Hello everyone, R-0 here and welcoming you to the next chapter of my Fanfic.
Before Rate and Review time, however, I want to point out a derp I made in Chapter 5 (Thank You ExArchMagus for informing me that it doesn't exist yet). Armoury One doesn't exist yet and I realise that now, I apologise for the derp and will refer to the supply base holding Miguel's GINN as something different from now on.
Anyway, NOW let's do Rate and Review time!
thedarkpokemaster: Happy to see that you enjoyed them.
Tomboys are fairly high on my list as being likeable and interesting love interests (looking at you Chie... God, I love Chie).That doesn't mean they are my favourites though.
mega1987: Again, I can't say that I will change up Flay's character. What she became was what made her character unique, realistic and interesting. It seems like I would just be making her OOC if I did that.
Lacus won't change under any circumstance as I have plans for her and what she was in SEED was acceptable and needed in the first series. It was Destiny where she should have pissed off as she made everything worse and it became transparently obvious that Morosawa was favouring her badly and, since she was going through cancer at the time, Fukuda wasn't going to tell her to re-write it when his dear wife is going through a tough time. As a result, they had less time to do the episodes than normal because of she was handing the drafts in late. This is obvious as there was a dip in animation within the final episodes. If I do a Destiny re-write based off this fanfiction (highly likely) then I know EXACTLY what's going to happen to her… (Evil Laugh).
edboy4926: Glad to see that you enjoyed it.
Zombyra: It's ok, no harm done.
I won't spoil whether or not the Perfect Strike will be in this iteration. You'll just have to wait and see. It's difficult to write the Remastered version as the Youtube videos for them have that stupid gimmick where you can't stop and start them or it will stop buffering and freeze up and, since I write the chapters as I watch the episode while changing what I want to change, it may become an issue when I get there and have to use the Youtube videos. If you actually know an anime site that has the Remastered Episodes posted in a format that ISN'T the Youtube format, I would appreciate it.
Fireminer: What do you mean when you say "Warship Gunfight?" Do you mean Ship-on-Ship Combat because I have said this does follow canon to a T so what ones are in canon will be here and the ones not in canon won't be here.
I think a Zudah could do it. In the right hands, it could pose a serious threat to the Gundam as we have seen inferior Mobile Suits (Zaku Commander Type, Gouf, Zaku Kai) go toe to toe with the Gundam in the hands of competent pilots (Ramba, Char, Norris, Bernie). Stick one of those guys in a Zudah and watch the ownage occur… So long as they don't fight for TOO long or we all know what will happen, don't we?
I'm one of those guys who believes that wielding two weapons of equal weight is much better than wielding one Heavy one and one Small one. By that logic, I would go with the Dual Beam Sabres any day. Don't get me wrong, I DO like pole weapons (Especially Scythes and Naginatas) but I don't think that, as a combo, it works. Have you been playing Soul Calibre or something?
As I said, I seem to REALLY like Crack Pairings. Cima is, hands down, my favourite Gundam Girl. She's a gorgeous badass, but not hyper-sexualised like the girls in Gundam DD- I mean Gundam 00. In my opinion, it could work if it wasn't fluff, but dark with how it's portrayed. Kou is very much an innocent sort of guy (he refuses to eat carrots) and Cima is a woman whose innocence has been corrupted by war (She was there at the Colony Gassing Incident). In some ways, Cima is representative of what Kou could become if he stayed the course as the Federation's pawn much like how she was Zeon's pawn. I think it could work in a very "Yin/Yang" sort of way. And let's face it, anything's better than freaking Nina Purpleton. SEED's problem is its lack of characterisation. Nina's is her characterisation is so irregular and back to front. She claims to be over Gato and devoted to Kou yet pulls a gun on him when forced to choose between the two of them. I always seem to like it when a protagonist is paired with an older woman and when I say older, I mean OLDER. Another weird one like this is pairing Setsuna with Sumeragi which I would kill to see someone take a serious crack at… I may do it one day along with KouXCima. You can probably guess that I am all for JudauXHaman.
worldwanderer2.0:Believe me when I say that the sheer prospect of it is not appealing. A part of me is tempted to be a complete asshole and write her in the worst way that is humanly possible. I am also sorely tempted to completely screw over canon and have her pod explode or something. However, I am a fair man and will write in an unbiased way (or, at least, I'll try to).
I guess I will just have to call upon my Unicorn Gundam and Banshee (Full Armour and Norne) to render your Psychoframes useless. Regarding Axis, I'm sure my army of Mass-Produced Nu Gundams will be able to handle it nicely. I suppose I will give them some help and send my army of Purus in Mass-Produced Qubeleys to assist also. Their Psychoframes should do the job easily. And while your Nightingale and Nu Gundams are completely paralysed after being torn apart by their own Funnels, the Hi-Nu will mosey in after the Banshee and Unicorn have left and just casually stab them. What say we call it even and I will have my Army die preventing Axis from falling on Earth and thus neither of us wins? We both fought the good fight, no? Please…?
Chapter 7: A Glimpse of Potential
Vesalius…
The heavily damaged Nazca-Class that's missing a large chunk of its Left-hand engine and a large piece of its central aread, has just entered the area that houses ZAFT's home colonies: the ever-famous PLANTs, the homes to all Coordinators who joined ZAFT to flee from the Alliance.
"We've caught the Guide Beacon." One of the Bridge Officers informed Captain Ades and his confidant (Rau) as his console gives him directions to one of the various docking stations spread throughout the area in which the PLANTs reside as well as the proper procedures to make contact with the station. "Instructions have been given to enter the Number Four Dock." He further informs them, "Match entry vector. Beacon detection confirmed! Course correction: 0.3, mark 16.2, delta. Turn around 180 degrees, begin deceleration."
