"Deactivating forced Pandora Key synchronization. Sub-operational Assault Mode has now reverted to Neutral. Damage to Pandora Key cannot be determined as of this moment."
Kira felt his perception slowly returned to normal and lost awareness of everything around him save for those directly in his vision. Whatever it was he experienced, it was very short, lasting half a minute but to him it felt as if time had really stretched. The computer system had announced that it was unilaterally activating the Assault mode and had warned that the efficiency had been affected due to the state of the key. He didn't know what it meant but didn't have the time to think about it as he felt his view of the world changed.
He could sense, he corrected himself, he could see the mobile suit in the air behind him. When he felt that he needed to jump, the mobile suit was already going through the jumping motion and at the same time activating its boosters to support the motion. When he slashed the first mobile suit into two, he did so knowing very well that he was ending a human's life inside it and felt a sense of detachment of what happened; it was the same when he stabbed through the second one's cockpit. It was as if he didn't feel for the act of killing.
His left hand pushed the control and the mobile suit righted itself into a sitting position.
"Wait," he thought to himself, "The orphanage!"
"Don't move and raise your hands to where we can see you," a female voice said over the open channel. "We saw what you did and I assure you that we wouldn't make the same mistake."
"Can't you see that the orphanage is in ruin and I have to help?" Kira growled.
There was a lull of silence before the voice responded. "We will assist the injured. But as a sign of honesty, you're to move your mobile suit to the shore and then disembark from it."
Kira wondered whether he should cooperate with the newcomers or not but then an airborne carrier appeared over the horizon, he knew that he had no choice as more fighting could destroy the whole place. He did as he told.
Mwu watched as a squad of soldiers ran toward the orphanage with a team of medics following it. He then cocked his head toward the young brunette sitting on the sand with his hands on his head. "Mind telling me what happened?" he asked conversationally while gesturing toward the white mobile suit. "And what is your connection with the lady by your side?" He had met all kinds of soldiers to instantly know the person he was talking to was a civilian.
Kira gave a glance at the unconscious woman lying on a stretcher next to him. "I only know her name. As for Spectrum…"
"Spectrum?"
"The white mobile suit. Flay referred it as such and when the screen boots up, it displayed the acronym."
"Oh," Mwu uttered while filing away the information for later use, "so you were saying…"
"She brought it to this island and for what reason I don't really know. What I know is suddenly three mobile suits appeared and attack this place before you guys appeared."
"We'll have to wait for our sleeping beauty to wake up, wouldn't we?" Mwu said while at the same time trying to piece together some sort of an explanation why she did it. "So, I heard that you defeat two mobile suits by yourself."
Kira felt as if his heart had been stabbed by a dull knife as the full ramification of his action hit him hard. He had killed.
Mwu almost smacked his own forehead when he realized the mistake that he had made. He was a trained soldier and was emotionally conditioned to accept that in war, killing was inevitable. However, the young man was still innocent bystander who had the worst of luck to be involved in a battle. He mentally made a note to recommend him to visit the ship's resident psychiatrist. He then raised his hand to give a lazy salute at the newcomer. "At ease, Ensign Haww. No need to salute."
Mirrillia saluted nevertheless. "We've conducted the sweep and found no trace of enemy. Also, sonar dips reveal no nearby submarine."
"That's good. I wouldn't want us to be caught with our pants, er, skirt, um anyway, we don't want them to attack us." There was a high probability that the ZAFT attackers came from a single Vosgulov submarine or else the attackers would have been more numerous. With that taken into consideration, the probability of the submarine launching another aerial sortie was quite small since it would only have at most four more DINNs left; the pilot of escaped mobile suit would no doubt inform his or her superior the outcome of the battle as well as Mir's interference. Then, it was tactically sound for the ZAFT submarine captain not to attack using its aerial mobile suits.
However, since the submarine wasn't detected in the nearby coastal area, the enemy wouldn't be coming soon. Of course, Vosgulov-class submarine could move at the speed of more than 50 knots but doing so would create a lot of noise that could probably be detected hundreds and hundreds of kilometers away. On the other hand, when the submarine could discretely get close enough to launch its underwater mobile suits, Archangel would have been long gone from the scene.
"So, who's the pilot of the white mobile suit with black trimmings?" Mirrillia asked. "Ours?"
