Disclaimer: I dont own Gundam
Back with another update, credit for editing once again goes to 00virtuezero, Vincent's new mobile suit is from the Ps3 game Mobile suit Gundam Battlefield Record UC 0081. This chapter also mentions events in the recent chapter of Lion's Silence
Gundam Seed Destiny or Liberty
Chapter 23: Return to the Battlefield
The Minerva had finally arrived at Carpenteria. ZAFT officers watched the ship dock with the base. Over the past few days, Carpentaria was being strengthened by the arrival of Sensou forces. Organisational rivalry was still present within the two forces as the base was divided by two fronts. Sensou mechanics worked on Sensou machines at a separate corner of the base. Members of the Minerva crew looked out of the observation deck at the multitude of suits set out across the base. Branden and Kojiro stood in the corner, both already familiar with the suits. A Guncannon Detector raised its hand into a salute as the Minerva passed it. Vincent stood with the Minerva pilots, smiling as he welcomed the familiar site of the GM's.
"The first mobile suit of the Sensou forces, the replacement for the Strike Daggers most of your forces used to begin with," Luna stated.
"They were designed specifically with old EA pilots in mind. Even though they don't have a lot of firepower the GM's are reliable machines. We'll be using them even when the Jegan is put into mass production," Vincent explained.
"Commander Rach, there's a situation on the colonial side," Sheryl said, holding a phone in her hand.
Vincent took the phone and pressed it against his ear. The other pilots couldn't hear what was being said, but Vincent's expression told them that the matter was serious. He walked away from the group as Sheryl headed for Kojiro and Branden.
"How goes Natarle's search?" Kojiro asked.
"They ran into terrorist forces under the command of the Zabi family. The group was overwhelmed and had to retreat, Casvall wounded an enemy pilot to create a distraction, and because of that trust in him has reached an all-time low," Sheryl explained.
"What, I know the guy isn't the easiest to understand but he never does things without a reason," Branden said.
"I understand you hold a respect for him Branden, but don't put too much faith in him," Kojiro stated.
"It isn't faith; you of all people should understand logic!"
"Easy you two, Casvall isn't easy to understand, particularly because he's mute. But so far he's been loyal to Sensou, let's not count him out yet," Sheryl said.
"Loyalties can always change," Kojiro said.
"WHAT!"
The others looked to Vincent; he had slammed his fist into the wall. He grit his teeth together as he heard the latest from Orb. Some of the pilots pointed at the TV screen as it showed the reports of Cagalli having been kidnapped. Vincent removed his fist from the wall and sighed as he lowered his head.
"Damn you both," He whispered.
Off the coast of Orb, an Earth Alliance naval boat loaded the recovered pieces of the Liberty. Simon sat at a bench, looking at the floor, obviously depressed over his loss. He looked at his hands, hands born to wield weapons. His whole existence was destined for battle; it was his reason for existence. Gekido chose his fate, a fate defined by battle. Simon shared that reason for living, yet he still lost to someone who was a simple scientist's experiment.
"Why did he win?" Simon wondered.
Jeremiah looked up at the recovered Liberty, whistling at the damage.
"Well boys, looks like we'll have to start from scratch with what we've got," Jeremiah said.
"But Director, we've got nothing to work with, our units couldn't recover all the pieces," One of the mechanics said.
"Don't worry, we'll improve the original design," Jeremiah smiled.
Cain leant against the wall, watching his old friend address his men. Despite his injuries, Jeremiah was still a mobile suit fanatic. He put a blue print of the Liberty and several other Gundams onto a table. His face held both excitement and enjoyment at his work as he let out ideas for the rebuilt Gundam. Cain looked to the machine's pilot, a boy sitting depressed with his thoughts. The white haired man walked over to the boy, grabbing his collar. Cain forced Simon onto his feet, shoving him back.
"What the hell," Simon growled.
"Stand on your feet soldier, you're facing a superior officer," Cain said, pointing to the bars on his uniform.
Simon hesitantly saluted the man.
"You personally knew the Freedom's pilot?" Cain asked.
"Yeah I know him, he's a wimp that's afraid of his own shadow, he whines about peace and everybody getting along. But when there's a chance for Orb to at least be safe from the Alliance, he ruins any chance of Cagalli controlling it, whatever was going on…there was a better way for him to deal with it than that!" Simon explained.
"And do you have all the answers?"
"Of course I don't, they act like they do though."
