Celestial Being Chronicles - Chapter 120
Disclaimer: I don't own any of the Gundam series, nor any of the various series which are used or referenced in my fic, so please point that damned lawsuit cannon at someone else, also, don't read this if you are not of legal age to read such material. The story contains possibly disturbing content and should not be read by close-minded people (i.e., people who are easily offended.) Everything in the story is fictional. I am also not responsible for any actions taken by people who read this story and society's problems. I do, however, own my original character; Hope Yamato.
"Evil always finds a way back from death." Hibiki smirked from the cockpit of the Revenant Gundam. "And the sort of Evil I am, the avatar of the darkness that is hidden within every human soul, can never be vanquished, I can only be sealed away temporarily. My seals have been broken, and I have returned! The world shall burn to mere cinders beneath my feet, and I shall paint my face with the blood of the innocent, and grease my hands with the innards of the powerful! I shall reforge this world in fire and blood, until the blade of humanity finally shines with a brilliant deadliness, and I will do so as many times as necessary." Hibiki promised fervently. "I am Kira Hibiki, and that is my destiny."
"You also never shut the fuck up!" Kira Yamato snarled from the Divinity's cockpit, punctuating each word with a blast from his beam rifle.
Rattling under a near miss from a Laurasia-class frigate's guns, the Archangel plowed ahead with its CIWS blazing and missiles bursting into fiery clouds around the ship's sloping prow. Murrue watched the enemy ship's lime-green hull through the smoke and flames, as the enemy ship wheeled around with its guns swiveling to face the Archangel.
"Captain, Nazca-class approaching at five o'clock." Lacus spoke up from the sensor console.
Murrue eyed the Laurasia for a moment and saw her chance. "Gottfrieds, target the Laurasia to port and fire!"
The Archangel sent out four blazing green beams that smashed into the Laurasia's dorsal surface and blew off most of its large weapons. Murrue sat back and turned her attention towards the auxiliary screen, where the Nazca was angling its guns for a counterattack.
"Cagalli, descend!" The Archangel groaned as it veered down towards the surface of Eden Prime and the Nazca's shots sizzled by overhead. "Meyrin, send Kira to finish off that Laurasia before it comes about! Cagalli, turn us back around; Slegehammer missiles, prepare to fire!"
Up ahead, the Divinity shot by with a burst of exhaust and poured plasma cannon fire into the crippled Laurasia's center, and with a thundering explosion, the ship cracked in two. The Archangel swung its prow around as the Nazca above pulled up, beam cannons blazing.
"Incoming fire is too thick!" Cagalli shouted. "We're not going to get through!"
"I will!" Kira's voice cut in from Meyrin's console, and with a flash, the Divinity spiraled up through the Nazca's barrage, fired back, and ripped off its portside beam cannon.
Murrue leaned forward. "Gottfrieds, target the Nazca's centerline and fire!"
"Now this is more like it!" Kira cackled as the Divinity elegantly spiraled through a Laurasia-class frigate's furious barrage of beam blasts and rail gun shells in mobile armor mode. He stopped short and yanked back on the controls as a Blaze ZAKU Warrior lunged up before him and unleashed a swarm of missiles. The Divinity shook slightly as the missiles slammed against its AT field, a few of the projectiles penetrating the orange barrier only to slam against either the angelic machine's glowing green GN field or its bright blue beam shields. "Hey, damnit, that's not fair!"
The ZAKU plunged through the smoke, beam tomahawk upraised, but Kira seized his chance to jerk the mobile suit to the right, letting the ZAKU catch mere afterimages with its blade, and before it could follow up he transformed the Gundam into its mobile suit mode, speared the ZAKU through the cockpit on a beam rifle shot, and took off again.
"Kira, frigate on point to port, give it some pain!" Meyrin spoke through the cockpit speakers.
