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Phase Four: Phase Shift Down

January 25 C.E. 71

Aboard the Archangel

Chris laid on one of the bunks while Kira, Liz and the others were talking amongst themselves. Chris was tired at the moment and didn't really feel like talking. He also wished he hadn't left his guitar in the Professor's lab.

The ship suddenly shook for a moment.

"What was that?" Flay Alster asked.

Flay Alster, one of the people that had been in that lifeboat he had rescued. Chris wasn't all that crazy about her. Sure he found her physically attractive, but her personality irritated him. Stuck up people did that to him. If she wasn't so struck up and wasn't arranged to marry Sai, he probably would have asked her out at some point.

"I think we're on the move." Chris said. "Where we're going, I don't know."

"Ah, Kira, Chris, there you are." Mu said as he entered the set of bunks they were sitting at. "Both Murdoch and Johanna asked me to tell both of you that because we're so understaffed, you two are to are responsible for maintaining your machines."

"Our machines?" Kira said. "When did they become our machines?"

"I have to agree with Kira. Don't these machines belong to either Morgenroete or the Earth Forces?" Chris asked as he sat up.

"Technically, you're right. But for the moment, it's been decided that since you're the only ones who can use'em, they're you machines."

"Sure, we piloted those machines twice but we're not soldiers." Kira argued.

"So the next time they attack and you refuse to pilot it, those will be your last words, huh?" Mu said.

"I have to agree with him, Kira. Until we get to an Earth Forces base and we can disembark, everyone here is in danger. And at the moment, we're the only ones who can protect the ship and the people on board." Chris said.

"He's right Kira. Both of you have the power to make a difference. Why not put it to good use? We have very little time, including time to think it over." Mu said before starting to walk away.

"Excuse me sir." Sai said. "But where are we going?"

"To the nearby Eurasian military base, Artemis. Of course, we're likely to have some problems actually getting in." Mu answered before he left.

Chris sighed. "Well Kira, should we go down to the hanger?"

"This isn't...I..." Kira mumbled out before running off.

"Kira!" Tolle and Mir shouted.

"I'll go talk to him." Chris said.

"Hold on minute." Flay said. "You mean that you and Kira were piloting those mobile suits?"

"Yes." Sai said. "You know how one of the mobile suits brought lifeboat you were on. Well, the pilot of that mobile suit was Chris."

Flay turned to Chris "You? You were the one?"

"Yeah."

"But why would the two of you be piloting mobile suits?" she asked.

"Well, my sister, Kira and I are Coordinators." he replied. "And just to tell you, if you're one of those people who discriminates against Coordinators, then do us all a favor and don't say anything."

Chris stood up and headed towards the hanger.

Liz watched her brother walk away. Ever since their parents had died, he had become bitter towards people who discriminated again Coordinators or Naturals, or in the case of Blue Cosmos, utterly hated.

Of course, things had been different for the first month and a half after their parents died in a Blue Cosmos terrorist attack. During that time, he became angry at just about everyone and everything. He picked fights with just about anyone. Sometimes he won. Other times he didn't. She had feared that they'd find him dead in an alley before long. Then, about a month and a half after their parents died, their grandfather payed them a visit from Orb. His second night there, he took Chris out for a couple of hours. What was said and done, was known only to those two. But when they returned, both were beaten up. Although Chris was unconscious and in worse condition.

After that, Chris had begun to change. His anger at the world faded away. He stopped going out and picking fights with people. He still got into fights but now he only fought to protect himself and others.

Seeing the uncertainly in Flay's eyes, Liz spoke, "My brother, Kira and myself, may be Coordinators. But we aren't with ZAFT."

"Kira and Chris are both still one of us. Treasured friends." Mir said.

The Archangel's Hanger

Kira stood before the Strike. Lt. La Flaga's and Chris's words echoing through his mind.

"Just because I can pilot a mobile suit, doesn't mean that I'm a soldier." Kira said to himself.

"Of course it doesn't. Why would that make you a soldier?"

Kira turned to his left. It was Chris.

