Author's Note: Woohoo! I actually finished this ahead of schedule (yes, you heard that right, ahead of schedule). Hey, I worked hard on this, give me a break! All for you guys and girls!
Okay, I'll shut up now. Enjoy!
Episode Four: Battle for Descent
Several hours later, Murrue stood outside Heero's quarters. Reaching up, she pressed a button next to the door. "May I come in?"
"Sure," he said. She opened the door and saw him sitting at his table, laptop open. He had finally changed out of his flight suit and was wearing a pair of jeans, a green tank-top, and a dark-blue, almost black jacket. He looked up as she entered.
"Are they here?" he said, referring to Admiral Halberton and his staff officers.
She nodded. "They just arrived. They're in the officers' lounge right now. I thought I should come get you personally; I wanted to talk a bit on the way there. What are you looking at, anyway?"
He looked at the screen. "I was going over the data from the last engagement." She saw an image of the Archangel firing on the three frigates in front of her. "The Lohengrin Positron Cannons are quite impressive. I imagine that, since the N-jammers make nukes worthless, these are the most powerful weapons in the Alliance arsenal."
"Yes," she replied. "Because of that, this ship and the mobile suits that were to accompany her were considered top priority projects by High Command. Now that four of them have been stolen, this ship and the Strike are the best hope we have." As she was speaking, he powered down his computer and put it away.
He stood up and walked over to her. "Shall we get going?" She nodded. Leaving his room, they headed towards the lounge.
"I haven't had a chance to thank you yet," Murrue said. "Without you, we would have been destroyed in that engagement long before the fleet would've arrived."
He looked over at her for a moment, a bit of puzzlement on his face. Then he shrugged. "Don't mention it."
"Is something the matter?" she said.
He shook his head. "Just not used to someone thanking me so much. You did that when I first arrived, too."
She frowned. "Were people not grateful to you in your world? I'm assuming you fought in some war there. The amount of skill you show in battle is not something that just training can give you, and even the most powerful mobile suit no doubt has its limits. I can tell just by looking at you that you've seen a great deal of combat… more than someone your age should have to."
"It's not that people didn't thank me," he began. "However, it was a sporadic thing. Everyone I knew was involved in the war in one way or another. It consumed our lives. It was hard to remember something as simple as gratitude at times." He paused, and when he continued, she was surprised to hear a hint of bitterness in his voice. "An entire generation…my generation… was robbed of a chance at what you would call normalcy, because mankind refused to learn from its mistakes. I have the actual figures in Zero's databanks if you want to see them sometime; it was estimated that more people under the age of eighteen saw real combat in that period than any other in recorded history. Hell, the Alliance and OZ had cadets as young as twelve, and the space colony revolutionaries were little better. And the old men that ran the whole show just kept creating more meaningless battles, repeating history's vicious cycle. It took the largest conflict the world had ever seen to finally open their eyes."
He stopped walking and looked at the floor. Murrue was starting to worry. She turned towards him, and heard him chuckle. "How strange… I don't know why I'm telling you any of this. I've always held things within; a survival instinct, I guess."
She put a hand on his shoulder, causing him to look up at her. When she looked into his eyes, the same sense of weariness and the hint of sorrow she had caught the first time she had seen them were there in full-force. It's just a feeling, she thought, but I don't think he's ever had a heart-to-heart talk with anyone about his experiences on the battlefield. I certainly can't blame him if he finds it hard to open up to people, but there's a lot he's keeping bottled up inside.
Murrue realized then that what he needed, more than anything else, was someone in this world that he could trust. Someone that he could turn to when the time finally came, when those walls of stoicism and cool reserve he had built up as a soldier began to falter under the sheer enormity of all that he had gone through. I can't ask him to tell me everything now. It wouldn't be right, and I owe him for keeping everyone aboard this ship alive. He's done as much for us as Kira. All I can do is let him know that he isn't alone, so that when the time comes, he won't be facing his demons by himself.
Still looking into his eyes, she began to speak. "Heero, listen to me. I want you to know that I am truly grateful for all you have done. More importantly, I will be grateful in the future, for as long as you stay with us, and even after you've left, if you decide to. I will continue to thank you after every battle, for every little bit of help you give us, because without it, we would not have made it this far."
She took a breath and then continued. "Also, I want you to know that, if you ever want to talk, I will always be willing to listen. I swear that, unless you tell me otherwise, I will not tell a soul anything you say to me under that confidence, even under orders from my superiors." She smiled. "I want to be your friend, for as long as you'll have me."
She thought she saw the corners of his mouth curl upward, ever so slightly. It was like he was trying so hard to hold it back, but a small smile managed to appear on his face. "In that case…" he said, "thank you… Murrue."
"You're very welcome, Heero," she replied, "Now, shall we get going? I don't think we should keep the Admiral and his staff waiting much longer."
"Technically that's your problem, since I'm not part of your formal command structure," he replied, the smile becoming a smirk. "However, I guess I can be accommodating towards them… this time."
When they arrived at the lounge, they found Admiral Halberton, a tall man with brown-blond hair and a moustache, conversing with two aides, one a lieutenant, the other a captain. Also in the room, though off to the side for the moment, were Mu La Flaga and Natarle Badgiruel. My command staff, as it were, she mused. Looking over at Heero, she realized that she was subconsciously including him in that category as well. Do I value his insights and experience that much? Yes, I suppose I do.
The admiral looked over at them and walked over. "Ah, Lieutenant Ramius," he began, "thank you for bringing him here. You must be Heero Yuy." The man offered his hand, which Heero took.
Halberton smiled. "I hear that I have you and another young man to thank for this ship arriving in one piece." He turned to Murrue. "I'd like to speak to this Kira Yamato that you mentioned later on, Lieutenant."
She nodded. "Of course, Admiral."
He motioned towards a table, which had already been set up with three chairs on one side and four on the other. "Let's be seated. We have a great deal to talk about."
As everyone took their seats, he cleared his throat. "Well people, we'll start from the beginning. Regarding the ZAFT attack on Heliopolis…"
….
Murrue felt exhausted. Not physically, she like everyone else had been sitting for the past several hours, but mentally. Admiral Halberton had been very thorough in his debriefing, and she had had to rely on both Mu and Natarle to help her describe the harrowing journey they had been through since the destruction of Heliopolis. Heero had remained silent for the first half of the process, which was natural since he had not joined up with them until later on. However, she could tell that he was listening intently, noting every minor detail.
She felt as if she had a great weight on her shoulders. As the senior officer, she'd had to take responsibility for the ship and everyone aboard it, and their actions reflected on her. The admiral, while a fair man, was also relentless, pushing for every scrap of information on their encounters with the ZAFT forces. Throughout the debriefing she could feel the pressure mounting, and was sure she'd buckle under it.
However, something happened that greatly bolstered her strength. When they had reached the part where Kira had brought aboard the life-pod containing Lacus Clyne, Murrue knew that there was a swarm of legal and procedural issues surrounding that event, and that in the subsequent engagement with the ZAFT forces, she and her crew had trampled over most of them, particularly with giving her back to ZAFT rather than attempting to break away from the enemy and bring her to Earth Alliance command for interrogation. However, Murrue knew that she could not have lived with herself if she had done such a thing, and had been relieved when Lacus had been handed back over to her own people. One of Halberton's aides, the captain, started ranting about how useful Lacus would have been in the grander scheme as a bargaining tool with the PLANTs, and Murrue could feel her own stress getting closer to the breaking point. Before it could though, she had felt a hand lay gently upon hers, fingers intertwining with her own. Since they were in her lap and under the table, no one could see what was going on. She managed to spare a brief glance to her left, where Heero was sitting, and whose hand now was gently holding her own. His features didn't change overtly, but she saw that his eyes had softened slightly, and he gave a small, almost imperceptible nod.
