Chapter 67
It had only been a few short seconds since the light had been turn on above the Adamant.
And as the three young pilots of the Minerva stood there, looking the orange eyed gundam over. They could see that this machine, had two cannons on either side of it's back that was pointing downwards, and a single larger one in the middle that was pointed upwards instead.
Which quite frankly served as a pretty obvious sign to the three teens, that unlike both Destiny and Legend, the Adamant gundam was transformable. Unfortunately it was kinda tough to figure out just what exactly this gundam, could turn into. Yet if one where to judge, from the great amount of long range weapons, this mobile suit possessed, it was clearly something, that would be extremely dangerous no matter what approach, it's opponents would choose to take against it.
And so as Nicol let out a small whistle at the sight of these machines. Gilbert took a couple of steps closer towards the two excited teenagers, and the more silent one who had yet to mutter even a single word since he had first enter the hangar.
But as utterly suspicious as Gilbert truly found Athrun Zala's current behavior, the black haired leader of Zaft of course realized that now was not the right time to deal with this problem. First they had to make sure that everybody knew that Athrun Zala was no more then a low good traitor. That way they would easily be able to get rid of him, either with military prison, or definitely much more preferable with a bullet through the head.
Gilbert knew, that if the last Zala was locked up somewhere, there was always the small possibility, that somebody might be crazy enough, to try and free him. And that problem, could surely be avoid, if they could only find the right excuse to end his useless existence.
'Judging from the negative way he is reacting to all of this! It would seem Rey was correct, when he told me, that it was going to be extremely difficult to regaining and keep Athrun's loyalty! Perhaps it truly would be in anybody's best interest to make sure, that Athrun disappear from this world as soon as possible...' the Chairman thought seriously. Then spend a few brief seconds thoroughly studying the far away expression Athrun had on his face, seriously wondering what the young blue haired man was presently thinking about.
But seeing as he most regrettably had not been grant with the ability to read other people's mind. It did not take very long, before Gilbert slowly moved his attention away from the more grumpy teen, and over on the two more cheerful once. "Well then gentleman, what do you think? These three mobile suits are without a doubt the most effective machines, that has EVER roll off the Zaft assembling line. Some of our most brilliant sciences and technicians have work almost tirelessly to create each one of these grand masterpieces!" The black haired man explained, doing little to hide, that he was actually looking forward quite a bit, to hear what Nicol and Shinn had to say about these mobile suits.
Blinking rapidly a couple of times, Shinn practically had to force his red gaze, away from the three gundams, and over on the Chairman. But while the enormous grin on his face made it highly obvious what he thought about the newly assemble Zaft gundams, the dark haired teen, was still extremely quick to share his opinion about the three giants.
"They...They are totally awesome! I bet that with those on our side, nobody will be able to beat us!" Shinn yelled out excitingly.
Also greatly impressed and more then just a little amazed by the clear strength and power each one of these gundams had, Nicol Amalfi found himself nodding slowly in agreement, to everything Shinn had just said.
And while seriously wondering just how much stronger the Destiny, Legend and Adamant was compare to his very first gundam, the Blitz. The green haired boy slowly turned, and looked back at the Zaft leader with a bright smile plaster on his young face.
"I agree completely with Shinn, Sir. Having three such powerful mobile suits at our disposal, we should hopefully soon be able to put a swift end to this war" Nicol stated loudly.
Most definitely finding the two Minerva pilots praising words, quite pleasing, Gilbert took a quick glance back at Athrun to see, if he had any comments to add about the three gundams. But while it was highly obvious that Athrun still had a LOT on his mind at the moment, he was evidently planning on keeping his thoughts about the Adamant, Destiny and Legend to himself.
But that quite frankly did not surprise the Chairman overly much, knowing that Athrun was most likely still mourning the destruction of the Archangel, and the death of Kira Yamato and all of his friends. Durandal simply put had not expect Athrun to be the most talkative person, during this meeting. But even so, the black haired man felt certain, that once the last Zala was done sorting through his many thoughts, he was surely going to have more than a few things to say to him. Which lead Gilbert to decide, that he might as well take advantage of the silence, so while seriously wondering, just how truly wise it had been for him, to ask Athrun Zala to rejoin Zaft. Gilbert turned his head a bit to the side and looked over at Meer Campbell, to see her reaction to the three mobile suits.
Yet one single glance at the young pink haired woman, was more than enough for him to tell, that she had no idea about what to say about the mobile suits. And even if she could come up with something to say, she was much to Gilbert's small amusement, completely preoccupied with glaring hatefully at Shinn.
Apparently the fake Lacus could really carry a grudge, and was obviously completely determined not to forgive Shinn anytime soon for the hugging incident.
So while forcing back the laughter that was threatening to leave his mouth, Gilbert slowly stepped over, and place a hand on the shoulder of the individual, the angry girl just happened to be glaring at, thereby making the dark haired teenager give him a questionable look.
"Shinn Asuka, the Destiny will be your's to pilot, from this point on. It's a gundam that has been made especially with your unique fighting style in mind! Which means that all of the limitations one could find on the Impulse, has been dealt with. It's faster more reliable and truthfully my young friend, it might just be the most powerful mobile suit in existence!" The Zaft Chairman said, using a tone of voice, that left little doubt about the seriousness in that statement.
With those words said, Durandal remain silent for a few long seconds, so Shinn Asuka had a little time, to go over all of the information he had just received. And the exact moment, Gilbert saw the clearly amazed teenager take a couple of steps closer towards the three newly developed gundams. The black haired man softly asked one small, yet highly important question.
"So Shinn my boy what do you say? Can you handle the power of this machine?"
At first Shinn did not say anything to that question. He just continued standing there with open mouth, staring intensely up at the Destiny gundam. But finally he swallow loudly a single time, then once more looked back over at the Chairman, with a deeply determined glimmer in both of his eyes.
"Of course...of course I can handle it, Sir! Once the time comes for us to go after Logos! I'm going to send Djibril and each and every one of his merry bunch of fools on a one way trip to the most gloomy part of hell" the red eyed teenager boast loudly. Even though, there was actually a small part of him, that was somewhat disappoint, that he was only getting the Destiny gundam now.
If he had piloting this mobile suit during the battle at Berlin. It might just have been possible, for him to take out the Freedom gundam back then. Which meant that he could then have helped Stella, against those damn Orb Murasames, thereby making sure that she could have gotten safely away from the battlefield.
Those low spirit thoughts about the beautiful blond haired girl he had cared so unbelievable much about, was however immediately push as far back into his mind as possible, when the Chairman once more began talking to him. "Excellent my boy! It's quite reassuring to hear you sound so confident, Shinn! I'll be looking forward a great deal to see what you can accomplish in this mobile suit. Many of your achievements up to this point, has been quite astonishing" Gilbert said, ending his praising little speech, by giving Shinn a friendly slap on the back.
After doing that, Gilbert Durandal slowly moved away from the Destiny pilot, and took the couple of steps necessary, to get him over beside Nicol, who was judging from the expression he had on his face, more then just a little curious about, which one of the last two mobile suits he was gone be the pilot of.
"So tell me Nicol what do you about the Adamant?" Gilbert questioned with a tiny smirk on his lips.
Hearing the Chairman ask him that simple question, Nicol immediately tore his thoughtful gaze away from the Legend gundam, and looked over at the gundam furthest to the right. Where he could of course not help but notice, that it was quite difficult to figure out, just what kind of combat the Adamant had been been design for in the first place.
