Chapter 18: Confusion
Duo sighed in relief once he had changed out of the Earth Forces uniform and back to his priest outfit, which had been hidden in the secret compartment that housed the Deathscythe Hell's blueprints.
"Uniforms are annoying as hell. I'm so glad we're not forced to wear them." He said as he joined Quatre in the lounge of the Archangel.
Quatre chuckled in amusement. "I hate feeling so relaxed when those ZAFT forces could launch an attack at any moment."
Duo shrugged. "We're desensitized to war. We've lived it most of our lives. It's peace that unnerves me now."
"Why?" Quatre asked curiously.
"It's because peace can be disrupted at any time by war. War can be stopped, but it's hard to stop once it really gets going. The way things have been for most of my life, peace is just a breather between wars."
Quatre sighed. "We've become cynical as we've gotten older…" He said wryly. "If our younger selves were to hear us say things like that, they'd probably kill us."
"I know I would, that's for certain." Duo said with a chuckle. "So, any plans for conning Heero into joining us?"
Quatre shrugged. "He may come of his own free will like you did… or he may decide to stay with ZAFT to spread out our forces to keep an eye out for anomalies in areas we can't."
Duo's head snapped around to the hallway as another alert was sounded. "And here comes ZAFT to play… Let's go…" Duo said grimly as Quatre nodded and the two men ran out from the lounge towards the hangar.
Athrun glanced worriedly at Kira as his friend let out an exhausted sigh. "Are you going to be all right?"
Kira nodded. "I'll be fine. I just know that things will get harder from here on out, even with the return of Duo and the Deathscythe Hell to our forces."
Athrun nodded in understanding as they stayed close to the hangar, knowing that ZAFT would take its turn at them next. "I just hope my father doesn't do anything stupid that could give Co-ordinators a worse name than we've already been given."
"I just wish it would all end soon. I hate this pointless fighting." Kira grumbled.
"You never were cut out for fighting." Athrun said with a slight hint of amusement in his voice. His words seemed to help cheer his friend up as Kira smiled at him.
Lacus quickly joined them. "Are you two all right?" She asked in concern.
Kira and Athrun nodded. "We'll be all right. How are things among the three ships?"
Her expression seemed to flicker from concern to fear before turning into determination. "We will keep fighting to see the Co-ordinators and Naturals finally at peace, even if the ships are destroyed. Nothing will stop us." She said with a strong-willed tone.
Kira and Athrun smiled, grateful to hear such strong words from her.
She folded her hands in front of her as she looked around the hallway they were in. "The ships themselves are in fine condition. The repair crews are very skilled. And the people aboard the ships are just as determined as we are to see this conflict end. We will be all right as long as our spirits hold up."
"That's good to hear. I just hope we don't run into any really serious trouble." Kira said worriedly.
"Oh yes, Kira. Whenever there is a free moment, can you please tell me more about those other pilots? They do not seem to be from around here, and their mobile suits are quite unique." Lacus asked as curiosity seemed to take over.
Kira nodded. "I'll tell you as much as I know about them… although it isn't much…"
"Hey, I'm sorry to break up the party down there, but ZAFT's on its way!" Andrew's voice held a strong sense of urgency as an alert sounded on the Eternal.
"Time to head out again…" Kira said with a sigh of exhaustion as he and Athrun ran towards the hangar, leaving Lacus to watch their backs worriedly before quickly returning to her place on the bridge.
"So what's happening out there?" Duo asked as the Gundams gathered together outside of the colony after having taken care of most of the mass produced suits that ZAFT had sent after them.
"The Strike and the Buster engaged the Duel and a CGUE a while ago, but we haven't been able to contact them. The Wing Zero has just been picked up on our radars and is heading right for us. The Freedom went over to help the Buster and the Strike, so we'll leave the Wing Zero to you." Murrue said quickly.
Duo whistled at how chaotic things were with only a small force. "All right, that's fine by us. Maybe we can convince him to rejoin us."
Murrue cringed at the thought of having such a trouble-maker back on board her ship, but acknowledged them anyways.
"Captain…?" Miriallia asked uncertainly.
"Keep trying to contact Dearka and Mwu." She said absently as she continued to monitor the radars that showed the Dominion and the ZAFT warships. She was worried about Mwu, but knew she had to keep those ships from being able to ambush them. Especially the Dominion, because it was in the hands of a woman whose knowledge of the Archangel and its crew could prove to be the Archangel's downfall.
"Ma'am! The Dominion and the ZAFT vessels are on the move!" Sai warned.
Murrue snapped out of her thoughts as she looked at him in horror. "Is there any word on Mwu and the others?"
"Yes ma'am! Kira's returning with the Strike and the Buster. Mwu's been injured!"
Murrue paled in concern for Mwu, but knew she had to keep the people aboard the ship in one piece. "Inform the Kusanagi and the Eternal that we're moving out to meet the Dominion! Have those four intercepted the Wing Zero?"
Sai nodded. "Yes ma'am. The Wing Zero poses no threat to us as long as they can keep him at bay."
