Phase 04: Torn Parasol
Artemis. The most useless military fortress in current existence, the only plausible reason for its inception being to keep an eye on Heliopolis. Thus, it was mainly a political posting, for those lazy and indolent officers who rose up the ranks by kissing the ass of those better than them. A result of this was the waste of an extremely expensive and powerful system, the lightwave barrier. Made by spreading plasma and photons in a shield, vaporising physical ordnance and repelling beam-based projectiles, the 'Umbrella of Artemis' is the most potent defensive system in existence. Unknown to the officers manning this waste of space and time, Artemis was about to be host to a very powerful guest...fatally so.
– The Killer and The Ace –
Lagrange 3, Barachiel, Aft Firing Range
January 26th, 71 C.E. 12:39 P.M. Orb Time.
"Kira!" The pilot looked up, seeing Mu coming towards him.
"Mu-san?"
"Do you know how to shoot?"
"Erm..."
"What are you doing here then?" The honest answer to that question would be that Kira was trying to insert a few wiretaps into the camera system, but he really couldn't let Mu know.
"Uh...I was...making a few changes to Birdy's programming!" Kira stuttered, stroking the robot. Mu raised his eyes, and then shook his head.
"You wanna learn how to shoot?"
"Sure!" Kira said, grinning falsely. Mu shook his head and gestured for Kira to follow him. He supposed teens and their magazines were just like that...heck, he had been.
At the firing range, Mu started Kira's fourth lesson on how to shoot a gun. Not that he knew.
"Alright, this is an OHG-3, the third model of OMNI's official handgun. It fires 10mm caseless rounds, twelve per clip." Despite this, it still looked like a pre-Reconstruction War Beretta. "Alright, let's start you off with the basic firing stance. Hold the gun in both hands. Good. Now, face the target, and inhale. Now-" The lesson was interrupted by what sounded like a panicked and terrified scream, growing in volume as Jack burst through the door.
"NOOOO!" The screaming pilot tore the OHG-3 from Kira's hand, dismantled it, and began going over it with oil and sandpaper, scrubbing each part with meticulous focus. When he got to the clip, he ejected the bullets and sprayed something in it, then polished the bullets. When all was done, the gun shone extremely shiny silver.
"What...the...fuck?" Mu asked, dumbfounded. Jack turned on him with a fury.
"You...never...ever...give Kira a gun and tell him to fire it! Not unless it comes with computerized sights and a targeting system!" Jack screeched. The robotics expert was waving the gun around dangerously, noticeably without the safety off.
"Now Jack...let's all calm down...Kira should learn how to fire a gu-"
"That's the point! He should, but he doesn't! And shouldn't attempt to learn!"
"Why not?"
"Why not? WHY NOT! I'll tell you why not!"
Flashback, Anonymous Firing Range
C.E. 67
The two twelve-year olds were standing in a firing range, with a former sergeant of the Orb military teaching them how to fire a gun. Despite said sergeant's doubts, the orders did come from the Chief Representative.
"Alright, now...inhale deeply; exhale half of the breath, and fire!" The two boys did as ordered. Jack's bullet flew straight...into the very outer ring of the bullseye. Kira's bullet hit the wall, rebounded off the ceiling, the floor, and then the far wall, and then behind the back wall next to the door and at Jack.
"MY ASS!"
Present
"Right in the left cheek..." Jack whispered, massaging said buttock as he remembered.
"Okay, but one single accident..."
"SINGLE!"
Flashback, Other Anonymous Firing Range
C.E. 68
A year after the previous 'friendly fire' incident, Uzumi had decided to have them go another time. This time though, they were using assault rifles. The same sergeant stood, this time far from the two.
"Alright, you remember last time..."
The two took a deep breath, raised the rifles to their shoulders, and exhaled slightly. Then, they fired. Jack's short burst sprayed all over the outer rings of the target. Kira's long burst, however, sprayed around the target, ricocheting of at right angles into the surrounding walls, the floor, and the ceiling, before rebounding off the back wall and into both Jack and the sergeant's legs.
