I really don't have much to say here so lets get onward with the story.
Chapter 85
One look at the totally pissed off frown on Colonel Soga's face as he made his way through Orb's main military installations made it clear to everybody who saw him, that it was a bad idea to disturb him now. It had not been all that long since he had woken up to the news, that a fleet of ZAFT ships was hastily approaching Orb's border.
And as he stepped into the main control room, the Colonel took a quick look around at the people gather up there before he loudly cleared his throat. "So where is the fleet now and how many ships are there!?" He asked in a bossy tone.
It only took about two seconds before a young blonde haired girl gave him a reply. "They are just outside the border now Sir, as for how many ships they got out there, that's impossible to tell, since we have no way of knowing just how many Vosgulov-class are submerged out there" the girl said.
As much sense as that made, it was still a large thorn in Soga's side that they had so little information about how many ZAFT ships, was gathered out by the border. "Do your best to monitor them! And if they make any suspicious movements, report it to me immediately!" The Colonel ordered loudly, not once looking away from the screen.
"What I don't understand is what ZAFT is even here for" A Lieutenant who was sitting not that far away from Soga said.
Glancing over at the obviously confused man, Soga wondered briefly just how in Orb's name, he had manage to become a Lieutenant if he was that naive. "There can only be one reason for ZAFT to be here, and that is to find Djibril" the Colonel said with a hint of anger in his voice.
"You mean those rumors that has been going around these last few days about him being at the Seiran mansion are actually true?" The young Lieutenant exclaimed loudly.
"Yeah that does seem to be the case" Soga answered, before he again looked back at the main monitor showing the many ZAFT ships.
'Damn, I really miss having Lord Uzumi or Lady Cagalli around, they would NEVER have allowed a creep like Djibril to take shelter in our country like this' the Colonel thought, seriously wondering if he would be able to keep himself from beating the crap out of Yuna and Unato, the next time he saw them. Ever since Yuna had gotten his old friend Todaka killed on board the Takemikazuchi, not one day had gone by where Soga didn't feel like tearing the head of the purple bastard.
Those violent thoughts instantly left the Colonel mind, when the same blond girl as before, started talking loudly to him. "There are some movement out there now!"
Immediately looking over at the young woman. "What kind of movement?" He asked.
"They just launched four AWACS DINNs and a few GOUFs as escort" The girl answered loudly.
Narrowing his eyes thoughtfully over what the girl had just told him. "Hmm I do not believe that they are going to attack us just yet, they are most likely trying to estimate our combat readiness! Get two squadrons of Murasames ready to chase them out incase they cross the border. But do make sure that the pilots know, that they are not to shot any of them down! If we can avoid a battle then that is preferable" Soga said.
"If you don't mind me asking, how can you be so damn sure that they are not going to attack us right here and now?!" A young Lieutenant fresh out of the academy asked, obviously quite a bit worried about what was going on, not that Soga blamed they young man for that.
"I can't, Lieutenant! I just know that before the battle broke out at Heaven's Base, ZAFT offered the forces there twenty-fours hours to hand over Djibril, and all other Logos members, which they did not do, they choose to fight instead. It might just be wishful think on my part, but I am hoping that they are going to give us the same offer to hand the bastard over, and that Unato and Yuna will not screw up for once in their pathetic lives!" Soga said, doing nothing to hide his deep contempt for the Seiran family.
And while he did received quite a few shocked looks from the disrespectful way he was speaking about the Seirans, Soga could honestly not have cared any less about that, if he tried.
It was at that point a loud amused laughter could be heard echoing through the room. "Heh heh, I do love that positive thinking of yours Soga, do you seriously believe that after letting the leader of a terrorist organization into our country, that Unato and Yuna are going to be rational now, and not do something else completely idiotic. From what I can tell, the only things the Seirans care about is line their own pockets, even if they have to sacrifice all of Orb in the process. Hmm I wonder just how much money Djibril paid the Seirans to keep him hidden at their place" Kisaka said, as he stepped beside Soga.
Those words kept on echoing through Soga's mind, as he glanced over at his long time friend. The two of them had known each other for years, Kisaka had even been the best man at his wedding, so Soga trusted him more than anybody else in the room.
"Ahh come on Kisaka! You are not seriously telling me, that the Seirans put all of Orb at risk, for some as petty as money?" The Colonel asked, having a difficult time keeping the deep anger and contemptment, he felt at the entire Seiran family, from showing. No matter how many time Soga twisted and turn it in his head, he just didn't understand how two politicians, people who was suppose to do what was best for the country, could in good conscience help out somebody like Djibril, who was responsible for the deaths of who knew how many people.
"That! Or they have some sort of connection with that Logos. Hell for all we know, the entire Seiran family, might be a part of that organization" Kisaka said with a deep frown. Figuring that if such rumours start spreading when a ZAFT fleet was at their doorstep, even more people would start questioning their loyalty to the Seirans. Kisaka had long since figured out, that there was quite a few soldiers and politicians, who was pissed off at Unato and Yuna for getting Orb involved in the war in the first place, and for the loss of the Takemikazuchi.
Then as Kisaka heard Soga mumbled a few angry curses, he said something about needing to leave, then hastily swirled around on one foot then began making his way towards the exit of the large room.
Simply unable to comprehend why Kisaka would leave now when thing was so dire, Soga blinked rapidly in confusion, then hurried went after his long time friend, catching up with him out in the hallway.
"Kisaka, wait a God damn minute! Where the HELL are you going at a time like this?!" Soga asked loudly.
Turning back towards him, Kisaka send him a deeply serious look. "There is somebody who I need to talk with about this".
"Who?...Wait you are talking about her ain't you, Kisaka?" The Colonel said with a stun look on his face, he had heard all about how the Minerva had attack and apparently destroyed the Archangel. But if Lady Cagalli, and that Archangel was alright, then that was indeed pleasant news. It meant that there was somebody out there, that could knock the Seiran family of their high horse, and put Orb back on the right path.
