CE 74
Sarik sat in the cockpit of his Astray, trying to remain as relaxed as possible, though he was probably the most tense individual currently aboard the ship. Up until a few minutes ago, Sarik and the other docked pilots had been performing battle simulations aboard their units. Sarik knew that he needed to progress his piloting and teamwork skills as quickly as he could, especially for situations like this.
Sarik continued to observe the feed that was being forwarded to his mobile suit from the Ares's instruments. Five radar contacts were closing in on the convoy at supersonic speeds, flying in a perfect military formation. When the airship had broken off to intercept them a few moments earlier, they conveniently and immediately began giving off ZAFT transponder codes, just as Sarik had feared. Either these were fakes from one of his other enemies, or these were the real deal trying to keep as quiet as possible about their operations.
As the five objects sped into communication's range, the Ares identified them as AMA-953 BABIs. These were ZAFT's new aerial combat mobile suits, capable of transforming between a fighter-like configuration and the traditional humanoid mobile suit form, similar in design to the Orb Union's MVF-M11C Murasame's. In addition to this advantageous feature, the BABI mobile suit was armed with four 22.5mm machine guns and a heavy impulse cannon in addition to any weapons it carried, along with an array of missiles that accompanied almost every atmospheric superiority craft. This machine had nearly four times the firepower and adaptability of any DINN variant.
But their firepower was not what concerned Sarik. His success in the last fight gave him at least some confidence in his own abilities, in regard to evasion, anyway, and now that he was in his personal mobile suit, he believed that a fight would go a lot more smoothly than last time, or would have, if he was only protecting the Ares. It was the convoy that he feared for, because for the defense of the entire air group were two Skygrapsers, the two Murasames docked beside him, his M1A, and the meager defenses that some of the transports came equipped with for last ditch purposes due to their ex-military nature. At the moment, only the Skygraspers were in the air, currently refueling with the convoy's two tankers in preparation for a seemingly imminent confrontation.
"This is Commander Dominic Raider of ZAFT combat air patrol C-2344," the ZAFT flight leader transmitted via audio. "I need to speak to your supervisor."
Sarik buckled himself into the chair and set his helmet up on the side console, his gut telling him that trouble was coming. He tapped a few keys on his comm unit and a young man's face, partially hidden by a red ZAFT flight helmet, soon appeared in his right communications screen. However much the helmet obscured of the commander's face, Sarik could still perceive a definite resemblance to Anika Raider, especially in the eyes.
"This is President Sarik Ostheim, representing Silver Shield Incorporated aboard the atmospheric aircraft carrier Ares," Sarik responded. "We are currently escorting a relief convoy to Western Eurasia. We're not here to cause anyone trouble, if that's what you're worried about."
"Your ship, the Ares, matches the configuration of a craft that was involved in an engagement with ZAFT forces approximately twenty-four hours ago," the Commander informed Sarik. "We'll have to require that your ship break off from the convoy and follow us back to Carpenteria for further investigation."
Sarik cut the transmission and sighed as he placed his helmet onto his head and sealed it into his crimson-trimmed black flight suit.
"All forces are to go to condition yellow," Sarik ordered the Ares's commander after keying the comm unit once more. "Have the Murasames launch immediately after me."
Sarik brought his mobile suit, already on the launch catapult, into a crouch as the device powered up and the hangar doors slid open. He waited a moment for the launch indicator to give him the green light.
"Sarik Ostheim, Astray, engaging," Sarik reported calmly just before initiating the launch. He was forced backwards into the pilot's chair as the mobile suit was tossed forward and out of the back of the airship.
"President Ostheim, our radar shows that a craft has just taken off from your carrier," the commander informed Sarik over the audio. "Do not launch any more vehicles, or you will be considered hostile."
Sarik had neither the time nor the care to stop the Murasame's launches, which were just seconds behind each other, made possible because of their fighter mode.
"I repeat, continued launches will be considered HOSTILE!" Sarik heard Dominic yelled over the audio.
"Ares, have the CIWS lock onto the BABIs," Sarik ordered the ship, then keyed to a more general channel. "All aerial forces, ready your weapons."
Sarik went about doing the same, then turned his attention to maneuvering his machine. The M1A was a space variant of the more common M1 Astray, with high maneuverability and speed in mind. The problem was that even though Sarik had the past year integrating better hardware, such as Morgenroete's new flight-capable Aile Striker, and improving the software to allow effective performance in the atmosphere, he still had to give the task of flying his full effort, even without the imbalance of his shield. One slip up, and they might mistake his movements as a hostile maneuver in the heat of the moment.
"This is Commander Raider," Sarik heard a distressed voice say over the radio. "Respond now, or we will open fire!"
Sarik glanced over the radar. The BABIs were scattering, even though they were just barely within range of the convoy's weapons. At this point, they were so disorganized that Sarik could personally pick them off one by one, if he had to. He could tell from the way that they were reacting that they weren't looking for a fight. They had assumed that he would just give in like the compliant civilian he was supposed to be.
"This is Ostheim," Sarik said over an international band, doing his best to keep fear out of his voice. "The Ares will continue to its intended destination. If you so wish, you may escort us to Eurasia and settle matters there. We will be more than willing to allow you access to our refueling facilities for the remainder of the flight."
Sarik continued to circle around the broken BABI formation in a waltz of death, ready to fight at a split second's notice. One BABI buzzed past him, rushing towards the Ares. Sarik turned and locked onto him with his rifle. The M1A carried a supercharged sniper variant of the Astray's beam rifle. One shot was all he needed to take down an enemy craft.
Suddenly, the BABI transformed to its humanoid form and joined Sarik in his dance, a rifle in its hand now pointed back at him.
"Your terms are...acceptable," the commander growled over the radio after a moment of silence. "Continue on your present course."
Sarik sighed and brought his hand up to wipe his sweaty brow, only to realize that his helmet blocked him.
* * *
Stella walked in through the door that Sarah had just opened for her. Inside was a sizable living room with doors branching off to other parts of the quarters.
"This is where you will be staying," Sarah informed her. "We figured since Sarik will be taking responsibility for your welfare, it would be easier for the two of you to be living in the same space."
Stella had wondered what all those boxes outside the door were for. Apparently, Sarik had been kind enough to clear out a place for her.
Stella glanced around the room, observing its setup. It was immaculate, everything placed in a logical and orderly fashion. Lamps, books, pictures, even a small aquarium were positioned efficiently.
The first thing that caught Stella's attention was long, thin table that seemed out of place, located immediately beside one of the doors. Nearly two dozen photographs rested atop it in gold-lined frames. Curiosity drew her towards it as she glanced over the individuals frozen in the well-defined images.
Stella was especially curious of the pictures located towards the center of the collection. Setting in the largest frame in the middle of the table was a picture of a child that looked like a much younger version of Sarik, a middle-aged woman, who was the only person smiling, and a man even older than her, who's stance and expression sent chills up and down Stella's spine.
To the right of that picture was another of Sarik, this time with Sarah. He was a little older now, but his expression was an almost perfect imitation of that man's in the middle picture, even more defined than his expression at an earlier age. Only Sarah seemed happy, even somewhat playful, with her arms wrapped around him.
To the left of the center picture was another, smaller photograph. Sarik was about the same age in it as in the last one, but he seemed a little more relaxed. While he still wasn't smiling, he was emanating some sort of peace. Beside him were two slightly younger children, a girl with gray eyes and short, light blond hair, the other a boy with green eyes and an uncontrolled red mane. Both were obviously enjoying themselves.
But the last picture, the one displayed in a most discreet fashion, was the one that captured her attention the most. Stella seemed to recognize this girl, with golden blond hair that fell past her shoulders and large, purple eyes that gave her an air of innocence. But she couldn't put her finger on who it was.