"Stop acting like a child," Cain grabbed Simon by the collar of his shirt. "Look at yourself, your acting like a boy that has broken his toy, a pathetic fool that can't figure out the simple logic that the fight isn't over. In war the fight ends when one of the soldiers is dead, you're only losing because you're childishly seeing it as a defeat. The battle ends when one of you is dead boy, no victor has been decided," He explained, shoving Simon back again.
Simon lowered his head as the older man walked away. Cain paused for a moment and looked back at Simon.
"Oh and boy, people say you are Gekido Jaeger's brother, they say you're special like him. Right now the only person whose opinion matters is yours, stop worrying about what everyone else thinks of you, if you want to be out of your brothers shadow stop thinking of yourself as special first."
Jeremiah chuckled as he watched Cain walk away from Simon.
"Taking on an apprentice old friend?" Jeremiah asked.
"I'm giving the child advice, he has potential which he's wasting with his recklessness," Cain said.
"Or perhaps you see him the way you saw yourself at that age, having a famous brother is like being part of a noble family isn't it? A lot is expected of you," Jeremiah laughed as Cain turned his head, coldly walking away.
Cain was part of an upper class family that contributed greatly to the Earth Alliance. Every member of his family was dead now but when he was a young private in the military, Cain took a lot of jokes and abuse from his comrades, particularly because of the special treatment he would receive, which he of course hated. Jeremiah got back to work as he composed a new design for the Liberty. A smile crossed his face as he worked, seeing Simon walk over to the Liberty.
'Next time, we'll be better,' He thought.
Simon raised his head and some of the Earth Alliance soldiers began pointing up at the sky. He looked up and blinked in confusion at the red blur flying in the sky.
Athrun sat inside his new suit, the Saviour. He knew that conflict between ZAFT and the Earth Alliance was imminent, but he had no idea of what had transpired in Orb. His time flying to Orb from space had been a long and dark one, so as such he had little to no knowledge of the current situation. Tuning his radio to an Orb frequency, Athrun began to make contact.
"Orb control come in, I am currently approaching your airspace in a ZAFT forces mobile suit, requesting entry permission, I wish to rendezvous with the ZAFT ship Minerva, please give me the go ahead," He said.
While Athrun waited for a response, the Orb forces considered his very presence a threat. Two Orb pilots ran to their Murasame's. The white and orange machines rolled across the airfield launch pads. Athrun continued to make contact, his mood bordering on impatience.
"Orb control, Orb control do you read me? Come in."
Athrun curiously looked at his radar, showing the two Murasame's flying towards him. He widened his eyes when his alarms began to blare.
"They're locking on?"
One of the Murasame's opened fire with its machine guns, sending a flurry of bullets flying towards the Saviour. Athrun easily dodged the gunfire with a simply roll.
"Orb control come in, what the hell is going on here?" He asked.
The Murasame's opened the hatches on their bellies, launching a stream of missiles. Again Athrun dodged the attacks and again he tried to make contact.
"Orb control I'm not attacking your nation, why are you firing at me, ORB CONTROL!" He yelled.
Athrun rolled to the right, the two missiles following him both slammed together. Both Murasame's flew after the ZAFT machine, firing missiles and beam rifles.
"And we're supposed to believe that?" One of the pilots asked, sceptical of Athrun's presence. "Now that Orb had joined the World Security Treaty Organisation, the Plants are an enemy state," He stated before firing his machine guns.
The Saviour dodged the gunfire and Athrun widened his eyes in shock at the news.
"We're not at war with ZAFT yet, but at the same time there's no way we're allowing you entry," The pilot explained.
"Orb is in an alliance with the Atlantic Federation, Cagalli must have been unable to control the other ministers," Athrun said to himself. "I need to speak with a government official, this is citizen number 2500745, Alex Dino of the Athha family, get me the representative!"
The Orb pilots frowned in frustration as the Saviour continued to dodge their attacks. Athrun knew that he could hold his own against the pilots, but he was more concerned about the Minerva and Orb. He hoped that Cagalli was still there to verify his Orb citizenship. His focus turned partly to the radio again as someone spoke over it.
"I am a government official, I cannot authorise your request," The voice said.
"This is an emergency, please you must," Athrun said.
"I'm afraid that is impossible," The official said.
Athrun turned his attention back to his pursuers as they continued to fire at him.
"I don't know what you're trying to pull, but only an idiot would use a ship that isn't even docked here anymore as an excuse," One of the pilots said.
"The Orb forces don't play games," The other pilot smirked as he targeted the Saviour.
"Damn it," Athrun muttered.