Yet if he actually had to judge from the large amount of long range weapons, this mobile suit had, it was clearly something that was meant to give both the Buster and probably most other heavy assault mobile suits, a run for their money. "It's a very impressive looking gundam, Mr Chairman! And I would definitely be very honor, if I'm the one chosen to pilot the Adamant. But if you don't mind me asking Sir, what exactly are the main features of this mobile suit? I can tell that it has some kind of mobile armor mode. But I am simply unable to figure out just what in the world it can transform into!" Nicol confessed in a serious tone.
Chuckling slightly at that, Gilbert took a brief glance up at the Adamant before he again gave Nicol his full attention. "Heh! Yeah tell me about it! I myself actually had the exact same problem back when I was first shown the sketchs of the Adamant. But anyway I'm please to hear that you are so honored being the pilot of this mobile suit! I do of course realize Nicol, that you do not have much experience, in using artillery type mobile suits. But I am confident, that you are going to put the Adamant to very good use" the black haired man said, while giving Nicol a reassuring smile.
After that Gilbert stayed quiet for a few short seconds, which he used to go over every single detail he had, about the thoroughly armed mobile suit.
It did however not take all that long before his deep voice, could once again be heard echoing out through the enormous hangar. "You are correct in your assumption, Nicol! The Adamant does unlike it's brother units, possess a mobile armor mode. It a machine that is equally divided up in both offenses and defenses! Once you get it over into it's mobile armor mode, which is a tank by the way. You will quickly discover Nicol, that it can deploy an extremely effective beam shield, which can easily withstand most attacks, an opponent can throw at it! Unfortunately with the shield deploy the Adamant can not...!" That was all the Zaft Chairman got out. When he came to the realization that with Athrun Zala present, it was probably best that he did not speak to loudly about how the beam shield did give the Adamant a small handicap or two.
To put it simply it was completely impossible to fire any of the Adamant's many weapons with the shield deploy, and even worse, the gundam could not move around at all, when the machine was defending itself like that.
But while those two things might only be minor weakness, the Chairman seriously did not want to simply give Athrun such vital information, if it could somehow be avoided. And the exact moment he saw Nicol nod a single time in understanding, the Zaft leader realized, that the green haired youngster had caught on to what the problem was. But as much as it quite frankly pleased the Chairman, that Nicol was sharp enough to figure such things out on his own, it instantaneously became clear to Gilbert the exact moment he took yet another glance over at Athrun, that the young blue haired man had also guessed, what this was about. Seeing as he had finally stop watching the three mobile suits, and was instead looking straight at him, with each one of his green eyes narrow slightly. Frankly it actually seemed a tiny bit like, the last Zala was just about ready to go over into seed mood, and start causing trouble at any moment now.
But even though it would in Durandal's eyes actually have been a bit of a blessing in disguise, if Athrun had done something totally foolish and idiotic, that would actually have enabled them to arrest him for treason right then and there. Unfortunately unlike their young friend Shinn, the former pilot of the Justice gundam was quite good at concealing his deep angry emotions, and keep his temper under control.
Actually there was only one hint from Athrun, that really showed just how bad his mood was at the moment. And that was the tiny, yet still severely hard bite he gave his lower lips.
"I guess that leaves the Legend gundam for me, huh?" The blue haired teen asked in a somewhat bitter tone, as he hurried lick away the bit of blood on his lips, and once more looked back over at the Legend.
And just the mere thought of how unbelievable close Kira had came to lose his life, when he had gone up against the predecessor of the Legend, was simply MORE than enough reason for Athrun, to seriously dislike the DRAGOON equipped gundam, standing only about twenty metres in front of him. And while still thinking about the depressing condition the Freedom had been in, after Kira's highly deadly encounter with Rau Le Creuset, and the Providence, Athrun waited silently for Durandal to give him some kind of response, to his question.
But even as the young blue haired man stood there, slowly letting his green eyes glide over the Legend gundam, Athrun simply could not help but find the look Gilbert Durandal was currently sending him, more than just a tiny bit unnerving, and highly unsettling. It was VERY much like the Chairman was actually considering cracking his head open in an attempt to figure out what he was thinking about, and it frankly didn't help much on Athrun's nerves, that there was clearly a half dozen of snipers hidden away up on the walkways above them, that was actually the main reason why, Athrun had made so sure to stay close to Durandal and all of the other people in there, since they had first enter the hangar. By doing that, he felt at least somewhat certain that he was not the most easy target to hit.
The somewhat tense and gloomy silence in there was however quickly brought to an end, by the Chairman's loud voice. "That is correct Athrun. The Legend is equipped with a whole new version of the DRAGOON system, that unlike early models like the Dreadnought and the Providence is so much easier to control! Even for a pilot who has no experience in fighting with DRAGOONs in the first place!" Gilbert explained loudly, even though it was kinda obvious that the blue haired teen was only half paying attention to what he was saying, he was simply far too busy staring at the Legend.
But finally just when Gilbert was actually starting to think that Athrun had nothing to say about the DRAGOON equipped mobile suit, he slowly turned his gaze away from the gundam and looked back over at him, with a completely unreadable expression on his face. "I admit that each one of these mobile suits does look quite a bit impressive. But frankly what I really want to know is what they are going to be used for! Are they actually meant to help in the fight against Logos? Or are they going to be used to attack somebody else who is trying to bring peace back to the world?!" Athrun questioned displeased, not bothering doing anything to keep the provocation out of his voice.
Honestly more then just a little taken back, by the completely disrespectful way Athrun was addressing the Zaft leader, Nicol immediately took a step closer towards the other former member Le Creuset team and place a hand on his shoulder. "Athrun, please do remember who you are talking to here!" The green haired boy said in a slightly pissed off tone.
Just as Shinn made a severely threatening gesture with both of his hands, which was meant to tell Athrun, that if he did not stop acting like a total jerk, he was going to have to deal with him.
But while Athrun did of course realized that each one of his so call comrades, was more than ready to start beating him up at a moment's notice. Pretty much his only reaction to the overly hostile glares, which they where presently sending him, was to take a couple of glances between the two morons, then shook Nicol's hand away from his shoulder. Before he once again looked back at Durandal, where he instantly took notice of the highly wicked smirk on the man's face.
Yet as Athrun quickly fought down the deep temptation to pull out his gun and use it to wipe that damn smirk of Durandal's face permanently, he tightly squeezed his right fist together in a almost desperate attempt to calm himself down, as much as humanly possible. While it was simply put completely impossible for the blue haired man to deny, just how unbelievable much he truly despised Gilbert Durandal with every single fiber of his being, Athrun knew that if he actually where to reach for his gun now, the chances of him getting away from Zaft in one piece, would be severely diminished. Especially if he actually did manage to shot and kill Durandal, before Shinn, Nicol or anybody else in there, could interfere. Yet while Athrun seriously had no doubt, that stopping whatever scheme Chairman Durandal had for the world was of the uttermost important.
But as utterly appealing as Athrun found the idea of taking this opportunity to free the world from Gilbert Durandal right here and now, the former pilot of the Justice gundam, just couldn't bring himself to actually do it. He want to get out of there alive. He want to get back home to Orb, where he rightfully belonged, and argue with his pregnant fiancée about what they where going to name their child.
