Phase-14: Skirmish in the Indian Ocean
"John Paul Jones will depart at 0900. Level 1 battle alert issued. Maintenance crews standby at battle status." A CIC member on the Spengler-class sea carrier John Paul Jones declared. The EA base was bustling as all Windam corps had been ordered to sortie. But demanding all their Windams, and set to full boost at that, Phantom Pain was sure pushing it. And on that note, the commander of that base was angrily complaining to Neo Roanoke who was still hell-bent on having his way.
"You're the fool here. We're up against a Vosgulov-class, and the Minerva. It'll be tough to destroy them even if we throw everything at them. Haven't you reviewed the data from the earliest battle off the Orb shore?!"
"That's not the point! Our forces were specifically sent here to build a frontline base to oppose Carpentaria! Our mission is far from finished here so it is unthinkable to send out our mobile suits!"
"But the base you're building and all you're doing is for fighting ZAFT, isn't it?! Stop daydreaming and launch all of your units! I'll leave the Gaia here to defend this area. That's an order! Hurry!" The masked Captain hung up and asked about the Chaos, Abyss and Gaia. They were all ready to sortie. "Okay. Don't move the Jones from its designated position." He left the bridge. He too was going to launch.
Stella complained about being the only staying to hold the fort while they got to go out. But as Auel said, it couldn't be helped. The Gaia couldn't fly or swim. Sting kindly told her to be a good girl and watch the sea. She liked the sea, right? Neo joined them and was also disappointed that Stella couldn't be with them. The girl happily ran to him, crying his name. He didn't think anything was going to happen, but he left the base to her. She reluctantly agreed. And a moment later, the Chaos and Abyss launched, with the Abyss immediately turning into a MA and diving underwater. The GAT-04+AQM/E-A4E1 Jet Windam corps took off. This variant of the white and blue GAT-04 Windam had an AQM/E-A4E1 Jet Striker pack equipped, granting it flight capabilities in the atmosphere. It was thus the standard equipment here on Earth. The suit was armed with four M2M5 "Todesschrecken" 12.5mm Automatic CIWS on the head and clavicles, two ES04B Beam Sabers stored on the hips, two Mk315 "Stiletto" Rocket-propelled Anti-armor Penetrators inside the side armor, an A52 Offensive Shield Type E featuring a Mk438/B dual multipurpose missile "Würger" SA10, as well as a M9409L Beam Rifle. The Jet Striker pack mounted heavy anti-ground "Drache" Air-to-surface Missiles, Mk1323 Unguided Rocket Pods, and Mk438 Triple "Würger" Air-to-air Missile Pods.
The base commander cursed Phantom Pain. The civilians building the base, as well as their families held hostage behind fences, anxiously watched the departing mobile suits. What if the battle reached them and they were killed in the crossfire? But also... could they escape in the confusion? The Gaia jumped from islet to islet to stand on a cliff overlooking the John Paul Jones sailing out. She saw Neo's customized magenta Windam coming out. Roanoke really hoped to finish things here. He was thinking about the 'white baldy' that had given him quite some trouble in space.
The Minerva was sailing smoothly when Burt detected the enemy's approach. Meyrin announced the switch to Condition Red and ordered all pilots to standby in their machines. The five pilots hurried. Heim identified the enemies from the thermal patterns. There were forty Windams, and the Chaos. So they were facing THAT squad again. The question was where could they have come from? Did they have a carrier nearby? But Heim couldn't find one. Trine suggested the use of mirage colloid but it was impossible on the ocean. That said, they didn't have much time to think now.
"Lower the bridge. Prepare for anti-mobile suit combat. Establish a com link with the Nyiragongo." Captain Gladys gave her instructions before receiving a communication from Athrun and Seren in their pilot suit. They wanted to know if it was the Earth Forces. She confirmed; they had apparently been ambushed again. It was tough being popular. In any case, there was no way to avoid them. The ship was entering battle. "What about you? I don't have the authority to give you orders."
"We'll sortie as well." Zala answered after a glance at Seren who had nodded.
"Are you sure?"
"We may not be under your command, but we too are crew members of this ship. Unfortunate though it may be, we also see this battle as unavoidable." The young man replied.
