This chapter goes on at exactly the same time as the last one.
Chapter 27
The pilots of the Minerva was standing not all that far away from the ship, watching as the last of Heine's stuff was put in to the back of a military van.
They each had a somewhat depressed look in their eyes. As the soldier that was loading the car closed the back door then turned over and looked at them, also with a sad look on his face.
"I'll make sure to deliver all of Westenfluss stuff to his family!" He told them.
While taking a look over their depressed expression, which made him feel a bit sorry for them. It really was tough losing a comrade like this, and he could easily tell that they had all liked having Westenfluss around, and that they where each going to miss him a lot.
He did however not get long to feel sorry for them before the blond haired teen took a single step away from the others and over towards him.
"Please do take care of everything, we are sadly counting on you to tell his family the bad news!" Rey said. While giving the man in front of him a small, yet respectful salute.
Even true Rey did not have a family on his own. He could quite easily imagine just how depressing it had to be, going over to somebody's house just to tell them that one of their family members was dead. A task like that was not really one he wanted no matter what.
He had no trouble at all remembering how sad he had been, that time when Gilbert had told him that Rau had been killed at Jachin Due.
Yet before he could give it all that much thought. The man in front of him lifted his hand and gave all of them a small salute back. "I'll be sure to mention to his family that all his comrades are deeply sadden about this incident as well!" He said, while lowing his hand again. And without saying another word to them, he slowly turned away and began making his way back to the car.
So not really knowing what to do at the moment. The only thing the five pilots could do, was stand there and quietly watch, as the black van disappeared around a one of the mobile suit hangars.
Yet it was only when Shinn gave the railing that lead back to the Minerva a hard kick. That the deep almost unbearable silence was brought to a hold.
"Damn it all, I still can't believe he got kill like that. If those fools hadn't interfered like that Heine would still be alive. I'm seriously going to kill that stupid blond bitch the next time I see her!" He said in a loud determined tone.
As he hurried turned around and hastily began heading back towards the open entrance of the grey space ship. Not noticing the slightly angry look the Saviour pilot was sending him.
Athrun might be angry at Cagalli and the others too.
Yet that surely did not mean he could just stand idlely by, when somebody was so openly treating to kill his own fiancée.
And he seriously hope that it would never come to that. If Shinn really did try and kill the woman he loved. Athrun knew without the slightest doubt, that he would do everything to prevent that.
Even if it meant going up against the Impulse pilot. There was just no way in hell, he would ever allow Shinn to ever hurt Cagalli.
He did after all choose to join up with Zaft again, in an attempt to keep the people he loved and cared about out of the war. And also because he thoroughly believed, that the way the Chairman was doing things was the best way to end this whole war.
Yet even so. He still couldn't figure out for what reason Kira and everybody else had thought, it was a wise idea to interfere in yesterday's battle.
He was pretty much sure that at one point in time, they had all heard some of the things the Chairman had said.
So why the heck did they find it necessary to go up against them like they had. Why in the world didn't they assist Zaft in stopping the Earth Forces, and bring an end to all of this meaningless fighting.
It just didn't make any sense to him. Even while hiding out down in the ocean, they should already know quite well, what the Chairman and the rest of Zaft was trying so hard to accomplish.
"I have to find them, I just have to talk with them about all of this, and get them to see the light" he whispered out in a determined tone. Just as the face of everybody he cared about on the Archangel made their way through his deeply puzzled mind.
Yet as he stood there trying to figure out someway to locate the Archangel. Somebody suddenly reached out and placed a hand on his left shoulder, which made him jump slightly as he hurried turned around, and was just about to bate the hand away.
When he realized that the person behind him was properly one of his best friends on the Minerva. And that he didn't have any hostile intentions.
"What is it Nicol?" He asked in a quiet voice, while still thinking hard about the Archangel and her crew.
Smiling a bit at his long time friend.
Nicol Amalfi got a deeply determined look in both of his brown eyes. As he began talking in a tone, that made it completely clear to Athrun, that he was quite serious about everything he was saying.
"If you really are going out there to look for them Athrun, I would like very much to accompany you. There is a few things I would like to talk with them about too!" He explained, as his thoughts wander over to his fight with the light blue Murasame.
It really had been a bit of a miracle, that he had manage to get out of that battle, without any serious damage to his mobile suit. Whoever was piloting that Murasame had without a doubt some very impressive skill in using that machine.
And getting such grand abilities like that in a mobile suit, certainly wasn't something a person would obtain just by using a training simulator.
Which meant that whoever was using that Murasame had most definitely seen live combat. Yet before his mind had the opportunity to get all that far, his thoughts was interrupted by his blue hair friend's sensible voice.
"That's fine I really appreciate your help Nicol. It will without a doubt be much easier to find them, if the two of us works together" Athrun said.
Even true he realized that even with Nicol's assistance it would still be a very difficult task finding one single space ship hiding out down in the ocean. It wasn't like they had all that many clues to follow in the first place.