So in the end Athrun quickly decide, that the best way for him to handle Durandal's attempts to provoke him, was to act like he had no idea about what the smirking bastard was really up to. And with that decision made Athrun gave the Zaft Chairman a slightly questionable look, that was meant to tell the dumb bastard that he did not understand why, he hadn't answered his question yet.
Realizing that just smirking at the young Zala was not going to be enough to make him blow his top off, the overly wicked smirk on Gilbert's face vanished briefly for a couple of long slightly tense seconds, before it slowly reappeared again. "I assume when you say that Athrun, that you are referring to the crew of the Archangel and your good friend Kira Yamato" the Chairman stated calmly, still hoping to get some kind of violent reaction out of Athrun.
"Yes of course! You know as well as I that the Archangel had nothing to do with Logos! So why? Why was it necessary to attack them like that?! They did so much to help put an end to this war! Hell when the Destroy gundam, was rampaging through Berlin, they pretty much stop it all on their own!" The blue haired boy growled out angrily. Honestly severely tempted to say something about how Shinn and the Minerva had been just about useless in that battle.
Yet he realized, that mentioning that was probably not going to help overly much. And it could very well lead to yet another argument with Shinn, who's already immensely huge ego had grown that much larger in size, through these last few battles. And knowing him it was VERY unlikely, that he would let any comments about being useless slide. And Athrun seriously did not want to waste his time, arguing with the dumb brat now.
So after taking a brief glance over at Shinn where he immediately noticed that the Impulse, or rather Destiny pilot, was still glaring quite angrily at him, not that Athrun really cared about that right now.
Pretty much the only thing on Athrun's mind at the moment, was getting some answers from the Zaft leader, no matter what.
So while simply ignoring the hateful glare, Athrun once more turned his attention back towards the Chairman. "So if it's not to much to ask! Would you mind telling me just what in the world they did to deserved getting attack like that! Even with the millions of times I have twist and turn it in my head! I still can't figure out what logical reason you had to order the destruction of the Archangel and the Freedom!" Athrun growled out. Not once removing his angry gaze from Durandal.
"Athrun the reason why, I gave the order to have the Archangel and the Freedom destroyed, is actually quite simple. They where powerful, very powerful. And while I do of course realize that they never did targeted Zaft directly, it had just gotten to that point, were their completely unpredictable nature, and the danger they possess could no longer be ignored. Simply put Athrun, there was just no way, we could afford to take the risk of having them interfere, when the time comes for us to go after Lord Djibril and Logos" Gilbert explained calmly.
Having honestly no idea about how to response to that, Athrun look down at the floor with a deeply thoughtful vein on his forehead, and with a far away gaze in both of his eyes, thinking intensely about everything, Durandal had just said to him, but while his words did sound at least somewhat reasonable. Athrun simply refused to believe that there wasn't more to it, than that. Having known Kira and other Archangel crew members as long as he had, Athrun seriously doubt quite a bit that any of them would actually try and defend a group of terrorists. Something which the blue haired teenager, felt absolutely certain that Durandal realized too. So there just had to be some other reason why the Chairman wanted the Archangel out of the way.
But with the Chairman so utterly determined to keep the truth to himself, Athrun knew that the only other option he had, was to force the truth out of the black haired bastard. Unfortunately, as luck would have it, Athrun faced the exact same problem as before, when he had consider trying to kill Gilbert Durandal. It simply couldn't be done, with so many people around.
'Damn you to hell Durandal!' He thought bitterly.
Athrun did however not get long to think about how utterly much he truly despised the Chairman, when Durandal's down to earth voice pull him back out of his hateful thoughts.
"I can assure you Athrun, that I too am greatly sadden, that we were left with no other choice but to destroy the Freedom and the Archangel! It can not be deny that your friend Kira Yamato was a valiant and powerful warrior, who's skills could surely have been used to put an end to all of these terrible things that is happening around the world. So it truly was a shame, that he had to die!" The black haired leader of Zaft said, sounding a tiny bit like he was actually talking about the most trivial thing ever, and not somebody's life.
Instantaneously realizing that Gilbert Durandal was far from sad about Kira's suppose death. What clearly bother the Chairman, was that he had not been able to find some ingenious way to manipulate Kira into using his skills in a mobile suit, to create whatever crazy world the bastard was apparently dreaming about.
It was at that exact moment, when Athrun heard Kira's voice echoing loudly through his head. 'Athrun...the Chairman is far more dangerous then you think...damn it why didn't I listen to Kira when I had the chance...?!' Athrun silently asked himself. Seriously pissed off, that he had so easily been manipulate by the Chairman into joing Zaft again. It frankly did seem like the most foolish mistake he had ever made. So after quickly going over everything the Chairman had said to him since he had first meet the man, it was just SO obvious to Athrun now, that the one thing Gilbert Durandal did best, was tricking people into doing exactly, what he wanted. Even if it was the most grotesque and disturbing things imaginable.
'Why the heck didn't I realize soon just how crazy Gilbert Durandal obviously is?' The blue haired teenager asked inside his mind, as he slowly moved his gaze away from the floor, and back over at the Chairman who was presently busy explaining to Shinn and Nicol what they where going to use the three gundams for. But having long since guessed the purpose of the Destiny, Legend and Adamant, Athrun quickly made the decision, that it was best for him to get out of there in a hurry, before one of the many snipers decide to put a bullet through his head.
So after standing there glaring at Chairman Durandal and the two brain dead boot-licks a little while longer, Athrun mutter out a few barely understandable words. "If there is nothing else Durandal, I'll be going now. I'm in a serious need of getting some fresh air right about now" he loudly informed the Zaft leader. Making certain to interrupt the crazy lunatic just when he was about to say something else to the two other pilots. Then without waiting for a response, the blue haired man swirl around on one foot and hastily began making his way towards the exit of the hangar.
Watching the last Zala leave, the Chairman slowly narrowed each one of his eyes in a thoughtful manner. 'Hmm seems like you leave me with no other choice, but to have you eliminate Athrun. A shame really, you have been somewhat useful up until this point! Unfortunately Athrun, it seems like your usefulness is nearly at an end. I do however hope we can come up with an idea to end your life as gently as possible. I would very much like to give you are painless death Athrun for everything you have done for Zaft!' The black haired man thought wickedly just as the former pilot of the Justice disappeared from his sight.
Also having some very serious thoughts about Athrun at the moment, Nicol brought his right hand up, and slowly rub his chin a couple of times. 'Once we are done in here, it will probably be wise if I go keep an eye on Athrun. He is acting really weird right now!'
Yet with those two having so much going through their heads at the moment, and with Shinn so preoccupied with staring at the Destiny gundam. Neither one of them realized, that the only woman present in there, was genuinely concerned about Athrun's strange behavior. It had almost seemed like, he wasn't pleased about getting a new and more powerful mobile suit. Truth be told, the fake Lacus had actually thought for a brief second that Athrun had been about to hit the Chairman. Fortunately much to her deep relief, he had NOT done anything other then glaring at the Chairman.
'I just don't understand why in the world Athrun, would be in such a bad mood. The Chairman is trying so hard to end this awful war, and create a better world for all of us! Why would that bother Athrun so much? I know that it was difficult for him, to lose the friends he had on that weird Archangel ship. Yet even so, Athrun really shouldn't blame the Chairman for their death. If only they had stop interfering, it would not have become necessary for the Chairman to have them killed. Perhaps if I go talk with him a bit, I can make him realize that' the pink haired woman thought. Only to find herself wondering afterwards, if Athrun's low spirit mood would give her the long awaited opportunity to seduce him.
