The alarms blared, startling Neil from a near comatose sleep. His eye adjusted as he fought down the initial fight or flight response only to realize he was still in Sumeragi's recovery room. Before he could press the two buttons for the bridge an image of Feldt popped up on the screen beside Sumeragi.
"Lockon we need you on the bridge," she said. "The A-laws are launching another attack."
"They want to finish what they started." His eyes grew dark. How many people would have to suffer before they were satisfied? "I'm coming, Feldt. Tell the others to launch." With one quick look at the still unconscious Sumeragi, he ran for the bridge. I'll protect you Leesa, don't you worry.
The almagest powered up as he took aim. Lockon fired as fast as he could, taking down wave after wave of targets, but there was just too many contacts. Tieria was barely fighting off a squad of 5, Lyle seemed to be faring no better with a cluster of three. 00 seemed to be fighting the arrogant masked pilot again.
Annoyed, Neil set his sights on the overconfident A-law, until Arios caught his eye. Allelujah was fighting two GN-X custom Aheads, well one if you could count the fact that he was purposely avoiding the pink one. Just before the pink could deliver a critical blow, Neil aimed for the pink's cockpit. In seconds, her partner dove in front to deflect the shot. The impact slammed the grey GN-X unit against Arios who used its last burst of energy to grab at the pink one, but missed and grabbed hold of the grey one instead. Neil watched in horror as Arios spiralled out of control and crashed onto a nearby island.
Anger shot through him and suddenly it was as if time surged forward. The Gundams seemed to slow down, as if they were submerged under water. With some amazingly fast speed a wave of enemy GN-X units came from the side and tackled Virtue. The A-laws mothership hit Cherudim with a missle before two enemy units finished the job.
The air returned to his lungs as Neil lurched forward in his seat, spitting out blood. Heat spiked through his veins as he looked to the battle map, trying to figure out just what happened. However, seeing Tieria on the same verge of being ambushed he let out a shot of rapid fire, taking out most of the Virtue's would be assassins. Quickly scanning the sky, he fired and intercepted the missile headed for Lyle just seconds before impact.
"Lockon...thanks," Tieria said, panting from exertion.
"Where are they going, we're not done here!" Lyle yelled, ready to chase the enemy but Sumeragi's voice stopped him.
"Cherudim, stay put!"
"Sumeragi-san?" Feldt's concerned voice came over the speakers?
Still reeling from his warped experience, Neil tried to get his breathing under control. But she was already onto the next command.
"Saravee and Cherudim, retrieve 00 then begin searching for Arios." Sumeragi's voice ordered over the loud speaker.
After finally collecting himself Lockon ripped off his helmet and hit the descend button, wiping most of the blood from his face on the way. On the bridge, his eyes settled on Sumeragi as she supported herself against a chair.
"Sumeragi-san, you should be resting," he said, walking over to her, relieved to see her unharmed.
"We need to get Allelujah back first," she said with an all business tone, before turning to the ships G.P.S hologram projected before her. "I need status reports on the 00, and the last active location for Ario's signal."
"Yes Sumeragi-san," Feldt replied with a concerned glance.
Neil stood helpless as she sat down and began working. Unable to convince her otherwise he took the screen next to him under the pre-text of generating stats. But in reality he wanted to replay the Almagest's performance records, trying to understand just what happened only moments ago.
Allelujah opened his eyes inside of Ario's cockpit. His vision swam as he tried to sit up, already feeling the unmistakable sensation of a cool sticky liquid oozing down his face. Wiping his forehead, he moved again with some difficulty and managed to squirm out of the cockpit.
Landing on dry ground Allelujah took in his surroundings. Trees spread out for miles, and the unmistakable surf of the water nearby told him he was on an island. He remembered grabbing for Marie's suit, but getting another one instead. Whipping out his pistol Allelujah snapped into combat mode and raced in the direction of the smoke not too far from his position.
In the clearing a couple of miles away laid a damaged GN-X. Allelujah approached the enemy cockpit, gun raised. Using the suit's arm for support he climbed on top and cautiously opened the hatch, only to draw back. It was empty.