The large Nazca-Class turned in a complete 180 degree motion thanks to its manoeuvring and ignited its main engines to help slow it down in preparation for the docking.
"Will you be bringing Athrun Zala and Miguel Aiman to the enquiry?" Fredrik asked his comrade.
"I WILL be taking Athrun with me." Rau confirmed, "He was there when the incident took place and can analyse things calmly and objectively."
"And Miguel?" Fredrik asks.
"Unfortunately, Frank Hiliner, the chief engineer at the Orion Nine Mobile Suit Base, has requested that he come for his GINN as soon as humanly possible due to him wanting to run Miguel through some slight changes to his GINN. As well as this, he wants to letting him get reacquainted with it and will probably take a sufficient amount of time, more than the meeting will go on for." Rau explains, "Since we will be departing relatively as soon as the Vesalius is repaired, Miguel will be taking a different shuttle aside from the one that me and Athrun will be taking to Aprilius One that will transport him to the base."
"So he won't be able to see his mother and brother?" Fredrik clarifies, a slight tone of sympathy coming forward in his voice.
"Unfortunately not…" Rau responds, sharing in the sympathy. The room becomes silent for a few seconds as an awkward feeling engulfs the atmosphere.
"… I hear that ORB is protesting emphatically." Fredrik mentions, trying to break the awkward atmosphere.
"The important thing is what the problem is from OUR perspective, Ades." Rau responds.
"R-right…"
"Hurry with the re-supply and repair of the Vesalius." Rau urges him, "We may have been given time to rest, but it is not much." He smirks a little, "Not likely, anyway."
Archangel…
The white ship is in a state of relative peace. They have not been attacked by the ever aggressive X numbers since their rather explosive escape from Artemis. They managed to take this time of peace to successfully repair the CIWS that were damaged from Miguel's assault on the Archangel. Aside from this, they also managed to use this rare moment of peace to fully repair the captured GINN and it is just as functioning as the Strike is now. Unfortunately, it's weapons still only comprise of an empty Heavy Machine Gun and a Heavy Sword. They would use the bullets used to stock the CIWS, unfortunately, the GINN's Machine Gun uses a slightly larger calibre, rendering it difficult to do so. The other issue is, of course, its OS. Since Kira is the only Coordinator on the ship, the GINN lacks any pilot who can significantly use it.
"Reconfirmed." Jackie informs the Bridge Crew, "No sign of the enemy ship within 5000 kilometres. It appears they've completely lost us." Upon this news, Murrue rests her head in the palm of her hand to signify relief.
"Artemis got all the attention, so we were able to escape unnoticed." Mu theorises, turning to address his captain as he sits in the co-pilots seat, "We should be thankful for that alone."
"However…" Natarle interjects, slightly turning her chair to address the captain.
"Yes, I know." Murrue responds, "We're fortunate that we lost the Laurasia-Class, but none of our other problems have been solved."
As this rather sombre conversation occurs on the bridge, Sai has just asked something of his Love Interest, Flay. Something that seems to annoy her.
"What, do I have to?" Flay complains.
"Well, I can't force you to." Sai assures her, "But don't you think you should apologise, given the situation?"
"It's a fact that he went through all kinds of trouble because of what you said." Tolle explains, "even if Cagalli was with him." He adds.
"But still!" She retorts, "All I said was…"
"We're used to it," Tolle says, "But, in this situation, the fact that he's a Coordinator poses a delicate problem."
"Anyway, could you at least tell him you're sorry?" Sai asks, "Otherwise, it would be awkward when you're around each other."
"If you insist Sai, I'll say it." She responds with a somewhat annoyed tone.
"But I wonder what's going to happen to this ship from now on." Tolle remarks, changing the conversation to something less depressing to which Sai makes an agreeable "Hm."
"We couldn't get any supplies while docked at Artemis, could we?" Sai mentions.
"No."
"I wonder if ZAFT's going to keep coming after us…"
Vesalius…
The Nazca-Class ship is now fully clamped into place in Dock 4 and repairs have already begun on the battered ship. A Transport Shuttle has arrived to ferry the Red Coat (Athrun) and White Coat (Rau) to Apprilius One. Miguel would have to wait for another shuttle that would ferry him to Orion Nine. He's also stood at the airlock with Rau and Athrun to see them off.
"I'll see you later, Athrun." Miguel addresses his friend with a friendly tone, shaking his hand and smiling a little to which Athrun responds in kind.
"You too, Miguel." Athrun responds, finishing their hand shake.
"Next time we see each other, I'll be back and ready to kick the Strike's ass!" Miguel remarks with a cocky tone, pointing to himself with his thumb. As a result, Athrun's eyes become slightly saddened while Rau lets out an amused chuckle.
"I hope to see that determination when you next sortie, Miguel." He remarks, causing Miguel's cocky expression to drop, turn to his superior and salute with a ramrod pose.
"Sir!" Rau chuckles again before turning to the Airlock along with Athrun, "Wait, sir…" Miguel addresses the White Coat again, causing Rau to turn back to look at him.
"Yes, Miguel?"
"Will… Will I be able to see my family before we leave again, sir?" Miguel asks hopefully.
"Unfortunately, Miguel, I am going to have to ask you immediately return to the Vesalius once you have successfully collected your GINN." Rau answers with a sympathetic tone, "You may be needed for any further enquiry and I don't have a good estimate of when we will be ready to depart."
"Y-yes, sir…"
"I give you my promise that you will have the chance the next time we return to the PLANTs."
"Thank you, sir."
It's at that point that Rau and Athrun turn away from Miguel and enter the shuttle while Miguel turns to go wait for his craft to arrive.