"Will you please tell Lady Cagalli when you see her, that I am on her side in this. There is no way I will even help out somebody who is willing to work with terrorists" Soga said in a low determined tone, then turned around and made his way back to the control room.
Looking after his old friend until he was out of sight, Kisaka felt a hint of a smile briefly appear on his otherwise serious face, he was genuinely pleased and relieved to know, that Soga was on their side. If things turned bad as he and everybody else on the Archangel expect, they were going to need all the help they could get. And Soga was a pretty good strategist, that most of their soldiers was willing to listen to.
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At the same time up on the Archangel's bridge, the crew gather up there was likewise discussing what to do about the ZAFT forces near the border.
"So what do we do about them? I for one vote on attacking them before they can attack us" Dearka said in a hostile tone, not once looking away from the main monitor that was showing the ZAFT fleet.
Those words made all of them look over at him, each of them thinking their own thoughts about that suggestion, not one of them seriously believed that Unato and Yuna was going to do the right thing, and just hand Djibril over to ZAFT without a fuss, the two brain dead fools was most likely going to do something totally stupid and idiotic, that would result in ZAFT forcing their way in there, to find Djibril.
"It's an appealing idea Dearka, but with what exactly do you want to attack them with, the Archangel's engines are still not fully repaired, and the only mobile suits we got on board are Murasames, which we all know are not nearly enough to defeat everything out there" Murrue said.
Letting out a deep sigh of irritation, Dearka looked over at her. "You know Murrue, I kinda hate it when you make sense" the young man growled in a low tone, before he again looked back at the screen.
"That's nice to know, Dearka" the Captain answered.
After that a deep silence fell over all of them, as they each kept on staring at the main monitor showing the ZAFT fleet, each of them wondering just how much time they had before things would turn bad.
It was at that moment Meyrin's voice broke the slightly tense silence. "Emm do you guys think that's all of them? Or do you think even more ZAFT ships are on their way here? Considering that it now has four gundams on board, I am kinda worried that the Minerva might be on it's way here" the red-haired girl said in a low yet serious tone, which instantly made each and everybody up there look over at her.
"Do you really think that they are going to send that ship all the way here from Gibraltar?" Cagalli asked anxiously. After it's attack on the Archangel, the pregnant blonde had sincerely hoped, that it would be awhile before they would encounter the Minerva again.
Rubbing his chin thoughtfully, Athrun went over everthing Meyrin had just said, it did make a lot of sense, the Minerva had proven time and again just how utterly vital it was to the ZAFT's war effort. Especially after it had taken down the Archangel, it's reputation for being invincible had grown a lot, and with the Impulse, Destiny, Legend and Adamant now station on board the Minerva, it was now without a doubt even more dangerous.
"I hate to say it Cagalli sweetheart, but I think Meyrin's right. The Minerva's next mission after taking down the Archangel was to hunt down and capture Djibril, so with him hanging out at the Seiran mansion, I think the chances of that ship coming here, are extremely high" the blue haired man said from his wheelchair.
It was then a deeply sarcastic voice started talking loudly. "That's just so great! I can hardly wait to see what those three new gundams it has on board can do. What was it you call them the Destiny, Legend and Adamant?" The former pilot of the Buster gundam asked.
Looking over at him, Athrun nodded slowly. "Yeah, that is correct, Dearka. The Legend is an update version of Rau Le Creuset's Providence gundam, which of course means that it has a large number of DRAGOONs equipped and quite a few other weapons, like a beam rifle and beam javelins. Next the Destiny, is a machine based the Impulse's design, but unlike the Impulse it has all three Silhouette packs equipped at once, which of course gives it a lot of weapons in both close quarters combat and long distance, knowing Shinn he is likely to use the beam sword a lot. Finally the Adamant, I do not know a lot about that mobile suit since I have never seen it in combat, it has a mobile armor mode which is some sort of massive tank, with a lot of long-range weapons, and a extremely powerful beam shield" the blue haired man explained.
"Ohh that sounds delightful! The Adamant was Nicol's new machine right?" Dearka asked next.
Again nodding slowly. "Yeah, it is" Athrun answered with a hint of sadness on his face.
"What are we going to do about him?" Dearka continued now also looking a bit sad.
"I don't know Dearka, I am starting to fear that the kindhearted Nicol we use to know, is gone for good. Mayura's death messed him up pretty badly, and it didn't really help much that his parents disowned him afterwards" Athrun said, still having a very difficult time believing, that Nicol's mother Romina would do something like that to her own son, Athrun might only have met her a few times, but she had seemed like such a sweet kindheart person that would never do anything, that could hurt her son.
"Mayura huh, I really wished that I could have done more to help him back then when she died, he was my friend and roommate, but I was pretty down in the dumps myself, after watching Juri get killed by that white GuAIZ" Dearka explained, while holding tightly on to Miriallia's hand.
"It's not your fault Dearka...It's not like I did all that much to help him back then either" Athrun said in a low tone of voice, knowing that the reason why he had been unable to help Nicol after the battle at Jachin Due, was because he was sad about his father's death, but seeing how much Mayura's untimely demise had change Nicol, the blue haired man sincerely wished that he had done something back then, to help his old friend get through the loss.
Yet neither Athrun nor anybody else up there got much time to think about the past when the door to the bridge flew open and a serious looking Kisaka stepped inside.
"I am sorry to interrupt, but I got some important news. Shortly before I got here, Soga call me up to tell me that the Orb government has just received a message from ZAFT. Apparently if Lord Djibril is not handed over to them in less than twenty-four hours, they are going to force their way in here to capture him" the large man said with a deep frown on his forehead.
"Hm, less than twenty-four hours, that's a pretty verge time frame if you ask me" Dearka mumbled just loud enough for the others to hear him.
