination, fear, and conflict, the Autobots shall never stop fighting them. I myself still believe that freedom is the right of all sentient beings, and that is something that I will give my life to defend."
As everyone looked around the room, they could see that all the other Autobots shared the same conviction in that belief as their leader, and Lord Uzumi himself could not help but smile at how much like the true warriors of Orb the Autobots seemed to be. "And what's your view on this Lord Uzumi," Kira then asked.
Lord Uzumi looked to Kira, gauging the conviction that was held within Kira's eyes before stating, "I believe that we're entering a time when our swords can no longer simply be for display."
That response brought a small smile to Kira's face, along with Optimus and the other Autobots' faces as well. Cagalli did not quite understand the reason for this at first, but once she did she could not help but give a small smile as well. With that, Lord Uzumi allowed everyone to leave and rest up for the night saying that he and the Autobots would notify the Archangel crew of any news they would have by tomorrow, concluding their meeting for now.
The following morning's news was not the kind of news anyone on the Archangel were hoping to hear. It turned out that Z.A.F.T. launched an attack on Panama which led to the Earth Forces being slaughtered, and their Mass Driver destroyed. Despite the fact that Earth Forces had tried to match them with their new mobile suit core, composed of Strike Daggers, they stood no chance when Z.A.F.T. used a powerful EMP bomb to destroy any chance they had at resistance.
Despite all of this, Kira was still determined to fight even if he were to do so alone. When Mu asked him if he was sure of his decision, Kira told him that he believed as long as he did the best he could, that was all he could really hope for. He then went on to say that while things did seem desperate Kira did not believe that this was the way to make them better. After hearing him say that, Optimus reassured Kira that as long as the he continued along the same path as the Autobots, Kira would never be fighting alone, to which Kira was extremely grateful.
As soon as that conversation had finished, Cagalli had come to tell Kira that Erica Simmons wanted to see him ASAP and that she had something important to show him, which led him, Mu, Cagalli, Murrue, Optimus, Jetfire, Bumblebee, Elita, and Bulkhead to where they were now, traveling through the mobile suit development lab with Erica and Ironhide leading the way. "Now that you're back, I thought I should return this to you," Erica told Kira as they finally reached their destination.
Kira gasped in surprise as he saw the familiar form of the Strike, completely rebuilt as though it were never destroyed to begin with. "After the repairs were done, I installed the new OS you wrote for us, because…well because I figured someone else would be piloting it."
"The OS designed for Naturals," Elita asked, just to make sure she understood correctly.
"Yeah that's the one," Ironhide stated. "And then I made some modifications to the equipment packs that it uses until I was able to combine them all into one, which I call the Perfect Striker pack. When equipped, it will allow this machine to become the Perfect Strike Gundam."
"Well it sounds like you've certainly been busy Ironhide," Jetfire commented.
"He's not the only one," a voice stated. The Autobots all turned with Jetfire to see that it was a 'Bot who looked almost exactly like Jetfire except for the fact he had blue on his armor where Jetfire's had red, along with three other Autobots as well that all looked like flyers. They were all 'Bots that Jetfire and the others present instantly recognized.
"Jetstorm, Air Raid, Wing Saber, Silverbolt, you're all okay," Jetfire exclaimed.
"Good to see you're doing alright to brother," Jetstorm stated.
Silverbolt then approached Optimus and saluted saying, "Silverbolt and the Aerialbots reporting for duty Optimus Prime, sir."
"At ease Silverbolt. It is good to see you are all doing well," Optimus welcomed.
"Oh we're doing better than well sir. In fact we're new and improved," Air Raid boasted. To demonstrate, he quickly assumed his vehicle mode, which turned out to be a heavy artillery jet fighter. Following his lead, Wing Saber and Silverbolt did the same with the former turning into a similar jet as Air Raid except with a slightly larger wing span, and the latter turning into a space shuttle. The only one who did not do so was Jetstorm.
"Whoa, you've all got Earth forms now," Bulkhead whistled.
