Disclaimer: I dont own Gundam

Here I am with another update, this time focusing on the Minerva crew and Sensou. Editing credit goes to 00virtuezero again

Gundam Seed Destiny or Liberty

Chapter 21: Deadly remnants

The Aero Gundam was like a blur to the Kratos pilots as it flew between each mobile suit. Silver Mask smiled as he flipped the mobile suit, dodging beams and missiles fired by the mobile suits. The Minerva launched a volley of missiles, forcing the Kratos mobile suits to manoeuvre across the sky. Branden and Kojiro simultaneously slid their faceplates down as their Gundams were loaded onto the catapults.

"Branden Kamal, Murasama Rogue launching!"

"Kojiro Sasaki, Kenshin Launching!"

Both Gundams slid out of the Minerva, jumping off the catapult and igniting their rockets. The Kenshin jumped onto a Sensou atmospheric flight platform, spinning its Naginata around as the Murasama ignited its rockets. Branden targeted the Kratos's and brandished his Gundam's war claws.

"Thirty mobile suits, beginning elimination of targets," Kojiro said emotionlessly.

"LETS GO!" Branden roared.

The Murasama dived towards two Kratos's, slamming its claws into their sabres. Kojiro swung his spear around, slicing off a Kratos's arm. But the Kratos continued to fire its beam submachine gun. The Kenshin span its spear between its fingers, blocking the volley of beams. Silver Mask darted past Kojiro and drew his beam trident. He threw the trident into one of the Kratos's, destroying its body and taking its escape pod with it. Silver Mask then swung his legs around, kicking two Kratos's across their heads.

"All right boys and girls lets not let the Sensou pilots get too comfy!" Joe said.

His Efreet Nacht flew off of the ship, landing on one of the nearby islands. He drew his beam katana, holding it ready as three Kratos's broke off from the main group. Luna raised her beam cannon, firing a blast straight towards the trio. But the group easily dodged the blast and one of the Kratos's broke off. It dodged Rey and Nia's beam shots, aiming its rifle at Luna. Lunamaria fired her beam cannon, but the Kratos raised its shoulder, opening the armour to reveal an arc generator. He activated the arc's shield, blocking the beam.

"These things have been upgraded," Meyrin noted.

"Fire Tristans and Isoldes, Nia, support the CIW's with your Slash pack's guns!" Talia ordered.

Nia drew out her Gatling guns and began firing at the Kratos. The single Kratos easily dodged the flurry of bullets and blasts the Minerva fired at it. Joe raised his katana, beckoning for the Kratos's to attack him. One of the Kratos's flew towards him, floating off the floor and drawing its beam sabre. Joe slammed his katana onto the Kratos's sabre and jumped backwards as the other Kratos fired the missiles on its hip. A missile slammed into the Efreet, but its tough armour protected it from crippling damage. Joe in return sliced off the close range Kratos's hand. But the Kratos swung its leg round; the Efreet raised its arm and blocked the Kratos's kick. Silver Mask drew his beam sword and slammed it into a Kratos's sabre. He yelled as he swung the sword again, splitting the Kratos's head in half. With the pilot dead, Silver Mask kicked the lifeless suit towards the ocean.

"Impulse you are clear for launch," Meyrin said.

"Shinn Asuka, Core Splendour launching!"

The core splendour flew out of the Minerva, followed by the Impulse's parts and Blast silhouette. The pieces of the Gundam slammed together as it activated its phase shift armour. Shinn targeted two of the Kratos's, firing his missiles as they attacked Kojiro. Branden repeatedly slammed his swords into a Kratos's sabres. He flipped backwards as a Kratos attacked him from behind.

"Damn, these guys are good," Shinn, said as he fired Kerberos beam canon blasts at the Kratos's. However the Kratos scattered apart to dodge the plasma blast.

Kojiro stabbed his spear into the Kratos's head, killing the pilot. Then he threw the mobile suit into another Kratos. The Kratos sliced its comrade in half and grinded its sabre against Kojiro's spear. Shinn flew backwards, avoiding a series of shots fired by four Kratos's. He folded out his beam cannons and shot down the Kratos missiles. The Impulse fired its rail guns, hitting a Kratos in the shoulder. But the Kratos wasn't done yet, it charged straight towards the Impulse, grabbing its head. Shinn fired his chest CIWS, spraying the Kratos's chest with bullets. Then Shinn slammed his shield into the Kratos's head, knocking the mobile suit back.