The Saviour transformed to Mobile suit mode, astonishing the two Orb pilots. One of the pilots changed to mobile suit mode, aiming his rifle at the Saviour. But the Gundam and its pilot were much more superior. Athrun fired his beam rifle, easily disabling the Murasame's weapon arm. The Saviour flipped in midair as the other Murasame charged towards it. Firing his rifle into the back of the machine, Athrun disabled the Murasame's thrusters. As both pilots looked at his machine in shock, Athrun took this as his chance to escape. He transformed the Saviour to aircraft mode and flew in the direction he came from. Having failed to reach the Minerva at Orb, he decided to reach it at Carpenteria.
"Cagalli, Damn it!" He growled in frustration.
Jeremiah peered out of his binoculars, whistling at the scene the Saviour had made. He smiled, for ZAFT had given him another reason to speed up the production of his new machines.
While Jeremiah's team worked on the Liberty, another Earth Alliance ship sailed across the ocean. Neo Roanoke stood on the bridge, looking out at the deck. Stellar sat on the edge of the deck, looking out at the peaceful waves. Across from her sat Jone, whom held a similar expression on his face. He cast a spiteful look at two officers staring at Stellar. Auel walked out of the elevator, grinning as he saw his two fellow pilots sitting on the edge of the ship.
"Yo, don't tell me you two idiots are lost in the ocean," He said.
Jone smiled as he got off the floor.
"Stellar, I think Neo wants to see us," Jone nudged Stellar.
Stellar looked up with an excited expression as she got off the floor. Lucifer and Stark both stood at the elevator, Stark held a fierce glare across his face.
"I can't believe the rabble were let out of their cages," Stark said.
"Rabble, as I recall you haven't had an exceptional combat record either," Auel laughed. He hated the Ultimate Extended, especially Stark. The egotistical bastard always looked down on the other extended.
"You want to come say that to my face?" Stark asked, a glare crossing his face.
The brunette's fists tightened fiercely; even veins started to appear on Stark's hand as he prepared to attack Auel.
"No, your breath stinks too much, besides we've got to meet with Neo," Auel chuckled.
"Fine, go and run back to your den mother!"
Stark grinned as Auel suddenly froze. Auel's eyes went wide as he gripped the sides of his head.
"Mother…mother no, mothers in danger, let me help mother!" Auel's voice was stricken with panic.
Lucifer sighed as he walked over to Auel. Once he got on a rant about his mother he would always say the word die, and that would set Stellar off. The Ultimate Extended grabbed Auel's head and slammed him into the wall. Stellar stepped back in shock as her friend fell to the floor.
"Why did you hurt Auel?" Stellar asked.
The older man huffed at the innocence in Stellar's eyes.
"He's simply inferior," Lucifer said.
Stark laughed harder than he ever had before, gripping his sides in sick amusement. Tears practically fell down his face as he revelled in Auel's pain. Jone grit his teeth together as he looked between Auel and Stark. The victim moaned in pain, while the bully rolled his head back in laughter. Stellar widened her eyes as Jone let out a furious roar. The blue haired man punched Stark across the face, knocking him to the floor.
"You're a disgusting man, taking pleasure out of someone else's pain," Jone growled.
Both men glared at one another, ready to break off into a full on fistfight.
"Damn you, looking down at me like that," Stark muttered. "YOU THINK YOUR BETTER HUH! YOUR NO DIFFERENT THAN…"
"Stark, enough, we have a meeting to get to," Lucifer said.
He grabbed Stark's hand, lifting him to his feet. As the two men walked onto the elevator, Jone slammed his fist into the wall. He looked at his hand and sighed. It didn't matter what those two said; Jone knew he was different.
'I'm not like him,' he thought.
Meanwhile in the mobile suit hanger of John-Paul Jones; Darcel Archer stared up at the Slaughter Gundam intensely. Its Trans-Phase shift Armour was turned causing it to look like a dull grey colour. Darcel hated it when the Slaughter was dull grey; to him it meant not being 'alive'.
The pale blonde would never admit this to anyone, not even his fellow extended, but lately he been developing a sort of a 'kinship' with the Slaughter. The Extended felt like the Gundam could relate to what being on the battle field felt like. They were both made for the same purpose killing, destroying, and maiming. Darcel liked… no loved it. Fighting to him was the drugs he was given in his inhaler; addictive. That was what being alive was about after all. At least… he thought it was.
The scene was peaceful and tranquil. Gulls flew across the sky; while the water remained ripple less. But the scene-taking place underneath the water was far from tranquil. Inside the submerged Archangel, the gathered crew, or at least the main crewmembers stood on the bridge. Cagalli was dressed in her military uniform, looking at each of her friends in disapproval and anger.