Sarah, who had been elsewhere prior, walked up behind Stella.
"Quite a collection he has, isn't it?" she asked rhetorically as she took her place next to Stella.
Stella simply nodded her head, still intent on the pictures in front of her.
"That one in the center is a picture of Sarik and his parents," Sarah informed her. "It was taken on his tenth birthday."
"Parents?" Stella asked. It was a word she was unfamiliar with.
"We'll discuss that later," Sarah assured her, recognizing the confused tone in Stella's voice.
"Who...are they?" Stella asked Sarah, pointing at the picture with the two children.
"That would be Amelia and Aaron," Sarah informed Stella. "We rescued them along with Sarik at the Blue Cosmos facility. You should recognize the girl. You met her once."
Stella stared at the picture intently. No matter how hard she concentrated, she couldn't recall ever meeting this girl. And what was Blue Cosmos? It was all so confusing.
"When Sarik met them, it was the first time in years that I had actually seen him truly happy," Sarah continued. "They're the closest things to friends that he's had his entire life."
Stella smiled slightly at this. He always seemed so serious, so cold, and maybe even a little bossy. This showed that there was the someone she knew to be underneath all of that.
But one thing was still nagging at the back of her mind. That last picture. The one of the girl by herself. Stella stared at it for nearly a minute before asking.
"Who is she?" Stella asked.
"That was you," Sarah told her bluntly. "Eleven years ago."
* * *
Sarik let out a sigh of relief as he landed his mobile suit, walking to a stop. He had been piloting the Astray since the run-in with the ZAFT forces out of Carpenteria, re-energizing the mech in mid-air. He personally did not trust them to NOT open fire on the convoy at the first chance they got, especially considering who their commander was, who Sarik found out to be Anika's elder brother.
Sarik walked the machine forward, moving towards the makeshift runway on which the Ares had been instructed to land. When he was about ten meters away, he stood the mobile suit erect and opened the cockpit, separating the panels. After unstrapping himself and removing his helmet, he grabbed the cable hanging from the top of the cramped compartment and looped his foot into the small ring at the bottom. A few seconds later, the cable began unwinding, slowly lowering him to the ground.
As soon as Sarik made contact with the tarmac, he was greeted by Commander Raider, who now carried his helmet in the crook of his arm, and several ZAFT marines, all whom had their weapons pointed threateningly at him.
"You're coming with me," the pilot ordered Sarik.
Sarik nodded his head in compliance, then walked forward with his hands clasped behind his back, finding that he stood a centimeter or two shorter than the young man, who appeared to be about the same age as him. Despite this, Sarik's posture remained most arrogant.
"Will you please lead the way?" Sarik requested when he found himself standing next to the commander.
The man simply turned and began walking, Sarik and the marines not far behind.
A few minutes later, the small group arrived at what appeared to be a prefabricated living structure of some sort. It was apparent that the damage done in Eurasia wasn't exaggerated. Even the most basic of infrastructure was badly devastated.
The Sarik followed the commander into the small structure, but none of the marines continued on, instead taking up guard around the trailer's perimeter. Once inside, Sarik realized the building was only occupied by a single middle-aged man in a white ZAFT uniform, sitting behind an improvised desk with no aides of any sort nearby.
"Commander," Sarik greeted as he nodded his head.
"Are you Sarik Ostheim?" the middle-aged man asked in a matter-of-fact tone.
Sarik strolled forward and took position in front of the desk, standing in an erect, military-like posture.
"Yes," Sarik replied confidently, relaxing his shoulders a little.
"I understand that our friend from Carpenteria has a grievance against you," the older man remarked as he glanced over at Raider. "He and his superiors claim that you were involved in a skirmish with ZAFT forces."
"Sir, if I may be allowed to explain my side of the story?" Sarik requested.
"Commander Brown, this is ridiculous," Dominic remarked calmly to the officer. "We should have him detained while we better investigate the incident."
"I think that would be completely inappropriate, considering that neither you nor your commanding officer have been able to provide me neither a hard copy of your sister's orders or a detailed report of the incident," Brown scolded Dominic. "She was working outside the normal chain of command, thus the situation will be dealt with in the same manner. If you can locate someone who is willing to claim responsibility for the entire affair, THEN I will be required to take action. Now, President Ostheim, you may enlighten us of why five of our DINNs intercepted your craft yesterday without appropriate authorization."
Sarik was about to start when Dominic stormed out of the room.
"Don't bother!" he yelled rudely back into the trailer.
Both Sarik and Commander Brown remained there, stunned.
Sarik remained quiet, and it was the commander who broke the silence with a sigh.
"That could have gone better," he remarked. "It's unfortunate he does not fall under my chain, or I would have him thrown in the brig."
"Sir?" Sarik asked. He was obviously out of the loop, big time.
"It should suffice to say that there's been a lot of tension between commands," Brown told him. "Those on the Asian and Pacific fronts want to launch an all-out attack on the Atlantic Federation and its allies, as retaliation for what happened here three days ago. That's all I can say. It's apparent that someone outside of the normal chain of command is looking to make us a reason."
"I'm surprised they haven't tried before," Sarik admitted.
"Well, I think you saw how much damage has been done on your flight in," Brown said grimly. "Right now I'm more worried about recouping our losses than adding to them, which has been a somewhat difficult feat with the loss of the last commander a few days ago."
"I might be able to help with that," Sarik told the Commander. "I have three transports carrying a total of ten GINNs of several variants, but we currently don't have anyone piloting them. They're not much, but you can consider them yours."
"Nothing like that comes free," Brown observed. "What do you want?"
"Access to the Destroy wreckage," Sarik replied bluntly.
"Out of the question," the commander responded almost instantly.
"Sir, my technicians recently informed me that there may have been several technologies used aboard that machine of which my corporation has exclusive patents to," Sarik informed the commander. "I would merely like a chance to survey the devices in question before your technicians gut them so that we may be able to better determine who stole our technology and file the appropriate lawsuits."
"I would suggest you leave with your mobile suits, now, before I have you arrested," Brown suggested. "I don't take well to bribery attempts."
Sarik stared long and hard at the base's new commander.
"I'm sorry you feel that way," Sarik told him before leaving.
* * *
Sarik climbed aboard the Ares, a defeated look on his face. He knew it was a long shot for his plan to work, but he still couldn't stop himself from feeling down about the affair. After the elevator raised him to the lower level, he walked to the captain's quarters and collapsed face first onto the bed.
"Well, well, the invincible Sarik Ostheim returns defeated, does he?" a woman's voice remarked from the corner of his room.
Sarik bolted up instantly, his side-arm unholstered and pointed at the voice's point of origin by the time he stood erect.
"No need for that," the voice cooed.
Sarik's eyes adjusted to the darkness, and he realized that the person standing in the corner was none other than Amelia.
"Haven't I told you to stay out of my room?" Sarik remarked as he collapsed back onto the bed. "It gives people the wrong idea."
"And what idea would that be?" Amelia asked flirtatiously as she walked towards him.
"There are only so many things that can happen between two people alone in a room," Sarik informed Amelia. "And I don't want anyone to even consider most of them."
Amelia stopped and pulled a chair up next to the bed, sitting gracefully into it.
"So I guess you don't want to know that Aaron is at this very moment herding an Atlantic Federation land battleship in this direction?" the blond asked.
"And how would he be doing this?" Sarik questioned, rolling over and sitting up.
"With a GINN OCHER Arctic," Amelia informed him.
"I didn't authorize any OCHER-types for this mission," Sarik stated.
"Let's just say that Aaron and I decided to hijack one of your planes and change the load a little bit," Amelia told Sarik.
"Denying thousands of refugees food and supplies in the process?" Sarik asked in disgust.
