Chapter 20
It hadn't been long since Athrun had gotten in to the Saviour, where he heard Meyrin telling him and the other pilots, that the Zaft base they where approaching was under attack by a minor Earth Forces fleet.
"Damn it! Those Earth Forces bastards are everywhere these days! They are almost like a bunch of cockroach. Now lets hurry up and get out there, so I can step them flat like last time!"
Shinn yelled out over from the Core Splendor. Completely determined to once more show the Earth Forces who the hell they where messing with.
Which meant that there was a large part of him that was seriously hoping that the three stolen gundams was out there. That way he would be able to pay them back for destroying the Nyiragongo.
But when Meyrin began explaining to them, what they where up against. He couldn't help but feel a little disappointed when she didn't even mention one of the stolen gundams.
But once Meyrin told them that there was three mobile armors of the same kind, as the one they had fought just outside of Orb.
The disappointment quickly disappeared again.
And now he sat there with a deep thoughtful expression on his face. One of those annoying things had been hard enough to beat. But three of them where a bit much, he need to make completely sure that he had the right kind of equipment on the Impulse to fight those damn mobile armors.
He was actually so far away in trying to figure out what to do once he got out there.
That he didn't hear what else Meyrin was saying.
And it was only when Athrun began talking in a loud tone. That he snapped back out of his deep thoughts, about how it would be most easy for him, to beat the crap out of those three machines as quickly as possible.
"Now then you two, once we get out there, I would like for you to stay back here Rey and defend the Minerva, while Shinn and I go help the base take out those mobile armors" the blue hair boy order.
Just as the Saviour was dropped loudly down on the catapult, making it clear for everybody down there that the red gundam was ready to head out, and join the quite violent party outside.
Still not all that keen on the idea of taking orders from the newcomer, it took a few seconds before Shinn finally decided to give Athrun a reply.
"Ok I understand. By the way Athrun if you are going to fight against those mobile armors try an avoid attacking them from the front. They are quite dangerous from that approach" Shinn said, while thinking back to his previous encounter with one of those freakish looking Earth Forces machines.
Hearing the Impulse pilot giving him advise like that. Athrun felt a small smile ran over his lips. It was somewhat nice to know that Shinn was at least willing to try and work together with him in this battle.
"I see, thank you for the advise Shinn. Now lets get to it before they can make an even bigger mess out there!" The blue haired teen said. Just as the Saviour left the Minerva's hangar, followed shortly be the Core Splendor and the equipment need to create a full combat ready mobile suit.
And it only took a few minutes then the Impulse was fully assembled and equipped with the Force Silhouette.
Seeing that the other boy was ready to fight Athrun took a quick look around on the battlefield, until he again turned his attention over on the mobile suit flying beside him.
"Lets take out the mobile armor farthest to the left Shinn. That one seems to be working pretty much on it's own, so it should be a somewhat easy target to take out, with nothing around to back it up. And once we get rid of that one, we can concentrate fully on the two others" Athrun explained, while at the same time using the two plasma cannons to destroy a couple of Windams that got in their way.
Using a few seconds to think over Athrun's plan of attack.
Shinn decided that he should at the very least try and do some of the things the other teen said. He seriously didn't feel like getting in to another argument with Athrun or Nicol.
Perhaps by following a few of Athrun's orders he could figure out if the other pilot truly deserved the deep respected the rest of the crew seemed to be giving him.
And with that in mind, he took a small glance over at the red gundam next to him. "You just lead the way Athrun, I'll be right behind you!" He said in a slightly angry tone, as he reach up and pulled out the beam saber.
Then hurried evade under a few beams which a lonely Windam was firing at him, but before the idiot had the time to aim properly.
Shinn slammed the saber straight through the chest area of the white mobile suit, making it blow up almost directly in front of him.
And once he was certain that there was nothing else around that was asking for a good beating. He hurried took off after the Saviour that by now was busy playing around with two other Windams.
But once he was done taking care of them, they once more took off towards the green mobile armor, that was floating around not all that far ahead of them.
They did however not even get the opportunity to get off even one attack. Before the damn thing fired a big round of beams straight at them, forcing both of them to get out of the way in a hurry.
"Try and distract it Shinn, while I attack it from behind!" Athrun order loudly, while transforming the Saviour over in to it's mobile armor mode, where he immediately took aim and fired of the two plasma cannons at the even bigger mobile armor.
That of course used it's beam shield to defend itself, only to low it a half second later now trying to grab a hold on the red gundam with one of it's claws.
Seeing them do that Athrun hurried manoeuvred the Saviour up over the somewhat nasty looking weapon. And before it had the opportunity to try and catch him one more time.
Shinn came charging in with full speed shooting of both the beam rifle and the machine guns at the mobile armor. Forcing it to once more rely on the beam shield to prevent itself from taking any damage from the attack.
"Damn this thing is just as irritating as the last one!" Shinn yelled out in a angry tone.