Kira paused for a moment to regain his bearings and then flashed a grin as he caught his target. "On it!" The Divinity transformed and charged again, danced around the blasts from the enemy warship. The crosshairs passed over his target, the Divinity let loose a burst of beam fire that plowed through the Laurasia's prow and blasted out its bridge. Kira jammed back the controls and pulled the Divinity into a steep climb. "Archangel, all yours!"
A thundering wave of Gottfried fire sizzled by underneath the Divinity and slammed through the Laurasia's center, and vast arms of fire ripped the warship apart in a shuddering explosion.
Shinn Asuka blinked in surprise as a wave of pink beam fire suddenly ripped apart one of the ZAKUs up ahead. The three GuAIZs darted away in surprise, and the black form of the GAT-X105E+AQM/E-X09S Strike Noir rocketed into the fight, its beam rifle blazing. The GAT-X105E+AQM/E-M1 Strike E IWSP and the GAT-X105+P202QX Strike Gundam IWSP followed close behind the Strike Noir, both unleashing a salvo of their own as the GuAIZs pulled back behind their beam shields, while another ZAKU fell to the barrage.
"What the hell is this?" Shinn started, backing the Eclipse away, with the Twilight at his side, as the Strike Noir and its two allies savaged the ZAKUs.
"Are they...helping?" Luna asked quietly.
"I can't tell." Shinn answered. "But let's get back in case they aren't."
The Eclipse vaulted up into the air with the Twilight and backpedaled as the ZAKUs crumpled under the Strike Noir's blows. Shinn blinked in surprise as an image of a young man with hazel eyes and silver hair appeared on his auxiliary screen.
"Don't think we're on your side now, Shinn Asuka." Sven Cal Bayan warned with a scowl from the cockpit of the Strike Noir. "Don't ever think that."
Shinn arched his eyebrow. "Of course not." The Eclipse's eyes flashed as it and the Twilight slipped away. Taking advantage of the sudden appearance of the three Gundams, the Archangel once again docked in the Excalibur's hanger bay.
A current of ice ran through Captain Robert Glasgow's veins as the blackness of space itself suddenly belched out a torrent of neon green energy blasts, spearing the Alliance Archangel-class warship Lucifer and causing it to break apart, fire spilling out of its innards, incinerating nearly a dozen mobile suits gathered around it. The bridge of the Minerva-class warship Fortuna fell silent, until it was rocked again by the destruction of the fleet's second remaining Nazca-class ship.
"Well, that kind of fucks us over." Commander James Graves said quietly.
Glasgow leaned forward. "Are you telling me that sixty percent of my task force was destroyed here?" He slammed his fist down onto the command chair's armrest. "Order all units to retreat at once! Maximum speed!"
Graves glanced up skeptically. "Marshal Hibiki won't be pleased."
"Damn Marshal Hibiki!" Glasgow roared. "This operation was a complete failure! Get us out of here!" He wheeled around on Graves with rage burning in his eyes. "And you! Where were your vaunted strategies this time, when it mattered?"
"I don't see why you're blaming me." Graves shot back. "I did my job; your job was to provide the protection."
The ZAFT captain angrily whirled back towards the front and watched as the Alliance Columbus-class warship swung around to make its escape.
"Well, this is new." Meyrin said as the shockwave rattled the Excalibur ever so slightly.
In the captain's chair, Murrue Ramius looked up at the grizzled man on the auxiliary screen, the man in the black uniform of the Phantom Pain.
"I must say, you're not what I was expecting in the captain of the ship that's given me so much trouble." He said sardonically.
Murrue arched her eyebrow and touched the visor of her peaked cap. "What's the purpose of this transmission, captain...?"
"Ian Danilov." The man supplied. "The purpose is simple. Take a look at your tactical map. About half of the surviving Earth Alliance and ZAFT fleet is in full retreat; the other half is trapped here with no escape, and is currently about to get completely wiped out." He sat back. "Now, as I'm sure you're well aware, I'm under orders to destroy you on sight. But I think we can agree that this task force is the greater threat, and its escaped survivors need to be eliminated. So, if I were to not see you..."