"Nope," she replied. "It was the empty transport that you planned to fill with salvage from the Destroy."
Sarik sighed.
"I would appreciate if you didn't go behind my back like this," Sarik told Amelia. "And I doubt the unconscious pilots back home appreciate it, either."
"You'll thank me in the long-run," Amelia told.
"I probably will," Sarik agreed in a huff.
Suddenly, an alarm went off, and Sarik was on his feet and running in less than a second.
"Yellow alert," someone announced over the ship's speakers. "All pilots to the ready room."
Sarik was waiting for the elevator when Amelia strolled casually up next to him. He hated how she could do that.
"Looks like Aaron did his job well," Amelia remarked.
"Let's just hope that we get a chance to launch," Sarik said pessimistically.
"I guess you wouldn't want to know..." Amelia started.
"I don't," Sarik interrupted as rudely as he possibly could.
Amelia simply smirked and stepped into the elevator when the doors parted. Sarik walked in behind her and hit a button on the command console, causing the elevator to descend towards the boarding ramp.
A minute later, the two were off of the Ares and walking towards Sarik's Astray.
When Sarik placed his foot into the ring on the mobile suit's boarding cable, he was stopped by Amelia as the small girl forced her foot in beside his.
"I'm flying," he told her, catching on to her silent request.
Amelia's smile grew wider as she grabbed onto the cable. A couple seconds later, Sarik could hear the strained whirring of the cable's motor, and the two began rising at a slower than normal pace.
An agonizing minute later, Sarik climbed into the Astray's cockpit and situated himself in the pilot's chair. Amelia took position to the right and behind of Sarik in the cramped compartment.
"Input Aaron's comm frequency," Sarik ordered Amelia, activating the comm unit and closing the cockpit.
She leaned over and did so.
"Aaron, this is Sarik," he said into the comm unit. "Are you picking up?"
A few seconds later, a young man with a mane of unkempt red hair appeared in Sarik's left comm screen, the loud sounds of battle dominating the audio.
"Kinda busy," Aaron told Sarik, and a look of strain formed on his face as a nearby explosion rocked his mobile suit. "I have five Windams on my case, and they don't look like they're giving up any time soon."
"Just keep an eye out for the REAL ZAFT forces," Sarik informed him. "They should be on their way soon."
"About that..." Amelia started.
"Oh, hell," Sarik remarked under his breath, already having an idea of what she did.
Suddenly, on Sarik's right comm screen, Dominic Raider's face appeared.
"What the hell did you do to my mobile suit?!" the ZAFT commander yelled, his face appearing on the right comm screen.
Sarik flipped a switch, and his left comm screen went blank.
"I haven't been anywhere near your machine, if my memory serves me correctly," Sarik informed him in a barely controlled tone.
"Commander Raider, calm yourself!" Sarik could hear Commander Brown yell over the comm from the other pilot's audio.
Sarik extended the Astray's keyboard, and a few seconds later, jacked into the frequency being used by the ZAFT pilots.
"Sir, what appears to be the problem?" Sarik inquired.
"The problem is that you froze all the BABIs' systems, literally!" Dominic yelled. "It's like you poured liquid nitrogen over the computer cores."
"Or, it could be that it's negative forty degrees Celsius outside, and that your machines aren't adapted for this weather," Commander Brown suggested. "We had the same problem when we brought in reinforcements for the Destroy attack."
"What is the situation?" Sarik asked, already knowing the answer.
"There is a single Hannibal-class land battleship moving in Berlin's direction," the ZAFT commander informed Sarik. "Several Windams are escorting it, and we don't know how many more there are aboard that haven't launched yet."
"My forces can engage it, if you would like," Sarik offered. "There aren't many of us, but we can keep them away from the base until you have some machines available."
"We would appreciate that," the commander told Sarik. "You may engage at your leisure."
And with that, Commander Brown's face disappeared from Sarik's comm screen.
"Sir, don't you realize he just hacked our frequencies?!" Sarik heard Dominic yell.
"And don't you realize you're the most useless soldier I've ever met?" Sarik heard Brown berate before the comm screen went blank.
Sarik sighed. He just knew that Dominic was going to take a shot at him sooner or later.
However, Sarik quickly snapped out of his self-pity and contacted the Ares.
"Launch all forces," Sarik ordered. "Equip the Skygrapsers with Launcher Strikers."
* * *
Stella sat on the bed as she held the picture in her hands, staring at it intently, taking note the girl's every aspect. Was this really her, that many years ago? She didn't know. She just couldn't remember that much from back then. Fragments of memory were all she had, and only as of recent.
She ran her hand through her shoulder-length hair, thinking. How well had she known Sarik? Had they really been that close, that he would search the world to find her years later?
Stella looked up from the picture and glanced around the room that she sat in. The shelves and dressers were completely empty. Nothing sat atop them but recently disturbed dust. Nothing about it was familiar. It wasn't hers.
"Stella?" she heard Sarah call from the other room.
Stella stood, then propped the picture of herself on top of the nearby dresser. It would be the first thing of hers in this room.
Stella walked silently into the living room to find Sarah staring at the line of pictures, the table located immediately outside of Stella's new room.
"I thought we could go to town," Sarah told her. "See if we can find you some clothes."
Stella looked down at the white long sleeved shirt and trousers she wore and found nothing wrong with them. True, they weren't as flexible as her military uniform or one of her dresses, but they were comfortable, and did an adequate job at hiding the scars that currently covered her body, though she had been assured those would be gone with time.
"You can't borrow my clothes forever," Sarah informed her. "I'll run out, sooner or later."
Stella simply nodded and waited for Sarah to head for the door before following.
* * *
Sarik sat, waiting. He had equipped his mobile suit with its shield this time, as he would need to be able to dig into his position rather than go all out on the offensive. He had to keep the Earth Forces from advancing until the Murasames and Skygraspers got here.
At the moment, Sarik was crouching his Astray mid-way up the slope of a particularly large hill. His sensor array showed the land battleship heading in this direction, so he had set up in the best position he could in order to make use of his sniper rifle. After he fired the first shots, the Murasames and the Skygraspers would fly in to engage the Windams.
Sarik waited for what seemed like eternity before the first signs of approaching battle revealed themselves. The Hannibal-class land battleship steamed into the valley, splintering trees and displacing tons of snow. Flying through the air in an agitated fashion were at least five Jet Windams, three of which had sustained noticeable damage.
Sarik waited for Aaron to begin his attacks once more, but his GINN was nowhere to be found. Sarik hoped that he was hiding, and not dead.
But all worries left Sarik as his training took over and he prepared to fire his first shot. The various indicators on the Astray's display slowly locked onto the lead Windam, then turned red. Sarik fired, and an overpowered beam cut through the air, spearing the blue-trimmed mobile suit directly through the power supply. The machine exploded in mid-air, peppering the area around it with shrapnel. As Sarik traced the fallin debris, he thought he spotted something odd in one of the forests ons a distant slope.
But Sarik snapped to and launched into action. Activating the Astray's engines, he flew backwards up the face of the hill, blasting away at the Windams, whose attention was now on him. Several green-colored beams lanced out from their rifles, one of which Sarik was forced to block with his shield. The particle beam was completely absorbed by his shield, leaving a tiny, smoking crater in the armored frame.
Sarik continued taking careful shots at his foes, clipping one Windam in its Striker pack, forcing him into a crash landing, and blasting another in its shield arm, disabling the pilot's ability to protect himself from future attacks.
Sarik was starting to worry about being surrounded as the Windams began flanking him when the Skygraspers and the Murasames blazed over a nearby ridge, letting loose a barrage of machine gun, beam cannon, and missile fire. Two of the Windams were destroyed outright, and another was in the process of spiraling towards the ground.