The only thing they knew for sure was which direction the Archangel had disappeared in. And that wasn't really much help, it could after all had change course more then a couple of times after it had submerged back in to the ocean.
And that pretty much left Athrun and Nicol on the bottom with clues. They really had no idea about where to even start searching for the Archangel.
Yet no matter what they where utterly determined to at the very least try and find the white space ship. It wasn't like it could have completely vanished from the face of the earth. Yet one thing was certain, they couldn't just take off in some random direction and try to find it.
They both knew that the needed to come up with a much more effective way to determined where exactly the Archangel could be.
And with a deep thoughtful expression on his face. Nicol lifted his head and looked over at Athrun. "For now at least, I do believe that it's best that we go back to the Minerva, it's not like we can just take off without telling the captain what we are going to do" the green haired teenage said. While thinking a few seconds about what kind of reaction they would get from the captain, once they told her about their little mission.
Hearing him say that Athrun nodded a few times in agreement.
And so with that decision made. The two friends turned around and began slowly making their way down the small walkway that lead them to the entrance of the enormous grey space ship.
They did however not get all that far. Before Nicol finally got out one of the more important questions, that had been going through his mind the last five minutes.
"By the way Athrun, there is something I have been wanting to ask you about since yesterday. You know that blue Murasame I fought against, do you have any idea about who is inside that thing?" He asked in a somewhat calm tone. Which made it slightly unclear, if he had any kind of suspicion about what the answer was going to be.
Not really all that surprised by his friend's question.
Athrun immediately stopped and just stood there for a few very long moments, with a mostly unreadable look in each of his green eyes. As he tried his best to come up with some kind of reply.
And still with most of his attention turned towards the Minerva. He let out a small breath as he began talking in a somewhat far away tone.
"I'm not entirely sure who was inside that Murasame. But if I had to guess, I would say that it was properly Dearka. I do recall a conversation between him and Erica Simmons about having a Murasame special made for him in those blue colours, just after the first few Murasames had left the assembling line" the blue haired man explained.
While taking a small glance back at Nicol, where he saw him nod slowly in understanding, and with a thoughtful expression on his face. "Hmmm so I really was right in my assumption. His fighting style in that Murasame, hasn't really change all that much, since his days in the Buster" Nicol said, while thinking very thoroughly about how utterly dangerous his old friend had been in the two cannon equipped mobile suit.
And just the entire thought about how skilled, Dearka was in long range combat. Was more then enough to make Nicol decide, that if he was forced to go up against him again.
He would do his upmost to keep the whole thing in close combat. Something he knew from fighting along side Dearka so many times in the past, wasn't really his specialty.
Yet he just hoped that once he and Athrun finally found them. They could somehow convince them to either head on back home to Orb, or perhaps even join forces with them.
Having a ship as powerful as the Archangel on their side, would most definitely help them out a great deal against the Earth Forces.
And now that he was really giving it some serious thought. He had little trouble at all imagining just what the Archangel and the Minerva could accomplish, if they ever where to fight on the same side.
"We should hurry up and get going Athrun. Instead of standing around here wasting our valuable time" Nicol said, as he continued onward towards the Minerva.
Seeing his friend disappear in to the grey space ship.
Athrun took a deep breath, while looking up at the blue afternoon sky. There wasn't really much to see up there other then a few clouds that was slowly floating over the base.
And just seeing how nice the sky looked right now was enough to make him realize that if he had been back home in Orb. He would most likely have asked Cagalli out for a walk on the beach.
He truly did miss doing those kind of things with her. It was always so peaceful and relaxing walking on the sandy surface, listening to the comfortable calm sounds of the ocean and not having to worry about anything.
And he truly hoped that once this dreadful war was brought to an end. He would again have the opportunity to experience those kinds of moments together with the woman he loved.
And after standing there a couple of seconds, with his mind going slowly over some of the more nice experience, the two of them had been having together since they started their relationship.
Yet once he thought about how he had propose to her. He quickly gave his head a shook to get his mind over on something else. Now wasn't really the best of times for him to be thinking about such things.
It was properly much better that he kept his concentration on finding the Archangel. He could always think about the relationship he and Cagalli was in, once that task had been carried out.
And knowing that Nicol was properly getting a somewhat impatient waiting around for him. He slowly moved his thoughtful gaze away from the afternoon sky, then continued on down the walkway.
Now thinking about how to convince captain Gladys to let Nicol and him leave the ship for a few days.
Yet seeing as the Minerva's Tannhauser was still undergoing major repairs, because of all the damage Kira and Dearka had made on it. There was a big chance that the ship wouldn't be going in to combat again anytime soon.
Which meant that there wasn't really much for the ships pilots to do right now. So if Nicol and him could somehow find the Archangel.
That would undeniably be more beneficial, then just having the two of them wasting their time sitting around on the Minerva not doing anything. Other then waiting for the mechanics to finish putting the Tannhauser back together.
And seeing as they pretty much had to install a hold new cannon. It would most likely take more then a few days before the ship could leave this place.
