Yo everybody. I got nothing much to say today. So on with the chapter.

Disclaimer: I don't own Gundam Seed

Phase Seven: The Scar of Space

Archangel

February 2 C.E. 71

"You can't be serious!" Kira shouted at Mu. "You can't honestly expect us to take our supplies from there! That PLANT is where thousands of people died!"

"Look, no one here is exactly jumping for joy here. But the fact of the matter is that we need that water and the supplies there. We have to do what we must to survive. And besides, there's still two people we haven't heard from that we really should." Mu said, turning to Chris and his sister. "Well, what do you two think?"

"What? You want to know what we think?" Chris asked.

"Well, this was your home. So we should hear thoughts on this." Mu said.

"Well...Truth be told, I don't like the idea of stealing from the grave of so many of my friends and family. But we don't have any other choice. We need the supplies and as long as we take only what is needed and nothing else, then we should do it." Chris answered.

"I agree with my brother." Elizabeth said. "Our parents, our friends, everyone we knew that died there would want us to survive."

The Ruins of Junius Seven

An Hour Later

The Raven, the Strike, the Moebius Zero and several Mistrals set down on the ruins of Junius Seven. They had landed in the middle of what had once been a park. A very familiar park for Chris. It was the park where he had met his best friend.

Flashback

Junius Seven

Seven Years Ago

A trio of bullies were beating up on a smaller, younger boy in the middle of a park.

"What pathetic loser!"

"Yeah. Who in their right mind would think that a Natural is as good as a Coordinator?"

"We'll show this piece of trash just how wrong he is!"

"Hey ugly!" Chris shouted, kicking one of the older boys in the back. "Didn't your mommy teach you to pick on someone your own size?"

The bully fell forward, hitting the pavement. He was out cold. His two buddies turned and started shouting at him.

"What are you doing?!"

"Why are you defending a traitor to his own people?!"

"A traitor to his own people?" Chris said in confusion.

"Yeah." the first bully said. "This traitor claims that those filthy Naturals are as good as us Coordinators. So we're teaching him a lesson."

Chris glanced at the boy. The boy was about his age and look terrified and in rough shape. What ever the boy said, it wasn't enough for anyone to have the right to beat him like that.

"Well in that case...I have to agree with him. You two are about as stupid and as bigoted as those Blue Cosmos nutjobs!" Chris said to the larger and older boys.

"Why you little punk!" one of the bullies shouted as he swung his fist at him.

Now Chris may have been smaller and younger than these two, but he had one clear advantage over these guys. For the last few years, he had been taking martial arts lessons and he was quite good at it. In fact, his instructor told him that by next year, he be ready to participate in tournaments and competitions.

Chris raised his left arm, blocking the punch. Then before he could pull back, Chris kicked the bully in the stomach as hard as he could. The punk stumbled back, clutching his stomach and moaning. To everyone's surprise, he fell to his knees and started throwing up. The second bully, fearful of losing his own lunch and without his two buddies to back him up, ran away. A moment later, the one that lost his lunch joined him. They were complete cowards. They harassed people that were smaller than them and wouldn't fight back. But as soon as someone fought back, they would flee like the cowards they are.

Chris walked up to the battered boy laying on the ground. "You okay?" he asked, kneeling down.

"Yeah..." the boy said. "You didn't have to help me."

"True. But it was three against one and wasn't about to let a bunch of spineless bullies beat up somebody." he replied, extending his hand. "Here."

The boy took his hand and Chris helped him get back up to his feet. The boy was in pretty rough shape. He had a number of bruises and cuts but nothing appeared to be broken. "C'mon, I'll take you to my parents. They're doctors." he said, helping the injured boy walk to his house. "My name's Chris, Chris Dante."

"I'm-

"Chris!" Kira said loudly over the radio, bringing him out of his memories.

"Huh...What?"

"You spaced out there for moment." Kira said, deeply concerned.

"Just lost in some memories." Chris replied.

"You don't have to be here. You can head back to the ship."

"I'll be fine Kira." Chris lied.

Truth be told he wasn't even sure why he was even setting the Raven down here, on what had once been his home. Even more painful was the fact that this park was only a few blocks away from the house he grew up in.

