Chapter 78
Just barely able to contain his anticipation and excitement, Kira literally had to force himself to wait the two extremely long, highly frustrating minutes it took for the rear hatch to close behind the Duel Rouge.
And when he finally after what felt like an eternity got the green light that told him, that he could now leave the Duel's cockpit without having to worry about being sucked out into space, Kira was out of his sister's mobile suit in less than ten seconds.
This was it, this was finally it, he was going to see her again. He was finally at long last after being apart from her for such a long time, going to see his wife once again.
And as Kira flew hastily across the large room towards the exit, he only had one thought on his mind. Even when an earthquake like tremor ran through the Eternal, the young man simply could not stop thinking about Lacus, the woman he loved.
Once over by the door he immediately got it open and leaped outside, it was then that he heard it, the sound of Lacus' adorable angel like voice crying out his name, and just hearing her voice yet again was enough to make Kira feel like his heart was just about to leap out of his chest, and start dancing around on the floor, in pure and utter happiness.
"Lacus! Lacus, I am here!" He shouted back, as he finally entered a area on the ship, that allowed him to remove his helmet. Which was something he immediately did.
Yet the brief moment it took for Kira to get the helmet off, he did not see his dear Lacus appearing from around the corner so fast, that it was actually somewhat amazing that she did not slam into the far wall, in her rush to see her husband, the man she loved so sincerely.
Yet the thought of how close she had came to accidently injuring herself in her rush to see Kira, did not enter Lacus' mind even for one seconds. The young pink haired woman simply put had no other thoughts in her head at the moment, but her husband.
Ever since she had left Earth, not one day had gone by where Lacus had not found herself longing to be back together with Kira again. Being held protectively in his strong arms, as the two of them fell asleep together at night, being kissed gently by him in the morning, as they slowly woke up together. All these things, and so much more, was something the girl had missed so unbelievable much, in the time Kira and her been apart.
And the sight of him hanging there in front of her, slowly pulling his helmet off, and rubbing a bit of sweat away from his forehead, was more than enough to make a couple of happy tears, leave Lacus' bright blue eyes, as she leaped towards her husband with outstretched arms, yet again crying out his name.
Completely awestruck and transfixed at the sight of her, Kira almost thought for a brief moment that he was sound asleep down in their room, on the Archangel, that Lacus and him being back together again, at long last, was nothing more than a wishful dream he was having.
Yet Kira KNEW that this was not a dream, this was really happening. And that he was awake was made even more clear to him, when Lacus leaped towards and wrapped her arms tightly around his neck, laughing and crying at the same time, which immediately made him reach up, and wrap his arms around her waist, embracing her tightly.
"KIRA! Ohhh Kira I missed you so much...SO MUCH!...And when I heard about the...the Freedom being destroyed I...I really thought I lost you...!" Lacus sobbed loudly into her husband's ear. Clutching on to him as strongly as she possibly could, like she was afraid, that if she lessen her grip on him even a bit, he was going to disappear into thin air.
Gently rubbing her back, and his running fingers slowly through her long pink hair, Kira found himself sincerely delighted to discover, that it was still just as soft, as he remembered it being, and after lightly kissing first her neck, and then her cheek. The young husband whispered a few comforting words into his wife's ear.
"I know how much I worried you Lacus sweetheart, when you heard about the Freedom being destroyed. And I am so, SO sorry that I put you through that again. That time with Athrun taking out the Strike, was bad enough. But other than a few bruises, and my pride taking a bit of a hit, I really am fine Lacus" Kira gently reassured her, just before he once more pressed his lips against her cheek.
Those words. The reassurance from Kira that he really was alright, made yet another sob run through Lacus' body, as she snuggled even deeper into the embrace the two of them were sharing, sighing contentedly over once more being held in Kira's arms like this. And as she kept on slowly rubbing her face back and forth, against his shoulder, Lacus whispered a few words back to him.
"...I'm...I'm so happy to hear that, Kira...And that you are here with me...That the two of us are together again...".
Slowly moving his right hand away from her back, and placing it against her soft left cheek, Kira gently moved her head back, so he could look into her bright blue eyes, and just seeing the glimmer of pure happiness and love in them, was all Kira need to tell, how much Lacus loved him. Kira of course was sending Lacus, his wife the exact same look back.
"Me too Lacus, I feel the same way"
After that, nothing more was said between the two of them. They just kept on floating around in each other's arms, staring with the most intensive love into the eyes of the person they loved most in this world. Yet just when they start moving slowly towards one another, and was about to press their lips together for the first time in months. DaCosta voice could suddenly be heard throughout the Eternal.
"KIRA! LACUS! Whatever mushy stuff you guys are doing right now, then please knock it off! The two of you can be all sweet and romantic, and kiss and hold each other, as much as you want, once this battle is OVER! Now hurry up already, and get down to the hangar, so Kira can get into his new mobile suit, and go kick all kind of ass!" The red haired man ordered loudly out through the speakers.
Having been so unbelievable close to tasting Lacus' sweet lips again, after so long, Kira narrowed each of his purple eyes slightly, as he glared briefly up at the ceiling at one of the speakers, honestly more than a little annoyed by DaCosta's, ohh so perfectly well timed interruption. Why for goodness sake, couldn't DaCosta have waited just a few more seconds, before cutting into Lacus' and his, long awaited reunion.
And it was with a low sigh that Kira slowly lowed his gaze and looked back at Lacus, and seeing that she was still smiling happily at him, instantly made the slightly annoyed look disappear from Kira's face. And as he smiled back at her, and rest his forehead against her's, Kira softly asked if either of them had done something to piss DaCosta off, since this was the second time in the last twenty minutes, that he had interrupt one of their romantic moments.