Sarik changed his attention from the mobile suits to the land battleship. All of its bay doors had opened, and Sarik could see the glow of mobile suit head cameras inside. He glanced over the frame quickly, trying to discern its weapons, but realized that every one of the turrets atop the transport was totaled. Apparently, Aaron was far better in a mobile suit than Sarik had ever imagined. Sarik opened fire with his sniper rifle, cutting into the behemoth's frame. Several of Sarik's shots hit a tread, and the machine collapsed to one side under its own weight.
Sarik launched his machine into the air when four Windams charged straight at him from inside the battleship, two equipped with Jet Strikers firing relentlessly with their beam rifles, while the other two, equipped with Aile Striker packs, darted forward with their beam sabers drawn. Sarik returned fire, spearing one of the advancing melee units through the head and into the body just before the pilot gained his bearings.
Sarik knew he was in trouble, but no one was around to save him, engaged by the remaining Windams launched from the land battleship. He decided to move in on the offensive.
Dropping his rifle and shield, Sarik launched his Astray into the air and dove towards his determined attackers while he drew the mobile suit's two beam sabers. As he catapulted through the air, he performed an action totally unexpected, something the average mobile suit was simply not designed to do. He brought the butt end of the energy swords together, special adaptions connecting them into a single, staff-like weapon. While Sarik knew that using them separately gave him more control, this configuration allowed him a larger element of unpredictability.
Sarik clashed with his foes in midair, slashing swiftly at the Windams. He was met head-on by the remaining melee unit, his attacks quickly blocked. However, Sarik used his momentum to literally bounce off of this opponent and move on to the next nearest Windam. The other pilot was caught off-guard, and Sarik slashed through the shield arm and head of the mobile suit, rendering the pilot blind and defenseless.
As the crippled mobile suit plummeted towards the ground, Sarik continued on towards the final in the line, who was more than prepared for him by now. Sarik found his first cuts blocked by the Windam's shield, which could hold up to anything short of ship-grade weaponry. The Astray was knocked back when the Windam fired its rifle at point blank range, one of the shots cutting into the edge of the mech's left arm.
Sarik began to distress as several alarms went off, indicating damage to the electrical systems and a thirty percent reduction in the left arm's efficiency. He was so distracted by this that he didn't notice the Windam he had failed to damage earlier was slashing out at him from behind until the last second. Sarik cut around to block his opponent, which he did so successfully, though the hilt of the Windam's beam saber was within two meters of the Astray's cockpit as they landed on the ground.
Sarik used his saber staff's advantage and hit the Windam in its shield as hard as his machine could while still blocking his opponents weapon. The Windam was sent stumbling back several meters back by the sheer force, and Sarik was able to launch the Astray away from the hopeless melee and towards the source of the enemy. The battleship.
Sarik flew in at top speed, avoiding the final few Windams that were launching, and slashing a limb off of one that got too close. As Sarik was about to land on the battleship, he caught a Windam just as it took off, cutting cleanly upwards through the body and head. The machine exploded, and Sarik's own mobile suit was forced down onto the Hannibal's chassis.
Sarik stood his machine up as quickly as he could and began slashing into the battleship's frame, cutting large chunks from the behemoth vehicle's hull. When he created a hole of sufficient size, Sarik unloaded the autocannons located in the Astray's head into the Hannibal's interior, destroying equipment, a mobile suit, and causing secondary explosions that rocked the transport.
Sarik's alarms began going off again, and he launched himself off of the ship as that same Aile Windam from earlier charged him at full speed. Sarik avoided the attack by meters, and brought his mobile suit into stance on the ground, one blade pointed at his foe, the other behind him. It was obvious he and this pilot were destined to fight.
Sarik waited for a few seconds for the inevitable attack to come. Then, in less time than it took to blink, the other pilot launched his machine into the air and came falling down towards Sarik. Sarik took a step back and brought his weapon to bear, blocking the attack with the blade that had been behind him, and retaliating with a swipe from the other end of his sword. That attack, in turn, was blocked by the bottom of the Windam's shield, and the duel truly began.
* * *
Stella took everything in as Sarah drove the small blue car through the town. The community didn't have any large buildings, but there was something that brought about a sense of unexplainable awe in this ocean-side community. It reminded her of a place that she had visited once before, but she couldn't remember exactly when or where.
Stella glanced once more in concern at the side-view mirror on the right door. Since she and Sarah had entered town, two large, black cars had been tailing them. She wasn't sure if Sarah was aware of this or not.
Sarah pulled up to a small plaza and parked the car. From here, Stella had a clear view of the ocean. There was always something about it that mystified her. She continued to stare at the flowing waters, watching how they seemed to go on forever...
Then, something got in the way of her view. Or someone.
"It's alright to come out," Sarah remarked as she opened Stella's door.
Stella cautiously left the vehicle, observing her surroundings. She took note of every store, where some connected, of the vehicles in the parking lot, of the number of people within each store, and of the two black cars parking several meters down the lot.
Sarah traced Stella's stares, and also spotted the two vehicles.
"They're ours," she told Stella. "Sarik would have a fit if he found out they weren't here."
Stella raised her head slightly in understanding, then followed Sarah, who had began walking towards one of the stores.
"I figured we should find you some day clothes first," Sarah told her. "If that's alright with you."
Stella snapped out of another one of her dazes. The ocean had caught her attention once more.
"Uh huh," Stella agreed dreamily.
* * *
Sarik blocked another flurry of blows from the Windam, clubbing his beam staff into its shield with all of his Astray's might. If he could damage or destroy the shield, he would more quickly be able to destroy the mobile suit. He could already see several fracture points in the metal frame from his beatings.
But the other pilot quickly caught on, and launched himself into the air to get away from Sarik's assault. When the Windam was about ten meters away from him, the pilot pointed the bottom of his shield at the Astray and fired something.
"Shit!" Sarik yelled as he flew his mobile suit backwards at full speed, a pair of missiles flying straight towards him.
Sarik continued his backwards flight, eventually catching the attention of a skirmishing Jet Windam who had just shot down one of the Skygraspers. The Earth Alliance pilot dove in towards Sarik, firing his beam rifle relentlessly but inaccurately.
Sarik forced his Astray into an ascension, causing one of the missiles to slam into the ground. The other missile followed Sarik.
However, by the time it reached him, Sarik had slammed backwards into the Windam and forced its shield arm just enough to redirect the defense into the missile's path.
The shield and missile both exploded in a spectacular show of fireworks, sending Sarik and the Windam flying in a mid-air tussle. The Windam attempted bring its rifle into an awkward to bear on Sarik, but the Extended noticed this all too quickly, and brought his beam staff, held in his left hand, up, slicing the massive gun in half. Sarik managed to break free of the falling machine just before it smashed into the ground.
But Sarik wasn't faring much better. Though he was able to bring his jets online in time to dampen the impact, Amelia let out a light yell as his mobile suit also slammed into the earth, bouncing once before coming to a rest.
Alarms began going off in Sarik's cockpit, but after snapping out of his daze that resulted from the impact, he glanced over everything and decided that nothing was damaged. Much.
"You alright?" Sarik yelled at Amelia, his ears ringing. He was surprised, as she had been silent almost the entire time.
"Watch out!" she screamed, ignoring Sarik's concern.
Sarik glanced up, remembering the fight, and realized that his rival had caught back up with him, careening through the air and bringing his beam saber down on Sarik, the full force of gravity behind it. Sarik knew that there was little he could do at this point, and brought his beam staff up futilely. Everything was about to end. At least he would go down in flames.
But suddenly, time seemed to slow, and he perceived everything more clearly. Just like the first time he had fought, near Australia. He saw his enemy's weakness, and he saw how to get out of this alive. He could SEE what he had to do.
