A Series of Unfortunate Events

by foureyesfreak27

Post-GSD. In which a bachelor's party was destined to go downhill from the start…

5. Chapter 5

A Series of Unfortunate Events

Chapter 5

foureyesfreak27

Summary: Post-GSD. In which a bachelor's party was destined to go downhill from the start…

Disclaimer: I do not own GS/GSD.

Character(s): Kira Yamato, Athrun Zala, Dearka Elsman, Yzak Joule, and Shinn Asuka.

A/N: Hi everyone! Sorry for the delay!

Warning: This chapter has not been fully edited yet. Please excuse any grammatical errors.

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September One, September City PLANTs

Ink Splat, Piercing and Tattoo Parlor

Yesterday, 2204 hours

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"S-o, where do you want it?"

"I hate you," Yzak seethed to the blond next to him, ignoring the artist's question. His knitted brows showed just how much he wasn't thrilled being where they are.

"Well, it's not the first time you've said that to me," the teasing blond mused. He had already gotten a small tattoo on his left shoulder blade. He had told the artist to surprise him as long as the artwork wasn't too extravagant. Before the artist started working on his magic, he had asked a few personal questions about Dearka to have some sort of inspiration. After all, tattoos were permanent and the artist was not going to give the benefit of the doubt in making a mistake. Dearka, oddly enough, decided to rather have a tattoo than a piercing. According to him, he doesn't like the feeling of having a man-made hole anywhere in his body.

Yzak on the other hand was vexed on doing such atrocious thing. Any kind of body arts were not his forte, and the damn Elsman knows that very well. As much as he wanted to throttle the blond for getting him in this kind of situation, he knew that the cunning Elsman heir would go on and send those stupid videos of him rashly making a fool out of himself to his squadron. He had to hand it to the blond, this was one fucked up yet ingenious way to blackmail him.

The artist tapped his foot impatiently next to Yzak and repeated his question once again, "Um, pal, the piercing?"

Yzak threw a glare at the artist who quickly shut his mouth in an instant. He was in no mood to converse with his supposed artist at this moment. "Can't you see I'm trying to reason with this fool, you imbecile? Come back in a minute."

The artist looked utterly offended. But he didn't retort back and opted to mumble something about rude customers. He huffed before rising up from his seat to leave the officers alone for a bit. Before he left, he sent a small glare at his customer before disappearing behind the curtains in the back.

After Dearka confirmed that the artist was out of sight, he turned back to his fuming friend who was proudly wearing a frown on his face. Honestly, the blond couldn't blame the poor man. He was angry, slightly drunk, annoyed, and forced to do something unbecoming. Having made his buddies do this with him reminded the blond that they do have a life besides the military. He had never actually have a proper teenage-hood where he could act all brash and wild, attending parties from right to left. His entire life he'd been living the military rules. As a military brat, he was expected to join the military once he hit the age of consent and he did.

He didn't know why he joined, he had no true incentive other than pleasing his old man and uphold the image of the Elsman family.

Yzak had always lived by the rules, so it was no wonder to him that the silver-head acted like someone who's older than his true age. He was raised that responsibility and honor were priorities, hence, he felt bounded to join the military. It doesn't harm the fact that his mother was in the Council like Dearka's father so it was a no brainer that he joined.

Kira on the other hand was a different story. A first generation Coordinator who was unwillingly thrust into partaking the wars for the sole and noble purpose of protecting his friends. The first time Dearka met him and was introduced as the Strike pilot, he was doubtful and baffled. Kira didn't look so much as a soldier let alone a pilot of an advanced G-weapon. And what truly shocked him was when he was told that he was simply a civilian from Heliopolis.

Athrun had joined the military because he had wanted to prevent a catastrophic occurrence like Junius Seven to happen again. Granted, like Yzak and him, he had a parent on the Council and as a prodigy son, he was expected to join, despite his views on wars. It was cruel fate that he had to face his best friend on the battlefield.

And finally, Shinn. Poor kid. He joined ZAFT after his whole family was killed during the evacuation in Orb when the Atlantic Federation tried to annex their Mass Driver and Morgenroete. He enlisted while being blinded by hatred for his home country and bore resentment against the noble families.

Perhaps the real reason why he's doing this was to remind himself that he wasn't just a soldier with bloodied hands, he was human. A human who hasn't even reach the age of thirty in a long shot but had gone through numerous battlefields and still lives on today. Doing something out of character reminded him that they have nothing to lose.

"Yzak, don't tell me you're afraid of needles," he remarked, teasingly, raising an enquiring brow. He didn't even realized that Yzak was silently seething, pursing his lips.

Silence was met.

Dearka blinked. His eyes widen before his small smirk evolves into a large mischievous grin. "Oh my god, you are!"

Yzak turned away, whether it was shame or annoyance, his face was evidently red. "Shut up, Dearka," he spat.

The loud blond didn't stop there, he kept poking at it, enjoying the moment too much. "No wonder you loathed the military's mandatory monthly check-ups from the doctors! You're afraid of needles!"

"I said shut up, Dearka!" The fair-head roared, blushing a shade darker than before. The blond burst into a fit of laughter.

Some things just never gets old.

.

"You have something strong to numb the pain? My buddy here can't handle needles." After relentlessly needling the silver-head, the blond decided to put him out of his misery and talk to the artist in the back to help him with his trypanophobia.

The artist gave the tanned blond solider a sardonic look. "We're not a hospital, pal. We don't have antithetic to give to wimpy customers."

Dearka inwardly sighed. "Well anything similar to that? You can tell that my buddy is rather…prone to be violent, especially when he's nervous."

"No kidding," muttered the other man. The artist then stopped to ponder a possible alternative for the treatment. "Although, I believe we have something else to loosen up your friend."

The ace pilot quirked an interested brow and shrugged indifferently. "I'm all ears, dude."

.

Perhaps giving the slightly drunk silver-haired Commander more alcohol was a bad idea. The rest of his comrades and the artist simply looked stumped at their highly intoxicated silver-head. At the request from Dearka, Yzak had gulped down the 'water bottle' in hopes to ease his nerves from the imminent pain of piercings. Unbeknownst to him that the so called water bottle was actually refilled with strong liqueur.

Athrun had opted for small tattoo on his back. It was an image of the ZAFT flag, a remembrance of the dutiful time he had served faithfully for PLANTs. Although he may be an Orb Admiral, he could never forget the times he had spent under ZAFT. Both Kira and Shinn took the feasible option of piercing their ears. Kira had no problems with needles but a tattoo was just something he wasn't up for. Shinn never liked this whole idea to begin with, he was simply complying on behalf of Dearka's words for the latter to not send those heinous pictures to Lunamaria. After all, there was a reason why she graduated ZAFT Military Academy as Red Coat, and he was not readily to die in the hands of a jealous woman.

They watch their once prideful comrade giggling one second and singing the PLANT's national anthem patriotically the next. All in all, they were witnessing him go through one hell of a sadistic and emotional roller coaster ride. The Coordinators were flabbergasted to the point that they weren't sure how to react, needless to say that they had been witnessing this quite amusing yet sad affair for the past fifteen minutes wince the silver-haired male chugged down the liqueur within seconds it was handed to him.

The artist blinked owlishly. After being silent for a long period of time, he managed to say, "…Come again?"

"Tattoo and piercings." The crimson tint on the silver-haired male's face went a shade darker as he looked thoroughly annoyed repeating his answer once again.

"Um, buddy, are you sure?" The tattoo artist asked unsurely.

"Yes I'm positive! I am not a coward like Zala over there who gets their tattoos on their back! Yamato and Asuka just got piercings! I want both! Display it on the face! I don't care what you draw but make sure it's better than theirs!"

"Tattoo? On the face?" He spluttered, almost choking at the absurd suggestion.

Icy blue orbs glared at the man hovering over the owner. "Did I stutter?"

"No, but…"

"Good. Now proceed."

"But are you sure about the five piercings? That's a bit overwhelming, especially since you're a first timer," the artisan reasoned advisedly.

The young Commander looked dead straight in the eyes of the other man. "Look here, buddy. My hands are stained with so much blood that I've lost count on the endless numbers of people I've killed during the two bloody wars up to now. I've seen the bloods of my comrades spilled countlessly in battlefields after battlefields. I've gone through hell and back, surviving this long and got nothing to lose. I'm sure that the pain of five simple piercings are nothing compared to the traumatic experiences I've been through," he deadpanned.

A shiver ran down his spine as those narrowed blue eyes bore on him. Letting out an exasperated sigh, the artist relent and gave in. "If you say so. Just don't come barging back here the next day in anger and regret."

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Kira whispered a hesitantly suggestion to Dearka, "Hey, Dearka, shouldn't we stop him?" He stared warily at the artist who was hesitantly preparing the inks and needles. Judging the numerous of earrings that were displayed on the tray, the artisan was going to do the piercings first.

Dearka shook his head, nevertheless an amused grin was plastered across his lips. "Nah. Tried earlier. He almost choked me for mentioning that Athrun got a tattoo instead of a piercing. You know how Yzak gets all competitive and whatnot when it's concerning Athrun." The snide comment made Athrun chuckled.

"You're kidding," Shinn gasped. It was enough for him to settle with a simple piercing on his left ear. But hearing how the silver-head wanted five piercings and a tattoo on the face, well, that's just beyond imaginable.

The blond shook his head. "I kid you not, my friend. I agree with Athrun, I valued my life too much to die in the hands of a drunken Yzak," he solemnly repeated those words, as if they were vows.

"Hey guys!" the artist suddenly called out. "Any ideas what kind of tattoo this punk should have?"

Athrun bobbed his head towards Yzak's direction. "Why don't you go and ask him?"

"Well I would, but he dozed off just now." He pointed to the said man. A chorus of sighs were released.

"I don't know, what do you think, Dearka?" Kira looked at the blond who was peering at his friend in amusement. "You are his best friend, after all."

Dearka raised his hands up in defense and shook his head. "Hey, don't ask me, if he wakes up and finds out that it was me who suggested the tattoo, he'll bare his fangs at me. Remember, I have the misfortune of seeing him every day at work."

"Red Dragon," whispered a voice.

The older men blinked as they turned their gazes to the youngest one in the vicinity.

"Shinn?" Kira said, questionably.

