Yo everybody. You know what today is? The one year anniversary of this story! So I had to have a chapter posted to day.
Before I start, I've been asked a couple of questions over Mayu. And I wish to answer them all at once. First off, as I said before, we aren't going to see Mayu again until Destiny. As to what immediately happened to her, she was discovered by a group of Orb soldiers and rushed to a field hospital where her injuries were treated. Beyond that, you're just gonna have to wait. And Shinn's parents were killed as they were in the canon. Meaning that either the Freedom, the Calamity or both that were responsible.
And to joiret, I'm not familiar with that series. And I don't do stories on series I don't know. And I'm not a vampire fan.
Phase Twenty-Six: Trembling World
Earth Orbit
The Freedom, the Justice, the Raven, the Farsight, and the Kusanagi's Astrays floated around the separated compartments of the Kusanagi, aiding in the vessel's assembly.
John couldn't help but smile as the Farsight flew around a section of the Kusanagi. "Ah... It feels so good to be in space again."
"When was the last time you were in space?" Kira asked.
"Far too long. I'm not a ground-pounder like Andy was. Space is where I belong." John replied. "You should have seen us when we were your age. Individually, we were skilled pilots, but together we were truly formidable. Filling out the other's weaknesses, leaving only our strengths. It's a shame that we will never fight side by side again. But I'm rambling and we have work to do. Come on let's get back to work."
The Archangel's Bridge
"We're done with the docking operations." Kisaka reported. "After a final systems check, we'll be set to disembark.
"That's good to hear." Murrue replied, but her expression was still somber. "How's Cagalli?"
Kisaka hesitated for moment. "She has calmed down somewhat, but it's been very hard on her."
"At the moment, none of us have heart to tell her not to cry." Samuel added.
Murrue nodded. "All right, with your permission, we'll come over and discuss our next move."
"Okay. We'll make preparations for you and await your arrival." Kisaka said. "Over and out."
Aboard the Kusanagi
A Short While Later
Inside the crew quarters section of the Kusanagi, Cagalli sat alone in her room's lavatory. Her eyes were red and puffed from her crying. It felt like the entire world had collapsed the instant the Kaguya Mass Driver exploded. She stepped over to the sink and turned on the water, filling a small basin. Once it was full, she plunged her head into the cool water. When she straightened up and her vision cleared, she looked at her reflection. Her hair was a wet, tangled mess while her face was tired and ragged. Then her intercom buzzed. "Cagalli?"
It was Kira. But she didn't answer.
"Is everything all right?" Kira asked.
She still didn't answer right away. She grabbed a towel and dried off her face. She came out and answered her door, finding both Kira and Athrun standing outside.
"Sorry." She said, turning away from them. "But could you please let have a little more time to myself?"
Kira nodded. "Sure." he said, leaving with Athrun.
Cagalli returned to her bed and pulled the photo her father gave her from her pocket. She stared at the two infants, knowing that she was one of the infants. The other was apparently Kira. Her long lost sibling that she had no knowledge of. But how was it possible? And just who was this woman? Their birth mother? Then who was their father? And why had they been separated? She shook her head. There were too many unanswered questions about this whole situation.
A shuttle was launched from the Archangel, heading for the Kusanagi. Mu piloted the craft, with Murrue sitting next to him in the copilot chair.
"The real challenge is ahead of us." Mu commented.
"Yes, I know that." She answered. "Orb has left us with a heavy burden. I only hope that we are able to carry out the task."
Once they all arrived on board, Samuel, Kisaka and John met up with them and led them towards the bridge. "The Kusanagi was originally used as a communications ship with Heliopolis." Kisaka explained. "It is capable enough as a mobile suit carrier with adequate armaments, but it still doesn't compare to the Archangel."
"So, this ship is made up of five compartments." Mu said. "And everyone on board travels between the compartments through the center. Talk about efficient."
Kisaka nodded and they turned one last corner before reaching the bridge. They entered and Murrue and Mu were even more surprised.
"This is just like the Archangel's bridge." Murrue commented.
"This surprises you? After all, both ships were designed by Morgenroete." Kisaka replied, turning to a person at a console. "Can you bring up a map of this region of space?"