"You people are only good because of your numbers!" Branden growled.

The Murasama swung its claws around, but the Kratos it targeted flipped backwards. Then, the Kratos fired its hip missiles, throwing the Murasama back. Ten Kratos's flew around the Minerva, firing their submachine guns, bombarding the ship with red beams. Nia blocked a blast with her shield and fired back with her Gatling guns. Rey fired his beam rifle, hitting a Kratos straight in the head.

"Remember the reports on the Kratos's, the cockpits are located in the head," Rey said.

"I know that!" Nia snapped.

Joe pulled his sword up, blocking a midair strike from a Kratos. The Kratos pushed against the Efreet's sabre, sliding the mobile suit across the dirt. Joe pushed the Kratos back, the mobile suit rolled into a few trees before flying upwards. Silver Mask fired his Vulcan's, flying around one of the Kratos's. The Minerva fired a volley of missiles, which the Kratos's shot down. A Kratos dragged its sabre across the side of the Minerva, but was promptly shot by Luna.

"They're just throwing themselves at us, where's the sense in their strategy?" Luna asked.

"No one said that these guys have to make sense, they were loyal to a madwoman after all." Joe said.

Branden stabbed his claws into a Kratos's head. Then he ripped the mobile suit apart. But that didn't scare the other pilots. A Kratos unit wrapped its arms around the Murasama, holding it in place as the other Kratos's fired their missiles. Rey fired his missiles, forcing a Kratos to fire its Vulcan's. The Zaku Phantom then fired a rifle shot, hitting the Kratos clear in the face. Rey reloaded his rifle firing it at another Kratos. The Kratos drew its beam sabre and dived straight towards the Minerva. Missiles slammed into its chest, ripping of shreds of its armour. Nia fired her own Gatling gun's, clipping the Kratos's head. The pilot yelled as he increased speed. Luna fired her beam cannon and Rey his rifle. The beams slammed into the Kratos, reducing it to a flaming wreck that slammed into the front of the Minerva.

"Could have done with a brace for impact warning!" Sheryl growled as the ship shook.

Silver Mask fired his rail rifle, hitting a Kratos in the head. He then used the rifle to block a Kratos's beam sabre.

"Do you people even have a plan? Or are you just planning on dying here?" The masked man asked his enemy.

"We gave our lives for Uragiri, she promised us a Utopia. Why? Why didn't anyone accept her vision, WAS ZALA'S OR CLYNE'S ANYMORE APPEALING!" The enemy pilot yelled.

He drew another beam sabre and swung at the Aero. Silver Mask flipped his Gundam back and fired his rail rifle in an arc. The beam cut the Kratos and a unit beside it in half. Silver Mask watched the mobile suit drop its sabres and reach for its partner. The two mobile suits's grabbed one another's hands before they exploded, taking the heads with them. Silver Mask looked around him, his single eye glowing. Everything was quiet, the whole world moved slowly for him. Kratos's attacked the Minerva, taking missiles and bullets to get a shot at the ship. Branden stabbed the Kratos holding him and drew his assault swords. He mercilessly cut the other two Kratos's in half, just as Luna shot another in the chest. Joe cut a Kratos's arm off and jumped backwards, avoiding a volley of missiles. Talia yelled orders across the radio, but they were all a blur to the masked man.

"FOR THE LEGACY OF URAGIRI!" A Kratos pilot yelled.

Kojiro clipped his spear to his back and drew his swords. He blocked the Kratos's sabre strike, and then crossed his swords together, slicing off the Kratos's arm. The pilot of the renegade machine yelled, trying to draw his other sabre. But Kojiro plunged his sword into the Kratos's head, and then pulled out a blade stained by blood.

"WHY ARE YOU PEOPLE FIGHTING SO HARD? WHAT ARE YOU FIGHTING FOR!" Shinn yelled, blocking a Kratos's sabre.

Silver Mask gripped his control stick tightly, letting out a sigh before his mobile suit fell to the water. The splash caught Shinn's attention, before he fired his cannon's and blew the legs off of the Kratos attacking him. Shinn looked down at the water, seeing the Aero's glowing eye.