The Red Coat and White Coat both enter the Shuttle, expecting no company, only to see a trench-coat clad individual that they know all too well. He turns to look at them and they quickly salute as the door closes behind them, Athrun stood there with a surprised expression at the presence of his father, Patrick Zala, Chairman of the PLANTs.
"We will be accompanying you, Your Exellency." Rau addresses the man, "National Defence Committee Chairman Zala."
"No need for formalities." Patrick assures them, raising his hand at them in gesture, "You never saw me on this shuttle." He informs them as he turns to the Red Coat. "Got that, Athrun?"
"I understand, Father." Athrun responds with a hollow tone, "Long time, no see."
The Shuttle departs from the Vesalius and its dock and heads straight for the PLANTs. As the shuttle makes its journey, its three passengers continue their conversation.
"Needless to say, I agree with your opinions in your report." Patrick assures them, "The problem is the fact that they've developed such advanced Mobile Suits." He surmises, "We'll ignore the part about the pilot." This comments surprises Athrun, "I went ahead and deleted that section."
"Thank you very much." Rau thanks his superior, "I was confident you would make that decision."
"Imagine the public reaction if we told them that the one machine we left is being piloted by a Coordinator." Patrick reasons, "It would only give the moderate faction something unnecessary to argue about."
"Wouldn't you also find it difficult to have your friend be referred to as someone who switched sides to the Earth Forces, due to your report?" Rau asks Athrun, turning to look back towards him.
"Uh… No, but…" He falls over his words. Patrick turns back to regard him.
"The Naturals created a Mobile Suit that performs that well even with a Natural piloting it." Patrick declares, surprising his son, "That's what we're reporting, got it, Athrun?"
"Yes."
"We must be more serious about this." Patrick declares, "That way, we can end this war."
Archangel…
Kira's entourage of friends (minus Cagalli who was helping him with maintenance) were taking a small break and helping themselves to a tray of food. Tolle was unfortunate enough to engulf a piece of food incorrectly and has begun to choke as a result.
"W-water!" He cries out, patting his chest to try and prevent the choking and alerting his friends as a result, "Water!" His Love interest lets out a moan of annoyance before placing her rather empty glass of water in front of Tolle who snatches the glass and gulps down its contents all at once, still patting his chest, "W-water, I need more water!"
"Stop making inappropriate jokes that aren't funny." Sai scolds him, taking a tray from the counter and walking to sit next to his Love Interest.
"I'm not joking!" Tolle responds, "Dammit!"
As Sai sits down, Flay slides down the table away from him. Confused, he slides to the left to sit next to her and she repeats the action.
"What?" Sai asks confusedly, "Is something the matter?"
"Because of these water restrictions, I couldn't take a shower yesterday." She responds with an embarrassed tone. The group all look at her for a few moments before Sai lets out a sigh, fiddling with his glasses as a result. The door then opens and Kira and Cagalli step through.
"Are you finished with the Strike's maintenance?"
"Yeah, but limited use of the washer makes things a lot harder." Kira remarks.
"Parts get dirty, you know." Cagalli adds.
Flay lets out a small sigh before Sai gives her a slight nudge with his shoulder, alerting her as she turns towards him.
"Flay." He simply says. She turns away with a frown, sitting still for a few moments before standing off the bench and turning to address Kira, who turns to address her. Cagalli also watches silently from behind her.
"U-um, Kira?" She addresses him, "I'm sorry for what happened the other day! I said those things without really thinking."
"About what?"
"At Artemis," She reminds Kira, "I said that you're a Coordinator." Kira's face turns to a frown for a split second before a reassuring smile replaces it.
"Oh, never mind about that." He assures her, "I'm not upset about it. Besides, it's true."
"Thank you." She replies, before looking back at Sai, seeking his approval who simple turns away.
Cagalli notices this little gesture and connects the dots. Being raised predominantly around politicians, she was well aware of the meaning of "bullshit" and "dishonesty" and had developed an almost sixth sense for it and being able to see right through it. She could tell that the apology was half-hearted and somewhat forced, but she wasn't fully sure why Flay would go to the trouble. Her turning to Sai, however, made things clear. She was simply doing it for him, not out of the good of her heart. Cagalli knows one thing about people who do things like that:
You keep an eye on them.
As Cagalli thinks over this, Kira is looks at the various empty glasses of water and kept help but think what they are going to do about it.
At that moment, the Bridge Crew were discussing matters and what directions to take. The large viewscreen mapping out various routes the Archangel can take from their current coordinators.
"Is this our best position?" Natarle complains, "Isn't there a better route?"
"Impossible." Arnold responds, "If we set our route too close to Earth, we'll end up entering the debris belt." He demonstrates by showing the route on the view-screen, "Even though taking that route WOULD get us to Lunar Orbit sooner."
"Can't we go through it?" Murrue asks.
"The debris belt? That's impossible!" Arnold assures her with a heated tone, "If we attempted to go through it while maintaining this speed we'd end up as part of the debris."
"A mountain of garbage that humanity has scattered since going to space." Mu remarks, "It's true that we don't want to be a part of that…" He then has a brainwave, "Wait a minute… the debris belt…" Murrue lets out a confused "huh?" as a result. He turns his chair to address her, "I'm a man who makes the impossible possible, right?"
Aprilius One Interior…
A shuttle craft (albeit not as luxurious as the one carrying Athrun, Patrick and Rau) has just picked up Miguel and is ferrying him to Orion Nine. As this occurs, Athrun and Rau are riding one of the various high-speed elevators into the core of Aprilius One. A news channel plays on the in-elevator view-screen. The reporters have just finished their latest piece of news.