"FUCKING HELL!"
"GODDAMN FUCKING CRAP!"
Present
"Three months of intensive surgery...nanomachine treatments...it was horrifying..."
Before Mu could open his mouth, Jack continued.
"And then! The worst one of all..."
Flashback, Empty Forest
C.E. 69
The sergeant had quit after the last incident, so Uzumi was instead asking his daughter, Cagalli, to tutor the two. The Princess of Orb was dressed in several layers of anti-shrapnel body armor, and then stuffed into an archaic suit of titanium-reinforced Samurai armor. After giving them some tips, she hid behind a wall of aluminum-steel alloy. As before, they inhaled, exhaled, brought the bolt-action rifles to their shoulders, and fired. Jack hit the bullseye. Kira's round hit a tree at an oblique, altering it's' course slightly, hitting others at the same extreme angle, before ricocheting off the wall and into a...certain spot.
"AAAGGGHGHAAGGHAAAAAAFUCK!"
Present
"I have to admit Kira, he does make a convincing point." Mu said, while Jack exited the room.
"He's just paranoid." Kira said, picking up the gun and shooting at the target. As with the very first incident, the bullet bounced off of the wall, the ceiling, the floor, and then the far wall, with it traveling through the opening door, past Liene's face, and off of the hallway wall, straight at Jack.
"MY ASS!"
Mu and Kira poked their heads into the hallway, and then retreated back into the range.
"Alright...maybe you should give the gun to me..."
– The Madman –
Lagrange 3, 750 kilometers from Asteroid Fortress Artemis
2:56 P.M. Orb Time
Chimamare shifted uncomfortably, trying to find a distribution of weight that didn't hurt his rear. He'd laughed in Jack's head at his misfortune...but now the alter was feeling it too. He wished Le Creuset could've waited before staging another fake attack...Whoops! I really should stop thinking... The Kiba had just barely dodged a beam from the Enmity, piloted by a vengeful Yzak.
"Fucking stand still!" The silver-haired Coordinator snarled, firing a barrage of missiles. Chimamare yawned, making sure it was loud enough to be transmitted by the earpiece, and fired the CIWS guns in short bursts, destroying the missiles before they so much as inched towards him. The alter then had the Kiba detach its left claw, before grabbing the beam rifle holstered on its back waist and snapping of a trio of shots past the Enmity's cameras. The beams streaked by, temporarily blinding the Gundam and reminding Joule just who he was fighting. Grinning, Chimamare pushed the Kiba into a somersault, feeding just enough power into the thrusters to move the Gundam slightly forward as it began the second revolution. As a result, the Kiba's feet kicked straight into the Enmity's crotch, throwing the Blue Gundam up. As well as sparking a series of cursing as Yzak got the insult. This caused Chimamare to laugh mockingly, which started off another round of swearing, in a feedback loop. The shield came up, shotgun firing three times, a spread of flechettes blazing outwards. Chimamare ignored them, instead dodging the follow-up barrage of beams and the grenade. The alter wasn't surprised when the Enmity threw away its rifle, whipping out the beam sword and slicing away like a butcher. The reaction to this was simple, the Kiba's thrusters flaring bright as Chimamare boosted the mobile suit above the other, CIWS firing insultingly at the Enmity's face. Roaring, Yzak sliced the sword up, attempting to at least cut off one of the legs or something to that extent. The Kiba just backed away, faceplate opening.
"IM CHARGIN MAH LAYZER!" Chimamare screamed, cackling insanely.
'Actually, it's an Ion Beam weapon' Jack said, deep from the corner of his mind. 'Instead of firing a concentrated beam of photons, it fires a compressed beam of plasma at the speed of light, and while they may seem simi-'
'Oh shut up!' Chimamare snapped. The particulars of the cannon were of no concern to him, just the destruction it caused. Which was rather small, the beam flashing past the Enmity's torso to hit a small and lonely meteoroid.