The red-eyed Coordinator shrugged. "Draw a Red Dragon," he repeated, staring at the men who all looked startled by the suggestion. "It matches his personality anyways."

.

"What is he doing?" Athrun wondered, scrunching his brows in confusion as he watched the silver-head digging inside his pocket. Before anyone could answer, Yzak procured his mobile phone and fiddled with the touch screen.

The Coordinators didn't even realized that the time had elapsed substantially since they were too enticed with the artist flawlessly embedded the red ink, etching it into a brilliant image of a smoldering red dragon onto Yzak's face. They didn't even realized that the tattoo artist had finished with his job for they were too engrossed examining the bright and newly plastered ink that was paraded to the open. The artist had excused himself earlier, mentioning something about washing his hands and left the five Coordinators to themselves. Kira had insisted on being the one who paid the fee since it was his bachelor's party, although Dearka had mentioned earlier that it was quite unorthodox for the groom to be paying since the de facto benefactor had to be the best man; Athrun. The bluenet scowled, but nevertheless he was the one who paid in honor of his status as the best man.

The silver-haired pilot then pulled back away from the phone, allowing the others to finally hear the sound of ringing on speaker.

"I don't know, I believe he's trying to make a call?" Shinn offered, taking note of the familiar ringing.

"Well, he's putting the call on speaker, I'm assuming he would like us to hear it, too," Dearka snickered in amusement. He too wondered who the silver-haired male was trying to reach.

"Who's he calling?" The raven-head chimed in questioningly.

The blond shrugged. "Perhaps he's drunk calling his beloved mother."

"She'll surely have a heart attack," Athrun muttered, giving Yzak a disapproving look. How he was going to get out of this mess was a wonder to him.

They patiently waited for the other line to pick up and bet good money that the person who the former Duel pilot was trying to contact with will not answer given the late hour. Surprisingly, after the sixth ring, the person finally picked up. But what shocked the Coordinators the most was the identity of the voice, whom earlier they assumed was his mother but turned out not being.

"Hello, Commander?" the familiar voiced groggily responded, sounding shockingly surprised and tired. Judging by the raspy tone she had, she was awaken by the irrational and abrupt call.

"Hello Shiho!" He slurred in an unfamiliar cheery sing-a-song voice that his comrades were not accustomed hearing, especially since it was coming from him.

By the sound of sheets rustling, the rest—save the drunken fair-head—assumed that she was alarmed by the un-Yzak tone and was more alerted judging by the tone of her voice. "…Commander…why are you calling me this late?"

"Huh? I dunno. I just wanted to call you, is that bad?" He chuckled. Behind him, his companions looked mortified by his sudden lackadaisical attitude. This was clearly not the Yzak that they know.

"Hey, Yzak, I think you should hang up now," Athrun advised. He trotted towards his drunken friend and attempted to grab the phone from the silver-head. The drunken pilot simply swatted his hand away, glaring at his self-proclaimed rival. He put an index finger on his lips, indicating the other party to be silent. Athrun looked hesitant, itching to save his friend from the possible humiliation he's putting himself for.

Dearka patted a hand on Athrun's shoulder. "Just let him be, Athrun. Let him talk to his favorite girl. I want to see what our Commander has to say to Shiho."

"Does he have her number on speed dial or something?" Kira whispered to Dearka, who in response snickered out loud.

"You can say that again."

Their attention was then averted back to the drunken platinum haired commander who was preoccupied with his phone.

Yzak had his eyes half-lidded as he drunkenly gaze upon his phone. Shocking his comrades, he began to wail in a child-like tone. "Shiho! Why are you so mean? You won't even call me by my given name!"

His ace pilot was unsurprisingly silent. They don't blame her since they guessed that she too was rendered speechless by Yzak's unbecoming character. "Uh…are you by any chance, drunk, Sir?"

Yzak laughed out loud, once again bringing the attention of everyone in the room as they gaped openly at the silver-head. "Me? Drunk? Of course not! I just felt like calling you to hear your voice."

"I must profess that I'm utterly speechless, hearing this…peculiar side of yours, Sir."

"It's not 'Sir', Shiho, I'm 'Yzak'." The insistency of his tone earned chuckles from his friends, but the commander was too engrossed with his call that he paid no attention to them.

She sounded baffled. "Sir, I must protest—"

"Y-zak," he drawled out, sounding more persistent than before.

"…Okay, Yzak, are you by any chance with Officer Elsman?" She sounded accusingly, almost as if she knew that Dearka was in the vicinity. Dearka swallowed but said nothing.

"Who? Oh, you mean Dearka! Yeah! Why, why are you asking for him when I'm talking to you?" He snappily remarked, glaring at the electronic device that was the sole connection to him and the other line.

"Comm—," She was rudely cut off by the said man.

"It's Yzak, Major! How many times do I have to tell you, call me Yzak?!"

She sounded stumped. "A-Alright, Yzak, I—"

"You know, you're very pretty," he bluntly blurted. Dearka choked, hearing his best friend finally commenting on a girl, let alone it was Shiho was something he had been pestering him to do for the past years, but actually hearing it from the man himself had caught him completely off guard, especially since the latter was quite drunk.

"Er…Yzak I believe—"

He cut her off once again. "Why are you always wearing pants? I mean, I get that you're uncomfortable with skirts, but c'mon! I'm curious to see you in a skirt." A frown marred the drunken Commander's face.

She sounded more desperate, frustrated even, as she attempted to reason with him. "Yzak—"

"And why are you always comfortable with Dearka? Do you like him? What's it with girls liking him anyways?" He accused, face tinted darker than before. The man in question had to purse his lips together in attempt to hold his laughter, hearing a jealous Yzak delighted the blond fellow to no end. Athrun, Kira, and Shinn bodies trembled, mouths covered with hands as they too tried to muffle their mirth.

"No, I don't—"

Yzak frowned. "He's a fool, you know. He's also loud, brash, annoying, a hindrance, and stupid, everything that's not me."

"Yzak, what are you—"

"I mean, he's already taken by Haww, I think that boy is pussy-whipped. Who would've thought that the great womanizer Dearka Elsman would be settling down with a Natural, following her around like a stray puppy?" He argued unsteadily.

"You know, Yzak, I'm standing right here," Dearka flatly said, unimpressed by the insult. He was promptly ignored by the rest.

"Yzak!—"

"What about me? You don't find me attractive? What do I lack that Zala and Elsman have? I think it's high time for us to talk about our apparent engagement, don't you think?"

"Sir, I implore you, you are making a fool of yourself right now, so will you just let me—"

"I mean, mother has been wanting me to get hitch soon, you know, being under house arrest is a complete boredom. Perhaps we should really consider getting married soon and start producing heirs."

"Damn it, Yzak—"

"Are you hearing this?" Shinn snickered, evidently amused that the great Commander was pitifully whining on the phone. The hilarity was unbecoming yet amusing to no end.

"Forget hearing, I'm recording this epic moment," Dearka snorted, grinning widely as he captured the downfall of his friend with his mobile device. This was one hell of a priceless video that he's keeping forever in his phone, a possible ammunition to get back on him.

"Why don't we go on a date, shall we?"

The rest in proximity to the man choked after hearing the sudden question. By holy, was he actually asking her out when he's currently senselessly drunk?

"Yzak Joule!" The woman on the other line was agitatedly frustrated.

"Yes, that's my name," Yzak smoothly replied. "So is that a yes? Perhaps after work next week?"

"You're clearly not in the right state of mind—"

"Of course I am," he scoffed snobbishly, "why would I be calling you right now if I was drunk? I'm waiting for your answer."

"Yzak, this is ridiculous! Border line insanity! You are clearly drunk, hence your absurdity and craziness, can you please just give the phone to Captain Elsman—"

"I'm not hanging up until I get my answer, Shiho. If I don't get a reply in five seconds, I will be crazy. Five."

"Would you please—"

"Four—"

"Goddamn it Joule!"

"Three. I'm waiting, Shiho."

"Well would you please just give me a moment—"

"To think about it? I'm giving you five seconds. No, you now have two seconds."

"Yzak, please be reasonable. I'm trying to help—"

"And one, your reply?"

"YES! For the love of god, I'll go with you, okay?! I'll go on a damn date with you, you incorrigible man!" She exploded. It was clear that Shiho found this side of Yzak very frustrating. The subordinate was frazzled and distress, not knowing how or what to respond to her well drunken commander.

Yzak cheekily smiled, clearly satisfied with the outcome. "Excellent, I'll see you next week."

"Commander—"

Yzak ended the call with a simple touch of a button. He aimlessly threw his phone behind him and his hazy eyes averted themselves to his comrades who were looking at Yzak as if he sprouted another head.

"Well that went well," he stated choppily.

"Was it me, or was Yzak acting like the obnoxious version of Dearka just a moment ago?" Athrun rhetorically asked.

The silver-head promptly passed out seconds later.

"I'm going with the obnoxious Dearka-like version," Kira mused, stifling a laugh.

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After many attempts to haul the sleeping silver-head out of the parlor (with the help of all four Coordinators), they staggered their way on the dark street of September One. Many boutiques and stores were closed earlier today in preparation of tomorrow's grand event. Although the wedding was going to take place in December City, other colonies were throwing flamboyant parties themselves to honor the Chairwoman's nuptial.

"Why the hell am I the one who's carrying him?" Dearka whined. He was somehow cajoled by the rest in being the one who carries the drunken Yzak by the arms. It was not pleasant half-carrying a dead drunken man who reeks of strong liqueur.

"I believe it was all your ploy to get him like this," Athrun wryly supplied, peering behind him.

"So, are we done for today?" Shinn asked, hopefully. He believed he had enough of tonight's exuberant event and would like to finally rest on his comfy bed for the rest of the night.

The blond threw a light glare. "Not a chance, the night's still young." The hopeful expression on the raven-haired lad quickly turned to a crestfallen one.

"Where are we even going next? Especially with a passed out Yzak," Kira added, craning his head forward. It was almost midnight and they have a long day ahead of them tomorrow. They were well aware of the hyperactive blond's perverseness, but a man could hold so much of the ornery.

"Then let's leave him here." The blond began to shrug off the drunken man, untangling his arm from his shoulder. The three awaken companions spluttered.