Sarik pushed his rear thrusters to their max, forcing the Astray's body up at an alarming rate, the body groaning under the stressful forces of gravity. He then used the thrusters built into the Astray's arms to reinforce his attack, slowly launching himself towards the Windam, clashing just above the ground.
And his attack blocked the Windam's cut, and forced it's way into the sword, and through his arm.
Time nearly froze for Sarik for a short moment at the peak of his attack. Never would he have been able to think of something like this on his own in the heat of battle. Not this quickly.
But his time for thought ended, and everything returned to normal speed. Sarik no longer needed this boon. He slashed through the Windam's head, then through the back of its shield, to ensure there were no more surprises waiting. The Windam fell back, still grasping the dismembered handle to his shield.
Sarik flew away from the site of his rival's defeat. There was no need to finish him. He was as good as helpless, unless one actually considered the four 12.5mm machine guns in a Windam's head a threat to a mobile suit.
But his comrades were not. Three Windams equipped with Jet Strikers dove in at Sarik, the two Murasames, both heavily damaged, in pursuit in their jet forms. One of the Windams turned on the Murasames and took at shot them. While one pilot tried to avoid the beam, it still cut through the fighter's side, destroying one of the wings and causing him to spiral to the ground. The Murasame's pilot managed to transform his mobile suit to its humanoid form before impacting, using its thrusters to dampen the blow, though it didn't look like he would be getting up on his own.
But his rival's comrades were a mere nuisance to Sarik. Still in mid-air, he launched the Astray through the barrage of particle beams and missiles that the Alliance mobile suits had launched, blocking and cutting several with his sabers, and grabbed the nearest Windam.
Sarik knew that the battle couldn't last any longer, especially with him carrying a passenger. He had to strike fear into their hearts and force them to flee.
Forcing away the Windam's shield with his beam staff and holding it's weapon arm at bay with his left hand, Sarik aimed the Astray's head at the Windam's cockpit and fired the two autocannons.
Now, normally, these weapons were used for destroying missiles or small vehicles such as tanks. Against the armor of general-purpose mobile suits such as Windams or Zakus, they did little damage at the ranges most combat took place. But at point blank range, the 75mm shells were devastating.
Hundreds of gargantuan slugs cut into the cockpit in seconds, and by the time one could count to three, everything and everyone inside the mobile suit's command center was so much oblivion.
Sarik released the Windam, allowing the empty shell to drop to the ground.
By now, the few remaining Windams had definitely took notice. All of their pilots watched as Sarik landed on the ground several meters in front of his rival's damaged machine, who had readied another beam saber in his left hand, a last attempt at futile resistance against Sarik. He raised it into a defensive position, waiting for Sarik's final blow.
But Sarik simply stood there. He did not raise his weapon in aggression, he did not advance on his enemy, or even move his Astray's head to target his autocannons. He just stood there. It was obvious who the victors were. They all knew it was pointless to fight any longer.
A few seconds later, the silence was broken by alarms in Sarik's cockpit. The Ares had slaved its sensors to all of the SSI mobile weapons before the battle had started, and they now showed that the five BABIs had just taken off from the military base in Berlin.
Sarik tapped a few buttons and quickly hacked into the Earth Forces' communications channel.
"This is civilian Sarik Ostheim representing the forces of Silver Shield Incorporated," he transmitted. "I feel that this battle has come to a period where further hostilities would be pointless. I request that all forces cease fire and evacuate the battlefield."
Sarik watched for a moment, waiting to see how the Windam pilots would react. Then, one pilot dropped his mech's rifle in mid-air and sped away from the battlefield. Soon after, two more Windams released their weapons and followed.
But Sarik remained still, watching his battered rival. He still had his saber raised, as if he expected Sarik to end it. It was obvious this was the ace, the leader, and he had just been defeated in front of all of his men. The ultimate humiliation.
Sarik readied his sword staff, then went about tapping into the remaining Windam's communications equipment. A moment later, Sarik was satisfied when an indicator showed that he had an encrypted channel with the other pilot.
"It would be pointless for me to end your life here and now," Sarik told the other pilot. "You have fought a good fight, and now it's time for you to return home. If you TRULY think your life should end now, then you will be the first one to strike."
Sarik closed the channel, then waited. The headless Windam rose to its feet like a drunk man, then deactivated its beam saber. Sarik smirked when another, undamaged Windam, which had been standing loyally behind its pilot's commander, walked in and guided the crippled machine into the air.
Sarik shut down his own sabers and returned them to their racks, his fight over. Unless the ZAFT commander decided to combat him for some irrational reason, he was now free to rest.
"This is Commander Raider," Sarik heard Dominic report over the comm audio. "We are here to assist you."
Sarik opened a channel to the young commander, sending a video image.
"That will be unnecessary," Sarik informed him. "The remaining Earth Forces are in retreat. There may be a few damaged units from which you can procure prisoners, but that's all."
Sarik watched his radar as the BABIs closed in on the valley in which Sarik stood at high speed. He hoped they didn't plan to attack.
Obviously, they didn't, because the comm channel he had opened with Dominic remained open, and the ZAFT mobile suits shot over the remains of the battlefield.
"You did...well, Ostheim," Dominic told him reluctantly. "But I'll still be coming for you when you're in my territory."
"And I'll be ready for when that time comes," Sarik responded confidently.
Sarik heard a truly amused "hmph" over the audio shortly before Dominic cut the channel. A few moments later, all five BABIs were outside of radar range.
"Amelia, patch me through to Aaron," Sarik ordered as he flew the Astray just above the ground.
She bent over him and had the communications properly configured within a few seconds. Sarik realized as she did that there was a small stream of blood trickling down her cheek
"That was a kind thing you did," Amelia told Sarik soothingly.
"It would have gained me nothing to add him to my kill sheet," Sarik replied. "I won't pointlessly end a life simply because that individual is wallowing in self-pity."
"It wasn't two years ago that you would have," Amelia replied.
"And two years ago, I was dating you," Sarik replied jokingly, breaking the mood. "One of the two people that I ever have."
"And the only one alive," Amelia reminded him.
"Don't remind me," Sarik responded.
During the prior war, Blue Cosmos had decided to tie up all of their loose ends involving the Extendeds. If it weren't for Sarah's connections and Amelia's uncanny ability to motivate others through the most unorthodox of means, Sarik would have been long dead.
"Well, let's give this a try," Sarik mumbled.
Sarik was now back on the hill where he had started, and he turned his Astray to look in the direction of the forested areas in the valley. Sarik had spotted Aaron's GINN during the battle from this perch, and relocated it just as quickly. Aaron had done a truly good job at hiding himself, but Sarik knew his style. He never liked to be under too much cover, so he could maneuver and defend himself, but he absolutely hated hiding in plain sight.
Along one of the valley slopes was a moderate forest with several small clearings. Most of the trees were snow covered, but if one looked close enough about halfway up the hill, he would notice a white-crusted version of a GINN's crest poking out among them, if one actually knew what he was looking for.
"Come on out, Aaron," Sarik transmitted. "No one's around to see you."
Sarik watched as a GINN slowly and expertly rose from among the trees. Eventually, Sarik could see all but the legs of the eighteen meter tall machine.
After taking note of the design, Sarik had no doubts why Aaron had remained hidden so long. The pattern of the white and gray camouflage on the GINN's armor would have been able to hide him if he had been standing still on a bare mountainside, much less sitting in a snowy forest. Sarik had initially thought that the OCHER Arctic having been designed specifically with an invasion of Eurasia in mind was an exaggeration, but after having seen the damage Aaron had done with this single mobile weapon, he shuddered to think what an entire army of these could have done in the last war, if they had ever been used. Sarik also took note of Aaron's weapon of choice for this mission. It initially appeared to be one of the 37.5mm hyper-velocity rifles that the original OCHERs were sometimes armed with, but he soon dismissed the notion. The weapon was far bulkier, with some elements of the GINN's standard assault gun implemented into it. He assumed it was one of the new magnum-sabot sniper rifles that the techs had tried to get Sarik to test on his Astray.