– The Killer –
Closer to the Vesalius than the Barachiel, Kira battled for his life against the Bastion and the Noctoraptor. Or, at least, he seemed to. In reality, it was only mildly difficult. If they were going at it seriously, Kira might have had some concern, but right now it was about as hard as to avoid their shots as it was to avoid a fat, lazy, sick old man's punches. The real hard part was intentionally missing them by mere centimeters, as the Augury's targeting program was most certainly not meant to miss.
A flicker on the radar screen caused Kira to throw the Augury back, the chest-based thrusters going at full power to avoid the Ballistra bolt. Had that thing contacted the Augury directly, it would have drained almost all of the Gundam's power, and even then the mere force of the impact would've probably squashed Kira. The Gundam pilot retaliated with a missile launch, reinforcing the image of a rookie as the missiles targeting lock flickered on and off against the combination of the Bastion's EWACS jamming and the Noctoraptor's own natural stealth. They completely lost it when the Black Gundam faded, Mirage Colloid seeming to devour the mobile suit.
Another flicker preceded the glow of a Multi-Phase beam, missing the Augury by a meter. Ignoring the missed shot, Kira instead fed more power to the EWACS, attempting to overpower the Noctoraptor's stealth. The attempt failed dismally, only the charge glow from the Noctoraptor's 57mm Shield Carbines allowing Kira to dodge the flurry of beams. The Augury charged the Noctoraptor, holding the shield before it. Before Nicol could respond, Kira released the shield and reversed the Augury's direction, resulting in the bulky piece of equipment slamming into the Noctoraptor's torso. Using carefully controlled thrust, Kira spun the Augury counterclockwise 90 degrees, left arm drawing and aiming a Dylandy beam pistol at the Bastion, firing two shots - what most gunslingers would call a double-tap, streaking to either side of the Bastion's head. The command-type unit holstered its rifle, and released its shield, drawing the Tonbogiri with its right hand as the Beam Claw on the left flared into existence. In response, the Augury holstered both rifle and pistol, drawing the beam sabers. The Bastion charged, Tonbogiri slicing in one-handed. The Augury's beam saber met the head of the pole-arm, intercepting it as the other saber sliced towards the Bastion's torso. The beam claw blocked it, followed up by the Bastion's forceful kick, propelling the Augury back. The Noctoraptor came back out of stealth, its SAMBAC system allowing it to practically dance around the Augury as its Aculeus pile driver came stabbing in. The heat-blade shaved against the Augury's side torso armor, cutting a shallow groove as Kira's slight use of thrusters moved the Augury to the side. Sheathing its beam sabers, the White Gundam flipped over, grabbing its shield, drawing its beam rifle, and facing the Noctoraptor and Bastion again.
– The Redcoat and The Ace –
"Feh, you're persistent, but I've come to expect that from Naturals!" Dearka cajoled, locking CIWS and other such projectile weapons onto the Shadowfax as the bigger, heavier guns attempted to lock onto the Barachiel. However, the crew appeared to have gotten their act together, and the jamming was seriously screwing with the Redcoat's aim. The mobile armor's interference didn't help, with Dearka having to dodge beams shot from four different directions simultaneously, and the linear repeaters jarring his aim. Somewhat annoyed, Dearka aimed the Ferox's Blooker shield, firing off three rockets from the built-in rocket launcher. The rockets streaked along, crossing the Shadowfax's path and causing Mu to weave in and around them. The Hornet missile launcher fired of a barrage of missiles, each locking onto the large thermal signature of the Shadowfax.
"Note to self: replace repeaters with CIWS." Mu muttered, pulling all kinds of crazy stunts to shake the missiles. A beam flashed by, followed by several more as the Ferox took affront to the fact that the mobile armor still wasn't floating pieces of scrap.