"Then, Athrun, I'd like to ask you to take command of the mobile suits after they've taken off. Is that okay?" Talia smiled gratefully. Athrun accepted. "And can I count on you, Seren, to fill all the gaps and coordinate the defense with us? I believe you have the necessary breadth of vision and insight." She requested. Canaver rogered. Shinn jumped in the Core Splendor and activated it. Meyrin instructed the Impulse, Fortuna, and Savior to prepare for take off while the ZAKUs were to wait on standby for further orders. Athrun boarded his unit and activated it too.
"Opening Silhouette hangar 1, Force Silhouette, standby. Setting the Silhouette Flyer on the central catapult. Closing the airtight shutters. All emergency personal, please stand by. Central catapult, online, lifting up to the launch position. Core Splendor, all systems online. Requesting that you stand by for launch. X23S, Athrun's unit, standby for launch. All systems online, confirmed. Closing the airtight shutter. Catapult, standby, confirmed." Meyrin professionally went through the lengthy procedures.
"Shinn Asuka. It has been decided that I will take command during this battle after take off." Athrun informed Shinn who made a pouting noise. "Is that clear?" He insisted. The child sulkily agreed.
"Engagement of launch system, confirmed. Catapult hydrolic pressure, nominal. Path clear. Core Splendor, please launch."
"Shinn Asuka, Core Splendor, heading out!" The Core Splendor took off, followed by the Chest Flyer, Leg Flyer, and the Silhouette Glider. Then Meyrin opened the starboard catapult and told the Savior to launch.
"Athrun Zala, Savior, taking off!" He launched. The X56S Impulse gundam combined.
"Seren Canaver, Fortuna, launching!" She sortied too. As always in those cases, Chacha was stuffed in her pilot suit. Trine ordered the activation of the CIWS, "Tristan", and "Isolde" and that all tubes of launchers one and two be loaded with "Parsifal" missiles. The EA mobile suits spread out. Seren studied the enemy formation and spotted the Chaos, as well as a customized, magenta-colored Jet Windam. If it was that squad, then that custom Windam must be the commander unit, and... "Gladys-kanchou, if we're facing THAT unit, I believe we should assume that the Abyss and Gaia are close by, and the Abyss is certainly coming over underwater. We should have the ZAKUs prepare for underwater combat. And please tell the Nyiragongo to have the GOOhNs ready too. Given our opponents, I don't think there's such a thing as being too careful." She politely but firmly requested. Talia agreed. Rey ordered the maintenance crew to give them the bazookas as the beam rifles were useless underwater. Luna adjusted the parameters of her ZAKU to suit the new environment that wasn't to her liking, although she was a bit skeptical about Seren's assessment.
Sting and Neo detected the presence of unknown machines along with the Impulse. Yet other new models? From Carpentaria? The commander was pretty impressed that ZAFT could dish out so many new models just like that... the three they had stolen, that combining guy... and now those two. Sting wasn't about to be impressed though and charged at these new comers. Neo would take on the familiar one. Shinn was taking down the Windams, though the sheer numbers of them made it difficult and annoyed him. Noting this, Seren went to his help and straight into the swarm. Her unit was just perfect for this situation. Its key feature was really those MMI-RG13 Offensive Aerodynamic Binders that could pivot at such a high angle. They shielded her from so many directions and returned fire, to the sides, the front, the back or upward. And like this, using her rifle as well as the MA-5D "Eos" beam cannons and MMI-77A "Honos" railguns of her binders, she quickly disabled more Earth Forces mobile suits. Sometimes, her Fortuna would turn into a mobile armor flitting around, easily dodging the beams and retaliating with the "Caelestis" plasma beam cannons and "Invictus" rail cannons.
Oakley challenged the new guy to know what he was made of and fired his rifle and shield-mounted "Picus" machine guns. The Savior dived under a cloud, changed into a MA and reappeared, passing by his opponent. He turned about and shot his "Amfortas" and "Super Fortis" cannons. The Chaos shielded himself. But while Asuka could quite easily dispatch the normal Windams, there was this one with custom colors that gave him a lot of trouble. While it was true that this one had its performance limiters removed or dialed back, it wasn't THAT superior compared to the mass-produced ones. Everything was due to the skills of the pilot who could anticipate his attacks and react accordingly, and also made good use of the cloud covers. That was the skills of a great veteran pilot. The suit had simply been customized to better keep up with the abilities of such a pilot. And the more Seren observed that enemy commander, the more she found that fighting style and those moves familiar.