And that time could definitely be much better spend, in finding and convincing the Archangel's crew. Not to make those kind of interference again, like they had done in yesterday's battle.
000000
It was about a half hour later, when the Saviour and the yellow GOUF was launched from the Minerva.
Once outside the red gundam immediately transformed over in to it's mobile armor and took off in the north east direction, with Nicol following closely behind him.
Seeing the two mobile suits slowly disappear in the horizon. Talia could not help but give her low lips a small bite. She might have given them permission to go out and search for the Archangel.
Yet that did not mean that she didn't have some serious thoughts about this whole matter. It wasn't like she felt any distrust towards the two pilots.
Each of them had both proven their big loyalty to Zaft. Ynd it wasn't like she was overly concerned that the two pilots wouldn't come back after accomplishing what they had set out to do.
Yet the true reason why the brown haired woman seemed so far away at the moment. Was because she knew that it was of great importance to Zaft that they gather as much knowledge about the Archangel as possible.
And even true she did trust the two pilots. She wasn't entirely sure that she could count on them to tell her everything, when they finally got back here from their little trip.
Which meant that she had to come up some other way, to make sure that collect whatever information they could from this whole affair.
And still thinking about what to do in this situation. She finally turned away from the window and walked back over to her seat, where she immediately sat down, still with that deep thoughtful look in both of her eyes.
So after sitting quietly there for a few more seconds. The brown haired woman finally came to a decision about how to handle this matter.
And knowing that the more time she spend in there, the further the gundam and the mass-produced mobile suit would get from the Minerva. And that would without a doubt make the task of tracking them down, all that much more difficult.
So not wanting to make the mission harder then it already was.
She hurried took a minor sip of her now half warm coffee, then reached out and pressed the small red button on the intercom, which meant that she was now in direct contact with the bridge.
"Meyrin, could you please tell your sister, that I would like to talk with her down in my office?" She said in a loud tone. That made it clear for everybody gather up on the bridge that this was serious.
And she did not have to wait long to get an answer from the youngish of the two Hawke sisters, who told her in a usual obedient tone that she would send Lunamaria down there immediately.
Truly pleased to hear that response, the captain of the Minerva felt a small smile ran over her lips, as she once more began talking to the red haired girl on the other end of the intercom.
"Thank you Meyrin, by the way how are the repairs going?" She asked. Truly wondering just how many hours it would take before all the work on the Tannhauser was done.
Not getting a reply on that question immediately. Talia could hear the crew up there talking loudly with each other about something. And even true she couldn't make out everything they where saying.
She could easily guess that it was the condition of the Minerva they where discoursing. And after about a minute or two she could once more hear Meyrin's voice over the intercom.
"Most of our mechanics, are still busy removing all the destroyed parts of the old Tannhauser, and according to Aves it will take a at least three or four days to install a whole new cannon" the red haired girl explained.
While using a few seconds to think about how horrifying it had been, when the Freedom gundam and that blue Murasame had destroyed the Tannhauser.
She might not have shown it much yesterday. But she had been slightly afraid that the whole ship was going to blow up, because of all the shaking the Minerva had done, when the Tannhauser exploded.
She truly hoped that something like that wouldn't happen again anytime soon. Those kinds of nasty experience, wasn't really something she was all that keen on trying more then once. Yet before she could think all that long about it.
The captain's friendly voice interrupted her deep thoughts about the Tannhauser's destruction by the two enemy mobile suits.
"Hmm ok I understand, please do keep me updated about the process Meyrin. And also if you have the time do you mind checking how many supplies' we have on board? And if there is anything we really need, then make a small list of everything?" She asked. Knowing that since it hadn't been that many days since they had last been at a Zaft base, the chance of them running out of food and water was kinda small.
Yet it certainly did not hurt to be on the safe side.
And when Meyrin told her that she would begin working on that immediately, the captain knew that she and the rest of the ship was kinda lucky having such a cooperative leader of the CIC.
"Good then, I'm counting on you Meyrin. Please get back to me once you are done, now do carry on!" She said, still using the same friendly tone as before.
And with nothing more to talk about the communication between Talia's office and the bridge ended.
So now the only thing the captain could do was wait until Lunamaria arrived down there.
She really did hope that the only female pilot on board was good enough to track both Athrun and Nicol down.
There really was no telling if the two boys would stay together, or split up to search for the Archangel on their own. If that happened she might just be forced to send somebody else out there too.
Yet for now it would definitely be best to have as few people as possible running around after the two former members of the Le Creuset team.
And while still sitting there thinking about that she slowly reached out after her coffee cup and took a small sip of the now almost completely cold liquid.
"Hmm I really need to get a new cup of this once I'm done talking with Luna" she said, sounding a tiny bit exhausted, as she took a small glance over at all the big stack of paper that was standing on her desk.
Knowing that she would have to go through all of that, was more then enough to make the gorgeous captain of the Minerva feel somewhat worn out.