The fake Lacus was however immediately pull back out of her highly giddy thoughts about Athrun Zala, when the perverted red eyed brat loudly asked the Chairman what kind of weapons the Destiny was carrying.
Hearing that question being asked, Gilbert turned his serious gaze away from the door, and looked back over at the two other Minerva pilots. Now that Athrun was gone the Chairman saw no reason why not to share some of the more important details about the two pilots respective mobile suits.
Which of course meant, that it did not take many seconds, before the three men was busy discussing just what weapons and equipment one could find on the Destiny and the Adamant.
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It was a little over an hour later, when Gilbert step in to his private suite on Gibraltar base. Where his eyes immediately fell on his most loyal follower, who was sitting on probably the most comfortable couch in there. Reading in a older looking book with the name Hamlet on the cover.
Smiling slightly at Rey's reading habits, the black haired man walked calmly over to a small shelf in there, where he pick up a bottle of highly expensive red wine, which he hurried got open, and pour himself a glass of. He knew that it was pointless asking Rey, if he want any of the wine. His young blond haired friend, had never really liked drinking anything that content alcohol.
So after taking a deep highly enjoyable sniff of the sweet red liquid, Gilbert slowly brought the glass up to his mouth and took a small ship of the wine, as he made his way over to the chair standing across from the couch.
But even though, he did of course realize that Rey had a great deal of things which he most certainly want to discuss with him, Gilbert did not say anything. He just leaned slowly backwards in the overall comfortable chair. Enjoying the silence and his glass of wine.
Yet the very instant he saw Rey close the thick book, with one of Shakespeare's more grand tales, he swiftly empty the glass and place it down on the table standing between them. "I assume, that your reason for being here Rey, is mostly because you want to hear just what exactly I have decide to do about the obnoxious thorn in our side call Athrun Zala" he stated calmly, while briefly considering getting himself yet another glass of the sweet tasting wine.
Those thoughts did however instantly disappear from his mind, the very second he heard Rey's response. "That's right Gil. To be honest I think we should have found someway to get rid of him, instead of allowing him to become a part of Zaft again and giving him the Saviour. In my eyes he is just as big a threat to our plans as Kira Yamato was. Perhaps even more so seeing as he has quite a bit of inside knowledge about how the Minerva and the Impulse function. It's simply getting way to risky having him around Gil! Judging from the way he has been behaving since the destruction of the Archangel and the Freedom gundam! I seriously believe, that he is just waiting for the right moment to betray us!" Rey said loudly, only to take a couple of deep breaths afterwards.
Nodding one or two times in understanding to everything Rey had just told him, the Chairman push himself back up from the leather chair and walked slowly over to the biggest window in there. Looking silently out at the hellish weather outside, it was pouring down so hard that it quite frankly served to make him wonder just how utterly crazy one had to be to run around outside right now.
And the very moment he saw a bright almost blinding flash of lightning. The black haired man again turn his attention, back over on Rey. "I have reached that conclusion too, Rey. It really was quite a mistake on my part to allow Athrun to join us. But I assure you my young friend, that it is one mistake, we are definitely going to correct very soon now! With the pictures and tape, from his little meeting with Kira Yamato and Cagalli Yula Athha. It should not really be overly hard to prove his guilt, and thereby justify getting rid of him! But seeing as I severely doubt that he is going to surrender peacefully when he realize what's going on. I would like for you to take a break from Hamlet and be ready to go help deal with him! I do NOT want that man getting away from Zaft one more time!" Gilbert said in a somewhat harsh tone of voice, while thinking briefly about how Athrun had manage to get on board the Eternal, when the Clyne Faction had stolen the pink spaceship during the last war.
Having honestly been hoping that Gilbert was going to say that, Rey practically leap up from his location on the leather couch. "Count on me Gil I'll leave for his room right away!" The blond man stated loudly, doing very little to hide that he was really looking forward to put Athrun in his rightful place. Which was in his eyes either a prison cell or preferably hell.
Rey did however not get the chance to leave the huge room, when Gilbert call out after him. "I know that you are eager to get rid of him, Rey! But until we have some idea about, how he is going to react to the charges against him. I would like for you to stay here for now, Rey. If this whole thing does turn violent, I would prefer that Athrun is the one who makes the first move. Something he might be hesitant to do with you around" the Chairman explained.
Rapidly blinking a couple of times at those words, the blond man slowly tilt his head slightly to the left side. "You actually want him to fight back, don't you Gil?" Rey asked in a low tone.
Definitely more then just a little pleased to know that Rey had caught on so quickly, Gilbert smiled slightly at him. "Yes, if Athrun does resist then we don't really have to concern ourselves overly much with the outcome. It wouldn't seem nearly as bad, if he ends up dead" the Zaft leader explained in a low tone that Rey could barely hear over the immensely loud thunderclap that could presently be heard over the entire area.
But while the noisy weather outside did make it quite difficult to understand what was being said, Rey actually had a pretty good idea about what his father figure had just told him, and having no complaints about dealing with Athrun Zala that way, the blond man nodded a single time in understanding.
"I see, that does make quite a bit of sense, Gil" he said. Then sat back down on the couch.
After that nothing else was said between them, which lead Rey to pick up his book again, and Gilbert to look back out of the window with a far away expression on his face.
Yet what neither one of them realized, was that somebody had actually been listening in on their conversation, and as the fake Lacus Clyne, sat hidden away over by entrance to the suite. It was simply impossible for her, to prevent a couple of lonely tears, from leaving her low spirited blue eyes. As she stared intensely down at the photograph she had found drop on the floor, when she had first snuck into the room.
But while it truthfully was somewhat of a mystery to the young woman, who the people Athrun was speaking to on the photo was, Meer Campbell could easily figure out that this photo had something to do, with the meeting the Chairman had mention not long ago. Apparently when her future boyfriend, had made the decision to go talk with these people, he had also lost the Chairman's trust.
'I have to go talk with, Athrun. I just have to make him realize that doing what the Chairman says, is best for him...For all of us...' the pink haired woman thought determinedly, before she carefully stood back up again, and silently snuck back out of the room.
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At the exact same time as this was going on.
Athrun was standing alone in his room, looking out of the one windows in there, with a deep frown on his forehead. "How the heck am I suppose to escape from this place when the weather is this bad?" He quietly asked himself. Seriously disliking the very thought of actually having to fly whatever mobile suit he could get his hands on, in this kind of weather.
While most mobile suits was of course made to take quite a bit of punishment, the blue haired man had little trouble imaging what condition a DINN or a BABI would end up in should they get hit by lightning. But as much as he sincerely wished that he could take his time and wait until the storm had past, there was nothing he could do to shake away the deep nagging feeling, that it was a wise move on his part to leave the Gibraltar base as soon as possible.
'Ahhh Damn it all! If only I could come up with someway to get inside the Legend, or any of the other new machines. I would have a much better chance to get away from this damn place,' the young man thought angrily. Of course realizing that with the large amount of security station around the three newly assemble mobile suits, would make it next to impossible for him to get anywhere near them.
So after using a few more short seconds, to think about just how much trouble the Adamant, Destiny and Legend was going to be in the future. Athrun quickly shook his head a few times, to get his mind away from the three new Zaft gundams, seriously not wanting to worry about them right now. He needed to concentrate fully on finding someway to get the hell out of there.