Athrun looked horrified at the absurd suggestion. He quickly grabbed hold of the sleeping silver-head before the latter hit the ground from the sudden transition. "Dearka! Are you nuts?! We can't leave him!" He glared, narrowing his emerald orbs at the said man.

"Sure we can," he smoothly countered, sounding very apathetic. "After all, I'm pretty sure some innocent bystander will pick him up off the street." As far as he's concern, his best friend will have no trouble finding his way back home. That is, once he regains conscious, of course.

Kira inwardly sighed and face palmed his forehead. "Dearka, let's just head home. I believe we should call it a night." Before Dearka could protest, the raven-head beside him interjected sharply. The latter's gaze was caught by three interestingly suspicious figures across the street.

"Hey, do you guys see that?" Shinn asked, eyes squinted. He pointed down the dark alley to where three dark figures stood in front of a building.

Dearka knitted his brows and squinted his eyes to the direction. "Where?"

Shinn jerked his head towards the direction, motioning the blond to look closer. "A bunch of people huddling in front of that building."

As they got closer, they could see one of them fiddling with a sphere-like object tossing it from one hand to the other before ejecting it to the building close by. Startled and alarmed, they quickened their pace towards the figures to inquire their motives.

The golden-haired man cupped his hands around his mouth and shouted out to them. "Hey! What are you guys doing?"

The three hooded figures flinched from the sudden voice and gaze towards the owner who was trotting closer to them with four others behind him.

"Crap! Thugs! Let's get out of here!" One of them panicked, quickly shuffling his steps.

"Run!" The hooded teenagers quickly scattered away in panic.

"Hey wait a minute!" cried Kira, quickening his pace to catch up to them. Although they were soldiers and have the capability to sprint faster, they teenagers had a head start and disappeared in the corner of the street.

"What were they doing?" Athrun wondered, frowning as he watched the retreating forms disappear in the night. He was the last one to join the party since he had to practically drag Yzak to the other side of the street. The blunet then set him on the ground next to a small gravel staircase allowing him to resume his slumber in peace.

"What are these?" Kira peered down to two occupied buckets on the ground. Shinn squatted down and began to examine them closely, picking a content from one and scrunched his brows.

"Balloon paint?" He said in puzzlement. "At night? What were they going to do with these?"

Dearka scratched his head. "Well from the looks of it, they were throwing them at the building over there." He pointed towards the evidence where some paints were splattered across the building wall.

Athrun frowned. "What should we do about this?"

"I have an idea." Mischievous amethyst eyes glinted brightly, almost glowing in the darkness.

In a flash, a balloon was thrown at an off-guard Athrun, splattering orange paint all over his shirt. The blunet widened his eyes and glared at the culprit. "Hey! Dearka! Quit it!"

The blond shrugged indifferently, "Why don't we use these balloons wisely?"

"And by that you mean throwing it at each other?" The bluenet dryly remarked. Athrun grimaced down at his now painted shirt. Feeling sticky, he decided to take out his shirt and threw it aside.

"Don't tell me this is going to be a game of dodge ball but with paint balls," Kira said, unimpressed.

The blond smirked. "Losers have to drink this." Dearka procured two bottles from his jacket, catching the eyes of his three male counterparts across.

"How—" The brown-haired man paused before sighing, "…I'm not even going to ask." Kira shook his head in disbelief. Just how things are going to go tumbling downhill from now?

The former Justice pilot looked placid, although he eyed the bottles warily. "Drinks again? Really, Dearka?"

The blond shrugged and grinned widely. "Hey, this is a one-time thing. Be spontaneous for once, Zala."

Shinn grabbed a bottle from the ZAFT Captain and examined it closely. He then raised a brow. "Where did you get this?"

"I stole it from the tattoo parlor," he nonchalantly replied, almost too casually.

Kira spluttered, almost choking at the blond's thievery. "You what?"

"Relax, they won't know they're missing." He then motioned a hand to Kira to the bottle in Shinn's hand. "Take a swing at it."

Shinn opened the bottle with a keychain cork screw—courtesy of the blond captain who tossed it at him—and took a sniff at it first. He made a bland expression. He then passed the liqueur to Kira who gave a hesitant sniff—after seeing the sour expression on his subordinate's face he became even more warily—at bottle and made a face. His nose wrinkled. "It's strong," he dryly stated.

"That's the whole point, Kira," chuckled Dearka. The blond then motioned Shinn to toss the cork screw to him. The former gave the last bottle to the blunet who also cringed in distaste after taking one whiff of it.

"Wasn't this the drink that made Yzak passed out?" He looked at his sleeping comrade and couldn't help but to give him a pity look.

"Yup," Dearka chirped. He then grabbed both bottles from the two friends and put it aside on the floor next to the sleeping silver-head.

"You and Shinn, against Athrun and me, sounds good?"

Athrun rolled his eyes. "Whatever, what do we have to lose anyways?"

"Our pride," Shinn remarked, callously.

"Oh c'mon! Just for fifteen minutes! No more, that's all I'm asking!" plead the blond, looking from one friend to another with unconvinced puppy-eyes.

Kira peered at Athrun who still have a disapproving expression and shrugged a 'why not?' gesture. The latter inwardly sighed out loud and finally nodded his head, much to Shinn's displeasure. The loud blond triumphantly cried out in glee as he began to separate the paint balls equally into two.

At the end, the two teams unsurprisingly tied with each other and decided that they all should chug the liqueurs themselves.

.

In the midst of their exuberant activity, two uniformed officers trolled around the corner aimlessly and found them. Alarmed by the late night activity, they began to sprint towards the group, guns in hands.

"This is SCPD! Put your hands in the air!" A warning voice shouted out, demandingly.

Dearka halted himself from throwing another paint ball and peered behind him. He uttered a curse. "Oh, goddamn it. Of all the time in the world, the police force just had to be in this district?" The patrolling officers lowered their rifles and put them back inside the holsters.

"Sirs, I am not going to repeat myself, put your hands in the air!" Slowly, the soldiers raised their hands up obediently.

"Sir have you been drinking tonight?" One of them asked, frowning. He surveyed the men before him and cringed at their messy sight.

"We're currently having a bachelor's party, so what do you think wise-ass?" An unsteady Shinn retorted smartly.

The officer was not amused by the retort. "Sir, I'm going to have to test you with a breathalyzer. Please refrain from doing anything…stupid," he added as he reached down to his pouch, looking warily at his captives, especially the one standing next to the red-eyed man. The brown-haired counterpart next to Shinn looked like he was about to pass out any moment.

"Sirs, do you all realize that you were vandalizing governmental property?" The policeman's partner inquired to the blond, raising a brow.

"Define 'vandalizing', Officer," Dearka cheekily grinned, hiccupping a bit.

The said officer looked miffed. Whether it was because he was stuck with an unwanted shift at night or dealing with drunken civilians or not, he just wanted to end this quickly since his shift was about to end. "Were you were throwing balloons filled with paint at the Governor's building?"

"No, we weren't. We simply picked up the paint that were left by some teenagers who vandalized the building. I didn't even realize that it was a governmental building until now."

"Clearly you're too drunk to even walk properly."

"Look here, pal," Athrun began, face tinted as he looped an arm around the officer's shoulder. The latter gave a distaste look at the unwanted limb and pried it off. "We were just having fun."

"Sir, I'm going to have to ask you to—"

Crack!

The four elite soldiers looked up at the sound a glass breaking, only to find a now awake Yzak hovering over the two bodies of the fallen policemen with the top half of the bottles still clinging in his hands. He began to wobble himself towards the rest and pointed a broken bottle at them.

"Yzak, what—"

"What are you just standing there for? Run, you idiots!" They didn't have time to response for the silver-head had pushed them away, urging them to escape before any of the knocked out officers wakes up.

---

.

Buenos Aires, United States of South America

Fernandez Ranch

Present, 1316 hours (less than 6 hours until the wedding)

.

Marina unsuccessfully tried to muffle her laughter for the past hour. "You silly boys. You don't run away when a tiger tries to attack you."

"Are you insane woman? That beast was about to maul us alive!" The silver-head looked absolutely derisive about what just happened. Marina's father, Alejandro and a few other workers in the ranch caught the five Coordinators frantically running away from the large beast. Thankfully, the formers knew how to tame one and assured the rest that he was just being playful. The boys were skeptical about the reason behind the attack but nonetheless they dropped the subject. Marina suggested that they should rest after the long laborious hours under the heated sun. They were now sitting in the living room enjoying some refreshments and snacks as they await for Alejandro to return. Shinn had taken a shower earlier before joining them, courtesy of Marina who provided the boy with a set of fresh new clothes.

"I woke up to find myself in an unfamiliar place. Alone." He stretched the latter statement, giving his superior officers a dry look and looked absolutely miffed by the situation he was in. Rankings be damned. "Next thing I know, I was chased by that big cat."

"Do you remember what happened last night?" The blunet asked, hopefully. All he got in response was a flat look from the ace pilot. It was obvious that he vaguely remembers.

"Well, I'm just glad that you're safe, Shinn," Kira smiled warmly. Truth be told, he was rather frantic and scared shitless when the younger man had gone missing. With Shinn back with them, it will be easier for all of them to finally return home safely. The raven-head gave a small smile in return. "So, how are we supposed to go home now?"

"Well, we're currently trying to work our way out of here. Hopefully then, we'll have enough money to buy tickets to go to Orb," explained Kira. He sounded as if he was trying to convince himself that everything will be fine, but somehow he couldn't help but to feel unease once again.

"How long are we entitled to work here until our payment?" Athrun asked Marina who was busy pouring ice teas in tall glasses. He then quickly added, "Not that we don't enjoy being here, but we really have to go back home."

The woman chuckled. "Yes, you all are eager to go home. Don't fret, I'll get your payment now and you'll be on your way." The older woman got up and excused herself out of the living room.

"Well, Yzak over here is tired of cleaning horse shit," the blond snickered, craning his head towards the irritable silver-haired man.

Yzak growled. "Shut up, Dearka!"

A laugh escaped Marina's lips as she saw the silver-head looked quite flustered. "Stop yelling, mariquita," she mused as she disappeared pass the corridor.

Shinn let out a snort but quickly covered up with a poor excuse of a cough that caught the attention of the silver-head.

"Something funny, Asuka?" Yzak inquired, narrowing his eyes to the raven-head. Everyone else in the room then averted their gaze to the raven-haired Coordinator in question. Shinn stopped to look at the men around the room before clearing his throat.