And a small part of her actually did consider a few seconds to head out and search for another job.
Yet even as she sat there thinking about that. Talia slowly reached over and took the top piece of paper. And without doing any more postponing she began carefully reading the small black words that was writer down on the white material.
000000
Elsewhere Lunamaria was slowly leaving her room, with a slightly displeased expression on her face.
She had seriously hoped that she could spend the rest of the day just laying on her bed reading her news book and try to forget about what had happened to Heine.
She might not like it that much the few times he tried to flirt with her.
But that certainly did not mean she wasn't rattled up as everybody else about him getting killed. Truth be told she had actually been deeply sadden, when Athrun had told them that the orange haired man had been shoot down by the Gaia gundam.
And she knew without a doubt that she was going to miss both him and his sense of humor in the future.
And that was why she had immediately gone back to her room, once the soldier that had been given the somewhat depressing task of delivering all of Heine's things back to his family, had left the area.
She had really hoped that she could be on her own for a few hours. And just concentrate on reading a couple of chapters of her book.
Yet it had just badly started getting exciting, when her little sister had contact her and told her that the captain wanted to speak with her, which truthfully annoyed her a great deal. She might have a lot of respect for the captain.
But she really wished that the older woman could have left her alone. She seriously didn't feel like having a long conversation with anybody today.
So she really hoped that whatever the captain wanted was really important. She truly hated being disturbed while she was reading especially if it was a new book she had just gotten her hands on.
But even true a small part of her, really wanted to complain to the captain about this.
She knew that if she actually did such a brain dead thing. She would undeniably get herself in a lot of trouble. So it was properly best, to at least try and hide some of her discontentment. She really didn't want the captain to know, just how annoyed she was about having to leave her room.
And with that in mind she stopped and just stood there quietly a few seconds. Trying to get rid of the deep unhappy frown on her face.
She seriously did not want to show up at the captain's room. Looking like she was just about ready to wring the neck of the first person. That had the big misfortune to say just one wrong word to her.
Unfortunately not matter how long she stood there. She just couldn't think of anything cheerful enough, to get rid of that enormous vein on her forehead.
And realizing that she wouldn't get in a better mood anytime soon. The red haired girl, slowly moved her hand up and ran a couple of fingers over the still quite visible vein, feeling greatly annoyed that it was still there.
"Maybe after I'm done talking with the captain I should buy a hat or something else to hide this irritating thing!" She grumbled out in a clearly unhappy tone.
Before she gave the wall next to her a hard kick, while at the same time muttering out a few quite colourful curses, which she didn't care one bit about if anybody else heard. Not that there was anybody else there at the moment.
Apparently most of the ships crew was busy elsewhere.
So after complaining a bit longer about just how completely unfair her life was treating her right now.
She hurried turned around on one foot and continued on down the hall. Still utterly pissed off that she was not allowed to have even a single day to be lazy.
"I really hope that whatever she wants to talk about is of the upmost important. Not something like the status of my mobile suit. If she wants to know that, she could always ask either Vino or Yolant!" The female mobile suit piloted told herself.
While at the same time, trying her best to figure out what in the world, the captain of the Minerva wanted to see her for.
She did however not get long to sulk about that. Before she found herself in front of the captain's room, where she stood a unknown number of seconds taking a few deep breaths, in one last attempt to calm herself down.
And after making completely sure, that her short red hair was covering up most of the unhappy vein. She let out a small sigh before she slowly reached out and softly knocked on the door. And even true she almost immediately heard the captain's kind voice telling her to please come in.
She just could stop herself from yet again wondering what it was the captain wanted to talk with her about.
"Might as well get this over and done with. Perhaps if I'm a bit lucky I can get back to my book in just a few minutes" the girl mumbled quietly to herself, truly hoping that this meeting wouldn't take too long.
That way she could hurry back to her room. And continued on with the chapter, she had been so caught up in when her younger sister had disturb her, so still with all of those wishful thoughts roaming through her head.
The female piloted slowly moved her hand over to the button that would open the door to the captain's room. And it was only a second later, when she stepped in to the room. Where she immediately gave the brown haired woman a small yet respectful salute.
"Lunamaria Hawke reporting as ordered captain!" The red haired piloted said in a loud tone.
A bit confused over the girl's overly polite behaviour. The captain slowly raised her right eyebrow. "Please relax Luna, I did not call you down here for a scolding or anything like that, as a matter a fact I got a mission for you" Talia explained in a calm tone. While giving the red haired girl a friendly smile.
Hearing the captain said that Lunamaria almost growl out loud. Now that she knew that she would soon be going out on a mission, the girl knew that it would without a doubt take a very long time, before she would be able to read her most newly purchased book.
Why the world couldn't the captain had found somebody else to do this, why did it have to be her of all people.
But even true she was far from pleased about this. She managed to keep up her happy facade, as the captain began telling her what this mission was about.
And once Luna heard that she was supposed to track down Athrun and Nicol.