"In other news," They begin, "Prior to a ceremony mourning the lives lost in the Junius Seven tragedy exactly one year ago, Supreme Council Chairman Clyne made a statement." This information garners Athrun and Rau's attention, the former lowering his datapad to better regard it as a recording of the speech appears on-screen. Sigel Clyne stands in view with his daugher, Lacus Clyne, stood next to him.
"That unfortunate incident has left us with a deep sorrow that we shall never forget." He spoke.
"By the way," Rau turns to address Athrun, "Aren't you engaged to that girl?"
"Y-yes."
"I hear Miss Lacus is also going with the memorial delegation." Rau informs him, "That's wonderful."
"Yes." Athrun responds rather stiffly.
"You two, the children of Committee Chairman Zala and Chairman Clyne, tying the knot…" Rau remarks, "It's certain to bring a bright light to the next generation. We're counting on you."
"Thank you very much."
As Athrun says this, the elevator moves into view of the Colony interior. A large amount of grassland can be seen as well as the large urban areas.
"It's our responsibility, right now, to protect that generation." Rau remarks. A stern expression crosses Athrun's expression.
Some time later, Orion Nine…
Around the same time as Rau and Athrun arrive at the Council Building and Rau begins to relay the events of Heliopolis to the Council, the shuttle carrying Miguel has just reached Orion Nine.
Orion Nine is not a PLANT. It is simply a small mass of asteroids that have had repair facilities built into them. The Nine is derived from the fact that the small repair station is a connection of nine different asteroids all tied together by Airlock Corridors large enough for supply craft and Mobile Suits to fly through. Eight of these asteroids house Mobile Suit repair bays while the ninth houses a small residential section. This is what makes it so efficient as a Repair Station, the crew don't have far to go either way. Another convenient aspect of the station is that the Residential Asteroid is connected to all eight other asteroids as its larger than the others so Airlock corridors can be connected to it. This is made more convenient by the fact that it resides in the centre, allowing for such connection.
"This is shuttle 4859, can you hear me, Orion Nine?" The shuttle operator called over the communicator, "Repeat, can you hear me?"
"We read you loud and clear, Shuttle 4859." A stern voice calls over the communicator, "State your business."
"Pilot Miguel Aiman is here to collect his personal GINN." The Shuttle pilot quickly replies.
"Stand by." The voice commands.
A few tedious minutes pass as Miguel, who is sat in the cargo bay, loses his patience and walks up to the cabin.
"What's taking so long?" He asks with irritation in his tone.
"Wanna know a big problem with Orion Nine?" He asks rhetorically, "Their communication between each section is garbage." They both chuckle a little at this.
"I guessed so." Miguel remarks with a semi-amused tone.
A few more minutes pass of comfortable silence as Miguel has elected to take a seat in the co-pilot's chair instead, his feet propped up on top of the console in obvious relaxation, his hands behind his head. Eventually, the communicator blares into life.
"Your business has been confirmed, shuttle 4859." The voice informs him. "Your passenger's Mobile Suit is located in Orion 9-7. Please proceed there immediately. Chief Engineer Frank Hiliner will be there to greet your passenger."
"Copy that, Control."
"About time." Miguel mutters.
The shuttle's engines blare into life as the small craft flies towards the Asteroid at a relatively quick speed. Within a short period of time, they arrive at the appropriate asteroid and enter through the large Airlock. Guarding this entrance are five GINNs armed with normal Heavy Machine Guns. Miguel whistles at the sight.
"Paranoid bunch, aren't they?" He remarks.
"Other problem with Orion Nine." The pilot counters, "It's so fragile that destroying one piece of it sends it all straight to hell."
"How come?"
"They all have reactors in their core to power them." He responds, "One gets destroyed and another will get caught in the explosion, causing that one to get destroyed. Know what I mean?"
"Yeah… I get you."
They enter the airlock and instead are greeted to a large sign saying "All departing passengers must wear Normal Suits."
"Apparently, they find it easier to work in vacuum." The pilot informs Miguel, "It's also a lot less hassle for craft and Mobile Suits coming to and from the place."
"I better get mine on then." Miguel remarks with a grin. He quickly enters the cabin's bathroom and hastily pulls on his Normal Suit that he was carrying around in a duffle bag. Within a minute, he's back out of the bathroom and sat back in the co-pilot's chair, helmet on his lap just as the shuttle enters a large Mobile Suit bay where various GINNs are being worked on. The overall structure of the bay was one large cylinder where Mobile Suit berths were placed all around its surface area. Some have the standard paint job while some have unique ones. There are also some variants of the standard GINN being repaired such as a GINN Assault Type. The heavily armoured GINN stands idle in its berth. Miguel also spotted a few non-GINN Mobile Suits such as CGUEs and DINNs.
"This is Frank Hilinger." A rather relaxed voice calls over the intercom, "Shuttle 4859, if you want to just drop of your passenger where you are, I'll take it from there."
"Roger." The pilot responds before turning to Miguel. "This is your stop, kid. Go out through the bay doors or you'll vent atmosphere into this cockpit."
"Alright, see you." Miguel responds as he slips his helmet on and exits the cabin after giving a wave to the pilot. He opens the rear bay door hatch and drifts out after taking a thrusters pack from one of the lockers in the bay. Once the shuttle bay doors close behind him, the craft turns around and flies back down the tunnel to leave. Miguel is not left idle for long as a man eventually approaches him. He's wearing a standard ZAFT (Not Military) Normal Suit. His appearance implies that he is in his 30s, having short and swept-back brown hair. He also has small black stubble growing over his chin.
"You Miguel?" He addresses Miguel who nods in response, "I'm Frank Hilinger. It's a pleasure." He has a cheerful smile and holds out his hand to shake. Miguel responds appropriately.
"Likewise." He returns the smile before they finish the handshake and Frank gestures behind him.