"Sure." A familiar voice answered. Murrue and Mu looked to see a woman whom they were both familiar with.
"Chief Erica Simmons." Mu said with a grin. "It's good to see that you made it as well."
"And she's not the only one here." another familiar voice said from behind.
Murrue and Mu turned to the voice. Johanna Dante. "Since we'll be using M1s and the other new suits in the unfamiliar environment of space, we're here to make sure they function smoothly." Erica said as she typed on the keyboard in front of her, bringing up a map on a nearby screen.
"This is our present location." Samuel said, pointing to a flashing green dot. "As you know, all the PLANTs are located at L5 and Artemis is at L3. For the time being, we should make our way towards the L4 area."
As they talked, Kira, Athrun, Chris and Cagalli stepped onto the bridge.
"What's at L4?" Murrue asked.
"There are some abandoned colonies located there." Samuel explained. "The Kusanagi and Archangel won't need supplies for some time. But we still have limits, especially concerning water. The colonies at L4 were damaged and abandoned shortly after the fighting began. While they are uninhabited, they'll be useful as a means of a water supply."
"This sounds awfully familiar." Chris muttered, remembering a similar dilemma the Archangel faced months ago, concerning a low water supply.
"Don't worry." Mu said, trying to assure him. "This isn't like Junius Seven."
"There might actually be several fully functioning colonies at L4." Athrun spoke up, getting everyone's attention. "Quite a while back, ZAFT investigated reports of a suspicious group roaming the area, but found nothing out of the ordinary. Also, while nobody actually lives there, there should be some colonies operational facilities. They'd be prefect for an out of the way hideout for the time being."
"That sounds like a great plan." Kira said.
"Indeed. The Mendel Colony would be the most ideal." Samuel said, focused entirely the map.
"Mendel? Wasn't that place abandoned sixteen years because of some biohazard accident?" John asked. "Would it really be safe to go there?"
Samuel glanced at him. "Trust me. We want to got to Mendel."
Unnoticed by the others, Samuel pulled out a pocket hard drive. 'It's time for them to learn the dark past of Mendel. All of them.' he thought before putting the device back into his pocket.
The others wondered why he was so insistent on Mendel.
Mu turned to Athrun. "Hey, are you sure that you're okay with this?" he asked. "And not just you, this goes for those other guys from ZAFT."
"Commander?" Murrue asked, but Mu held up his hand.
"I saw what you all did at Orb and your action spoke for themselves, but I can't help but notice the uniforms you're still wearing. And depending how things go out there, there's a very good chance that we'll end up fighting ZAFT forces. This won't be like Orb, so are you really ready for this? I know John is with us regardless. But you and the others are different. And you are Patrick Zala's son."
"What does that have to do with anything?!" Cagalli demanded.
"For a soldier to defect is a more serious matter than you seem to think." Mu shot back. "On top of that, it's all the more serious when your own father is the leader of the nation as well. It's difficult to fight a war unless you believe in the cause you're fighting for, all the more so when that belief is turned on his head. I hate to press the issue, but I need to know that I can count on you if we fight together. So can I?"
A heavy silence filled the bridge. Not a word was uttered for a painfully long moment. Athrun finally took a deep breath.
"All I can say is this. Recently I've seen, heard, and thought many things about what's supposed to be right and wrong. I'll admit there are some things I do understand and a lot that I don't. The one thing that is clear to me is that the world I hope for is shared by you all. I'll do what I can to see that our shared goal is achieved."
Mu hesitated to answer, but then smiled. "You sound very determined, and that's a good answer." He then looked to Murrue and the others. "Orb has entrusted us with a heavy task, and we are only two ships. It may be impossible to do anything that won't be in vain."
"You know, there are people in the PLANTs who think the same way." Athrun said.
Kira turned around. "You mean Lacus?"
Athrun nodded.
"Oh, the pink princess, huh?" Mu commented.
"Yeah, she's Athrun's fiancée." Kira said.
There were some gasps and Athrun saw Cagalli give him a quick glance, but turned away just as fast.