Likewise feeling slightly annoyed by the interruption, Lacus chuckled softly at that question. "No I don't think so Kira, but maybe we should consider asking him about it, once all of this is over. Now we better hurry up and get moving, before he starts yelling at us again"
With that said, the two of them shared a short yet intense kiss, before Lacus reluctantly broke the embrace, and with a look of hesitation in her eyes, she slowly reached out and wrapped her fingers around Kira's hand. Then began leading her husband down the empty hallway, to the Eternal's main hangar where his new mobile suit was located.
Yet as the young married couple silently continued making their way down the hallway. It was impossible for Lacus not to think about just how much she truly disliked, having to give Kira the new gundam waiting down in the hangar. One thing the pink haired girl knew better than anybody else, was how much Kira, the man she loved, despised piloting a mobile suit, using it to fight and hurt other people.
But unfortunately as much as Lacus wished otherwise, it was unavoidable, there was no way around it. She knew Kira had to go out there, otherwise they might all very well end up dead. The thought of how they had already lost Mars and so many others in this battle, was more than enough to send a wave of sadness through her, and make a couple of tears leave her eyes.
And as one of those lonely tears flew back and splashed against Kira's cheek. The young husband closed his eyes for a brief moment, literally forcing himself not to stop right then and there, and pull his wife back into a hug, to try and comfort her. Kira could not really explain why, but for some inexplicable reason, he knew that the tear that had hit his face just now, was not one Lacus had shed because she was happy that the two of them where back together again. No, that tear was because she was sad about the death of the pilot of that strange purple mobile suit, and all the other people, they had lost today.
And knowing that, lead Kira to yet again feel guilty about not being able to get there sooner. 'Damn you, Durandal, this is all your fault! Just how many more people needs to suffer and die before you are satisfied...?! I am still not certain, what the heck it is you are trying to do! But one thing I do know is that we need to stop you somehow Durandal, before you break the whole world apart!' Kira thought determined. And as Lacus kept on leading him down the hall to the main hangar, he gave her hand a light gentle squeeze in an attempt to comfort her, at least a little bit.
Feeling Kira squeeze her hand like that, Lacus slowly turned her head and looked back at her husband, and once she saw the concerned look he was sending her, she send him a small yet grateful look back.
"Once this is all over Kira, I want to go to our room, snuggle up into your arms, and then just sleep the rest of the day away" she softly told him.
Nodding slowly a single time at those words, Kira gently ran his thumb back and forth over Lacus' hand, and gave it another squeeze. "That sounds nice, Lacus" he said back, just as they moved around a corner, which meant that they now had a clear view of the closed door to the hangar.
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When the two of them entered the hangar only a couple of minutes later. The very first thing Kira's eyes fell on, was the mobile suit standing on the catapult clearly ready to launch.
At first for one brief moment, Kira Yamato seriously did think that it was the original Freedom gundam, that had been recreated. Yet a closer look at the machine, made it clear that there was some fundamental difference, this one looked a bit more bulky than the old Freedom, and it was missing the Laminated Anti-beam shield he liked throwing around so much, instead the left hand was holding on to a second beam rifle, it really wasn't overly hard to tell, that this newer version of the Freedom, had a much larger arsenal of weapons, than the old Freedom.
"So let me guess this is the Freedom Two?" Kira asked curious, as he slowly turned his head and looked back at Lacus, waiting patiently for her to give him a response.
"Um not exactly, Kira. At the beginning there was a bit of talk about calling it Super Freedom. But once Hilda heard that you were the one who use to pilot the Strike, she pretty much immediately declared, that we should call it Strike Freedom" Lacus explained in a far away tone.
Of course noticing the hint of sadness in her voice, Kira took a glance away from the new Freedom, and over at it's backpack wearing brother unit. "So is that one called Aegis Justice? Or perhaps Saviour Justice?...Hmm that last one doesn't really sound half bad" Kira said, with a bit of humor in his voice.
Lacus however was in no mood to laugh right now, she just kept on staring at the floor like it was the most interesting thing ever, and it was with choke back sob, she gave him a response.
"No...It's...It's...Called Infinite Justice, Kira...I...I...don't really know who came up with that name...But it fits don't you...you think so Kir..." that was all Lacus manage to get out, before Kira interrupt her by wrapping his arms around her waist and pulling her in close.
"I know how much you hate giving me this new Freedom Lacus, and in some ways I hate it too. But until we can find a way to put an end to this war, and stop Gilbert Durandal from accomplishing his goals, I need this mobile suit as a means to protect you Lacus, and everybody else important to the two of us" Kira said into her ear, then slowly ran his fingers through her soft hair a single time.
Moving back a bit, Lacus looked straight into Kira's determined purple eyes. "Then go, Kira. Go protect Hilda, Andrew, Herbert, and everybody else out there" the pink haired girl softly told her husband, knowing of course that the Desert Tiger and the two DOM Trooper pilots, was likely even more sad and distressed over Mars' death, than she was.
Giving her a short confident nod. "I will do my utmost to make sure, that all of them makes it back here safely, Lacus"
Hearing him promising her that, and seeing the gentle reassuring look on his face, Lacus felt a brief smile appear on her lips. "I know you will, Kira" she said then brought an end to their conversation, by leaning in and placing the customary good luck kiss on his left cheek. After that, Lacus hurried turned around, and began making her way over to the door, the two of them had came through, not that long ago.
Looking after her a short moment or two, until she disappeared from his sight. Kira let out a short breath, then reached out and grab his helmet that was floating around, just beside him. And without wasting anymore time, he quickly put the helmet back on, then made a motion with his body that send him propelling upwards towards the Freedom's open cockpit.
Once inside the new Freedom, Kira immediately began doing a maintenance check on all of the gundam's systems, to make sure that the OS was programmed properly, the way he liked it.