That nod said all that she needed to hear; it's okay, you can do this. She gave him the smallest of smiles while the admiral and his aides were questioning Natarle on the release of Lacus, and mouthed the words thank you. He'd been so quiet that she had nearly forgotten that he was there. To know that he was with her, that he had her back…
That's more than enough for me.
The three officers finally got around to questioning Heero, which took a considerable amount of pressure off of Murrue and her fellow crew members. She breathed a quiet sigh of relief. Nevertheless, she made sure not to let go of Heero's hand. I'm sure you don't need it, she thought, but I want to help you in any way I can.
Looking over at him, she detected the faintest hint of a smile, but it passed quickly, and she was sure that she was the only one that had noticed. Once again he was all business, fielding the admiral's questions with cool efficiency, never revealing more than he had to. In fact, several times he refused to answer at all, instead opting for a stare down with the three men across the table. Murrue was impressed that he would not only attempt something so blatantly defiant, but could actually get away with it, as first the aides, and then even the battle-hardened Halberton, shrunk back slightly under his withering glare. Thus Heero was able to avoid revealing where he had come from, and managed to keep secret the incredibly sophisticated and dangerous technology behind the Wing Zero.
After they had gotten all the way through the battle with the ZAFT task force and the arrival of the 8th fleet, there was silence for a moment. The admiral seemed to frown at Heero for a moment, and then, quite surprisingly, gave a wry smile. "You know," he said, "you're a real piece of work, young man. Still, considering the sheer dominance you and your mobile suit show in battle, I can't really blame you." Turning to his aides, he said, "I see no reason to continue questioning him."
The lieutenant, a man in his twenties with slick black hair and a rather smug demeanor, immediately objected. "But-but sir, with all due respect, we still know almost nothing about this guy or his mobile suit, only the battles he's fought in with us!"
"Pipe down, lieutenant," Halberton snarled. "Show some respect. Heero fought on behalf of the Archangel, and that's enough for me. So long as he continues to do so, I can live with not knowing his origins."
He turned to the others. "That being said, we're still not done here. We need to discuss our next move." Murrue and her comrades nodded. "Now, regarding the civilians from Heliopolis, the Orb government has asked us to release them. They claim that we're using them as human shields."
Murrue was stunned. "That's absurd! We took them aboard because they would have died otherwise."
Halberton sighed. "I know, I know. I suspect that they're being pressured by ZAFT. The fact that Orb was helping us develop our own mobile suits and a new battleship has created a very tense diplomatic situation for them. They're trying to save face this way. However, we cannot release them until we get closer to the Earth. Then we can launch a shuttle and take them to their homeland."
"This will take some time though," the admiral continued. "As I'm sure you are aware, the Archangel is much faster than any other ship in the Alliance fleet. However, it is our duty to escort you to where you can begin your descent to Alaska Headquarters, so you will have to stay with us, as will the Heliopolis refugees. This will probably take another twelve hours or so."
He sighed, and Murrue detected a hint of apprehension in his features. "Also, before we came aboard, I received word from our intelligence service; ZAFT is massing a fleet to intercept us as we speak. I'm not sure if we'll be able to get you to Earth before they reach us. In the meanwhile, I suggest you all get some rest. To be frank, you guys look bushed."
Murrue could certainly agree with that statement. However, before she and the others could get up, one of the aides, the captain this time, spoke. "Sir, aren't we forgetting the matter of the Coordinator child?"
Murrue stiffened with apprehension. What does he have in mind? The admiral looked at the aide questioningly. "What about him? As a civilian, he too will be disembarking with his countrymen when the time comes."
"But sir," said the captain, "he's the only one who can pilot the Strike. We could use his abilities."
"I agree with Captain Hallsworth," chimed in Natarle. What! She was adamantly against Kira piloting the Strike back at Heliopolis, thought Murrue. She looked over at her second-in-command, eyes narrowing. What is she thinking?
"Kira Yamato's abilities," Natarle continued, "are a valuable tool for the Alliance. We should make him stay with us!"
"Kira doesn't want to fight!" Murrue shouted, unable to take it anymore. The others looked at her, stunned at her outburst, save for Heero, whose only reaction was a small nod. "Kira piloted the Strike only to protect his friends," she continued. "He wants nothing to do with this war, and I for one will not force him to continue fighting any longer than he has to. He's done more than enough for us as it is."
"Nevertheless," Natarle countered, "you cannot deny that he has been exposed to valuable military secrets. We cannot just let him walk away." Turning towards the admiral, she said, "We must keep him with us, by any means necessary. Perhaps if we were to keep one of his friends onboard…"
"You will not finish that sentence, Ensign Badgiruel!" said Halberton, his tone making it clear that there was no room for arguing. "Other members of the Alliance may allow such a scheme, but I will not. Kira Yamato will disembark along with the rest of the Heliopolis refugees. Is that clear?"
Natarle nodded. "Yes sir," she said, her tone meek and subdued.
Halberton stood up, along with his aides. "Well then," he said, "I am going to find this young Coordinator, and give him my personal thanks. After that I will be returning to the Menelaus. I've got enough to worry about, what with the latest intel on ZAFT's coming offensive, Operation Spitbreak. Not to mention the armada they're massing to attack us before we reach the Earth. Oh, and one more thing." He turned towards his lieutenant, who handed him a folder. Giving it to Murrue, he waited while she opened it.
She was stunned when she saw the contents. There were three pieces of paper, each with La Flaga's, Natarle's, and her own name on them. Clipped to them were new rank insignia to be worn on their uniforms. Admiral Halberton smiled. "Congratulations on your promotions, Lieutenant Badgiruel, Lieutenant Commander La Flaga, and Captain Ramius. You're all dismissed. Go get some rest. That's an order."
"Yes sir," said Murrue, La Flaga, and Natarle. Heero merely nodded.
As the others filed out of the lounge, Murrue pulled Heero aside. "Heero, can I ask you something?" He nodded. "Was that… did I do the right thing, saying that Kira should be allowed to leave?"
"Yes," he replied. "You said it yourself; he doesn't want to be here, and he only fought to protect this ship and his friends. To force him to continue would be an insult to all he's put himself through on your behalf. Besides, a soldier who's forced to fight will never be as good as one who fights of his own free will."
She nodded. "I thought so… and thank you."
"Don't mention it," he replied as he walked towards the door. Before leaving he turned to her. "Murrue, have a little more faith in yourself."
"Huh?" she said.
"Someone once told me," he continued, "that the only way to live a good life is to act on your emotions. If your feelings are telling you that something is right or wrong, listen to them. It's how I've chosen to live my life, at least."
"I'll take that to heart then," she said. "By the way, who told you that?"
He hesitated for a second, and then said, "Odin Lowe, the man who raised me."
The man who raised him? "Wait, what about your parents?" she asked.
Heero shook his head. "Never knew them. Lowe… I guess he was the closest thing I had to a father." He turned to walk away, adding as he left, "Although… I don't know if being raised and trained by an assassin qualifies as a normal childhood."