"It's nothing sir. It's just…the name that she called you," he tried to sound professional, but miserably faltered towards the end. Evidently earning another sharp look from the Joule heir.

Dearka on the other hand looked quite interested by what Shinn had just said. "You speak Spanish?"

Shinn shrugged indifferently, slowly sitting up from his slouched position on the couch. "Fundamental Spanish, so just a tad bit. I know enough to understand basic conversations. I took a course in school back in Orb."

"Well what does 'Hombre rubio' mean?" He inquired, curiously.

"He's calling you a blond man, Captain," Shinn wryly supplied. Dearka wasn't so sure if he should be relief that the old man hadn't been insulting him the whole time.

Kira piped in, awkwardly pronouncing the syllables. "And what about 'Débil'?"

"He's calling you…weakling I believe?"

Kira frowned. A weakling? Instinctively, he touched his face. Although he was well past his puberty age range, he—according to many others—still miraculously maintained some baby fat on his cheeks that made him look considerably younger than his actual age. Perhaps his ever baby face was the reason?

"Well how about mariquita? He's been calling me that ever since I stepped foot in this forsaken place. Mind translating it for me?" Honesty, Yzak couldn't tell if he was being thoroughly insulted. But judging from the way Marina would always snickered softly and the teasing smile that the old man wore when uttering the word, he'd assumed it was some sort of a teasing vocabulary.

The humorous snort escaped Shinn's lips once again but quickly silence it with his hand. He pursed his lips in attempt to stop another one from escaping. "I'd rather not, Commander," he managed to say, turning his head to the side to tremble in laughter. Seeing how the subordinate was poorly keeping his trap shut, Yzak pressed on the subject, even if he had to pull ranks to get the information he wanted.

"Asuka," the tone from the silver-head was anything but pleasant. "I am ordering you as a Commander. Now tell me what the word means." Although the Yzak tried to refrain from barking out an order, he wisely kept himself in control, keeping his temporal demeanor at bay.

"Well…" he murmured. "He's basically calling you a…pansy." The last word was spoken too softly, almost as a scandalous whisper. But Yzak's enhanced hearing allowed him to catch the soft word and his eyes widen.

"Excuse me?" Yzak spluttered, caught off guard. That earned a few giggles from the others around him. Yzak silent them with a simple glare and they immediately sobered up.

Shinn immediately began to frantically make hand gestures in attempt to calm the now fuming Commander. "It's like another word for feminine male, like for teasing someone. It's a harmless word, sir," Shinn supplied earnestly, casting a humorous glance to the rest.

Yzak went silent, pondering on the information that was provided. A pansy? He was anything but the given name! Now hold on just a minute, did he just say…feminine male? What—? His eyes then went wide as the subtle meaning finally dawned to him. "I am not gay!" He cried out vehemently. From his sudden outburst, the rest of his male companions—who had understood the meaning from when Shinn had explained it the first time—burst out in a fit of laughter.

"Are you sure about that, Yzak? Because you've been quite the celibately monk amongst us all. I mean, after all, you're the only one who doesn't have a girlfriend," the last part was purposely drawled out by the blond whose laughter only grew louder by the unamused look on Yzak's face.

"Shut up, Dearka! I am not gay!" Yzak barked out, face tinted in red from his early fuming.

The blond clicked his tongue as he shook his head. "You know, first step in discovering yourself is denial."

"I am not in denial, you blockheaded buffoon!"

Dearka scoffed. "Yzak, it's a pity, really. Because I honestly thought that you and Shiho together would've been quite the pair. But hey, I get that you swing the other way and I have no problem with that so long as you don't try and hit on me."

A glare was thrown to the former Buster pilot. "Even if I was gay you wouldn't be my type anyways! There is a protocol against having a relationship with other associates in your team!"

Dearka quirked a teasing brow, wiggling it suggestively. "Oh? In what rule book are you referring to? Because our good Red Coat Shin here," he pointed a thumb to the laughing raven-head on the other end of the sofa, "just so happens to be dating his co-worker."

"You son of a—"

"Dearka, I believe that's enough. You, too Yzak," Kira interjected before Yzak could finish his vulgar statement, although the laughing smile was still graced on his face.

Yzak simply glared daggers at the needling blond before wisely complying with the Ultimate Coordinator's suggestion. There was no reason to be the victim of the Elsman heir's targeted subject of teasing.

"Say, Shinn, what does 'Guapo' mean?" Athrun queried the youngster curiously, shifting the gears in hopes to enter a more settle conversation.

The red-eyed Coordinator raised a brow before shaking his head. "I'm not surprised he referred you as that. He's basically saying that you're good looking." After all, Lunamaria—before they dated—was infatuated—perhaps still as of today—with the former FAITH pilot simply because of his heroic achievements and good looks.

A frown marred the Joule heir's face as he glared at his rival. "Why is Zala the only one who is being referred to something positive?!"

"Hey, the old man called me something neutral. Blond man, ain't that classic?"

"Dearka, you are a blond. At least he didn't refer to you with a denigrating term," Kira grumbled.

.

"My father and I thank you gentlemen for your help," Marina said graciously, a wide smile graced her pretty face. "Here are some food for your trip back to the airport." She handed him a basketful of fruits. The brown-haired man gratefully accepted it. The kind woman had provided a car for their journey back and had given them quite the amount of monetary allowance to buy their tickets home. Kira seemed rather frazzled by the hospitable gesture and at first rejected the grand amount. Marina assured them that they deserved it after helping them out and added that the little bonus was for new clothes and food for their trip.

Kira reflected the smile to the father and daughter. "No, thank you for giving us the opportunity to work. You've done so much for us and we really appreciate this."

"Mariquita, I believe you should say goodbye to our hospitable hosts," the golden-haired man grinned, snaking an arm around Yzak.

"Stop calling me that, Elsman!" The Joule heir shrieked for the umpteenth time today, slapping the tanned limb away.

Dearka could only laughed in response. "Only time will tell, Yzak."

.

Three grumpy men sat impatiently in the back passenger seat of the old truck, averting their gaze from the left to right to the passenger on the front seat and the driver's seat. Oddly enough, much to Yzak's chagrin that is, Dearka volunteered to do the driving. Kira and Athrun professed that they weren't up to be behind the wheel due to some strain muscles from the labor. And Yzak vehemently refused to be sitting next to Dearka since he was mildly pissed off with the golden-haired man. Which left Shinn to sit in the front passenger begrudgingly reading the directions. Those two paired up in the front may seemed like a neutral pair…or so they thought.

It was a recipe for disaster.

"We've been driving for like hours, are you sure you know where to go?" Kira asked, tiredly in the backseat. He fanned himself with his hand, attempting to cool his body from the overbearing heat of Buenos Aires summer weather.

Dearka glanced up to the rear mirror. "Relax, I'm driving down the same road where Marina drove us." The coaxing did not soothe the ace pilot at all, in fact, it made him even more anxious than before.

A red faced Yzak growled from behind, he too was sweating from the unbearable heat. "I don't remember this road." The lone long road was surrounded by endless tall trees from right to left, conspicuously a telltale that they were lost.

Dearka wisely ignored the silver-head. Instead, he peered his eyes to the younger lad who looked troubled reading the map. "Shinn, where to next?"

Shinn scrunched his brows together, scratching his nape nervously. "I believe we turn…left?" He replied, unsurely.

"Shinn, give me the map," Athrun demanded exasperatedly from behind. Dutifully, the lad complied without any protest and passed the paper to the bluenet in the backseat. Athrun glanced down, knitted brows, and after a quick scan, his eyes widened. "Jeez, Shinn! No wonder we've been wandering around! You've been reading the map upside down!"

"Say what?!" Screeched Yzak and Kira simultaneously in disbelief. The former's eyes twitched in anger as he glared in front.

"Turn the damn car around!" Yzak roared, pushing himself off his seat as he hovered next to the blond steering the wheel. While Yzak argued measurably with his best friend, Kira shook his head and averted his gaze away.

He peered out the window, squinted eyes, and frowned as his eyes located a two large vehicles on the side of the road. A handful of figures were finger pointing to their car, making hand gestures and shouting while at it. Kira furrowed his brows and wondered if something was wrong with their car. He rolled down his window, allowing him to finally hear the shouting voices. "Hey, they're trying to tell us something," Kira said, pointing outside.

The shouts went through. "Para el carro!"

Confusion plastered the men's faces as they caught on what they said. "What did he say?" Dearka asked, brows furrowed quizzically.

"I believe he wants us to pull over," Yzak supplied, dryly. He may not know the language, but has enough common sense to understand hand gestures and facial expressions to tell if someone wants something.

Shinn frowned. "What? Why should we?"

"It's because they have guns," Athrun concluded, eyeing the weapons outside.

The blond inwardly sighed and pulled over by the curb. Within seconds afterwards, the car was surrounded by armed men looking suspiciously at the company inside the vehicle. A large man knocked on Dearka's window and the latter quickly complied and rolled it down. "Hi," he greeted with a lopsided grin. The large man had an unperturbed expression on his face, merely staring at the blond man as if he was an alien.

"¿Adónde van?" The large man inquired, narrowing his eyes.

"Shinn, a little help here buddy?"

"I may understand Spanish but it's to a certain degree, Captain."

The man looked from one man to the other. "Where are you going?" He asked once more in the universal language with a heavy accent.

Dearka blinked. "Oh, to the airport."

The other man raised a brow, inquiringly. "Do you realized you've entered a restricted area?"

"Er, no?"

He gave him a doubtful look. "You don't realized it?"

The blond sighed out loud before giving an annoyed look to his male counterpart to the side. "Look here, buddy. We don't want any trouble, so please let us through."

The other man stared blankly at the golden-haired pilot before raising his hand and making a hand gesture. Guns were ensued, pointing directly to the people inside the vehicle through the window.

"Get out." He ordered, cocking his gun to the blond. The surround men glaring at the fellows inside. "Now."

The Coordinators sobered up. Hands raised in surrender they immediately complied and stepped out of the car.

"Good going, idiot," Yzak murmured, almost hauntingly.

.