"Holy crap this thing is powerful" he mumbled softly to himself while his fingers kept on hastily running over the keyboard in front of him.
Yet once Kira start looking over the mobile suit's large amount of weapons, there was one thing in particular, that instantly made a small frown appear on his forehead, as stopped working and just sat there looking at two certain words on the small screen.
"DRAGOON system? I don't really know if I like that..."
The grotesque images of that one DRAGOON from the Providence piercing the cockpit of Asagi's M1 Astray, was something Kira still felt bad thinking about, and really hated to be remind of, and this was frankly a pretty big reminder of what had happened to the blond, at times overly cheerful Astray pilot.
Yet those painful memories of the past, instantly disappeared when another tremor went thought the Eternal, which could only have been caused by the ship getting hit by yet another attack.
'Ok Kira, this really ISN'T the best time for you to be thinking about your encounter with the Providence, I have to get outside and make sure that the people fighting to protect the Eternal now, doesn't end up having to do what Asagi did to keep the Eternal safe' Kira thought determined, then hurried reached out and pressed a single in front of him.
"Bridge I am ready!"
"Roger that! You are clear Freedom!" Lacus said immediately.
"Kira Yamato, Freedom heading out!" He yelled, just as the Strike Freedom was thrown full speed forward by the catapult.
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Once outside again, Kira immediately took aim with both beam rifles, then fired two rapid shots, that blew off first the head, and then the right arm on a incoming ZAKU. After that he swiftly swirled around, then fired three more shots thereby removing another ZAKU and a GOUF from the occasion.
"Hey those where mine!" Kira heard Hilda's voice complain over the radio.
"Sorry about that, Hilda, I couldn't see your name on them, from all the way back here!" Kira yelled back, while getting out the right beam saber, then took off straight towards two hasty approaching GOUFs, that was shooting continuously at him.
Watching in utter amazement, as the new Freedom wave in and out between the large amount of beams the blue Zaft mobile suits, was firing at it. "Holy mother of God. And here I thought my DOM Trooper was fast, it's nothing compared to that machine. How in the world can he control it so well with that speed, and not hurt his opponents?" Hilda asked, not really expecting to get an answer to that question.
She did however much to her small surprise get one anyway. "Yeah, I pretty much thought the same thing, the first time I saw the youngster fight in the old Freedom. Even now, I am still amazed that he is able to beat so many people on his own, without killing any of them" Andrew said in a low sad tone, as he brought the Gaia that was still holding on to Mars' machine, over beside Hilda's still intact DOM Trooper, not once moving his sadden gaze away from the ass kicking Freedom.
Of course having no idea that Andrew and Hilda was presently discussing his skills in a mobile suit. Kira who was hastily approaching three ZAKU Warriors, hurried rolled sideways to avoid getting hit by one red beam and four green once, afterwards he quickly brought the left rifle to bear and fired two shots destroying first the Orthros on the Gunner ZAKU Warrior, and then the head.
Then after using the beam shield to defend himself from the remaining ZAKUs next couple of attacks, which consisted of one Beam Tomahawk being thrown at him, and a pair of small yet powerful missiles. But even as they exploded against the beam shield, Kira rushed full speed through the pink smoke they caused when they blew up and straight towards the two Warriors, removing both of their heads, with one fluid motion of the right still activated beam saber.
"Now then, we better check and see if the Multi Lock-On System functions like it's supposed to!", With that said, Kira only needed to press one button in there, to activate that system. Which meant that it was only a second later when a familiar looking piece of equipment jumped up in front of him, and a likewise familiar beeping sound could be heard throughout the Freedom's cockpit, as the system quickly calculated what targets it could hit right now.
And it was only one brief moment later, when the gundam raised both of it's arms, only to throw them forward and fired both beam rifles, and all other long range weapons the Strike Freedom possess, thereby taking out abruptly fifteen of the mass produced Zaft mobile suit.
Afterwards Kira immediately swirled around, and fired one shot from each beam rifle, blowing the heads of two more ZAKUs that had been about to attack him from behind, while he was momentarily distract shooting at their comrades.
Yet while Kira was busy disabling one Zaft mobile suit after another, he of course did not know that at this very moment four GOUF pilots was talking loudly about him.
"Holy crap! Is that the Freedom?!" A young newbie pilot, fresh out of the academy asked, not really sure if he want to get into battle with that thing, it had already taken out so many of them.
Yet the response he got came as a bit of a surprise to him. "No that's not the Freedom, at least not the original one, I went up against that mobile suit at Jachin Due, and got my ass handed to me, so I know what the old Freedom looks like and is capable of. That mobile suit guys, is a new, and far more powerful version of the Freedom" the oldest one of the four GOUF pilots explained, then watched in amazement as the Freedom used one of it's two beam sabers, to remove a few body parts on three ZAKU Warriors like they were nothing.
"We might as well head on back to the ship guys, and save ourselves the repair bill. We don't stand a change against this guy" he said in a low slightly annoyed tone, that made it totally clear, that he seriously didn't like admitting that he did not have the skills necessary to beat this new Freedom, and it's pilot.
It was at that point, the third GOUF pilot start yelling loudly. "Ahhhh come on you sound like a total coward! I refuse believe that the Freedom, is really that powerful! If we all work together and attack him at the same time and from different directions, I am sure, that we can take him out. But if you are really so scared of him you can just stay back here, and watch the three of us beat him!" The young man yelled in a smug tone.
"Wow, what a brilliant strategy, you got there! Attacking him from different directions, I am sure that nobody have ever thought about that before, when fighting this guy, how did you come up with that!?" The older much more calm man asked with a great deal of sarcasm in his voice.