Just as he quickly evade in between the next rain of beams the mobile armor fired at him. While at the same time using the shield to make sure that the Impulse would not take any damage from this.
But even true Shinn was quite good at avoiding getting hit by the mobile armor's attacks, he quickly realized that if he had to do this for long it would only be a matter of time before one of the many beams would hit him.
"Damn it all! Where the hell is that stupid bastard? I thought he said, he was going to attack it from behind, so what the heck is he doing?" The boy asked, doing nothing at all to control his anger, this was really starting to annoy him greatly.
Here he was fighting for his life, and the imbecile that was supposed to help him was of doing something else instead.
He did however not get the opportunity to voice anymore of his anger, when he noticed a minor explosion, not all that far away from him.
And once he looked in that direction he saw the Saviour gundam blasting it's way through a squadron of about four Windams. After that the red mobile suit flew with full speed towards the giant armor.
"I'm sorry about that Shinn, those guys showed up from out of nowhere!" Athrun yelled.
Just as he got the Saviour over in to mobile suit mode where he immediately throw the shield away and pulled out both beam sabers.
And before Shinn had the time to figure out what he was planing now. He dropped directly down towards the mobile armor, where he hurried slammed both weapons in to the back of the damn thing.
Seeing him do that Shinn got the beam saber out again and charge straight towards the Earth Forces machine, determined to help the other pilot take it out before it could do any more damage to the base below them.
And with their combined strength, it did not take long before the armor was so badly messed up that it couldn't be used any more in this battle.
Happy to have gotten rid of that threat, both pilots turned and took a look back at the Minerva. Just as the grey space ship fired of the Tannhauser at the second one of the armors.
But thanks to it's positron reflector shield it didn't really take any damage.
And once the enormous red beam disappeared again, the mobile armor once more continued on it's way towards the Minerva, with a few DINNs doing everything to stop it.
But the few Windams providing escort for the damn thing, had no trouble at all getting rid of the purple Zaft mobile suits.
And once the last of them where gone, it truly did seemed like the armor was free to do whatever it wanted.
"We have to take out that thing before it gets to the Minerva, Shinn!" Athrun shouted, while taking a glance over at the last of the mobile armors that was having fun with a small squadron of GOUFs, that was doing a pretty good job keeping the Earth Forces war machine occupied.
And after watching them fight for a second or two Athrun transformed the Saviour in to mobile armor and took off after the Impulse that was flying not that far ahead of him.
Once in ranger of the second mobile armor the two teens immediately began firing of their beam rifles at the monstrosity. Unfortunately they didn't have much luck in damaging the stupid thing.
"Damn, I'm begin to understand why you despise these things so much Shinn!" Athrun said, as he hurried evade up over a rain of beams from the enemy machine.
"Yeah tell me about it, and the morons inside this thing, is actually much better pilots, then the last bunch we fought!" Shinn yelled out.
Not doing a thing to hide just how much he truly hated these new Earth Forces machines.
They where just so damn annoying, and they where seriously starting to get on his nerves. Yet as he was thinking about how much he truly hated these things he once more saw that strange seed in his head.
Which instantly made him reach up and pull out both beam sabers.
Not really knowing what the pilot of the Impulse was going to do, Athrun hurried fired both plasma cannons at the green war machine, destroying the claw that was trying to get a hold on the other gundam.
But thanks to Athrun's quick thinking it did not take long, before Shinn slammed both weapons straight through the hard green metal the mobile armor had been made off.
But even true that did do some serious damage to the machine, it was still not nearly enough to destroy it completely.
"Shinn hurry up and get away from that thing, before it can get a hold on you!" Athrun order in a loud tone, as he used the beam rifle to fire a few shots down at the mobile armor, making sure to cover the other piloted while he was retreating back to a safe distance.
And once Athrun was sure that Shinn was safely away from the enemy machine. He hurried got the Saviour over in to it's mobile armor mode.
While Shinn yelled out for Meyrin to launch the Sword Silhouette. And it wasn't much later before the two Zaft soldiers was once more busy disassembling the Earth Forces mobile armor one part after another.
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Meanwhile back on the Minerva.
Both Nicol and Lunamaria was in the pilot ready room watching the battle that was still going on outside of the ship.
And even true they did not show it much. Both of them where really relieved that Shinn and Athrun was out there to keep the enormous mobile armor away from the ship, there was just no telling how much damage they would take if something like that got a hold on them.
But what was actually surprising the two of them a bit, was how well the two gundam pilots was working together in kicking the crap out of the green mobile armor.
And finally after just standing there for a bit Luna turned and looked over at the boy next to her.
"Are you sure that's it's really Shinn that's inside the Impulse? It's kinda hard to believe that he is willingly taking orders from Athrun without being forced!" She said.
As she saw the Impulse evade another heavy attack from the Earth Forces war machine, while at the same time grabbing a hold on one of the beam boomerangs, which he instantly throw of towards the armor, destroying yet another one of the claws on the damn thing.