"All right. All hands, level one battle stations! Let's make it out of this alive…" She said grimly as the image of the Dominion began to get closer.
The Gundams surrounded the Wing Zero, preventing it from getting closer to the Three Ships Alliance.
"Sorry, Heero, but if you're with ZAFT, we can't let you through." Duo said warily as the Deathscythe Hell held its beam scythe in a defensive position.
"Please join us Heero. I really don't want to have to fight you." Quatre pleaded.
"I see you jumped ship as soon as you met the others." Heero said as the Wing Zero turned towards the Deathscythe Hell, effectively ignoring Quatre's plea.
"Damn straight I did. Natarle's the only decent person on that ship… which is saying something. And there's definitely something wrong with those pilots…" Duo trailed off as an involuntary shudder formed.
Heero's eyes narrowed. Their instincts about people were pretty sharp due to years of training, so if they felt like something was wrong with somebody that typically meant there was. The only thought that came to his mind was: 'what are the people of this universe capable of besides genetic enhancements?'. He shook his head to clear away those thoughts as the Vesalius notified him that it was entering combat and that he was to join the attack on the Eternal.
Quatre repeated his plea as they were notified that the Eternal, Kusanagi and the Archangel were entering combat with both ZAFT and the Earth Forces.
"Don't worry. The others can handle it. Well, Heero? What's your decision?" Wufei asked as the Altron aimed its dragon claw at the Wing Zero in case his response was to attack them.
"There have been things that have been bothering me since we separated. I need more time to sort them out." Heero said, causing the others to quickly move their Gundams into defensive positions.
"I guess you know what happens next, then. Either you retreat or we have no choice but to keep you from joining the other ZAFT forces." Trowa cautioned as the Heavyarms aimed its Gatling gun at the Wing Zero's chest.
"Are you certain we can't help you?" Quatre asked.
"You can't." Heero said simply before the Wing Zero's thrusters roared to life and it charged the Heavyarms head-on. Trowa had no time to react as the Wing Zero forced the Gatling gun aside and ploughed roughly into his Gundam.
"Damn, I hate when he goes into his suicidal fighting style!" Duo roared in annoyance as the Deathscythe Hell separated the Wing Zero from the Heavyarms by slashing at it with the beam scythe.
The Wing Zero was forced to fly upwards as the Altron's dragon claws flew at him. Despite being outnumbered, the Wing Zero managed to hold its own against its fellow Gundams; however it was steadily being pushed back towards the Vesalius.
As the battles raged on, the Vesalius dumped a pod from it. Unknown to all, despite Flay's mysterious message, the battle they were facing now would be considered nothing compared to what lay ahead. However, the battle before them was what mattered, as the Eternal and the Kusanagi charged through the Vesalius and its companion ships, destroying the Vesalius as the Archangel fled after them.
All three groups were forced to regroup as Heero left with the Duel and the CGUE, and the Dominion began to retreat back to the Lunar Base.
"Commander Waltfeld, this is Wufei. We're going to stay outside and guard your retreat until we find a temporary save haven." Wufei said as he contacted the Eternal.
"You don't want to rest?" Andrew asked in concern.
"We'll be fine. We're still in good shape. Don't worry; we know when to back down. We'll return to our ships when we need to."
Andrew sighed, but nodded in understanding. "All right… We're relying heavily on you guys. The others are completely drained."
"We understand." Wufei said simply before switching to their private channel.
"What do you think would cause Heero to be reluctant to join us?" Quatre asked worriedly.
"Could it have something to do with Relena?" Duo offered.
Trowa shook his head. "I doubt it. They have an unspoken mutual understanding, and that's been working out quite well these past four years."
"That's true… I guess the best thing we can do is just sit back and hope he works out whatever it is that's bothering him… for now. We'll go check in on him in a while though."
Their conversation continued as the Three Ships Alliance finally found a place to rest their exhausted crew and get re-supplied from sympathisers within the Plants. However, they kept a wary watch on ZAFT and the Earth Forces as fear of what Flay's 'key' was began to bring unwanted thoughts to the leaders of the Three Ships Alliance's minds…
Author's Notes: Tadaa. Another chapter. Things are winding up to the big battle, with the finish close in sight. Unfortunately, this chapter will be the last for a while. As seen on my profile, I'm moving. So... yeah. No chapters for a while. Sorry about this!
Author's Reply: Exia - I'm fully aware of shades of gray. And what Heero did was not insignificant to Flay at the time. He tried to derail her plans for Kira and openly threatened her life. Yes, she's gotten better since then, but she does seem the type to hold a grudge. And that's what she's doing, more or less, against Heero. As for the timeline thing? It makes things convenient for me.
Everyone: I have not read Gundam Seed Astray and it seems like that will never happen considering that these stories have pretty much killed my liking for Gundam Seed in general. Please stop asking me to put elements of Astray into the story. These stories are officially, 100% done. They are set in stone now. Sorry if this is a disappointment to anyone, but my level of frustration from spending over a year on this trilogy has increased substantially as time went on. I'm done completely. Slight modifications will be made as each chapter is uploaded, but other than that... it's not getting any modifications until my frustrations with it disappear.