"Maybe I should head down to the harbor, to try and find that hangar with the silver colored BABI" he mumbled softly under his breath.
Yet momentarily after those words had left his mouth, somebody knocked hard on the door, which instantly made Athrun swirl around and reach into his jacket for the gun hidden away in there. "Who is it?!" He asked loudly, mentally preparing himself for the possibility that whoever was out there would NOT let a locked door prevent them from gaining access to the room. And when he received no answer to his question, he pull his gun and turn off the light, to make himself a more difficult target to hit.
One thing Athrun Zala could clearly see thought the old keyhole was that the light was still turn on outside in the hallway, which should give him a pretty clear shoot at whoever was out there, should 'they' actually try to force 'their' way through the old wooden door.
Yet just when he was about to kneel down by the bed and aim his weapon at the only entrance to the room. The individual out there just happened choose that exact moment, to knock on the door one more time. And that was when he heard a familiar voice call out his name. "Athrun are you in there?! Please open up I really need to talk with you!" The copy of his best friend's wife yelled from the other side of the door.
Seriously not in the mood to deal with yet another one of Campbell's attempts to seduce him, the blue haired man was not surprisingly more then just a little reluctant to let her in. It was simply impossible for Athrun Zala to deny how utterly tempt he was to stay quiet and ignore the highly obnoxious woman. But before he could yet again turned his attention back to the rampaging weather outside, the fake celebrity began pounding almost hysterically at the firmly shut wooden obstacle preventing her access to the small chamber. "Athrun, I have something very important to tell you! So please open the door already!" The girl practically begged.
Frankly quite taken back by the overall urgency he heard in Meer Campbell's voice, Athrun stare silently down at the floor with a somewhat far away gaze in both of his green orbs. "Damn, why do I have to be a nice guy? Why couldn't I have been a total jerk instead?" He questioned himself with a deep sigh. Then after placing the gun back down into his pocket, Athrun took the three necessary steps to get back over to the door, sincerely hoping that it would not turn out to be a mistake on his part to let the pink haired girl in.
Then while letting out one more huge sigh, he swiftly unlock the door. Then hesitantly open it just enough for the big breast woman to squeeze through. "Hurry up and get inside!" He order in a slightly harsh tone, as he took a hold on the fake Lacus' arm and immediately pull her into the room.
But even though Athrun could easily tell that Meer Campbell was quite surprised by his behavior. He ignore her until he had gotten the door firmly locked again.
Then finally once he was certain that it would at the very least be a bit of a challenge for anybody else to get in there, he turned slowly and looked directly at his guest. And just one single glance at the scared almost panicky expression the girl had on her face, made it completely obvious to the young blue haired man, just how worried Meer was about him. Which served to briefly make Athrun wonder, what the kindhearted woman Meer Campbell had been made to look like, was doing right now out on the Eternal.
Yet knowing the real Lacus she was probably longing profoundly to be reunite with Kira again after hearing about the Freedom's destruction. Athrun did however not think long about the pink haired woman that had been like a sister to him since he had first met her, before he quickly shook those thoughts out of his mind. "So what exactly is it you want to talk with me about?" He asked softly while making his way back over to the window.
Not at all sure how she could best explain things to him, the deeply concerned girl found herself rubbing both of her hands together in a nervous manner while staring directly at Athrun's strong broad back. And when an immensely loud thunderclap could be heard echoing far above them, the jumpy girl felt an almost freezing cold shiver run down her spine, as she hurried reach out and turned the light back on. Hoping that would help on her nerves.
"Athrun...you...you really need to stop acting so weird...The way you have been behaving makes it seem like you are not loyal to Zaft any longer! And if you don't do something quickly to lessen the Chairman's suspicion! I'm afraid that he is going to brand you as a traitor, Athrun. But I thought really hard about that, on the way here. And I think that the best you can do is hurry back down to the hangar and start working really hard on the Legend or whatever it was call! If the Chairman knows that you are doing that, he might be willing to give you another chance!" The girl said. Still fiddling nervously with her fingers.
Taking a glance back at the girl with his already narrowed eyes, Athrun could not help but give the fake Lacus a small yet ironical smile. 'Ohh I did not realize that the Chairman was actually suspicious of me. I'm glad you are here to tell me such things, I would not have been able to figure that out on my own from the hostile way he kept on glaring at me down in the hangar, or from his unwillingness to tell me about the Adamant' the blue haired man thought sarcastically.
But seeing as Meer Campbell was actually there to warn him about the Chairman, Athrun quickly decide to keep his sarcastic remarks to himself. He did not want to hurt the pink haired woman's feelings. "I thought as much. But as much as I truly do appreciate your concern. I really don't think that working on the Legend, is going to change Durandal's opinion about me. To be completely honest I highly doubt that I will be allow anywhere near the Legend" he explained softly.
Rapidly blinking couple of times Meer took a single step closer towards Athrun. "But...But...why Athrun? I just don't understand! You are such a nice guy. You haven't done anything to deserve to be treat as a traitor! So please explain to me what's going on, Athrun!" The young woman practically screamed.
Chuckling slightly at the small compliment he had just received, Athrun slowly reached up and scratch his hair, in a somewhat thoughtful manner. "Unfortunately I fear that Chairman Durandal is not as nice a guy as he pretend to be. Whatever crazy plan that man has, for this world, I feel absolutely certain, that it is going to make hell itself seem like an amusement park in comparison" Athrun growled. Still unable to completely fathom just what exactly Gilbert Durandal was up to.
Yet as clearly as Athrun had spoken just now, the fake Lacus was still greatly confused about the deeper meaning of his words, something which was clearly shown by the overall confused look in her blue eyes. "But...But Athrun, you heard the Chairman's speech about how Logos are the once to blame for this war! So how can you say those things about him?! He is a good man, that is working so hard to end the war!" The girl shout loudly. Completely determined to defend the man that had made it so, that her dream of becoming Lacus Clyne had finally came truth.
Instantly realizing that he himself had said almost the exact same thing, when he had spoken with Kira and the others back at Crete, Athrun could not help but let out yet another light chuckle, at how ironical this whole thing was. And as he moved his deep thoughtful gaze away from the hellish weather outside, and looked over at the naive pink haired girl. He gave her a small yet bitter smile. Seriously wondering what it was about the Chairman that made Meer, Nicol and so many other people willing to follow him blindly without question. What was it about that crazy bastard that made him seem so unbelievable trustworthy.
"I agree with you that the Chairman's speeches sounds quite nice and very appealing. But you should know that his truth agenda with all of this is far more wicked then you realize. Unfortunately as much as I wish I could tell you otherwise, Meer. I'm still not entirely sure what actually he is trying to accomplishment with this war. But I guarantee you that it will without a doubt, shake the entire world to it's very core!" The young man explained.
Yet while the deep and utter seriousness in Athrun Zala's voice would at the very least have made some people pause for a bit and consider briefly if his words could actually be the truth.
But with the fake celebrity's highly stubborn nature. The pink haired woman simply refused to believe, that the Chairman was anything else other then a generally kind person, that was truly doing what was best for the Plants and Earth.