Mwu pointed at Kira. "A civilian, though he's with the agent we're supposed to picked up." He then eyed the leader of the team sent to the orphanage shaking his head while signaling a '1' and then a '4'. Someone was dead and four were injured. He thumbed Archangel. "Mirrillia, take Kira to the ship. We'll evacuate everyone there temporarily."
The three of them watched silently the video recording showing Spectrum reverting to its cavalier appearance from its samurai-like mode.
"I still can't believe this kind othing just dropped into our lap from out of nowhere." Mwu remarked after the video ended. "Any idea on its propulsion, Doc?"
"Well," Murdoch stalled, "you probably wouldn't want to know."
"Try us," Murrue said, preparing for the worst. Since the ship should already been categorized as rogue by the Alliance or at least the North Atlantic Federation, having new bad news delivered probably wouldn't make that much a difference. "Let me guess, compact nuclear fission?"
"No, that I can be sure off. As for the generator I can't be sure since I'm just a mechanic instead of a physicist …," Murdoch sighed, "Probably ionic electric propulsion powered by deuterium-tritium muon-catalyzed fusion with the nominal power output rated at 12,825 kilowatt."
The other two shared a confused look.
"Muon-catalyzed fusion?" Mwu asked for confirmation.
The older man nodded.
"But even with the North Atlantic's current technology or even ZAFT for that matter, it was impossible to create that kind of power plant with acceptable output; even more so building a compact version of it!" Murrue exclaimed.
The man in front of her sniffed. "I did say that you probably wouldn't want to know. But the good news is, since the fusion occurs at slightly higher temperature than the room temperature and the generator fully shielded, there's a negligible risk of its exploding. On the negative side, everybody's going to want one. "
"Well, this is something," Mwu said. "A 17 meter cold-fusion mobile suit with the power of maglev train. What else it could do? Fly without a lifter module?"
Murdoch shrugged. "Sure."
"I was being sarcastic."
"And I'm not." Murdoch insisted, "Even without wings, which in this case is pointless since it's not aerodynamic, the mobile suit can moved at a speed comparable to Guul."
Mwu turned Murrue to see that she was frowning. It wasn't often that one would be burdened with the command of a ragtag ship listed as destroy on sight by its own force and to make the matter worse, came into the custody of a portable weapons of mass destruction whose technology, if revealed, would cause everyone to try and capture it.
"Any other info?" Murrue asked.
"I chatted with that brunette kid and he said that the OS sucks ball but the core is fully encrypted."
"Suck balls?" Mwu interrupted, clearly amused by the statement.
"The 'balls' is something I added up."
"Oh, I guessed as much."
Murdoch rubbed his chin. "That reminds me; the strange OS aside, I noticed that the power sockets on it are fully compatible with Alliance's and ZAFT. It's as if the creators wanted it to be able to use any weapons from both factions with minimal modifications. Heck, I wouldn't be surprised if it can also use Orb's. But there's some mountings on the body that suggests it also its own weapons apart from the default beam saber and beam CIWS. We're currently doing a patch job involving Spitfires' modules we have lying around."
"You're the light of the sunshine as always, Doc," Mwu said in before turning toward the commander of the ship. "So, should we go to Orb, as instructed by Halberton?"
"I'm not sure," Murrue said rather darkly.
From the recording, she and Mwu finally found out the real reason why she was promoted to Colonel. Admiral Halberton had found out that the anti-Coordinator supporters were infiltrating the ranks of Atlantic Federation military force that it would be a matter of time before even PIXIE program would be compromised. Hence, at the great risk to his own safety, the admiral planned the PIXIEs to attack the ZAFT base to achieve multitudes of objectives but the most important one was to give a chance for the PIXIEs to 'disappear' under the pretext of them being killed in the attack. There was no sure way for the Alliance to confirm that since ZAFT surely wouldn't cooperate.
Since Archangel and its crew had been declared as dead, it was to make its way to the neutral country of Orb where Halberton had negotiated with the Lion of Orb to grant asylum to the ship's crew in return for the ship and its complement of mobile suits to be surrendered to the country. Even if later on Archangel whereabouts was discovered, the country could always claim that it found the ship sunken in its water. Should the faction that found out, be it ZAFT or Alliance, press for the ship to be surrendered to it, the other would surely intervene, basically ending in a 'zero-sum' game where both factions would lose out in the end. However, the existence of the white mobile suit had drastically changed the whole dynamics.
Mwu who seemed to know what she was thinking suggested, "Why don't we say that it's a 'buy one free one'?"