"But anyhow, if you guys insist on trying to fight him, then I wish you the best of luck, you ARE going to need it. Who knows getting beaten by this new Freedom, might serve as a good lesson for you youngsters fresh out of the academy who thinks you are invincible the very second, you get inside your first mobile suit" the man continued, now using a much more serious tone of voice.
Feeling more than just a little pissed off at being talked down to in such a manner. The smug teenager glare hatefully at the older man's GOUF. "YOU do not know what the hell you are talking about, you old fool! I'll have you know, that I got the second best marks at piloting a GOUF, back at the academy! But instead of just telling you how good I am! I am going to show you! Come on guys let go!" He yelled, then took off full speed towards the Freedom with his two friends following closely behind him.
Looking after them a short second or two, the older man mumbled a few words, before heading on back to the Nazca Class he was assigned to "Hmm idiots, well at least I don't have to worry about them dying. From what I can tell, the pilot of the Freedom, is still the type of person that don't harm his opponents"
Yet while the three young Zaft pilots, was heading towards the Freedom gundam, confident that they were going to beat it.
Kira on the other hand was paying no attention to them whatsoever, instead he was far too busy disassembling the many mass produced mobile suits swarming around all over the place. And as Kira quickly moved slightly to the right, to avoid getting hit by a single highly destructive red beam, he hurried grabbed on to the left arm of a headless GOUF, and without any hesitation he immediately hurled the heavily damage blue mobile suits at the Gunner ZAKU Warrior responsible for the last attack, thereby preventing it from firing at him again.
Then as he watched the ZAKU struggle to get the disabled GOUF out of the way, Kira quickly took aim with the left beam rifle and fired a single shot at the ZAKU's round shaped head, which it could do nothing to avoid while holding on to the beaten up GOUF.
But even as the head was destroyed on that one ZAKU Warrior. Kira moved slightly upwards, then once more activate the Multi Lock-On System, and as the Freedom fired all of it's weapons, twelve more machines rapidly joined the not so prestigious club of disabled Zaft mobile suits.
After that, Kira could not deny that he would very much have liked to get just one small moment, to get a bit of air back down into his lungs. That however was clearly something he was not going to get, since he could see three GOUFs that was joined by four ZAKUs. Judging from the way the seven mobile suits was moving, spreading out more and more, they were obviously going to try and surround him and then attack from all sides.
"You are going to need a lot mobile suits for that to work guys. But it will at least give me a chance to see, if I can use the DRAGOONs, as well as the crackpot did" with that said, the eight DRAGOONs store in the Freedom's wings blasted away, and after quickly making them fly around his mobile suits a single time to check, if they worked like they were suppose to, Kira send two of the DRAGOONs of towards the obvious lead unit, while the rest flew of full speed in different directions, towards the six other Zaft mobile suits.
"What the HELL are those damn things!?" The young newbie GOUF pilot yelled, having never seen anything like them before. If they had been shown to him back at the academy, it had been at some point, where he had paid no attention to what his instructor had been saying, which was something he seriously regret now.
Because even as he threw the Heat Rod out after the strange thing, it simply moved slightly to the right firing a single beam, that destroyed the whip completely. And as he struggle to get a lock on the unbelievable fast moving device with the beam gun, it fired two more times, the first beam removing the right arm before he could get even one shot of. And having a pretty good idea about what was going to happen next, the young man tightly squeezed his eyes shut, as the last beam flew in and destroyed the head on his mobile suit.
Of course having no idea that the rookie GOUF pilot had already been taken out of the battle, a far more experienced ZAKU pilot start loudly telling the young man in the disabled GOUF, what he want to know.
"Those are DRAGOONs! Keep you distance, those things are fast as hell and can turn on a dime!" The ZAKU pilot yelled, while shooting violently at the hastily approaching DRAGOON, not bothering to even try to get a lock on, on the damn thing. He was hoping that by quickly backing away and shooting continuously, he would be able to take the DRAGOON out with a lucky shot.
Yet not one beam even got close to hitting the DRAGOON, it easily without much effort avoid each and everyone of his attacks. And as it fired a single beam of it's own, that destroyed the head on his mobile suit. The only thing the ZAKU pilot could do in the end, was sink down into his seat, sincerely relieved and grateful to still be among the living, so he could see his wife and son again.
The rest of the battle continued like that, for about two more minutes. Kira did not move the Freedom even an inch. He just stayed put right where he was, using the DRAGOONs to quickly disable the still intact Zaft mobile suits out there, until only the GOUF that had lead the last charge against him remained.
"NO! NOO! This is not happening! I will NOT be taken out as easily as the others, FREEDOM! I WILL NOT!" The smug teenager screamed at the top of his lungs, shooting like a total maniac at the closest DRAGOON, which kept on swirling with obvious easy in and out between, the many beams he fired at it.
"I have to hit IT! I have to take out one of THEEEM!" He screamed, hurling the Slayer Whip out after the DRAGOON. Yet much to his deep frustration that attack was also easily avoid like it was the most slow, and predictable attack ever made. And that alone was more than enough to yet again make the Zaft pilot yell loudly in anger and disbelief.
But while Kira had thanks to the open radio been able to hear every single one of the obnoxious man's loud displeased words, and could of course hear everything that was being yelled now. Kira really didn't care what was being said, or how much his next actions would likely wound the man's enormous ego. He just want this over and done with as quickly as possible, so he could get back to the Eternal and Lacus.
With that in mind, Kira skillfully maneuvered the more endangered one of the two DRAGOONs in and out between a great number of beams, that all came extremely close to hitting it. The nearly mindless way, the Zaft pilot was shooting now, made it perfectly clear to Kira that he was in a panic, and not really aiming any longer, he was simply shooting in the direction of the DRAGOON, in what could only be describe as an almost desperate attempt to take it out.