And just before the mobile armor had the time to get over that attack. Athrun fired of the two plasma cannons in to the back of the machine, knocking it completely of it's course.
"I'm not really that surprise Lunamaria, Shinn might be very stubborn from time to time. But he does have his own kind of honour, and after what Athrun and I said to him yesterday. He might just think that this is the best way for him to regain it" Nicol said, as they saw both gundams once more charge full speed towards the mobile armor, both of them with their close range weapons out and ready to strike.
Thinking a few seconds about everything her friend had just said.
Luna again turned her eyes over at Nicol, that was watching the screen with a slightly thoughtful look on his face. "So Nicol, do you think they can continue working together like this in the future?" The red haired girl asked.
She seriously hoped that this wasn't just a one time thing, she truly did like the idea of all of them fighting beside each other against whatever opponent they ran in to.
If they did something like that, she was certain that there was nothing out there they couldn't handle.
But the response Nicol gave her did disappoint her a bit.
"That's kinda hard to say Luna. But now that Shinn have gotten a taste of what he and Athrun can do, when they join forces, it might be possible that Shinn will finally accept Athrun as the one in charge" the green haired teenager said, still sounding very thoughtful about the whole thing.
It was kinda hard to guess if this entire affair, was what they all needed to be a real team.
Thinking those words over for a brief moment. Lunamaria finally let out a small sigh, as she watched the mobile armor, Athrun and Shinn was going up against blow up, not that far away from the Minerva.
"You really are a bit of a spoilsport Nicol. But I guess you are right, we just have to wait and see if this team work will continue in the next battle we get in to" the red haired girl said.
Now watching as the Earth Forces fleet out there began slowly retreating away from the area, still with a few Zaft mobile suits showing them the hard way out.
Apparently now that Athrun and Shinn had destroyed two of the mobile armors, and the small squadron of GOUFs had somehow taken out the third one.
The Earth Forces had obviously lost their will to continue with the fighting. And it did not take long before the minor fleet of ships could only be seen as a few small dots in the horizon.
Seeing that the battle was over, Nicol turned and looked over at the girl next to him, where he gave her a small smile.
"I really don't know if this team work between them is a one time occasion. But no matter what they certainly did a good job out there, so why don't the two of us go down to the hangar and congratulate them?" He asked in his usual kind tone, while giving her a small bow and offering his arm to her in a gentleman kind fashion.
Seeing Nicol do that.
Luna just couldn't help but let out a light giggle, as she reached out and took a hold on his arm, letting her green haired friend lead her over to the elevator, that would take them back down to the hangar.
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At the same time outside Rey was watching, as the Saviour and the Impulse was making their way back to the ship.
The two pilots might have done an incredible job in taking out two of those mobile armors. But a part of him was still not entirely certain if it truly was a good thing that Shinn was able to work so well together with Athrun.
Rey just couldn't help but feel a great deal of distrust towards the pilot of the Saviour. It really wasn't a big secret that Athrun's best friend was Kira Yamato.
But perhaps if Shinn and the others was able to build a close friendship with Athrun.
They might someday have the opportunity to get the blue haired teenager, to tell them some of Kira's more critical weakness'. That way it surely would be, that much easier to remove him from this world.
And just the thought alone was more then enough to make a slightly wicked smile ran over his lips,
Just as he turned the Phantom around and began making his way back towards the Minerva's already open hangar. Still thinking of ways he and Gil could somehow exploited the friendship that was slowly building up between Athrun, and the other crew members.
But as Rey sat there trying to come up with the best ways to kill the Ultimate Coordinator. He suddenly noticed an orange GOUF following to two gundams in to the Minerva's hangar.
Wondering a second or two what that was about. The blond haired teenager decided to put his strategy making on hold, and follow the other mass-produced mobile suit in to the grey space ship.
To try and figure out what in the world the pilot of the orange mobile suit was up to, and once he got inside the ship he saw the GOUF walk over beside Lunamaria's ZAKU where it immediately began powering down.
Seeing that, Rey took a quick look around to try and find a space for his mobile suit, now that the newcomer had taken his space beside Lunamaria's machine.
Not that he cared all that much about where his ZAKU was standing. Just as long as it was ready for combat whenever he had a need for it.
So after standing there for a bit he moved the ZAKU over beside the Impulse, as far as he remember nobody was using that space, so his mobile suit might as well use it now that his normal space was occupied.
And without wasting any more time, he immediately began powering down the white ZAKU, which did not take all that much time.
And once all of that was over and done with, he hurried opened the cockpit and got down to the ground, where it didn't take long for him to notice that he wasn't the only one that was a bit curious about the orange GOUF.
The others was talking loudly about the mobile suit, and why it had made the decision to land here instead of some place back at the base.
They did however not get long to discourse it, before the cockpit of the GOUF flew open and the pilot of the mobile suit slowly lowed himself to the floor, where he immediately took a quick look around before he reached up and pulled of his helmet.
After that he gave all of them a brief salute, before he began talking in a loud tone that could pretty much be heard all over the hangar.
