Chapter 19
It was out by the coast of the Kingdom of Scandinavia.
Everything was just so nice and peaceful, something a father and his little boy was enjoying by trying to catch a fish or two.
But even true things seemed so calm on the ocean surface. Neither of them realized that far below them, in the deep blue water, a certain white space ship was hiding out at the bottom of the sea.
And they had far least idea about what was going on inside the ship.
Where a big part of the crew was gather up on the bridge, some of them drinking a cup of nice hot coffee, while Mayu and a few others was satisfied with a nice cup of hot chocolate instead.
"It's the same news every day, can't they at least try and tell us something that is a bit more cheerful?" Andy asked clearly not happy about what was on TV.
Hearing him say that, Dearka turned and took a look over at the man.
"Well if you don't want to watch this. There is a good game show on one of the other canals I would like to see" the Murasame piloted said, while pouring the rest of his hot chocolate down in to his mouth.
After that he placed the red cup on the floor and sat down beside, now again looking over at the monitor.
Those words did make both Murrue and Andrew laugh a bit.
As the captain of the Archangel share her opinion about what was being showed on screens. "Perhaps if we zap around a bit, we might find something with a white dolphin getting a cute little baby" the woman suggest with a small smile on her face.
Yet before either Andy or Dearka could say anything to that.
Mayu's voice cut it to the conversation.
"That's sound very boring mom, I would much rather see something with a few monsters and zombies messing up a town!" She said, thinking about the last time she had seen a real good horror movie.
Unfortunately she didn't get to see much of that film, when her mother had discovered what she was watching and send her to bed.
"Not to be a spoilsport. But I do think your suggest is way to cheerful miss Murrue, while yours Mayu is way to spooky" Lacus said, thinking back to how frightened she had been, that one time when her little sister figure had asked her to see one of those scary movies. Where monsters was running around pretty much all over the place.
And after the movie was finally over and she had gone to bed.
She had end up keeping Kira awake for most of the night, simply because she was feeling so uneasy, that she couldn't fall asleep.
Which meant that most of the night was spend wrestling and kicking around. And it was only when Kira had pulled her in to a secure embrace, that she was finally able to get some much needed shut-eye, after being awake for so many hours.
And once the two of them had woken up the next day, Kira had asked about what had made her feel so uneasy. And when she was done explaining everything to him.
He had gotten a slightly thoughtful look on his face, then asked her not to see those kind of movies ever again.
When they made her feel so uncomfortable that she couldn't even sleep properly, and it hadn't even taken her two seconds to promised Kira that she would never let Mayu talk her in to seeing films like that ever again.
She did however not get long to think about that before Cagalli interrupted her thoughts about the past.
"Ok so we all agrees on not seeing something too merry or too scary. But what really caught my attention is that all of these news is kinda strange" the blond haired woman said, while looking at all the news reports that was busy babbling about mostly unimportant stuff that didn't really give them many clues about what was really going on.
And still with her attention turned towards the screen she once more continued talking in the same thoughtful tone as before.
"I mean all of them is about turmoil in the Alliance, there is nothing about fighting with the Plants, it's almost like they are trying to hide that we are actually at war!" Cagalli said, thinking hard about how the hell so many news canals, could be so completely useless.
That was when Murrue cut in, and told all of them her theory about why there wasn't anything more interesting in the news.
"I don't think they are trying to hide that we are at war Cagalli. I honestly think the reason why they are not talking about it. Is because the Alliance really have made themselves a complete laughingstock by going to war so quickly, after everything that happened at Junius Seven" the brown haired woman said.
While trying a bit to figure out if everybody up there agreed with her.
Hearing her say that Andrew took another big sip of his coffee, truly enjoying the taste of the brown hot liquid, as it slowly made it's way down his throat. And once the cup was empty, he turned his eyes away from the monitor and over at the captain of the Archangel.
"Yeah that was a pretty foolish idea, but if I had a guess, it was most likely Blue Cosmos idea. All of us knows better then most people how that groups function, and if there was a possibility for them to get the war started again. Then I have no doubt that they would take it!" the Desert Tiger said, thinking hard about just how much trouble that terrorist organization had made in the last war.
Those words didn't really have a big effect on the others up there.
All of them knew what Andrew meant. They had after all seen just how far Blue Cosmos was willing to go, to destroy all Coordinators. That was something they had proven again and again, since the very first day that terrorist group was created.