"What the fuck happened to Silver Mask?" Nia asked.

"Forget about him we can do this on our own," Branden growled as he slashed off a Kratos's arm, and then blocked a volley of missiles.

"Silver Mask do you read? Silver Mask respond," Meyrin tried to reach the masked man over the radio.

He pressed a button on his console, disabling his radio. His hands reached for his helmet, pulling it away from his face. The man let out a sigh, looking at the lights of the battle on the surface of the water. He let the mobile suit sink, tutting at the actions of men with no one left to follow.

Flay sat beside Sai, reading the report sent by the ECOAS unit. An assassination squad had tried to kill her boyfriend. That immediately gave her and excuse to pack up and leave Sensou. But she knew she had responsibilities. Sai could tell from her expression that she was conflicted. Either she stayed to help Sensou or she went to Kira's side. If she were to leave, many would feel that their leader had abandoned them. Yet if she stayed, Kira would inevitably understand.

"Heero's left something out hasn't he?" Sai asked.

"I've got a feeling he did, Lieutenant Dagu said he was one of the toughest agent's to control," Flay said.

"I thought calling Daguza Dagu was a privilege only Commander Rach had."

"Doesn't mean we can't call him it behind closed doors."

The bridge crew chuckled amongst themselves while Flay smiled. Sai received a personal mail on his computer. He immediately opened it and read the contents of a scouting report. Scouting parties had been patrolling the borders set out between the Plants and Earth Alliance space. Squads of GM's, led by Guncannon's flew across parts of space. Flay leant against her chair, sighing as she ran a hand through her hair.

"Sai, do you ever think about what if?" Flay asked.

"Excuse me?"

"What would have happened if we did things differently?"

"I tend not to, you can't do that you know. Thinking about what could have been is another way to torture yourself!" Sai said.

"I've been to the Plants, not just to meet the Chairman but to visit someone who saved my life. Kyusai took me back to Kira; he gave me a chance to tell him how I really felt. Because of him, Gekido survived his encounter with Uragiri and we all got the information we needed to know what Gekido truly was and what Uragiri's ambition was. And when I see his grave I see nothing but hate, they've put graffiti, even desecrated the gravestone. The only flowers that are laid there are the ones I bring and people stomp them into the ground!"

"Flay…let's talk outside," Sai said, he couldn't let the men see Flay cry.

They floated outside and began a long journey to Sai's office. Flay wiped a tear from her eye, looking over her shoulder to make sure that no one was following them.

"Its okay Flay, I'm angry about what happened too, Akushi-I mean Kyusai sacrificed everything in order to get himself in a position where he could access Zala and Uragiri's files!" Sai explained, offering Flay a drink canister.

She drank the water while Sai cleaned his glasses. On his desk stood a photo of the Heliopolis crowd on the Archangel. It included Tolle, who had unfortunately been killed in a battle with Athrun's team, Gekido's adopted father Yamato Kuzunagi, whom had been shot dead by one of Uragiri's soldiers. The group of kids stood in EA uniforms, with Flay stood in a pink dress, clearly nervous. She was nervous because she was standing next to Gekido and his siblings Tachi and Kisagi. They were sadly killed by Akushi as part of his plot to get closer into ZAFT. But the two were subsequently cloned to serve Uragiri. Thankfully they were freed before they could do any damage. When Flay thought back to those days she realised how ignorant she was. She feared the coordinators, even Kira and in time she came to hate them.

"Let me assure you I am not associated with ZAFT, ZAFT is the name of the forces, you see it actually stands for Zodiac Alliance of freedom…"

"That makes no difference, your still one of those coordinators" Flay said aggressively.

Gekido squeezed his fists together and his stance became even more aggressive. Flay and Lacus didn't notice but Mir and Kira recognised his stance, it was the same one he took when they were at Junius Seven. Lacus looked at Flay with a puzzled expression on her face.

"There is a significant difference, it's true that I am not a Natural like you but I am not part of the forces believe me" Lacus said and she looked up and down at Flay's appearance. "I notice you are not part of the forces either, so if you think about it you and I are the same" Lacus reached out to shake Flay's hand "Please allow me to introduce myself, my name is…"

"NO!" Flay screamed shaking her head at Lacus "Just keep your distance!"