"Strange that a Green Shirt has a custom GINN and not even a special pilot suit." Miguel frowns a little before putting his hands behind his helmet in an exaggerative gesture.
"Guess I just ain't special enough to warrant a promotion." Miguel remarks, "And by promotion, I mean my Mother or Father aren't in the Council." Frank lets out a loud laugh.
"Ain't that the truth!" He says with a raucous tone before dying down his laughter and pointing towards a certain direction, "Just follow me and I'll take you to your GINN."
"Lead the way, sir." Miguel responds with an equally cheerful tone.
They both start to drift towards the direction of the GINN as Frank leads and Miguel follows, a comfortable silence between the two.
"You know, they never told what happened to it when they brought your GINN to the station. Thing had taken quite a beating." Frank remarks, "Care to tell me?"
"Some stupid mercenary piloting a jacked-up GINN caught me off guard." Miguel responds, frowning a little at his rather embarrassing defeat that he recalls. "You mentioned some changes to my GINN?"
"Oh, its nothing on the surface." Frank explains, "We just upped the performance a little. Instead of having a 20% Increase on your thrust power, you've got a 30% now."
"That's sweet." Miguel responds with a grin.
"We also managed to improve the reaction time so you should be able react a little faster." Frank continues.
"Anything else?" Miguel asks hopefully.
"Not much else, no." Miguel has a dejected look, "But we heard that you're taking the thing to fight off some new Alliance Mobile Suit, am I right?"
"Right on." Miguel responds, "The thing wasn't no pushover, either."
"We heard that the thing uses beam weaponry, mostly?"
"Yeah." Miguel responds, "Stuff like Beam Sabres and Beam Rifles."
"Right, so we did you a little favour." Frank responds, "We've applied an Anti-Beam coating to your custom shield. That should stop a few shots from a Beam Rifle, but don't expect to stop a Battleship cannon with it."
"Thanks." Miguel responds with a grateful tone.
"We also applied an Anti-Beam Coating to the Heavy Sword." Frank continues, "You should be able to clash with a Beam Sabre and it won't melt like butter now."
"That's… actually really useful." Miguel remarks, "I can seriously kick the Strike's ass without being afraid that he'll just cut through everything I'll throw at him. Anything else?"
"We modified two Heavy Machine Guns to house a large rocket on the underside of the barrel. It, sort of, works like a grenade launcher. You'll want to take them with you when you leave." Frank continues, "Since you're fighting a Mobile Suit with enhanced armour, we thought you might need the extra firepower."
"Like the Duel's…" Miguel thinks to himself. "Thanks for the help."
"Glad to see you improve of our modifications. Won't do you much good in gravity, but that's why they're called "Zero Gravity Manouever Fighters", am I right? Because they suck everywhere else." Frank says rhetorically, with an amused tone, before pointing somewhere, "Ah, there it is."
Miguel looks to where he was pointing to see that his GINN was, indeed, present, its signature Orange and White Colour scheme very easy to distinguish. It had several pieces of decals stamped on the body. On the right shoulder-pad, there is a Skull and crossbone in front of an outlined, hollow black pentagon. On the left one, there was a single word saying "Defrock" on it. On the right leg, there are the initials "DF" written there with a small star at the top corner of the "F ." The only really unique aspect about it, in terms of armament, is that, unlike a normal GINN, it carries a Kite Shield that has served Miguel well and will, hopefully, continue to serve him well. It also has his emblem stamped upon it. It wasn't fully complete; however, as bits of its armour were still missing and large cables were protruding out of its cockpit.
"How long till their finished?" Miguel asks with a semi-annoyed tone. The prospect of waiting even longer for his GINN was a prospect that did not appeal to Miguel at all. He hated waiting. Luckily, Frank let out a small chuckle before patting him on the shoulder.
"Not much longer." He assures Miguel, "They're just doing the finishing touches. You won't be here for longer than a day if even that."
"While you wait…" Frank gestures to the various Mobile Suits that are docked and being worked on, "Feel free to look around, your Mobile Suit is in berth 89 in case you get lost. I'll give you a call when it's ready." Miguel smiles a little.
"I guess I gotta keep myself entertained somehow, don't I?"
Archangel…
A large meeting is currently occurring on the bridge of the Archangel as a significant number of the crew are just listening to a suggestion made by one Mu La Flaga.
"Supplies?" Sai ask incredulously, "We can get supplies? Where?"
"Get supplies, yes." Mu confirms, "Or, more accurately, take supplies."
"We're currently on our way to the debris belt." Murrue explains.
"Debris belt?" Sai mutters, "But… wait a minute! You don't mean…!"
"You're pretty bright." Mu remarks playfully, wagging his finger at Sai.
"The debris belt consists of a wide variety of things in space." Murrue continues, "Of course, that includes ships that have been destroyed in battle."
"You're not suggesting we get our supplies from there, are you?" Tolle asks incredulously.
"What other choice do we have?" Mu counters, "Unless we do, we're not gonna last."
"Once we're there, we'd like you to help us with work outside of the ship, using pods." Murrue continues to explain, causing sombre sighs from the group.
"We're not delighted about this, either." Natarle assures the group, "But we have no choice if we want to survive." This provokes more gasps from the crowd.
"We're not going there to hunt around for things that others have lost." Murrue assures them, "We're just going to take a small share of what we're in immediate need of… In order to live…"
Some time later… Aprilius One Council Chambers…
"I believe you can understand that, from the events you just saw, that our actions were not intended as an attack on Heliopolis itself and that the biggest reason for the collapse lies with the Earth Forces." Rau concludes, "That ends my report." He finishes before saluting and turning to sit back down with Athrun, leaving the council to their delegations.