Rubbing his chin thoughtfully at those words. "It probably means Dearka that they are now just waiting for the Orb government to make some kind of move, and with Seirans in charge, I think it's safe to assume that it is going to be something completely idiotic, that would make it so ZAFT can launch their attack on Orb, without being seen by the rest of the world as the bad guys in all of this" Athrun said in a displeased tone.
"Considering that his forces is about to attack a country, and kill who knows how many people, I can't help but think that the Chairman's obsession with being seen as the hero of the world is quite a bit sicking" Dearka said, which was something they could all agree on.
Yet since none of them had anything to add, another long moment of silence fell over all of them. But while the tension up there could be cut with a knife, it only last about a minute, when Murrue pressed one of the buttons on her chair, and it was only a few short seconds later, when Murdoch's worn out face appeared up on the main monitor.
"Yeah what is it?" He asked sorely.
Not paying any attention to his foul mood, Murrue calmly asked the chief engineer the question she had on her mind. "How are the repairs proceeding, Murdoch?"
"Slow Captain, since we have been working almost constantly since we got back to Orb, all of us a pretty much running on badly brewed coffee. I am especially worried about Justin he seems ready to collapse at any moment from lack of sleep" the large man said, still using that grumpy tone.
Narrowing her eyes slightly at that. "Hmm damn...all of you take five hours off and get some sleep, I'll see if Erica has a few people who can take over the repairs" Murrue said.
Not really liking the idea of somebody else messing around with the Archangel's equipment without him there to supervise it, Murdoch was more than a little tempt to complained about being told to stop, working now. Yet in the end the deep exhaustion he felt won him over.
"Fiiiine Captain we'll stop, but no more than five hours" he sighed then cut of the communication to the bridge without waiting for a response.
Watching the monitor go black, Athrun slowly turned his head and looked back at Murrue. "Are you sure that it is wise to give them time off now?" He asked.
"Not really, but if they start collapsing one after another from exhaustion, the repairs will never be done. So lets give them a few hours to rest up, they have all been doing their utmost to repair the Archangel since we got back here" Murrue said back, thinking briefly about all the damage the Archangel had taken when it was hit by the Minerva's positron cannon.
It was at that very moment that the door to the bridge again flew open, and Mayu stepped inside dress in a blue-white polka dot pyjamas. "Mom can I talk with you for a bit?" The girl asked in a low tone.
Sincerely happy to see her daughter up and about, since she had pretty much spend all of her time in bed ever since she, Athrun and Cagalli, had told her about how they suspect that she might be related to the enemy gundam pilot Shinn Asuka. Yet after taking a closer look at her daughter's face, Murrue could easily tell that she had something important she want to talk with her about.
"Of course we can talk sweetie. Since we can not really do anything before either the Seirans, Djibril or ZAFT makes some kind of move, I suggest that we end this meeting for now at least, unless somebody else has something they think we need to discuss" Murrue said, as she took a quick look around the room before she again looked back at her daughter. Waiting patiently a few short minutes, until she was absolutely certain that nobody up there had anything else to tell her, after that Murrue got up on to her feet took a hold on Mayu's small hand, then lead her with slow steps out of the room, telling her along the way, that they should go to her room to talk.
Watching the door fly shut after the mother and daughter, Meyrin was quick to move over beside Athrun and Cagalli. "Do you think she is feeling a little better now, after spending the last few days in her bed?" The redhead asked them in a low whisper, doing nothing to hide just how worried she had been about Mayu these last couple of days.
"Hmm hard to say, Meyrin. Knowing our little troublemaker, she might very well be putting up on brave face, so we don't worry too much about her. Yet since I have no doubt that the subject she wants to talk with Murrue about is Shinn, I suspect that it will take a long time before she returns back to her usual cheerful self" Athrun told the two girls in a likewise low whisper, then narrowed his eyes slightly, not at all sure if he should tell them that a part of him was quite a bit concerned that Mayu might end up getting a depression over this whole matter with Shinn.
"What are you thinking about?" Cagalli asked him, of course easily able to tell from his expression that whatever going though his mind at the moment, was something very serious.
Yet before Athrun could give Cagalli an answer to her question, Miriallia's voice cut him off. "I do not mind staying up here keeping a watchful eye on things, but if I have to do that I need a few things like a soda and some chips to snack on. Would you please go get that for me?" She asked Dearka in a sweet flirtatious tone, that made it clear to all of them, that he had no choice in the matter.
"Of course I'll go get that for you! Everything for you My Lady" The blonde man declared loudly than hastily began making his way towards the exit of the bridge, with Arnold following not that far behind him. The helmsman saying something about Dearka being totally whipped.
"Hey that's uncalled for, I am most certainly not whipped!" Dearka protested loudly.
"Ohh yes you are" Jackie chimed in, as he followed the two of them out of the room, and just before the door slide shut, they all heard Dearka yet again insist firmly on not being whipped.
Once gone Cagalli let out a light chuckle. "Whipped huh, guess I just found a new thing to tease Dearka Elsman with" she said with a small smirk on her face, as she took a hold on Athrun's wheelchair, then walked the few steps necessary to get over to the door, yet before the engaged couple could leave the room together Meyrin, Miriallia called out after Cagalli.
"I hate to spoil your fun Cagalli, but I don't really think it's going to bother him all that much, it's not like I boss him around twentyfourseven, we help each other out, like any normal couple should do" the brown-haired girl said in a friendly tone.
Looking at her friend a few short seconds, Cagalli finally sighed loudly then mumbled the word spoilsport, before she carefully rolled Athrun out of the room, with Meyrin following only a few steps behind them.
Once out in the hall, Cagalli quickly located a room where the three of them could talk privately. Then after making extra sure that the door to the room was securely locked, she turned and send Athrun a look, that was meant to tell him, that he had better hurry up and tell her, what he had been thinking about up on the bridge.