"Kira, at the moment, both of us aren't soldiers. We're just two guys who are trying to protect what we care about." Chris said as he approached. "When we reached an EA base and can disembark, then we must decide whether to stay or to go, to become soldiers or to remain civilians. When that time comes, you will decide what you want to do for yourself, just as I will."

"Have you decided?" Kira asked.

"Actually, I haven't really thought about it. But do not think that what I decide is what you should decide."

Suddenly, alarms went off.

"Silhouette detected. Enemy unit detected." a voice over the intercom said. "All military personnel, report to your stations at once. Repeat..."

"That was fast." Johanna said as she approached the two of them. "Well, come on you two. We need to get you two into some flight suits."

Elsewhere

"Looks like we're heading into another battle." Sai commented as the alarms sounded.

"I wonder what Kira has decided." Mir said.

"If he refuses, our chances of surviving drop considerably." Sai said.

"Hey! My brother will protect us even if Kira doesn't!" Liz shouted at Sai.

"I didn't mean it like." Sai said in his defense. "I meant that the odds of our survival are greater if both Chris and Kira are fighting."

"We should do something." Mir said.

Everyone looked at her in confusion.

"We've been sitting on the sidelines and relying Kira and Chris to protect us."

"If we have the ability to make a difference, then we should put it to use." Tolle said.

Liz, Sai and Kuzzey nodded in agreement.

A Short While Later

Kira and Chris started putting on their flight suits. Kira was putting on a light blue one while Chris was wearing a midnight blue one.

Kira had to admit, he was a little surprised that Tolle, Sai, Mir, Liz and Kuzzey had volunteered to help out aboard the ship. Though what was more surprising, was that Chris was letting his sister help out, yet earlier he had been against her piloting the Strike.

"Hey Chris."

"Yeah?"

"Why weren't you against your sister helping out now?" Kira asked.

"Well, the Archangel is dangerously understaffed right now. So, she's actually safer if she helps out." Chris answered. "And she's still in the same amount of danger regardless of whether she's a part of the crew or not."

"Well, from the looks of things, you've made up your mind Kira." Mu said as he entered the room in his own flight suit.

"Yes." Kira said. "Like both you and Chris said, the three of us are the only ones that can protect this ship and everyone on board. Don't get the wrong idea, I'm not a soldier and certainly don't want to fight. All I want to do is protect the people on board this ship."

"It's the same for all of us." Mu said. "You won't find many people who fight merely for the sake of fighting. We fight because it's the only way to protect ourselves and what we care about."

"So what's the plan?" Chris asked.

Aboard the Gamow

Saul Kessel sat in the cockpit of the Surge. Waiting for the order to launch. He had to admit, he was excited to try out the Surge in actually combat. He had studied the machine and all of it's capabilities. The Surge was easily the fastest of all the mobile suits. Hell, chances are, it's the fastest mobile suit ever made. He could imagine the men and women of the infamous 11th Autonomous Mobile Fleet under the command of the Black Hawk, desiring to get their hands on this machine, or any of the other mobile suits from Heliopolis for that matter.

Scratch that. The Black Hawk had been dead for months. His older sister, Diana Kessel, was the 11th Fleet's commander now.

Saul shuddered at the thought of his older sister. She was the complete opposite of him. Where he was rather lazy, calm, and quiet. She was a real slave driver. Loud, uptight, forceful, and about a dozen other unpleasant words he could use to describe her. She was also a skilled hacker, though much to her annoyance, not as good as him.

Regardless of it's commander, the 11th Fleet was still the same outfit. A group of pilots that varied from extremely professional soldiers to soldiers, that if they had been in any other group in military, they would have been kicked out of the military or thrown in a military prison. All and all, they were a wild and unpredictable group of soldiers, who had only two things in common. A tremendous loyalty to their commander, both his sister and the late John Alaric. And their mobile suits. The machines they piloted were a bunch of heavily customized GINN High Maneuver Types, in fact, it was said that no two mobile suits were exactly the same. All aboard a trio of customized Nazca-class vessels. But that's who the men and women of the 11th Fleet were. A group of wildly different soldiers who piloted non-standard, customized machines. And they were the most feared and respected space-based unit in ZAFT.