Well, actually their engagement had been nullified by Athrun's father. It just hadn't been made public yet. And this really wasn't the time or the place to inform the others about it. "She and her father are being hunted as traitors." Athrun informed them. "By order of my father."
"But she's not our only allies." John said. "If I can get in touch with my comrades, I should be able to convince them to join us."
"You're referring to the 11th Fleet, aren't you?" Mu asked.
"Yes I am."
"What makes you think that they'll be willing to defect like that?"
"Trust me. They'll likely join us."
Murrue cleared her throat. "It's settled then. We'll head for L4 and gather supplies there."
"One more thing Captain Ramius, I understand you have a vacancy in CIC since Ensign Badgiruel was reassigned. I'd like to fill that vacancy, if that's okay with you." Samuel said.
Everyone was caught off guard by this. "But I thought you'd be commanding the Kusanagi."
"Kisaka is more familiar with the Kusanagi than I am. So he'd be better off as it's Captain. Besides, we're not really an official army, so our ranks are pretty much meaningless."
Murrue nodded. Very well then. I accept your offer General Dante."
Aboard the Powell
Orb
Azrael was furious. While the invasion of Orb had been a success, the whole reason for invading the nation had been lost. Those blasted Biological CPUs just weren't proving to be that combat effective. They needed to be properly motivated. He entered the medical room where they had been placed after returning to the Powell. The four Biological CPUs were crying out in agony from their withdrawal. Shani and Orga were sprawled out on beds in the room. Shani was half curled up into a ball while Orga was on his back, his hands had a death grip on the edges of the bed. Clotho was lying against a wall, clutching his sides. And Kevin was lying on his stomach and writhing on the ground. "Now boys, we need to have a little discussion." Azrael said.
Kevin looked up at him. "Please...stop...pain..."
Azrael responded by stomping on his hand. Causing Kevin to scream in pain. Then a foot hit his face, rolling him onto his side. Azrael gave him a few more kicks to the lower abdomen. "Not until our discussion is done." he said, turning to Clotho. "Now, the four of you have failed us at Orb. Failed me. And well...that can't happen again."
Azrael's foot slammed into Clotho's stomach. Clotho let out a gurgling groan as he clutched his stomach. A fist hit Clotho's face. Followed by another. And another. And another before Azrael stopped. "Because of your failures here, we lost Orb's Mass Driver and any technology we could have gained from Morgenroete." he continued, grabbing Shani's hair and pulling his head up, causing Shani to whimper. "And this is your punishment for that colossal failure."
Azrael punched the green-haired Extended. Shani moaned as he grabbed his now bleeding nose. Azrael pulled something out of his pocket. A taser. A second later, Shani was howling in pain as electricity flowed through his body. "But I'm a forgiving man. In fact, you should consider yourselves lucky that I'm the one calling the shots. There are those that would send you back to Lodonia for this failure. Where all of you would never, ever see the light of day again. But I'm a forgiving man. So I'll give you one more chance."
Azrael pulled Orga up by his collar and punched him before shocking him as well with the taser. He then pocketed the taser, dusted his off his hands and headed for the door. "The doctors will be coming by soon to give you your medicine. And in a few hours, we'll be leaving to join the Victoria Operation. And I expect the four of you to win us the battle." He paused at the doorway and added, "But should anything happen to that Mass Driver... Well, you'll wish I sent you back to Lodonia. Do you understand?"
"Y...Yes..."
"Got...it..."
"Yeah..."
"We won't...fail again..."
"Make sure that you don't." Azrael casually replied as he left.
In a few hours, the cargo planes would be ready to transport the Calamity, the Forbidden, the Massacre and the Raider to the staging area of the upcoming Victoria Operation. And they would either succeed or be sent back to Lodonia
Armory One
"What's the status on the mobile suits?" Commander Kessel asked as she watched the crews work on their new GuAIZs.
"Well sir, we've almost got them all done. All of them should be full upgrade within a few more days." Chief Hughes answered. "I have to say, these new machines are impressive. I bet even those new Earth Forces mobile suits won't stand a chance against these machines when ZAFT starts cranking them out on the field."
Diana turned her gaze to the GuAIZ being painted in her colors. "Indeed They are impressive. But we have yet to see if they are superior to the Earth Forces new machines." she commented.