Murrue couldn't help but put her hand to her mouth and give a small gasp. Watching his retreating figure, she was suddenly overcome by pity for him.
She sighed, and closed her eyes for a moment. Heero…
….
Meanwhile, in the hangar, another young man stood on an overhead walkway, looking up at a mobile suit. With its Phase Shift Armor inactive, the Strike was now a dull gray, though it was still an imposing sight. The hangar was abuzz with activity, as the tech crews worked on securing two new fighter craft that had been sent over from the Menelaus.
To say that Kira was relieved may have been an understatement. Piloting that thing had been the last thing he wanted to do, especially once he had found out that his childhood friend, Athrun Zala, was a member of the ZAFT forces, specifically the pilot of the stolen X303 Aegis mobile suit. He had been dreading that the next time he went into battle, he might actually be forced to kill him. Now that they had finally linked up with the fleet, he knew that he and his friends would soon be returning to Orb, and that couldn't come soon enough.
And yet… As he looked at the machine, he couldn't help but feel something nagging at the back of his mind. Like he was about to end a chapter in his life, and he was having second thoughts about it.
He shook his head. No way, that's ridiculous, he thought. I want nothing more to do with this thing.
Suddenly, a loud voice rang out behind him. "Suddenly feeling nostalgic, now that it's almost over?" Turning around, he saw a man that he assumed was the admiral of the 8th fleet.
The man smiled, and walked over towards him. "Kira Yamato I presume?" he said.
"Huh? Oh, yeah, that's me," he replied.
The man held out his hand. "I wanted to thank you for all you've done for this ship. I'm Admiral Halberton."
Kira took it. "Uhm, your welcome. It was nothing, really…"
Halberton laughed. "A modest one, aren't you? Well, that's good to see."
He paused for a moment, then said, "I've also heard that you're a Coordinator, and that your parents are Naturals living in Orb."
Kira became a little nervous at that. "Yes, that's correct."
The admiral smiled. "You know, it never ceases to amaze me, just seeing what you Coordinators are capable of. It makes me wonder why your parents chose to make you one. Ah, but I'm just musing. What I'd really like is to see an end to this foolish war."
An aide came up and whispered in his ear. Turning back towards Kira, he said, "Well, I must be going. Thanks again for all you've done." As he left, he looked over his shoulder and yelled out, "May you live to see the dawn of a new era."
And then he was gone, once again leaving Kira alone with his thoughts.
….
Hovering menacingly in space, the ZAFT fleet that would eventually be descending upon the Earth Alliance armada like a pack of wolves was taking shape. Already the flagship, the Nazca-class destroyer Vesalius, was surrounded by five frigates, one of which was the damaged Gamow undergoing field repairs and housing the Blitz, Buster, and Duel, and another blue destroyer. Several more ships were expected to arrive within the next few hours.
On the bridge of the Vesalius, two people were eying the tactical display table behind the captain's chair. One was the enigmatic Rau Le Creuset, wearing his upper-face mask and his white and black commander's uniform, long blond hair unrestrained. The other had shorter, though still long for a guy, hair, of a blue-black coloring. Shorter than his commander, and wearing the red uniform of an elite ZAFT pilot, Athrun Zala looked just as lost in thought as his old friend Kira aboard the Archangel.
The young man had quite a bit on his mind, to say the least. On the one hand, he was glad that his fiancé, Lacus Clyne, was safe at home at the PLANT capital, the Aprilus One colony. Putting aside his mixed feelings on the fact the entire affair was arranged by both her father and his own, Defense Chairman Patrick Zala, he did at least like her as a friend, and had been very relieved to see her alive and apparently no worse for the wear.
On the other hand, it would be fair to say that he was feeling quite a bit of apprehension at the moment. Looking at the tactical screen, which at present was showing a recording taken from the Gamow, he watched in awe as the mysterious mobile suit that had shown up out of nowhere in earlier battle with the Alliance squadron proceeded to trash the GINNs launched by the ship and its two companions.
"Apparently, that's just a taste of its power," said Commander Creuset, startling Athrun. The man had been silent for quite a while, and the young ZAFT ace had almost forgotten about him entirely.
The older officer pressed a key and fast-forwarded to another part of the battle. If Athrun had been impressed before, he was downright dumbstruck as the machine let loose a blast from its rifle, destroying not only seven GINNs but an entire frigate in one shot.
Creuset hit another key, and the screen reset to a basic map, showing the gathering ZAFT forces keeping their distance, for the moment, from the massive Alliance fleet. Turning to Athrun, he said, "I've sent the recordings to the Intelligence Department. They've combed through every Alliance file they can get their hands on, but there is no sign of this suit, no data whatsoever. We've designated it as 'Omega One' for the time being."
He paused for a moment, then continued. "The Supreme Council is extremely nervous, to say the least. I'm afraid that after this battle I am to return to the capital, in order to present a comprehensive report on this newcomer and its abilities. I suspect this will be my last field assignment for awhile."
"Oh?" said Athrun, slightly surprised. "My apologies sir, I did not know."
Creuset smiled. "No need to worry, it's not like I've advertised it to the entire ship or anything."
"Will I be returning with you sir?" Athrun inquired.
"No, I suspect you will be transferred to one of the surface bases eventually, in preparation for Operation Spitbreak. If everything goes according to plan up here, we should be able to remove the legged ship and this new menace from the equation," said the commander. "I would imagine that that would be a great relief to the overseeing officers."
"Yes, I suppose so," said Athrun.
"By the way," said Creuset, "did you hear what happened to Yzak?"
Athrun grimaced. "Yes… though I haven't seen him yet."
"It was the Strike," Creuset stated in an oh-so matter-of-fact manner. "Which is it? Will you shoot it down, or be shot down?" With that he made his way towards the exit. "Rest while you can, we attack in ten hours."
Athrun frowned and looked at the table, gaze zooming in on the collection of yellow dots that was the 8th fleet. Kira… will I have to kill you this time?
He didn't consider himself to be a religious man, but he found himself praying that it wouldn't come to that.
….
Several hours later, there was a small crowd gathered in the room shared by the teenagers from Heliopolis. Sai, Kuzzey, Tolle, Flay, and Miriallia were looking at Lieutenant Badgiruel and a man from the Menelaus standing next to her, not quite sure if they'd heard her right.
"Discharge papers?" said Tolle.
Natarle nodded, and gave him several documents. The man next to her spoke. "Although it was an emergency, the fact of the matter is that it is illegal for civilians to participate in combat operations."
"To solve this problem," said Natarle, "we've arranged things so that it will appear in the records that you were enlisted as volunteer soldiers when you came aboard. Now that you are leaving, you must be discharged. Please do not lose those documents."
A voice came from the back of the room. "Uhm, excuse me?" It was Flay Allster, who had been silent up to this point.
"Oh, you don't need to worry about this," said Natarle. "You were never involved in the fighting or this ship's operations, so you don't need to fill out a form"
Flay shook her head. "No, it's not that." She hesitated for a second, then continued. "I would like… to join the Earth Alliance forces!"
There was silence in the room for a few seconds, then Tolle, Miriallia, Sai, and Kuzzey all burst out at the same time.
"What?"
….