The red haired piloted immediately promised herself to give each of them a big hit on the noggin, once she discovered where her two fellow mobile suit pilots had ran off too.
Yet just like everything else today that idea quickly got shoot down. When the captain told her, that she was to keep a close eye on them, once she finally manage to track them down.
Which pretty much meant that now it was Lunamaria's turn to be a little confused. "And why is that captain, I thought the reason why I had to go out on this mission was to bring those two back?" She said not doing anything to hide. Just how much this was puzzling her, she really didn't understand why it was a necessity to send her out there for no apparent reason.
Smiling a bit at the girl's bewildered expression.
Talia began explaining the reason why Luna had to go after the two boys. "You are not suppose to bring them back here Luna! It would properly be for the best that they don't even see you. It's not like the two of them have deserter us or anything like that. They just showed up here a little while ago and asked permission to go out and search for the Archangel" the brown haired woman said, with a thoughtful look on her face.
There was still a great many things she didn't understand about the Archangel and what it's intentions where.
And that was why she hoped that by sending Luna out there.
The girl could perhaps dig up some vital information about the white space ship, there was seriously no telling how the slightest bit of knowledge could be of greatest importance when dealing with something as powerful and unpredictable as the Archangel.
She did however not get long to think about that before Luna's somewhat puzzled voice interrupted her thoughts.
"Why the heck would they take off to search for something like that, don't they realize what that ship did yesterday?" She asked in a loud unhappy tone, while a few pictures of everything the Archangel and the Freedom had done yesterday ran through her mind.
Just standing there thinking about it, was more then enough to make her already bad mood even worth.
Just like so many of the other crew members, she too blamed the Archangel for Heine's death. If that ship hadn't interfered, the orange man would most likely still be running around on the Minerva cracking his somewhat foolish jokes.
Yet before Lunamaria could disappear completely in to her own thoughts about the now dead comrade.
The brown haired captain began talking to her in a much more calm tone. Then the one the female pilot was using.
"I do believe that you already know the answer to that question Lunamaria. Both Athrun and Nicol where after all both a part of that ship's crew two years ago. So they are bond to have some people on board the Archangel they care about" Talia said. While thinking back to how close the Orb Chief Representative and Athrun had been the last time she saw them together.
Truth be told, now that she was really giving it some thought, she couldn't deny their relationship kinda remind her a bit of the one she had with her own lover.
So still with her mind somewhat occupied by Gilbert's gentle yet handsome smile.
She once more turned her thoughtful gaze, over at the only other person in her room, where she could easily tell by the girl's expression that she was thinking quite hard about everything she had just told her. And knowing that the longer the girl stayed here, the tough it would be for her to finding the two former members of the Le Creuset team.
And with that in mind. The woman once more continued talking about Athrun's and Nicol's reason to try and find the Archangel. "And that's properly the bigs reason why the two of them where both so eager to talk with them about everything that happened yesterday" the woman said.
While truly wondering if the two boys could even find the white space ship. They really did have a tough job ahead of them.
Not entirely realizing that the captain wasn't really paying all that much attention to her. Luna looked over at the brown haired woman, still trying to decide what she thought about her two friends reason to search for the Archangel.
Yet in the end she knew that her opinion on all of this didn't really matter.
She had been order to track down both Athrun and Nicol. So that was what she was going to do.
So while still feeling somewhat conflicted about the whole mission, she let out a small sigh, that could easily be heard all over the room. Seeing as both of the women where pretty quiet at the moment.
"I better get going now captain, I don't want those two rascals to get too far away" Luna said- Actually making it sound a tiny bit like, she was talking about two little kids, that had run away from their mother, while playing around in the park.
Smiling a bit at the girl's choice of words. Talia nodded a single time in understanding. "Well good luck then. By the way if it's any help they took of in the north east direction, so I do believe that they where heading towards Diocuia so if you take a look around in there. I'm certain you will be able to find them, without too much trouble" she said in a serious tone.
"That's great captain, thank you for that. Now then I'll see you once I get back" Lunamaria said. As she turned away from the captain and began walking towards the door, which pretty much meant that it did not take long before Talia was once more alone in her room.
Yet even true the woman still had a lot of paper work to do. She was determined to get a fresh cup of coffee before she continued on this nightmarish task.
And with that in mind she took one last glance at all the paper that was laying around on her desk. Before she slowly got back up on her feet, and began making her way over to the door.
000000
It was a couple of hours after that in Diocuia.
The two former members of the Le Creuset team, was slowly leaving the coast guards office.
Yhey had pretty much been caught in there ever since they got to the city. Asking them if they had seen anything peculiar in the area these last days. But unfortunately when they where finally able to leave the place again. They where still on the roughly on the bottom in the clue department.
Most of the people back in the coast guards office, had mostly just made fun of them. Asking if they where out on some kind of big treasure hunt.
And it was only when they had actually shown that they where Zaft soldiers, that they had finally gotten some answer.