They did however not get long to think about that before Mayu suddenly cut in to their somewhat sad thoughts.
"There she is, do you see her? There is that dumb bitch, that runs around impersonating big sis Lacus" the brown haired girl yelled loudly, while jumping up and down a few times, and pointing up at screen.
Where they all saw the fake Lacus singing a song that had been completely change from the original version the real Lacus had made so long ago.
And just the sight of her dancing around like that, was more then enough to make a deep frown ran over Lacus forehead.
"Well at the very least they all seem to be having fun!" She muttered in a slightly angry voice, as she turned and looked away from the screen. Ever since the very first time she had seen her lookalike perform.
She had felt a small grudge build up towards the other girl. It wasn't the whole thing with her running around dressed up like her that made Lacus angry. It was that she kept on changing some of the songs she had work so hard to make.
Not many people knew about it. But some of those songs, the other girl kept on changing so freely. Was actually something Lacus had made as a way to honour and bid farewell to her mother when she had died.
So it truly sadden her deeply that somebody, would alter so many of her songs, without even considering her feelings about the matter.
It was just about that time, when somebody suddenly placed a hand on her shoulder, which immediately made her turn around to see who was back there, and once she got eye contact with her husband, she felt some of her sadness disappear.
And when Kira moved in and pulled her in to a small hug. And it did not take long before she was resting contently in his arms.
"Please don't be sad sweetheart, I know that girl bothers you a lot more then you let on. But no matter how much she alters your songs, she will never have the same ability to make them sound as lovely and beautiful as you do!" Kira said in a loud tone, while looking directly in to her still somewhat sadden eyes. And after standing there for a moment or two.
She softly tighten the grip she had on her husband. "Thank you Kira, you always makes me so happy" the girl said back still not moving away from the embrace, that the two of them where in right now.
It was only when Cagalli asked if they shouldn't do something about the fake Lacus that they moved away from each other, and looked over at the blond girl.
But before either of them could come up with a suggestion about what they should do, Dearka decided to tell them his thoughts about the matter.
"Why don't we just kidnap her? From what I have gather by seeing her last few performances. She is suppose to get down here very soon and give a concert to some of the Zaft soldiers stationed down here. Apparently her first stop is suppose to be at Diocuia" the boy said, thinking a few seconds about what other information he had before he once more continued talking.
"If we use the Freedom and my Murasame. It should be relatively easy enough to get in there and nap the little faker!" Dearka said, in a tone that made it very hard to figure out, if he was actually serious about what he had just said, or was just joking around.
So after minutes to try and figure that out, Andy decide to tell the others why that suggestion was a real bad idea.
"We might be able to pull something like that off. But by doing so, we will most likely end up giving away our location to the wrong people, and that would be very bad for the Kingdom of Scandinavia, considering they are hiding us" the man explained.
Obviously still trying to come up with an idea about what they should do about the fake Lacus.
"Yeah that would be bad. Beside we are already being blamed for taking Cagalli. And I seriously don't think, that having another kidnapping on our conscience will do us any good. And even if we did somehow manage to get our hands on her, the only thing we will get out of it, is drawing attention to ourselves" Kira said.
Sounding a bit thoughtful, as he continued watching the copy of his wife, jumping around up on the stage. But even as he was doing that, he couldn't help but wonder who the heck that girl really was, and where exactly she had appeared from.
But one thing that had became more and more obvious for Kira every time he saw the fake Lacus Clyne perform.
Was that somebody very high in the Zaft military had something to do with the strange girl, for some reason whenever she talked, it was always about how much Zaft wanted peace in the world and how they where working so hard to get it.
"I don't trust that girl" he mumbled just loud enough for all of them up there to heard.
Then reached out and took a hold on Lacus hand where he gave it a light gentle squeeze, which made her look away from the screen and over at him.
But before the two of them could say anything to each other.
Mayu yelled loudly that she too thought that it was a totally good idea to kidnap the fake big sister Lacus. If they did that, the real big sister Lacus wouldn't have to be sad, over having the other girl stealing her songs.
"I'm really happy that you are concerned about my feelings Mayu. But we can't do something like that, all of us here has to think about all of the families living here in Scandinavia, so if we where to abduct that girl. Zaft and a great deal of other people would most likely start searching for us. And if they somehow succeed in finding us, we might have to defend ourselves to get away. And that means that somebody up there could get badly hurt" Lacus explained in her usual kind tone, as she reached down and softly rubbed Mayu's hair in a gentle way.