Knowing that there was no way around it, Athrun reached up and rubbed the back of his neck in a thoughtful manner, not at all sure how in God's name he was supposed to tell the two girls, that he was worried that Mayu might end up with a full-blown depression over this whole matter with Shinn. Yet when Cagalli once again asked him what he was thinking about, the soon to be father cursed softly under his breath, before telling the two of them what they want to know.
Hearing Athrun's fears and concerns, neither Meyrin nor Cagalli said anything for a very long time, they just stood there each thinking their own thoughts. Yet finally even though she felt very much like crying thanks to those damn mood swings, Cagalli somehow manage to keep the tears at bay, then as she let out a small sob a few highly bitter words left her mouth.
"You know Athrun, if I did not already feel some regret about telling Mayu about the dumb brat, I certainly do now!" the blonde growled angrily, sitting down on one of the beds in there.
Looking a few times between them, Meyrin had to force her dry lips apart to ask the one question, she just could not get out of her mind. "Do you really think she could end up like that?"
Sighing loudly as he leaned slowly back in the old wheelchair, looking up at the ceiling with a far away look in his green eyes. "I don't know Meyrin, it likely depends on what she wants to tell her mother, and how Miss Murrue handless it".
"I see" that was all Meyrin said after hearing Athrun's response. Afterwards none of them said anything for a very long time.
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At the same time elsewhere on the Archangel, Murrue and her daughter had barely entered Murrue's room, before Mayu quickly turned around and wrapped her arms around her mother, hugging her tightly.
"I love you, mom" the girl said, pressing her face against her mother's chest.
Raising her arms Murrue hugged Mayu back. "I love you too sweetie".
"Mom, I been thinking a lot about this Shinn guy, I do not remember all that much about him, just a few images here and there. I do think he use to be a nice person at one point in time, but whenever I try to remember those times, I always end up thinking about the Freedom blowing up, and how close big brother Kira was to getting killed back then. And seeing big brother Athrun in that wheelchair, is a constant reminder that my 'real brother' is not a nice person anymore. Considering everything he has done, I don't think I'll ever be able to be around him, without being afraid of him" Mayu explained in a low tone.
Gently stroking her daughter's short brown hair, Murrue nodded a single time in understanding. "I see...I am sorry to hear that Mayu. What if...Emm what if either Kira, Athrun or Dearka are forced to kill him in the end, to put a stop to all of this, could you forgive them for that?. You know as well as me sweetheart, that NONE of them would EVER want to hurt you by taking your real brother away from you, they all care about you" the young mother said, running her left hand up and down Mayu's back.
Rubbing her face back and forth a few times against her mother's chest. "I know that the three of them care about me, mom. But even though Shinn has in his madness ruined all chances for the two of us to become brother and sister again, I would like for him to live, just not anywhere near me. Yet if either Kira, Dearka or Athrun finds themselves in a situation, were they are forced to kill him, I think I will be able to forgive them, I want all of us to continue being a family once this stupid war is over" the girl said.
"I want that too sweetie" after that both the mother and daughter was silence for a very long time, they just stood there holding one another.
Yet finally after about five minutes or so, Mayu broke the silence. "Mom do you want to go take a dip in the hot spring?".
Since there wasn't really much to do on the Archangel right now, but wait for something to happen, Murrue quickly decide that a dip in the hotspring was just what she needed.
"That sounds nice sweetheart, I am feeling a bit stiff and fatigued" the brown-haired woman told her daughter in a soft tone. Then with nothing more to say to each other the mother and daughter left the room again. Once out in the hall, they took off in the direction of the Archangel's bath area.
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At the same time out on board the Eternal, Lacus was floating hastily down one of the pink ship's hallways on her way to the hangar, knowing from Mr Waltfeld that her husband was working on something down there.
Once she arrived at her destination, Lacus propelled herself up towards the Freedom's opened cockpit, fully expecting Kira to be in there. Yet much to her surprise the Freedom was empty, yet judging from the water bottle floating around in there, it had not been long since Kira had left the mobile suit. Turning away from the cockpit the young pink haired woman took a thorough look around the hangar, seeing no sign of her husband anywhere.
"Kira are you down here?! I need to talk with you it's important!" She yelled loudly, wondering briefly if he might have gone to the bathroom. Yet those thought instantly left Lacus' mind, once she saw him poking his head out of the Justice.
"I am in here, Lacus" he told her before disappearing back into Athrun's new mobile suit.
Jumping away from the Freedom, Lacus flew over to the Justice, poking her head inside. "Hey, what are you doing in there?" She curiously asked.
Forcing his concentrate gaze away from away from his work, Kira looked straight into Lacus' bright blue curious eyes, smiling softly at her, as he gave a response to her question.
"Since I am absolutely certain Lacus, that it is only going to be a matter of time before we are going to need Athrun's help, I am programing the OS to work, just like the old Justice gundam" he said, then was silence a few short minutes as his fingers ran rapidly over the keyboard.
"Our biggest dilemma Lacus is getting the Justice from here to Athrun, but I do think I have found a solution to that problem" Kira said, glancing up at his wife.
Seeing the slightly wicked expression on her husband's face, Lacus blinked rapidly a couple of times. "You...You don't mean that you want me to pilot it?" The girl asked, honestly a bit frightened by the prospect of having to pilot a mobile suit on her own.
Reaching out Kira place a hand on Lacus' cheek, caressing it gently. "That's right sweetheart".
"But I don't know how to pilot it, Kira!" She protested a bit louder than she had intent.
"That's why Lacus, once I am done in here, the two of us are going to take the Justice for a spin, so you can learn to control it, and more importantly land it. Please try not to worry so much, it's not like you are going into battle in it, and once we leave for Earth, I'll be with you in the Freedom the whole way" Kira reassured her.
