Hope you enjoy and do let me know what you think.
Chapter 86
Dearka was by himself in the pilot ready room, pulling his mostly black space suit out of his locker, it had been awhile since he had last worn it. Not since Kira had blown apart his Murasame to protect him from the Impulse brat, or was it Destiny brat now? Had Dearka needed to wear the suit, and knowing why he needed it now, made him frown slightly. Ever since Yuna's totally idiotic speech had end not that long ago, the Archangel had been on Level Two battle station, so even if Dearka did not have a mobile suit of his own right now, he still wanted to be prepared to head out, when the inevitable attack came.
Then as the blond haired man threw the space suit on a nearby chair, he took a glance down at his watch. "Erica, will you hurry the hell up already, I need a new mobile suit, now!" He growled displeased, seriously wondering what the scientist was doing right now.
It was at that very moment he heard Miriallia's loud voice echo out through the speakers, telling them all that ZAKUs, BABIs, GOUFs, DINNs, ASSHs, ZnOs and GOOhNs was being launched from the enemy ships, and that they were now on Level One battle station.
"Holy crap, that's a lot of enemy mobile suits. I'm surprised that they are not throwing the kitchen sink at us too" Dearka mumbled angrily under his breath, then quickly began getting into his spacesuit, once that minor task was over and done with, Dearka grab his helmet and step out into the hallway, heading for the bridge.
Dearka did however not get very far when he spotted a certain person sitting by herself leaning against the wall hugging her legs. "Mayu sweetheart, what are you doing out here by yourself?" He asked in a soft tone, kneeling down in front of her, quite a bit puzzled about why she would be sitting here of all places.
Raising her slightly low-spirited gaze, Mayu looked up into her big brother's kind eyes. "It's just...I really want to help out right now, but I feel like if I go down to the hangar I'll just be in the way, the same with the bridge" the girl softly told him.
"I see" Dearka said as he reached out and gently ruffle her hair. "You know Mayu you are a vital part of this crew, you are the one who cheers all of us up with all of your pranks, when we are down in the dumps, but not only that sweetheart, you help out a lot around the Archangel, who was it that brought us our meals when we first arrived back here in Orb, and was so busy with the resupplying and the repairs. You are also the main reason why Meyrin already feels at home here on the Archangel, that girl knows a lot about how the Minerva fights, and that is definitely going to be useful".
Sighing sadly. "That...might be true big bro, but I still want to do something now, other than just sit around and wait, while the followers of a madman destroys our home, to find another madman" Mayu said, as she slowly lower her sadden gaze away from Dearka.
Gently running his fingers through her short hair one last time, Dearka stood back up straight again. "Well if that is the case Mayu, I have a favor I would like to ask you".
"What is it?" She asked, glancing up at him again.
"Go release Mu"
"Wh...what are you sure that's a good idea big bro, isn't he dangerous?" She asked concerned, ever since that man had made her mother cry after he was brought on board the Archangel during the battle at Berlin, Mayu had made an effort not to be around the blonde haired man too much.
Smiling softly at the girl as she slowly got up on to her feet. "He is not some sort of monster that has escaped from hell Mayu, he is a pretty nice guy, and we are going to need as much help as we can get to throw ZAFT back out of Orb" Dearka told her while gently patting her head.
Pushing his hand away the girl send Dearka a irritable glare. "Fine I'll go get him, but if he causes any trouble, you are the one responsible for him" Mayu said, making it sound a bit like Mu was a lost cat or dog, Dearka was asking his parents if he could keep.
Chuckling softly at Mayu's choice of words, Dearka did not get a chance to come up with response, before the eleven-year-old hastily swirled around on one foot, then took off down the long hallway, heading full speed towards the Archangel's med-bay.
Looking after Mayu until she was out of sight, Dearka quickly snatch up his helmet from the floor then continued on his way to the bridge. Once there he immediately got the door open and stepped inside, yet since everybody up there was currently watching the main monitor, that was showing the Seiran mansion being rapidly demolished by a four of BABIs, and a single GOUF that was standing on top of a completely wrecked M1 Astray. But even though Dearka could honestly not have cared any less about the Seirans losing the home, seeing the large number of innocent civilians trying to get away from the mayhem, and the now burning mansion, bothered the former ZAFT pilot a great deal.
"Is Djibril still in there?" Dearka asked hopefully after watching the chaos at the mansion a bit longer.