"Ok, ok I understand no kidnapping. But it still don't like that dumb girl!" Mayu said loudly, while sending the fake Lacus up on the monitor, an angry glare that made it clear for everybody up, there that she really meant what she said.
That was when Andy reached down and gave the girl a few friendly pats on her head.
And just when it seemed like he was going to remove his hand again. He took the opportunity to mess up her hair a bit, he and everybody else up there knew how much it truly that bothered the girl if her hair wasn't sitting exactly right.
And the angry glare she was now giving him.
Was enough to tell him, that she wasn't thinking about the other Lacus Clyne anymore. "None of us really likes that girl Mayu. But for now it's best that we just leave her alone, and concentrate on finding out what Zaft's true agenda is!" Andy said in a somewhat far away tone, as he thought about the group of Zaft soldiers that had reduced their home in to a pile of rubble.
Hearing those words got Murrue to finally turn her attention away from the fake Lacus and over towards the Desert Tiger.
"I'm actually starting to doubt that Zaft is really up to something. Even when there was fired nuclear missiles at them, Chairman Durandal kept on insisting that they would only fight when they had to defend themselves. There was no hasty counterattacks or anything like that" the brown haired woman said, while thinking about how Zaft was handling the situation.
"And just seeing how violently the Earth Forces keeps on doing things, kinda makes me want to take Zaft side in this conflict and teach the Earth Forces a lesson" Murrue said, as she thought a few seconds about how it would be like, to be fighting alongside the Zaft forces.
One thing she was certain of, was that if the Archangel and the Minerva was to end up fighting on the same side. It would almost be impossible to stop the two space ships.
And she seriously wouldn't mind working together with the captain of the Minerva, she was a very pleasant and kind person. That Murrue had enjoyed talking with a lot.
"I really don't think it's a good idea for us to join up with Zaft miss Murrue. We still don't know who send those assassins after Lacus. So if we showed up at a Zaft base now, there is a high possibility that somebody would try and kill her again!" Kira said in a tone, that made it obvious, that there was no way he was ever going to change his mind about this.
Thinking about those words over for a second or two.
Murrue nodded softly in agreement as she took a small glance over at her daughter, that was sitting over by the wall, busy playing with Haro, that was slowly rolling around just in front of her.
And just the sight of her having such a nice time was enough to make Murrue smile a bit, as a thoughtful frown ran over her forehead.
Kira was right there was no way they could risk trying to join up with Zaft. If they did something like that, there was a big chance that they could all end up in some very serious danger.
And their was no way she would risk both the life of her crew and her daughter, in trying to help a bunch of people. That might just show their gratitude by trying to take their lives away.
"You are right Kira, there is no way we can trust Zaft or Durandal, we need to find some clues about what that man is really up to" the woman said, while turning her eyes away from Mayu and over towards Kira.
That was just standing there beside his wife and sister with a deep thoughtful expression on his face. That made it clear that he was thinking very hard about something, most likely what was really happening around the world.
But before he had the opportunity to voice any of those thought, Mayu suddenly jumped up from the floor with a displeased look in both of her eyes.
"I seriously don't feel like talking about the Earth Forces or Zaft anymore, it's just so depressing and completely boring. So if there is nothing for me to do up here, I think I'll go down and take a dip in the hot spring, after that I might swing by the hangar to annoy grandpa Murdoch a bit" the girl said, with an wicked grin on her face.
It was always so entertaining pulling pranks on the chief engineer, he always got so angry at her and that was hilarious, especially when he began yelling at her to never come back to the hangar ever again.
But as she was planing what kind of prank she should pull of once she got down there. Her mother called out after her, and told her not to make too much trouble for the mechanics, especially if they where busy working on something.
Hearing that Mayu slowly turned and gave her mother a big grin, that made it obvious that she was going to bother the mechanics no matter what they where doing.
"Ok mom I promise. But knowing them they are most likely just sitting around down there drinking coffee and playing cards" the girl said, and quickly disappeared out of the door, before Murrue could say anything else to her.
Seeing her do that Murrue couldn't help but let out a big sigh, as she thought about how much trouble her daughter could get in to down in the hangar.