Glaring at him a bit longer Lacus finally let out a small sigh. "Fiiinee, I'll go get in my space suit, but just so you know Kira if I end up crashing. I am sending you the repair bill" she growled displeased, then leaped away from the Justice before Kira could give her a response.
"I am sure that you are going to be just fine, Lacus!" He immediately called out after her. Simply unable to deny that there was a small part of him that was really looking forward to seeing his wife in her spacesuit again, it had been a very long time since he last had the opportunity to do that.
It was not long after Lacus had left, when Kira was done working on the Justice's OS. "There that should do it, it should work perfectly now" the Freedom pilot mumbled quietly to himself, then after quickly double-checking all the work he had done, he leaped head first out of the backpack equipped mobile suit. Once out in the hangar, Kira was a bit surprised to see a space suit wearing Lacus sending him a displeased glare at him, which once again made it perfectly obvious to him that she was far from happy about having to pilot the new Justice gundam.
"You got back here pretty fast sweetheart, you much be quite a bit eager to try out the Justice" Kira smiled up at her.
Rolling her blue eyes and mumbling a few displeased words under her breath. "Lets hurry up, and get this over with" the pink haired girl said, then after putting on her helmet, she entered the Justice without saying one word to her husband.
Sincerely hoping that his wife wouldn't stay mad at him for the rest of the day, Kira snatch his own helmet that was floating around not that far away from him, then followed Lacus into the mobile suit. Once in there he was a bit astonished to see, that she had already strapped herself into the seat, and was now just waiting for him.
"So how do I do this?" She asked.
Getting over beside her, Kira immediately began instructing her in how she was suppose move the powerful mobile suit, being extremely careful not to leave anything out, she could need. While it was true that Kira had tried his best to use humor, to hide his own nervousness, when he had told Lacus about how he was planning on getting the new Justice gundam to Earth, the young man was quite frankly far from pleased with this idea, since it meant putting his dear wife in danger. If he could have come up with any other solution to this dilemma, than that would definitely be preferable.
The lesson did however not continue for very long when Lacus interrupt him. "Please slow down Kira, there is no way I'll be able to remember all of that. So for now lets just get the Justice outside, I think I'll be able to concentrate much better, when I don't have to worry about doing additional damage to the Eternal, by accidentally pressing the wrong button" the young pink haired woman said, then reached out and pressed the small button that activate the Justice's Phase Shift Armor.
Then with no hesitation at all, Lacus made the red gundam take a single awkward step forward. Not finding slow walking all that difficult, she continued with slow steps through the hangar.
"I am going to walk it out, there is no way I am using the catapult" she said in a tone that left little room for disagreement.
Nodding slowly in understanding. "Just make sure you tell the bridge crew that sweetheart, so they know what to expect". The only response Kira got from his wife to that, was a quick roger.
It wasn't much later when the red mobile suit leaped carefully away from the Eternal. "I did it Kira! I did it! I got the Justice outside all on my own!" The girl called out excitingly.
"Good job, sweetheart. Now we better put some distance between us, and the people working on the Eternal, so we do not get in anybodies' way" Kira said.
"You are right, we don't want to disturb anybody" Lacus said, yet before she got the Justice moving, she took a thorough look at the Eternal to see how much work was being done on her ship. Not that far away from her and Kira, Lacus could see a pair of their black colored GINNs carefully working on welding some blue parts to her ship, while a Mistral was waiting nearby with another part from the disassembled Nazca-class they had captured not that long ago.
Please to know that so many people was working so hard on repairing her ship, Lacus turned the Justice's head and looked in the opposite direction, where she saw their two Laurasia-class ships Kamui and Jiraiya guarding the Eternal incase something else showed up to attack them. But while the pink haired woman was truly grateful for their protection, there wasn't really all that much going on around the two green ships, so it did not take long before she looked in the direction of the Factory, where she could see their newest Nazca-class Izanagi, that ship was now fully staffed. Unfortunately their lack of mobile suits meant that the Izanagi only had a single black CGUE on board. Lacus knew that it was imperative that they got their hands on even just a few more mobile suits, she had already spoken with the two Waltfelds about that a few times, and they both fully agreed with her.
Lacus did however not watch the Izanagi for very long, before she turned her attention towards the fifth and finally ship out there, the ReHOME, the yellow ship was there to deliver some of the supplies they need to build a new METEOR unit, for either the Freedom or the Justice. And as she saw the Red Frame drop of a huge piece of equipment at the Factory, the smile on Lacus' face grew even bigger, she was always happy to see the people from the Juck Guild, they had helped them out a lot in the last war, and now this one.
"Now before we start your training Lacus, let's get a little further away from the Eternal and the other ships. I do not think we would be in anybodies way over by the sad remains of that old Earth Forces Marseille III class ship, so if you are done looking around sweetheart, lets head over there" Kira said in a friendly tone.
Nodding hastily a few times at her husband's words, Lacus tighten her grip on Justice's controls then carefully increase the gundam's speed. They hadn't been flying for very long before Lacus let out a short happy giggle. "This is kinda fun, Kira"
"Yeah when you ain't being shot at, then piloting a mobile suit is actually pretty great" Kira said, while it was true, that he had always greatly despised fighting in a mobile suit and hurting other people, the young man could not deny that he had enjoyed training and sparring in the Strike, the Freedom, and now the Strike Freedom. If piloting a mobile suit had been some kind of sporting activity, where nobody got seriously injured, Kira would definitely have been interest in it.
Yet before Kira could give much thought to how he would much rather use a mobile suit, Lacus' excited voice interrupt his thoughts.
"Hey Kira what does this do?" The girl asked curiously.
Looking down at the button she was referring to, Kira's purple eyes widen slightly. "Please don't touch that Lacus, that's..." Yet before he could finish that sentence, his wife's curiosity got the better of her, and it was with a tiny yet innocent smile on her face, that she pressed the button with no hesitation at all, thereby firing the Hyper Fortis on the Justice's backpack, hitting and blowing a large hole in the already badly damaged ship, they where heading towards.