The others widened their eyes in shock and so did Lacus. Meanwhile Gekido's legs actually started shaking as he began to growl in anger. However this was unnoticed by Flay as she continued on.

"You must be nuts, why should I shake hands with somebody like you?" Flay asked the girl and Kira's eyes started to well up as he was slowly crushed by the words that came out of Flay's mouth "I don't want any of you coordinators acting friendly with me!"

Gekido roared like he had never roared before. The others were shocked as Gekido grabbed the collar of Flay's dress and slammed her against the wall. Kai and Canard walked into the room and instead of breaking up the incident decided to watch it as they leant against the wall.

"Let me ask you a question Alster and I want you to be honest, are you a member of Blue Cosmos?" Gekido growled, his voice was even deeper and aggressive than it was before, if that was possible for him.

Overcoming her fear and panic Flay replied "I'm not, but the stance those people take…I don't think they're entirely wrong, having your genes altered when you're not sick or anything is against what nature intended"

"Is that the bullshit that prick father of yours fed you? What did nature intend? Who has the right to tell us what nature intended? Did nature intend for us to pollute our air, pollute our oceans, or move into deep space? IF YOU'RE SO KNOWLEDGABLE THEN TELL ME WHAT NATURE INTENDED! YOU KNOW WHAT I DO TO PEOPLE WHO SHARE BLUE COSMOS VIEWS! I BEAT THEM TO BLOODY PULPS!" Gekido yelled moving his fist towards Flay as she closed her eyes and screamed.

"GEKIDO DON'T YOU DARE!" Kira yelled as he moved towards Gekido.

But much to everyone's shock Gekido's fist slammed into the wall just inches from Flay's cheek. Flay slowly closed her eyes and trembled more in fear at the sight of Gekido's raged filled eyes.

"But there's one thing I never do, hit women!" He said as he loosened his grip on Flay's shirt but didn't let her go. "Normally I beat anti-coordinators to a pulp then give a little lecture but I'll skip a few pages, let me tell you something Alster and I want you to pay attention, I'll expect you to speak the words off by heart later. Coordinator, Natural, none of these things exist, we're no different from each other, sure our genes may be different and we may have been born in different ways but we're still human, that's the only thing that people have in common in this world, we're all different, we are all individuals! Read a few history books and dictionaries, genocide, learn what it means and learn what the holocaust was! Then think about today and compare it to Junius Seven, thousands of lives lost, for WHAT!"

Strangely it had been the man she hated the most who opened her eyes to a more neutral stance on coordinators. In time she fell in love with a coordinator. Then she came to call a coordinator friend. And much to her surprise she found herself calling a coordinator her Saviour.

"I'm the one shedding tears for him Sai, sometimes I wonder how his father reacted." Flay said.

"You mean Dagger Thanos?"

"Yes, he was his son, and in the last few months he was alive, Thanos regarded him only with contempt and hatred," Flay whispered.

On Earth, the Kratos mobile suits kept up their assault on the Minerva. Joe ran through the woods, targeting a Kratos firing bazooka shots at the ships blindside. The Efreet lifted its sword over its shoulder and beheaded the Kratos. Branden landed on a nearby island and fired his beam rifles at two Kratos's.

"These people just won't let up, they don't stand a chance but they're still fucking annoying," Nia growled.

She lifted up her faceplate and wiped sweat off of her forehead. Rey walked out of the Minerva's hanger, carrying another set of beam rifle batteries. Nia drew her beam tomahawk and waited for a Kratos to fly by. She cleaved the mobile suit in half, but it still flew on, firing several blasts into the Minerva before a missile penetrated the head. Sheryl walked onto the bridge and relieved the gunnery chief of his position. The Sensou officer targeted several of the Kratos's, firing blasts from the Minerva's beam cannons. Most of the mobile suit's managed to dodge the beams, but one had its arm blown off. Kojiro slashed a Kratos across the head, and then jumped off his flight platform. He landed on the Minerva, deflecting a beam with his katana. The beam flew into a Kratos's head.

"Its no good, everyone we're retreating!"