"You idiots, that was a really dumb move," She said. "You guys should know better than that, kidnapping a country's representative from her own wedding ceremony is practically international terrorism, are you lunatics? Who on Earth asked you to do something as brainless as this?" She asked.
"Miss Cagalli…" Lacus paused as she thought of anything she could say.
"Yeah we know, it was a bit reckless but…"
"But we really had no other choice," Kira interrupted Andy.
Cagalli turned to Kira, the anger in her eyes still not fading.
"These are crazy times Cagalli, and if you insist on doing stupid things as well then this world is without a doubt heading for all kinds of trouble," Kira explained.
"What stupid things?" Cagalli asked.
"Kira," Lacus said, lightly touching Kira's shoulder.
"Somebody has to say it Lacus," Kira sighed.
Cagalli huffed in fury as Kira looked at her, his eyes calm as always.
"What stupid things? I am Orb's chief representative, I have so many things to worry about and think about, and I do think about them!" Cagalli explained.
"Do you think it's a good idea to side with the Atlantic Federation and that it's really in Orb's best interest if you get married to Mr Seiran? Do you believe these things Cagalli?" Kira asked.
"O-of course I do, why wouldn't I want to get married now?" Everyone knew that Cagalli didn't believe the words she was speaking. "I have no other choice, Yuna and Unato told me and all the other ministers said it too, we can't let Orb burn again!"
As Cagalli spoke, she thought of Shinn Asuka's cold eyes. They were the eyes of a victim made that way because of Orb's state in the last war.
"So I decided, this was the path I chose to stop all that from happening," Cagalli said.
"So its all right for another country to burn so long as Orb stays safe?" The bluntness of Kira's words shocked Cagalli. "And is it all right for the Plants to burn, or any other country to burn so long as Orb is safe?"
"No but…"
"And what about the things your father said," Kira was one of the few people that could win a debate with Cagalli.
Very few could reduce Cagalli to tears. There was her father, whom would always lecture her and scold her. Then there was Gekido Jaeger; someone who was actually mean to her, yet whenever he seriously yelled at her it was always for the right reasons. Finally there was Kira and Athrun, both of whom never needed to shout.
"I…I tried," Tears began to fall down Cagalli's face.
"I know how hard it's been for you Cagalli, I shouldn't have waited so long before coming to help you and I'm sorry for that. But I don't think it's gotten to the point yet where we can't fix things," Kira explained.
The others nodded their heads at Kira's words.
"I know that there's so much we still don't understand, but one thing I do know is that there's still time to set things right," Kira reached into his pocket.
Much to Cagalli's shock, Kira took out the ring that Athrun had given her.
"It happens to everyone, sometimes we choose the wrong path and we never get to where we wanted to go," Kira said.
Cagalli began to choke on her tears as she gripped the ring tightly. She fell to her knees, letting her tears fall. Kira knelt in front of his sister, stroking her hair as he comforted her.
"Don't worry, we'll find the right answer together," He said calmly.
The others weren't happy at how it was achieved, but they were at least relieved to have Cagalli on their side. Once Cagalli had dried her tears, she took a seat at the CIC communications post. Everyone stood or sat in separate corners of the bridge. Lacus and Kira recounted to Cagalli the arrival of the Sentient Purpose. Her depressed mood from earlier was quickly replaced with astonishment.
"The Purpose is back? What about Gekido?" She asked.
"I don't know, but I think the Gekido in the Plants, the one that stopped the nuclear assault is a fake," Kira said.
"Kira might be right, I know it sounds cold but Gekido was basically "engineered" in a lab, its possible that someone repeated the process to create an exact duplicate," John explained.
"There is also the matter of these colony disappearances, Sensou might have it covered but our mole did tell us that Casvall's recently been very aggressive lately," Kai said.
"What happened to Casvall?" Cagalli asked.
"He wounded a pilot by stabbing his beam sabre into the machine just enough to cut the pilots gut, I'm no doctor but I assume it would have been a long and very painful death."
Cagalli sighed as she lowered her head.
"You're worried that Casvall might become the next big threat," Kira said.
"I'm not saying it's certain and I'm not saying he's gonna be on Patrick Zala or Durandal's level, but let's consider it for a moment, this guy could be better than you Kira, who would stop him if he did decide to go rogue?" Kai asked.
"Another pilot with the investigation team, one specific pilot; Amuro Ray!" Kira said.
John and Andy nodded their heads, having heard of that man's reputation.
"But we still shouldn't give up hope right?" Lacus asked.
The others however lowered their heads. Even Cagalli herself held doubts over the sanity and future of her older adopted brother.