"Tick…tock…tick…tock…tick…tock…tick…tock…tick…tock…tick—"

"Sod off, Elsman!" The fair-head amongst them visibly snapped, deciding that he just had enough of the abhorrent sound. The golden-haired friend, quaintly enough, was making those obnoxious noise for the past god knows how long they've been detained in the metal box behind a truck. As it already was enough that they were forcibly dragged out of their car and stall their plans to go home once and for all.

Dearka ceased his clicking, but not before he gave Yzak and questionable look. "Why?"

"It's annoying," Athrun piped in exasperatedly, answering in Yzak's stead. He honestly looked more dejected than irritated.

"Who are they?" Shinn asked diverting the subject, glancing around from one man to the other in hope for an answer. Even with the lack of mentioning who, they all understood who the raven-head was referring to.

"I believe they're the militias here. USSA don't have formal armed forces so rebels group together to make a band," the former Justice pilot explain, grimacing at the mention of 'rebels'.

"So what do they want with us?" The brown-haired Coordinator began to involuntarily rub his tied hands together, suddenly itching from the friction.

Dearka rolled his eyes and scoffed, as if he found the question absurd. "Screw that, why are we being kidnap is the question." His gaze then averted to Yzak across from him and his quirked a questionable brow up.

As if he understood faint message given, the silver-head lips curled into a snarl. "Do I look like I know the answer to that?" Honestly, could this situation get any worse?

"We are unarmed. I just hope that they won't kill us," the bluenet auspiciously said, slouching farther down his seat.

Kira made a face and wondered, "How did we end up here anyways?"

Yzak scoffed. "Scatterbrain over there can't read directions. I cannot believe that he managed to graduate the Academy as a Red Coat Elite," the platinum-haired Coordinator supplied, tilting his head towards the said man. Dearka merely scowled in response.

"Hey! My co-pilot just had to read the map wrong!" The latter argued in justification.

As if he knew that the indirect message was referring to him, Shinn sunk lower in his seat. "It's not my fault that directions here are so hard to understand." The raven-haired murmured under his breath, diverting his eyes to the floor.

Dearka's protest was a deaf ear to the Orb Admiral. He gave the golden-haired Coordinator a callous look. "Well thanks to you, they think we're spies for the Feds. Nice going idiot."

"Oi, I resent that! Plus, they were the ones who were pointing their guns at me! How the hell am I supposed to react?" In retrospect, he was one who had caused the men to point their guns at them after making a stupid interjection.

"How about calm?" Yzak wryly replied, giving the man in question a flat look.

The blond shot an unimpressed look to his best friend. "No one asked you, Yzak," he snarled.

"Do you think they'll kill us?" Kira easily transition to a much dire question at hand, hoping to end the idle conversation that was not solving their problem in any means.

"Please, they're just a bunch of Naturals," the Joule heir scoffed, dismissing the thought that the situation was a life threatening case. Although his stomach churned at the possible thought of one.

To add more salt to the wound, the blond added, "Yeah, who managed to capture us." It was an ego bruiser after all, five Coordinators being taken custody by Naturals, it was a laughable notion. Not to mention they were ZAFT and Orb soldiers, veteran soldiers at the least.

The irritable Commander glared across his seat. "Shut up, Elsman."

"Where are they taking us?" Shinn queried, interjecting the verbal spat between the two superior officers.

Athrun shrugged. "Their base maybe?"

"We are so not going to PLANTs," groaned the groom. And to think that he was going to be married today.

"Don't be a pessimist, Yamato," sighed Yzak, although he too was doubting his own words.

The calm blunet raised a brow. "Then what do you supposed us to do? Attack them? For your information, Yzak, we are currently shackled up." He raised his handcuffed hands to emphasize his point.

"We've been on the road for quite sometimes," the golden-haired pilot sullenly remarked.

Yzak averted his gaze back to the culprit who got them into this stalling mess. He narrowed his eyes. "When we go back, I'm making sure your ass is being put to work, Dearka."

Hearing the sudden turn of conversation, Dearka looked up, eyes widen at his commander. "What?! Why me? I believe you owe me a week paid leave since I beat your drunken ass back at the pub," he reminded, his lips curled downward.

Yzak relented as the vague memory of their pub shenanigan and the careless bets that were made began to relive in his mind. He scowled. As a prideful man, he's expected to keep his words, even though he was tricked into making idle promises. "Fine, enjoy your week off. After that, you'll be put on tour and won't be back for three months."

Dearka croaked. "Are you screwing with me, Yzak? Three months?!"

His superior leaned against the hard cold bench and shrugged. "I'm your superior, you can't question my order. Better yet if you do, I'll write you up for insubordination."

"You can't possibly be pulling ranks when we're in this kind of situation now!" He countered, arguably.

"¡Cállate!" A booming voice shouted from the double door of the truck, immediately seizing all spatting. They were surprised that they hadn't picked up the fact that the truck had stopped. Judging by the armed men behind the voice owner, they were to be transferred elsewhere. Yzak surveyed the armed men and fought the urge to roll his eyes in front of his captors. They were taking unnecessary precautionary action. Even if they're Coordinators, they were unarmed and vulnerable, there were no reasons why they should be pointing guns at them.

"Get out," the large man choppily ordered, thumbing a gesture.

One by one, the Coordinators got off the truck like they were ordered. With a few pushes and shoves, they relented and followed closely behind their leader. It was a short walk to their destination, noting how a glimpse of rooftop peeked from a group of trees. They were quickly led inside an abandoned warehouse and were greeted with a sight to behold. Five chairs were settled in the middle of the room, giving it an eerie atmosphere. The set-up uncanny resembled an interrogating room with armed men flocked every corners, watching their every moves with hawked-eyes. Dearka wrinkled his nose in distaste, whiffing the foul odor occupying the room. It reeks of bad cigars and gun-smoke, an unpleasant combination.

"Sit," Large Man grumbled, pointing towards the chairs. Wordlessly, they complied, not desiring to start an unnecessary fuss. A second later, five men made their way behind each chairs, tying a rope around their bodies to their seat. Yzak grumbled lowly as he shifted uncomfortably in his seat, earning a glare from his captor who intentionally made another loop around his hands from behind. Kira winced in pain as his captor tied the ropes a little too tightly, he concluded that it was purposely done to prevent any suspicious movements on his part. Shinn fought an urge to sneer at the man who had the nerves to snort at him while Athrun unsurprisingly complied with his.

After another moment of struggling, the captors seamlessly finished their tasks and resumed back to their posts. A second later, a man in a bullet-proof vest came in the room. Unlike the rest troop, he seemed more well-groomed, with jet-black hair pulled back neatly, lighter skin tone contrasting his tanned arms, and a pair of gray eyes looking calm and collected. He gaze averted to the captives and surveyed each one by one. The large man who escorted them made his way and the Coordinators quickly surmised that the fair man was their leader. The former whispered inaudibly to the latter, far too quiet for a Coordinator to decipher. The fair man nodded to the said man before making his way to the captives. He stopped a few feet away, arms crossed and stared at them with scrutinizing eyes.

After about a minute has elapsed, he opened his mouth. "Who are you working for?" The man inquired without a hint of accent. He wasted no time and went straight to business, no amiable greetings or exchanges, just prompt. The way he sounded so smooth made it seemed as if he's used to interrogating people for answers.

Yzak spoke up, having been to keep quiet for a while. He leveled a glare to the man, not caring that he was in a roomful of menacing men who are armed with artilleries. "Nobody."

The man quirked a brow, clearing doubting the silver-head's words by the looks of it. "So you're not from the Federation?"

This time, Shinn snorted. The fair man's gaze averted down the row to the raven-haired Coordinator. "Are you serious? Do you actually think that we're from that arrogant and Blue-Cosmos-infiltrated place?"

The interrogator merely shrugged, still keeping a placid façade. "Are you?" He locked eyes with the latter.

"No!" The red-eyed man barked out, spitefully. The thought of being a citizen in that nation was repulsive and preposterous as it was.

The man stared for a long second with calculating eyes, almost trying to detect any falsehood from the younger man. He blinked and sighed, frustrated with the little progression. He ran a hand through his silky black locks and turned around, back facing the captives. He beckoned the large man to hither closer and the former began to spat in rapid Spanish silkily. The Coordinators watched their exchange with mild interest, from the looks of it, the light skinned man looked quite irritable. The large dark skinned man made a defensive gesture, jerking his head towards the said Coordinators every now and then. Finally, after about a few more minutes of verbal arguments, the leader shook his head and shooed the other man away with a hand wave. He turned his attention back to the captives and narrowed his eyes.

"Then why are you here? Clearly, you're not from around here," he sounded accusingly.

"Of course we're not from around here," The golden-haired captive scoffed, earning a glare from his interrogator. The latter curled his lips, looking quite grim.

"So you are from the Feds," the latter dryly concluded once again, crossing his arms across his chest. Somehow to the gang, he sounded as if he wanted them to be from the Federation.

The idle game of reverse psychology went on for another two minutes. All five Coordinators insisted that they have no clue what the fair man was talking about with the latter kept looping his accusations over and over again, insisting that they were working for someone. Shinn—being the impatient one and was irritated by the accusations—finally blew up.

"Okay STOP!" Shinn roared, seizing all spats in the room. His red eyes glared at the man standing tall before him and began to spill their true identity, clearing all misunderstandings. "For the last, we are not from the Federation." He looked dead straight in eyes of the man before him who looked quite startled by his outburst. "I'm from PLANTs, along with the rest here! Except that one right there," jerking his head towards Athrun, "who's from Orb! All we want is to get out of your country, not stay in your country!"

Dark brows knitted together. "So you're all Coordinators," he stated, his blue eyes now guarded from the epiphany. With that said, the armed men around the room tensed up and narrowed their eyes to the five captives in the center.

"Yes," Shinn stressed, exasperatedly, almost grateful that the man finally caught on. "We just want to get of this nation."

The man glared and sneered. "You got a problem with us South Americans?"

Dearka spluttered along with the rest who looked momentarily panicked. "What? No! We just want to go home!"

"Are you spies from ZAFT?" He asked, tentatively. His hand consciously went to grab hold of the gun on the holster to his side.

Kira shook his head frantically, witnessing his cautionary movement in horror. "No, we're just civilians. We weren't even supposed to be here."

Confusion graced his face. "Well then, why the hell are you guys even here?" He queried once again, looking conflicted at the situation. But by the slightly shocked look on his face, he was not expecting them to be Coordinators, let alone being in the wrong country.