Looking up from her work and over at her boyfriend, Miriallia slowly shook her head. "Unfortunately not, according to the Seiran's lead butler, who has been keep an eye on the stupid bastard for us, Djibril entered the mansion's library shortly after Yuna's speech end, there he apparently escaped through an emergency exit, that the butler knew nothing about" the brunette haired girl explained, then spend a brief moment admiring how muscular her lover looked in his skintight space suit, before she once again focused all of her attention on her job, Miriallia knew that now really wasn't the best time for her to be drooling over her boyfriend.
Mentally going over everything Miriallia had just told him, Dearka let out a small frustrated sigh. 'Greeeat! That's excellent news, that means that Djibril can be anywhere in Orb right now, where the hell are we even suppose to look for that bastar...' yet before Dearka could finish that thought, Cagalli's booming voice interrupt him.
"What about our forces, how are they coordinating the counterattack?! And what about the civilians?! How is the evacuation going?!".
"I am sorry to tell you this Cagalli, but other than a few M1 Astrays fighting by themselves here and there, there is no really counter movement on Orb's part. As for the civilians the only thing they have been told is to stay in there homes for the time being" Miriallia told her blonde friend, with a concerned expression on her face.
Mumbling angrily under her breath. "Stay in there homes! What good would that do if a mobile suit steps on it, or starts fighting near it!? We need to get the civilians to safety, that is our top priority, so if Unato and Yuna are just going to act like nothing is happening, then I have to do something! Amagi get our pilots to their Murasames!. Captain do I have your permission to use the Skygrasper?!" Cagalli asked loudly, just as she tore her hand free from Athrun's grasp, who yelled out for her to wait a God damn minute, not that she paid any attention to him.
Not sure if she actually heard the girl right, Murrue leaped up from her chair and rushed over to the pregnant girl. "Skygrasper!? Please tell me that you are not seriously planning on going out in that, in a Skygrasper!?" Murrue yelled out in disbelief, pointing at the main monitor, that was now showing five GOUFs tearing apart two M1s like they were nothing.
"What else do you want me to do?! I can't just sit here and do nothing while my country burns again!" Cagall yelled back, then rushed over towards the door, with everybody up there looking after her like she had completely lost her marbles. Yet just when she was about to leave, Dearka stepped in front of her.
A bit shocked by that move, Cagalli glared furiously at him. "GET OUT OF MY WAY, ELSMAN!".
Slowly shaking his head back and forth a few time. "I wish I could do that Cagalli, but I will not let you go out there so you can get yourself killed, you might find it hard to believe, but I love you Cagalli, not the same way I love Miriallia who I see myself spending the rest of my life with, or how you and Athrun loves each other, I still care a lot about you Cagalli Yula Athha, you are family, my sister" Dearka told her in a sincere tone, not once moving his deeply serious purple gaze away from her.
Of all the things Cagalli had expect Dearka to say or do to prevent her from racing down to the hangar, and getting into the Archangel's last remaining Skygrasper, hearing him tell her just how much he truly did cared about her made it impossible for her to keep the many tears at bay.
"Damn you...Dearka Elsman, you are suuuch an idiot!" Those words had barely left Cagalli's mouth, before she stumble forward, pressing her tear covered face into his broad shoulder. Crying openly up against him, while telling him over and over again how stupid he was.
Reaching up Dearka wrapped his arms around the weeping girl, hugging her gently. "I know Cagalli, that's what makes me so unbelievable charming. I'll go out there to protect Orb in your place, but not in something as outdated as a Skygrasper, I need something totally awesome that can serve as a moral boost for all Orb soldiers who are tired of the Seirans dumb shit, and having doubts about us winning this battle. Something that will make ZAFT shake in their boots, and question the very idea of invading Orb in the first place".
Backing slowly away from him, Cagalli used her sleeve to rub away some of the tears on her face. "That sounds great and all, but where are you going to get something like that?" She asked through a small sob.
Narrowing his eyes slightly at the question, Dearka looked down at the floor like it was the most interesting thing ever. "Erica, should have a new mobile suit ready for me, but I have not heard a word from her in days, she has been so damn secretive about the whole thing, that I do not even know the machine's name, or if it even has one" he said, doing nothing to hide just how irritable he was over the whole thing.