And with him so utterly fixate on that one DRAGOON, Kira swiftly made the other DRAGOON fly in small curve around the close-quarters combat mobile suit, until it was directly behind the GOUF, and with a shout for the enemy pilot to shut up already, Kira send the second DRAGOON of full speed towards the blue mobile suit, and the precise moment the warning system inside the GOUF, made the mouthy Zaft pilot turn around. Kira only had fire three quick shots from the DRAGOON, to destroy the right leg, the right arm, and last but not least the GOUF's head.
Which meant that the irritating loudmouth, was now out of the battle, and more importantly quiet. So without sparing the now heavily damage GOUF a second glance, Kira took a thorough look around the battlefield to make sure, that there was no other function Zaft mobile suits nearby, that could threaten the Eternal.
'Hmm, I guess those Nazca-class is all I have to worry about now. I better hurry and go take care of them, before somebody onboard one of those ships get the dumbass idea, to try and Kamikaze, the Eternal' Kira thought, then immediately recall the DRAGOONs, which meant that they were soon back where they belonged on the Freedom.
Yet before he could get the gundam moving, and go show the closest Nazca-class destroyer what the new Freedom could do. A familiar voice call out to him.
"Kira please hold on a minute! We are going to give whoever is in charge of the remaining Zaft morons here, a chance to surrender. With all the damage the Eternal have sustain throughout this battle, we are going to need parts to repair her. And I can't think of a better place to get those parts than from one of those Nazca-class!" Andrew said, the small screen inside the Freedom showing that the Desert Tiger was no longer inside the Gaia, but was back up on the Eternal's bridge.
Easily able to see the logic Andrew's words, Kira slowly turned around and looked back at the Eternal. One really had to more than a little dense, if you were not able to tell, that they were going to need a lot of materials to get the extremely fast pink spaceship back into her original state.
But even knowing that it was with a short frustrate sigh, that he gave Andy a response, he really, really want to get back to the Eternal and Lacus. But he understood that this was necessary.
"Copy that, Eternal! I will remain out here on standby, until we get a response from them, and we are sure, that they really are surrendering!" Kira said, honestly having a bit of a tough time keeping the annoyance out of his voice. Being stuck out here, keeping an eye on those Nazcas for any signs of trouble, really wasn't something Kira want to do, after finally being reunite with Lacus again, he would much rather spend time with her.
Having lived in the same house as Kira for almost two years now, Andrew could of course easily tell that the kid was somewhat annoyed about having to sit out there doing next to nothing.
Not that Andrew could blame Kira for that, honestly if somebody asked him this day could not end soon enough. He just want to go down to his room, lock the door, and then try and drink his sorrow over Mars' death away with coffee. It was times such as these, that Andrew really cursed the fact that there was no alcohol to find, anywhere on the Eternal, he seriously wouldn't mind getting totally hammered right about now.
"Try and be patient a bit longer kid. If the one in charge of them now, is of the reasonable sort, it should not be that hard to convince him that the best choice for them now, is to surrender. Besides we got a few of our own ships quickly approaching the area" the Desert Tiger explained in a low tone.
Not really getting what Andy meant with that at first, Kira took yet another look around the battlefield. It was then that he spot three silhouettes in the distance, and as they kept getting closer, Kira could tell from the green color that two of the ships was Laurasia-class, while the one leading the ships was clearly a Nazca-class.
"Are you totally certain, that those ships are on our side, Mr Waltfeld?" Kira asked, a small part of him half expecting those three ships to start launching even more mobile suits, to attack him and the Eternal.
Yet once he heard Lacus' sweet calm voice, answer his question. He found himself letting out a short relieved breath, as he slowly leaned back, and rest his head against the seat.
"They are Kira, the Nazca-class is Tomoe, and is a ship that has always been very loyal to my father and the Clyne Faction, ever since it was established. It gather a lot of intelligence for us near the end of the last war. And it has also served as Eileen Canaver's ship, for a short time" Lacus explained softly to her husband.
Nodding slowly a couple of times. "I understand Lacus, I'll keep a watchful eye on the Tomoe, and the two Laurasia-class" Kira promised her softly.
"Thank you Kira, I am certain that their crews will appreciate that" the pink haired girl immediately said back.
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Meanwhile on one of the Zaft Nazca-class, quite the heated discussion was going on between the Commander, and the second-in-command. "I...I don't believe this! I refuse to believe it! How the heck did one pilot take out so many mobile suits in such a short amount of time. It's...It's...impossible!" The Commander screamed, sounding almost like a small stubborn child that had just been told that Santa Claus wasn't real.
Hearing the overall childish way, the Commander was trying to refuse what all of them had seen this new Freedom gundam do. The second-in-command who had always had a great deal of respect for his Commanding officer, felt most of that respect slowly disappear, as the Commander kept on shouting like that.
And the precise moment the Commander was forced to stop, with his almost insufferable whining to get some much needed air down into his lungs. The second-in-command immediately took the opportunity to share his opinion about what he firmly believed they should do now.
"Perhaps Sir, it might be best if we turn around and leave this area as fast as possible" he suggest calmly.
"I will NOT under any circumstance turn tail and run from a single mobile suit! There has to be, someway to fight it! Don't we have any mobile suits left, we can use against IT!?" He yelled out in such a tone, that everybody up there realized that it was his ego talking right now.
Yet even knowing that a third man still answered the question with a hint of hesitation in his voice. "Umm, we got a GOUF, Sir! The pilot returned a short while ago, saying something about this battle being lost now that we are facing the Freedom!"