At Carpentaria, many of the Minerva's crew had disembarked to enjoy an at least temporary break. Most of the crewmembers had gone to the mall. Branden and Kojiro were at a café overlooking the nearby town. The café itself was deserted, with only the waiter and chef there.
"How long do you think we'll get before we go back out there?" Branden asked.
"A day at the most, with the war escalating we'll need as many forces out there as we can muster," Kojiro said.
The two young men turned to attention to Rey as he walked into the room. He regarded them with a nod before taking a seat at the piano. Kojiro and Branden both raised their eyebrows in mild shock as the pilot began playing a melody on the piano. It was a peaceful son that calmed even Branden. When Rey delivered the closing notes, Branden turned to the window and huffed.
"Funny ain't it?" He asked.
"How so?" Kojiro enquired.
"There's probably a hundreds things we could be doing better, but we always seem to find ourselves on the battlefield," Branden sighed.
"We are destined for battle, or at least I am, both in terms of my genetics and my moral compass my existence is best served as a soldier, serving my country faithfully," Kojiro explained.
"Even with the state of Orb now?" Branden asked.
"The Seiran's do not control Orb, they are the hostile force that has taken it over, and the Archangel crew, well we can say that their intentions are good but logical? I don't know about that."
Kojiro finished his drink while Branden ordered another round. Rey played on the piano again, enjoying the small break he had. On the other side of the mall, Luna and Meyrin were both getting their "supplies" for future deployments.
"The Minerva's repairs will be finished pretty soon right?" Meyrin asked.
"Yeah, that's right," Luna said.
"Okay then, so who knows when we'll get the order to head out, I'd better stock up while I have the chance," Meyrin said as she picked out a few perfume bottles.
Luna shook her head at her sister in disapproval; she had a bigger pile of cleaning products and make up than she did.
"Whatever, I'm not stopping you if you really think you need all that," Luna sighed.
"What's that supposed to mean?" Meyrin asked, huffing as she took her stuff to the counter.
Joe was still at the Minerva, carrying out exercises with the Kampfer and Efreet. He ran simulations in both suits in order to increase his performance levels for both. Sheryl sat in her room, her lights dimmed as she knelt by her desk. Two picture frames were put on the desk. Since Sheryl couldn't visit her son's grave she would have to pay her respects in her room. The second picture frame was of her former lover, her son's father.
'May you both find the peace you couldn't find in life,' She thought as she put her hands together.
Inside his room, Silver Mask's helmet rested at his bedside. He laid down in his bed, catching up on his sleeping hours, as well as eating some ration bars. His focus then turned to the phone vibrating inside his bedside cabinet. Opening the drawer, Silver Mask opened the phone and read the text.
"The Archangel's away," He read.
The man behind the mask smirked before putting the phone back on the table. He reached for the mask, preparing himself to get back to work. Vincent himself was doing as much work as he could before he'd give the order to go out again. He stood in one of the hangers, looking at the new machines and numerous requests.
"Reinforcements in Southern Africa, supply drop in Europe, fifty transfer requests from the Asgard base, twenty from the Niffleheim station, equipment resupply and reinforcement request from the Colonial investigation team," Vincent read off the list on his PDA.
He assigned the requests for supplies and had the transfer requests put into reinforcement teams for Europe and Southern Africa. But Vincent was stuck on the colonial side, he knew that Natarle's group would need help but at the same time ZAFT and frontline troops needed support as well.
"Put development of the Rezel on hold, continue to maintain our supply of Neo Raptors. Also put the Jegan into limited production, we'll be able to save money for supplies and other experimental mobile suits. I want two Salamis Kais sent to support the Colonial Investigation team, include a GM Cannon type 2, five GM's and spare machines for Guss and Ray. Put the RX-81 Light and Heavy Armour type on one of the Salamis Kais and have them sent to the CI team, is there any news from CB?" Vincent asked.
"Mr Erde sent a message that he and his team will remain neutral but will offer relief aid and will carry out their armed interventions on the Alliance forces, but your request for a covert intervention against Orb has been denied," One of the mechanics explained.
"Fine, but I trust Mr Erde left at least some equipment for us," Vincent said.
"Yes, he left a sword that he said would easily replace the Burning components, but sir what are you planning to do with the components?" The mechanic asked.
"Scrap parts, the same for the Rezel, leave where the parts are assigned to Chairwoman Alster, I'll take the Rx-81 Standard," Vincent said as he looked up at his new machine.
The RX-81's had similar looks to the GM series mobile suits. But the RX-81 Standard was a bigger mobile suit with thicker blue chest armour and two beam sabres instead of a single one. Vincent raised his eyes slightly as Nia walked towards him.