"Don't get ahead of yourself, ZAFT ace-kun! Don't dawdle around! Corner him with coordinated attacks!" Roanoke commanded, and beams relentlessly rained on Shinn who cursed and was forced further and further away from the ship in order to avoid the onslaught.
"Shinn! You're going out too far! What are you doing?!" Athrun rebuked him, before clicking his tongue and evading the Chaos' beams.
"It's easy to complain!" The petulant pilot of the Impulse childishly replied. The Minerva fired the CIWS and Parsifals as Windams were closing in on them.
"Don't get so close to the islands! What will you do if you get ambushed by the Gaia?! If you're an ace then don't let that guy lure you around so easily!" Seren also warned Asuka. She was now fighting the Windams alone.
"I'll be fine! Stop treating me like a child!"
"Then stop acting like one!"
"I know that much. But our sensors haven't detected a single submarine or ship." The captain of the Nyiragongo retorted to Gladys.
"Then where are you saying they came from? Are you suggesting that they have a base close by?" Talia argued. However, they had received no information about a base this close to Carpentaria. But then, the sonar of the submarine detected the fast approach of the Abyss. "Have Rey and Luna sortie." She instructed Meyrin. Arthur noted the justness of Seren's judgement. "She's indeed a perspicacious one. I'm glad she's on our side." She praised her too. Although she was also thinking how dangerous that girl would be if she became their enemy. The Nyiragongo sent out three UMF-4A GOOhNs to intercept the X31S. Luna and Rey jumped in the sea.
The Savior in MA mode dodged the Chaos' "Firefly" guided missiles and maneuvered to shoot them down with its "Picus" 76mm machine guns. Sting cursed that new unit's mobility. Shinn was dispatching Windams with his beam rifle... Since Seren had stolen his opponent. He was having so much trouble that she had gone ahead and switched with him. He hated to admit it, but she was faring better than him. He observed her high speed, high level game of tag/whack-a-mole amidst the white clouds. While he had been totally unable to pin that guy down, that woman missed so narrowly and even grazed the magenta Windam. She really had crazy speed and mobility. What were those insane maneuvers?! And she didn't lose when it came to reading the flow of the fight and anticipate the opponent's movements either. The Fortuna turned into a mobile armor and fired simultaneously the weapons from the combo pods, the M101 "Caelestis" plasma beam cannons, the MMI-M14X1 "Invictus" rail cannons, and the MA-5D "Eos" beam cannons, hitting the left leg, the right wing and grazing the flank of the enemy commander unit. Roanoke cursed. The GOOhNs fired torpedoes at the Abyss but it was just too fast. In an instant, the blue machine closed in, turned back into a MS and sliced a GOOhN with its beam lance. The underwater explosion alerted Athrun who asked the Minerva what it was about. Meyrin told him about the Abyss fighting the GOOhNs and Gladys that they would counter with the ZAKUs, however, they had no idea where the enemy was coming from. Athrun couldn't see any base or ship, or detect anything either.
Hearing that, Seren incapacited more Windams and left the others to Shinn so she could momentarily withdraw from the battlefield and take a quick look along the coast. The Earth Alliance officer sent half the remaining Windams after her. Worried about Neo, Stella could no longer take it and left her post, hurrying closer to the battlefield in her MA mode. Auel bombed another GOOhN before detecting the arrival of the two ZAKUs. Luna fired her bazooka whose projectile was far too slow for the amphibious mobile suit that transformed again and zoomed towards the ZAKUs that dodged sideways. Shinn shot down more Windams, to Neo's damn. The pilot of the Impulse had undoubtedly improved more than expected, but he was still more manageable than that white, blue and gold new comer. After all, hot-blooded guys were easily baited. The EA commander lured his pursuer further towards the islands and islets whose complex layout seemed perfect for an ambush. Indeed, Asuka was so focused on chasing the customized Windam that he failed to notice the Gaia coming from the side. He couldn't react in time and was tackled by the black unit. Neo let out a small smug chuckle. The Savior turned back into a MS, fired at the Chaos with the "Amfortas" cannons, and kept the magenta Windam away from the Impulse with a few well aimed rifle beams. The Gaia and Impulse both recovered and stood up. Stella attacked, but Shinn slashed with his beam saber forcing her back. Roanoke told Sting to get behind the new guy.