"Kira, Jack, Mu, return now! We're making the final sprint to Artemis!" Miriallia spoke into the mike. She, along with a large part of Kira's friends, had decided to help the rather overworked crew. Sai, in particular, had been rather helpful. At the moment, he was dealing with the Ferox's persistent lock on the Barachiel. Miriallia sighed with relief as the three, with some minor difficulty, broke off from their fights to come sprinting back into the hangers. The next moment, the Barachiel's guns stilled and stored themselves away as power was shunted from the weapons into the thrusters. The cease of fire caused the ZAFT units to pause, watching warily in case the OMNI officers decided to crush a few ants with a sledgehammer in the form of a main gun shot. Instead, they were surprised when the assault carrier surged forward, achieving an impressive speed of 1000 kilometers per hour.
"Uhhhh...what the hell?" Dearka summed up their thoughts.
"How long left?" Murrue asked the helmsman.
"About 50 minutes, assuming we slow down halfway so that we can stop when we arrive." He replied, carefully guiding the Barachiel according to solar charts. A misjudgment at this distance could cause them to end up an hour's worth of travel time to the side.
– The Crucible –
Vesalius, Bridge
Rau looked out, staring at the rapidly accelerating Barachiel. The sliding door announced Athrun's entrance, causing Rau to turn.
"The operation was, again, a success sir." Athrun said.
"Indeed. We should hope that the others can do as well without us." Rau said. Athrun started, surprised. "We've been called back to the PLANTS. They want to study the Bastion more closely, and we're to submit a full report to the council." Athrun started to argue, before subsiding into a quiet resignation.
– The Crew –
Lagrange 3, Barachiel, 5 kilometers from Artemis
3:34 P.M. Orb Time
Sai grinned at the helmsman, satisfied.
"You were off, and badly at that." Grumbling, the helmsman handed over the money, about half his paycheck. Miriallia, on the other hand, was staring wide-eyed out the bridge view.
"What is THAT!" She asked, pointing at the large cylindrical structure practically the size of Artemis itself.
"That, is the Paimon, one of the dozen or so Berial-class ships that were deployed at the start of the war." Murrue whispered, eyes shrouded. Noticing her discomfort, Miriallia turned to one of the other crewman.
"The Paimon was one of the Berials assigned to the Lunar Defense Fleet." he explained. "It was taken out by Rau Le Creuset."
"The same guy who's chasing us?" Miriallia asked.
"Yep. He did the craziest thing: He flew into the Paimon's main gun, a HALC like the one we've got, and shot the capacitors. The explosion caused the nuclear reactor to rupture, and chain-react. He took out a sixth of the fleet with that shot." The crewman peered out the view, studying the Paimon's remains. "I think the Eurasians towed the wreck out here, and ripped out the nuclear reactor. Looks like they put a lot of solar panels on it, and ripped out some of the secondary guns."
Miriallia stared at the ominous hulk, shuddering as she imagined it at its prime. An enormous ship, mobile armors flooding from its docks as enormous linear cannons and beam cannons fired, with the smaller flashes of CIWS guns interspersed, as the HALC fired a single devastating shot.
"Why do that? Why not repair it, and use it in the war?"
"The Neutron Jammers. The Berials were originally powered by large-scale, high-power nuclear fission reactors. When the Jammers went into effect, their reactors shut down, and the Berials became little more than enormous metal asteroids." Miriallia shuddered again, as the Barachiel passed the Paimon's remains, entering Artemis' port.
– The Killer and The Madman –
Barachiel, Kira and Jack's Quarters
"You think you can control yourself?" Jack asked, watching his friend closely.
"Yes Jack, I can handle myself. I haven't killed anyone here have I?" Kira replied tersely.
"Barely. I saw you with the balisong, eying Natarle." Kira's only reply was to stare balefully at the ebon-haired Coordinator.
"Kira, Jack, Murrue wants you two to come along." Miriallia's voice called out, causing both of the pilots to glance up before leaving.
A five-minute jog later, Kira and Jack met Murrue, Natarle, and Mu at the starboard aft airlock.
"What's the matter?" Kira asked Ramius, the captain looking somewhat concerned.