"That girl, what am I going to do with her!" She mumbled just loud enough for the rest of the people gather up there to hear it, which pretty much got all of them to let out a few light chuckles.
As each of them tried to imagine what Mayu would do once she reached the hangar.
But no matter what the ship's youngish crew member was going to do there down once she arrived. One thing was certain it would no doubt living things up around the ship.
But before Murrue could worry to much about Lacus stepped over next to the captain and smiled a bit at her.
"I really don't think you have to be concerned miss Murrue, we all know that Mayu can be a tiny bit crazy when she is bored. But I'm sure that Mr Murdoch and the rest of the mechanics will keep an eye on her. Even true she is properly going to do everything possible to annoy them" the pink haired girl said.
Trying not to show her amusement to the other woman.
Not that Murrue couldn't quite easily tell, how funny Lacus and everybody else up there found this whole thing.
Especially Cagalli and Dearka was really enjoying the thought of how many problems Mayu could cause down in the hangar.
The two of them had always found it very entertaining, when the youngish Ramius was out to make trouble for other people. And even true Murrue didn't quite like the idea of those two encouraging her daughter too much.
She decided that it was properly best just to ignore them.
As she once again looked back at Lacus. "It's not like I'm worried about her Lacus, but you know as well as I do that Mayu does tend to get carried away when she is out making prank" Murrue said.
Thinking back to how big a mess she had made the last time, she had decided to liven things up a bit back home. It had taken them more then a few hours to clean everything up again.
"Yeah that is pretty much the best of it. And now that I'm not a mechanic any longer I don't have to help fix up whatever she breaks down there!" Dearka said with a grin on his face.
Already looking forward to see Murdoch's reaction to whatever Mayu was planing to do. No matter what he was sure that the chief engineer was going to be quite busy. Either chasing around after Mayu, or repairing whatever the girl broke.
"This is just going to be so great!" The former Buster pilot said not doing anything to hid how much he was enjoying this.
"You do realize Dearka that if she makes to much of a mess down there. You might just be forced to help the mechanics clean everything up again!" Murrue said as she smiled a bit at the pilot that now had a somewhat unhappy look on his face, as stood there trying to figure out how many hours it would take fixing whatever the girl would most likely end up breaking down there.
That thought alone was more then enough to get him to let out a small grumbling sound, that made it clear that he was not happy with the idea about having to help out clean up after Mayu.
"Ahhh man, you just took the fun right out of it captain!" The boy said trying hard to look as displeased as possible.
Unfortunately that big cheerful smile he had on his face kinda ruined the attempted.
And if somebody asked him and he had to tell the truth, he honestly wouldn't mind helping out down there, it would certainly give him something else to do other then sit around up here rolling his thumbs, that could no doubt get boring very fast.
And perhaps once he got down there he could joining the mechanics for a little game of poker. It had been a while since he last had the opportunity to play against them.
Which certainly would be a nice change from playing against Miriallia, he might love the beautiful girl with all of his heart. But he had never liked playing poker with her, seeing as he always ended up losing.
And that was one thing that truly annoyed Dearka to his very being, seeing as he had always somewhat despised losing in games.
Something that hadn't taken long for his lovely girlfriend to find out about. So every time she beat him in some kind of game, she would always do everything possible to tease him about it.
So the idea of playing against somebody that didn't know how much it bothered him to lose was actually quite appealing. And with that in mind he hurried jumped up from his seat and began making his way towards the door.
"Now then boys and girls. If there is nothing for me to do up here, I think I'll go take a look around the hangar. I have a feeling that things it about to become very interesting down there" he said, while disappearing out of the door with everybody else up there looking after him.
And it was only when the door once more flew back shut. That Cagalli rolled her eyes a single time, and muttered something about Dearka being just as childish as Mayu.
"You are one to talk sis" Kira chuckled back.
Which made Cagalli whirl around where she immediately gave her brother a somewhat unhappy glare. "What was that Kira? What did you say?" The blond haired girl asked in a loud tone, while taking a few steps closer towards her dimwitted brother.
That by now was giving her a tiny yet innocence smile, that made it obvious for her that he really had said something.
"I didn't say anything sis, you most have imaged it" he said trying to sound as innocence as he looked.
But that didn't even fool Cagalli for a second, as she slowly turned and looked over at her sister-in-law. That was watching the two of them with a happy smile on her face.