Yet just when she was about to open her mouth and tell Athrun that he just had to be wrong about the Chairman's agenda, and that he should do everything possible to regain the Zaft leader's trust. She was interrupted by a loud almost brutal knock on the door and a equally loud voice. "Athrun Zala! We have a few matters which we would very much like to discuss with you! So open this door at ONCE!" A unfamiliar male voice said. Before tugging violently on the door handle.
Watching as whoever was out there kept on messing around with the door knob, in an attempt to gain access to the lock chamber, Athrun bent his head forward and stared intensely down at the light yellow rug in there, with a completely unreadable expression, that made it just about impossible for anybody to figure out, just what in the world was going through his head at the moment.
But finally after a couple of long tense seconds, that quite frankly felt like a small eternity, to the only other person in there, Athrun's soft yet creepy laughter could be heard throughout the otherwise silent room. "Heeh! I guess that I really shouldn't be surprised, that the Chairman is the one who makes the first move. He really is the most underhanded crackpot, I have ever had the misfortune of meeting in my entire life! But if he actually thinks that I'm just going to turn myself in peacefully! He got another thing coming!" Athrun growled determinedly.
Then while simply ignoring the weirded out look his guest was presently sending him, the former pilot of the powerful red gundam better known as the Justice, took a swift look around the room for some kind of means to get the hell out of there. And when his eyes just so happened to land on a certain object, he immediately reached out and wrapped his fingers around the back of the room's only chair.
"Well here goes nothing!" He muttered. Then without showing the least bit hesitation he swirl around on one foot, and hurl the piece of furniture with as much force as possible towards the window, which of course made the young pink haired woman gasp out loudly in surprise, just as the sound of breaking glass could be heard far and wide. Even over the immensely loud thunderstorm outside.
And before the 'celebrity' had anytime at all to even try and get over the immensely huge shock, Athrun Zala had just given her. He hastily turned and gave her a hard angry look. "Stay away from the door!" He warned in a low harsh tone, that left little room for disagreement.
And realizing that it would of course only be a matter of a few minor seconds, before the Durandal's mindless goons, would force their way in there. Athrun raced full speed towards his own personal home-made exit, which he leaped through without slowing down at all. And thanks to the heavy downpour outside there was simply noway for individual left in the room to tell what he did next. Truthfully it actually seemed a tiny bit like he just vanished.
Not at all sure what she was suppose to do with herself now, Meer hurried turned her head, and looked over in the direction of the bathroom. Seriously wondering if it might be wise to go hide out in there, or perhaps underneath the bed.
Yet whatever thoughts she might have had of trying to conceal her present in there instantly disappeared when a couple of shots blew apart the lock and four soldiers practically fell over their own feet in their haste to get in there. But while each and everyone of them did take a short glance over at her, they much, to her sincere relief, didn't see her as a threat. As they ran over to the window to find the person responsible for breaking it in the first place.
"Damn it all! Where the hell is that bastard?!" One of them asked loudly, while almost desperately trying to locate their target, in the heavy rain outside. But seeing as there was no sign of him at all, they apparently had no other choice, but to head on out there, to search for the traitorous little bastard.
The loud bellyaching soldier did however not get long to complain, when the man standing beside him, yell out a loud response to his question. "How the heck should we know where he is! It's...not...not we actually saw which direction he ran off in!" He stated loudly, clearly a bit more nervous and on edge about all of this, then his three comrades.
"All right that's enough mindless blabbing ladies! Get out there and find him before he can get too far!" The obvious leader of the bunch ordered, before he hastily crawl out through the window, with the two more chatty soldiers following closely behind him.
The fourth one however had not really been paying a whole lot of attention to what his fellow soldiers was doing. Simply put he had been so preoccupied with staring at the pink haired songstress, that he did not even realize that his fellow soldiers was now all out on the fire escape. And it was only once his commanding officer yelled out for him to stop daydreaming and hurry the hell up and get out there. That the young man finally snap back out of his deep thoughts about asking for the celebrity's autograph. But even as he was making his way over to the window, he mentally promised himself to ask Miss Lacus for that later.
Yet while all of this was going on, Athrun was actually not that far away, from the three idiots down on the fire escape. He was presently standing on the unbelievable small ledge a few short meters above the three heavily armed Zaft soldiers. But while it was pretty much impossible for the blue haired man to deny, just how utterly appealing he found the idea of staying hidden away up there, until the Chairman's stupid goons decide to go search somewhere else for him, it was frankly starting to get more and more difficult to keep his balance.
'Umm damn, I can't stay up here for much longer! But if I jump down now, I'll practically be telling the bastard still inside, to shot me in the back!' Athrun growled inside his mind. struggling almost desperately to keep himself from losing his balance.
Fortunately much to Athrun's deep relief, luck just happened to be on his side this time around. Seeing as it was only a brief moment later, when the final Zaft soldier reluctantly appear from inside the room. Yet with him obviously more then just a tiny bit displeased with the idea of actually having to run around out there in this kind of weather, he choose to stop directly below tiny ledge which Athrun was presently standing on.
And instantaneously realizing that he could not in a million years have asked for a better opportunity, to take this guy out, Athrun gave his lower lips a hard bite, as he mentally prepare himself for what he was about to do. And the exact moment the exploding sound of thunder could once more be heard above the base, Athrun stop hesitating and leap away from his not so comfortable position on the ledge, aiming his right foot just below the neck of the still silent soldier. While he might find all of these guys quite bothersome, Athrun seriously did not want to kill any of them if it could somehow be avoid.
It was at that exact point Athrun's out stretch foot, made contact with it's intent target, thereby making the youngish one of the small goon patrol tumble forward with enough force to knock him unconscious when his head hit the slightly rusty metal the fire escape had been made of.
But while Athrun did notice a tiny bit of blood, leaving a small scar on the man's forehead. He really didn't have time, to worry about that right now. it was imperative, that he got rid of the last three Zaft soldiers, before they had the chance to actually start shooting at him. So without wasting anytime at all, he raced full speed straight towards the two more chatty Zaft soldiers, who had of course heard the noise of their friend's body hitting the ground.
But just when they where about to turn around to see what was going on. Athrun swiftly raised his hands and gave each one of them a hard swipe at the back of their necks. Thereby making the one to the right tumble unconsciously to the ground. The left one however did somehow much to the Athrun's surprise, and deep irritation manage to stay conscious. But one single look at the way he was currently staggering around on his feet, served as a pretty obvious sign, that he had at the very least been effected from being hit in such a manner.
Yet just when Athrun was about to hit the poor fellow one more time, he heard an angry voice call out for him to stop moving. And as he looked over at the leader of the four idiots, he saw the man aiming his machine rifle straight at him. "Last warning Athrun Zala! Put your hands on your head now, or else I'm going to fill you with enough holes to make even a sieve jealous!" The dark haired man said threatening.
Not showing any kind of reaction at first, Athrun just stood there staring silently at the barrel of the weapon, currently being aimed at him, yet as he slowly moved his serious green gaze upwards. The overall wicked expression he saw on the older Zaft soldier's face, made it clear to Athrun that this guy had nothing at all against the idea of killing an unarmed opponent in cold blood.
'I have to take this guy out! Even if I was suicidal enough to actually surrender now, I honestly doubt that he is planning on letting me live. Judging from his posture and the self-assured way, he is holding that rifle, I'll say that THIS man is a person that has killed his fair share of people in the past. Probably the main reason why he haven't start shooting at me yet, is because of...' The young blue haired man thought quietly, as he turned his head slightly, and took a brief glance over at the still staggering soldier standing not that far beside him. With that guy having less than no control over his movements, it wasn't really overly difficult for Athrun to figure out why, the Zaft Commander had yet to press down on the trigger. He did not want to accidentally shoot one of his own guys, should the unsteady brown haired man incidentally fall in to the line of the bullets.