"Mobile suit pilots, prepare for launch." the Gamow's Combat Operator said over the radio.

He was up first. Saul moved the Surge onto the catapult. He received the green light to take off.

"Saul Kessel. Surge takin' off."

The catapult activated, the g-forces pushing him back into his seat as the Surge was launched into space.

'Time to try this baby out.'

The Archangel's Hanger

Chris sat in the cockpit of the Raven, waiting for the order to launch. Lt. La Flaga had taken off a few minutes ago. And soon, he and Kira would be launching.

"Load the Aile Striker onto the Strike." his aunt's voice called over the radio.

'Hmm...Aile Striker. That's a new one.'

"Kira, Chris." Miriallia said over the radio as her face appeared on one of screens on the console.

"Miriallia?" he heard Kira say over the radio.

"From now on, I will act as the combat operator for the mobile suits and the mobile armor." Mir said. "I'm counting on you two."

"Don't worry Mir." Chris said. "We're not gonna let anything happen to the ship."

The ship suddenly shuddered slightly as the Lohengrins fired blindly at the Nazca-class ahead of them.

The catapult doors opened up.

"Kira Yamato. Strike Gundam launching." Kira said before he took off.

'Gundam? Interesting name. Taking the first letters of each word in the name of the OS. Wish I had thought of that.'

"Chris Dante. Raven Gundam taking off."

The catapult activated, propelling him forward and into space.

"There's five mobile suits incoming." Ensign Badgiruel said over the radio. "One from the front, four from the rear. It's the Aegis, the Blitz, the Surge, the Duel and the Buster."

"Okay Kira, we're outnumbered, so I think we should stay near the Archangel. That way, they can provide us with some support."

"Right." Kira replied.

The Surge, the Blitz, the Duel and the Buster streaked through space.

"Looks like Athrun's gonna beat us there." Saul said to himself. "Hey Yzak."

"What?"

"Athrun's gonna be by himself for awhile against those two machines, waiting for us to get there. I'm going ahead to help him."

"What? What are you talking about? You can't get there any faster than the rest of us."

Saul smirked. "Do you know why my machine is called the Surge?"

"What? What does that have to do with anything?!"

"Let me show you." Saul said before hitting the throttle to max.

The Surge's thrusters kicked in, causing the mobile suit to literally surged through space towards the Archangel while the g-forces were pushing Saul back into his seat.

'Wow! I knew this thing was fast but...wow!'

A few minutes later, he arrived just after Athrun arrived. Athrun went after the Strike. The second machine, the Raven, moved to help it's comrade. Saul wasn't about to let Athrun get double-teamed. Saul aimed and fired a trio of warning shots at it. He wasn't about to destroy the Raven when it wasn't even aware of him. That was something cowards and snipers did. Not him.

The Raven stopped, turned to face him and opened fire with it's dual railgun. But Saul, using the Surge's superior speed, dodged with every shot, and returned fire with his beam rifle. Both machines avoided the other's shots as they fired.

'Hmm...This guy's good. Let's try this.'

The Surge's left arm shot up and fired it's Hakenfaust piercer claw. The Raven dodged the claw and transformed into it's mobile armor mode and opened fire with it's machine guns as it flew towards him. Saul dove to the left, dodging most of the shots and the few that did hit him, barely scratching the phase-shift armor.

The Raven flew past him. Saul spun the Surge around and fired again as the Raven turned for another pass. Saul fired his rifle at it. The Raven dodged but oddly enough, didn't return fire. It was almost upon him, when it's bird-like feet angled up bit and short energy blades activated in the center of it's feet.

'Shit!' Saul thought as he barely managed to fly up and avoid it.

The Raven flew past him and transformed back into it's mobile suit mode. Then it spun around and fired it's railgun at him again.

'Why don't we try something a little different.' Saul thought as he dodged the shots.

He holstered his rifle and drew his swords and charged as fast as he could get the machine to go. The Raven managed to draw both of it's beam swords and block his attack and pushed him back.

"You're pretty good." Saul said over radio to the Raven's pilot. "I'm a little surprised that a Natural could pilot a mobile suit so well."

"I'm not a Natural." the pilot replied.