"I don't know. They specifically asked for the pilots of the Augury and the Kiba." She answered, somewhat perturbed as they saw the guards and officials walking across the catwalk. The airlock hissed, opening as the five stepped out. They did not expect the guards to raise their weapons, which Jack noted to be the new OAC-5 (OMNI Assault Carbine), and aim them at the Barachiel crew.
"What the- what is the meaning of this?" Natarle blustered, shocked.
"Murrue Ramius, Natarle Badgiruel, and Mu La Flaga. You and your crew are under arrest for aiding a national criminal." Said one official, stepping up from behind the guards. "And you, Kira Yamato, the criminal, are under arrest for the murder of Colonel Joseph Abaddon and his retinue." Kira stared at the man, overwhelmed. "I am Vice Admiral Edward Abaddon."
Artemis, Brig
5:46 P.M. Orb Time
Kira stared straight ahead, studying the guards from head-to-toe for the hundredth time, noting every piece of body armor, their weapons, their sidearm, the placement of every spare clip, and whatnot. As far as he knew, the rest of the Barachiel's crew had been confined on the ship, guarded by at least a platoon of Abaddon's personal guards. He glanced over at Jack, who nodded, eyes closed to mere slits. Kira acted quickly, face falling into an emotionless mask and pupils dilating, he snapped the hand-cuffs they'd restrained him with, drawing the balisong, still in its hidden sheath. He popped the handle latch, blade flicking out as he sliced at the prison bars. The balisong was a custom-made one, ordered by Uzumi for Kira. It was made mostly out of titanium, with leather-wrapped handles. The thirty-centimeter double-edged blade was titanium as well, except for the edge. The edge was a monomolecular compressed diamond, capable of cutting through all infantry-grade armor and most known materials as well.
Two quick slices opened a large hole in the bars, and before the guard could react, Kira sliced through both lungs, before moving around and slitting his throat. Two steps brought the Coordinator to the second guard, slicing through the barrel of his carbine before cutting deep enough into his neck to sever his spinal cord. Moving quickly, Kira sliced the locks of each cell, releasing the astonished Murrue, Natarle and Mu, as well as Chimamare, and then cutting off their cuffs. The alter walked to the first guard, stripping him of his armor and weapons, tossing the handgun to Kira. Behind them, the three former OMNI officers stared, stunned.
"What the – How the…Gah." Murrue stuttered, obviously rather shocked by the sudden display.
"I'd suggest you wait until we get back to the ship." Kira ordered coldly, throwing the second guard's handgun and spare clips to Mu. The officers did so and silently followed the two teenagers, Kira in front and Chimamare behind him.
– The Redcoats –
Artemis, Outside the Umbrella
Nicol breathed in deeply, and then exhaled. This was going to be his first time assaulting a fortress...even one as minor as Artemis. He, Yzak and Dearka had stared at the Paimon, before shaking themselves. They had to be ready in case the signal was sent. In the event that it was, Nicol had come up with a plan. And seeing as the signal had, indeed, been sent, Nicol was now maneuvering the Noctoraptor under its Mirage Colloid cloak past the 1, 500 meter long warship bristling with enough weaponry to annihilate him in an instant, similar to how a man with a machine gun would kill a fly. The Redcoat breathed easier once he was past the Berial-class warship, and moved a bit faster, heading right for the lightwave emitters.
– The Killer, The Madman, and The Crew –
Artemis, just outside the Barachiel's dock
In order to express themselves fully, the three former OMNI officers would require the use of a megaphone, several dozen graph sheets, a knife, a chainsaw, and several cases of alcoholic beverages. In Kira and Chimamare's wake, they had passed scores of bloody, broken corpses, missing legs, arms, head, and more often than not showing evidence that they had more-or-less contributed to the organ-mush that now soaked into their shoes.