There was however next to no doubt in Athrun's mind, that it would only be a matter of few short minutes, or perhaps even seconds, before the insecure man would either regain his senses, or actually trip over his own feet in the drunk like state he was in right now. And knowing if any of those things were to happen, there would be nothing preventing the murderous Zaft Commander from killing him right then and there, which meant that the only choice he had left, was to send the machine gun whirling nut case, off to dream land as quickly as possible.
It was at that very moment his last and most dangerous opponent call out to him, yet again. "I do not know what you are scheming over there, Zala! But whatever it is I would strongly advise you to forget about it! Now stop wasting time, get over to the window and place both of you hands where I can see them!" The angry man ordered harshly, and with a hard look in his eyes, that made it completely clear to Athrun that the crazy bastard was almost looking forward to killing him.
So while finding himself seriously wondering just how utterly sick one had to be, to actually enjoy taking the life of another human being, the blue haired teenager slowly moved each one of his hands upwards, thereby making it seem like, he was actually going to do what the blood thirsty maniac was saying.
Yet the exact moment he had his hands in just the right position, Athrun instantaneously leaped over and wrapped his right arm around the neck of the more harmless one the two standing Zaft soldiers.
"Knowing your grand reputation for treason, Zala! I guess I should have expect you to make a move like that! I'm starting to understand how you were able to trick your father in to giving you the Justice gundam two years ago! If he saw you now I'm sure that he would be very proud to see what a sneaky little bastard you have turn in to!" The Commander said, hoping that by bring up such a touchy subject he could provoke the last Zala into making some kind of mistake.
Athrun however was more then clever enough not to fall for such an obvious trick. "You really shouldn't talk to loudly about being sneaky bastard. You were obviously planning on killing me even if I did surrender peacefully! Did you actually expect that I was just going to stand around without doing anything to defend myself?!" The blue haired man questioned in a angry growl, then without giving the murderous man a chance to come up with some kind of reply, Athrun gave his hostage a immensely hard shove in the Zaft Commander's direction, and with him standing so close to the edge of the stairs, the only thing he could do to prevent himself, from taking quite the nasty trip down the hard metal stairs, was to let go of the machine rifle, and use both of his hands to catch his still overly dizzy subordinate.
Yet the very instant Athrun saw the nutcase release his hold on the machine rifle. He took off full speed towards the two men, absolutely determined to make it so, that neither one of these guys would be conscious again, before he was at least a few hundred kilometers away from the Gibraltar base.
But while the half insane Zaft Commander, was actually able to regain his balance relatively fast, the only thing else he managed to do was send the rapidly approaching blue haired bastard a highly murderous glare.
"You just wait, Zala! With the Archangel destroyed, there is no where for you to hide! Even if you do manage to get away from here! Soon or later we are going to find you agai...aaahhhhh...!" Those threatening words was the last thing Athrun heard, before he slammed his hand into the side of the crazy Zaft Commander's neck, with as much force as possible.
And as Athrun watched the nutty blood thirsty Commander, fall backwards down the slightly rusty metal stairs, he felt absolutely certain that he wouldn't wake up again anytime soon.
But as much as the young man sincerely would have appreciated getting just one or two short seconds, to get some much need air down into his lungs, the exact moment he heard the staggering man beside him, ask in a small tone what was going on. Athrun hurried reached over and found one certain spot, on the man's neck. Which he immediately press down on quite hard, thereby making it so that he too would be out cold for the rest of the night.
"Geez just how big a psychopath does one have to be, before they a deny entrance into the Zaft military! I really hope that I can avoid running into anymore nut jobs, while I'm escaping from this damn place!" He growled out through his teeth, then while taking a couple of deep breaths, he went back over to the broken window, where he immediately reached out after the clearly scared pink haired woman in there.
"Hurry up before anybody else shows up!" Athrun told her in a hard tone that left little room for disagreement.
Hesitating only slightly, the fake celebrity took a hold on the out stretch hand, thereby allowing Athrun to help her get through the broken window. And as she felt the heavy rain pour down over her in a never ending stream, she watched, with a totally weirded out expression on her face, as her handsome crush swiftly kneeled down and picked up one of the knock out soldiers machine rifles.
Quickly looking his newly acquire weapon over, Athrun began leading the pink haired woman down the long metal staircase. They did however not get very far before Meer practically forced her hand free from Athrun's tight grasp, and as he turned his serious green gaze back towards her, she asked him the only thing she could think about at the moment. "Athrun why...why did you attack them like that? Now you have to work that much harder to regain the Chairman's trust?" She asked in a low tone of voice.
Giving her a somewhat skeptical look, there was nothing Athrun could do, to stop himself from rubbing his forehead, in a deeply frustrated manner. Quite frankly having a tough time believing that the fake Lacus could actually be so unbelievable gullible, and as yet another loud thunderclap could be heard above the base Athrun place both of his hands on the girl's shoulders. "Will you please, PLEASE wake up, and smell the coffee already! I realize that running around pretending Lacus is a dream came true for you! But eventually the Chairman will have no further need for a fake Lacus! And when that time comes, he wouldn't hesitate to have you killed Meer! So you most come with me!" He said, in a deep and utter serious tone.
Yet just when he was about to take a hold on the pink haired girl's hand again, and drag her along with him down the fire escape, Meer quickly backed away from him. "NO...no you are wrong Athrun! The Chairman...would...would never harm somebody who doesn't deserve it! And stop calling me by that...that other name...! I am Lacus...My real name is Lacus Clyne!" The pink haired girl practically screamed at the very top of her lungs, and with a couple tears running down her cheeks.
While Athrun honestly had suspect from time to time, that Meer Campbell might actually be suffering from a serious case of schizophrenic. It was still somewhat of a surprise for him to discover, that his suspicion was actually truth.
But as much as Athrun sincerely wished, that he could do something to help the girl out, he had less than no idea about how to approach and handle a situation such as this, and it was not like he had the necessary time, to try and come up with some kind of miracle cure to the pink haired girl's illness. One really didn't have to be much of a genius, to figure out that it would only be a matter of very, very little time, before even more Zaft soldiers showed up to look for him.
So Athrun quickly reached the decision that perhaps the best way to snap her out of her delusion was to give her light shock of some kind. "Ok if you are Lacus, then would you please tell me the name of the first song you wrote?" He asked in the most gentle tone he could most under these circumstance. Even though he knew, that it was impossible for Meer to know the answer to that question. What very few people knew, was that Lacus actually had written a few songs which she had never perform with in front of a live audience. She would only sing those songs, for the people she truly loved and cared about.
So it quite frankly didn't come as much of a surprise, when Meer insisted loudly on, that the very first song she had create, was the one call, In the Quiet Night. "Yes that was the 'first' song 'you' perform with on stage. But it's not the first one 'you' wrote. That one is actually call Fly Heavenly Spirit. Unfortunately 'you' never finish it. 'You' got stuck about halfway through, the second worse. Something that still bothers 'you' from time to time, right?" He asked softly.
