Chapter 17: Enemies
The seeds of trouble have been sown in the A.C. universe… now things turn back to the C.E. universe, where the situation has escalated. The Earth Forces and ZAFT have taken the war into space. The Archangel, betrayed by its own faction, fled the Earth Forces and headed to Orb. Unfortunately, Orb was no safe haven for them as the Earth Forces attacked Orb. They fled with the Kusanagi, helmed by Cagalli and Kisaka, to space. At the same time, Lacus Clyne of the PLANTs fled the anti-Natural rule of Kira's childhood friend and pilot of the Aegis Gundam, Athrun Zala's father Patrick Zala in the Eternal after he made an attempt on the songstress' life. Now, all three ships have formed an alliance against the Earth Forces and ZAFT. And the Gundam pilots from the A.C. universe find themselves caught in the middle of the biggest conflict the C.E. universe has ever seen…
The Lunar Earth Forces were preparing to go after the Archangel and the Kusanagi, which had fled into an abandoned colony settlement.
Duo sighed as he finished getting into his uniform. He was still wearing the stolen uniform, and was thankful to learn that the soldiers they had encountered at the Mass Driver were among the dead after the ZAFT assault on it. That way they couldn't cause him any trouble. As he walked out of the change room, he took note of a familiar back and grinned as he began to sneak up on it.
"I didn't expect to see somebody from the Archangel here. How've you been, Natarle?" He asked as he leaned on her shoulder.
Natarle glanced at him in irritation. "So I end up with you, hm?" She sighed as she brushed him off her shoulder, continuing towards the Dominion. "Quatre returned to the Archangel and told us you had separated. Space is hard to survive in without attaching yourself to one of the factions, so he said we could expect to see at least one of you with the Earth Forces…"
Duo chuckled. "Yeah… sadly, your faction is easy to infiltrate." She shot him a dark look.
"I'm guessing you and the Deathscythe Hell are part of the Dominion's arsenal?"
"Yeah… I kinda altered the information on the Dominion so we could hitch a ride in hopes of finding an anomaly." He admitted guiltily.
"Hmph. Well just to warn you: I'm the captain of the Dominion, so you had better listen to me."
Duo's grin returned. "You know we don't listen to authority figures that ain't from our own universe…"
She sighed. "I know that… I was just holding out some hope." She eyed him warily. "What about the others, are we going to be meeting them on the battlefield?"
Duo shrugged casually. "We haven't been in contact since we split up. It'd be too risky in case the transmissions were accidentally intercepted."
"You said you didn't want your Gundams to fall into our hands, so why are you…?"
Duo shrugged. "To boil it down to it's most simplest form... I basically lied my ass off. They think it's a custom job of some obsolete model from an earlier year, so they never showed any interest in it."
She nodded in understanding, not noticing the cringe that had flashed on his face as he said he lied. "All right… you have to see it loaded, don't you?"
He nodded.
"Then I'll see you on the ship."
He saluted to her in the Earth Forces manner. "See you aboard."
She nodded and walked into the ship as Duo watched the other three suits loaded.
The pilots of those Gundams creeped Duo out when he first met them and he's avoided them since, yet he couldn't put a finger on why they seemed to make him feel so uncomfortable despite the fact that they were Naturals… though he secretly held doubts about that status. He had a feeling that things weren't as they appeared with those pilots.
A man in a powder-blue business suit walked up to Duo as the Deathscythe Hell was finally rigged for loading. "That's quite the suit you have there." He said as he eyed the Gundam with a calculating gaze.
"Thanks… who the hell are you?" Duo asked. He hadn't counted on seeing any civilians on the ship.
The man scowled at Duo. "I am Muruta Azrael. I will be overseeing the operations aboard the Dominion. There are two mobile suits in the enemy's hands that I'm very interested in and I want to make sure they're captured. I trust that task to my three hand-chosen pilots. You had just better stay out of their way and make sure you don't get killed."
Duo frowned at him before a sly grin appeared on his face. "Honestly? I think your pilots are the ones who'll have to stay out of my way to make sure they ain't killed… that machine ain't called the 'Deathscythe Hell' for nothing." He said before making his way aboard the Dominion, leaving a very irritated Azrael in his wake.
Quatre sighed as he stared out at the crews who were stocking up the three ships for the long haul that was ahead of them.
"Things certainly have been crazy around here lately, hm?" Sai asked as he walked up to Quatre.
Quatre nodded in agreement as Sai stood beside him and watched the crews working.
"How do you think the others made out?"
Quatre shook his head. "If they had found anything, they would have informed us. It'll be a harder search now that three of us are in the same place…"
"I find it almost odd that Trowa and Wufei wound up with us. I thought you said that Trowa was heading for Eurasia and Wufei was going to be somewhere in space. But suddenly we're in Orb and we run into Trowa, then we meet the Eternal and Wufei's with it."
Quatre chuckled. "I know what you mean. I never expected to run into any of them so soon after we split up. That does hamper our search, especially now that we're all in space, but at least we're fighting for a good cause."
Sai smiled. "It's strange. When we first met you all, you said you were staying out of our war. Yet here three of you are, fighting alongside of us."