Wanting more than anything to disagree, but having trouble to come up with a valid argument. The Commander did nothing else, but stare at the man like he was to blame for everything that had gone wrong in this battle, even though he did of course realize that wasn't the case. It was just that he found everything that had happened, since this insane battle began, so many hours ago, so unbelievable frustrating and annoying. Like losing the Shinigami the way they had, that other Nazca-class, and so many of their mobile suits. In his eyes, it should have been impossible, for these damn terrorists to beat them this badly. The Eternal and the people fighting to defend her, should have been reduced to nothing but space dust hours ago, with minimal losses to Zaft forces.
He did however not get long to figure out what exactly had gone wrong, for things to turn out like this, when the CIC officer's voice, interrupt his angry thoughts.
"Sir, we got two Laurasia-class and one Nazca-class hastily approaching the area!"
Quickly looking over at the young purple haired girl. Did he dare hope that these three ships had been send there to help them out against the Eternal. If they were, they might still be able to turn this whole thing around, and it was in a deeply hopeful tone, that the word reinforcements left his mouth.
"I am afraid not, Sir! They are launching GINNs, ZAKUs and GuAIZs all of them with the same black pattern, as all the other Clyne Faction mobile suits we have faced today!" She yelled, clearly having a tough time not going into a panic, this was after all her very first mission after just barely graduating from the academy. It was just that no matter how she looked at it, she just couldn't fathom how in God's name they were suppose, to get out of this mess with so many enemy ships and mobile suits, ready to do battle against them. She did not want to die out there because her Commanding officer did not want to admit that the battle was lost.
It was at that point, her console began beeping loudly, which could only mean that somebody was trying to get in contact with them, and with her mind so preoccupied with the thoughts of getting out of there alive and back home to her friends and family. She pressed the one button, that allowed the transmission to get through to the ship, before the headstrong Commander could even get one word out.
And it was only a second later when a severely cranky face appear up on the main monitor. "Hello there, Zaft. My name is Jason Waltfeld. I kinda wish I could say that it had been a pleasure having you people visiting us, but that is, a lie. It has truthfully been quite a nightmare, we lost a lot of good folks and friends throughout this attack on us. SOOO I am only offering you this once, surrender right here, right now! And just so we are clear on one thing Zaft, I am already in a foul mood, so if you have any interest in leaving this place in one piece, I would NOT wait too long, to give me a response!" The strange man said in a not to friendly tone, not once moving his gaze away from the Commander.
"No, NOO! We will never, NEVER surrender to you swine, we will fight to the bitter end!" The Commander yelled, while glaring hatefully at the man up on the screen.
Silently studying the Zaft Commander's angry face a few short seconds. The expression on the older Waltfeld's face, became a little less hostile. "Hmm I see, I am sure that your wife and kids would very much prefer that you got safely back home to them, instead of having some idiot knock on their door tomorrow morning, telling them that you fought and died honourably. But what the hell do I know about anything, I lost my adorable wife during the Bloody Valentine Incident, that however is not really something we should discuss here. So now we have establish that you are willing to continue fighting this hopeless battle. But what about the rest of your crew, are they just as eager and happy about throwing their lives away, as you are?" Jason asked doing nothing to hide his discontent for the Zaft Commander, the man might only have said one sentence to him, but Jason could easily tell that he did not like him one bit, he was a stubborn pig-headed idiot.
Not really sure what exactly he had expect this Jason Waltfeld person to say to him, once he was done yelling about never wanting to surrender. The Zaft Commander blinked rapidly a half dozen times, and as the man's words kept on echoing loudly through his mind, both of his dark grey eyes slowly slide from one side of the bridge, to the other. And seeing the overall relinquished expression his crew had on their faces, made it totally clear to him, that not one of them thought that they could win this battle, and did he really have the right to tell these people, to satisfied their lives, because he despised losing as much as he did.
Yet what really hit home, was the words this man had spoken about his family. While his marriage might not be perfect, he still loved and cherished his wife, and wished to see her once again, and there was also his loving daughter, she might be twenty years old now, but in his heart she was still his adorable little girl, and her getting married in about a month, made it all the more important that they got safely back home. He want to be there on that special day to walk her down the aisle, and give her away at the altar.
"We'll surrender..." he growled out in a displeased tone.
"Glad to hear it, Commander. Now then, enough talk, hurry up and evacuate two of you Nazca-class!" Jason ordered loudly.
"WHAT! But you said that if we surrendered we would be allowed to leave in one piece!" The Zaft Commander screamed at the top of his lungs.
Sending the now furious man a slightly wicked smirk. "Yeah it is truth that I did say something along those lines, Commander. But what I really meant with those words, was that you and your people, would be allowed to leave in one piece, I never said anything about your ships. With the condition the Eternal is in now, we are going to need parts to repair her, guess where we are going to get those parts from" Jason explained, still with that provocative look on his face.
Glaring with as much anger as possible at the man, the Commander really hate the thought of his ship, the Hydra being turned into spare parts for the Eternal, an enemy ship. Yet one quick look around at the people gather up there on the bridge, quickly lead him to decide that giving up the Hydra to these traitors, was something he could live with, if he and his crew got back home safely.
"I understand...We will start evacuating the Hydra immediately" he said in the most calm tone he could muster under these circumstance.
"Good, you got an hour. Ohhh and one last thing Commander, no funny business like self detonating the ships once they are evacuate, or hiding a bomb somewhere. If you do something like that, I guarantee you that what I will do to you afterwards, will make the battle at Jachin Due, seem like a picnic in comparison" Jason told the man in a creepy tone, then hurried cut off the communication, before the Zaft Commander could say anything back to him.
Watching the screen go black, the second-in-command swallowed loudly a single time, as he reached up and used his left sleeve to remove some of the sweat on his forehead, while there truthfully was no denying, that this Jason Waltfeld person, had sounded quite calm and reasonable through most of the Commander's conversation with him. That last comment of his, had very much made it sound like having them on his conscience, was not something that was going to bother him, all that much.