"It's time," whispered Commander Le Creuset. From the bridge of the Vesalius, he observed the fleet gathered around him. Three destroyers and twelve frigates, along with one- hundred-eight mobile suits. That should be enough.
"Signal the fleet," he ordered, "we're moving out."
"Yes sir," said the man at the communications console, rushing to relay the command to the other ships.
Captain Ades, commander of the Vesalius, turned to Le Creuset. "Are you sure we should go now?"
Creuset nodded. "It will take us roughly fifteen minutes to reach them. If we wait any longer the legged ship may reach the atmosphere before we can break through the 8th fleet. We cannot allow them to make it to Alaska headquarters. Besides, even if they outnumber us in terms of warships, their mobile armors are mere cannon fodder before such a large group of mobile suits, especially with the prototypes among them."
He turned towards the tactical display, which showed the Earth Alliance forces arrayed in an umbrella-like formation over the Archangel. With their backs to the atmosphere, they couldn't be outflanked. Halberton's made his preparations quite well, he mused. Also, despite his earlier words, Creuset knew that the 8th fleet was nothing to laugh at. With thirty-two Drake-class escort ships, fifteen Nelson-class battleships, and the carrier Menelaus, it was an impressive force. The fleet also had hundreds of mobile armors, and despite their inferiority to the ZAFT mobile suits, they could still be dangerous due to their sheer numbers. Creuset was counting on the stolen prototypes to significantly thin out both them and the first line of warships so the ZAFT vessels could move in for bombardment.
Halberton will use the 8th fleet as a shield to allow the legged ship to get to Earth, I have no doubt of that. Based on that, Creuset knew that he wouldn't have to worry about that ship's firepower until they had created a significant breach in the Alliance lines. The Strike and La Flaga's mobile armor would most likely be held back unless they absolutely had to launch to defend the ship.
There was just one unknown factor, and that was Omega One. We still do not know the full extent of its capabilities. We must be prepared for it to launch at any time.
He smiled. He was actually hoping that it would appear, so that he could engage it himself. It will be interesting to see how the CGUE measures up to it, especially now that the modifications are complete.
He gave a brief, quiet laugh, and looked on as the Alliance armada came into visual range. As the mobile suits began launching, he said, "The time has come to remove Admiral Halberton from the game. As for Omega One…"
What will your move be?
….
Meanwhile, in the Archangel's hangar, Kira was standing in line with the rest of the refugees from Heliopolis, waiting to board the shuttle that would take them to the Menelaus, and from there to Orb. He looked around nervously, not seeing his friends.
"Where are they?" he said.
Suddenly, he heard a voice. "Hey!" Turning, he saw a young girl, whom he had met while aboard the ship, floating towards him. He saw that she had something in her hand.
When she got to him, she smiled and held out the object in her hand. It was a small, yellow folded paper flower. She gave it to him and said, "Thank you for protecting us until now."
He blushed, a little embarrassed. "Oh, uhm… you're welcome."
She laughed, and made her way back to her mother, who was waving at Kira. He smiled and waved back, and couldn't help but feel his spirits lift a bit.
Another, more familiar voice rang out. "Yo, Kira!"
He turned around, knowing that Tolle would be right behind him. Kira was correct, and was glad to see Sai, Miriallia, and Kuzzey there as well.
What he did not expect to see was all of them wearing the uniforms that had been given to them when they had first volunteered to help out with operating the Archangel. As they approached, Tolle held out some papers, which he gave to Kira.
"What's this?" said Kira.
"These are for you," replied Tolle, "They're your discharge papers."
"Wait, what about you guys?"
"We volunteered," said Miriallia, "We're staying with the Archangel."
"Wait, what? Why?"
"Well," said Sai, "Flay decided to volunteer."
"Flay…" said Kira, going slightly red at the thought of the girl he had a crush on in an Earth Alliance uniform. Why would she volunteer?
"So we decided to volunteer as well," said Tolle, "Can't leave her by herself after all."
"Yeah," said Miriallia, "who knows what kind of trouble she'd get herself into trying to be a soldier."
Suddenly an alarm went off and a voice came over the intercom. "Attention," said Natarle, "ZAFT ships are approaching. I repeat, ZAFT ships are approaching. All hands to battle stations. Evacuate the refugee ship immediately."
"Well, that's our cue," said Miriallia.
"Take care buddy," said Tolle.
Kira could only watch as they left the hangar and headed towards the bridge. Looking back and forth between the shuttle and the door his friends had left through, he now found himself torn.
"Hey, you there!" said the soldier at the shuttle's door, "Get aboard, we're leaving!"
Kira looked over towards the shuttle again, and then found his gaze drawn downward. He looked at his hands. In the left was the paperwork for his discharge from the Alliance forces. In the right was the small, folded paper flower from the young girl.
"Thank you for protecting us until now." Her words echoed in his head. That's right, he thought, I decided to pilot the Strike to protect my friends.
And if they had decided to stay…
Making up his mind, he put the flower in his coat pocket, and then tore the discharge papers in two. Turning towards the soldier he said, "Please, go without me." The man looked surprised, but then he just shrugged and went inside the shuttle.
Turning towards the exit, Kira made his way towards the pilot's ready room. Time to suit up… again.
….
"What?" said Murrue, not quite sure she had heard correctly, "Do not engage?"
Admiral Halberton nodded on the screen. "Our priority is to make sure that you make it to Alaska headquarters. The Archangel is to remain at the rear of the formation. Those are your orders, Captain Ramius." With that he cut the connection, and the screen returned to its regular setting, showing the oncoming ZAFT force.
That's crazy, Murrue fumed, even without Kira to pilot the Strike, we still have La Flaga's mobile armor and Heero in the Wing Zero! They would be invaluable in this fight.
A hand fell on her shoulder. Looking up from her chair, she saw Heero standing next to her, eyes on the main screen. Turning towards her, his features that same calm and cool veneer she had come to know, he spoke, "There's nothing you can do for right now. Might as well hang back and watch the show."
"What?" she said, "But Heero, how can you just accept that? You know as well as I do…"
"…that ZAFT will penetrate the 8th fleet's lines?" he finished for her, "Yes, I'm well aware of that. With the four prototypes in their arsenal, they'll cut through in no time. Halberton has underestimated the power of those machines."
Meeting her gaze, his expression softened. "I'll stand by in Wing Zero. If you call, I'll launch." He gave her a small smile. "I don't know about you, but I don't feel like dying here."
She returned the smile, and nodded. "Neither do I."
With that he made his way towards the bridge exit. "Heero!" she called out.
He turned around. "Yeah?"
"Thank you," she said, "and be careful."
He nodded. "Roger that." With that he left the bridge.
He'd been gone for hardly a minute before the door opened again. This time a different voice rang out. "Sorry we're late!"
Murrue turned to see Miriallia enter, in full uniform. She was quickly followed by Tolle, Sai, and Kuzzey, who quickly moved to their stations.
"I don't understand. Why?" said Murrue.
"Well," said Miriallia, "when Flay volunteered, we couldn't just leave her by herself."
Murrue's eyes widened. The Allster girl enlisted? When did that happen?
Still, she wasn't about to turn down their help. I'll ask around later, see if I can find out what happened. She smiled. "Thank you."
"No problem," said Miriallia as she settled in at her station.
Sai's voice rang out from the CIC. "There are fifteen ZAFT capital ships. Detecting mobile suit launches… holy shit!"