The pilot could've been thrown free, but that was unlikely since the hatch was closed. Allelujah was ready to investigate further when his ears picked up the sound of rustling leaves behind him. Whipping around he came face to face with Lt. Diego Dyson, standing by the forest trees meters away from him, aiming a pulse rifle straight at his head.
Damn it. Hallelujah would've acted faster.
"Throw down your weapon!" Diego commanded.
"You first," Allelujah replied, keeping a steady aim, all the while knowing he was severly underpowered against the rifle.
Diego smirked before pulling the trigger.
Allelujah fired simultaneously, and managed to sidestep as the energized bullet grazed his cheek. Jumping down from the arm, he took cover behind the suit. Dyson blended back into the forest.
"Not bad for a failed experiment."
"A true Super soldier wouldn't miss," Allelujah yelled back, as he tried to mentally plot out Dyson's position from the sound of his voice.
Diego laughed before spraying a succession of energy over Allelujah's hiding place.
"I'll show you what aim can do."
It surprised him that a soldier would prove his point by wasting ammo, until it hit him. Dyson's voice seemed to echo from a different location. The bastard wanted to circle around and cut him off, using the rifle for suppressive fire. Allelujah smiled as a plan formulated in his mind. He started inching towards the leg end of the unit.
"Looking forward to it," he yelled from the tail end of the GN-X suit, before sprinting to the head. So it wasn't the most original comeback, but right now all that mattered was getting him distracted. Just as predicted, the barrage of bullets impacted the legs. Allelujah waited patiently as Dyson made his run from cover while firing rapidly at the leg section. The Meister circled around the unit and charged at the A-laws officer, tackling him and knocking the rifle away in the process.
Dyson countered just in time to put Allelujah head first into the ground. Recovering, Allelujah aimed a backwards kick which landed in the officer's stomach, knocking him off balance. Reaching for his gun, his hands managed to clasp the cold metal of the grip just as he heard the pulse rifle's hum right next to his ear.
"Stay down!" Dyson yelled, as he kicked the pistol out of reach before swinging the leg to hit Allelujah in the face. The Meister re-coiled as his head jerked back and hit the ground. Looking up to the sky he saw the dark clouds closing in.
This was one of the worst ways to die, at the hands of an asshole and nowhere close to getting Marie. As the barrel of the rifle came into view, he squeezed his eyes shut and focused on the one woman who made his world.
He heard Dyson's footsteps shuffling near his head. The bastard picks now to tease? That's pretty stupid. Eyes closed, waiting for the end, none came except for a sharp cry of pain. Allelujah's eyes snapped open to reveal the lieutenant clutching his head, apparently in agony. Taking his chance he sat up and wrenched the rifle out of his grip, which was considerably easy to do in this case.
With the rifle secure in his hands, Allejuah sat stunned at the sight before him. The A-laws officer clutched his head, and spoke in whispers to no one in particular. He was about to write him off as crazy, before the quantum brainwaves took over him as well.
"I'm fine. I need to go look for him!" Soma yelled as a med tech tried to keep her sitting on the bed.
"Lieutenant your injuries will heal within the hour, please stay still-" the tech tried to re-assure as he keyed data into a recovery pod on standby.
The room door slid open and Colonel Mannequin stepped in.
"Colonel!" Soma, stopped struggling and looked to her superior, "did they find him?"
Kati shook her head. "We will keep looking, for now you need to stay put while we re-group."
"Colonel I-"
"That's an order." She snapped. Soma grit her teeth as images of the fight came flooding back to her. First fighting Arios, then how the stupid idiot pushed her out of the way and not only took the shot but got dragged down by the winged one. She was seriously starting to hate this celestial crew.
Kati dismissed the tech before coming to stand by her bedside. "Leiutenant Dyson will make it back just fine. Regular forces have volunteered to aid us in the search. For the mean time we have new orders in regards to celestial being."
Soma didn't want to hear any more about Celestial Being. All the important people in her life only worried about one thing, the stupid ship and it's suits. But they've taken so much from her, she was not ready to give them her only comrade, her only true friend. But seeing that Kati wouldn't engage the topic she relented and asked, "what plans do we have for Celestial Being?"