Not overly surprised by the scientist's secrecy, but still greatly annoyed by it. So it was with a roll of her light brown eyes and a deep sigh that Cagalli swirled around, looking straight at Miriallia, who she was just about to ask if she could please get in contact with Erica, so they could figure out what the hell she was doing, while all of this was going on. Yet before she could get even one word out, the door to the bridge suddenly flew open, and a familiar voice called out to all of them.
"Sorry for the delay, guys! There are ZAFT mobile suits a swarming around all over the place, so getting here unseen proved to be quite a challenge. At least some of our forces are fighting back now, even through it's not really going all that well" Erica said, knowing that if they did not act fast, then Orb would be finished.
Hearing the scientist's voice behind him, Dearka hastily stepped away from his position in front of the door, thereby giving Erica access to the Archangel's bridge. Yet she had barely entered the room, before the deeply impatient Dearka swirled around and looked straight at her.
"So enough stalling Erica, is my new mobile suit DONE?! Can it be used for combat!?" He asked loudly.
Smirking slightly at him, Erica nodded hastily a couple of times. "Yeah both of Orb's newes gundams are ready to kick ZAFT out of here, what about the second pilot you mentioned, Dearka? Is he up to the task?"
"He should be, I got one of our most trustworthy crew members getting him right n..." Yet before Dearka could finish that sentence Athrun's loud voice cut him off.
"I'll do it! If I just get a few aspirins I am sure that I can handle it!" The blue haired man said determined, as he with a bit of struggle pushed himself up from the wheelchair, even though one look at the pained expression on his face made it clear to all of them, that his injured ribs was still bothering him quite a bit.
Sincerely worried about Athrun going out there considering the condition he was in, Cagalli was just about to protest and tell him that he was NOT going anywhere near a mobile suit, when a loud well-known voice chimed in before she could even get a word out.
"Are you kidding you are not going anywhere buddy, you just sit right back down and let me handle it. Whatever this second gundam of yours is, it got my name on it" Mu said, as he followed by Mayu, entered the bridge.
Everyone except Erica and Dearka was greatly surprised to see Mu up there. Especially Murrue was staring at him with such utter shock, almost like she had completely forgotten, that Mu La Flaga was on board the Archangel in the first place, which was as far from the truth as it could possibly be, these last few days, she had actually been considered releasing him, and giving him their last function Skygrasper so he could leave Orb before the battle broke out. Yet whenever Murrue had an opportunity to do that, she would always find someway to postpone it. While it was true that she had done her best to avoid Mu ever since they found him at Berlin, no matter how she looked at it, it just hurt so unbelievable much that he did not remember her, and what they had together, hell they had practically been engaged when he had used the Strike to protect them from the Dominion's final attack, she just did not want him to disappear out of her life again, she still loved him.
"Wh...why are you doing this, Mu?" Murrue asked him in a low tone, as she reached slowly up and wrapped her fingers carefully around the engagement ring hanging in it's silver necklace around her neck.
"There is quite a few reasons, first of all this little one here told me, that if I did not help you guys beat the crap out of ZAFT, she was going to kick my ass, that is not a threat I take lightly" Mu explained, while placing a hand on top of Mayu's head, rubbing her hair in a fatherly manner. "Secondly i owe ZAFT some payback, I would especially like a piece of that damn scrap pile better known as the Minerva, the crew of that ship has killed so many of my subordinates, and I would like a chance to show them, what I think of that. But most importantly Captain, I want to help you guys out, I want to protect you, and make sure all of you makes it through this alive".
Hearing that even with his lack of memories, he still wanted to help them out and protect them, Murrue felt a couple of happy tears slowly make their way down her face, and as she glanced up at him from the floor, she sent him a small grateful smile, yet seeing him smile back at her in his usual confident manner, remind Murrue so much about the past that she immediately forced her sadden gaze away from him, and once again looked back down at the floor.
"I see, just make sure that you yourself makes it back here alive" she said in a low tone.
"You can count on me for that Captain, I am after all the one who can make the impossible possible" he said, which instantaneously made everybody up there stop what they were doing. Looking over at him like he had just grown a second head.
But while Mu could of course not help but notice the astonished looks they were all sending him, he did not really pay much attention to it. He just kept on looking at the Captain with that cocky grin on his face.
"You know Murrue, once we are done showing ZAFT the quickest way out of here, there is something important I need to tell you".