"How do I know you aren't going to chase us down anyway?" Murrue responded.
"You don't. And I make no guarantees." Danilov smirked conspiratorially. "So, consider this a head start."
Murrue eyed the man on the monitor carefully for a moment. "Don't think you're going to have it easy if you find us again."
"I'm sure. And, before you go, would you care to indulge me and tell me the name of my adversary?" Danilov broke into a sportsman's grin. "Fair is fair, after all."
Memories returned in Murrue's mind of the Orb civilians who were crushed and pulped by the combined invasion forces of ZAFT and the Earth Alliance, but if this was the same captain, then the same captain who had ordered the invasion was the one ostensibly giving her an avenue to escape this battle and offering to finish off the forces which were still remaining. And once she got away, the Excalibur could easily hunt down the remaining ships of this task force and then slip away. The man in command during the invasion of Orb couldn't be this same man.
And yet here he was, asking for the name of his adversary. Asking for the name of this ship's captain.
"Ramius." She said at last.
Danilov smirked back. "Then I look forward to our next battle, Captain Ramius."
The screen went dark, the tension on the bridge rippled, and Murrue glanced back at the main screen. "Meyrin, recall our mobile suits and inform the Katsuragi. Cagalli, after the retreating ships. We have a mission to complete."
It was a mighty armada. Five Lesseps-class and fifteen Petrie-class land battleships sailed across the desert sands, and each ship's deck was loaded down with armies of waiting mobile suits. More mobile suits charged forward among the sands, and the air was filled with Celestial Being fighters and helicopters and even more mobile suits. And standing on the deck of this massive army's flagship was the Divinity Gundam, staring forward impassively, waiting.
Arrayed two miles before the Celestial Being force was an enormous Alliance base. The Alliance troops had entrenched themselves in the city of Seattle, and had created a massive fortress bristling with guns and packed with military hardware of their own.
Kira Yamato stared forward apprehensively at the waiting enemy through the eyes of the Divinity Gundam. He was in command of this massive army, his job was to capture this base, which was the final stronghold of the Alliance in the United States of America, and pave the way to a lightly-defended Alliance naval base on the shore, whose destruction would completely remove the Alliance from Celestial Being's terrestrial ally. Behind him, he had hundreds of mobile suits and thousands of Celestial Being soldiers and crew, before him, he had hundreds of mobile suits and thousands of Alliance soldiers and crew. He would lead his men as the generals of old did, riding at the head of the battle, in shining armor, plunging headfirst into the same inferno as his soldiers. And before him, the Alliance troops were hunkered down, patiently waiting for the Celestial Being forces to enter their range.
Kira looked back, at his soldiers. The mobile suits themselves were perfect warriors, their faces betrayed no fear, only a steadfast determination to reach the battlefield. The soldiers inside were battle-hardened veterans who knew no fear, and knew instead how to fight and win.
'Unfortunately, the enemy is just as battle-hardened and fearless as we are.' Kira thought to himself as he looked back at the enemy.
All further rumination was cut off as the Alliance's artillery opened fire. The shots splashed down into the sand in front of the charging army. Kira narrowed his eyes, the Alliance troops weren't aiming to hit. Sure enough, another salvo thundered forward, and this time the flying shells took down several BuCUEs, ZAKUs and GOUFs.
The army pressed on undeterred, and Kira sucked up his breath. It was now or never.
Before him, the Alliance forces fired off yet another salvo, and missiles came swarming in. The attack was beginning. The Lesseps-class which the Divinity was riding on quaked under a missile hit. Kira furrowed his brow and yelled out one simple order. "All troops, charge!"
The words had barely left his lips before everything started going to hell.