Murrue would have reprimanded him for his word choice, but the tone of his voice was one of complete shock. "What is it?"
"There are over a hundred mobile suits, including the prototypes!"
"That many?" said Murrue. Turning towards the forward viewport, she could see bright pinpricks from the machines' engines. I knew that amount of capital ships had the potential to carry over a hundred machines, but I would've thought they'd hold some in reserve.
Her brow furrowed in concentration. If they're launching their entire force right off the bat, then their commander is using a blitz attack. They'll smash right through the forward lines and make a beeline for this ship.
She was tempted to call Heero and ask him to launch right away, but held her tongue. The Drake-class ships should be able to thin out some of the enemy numbers, and if the ZAFT capital ships move to engage the forward screen they'll come under bombardment from our battleships.
She took a deep breath, calming herself. "No need to get worked up yet," she whispered. If the escort ships and the mobile armors could work together and use overlapping fields of fire, then they had a chance to repulse the mobile suits. In fact, that's probably the Admiral's strategy.
Under other circumstances she might have admired it, but then she remembered what Heero had said. "With the four prototypes in their arsenal, they'll cut through in no time. Halberton has underestimated the power of those machines"
Heero's right, she thought, the admiral is treating the prototypes like their just another group of GINNs, or CGUEs at most. However, she knew that with their unique weapons and capabilities, those four machines could throw conventional tactics right out the window.
A swarm of mobile armors rose to meet the incoming mobile suits, escort ships coming up behind them. Suddenly a veritable hail of cannon shots, missile contrails, and energy beams flew between the opposing forces, and explosions lit up the horizon. "It's begun," she said softly. All they could do now was watch and wait.
….
Entering the ready room, Kira was surprised to find someone already there. Standing in front of his locker, looking at the pilot suit he was supposed to wear, was none other than Flay Allster.
She turned around as she heard him enter. "Kira!" she said, looking surprised.
"Flay! What are you doing here?"
"Well," she began, looking a bit unsure of herself, "you ran away… or at least I thought you did. I wanted to help out on the ship, but wasn't sure what I should do. I thought of you, and so… I…"
She thought she could pilot the Strike? Kira wasn't sure whether to laugh or just stare dumbstruck. Not wanting to insult her though, especially after she had just started being nice to him again after the death of her father, he opted for a simple smile.
"Flay," he said, "don't be ridiculous. Someone like you in a mobile suit? Sorry, but you wouldn't last five minutes in the Strike."
She sighed. "I know that… but… I wanted so much to help, so I…"
He moved towards the locker. "It's alright. I'll pilot the Strike, so don't worry about it."
"Really?" she said.
He nodded. "Yes, I'll protect everyone on this ship. Leave it to me."
Suddenly she moved towards him, until her face was mere inches from his. "Well then," she said, "allow me… to thank you."
She pulled him in for a kiss.
What? His body stiffened in shock, and a million thoughts went through his mind. He should have questioned why she had suddenly come onto him like this, but…
I've wanted this for so long… who am I to refuse? Besides, this must mean that she really does care about me. So he took her in his arms and lost himself in her soft, moist lips.
….
After Kira left the ready room and made his way towards the hangar, Flay smiled. "Yes Kira," she said, "you have to fight to protect us." Her voice became cold, and the smile twisted into a snarl. "Fight against your own kind… kill them all. Fight and fight and fight until you die!" She laughed, a sick, twisted laugh, the song of a siren succumbed to hatred. "Then I'll forgive you…" she added softly, "… for my father's death."
….
It's strange, mussed Murrue as she watched the unfolding battle. On the surface, things seemed to be going well for the Earth forces, relatively speaking. They had taken out nine GINNs, though at the cost of thirty-four mobile armors and two escort ships. This was actually considered to be a fair trade by conventional tacticians, though it made Murrue grimace. "So many lives lost already," she whispered, "and the battle's less than three minutes old."
However, something other than the loss of life was bothering her. It's too easy, she thought. She had expected the ZAFT mobile suits, led by the prototypes, to easily smash through the first wave of mobile armors and the supporting Drake-class vessels. However, the attack had stalled, and in fact the 8th fleet's first line was now advancing, using mass-fire tactics to push back the enemy. Already ZAFT seemed to be falling back.
No, she thought, something's definitely wrong here. Suddenly it hit her, and she could have smacked herself for not noticing it sooner.
The four GAT series machines were not fighting aggressively. They were just flying around, picking off a few mobile armors each but otherwise just dodging Alliance fire. The accompanying GINNs seemed to be acting in a similar matter. Also, now that she looked at it more carefully, the way the ZAFT forces were pulling back seemed way too organized to have been the result of a stalled attack.
And our front line, including most of our escort ships, is moving farther and farther out, she realized.
She was about to contact the Menelaus when all hell broke loose.
….
Suited up and sitting in the cockpit of Wing Zero, Heero had patched into the Archangel's radar and visual sensors and was watching the battle unfold. Like Murrue, he had realized that the ZAFT force was using a feint to draw out the Drakes, and was not surprised in the least when the enemy unleashed their trap.
The Alliance's front line had moved out far enough to where the ZAFT warships could open fire on them without moving into range of the 8th fleet's heavier vessels, and ZAFT took full advantage of this. The fifteen capital ships unleashed a massive bombardment; a rain of large green energy beams, ship-to-ship missiles, and heavy rail cannon rounds. The Alliance forces lit up like a string of firecrackers as the barrage impacted their formation.
They weren't repulsed, he mused, they were waiting for the right time to counterpunch.
And they had just taken fifteen escort ships along with eighty-seven mobile armors out of the fight.
Now the mobile suits were racing back in to the fray, the prototypes at the head of the formation. This time they were playing for keeps, and savaged the survivors. Heero watched as the Aegis transformed into its claw-like mobile armor mode, which revealed its "Scylla" 580 mm energy cannon. The heavy weapon fired, and a large crimson blast lanced through the engines of an escort ship, setting off several explosions and sending the ship falling off to the side trailing smoke and flames. The Blitz used its arm mounted anchor to impale the bridge of another ship, while the Duel and the Buster were unleashing a barrage on the mobile armors still swarming around. The GINNs were adding to the destruction, with several of them now moving through the large breach in the Alliance formation to engage the Nelson-class battleships and the mobile armor squadrons that had hung back to cover them.
The warships opened up, and a few GINNs exploded. The rest, though, were able to take evasive action, and began strafing the battleships, pausing only to deal with approaching mobile armors.
Meanwhile the ZAFT capital ships were moving in behind the mobile suits, and unleashed a second salvo. Nine more escort ships, including the two disabled by Aegis and Blitz, and sixty-three mobile armors fell under the rain of fire. The remaining six Drake-class ships fell back towards the Alliance battleships, along with their surviving mobile armor squadrons.
Both sides' heavy ships will start trading broadsides soon, thought Heero, with the GINNs and the new models wreaking havoc within the Alliance formation. Then Heero saw that he was being hailed by the bridge, and patched the communication onto one of his screens.
Murrue's face appeared, concern evident in her features. "Heero," she began, "the fleet won't last long under these circumstances. I want you to launch and try to hold off the enemy mobile suits for as long as you can. I'm going to move the Archangel away from the fleet and begin our descent preparations."
"You realize that you could draw ZAFT forces towards you while doing so," said Heero. "The fleet won't be able to cover you."