"So, how'd I do?" Aaron asked. "I managed to get a few shots in after the fight started."
So that's why they had been so successful.
"I'll take your word for it," Sarik assured him. "And you did great. But next time you and Amelia pull a stunt like this, you're on your own in the world."
"What do you mean?" Aaron questioned. "This was all your idea."
Sarik sighed, then glared at Amelia, who simply shrugged her shoulders.
"Kids," Sarik remarked under his breath. "All right, sure. Wait here for a few hours, and I'll have a transport pick you up on our way out."
"Roger that," Aaron complied. A moment later, his GINN was back on the ground, completely hidden from sight, even Sarik's.
Constant competition, even among friends, Sarik thought grimly.
* * *
"This is Bravo Leader," said the fifteen year old boy over his headset. "We have just finished extracting the Destroy computer systems. Over."
"Bravo Sentry Two reporting," a young girl communicated. "A jeep just left the base, headed in your direction. Please get out."
"Don't worry, sis," replied the Extended. "We have everything we need. And don't forget transmission protocol. Over."
He shoved the large piece of machinery into a metal-framed backpack, then went about setting up the acid charges. If they made it look like one of the machine's various fluids had destroyed the components rather than them being stolen, it would help to keep SSI's public relations with ZAFT decent.
"This is Demo Leader," the young man heard an older boy say over the radio. "We've rigged the primary targets. We are leaving the operational area. Going radio silent. Out."
"Roger that," Bravo Leader got in before he heard a faint beep, indicating that someone had just signed off.
He set the timer on the explosive, then slapped the "Engage" button. He quickly slid down the Destroy's frame to the ground, soon joined by Bravo Operatives Two and Three.
"Where's Operative One?" Bravo Leader asked.
"He's helping Alpha Leader set up his charges," Operative Three, a brunette girl a year younger than he, replied. "He forgot how to disable the safeties."
Bravo Leader shook his head. What was Sarik thinking, putting a thirteen year old boy in charge of the head team?
"He'll have to get out with them," Bravo Leader informed his team. "Let's go now."
"This is Bravo Sentry One," he heard over his headset. "The ZAFT vehicle is approximately two minutes out. I count two marines and four technicians. Over."
"Roger that," Bravo Leader replied. Apparently, Sarik had been a little too obvious about getting his hands on the Destroy's systems.
"This is Bravo Leader to Bravo Operative One," he transmitted on another channel. "Be advised that there is a potential hostile on route. Over."
"We're almost done here," Operative One replied in a strained voice. "We only have three more charges to set. Over."
"There's no time!" Bravo leader yelled. "What you have up is enough."
Suddenly, he heard a crashing, and Operative One yelled in pain.
"What just happened?" Bravo Leader inquired.
"Get the hell out, now!" is all he heard. "I'll make sure the rest of the charges are set. Out!"
Bravo leader heard a beep, and knew what was going on. He dropped his pack and ran back up towards the Destroy, only to be tackled back down by a short, dark gray-haired boy. Alpha Leader.
"Get away from me!" Bravo leader yelled, tossing the younger child off of him.
"He has a beam impaled through him," Alpha Leader informed him coldly as he rolled onto his stomach. "He's not getting out of there."
Bravo Leader ran up the Destroy's frame anyway, not caring. However, he tripped as Alpha leader caught up with him and grabbed him by the legs.
"We have to go," the child told Bravo Leader calmly.
* * *
Sarik had just landed inside of the Ares's hangar when a face appeared on his left comm screen.
"Sir," said the bridge commander. "The operatives are in trouble."
"Compromised?" Sarik asked.
"No," replied the commander. "A break-down in the chain of command, essentially."
"Patch everything through to my Astray," Sarik ordered.
A moment later, camera feed from all of the operatives' headsets dominated the mobile suit's screens. Sarik looked them over, and quickly found that Alpha and Bravo leaders were fighting.
"He's gone," Alpha Leader stated coldly. "We have to leave."
"We can save him!" Bravo Leader replied. "We have everything needed aboard the Ares."
"There's no time," Alpha leader told him.
There was a click in the chatter, indicating that someone had just signed on.
"This is Demo leader," said the operative. "We just spotted the jeep. It's about thirty seconds out."
As this was all going on, Sarik found the source of the fight. One of the operatives was still in the Destroy, placing acidic charges. The operative looked down, and Sarik could see several sharp pieces of debris impaling his body.
Sarik signed in.
"This is Chief Commander," Sarik said, his voice masked electronically. "All operatives excluding Bravo Operative One are to find cover immediately or be disposed of."
"Sarik!" Amelia exclaimed.
Sarik ignored her, his attention on three screens: Demo Leader's, which was watching the jeep that drove ever closer to the wreckage; Bravo Operative One's, which was showing his progress and deteriorating condition; and Bravo Leader's, which was currently dominated by the muzzle of a silenced pistol.
"You have exactly five seconds to decide," Alpha Leader informed him coldly.
"Done!" the wounded operative informed as he fell out of the wreckage towards the fight.
"Everyone, get out of there!" Sarik ordered in a relieved and enthusiastic tone. "Including Bravo Operative One."
Alpha Leader reholstered his pistol and helped Bravo Leader pick the teenage boy up, rushing him away from the wreckage.
Sarik shut everything off once he was sure they were clear. Though it turned out to be a close call, he knew they would all make it back without detection. He had that much confidence in them.
Sarik glanced back at Amelia, who had an utter expression of hatred on her face. Sarik's own expression turned solemn as he moved the Astray forward to the docking clamps and locked it into the Ares after dropping the rifle and shield into their appropriate racks.
"That boy will never forgive you," Amelia told him coldly as he opened the cockpit.
"Neither will I," Sarik replied emotionlessly.
* * *
Stella stared at the racks of clothes in front of her. It was just so hard to choose. She had some experience with shopping, but now that she thought of it, there were only a few outfits she ever wore when she was working with Neo.
"Why not this?" Sarah suggested. "You seem to like the ocean. This is the same shade."
Stella looked at the sundress Sarah held out. It was dark blue, light, and looked pretty flexible. Figuring it was something to start with, Stella reached out to take it from Sarah, making it probably the thirtieth outfit she'd tried on today.
She was on her way to the dressing rooms when she noticed a door open in the back of the store. It was labeled "Employees Only", but several customers, along with two employees, stood around a small television. There appeared to be nothing on it but the logo of ZAFT. A few seconds later, a man's face appeared on it.
"Everyone, I am the chairman of the PLANTs Supreme Council," the man started. "I am Gilbert Durandel."
Durandel. Why was that name familiar?
"Stella!" Sarah exclaimed. "You're not supposed to be back..."
Stella interrupted her by putting a hand up. Something big was going on.
"I know it's unseemly for me to be broadcasting such a message at this time, given that a state of war still exists between the PLANTs and the people of Earth," the man continued. "Please forgive me. I beg your indulgence. Please listen to what I have to say."
Sarah, a concerned look on her face, pulled out her cell phone to call one of the teams. But when she hit the talk button, there was silence for a moment, then audio from a source she did not expect.
"I would like to explain something to all of you," Durandel's voice echoed through it. "Allow me to explain the reason why this war has not yet come to an end. The true reason why we found ourselves at war in the first place. I'm certain many of you do not know the real reasons, because it is not the policy of most nations to reveal this information."
Sarah's eyes widened as a video began to play while the Chairman continued his speech. It was the Destroy in action.
* * *
"Sir, we had enough charges set!" the fifteen year old boy yelled at Sarik from his chair. "If that BOY had been a little more patient, we would have gotten out of this without any incidents!"