"YO everybody, it's nice to meet you ALL!" The orange hair pilot said. Making it sound like he already was very good friends with pretty much everybody on board the Minerva. Even true there was actually only one individual in the entire hangar that knew who he was.
And that person was already making his way over to the weird GOUF pilot, where he gave him a small salute back.
"It's good to see you again Heine, but what exactly are you doing all the way out here?" Athrun asked in a somewhat curious tone, while taking a short glance up at the orange GOUF, wondering slightly just how good a pilot Heine really was.
He had taken notice of the strange colour mobile suit while he and Shinn was fighting against the two Zamza-Zah or what their name was. But truth be told, he hadn't really seen much of what the GOUF pilot could do, and he was quite frankly a little curious about it.
Heine was after all a member of FAITH too, and that could only mean that he had to be quite skilled in using that thing.
And with that in mind he again turned his attention, back towards Heine that was obviously just waiting for him to get back out of his deep thoughts. And once he did that, Heine immediately began talking in the same loud tone as before.
"Well I was order by the Chairman to function as an escort for you guys when you leave this place!" The man explained, while taking a curious look around at all the mobile suits gather down there.
And once his eyes land on the Impulse gundam he immediately stepped away from Athrun and made his way over to the gundam. Which he slowly looked over with a somewhat thoughtful expression on his face.
He did however not get much time to really study the mobile suit, before a loud voice suddenly interrupted his thoughts.
"Do you have something, you want to say about my mobile suit!" Shinn asked, as he rush full speed over to the stranger, that was just standing there looking at the Impulse, like he wanted to take it out for a small spin around the base.
And that was not a thought he liked very much.
So he was more then ready to tell this guy to stay away from his mobile suit.
But much to his small surprise the man just turned and looked at him for a few brief seconds. Before he smiled a bit at him and once more turned his attention back towards the Impulse.
"Nop not really, I have just been hearing a lot of things about the Impulse, so I was a bit curious about what all the fuss was about. But it really is quite an impressive mobile suit. So other then the Sword it also have something name Force and Blast right?" He asked, while once more letting his eyes ran over the mobile suit in front of him.
Hearing the orange haired fellow ask him that.
Shinn blinked a few times, he just couldn't help but be a bit amazed over how much knowledge this weird guy had about the Impulse. So it took him a few seconds to come up with some kind of response to his question.
"Yep that's right the Force Silhouette is made for aerial combat, while the Blast is made more for heavy assault combat!" Shinn explained in a tone that made it clear for everybody there, that he really was proud that he had been selected as the pilot to the Impulse.
And just hearing the boy talking so proudly about his mobile suit, made the smile on Heine's lips grew slightly in size.
As he once more turned his eyes over towards Shinn.
"Hmmm that certainly does sound very interesting. I can see how so many different modes can be very useful. When you are out there fighting around, and something unexpected shows up" Heine said, thinking back to how the last battle had started.
At first the Earth Forces had only been attacking with Windams and a few other mobile suits, that hadn't really given them much of a challenge.
But when those three mobile armors had enter the battle, things had gone from good to very bad in just a couple of minutes.
And it actually had seemed a bit like, those mobile armors was going to wipe pretty much all of them out. Until the Minerva and the two gundams had appeared from out of nowhere, as a nice little party of well needed reinforcements.
And just thinking about how easily the Saviour and the Impulse had defeat two of those mobile armors.
Had definitely without a doubt been a very impressive sight, seeing those two mobile suits in action.
So still with those thoughts going through his head, he gave the Impulse pilot a small grin as he once more began talking in the same friendly tone as before.
"I would actually like to talk a bit more with you about the Impulse. But I think it would properly be best that I head for the bridge, and tell the captain why exactly I'm here. But maybe we can talk about it some other time" he said, stretching both of his arms up over his head, while forcing back a yawn.
Be might not show it all that much, but it had been quite a hard day, and he could truthfully use a few hours of rest.
"So who of you guys wants to be a nice fellows, and show me the way to the bridge?" He asked, now with a more goofy smile on his face.
That made it clear for everybody gather down there, that he wasn't going to force anybody to take him to the bridge. But it only took a few short seconds before Shinn volunteered to help Heine find his way up to the bridge.
"Thank you pal, now onward to our destination!" Heine said in a loud tone, that made more then a few crew members laugh softly, as they watched the weird newcomer follow Shinn out of the hangar.
Which meant that it did not take long before more then a few of them where talking about the strange pilot.
"I don't know about you two. But I think I'm going to like having him on board. He was hilarious" Lunamaria said, while smiling brightly at Athrun and Nicol that was standing in front of her.
Both of them obviously having just as much fun as she was.
Which really made her hope, that the orange hair guy was going to be a permanent adhesion to the Minerva's crew.
"Yeah he was a really funny person, by the way Athrun where did you know him from?" Nicol asked in a curious tone, while taking a small glance over at the orange GOUF.