"What are we going to do now, Sir?" He softly asked.
Letting out a short yet frustrate sigh, the Commander slowly moved his gaze away from the screen and looked at the man standing beside him. "As much as it pains me. It seems like we got no other choice here, but to evacuate the Hydra, and one of the other Nazca-class. Hurry up and get in contact with them so I can inform them what we are going to do now!"
"Yes Sir!" The young purple haired still somewhat nervous CIC officer said over from her seat.
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At the exact same time a short yet still serious conversation was going on between the older Waltfeld and his son. "It took a bit of convincing but they will surrender Andy, I gave them an hour to evacuate their ships, afterwards it's just a matter of getting some of our people on board the Nazcas to check and see, if they have left any nasty surprises hidden away somewhere. Even though if you ask me, I kinda doubt we have to worry about that, Andy. This Commander might be a bit of a stubborn mule, but in the end the feelings he has for his family and crew, won over pride" Jason explained.
"Good work dad...I knew that since you have always been pretty good at reading and intimidating people, having you talk with them was the best choice" Andrew said back.
"You are making it sound like I am some big scary monster that can kill you just by looking at you. But never mind that Andy, how are you feeling right now, son?" The older Waltfeld asked his last living relative, in a concerned tone.
Looking away from the screen and down into his lap. "I would be lying if I said that I was ok dad, Mars did not deserve to die like that, he was a good man! Please...Please tell me dad, how the hell am I suppose to tell Mizuho that Mars is dead!? The two of them loved each other so much!" Andrew yelled out in a half begging tone, before he slowly raised his gaze again and looked back up at the screen.
And the exact moment Jason, got eye contact with his son. He began talking to him in a low, yet deeply serious tone. "Tell her the truth boy, she deserves that much, besides you know as well as I that is what Mars would have want you to do"
"Yeah your right dad...By the way, once Zaft is gone, and there is no more crap we have to deal with, why don't you come over here and get a cup of coffee? I could really use somebody to talk with right about now" Andrew said in a low tone.
Having no trouble at all understanding his son's need for a friendly ear, after all the shit they had been through this day. And since is had been impossible for him to be there, when Andy had lost Aisha, the woman he loved. Jason Waltfeld was absolutely determined to be there for his son now, after he had lost one of his oldest friends.
"A got a few beers hidden away over here, Andy. As much as I enjoy your coffee, it is not really something I feeling like sitting around drinking, after this crappy day. I don't know about you Andy, but I need something with a bit of alcohol in it" Jason said with a far away look in his eyes.
Nodding slowly a single time agreement. "Getting a beer or two does sound nice, so I am not even going to ask where you got beers from dad, just make sure that you bring them. Otherwise, I'll send you back to the Factory to get them"
"You do not have to worry about me forgetting the booze Andy, I'll make sure to bring it. But do me a favor boy, ask Hilda and Herbert if they want to join us, you know as well as I, that those two where pretty good friends with Mars, so they deserved to get a beer too" Jason softly told his son.
"I'll talk with both of them, dad. Now since DaCosta has been waiting to say something to me, the last few minutes, I better get going" Andrew said, then with a swift press of a button ended the communication between the Factory and the Eternal.
"So what's up DaCosta?"
"Well Sir, we got shuttles leaving the Hydra, and one of the other Nazca-class. They are currently heading towards the Nazca-class furthest away from us. Also, the pilot of that GOUF which was clever enough to retreat when Kira entered the battle, is asking permission to go around and pick up all of the surviving pilots, in the damage mobile suits?" DaCosta said, honestly seeing no reason why to deny the man that request.
Letting out a small thoughtful sound. "Hmm, leaving them out there to die of asphyxiation would be pretty heartless of us, so tell him DaCosta, that it is all right for him to pick them up. But have Kira keep an eye on him just incase, I am in no mood for anymore nasty surprises today, and quite a few of their damage mobile suits, are pretty close to the Eternal. I do not want that guy trying anything"
It was at that point Lacus decide to cut into the conversation. "I for one think Kira would appreciate, having something to do, he does seem a little bored out there" the pink haired woman said, as she pressed two buttons that made the new Freedom appear up on the main monitor, which showed that the blue and white gundam, had not moved even an inch, since Andrew had last spoken with Kira.
"Hmm, I wonder what he is thinking about out there?" Lacus mostly asked herself, but even though those few simple words, was spoken almost in a whisper, they were still just loud enough for the Desert Tiger to hear them.
"If I had to guess, I would say that he is most likely thinking about you right now, Lacus. He has most likely missed you just as much as you have missed him. I understand how important it is for the two of you to spend some time together, after being apart for so long. But you guys need to be patient just a bit longer" the one eyed man reassure her in a soft tone.
"I know that Mr Waltfeld, and so does Kira". Yet even as those words left Lacus' mouth, she did not once look away from the Freedom. She just kept on staring longingly at her husband's mobile suit, clearly thinking very hard about the person inside the gundam. Even as it took off full speed towards the GOUF mobile suits, that had just been launched from the Hydra, Lacus Yamato's blue orbs kept on following the Freedom.
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The next hour or so went by amazingly fast, even though to Kira, it kinda felt like an eternity, where the only thing he was doing, was following the still intact GOUF around. Not that there was all that much need for him to do that, the GOUF pilot did not do anything, that could even be consider suspicious. He just kept on picking up whatever surviving pilots he could find, then hurried brought them to the one Nazca-class, that was still being control by Zaft forces. And with that ship being guard closely by their two Laurasia-class, which Kira had found out not long ago was named Kamui and Jiraiya, plus all of the mobile suits those two ships had on board, things actually seem somewhat calm out there.