Of course realizing that there was so many things that the two of them need to talk about, but also fearing a great deal what he had to tell her that he want to leave once he was done helping them out against ZAFT, the only thing the worried Murrue could bring herself to do, was nod slowly a single time in understanding.
Seeing her concerned expression, Mu was just about to tell her to cheer up and not to worry, when Miriallia's loud voice cut him off. "The ZAFT ships a launching even more GOUFs and ZAKUs now, the Orb forces wouldn't be able to keep them back for much longer without reinforcements" the brown-haired girl informed them all.
"Mu, lets go get our new mobile suits, so we can show ZAFT what we think about their presence here" Dearka said with a determined look in his purple eyes, and once he saw Mu nod in agreement the two men quickly exited the Archangel's bridge, yet before Erica went after the two of them she looked straight at Cagalli, telling the girl that once they start fighting back for real, Kisaka had a car ready to take her to Orb's defense headquarters. With that said Erica swirled around and left the bridge too.
Watching the door fly shut after the scientist, the frustrated Cagalli let out a deep sigh, as she fell down into an empty seat. "Ahh God damn it! I can't staaand that the only thing I can do right now, while all of this is going on is sit around and wait!" Cagalli complained loudly, taking a quick glance around bridge, for something she could take her anger and frustration out on, yet since Murrue had already scold her that one time for denting one of the Archangel's walls, the frowning blonde ended up just sitting there staring intensely at the main monitor, that was presently showing a couple of Murasames, trying their utmost to keep back five or six BABIs, yet they were clearly being overwhelmed, and Cagalli begrudgingly realized that it would only be a matter of a few short minutes before the two pilots would be dead. Which instantly made a deep sorrow appear in the pit of her stomach, yet before she could say or do anything a almost completely white Murasame suddenly appeared from the right side on the screen, using it's beam rifle to destroy the heads on two of the purple mobile suits, then while skillfully rolling head first in between three incoming shots, it quickly grab onto it's beam saber, that it in one fluid motion used to removed both arms on a third BABI, and as the other two Murasames joined in, it did not take very long before the other BABIs was out of commission too, and with nothing more to do there, the white Murasame transformed into it's mobile armor mode, then took off to find even more enemies to fight.
"Thank you, Jean" Cagalli said in a whisper, sincerely grateful for the fact that Jean Carry, one of Orb's top ace pilots, was out there fighting so hard to protect Orb. "What the hell is taking Dearka and Mu so long?" She asked, still watching the screen like a hawk hunting for prey.
Rolling over beside her, Athrun took a hold on her left hand giving it a light gentle squeeze. "Try to be patient Cagalli, they only left three minutes ago" the blue haired man softly told her, then looked down into his lap. Athrun knew that once Kira got there with his new machine, he was going to join the battle even if he had to crawl down to the hangar.
Yet as he and Cagalli sat there silently watching what was going on outside, they both heard Murrue get in contact with Murdoch and ask him how much more time he and the other mechanics need to get the Archangel's engines into a usable state. Both were greatly disappointed when they heard the chief engineer tell Murrue, that it was going to take at least another hour before the engines could be safely used.
"Please hurry, we are going to be needed out there" Murrue said, as she reached out and took a hold on Mayu's small hand.
Nodding hastily a single time. "We are working as fast as we can Captain, I'll get back to you once we are done!" Murdoch said, then turned and yelled out a few orders to the other mechanics, telling them that if they did not connect everything properly the engine might stall at a crucial moment, but even as he was saying those words, he cut of the communication to the bridge.
After that, a deep somewhat tense silence fell over all of them, as each one of them focused completely on whatever task they were working on working on at the moment. The only break in the silence was when Amagi loudly informed Cagalli that all of their Murasames was ready to launch.
But while Cagalli was ready to send them out immediately, Murrue cut her off before she could even get a word out, telling Amagi to keep them on stand-by until Dearka and Mu was ready to enter the fray. Not at all happy about that, the pregnant blonde was just about to share her displeasure, when Athrun's relatively calm voice told her that if their Murasames where to enter the battle now, they would have a serious disadvantage against that many ZAFT mobile suits. That they needed an edge of some kind, which he was sure that Erica's two new gundams was going to give them.