For some reason he couldn't help but think it was a bit odd having another one of those mobile suits on board. Up until now his GOUF had been the only one station on the Minerva.
Yet having another one with them along for the ride, would most definitely be a great help in the future.
He did however not get long to ponder over that before Athrun cut of his thoughts.
"He was my bodyguard up at the Plants when I was out visiting my mother's and everybody else's graves, Nicol" Athrun said in a slightly far away tone, as he stood there a few seconds thinking about all of those old friends that was buried back up at the Plants.
But after a speculating over that for a moment or two he slowly shook those thoughts away.
He seriously did not feel like thinking about something that depressing right now. And one look over at Nicol made it obvious that he was also thinking about their old friends, which meant that there was a high possibility that it wouldn't take long before Mayura would appear in Nicol's mind.
Which always made it seem very much like the green haired pilot was just about to be crushed under a huge weight of sadness.
And determined not to have his friend get all depressed, Athrun hurried stepped over and placed his hand on Nicol's shoulder.
"Why don't the three of us go down and get something to eat. I don't know about the rest of you, but I'm actually quite hungry over here!" Athrun said loudly, hoping deeply that the red haired Astray pilot hadn't already enter Nicol's mind.
He knew how much time it would take before his green hair friend would stop thinking about her. Not that Athrun didn't understand why, he would most likely feel exactly the same way if it had been Cagalli that had been killed back then.
But much to his small relief Nicol slowly lifted his head and looked over at him, where he immediately smiled a bit at him.
"That's a great idea Athrun, lets hurry up and go" Nicol said in a slightly far away voice. Just as the three friends began slowly making their way over towards the exit of the hangar.
Lunamaria wondering a bit why the two former members of the Le Creuset team was so depressed right now.
But it after thinking a bit about what they had said to each other. She realized it was most likely because they where thinking about all of those comrades they had lost two year ago in the last war.
So after taking a few small looks between them. She decided not to say anything about it, she certainly didn't want to make her two friends even more depressed.
And it only took them a couple of minutes to get to the mess hall.
Where they saw Meyrin sitting all by herself on one of the couches located at the very end of the room. Reading quietly in some colourful looking magazine, and after looking at her for a small second.
Lunamaria hurried made her way over to her where she immediately took a close look at whatever her sister was reading. Which was more then enough to make her sigh loudly.
"Why are you still reading junk like that Meyrin. You know that not even half of those things in there is true!" The older red haired girl said, in a somewhat tired tone.
Before she quickly reached out and scratched the thick magazine out of her sister hands. Curious to see what kind of mindless gossip she was reading about now.
"Ahh come on Meyrin! You do realize that there is no way that can be true. If there really was some kind of alien specie watching the Plants, I'm almost certain we would have discovered them a long time ago, unless they are using Mirage Colloid" Lunamaria said.
Still having a bit of a tough time believing that her sister could read something as brain dead as this trash.
She did however not get long to ponder over that before her sister interrupted her slightly grumpy thoughts. "Well excuse me very much for reading that stuff! But you should know already Luna, that I don't really believe anything that is written in those magazine!" Meyrin said, smiling slightly about what she had been reading before Luna took the magazine away from her.
But it did not take long before she once more continued talking. "The reason why I keep reading something as ridiculous as this, is simply because I find it hilarious to read whatever the authors have made up, in every new issue of the magazine so why can't you just mind your own business Luna! It's not like I'm complaining about your stupid romance novels!" The girl said, giving her sister a small unhappy glare.
Just as she reached out and scratched the colourful magazine back. This time making sure that it was well hidden behind her back.
But much to her small surprise, Lunamaria didn't even try and get the magazine away from her. She just stood there looking at her with a slightly offend expression on her face.
"What the heck is the matter with my romance novels, that's something every normal girl should read Meyrin!" The ZAKU pilot said back, with a light glimmer in her eyes that made it clear for Meyrin that her sister was more then ready to get in to a long discussion about their choices in reading material.
And it only took a brief moment or two, then both girls was far away in their small argument about what was fun to read and what was not.
So while the pairs of Hawke sisters continued arguing back and forth like that. They did not pay any attention to the two boys that was watching them.
"Nicol are they always like this?" Athrun asked in a quiet tone.
While he stood there looking between the two red haired girls, as they kept on yelling at each other. Like this was going to be the very last day they would ever have the opportunity to do that.
And one thing that actually amaze Athrun a bit about this whole thing, was how incredible loud, the two girls could be.
Hearing Athrun's question. Nicol took a brief glance away from the two arguing siblings, and over at his friend, where he gave him a small smile.
"Hmm it not like they argue all that much. But from time to time they somehow end up in a discussion about some pretty strange things, not that I think we have to worry about them. This is just one of their abnormal ways, to show that they truly do care a lot about each other" the green hair boy explained, while thinking hard about how many times he had seen the two sisters act like this in the past.
But after a while he decided not to think to much about it, as he again turned his attention back towards the two debating Hawke girls.