"Your husband is an idiot Lacus" Cagalli told the other girl in a loud tone, while giving Kira yet another angry glare. Before she once more focused her attention on Lacus, that by now was making her way over to her husband.
Once there she reached out and took a hold on Kira's left arm. And without showing even the slighted hesitation she snuggled herself up towards him, happily resting her head against his shoulder, where she let out a small contented sigh.
And once she was totally comfortable there. She once more looked back at Cagalli and smiled a bit at her.
"Yeah I know he is Cagalli. But he is all mine and I love him more then anything else in this entire world" the pink haired girl said.
Still tightly holding on to Kira's arm, making sure that if he tried to go anywhere. She would be right there beside him the whole way, not that it seemed like he was going to leave anytime soon.
Hearing those words Cagalli got a far away gaze in both of her eyes, as she took a short look down at the engagement ring on her left hand. And before she could do anything to stop herself, she began playing around with the piece of jewelry.
"Believe me Lacus I know what you mean. I just wished that the person I love was here with me right now" the blond girl said, while Athrun's handsome face kept on going through her mind.
She hadn't showed it to the others all that much, but she really missed Athrun a lot these days.
He had been gone for such a long time. And she was truly begin to wonder where in the world he could be, and what he was doing.
But as she stood there with that far away look on her face dreaming about Athrun, the two Yamato's couldn't help but feel a little sorry for her. So after giving Kira a small look Lacus slowly stepped away from her husband and over to Cagalli, where she reached out and placed a hand on Cagalli's shoulder.
"I'm certain that it will only be a matter of time before you and Athrun is together again Cagalli. But knowing him he is most likely doing everything possible to help put an end to the war" the pink haired girl said.
While smiling calmly at her sister-in-law that was clearly thinking very hard about what she had just said.
And even true Lacus' words did make her feel a little better, a small part of her was still wondering why Athrun wasn't there together with the rest of them. She had no doubt that if he was here, he would certainly be able to help all of them out a lot.
"I just hope Lacus that where he is right now, that he is doing all right. It's been such a long time since I last saw him, and I just can't help but be a little worried about him. I really wish that there was a way for us to get in contact with him" Cagalli said in a far away tone, now thinking back to how he had been down on his knee and proposed to her not long ago.
That was when Kira stepped over and gave her a small hug. "I don't think you have to be worried about Athrun sis. I'm sure he is all right, and once the time is right we can try and find someway to establish contact with him, but for now we are forced to stay put until the time is right" the brown haired teen said.
Also wondering what his best friend was doing at the moment.
Hearing her brother say those words Cagalli was just about to say something back. When suddenly without any kind of warning Murdoch's face appeared up on the monitor, where he immediately let out a small unhappy growl sound.
"Captain will you please come down here, and do something about your kid! She is driving me nuts with all of her damn tricks!" The man yelled loudly, while trying hard to get a great deal of the green paint out of his normal dark blue hair.
And before Murrue or anybody else had the time to comment on that. The chief engineer turned and yelled out for somebody to stop playing around with the Skygrasper down there.
After that Murdoch once more disappeared from the screen. And it was only a few short seconds later when Cagalli let out a big laugh.
"Some times I really love that kid. She is such a good little troublemaker, kinda reminds me of myself when I was her age" the blond haired girl said, doing nothing to hush down her big outbreak of feelings.
Murrue on the other hand just let out a few light chuckles, as she stood up from her seat.
"I better hurry down there, before she actually ends up give the pure man a nervous breakdown" the brown haired woman said, while walking slowly towards the door with a small grin on her face, as she wonder a bit how in the world Mayu had succeed in colouring Murdoch's hair green.
But in the end she decided she could always ask about that once she got down there.
Seeing the woman leave, Lacus turned and looked back at her husband. "Lets hurry and go too Kira. I'm quite curious about what's going on down in the hangar!" The pink haired beauty said in a excited tone.
Just as she lashed on to his arm, and began pulling him along towards the exit of the bridge. Not giving him any kind of opportunity to tell, if he wanted to go or not.
"Hey wait up you two, I'm coming with you!" Cagalli yelled, as she hurried rushed after her two family members, out of the bridge.
And once the door flew shut after them, Andy slowly reached up and scratched his hair a bit.
"Well I guess this meeting is over. Might as well go back to my room and get a cup of coffee" he said as he too left the bridge. So now the only people back there was Dalida and Arnold that decided to run a maintenance test on all of the Archangel's systems.