Quatre smiled. "I know. We had a feeling the Archangel would choose the correct path sooner or later once it realized what we had noticed from the beginning."
"An outsider's perspective is really helpful, isn't it?" Sai asked curiously.
Quatre simply shrugged. "Sometimes it's a burden. We notice things that most people ignore because they've lived with it on a constant basis, so we're ignored until it's too late."
"Don't worry. I'm sure your opinions will be taken quick notice of in this alliance."
Quatre smiled. "Thanks… I hope so."
"Oh! That reminds me! Trowa and Wufei are going to meet on the Kusanagi for a little while and they wanted you to join them."
"That's odd… why would they want to meet now?" He muttered before nodding to Sai.
"Thanks, Sai. I'll be back." He patted the younger man on the shoulder as he floated towards the shuttles that were being used to transport personnel between the three ships.
Trowa and Wufei were waiting in the Kusanagi's lounge when Quatre arrived. "It's about time." Wufei said impatiently.
"Sorry, I got speaking with Sai." Quatre said in embarrassment as he sat beside Trowa.
"That's fine. We aren't really planning on saying much anyways." Trowa said dismissively. "Essentially, we're here to discuss what we'll do when we run into the Wing Zero and the Deathscythe Hell on the battlefield."
"So it really is a matter of 'when' not 'if'? That's almost depressing." Quatre said sadly.
"Cheer up; we'll be able to resume that match of ours that got interrupted by the anomaly." Wufei said casually.
Trowa chuckled in amusement. "Think of it this way: we'll be able to talk to them in the confusion without being noticed."
"That's true. Well… we know Duo can be counted on to desert the Earth Forces, but what about Heero? He was acting a bit shaky before we left." Quatre said uncertainly.
"Heero will come just as quickly as Duo will." Wufei said dismissively. "Heero probably realizes that the climax of this war is coming soon, and that may be our ticket to going home. It's better if we stick together now."
Quatre nodded in relief. "That's true…" He was about to say more before an alert rang out.
"Looks like chat time is over…" Trowa said grimly as they stood and listened to the warning.
"Let's get to work then." Wufei snapped before running from the lounge.
Quatre nodded to Trowa before following Wufei's lead towards the transports. "It's lucky that the Eternal was able to house the Altron. I don't know where you'd be stationed if it wasn't." Quatre said as they waited for their respective transports.
"I'd probably be back on the Archangel. It isn't housing many suits aside from the Sandrock, Buster and Strike. The Kusanagi is the one that's crammed with all those other mass-produced pieces of garbage."
"Just remember that those mass-produced pieces of garbage are helping to defend these ships. You can't look down on mass-produced models when they're on your side. Especially such well designed ones like these are." Quatre said before the transports arrived.
Wufei's response was a simple scoff before climbing into his transport.
Quatre sighed. "What are we going to do with you and Heero…?" He muttered to himself as he climbed into his transport.
The Heavyarms was housed in the same area where the transports loaded and unloaded, so Trowa watched as the transports carrying his friends took off quickly before the Heavyarms followed. "What is it I can expect out there?" He asked as the Heavyarms began to pull away from the Orb ship.
"We believe it's the Earth Forces, but keep an eye out for ZAFT. They're after the Eternal as much as the Earth Forces are after the Archangel and the Kusanagi." Cagalli's voice came through the radio.
He nodded. "Understood…" He said grimly as the Heavyarms joined the Buster and Strike, which were quickly joined by the Freedom, Justice, Altron and Sandrock.
"Let's go kick our pals' asses." Wufei said casually, causing Trowa and Quatre to burst out in laughter, and leaving the others on the communication channel completely lost.
The Gundam pilots had neglected to mention to the Three Ships Alliance that the Wing Zero had joined ZAFT and the Deathscythe Hell had joined the Earth Forces… which meant that they were enemies until defection.
Heero sat silently in the Vesalius, which had been assigned to chasing the Clyne Faction after they had stolen the Eternal. He had been forced to reveal more than he wanted to, but in the end he had been convincing enough that they allowed him to join.
Yzak Joule frowned at him as he passed on his way to the bridge. Thus far, only Yzak seemed to be suspicious of him, but Heero didn't care as long as the younger pilot didn't get in his way on the battlefield.
He had heard that Flay was on this ship as well, as a captive of Rau Le Creuset, but he had managed to avoid her by transferring to one of the other ships. The only reason for him being on the Vesalius was to find out what he was supposed to do when they encountered the Eternal.
A soldier appeared and handed him several papers. "These are your instructions, Ensign Michaels. You may now return to your ship."
Heero saluted him before floating off towards the transport. However, his luck had run out. He turned a corner on the way to the transport and ran right into Flay, who had been wandering the ship without permission.
Her eyes widened as she recognised him before quickly narrowing in a calculating manner.
Heero moved quickly, knowing she would be trouble for him if she was able to formulate a plan to blackmail him, and pointed his decoy gun at her chest. "Don't say anything to anyone or else you won't live to see the end of this war." He warned icily.
She paled in fear. "Why are you here?" She asked shakily.