But her mind was on other matters. Things had taken a drastic turn for the worst in the homeland during her brief time on Earth. One of the new nuclear prototypes stolen. The Clyne family declared traitors to ZAFT. Clyne's supporters on the Council arrested. Her own father on the run. How had things fallen apart so fast? And how was this whole thing going to end?
"Commander!" a voice called out, disrupting her thoughts.
Diana turned to the voice. It was Lucius. "What is it?" she asked.
"We just received word. The battle for Orb has ended." he answered. "The Alliance won but Orb destroyed Morgenroete and it's Mass Driver before they surrendered."
"I see."
"But that's not all sir. A private message has arrived for you sir."
"Who is the message from?"
"Him sir."
"Have it send to my quarters."
"Already done sir."
Diana nodded. "Good."
Aboard the Odin
A Short While Later
Diana entered her quarters and sat down at her desk. A disk was sitting on the desk. She inserted the disk into the computer. The Commander's face appeared on the screen.
"Things are heating up here on Earth. And I don't know when or even if you receive this message. As you may or may not already know, I am on board the new Earth Forces warship from Heliopolis, the Archangel. We just managed to escape from JOSH-A before the Cyclops System was activated. But if it wasn't for the Freedom, we probably wouldn't have made it. N-Jammer Cancelers... I had never hoped to see such a thing created. You know, when the first nuclear weapons were used, there were those that called them miracle weapons. Capable of leveling enemy cities with a single bomb. Frankly, I fail to see the miraculousness of such weapons. They only make it easier for people to commit mass murder. There is no place for such weapons in true war. Even the Freedom and any other mobile suits like it don't belong in war."
"But I'm rambling now. Regardless, Pandora's Box has been opened again. And it's only a matter of time until the Earth Forces figure out a way to nullify the N-Jammers. Or worse, gain access to ZAFT's Canceler. And considering what they did at JOSH-A, I don't think they'd hesitate to use nuclear weapons again. And if Zala's now running things in the PLANTs, then it's likely that if the Alliance starts to beat back ZAFT on Earth, he won't hesitate to either. You must talk with your father. He and Clyne's supporters need to be ready to prevent Zala from using such weapons against the Earth. No matter the cost."
"And now that Patrick Zala's running ZAFT, you can expect him to take some action against you and the Fleet. Especially if what I heard you did at Panama is true. He knows you won't blindly follow his orders. And that makes you a threat. I don't need to tell you to be careful. But I will anyway. Be careful.
"There is one other thing I wish to tell you, your little brother is alive and well. He was captured by us before we arrived at JOSH-A and has been in the ship's brig ever since. Captain Ramius, Captain of the Archangel, will probably soon now that we're in Orb. After they're released, they'll probably find a awy to get back to Carpentaria."
"Well... I'm running out of time here. So good bye Diana and make sure nothing happens to my Fleet."
The message ended and the screen went blank. Diana tapped a finger on the desk, thinking. Things were changing. ZAFT was changing. And she didn't like where Zala was trying to take them.
The Kusanagi's Hanger
Athrun stared out at the crews working in the hanger. But his mind was now on the fact of his father was now leading the PLANTs down a dark road and he feared what would happen. He also feared for Lacus, wondering about her safety.
"Athrun."
He looked to see Kira and Chris enter the room. Both back in their flightsuits. "Captain Ramius and the others are returning to the Archangel, lets head back too." Kira said.
"Sure."
Just then, the door opened again. They all turned to the door and watched Cagalli enter. "Kira." She said. "There's something we need to talk about."
"We'll give you some privacy." Athrun said as he and Chris turned to leave, but Cagalli stopped them.
"No, please stay."
Both teens glanced at each other, shrugged and nodded. Cagalli passed them and went over to Kira.
"What's on your mind?" he asked.
Cagalli gulped and reached into her pocket. "This." she replied, pulling out the photo.
Kira took it as Athrun and Chris came over for a look. "A woman and her babies? Who is this?"
"Look on the back." Cagalli said.
Kira looked and gasped when he saw the names scribbled on the back.