"We might as well mention the fact that the free one is a technically nuclear mobile suit but it's okay since it's not against the anti-profileration treaty," Murdoch remarked, shooting down the suggestion.
The young colonel sighed, knowing that she would really hate the decision that she would make. "We'll proceed with the plan as well as bring the orphans onboard." Before Murdoch could say anything, she continued, "I know you don't like it and to be frank, I don't like it as well. However, the weather report we got indicated that a storm is coming here in two days time and I don't think their place could withstand it."
"Besides, the blind caretaker of the place is dead and the shortwave radio basically busted so there's no calling for help," Mwu added. "I support the captain's decision since there's another thing we have to consider which is that we have no idea about what is really happening and I'm not really in the mood to trust everyone." Gone unsaid but was understood by the two listeners that there was a chance that their pursuers would be resort to anything in order to maintain the secrecy of matter that the lives of few neglected orphans would cease to matter.
Murdoch put hands on his hips. "If you say so, Murrue. I'll get to converting three bunks into a single quarter for all of them, including the young brunette."
"Since we're on the subject of the brunette what are we going to do with the Yamato person?" Mwu asked.
Murrue shrugged. "Later on. What I know is tonight, you'll be in command while I lock myself inside the room, get myself drunk and when the morning comes, hopefully I will wake up on my bed at my home in Washington Alabama realizing that all of this is just a scary nightmare."
Mwu had turned away to hide the ironic smile forming on his face. Murrue avoided alcohol like the proverbial mother-in-law so if she's going to drink herself silly, the stress must be getting to her. "Aye, aye, ma'am."
Even though she had seen Earth from her home in PLANTs countless of times Lacus Clyne, the daughter of the prominent PLANT politician Siegel Clyne, still let herself be awed by the beauty of the planet. Sure, PLANTs were beautiful as well with everything well taken-care off but there was the overwhelming sense of sterility not present on the planet itself. Yes, she admitted to herself as she peered through one the orbital transporter's windows that she was on, the sight of it was simply breathtaking.
"Beautiful, isn't it?" a masculine voice next to her asked rhetorically.
"Yes," she admitted as she turned toward the man, "I know I'm carrying a heavy responsibility with me but I can't help feeling happy to return to Earth, Mr. Wartfeld."
Andrew Wartfeld's eyebrows furrowed a bit. "I thought I asked you to call me Andy, Lady Lacus."
"And I asked you to call me by name. "
The man smiled. "You got me there." He would never call the young Siegel heiress without any honorific so he couldn't expect her to be informal with him as well; it was a lost cause trying to argue with her.
"Since you wish for it, I'll call you by your first name."
"Thank you very much. By the way, I'm here to tell you that we'll be reentering the atmosphere in twenty minutes time so the heat curtains would cover the windows soon."
"Thank you," she said before she continued to watch the looming planet. "You know, even though I had returned to Earth dozens of times, I can't help feeling envious of the people there," she lamented. "They are very lucky to be able to see animals in their natural habitats instead of observing them in zoos."
Andrew could barely hold himself from rolling his eyes at the statement. The people on Earth were in fact responsible for destroying the animals' habitats and driving them into extinction but he didn't have the heart to point out to her. Lady Lacus was far from being naïve; it was just that she held an optimist view of everyone. That was why her father sent her in his stead for the current mission.
"Oh, by the way, Mr. Andy…"
The man wanted to groan. She still used honorific with his name. "Yes?"
"Do you like Tarzan very much?"
"Um, I guess so," he replied. Ever since he met her in person a year prior, he noticed that she had a very soft spot for animals.
"Oh," Lacus said while nodding her head. "Now I understand."
"May I ask what do you understand?"
"Well, Tarzan had a pet lion that lived with him in the jungle of the Africa. However, lions generally live in prairies savannas and grasslands in Africa and India. Even if a lion may move toward denser vegetation, the vegetation is at best can be considered as a dense forest rather than a jungle in tropical rainforest. The saying about lion being the king of the jungle is a misnomer."
"And…?"
"You are known as 'The Tiger of Desert'. That is also a misnomer similar to the one in Tarzan since there's no tiger living in desert."
Andrew didn't know how to respond to the statement. Actually, he didn't even know when he got the nickname; all he knew was that it was given to him by his enemies after he won a battle in the African desert at the early outset of war. He simply accepted the nickname because he thought that the name was given due to his mobile suit's stripe markings. Besides, the name bore resemblance to Desert Fox, the nickname of a famous Field Marshall that lived before Cosmic Era.