Kira diverted his eyes to the ground dejectedly. "That's a long story," the Ultimate Coordinator sighed, drawling out a heavy breath.

The fair man raised a brow almost challenging the statement. He then motioned a guard to grab a chair for him. "Try me, I got all the time in the world, mi amigo."

.

"S-o, what are were going to do?" Dearka pondered in a hush voice, glancing at Yzak, who had the misfortune to be tied up next to him. Yzak had been silently trembling in anger ever since the interrogator left the room a while ago. The once filled with armed men room had decreased to a small number of merely five men. Shortly after they narrated their story to the fair man, the latter went silent for a good minute, staring at the Coordinators with calculating eyes. He got up and whispered something to his second-in-command before promptly leaving without a backward glance at them, followed by a good number of his fellowmen.

The Coordinators didn't know whether or not they should feel insulted by the mere number or lucky since they were underestimated just because they were dumped down to captive Coordinators and were deemed as unthreatened.

For the first fifteen minutes since their leader left, the men left to guard merely watched them, idling chatting amongst themselves. Judging by the every-now-and-then glances at them, they were making snide comments about them, a notion that annoyed the silver-head. They eventually resorted to a table nearby for a game of poker, boisterously laughing and smoking strong cigars in the process.

"Well, first thing first, we need to get ourselves out of this mess," Athrun chimed in, glaring down at the entangled ropes around him. Was it really necessary to tie him up twice?

"How do you supposed we do that?" Shinn muttered wryly, fidgeting in his seat. The ropes around his body was itching his pale skin.

Dearka piped another question that the rest had also been wondering. "Why are they still keeping us hostages?" No one had an answer for that. The blond inwardly sighed, discerned that every single one of them looked grim and angry although he couldn't really blame them.

"Anyone have a sharp object on them?" Kira asked tentatively, glancing from side to side. Everyone shook their head. Goddamn it. Yzak gritted his teeth, fists clenched, and finally after wallowing himself in almost self-pity, he's just about had it with shit.

"Well, I can't take this shit anymore," the forgotten fuming silver-head hissed all of the sudden, making everyone twitched. "We are getting out of here, you hear me?" He then struggled to stand up on his feet, raise the wooden chair along with him since his body was bolted down to the seat. The rest of his companions looked alarmed, eyes widened, at his sudden movement. Kira nervously glanced to the preoccupied guards, still unaware of his friend's sudden action. Yzak was not being quiet about the ruckus he was making and by the looks of it, he could care less.

"Yzak, what the hell are you doing?" Athrun hissed sharply, almost horrified at his action.

Yzak shot him a dark glare. "Shut up and follow my lead if you want to get out of here, Zala." The statement was meant for the rest, too. He motioned the rest to follow his action with a head jerk. The rest, still hesitant about following his lead, reluctantly complied slowly, fully aware that they have no alternative plans to follow.

The determined look of Yzak's face didn't falter. "On the count of three, we slam this piece of crappy chair down until it falls apart, get ourselves untangle, rush towards those bastard and grab any ammunitions you see on them. Hit them, disable them, I don't care, better yet, knock them out cold. See those barrels over there," he nodded towards the large empty cylinders at the corner of the room next to the poker table. "Push those barrels to them to buy us time. Our closest exit is that bolted door on the opposite end about five meters away from them. Earlier after their ringleader left, I heard at least five cars leaving this place. Judging by how lax those fools are, they are the only ones in this warehouse with us since they assumed we are harmless. I don't know about those outside but I'm betting my money that there aren't a whole lot of those bunch. Count your blessings because this is our only shot at getting out of here alive."

He peered at each one of them, waiting for any possible doubts to come out. "Any objections?" He questioned, daringly.

Dearka looked hesitant. "Are you sure this is going to work?"

"If you got any other bright ideas from that brain of yours, do tell," the silver-haired Commander retorted, wryly.

No response was made, a faint understanding that no one had any better ideas than the one he had proposed. "Good, on my mark; one."

Both blunet and brunet looked to the poker table. They refused to believe just because the guards were Naturals, they could not possibly detect any suspicious activities by now. It must take a lot of energy to be that oblivious.

"Two."

Shinn counted a grand total of five rifles on the side of the table, three 9mm pistols visible on the display, five pocket knives, and a few minor weapons on top of the counter. At least I don't see grenades, he mused. Dearka squinted his eyes through the window and found two visible guards leisurely talking, clearing having their guards down. He suspected that there's at least five or so more stationed outside.

"One."

Following the last count, all five Coordinators slammed their wooden chairs to the ground easily breaking it apart. Alarmed, the guards shot up from their seats, knocking down chairs in the process, and grabbed the nearest weapon around them.

Unfortunately for Naturals, their genetic make-up delayed a moment of comprehension, enabling the Coordinators to rush towards the said men and quickly ambushed them. Yzak and Athrun elbowed three guards on the face, punching their guts with handcuffed hands, before disabling their weapons. Dearka and Kira took care of the smaller two, easily knocking off the weapons their holding with their long legs before head-butting their sneering faces. Shinn took advantage of the preoccupied moment and grabbed as much as artilleries his arms could hold.

It took a grand total of forty-five seconds to knock them out cold, give or take a few resistances and struggles here and there.

Both Athrun and Kira hastened their pace towards the empty tint cylinders and pushed them towards the fallen soldiers while Yzak and Shinn began to shoot at the bolted doors. They pushed the doors open and immediately was greeted by gun shots barreling at them.

"Take cover!" Dearka warned, sliding to the ground. Seconds later, more gun shots rang in the outdoors as the armed gunmen outside began to shoot at the Coordinators.

A gun targeting the blond and it went off. Instinctively, Dearka ducked, but kept his shackled hands up in the air to allow the bullet to graze the chains. His hands now unboned allowed him to leverage the ability to throw fists. With his enhanced speed he dodged three more shots and got closer to the enemy. He jerked a long leg and kicked out the gun from the latter's hand.

The golden-haired man gazed down to the shiny object on the left hand and frowned. "A switchblade, buddy. Really?" Dearka inquired, unimpressed.

His opponent shrugged and replied with a strong accent, "I'm the one who's at a disadvantage here, being a Natural and all."

The golden-haired Coordinator made a pondering face before nodding in understanding. "True." His foe delivered another kick, aiming at his sides in which the blond quickly shuffled to the back. Jerking his left arm back, he halted another kick delivering to his upper left torso. Having the Coordinator momentarily distracted, the Natural took advantaged and lunged forward, knife in hand, zeroing sharply to his midriff.

The raven-haired Coordinator released an angry breath. "We just want to get out of here!" Shinn cried out, angrily, averting to the side.

"¡Callate!" He spat, lunging another hit towards the red-eyed Coordinator.

"What's the point of keeping us in the first place anyways?" Athrun asked his opponent, eyes squinting. He thrust a fist towards the man, grazing him on his chin as the latter faltered back. His foe shouted out something incoherently rapidly in his mother tongue, glaring vehemently at him and Athrun mentally slapped himself. Of course, how in the world would he himself understand Spanish anyways? It was a stupid question to ask in the first place. Obviously they understood them, but vice versa? Not a clue.

"¡Mira, tío! It's why don't you just stop? You're clearly outnumbered."

"We just want to go home!" Kira protested, frustrated. He swung a leg and made contact with the side of his enemy's face, throwing him backwards from the forcible thrust.

The Joule heir curled his lips upward before slamming a kick to his enemy's torso, sending him flying back with a thud. "Elsman, Zala, Yamato, Asuka! We need to go, NOW!" Yzak barked out, clearly sounding miffed that they have to fight their way out of this.

The blond snorted. "How? As you can see, we're a bit busy," Dearka grumbled, side stepping a fist before delivering one himself. He took cover from another gunshot targeting him.

Kira eyed the small cylinder shaped object that looks like a timed-smoking incendiary hanging loosely from the side-belted pocket of his foe. His mind took control of his body as determination willed him to lunge for the prized possession—a ticket to escape. He ducked lowly evading a swung fist, purposely nearing the man's side and quickly grabbed the ammunition. He shuffled back a few steps and shouted, "Guys, think fast!"

Within seconds, the area was filled with smoke screen, hindering many sights to see in the clouded area save the five Coordinators who managed to escape from their opponents. The Coordinators took advantage of the situation and bolted out of the battlefield.

"Way to go, Yamato," Yzak complimented with approval from behind.

"Where exactly are we going to do now?" Shinn asked, casting a wary look to the older men. "We escaped, whoo hoo, now how the hell are we supposed to get out of here?"

Their momentarily hopefulness quickly faltered as they realized they've never thought this far in their plan to escape.

"Hey, look over there!" The former Buster pilot exclaimed excitedly, pointing ahead. "You guys see that?"

Ahead was a helipad stationed with a chopper, and to their pleasure, the lift was surprisingly unguarded, not one armed gunmen on sight. "How convenient, they have a chopper waiting for us," Athrun mused. "This may or may not be a coincidence, but I am sure as hell not complaining."

"Well does anyone know how to operate that thing?" Kira huffed, nervously glancing back to see any signs of their captors.

"¡Mierda! They're getting away!" A faint voice shouted from behind.

"Stop them!"

"They're getting closer," Shinn noted grimly, quickening his pace.

Yzak cursed spitefully under his breath. "Quickly damn it! Get inside the chopper now!" One by one, the Coordinators embarked inside the lift and quickly strapped themselves to the seats.

Realizing that he was the only one that managed to free his bondage hands, Dearka quickly took action and sat in the operating seat and turned the gears, igniting the operating system. "Where are we heading to? We can't possibly make it to Carpentaria with this fuel."

The silver-head made a sour face as if the blond suggested a preposterous option. "No, you moron. I know we can't that's why we're heading to Orb."

---

.

Olofat, Yalafath; United Emirates of Orb

Present, 1532 hours (less than 4 hours until wedding)

.

"Say WHAT?!"

Colonel Ledonir Kisaka visibly cringed at the loud exclamation coming from the group of younger men. It wasn't that he had wanted to bear the bad news, but his boss, Chief Representative Cagalli Yula Athha, will hear none of it. He had heard of their escapades from PLANTs all the way until Orb. Cagalli, being the stubborn hardheaded woman she was, knew that they were bound to ask help from Orb in getting back to PLANTs so she made sure that no one from the Orb Military aid them in any possible way.

