The ground group reached the island's command centre in time to see six Windams flying away towards the mass driver. Atticus and Lucian quickly dispatched three of them before the others got out of site. "Forget them, we have a more important mission" Aston said, turning to the large six story building that was the island's command centre. "Head for the mass driver, I'll take out the command centre" Aston said, walking towards it. The other three mobile suits quickly ran in the direction of the giant ramp as Aston started hacking away at the building with his sword.
"No!" Garret called, causing the other pilots to look at where his Duel was looking. At the top of the mass driver, just getting into the air was a familiar Archangel-class ship, the Cherubim. "Atticus, shoot it!" the blonde pilot roared. The Astray raised its sniper rifle and fired several shots at the fleeing ship, only two hit and both did only minor damage to the ship's hull.
"It's moving too fast" Atticus said as he lowered his rifle. Garret ran forward, engaging his phase shift and firing his rifle at the Cherubim, even though none of the shots reached the ship before it vanished.
"Dammit… so they were here" Garret sighed, lowering his gun. The pilots of both the Ceres and Izanami proceeded to eliminate any remaining Purity forces and take out the mass driver before returning to their respective ships. Garret stood in the locker room of the Ceres, his head against the cold door of his locker.
"Don't feel bad Garret, it's not your fault. They've probably been getting ships out of there for the last few days and they probably had submarines stationed in the ocean that told them we were coming. We couldn't have stopped that ship from launching" Aston spoke, placing a hand on his old friend's shoulder.
"But now the Tyranny is in space. They could be heading for the PLANTs!" Garret said, turning to Aston.
"Should that happen, I'm sure Chairwoman Clyne will find a way to stop it" the Commander spoke. "Besides that, there is no guarantee that the Tyranny was on board that Archangel-class" he said. As the two of them left the locker room.
"Excuse me Commander" Hilde said, walking over to the red-haired man.
"What is it Hilde?" Aston asked.
"I'd like to submit a mission plan to Admiral La Flaga. I think it would be worthwhile moving to attack Purity's African mass driver" the young woman explained.
"That may be a good idea, but I think it would be better to wait for a bit first. Having just destroyed this base, Alastair will most likely have increased defence around the African mass driver in expectation of an attack" the Commander replied. "However feel free to submit the mission plan to the Admiral anyway, we may be able to use it later" he continued. Hilde nodded and headed for the bridge.
"If you'll excuse me Commander, I need something to eat" Garret said, saluting Aston and walking away from the man. The blonde pilot walked to the cafeteria and slumped down on one of the seats with a meal tray.
"You look about as great as me" Marcel spoke, sitting down next to Garret. Garret's forehead fell to the table and he raised a hand in greeting. "It really sucks that we couldn't stop those two damn ships… If those Saviours hadn't showed up, Hilde and I could've gotten that Agamemnon-class" the brown haired pilot sighed.
"What happened with that? I saw them show up and then next time I looked over they were gone" Garret asked, turning his head on its side to look at Marcel.
"Honestly, I'm not sure. I was falling after one of them rammed me, I remember thinking that I wouldn't let them get Hilde and then I just kind of zoned out. After that, the next thing I knew I was flying down to Hilde" Marcel explained.
"That same sort of thing has happened to me twice. It happened when I escaped from the Purity base in Sydney and then again in that last fight against the Tyranny" Garret explained, sitting up straight.
"Maybe we're just that awesome we kick ass without even realizing it" Marcel said with a grin.
"Yeah, well we are pretty damn awesome" Garret commented, poking at the beef on his tray with his fork. Victoria and Hilde entered the cafeteria and sat opposite the two boys with their own meals.
"I can't believe that stupid GOUF got my leg" Victoria sighed, staring at her meal.
"Are you alright? What happened?" Garret asked, looking at Victoria.
"Yeah I'm ok, one of the GOUFs got behind me and destroyed the lower part of my left leg with its whip" the brunette girl explained. "Don't worry, I'm not injured or anything" she added with a gentle smile.
"If it wasn't for Marcel's skills I probably wouldn't be sitting here with you all right now" Hilde spoke, smiling at the brown haired boy. "I don't know what happened to you out there, but I'm glad it did" she added.
"Even I don't know what happened…" Marcel said. Before the conversation could continue, the Ceres suddenly shook violently.
"Oh for crying out loud, what now?!" Garret said loudly, getting to his feet.
"Garret and Marcel board your machines and launch immediately" Richard's voice spoke over the ship's loudspeaker. Garret and Marcel ran from the cafeteria and down to the hangar. Both chose not to waste time changing into their flight suits and climbed straight into their Gundams. The Chaos launched first followed quickly by the Duel riding on a Guul. "A Purity force that evaded our detection back at the island is attacking us. There are six fighter planes, three DINNs and two BABIs. Atticus and Dante will be helping you" Richard explained. Dante's GOUF joined with the Chaos and Duel and the Ceres pilots could see the Astray standing on the Izanami.
"These Purity bastards are getting ridiculous" Dante said, drawing his sword and engaging the two beam blades. He and Garret flew towards the enemy mobile suits while Marcel headed closer to the Izanami to assist Atticus. "Show me what that Gundam can do!" Dante called as he sliced through the main body of one of the DINNs. Garret turned the other way and fired a number of missiles from the Guul and destroyed three of the fighters. He used the Duel's Igelstellungs and destroyed a fourth and the other two quickly fell back, only to fall prey to Marcel's gunbarrels.