However, when he thought about what Lady Lacus had said, she was right since there are foxes living in deserts but there's no such thing as desert tigers. Mountains, yes but definitely not desert. That led him to the unsavory realization that the name was intended to be derogatory rather than being a sign of respect, implying that he wasn't supposed to be in the African Desert or being a Coordinator wasn't supposed to be on Earth and he was quite stupid for not realizing that until Lady Lacus pointed out that fact to him. "Well, maybe you would like to suggest a name change? Maybe Piranha of Africa?"
"There are no piranhas in Africa."
Andrew blinked. Then he blinked again.
"Be advised." The shuttle's intercom blared to life. "We have two meteors passing by on our starboard's side."
"Why don't you make a wish, Lady Clyne?" Andrew asked, grateful for a chance to change the conversation topic to one less embarrassing.
Lacus shook her head while she looked . It wasn't because she didn't believe in making a wish but she couldn't help feeling that ominous sensation when the two passed by. It was as if that they were signs of upcoming storm, rather than messengers of hope hopes.
Meanwhile, in a hidden colony not far from PLANTs, Gilbert had a small tight smile on his lips as he watched the two objects began to glow as it entered Earth. The unexpected activation of Spectrum had necessitated the hastening of the plan but the man couldn't be more pleased. The Destiny Plan would achieve its objective.
"Sir?" a male voice prompted.
Gilbert turned toward the person who called out to him, noting that the speaker was quite young to be involved in such a plan. "Yes?"
"Should we inform Mr. Burrel regarding the two parts we sent to Earth?"
"No," he replied. "It's best that Rey doesn't find out until the time comes."
"You're lying!" Yzak growled while slamming the meeting table.
"So much for being subtle and not standing out," Dearka thought to himself as he watched the man ranting to the submariner who got onboard Minerva to deliver the report of the battle in Marshall Island to Captain Talia.
"Yzak!" Athrun admonished when he noticed that Talia didn't say anything but instead had a thoughtful look on her.
The pilot of Buster personally felt that Athrun's action was rather pointless. Yzak humiliation at the hand of the Earth Alliance pilot had changed the man somehow. Granted, he took down two of the pilot's wing mates before he himself was injured but the man could really hold a grudge. He glanced at Nicol Amarfi. The green-haired pilot was clearly worried, judging from the frown on his face.
"Actually, Joules, I would be happy if it's a lie." Marco said before playing the video of the fight between him and the white mobile suit. After the recording had ended, he turned toward everyone. "So one thing I want to ask: is that thing ours?"
"Not that I'm aware off," Talia replied, half distracted. "But that said, if we really have such mobile suit, it would be a secret of the highest order. Even if I ask, the higher ups will deny its existence."
"I'm sorry for talking out of turn," Nicol interjected, "but aren't we looking it at a wrong perspective?"
Everyone gave him a questioning look.
"Well, we don't know it's ours or Alliance's, but we do know that the Alliance probably have it right now. Since we wouldn't know about its origin, why don't we focus on our next step?"
"Capture or destroy?" Marco offered helpfully since Talia outranked him. However that didn't mean that he was planning to share the glory with her.
Talia acquiesced to the suggestion. "Until new order comes countermanding it, we'll go along with the plan. We'll start as soon as Costeau's replacement mobile suits arrive. But I would prefer we capture it, along with the legged Alliance ship if possible."
"We're to capture the white ship?" Yzak questioned.
"Like I say, if possible. Somehow I feel that there's a lot that we don't know regarding the current situation. Take that ship for example. The design is quite similar to Minerva. And now we have a rogue mobile which may be designed based on the five prototypes."
"Why don't we confirm with the headquarters?" Dearka asked.
"It would take too much time," Marco replied for Talia. Even though ZAFT didn't deploy N-Jammers as planned, both sides had resorted to saturating Earth and its surrounding space with signal jamming, allowing only unencrypted signals from neutral entities such as Deep Space Survey & Development Organization which, apart from researching beyond the orbit of Mars for the purpose of development, also operated several orbital satellites. While the technology to circumvent the signal jamming already existed, it was a moot point since the technology to decrypt any message that could be sent through radio transmission existed as well. Hence, long range communication was to be avoided unless in the state of emergency.
"I really don't like it," Talia continued where the man left, "but I'll be exercising my authority for this joint operation."
"As a FAITH," Yzak added.