"Whoops!" Was the only thing Lacus said, so focused on piloting the Justice that she did not even notice, the highly sceptical look Kira was sending her through the visor on his helmet.
"Um If is not too much to ask Lacus sweetheart, could you please be a little careful?".
Glaring briefly over at her husband, before turning her attention back towards the controls. "Oh give me a break Kira, it's not like I did it on purpose" those words had barely left the girl's mouth before she pressed another button in there, which instantly made the red gundam fire the two machine cannons in it's head, again hitting the wrecked ship in front of them.
"You know if this is you being cautious Lacus, I would hate to see you being reckless in this thing. You do realize that we are only out here so you can learn to move the Justice around, not fight in it" Kira said, glad to know that they had left the Justice's beam rifle back in the Eternal's hangar, not that Athrun's new gundam lacked weapons for Lacus to cause trouble with.
"Oh be quiet Kira, I don't need your backseat driving" Lacus insisted firmly, then increased the red gundam's speed slightly, maneuvering it up over the Marseille III class, yet just when they were about to pass over the damaged ship, the Justice's right leg accidentally bumped against one of the top part of the orange space ship, thereby send the gundam somersaulting forward in an uncontrollable manner.
Letting out a short surprised scream. "Ahh Kira what do I do?!" Lacus asked in a panicky tone.
Taking a hold on the controls Kira quickly stabilised the red gundam before letting Lacus take over the controls again.
"Thank you Kira that was a bit scar..." that was all Lacus got out before she noticed the amused expression, on her husband's face. "There is no need for you to smirk like that you big bully, it wasn't that funny!" The girl said with a small angry frown.
Barely able to keep his laughter at bay, Kira send her an innocent smile. "I am sorry Lacus, it was just that your reaction to tripping like that was pretty hilarious, I don't think I have ever heard you sound so surprised before".
Glaring at him a bit longer, Lacus finally let out a small insulted humph then turned her attention back towards the controls, absolutely determined not to make another mistake like that.
Not much else was said between them after that, all of Lacus's attention was completely focused on piloting the red powerful gundam, but while Kira did keep an eye on what she was doing at first, it did not take very long before he found himself using the main screen to try to find something they might be able to use, and as they flew past a huge pile of junk, it was more luck than anything else, that Kira spot the left arm from a GINN, and while it had clearly had seen better days, it might still be useful, they did after all have a few heavily damage GINNs back at the Factory, which they desperately need parts to repair, yet since the GINN mobile suit had longe since ceased to be in production, getting new parts for them, was getting more and more difficult.
"What are you thinking about?" Lacus suddenly asked him out of the blue.
Looking away from the screen and over at his wife, Kira smiled slightly at her. "Not much Lacus, just how peaceful it is out here. It might not be our most romantic date, but at least we are alone with nobody disturbing us".
Smiling brightly at him, Lacus was just about to give him a response when a loud familiar voice cut her off. "Miss Lacus, Kira how is it going you two, I can't even remember when I last saw you guys! How is marriage life treating you?!" Lowe Guele asked happily, as he piloted the Red Frame over beside the new version of the Justice gundam.
A bit annoyed by the sudden interruption to his and Lacus' alone time, Kira glared a bit at the katana equipped mobile suit. But since Kira had always had a lot of respect for Lowe Guele, he had after all saved both his and Lacus' lifes during the last war, Kira simply could not bring himself to tell Lowe, that he and Lacus wished to be left alone. So it was with a small sigh, that he gave the easygoing man a response to his loud question.
"Pretty good Lowe thank you for asking, what about you how are you doing these days?" Kira asked back.
"Also pretty good Kira, as much as I hate to admit it, a war like this is pretty good for business, but I sincerely do hope you guys put an end to this war soon, it leaves a foul taste in my mouth earning money from people getting hurt and killed, and it's not like we do not have things to do, when things a peaceful" Lowe said with an expression on his face that made it clear just how utterly sick and tired he was of this war.
Yet before either Lowe or Kira had a chance to continue their conversation, Lacus reached down and grab on to the Justice's right beam saber and with no hesitation at all she quickly activated the weapon, then somewhat clumsy longed out after the Red Frame.
"HEY! What's the big idea!?" Lowe cried out surprised, even though he had an easy enough time avoiding the slow incoming attack.
"Don't ask me, Lacus is the one who did it" Kira answered, while sending his wife a questionable look.
"I am sorry I just want a bit of saber practise" the pink haired woman said in a sweet innocent tone, that made it seem like she had not only been caught with hands in cookie jar, but had to explain why it was suddenly empty. It quite frankly reminded Kira of the tone of voice Mayu would use, when one of her pranks had gone too far, like that one time when she had blown up all those eggs in the microwave. Back then, Miss Murrue had been just about ready to ground the girl for a year our two.
"Saber training huh, that sounds like fun! En garde, Miss Lacus!" Lowe said in a loud somewhat childish tone, before he reached up and pulled out one of the Red Frame's beam sabers.
Seeing him activate the weapon, Kira narrowed his eyes slightly. "Please do go easy on her Lowe, this is Lacus first time behind the controls of a mobile suit" Kira said, of course realizing that if Lowe took this seriously, Lacus would not stand a chance. While it was true that Lowe's fighting style in the Red Frame, could be somewhat impulsive and downright crazy at times, he was far from an amateur.
"Roger that Kira, I'll make sure to pull my punches" Lowe said, holding the Red Frame's beam sabers down by it's side in a none threatening manner.
Hoping that she would be able to hit him, since he wasn't really in a position to defend himself, Lacus charge forward with a determined shout, swing the beam out towards the Red Frame. Yet just when it seemed like weapon was about to hit the red and white mobile suit, Lowe quickly raised his own weapon, bashing aside the incoming saber with little to no effort.