Yet even true they had been somewhat polite after that, they still hadn't gotten any close to find the Archangel, as when they had first entered the place.
So in the end it truly had been a complete waste of their time, which wasn't really something any of them where utterly pleased about. "What now Athrun? Do you have any idea about where we should go next?" Nicol asked in a far away tone. While at the same time giving an empty beer that just happened to be laying in front of him a hard kick, making it fly a couple of yards down the sidewalk.
Looking a bit at the can Nicol was playing around with.
Athrun got a somewhat thoughtful look on his face. "That's kinda hard to say Nicol. Maybe we should head down to the harbour and ask some of the fisherman down there if they have seen anything" the blue haired teen said.
Just as he gave the can a much harder kick then the one Nicol had given it only a few seconds before.
Watching as the small can landed quite far away from them. Nicol again turned his attention back towards Athrun.
"To tell you the truth, I really don't believe we will get much out of that Athrun. If the coast guard haven't noticed anything strange with their highly advance ships. I do not think there is many chances that a few normal fishing boats have seen the Archangel" Nicol said, while taking a deep breath before he once more continued saying his opinion on what Athrun had just suggest.
"If the Archangel really was that careless. I think we would have found it a long time ago" Nicol said in a serious tone. As he kneel down and pinked up the small can they had been kicking around these last few minutes.
And once the two friends walked past a small garbage can, that was standing on a street corner. He cautiously throw the blue tin object in to it.
Thinking a few seconds about what Nicol had just said.
The pilot of the Saviour knew that getting any useful information down at the harbour, could be kinda hard, if not completely impossible. But it wasn't like they had anything else to go on.
And perhaps if they where lucky enough. They might just run in to a few people that had heard some interesting rumours about what was going on in this area. It was without a doubt better, then just walking around with no clear destination in mind.
"You might just be right about that Nicol. But I do think it's at the very least worth a shot. Beside I can't really think of anything else at the moment that would help us figure out where in the world they have gone. And if nothing else it would at least give us something to do, until we come up with a better idea" Athrun said.
It was only now that he was really giving it some serious thought, that he realized just how difficult this task was.
If they could only find something or somebody that could point them in a direction. Then they would at least have some kind of clue about where, to start searching for the Archangel.
But unfortunately they only thing they could do right now, was wander around and hope to somehow find a clue that could help them on the right track. But even true both of them realized that this was pretty much their only option at the moment.
None of them really had all that much faith in their luck right now. It really had been pretty bad since yesterday, so neither of the friends where truly expecting to just miraculously run in to something that could help them out.
So after spending a few minutes discoursing the matter, the two of them finally agree on heading down to the harbour, and ask a few questions to the people already down there.
And with that decision made. The two of them didn't say anything else to each other, as they began walking slowly towards the harbour. They could both see in the distance.
And while each of them walked slowly down the sidewalk in their own thoughts. They each truly hoped that one of the fisherman down there had just the right information they needed to finally locate the Archangel.
They however not get all that far before they spotted a familiar looking figure making her way across the pretty much empty street ahead of them. And just the sight of the brown haired girl was more then enough to make both of their eyes widen slightly.
As they stood there watching her for a few minor seconds.
Yet when they both saw her turn and began walking slowly up a bunch of stairs that would take her away from this area, both of them immediately snapped back out of their deep thoughts and hurried rushed after the girl, before she had the time to get too far away from them.
"Hey Miriallia! Miriallia Haw please wait we need to talk with you!" Athrun yelled out in a tone, that could without a doubt be heard through most of the area, as the two friends raced full speed across street. Not even bothering to take the time to look out for cars, as they ran as fast as their legs could carry them, directly towards the long staircase the former CIC of the Archangel had disappear up at a few moments ago.
Yet just as the two of them where about to follow her up the long staircase. They saw her standing about halfway up looking down at them, with a somewhat curious expression on her face.
Which immediately became a bit more serious. Once she saw who it was that was so eager to talk with her.
Miriallia might have trusted these two men in the last war.
But after hearing from Dearka how a small squadron of elite Zaft soldiers had targeted one of her best friends and the rest of the people, she pretty much consider as a extended part of her family.
So she knew that it was properly a very wise move on her part, not to completely trust these two yet. Seeing as she had very limited knowledge, about which side they where on at this moment in time.
And realizing that her small handbag and her camera contented a great deal of information. That Zaft could without a doubt use to it's own advantage.
The girlfriend of the former pilot of the Buster gundam, was quite determined to at the very least be a little cautious around these guys. Properly until she could figure out if she could truly trust them again.
She had after all been posing as a journalist for quite some time now, to gather together all of this information.
And there was just no way in hell she was going to give any of the data she had on her to Zaft. There seriously was not telling what in the world they could use it for.
And if anybody took the time to take a real thorough look at all the data she had used these last few weeks to collect.
They would quickly discover that she had been using a lot of time to try and figure out who the fake Lacus Clyne was.
There was even a few photo hidden away down in her bag where the pink hair on the fake Lacus had been altered in to another colour, incase the stupid bitch was actually colouring her hair.