"My father gave me this just before I boarded the Kusanagi." She explained. "He told me that I wouldn't be alone, that my brother would be with me."
Kira's eyes widened at the mention of the word 'brother'. Athrun Chris both glanced back and forth at the photo and their friends. Athrun could suddenly see a resemblance, but he wasn't sure. He opened his mouth to say something. But he found that nothing came out. Chris on the other hand...
"Wait. Let me get this straight. Your father, gave you this photo and told you that you'd be with your brother. And your brother is suppose to be Kira. Correct?"
Cagalli nodded.
Chris shook his head. "This is like some bad soap opera." he muttered.
"What does this all mean?" Cagalli asked, ignoring him. "I don't understand."
"Whatever it may be, this only doesn't tell us anything really." Kira replied.
"But what if this…?" she said. "What does that make me? Who am I really?"
"Dwelling on it won't do any good, Cagalli." Kira said, comforting her. "And it doesn't change the fact the Lord Uzumi was your father."
"Kira." She whispered. "I'm just so confused."
A short time later, she watched as the Freedom, the Justice, the Raven, the Farsight and the Archangel's shuttle exited the hanger. Kira took a glance back at her as she stood in the waiting room.
"Shouldn't you stay with her for now?" Athrun asked.
"No, if I'm with her, she wouldn't be able to stop thinking about it." Kira replied. "It'd best if we both had some time to let this sink in."
Of course, he had to admit that he too couldn't stop thinking about this situation. The more he thought about it, the more questions he had.
"It could have been worse." Chris said.
"How so?"
"The two of you could have been well...You know, 'close' when you found out." Chris said with a chuckle.
"Gah! Don't even joke about that!" an annoyed and slightly embarrassed Kira said, which only caused Chris to laugh more.
"Kira, when we get back, do you think Captain Ramius will let me borrow a shuttle?" Athrun asked, changing the conversation.
"Athrun?"
"I need to make a visit to the PLANTs. I need to speak to father about a lot of things."
Kira nodded. "I understand."
Lesseps Class, the Ares
ZAFT Victoria Base
A Few Days Later
"Admiral Thule! Incoming enemy contacts! They're mobile suits!"
"Scramble all mobile suits!" Admiral Thule ordered. "Intercept the enemy!"
They had come. Thule knew the Alliance would attack sooner or later. With the lose of Panama, it was inevitable. Though their decision to attack Orb had certainly surprised him. He never would have thought that the Alliance would get that desperate. But their attack had allowed them to regroup and gather at the two Mass Drivers they held. Just in case.
The Earth Forces won't find an easy battle. He had made sure of that. And they were prepared if need be, to destroy the Mass Driver rather than have them get their hands on it.
Spengler Class Carrier, the Enterprise
Waters near the Victoria Base
Clotho, Kevin, Orga and Shani silently powered up their machines.
"Now remember boys, don't fail this time." Azrael said over the comm.
The four Extended pilots simply nodded. They weren't going to fail again. They couldn't afford to. Moments later, they took off, heading for Victoria.
A group of BuCUEs fired at a squad of advancing Strike Daggers. Some of the Daggers fell, but most remained standing. "Come on!" the ZAFT squad leader shouted. "Let's show these Naturals who's bet-"
A beam tore through the BuCUE. The Massacre landed in front of the rest of the BuCUEs. Kevin roared, firing off missiles and beams at the remaining BuCUEs. Destroying them. The Dagger pilots let out a cheer. "See that men! That's how you deal with those damn Coordinators." an Earth Forces lieutenant said.
But Kevin was already gone, searching for more opponents.
Elsewhere, a wing of DINNs fired on Raider. But their bullets did nothing to the Raider's Trans Phase Armor. "Pests! You're all going down!" Clotho shouted, firing his railgun and beam cannon.
The beams and slugs made quick work of the ZAFT mobile suits.
A group of ZuOOTs fired on a trio of Daggers, destroying them. But out of the smoke, a trio of beams flew out. Hitting one of the mobile suits. The Calamity emerged from the smoke. "What the hell is that?!" one ZAFT pilot shouted.
"Who cares?! Destroy it!"