"Well not all of them," Ironhide stated. "Jetstorm stated that he wanted to be sure he and Jetfire had the same vehicle mode like they always did so he elected to wait until Fire showed up."
"Well then I guess we'd better get hunting for new vehicle modes then, because that's the same reason why I held off scanning an Earth mode for myself," Jetfire stated.
"I hope one of you has something in mind then," Elita commented.
"Actually I do," Jetfire stated.
"Before that, don't you guys think we should figure out who'll pilot the Strike now," Bulkhead cut in.
"I'll pilot it," Cagalli stated. "I mean, if that's okay with you that is."
"I'm afraid you can't," Mu told her. "Because I will."
"Commander," Murrue started, but Mu cut her off with a smile.
"That doesn't apply to me anymore now does it, Miss Murrue," Mu stated. Murrue just stared at him for a moment before smiling and giving him a nod to go ahead.
"Well if Mu's going to be piloting the Strike that might actually work out well for us," Jetfire stated. At everyone's confused glances, Jetfire looked at Murrue and asked, "Do you mind if Storm and I see the Sky Grasper?"
At Murrue's nod to go ahead, Ironhide decided to save them all a trip and had Ratchet open a Ground Bridge to bring the fighter plane to them. As soon as the Sky Grasper had come through, with Mu piloting it one last time, the Bridge closed and Jetfire and Jetstorm both nodded to each other before they both locked their gazes upon the plane. The next thing everyone saw was a blue scanning beam emit from each of their eyes one after the other, and sweep over the Sky Grasper. Once the scan had finished, the two Aerialbot brothers transformed into their new vehicle modes, each of them now being a Sky Grasper, with Jetfire's being red and white, while Jetstorm was blue and white like the Sky Grasper usually was.
"You know, I actually kind of figured that Jetfire would want his new Earth mode to be something like the Sky Grasper, and it actually seems to work for both of them," Kira commented with a chuckle. Everyone had to chuckle in agreement with that as well.
A short while afterwards, Mu was now in the new Perfect Strike on the mobile suit testing field of Morgenroete, ready for his first round of sparring practice, squaring off against his two sparring partners. "You know, I can't help thinking it's still too soon for you to spar with me alone, never mind Wheeljack," Kira commented over the radio.
"Ah if the guy wants to get his aft handed to him, then he might as well get it handed to him by the best guys on his side," Wheeljack waved Kira off as he pulled out his swords and activated his battle mask. Wheeljack had actually raced over as soon as he heard Mu was switching to the Strike, and was eager to help his new wingman get some practice in. That didn't mean he was not going to mess with Mu though.
"Both of you quiet," Mu retorted. "Don't tell me what I can't do, and the only one who's getting his aft handed to him is going to be you Jackie! Now here I come!"
With that, Mu charged the Perfect Strike in to take a swing at the two. Kira and Wheeljack both smirked in response to this challenge behind their helmet visor and battle mask respectively and met Mu's attack with their own defense, and thus the sparring session between the Coordinator, the Wrecker, and the man who could make the impossible possible began.
Out in space, Dreadwing had found a small area of Debris to stand out in as he collected his thoughts. He had done as Lacus had asked and looked at the data card, only to discover that Lacus was right in what she had said. Finally he could take no more, and Dreadwing cried out to the endless expanse of space in anger and anguish.
"Dreadwing, what's wrong," Athrun's voice asked. Dreadwing turned to face the crimson red form of Athrun's new machine, the Justice. In truth, the two had actually both launched from the PLANTs to begin their new mission at the same time, and sadly that did not give Dreadwing much time to think about what he had seen on the data card. It was not until he saw the debris field they were now in did he ask Athrun to stop for a moment so that he could do so.