While Athrun's words did make a lot of sense to her, Cagalli was far from happy about agreeing with them, she wanted so desperately to do something to help out right now, especially the thought of the large number of civilian still running around in the streets, while all of this was going on, seriously pissed her off, and it was with a depressed look in her eyes that she glanced over at her fiancé.
"Athrun, do you think Orb is going to be alright?" She asked in a low tone that only he could hear.
Gentle squeezing her hand again. "I'm certain that Orb is going to be just fine Cagalli, all of us here are determined to protect Orb no matter what" the blue haired man reassured her.
"Thank you" She said back, afterwards each one of them continued watching the main monitor that was still showing Jean kicking all kind of ass out there.
000000
An Orb military jeep was hastily brought to a screeching hold near the end of a dark mostly empty hangar. The only thing in there, was a single M1 Astray, that was missing its shield for some bizarre reason. But while both Mu and Dearka was to put it mildly a bit confused about why Erica had brought them there of all places, neither one of the two men said anything, as the brown haired woman in one fluid motion leaded quickly out of the vehicle, telling the two of them to follow her, which they did without a word.
Yet they had only walked about ten steps, when the scientist stopped near the far left wall, thereby making both Mu and Dearka wonder if Erica might have been cooped up inside for way to long, or had hit her head recently. Yet neither of them got a chance to comment on it, when Erica pressed her hand against a certain spot on the wall.
Seeing her do that Dearka immediately realized what was going on. "I did not know that you had a hidey hole down here, Erica" he said.
Sending him a mischievous smile. "Not many do, you guys, my scientist team and last but not least, Kazuma and Kisaka. Not even Cagalli knows about this place, so please do keep it a secret from her, I really don't want her to hear about how I have been spending the taxes pays money, on a secret laboratory for myself" Erica said, just as a part of the back wall slide aside thereby revealing a huge room, that had been build into the mountain behind the hangar.
Stepping inside, the first thing Dearka and Mu saw was a headless Murasame standing directly in front of them. The gray head from an old gundam hanging not that far above it, immediately recognizing the head, the slightly astonished Dearka felt a small smile tugging at his lips.
"So this is where all the parts of the Aegis end up after Athrun blew it up" the former ZAFT soldier said, unable to stop himself from reminiscing about the past for a brief moment, even to this day he could still clearly remember how he, Yzak, Nicol, Athrun and...Rusty had snuck into Heliopolis to steal the Earth Alliance first five mobile suits or G-Weapons, as they had been called back then.
Yet the young man quickly snapped out of those thoughts, when Erica start talking loudly to him. "I have been making some experiment with parts from both the Aegis and the Blitz. The Amatsu's right arm for example, used to be the Blitz's, and there has been a few other parts from those old machines that I have been able to use" the scientist explained.
Kinda confused about why Erica had not mentioned the Buster, Dearka was just about to ask her about what had happened to his old machine, when she once more asked Mu and him to follow her, then without waiting for a response, Erica walked off towards the right side of the ginormous room, yet as the two pilots went after her, neither one of them could help but look around the place, there was just so many things to see in there, the Blitz gundam's torso along with it's disconnected head, was laying on the floor not being used for anything at the moment. Next to that, was parts from a Murasame spread out all over the floor, like an enormous puzzle. Once they were past that, Dearka spotted a few parts from an ASH type mobile suit, which judging from its light green color scheme, most likely belonged to one of the units that had attacked and destroyed their home, to kill Lacus. Just the mere thought of the sweet pink haired girl being targeted like that and how close they had all came to dying, during the assassination attempt, made a deep displeased frown appear on Dearka's forehead, as he mentally promised himself that once he got his new mobile suit, he was SOOO going to make ZAFT pay for everything they had done.
Yet those dark thoughts instantly disappeared from Dearka's mind, when the next thing his eyes found their way to was an M1 Astray, with the arms from one of the ASH type mobile suits attached to it. Considering how out of place those parts looked on the M1, the young man could not keep a light chuckle from leaving his mouth, he just couldn't get over how utterly bizarre the Orb mobile suit looked, and Dearka doubt quite a bit, that Erica was ever going to get those things to work together properly, the arms was simply put way too heavy for the M1's much smaller frame.
It was at that moment Mu start talking loudly beside him. "Everything in here is pretty interesting, it really does look like the type of place a mad scientist totally fixated on mobile suits, would spend her days, but I do not really see much in here that would help us to beat back ZAFT".