She nodded. "I know, but we're running out of options. I'll have Lieutenant Commander La Flaga stay on standby in the Moebius Zero in the event that some mobile suits make it through to us."
She took a breath to calm herself, and then continued. "We're opening the hangar doors now. Heero… please be careful. Don't take any foolish risks. Do what you can to buy us some time, and then come back to the ship."
He nodded. "Mission accepted." He moved his machine towards the exit. "Heero Yuy, Wing Zero, launching!"
With that he gunned his engines and left the Archangel.
….
Commander Le Creuset leaned back in his chair, observing the battle. "Is this all they can do?" he murmured, "I'm disappointed."
Suddenly a cry rang out from the radar station. "We have a new contact launching from the legged ship. It's… Omega One!" The man was unable to keep a hint of fear from his voice. "Omega One has launched!"
Creuset had the opposite reaction. He felt the hairs on the back of his neck standing on end, adrenaline coursing through his veins. Finally!
He stood up and made his way towards the bridge exit. "Captain Ades," he said, "the fleet is yours. I'm taking the field."
The captain nodded. "Understood, sir. Good hunting."
As he left the bridge, he couldn't help but smile. It was no ordinary smile though, but that of a beast revealing its fangs in anticipation of the hunt. Creuset laughed. "Come on, my mysterious new friend; show me what you've got!"
….
Raising his rifle, Heero let loose a blast as he approached a group of GINNs. Six exploded, while the other suits managed to scatter. Drawing his beam saber, he flew after them, taking down one after another.
As the seventh machine he'd impaled exploded, he saw a new contact on his radar. It was a light gray mobile suit, more sleek and streamlined than a GINN. Running the profile through the Archangel's database, he came up with a match; the CGUE, a limited production model that was being used by officers. On its left arm a shield was mounted, and attached to the shield was a heavy machine gun. However, he noticed that this machine had additional thrusters mounted on its legs for increased mobility, unlike a normal CGUE, and had traded its metal sword for a violet beam saber instead, which it held in its right hand. Looks like they've already started adapting the technology from the Alliance suits. He had to hand it to ZAFT's engineers; they didn't waste time.
The modified CGUE was heading straight towards him, and Heero wasn't going to just wait for it to arrive. Taking aim, he fired off a shot from the Twin Buster Rifle. The machine dodged the blast, though two more GINNs did go up in flames. Zigzagging left and right, the CGUE was extremely maneuverable. Gunning his engines, Heero charged his new foe, and their blades met in a clash of light.
Pulling back slightly, Heero swung at his foe's left arm, attempting to remove its ranged capabilities. However, the enemy expertly parried the blow, and counterattacked, swinging at the Wing Zero's right shoulder. Heero brought his sword up and redirected the attack, causing the machine to move past him. Both pilots swung around, faced each other, and charged again, attacking and counterattacking, but neither could make headway.
Despite the severity of the overall situation, Heero couldn't help but smile. After dealing with amateurs since my arrival, it looks like I've finally found someone who knows what they're doing. This challenge, this surge of adrenaline, was something he hadn't felt since his final confrontation with Zechs during the Eve Wars.
They continued their duel, blades clashing, guns blazing, moving almost too fast for the eye to see. Heero moved in to slash his foes left arm again. The CGUE once again blocked, and then countered with a stab at the Wing Zero's head. Heero moved out of the way, then brought up his machine's knee and hit the enemy right in the chest. The impact forced his foe back a little, staggered by the raw power of the Wing Zero. But the CGUE recovered quickly, and soon the two aces were at it again.
The sheer rush of the duel caused him to do something he otherwise wouldn't think of trying. Adjusting his radio, he started broadcasting on an open channel.
….
"Are you serious? Are you people trying to flee this battle?" said Admiral Halberton as Murrue explained why she had defied his orders and launched the Wing Zero, as well as why the Archangel had begun moving away from the fleet.
Murrue stood her ground against the harsh accusation. "This ship is the enemy's real objective. We must move away from you! It will take pressure off the fleet, allowing you to reorganize."
She knew that the admiral definitely needed a little breathing room. The launch of Wing Zero had thrown ZAFT into momentary disarray, but once the CGUE had entered the fray and engaged it in a duel, the GINNs had reorganized and, in concert with the prototypes and warships, were hammering the 8th fleet. The last of the escort ships had succumbed to enemy fire, and two battleships were already heavily damaged, with most of the others sporting at least minor hits. The mobile armor squadrons had been reduced by fifty-five percent since the start of the battle, and their own situation was only getting worse as the GINNs and GAT series machines intensified their assault. ZAFT still had seventy-one machines in the fight.
The admiral nodded. "Very well, begin your descent preparations. I'll reform our surviving ships over you."
"But sir," said Murrue, "you should withdraw some of the battleships, have them live to fight another day."
But the admiral stubbornly refused. "No, Captain Ramius. By the honor of the 8th fleet, we will die before allowing ZAFT to destroy the Archangel." With that he cut the connection.
"Damn it!" she said, slamming her fist against the rail of her chair. She had gotten what she wanted, permission to descend, but the admiral had ignored a chance to at least save some of his command.
Or maybe, she thought, he believes the fleet to be doomed. She certainly couldn't blame him for that, and as she took another look at the tactical monitors, she saw that the fleet had already moved closer to the atmosphere over the course of the battle, making a withdrawal much more difficult to pull off. Even if we had drawn off some of their mobile suits, they probably would have still had enough firepower to trash the 8th fleet, or at least keep them from retreating.
Miriallia's voice rang out. "Wing Zero is broadcasting on an open channel!"
Murrue couldn't believe it. He's not encrypting his transmission? Then it can't be meant for us. Then who… "Put it on speaker!" she said.
Soon she could hear his voice, and in it was something she had not heard from him before.
Excitement.
"You've got some moves." he said, and she realized that he was talking to his foe. Turning her gaze towards the tactical monitor, she brought up an image of his fight with the CGUE.
Another voice came over the speaker, and Murrue realized that it was the same as the commander that they had turned Lacus over too. "I could say the same of you!" he said, adrenaline clearly influencing his tone.
"No way," said Murrue softly, "Commander Le Creuset has taken the field?"
The ZAFT officer spoke again. "Are you a Coordinator? What is someone of your caliber doing with the Naturals?"
"You're mistaken," replied Heero, his voice a little calmer now, "I'm a Natural. As to what I'm doing with the Archangel, that's none of your business."
"I beg to differ," said Creuset as their blades met yet again, "since I'm charged with destroying that ship. And I will fulfill that charge as soon as I defeat you!"
Suddenly Heero's voice changed, and there was something else in it that Murrue had never heard from him before; anger.
"Not a chance in hell!" he snarled, and Murrue couldn't help but gasp. He sounded terrifying, like something straight out of the pits of Hades. Suddenly Wing Zero was moving much faster. As the CGUE blocked another slash of his beam saber, Heero opened up with his shoulder gatlings. The CGUE took several hits, and smoke and sparks flew from the machine. Creuset backed off a little, but Heero pressed his advantage. Swinging his blade again, he severed the CGUE's sword arm.
Creuset raised the machine gun on his left arm and fired a sustained burst. Heero blocked it with his shield, but the attack gave Creuset enough time to retreat. It looked like Heero was about to follow, but he seemed to notice something more important, and took off in another direction. Looking at a wider display, Murrue saw that the prototypes had punched a hole in the battleship screen, and were heading towards the Archangel, Aegis in the lead.