So after standing there a bit longer, letting her two blue eyes slowly glide back and forth between the two an unknown number of times. She finally opened her mouth and began talking to them in a quiet yet friendly tone.
"Athrun Zala and Nicol Amalfi. It's been quite a long time since I have last seen you guys! So what is it that you want to talk with me about?" She asked. Still looking a bit like she was in a hurry to get out of there.
She wasn't really overly keen on hang out with these guys right now.
If it had been under any other circumstance. And she wasn't running around with all of this information, it might actually be fun to catch up with these two again.
Especially Nicol, who she haven't seen once since he went back home after the last war. Yet before she could really start thinking about, how nice it would be having a good long conversation with the former pilot of the Blitz.
The blue haired man interrupted her slightly straying thoughts. "Well the reason why we want to talk with you Miriallia, was because we where hoping, that you could assist us get in contact with the Archangel. We seriously need to talk with them as quickly as possible" Athrun explained, while looking directly in to the brown haired girl's two blue eyes. Truly hoping that Nicol and him could somehow convince her to help them out.
Hearing him say that.
Miriallia narrowed her eyes a bit, as she nodded a single time in understanding. "Hmm so that's the reason why you guys are here. Unfortunately for the two I haven't really been in contact with them for a long time now. Which is kinda sad, I really do miss Dearka" the girl said. Before she turned around, and was just about to walk off when Athrun raced up beside her.
"Please wait a sec Miriallia, you just have to know of a way to get in contact with them. I really have to talk with Cagalli and Kira!" He said in a loud tone, that didn't do anything to hide how serious he was taking this.
Perhaps this truly was the only possible way for Nicol and him to find the Archangel. So there was no way, they could just let her leave like she had been about to.
Looking a bit at the blue haired man that was now tightly holding on to her shoulder. "Athrun do you know what happened to the house me and everybody else use to live in back home in Orb?" The brown haired girl asking, with a somewhat distrustful look in both of her eyes.
And even true she could easily tell that her question did surprise him a bit.
It did not take long, before he slowly shook his head a few times.
"No, why are you asking about that Mir? Did something happen to it?" The blue haired man asking in a serious tone. And with a slightly confused look in both of his eyes, while he stood there thinking back to the very house. He and his lovely fiancée, had been spending so much time in. In the company of some of the very people that was truly important in both of their lives.
Not giving him any kind of reply to his questions. Miriallia just kept on staring at him, still with that strange look in each of her eyes.
"I see, I'm really glad to hear that Athrun. Now then, if I don't help you guys out then what? Would you try and force me to contact the Archangel?" She asked using a tone, that was more then enough to make it clear, that she wanted some kind of answer to this question.
Blinking a few times at that. Athrun pretty much immediately got a complete shocked expression on his face.
He just didn't understand why the girl was asking about something like that. How in the world could she possibly think, that they where actually going to do such a terrible thing, as to try and force her to help them.
"Why would you even ask that, of course there is no way, we would ever do something like that Miriallia. We are Zaft soldiers not a bunch of vicious animals, we just want to make sure that the crew on board the Archangel wouldn't interfere again like they did yesterday!" Athrun said.
Not doing a single thing to hide just how much the last of the girl's questions had shocked him.
Slowly shaking his hand away from her shoulder.
The brown haired girl took one small step away from him. "I'm not really sure about the animal part Athrun. Not that my opinion on the matter is all that important. I think it's better that you have a good long conversation with Cagalli and Kira. I'll get in contact with them for you, just give me your cell phone number. Then I will call you once everything is ready" she said in a quiet voice. That made it kind hard to figure out what she thought about all of this.
Truly happy to hear her say that.
Nicol hurried made his way up to Athrun and the brown haired girl. "That's very kind of you Miriallia. I know that I for one is really grateful for you assistance" Nicol told her, while giving her a small bow. Before he stood up straight again and pulled out a small black cell phone.
Seeing as this was pretty much a whole new phone he hadn't really been using it a lot. And that meant he hadn't bother memorizing the number yet.
Looking at him for a second or two. Miriallia couldn't help but be a bit amazed that the green haired teenager was still acting this polite. Other then his appearance he really had change all that much.
And it was at times like these. That she kinda wished that he had stayed in contact with all of them, after he went back home to the Plants two years.
It wasn't only her and Dearka that had missed him greatly once he had left. Pretty much all of them, had from time to time been wondering just what in the world he had been doing, since they had last seen him.
So it seriously would have been nice. If this little reunion with him, wasn't half as tense and nerve wreaking as it was right now.
It quite frankly would have been great. If all of them could have found a good little restaurant, and sit down and have a nice long dinner together, while talking about pretty much everything that had happened since they had last seen each other.
Yet she realized that now wasn't really the right time for her to be thinking about that.
So even true it was somewhat obvious that neither of them knew what had happened to her's and the other's home back in Orb.