"As a FAITH," she agreed.
Athrun didn't like the explanation. It wasn't because he was a stickler for the rules and regulations but because of too many unknown variables in the operation; for him to go into a battle unprepared is to go into it fully prepared to lose. However, there was no denying the fact that the white mobile suit and the legged ship would pose threats to ZAFT.
He ruefully noted that he had gone astray from being a pacifist and supporter of peace, a childish and naive pledge he shared with his childhood friend. Yes, in the beginning he joined ZAFT in hope of freeing his mother who was trapped in Junius Eleven when it and the neigbouring colony were captured by the Alliance. Yes, he joined it knowing very well that he must kill. Yet, there was a small part of him questioning what he was doing. Despite ZAFT numerous victories, his mother, along with other inhabitants of the two colonies remained as hostages in two gigantic holding blocks floating in space. From news provided by the humanitarian agencies sanctioned by the Alliance to provide aids to the colonies, he found out that they were safe but were totally isolated with no means of communicating with the outside world.
"Athrun?"
Talia's voice brought him out of his private thoughts. Everyone's eyes were on him, waiting. "Yes?"
"Anything you want to add to the discussion?"
He shook his head.
"Very well, we'll proceed with our plan."
Athrun mentally sighed. At the very least his childhood friend would remain untarnished by the war unlike him.
He had killed someone.
No, he had killed two people, Kira thought to himself as he sat on a stool, staring bleakly at the orphans occupying themselves around the hastily modified dorm, with beds being set on one part and the other part being their recreational area, with a rather large television set recently installed on one of the walls with two computers nearby. If he was in any mood to think about the setting, he would have concluded that the place was very comfortable, given that they were inside a military ship. But comfortable it was, it was no haven from which he could escape his guilt.
He held out his hands in front of his face, gazing at it forlornly.
"Did you wash them carefully?" Rebecca, a six year old girl who lost her parents and brother when a mobile armour crashed into her house in Sydney asked while curiously peering at his hands. "I think that they are clean."
Despite himself, Kira smiled. "Yeah."
"You must remember to clean them after eating, 'kay?" she said before one of the boys came to get her. Apparently, Kira was so absorbed in his thoughts that he didn't notice the main door to the room opened and someone entered women entered.
That someone brought some cartoons and animes for the children to watch, which was why the room suddenly became quiet as they became transfixed to the display screen. "Do you have some time, Yamato?" the person said, a girl around his age, asked him as she stood in front him.
He nodded recognizing the girl as Ensign Haww, one of the pilots of the Alliance's mobile suits.
"Good. Follow me," she gestured toward the door.
The young Coordinator stood up and it was then he noticed that there was another girl sitting with the children, watching the shows along with them. What struck him as odd was that she wore frilly maid suit along with faux tail and cat ears. While the setup did make her look cute, it also made him to think her as eccentric and odd. A cosplayer walking along the Akihabara district in Japan was a rather common occurrence but on a military ship? That was… he didn't know what to think of it.
"Stellar is rather special," Ensign Haww said, as if knowing what he was thinking. "Come on. I'll explain about it, at least the part that isn't classified or top secret. In return, I would like to ask you some questions."
He nodded, even though he knew the girl couldn't see his action as she was walking in front of him.
She raised a hand half way to greet a technician they passed. "By the way, my name's Mirrillia and since it's a bit long to pronounce, you can just call me Mir."
"Kira."
"Kira. I'll come straight to the point. We know that you're an accomplished programmer and we would like you to finish the system program for the white mobile suit."
"Spectrum?"
"Yeah, that one, if that's what you call it."
"Why do you think I'll help in the programming a weapon like that?" He wanted to mention about them using it to kill more and more people but stopped short of doing so.
Nevertheless, the hidden message got to Mir. "Because you don't have a choice." Before Kira could make a remark, she continued, "Don't misunderstand me. If you don't cooperate, we wouldn't force you but I want you to know that we intend to go to Orb through a long detour to prevent detection. But there's still a chance that we will be attacked, either by ZAFT or Alliance. That's why we need every mobile suit onboard the ship to help us go through this ordeal. We need as many help as we can to survive."
"Why do you want to go to Orb? Besides, why the Alliance want to attack you?"
"Because we have been declared as rogue," Mir answered as if the comment would explain everything just like that. "That's why we're going to Orb to surrender and seek asylum."
"Why are you telling me this? It's not one of these mind games, isn't it?"
