category: Gundam SEED
disclaimer: I don't own it.
FIFTEEN.
Arnold Neumann did not ask questions.
When the Archangel first took off from Heliopolis, he could have had a say in their plans. He was the ranking non-commissioned officer aboard, and both he and then-Ensign Badgiruel were stationed on the ship from the start. His opinion would have counted among those of Badgiruel and the lieutenants La Flaga and Ramius. But he chose to remain silent. He did not want the responsibility of dozens of crewmembers on his shoulders. He was a soldier, not a commander. Piloting the ship was one of the few things he knew how to do, so he stuck to it and said nothing.
After JOSH-A, when everything was confusion and mayhem and death, he stayed back and allowed the captain to make the decision. "We're defecting," she told him grimly in the cafeteria before she officially informed the crew. "I'm not so sure what the Alliance is trying to do now, but after Alaska, we can't risk becoming a secondary chess piece again." Her chin raised defiantly. "No more of us are going to die for a federation that does not value loyalty. Will you support me, Arnold?"
He smiled at her, because she had been worried sick of late. "Of course, captain. This ship trusts you."
After the war, he bid farewell to his comrades and blended himself into civilian life. He liked architecture, so he worked freelance at firms and kept his mind occupied as the months passed. The world continued to linger in the doldrums of unrest.
The day of Representative Athha's wedding, he received a coded message from the Terminal. An angel is rising up to save its princess today. And that was all he needed. Before he even registered the implications of his choice, he was packing a bag and running through the throngs that crowded the streets. He had been wandering aimlessly the past two years and now they were back to square one.
He didn't mind; square one was comfortably familiar.
Kira greeted him warmly as he stepped out of the elevator and onto the bridge. The new uniform felt right on his body, and he slipped into the familiar seat behind the wheel easily. His fingers began pressing the buttons and shifting the levers out of habit and the vessel roared to life under his hands.
Neumann turned around as the ship powered up and the captain passed him a guilty smile. "Sorry for calling you out again."
"No," he answered. "I wouldn't want to be anywhere else." He didn't ask what they planned to do, or if they were getting ready to sweep in and save the day and end the war again. He didn't care to know, because he was sure it wouldn't change how confident he felt as the OS beeped, and the fact that he would go to the ends of the earth with these very people that surrounded him.
"Systems all green." And the ship launched.
notes: Remember when I said that I would choose obscure characters to write about as well as the main set? Here's the first of characters that don't get much screen time, ever. I like Neumann, so here this is. See you all back tomorrow!
NEXT PHASE: Cagalli hated herself each time she turned to a familiar face at her side and she had to force the name 'Alex' out. He was always Athrun to her.