And as much as she liked and cared about both of them. She still felt somewhat insecure in their company. But that was most likely because of the small amount of information she was carrying around.
And with those thoughts in mind. She slowly reached over towards her purse, where she digged around for a brief moment. Until she finally pulled out a small black pen and a pad of paper.
After that she once more looked over at Nicol. Who immediately began telling her his cell phone number, which she hurried wrote down on the blank paper.
Once that small task was accomplish. She put both of the items back in her purse. "Ok then, I promise you that I'll send them a messages as quickly as possible. So I will most likely contact you guys either tomorrow or the day after" she explained, while taking a short glance over at the descending sun. That at this moment in time was slowly disappearing in the horizon.
And not really overly keen on going to bed hungry this evening, she once more turned her attention back towards the two boys. "Well if there is nothing else you two needs to talk with me about. I'll see both of you once I have figure out when and where the meeting is suppose to take place. Now then if you will excuse me there is a few things I need to buy before the stores around her starts to close" she said in a slightly loud tone.
Just as she turned around and began making her way up the rest of the stairs.
Looking after the brown haired girl until she was completely out of sight.
Nicol got a somewhat thoughtful look in both of his eyes. As he slowly moved his gaze away from the direction Miriallia had disappeared in and over at Athrun.
"She really hasn't change much since the last time I saw her. I guess we where kinda fortune to run in to her. But to tell you the truth Athrun, I'm not entirely sure that I believe she will actually contact us once she has talk with the others. Maybe it was a bit stupid of us just to let her run off like that" Nicol said, in a tone that made it kinda hard to figure out, what he was thinking about right now.
But even true Athrun frankly had no know idea about what was going through his friend's head at the moment.
He couldn't just stop himself from blinking a few times at those words. It truly was rare to hear the former Blitz piloted talk like that.
"So what exactly did you want to do Nicol? She is after all a very dear friend of ours" the blue haired man said. Just before a light yet powerful shiver made it's way down his spine.
"And to tell you the honest truth Nicol, I would seriously hate to be in the shoes of whoever was crazy enough to actually try hurt Miriallia. I'm pretty sure that there wouldn't be anything left to bury once Dearka is finished" he said. Thinking about what utterly horrifying destiny, would await whatever person that did anything mean to the brown haired girl.
Thinking a few seconds about everything Athrun had just said. Nicol found himself nodding slowly agreement,
If there was one thing he had no trouble at all remembering from his time on board the Archangel. Then it was that Dearka was always very protective of Miriallia.
And Nicol was pretty certain that hadn't change much these last two years.
Quite the opposite as the matter of fact. If anything his protective nature of her had most likely grown even bigger then it had been back then. And with that in mind he slowly opened his mouth and began talking in a far away tone.
"It's not like I'm suggesting that we should take her hostage or anything like that Athrun. I'm just saying that if she hadn't disappeared that quickly, maybe we should actually have followed her back to wherever she live. That way we would always know where to look for her, if she doesn't make contact with us the next few days" the green haired teen said, in a voice that made it completely obvious to Athrun that he was serious about this suggestion
Not really needing a lot of time to think about Nicol's words.
The pilot of the Saviour slowly shook his head a couple of times. "I seriously don't think you have all that much to worry about Nicol. I'm pretty certain that Miriallia knows just how important it is that we talk with the others. And I know for a fact that both Kira and Cagalli would like to talk with me too" Athrun said.
Using a brief moment to go over what he should say once he saw the two of them again.
He did however not stay in his own thoughts for long. Before he again turned his attention back towards Nicol. "So for now it would seem like the only thing we can do is wait, until Miriallia is ready to tell us where the meeting will take place" Athrun said.
Just as he quickly forced back a yawn, that had been about ready to leave his mouth.
Seeing his friend do that. Nicol realized that he too was actually quite tired.
After all the wandering around they had been doing today.
None of them had really gotten much time to sit down and just relax since they had left the Minerva. And it truly would be nice if they could find some place where they could rest their tired feet a bit, and perhaps get something to eat.
"I guess you are properly right Athrun, so instead wasting anymore time out here, why don't we turn our attention over on finding somewhere we can spend the night while we are here. I seriously don't think there is much need for us to head back to the Minerva. And I really don't feel like, flying all the way back there" the GOUF pilot said, with an exhaust look in his eyes.
Pretty much already knowing how Nicol felt about getting back in to a mobile suit today. The tired blue haired young man found himself nodding a single time in agreement, to everything Nicol had just said.
So with no further reason to hang around there anymore. The two friends turned around and began slowly making their way down the stairs.
Neither of them noticing the pair of angry blue eyes looking after them.
"It's about time I found you two idiots! I been running around through half of the city searching for you guys. so I seriously hope you mean it when you say you want to find a place to spend the night, I really don't feel like seeing the rest of this damn town!" The red haired girl grumbled quietly to herself.
Just as she hurried followed the two men.
Still deeply unhappy, that she hadn't been able to read at least one single page, in her book the entire day.
To be continued.