"And then what?" Sarik asked, raising his voice slightly. "Then what? Be taken prisoner? Expose SSI? Expose us?!"
"We got him out of there just fine!" the boy retorted.
"Barely!" Sarik responded, his temper getting the better of him. "You could have exposed us. Nearly did! There is a chain of command for a reason. Those in charge are supposed to be aware of the bigger picture, and must be willing to make the hard decisions based on that information! You know this, and knew the risks before the mission started."
"This wouldn't have happened if you didn't put that inexperienced child in charge," the young man accused.
"That 'inexperienced child' is far more decisive than you," Sarik replied darkly. "I put everyone where their abilities served the group best. You have the greatest technical expertise of anyone your age, but you make attachments far too easily. Even Operative One knew he was unlikely to make it out of there, and he's currently lying in a trauma-induced coma in the infirmary. If you are truly that incapable of protecting the majority of your team, then I can assign you elsewhere."
"We didn't get caught," the boy said calmly. "And because of my 'indecisiveness', he is still alive."
"All of you might be dead right now," Sarik responded coldly, then took a deep breath. "But, it is in the past, and we must move on, hoping we do not repeat our mistakes. We have what we need, and ZAFT is unaware of our actions, as far as I know."
"What YOU need, you mean," the boy retorted.
Sarik sighed, trying to calm himself. He never did well socially, and part of him was deciding whether or not it would be easier to kill the child, as he could prove to be a problem down the road. But he was better than that. He hadn't killed in cold blood for over a decade.
"Do you remember the private conversation I had with you a year ago, when you accepted my invitation to join the operatives?" Sarik asked.
"Yes," the boy replied defiantly.
"Do you remember what I told you about being a good leader?" Sarik inquired.
"That he must put his followers needs before his own, and serve them with his life," the boy answered.
"Do you remember the OTHER thing I told you?" Sarik asked.
The boy's face turned red in anger.
"That a good leader must sometimes be willing to send his followers, sometimes even his friends, to their deaths," the boy quoted, malice saturating his words.
Sarik nodded his head slowly.
"And one day, you will be able to do that," Sarik told him. "When you lose comrades, when you lose friends, because of your poor decisions, you will understand."
The boy hardened his face and turned his back to Sarik.
"Is that all?" the boy questioned in contempt.
"That is all, Gideon," Sarik told him, emphasizing his name.
The boy marched out of the room arrogantly, and the automatic doors to Sarik's quarters shut behind him.
As soon as he was sure that the young Extended was outside of earshot, Sarik smashed his fist against the wall as hard as he could. He felt something crack in his hand, and huge pains shot up his arm.
He smashed his hand again and again against the hard metal, trying to cause himself as much pain as possible. Something to cancel out the rejection and guilt that he felt inside. This compounded with the loss of one of the Skygrasper pilots and the near-loss of that Murasame pilot, Sarik was starting to snap.
It was half an hour later when Amelia walked into the captain's quarters, finding Sarik curled up on his bed in a fetal position while laying on his side.
"You are so childish," she remarked from the doorway.
"I told you not to come into my room," Sarik replied, unmoving.
"Good thing there's such thing as free will," Amelia said as she walked up to the bed and knelt beside it, resting her chin on the mattress.
Amelia glanced at Sarik's hands, which were bleeding.
"So you really do care," she remarked, cupping one in her own hands.
"No less than I did back then," Sarik told Amelia, uncurling and pulling away from her.
"You didn't show it then, either," she replied.
Sarik rolled his feet off the edge of the bed and sat up.
"What is it you want?" Sarik asked her as he stood.
"The chairman of the PLANTs is broadcasting," Amelia told him, stretching her arms out on his bed. "You will probably want to listen to this one."
Sarik sighed and walked towards the door. When it opened, he noticed Amelia wasn't behind him.
"You coming?" he asked her.
"I have a feeling I already know what he's going to say," Amelia told Sarik.
He sighed at the prospect. If that was the case, then he already knew, too.
Sarik walked briskly towards the galley. As he got closer, he could hear the transmission from the galley's large television.
"...These images were taken a few days ago, when the Alliance's new superweapon emerged from Central Eurasia and advanced westward, destroying whole cities in its path."
Sarik cringed. He had a chance to see Berlin for himself. He doubted the other cities had received better fates.
"This weapon of annihilation attacked without warning," Durandel continued. "It wiped out three cities, killing many of the citizens who had no..."
Sarik stared at the screen as the Chairman's figure disappeared into a fog of static.
"What's wrong?" Sarik asked the crew members who were huddled underneath the monitor.
"There shouldn't be anything wrong," one told Sarik. "We're directly linked with the company's comsats."
"Dammit!" Sarik yelled as he ran towards the elevator.
* * *
"As soon as we became aware of it, ZAFT forces engaged the weapon in battle," continued Durandel.
Another video clip appeared on the screen. It was the fight at Berlin, the same one that Sarah and Sarik had both seen.
But Stella had not. In fact, she had no idea what was showing until a single mobile suit flew in at the Destroy. That image caused several memories to come flooding back to Stella all at once. She braced herself against the wall and fell to her knees.
"Shinn!" Stella cried quietly.
"Though we did stop it, regretfully, many lives were lost before it was destroyed," Chairman Durandel continued.
Sarah, immediately realized something was wrong, knelt down next to Stella and tried to pull the child to her feet.
"Time to go," Sarah huffed as she pulled on Stella.
"The cities of Earth were attacked by the Earth Forces. Why did this happen?"
Sarah forced Stella through the empty store, who was being anything but helpful, constantly trying to collapse to the ground. Sarah could only imagine at what the girl was going through, but she knew that video had triggered something significant in Stella. All the more reason to not make a scene in public.
She nearly had Stella to parking lot when one of the black escort cars pulled up next to the curb, the door already opened.
"Get in, now!" a man yelled to Sarah. She recognized him to be one of Sarik's personal bodyguards.
She forced Stella to the car, where that man and another pulled her and Sarah into the vehicle. The driver wasted no time getting a move on, the car already moving before Sarah was fully in. As she settled into a seat, Sarah realized that the interior was configured like that of a miniature limousine.
The bodyguard let out a sigh of relief as he pulled the door the remaining centimeters shut.
"What's wrong?" Sarah questioned.
"The Ares just sent out a total recall signal," he briefed her. "All facilities and faculties are being evacuated to the Orb headquarters. Along with this, the Orb Union is going to DEFCON 3, though they're waiting for a chance to take it public."
"What instigated this?" Sarah asked.
"You'll get to see when we get back," the man replied.
* * *
"Send out the the recall order," Sarik ordered from the bridge. "All facilities need to be evacuated and swept within seventy two hours."
"Yes sir," the comm officer complied. He had just finished setting up a system that constantly rotated between the world's various communications satellites above them, which had so far countered any jamming attempts on the ship.
Sarik watched the images that were being shown during Durandel's speech. The last set, showing Earth Alliance foot-soldiers cleaning up dead rebels bodies, was obviously displayed for the intent of turning those who were watching against the Earth Alliance, and for that reason alone.
"The Alliance declared its goal to be the liberation of the region from the 'tyranny' of ZAFT," Durandel continued. "But does this look like liberation? The burning of entire cities, along with their citizens?"
Sarik watched the images unfold on the bridge's main screen. Images of rebels cheering ZAFT, who had two mobile suits landed amidst the crowd. One was the one Sarik had encountered in Eurasia, the other he could not identify. It looked similar to the Justice Gundam from the last war, but Sarik knew that machine to be destroyed while taking down the ZAFT doomsday weapon, GENESIS. Athrun Zala, the pilot, had self-destructed the mech inside of the GENESIS, destroying the superweapon in the resulting nuclear explosion, though he had somehow escaped and kept a low profile since, even after rejoining ZAFT at the beginning of this war.