"I'll cut you down!" Garret yelled, flying forward and shooting through one of the DINNs with his rifle. A beam flew past him and destroyed one of the BABIs. Garret glanced back and saw Atticus already lining another shot. "He's good" the blonde pilot spoke, raising his shield to bloke several shots from the remaining BABI. Dante lashed out with his heat whip, wrapping it around the torso of the last DINN before tightening the weapon and crushing the midsection of the mobile suit. "Dante, catch me!" Garret called. He leapt off his Guul just as the BABI fired, destroying the small craft. Garret fell through the air, his back to the ocean below. "Three… two… one" he spoke, firing a shot from his rifle just as Dante's GOUF caught him. The BABI exploded and Dante dropped Garret off at the Ceres as Marcel returned.
"Are we actually going to get a break now?" Marcel groaned as he walked the Chaos to its place in the hangar. To the relief of the crews of the two ships, their journey back to Orb was uninterrupted. Both the Ceres and Izanami docked at Onogoro and the pilots along with Richard and Mu gathered in one of the outside areas of the military base.
The group all waited expectantly as Captain Phillips and Admiral La Flaga spoke quietly away from them. The two seemed to come to an agreement and then joined the pilots. "We've decided that before we do anything else, this little group needs a name" Mu spoke rather cheerfully, looking between the pilots seated on the grass before him. "Does anyone have any ideas?" he asked.
"Me! Let's call ourselves the Obliterators!" Dante said with a huge grin.
"Idiot. That sounds too evil, we're not gonna fly under that name" Cassandra spoke, shaking her head at her comrade.
"Aww, you're no fun" the ZAFT pilot pouted. The group tried numerous suggestions for about ten minutes with no avail.
"How about Heaven's Blade?" Aston suggested, looking between the others. Everyone thought for a second, toying with the name in their minds.
"Sounds pretty badass to me" Lucian commented and everyone seemed to agree.
"Well then, Heaven's Blade it is" Mu spoke, liking the name himself. "Now, onto a more serious matter. Due to the successful destruction of the Purity mass driver, let's just say, Mr. Alastair isn't too happy with us. He sent some video messages to the leaders of all three groups, the EAF, ZAFT and Orb stating that he would be sending squads of his best pilots to avenge the lives lost on the island" the Admiral spoke, looking between the pilots before him who listened intently. "The PLANTs have stated that they are able to defend themselves however the nations of the Earth Alliance Forces as well as Orb have requested some assistance from us. For that reason, the Ceres will remain here in Orb while the Izanami will head to London where we believe Purity is planning to attack the EAF" the blonde man explained.
"Do we know how long we have before Purity attacks?" Garret asked in response.
"We're not entirely sure, so until the attacks commence, everyone is to be on maximum alert" Mu replied. "Orb has stated that they will assist in any repairs needed for the Ceres and its mobile suits in return for our help" he continued.
"Well then, let's all head back to the ship and get ready" Aston spoke, motioning for the pilots of the Ceres to stand.
"Same goes for my pilots, return to the Izanami, we're moving out immediately" Mu spoke. All of the pilots returned to their respective ships and the crew of the Ceres watched the Izanami depart.
Hilde sat on the open hatch of her Saviour, gazing out at the mechanics working in the hangar, making any necessary repairs to the Gundams. She hadn't even realized she'd fallen asleep until she was woken by Marcel. "Marcel?" the purple haired pilot groaned, her eyes trying to focus on his face.
"Just checking you're ok. One of the mechanics said he saw a stray leg hanging over the side of the hatch that hadn't moved for a while" Marcel said with a smile. Hilde rubbed her eyes and sat up. "It seems to be a thing for the pilots on this ship, we have a real bad habit of falling asleep in our machines without even realizing" he spoke, sitting next to her.
"What do you fight for Marcel?" Hilde asked, looking over at the young pilot. She knew she was a year older than Marcel but she didn't know much about his past or why he joined ZAFT.
"At first, I only joined the military because of my father. He's a commander in ZAFT and he wanted his only son to carry on his legacy, whatever that happens to be" Marcel explained, an irritated tone in his voice, "so at first I hated fighting, I mean I still do, but back then there seemed to be no good reason for it. I was just following my father's shadow. Now though, after seeing what I've seen and meeting the people I've met I just want to protect the people close to me. Garret, Victoria, you."
"You want to protect me?" Hilde asked. She'd never seen this side of Marcel before, he was serious and his eyes showed that he meant everything he said.
"Of course, you're my friend" he replied, shooting a warm smile her way. Hilde smiled back and the two sat on the Saviour, watching the green-clad mechanics work below them.
In his room, Aston sat on his bed in just the pants and boots of his uniform, a photo frame in his hand. In the photo stood himself in his old academy uniform next to a girl with long blonde hair in the same uniform. She had her arms around his neck and was smiling at him. Aston was smiling back and neither of them even noticed the camera. A single tear rolled down the crimson haired man's cheek as he looked at the old photo. "Zoe… I swear that for you I will end this war. No matter what it takes, I will bring peace to the Earth and to space so that you can rest in peace" he spoke, putting the photograph into his bedside drawer. "Every one of us fights for different reasons, to protect, to avenge, to atone. We all fight for these things because something lights that fire in us all. It may be human nature to fight for what we want, but there has to come a time where we lay down our weapons for good" Aston spoke, laying down on his bed.