And Heero was heading right for them.
Suddenly Lieutenant Commander La Flaga's face came on the screen. "Captain, let us launch now!"
"What?" said Murrue, "We're about to begin our descent."
"We have to," said another voice, and Murrue was shocked to see Kira's face join La Flaga's.
"Kira? I thought…" she said, unable to finish the sentence. I thought he'd gotten off this ship already!
"According to the specs, the Strike can make reentry on its own," he said.
"That may be true," said Lieutenant Badgiruel from the CIC, "but it hasn't actually been tested."
"Look," said La Flaga, "we don't have time to argue like this. We may only be able to fight for a few minutes, but we can still keep the enemy away from the ship. We'll come back before you get too far into the atmosphere."
Murrue nodded. "Alright, but keep an eye on your altitude and operating time. Good luck, both of you."
Both pilots nodded and signed off. Murrue sighed and turned towards the battle again. I hope they'll be enough. Even with Creuset withdrawing, the situation is still dire. The prototypes are approaching, and several GINNs are coming in behind them.
All she could do was have faith in their abilities. As she turned her attention towards lining the ship up for reentry, her thoughts lingered on one particular pilot.
Heero… He'd been so calm up until now, and she wanted to know what had set him off. His being excited was one thing, and she supposed she could chalk that up to his duel with Creuset. It certainly looked intense, she thought. However, the sheer wrath she had heard in his voice soon after was something else all together. She remembered Creuset mentioning destroying the Archangel, and that seemed to have triggered it. He's only been with us a few days, yet he's already this protective of us?
Or, she thought, eyes widening as she recalled their conversations before and after the debriefing with the admiral, and she gasped, could it be…
Could it be that he wants to protect me?
….
"Athrun, check it out!" said Nicole.
"I see them," said Athrun, who was at the head of their formation, "Strike and the mobile armor have launched from the legged ship."
"There's something else too," came Dearka's voice over the radio, "look at the carrier."
Athrun turned his attention towards the Menelaus, whose bottom bay doors had opened to allow a shuttle to launch. "Should we go after it?" said Yzak.
Athrun shook his head. "No, let's focus on our objective."
"Fine by me," the white-haired youth replied, "today I'm going to destroy that Strike once and for all!"
As Athrun turned his gaze back towards the legged ship, Nicole's voice came over the radio. This time the young man sounded frightened.
"Athrun, look out!"
He turned as he saw something approaching the Aegis with incredible speed, and only had time for one thought.
Oh shit!
Then Omega One slammed into him like a linebacker.
….
Leading with his shield, Heero hit the Aegis in the torso, and then used the sloped edge of it to force the enemy machine off to the side. He's not my primary target right now.
Moving past the Aegis, he moved in on the Blitz. That machine's stealth capabilities are the biggest threat to the Archangel, he thought. I have to deal with it quickly.
Charging the black machine, Heero brought his emerald beam saber to bear, and the Blitz was barely able to block with its own. The machine backed off, and Heero saw its lines begin to blur, a sign that it was activating its Mirage Colloid system. "Not today," he said, and fired Wing Zero's heavy gatlings. The Blitz was forced to halt its cloaking and reactivate its Phase Shift Armor in order to survive the barrage.
Sensing that the pilot was momentarily stunned, Heero moved in for the kill.
….
Acting quickly, Athrun ignited one of the yellow wrist mounted beam sabers on the Aegis and moved between the Blitz and Omega One. He managed to block the attack, but staggered under the sheer power behind the blow. That machine is incredibly strong!
Switching on his radio, he signaled the Duel and the Buster. "Yzak, Dearka, move in on the legged ship. Nicole and I will keep this guy busy here!"
"Got it!" said Yzak, and he and his partner flew off. Both were quickly engaged, Yzak by the Strike and Dearka by the orange mobile armor.
They should be able to handle themselves, thought Athrun, I just hope Kira manages to survive. That was all the time he could spare to worry about his old friend; he had much more important things to worry about now.
Namely, Omega One and its incredibly skilled pilot.
"Nicole," he said, "move in on the right, I'll take the left."
"Got it Athrun!"
The two machines charged, and as they came in at opposite angles, Athrun thought for sure that they had their enemy dead to rights.
Then something happened that proved him very wrong.
Omega One put away its beam saber, and then quickly grabbed its rifle with both hands. Suddenly the weapon split down the middle, and Athrun and Nicole soon found themselves facing one rifle barrel each.
"Move!" yelled Athrun.
He'd barely said the word before Omega One fired. Sending forth two deadly yellow blasts, one hit Athrun's suit in the right arm, completely vaporizing it. The other hit the Blitz at the left shoulder, severing the arm and the weapon it had with it.
An alarm went off in his cockpit, and Athrun saw that, in addition to losing the arm, the shot had nearly drained the rest of his Phase Shift Armor. I'll lose it in less than a minute! He had no doubt that Nicole was in a similar jam.
Suddenly a barrage of shots hit Omega One, and while it suffered no damage, it did turn towards the source, a group of eight GINNs coming in fast, two flaming wrecks of battleships falling in their wake.
One of the pilots signaled Athrun. "You two get out of here! We'll take this guy!"
Athrun nodded. "Thanks, we're retreating."
The damaged machines withdrew, and Athrun knew that they were leaving their saviors to a slaughter.
….
Murrue watched on the monitor as Wing Zero took the first hits she had seen since Heero had joined them. She was worried at first, but then noticed that the machine had nary a scratch on it. That armor is something else, she thought. As the eight GINNs surrounded Heero, he fired his now two separate rifles again, this time spinning the Wing Zero while doing so. All of the attackers were destroyed in the onslaught. Then Heero rejoined the rifles, drew his beam saber again, and took off towards another wave of incoming GINNs.
Satisfied that he would be alright, Murrue turned her attention to the larger battle. Things were looking grim for the 8th fleet. Of the original fifteen battleships, seven had been destroyed and the rest were all showing signs of damage, while ZAFT had only lost two frigates, and a few other ships had sustained minor hits. The two fleets continued to trade blows, but there was no doubt in her mind as to who would win. The Menelaus remained relatively unharmed, but its mobile armor squadrons, so vital to its defense, had been greatly reduced. In fact, the entire fleet had only sixty of the fighter craft left, a far cry from the hundreds it had started out with. Though Creuset and two of the prototypes had been forced to withdraw, there were still plenty of GINNs left to take care of the remaining Alliance units, while the Duel and the Buster had moved in close enough to engage the Strike and the Moebius Zero.
Strike and the Duel were going at it sword-to-sword, and neither pilot seemed to be able to gain the upper hand. Meanwhile, La Flaga was using his gun pods to launch attacks from multiple angles on the Buster, keeping the more powerful machine on the defensive as it tried to anticipate where the next shot would come from.
Checking her own monitor, she saw that they had less than a minute before they began reentry. "Are we on target for Alaska?" she asked the helmsman.
"Yes ma'am, we're ready for descent," he replied.
She nodded. "Release the ablative gel. Everyone strap yourselves in, we're in for a bumpy ride!"
Already the friction was causing the ship to shudder, although the gel that now covered the bottom of the hull would ensure that the ship would not suffer any major damage. She gripped the handrails of her chair. We're locked in now. If someone manages to break through to us, we can't defend ourselves.