"So ORB was working with the Earth Forces, after all. They're the ones who ignored the treaty."
"However, Representative Attha has…"
"We can't trust anything those living on Earth say!"
"However, Commader Le Creuset…" Patrick swiftly interjects, standing from his chair addressing the White Coat, "Are the Mobile Suits of the Earth Forces really valuable enough to account for all the sacrifices made to get them?"
"To explain their marvellous abilities to you," Rau counters, "I have one of our pilots with me, who has not only piloted one of those machines, but has battled the one machines that we failed to take." He glances towards Athrun who looks back at him, "I request to have Athrun Zala report on this."
A brief silence passes over the chamber as Patrick turns towards Seigel expectandly who turns away in kind. He glances back towards Patrick after a few moments.
"I will allow Athrun Zala to report." He declares.
The magenta-haired Red Coat approaches the Council Table and sternly salutes before a small beeping sound can be heard throughout the chamber. The view-screen within the chamber blares into life to reveal the Aegis stood in its berth with various cabling protruding out of it. It is also stood next to a couple of GINNs. The council all gasp slightly at the sight of it.
"First, this is the Aegis…" Athrun begins, "A major characteristic is…"
Some time later…
The Strike Gundam (Equipped with the Aile Pack) just takes off from the Archangel followed by a small group of Mistrals (One piloted by Cagalli (there was no one extra for the co-pilot's seat), the Strike's Phase Shift armour activating, colouring the Mobile Suit as they fly towards the Debris Belt. As this occurs, Miguel Aiman has been informed that the repairs for his Mobile Suit have been fully completed and all that remains is for some extra work to the OS before it's ready. As well as this, Athrun Zala has just finished his speech.
"And there you have it." Athrun concludes his report with a salute, moving to sat back down on the bench next to Rau. As he goes to sit down, the politicians begin to bicker amongst themselves. Some see this as a future prelude to a full-scale assault by the Earth Forces while others simply believe that they are prototypes and will pose no future threat. Their bickering is ceased soon enough as Siegel Clyne speaks up to try and calm the fires.
"Silence, Committee members!" Siegel commands, Rau smirking at the witnessed chaos, "Silence!" As this very thing passes over the chamber, the Strike and Mistrals venture further into the debris.
"There is no one who prefers to fight!" Patrick declares, "Who amongst us actually wants to head out to a battlefield?"
The Archangel soon follows suit and enters the debris field.
"We want to live peacefully, gradually and happily." He Comments, "That has been our wish."
Kira and the rest of the Archangel crew all gasp at the sight in front of them.
"But who ruthlessly shattered that wish?" He asks rhetorically, "Who took away our freedom for their own convenience and ambitions and continue to use us?"
Several pieces of farmland equipment pass by the Strike's group as they slowly realise where they are.
"We will never forget the Bloody Valentine!" Patrick declares, "The tragedy of Junius Seven!"
This was, indeed, the colony that the Archangel has stumbled upon, Murrue simply stood out of chair and looked at the devastation with a shocked expression.
"243, 721 People." Patrick informed them, "It's been a year since we lost all those countrymen in that abominable incident yet we've racked our brains to try and end this war quickly by making minimal demands. However, the Naturals have put our efforts to waste time and time again!"
At that moment, Kira's group landed on the surface of the Colony remains and have begun to explore. They search through a wrecked building and open a door to find, unfortunately, a woman holding her daughter in her arms. Her body is cold and lifeless and has not decayed since the incident due to the lack of oxygen. Miriallia can only let out a squeal of terror at the sight while the others with steelier nerves (Natarle, Cagalli, Kira) can only look at it with a disturbed expression. Kira also notices the small, ruined teddy bear drifting right next to the corpses.
"We fight to protect ourselves." Patrick declares, "If we cannot protect without fighting, we have no choice but to fight!"
As Patrick concludes his passionate speech, a tense silence fills the chamber as Siegel lets out a long sigh at the current situation.
Some time later… Archangel…
"That water over there?" Kira asks incredulously as the majority of the crew are stood on the bridge for another meeting, "Are you serious?"
"There's close to a hundred million tons frozen over on it." Natarle reasons.
"But you saw it for yourself, didn't you, Ms. Natarle?" Kira counters. "That PLANT is where hundreds of thousands of people lost their lives and yet…"
"That's the only water we've been able to find." Murrue adds.
"No one's jumping for joy." Mu assures him, "No one's shouting 'hooray, we found water!'"
"Lieutenant La Flaga…"
"Nobody wants to step onto that place if it can be helped, but it can't be helped!" Mu reasons, "We're alive! That means we must continue to live!"
All of the crew share concerned looks as they ponder what he has just said to them, wrestling with the moral dilemma at foot.
Apprilius One… Council Chambers…
The meeting has finally concluded and the members of the Supreme Council have all began to depart from the premises. Athrun Zala stands to the left of the door in a saluting pose, honouring the politicians as they walk on by. Soon enough, they all leave and Siegel is last to exit the room who walks on over to Athrun.
"Athrun," Siegel addresses the Coordinator.
"Your excellency, Chairman Clyne." Athrun answers with reverence.
"You know there's no need to stand on ceremony with me." Siegel assures the boy.
"Well, I uh…"
"Now that you've returned, Lacus is away on business." Siegel remarks, "When will you two make some time to finally see each other?"
"I'm sorry, sir." Athrun apologises.
"There's no reason to apologize to me." Siegel assures him as he walks with Athrun to observe one of the fossilised remains that are on display, "However, things are going to get hectic again… Although I understand your father's comments."
"Athrun Zala!" The familiar voice calls from behind them, alerting the two as they turn to see Rau Le Creuset and Patrick Zala walking towards them. "We're going after that newly-made ship and Mobile Suit." Athrun makes a small gasp, "The Laconi and Porto teams are joining under my command. We're leaving in 72 Hours!"