"It is true that we disapproved of the Alliance's policies, and for humanitarian reasons, we have supported those seeking independence from Eurasia, one of Alliance's member nations."
Sarik nearly laughed at the remark. Hiding behind the guise of humanitarians. What a load of crap. There was little different about the ZAFT now and the ZAFT from the last war except for the weapons used. And to add to the wound, he played a clip of one of the Lacus Clyne concerts. Why the hell did she decide to side with him, anyway?
"We have supported those who want an end to this pointless and seemingly perpetual warfare, those individuals who wish to return to a life of normalcy," Durandal said. "All that they desire is to live in peace with their loved ones. These are the kinds of people to whom we have given our support."
Sarik felt a slight twinge of remorse upon seeing a clip of a child yelling for his mother, but those feelings were soon quelled when men and women cursing the Earth Alliance and venerating ZAFT were presented. An obvious propaganda streak. What should have been obvious to even the dumbest of men.
"But the Alliance scorned our desire for peace. It turned its attention to the citizens of Western Eurasia, who cooperated with us, who chose peace over a world torn asunder by a hateful war. The Alliance passed judgment, called them traitors, and burned them in their homes, even children."
Sarik watched as a clip of the final battle with the Destroy was presented. He observed it intently, looking for any sign of the TRUE heroes of that fight. But they were gone. The Freedom, the Murasames and the Strike Rouge, and even the Archangel. Somehow, the editors had completely wiped any trace of them from the video.
"Why?" asked the chairman, raising his voice as he lifted himself from his seat. "Why does it have to be this way? Who says peace is not permitted, that you have to fight no matter what? Who says it, and why would they say it? Why can't they let us live together, hand in hand in peace?"
Suddenly, that girl, Clyne, walked into the camera's view and put a hand on the chairman's shoulder. Sarik's eyes narrowed at the sight. It was despicable that she abuse all of her political influence like this. The daughter of one of the greatest men to live in this era, accomplished career singer, and eventually the driving force behind the organization that had ended the last war. How had she fallen so far in only two years time?
And what happened to her sense of style? She had always worn EXTRAVAGANT clothing, not attire with the mere intention of attracting horny teenage boys.
"It's a fact that this war was started with a single terrible act, a catastrophe of horrific proportions, one that was caused by a few Coordinators," the young woman started after taking her place by the Chairman's side. "We will never forget that we were unable to prevent it, or the many tragedies that resulted from that terrible event. For those who were affected, there will never be an end for the suffering or sorrow they experienced. And perhaps, it was also very inevitable. Events so traumatic could not help but trigger a war."
Sarik watched another of the increasingly annoying clips flash onto the monitor. This time, the Earth Alliance's failed assault on the PLANTs was presented. It seemed that the clips were particularly concentrated on the nuclear-equipped mobile suits that had attempted a surprise flanking attack on the space colonies. It was wrapped up with the final moment of the battle, when a ZAFT Nazca-class destroyer fired a new weapon known as a Neutron Stampeder, setting off the nukes prematurely and causing most of the Earth Alliance Fleet to be destroyed by its own weapons.
"However, we cannot let things continue as they are now," Lacus continued. "Peace and decency have been lost in this world amidst a constant battle. This permanent state of hatred and conflict only brings suffering. Haven't we seen enough enough of it? Raise your eyes and wipe away your tears; look ahead with hope. Cry out your sadness, but when you're done, listen to what the other side has to say. We will find that a world of light and kindness awaits us, and we will return to it. In my heart of hearts, I believe in this. This is the desire of people everywhere."
It appeared that she was done, as there was a long pause. And Sarik had much time to think during that pause.
Heart of hearts. He doubted anyone but those who opposed Durandel's motives caught on to that one. Was that Durandel's way of telling leaders of the world that he had the people's unquestioning support?
And beyond that, one had to think, Does he?
"But there have always been those who would prevent such harmony at all costs," Durandel started again.
Here it comes, Sarik predicted.
"They've been with us since antiquity," he informed. "They have demanded that people fight because of the profits that can be generated. 'You're a coward if you don't fight, and you're a traitor if you don't follow orders.' They use those words when they hand you your weapon and tell you to attack. That is what they say when they invent enemies out of nothing. The last thing they want is a world of peace. It is clear that these are the people who are behind this latest tragedy in Western Eurasia. The organization, Blue Cosmos, is well-known. They detest Coordinators and refer to them as dangerous mistakes who shouldn't exist. What you don't know is that it was invented by those same people. These individuals hide in the shadows. They're constantly inventing new enemies, ensuring war is always raging somewhere. The Merchants of Death. The Military Industrial Complex. They are known as Logos. They are the true enemies of anyone who loves peace."
Sarik finally found what he was waiting for. A list of all of the lead members of Logos flashed on screen, along with recently acquired photographs. Sarik waited. He knew that the Chairman would reveal his true colors soon.
And there it was. The image flashed, another list identifying dozens of the world's most influential CEOs, politicians, and citizens, most of whom had no affiliation with the vile organization. And Sarik Ostheim sat among them, right next to William Ostheim.
So a lie among the truth, Sarik thought. He knew for a fact that there were no members of Logos in Orb or any of the countries nearby, though he had always had unfounded suspicions of the Seirans. Durandel was up to something big, and these were the people who could and WOULD get in his way.
"From the bottom of my heart, I wish for a world that never again knows the scourge of war," Durandel told the world. "Since Logos continues to block our efforts, I am taking this opportunity to announce a military campaign with the specific goal of eliminating it and its members."
Sarik slowly sat into his chair on the observation deck, slightly stunned, but mostly angry. He knew that Durandel was up to something, and he had assumed he would try something similar, but something THIS big and obvious? What did it mean? Who would he hit first? Was he going to come after Orb and its allies? And how did he expect to get away with it?
Sarik, at this very moment, was truly scared, though his face and body did not show it. And not just for his life. There were tens of thousands of employees he was responsible for, thousands of Extendeds now living all over the world under his protection, and...
Sarik jerked his hand up out of reflex when he felt something touch his shoulder. He grabbed something warm, something smooth. A woman's hand. He looked up. It was Amelia, a sorrowful expression on her face. She, too, knew that the end might be near.
And that was the last thing he had to protect. The most important.
My friends.
"All aircraft, condition red!" Sarik yelled as he jumped up, once more taking command. "All pilots, to their craft! All crew, to your stations!"
Sarik walked along the bridge, checking over everything. Just as he had predicted, a contact alarm soon went off, and he rushed to one of the CIC positions. Five aircraft were flying in the direction of the convoy from Australia. But there was no way they could have gotten there that fast.
Unless they were waiting.
Raider and his pilots must have equipped external battery packs before they left, Sarik deduced.
"Commander, we have to get this convoy outside of ZAFT airspace, now!" Sarik yelled. "I'll head them off and give everyone some time."
Sarik ran off the bridge and towards the elevator. He was followed by soft footsteps.
"This isn't your fight," Sarik told Amelia.
"But you're my friend," she replied, grabbing his arm from outside of the elevator. "And I don't abandon my friends."
Sarik smiled weakly, then used her grip on his arm to pull her into the elevator with him.
"Then let us fight together," he told her, shrugging her off before he pulled her too close.
He looked over at her. He loved her, and he always had. Just like he loved Sarah, and Aaron, and...
Stella.
They would be his motivation. His will to live. His strength to fight in the dark days to come. They were all going to make it through this. He would ensure that with his life.
Sarik glanced at Amelia as the elevator neared the bottom level. Ironically, she had done the same. They both held the gaze, both understanding the future that they chose.
Things were going to be hell from now on. They all knew it.