"I'm searching for a way home with a convenient cover. That's all you need to know. Forget you ever saw me." She nodded before quickly going a different direction, not wanting to push the dangerous pilot too far.
He watched her carefully until she was out of sight before continuing towards his transport.
By the time she had gotten back to her room, a note waiting for her made her forget about Heero and any plans she had formulated in an attempt at getting revenge against him…
The Dominion and the Archangel were locked in furious combat, as were its mobile suit forces. After the initial shock of the Dominion being captained by Natarle, and the Deathscythe Hell fighting alongside it, wore off, the fight became very heated.
At the request of the three Gundam pilots, the others avoided combat with the Deathscythe Hell and focused all their attentions on the Calamity, Forbidden and Raider.
"Hey guys, long time no see." Duo said as the Deathscythe Hell's beam scythe swung at the Sandrock, only to be blocked by the Altron's beam trident.
"Indeed it has been a while. It's amusing to see you fighting with the enemies. Usually it's one of us doing that." Trowa said casually as the Heavyarms took advantage of the Deathscythe Hell being caught by the other two and fired upon it.
The Deathscythe Hell broke free of the trap just in time to avoid the barrage.
"Duo, do you have any plans of deserting the Earth Forces and joining us?" Quatre asked worriedly as the Sandrock fired its Vulcan guns at the Deathscythe Hell, which used its shield to block the incoming fire while holding off an aggressive attack by the Altron.
"Although it will be harder to keep track of anomalies with all of us in one place, but… as soon as the Earth Forces are called to retreat, I'll be waving goodbye to the Dominion."
The others chuckled in amusement, deciding to keep up the battle charade a little while longer as the Sandrock attacked with its Heat Shotels.
"What about Heero? We know he's with ZAFT, and we know there are ZAFT in the region, but do we know if he's with them?" Quatre asked as the Deathscythe Hell deflected the Sandrock's Heat Shotels.
"We can't be certain until ZAFT attacks. Let's just hope he isn't. He does have a tendency to… not hold back against us." Trowa said, hesitating on the last part of his sentence.
"Heero does tend to have double standards when it comes to us compared to other enemies. I think we should be honoured by that though. It means he treats us as a threat to him." Duo said wryly.
Wufei rolled his eyes as the Altron fired one of its flamethrowers at the Deathscythe Hell, which promptly vanished. "Damn cheater…" Wufei growled in annoyance with the tricky Gundam.
As their battle went on, the others were fighting hard to protect the Archangel and the Kusanagi from the Dominion and the mass produced suits that were assaulting them.
"Who would have thought one of them would be an enemy?" Murrue asked herself between orders.
"They're handling him pretty well though. We won't have to worry about him getting too close. Besides, I have a feeling we'll be seeing four foreign machines returning." Kisaka replied between barking his own orders.
"Hell, having all five of those machines would be a welcome sight on our side. They thoroughly kicked my ass enough times to merit my admiration." Andrew said from the Eternal as it stayed hidden within the colony.
"That's true, but not even they can predict each other's thoughts. I'm worried that one of them will make a decision that will cause the others to stumble. If that happens… they'd be useless on the battlefield." Murrue said worriedly before ordering the Archangel to dodge an incoming attack from the Dominion.
"They'll be fine. They're professionals at what they do… which seems to be a lot of different things, if you ask me." Kisaka said as suddenly, the Dominion fired its retreat flares.
Murrue sighed in relief as the Calamity, Forbidden and Raider returned to the Dominion.
The Deathscythe Hell made a waving gesture to the Dominion before following the others back.
Andrew and Kisaka chuckled as they saw the gesture. "He's a real joker isn't he?"
Murrue shook her head. "He'll get himself into a great deal of trouble that way…" She said before ordering the Archangel to retreat back into the colony.
Author's Note: Yep. Two chapters in two weeks! Shocking, isn't it? We're back in the C.E. universe until the end of the war! Yay! Please enjoy! I fast forwarded through a bunch of stuff that would have been pretty boring as hell to repeat from the series since most of the A.C. pilots laid pretty low as they tried to gain the trust of their respective factions.
Thanks to Silentx for pointing out a mistake that I missed. That's what I'm counting on you guys for! It's promptly been fixed. To respond about Duo's comment: he essentially condensed how much 'stretching of the truth' he had to do into that simple phrase to save time. He never actually had to outright lie, after all... this is Duo, but it essentially piled up over the time he spent with the Earth Forces.
As for Trowa, Wufei and Quatre? Trowa just ended up wandering around and ended up in Orb just before the Archangel fled there. Wufei got tired of waiting around an area where nothing was happening, so he went out to track down an anomaly. Instead, he found the Clyne Faction fleeing from ZAFT. Quatre fought in the Archangel's many encounters between the Indian Ocean and this chapter, but he kept his involvement to protecting the ship... which meant dealing mostly with mooks. Sorry if this disappoints anyone, but... yeah. That's about all that happened between the time they split up to now. Please remember that the two universes have the same time speed. Which means that while we're focusing on one universe, the other universe is still plugging along with it's own problems. This will come in to play again later when the sequels to Winged Destiny come out.