Looking back at him. "This place Mu serves more as a playground for me to mess around with parts from different mobile suits. All the complete units are in the next room, the security there is a bit more advance, since I do not want any of these mobile suits to fall into the wrong hands, so it's a bit of a shame that I have no choice now, but to give them to you guys" Erica teased, yet the small mischievous grin on her face quickly disappeared, when a light tremor from an explosion shook the huge room. Knowing that the battle outside was getting closer to their location, neither the scientist nor the two pilots said anything else, as they continued the rest of the way over to the thick metal door, at the end of the room.
Once there Erica again pressed her hand against a certain spot on the wall and looked into a retinal scanner. It was only a brief instant later, when a robotic female voice said her full name, and that the door start sliding aside. Not even fully open, the three of them entered the next room, where Mu immediately let out a short impressed whistle.
"Now this is what I am talking about!" the Hawk Of Endymion said, looking the left one of the two gundams standing in front of him and Dearka over, it had a golden paint job, that frankly made it stand out quite a bit compare to all the other mobile suits he had seen in his life. It was armed with a Hyakurai beam rifle that it was holding onto with its right hand, next it had a slightly weird looking beam saber attached to it's left hip. Yet one did not have to be an expert in mobile suit design, to tell that those two things was far from its only weapons.
Slowly moving his gaze away from the more eye catching one of the two mobile suits, and over to the second one, Mu saw that it looked very much like a Murasame the only thing different was that it had four wings instead of two, it had a mostly black scheme with a bit of purple here and there, like the wings and elbow joints, the only thing that was not in those colors was the crown that had the usual golden color, and last but not least it's legs that was bright red for some reason. Yet what really caught the blond man's attention was its eyes, they were black, which frankly made the mobile suit look quite a bit creepy and spooky, Mu actually had to force himself to look away from the machine's deep dark eyes and over its armaments, like the first machine it was holding on to a Hyakurai beam rifle, yet instead of one it had two beam sabers one on each hip, it had a pair of wicked looking gatling cannons on its shoulders, that was obviously quite a bit more powerful than the normal machine guns you would find on a mobile suit, and while those weapons was pretty impressive, one had to be downright stupid if you weren't able to tell that this mobile suit was transformable, likely into some sort of fast moving combat plane, which meant that like the golden mobile suit, it likely also had a few more weapons hidden away somewhere.
"The left one is the ORB-01 Akatsuki, is a mobile suit that was designed by Lord Uzumi himself, it has quite a few special features which I am certain is going to be very useful. Now as for the second machine the ORB-02 Yami or Black Frame as Kazuma likes to call it, it's a gundam of my own design that I've been working on for at least a yeah, as you guys might have guessed it's the prototype for the Murasame, and just like the Akatsuki it also has a few special features" Erica explained.
"They are both totally awesome Erica. Dibs on the one with the same name as those crazy ninjas in Naruto!" Dearka proclaimed loudly.
Looking over at him, the sighing Erica was severely tempted to give the young man a good smack on the head for that comment. But since they were short on time she settled for rolling her eyes a single time, while mumbling the word idiot under her breath.
"I would actually prefer that you take the Yami Dearka, since I programmed that mobile suit's OS with all that data I could pull from you two old friends over there" Erica said, using her thumb to point towards the left side of the large chamber.
Immediately turning to see what friends Erica was referring to, Dearka wasn't really all that surprised to see his good old blue Murasame down there, since Erica had insist firmly on needing the damaged machine for something shortly after the Archangel had returned home to Orb, it had been fully repaired just with red parts from a standard Murasame instead blue, which in Dearka's eyes made it look kinda stupid, but it was the mobile suit standing beside the Murasame that really caught his attention, it was a machine that brought forth a lot of old memories from the past, his first battle against the Archangel in that machine, where Athrun had almost captured Kira, how he had descent to Earth in it near the end of the battle against Earth Alliance 8th Fleet, how after fighting against them for such a long time, he had end up joining the Archangel crew during the battle at Alaska, where he shortly after had met Miriallia Haw who truly was the love of his life, there was just so many things that Dearka could not help but be reminded of, by seeing the Buster gundam again, he was almost tempt to tell Erica, that he was going to be piloting that machine in this battle instead of the Yami, fortunately the more rational part of his mind was quick to realize that his old Buster gundam was way too outdated to be all that useful against all the newer mobile suits ZAFT was throwing at them. So after staring at the Buster a bit longer, Dearka turned and looked back at Erica.