"Sir, I'm here to report for duty, use me as you will," Nia said, giving the standard ZAFT salute.
"Nia…I mean Miss Holland you should enjoy your break while you can, we'll return to the battlefield soon," Vincent explained.
"I've already put in a shore leave denial request that Captain Gladys accepted sir, I wish to help however I can."
Vincent sighed as he rubbed his head.
"Permission to speak freely sir," Nia said.
"Go ahead."
"I wish to know why you are not in the command centre, putting yourself on top of your soldiers would give you a clearer view of the situation. You also wouldn't overload yourself with more duties, you'd be free of the concerns of a regular pilot," Nia explained.
"I'm a pilot, a fighter, I'll be that way for as long as I can, I'm not going to be the kind of leader that abandons his men to the battlefield," Vincent said.
"Then with all due respect sir, leave choices such as supply requests and troop assignment to senior officers, shit they wouldn't be doing anything if you took on all the responsibilities yourself!"
Vincent blinked at Nia in confusion as she put a hand to her mouth.
"Sorry sir, sorry if I spoke disrespectfully," She said.
Vincent smiled as he closed his eyes for a moment.
"Thank you for your honesty Miss Holland, please don't hesitate to speak your mind to me in the future. As for your duties, please help my engineering staff transfer my new machine to the Minerva," Vincent motioned to the RX and its equipment packs.
"What about the Rezel sir?" Nia asked.
"It's a good machine, but I need something that'll allow me to balance speed and power, grunt type units like the GM and RX are exactly what I need," Vincent said.
Nia nodded her head, understanding Vincent's point. She climbed into the RX and activated it. Walking the machine across the hanger, Nia began assisting the engineers in transferring it to the Minerva.
The Purpose paced around inside the Minerva. It took a few looks down the launch catapult, seeing the sun and hearing the people working outside. A small part of the machine "wanted" to go outside. Like a child it lowered its head as it also considered the reactions the ZAFT soldiers would show. Ringing its wrists, the Purpose took a few steps towards the catapult. Youlan and Vino both looked at the machine in confusion as it promptly walked away from the hatch.
"This thing can't make its mind up," Youlan said.
Vino nodded his head and jumped up in shock as the hanger shook. The Purpose sat on the ground, resting its hands against its knees.
"Do you think we're going to go back to space?" Vino asked.
"It would make sense, the Minerva was designed to fight in space after all, and even with the presence of the Sho Nenshou Kokoro the Plants need as many space ships protecting it," Youlan explained.
"Yeah, do you think everyone back in the Plants is okay, I mean the Alliance did use nuclear weapons, I'm worried about my parents," Vino sighed.
"And your girlfriend," Youlan smirked.
"Shut up about that, you know I don't have one, why do you always steer the conversation in that direction?" Vino asked.
Youlan laughed while the Purpose looked on in interest. It noted that teenage boys were sensitive about mates and perhaps mating in general. The Purpose then raised its head as it sensed an incoming machine. Outside, Shinn widened his eyes at the appearance of the Saviour. Athrun switched the machine to mobile suit mode as he landed it on the Minerva's launch catapult. With the machine transferred inside the Minerva, a small number of the crew gathered around it. They included Vino and Youlan, Lunamaria, Meyrin and from a distance Silver Mask. Athrun lowered himself to the floor, removing his helmet to the shocked audience.
"Quite an interesting development," Silver Mask said.
"Recognition number 285002, Athrun Zala, Faith special forces team requesting to board," Athrun said.
'Sounds like he practiced that beforehand' Silver Mask grunted.
"Hey did you guys see the new machine…oh its you," Shinn said as he approached the group.
'Here we go,' Silver Mask chuckled.
"What is this, what the hell's going on here?" Shinn asked.
"Zip it, learns some manners and watch your language, he's a member of Faith," Lunamaria said.
She and the other promptly saluted, while Shinn looked at the badge on Athrun's uniform. Silver Mask narrowed his glowing eye at the symbol.
'Durandal, what could you be planning?' He wondered.
Shinn looked around, dumping his bags with Meyrin. Before Meyrin could protest, Shinn fixed his uniform and saluted Athrun.
"Is the captain on the bridge?" Athrun asked.
"I believe she is…Athrun Zala," Joe said as he stepped out of his machine.
"I'll take…"
"I'll escort you to her sir," Lunamaria interrupted her sister.
"Thank you," Athrun said.
"Are you back with ZAFT now?" Shinn asked.
Athrun stopped, turning to face Shinn.
"It looks that way doesn't it?" He asked.
"Change of heart?"
Athrun didn't answer the question and merely walked away with Luna.