"Ma'am, the Kratos have begun a retreat pattern," Meyrin said.

"COME ON COWARDS! FINISH WHAT YOU STARTED!" Branden roared.

"Major Kamal, don't rush ahead," Meyrin warned.

"Shut up Bunny!"

"MAJOR KAMAL!" Kojiro yelled.

Kojiro's voice snapped Branden out of his rage and he let the other Kratos's fly away. Branden grudgingly flew back to the Minerva with Shinn. The pilots assembled in the locker room. Branden threw his helmet against the wall.

"Calm down Major," Kojiro said.

"How am I supposed to calm down when those bastards of Uragiri are still fighting, even with her dead they still carry on," Branden growled.

"Is there any way she could be alive?" Rey asked.

"Oh yeah there's plenty of ways to survive a sabre through the cockpit, and a subsequent nuclear explosion," Branden sarcastically stated.

"Who beat her?" Luna asked.

"We only have reports of what happened, a mobile suit ran her Gundam through with a beam sabre, subsequently her mobile suits Nuclear reactor exploded, add to that the explosion from Genesis and she wasn't likely to survive," Kojiro explained.

Branden could see that the younger pilots were uncertain. He understood their feelings; with the way her followers' spoke of her it was easy to believe that she was some kind of goddess. But Branden had faith that that Gundam pilot had finished Uragiri off. Commander Rach never did reveal who piloted the Gundam that killed Uragiri, he only said in his report that Uragiri would no longer be a threat to Sensou. But even dead she was still a thorn in the way of peace.

Vincent nervously rubbed his forehead. He didn't know about the Purpose but the ReZel didn't have nearly enough power left for another hour. Still the ReZel's battery lasted longer than the Jegan. Vincent read the reports sent to him by Flay. Contact had been lost with Natarle as expected, but satellites reported that the Minerva had been under attack by Uragiri Kratos's.

"Purpose, how long do you have left on your Arc Generator?" Vincent asked.

"Thirty minutes," The AI text back.

"Shit," Vincent whispered.

"How do fasces apply to our situation?"

"It's a term we use to describe a bad situation; it kind of relieves our stress."

"Human expressions are most strange."

Vincent chuckled before resting his head against his seat. He opened his eyes as he heard a beeping sound at his console. Checking his mail, Vincent raised his eyebrows at what he read.

Commander Rach

I understand that nothing could have been done to prevent Doug's death but that doesn't make it any easier. Lately I've begun to think about my actions in the past, the secrets of my origin that you've kept from me. Don't bother asking me how I found out, the source I have is reliable. From this moment I'm leaving Sensou, I now longer feel that I can make a difference as part of that organisation. The next time we meet we will likely be enemies. I'm deeply sorry, but I know now that I was wrong to fight what I am.

With both respect and love goodbye

Nena Trinity Carmine

Vincent sighed and lowered his head; Nena hadn't been the only one to leave the organisation. So many others were leaving in order to save their threatened families. Others simply lost faith in Sensou's purpose. The young man slammed his fist into his armrest.

"Damn it," He muttered.

The sudden blare of the alarm caught Vincent's attention. He moved his machine to the side as a blast flew past him. The Purpose switched out of jet mode, its eyes flaring as it looked upon its targets. Vincent widened his eyes as he looked at the Kratos's. They had flown away from the Minerva but each one was still active. The four-eyed machines aimed their rifles at Vincent as he changed out of wave rider mode. A flurry of beams flew towards Vincent and the Purpose 2. The AI machine easily blocked the beams before flying head first towards the machines. It drew its beam sabre, slashing one of the Kratos's arms off. Vincent fired back with his rifle, hitting a Kratos in the head.

"There's Vincent Rach, kill him and destroy Sensou's leadership," One of the Kratos pilots said.

Vincent flew the ReZel downwards, dodging several beam bullets before landing the mobile suit on an island. He hid behind a massive rock, checking his battery. His mobile suit was dangerously low on energy and he had no spare battery to share. He moved the ReZel as his warning alarm blared again. Several bullets flew towards the ReZel, clipping its left arm. The ReZel landed by one of the trees, aiming its rifle at its attackers. Vincent widened his eyes at the mobile suits, three elite Akuma units and two Orions. Only the best pilots of the Uragiri faction piloted those suits.