"Shinn! Get back! You're falling into their trap!" Athrun ordered while evading the beams of the X24S and the custom Windam. "Shinn!"
"Shut up! I can do it!" Asuka childishly barked back as the Gaia was charging him, beam saber out. They clashed. Seren clicked her tongue as she dodged the Windams' beams. The Fortuna turned into a MS and shot down the heads and arms of the enemy units with the MA-BAR70 high energy beam rifle. When some managed to close in, she swung her feet-mounted beam sabers, dismembering them. In the sea, Lunamaria and Rey could avoid the Abyss' torpedoes but their ZAKUs' lack of mobility was growing increasingly handicapping as time went by. And then, the pilot of the ZGMF-X22S, having gotten rid of the pursuit, soon found something. Inside the base, the alarm was ringing and the troops hurrieldly prepared to defend the place. Cannons were manned and tanks came out.
"Minerva, the rabbit was in the hat, I'm sending you the footage and coordinates." Canaver contacted the ship. The main screen in the CIC showed the image of a base being built. Those EA forces that had attacked them had not magically appeared out of thin air. And she didn't miss those civilians parked behind fences like livestock. The girl gritted her teeth, feeling her anger rising. Taking people hostage to force their family to work for them... the Earth Alliance was as ruthless and despicable as always. And then she was targeted by anti-air batteries. Still in her MA mode, she maneuveured between the streams of projectiles, and shot the batteries down from a distance with her "Caelestis" plasma beam cannons and "Invictus" rail cannons. She also detonated the missiles zooming towards her with her MMI-GAU12 "Orcus" 80mm machine guns and MA-5D "Eos" beam cannons.
Meantime, the duel between the Gaia and Impulse had also brought them close to the base. Workers and soldiers were running around. Taking advantage of the mayhem the arrival the ZAFT machines had caused, locals distorted the fence and enlarged holes under it, trying to escape into the deep trench between the two areas where they had been parked. The Gaia and Impulse were fighting in the forest. Turrets shot the X56S. That was when Shinn saw the base too. And he saw the confined locals, some trying to reach their family across the fence... He also instantly understood the situation. And he saw all those who tried to flee being shot down by the soldiers of the Earth Forces. He gasped and felt his heart crack as he recalled the brutal death of his family. It was the same, nothing had changed... it was always those heartless Earth Alliance bastards... they came and stole and killed people, they slaughtered civilians who wished nothing more than to live in peace... Shinn gritted his teeth. Seren, who had noticed him, called his name.
"What is it with you?!" Sting yelled, growing more and more annoyed that he couldn't hit this red unit even with his commander's help. Indeed, among the recently developed ZAFT mobile suits, the Savior and the Fortuna boasted the highest mobility, notably in MA mode. Well, given that his machine had been significantly damaged, Neo couldn't push it much or come too forward. He could only support from a safe distance. Beneath the surface, one of the Abyss' torpedoes managed to damage Lunamaria's ZAKU. Rey retaliated. Zala turned his unit back into MS mode and shot the remaining Windams.
"We've reached our limit. Perhaps this stage wasn't to our advantage." Neo conceded reluctantly and withdrew. "Jones, we're retreating! Get ready for rendezvous! Auel, Sting, Stella, we're done here! We're leaving!" He barked his orders.
"Why?" Nieder protested.
"The guys we borrowed have been annihilated and the enemy found our new base."
"What? What are you doing you dimwit?"
"Don't say that. You didn't get any big ones today either, did you?"
"Then I'll do it." Auel suddenly left the area where he was fighting the ZAKUs that went after him. The John Paul Jones carrier moved out and was detected by the Minerva. It was approaching the Nyirangongo. The Chaos and Gaia disengaged and retreated too. The mobile armor Abyss was also fast approaching the Vosgulov-class submarine. It launched four torpedoes.
"Hard to port! Engines maximum! Avoid it!" The captain of the Nyirangongo shouted, but it was too late. The four projectiles hit their target. Auel then finished the sinking submersible with his M68 dual cannons. The Nyirangongo exploded. The blue-haired Extended laughed gleefully. Athrun flew over the smoking, floating debris of the allied submarine and gritted his teeth. Ledford stared at the black smoke billowing to the sky, closed her eyes, and exhaled deeply, gripping her joystick.