Yet before he could even try and understand what they where saying now. Athrun quiet voice interrupted his thoughts.
"I see! So what you are saying Nicol is that it's best just to let them handle this on their own right?" The blue haired teen asked, a bit nervous that the two girls would take the argument even further.
He seriously didn't wanted two of the ships more important crew members hurt, simply because they disliked whatever the other one preferred to read in.
But according to Nicol this was pretty much a normal occasion on the Minerva. And after watching the two of them a bit longer.
Athrun realized that this kinda reminded him of the way Cagalli would always argue with other people when they called her something, else other then her name. Especially command La Flaga had been one of those people that could really get her blood boiling.
And even true his fiancée had mention more then a few times, that she kinda disliked the second pilot of the Strike. Athrun knew that she missed the blond man just as much as Kira and Lacus did.
He truly had been like a big brother to all of them, and it wasn't a big secret, that Cagalli had somewhat enjoyed most of those small arguments, she and La Flaga use to have.
And the way Lunamaria and Meyrin kept on yelling at each other, was almost the same thing.
So after standing there looking at them a for a few minutes. The blue haired teenager slowly shook his head, as he turned away from them, and walked over to get one of the trays of food the chef had just placed on the counter.
And it wasn't long after that, before both Athrun and Nicol was sitting calmly at one of the tables in there.
Each of them doing there best to ignore the two still arguing girls. That just couldn't come to an agreement on who of them where reading the most intelligent thing.
But while they continued calm and rational little discussion. Another crew member enter the mess hall, where he almost immediately looked over at the two extremely loud Hawke sisters, that clear wasn't going stop their discussion anytime soon.
"Will the two of you immediately stop with your yelling! That's certainly not the way professional and well mannered soldiers such as yourself should act, the two of you should both be very ashamed of yourself!" Arthur yelled loudly.
Hoping that this was enough to put an end to their bickering. They did however continued a few seconds longer until they each realized that he was there.
And once the deputy captain knew that he had their attention, he gave them both a disappointed look.
"Just how many times do I have to tell you two girls, that if you absolutely have to argue like that, then you should do it in your room, please don't let it happen again" the man said. Already knowing that this was not going to be the last time he stopped the two girls from yelling at each other.
He had already done that more then a few times since they joined the Minerva's crew.
He had actually tried talking with the captain about it at one point in time. But she had just laugh a bit and told him that it was completely normal for siblings to fight with each other.
And that he shouldn't blame them for letting out a little steam from time to time. It was better that they had a small debate about nothing then one of them getting hurt in battle, because they where stressed out from working to hard.
So even true he didn't think it was all that professional having them argue like this.
He certainly did not want any of the girls to get hurt. So he could somewhat accept that they had a small fight at times. Just not too often, that would no doubt show the other crew members a very bad example about how, one where suppose to behave on a warship.
And once he was certain that the two girls was done, he slowly turned around and left the mess hall as hastily as he had appeared.
Making sure that the second in command was really gone the two girls took a small glance over at each other. Before they walked over and sat down at the exact same table where Athrun and Nicol was slowly eating their lunch.
"Why does that man always shows up whenever I'm about to win our arguments?" Meyrin asked in a soft yet wondering tone, while still holding the magazine that had started the whole thing in a tight grip. She certainly didn't want to lose her colourful gossip material, because her attention was elsewhere.
But if she had bother taking a look over at her older sister, she would have realized that stealing her magazine was the farthest thing on Luna's mind at the moment.
Right now she was far more busy glaring at her for the last comment about winning the argument.
"That's not true Meyrin and you know it. If the second in command hadn't showed up you wouldn't still have that stupid magazine!" Lunamaria said back in a slightly displeased tone.
That made it completely clear for both Meyrin and the two boys, that she was more then ready to started another argument if she had to. But before Meyrin could get out a reply to what her sister had just said.
Nicol made the decision that they had fought more then enough today. So before any of the girls could say anything else he interrupt them.
"The two of you do realize that if you start yelling again there is a very big chance that the deputy commander will come back here. So don't you think you should give it a rest for now?" The green haired boy asked in a somewhat hard yet kind tone.
Hoping deeply that he could eat the rest of his lunch without the two sisters acting as background entertainment.
It did however not take long before he realized that it was a mistake on his part to get involved in this. Seeing as now both of the red haired girls was giving him a look that could most likely kill him.
"There was nobody that asked for you opinion in this Nicol. Meyrin and I can have a small discussion everytime we want!" Lunamaria said. Not doing a thing to hide that now she wasn't angry at her younger sister anymore.
Now it was her fellow mobile suit pilot who had that small honour.
So after glaring at him a bit longer, the angry girl slowly stood up without saying another word, then she turned and made her way over to get some of the food that was standing over on the counter. For some reason she always got a hungry whenever she had an argument with somebody, and this time was no different.
So once she had the food she wanted.
It did not take long before she was making her way back to the table, making sure to glare at Nicol the entire time.