"Target locked, commencing avenging mission," One of the Akuma pilots said.

The Akumas drew their antiship swords while the Orion's raised their rifles. Vincent bought up his holographic display, aiming at one of the Orion's. He fired a shot from his rifle, barely clipping the suit's shoulder. An Akuma rushed forward, swinging its sword around. Suddenly, the Purpose Mark 2 landed between the two suits, blocking the blade with its sabre. Vincent then fired his rifle, sending a beam flying past the Purpose's shoulder and straight into the Akuma's head.

"FOR URAGIRI!" One of the pilots yelled.

One of the Orion's rushed forward, swinging its sabre at the Purpose. But the AI suit blocked the Orion's strike and drew its second beam sabre. The Purpose pushed the Orion back and plunged its sabres into the Orion's head. The second Akuma unit swung its sword around, cutting Vincent's shield. Vincent quickly drew his beam sabre and swung the weapon into the Akuma's head. He widened his eyes as the third Akuma ran towards him. There was no time for the ReZel to pull its sabre out of the other Akuma's head. Instead, Vincent fired his Vulcan's forcing the Akuma back. The Purpose slashed the Orion across the chest, watching as its head retreated upwards. Vincent withdrew his sabre from the Akuma's head and turned to the last Akuma.

"Shit, too low on energy, if I miss then I'm dead by beam sabre, but if I actually hit him I'll have nothing left for the Kratos's above," Vincent said to himself.

He grits his teeth together as he stared down the Akuma. Then he looked to the Purpose as it deactivated its sabre. The sentient machine looked up at the approaching Kratos's, almost contemplating what decision it should make. Its eyes flashed a yellow colour as its arms shook. Vincent widened his eyes as the Gundam spread its arms out, the machines armour suddenly lit up, changing to a gold colour. The Purpose ignited its sabres and flew up into the air. Like a fly it darted between targets, flawlessly dodging projectiles and stinging its enemies with its sabres. The Purpose sliced a Kratos right down the middle and landed right in front of the Akuma.

"What the hell? A human can't handle those speeds!" The Akuma pilot gasped.

His words seemingly angered the Purpose as it crossed its sabres together, slicing the Akuma's head from two sides. The Akuma pilot yelled as the beams ripped him apart. Vincent watched as the Purpose stayed in front of the exploding machine. Its armour returned to its normal colours, but quickly faded into a dim grey colour.

"NO!" Vincent yelled.

He rushed forward, catching the mobile suit as it fell. Vincent grit his teeth together as he flew the ReZel upwards. Since he couldn't change into Wave rider mode, flying would be much more difficult. He knew that he needed to get the Purpose some place safe quickly. Sighing in defeat, Vincent made one final attempt to call for help.

"This is Sensou Supreme Commander Vincent Rach, is there anyone friendly to Sensou out there, I am in need of immediate repair and shelter," Vincent spoke into his radio.

He waited, never expecting a call. But joy overcame him as the green light on his radio came on and he heard a familiar voice.

"Commander Rach, this is the Minerva, we can hear you," Meyrin said.

"ALL RIGHT! Are you guys close?" Vincent asked.

"Yes commander, please move towards out coordinates, we are being pursued by Uragiri remnants!"

"Okay, keep going on the path your on Minerva, I'll be coming in hot," Vincent said.

He pushed his flight sticks forward as far as they could go. The ReZel's armour groaned as its arms kept a hold of the Purpose. But despite this the mobile suit still darted across the sky. Vincent's eyes remained focused on the growing form of the Minerva. Multiple beams flew past him as Kratos mobile suits closed in from behind. Inside the Minerva, the pilots looked at the screens for the Minerva's cameras. Nia pushed Kojiro and Branden into the wall as she looked at the screen.

"Vincent!" Nia cried in delight.

The pilots looked at her, particularly a growling Branden.

"I mean…Commander Rach," Nia blushed.

Vincent pushed the ReZel as hard as he could. Shots clipped the mobile suits shoulders, but that didn't matter. He had to get the Purpose to the Minerva. That was his mindset.

"Why isn't he here yet?" Arthur asked.

"Its that mobile suit he's carrying, its weighing him down," Sheryl said.