Now that everybody else was gone. And things was finally calm and peaceful up there, they could both concentrate fully on their jobs.
000000
Meanwhile quite far away from the coast of Scandinavia.
Another battle ship was slowly making it's way towards Mahamul base.
They where still quite the distance from it, but that didn't really bothered the crew all that much. Most of them where using the time to repair the minor damage the ship and it's mobile suits had obtained in the last battle they had been in.
But even true the atmosphere around the Minerva was somewhat peaceful at the moment.
A loud conversation was going on down in the hangar between two of the mechanics. That was so far away in their discussion about how much Lacus Clyne and her singing style had change.
"I just can't believe that she would run around in that skimpy little outfit. I can't wait to get one of those new posters of her dressed like that!" Yolant said in a loud tone, hoping deeply that he would have the possibility to get his hands on a poster of Lacus Clyne when they reached Mahamul base.
But as the young mechanic stood there dreaming about that.
Vino suddenly said something about wanting her new CD too. Which was more then enough to snap Yolant out of his deep thoughts, and look over at his friend that was standing just beside him.
"That's a good idea Vino! I just hope that I have enough money to buy all of that stuff. I did spend a very big part of my salary back at Carpentaria" he said sounding a bit disappointed about wasting his money on pretty much nothing.
The things he had bought hadn't really been anything he truly wanted. He had just been feeling somewhat bored back there, and that meant that he had to do something like going to the base arcade. Where he had thrown about half of his hard earn money away on video games that he truth be told hadn't gotten all that far in.
And the rest of his money had been used to buy a bunch of comic books, that he had already read more then a few times.
And after that most of his salary had pretty much been gone.
Seeing how disappointed his friend was looking right now Vino reached over and gave him a hard friendly slap on his back. Getting Yolant's attention away from what he was working on and over at him.
"If you don't have the money for the CD and the poster. I don't mind borrowing you some, I got more then enough cash stash away" the youngish of the two mechanics said, with a small grin on his face.
Hearing those words Yolant couldn't help but grin too. "That's great Vino, you really are a true friend. Now I don't have to be the only one on board that doesn't get a few souvenirs with Lacus Clyne dressed like that!" He almost yelled, as he again thought about how the pink hair songster looked in her new clothes.
But before he could give it all that much thought another person cut in to their conversation.
"I'm sorry to interrupted gentleman. But I would like Saviour's maintenance log if you are not to busy!" Athrun said in a friendly tone, while smiling a bit at the shocked reaction he got out of both of them.
And it only took a few seconds before Vino gave him what he was asking for, still acting a bit like he didn't know what to do with himself at the moment.
Athrun on the other hand was far to busy looking the data over to notice how nervous he was making the two mechanics.
He just continued standing there for a few seconds studying the log. But finally after what felt like an eternity for Vino and Yolant, the gundam piloted took a glance up at his mobile suit.
Before he again turned his attention back towards them.
"Everything seems fine so carry on gentleman!" Athrun said in a calm tone, before he slowly turned and walked of with the two of them looking after him.
And once both mechanics was sure that he was out of sight, they each let out a big relieved sigh, while Vino slowly reached up and wiped a few drops of sweat away from his forehead.
After doing that he turned both of his eyes over towards his friend. "Man, I was certain that he was going to be angry at us, he is after all engaged to Lacus Clyne"
Vino said, while doing his best to make sure that the Saviour pilot wasn't around to hear what he and Yolant was saying to each other.
And once he was completely sure that Athrun wasn't nearby he again looked over at his fellow mechanic that was just standing there with a somewhat thoughtful look on his face.
But before Vino could ask what his friend was thinking about.
Yolant shook his head a few times, clearly trying to get his mind back on the conversation he was engaged in right now.
"Yeah he is a pretty lucky guy. But you know that now that we are over here, it wouldn't be all that hard pulling a few cables out of the Saviour" the boy said with a slightly wicked smirk on his face.
That made it somewhat unclear if he was serious or not.
But before Vino could come up with something to say back, another voice suddenly called out to them.
"You two do realize that I'm still down here. And that I can hear everything you are talking about!" Athrun said in a slightly humorist tone. That would be somewhat hard to recognize unless you where one of those people that knew him very well.
Unfortunately neither of the two mechanics realized that he was just messing with them. So they hurried turned around and looked back at him, both of them yelling loudly that they where sorry.