At the moment, Kira and Chimamare were crouching on either side of the door to the docks, balisong and pistol and assault carbine ready. At a nod from Kira, Chimamare quickly armed two grenades, waited a moment, and then tossed them, one after another, through the now open door. The first, a flashbang, erupted in brilliant white light and eardrum shattering noise. The second, a fragmentation, exploded while the occupants of the room were attempting to regain their lost sight and hearing, spraying hot fragments of steel all over. The two Coordinators rushed out then, shooting at targets and heading for the Barachiel's airlock, Mu, Murrue and Natarle hot on their heels. When they reached the hull, Kira and Chimamare spun around, backs hitting the hull. Chimamare flipped his carbine to single-shot, aiming and firing at the scattered guards left alive. Kira, on his part, barely looked at his targets as he knocked on the airlock door.
"Wha-What the fuck was that about?" Mu asked. "They're not going to open the do-" The hissing sound interrupted him as the airlock opened to reveal Birdy. Mu could swear the robot bobbed smugly when it ascended to Kira's shoulder. Moving through the bridge, Kira and Chimamare left the officers to start up the ship, moving to free the crew and refugees.
Fifteen minutes later, the deed was done, with at least ten OMNI soldiers having fallen to the effective combination of Kira and Chimamare. The crew exited the cafeteria, where they'd been held, all of them skirting around the Coordinators, not wanting to antagonize them. The two just looked at each other and shook their heads, before heading to the first hanger deck.
– The Recoats –
Artemis, Outside the Umbrella
Yzak snorted, watching Nicol easily penetrate the supposedly invincible Artemis. Explosions played out along the surface, showing where his cowardly comrade destroyed emitters, dock entrances, defenses, and all the other crap this shithole had.
"Ready Dearka?"
"Naturally." The Coordinator joked. The Ferox was position to the starboard side of the Paimon, where the greatest amount of firepower was concentrated, judging by the hastily covered holes on the port side. It was also the one with the most targets. Dearka started up the Alpha Strike system. The targeting systems automatically locked onto the Paimon, highlighting parts, weapons, engines, and energy-generation systems. Smirking, Dearka selected the energy systems, and let loose. Linear rounds, HE projectiles, rockets, missiles, and beams reached across the kilometer or so distance to impact on the Paimon's already ravaged hull, completely wiping out the solar panels and some of the weapons they were built around. With that done, the Ferox's aim shifted to the weapons, ensuring that the Paimon was, and would forever remain, a shattered corpse from which only scavengers would profit. The Enmity, meanwhile, joined the Noctoraptor as they headed towards the main hanger.
– The Killer –
Barachiel, 1st Hanger Deck
Kira climbed into the Augury, ignoring the nervous stares of the mechanics as they ran around the deck, restarting systems and readying them for launch. Across the way, Kira saw Chimamare grin, looking like some feral predator who'd just found a crippled animal. Strapping himself in, Kira walked the Augury to the port catapult, as the equipment arms reached out with the Juggernaut pack's parts.
"Kira? What's going on? H-how did you-"
"Like I said to Miss Ramius, Miriallia...let's wait until we get out of here." The next instant, the catapult's magnetic rails propelled the Augury into the dock, cannons forward and Gatlings spooling up. The Kiba launched from the starboard catapult, claws extended and faceplate slightly open, making it seem to snarl at the mobile armors moving to engage them.
The Augury opened up with the Gatling guns, chewing apart a dozen of the Moebius armors confronting him. Swinging the left hand cannon up, Kira fired the linear barrel, the projectile speeding through several armors before penetrating the bridge of a Nelson-class ship, rendering it useless. Aiming the right-hand weapon, the Hyper-Impulse Cannon spat a stream of blue plasma, disintegrating the Moebius in its path as it destroyed the docks door. Through the floating debris and melted alloys, the Noctoraptor and Enmity flew in, weapons firing and destroying much of the surrounding docks. When the ZAFT Gundams shot at the Augury, Kira returned fire. The Enmity's burst of linear rounds destroyed a Moebius, while the Noctoraptor's Ballistra bolt penetrated a threatening Agamemnon ship. The Juggernaut's HEAP (High-Explosive, Armor-Piercing) missiles annihilated the emerging turrets in the walls. The trio shared a nod, before going off on their runs of destruction, at least, until a clawed-out Moebius struck the Enmity full in the face. Yzak swiveled his Gundam around to stare at the Kiba, which waved at him before launching itself at an approaching platoon of mobile armors.