And once she sat down again it was Meyrin's turn to leave the table, while Lunamaria made sure that the pilot of the yellow GOUF, knew that none of them where to happy with him right now.
And when youngish of the two sister got back there, each of the girls did their best to glare at Nicol every single time they took a bite of their food.
But no matter how angry they where at him, Nicol had a somewhat difficult time not showing his amusement to the girl.
He knew that if he did something like that. They would no doubt get even more mad at him.
So for now it was best to just keep on eating, and not give the girls any kind of attention. But even as he was doing that Athrun slowly leaned over and whispered a few words to him.
"I don't know if it's just me Nicol, but perhaps it would have been best for you not to get involved in their argument" the blue haired teenager said, while taking a brief glance over at the two angry sisters. That still looked like they where just about ready to start throwing their lunch after Nicol.
It did however not take long before it became somewhat clear for Athrun. That they where not going to do anything else other then sit there looking at him, and when Nicol leand over to say something back, he wasn't too concerned about being covered up with food.
"You don't have to worry Athrun, I'm sure after an hour or two they will forgive me!" The green haired boy said, while at the sametime smiling gently at the Hawke sisters, who not surprisingly looked even more unhappy then before.
And not even a second later the two girl made certain that everybody gather down there. Knew their opinion about Nicol's little comment about them forgiving him that quickly.
"There is no way we will ever forgive you that fast, that's something you can be completely sure of Nicol. You need to work hard if you ever hope to be friends with us again!" The two redheads yelled loudly, at exactly the same time.
Just before they both stood up from the table, and stormed full speed out of the mess hall without saying anything else.
And once they where both out of sight Nicol couldn't stop himself from letting out a few light chuckles. "Those two will never change" he said, while taking another bite of his food chewing it slowly a few times before he swallowed it. After that he reached out for his glass and took a small mouthful of the nice cold water that was inside it.
But as he was doing that he didn't noticed that Athrun was watching him. "Are you sure that it was a good idea for you to get both of them mad at you. I don't know all that much about Meyrin. But Lunamaria does seems to have quite the temper. I'm not entirely certain that I believe they will forgive you that fast" the Saviour pilot said, as he played a bit with his food, before taking another bite of it.
Hearing his friend say that Nicol smile a bit. "It's all right Athrun. Normally when they are angry it takes a couple of hours for them to came down, and once they do they usually forgets whatever made them angry in the first place" he explained, while his thoughts wandered back to some of the times where the girls had been even more angry then they had now.
Especially Shinn had an ability to really get under the two Hawke sisters skin.
But no matter how mad he got them, they would always forgive him in the end. And Nicol was certain that it would only be a matter of time, then he would be just as good friends with them as he always was.
Yet even true Nicol did sound quite convincing right now.
Athrun still wasn't entirely sure, that he believed that the girls would be back to their usual good mood, in such a short time.
But for now the only thing he could do was wait and see if Nicol was right.
And with that in mind he once more continued eating his lunch. But after a few minutes of deep silence, Nicol began talking again this time asking about how his and Cagalli's relationship was going.
And after thinking about it for a small moment. Athrun began telling his friend about how he had propose to Cagalli just before he left for the Plants.
"That's truly great news Athrun. I hope that the two of you will be very happy together!" Nicol said in a loud tone. While thinking back to how frequently, Cagalli and Athrun had show affection for each other two years ago, the two of them really was a nice couple.
Which was something that made Nicol wonder a bit, if he could ever find somebody he truly wanted to spend the rest of his life with.
But before he could think all that much about it. His friend suddenly brought his wandering thoughts to a hold.
"By the way Nicol, now that we are talking about it. Have you heard anything new about the Archangel?" Athrun asked once more wondering where in the world the white space ship could be.
But even true Nicol honestly hated to disappoint his friend. The only response he could give him, was to slowly shake his head a few times.
Now also thinking about where their old comrades could be.
And with those thoughts going through their minds the two friends once again turned their attention back towards the food in front of them. Not saying another word to each other.
000000
Meanwhile elsewhere on the ship.
The two red haired girls was slowly walking down the hall each of them with a deep angry frown on their foreheads. And even true both of them had been fighting and yelling at each other not all that long ago.
Neither one of them gave the magazine they had been fighting over a second thought. They where both far to busy discoursing how big a jeck Nicol had been back in the mess hall.
"I can't believe that guy, how the hell could he think we would forgive him that quickly. It's going to take at least one or two weeks before I'm going to talk with him again!" Luna said in a loud determined tone. While thinking hard about how she could most easily avoid Nicol for such a long time. He was after all one of her most dear friends on board the Minerva.
But before she could really give it all that much thought her little sister suddenly began talking in a somewhat far away tone.
"You do realize sis, that if we stay angry at him to long he might not take us out to lunch. Like he usually does when we arrive at a new place!" Meyrin said, thinking about some of the truly delicious food that Nicol from time to time bought for them.
It was always much more tasty then the food they got back here.