But Athrun just looked at them for a second or two. Before he gave each of them a somewhat disapproval look, then turned away from them and once more walked off, doing nothing to hide that big grin he had on his face at the moment.
It actually was quite fun rattling around with other people like this.
And it was at times like these, that he truly did understand why people like Andrew Waltfeld and a few others liked doing it so much, there was however a few crew members down there that realized that Athrun had just been joking around with the two mechanics.
And even true she hadn't heard the whole thing, Lunamaria couldn't help but grin a bit at what she had heard.
It really had been amusing seeing both Vino and Yolant that nervous and afraid of an earful. If Athrun continued doing stuff like that Luna was certain that it wouldn't take long before even Shinn would warmed a bit up to him and began following his orders.
But as she turned and took a short glance back at Shinn. She saw him standing there watching Athrun with a slightly thoughtful expression on his face, that however didn't stay there for long.
Once Shinn noticed that the red hair girl was staring at him. He let out an unhappy huff sound, before he hurried turned his attention back towards whatever he had been doing before Athrun had enter the hangar.
Seeing the stubborn gundam piloted do that. Luna couldn't help but let out a small sigh as she rolled her eyes a single time.
Athrun might be somewhat funny from time to time. But it would with no doubt still take many hours before Shinn would have gained enough respect for Athrun to actually take orders from him.
So after watching Shinn work for about a small minute, Luna decided that she was much more curious about finding out what her crush was doing at the moment.
And after looking around a bit she found him standing over by Nicol talking with him about something she couldn't hear.
But before she could even consider going over to them. One of the mechanics working on her ZAKU suddenly called out to her and asked her a very important question, she knew that it was best to answer right away.
So after taking one last glance over at Athrun and Nicol. She let out a small sigh, while quickly making her way over to her mobile suit, deeply hoping that this would not take too long.
But much to her small disappointment.
The mechanics that was fixing up her red mobile suit had more then one thing, they needed her help with. So it did not take her long to realize that there was just no way she could figure out what the two former members of the Le Creuset team was talking about.
But perhaps when they where all done working, she could ask the two of them to have lunch with her.
That thought alone did make her work a bit faster, she seriously didn't want to stay down here any longer then necessary.
000000
At the same time over by the only GOUF in the hangar.
Nicol was looking at his friend with a puzzled expression on his face.
"I really don't get why you don't just tell them that you and miss Lacus are no longer engaged. You do realize that miss Cagalli would most likely ring your neck if she knew that you where not denying such a thing. And just try and think about how Kira would react, he is after all married to miss Lacus" the pilot of the yellow mobile suit said.
While thinking back to, how happy the married couple always was when they where together.
Hearing his friend say that Athrun blinked a few times in disbelief.
He had been sure that if there was anybody on board the Minerva, that could figure out that the Lacus working for the Chairman was a fake one. It would have been Nicol of all people.
But apparently his green haired friend still hadn't realized what was really going on.
And that the real Lacus was with Kira on board the Archangel.
But before Athrun could even consider telling his friend the truth. The alarm suddenly began ringing all over the ship.
And all of them could now hear Meyrin's voice telling them that Athrun, Shinn and Rey should board their machines immediately.
"What the heck is happening now! I thought we where on our way to a Zaft base, so why are we being send in to combat NOW?" Luna asked in a loud tone.
That could be heard all over the hangar, while she turned and took a look up at her one armed ZAKU. Feeling a bit annoyed that she would have to stay back there while everybody else was out fighting.
There was however another person down there that had the same problem as the girl.
It just wasn't possible for Nicol to go out there with all the damage his GOUF had taken in the last battle, so the only thing he could do now was smile a bit at Athrun and wish him good luck.
"Thank you Nicol, I'll see you once we get back!" The blue haired teen said loudly over the alarm that could still be heard all over the ship.
After that he turned around and ran off towards the piloted ready room, to retrieve his space suit. But even as he was running down the ships halls he couldn't stop himself from trying to figure out what was going on.
And he wasn't the only one who was giving this some serious thought.
Both Shinn and Rey who was running not far ahead of him, each of them where discoursing loudly what in the world that was happening now. They did however not get long to do that, before they arrived at the ready room.
Once in there they didn't waste any time in getting in to their space suits.
After doing that, they once more began making their way back down to the hangar.
To be continued.