The girl sighed. "No. We talk about it and decide that the only way we convince you is to come clean with the whole thing. Sure, we still keep some things secret but that's the gist of it."
"I have to admit that I find the reason a bit too simple and convenient. But sometimes the truth is just that, simple and convenient."
"Oh…" Kira said absently, not really caring about the answer in the first place. What he really wanted to know was that what did the girl in front of him thought about killing other people. Didn't she feel guilt about taking other people's life? Perhaps instead of feeling guilty, she actually enjoyed it? Or maybe she really abhorred having to kill. If that was the case, how did she deal with it?
"You should know that we attacked ZAFT's base few days before we got to the island." Mir said as they entered the hangar.
"Will what you did end the war faster?"
Mir was saved from answering his question when someone called out to them.
"Kira. Kira Yamato?" a man called out even as he jogged toward the two of them.
Kira looked at him with shock. "Tolle?"
"In person," the two of them hugged a bit.
The Coordinator noticed that his friend moved to a spot quiet near Mir. "Um… This may seem weird since we just met after a long time and all, but aren't you…," he gestured toward Tolle and then heavenward, "that person, you know, Heliopolis?"
It took quite some time for his friend to connect the dots together, given the vague description. "What are you talking about?" Tolle pointed toward Mir. "She's the one I mentioned to you," he said while putting a hand on Mir's shoulder. "You know, chest-nut haired beauty with exuberant personality that a guy is willing to die for?"
"You always flatter me," Mir said while punching him bashfully. She then turned toward Kira. "When I saw you at the beach, I instantly recognized you and your name but I had to check with Tolle first."
The three of them chatted and reminisced their past for quite some time.
Before Mwu could say anything, the redhead girl who was sitting near a table held up a hand. "Judging from your fierce expression, I think you're about to use the 'bad cop and good cop' tactic. If that's the case, please stop because it will waste our time." Her eyes clouded a bit. "I've been subjected to water boarding in order to build resistance to interrogation and recently… there's only one thing left that held me together and it was the only thing that continually reinforced my humanity and hope."
"Well, this is awkward…" Mwu said, realizing that the girl was never the one whiny rich princess that he and Murrue made out to be but instead someone who had go through a lot. He pressed the intercom near him. "As you can hear from her, it's not going to work."
A minute later, Murrue entered the room and the two of them sat in front of the girl.
"Halberton's handpicked cherries," the red-head commented. "As soon as I saw him I knew wouldn't be far behind."
"Flay Allster," the colonel said while slamming her palms on the table, "You will cooperate with us."
"Sure, as long as I get to walk around the ship afterwards instead of being confined inside a room."
Mwu and Murrue shared a look. "What did you say?"
"I said that I will cooperate for that benefit. Look, I know that Halberton send you to intercept me so that Blue Cosmos wouldn't get what I found. Thus, it's possible that you're going rogue, with this ship being hunted by both sides. Am I right so far?"
Flay didn't need any verbal answer. "Simple conclusion, since the admiral himself is being marked even by the upper echelons."
"You know that?" Murrue asked.
"Everybody knows that, just like everyone knows how 'similar' Siegel and Zala political ideologies are."
"Now you want to know what really happen and where this white mobile suit came into picture."
"Spectrum," Mwu added helpfully.
Flay told them about her being implanted as a civilian logistic officer in one of the cities near Carpenteria with the order to feed Alliance' intelligence with information pertaining to the cities' logistics. That in turn would allow the military planners to figure out Carpenteria's own logistics, especially those pertaining to supplies from Ocenia. However, she was approached to join one of ZAFT's research centers. She accepted it despite the order not to issued by her handler, reasoning that if she didn't she would be acting rather suspiciously for someone who was supposed to be loyal to ZAFT. It was during that mission she learned about the new prototype ZAFT was developing.
In return, Murrue told her that she was unconscious for six days before waking up to which she remarked that no wonder her body field as heavy as lead.
"So back to Spectrum. After finding out about its existence, your bosses put together a plan to steal it," Mwu asked.
"Actually, I'm the one who called them to reveal the existence of such nuclear mobile suit to the world and asked them to do something."
"And hoped that this will trigger a full-scale nuclear holocaust?" Murrue questioned, displeasure evident.
"I was doing my job, regardless of the consequence but since you put it that way, then, yes. But other people did the same thing as well to prolong the war."