From the sound of his voice, the pilot was probably around his age.

"I'm a Coordinator. Same with the pilot of the Strike."

Now this really surprised him. "What?! Why are you two fighting on an Earth Force warship?"

"A rather long story." the pilot answered. "The short answer is that my family and friends, who are civilians, are on board that ship. So I'm simply protecting them."

Saul had to admit, that was a very good reason. Hell, he'd do the same thing in his position.

"Sorry to hear that. It's nothing personal but I got my orders. And I won't insult you by holding back." he said.

"Same here."

At that moment, Yzak, Nicol and Dearka arrived.

"Nicol, go help Saul with that machine. Dearka, you get the ship. I'll help Athrun." Yzak ordered.

The Blitz appeared and fired at the Raven, causing it to back off.

"Saul, you alright?" Nicol asked.

"I'm fine."

'Sorry buddy, but I got a job to do.'

Elsewhere

Unbeknownst to the combatants, a modified CGUE and a pair of modified GINNs armed with sniper rifles, observed the from afar.

"So those are the new mobiles and the legged ship from Heliopolis." Commander Diana Kessel said as she watched fight. "Quite impressive."

"Yeah. Those guys at Orb sure know how to make some sweet looking machines." Ajay Cortez drawled.

"Indeed." Lucius Raveshaw said. "Though I have to wonder if getting these machines was wroth the destruction of Heliopolis."

"Yeah. They should have sent us. Not that masked pansy Creuset and those little boys." Ajay said.

"May I remind you, Ajay, that one of those 'little boys' is my younger brother." Diana said to her subordinate.

"Sorry ma'am. Didn't mean anything by it ma'am." Ajay quickly said to avoid angering his commander.

"Don't worry about it. My younger brother is a lazy, foolish child. But he also happens to be about the only one who can tell what exactly happened to Heliopolis."

"You suspect that Creuset will lie about the events that led to the destruction of Heliopolis then?" Lucius, her right-hand man, asked.

"Through his teeth. Creuset is nothing but a snake." Diana answered. "He'll tell Zala what happened, then Zala will manipulate the facts and make Orb and the Earth Forces look like the villains while Creuset becomes the commander who tried everything to prevent Heliopolis's destruction."

"What'd you expect from a couple of snakes them." Ajay said in disgust. "It's cause of them and that traitor, that the commander's gone."

All three of them were quite for a moment.

"Sir. Should we get involved in this battle?" Lucius asked.

"No. We'll watch and see how things play out."

Chris dodged the energy blasts from the Surge and the Blitz and returned fire as best he could.

"Strike, Raven, where are you? We need assistance." Ensign Badgiruel said over the radio.

"Little busy right now." Chris replied as he dodged attacks from the Blitz and the Surge while returning fire.

Chris didn't know how much longer they were gonna last. He barely holding against one of the enemy machines. Now was forced to fight two of them at the same time. And these guys weren't like the GINNs from before. The machines were the counterparts to the Strike and his own machine, which meant that these machines were superior to the GINNs.

Both the Blitz and the Surge fired their claw weapons at him. Chris dove to avoid them and fired a few more rounds from his railguns at them. Suddenly, there was a warning beep sounded through the cockpit. It was his ammo indicator. He had only eight rounds left, which meant four shots and he was out.

"Damn. Gonna have to be careful now." he said to himself. "I can only fire when I'm absolutely certain I'll hit something."

The Blitz lunged at him with it's beam sword. Chris parried the blow with his right sword and kicked the Blitz back. The Surge took this moment to attack with it's solid swords. Chris managed to move out of the way. At that moment, a text message appeared on the Raven's console.

Preparing to fire Lohengrins. Watch out.

Chris took a quick look around. Kira was fighting the Aegis and the Duel. Both he and Kira were out of the danger zone.

A few moments later, the Lohengrin cannons emerged and fired. The two massive streaks of energy raced towards the location of the Nazca-class.

'Looks like Lt. La Flaga succeeded.'

Which meant that the Nazca-class had taken serious damage and would likely fall back and recall the mobile suits.

Suddenly, a pair of stray shots from the Strike flew past him.