"Wow, and I thought the Earth Alliance were our enemies," Joe muttered.
Silver Mask walked to the elevator, passing the Purpose Mark 2. The Sentient machine looked down at him with interest, tilting its head slightly. Athrun and Luna were both taking a separate elevator, the one closest to Talia's office. As the elevator went up, Athrun told Luna of his experience with Orb.
"I don't know what is going on with that country, its sad actually because I actually used to admire Cagalli Yula Athha, I admired her strength. But with everything she's done now I'm not so sure," Luna explained.
"What happened?" Athrun asked.
"She went and signed a treaty with the Atlantic Federation, and then went and married some weirdo," Luna said.
Athrun dropped his suitcase, widening his eyes in shock.
"Married!" he said.
"I don't know much about it, I think it was a marriage of convenience and apparently she was abducted as the ceremony took place," Luna explained.
Athrun sighed as he walked into Talia's office. He made it a specific focus to catch up on recent events. The Minerva would stay on Earth to assist ZAFT forces in Gibraltar, as well as rebel forces fighting against Earth Alliance rule. Talia would of course hold seniority, but she virtually held the same authority Athrun had. She too had been given the Faith Special Forces badge.
'What could you be planning Gilbert?' She wondered as she looked at the badge.
When exiting Talia's office, Athrun thought of everything he had missed. Cagalli and Kira were both missing, while Orb was now officially his enemy.
"She'll be all right, after all she's with that friend of yours!"
Athrun turned, stepping back in mild shock. Silver Mask stood against the wall, his arms crossed and his eye glowing.
"You really care about her don't you, got no idea what you two were up to, but she must have had a significant effect on you to change you this much," Silver Mask explained.
"Change me, wait what do you know?" Athrun asked.
"The Freedom kidnapped Cagalli from her wedding, just before she could say her vows, so technically she and Seiran are not married. I wonder, what will our relationship with the Archangel be when we next meet, will it be anything like it was in the last war? Who knows?" Silver Mask sighed.
Silver Mask walked away, leaving Athrun shocked as he came to a realisation. He knew now who Silver Mask was. The masked man however smirked, leaving Athrun to wonder whether he was telling the truth or being deceptive. Walking to his machine, Silver Mask climbed into the Gundam and pressed a button on the panel.
"Are you still there?" He asked.
"Yes, they have no idea that I am watching them," A familiar voice said on the other end.
"Good, keep me updated by radio or text as always…Biggs!" Silver Mask chuckled as he cut the line.
He crossed his arms together and waited for his next battle.
Dagger Thanos patiently waited by his phone. Lain stood outside with some of Thanos's other pilots. Shuttles made their way to Thanos's outer space Storm base; all six shuttles flew without an escort. It was the lure that Thanos needed to ensure they had an excuse to attack the Atlantic Federation. He tapped his finger against his desk, waiting for the phone to ring. Camera crews waited to record a speech he had prepared, while in space, civilians inside the shuttle huddled together. They too were praying that the Alliance would attack them; giving the Thanos faction the excuse they needed to declare open war on the member states of the Earth Alliance.
Zack Tempest looked between the unarmed shuttles and the Earth Alliance ships slowly approaching them. He had a sick feeling in his stomach, as if something bad was about to happen.
"Mayura, I'm going to go out," He said.
"Is something wrong Zack?" Mayura asked.
"Everything's wrong, Earth survives Armageddon and instead of fixing the problems that start it, humanity does the same thing all over again. I'm beginning to understand why men like Gihren Zabi and Casvall have lost faith in humanity, I'll take my Neo Raptor and see what Thanos is pulling," Zack explained.
The young man didn't even bother to put his flight suit as he jumped into his Neo Raptor. He took a beam launcher off of a rack on the wall and flew out of the catapult. Zack looked at his side screen, some ZAFT and Sensou ships were also watching the scene. The Sho Nenshou Kokoro floated away from the ships, its arms folded in a manner that was similar to the stance its pilot was in. Gekido opened his eyes and looked at the scene. The Forbidden and Calamity both floated near a Sensou ship, with the Winged Wolf Gundam looking out at the shuttles.
"Please, don't be a squad of trigger happy idiots," Its pilot said.
He cursed as the Dagger L's began raising their beam rifles.
"Its hard to resist, a target that seems defenceless, the Alliance destroys my space station and cripples our presence in space, while we lose many of the civilians that support us, no one is left to know about whether the Alliance tried to make contact first or simply started shooting. But there is the mistake they are making, my space station is far from defenceless and neither are the shuttles of those whom support me," Dagger Thanos explained to his troops present.