Arios, flanked by Cherdim and Seravee was confirmed on approach to Ptolemy's hangar. The bridge crew cheered. Sumeragi slumped back with a sigh, as Lockon smiled and Milliena clapped.
Sumeragi immediately started ordering suit and ship statistics in an effort to gauge their combined combat strength but Lockon would have none of that.
"Sumeragi-san," he said with concern as her displays filled with data. "You have to rest."
"I don't have to, do anything." she said, her eyes processing the information before her. Catching his look of hurt she added in a softer tone,"I'm fine. I just need to get this done."
Sumeragi stood on wobbly legs and headed for the digital map beside Lasse. She made it about 3 steps before Lockon caught her arm.
"Okay, that's enough," he said before swiftly lifting her in his arms, surprising her and the crew.
"Lockon!" She shrieked, as she flung her arms around his neck for support, "put me down."
But he didn't listen as he headed for the door, past Feldt's blushing smile and Lasse's look of confusion.
"Did we miss something?" Lasse whispered to Feldt as Lockon and Sumeragi walked out.
"Nope," she replied, changing the topic as the mobile suit was supported between Seravee and Cherudim. "Arios is heading for the hangars."
Once they were in the empty hallway Sumeragi spoke up again, but in a more relaxed manner, "Neil, please put me down. You're still healing you shouldn't be carrying me around."
"You're not heavy," he replied without stopping.
With her arms around him she leaned forward and slowly kissed him, whispering another plea to put her down as she drew away. After that kiss it seemed like half his strength got sucked away, so he stopped but did not put her down.
"Are you going back to the bridge?" he asked, but really didn't need to because the look in her eyes told him all he needed to know. So he resumed, at a much slower pace.
"Neil, please just put me down. I'll go to my room but don't strain yourself."
He shrugged off her worry, they were only steps away from the door and he had a lot of questions. His search of the Almagest revealed nothing. But he knew a giant conspiracy when he saw one. That machine was not Celestial Being technology.
She swiped her card and he stepped through, gently putting her onto the bed, kneeling before her trying to catch his breath.
"Are you always this stubborn?" She asked, running a soft hand through his hair.
"I must've picked it up recently," he said, smiling as he looked up to her. She patted the bed next to her but he stood up instead, realizing that this was probably not the best time to talk about Almagest. The woman just woke up from a near coma. "Are you sure you're okay?"
"I'm fine," standing up, looking into his eyes she whispered, "but I don't think you are. What's wrong, Neil?"
"If something was wrong you would tell me, right?" He asked, holding her gaze with nothing but raw vulnerability.
"Of course," she came closer, bringing her hands around his shoulders before gliding them to the back of his neck. "But we're talking about you. What's going on?"
With her hands lightly massaging the back of his neck, Neil found it hard to form a thought. At her touch all meaning seemed to disappear. He was wondering how this was possible since they've only been together for a couple of weeks, yet somehow she managed to make him feel better than he's ever felt before...or at least in a long time.
He sighed and leaned his forehead against hers.
"You scared me, you know that?" he murmured.
She kissed him, gently at first then with again with increased vigor, but he gently pulled away before things got too hasty. His mind shot to the doctor that would likely kill them if they so much as strained themselves in bed. To her credit, she seemed to be on the same page.
"Worrying is my job, remember?" She took his hand and headed back towards the bed. Sensing that this was her way of asking him to stay, Lockon got in beside her as she snuggled closer.
"Dr. Moreno says you blacked out from a mental shock, usually accompanied by the recollection of a traumatic event." Holding her close he added, "I don't see how anyone can be fine with that."
Sumeragi didn't say anything. Lockon was starting to wonder if he said something wrong, but her hand began tracing patterns on his shirt front, so he waited.
"His name was Emilio..." she began with a soft tone.
A/N: Hi folks, so this chapter was not beta'd. All mistakes are my own, feel free to use the review button and point them out to me. Otherwise, just hit the review button and let me know what you think. Thanks! :)