"Yes, sir!" Athrun responds.
"Excuse us, Your Excellency Chairman Clyne." Rau apologises, saluting the man. Athrun does so as well and the White and Red Coats take off in another direction to leave as Patrick approaches Siegel Clyne.
"We have very little time." Siegel remarks, "What good will it do to escalate the war for no reason?"
"That's exactly why we cannot forgive them." Patrick responds, "Those who get in our way."
As they converse, a Music Video of Lacus Clyne begins to play on the View-Screens throughout the PLANT. As the song continues, Rau and Athrun drive through the PLANT and away from the Council Building. Athrun glances at the various View-Screens thoughtfully.
Elsewhere, Miguel Aiman has just been told his GINN has been completed and is ready to sortie. He was quietly listening to the song that could be heard over Orion Nine's speakers before being informed of this news and began to drift back towards his Mobile Suit.
In another place, various paper flowers were being made by the crew of the Archangel in remembrance of the lives lost at Junius Seven. As the song continues, the bundle of flowers make their way to Miriallia who stands on a small chunk of rock overlooking the devastation. She holds the flowers close to her chest for a few moments before throwing the bundle into space, the various paper flowers scattering in the wind. The bridge crew (Romero, Arnold, Murrue, Mu) all adopt various respective poses in respect to the deceased. Murrue holds a small locket to her chest also. Kira and Cagalli also watch with thoughtful expressions at the gesture made by a Natural Crew to dead Coordinators, Coordinators who, according to Blue Cosmos, must be "cleansed."
After departing from Rau Le Creuset, Athrun took a one man shuttle to another one of the PLANTs for some personal business, all while the song continues to play. He arrives at a large graveyard where various tombs lay, however, he stands in front of a single one with a bouquet of flowers. The name on the tomb reads "Lenore Zala," Athrun's mother and Patrick's wife. As the song ends, Athrun departs from the graveyard.
Orion Nine…
Miguel has finally arrived at his Custom GINN and the machine is clearly ready to go and ultimately concluded that he wouldn't have to worry about getting it rearmed before departing the PLANTs. There is no missing armour pieces or protruding wires save for the Power Cable. The only real difference he can see from when he last saw it is the GINN's main weapon: The Heavy Machine Gun. Instead of the small grip on the underside of the barrel, a large cylinder-shaped Missile is located in its place, similar in design to the missiles use by the Leg Launchers. Miguel noticed that the GINN was holding one of these weapons while the other was mounted on its back skirt. The Heavy Sword (located on the left skirt mount) also had a slight shine from it, probably from the beam coating as this same shine was present on the shield itself (which was being held by the GINN's left hand). There was also a pair of Leg-Mounted Missile Launchers already attached to the side of each of its legs. Soon enough, he reached the cockpit, its hatch already opened, and saw Frank waiting for him.
"She's all ready now?" Miguel asked.
"Yep." Frank clarified, "So you heading back out now?"
"I ain't sure, exactly." Miguel responds, "I'll probably go back to the port and wait for orders or something."
"Well…" Frank holds out his hand to shake, "Godspeed and give those Naturals hell."
"You bet your ass I will." Miguel responded cockily before grabbing the hand and shaking it. They soon end their goodbye as Miguel clambers into the cockpit and shuts the hatch behind him. He takes a seat and activates the Mobile Suits OS, the dull cockpit lighting up as the computer and view-screens all come to life. The GINN's eye lights up to signal its activation. Frank sees this and flies out of the way. The berth comes loose and Miguel's GINN drifts upwards and out of the row of various Mobile Suits so that he can face the tunnel to leave. He ignites his GINN's thrusters and the Mobile Suit takes off down the tunnel, severing the Power Cable as it goes. Miguel certainly feels the increase in thruster power as the GINN flies significantly quicker. Soon enough, he flies out of the tunnel and back into open space. He takes this opportunity to get reacquainted with his Mobile Suit's controls and performs a series of manoeuvres, spinning his GINN, Suddenly back-pedalling then flying backwards and aiming his rifle in several directions.
As he continues this practice, his communication console blares into life and alerts him to a message. He opens the file to see the following:
RETURN TO MAIN BASE AFTER DELIVERING YOUR GINN TO THE VESALIUS, MIGUEL. ATHRUN IS ALSO WAITING AT THE BASE AND YOU WILL RETURN BACK TO THE SHIP, TOGETHER, ONCE REPAIRS ARE COMPLETED. WE WILL BE DEPARTING IN 72 HOURS; HOWEVER, I CANNOT PERMIT YOU TO LEAVE THE BASE IN THAT TIME SHOULD YOUR PRESENCE BE REQUIRED FOR ANY ENQUIRY.
RAU LE CREUSET.
"Dammit!" Miguel complains, "I guess I really won't get the chance to see them…"
He soon finishes his practice and takes off in the direction of the Vesalius, feeling both confident at reacquiring his Personal GINN, but depressed that he couldn't see his family.
Especially after he promised he would…
Archangel…
Work was being conducted by Kira's friends in the Mistrals to mine the various blocks of ice floating around the area. Kira, in the Strike, patrolled around the debris and kept a watchful eye on things should any sort of threats approach them while they work. The same was also true for Mu who patrolled the area in his Moebius Zero.
"How much longer?" Murrue asks.
"I'd say four hours." Romero replies, "Although we'll have enough ammunition for one more trip."
Kira stops patrolling momentarily to better scan the area. It was now that he sees a large green and white shuttle appear from behind some wreckage. Unlike the rest of the wreckage, this one looked relatively new and had signs of battle damage across its hull.