Murrue withdrew as the statement's impact was a bit too much for her. While Flay probably didn't know that Archangel had attacked Carpenteria base, her statement was quite on the mark since Archangel also carried out the job because it was its duty.
"As for my statement earlier, in case you doubt my motive, please know that I have no choice but to cooperate with you."
Mwu leaned forward. "Oh? And why is that?"
"You betrayed North Alliance and you picked me up. So what that makes me in the eyes of my superiors?"
"A traitor as well," Murrue said quietly. "Anything that you'll claim wouldn't be accepted by Blue Cosmos. The military would probably take a more objective view of your situation but you're not part of the military."
"Despite being trained and subsequently being granted a license to pilot a combat mobile suit."
"Hold on a minute," Mwu said. "You can pilot a mobile suit."
"ZAFT's. Haven't saw Alliance's until you brought me in."
"That didn't explain the blood test we got from you."
"That simply proves how little you people know despite risking your lives in this war; I at least know more." Flay stood up and walked to the door, stopping as it opened. "For your information, the leaders of Blue Cosmos didn't really care whether we're fighting against Coordinators or among ourselves."
"How do you know about that?"
"I thought you already know about my father being one of the members. That should explain a bit. Also, for your information, even without us doing anything, eventually Coordinators would disappear."
"What?" Murrue said, almost standing up. "What are your superiors planning?"
"Planning?" Fllay scoffed. "Those idiots couldn't even plan their way to a convention centre without their drivers. But that's okay because eventually, it would be Coordinators who will kill themselves. See you soon."
"Wait! Who said that you can leave?"
"You know where I stay, Colonel, since you're the one who assigned me to it so if you will excuse me,"
Mwu stared at the girl leaving the room and then at Murrue. "Strange. She's different from the description that Yamato kid gave."
The woman next to him sat. "Even if it shouldn't be possible since she's only a young field agent, that girl knows something that we don't."
He put a reassuring hand on hers. "But as she said, she's in the same ship as us."
Murrue giggled tiredly, not making any effort to remove his hand. "You really know how to make a person's day."
Kira spied the attractive redhead standing at the observation bridge and slowly made his way to her.
She didn't comment when he positioned himself next to her.
The two stood together, watching a flight of seagulls flying in the direction of what seemed to be the mainland. After few minutes, it was Kira who broke the silence. "Why did you bring Spectrum to the island?"
"Fate?" she tested. "So that I can see meet you, perhaps?"
"You're just saying whatever you want."
"I guess." Flay didn't know why but she seemed to sense some foreign emotions in her
"Do you know that I was asked to reprogram the mobile suit and optimize the operating system of the other prototypes?"
"I see. And you agreed to it?"
"I've no choice. Even if there's no pressure, the reason why the orphans are onboard is because of me and that's before I found out that one of my friend is working onboard this ship." Kira said as his whole body tensed with his hands gripping the railing as if he was about to yank it off.
She gazed at him. "You blamed yourself because of what happened."
"Of course! Father Malchio and few others died because of that mobile suit, and I put there, even though you asked me to destroy it."
"Kira, it's not your fault," Flay said as she had a soft expression on her face.
The young man didn't notice the expression because he was busy looking forward, wallowing in his self contempt. "You told me but I didn't listen. But instead I found it cool and…"
"Look at me!"
Kira did as he was told and was rewarded with a hard slap to his face. He put a hand on the stinging place tentatively.
Flay held his face so that they could see eye-to-eye. "It's okay. It's not your fault. It's just a bad accident," she cooed.
"But they still died," Kira said before losing control of his emotions.
The redhead pulled him toward gently.
In response, Kira enveloped her in an embrace and buried his face on her shoulder.
As he cried and cried for the life lost, Flay continued to hold him reassuringly. "It's not your fault, Kira," she cooed. She closed her eyes as she arrived to a decision. "Everything that happened is my fault… and you're not at fault. So, just blame me for everything. Protect me, Kira, and in return, I'll protect you from those unwanted emotions."
Kira's embraced tightened as he continued to cry in the arms of someone he barely knew.
1
Author's note (25 April 2010)
1. Still chugging along, which is something, I guess. Ideas pertaining to the background of the story is still forming but yet there's no ending.
2. The chapter's a bit heavy on the introduction side but that's because there's some marked difference in regards to the whole storyline. Unlike the canon, many events have changed and thus proper explanation had to be put in there.
3. Yes, being not sure myself, there's no apparent pairings as of yet, well, excluding Mwu and Murrue.