"Hey Kira, watch where you're firing. You're gonna either hit me or drain your battery."

"Sorry." Kira said he aimed at the Duel and fired.

Only to have nothing come out of the rifle. A moment later, the Strike's phase-shift armor deactivated.

"No! I'm out of power!" Kira shouted.

At that moment, the Duel raised it's rifle and aimed at the Strike.

"Hold on Kira!" Chris shouted as he transformed the Raven into it's mobile armor form raced towards the powerless Strike.

At the same time, the Aegis also transformed and sped towards the Strike. It became a race to see who would get there first, the Raven, the Aegis, or the Duel's beams.

The Duel fired as the Aegis and the Raven neared the Strike.

The Raven was the winner. It's talons grabbed onto the shoulders of the Strike and pulled it out of the path of the beam. Chris turned the Raven towards the Archangel. The Blitz and the Surge fired at them, but he dodged their shots, barely. The Aegis however, was still hot on their trail. But thankfully, it wasn't firing at them as well.

'Why is that? One good shot and we're dead. So why isn't he firing?'

"Archangel. The Strike's out of power and I don't have much power left either. Launch one of the Striker Packs or we're gonna be screwed."

Athrun Zala stared at the Strike and the Raven, unsure of what to do. The soldier in him, was saying fire at the Raven. But if he did that, the Strike would be caught in the explosion. But without it's phase-shift armor, the Strike would likely be heavily damaged, if it survived at all. If he fired at the Raven, Kira would likely...

"Athrun! What are you waiting for?! Shoot them down!" Yzak shouted.

Athrun couldn't fire. Not at Kira anyway.

"Dammit! I'll do it myself!" Yzak shouted as he aimed his rifle, preparing to fire it's grenade at the two mobile suits.

'No! Kira...'

Yzak was about to fire when suddenly, there was a loud "YEEHAW!!" followed by a barrage of beams that flew at the Duel.

Most missed, but a few hit their mark, stunning Yzak. Everyone looked up. It was a Moebius Zero.

Chris heard a warning alarm go off in his cockpit. Someone had a target lock on him.

'Dammit, dammit, dammit...'

Suddenly there was a loud "YEEHAW!!"

It was Lt. La Flaga. Chris breathed a sigh of relief.

"Get the Strike lined up with the the Archangel so they can launch the Launcher Striker. I'll cover you." La Flaga said.

"Right. Thanks."

"Don't mention it. Now get going."

Chris didn't need to be told twice. He pushed the Raven's engines to the max draining most of the remaining battery power. One of the Archangel's catapults opened up. Chris turned the Raven and lined up both machines with the catapult.

"End of the line, Kira." Chris said as he released the Raven's grip on the Strike and flew away from the Strike.

"Thanks Chris." Kira replied as he released the Aile Striker from the back of the Strike.

The Launcher Striker launched from the Archangel towards the Strike. Kira quickly attached the Launcher Striker, reactivated the phase-shift and started firing at the enemy mobile suits.

Saul watched as the recharged Strike fired at them. Everyone managed to dodge the shots, save for Yzak, who lost the right arm of his machine in last blast.

"Dammit!" Yzak cursed.

"Yzak. We need to retreat." Athrun said.

"WHAT?!" Yzak shouted at the top of his lungs.

"The Vesalius has been damaged. And we're starting to run low on power."

"I agree with Athrun." Nicol said. "If we don't fall back soon, it will be our turn to run out of power."

"Yeah." Saul said as he glanced at his. "I'm running on fumes as it is. We should fall back."

Chris breathed another sigh of relief as he watched the five enemy mobile suits retreat. They had won. Chris found himself wondering how much longer these guys were gonna be chasing them.

Something told him that they weren't going away any time soon.

"Wow. Even with a five to two mobile suit advantage, they still couldn't even destroy one mobile suit." Ajay said. "That's sad. Real sad."

"Perhaps that's a testament of the skill of the pilots of two mobile suits and the crew of the ship." Lucius said.

"Perhaps. Or perhaps it was just luck." Diana said. "We're returning to the Odin."

"Yes ma'am."

"Yeah boss."

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