"A civilian ship?" He surmises, "It must've been sunk." He theorises before his proximity sensors beep into life, alerting Kira. From behind the wrecked civilian ship, a ZGMF-LRR704B GINN Long Range Reconnaissance Type emerges, wielding a Sniper Rifle. The Mobile Suit scans the area as Kira locks onto it, scanning the Mobile Suit.
"A reconnaissance-type two-seater GINN?!" Kira exclaims, "What's it doing here?"
As he says this, the GINN moves to the bridge of the Civilian ship and analyses it. It drifts away and scans the area again, its monoeye going back and forth.
"If it finds the Archangel and calls for backup, we're finished." He exclaims before activating his Cockpit's targeting system, the device sliding in front of his eyes as the Strike takes aim over the unaware GINN. The Mobile Suit continues to hover around as Kira refuses to fire, hoping that it will lose interest and leave. "Go! Go away! Just leave…" Luckily, his prayers are answered as the GINN begins to fly away, moving to search somewhere else. Unfortunately, Kira's sight is obscured as a Mistral, carrying supplies, comes into his field of vision. The GINN turns around and notices the Mistral and begins to fly straight towards the helpless Mobile Pod. "You idiot! Why'd you have to notice?!" He takes lock again on the GINN who raises its rifle to attack the Mistral.
"It's ZAFT!" Dalida, its pilot, exclaims as Kuzzey lets out a cry of terror.
"I've gotta…" Kira mutters, his hands shaking in hesitation as the GINN begins to open fire, grazing the Mobile Pod and causing its crew to cry in terror.
All of a sudden, a burst of bullets collided with the GINN's back, stunning and alerting the Mobile Suit. Kira lets out a surprised gasp and momentarily takes his finger off the trigger. Dalida and Kuzzey also look to see who their saviour is. They get their answer when, as the GINN turns to face its attacker, is rammed by a Mistral, sending the GINN backwards and letting go of its Sniper Rifle. A female battle cry over the console alerts Kira to who it is.
"Cagalli?!" He mutters to himself.
The GINN moves to punch the Mistral with its right fist when one of the Mistral's loading arms grabs hold of the arm as it is raised. The GINN attempts to do so, again, with it's other hand for Cagalli to respond with grabbing its arm with the other loading arm.
"Please hold!" Cagalli grinds through her teeth. Unfortunately, the GINN still has its legs and knees the Mistral. This, however, does not help the GINN itself as the Mistral flies upward with enough momentum to pull the GINN's arms off. Quickly recovering, Cagalli let enough another volley with her Mistral's vulcans and tore through the GINN's chest. The GINN drifted away for a few moments before exploding.
As Cagalli sits in the cockpit with ragged breath and a slight headache after getting knocked around quite a bit; Kira, Kuzzey and Dalida can only look on in shock as they realise what just happened.
Cagalli had just managed to beat a GINN in a Mistral.
"Thanks, Cagalli!" Dalida calls over the console, "I thought we were done for!"
Snapping out of his shock, Kira ignites his boosters and flies over to the damaged Mistral.
"Cagalli!" He addresses the pod with worry, "Are you alright?"
"Yeah, I'm fine…" She responds.
"Why the hell did you do that?!" Kira asks with a heated tone, "That guy could have killed you!"
"Who was supposed to save your friends?!" She responds with an equally heated tone.
"I was!"
"Yeah?" Cagalli asks, "Well, I didn't even know you were there!" Kira gasps a little at that.
"You didn't?" He asks, his voice calming down slightly.
"No."
"Oh…" Kira mutters, "Sorry."
"It's alright." Cagalli responds with a reassuring tone.
They are broken out of their conversation when a proximity alert activates on Kira's console. He scans the area until he notices a flashing red light. He zooms in on the light to see a ZAFT lifepod.
"A lifepod?" Kira remarks.
"Think it's from the shuttle?" Cagalli asks.
"I don't know…"
Some time later…
The scavenge mission was over and the numerous members of the Archangel crew are stood in the hangar, all observing the Lifepod. Alongside bringing the pod, Kira also collected the GINN Sniper Rifle (which still had ammo) and brought it onboard. Dalida and Kuzzey informed Murrue and the officers about the incident with Cagalli which gave them something to think on later. The incident had given Murrue an idea that she would need to discuss with, both the officers and Cagalli, later. For now, however, they all eagerly want to see what is within the pod.
"You must really enjoy bringing back things that others leave behind." Natarle remarks, "Then again, I suppose bringing back a working GINN weapon is worthy recompense."
"I'm opening it." Murdoch addresses the group as he stands next to the pod. Four Alliance Soldiers all aimed their guns on the pod as Murdoch unlocked the hatch. A small, pink tennis ball-like robot drifted out of the pod.
"Haro, Haro!" The machine repeated, drawing their attention for a moment before a voice alerts them back to the pod.
"Thank you." The voice calls, "I appreciate your assistance."
They all turn to see a certain pink-haired song-stress emerge from the pod, all well aware of just who she is and what her presence will cause on the ship…
And so ends chapter 7… God, I don't look forward to next chapter… How do people write Lacus Clyne without hanging themselves? Those few words from her were torture enough as it is!
So, a few things happen here. We have a bit of non-canon in the form of Miguel's journey to Orion Nine. I would be interested to note your opinion on it and if I did a good job describing things and whatnot.
Flay's on Cagalli's radar now so you can imagine the direction that will go… Though keep it to yourself or you may spoilt it for some people.
So Cagalli killed the GINN Recon Type, eh? Wonder what that's going to cause? Wait… I'm the author! Of course I know what's going to happen so I will just use the age old adage of "It's for me to know and for you to find out!"
Anyway, I hope you enjoyed the chapter!
R-0 Out!