"I'll take the Yami. I do however have one small request Erica, that Guul over there, beside the Buster can I have that?" the former ZAFT soldier asked.
Tilting her head a bit to the side in a confused manner. "Why? You do realize that the Yami can fly on its own".
"Yeah, that much is blatantly obvious Erica. But that Guul, that's the one Yzak used when he came here two years ago to challenge Kira, I know that it might sound weird, but I kinda feel like that if I use that thing in this battle, it would help redeem Yzak a bit for all the terrible things he did, like killing innocent civilians and a fellow soldier's wife" Dearka said with a sadden look in his eyes, even to this day, there was still times when Dearka Elsman wondered what he could have done differently to prevent Yzak from falling so far over the edge, if only he had tried a bit more to get him to see reason, and cease with his almost insane desire to get even with Kira and the Strike.
"When you put it like that Dearka, you are making it very difficult for me to say no to you, so since I have already looked the Guul over quite a few times for whatever secrets it might content, I guess you can 'borrow' it, not that I expect to get it back in one piece" Erica softly told her young friend.
Bowing slightly at her. "Thank you very much Erica, you have no idea how much I appreciate you leaning me that Guul" Dearka said, then after pulling on his helmet, he began walking with fast steps towards the Yami, while Mu made his way to the Akatsuki.
It wasn't much later when both pilots were in their respective machines.
Once done with a quick check up, Dearka was pleased to discover, that the Yami's OS was exactly the way he wanted. 'Hmm I guess Erica wasn't kidding when she said that she programmed this thing with all the data she could find in my Murasame, and the Buster'.
But while Dearka was quite a bit curious about what the special features Erica had mention was, he quickly decided that he could always figure that out later, once he and Mu entered the battle.
It was at that moment that the Yami's black eyes lit up, which was a sure sign that the mostly black gundam was ready to blow, tear and rip apart everything it came across.
"Just give me a second Mu, then I should be ready to head out!" Dearka said loudly, as he made his way over to the old Guul.
000000
Back on board the Archangel, Miriallia quickly turned her chair and looked at Murrue. "Captain! We just received a message from Erica, the Akatsuki and the Yami are ready to launch now!".
"Hmm that's a couple of interesting names for our new gunda..." Yet Murrue did not get a chance to finish that sentence, when Cagalli's loud voice cut her off.
"It's about God damn TIME! Hurry up and get our Murasames in the air, and have them rendezvous with the two idiots, I am leaving now for Orb's defense headquarters, I got a few things to 'discuss' with Yuna!" The pregnant blonde said, loudly cracking her knuckles, as she raced full speed out of the room.
Watching Cagall leave with such haste, Athrun could not keep a long sigh of annoyance from leaving his mouth. Considering everything Unato and Yuna had done to gain control of Orb in the first place, the blue haired soon to be father sincerely feared that the two bastards would try to get rid of Cagalli, to stay in control, he want to go with her so badly to keep her safe from the two Seirans and what few followers they had left. Yet with this damn wheelchair being his only means to get anywhere, it was impossible for him to keep up with her.
'Ahh damn it all, once I can walk on my own again, I am so going to smash this stupid contraption...! Well at least Kisaka is there to keep and eye on Cagalli, I doubt anybody with half a brain would be stupid enough to try to hurt her, with him around' Athrun mentally reassured himself.
Then after sitting there a bit longer worrying about Cagalli and trying to figure out the easiest way to completely destroy a wheelchair so it could never be used again, he heard Miriallia's loud voice tell the Murasame pilot Ikeya that he was ready and could take off now, looking away from his lap and up at the monitor, Athrun saw a Murasame being hurled full speed down the catapult and out through the Archangel's opened hangar hatch, followed shortly by a light green Murasame, that as far as he knew belonged to that Kazuma fellow that had joined the Archangel crew not that long ago, seeing more and more of their Murasames head out into battle, the frown on Athrun Zala's face grew deeper and deeper.
'I need to get a hold on some painkillers and my spacesuit, after that I have to get down to the hangar, once Kira and Lacus gets here with my new mobile suit, I am heading out too' the young man thought determined, then looked over at Mayu who was standing silently beside her mother.