And she could easily tell by her sister's expression. That she was thinking about the exact same thing as she was, and finally after a few short minutes Luna muttered out a few unhappy words.
"Ah damn it all. Ok if it has to be like that, then why don't we forgive him tomorrow Meyrin? That way we can be completely sure that neither of us will miss out on whatever meal he is going to buy for us!" Lunamaria suggest in a somewhat thoughtful tone.
Not doing anything to hide, that she was already dreaming about the food Nicol would most likely buy for them.
Thinking a few seconds about her sister's words. Meyrin finally nodded slowly in agreement. "Ok we'll forgive him tomorrow then. Once we have the time to get off the ship and find a place where we can get some real food, not that crap they give us here!" Meyrin said, as she thought slightly about how completely gross some of the food could be on the Minerva.
It was actually a bit amazing that the chef had been let on to the ship in the first place.
And it really didn't help that Meyrin could be a bit fussy about what kind of food she would eat. She really hated stuff that was to fattening, she certainly didn't want a big waistline then the one she had already.
She was truthfully considering going on yet another diet.
And it was only thanks to all the yummy food Nicol kept on buying to them every time they reached a new place. That actually prevent her from starting on one more of her diets.
But before she could think all that much about it. Luna's voice interrupted her thoughts.
"By the way sis, you should have meet the new pilot that joined us not that long ago. I'm telling that guy was hilarious, he even manage to get Shinn to accept him almost immediately!" She said, laughing softly over the conversation she had heard between Shinn and the newcomer.
If that guy continued being so funny. Lunamaria had no doubt that the GOUF pilot would fit in quite well on the Minerva.
But her sister next words kinda ruined her mood a bit. "I can always meet him later. Right now the only thing I really want to do is go to my room and read the rest of my magazine. It was just getting interesting when somebody was rude enough to interrupt me" Meyrin said, while taking a small glance down at the magazine she was still carrying around in a tight grip.
Hearing Meyrin say that.
Lunamaria immediately turned around and looked back at her sister. "Well I'm sorry that I interrupt you. I just don't think it's healthy for you to keep on reading all of those gossip magazines. It's not like you can blame me for looking out for my younger sister!" Lunamaria said in a loud tone.
Before she too took a brief glance down at the magazine. Which Meyrin was doing everything possible. To make sure that she wouldn't suddenly try and take it from her one more time.
Seeing her being so protective of something like that, was all Luna need to let out a deep sigh, as she slowly turned her eyes upwards.
"You don't have to worry sis. I'm not going to take it again! But couldn't you at the very least try and find something a bit more intellect to read Meyrin. What about comic books or something like that?" Luna suggest, hoping that her younger sister would listen to her for a change.
But not all that surprisingly her sister's response wasn't the one she wanted to hear. "I'm already reading comic books, they are even more entertaining and funny then stuff like this!" Meyrin said in a happy tone.
Just before she opened the magazine again, where she immediately found the spot she had gotten to before her sister had taken the magazine away from her.
Watching her for a second or two.
Lunamaria once more let out a deep sigh, as she wonder slightly how in the world Meyrin could be the Minerva's CIC, when she was so completely addicted to junk like that.
She did however not get the opportunity to come up with any kind of answer to her own question. Before Meyrin walked slowly past her. Yet before she got all that far, she turned around and looked back at her.
"Do you want to go to my room and just read and relax for a few hours? You did leave one of your more interesting books the last time you visited me" Meyrin asked, hoping slightly that her sister wouldn't mind spending a little time with her.
Not that she would get mad if Luna said she had something else to do, her red mobile suit was after all still damage, after the previous battle they had been in.
But once Lunamaria told her that she could really use a few hours of rest.
Meyrin felt a small smile ran over her lips, while the two siblings continued the rest of the way to Meyrin's room. Both of them looking forward to just lay around and be lazy the next couple of hours.
And once they reached Meyrin's room.
It did not take long before Lunamaria was laying on her sister bed reading in her book, while Meyrin was sitting over by the desk, quietly doing one of the crossword puzzles that was inside the magazine she had been carrying around for such a long time.
But even true both girls was determined to spend some time together. It only took a few seconds before Lunamaria slowly drifted off to sleep.
Not that Meyrin had anything against that.
She already knew how tough and exhausting it was for her sister to pilot her ZAKU so often. And if getting some sleep was what she need right now, there was no way that Meyrin was going to disturb her.
So after looking at her a bit longer, she once more turned her attention back towards the crossword puzzle.
"Please have a good long nap big sis" Meyrin mumbled in a quiet tone. While she tried her very best to come up with some kind of answer to the small project that was laying in front of her.
To be continued.
I'm sorry but the episode where the Minerva fought at the Lohengrin Gate. Is not something I'm going to write about. I just couldn't figure out what alterations I could make in that battle.
So I decided skip it and write about another battle entirely, which was the one at the start of this chapter. I do hope you guys enjoyed it.
I'll see all of you next time.