The Mistral crews began to exit their vehicles. Liz stepped out of a Mistral, holding a number of paper flowers in her arms. The flowers had been made by Flay and the children they had recovered from Heliopolis.

Liz threw the paper flowers up, scattering them across the ruins of their former home. Everyone took a minute of silence, saying a prayer for the victims of the Bloody Valentine.

Once they were done, everyone returned to their Mistrals and carried out their various duties. The Strike, the Raven, and the Moebius Zero took off, patrolling the area. Just in case.

The Archangel

Later the Night

Chris sighed as he collapsed onto his bed. He felt physically, mentally and emotionally exhausted after everything that had happened. He was about to fall asleep when there was a knock at the door.

"Come in." Chris said as he sat up.

The door opened revealing Flay. "What can I do for you Flay?" he asked as she enter the room.

"I just want to say I'm sorry about what happened to your home." Flay said.

"Don't. I have had enough apologies from people over this." Chris said. "I wish people would stop pitying me when they learn where I'm from."

Flay seemed to hesitate for moment. Like she was trying to decide whether or not to leave. "Is there something else?" he asked.

"Yes...There was something I wanted to say. Something I need to say." Flay said.

"Well then, say it."

"You see...Before this war broke out, I didn't think too highly of Coordinators. I kinda believed some of what Blue Cosmos said. And when the war broke out, I started to believe that all Coordinators were with ZAFT and the bad guys while all Naturals and the Earth Forces were the good guys. Even though the Earth Forces caused the Bloody Valentine. I completely ignored it because I wasn't effected by it. It was the same with the war. I completely tuned it out because I had nothing to do with it and I was living in a neutral colony. I thought that whatever happened on Earth or in space wouldn't affect me." Flay confessed. "But then Heliopolis was attacked and all that happened afterwards, and I found everything changing. I began to realize that everything I had believed about the war was wrong. And everything I believed about Coordinators as well. And that is also what I want to apologize for. For anything and everything negative about Coordinators that I ever said or thought."

Chris stared at her for a moment. Such a confession was an easy thing for anyone to admit.

Chris stood up and put a hand on her shoulder. "I accept your apology." he said. "Truth be told, when I was younger I didn't thing much of Naturals. Even though my own grandfather was one. I thought they were stubborn, bigoted idiots. Then about seven years ago, I was walking home from school when I saw a boy my age getting beaten up by some punks. They were beating him up because he said that Coordinators weren't better than Naturals. I felt the same disgust towards those bullies that had for Blue Cosmos. And that was when I realized that Coordinators could be just as bad as members of Blue Cosmos. I defended the boy and after that, we quickly became best friends."

Chris didn't know why, but something was compelling to him to say this to her. Something he hadn't said to anyone before

"He believed that most people, whether they were Coordinator or Natural, just wanted to live peacefully together. That we were all the same. That we all have the same dreams, hopes, fears." Chris said, his mind going back to the times before the Bloody Valentine. "He was a lot like Kira. He hated violence and was a complete pacifist. In fact, when I rescued him from those bullies, we was actually more worried about me getting involved and getting hurt than what happened to him."

"He's dead, isn't he?"

"Yes..." Chris said quietly. "He was killed in the Bloody Valentine. And not a day goes by that I don't miss him. Along with my parents and all my other friends I lost that terrible day."

"But the worst thing I ever did happened after that terrible day. I became angry at just about everyone. The Earth Alliance and Blue Cosmos for doing such a horrible act. ZAFT for failing to protect my friends and family and then using their deaths as a rallying cry for war. I blamed them all for that tragedy. I even blamed myself for not being and dying with them." Chris said, shame filling his voice. "I found myself being consumed by all that anger and pain. I started picking fights with people for on real reason. I don't know why I did it. Maybe wanted to hurt those responsible but ended up hurting innocent people. Maybe I wanted to feel something other anger and sorrow. Maybe I just wanted someone to kill me."

Suddenly, Flay embraced him in a hug. And for the first time since the Bloody Valentine, he cried. He cried for all those that he had lost.