– The Destroyer –
Artemis, Central Command
"What the fuck is going on!" the current ranking officer on Artemis spat, staring at the wall-sized viewscreen in disbelief, anger and sheer terror.
"Sir! It would appear that we were attacked from the outside by a single mobile suit." The officer stared. "Said mobile suit snuck through our defenses and destroyed the lightwave barrier emitters. It was followed by two more mobile suits, which we did detect, one of which stayed to destroy the Paimon, the other following the original suit inside, where they have now joined the Augury and Kiba in annihilating our forces."
Edward Abaddon, standing next to the officer, seemed calm and in control. In reality, he was seconds away from ordering the lot of incompetent fools out. Joseph...It looks like you'll have to wait a little longer before you meet your killer again. Shaking himself out of his bitter thought, Abaddon retrieved his personal communicator – one of the OMNI Intelligence Agency's new triple-function, encrypted handheld units – and contacted his XO.
"Jürgen, get the Grigori over here. It's time for me to leave this junk-heap." The Vice-Admiral slipped out of the room without any of its panicking occupants noticing.
– The Killer and The Redcaots –
Artemis, Barachiel's Dock
The slaughter of the Artemis forces was nearing completion, especially with the Ferox lending its fire support out on the Fortresses' surface, destroying Nelson and Agamemnon-class ships approaching from other docks before their cannons ever got clear. Most of their mobile armors never got the chance to launch, and those that did were rapidly destroyed by Shredder fire and missiles.
Inside, the Augury's cannons fired a volley at a horde of armor coming up from behind the slowly moving Barachiel. The barrage of Hyper-Impulse beams, Linear Cannon rounds, Gatling Gun bullets, and HEAP missiles summarily vaporized them, with the Kiba's afterthought Ion Beam clearing a few of the survivors. With that done, the four Gundams flew alongside the Barachiel, watching as the assault carrier turned its main gun on the Paimon.
"Hold up." Dearka protested. "I've already scraped that thing clean of any wea-" He was interrupted by the flare of the Paimon's main gun, firing at the Gamow. The enormous slug struck the Laurasia-class a glancing blow, scraping away the catapult. The Barachiel's Positron Cannon glowed for an instant, before the magnetic fields fired the compressed bolt of anti-matter plasma at the Paimon, striking the Berial-Class in the center and initiating an annihilation reaction that left the extreme fore and aft section of the ship intact.
After setting their jaws back in proper position, the Redcoats boarded the Barachiel, on Kira's insistence.
– The Crucible –
Lagrange 5, Aprilius One
January 27th, 71 C.E., 12:09 Orb Time
"You WHAT!" Patrick Zala shouted, in front of the council members, at both Rau Le Creuset and his son. For the past nine minutes, Athrun and Rau had briefed the Supreme Council on everything, the attack on Heliopolis, the Gundams, and the assault on Artemis. As well as the small, insignificant detail that had only been decided an hour before the brief.
Namely, the temporary assistance of the Le Creuset team to the now-renegade Barachiel
– The Author –
A/N: As you can probably tell, I have severe problems remembering the name of the average bridge crewman of the Archangel, who now crew the Barachiel. If anyone could supply a list of names and posts, I'd be grateful
Thawn716: That could work. And while Artemis isn't actually scrap, there ain't gonna be no one living there anymore. Not for long.
nxkris: well...its...similar to...the Freedom...kinda...somewhat...yeah.
Blaid: Thank you, I hope this phase has provided similar, enjoyable combat.
To explain the seeming contradictory notions of Kira first using guns, and seemingly having no skill, allow me to explain.
In Seed mode, Kira automatically computes so many variables that his brain is an organic targeting computer, allowing him to easily use a gun well. This applies to his piloting too, as we all have seen. Also, it was too amusing to pass up.
Now, to work on the Bastion...