The Alliance troops before him opened fire with a salvo the likes of which Kira had never seen. Hundreds of canisters slammed down in front of the charging mobile suits, and as Kira realized too late what was going on, a huge pall of smoke rose over the battlefield, obscuring everything. Kira opened his mouth, hoping to order his men to open fire before it was too late, but a volley of beam fire and missiles slammed head-on into the Celestial Being units.
Kira watched in horror as a hundred pilots died simultaneously.
"Commander Yamato!" Someone shouted, through the roar of battle. "What are your orders?"
Kira took a breath and steeled himself.
"All mobile suits advance at full speed!" He shouted.
The Divinity took off with a blast.
For a few moments, there was nothing but smoke, but then the smoke parted and Kira could see before him the enemy base, guns blazing. He cut down a handful of missiles with a burst of CIWS fire and stormed through the smoke towards the base.
Down below, the Alliance's Windams opened fire on the charging Gundam with their beam rifles, and Kira sent the Divinity diving towards the sand. He returned fire as the Divinity twisted through a maze of beams, aiming for the Windams' heads.
Kira gasped in surprise as the Windams expertly deflected the Divinity's shots with their shields. They turned their firepower on an approaching squad of BuCUEs, and a moment later there were five more dead Celestial Being pilots.
'That wouldn't have happened if...' Kira thought as a powerful artillery shell hit the Divinity in the chest, knocking it out of the air. Kira shook his head and opened fire with a full burst from the Divinity's weapons, aiming again for arms and legs and heads.
And the Windams dove out of the way, letting the Divinity's shots fly by harmlessly. Kira fired again, but again the Windams dodged, and their combined firepower brought down another Celestial Being mobile suit squad in a fiery blaze.
'They...they'll keep killing...unless...' Kira squeezed his eyes shut. He couldn't! Those Alliance pilots had families of their own! They were fighting on the wrong side, they were killing, but for that they didn't deserve to die!
The Divinity was rocked again as more missiles came down around it, and Kira quickly hunkered down behind the Divinity's GN field, beam shields and even the physical shield on the machine's right forearm. The Windams returned their attention to him, pouring beam rifle fire onto his glowing GN field, some of the shots actually penetrating the glowing energy field only to harmlessly impact on his bright blue shield, and Kira leapt up into the air, desperately dodging their shots.
An errant missile plowed into the Divinity's face, sending the angel-winged Gundam plummeting towards the ground, and Kira screamed.
There was a brightly glowing violet seed, veined with gold, and suddenly, everything was clear.
A squad of GINNs and another of ZAKUs was charging towards the Windams, machine guns and beam rifles blazing, and the Windams took up their own beam rifles to return fire. The Divinity slashed down into their ranks with a storm of beam fire, ripping the Windams' guns and arms off. The Divinity charged forward towards the base, dodging missile emplacements and spewing weapons fire into the Alliance lines, blowing away mobile suit heads and arms and legs.
"No more of this!" Kira screamed, as the Divinity blazed with a blood red light, its angelic wings glowing pure white.
The Divinity drew its beam saber and charged again, disarming a pair of Windams as he continued to storm towards the base, a hurricane of afterimages following in his wake. Gunfire rose to meet him, but the Celestial Being forces were right behind him, breaking through the hole the Divinity had torn in the enemy lines, and the battle turned into the insanity of a no-holds-barred mobile suit brawl. Kira himself continued into the base, slicing apart any enemy that rose to oppose him.
A pair of Windams were standing near a closed-off mobile suit hangar, beam rifles blazing. Kira let out a yell and charged, boosting between them and slashing both their arms off, flying towards the hangar,
And a moment later, a massive red blast slashed across the Divinity's path. Kira slammed on the brakes, and the Divinity lurched backwards. An alarm sounded, and Kira threw the Divinity's physical shield up to deflect a beam rifle shot, and barely had he done that when a blue claw came flying at him, and only a timely duck saved him. The Divinity landed with a crash, and Kira looked around for his attackers.
"What the...is that the Strike Gundam?" Kira rethorically asked himself.