Ruins of Junius Seven

February 5 C.E. 71

The days had been long and quiet since they found the ruins of Junius Seven. Kira couldn't complain. He preferred it over fighting another battle.

"That was close." he heard Chris over the radio say. "I just shot down a GINN guys."

"It's a long-range scout." Mu said. "It's unlikely that a ZAFT warship is nearby. But there may be more of them out there. So keep a close eye on things. Ensign Badgiruel, how long until we're done loading up the last of the supplies?"

"We should be done in approximately an hour." she replied.

"Good. Captain, once the supplies are loaded, we should head out just to be on the safe side."

"I agree, Lieutenant La Flaga." Ramius replied. "As soon as the last of the supplies are loaded, we'll be leaving the Debris Belt for Lunar HQ."

Kira resumed his patrol. The moon. They would soon be heading for the moon. Where Kira could leave this war behind and return to his normal life.

He moved around a large piece of debris when he spotted a badly damaged civilian shuttle. Normally, he would have passed it off just a piece of space junk but it was too new. Both the ship and it's battle damage. It must have been raided by pirates and then drifted into the Debris Belt. He had heard that with both ZAFT's and the Earth Alliance's military fighting the war, they were unable to patrol the civilian space routes and as a result, piracy had dramatically increased.

Suddenly, a GINN appeared. The Strike's computer identified it as a GINN Long Range Reconnaissance Type. The GINN was inspecting the shuttle. It was searching for something.

Kira moved behind some debris, hoping that the GINN would leave before it spotted anyone. He didn't want to kill anyone else. The GINN, seemingly satisfied that what it was looking for wasn't on the shuttle, started to leave.

Unfortunately, it was not to be. As the Mistral that Kuzzey was on, started it's return to the Archangel. It's flightpath passing near the shuttle. GINN glanced back, spotting the Mistral. It immediately turned and headed towards the Mistral.

"No!" Kira cursed. "Why couldn't you just leave?"

He had no choice, if the GINN spotted the Archangel, it would be all over. He aimed at the GINN and squeezed the trigger a few times. His shots hit the GINN dead on, destroying it instantly.

"Thanks kid. That was a close one." Jackie Tonomura said.

"Yeah, thanks Kira." Kuzzey added.

Kira didn't feel all that great about saving them. Again, he had killed someone. Why did he have to get involved in this war? Why did this war have to happen in the first place?

Kira sighed as he resumed his patrol. Maybe a minute later, he spotted something. A lone escape pod floating among the debris.

'Could it be from the shuttle? Is there still someone alive in there?'

Deciding it was better to safe than sorry, he picked up the pod and headed back to the Archangel.

Chris watched as the technicians started unlocking the pod. He, Kira, Captain Ramius, Mu, Ensign Badgiruel, some of the crews from Mistrals and a group of security guards were all standing around the pod waiting.

"Are we gonna make picking up strays like this, a habit?" Mu jokingly asked.

"Maybe the Archangel's become the patron saint of strays." Chris replied.

Mu chuckled. "It's starting to look like it."

The pod opened up and a bright pink ball flew out. Chris caught it.

"Haro! Hello there! Haro!" the ball shouted, round flaps on it's sides flapping wildly, startling him.

"What?! What is this?!" he said, staring at the pink machine.

"That's Mister Pink." a voice said.

A voice he knew. A voice anyone from the PLANTs would know.

'No way...It couldn't be.'

Chris looked up. It was Lacus Clyne. Famous singer and daughter of the Chairman of ZAFT. The pink haired girl floated out of the escape pod and kept on going. Kira caught the floating girl, putting her back on her feet.

"Thank you." she politely said to Kira, before looking at the EA markings on his uniform. "Oh my. This isn't a ZAFT ship, is it?"

Everyone just stared at her in surprise.

"You're...Lacus Clyne." Liz said in a state of disbelief.

Chris glanced at his sister. She was the biggest Lacus Clyne fan he had ever met. Her eyes were wide in surprise at the sight of her idol.

"Why yes I am."

"Miss Clyne." she said, passing her way to the young diva. "Miss Clyne, it's an honor to meet you. Can I please have your autograph?"

Chris sighed. "Liz...Miss Clyne has no doubt been through a lot. Don't harass her like a rabid fangirl. I'm sure she could use some rest."