Zack came to a halt as he watched one of the Dagger L's fire its rifle. A Geara Doga prototype flew into the path of the shuttle, taking the beam.
"NOOO!" Zack yelled.
He felt a surge of Newtype energy, the final moments of a Newtype pilot. Geara Doga Psychommo test types began deactivating their cloaking devices, flying in front of the shuttles. Zack rubbed his head as he felt the presences of all the pilots. They all "felt" the same.
"It can't be, they're Puru Clones, that's what Thanos was up to when he went to Jupiter, he was after Newtype Lab research to create a Psychommo system. But he also wanted to recruit Puru clones left behind after the war," Zack said to himself.
The Geara Doga's launched their funnels, shooting at the Dagger L's attacking the station. One of the Puru units fired her beam cannon, hitting a Dagger in the chest. But her machine was promptly stabbed in the chest. The leading Slaughter Dagger shot down two more Puru units and stabbed another in the chest. Zack lifted up his launcher and fired several shots into the Dagger mobile suits. He cursed as two more of the Puru's were shot.
"Damn it, WHY DO YOU PEOPLE NEVER LEARN!" Zack yelled.
He threw his rifle aside and drew his beam sabre. Flying into the battlefield, Zack deflected several beam shots. He dodged the explosion of a funnel and kicked a Dagger, saving the Puru it was about to stab. But a beam flew into the red machine, blowing it up in front of Zack.
"Puru's, listen to me, don't throw your lives away like this, Dagger Thanos is just using you, if you ever want to be happy you have to live for yourselves, not die for someone's cause. Answer me, why are you still serving others, you don't need to live like that!" Zack explained as he dodged several beam shots.
The Neo Raptor stopped; tilting its head as two more Puru's were blown up. Three of the Geara Doga's flew side-by-side, firing funnels and rifles at their targets. They created a trail of junked Dagger's as they made their way to the Earth Alliance ship that attacked the shuttles. The ship fired its main guns, hitting two of the Geara Doga's. Zack flew as fast as he could, leaving a trail of Graviton dust behind him.
"Geara Doga pilot, get out of there, your no match for that ship alone," Zack said.
The Geara Doga commanded its funnels to fire at the ship's guns. Even though the funnels hit their mark, the Geara Doga's arms and legs suffered horrendous damage because of the return fire.
"Stop this now, there's still time for you to live your life the way you want to, you don't have to be a slave anymore," New Type energy flowed from Zack's body as his presence went beyond his mobile suit.
He looked directly inside the Geara Doga, seeing a little girl of Fifteen years. She looked up at him, her expression free of fear and hesitation.
"I am living," She said. "I'm dying for a cause that I believe in, I'm living for myself!"
Zack gasped as the girl generated her own Newtype power. She opened her arms as the EA ship fired its missiles. Zack reached out to the suit as it exploded before his eyes. He then let out a furious yell as he flew at the EA ship; he swung his sabre round, slashing the bridge in half.
"Damn the Alliance, why couldn't they just stand down, they played right into Thanos's hand," Zack said.
He deactivated his sabre and let out another yell. Dagger Thanos opened his eyes as his phone rang. A solemn expression crossed his face as he listened to the report from the shuttle pilots.
'Puru Clones, your sacrifices will not be in vain,' Dagger thought as he stood up.
The cameramen turned to him and his solemn expression turned to the deepest frown.
"People of Earth, I am Admiral Dagger Thanos of the Storm faction, I have tried to lead my people into independence, away from the Plants and the Earth Alliance. But they have refused to accept our wish for independence, they try to force their greed on others and with their greed they attacked seemingly defenceless shuttles without reason or warning. That space station is no military base; it is a sanctuary for all those that wish independence from the Earth Alliance's ignorant rule. If you are a Coordinator prosecuted against simply because of your genetic status, then face the Storm, if you are tired of ignorant politicians and a world where men can so casually kill millions with the push of a button…then face the Storm. People of Earth, get on board this storm of change or get out of its way, we will try not to catch you in the storm you but if you support the Alliance when they clearly don't deserve your loyalty then be prepared to see the Alliance fall in a blaze of righteous fury over their senseless actions!"
Dagger spoke with passion and fury in his voice, as if he was speaking to every ignorant person in the world.
"I am Dagger Thanos and I officially declare war on the Earth Alliance!"
Next Chapter 24: Struggle in the Indian Ocean
Hope everyone enjoyed the chapter, more teases to who Silver Mask is, or could he be deceiving Athrun? Anyway we're back to the main storyline of the show as the Minerva crew head out, running into the Extended again.