Standing before him were three Strike Gundams, all three sporting one of the Strike's distinctive Striker packs. Kira stared with an edge of apprehension at them. The Launcher Strike raised its cannon and fired, and Kira leapt up into the air, letting its shot tear by beneath his feet, but instantly the Aile Strike was upon him with its beam rifle. Jetting to the side, Kira was suddenly under attack from the Sword Strike, slamming its anti-ship sword against the Divinity's shield. The Divinity went staggering back, and a moment later the Aile Strike charged into Kira's face with its beam saber, forcing it back even further.
"They're so damn fast!" Kira shouted, even as the Launcher Strike opened fire, forcing him to dive to the side, only to have the Sword Strike come down on him with its sword. Barely deflecting the blow with the Divinity's physical shield, Kira watched out of the corner of his eye, as the Aile Strike took aim with its beam rifle. His eyes widened.
With a yell, the Divinity leapt up and kicked the Sword Strike in the face, knocking it away. Without a moment to spare, the Divinity smacked away the Aile Strike's beam shot with its beam saber, and boosted upwards to dodge the Launcher Strike's shot. A blast from the Divinity's weapons created a cloud of smoke around the Launcher Strike, and with a single beam saber stroke, the Launcher Strike's left arm and cannon went spiraling away. A powerful kick to the right arm crushed the weapons pod, and with one last kick to the face, the Divinity sent the disarmed Launcher Strike sprawling into the dust.
The Sword and Aile Strikes charged, and Kira leapt above them. He dove down into the Sword Strike's face, kicking the anti-ship sword out of its grasp. With a powerful overhead saber slash, he cut off the Sword Strike's left arm at the shoulder and left leg at the knee, and the damaged mobile suit collapsed to the ground.
Beam shots flashed around the Divinity, and Kira deflected them with the shield. The Aile Strike charged in with its beam saber drawn, and slammed it against the Divinity's shield. Kira grunted as the Divinity rattled, and saw an opening, he swung the Aile Strike's saber aside with the Divinity's shield, and impaled the Aile Strike's head on the Divinity's saber. A kick to the chest sent the headless Strike stumbling away, and a plasma cannon volley blew off the Strike's arms and Aile Striker. The helpless mobile suit collapsed forwards, and Kira let out a sigh of relief.
"Commander Yamato!" A voice cried. Kira glanced to his left, finding the panicked face of a Celestial Being officer. "We have to retreat! We can't sustain anymore casualties!"
"What?" Kira exclaimed. "What do you mean casualties? I just disabled..."
The Divinity took off, and Kira gasped in horror. The Alliance forces had charged forward while he had been fighting the Strikes, and Kira immediately recognized many of the attacking Windams as ones he had disabled, they lacked guns or arms or heads, but charged forward anyways with beam sabers or fallen comrades' weapons. Kira stared in disbelief as the soldiers he thought he had taken out of the fight dove back into it.
"Commander Yamato!" The officer shouted. "You can't stay there! We're pulling back!"
Kira swallowed a lump in his throat and the Divinity took off for the leading Lesseps as it pulled back. In a flash, he landed on the deck and demanded a report on the situation.
"The Alliance forces counterattacked!" The officer exclaimed hastily. "They let most of our mobile suits pass right by and brought the fight to-" He was cut off by a scream, and Kira's eyes widened as a Windam missing its right arm, a Windam Kira had disabled, landed in front of the Lesseps' bridge and slashed it out with a beam saber.
Kira stared at the Windam, shocked. He had disabled it. He had taken it out of the battle. But it had returned, and now those Celestial Being troops on the bridge of that ship were dead, because Kira had not killed the pilot of that Windam.
An alarm went off, and Kira turned. He gasped in astonishment as he found the damaged Sword Strike charging at him with its anti-ship sword drawn and held in front of it. He tried to move, but shock had paralyzed him, and all he could do was stare.
The anti-ship sword plunged into the Divinity's chest, and everything went black.