"Rabid fangirl! Haro! Rabid fangirl!" the strange ball robot shouted.

'The guy who made this thing better hope he never meets me. I want to kick his ass for making this evil thing. Same with the guy who made Birdie.'

As if on some magical cue, Birdie landed on his head.

"Birdie. Birdie."

"Haro! Birdie! Haro!

Chris feel a vein on the side of his head throb. He was growing to hate these annoying mechanical pets. "Someone please take things away from me before I throw them out an airlock." he said. "Why do these annoying these always latch onto me? What do they find so appealing about me?"

Just everyone laughed or chuckled as grabbed Birdie and that annoying pink ball.

"That's alright." Lacus said as Kira handed her back her robot. "I'd be happy to give her an autograph. And please, call me Lacus."

"Really?! Someone get me a pen and some paper, quick!" Liz shouted in joy.

Mu chuckled. "Well, things are definitely getting interesting."

An Hour Later

"Captain, all of the supplies have been brought on board and secured." Joanna Dante said as she entered the bridge. "We're ready to leave."

"Newmann, take us out of the Debris Belt and back on to Lunar HQ." Ramius ordered.

"Yes ma'am." Newmann said as he powered up the engines and started maneuvering out of the debris field.

"So what are we gonna do about our new guest?" Mu asked, but truth be told, just about everyone was wondering that.

"We aren't going to be making any other stops before we reach Lunar HQ." Badgiruel said. "And she's a civilian. So she is no real danger."

"Of course not." Mu said sarcastically. "They'd welcome her with open arms. She is after all, Clyne's daughter."

"Lieutenant La Flaga." Murrue said sternly. "I don't like it anymore than you do, but we don't have any other choice."

"Actually, there may be another way." Joanna said. "We can hide her amongst the civilians of Heliopolis. She'll be sent with them to Orb. Then the Orb government will simply send her to a nearby ZAFT base and they'll send her back to the PLANTs."

"Hmm...Could that really work?" Murrue asked.

"If everyone on board agrees to it. Then yes." Joanna replied.

"Ma'am!" Romero said, interrupting their conversation. "We're receiving a transmission."

"Who is it from?" Murrue asked.

"I'm verifying it right now." Romero replied. "It's from the 8th Fleet!"

"It's from Admiral Halberton." Murrue said, practically jumping out of her chair. "Patch it through."

Static filled the bridge's speakers. "Arch...gel...Come...Archangel...This is...gomery..." the voice said, growing clearer and clearer. "Come in Archangel...This is the Montgomery. We've been dispatched to rendezvous with you and escort you to the rest of the 8th Fleet."

A loud cheer filled the bridge. It looked like their luck was finally turning around.

The Bridge of the Odin

Elsewhere

"Sir. We've detected three Earth Forces warships."

"Out this far? That's unusual." Lucius said.

"They could be an escort for the legged ship." Captain Lee said.

"Indeed. That is likely what they're out here." Diana said. "Have they detected us yet?"

"Unknown sir. As you know, we're on the edge of the Debris Belt. May or may not be able to detect us."

"Hmm...If they have detected us, they'll warn the legged ship. And depending on the Captain of that vessel, they'll either stay away or come to their assistance." Diana said, contemplating her next move.

"Sir. The Vesalius is hailing us."

Diana let out a sigh of annoyance. She hated having to take orders from that man. But orders were orders. Until the legged ship was captured or destroyed, she was stuck.

"Commander Kessel, it seems we've found some unexpected guests. It safe to assume that they're here for the legged ship. Which means that we should remove them from the field immediately." Creuset said.

"So we're switching from searching for Miss Clyne, back to our original mission." Diana said. "You're planning on using that small fleet as bait to draw in the legged ship."

"Yes. Either the legged ship will come to their allies aid, in which case, we'll be able to destroy it right here and now. Or they'll flee, in which case, they'll be alone and likely low on supplies. So why don't you deploy that Speartip maneuver that your fleet is so famous for." Creuset said.