He pitied the younger men, really. They caused quite a ruckus after landing on the mainland unorthodoxly, especially since they requested emergency landing causing all kinds of conflicts in the docking area. Kira had the courtesy to explain their quite adventurous story, pleading him to help them get back to PLANTs in time for the wedding. Unfortunately, his hands were tied.

"Kisaka, you're kidding right? Please tell me you're kidding," Kira plead in frustration. After hearing his peculiar adventure that had got him this far, he had almost, mind you, almost, gave in into the temptation.

The older man shook his head, pursing his lips into a tight line. "I'm sorry, Kira. As much as I hate to do this, these are direct orders from Lady Cagalli," Kisaka answered apologetically. The brother of the Chief Representative looked down dejectedly.

"What the in the bloody hell is wrong with your woman, Zala?! This is ludicrous!" Yzak screeched, glaring at Athrun.

"How the hell am I supposed to know?" Athrun retorted back, looking equally frustrated. It wasn't his fault that his girlfriend just have to be irrational at an important day.

Dearka ran a hand down his face and let out an involuntarily growl. "How does she know anyways?"

The Colonel raised a brow. "You guys don't know?"

"Know what?" Kira queried, frowning.

Of course, how would they know? Kisaka thought wryly. The Chief most trusted advisor merely sighed before looking at his boss's brother. "You all are practically celebrities. Your little adventure was caught on camera." The said males froze in place, mouths gapping open in shock.

"You're screwing with me." The blond looked even more frustrated than before.

"It was all over the news," was his simple reply, shrugging.

"Just kill me now," the Ultimate Coordinator muttered to himself, covering his face with his hands in disgrace. Just how much was their escapades paraded to the public?

The silver-head clicked his tongue before meeting the eyes of the older man. "Look, here old man. We've been through hell the past twelve hours of our lives, perhaps more. We have little to no recollection of memories from our rendezvous last night, we miraculously survived a crash in the goddamn planet Mars, we were misled to the USSA, we were forced to perform manual labors in order for us to get here and let me tell you, cleaning horses manures isn't easy and pleasant, we were kidnapped and detained by a bunch of anti-Feds rebels who thought we were spies, and now you're tell me that we're being rejected from any aides by your Lady in this goddamn country?!" Yzak roared, fuming from ear to ear with redden face.

Kisaka could only spare a glance with an enquiring brow at the fuming Coordinator before dismissing his rude comment. What else could he say that can possibly change their dilemma?

Speak of the Lady, he gave the tablet that he was instructed to give to the Freedom pilot and supplied. "Here's a video she would like you guys to see. I believe she had heard about your…adventurous trip."

Mutely, the brown-haired grabbed the tablet and turned it on. Athrun, Dearka, Shinn and Yzak quickly huddled around the boy, eager to know what the video content was. The black screen immediately sparked to life and now showing a rather pissed off looking Cagalli behind a desk.

"You IDIOTS!" She began thundering her insults vocally as her golden eyes glared to the camera. The video showed the Chief Representative clad in her uniform standing behind her desk, fist clenched glaring at the camera as if she were actually facing them. Kira involuntarily flinched. Of course, she'd be mad. And he bet good money that the people hovering behind him flinched along with.

"Do you guys know just how much trouble you are in right now? Huh? You almost gave us a heart attack! I am so angry right now that I just want to go through the camera to give you a good slap, you idiot little brother of mine!"

"Honestly, I think still Kira is the eldest," Athrun murmured looking quite grim at his pissed off girlfriend.

"Shall I list the senseless exploits you idiots have done that cause such disasters?! 'Cause I have a pretty darn good feeling that you nitwits were too drunk to even remember!"

"Man, she's good. Must be a twin thing," Dearka commented. Shinn and Yzak could only nod in agreement.

"Did you guys even realize that you were publicized? Caught on camera at the terminal? Stole two private shuttles? A club flight? Tattoos? Caused havoc with PLANTs diplomatic relationship with the Martians?! Ignored the Martians Armed Forces?! Crashed landed?! What the hell is the matter with you people?!" For every event listed, the Coordinators twitched. She then went on a rant about how irresponsible they were and just how much of a disgrace it was being caught on camera as war veterans.

"And those pictures!" The blond Natural gasped angrily. Her glare multiplied tenfold. Four Coordinators paled, save for the youngest one who looked quite perplexed.

"What is she talking about, Athrun?" Shinn asked, worriedly. He hoped that the Chief Representative's boyfriend would at least understand his loud and boisterous girlfriend's motive.

Athrun swallowed hard. "I don't know, Shinn. But I feel like it's not something that I'd want to see."

"Kira! You bastard! How could you?! You better have a goddamn good explanation about the picture!"

Her brother could only gulped, unsure whether or not he actually does have a valid explanation. After all, he could only vaguely remember what occurrence happened last night that led them here. Let alone, not quite understanding what pictures she was referring to.

"And Dearka, you jerk! I can't believe you're cheating on Miriallia!"

The former Buster pilot could only gaped his mouth open, startled by the accusation. "What?!" The blond spluttered in shocked. Clearly he was not anticipating that.

"I can't wait till you get an earful from her! Perhaps you're showing your true colors!"

"What the hell is she talking about?! I never cheated on Millie!" He shouted out, glaring at Athrun as if he was the culprit of this mess. Somehow, everyone thinks that by looking at her boyfriend, they will have their questions miraculously answered by the latter since he knows her best. Athrun could only glare back, resenting how he was the unofficial designated problem solver.

"Yzak! Honestly, you…I'm just speechless. I don't know if I should be amused by the videos or not. "

Yzak's eyes narrowed dangerously. "What videos?"

"Shinn! I better hope that you have some sort of life insurance after Lunamaria saw that picture of you!"

The poor youngster merely scrunched his brows in confusion. What the heck was she talking about?

"Athrun, you better have a good explanation about this photo or else I will do something to you. Preferably castrate your balls."

The said Coordinator could only closed his eyes and prayed that whatever it was, it was not some indecent pictures of him making a fool out of himself.

"Listen well you buffoons, because I am not going to repeat myself. Orb. Will. Not. Help. You. Understand? And as Chief Representative, I made sure that no shuttle, G-weapons, skygraspers, helicopters, or any military transportations will help you get back to PLANT! You got yourself in this mess so you fix it yourself! And if I find that you all, especially you Athrun, go behind my back and make any of my subordinates heed your orders there will be hell to pay." The clip lasted a few more seconds before it flicker back into darkness.

Silence fell amongst the Coordinators in question as they took a good minute to absorb what the blond Natural had just said until everyone began to protest simultaneously save the calm Colonel.

"Zala! Your woman is mad!" The silver-haired Commander cried out in accusation, angrily. He glared daggers at the blunet who happens to be the boyfriend of the Goddess of Victory.

Athrun shot a glare back at him. "You think I don't know that?"

"Where is Cagalli now? I believe we can reason something out with her," Kira plead to Kisaka, hoping for a silver lining. Perhaps he could talk some sense into his sister.

Kisaka shook his head, sympathizing the lad before him. "I'm sorry Kira. Lady Cagalli left for PLANTs earlier this morning."

"It's going to take a miracle for us to get home now," Shinn muttered in disdain. If only he could turn back time, none of this crap would've happen to him.

"I guess our only option is to swim to Carpentaria Base. It's the closest ZAFT territory from here," the blond pilot sighed as he scratched his nape. What else could go wrong now?

"So how the hell are we supposed to get out of here? Didn't you hear Athha? We do not have access to any transportation in this nation!" Yzak screeched, making frantic hand gestures indicating just how stressful the situation was.

The forgotten Colonel cleared his throat, catching the attention of the quarrelsome Coordinators before him. "Actually, boys. I believe Lady Cagalli said we couldn't help you go back to PLANTs."

"That was what she said," Yzak dryly remarked, giving him a flat look.

Kisaka wisely ignored the rebuttal and continued on his explanation. "Yes, indeed. But never about aiding you all to go to ZAFT territories here on Earth."

Now this piqued everyone's interest. Kira, Athrun, Shinn, and Yzak exchanged looks and they all quirked an interest brow while Dearka, master of word play, grinned mischievously clearly liking where the older man was going with the conversation. "We're listening," he urged.

"I mean damn." He cursed, slightly alarming the Coordinators. "I apologize, I mean you all are PLANT delegates save Athrun here. So, by any chance if a transportation—ahem—Skygrasper—ahem—went missing, we couldn't possibly shoot it down even if Lady Cagalli ordered us to not aid you all in any way after all her brother will be in that lift." By now, all Coordinators were smirking in agreement. Who would've thought that Kisaka has one crafty mindset?

"Kisaka, you sly bastard!" Dearka cried out with a Cheshire cat grin plastered across his face.

"As much as I respect Lady Cagalli, I would not let a royal member of the family be left to dust. But to avoid any…complication with the Chief, why don't we just say that you boys…took an unauthorized transportation without the military knowing."

"I like the way you think." For the first time today, Yzak complimented someone with a grin.

Athrun shook his head and couldn't help but to wonder just how much trouble the older man will be in if his girlfriend finds out. But nonetheless, he couldn't argue, his plan was the best one they've got. "How fast can you prepare it for us?"

"I'm not supposed to know your plan. But what I can do is make the military personnel here be ignorant of your escapade when you…break into the facility in Onogoro. But we have to act as if we are stopping you from taking the transport. So don't be shock if the alarm goes off when you do your thing in the facility and a bunch of personnel in Onogoro began to go after you."

"You mean steal," Shinn flatly supplied, but couldn't help to tug the corner of his lips.

Kisaka shrugged inwardly and grinned. "I like the term 'take' better. After all, I am authorizing this little agreement of ours. You do your thing, and I'll be obtusely ignorant about it," he said, winking.

.

"You, Athrun, and Shinn go grab one together while Dearka and I get another," Yzak ordered the rest. The boys were in disguise wearing Morgenroete orange colored auxiliary member uniforms, courtesy of Kisaka who secretly provided for them. They managed to sneak into the Onogoro facility using alias and are currently depicting as engineers working in the hangar where their prized possessions were located in.

"Why the hell am I stuck with you?" The annoyed blond looked grimaced after discovering that he was going to be stuck with no other Yzak.