Suddenly, Orga fired his bazooka and shield cannon at the ZuOOTs as they tried to fire back. Those ZuOOTs that survived, managed to inflict no damage to the Calamity. "Sorry. That's not good enough!" Orga shouted before finishing them off.
The Forbidden sliced through a GINN as other GINNs fruitless fired their rifles at it. A CGUE fired it's beam rifle, hoping that he could destroy the Forbidden with it. But Shani lowered his shields, deflecting the beams into a GINN. The CGUE pilot was stunned by the sight of his beams hitting a comrade. Shani laughed as he fired his railguns at the CGUE.
The Alliance was winning. The remaining ZAFT Forces couldn't hold the base for much longer. Especially against those four new machines. They were just too powerful. There was only one option left for them. "Activate the bombs!" Thule ordered. "Destroy the Mass Driver!"
An officer nodded, keying in the first half of the self-destruct code for the Mass Driver. Thule typed in the second half of the code. "You may take Victoria. But like Orb, it will be a hollow victory!" he said, hitting the execute button...
...But nothing happened. The bombs on the Mass Driver didn't go off. Thule slammed his fist into the console in frustration. A commando team must have infiltrated the base ahead of the main attack force and disabled the bombs. There was no other explanation why the bombs hadn't detonated.
"All remaining mobile suits are to fire on the Mass Driver! We can't let the Alliance have it!"
But as if on cue, those four powerful mobile suits descended on the Mass Driver.
"You heard the order!" a CGUE pilot said. "We can't let the Mass Driver fall in their-"
A beam tore through the CGUE, silencing the pilot. The remaining pilots looked up. The Calamity was descending on the group. "Come on! We can't let that thing be destroyed!" Orga shouted, firing on the GINNs.
A trio of BuCUEs fired off a barrage of missiles at the Mass Driver. But all of the missiles were shot out of the air by a barrage of beams and bullets. Kevin turned to the mobile suits. "I'm not going back there! So die!!" he roared, targeting the BuCUEs.
A pair of GINNs, armed with Barrus heavy particle cannons, fired their weapons at the Mass Driver. But before they could hit their target, the Forbidden appeared and deflected the beams away from the Mass Driver.
"Not happening." he said, firing his railguns at the GINNs.
A group of DINNs soared down towards the Mass Driver and fired off their missiles. Suddenly, the Raider appeared, swinging it's heavy hammer in a circle in front of it. The missiles hit the Raider's makeshift shield and exploded. "Up! Down!" Clotho shouted, firing his Zorn cannon twice, destroying two of the DINNs.
"Left!" His hammer destroyed another.
"Right!" His railgun shot the forth DINN from the sky.
"A! B!!!" The beam cannon and railgun finished the final two off.
But Clotho didn't gloat over his victory. Instead, before the remains of the final DINNs hit the ground, he was off, attacking other ZAFT mobile suits that dared to threaten the Mass Driver. The four Extended fought fiercely. Like they had no tomorrow. Which, if they failed, was true.
Thule gritted his teeth. The Mass Driver was their's now. There was nothing he could do to change that today. "Sound the retreat!" he ordered. "The Ares, the Micheal Edwards and the Taurus will cover the retreat!"
"But Admiral-"
"Silence Brunt! We need to preserve the lives of as many ZAFT soldiers as we can!"
Several squads of Strike Daggers had now joined the four Earth Forces prototypes at the Mass Driver. Azrael's voice came over the comm. "Good work boys. The Strike Daggers will protect the Mass Driver now. But we can't let all of those Coordinators escape. Destroy them."
The four of them grinned as they took off for the core of the retreating ZAFT forces. The work was over. Now it was time some fun.
"Admiral! Those four machines are approaching!"
"All mobile suits! All batteries! Open fire on them!" Thule shouted. "Shoot them down!!"
The guns of the Lesseps class, it's two Petrie class escorts and the nearby mobile suits opened fire on the four. But the Extended pilots effortless dodged or blocked the worst of the shots and fired back. DINNs in the air were blown out of the sky. GINNs, BuCUEs and ZuOOTs on the ground were bombarded by their various weapons. "These guys are no fun." Shani complained.