Diana nodded. "Very well. I'll deploy the Speartip Team. Once they've done their damage and pulled back, I'll be sending the rest of the 11th Fleet to engage them. If the legged ship comes to their aid, we'll destroy those three warships with cannons of the Odin, the Valkyrie and the Einherjar and move against the legged ship. If not, then the mobile suits will shoot them down. I assume that you'll be deploying the rest of the mobile suits as well."

"Of course." Creuset said before closing the connection.

"Damn masked freak." Ajay cursed. "Who does he think he is, bossing us around like that?"

"Never the less, that masked freak has been put in charge. Until then we can rid ourselves of him, we have to carry out his orders." Diana said. "We're deploying the Speartip. Bring the ship up to full combat alert. Inform the Valkyrie and the Einherjar. Get Hilda up here on the double."

There was a chorus of "Yes, sir." among the bridge officers before carrying out their orders. A few minutes later, Hilda Harkin, clad in her black pilot suit, stepped onto the bridge. "Sir." the one-eyed woman said, saluting. "What's our mission? Is it the legged ship?"

"A small Earth Forces battlegroup. That will be your target." Diana said. "It's likely heading to meet up with the legged ship."

"That sucks. I was hoping for a challenge."

"I know. Cripple and paint those warships. Then fall back and we'll will do the rest."

Hilda saluted again. "Yes sir."

The mobile suit catapults of the Odin, the Valkyrie and the Einherjar deployed as the hanger doors opened. Revealing black and purple GINNs.

"Alright guys, our orders are to cripple and paint the Earth Forces warships. If we're lucky, the legged ship will come to help them." Hilda said.

"That should be too hard." Herbert Von Reinhardt lazily said.

"Yeah! I wanna see what the big fuss everyone's been making over this new warship and it's mobile suits." Mars Simeon said, eager for combat.

"Let's do it guys!" Hilda shouted as her GINN launched from the Odin.

"Right!" Mars shouted.

"Yeah. Yeah." Herbert said.

Herbert and Mars followed, launching from the Valkyrie and the Einherjar. All three GINNs took off at blazing speeds for the Earth Forces battleships and hopefully, the legged ship would show up.

The Archangel

Chris quietly ate his lunch as the citizens they had recovered from Heliopolis were talking. Everyone was relived that they were soon gonna meet up with an Earth Forces fleet. They all felt that soon they would be safe from an ZAFT attacks. Chris was a little more pessimistic. He didn't believe that anyone would be truly safe until they reached Orb territory.

Of course, it also meant that it was nearing time for him to decide whether or not to continue fighting. Chris was pretty sure that Kira was gonna leave. He didn't seem to be cut out for war. He on the other hand wasn't so sure. He could, like Kira, go back to Orb and be done with this war. Or would he stay and fight? He honestly didn't know. His grandfather once told him that people should only fight for three reasons. For honor. For a cause they truly believed in. And above all else, to protect lives.

"What? My father's coming?" he heard Flay say.

Chris glanced at the end of the table. Flay was talking to Sai.

"Yes." Sai said. "He's with the advance force coming to meet us."

'Well now. That's some rare good news. We've have nothing but bad luck since Heliopolis.'

"Really?"

"Yeah. I bet he has no idea that you're on board. We just forwarded our crew and passenger lists."

Chris still didn't why he had broken down when Flay had visited him a few days ago. He had never spoken the things he said to Flay before. He never really liked taking about that kinda stuff. And yet he said it all to Flay, a girl he known for only a short amount of time, and then broke down in her arms. For what had to be the millionth time, he wondered why did that and why Flay seemed to be increasingly on his mind.

A sudden thought entered his mind. 'It's simple. You're in love with her.'

'No! I can't be. She's arranged to marry Sai. So I can't be in love with her.'

'What does her marriage arrangement have to do with your feelings for her?'

Chris quickly buried those thoughts. Flay was Sai's girlfriend. That meant look but don't touch. He wasn't going to come between the two of them. Maybe he stay on board just to stay away from Flay.

'I guess it really doesn't matter. We'll soon meet up with the advanced fleet and be on our way to the moon. Then they'll send us back to Orb and I doubt we'll see each other that much after that.'

Little did he know just how wrong he was.

That's all for now. As always, please review.