Glancing at the radar screen again, she became very concerned that that indeed might happen. Now there were only five battleships left, while ZAFT had lost another frigate. The remaining Alliance vessels could hardly be called battle worthy, as most of their weapons emplacements were ablaze. GINNs swarmed around them, picking off the few guns that could fire back and blasting the engines. The Menelaus herself was now engaged, her guns trading fire with several mobile suits and vessels.
Suddenly the ZAFT fleet unleashed one final bombardment. The last battleships were reduced to little more than flaming hulks, bleeding shards of debris and escape pods. The few surviving mobile armors were annihilated, and the carrier took several hits.
However, as Murrue took a look at the Archangel's position in the atmosphere, she was able to at least take comfort in the fact that they were too far down for any reasonable enemy ship to pursue now.
The key word there being reasonable.
One damaged frigate, its IFF beacon designating it the Gamow, broke out of the ZAFT formation, and was making a direct course for the Archangel. "They wouldn't…" she whispered. But indeed, the green vessel seemed determined to catch the white warship at all costs.
Suddenly the battered Menelaus moved in between them. "Admiral Halberton!" she cried out.
The veteran fleet commander appeared on screen. "We will not let them pass!" he said, before the image dissolved into static.
Her eyes widened in shock as the two vessels came closer and closer, all guns blazing, ripping chunks of metal off of each other. They're going to collide!
Indeed they did, the bow of the Gamow slamming into the dorsal surface of the Menelaus. The frigate slowly tore into the carrier, sending steel fragments everywhere. Then something, either the carrier's reactor or the frigate's, detonated, and both vessels went up in a massive fireball.
Murrue, along with the rest of the bridge officers, stood up and saluted, a tribute to those who had paid the ultimate sacrifice to ensure the Archangel's survival. She bowed her head. Rest in peace, Admiral, and thank you.
Then Miriallia's voice rang out in alarm. "We have a problem with the Strike! It's getting too far away from the ship!"
"What?" Murrue yelled.
….
Unleashing one final barrage on the Buster, mobile armor ace Mu La Flaga broke off his engagement and made a beeline for the Archangel. It was difficult to maneuver while so deep in the atmosphere, but he managed a small smirk as he saw that the Buster was having an even harder time of it, and indeed would no longer be able to escape the Earth's gravitational pull.
"Heh, enjoy the ride down pal," he said. Moving above his mother-ship, he fired a docking anchor, and the orange mobile armor latched on to the upper hull of the Archangel.
"Home sweet home," he said, and breathed a sigh of relief. Then he checked his sensors, looking for the Strike. When he saw it, he swore.
"Get back here kid!" he yelled.
….
Having dealt with the last group of mobile suits in his vicinity, Heero made haste for the Archangel. "I can make atmospheric reentry on my own no problem," he said, "but I'd rather keep that ability a secret for now."
Pushing his engines to the max, he swiftly caught up to the Archangel and touched down next to La Flaga's machine. Contacting the bridge, he said, "Everything alright over there?"
Murrue appeared on the screen. "Unfortunately not. The Strike is still out there, and at this rate Kira will miss Alaska entirely!" Checking his radar, Heero saw that the young man was indeed way off course, now engaged in a long-range rifle battle with the Duel. Both machines were too far into the atmosphere to escape.
"He won't be able to make it back here on his own," said Heero.
Murrue nodded. "I know. I'll have the ship moved so we can intercept him."
"But we'll miss the drop point!" came Natarle's voice in the background.
"Making it to Alaska won't mean a thing if we lose the Strike!" yelled Murrue. She turned to Heero. "Better brace yourself; moving the ship like this while in the atmosphere will be rough." With that she signed off.
….
Kira's situation was rapidly deteriorating. In his fight with the Duel, he had moved much further away from the Archangel than he should have. Both machines were having difficulty maneuvering, and as they fell still traded shots, each coming closer to hitting their intended target.
"This isn't good," he said.
He saw the Duel adjust its aim, and he was sure that this time the shot would connect. However, the shuttle from the Menelaus dropped into its line of fire, oblivious to the peril it had put itself in while trying to get to Earth.
Kira's eyes widened. Gunning his engines, he tried to get to the Duel. "Don't shoot, they're only civilians!" he said over an open channel.
But the pilot of the Duel either didn't hear him or had completely ignored his plea. The machine fired, and a lance of green energy pierced the shuttle, and it exploded.
Images of the little girl and her mother from earlier flashed through Kira's mind. Disregarding all concern for his precarious situation, he charged the enemy machine, screaming incoherently in rage. He raised one of the Strike's legs and hit the Duel in a high-speed drop kick, knocking the machine further into the atmosphere.
However, that was all Kira could do, as he had now descended too deep to be able to adjust his course. "Oh no!" he cried, somewhat regaining his wits. Bringing his shield forward in an effort to ease his descent, he could feel the temperature in the cockpit skyrocketing. He sweated profusely in his pilot suit. It's like an oven in here!
Suddenly he saw the Archangel moving in underneath him. "Kira!" came Miriallia's voice over the radio. "Hurry and land on the ship, you won't last much longer." Indeed, the rising heat was already making his vision blur, and he struggled to maintain consciousness and move the Strike towards the vessel.
After what seemed like an eternity, he felt a thud as he touched down on the upper hull alongside the Wing Zero and La Flaga's mobile armor. He sighed. "Made it…"
Then he remembered the destruction of the civilian shuttle, and the little girl's face again flashed before his eyes. Tears welled up within them. "No…" he whispered, "I'm… sorry."
Then the sweet embrace of unconsciousness took him.
….
Checking his radar and doing some quick math, Heero managed to calculate the ship's new descent course. "Not good," he said as he realized where they would land. Looking at the map on his screen, he sighed. "Out of the frying pan… and into the fire."
His expression hardened in determination. Our battle for descent is over.
Let the North African campaign begin…
Preview for next time!
The Archangel has touched down on Earth, and the crew take some time to recuperate from the difficult battle in orbit. But they won't be able to rest for long, for new enemies are on the horizon. Having touched down in North Africa, Murrue, Heero, and the others find themselves in the crosshairs of two of ZAFT's greatest soldiers, known as the Desert Tiger and the Valkyrie. The appearance of some local resistance fighters may ease the situation, but can they be trusted? And Kira runs into a familiar figure from Heliopolis in the last place he expected to. Next time, on "Journey to a New Battlefield" Episode Five: The North Africa Campaign, Part One: Desert Dawn.
Author's Note: I realize that Heero was a bit more emotive in this battle than normal. That was intentional. For one, finding a foe like Creuset gives him a chance to vent some frustration he's been holding in since the end of the Eve Wars, being a soldier without a battlefield, and trying to find a new purpose in life. Also, him being protective of the Archangel, and Murrue in particular... well, you'd be surprised how deep an act of kindness like what Murrue showed him can touch someone. That Heero is starting to develop such protective instincts towards her is only natural, and his feelings will of course evolve over the course of the story. Same goes for Murrue of course!
On another note, man am I glad this chapter is done! I've been wanting to write the North African campaign for a while now, but I didn't want to compromise the quality of my work by rushing. I'm sure you guys can understand that. It will be a while until episode five comes out. Sorry, but again, I'm not going to put out a rush job, I'm taking my time with this.
Thank you for your patience, I hope you all stick with me on this. Once again, please review!
Until next time!