"That was the last one, I'll head on back to the Holst. No offense Freedom, but I really do hope that I am never going to see you again" the GOUF pilot said, before he hurried swirled around, and he began hastily making his way back to the still Zaft owned Nazca-class, holding tightly on to the cockpit of a ZAKU Phantom.
Looking after the blue mobile suit, until he saw it disappear into the Holst's opened hangar. Kira let out a small breath, as he flew over to the Tomoe that was at this very moment sending out a pair of shuttles, each with a few crew members, who was going over to take a good thorough look around the two surrendered Nazca-class, to make absolutely certain that they were safe, and that there was no unwanted 'gifts' hidden away anywhere.
That took yet another long frustrating hour, where Kira had nothing else to do, but look out at the stars, and tapping the fingers on his left hand against the armrest of the cockpit chair. Yet finally he at long last heard the message he had been waiting so impatiently for.
"Both Nazca-class, has been check out and are clear! They can be staffed now. So hurry up and tell those stupid morons on the last Nazca-class, to get the hell out of here, and that we do not want to see them EVER again!" The Commander of the Tomoe said in a loud bossy tone.
And it was only one short instant later, when Kira heard Mr Waltfeld give the man a response. "I would like nothing else, but to tell them to get lost. But until we ourselves can get the Eternal and the Factory safely out of this area, it is best that we keep them here, for the time being!" The Desert Tiger said.
"I understand Eternal, I'll be sure to tell the Jiraiya and the Kamui to keep an eye on the dumb bastards, while we start working on hauling the Factory out of the area. But what about the Eternal, Waltfeld? Can it still move on it's own with all of that damage?"
"While there is no denying that the old gal took quite a beating through this battle. We somehow manage to prevent the engines from getting hit, which means that she should still be able to move on her own. It will however take a very long time to repair everything else, so we better make sure to find a good hiding place, where nobody will even think about looking for us" the one eyed man said, already having a pretty good idea about where to go.
Having listened to everything they had just said, Kira quickly decide that since there now was a small break in their conversation, he might as well ask Andy, if it was alright for him to head on back to the Eternal, since there wasn't really a whole lot for him to do out there, and he was frankly more than just a little exhausted, it had after all been a pretty hectic day.
"I can't think of any reasons, to have you stay out there any longer, Kira. So hurry up and come back here. Like our good friend said, the Kamui and the Jiraiya should be enough, to keep watch over our 'guests'. Beside there is a certain nice girl with pink hair, and blue eyes, that is waiting for you here on board the Eternal" Andrew said.
While Kira of course already knew that Lacus was waiting for him, hearing the way the Desert Tiger had describe it to him, made a small smile run over his lips, as he flew full speed towards the Eternal. "Could you do me a favor and tell that nice girl you are talking about, Mr Waltfeld, that I'll be there shortly"
"I wouldn't mind doing that buddy. But the thing is Miss Yamato has already left the bridge. Knowing her, she is most likely waiting for you down by the hangar"
Hearing those words only strength Kira's determination to get back to Lacus as fast as possible. And it was with a determined look in both of his purple eyes, that Kira reached out, and hurried increased the Freedom's speed even further, which meant that he was soon hanging directly in front of the pink space ship, just waiting for the hangar hatch to open.
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Once back on board the Eternal, Kira quickly got the Strike Freedom over to where it had been standing when Lacus had given it to him, and as he start working on powering down the mobile suit, Kira made the decision to take a more thorough look at the gundam's OS tomorrow. He still need to fiddle around with it a bit more, before the mobile suit worked exactly the way he want.
Yet the thoughts of the work he need to do on the Freedom tomorrow, was quickly pushed out of his mind, as he got the cockpit open and jumped away from the powered down Freedom. Seriously hoping that he would not have to use his new mobile suit in combat again anytime soon, he could not even begin to describe, how much he want to spend the next couple of days with Lacus in peace.
And while still thinking about that, the young deeply exhaust man reached the door, that allow him to leave the Eternal's large hangar. And as the thick metal door, automatically flew open for him, he and Lacus instantaneously got eye contact with each other, and just one single look, was all it took for each one of them to tell, how the other was feeling right now. They were both completely exhaust, and want nothing else, but go shut themselves in their room, for the rest of the day.
And it was with the simple words lets go get some sleep, that Lacus reached out and took a hold on her husband's hand, and as the two of them began heading for their room, it was done in complete silence.
It was enough that they were together again.
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A half hour later, Kira who was now dressed in a pair of boxers and a old green T-shirt, step slowly out of the small bathroom in his and Lacus' room, using a towel to dry his brown messy hair, after the quick shower he had just taken.
And as Kira looked over at his lovely wife, he saw her sitting quietly on their bed dressed in a purple nightgown, slowly running a brush through her long soft pink hair, after her own shower.
"So do you want to watch a bit of television, or go to sleep right?" Kira asked, smiling tiredly at her as he released his grip on the red towel, letting it float around behind him without giving it a second look.
And as he watched Lacus pick up the remote and turn the television on, Kira leaped away from the floor, and flew slowly over to the bed, and as Lacus quickly found a program, she want to watch, Kira laid down on the bed beside her.
After that, the young husband and wife only need to share a brief look for Lacus to put the brush back where it belong, then lay down and snuggle up into Kira's strong arms, resting her head against his muscular chest, where she instantly let out a small content sigh.
The two of them had however only watched the small TV for about ten short minutes, when Kira sensed Lacus' breathing changing slightly, which could only mean, that she was slowly drifting off to sleep, and know that, Kira picked up the remote, and turn off the first television and then the light.
And with the room now bathed in darkness. The last thing Kira did before closing his eyes, was giving Lacus' forehead a gentle kiss, and whispering good night to her. Afterwards it did not take many seconds before Kira like his wife was sound asleep too.
To be continued.