Hearing Athrun explain to her how she had once written a song, that she now remembered absolutely nothing about, was not surprisingly quite a shock to her. And as even more tears appeared from both of her eyes, her deeply confused mind tried it's best to make some kind of sense of what Athrun had told her.
"No it's not truth! You are lying! You are lying to me, ATHRUN!" She shouted as loud as she could, while an enormous sob shook her entire body.
While it was almost completely impossible for Athrun to deny, just how unbelievable much he truly hate all of Meer's crazy schemes, to get him in to bed, he seriously didn't like what he was doing right now. It seemed very much like, he was actually was torturing the pink haired girl. And that was most definitely not something she deserved, no matter how many times she tried to seduce him.
Frankly in his eyes, one would have to be the worse kind of scumbag, to find enjoyment in tormenting another human being in such a cruel manner. So while taking a brief look around to make sure that they were still alone, Athrun Zala forced himself to ignore the guilty knot in his stomach. As he softly asked the loud sobbing girl the next question, which he realized was bound to confuse and rattle her up, even more then the last question.
"Meer what is the name of your 'husband'?"
Sincerely doubting that she had actually heard Athrun correct just now. The fake celebrity blinked rapidly a half dozen times, while she slowly moved her depressed gaze upwards away from the ground. Now looking at Athrun with tear filled eyes, and with totally weird out expression on her face, that made it completely clear to Athrun, just how much he had shocked her with that question. Seriously it might actually been less shocking to her, if he had somehow grown a second head.
"Wha...husband...but I'm...I'm not marri...!" That was all the sobbing pink haired woman manage to get out, before Athrun's voice interrupt her.
"Meer! The real Lacus is married! Happily married as a matter of fact. With you being such a huge fan Meer, haven't you ever found yourself wondering why exactly Lacus stop singing two years ago?! She met a certain somebody that quickly became very important to her, and the two of them got married soon afterwards" the blue haired man explained, only knowing these things, because Mu La Flaga had once told him, Nicol and Dearka the small tail about how the married couple's first encounter had play out. And according to the highly sarcastic blond man, it hadn't taken more than a single look into each other's eyes for Kira and Lacus to get totally smitten with one another.
But while each one of the married couple had stubbornly denied, being so overly clingy, as Mu had claimed they where, knowing how disturbingly lovey-dovey the two of them could be at times. Athrun had very little doubt about the sincerity, in Mu's words, not that he was one to talk, Cagalli and him pretty much behaved the exact same way, from time to time.
Yet all of Athrun's thoughts about Mu La Flaga and the past, was instantly brought to a hold the exact moment Meer let out a immensely loud scream, that almost made Athrun think for a brief second, that the girl, had actually gotten hit by a bolt of lightning just now. Yet as he tore his now concerned gaze away from the ground, he saw Meer holding tightly on to her head, like she actually feared that if she didn't do that it was going to exploded at any moment now.
"NO...NO...Stop it...STOP LYING TO ME!...The first song was In the Quiet Night!...And...And I have never been marrrrriiiiieeeeddd NEVER...!" The pink haired woman screamed painfully, just as she collapsed down on to her knees, where she instantly began crying even more loudly than before.
Seeing the otherwise cheerful woman, in such a miserable state, and knowing that he alone was the one to blame, for her panic attack. The young man tightly squeezed both of his eyes shut, finding it severely difficult to keep his deep shame and guilt, from being shown on his face. It was imperative, that he kept up his none caring facade, and made it seem like it simply didn't matter to him, how much he had hurt the pink haired woman's feelings. Athrun know that if he stopped behaving so coldly towards Meer now, it would be even more difficult to stop himself from trying to comfort the girl.
The blue haired man knew, that if he actually did something like that now. He would not be able to get out of there anytime soon, and he SERIOUSLY would prefer avoiding whatever else Zaft soldiers, the Chairman might have dispatch, to find him.
Seriously half of the base might just be searching for him by now.
So still with those thoughts rushing through his head. Athrun took a swift glance down at his watch. which told him that he had already spend over ten minutes, trying to talk some sense into Meer, and make the girl realize, that she was not Lacus Clyne. And seeing as his effort hadn't really help much, on Meer's mental state, Athrun let out a short displeased sigh, as he swiftly brush away a few strands of wet hair from his forehead, and once more looked over at the sobbing woman.
"Just think about what I told you, Meer! And if you ever do reach a point, were you realize that I was actually telling you the truth about the Chairman, and everything else, then head to Orb! It's a good country, and the people there, will surely do whatever they can to help you out, Meer!" Then with nothing more to say to her, the young man turned around and raced off full speed down the metal stairs.
The former pilot of the Justice gundam, had however barely leap away from the last step of the long staircase, when a familiar voice suddenly called out after him. "I thought that it might just come to this, Athrun! Even though I was kinda hoping, that you would somehow see reason and realize what a mistake, you were making!" A angry male voice said, as the individual it belonged to, step out from his hiding place by the staircase. Aiming a gun at his long time friend.
Not doing anything at first, Athrun just stood there silently staring at the small silver colored weapon, which the person holding it, was clearly aiming at his head. Then after giving his lower lips a light yet nervous bite, he moved his gaze upwards, so he ended up staring into a couple of pissed off brown eyes.
"And I never thought that I would see the day, where you of all people would be aiming a gun at me, Nicol Amalfi" the young blue haired man said, in a low disappoint tone of voice.
To be continued.
ZGMF-X87S Adamant gundam schematic.
The Adamant gundam is mildly base of the design of the Abyss gundam. Yet unlike it's 'predecessor' it's made for ground combat instead of combat in water. Which means that it can transform into a very well armed oversize tank, and can not fly. (Looks very much like a Starcraft Siege Tank, just much bigger and more nasty looking)
When the Phase Shift armor on the Adamant is activate the upper part of the mobile suit and it's head, have a dark green military like colour. While it's arms and legs are mostly black, except for their joints which have a light grey colour. Last but not least both of it's eyes are bright orange.
Armaments: What weapons the Adamant haves consist mostly of the long range kind. In it's mobile suit mode it has a single beam rifle, plus two small beam guns mounted in the left arm (Just like the Providence gundam). And two machine cannons in it's chest. And to top it all of it has a couple of missile pod install on each one of it's shoulders that contents a six missiles each. (In the same manner as the Buster gundam). Last it has been equiped with a beam lance that looked very much like the one the Abyss had.
Armaments in mobile armor mode: When the Adamant is transformed into a tank it has even more long range weapons. It's main weapons in this mode consist of one plasma beam cannon place right on the midle of the machine. ( Just like on a normal day tank). On each side of that weapon there is a smaller beam cannon. All three of these weapons can of course be turn in whatever direction the pilot desires. Last when in mobile armor mode, the beam rifle is place on the right side of the mobile armor, which of course means that this weapon can be used too. It can however only shoot forward. The lance is on the left side.
Defence: The Adamant's main defence consist of a beam shield that like usual is locate on the machine's left arm. Yet unlike any other machine it can also use the shield in mobile armor. Unfortunately that does have it's limitations, seeing as the Adamant can not move around at all, when the shield is up in this mode. And none of it's weapons can be fired out through the shield.
Powerplant: Neutron Jammer Canceler.
Next chapter I will finally reveal the reason why Nicol fell to the darkside, and yes, he is going to be a bad guy in this story, so please stop complaining about it.
Last have a merry christmas and a happy new year, guys. I'll see all of you next year.