Yzak shot him a glare. "Shut up, Elsman. Any objection?" He surveyed the group and everyone else save Dearka were shaking their heads. For the life of him, this plan better work.

"Just one problem. The lifts are single cockpit only, Yzak," Athrun pointed out, frowning at the realization.

"There's room in the sides. We can't just steal five Skygrasper for each of us. Remember, we're trying to do minimum damage here. We can't complain since time is running out, Zala."

"How are we going to take them undetected?" Shinn asked, glancing at their tickets home that were stationed near the exit.

"One of us will distract the crew members working around when the other quickly sneak in the cockpit," Athrun explained, looking at Yzak for confirmation. The silver-head nodded in agreement.

"Somehow, this reminds me of our mission back in Heliopolis," the blond snickered, recalling the disastrous mission that they partook in order to steal the latest G-weapons the EAF had created a few years back.

At the mention of his destroyed hometown, Kira gave him a flat and bitter look. "Yeah, I remembered that day very well. Thanks to you, my home was destroyed."

"You know we didn't mean to do that," Athrun interjected, wincing at the bitter memory that had also cost the lives of his good comrades.

Kira sighed and waved a dismissive hand. "Yeah, yeah. I know. We all were oblivious that the EA were producing them under our nose. It's all in the past, let's not talk about it." He had long forgiven them for that monumental day. After all, it had changed his life forever.

"Fine," Yzak began, hoping to steer the subject back on track. "Just make it believable that we're actually stealing these things? Remember, Cagalli has eyes and ears in this place."

"You mean surveillance cameras," Dearka flatly corrected, snorting.

"Shut your trap, Elsman," the fair-head growled.

.

---

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Carpentaria Base, ZAFT Military Territory

Present

.

"Sir! Two unauthorized Orb Skygraspers are approaching the base as we speak!" One soldier informed his unit.

"What?" His superior officer barked out incredulously next to him. "Did they identify themselves?"

"They claimed to be ZAFT soldiers, sir! They are requesting permission for emergency landing!"

"Permission denied! Who do they think they are?!"

.

Meanwhile, on the outskirt of Carpentaria Base…

"Oh, for the love of god, you just have to pick a Skygrasper that is running low on fuel you imbecile!" Yzak seethed to the blond who was operating the lift.

Dearka stole a glance to the silver-haired behind him and glared lightly. "Hey! It's not my fault that they were chasing us as if we were actual criminals!" In the attempt of successfully 'stealing' two Orb military units, they were actually being chased down by the military, missiles, G-weapons, helicopters, the whole nine yards basically. The blond cursed out loud when he remembered how Kisaka mentioned that they were going to be chase after by the Onogoro task force, but what he didn't anticipate that they were actually treating the scenario as if it was a real thing, chasing them down like wanted convicts.

"There were like hundreds of them to choose from!" Yzak argued back, sounding more incredulous by the second.

"Well this one was the closest to the exit, so sue me!" Dearka countered, hissing impatiently.

"This is not the time to be fighting!" Athrun hissed through the radio from the other stolen Skygrasper. "Do you realize they're shooting at us?!"

"Well no shit," Yzak wryly commented, inadvertently throwing a hand gesture in the air. The blond steered the lift to a sudden turn, momentarily misbalancing the silver-haired in towed.

"How the hell are we supposed to land safely if they won't give us a clear landing?" Dearka exclaimed, partially anxious that they were getting dangerously close to the base without a clear place to land, to top that off, their fuel was running low like Yzak said. This was not going to end well if they don't have access to a clear helipad soon.

"Yzak! They're not listening to us!" Kira cried out in frustration. "We tried tell them that we're ZAFT soldiers but they don't believe us at all!"

Goddamn it. Must he do everything to solicit their way out of messes? "Give me that, Elsman!" Yzak quickly grabbed the radio's walkie-talkie from the blond's hand. This better work, he thought bitterly.

"What are you doing?!" Dearka cried out as he quickly put his now free hand back on the steering controller.

"I'm going to save our behinds you ingrate! Put it on universal radio." He replied, thwarted. He put the device close to his lips and began his speech, "This is Commander Yzak Joule of the ZAFT Military Forces. I am requesting an emergency landing. All personnel clear the ground immediately!"

.

Chaos erupted in the air traffic control room as officers of all ranks began to question the man who self-professed himself as the infamous Commander on the other line.

"The Commander Yzak Joule?!"

"How do you know that it's really him?"

"This is some kind of joke?"

"That can't be. Isn't he supposed to be in PLANTs?"

'Oh it's him alright. Signal the ground forces to give a clear landing for them." The superior officer simply gave a hand gesture to the rest of the team to signal green. He had the pleasure of meeting the young commander once, and also had the displeasure of seeing his temporal side. There was no doubt the man behind the radio was in fact the young Commander Yzak Joule.

One of his subordinate skeptically looked at him. "What? Are you insane Second Lieutenant?! What if it's not him?"

"If you haven't been following the news, Sergeant, our angry Commander was in a quite amusing trip with his friends. It's not a surprise that they requested help from Orb to get here."

He still wasn't convinced. "Sir, what do you mean by that? This might be a terrorist attack!"

The radio then began to blare with the screeching voice of the said angry Commander.

"YOU DUMBASSES! GET THE HELL OUT OF THE WAY BEFORE YOU GET YOURSELF KILL RIGHT NOW! BETTER YET, IF YOU ALL MIRACULOUSLY SURVIVE THIS I WILL BE THE ONE WHO MURDER YOU MYSELF IF YOU KNUCKLEHEADS REFUSE TO FOLLOW MY ORDERS THIS INSTANT!"

The air traffic control room fell into a prolong stillness.

"Does that suffice your curiosity, Sergeant?" His superior officer inquired in resignation, giving his subordinate a half-lidded eyes bored expression. The very vocal person on the other line was no doubt a telltale of the frightening well-known Commander of the ZAFT Forces. After all, the angry intonation let alone ensued with a string of insults were dead giveaways to identify the enigmatic man.

The underling solider merely turned around for he does not need to be told twice and immediately began to bark orders through the radio to the ground personnel. "All hands on ground clear the docking area immediately! Prepare for an emergency landing!"

.

"C-Commander Joule! What a pleasant surprise!" A man in a ground force uniform greeted with a ZAFT salute. Quickly after the ace pilots disembarked their transports, a group of soldiers swamped the vicinity, hoping to get some answers.

The silver-haired simply gave a small nod of acknowledgement before getting straight to business. "Who's in charge here?"

"I am sir! Lieutenant Major Dalton Boyce at your service!" The officer beside the other one greeted.

"Good, now prepare an aircraft right this second."

The soldiers looked taken aback, not anticipating the sudden order from the infamous ZAFT Commander. They gave each other an identical look of confusion before looking back at the Commander. "Sir?"

Yzak glared at the unmoved soldiers before him. "What are you just standing there for, you morons? Get me a damn aircraft to PLANT! NOW!" His comrades behind flinched at his last statement.

"If I may be bold, sir, may I ask is why?" The Lieutenant Major boldly questioned.

The silver-haired Commander looked incredulous that they had the gall to question his authority. "Why? I'll tell you why, Solider! Commander Kira Yamato, Supreme Council Chairwoman's fiancé, has a wedding to be at right now! So stop questioning my orders and get your asses out of here and find me the fastest military air shuttle to PLANTs this instant!"

"B-but sir—"

The impatient silver-haired Commander cut his speech by grabbing him by the collar and pulling him dangerously close to the former. He has no time to idly chat with incompetent soldiers who won't do their jobs properly let alone, listen to their superior officers.

"Listen here, Lieutenant Major," he whispered coldly, "We have a wedding to go to. And if you nincompoops don't follow my orders right now, I will make sure that you will be demoted to KP duties in the galley for the rest of your duration of your tour in this forsaken place. Do you understand, Soldier?"

"U-Understood, Commander," he swallowed audibly, nodding rapidly in understanding. Now he understand why Commander Joule was one of the fiercest Commander of the ZAFT Forces.

Another soldier clad in the ground force uniform hurriedly made his way towards them and saluted. "Sir, we have an aircraft leaving for PLANTs in about T-minus thirty minutes."

Yzak nodded. "Good, in the meantime, my comrades and I will be heading towards the showers. If you kindly please, show us the way and prepare us some uniforms for a spare change of clothes."

"Right away, Sir!" He saluted the silver-head before quickly making the preparation.

The lackadaisical look on Dearka's face quickly sobered up to a more serious one, as if he remembered something important. "Speaking of, does anyone have a phone that can go long distance?"

Shinn gave his superior a weird look. "What for?"

The blond nervously scratched his nape and shifted his feet. He sheepishly smiled, "I need to call my girlfriend to straighten some…misunderstandings."

.

.

.

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A/N: Wow. This chapter was absolutely a monster to write. Jeez, took me forever to get the satisfying plot for this chapter. Over thirty pages people. Wow. I'm glad that this chapter is done, and I hope this long chapter make up for my lack of update this past week. I honestly wasn't so sure about this chapter. I kept going back and rewriting scenes and editing the crap out of them. So please forgive me if this wasn't an exciting and good chapter. T.T

Well on the other hand, one more chapter to go! And judging by the crazy ideas in my head, the final chapter will roughly be the same length as this one here (perhaps even longer O.O). Who loved Yzak's drunken moment?! Let me know by reviewing! :D

For those who love Yzak and Shiho, I published a new story about them! It's a short romantic comedy about how Yzak tries to win the heart of his favorite ace pilot! Check it out!

Again, thank you for reading, let me know what you think by reviewing!

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blackberrymint- Haha, yes I truly enjoyed writing out the fight scene at the club. I believe this chapter answered your curiosity :D. Haha, I believe Yzak is the type who will have the emotional roller coast phase. Thanks again for reviewing!

Cuteshe- Haha, yes, our favorite expressionless Shiho :3. Hmm, I honestly never thought of adding another Astray characters to the plot. I only included Lowe because from what I've read in Gundam Wiki, he spent some times in Mars. Maybe in my future stories I'll include them, especially since I've been thinking about writing a Gundam Seed arc, something that's way out of my usual genre.

Yuriski-1st-Definitely, our favorite Commander will eventually let loose when Dearka comes along :D Thanks for reviewing!