"The Nyirangongo..." Asuka stammered as tanks and turrets fired at him. "...Damn it..." He cursed and fired his chest-mounted CIWS guns, destroying the tanks. He roared, and went on to destroy the turrets and ravage the entire base, not leaving a single man-made thing standing. Athrun and Seren kept ordering him to stop, that the enemy no longer had the power to fight, but Shinn ignored them. The Fortuna landed right in front of him and grabbed the cannon of the Impulse's rifle and pointed it at her own chest. Athrun fearfully cried Seren's name.
"What are you doing, that's dangerous!" Asuka exclaimed, shocked.
"Glad to see you're still sane enough not to shoot your own allies... But Shinn, we told you that's enough. Didn't you hear us? Are you deaf, or some mindless monster unable to listen to others? Can you still understand human language?" Seren was not yelling, but her voice was all the colder, heavier, and full of wrath that even Shinn momentarily flinched in guilt and fear.
"That... I can too!" The nettled boy soon barked back after recovering from the shock.
"Then stop your rampage already!"
"...Yes..." Shinn sulkily replied. The girl let go of the rifle that he stored away before heading to the civilians. He grabbed the fences, unearthed them, and dropped them, allowing the separated families and friends to reunite and cry in relief and happiness. Shinn smiled at the scene.
However, when it was all over, and everyone was back in the Minerva's hangar and had come down from their units, a slapping sound echoed and shocked those present...
"If you want to hit me, go right ahead! But I did nothing wrong! The people there were helped by what I did!" Shinn defiantly glared at Athrun, earning himself another slap.
"War is not about playing the hero! Stop making decisions to suit yourself! If you have the power, then understand how to utilize it!" The male FAITH member snapped. The rebellious child looked away, unable to reply to that. Athrun left. Canaver sighed again.
"The problem isn't that you saved civilians. It's that you didn't use your head or listen to us. Did it occur to you that there could have been civilians or important information in the buildings you destroyed? Why didn't you dispatch only the weaponry and leave our troops to secure the rest of the base with the least damage? Was there any point in running wild and causing all that destruction?" She coldly, and just as angrily, interrogated, glaring at Shinn who looked away, failing to find a satisfying answer. "Losing your head, being overwhelmed by your anger and resentment and simply rampaging isn't what you should be doing, is it? That sort of rampage is what terrorists and movie monsters do. Learn to think before you act. We all feel the same anger about the loss of the Nyirangongo and the way those people treated the population. But we're not terrorists or avengers. We're soldiers. If you just want to feel good about yourself by doing whatever, you should quit being a soldier. Do not confuse revenge or rioting with duty." And with this, Seren left too.
In the Archangel, Kira, Cagalli, and the main bridge members were watching the news from several channels. The conflict was spreading on Earth. Everywhere, people were rioting against the Atlantic Federation and the governements under their influence and facing severe repression. Waltfeld was hoping that instead of this gloomy stuff, they could have some heart-lifting news for a change. Cagalli remarked that all they got was the news about the turmoil in the Earth Alliance but what about the PLANTS? Lacus changed the channel and showed them a live concert of... Lacus Clyne, singing a rather lively remix of Shizukana Yoru Ni and moving around while the crowd was cheering, unaware of the imposture. It seemed that things had been like that for awhile now in the PLANTs. Lacus noted how everyone seemed to be having fun. Cagalli asked her if it was really alright to leave things at that. The pink-haired girl kept quiet but from her expression, she did have her doubts concerning that matter.
"Well, if we could do something about it, we'd love to. But if we act carelessly, we'll be giving away our location. That wouldn't be good, would it? Especially for the Kingdom of Scandinavia who is hiding us." Andrew pointed out. Kira agreed.
"But we can't hide like this forever. I, for one, need to do something about Orb..." Cagalli observed. Rayner placed a hand on her shoulder and she looked up at him.
"But we can't move now. We know too little about what's going on." Her brother insisted.
"That's right. Sure, the drop of Junius Seven caused tremendous damage to Earth, but ever since that incident, the PLANTs have acted in good faith. The Allied Nations are the idiots for going to war with whatever excuse they can give." Murrue gave her opinion. Well they all knew it was the Blue Cosmos' doings. "But Chairman Durandal did not retaliate foolishly to that unbelievable first attack. He calmed everyone down, from the citizens to the council, and only fought a defensive battle, keeping losses to a minimum. He is not a bad person by any stretch of the imagination... given just those facts."