Pulling the saber back, Lacus thrusted it out after the Red Frame, that this time around bent slightly backwards to avoid the attack. Feeling more than a little annoyed by the fact that her attacks was so transparent, that Lowe had no trouble at all dealing with her slow attacks, Lacus moved a bit to the left as she once again tried to hit the other mobile suit, that actually seemed to be somewhat bored with the whole thing, as it again bashed the saber aside. Which only served to make Lacus Yamato all the more determined to hit the Red Frame, and while mumbling a few displeased words, she increased the Justice speed as much as she could handle, then flew hastily to the right, in a pretty obvious attempt to get around the other machine, so she could either attack it from the side or from behind.
Once Lacus was in a position, where she believed that Lowe was relatively defenceless, she immediately swung the beam saber out after the white and red mobile suit. But even so thanks to the relatively slow speed of the whole manoeuvre, Lowe simply ducked to the side, just as the weapon was about to hit him, then swirled around a single, time to get a bit of distance between him and the Justice.
"Nice try Miss Lacus, but no cigar" Lowe said, as he waited patiently for the girl's next moved.
Those words was met with a low displeased humph, which only Kira could hear. While Lacus had always been the type of person that was very good at controlling her temper, but even if this was her first time piloting a mobile suit, not even being close to hitting the Red Frame, did kinda piss the young woman off a bit.
"Why is this so difficult?" The pink haired girl asked under her breath. Still keeping a very close eye on the Red Frame, if there was even just one small opening in Lowe's defence Lacus was determined to find it.
It was at that point, Kira leaned in close and whispered a few words into her ear. "Do you mind if I take a crack at it, Lacus?".
Having been so caught up in trying to hit the Red Frame, Lacus was actually a bit surprised by the sound of her husband's voice, yet as she looked over at him, she instantly noticed the slightly wicked smirk on his face, which was all the Pink Princess need to tell, that Kira already had a plan of some kind to beat Lowe and the Red Frame, and knowing that was all it took for Lacus to quickly unstrapped herself from the seat and moved aside, so Kira could get behind the Justice's controls, and hopefully kick Lowe's butt.
Once strapped in, Kira looked out at the Red Frame, that wasn't really doing anything, it was just hanging there, clearly waiting to see what was going to happen next, it did not even have it's beam saber activated, which made it all the more clear that Lowe still thought that Lacus was the one controlling the Justice, that alone almost made Kira feel a little guilty for what he was about to do, almost.
Without wasting even a second, Kira raised the beam saber slightly, then took of towards the Red Frame with such speed, that it was impossible for Lowe to react in time, before Kira in one fluid motion made two rapid slashes with the beam saber, the first one hitting the left shoulder, while the second one would have decapitate the red and white machine, had the weapon been fully charged.
"HEY that's not fair you two! I call unfair sportsmanship, you could at least tell me when Kira takes over!" Lowe's loud surprised voice complained, as he swiftly turned around and looked straight at the Justice, that was hanging there, not that far behind him, clearly still more than ready to continue their friendly little battle.
"You know guys if you want to take things up a notch, you just need to say so" the bandanna wearing man said, while putting away the beam saber, and pulling the Gerbera Straight out from it's sheath, holding on to it with both hands. As confident as Lowe was with his favourite weapon, he was NOT dumb enough to underestimate Kira's skills in a mobile suit. Even when Miss Lacus had been piloting it, Lowe could easily tell just how powerful this new Justice was, sparring seriously against it, was definitely going to be entertaining.
It was only one short instant later when the two powerful gundams charged straight towards one another, their weapons clashing briefly as they passed each other, only for both mobile suits to swirled around a second later and slam their weapons together with such speed, that if any of their spectators had blinked at that very moment they would surely have missed it. Now the Red Frame and the Justice were locked together in a struggle to overpower one another.
"Heh heh, you are not making this easy for me, Kira" Lowe growled out in a tone, that made it perfectly obvious to the two Yamatos, that he thought this whole thing was funny as hell.
"Glad to hear Lowe, it was not my intention to make things easy" Kira said back in the same tone of voice, even though both friends of course realized that they where each holding back.
Just then the weapon lock broke, then after circling around each other for a brief moment five bright flashes could be seen between the two mobile suits, as they slammed their weapons together again and again, in an attempt to hit each other. Only for them to end up in yet another weapon lock, that was quickly broken when Lowe gave the Justice a hard kick in it's stomach area, thereby sending the backpack wearing gundam spinning away from him.
"That wasn't very nice" Kira said, as he reached down with the left hand and took a hold on the Justice's second beam saber.
Seeing Kira activate the weapon, Lowe narrowed his eyes slightly. "Does it help if I said, I was sorry?" The brown-haired man asked sarcastically, as he put the Gerbera Straight back into it's sheath, then got into what looked like the battoujutsu stance, which was a move, Lowe had been trying to master with the Red Frame, for some time now.
Holding the sabers in a cross formation and to the right, Kira hoped that by doing that he would be able to counter Lowe's next move, even with all the battles he had been in during both the first war and now this one, Kira could not remember EVER seeing anybody use battoujutsu before. So the outcome of this was definitely going to be interesting.
Yet just when the two powerful mobile suits was ready to charge full speed towards one another and continue their battle, Andrew Waltfeld's frowning face suddenly without warning appeared up on the main monitor.
"I am sorry to interrupt the fun and games guys, but Yuna Roma Seiran is about to make a statement, I figured that you wanted to listen in on that" the Desert Tiger said in a deeply serious tone. Then without waiting for a reply he pressed a button up on the Eternal's bridge, which made it so Lacus, Kira and even Lowe could see the live feed of the broadcast that was about to be transmit all over the world.