"Who cares?" Clotho said as they continued towards the three land battleships. "They die all the same."
Kevin mowed down more GINNs when his beam Gatling guns ran out of power. He discarded them, drawing his beam sabers. The Massacre landed on the Taurus's main cannon, crushing it. The Taurus's bridge crew watched in horror as the Massacre turned towards the bridge. He swung his sabers down, slicing through the bridge tower. Kevin laughed as he continued his assault, his sabers tearing into the ship's hull.
"Admiral! The Taurus is dead!"
"Admiral! We must fall back!" Brunt shouted.
"No. Not until the others have retreated safely." Thule said. "We may have lost Victoria, but I will not leave until every soldier that can escape, has escaped!"
Suddenly, the Calamity jumped off the Raider, landing on the hull of the Rook. Orga aimed his energy bazooka at the bridge of the Rook. Brunt let out a scream and tried to run. But it was pointless. Thule knew that. They were already dead. The Calamity fired. "LONG LIVE ZAFT!!!" Thule defiantly shouted as the light reached them.
A Few Hours Later
Though Thule's dying efforts saved many ZAFT soldiers, many more of the soldiers had been unable to escape. And the Alliance soldiers were more than willing to emulate the actions of many ZAFT soldiers during the Panama attack.
Alliance personal were already cleaning up the base and preparing for it's first launch under the Earth Alliance's control. A jeep passed by the crew rushing to complete their work on time. Inside the jeep were Azrael and Captain Sutherland. Azrael was pleased. Very pleased. The Biological CPUs had finally proven their worth. And not only that, the Alliance had finally broken ZAFT's mobile suit supremacy. Everything was finally starting to slide into place.
"Well, I have to say that was quite an impressive victory, Captain Sutherland." Azrael said, complementing the commander of the attack on Victoria.
"It was the Strike Daggers and those four new machines of your's that won us this victory." Sutherland replied.
"Yes. Though I was quite worried that they weren't up to par after what happened to Orb."
"Indeed. I think the only reasons we had any difficulties at Orb was because of those unexpected machines you told me about."
Azrael nodded. "Considering we attacked them with the Calamity, the Forbidden, the Massacre, and the Riader, I never expected to have that much difficulty. Orb is truly a wicked nation. I wonder what they could have been thinking."
"They probably thought that if they could played their cards right, they'd be sitting pretty. What a disgusting nation." Sutherland said. "I understand that a lot of their technology came from the PLANTs. Actually, now that I've had some time to think about it, it's possible that those two machines were made by ZAFT."
Azrael watched as the Raider, the Calamity, the Massacre and the Forbidden were loaded on cargo ship that would soon take them to the Ptolemaeus Crater Base on the Moon. "In either case, we'll need to do something about them. Perhaps even acquire one of them." he said as the jeep came to a stop.
"So that's why you're going into space." Sutherland commented.
Azrael stepped out of the vehicle. "Yes. After seeing them in action, I can't help but wonder. Could those two machines be nuclear powered?"
"You can't be serious." a stunned Sutherland said.
"I don't have any proof at the moment, but that much power isn't possible with current battery technology."
The two walked through the Mass Driver control building, heading for their shuttle. "Well, the Coordinators did develop the N-Jammers in first place." Sutherland said, thinking over the idea. "So it is possible that they could have developed a way to cancel out their effects. But if that were true, there could be serious consequences for us."
"Do you doubt me, the Director of the Atlantic National Defense Conglomerate?" Azrael asked as they reached the shuttle boarding ramp.
"No. Of course not." Sutherland quickly replied.
"Remember, we are the weaker creature here." Azrael explained. "In order to ensure our safety, we must keep the beast with fangs caged or on a lease."
"Yes. We can't let them run wild in space. Even if we were the ones who created them in the first place."
"I'll go and take care of them." Azrael said as they boarded the ship. "Permanently."
I'm gonna stop here. There were somethings I was going to add, but this chapter was getting a bit long. So that's for the next chapter.
Now, John's message was recorded days before the Orb invasion. So don't want people asking questions about it. Like, why didn't he say anything about trying to recruit her and the 11th Fleet.
As always, review!!!