"Commander Rach abandon that suit," Talia said, grabbing her phone.

"NO!" Vincent yelled. "Not…this…one!" He growled.

One of the Kratos's sped up, drawing a sabre as it closed in on Vincent. Suddenly, a blast flew out of the water, hitting the Kratos in the head. The Kratos harmlessly bounced into the water, away from the ReZel. Cheers echoed through the Minerva as the Aero Gundam burst out of the water. Silver Mask raised his rail rifle, aiming it at the Kratos's as he landed on of the Minerva's "legs".

"Come on in Commander, we've got plenty of repairs and shelter to offer inside," Silver Mask chuckled.

Kojiro raised his eyebrow as he still saw that Branden was glaring.

"What's wrong major?" Kojiro asked.

"He disappears for a half hour and then reappears so he can act like the hero, I don't know whether to be pissed off or admire how badass it is," Branden explained.

The Minerva opened its hatch and the ReZel stumbled inside. Pilots and crewmembers alike were shocked to see the new addition to the team. The pilots in particular recognised it as one of the Purpose Mark 2's. Vincent opened the hatch for his mobile suit, ignoring the welcoming committee as he made his way to the Sensou mechanics.

"If you packed an extra Arc generator insert it into that machine now, ON THE DOUBLE PEOPLE!" Vincent yelled.

"SIR YES SIR!"

Sheryl and Talia exited the elevator, watching in confusion as the Aero Gundam put the Purpose onto the repair space. Sensou and ZAFT mechanics were working together, using a small van to drive the Arc reactor towards the mobile suit. A Sensou senior mechanic worked at a heavy lifting mech, opening the Purpose's chest.

"Just put in the generator, don't touch anything else," Vincent ordered.

"Commander Rach, what is going on here?" Talia asked from the railing.

Vincent ignored the question and manned another heavy lifting mech. He helped the mechanics slowly direct the new arc generator into the Purpose's chest.

"Come on, come on," Vincent whispered. He tightened his fist in determination. The Purpose 2 had given almost everything it had to save his life, and Vincent was sure as hell going to do the same!

"That thing should be studied not reactivated," Rey said.

"As much as it pains me I agree," Branden silently admitted. After all it's just a mobile suit, not a person.

As the mechanics connected the Arc, Vincent ran back to his ReZel. He grabbed the computer inside the cockpit and counted down with his fingers to the crew to brace themselves.

"One, two three, here we go," Vincent smiled.

The Arc generator lit illuminated the hanger like a light bulb. Soldiers reached for their guns and crewmembers ran for cover as the Purpose sat up. Like a child, the machine looked at its surroundings. Occasionally it would look down at a crewmember, pushing its face closer to scare away a potential threat. Finally its eyes rested on Vincent, a familiar face.

"Did I do good?" It asked with an email.

Vincent chuckled as he read the message.

"You did better than good partner, welcome to Sensou, you've earned it," Vincent said.

There was an awkward silence amongst the crew as they looked at the machine. They needed an explanation but for some the situation was clear.

"Well…at least he won't hog the shower," Joe muttered.

While Vincent began the task of explaining his adventure to the Minerva crew, a small distance away, enemy forces began to make their move. From a small island base, Uragiri remnants began lifting off. Inside the small bunker, a man sat looking at a laptop. He was communicating with his mysterious benefactor, the same man his fellow generals had spoken with.

"General Savage, Sin failed in his mission to kill Clyne and Yamato, make sure you don't fail to kill your target," The benefactor said.

The General put on his mask, a round helmet that had glowing red eyes. He let out a growl as various chemicals flowed through his body. The chemicals filled him with Adrenaline he would need for his coming battle.

"Don't worry, by the end of this day Shinn Asuka will be buried with his family!"

Next Chapter 22: Flight to tomorrow

Hope everyone enjoyed the chapter, next time we'll go between the Minerva crew and the gathering Archangel crew. The time has arrived for Kira to break up Yuna and Cagalli's wedding, but someone plans on getting in the way. And the Minerva crew is faced with more Uragiri remnants, led by General Savage, whose got it in for Shinn. But they get help from an unexpected ally, you've already seen two of them, now you can find out what happened to the third!

Read and review please.