One look at the smug expression on Yuna's dumb face, was all Kira need to tell, that the purple haired blockhead was just as proud of himself, as he had always been. No matter how he looked at it, Kira was sincerely grateful for the fact that he and Lacus had only met Yuna once in all the time they had been living in Orb. The two of them had been visiting Cagalli and Athrun on a rainy, yet peaceful day, when the purple haired moron had suddenly appeared from out of nowhere, and loudly demand that Cagalli looked over an important document. And while Cagalli had clearly been annoyed by the stuck-up man's mere presence in her home, she had still done what he had asked. And with Cagalli temporarily occupied with the dokument, Yuna had spent pretty much the entire time, glaring hatefully at Lacus and him, which had been more than enough for the two of them to tell, just how much Yuna Roma Seiran despised Coordinators, especially Athrun was one he looked at with such deep contemptment, that it was almost sicking.
"Ok you racist bastard, lets hear what you have to say" Lacus said in a low tone, earning her a somewhat astonished look from her husband, since she very rarely used those types of names for anybody. Seeing the look Kira was sending her, Lacus smiled innocently at him, for a short moment. While it was true that Lacus disliked Yuna Roma Seiran quite a bit, it was not only because of his racist attitude towards her and Kira, it was also because he had tried so many times, to get in between Cagalli and Athrun, the fact that he had been so determined to break apart two people that loved each other so dearly, was the main reason why Lacus could not stand being anywhere near the purple haired man.
Yet before young woman could give any more thought to how despicable a person Yuna Roma Seiran truly was, he took a quick ship from the glass of water that was standing on the table he was sitting at, then start addressing the entire world in a tone of voice, that made it clear to everybody that knew anything about the man, that he was about to lie through his teeth.
The first thing he said, was that the only thing he and Orb wished for during these troubling times was peace for everybody and that all of Orb was during their utmost to make that wish a reality, then after taking a small breath and resting his folded his hands on the table, Yuna raised his deeply serious gaze and looked directly into the camera.
"Not long ago, we here in Orb received a message from ZAFT to hand over Lord Djibril, which unfortunately is impossible for us to do, since he is not here in Orb. A man such as him would not be allowed anywhere near Orb, so we would like to ask ZAFT to cease with their baseless accusations about us sheltering Djibril, and to immediately withdraw all of their forces from our borders, there truly is no reason for them to be there. Like the rest of the world, I along with all of Orb's citizens are sincerely hoping that it will not be long now before Djibril is found and captured!" Yuna loudly said.
Yet that was far from the end of it, Yuna had a lot of things to tell the world and Gilbert Durandal yet the more he kept on lying to everybody about Lord Djibril's presence in Orb, the more Kira felt like hammering his head against a wall. How could the Seirans possibly believe that ZAFT was buying any of this crap. And as the Freedom pilot took a glance over at his wife, he saw that she had pulled off her helmet at some point during the speech, and was now rubbing her forehead in a frustrated manner.
"Wow!. Jeez, I think the last time I heard such utter bullshit, was during my last encounter with Rondo Gina Sahaku. I guess the fun here is over, since you guys are obviously going to be busy now" Lowe said over from the Red Frame with a hint of disappointment in his voice.
"Yeah, I am sorry old friend. You know Lowe, we could use your help to stop ZAFT's invasion of Orb" Kira said, as he turned the Justice's head a bit to the side and looked straight at the Red Frame.
"I wish I could say yes to that Kira, I really do. But I don't think it's a good idea for the Junk Guild to piss off ZAFT these days, I don't know why but I can't shake the feeling that if we do that, they will not stop chasing us until we are dead and gone. When all is said and done Kira, we are just a few odd people collecting scrap for a living" Lowe said, then after wishing them the best of luck, he turned around and took off towards the ReHome.
Watching him leave, Kira let out a disappoint breath. "I was kinda hoping that he would say yes to joining us" he mumbled, as he watched his wife put her helmet back on.
Nodding slowly in agreement. "Me too Kira, now we better head on back to the Eternal and start making preparation to head to Orb. I think the other are going to need our help" Lacus said, sincerely hoping that they would be able to get there in time before ZAFT began their attack on Orb.
"You are right Lacus, now since you still need to learn how to land a mobile suit, you are going to be piloting the Justice back to the Eternal" Kira softly told her, then with a hint of annoyance on his face he reached over and turn off the small screen where Yuna was now blabbering about how hard he and Orb was working making this world a peaceful place, for everybody. After that Kira unstrapped himself from the seat, and got out of the way, so Lacus could take control of the Justice again, which she did with a small frown on her forehead.
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At the same time down on Earth, Gilbert Durandal was sitting in his office with an angry look in his brown eyes, and drumming the fingers on his left hand hard against his old table, as Yuna Roma Seiran's long-winded speech finally came to and end. And as the screen turned black he reached out and rewinded the speech so he could watch one more time, yet he didn't even get halfway through it before he turn it off.
"That's it!? Lying to us like that, is the only response they are willing to give us! We already know Djibril is in the country! SO why in God's name would Orb squander their best chance to get rid of that monster?!. BUT IF THIS IS HOW THEY INSIST ON DOING THINGS, THEN I GUESS WE GOT NO OTHER CHOICE BUT TO DRAG DJIBRIL OUT OF ORB! Get in contact with the St. Helens, and tell them to commence the attack!" Gilbert ordered loudly.
Then as the man sat there watching the people around him working so hard on carrying out his orders, Gilbert reached up with his left hand and rubbed his chin and mouth in a thoughtful manner as a way to hide the small smirk on his face, this was going precisely the way he had envisage it, soon Orb would be nothing more than a distant memory, which meant that it would not be long now before he could initiate the Destiny Plan and change the world for good.
To be continued.
I hope you guys like this chapter, I am a bit curious about what you think of Kira and Lowe's sparring match, so please do leave a comment or two.