Dreadwing gazed at Athrun's suit for another moment before sighing and deciding to tell the boy he had now come to consider a friend why he was so upset. "I looked at the information that Lacus Clyne had given me Athrun, and it turns out she was correct. Megatron had betrayed me. It turns out after he first acquired the dark energon that now courses through him, he felt that he should test its ability to revive the dead as mindless Terrorcons, and the one he had the nerve to test it on was my own brother, Skyquake. He defiled my brother's peaceful rest with that vile substance, dishonored Skyquake's sacrifice, and all just so that he could have a proper test. Were it not for the efforts of Optimus Prime and some of his Autobots, who had been in the area when he began the test, my brother would still have been living in such disgraceful shame."
Athrun was shocked at this revelation, and could not help but feel sad for Dreadwing. The large Decepticon had just found out that the one he served so faithfully for so long had betrayed him so, and had attempted to cover it up like it never happened instead of admitting to his crime. It made Athrun think of how his father seemed to be becoming such a horrible person and of how it seemed that despite knowing things like this about Megatron he still kept the alliance between Z.A.F.T. and the Decepticons going strong.
"My whole quest to reclaim my honor, all my efforts to avenge my brother," Dreadwing softly moaned. "It has all been a lie, and all just been a disgrace in and of itself. How much of a fool have I become?"
Athrun allowed Dreadwing a moment before finally asking the question that he felt needed to be asked. "Now that you know all of this, what will you do Dreadwing?"
Dreadwing gathered himself together when he heard Athrun's question, and then turned his gaze from the Justice to Earth, before finally reaching his decision. "First I intend to find the Autobots, and depending on their current situation, I will then decide what I will do. However, I know one thing is certain about when I next meet with Optimus Prime's forces. I will not wish to fight them, but rather I will want to talk with them."
Having said this, Dreadwing transformed into his jet mode and blasted off for Earth, with the Justice just behind him. Both Coordinator and Decepticon knowing that they would both wish to speak to someone when they finally caught up with them.
AN: Well there you have it. I'll bet none of you were expecting some of the things that happened in this chapter, particularly the choice that Jetfire and Jetstorm made in terms of there new Earth forms. Now next chapter is the battle of Orb, so without further ado, here's the...
Murrue: Wait a minute, you said you would give a full answer to the Dinobot question.
AN: Oh yeah, I was hoping you forgot about that...Anyways, I've been having a lot of people asking me if the Dinobots will appear in this story, even though I have already answered that question multiple times now, so I guess I'll say it again. Now for the millionth time, aside from that little flashback scene in this chapter, the Dinobots will not be appearing in the main storyline of this story series until the sequel to this story. Okay? Okay. Good, okay. Sorry if I sound a little rude saying that, but it had to be said.
Murrue: Okay I think they get it.
AN: Ahem...sorry about that. Moving on. Onto the preview that is!...
Azrael and Starscream launch an attack on Orb, and the Archangel and the Autobots join the neutral nation's forces in the defense of their homeland. As the Autobots clash with the Insecticons, the Combaticons face off with the Aerialbots to settle an old score. Kira finds himself facing off against the current results of Blue Cosmos' research in combining Cybertronian and mobile suit technology, and as the battle starts to take a turn for the worst, Athrun and Dreadwing arrive on the scene, this time not as enemies, but as allies. What other surprises and revelations await our heroes in the coming battle, what changes will come from the battle between Orb and the Atlantic Federation with the Autobots and Starscream's Decepticon faction involved? The answers to the questions and more will soon be answered. Next time on Mobile Suit Gundam SEED Prime…Chapter 24: Turning Blades and Tides. Face off against this new opponent Superion and Gundam!
[Loud crash comes from the direction of the closet]
Cagalli: YOU ARE SO DEAD FOR LOCKING ME IN THE CLOSET AGAIN!
AN: Eep! Gotta run! [AN runs away screaming like a little girl, Cagalli hot on his tail]
Murrue:...Uh couldn't you wait until after...
AN: Don't worry I got it this time. [Fires freeze ray at Cagalli]
Murrue: Where did you even get that?
AN: Now that would be telling. Anyhow, please read and review, and I'll see you next time!