"Mayu sweetheart, can you please take me back to med bay?" He softly asked her, knowing that he might be forced to break open the medical cabinet down there, to get a hold on some painkillers.
The eleven-year-old was so far away in her own thoughts, that she actually jumped a bit in surprise at the sound of Athrun's otherwise friendly voice, and it was without saying a word to anybody that Mayu stepped over and took a hold on the wheelchair, then began rolling him towards the exit of the bridge.
Once out in the hallway the quiet girl let out a deep breath that made the hair on her forehead fly all over the place. "So what are you up to, big bro? You better have a good response, if not I am telling mom" the girl threatened in a relatively calm tone of voice.
A bit surprised by her words, Athrun looked back at her. "What makes you think I am up to something?" He asked, hoping that he could somehow bluff his way out of this.
"Mostly your expression, I think the last time I saw you look anywhere near this serious, was when you, Kira and Dearka, was arguing about which Ninja Turtle is the most awesome one. Raphael by the way" Mayu said, the look in her eyes making it completely clear to Athrun, that he would not be able to worm his way out of this.
"Leonardo. But we can discuss that later as much as you want Mayu, just as long as you help me out here. What I am planning Mayu, is to get down to the hangar, so I am ready to join the battle once Kira and Lacus arrives here with my new mobile suit" he explained.
Narrowing her eyes slightly. "Are you sure that's wise in your condition?".
Slowly shaking his head back and forth a few times. "Not really, but I need to this Mayu, I want to protect all of you guys, my future wife, our children, and everything else that's important to me and Cagalli"
Glaring angrily at him. "Damn you big bro, fiiiinnnnee I'll help you out, but if you injure yourself even further it is going to take more than just talking about Ninja Turtle for me to forgive you" the brown haired girl hissed out through her teeth, seriously pissed about having to help her big brother do something so utterly stupid and idiotic.
"I realize that Mayu, but even so, I am grateful for your help"
Still glaring at him, the angry girl let out a displeased hrmpf. "Just shut the hell up idiot until we reach the hangar, once there you can do whatever the hell you want!" Mayu shouted at the top of her lungs, looking very much like she was ready to start crying at any moment.
Seeing that look in her eyes made Athrun feel even worse about what he was planning to do, but there was no turning back now, he had to do this.
000000
At the same time on board a certain well-known gray space ship not that far away from Orb, Shinn was pacing impatiently back and forth as he waited for them to arrive at their destination, his home country.
"Shinn, will you please for the love of God try to relax! You are seriously starting to get on my nerves here!" Lunamaria finally yelled at her long time friend.
Stopping what he was doing, Shinn sat down on the nearest empty seat. "I am sorry Luna, I just can't wait until we get there, I can now at long last finally get my revenge on Orb for every crappy thing it has done" the boy said with a deep twisted grin on his face, just the mere thought of what they were about to do, was almost enough to make him activate his Seed Factor.
To be continued.
ORB-02 Yami Gundam.
The Yami gundam is the prototype of the Murasame so it looks quite a bit like a Murasame, yet it has four wings for increased speed, in its mobile armor mode it can fly almost twice as fast as a normal Murasame. The Yami's color scheme is mostly black, except for its wings and elbows that are purple, last the lower parts of it's legs are red.
Armaments in mobile suit mode: The Yami has a pretty even amount of both long ranger weapons and melee weapon, it has a single Hyakurai beam rifle, two Lacerta beam sabers that can be combined (just like the Freedom and Justice), next it has two 4-barrel gatling guns hidden in its shoulders, (exactly like the Wing Zero), next it has two beam machine guns it its head, where the machine cannons would usually be located on other gundams, plus it has two Rocket-Propelled Anti-Armor Penetrators hidden away in both of its arms so they are easily accessible, last it has two beam blades on each of its feet.
Armaments in mobile armor mode: The Yami can use almost all of it's long ranged weapons when it's transformed, the beam rifle is on the right side of the plane, and both gatling guns are hiden away just above the wings, the only weapons that can't be used in this mode are the beam machine guns, yet both of the beam blades on its legs can be use for close combat in this mode, and last it has the same amount of missiles as a normal Murasame.
Defense: A beam shield locate on the machine's left arm.
Powerplant: Unknown just like it's bother unit the Akatsuki.
Special Features: I will reveal those in the next chapter.
Last just for the few people who don't know Yami means Darkness.