"I think Chairman Durandal is, in fact, a very good leader. Or rather... I thought he was... until I learned about the attempt on Lacus' life and this incident." Athha corrected herself. "Seren and Athrun decided to go to the PLANTs because they thought the same."
"Then who tried to kill Lacus?" Kira sharply questioned. "And now that I see this, I'm having trouble believing this Durandal person. He's tricking everyone."
"You could say that's what politics is all about." Waltfeld spoke resignedly.
"I can't imagine he doesn't know about this." Ramius looked at the monitor again. The fake Lacus was taking a bouquet of flowers and waving at her fans. That made them wonder what the Chairman was thinking... but the situation in Western Eurasia naturally caused the people to want to support ZAFT and crush the Earth Alliance. Kira was still against it though.
"When Seren and Athrun come back, I'm sure we'll find out more about what's going on with the PLANTs. Our agents infiltrated there are far too silent, it's not normal. If it's so hard for them to make a move, Durandal must have an iron grasp on the information. For him to be so secretive... he must be more slippery and dangerous than we had thought..." Rayner spoke. "Still just what are those kids doing?" He sighed. Kira looked down as he recalled how Athrun was lamenting his powerlessness and seemed to be wavering. Seren too, because of her supportive role she's always had to appear strong and confident before others and hide her fears and insecurities. Although she had grown more open with them, someone can't change their nature so easily. He could guess that things were much harder for her than she would let on, but if the burden had in fact been too much for her, then what? Could she have been influenced by the Chairman? But that was still the intractable Seren they were talking about. And what about Athrun? Just what happened to them? Speculating now was pointless. They could only hope and pray that those two were fine and that they would regroup with them soon. Still, it was strange they hadn't heard anything from them, or from the Ledfords' informants at the PLANTs.
Feeling that they needed a break, Athrun and Seren headed to the deck to get some fresh air and cool their heads. Chacha too decided to enjoy the breeze and fly around. Well, Athrun had also scolded Seren about her dangerous way of stopping Shinn. Regardless of its effectiveness, he truly disliked her habit of pointing people's gun at her own chest and simply putting herself in harm's way unnecessarily. That was very bad for HIS heart. But she was always ready to stake her life for her beliefs, to show her trust in people. The sun was setting. However, Shinn was already there. They sighed and joined him, asking what he was doing here alone.
"Nothing really. What about you? I'm sure FAITH members must be very busy. Should you be slacking off in a place like this?" The boy was using polite speech but the tone and content were as defiant and insolent as always.
"You're really a person who can only talk like you're picking a fight." Zala sighed again.
"FAITH members too need occasional breaks you know." Seren shrugged. "Aren't YOU tired, always feeling upset, irritated, and snapping at us? You do realize we're not your enemies, right? How long will you keep that up?"
"I DO understand. It's just... that..."
"Then, does it bother you that much that we came back, and that I hit you?" Athrun intervened again.
"No, it doesn't really matter. But no one would be happy about getting slapped. That's only natural. In the first place, being told that people who've been serving the Athha in Orb all this time, an ambassadress and her bodyguard no less, suddenly came back, became FAITH members and my superior officers, I can't be expected to agree to it immediately and take orders. What you're doing doesn't make sense!" Shinn glared back at them. The two former Orb civilians looked at each other.
"I guess you're right. We'll admit it. From your perspective, what we're doing must seem unreasonable. So you're saying that's the reason? That's why you won't listen to us, and why you don't like us? Is that it?" Zala questioned.
"Ah... no..." Shinn recoiled slightly, his eyes wide. That one had placated him and let him catch a glimpse of his own immaturity.
"Are you saying that you're always right, and whatever you don't like or can't agree to is a mistake?"
"I didn't say that!"
"Then how do you explain that battle? Do you still believe that you're in the right?"
"Yes!" Asuka replied strongly, but without anger or defiance, as he balled his fists. Athrun sighed again.
"You said you lost your family on Onogoro Island in Orb, didn't you?"
"I said they were killed... by the Athhas."
"Yeah, if you want to think so, then it's fine. So that's why you started thinking like that... 'If only I had power back then... if only I could obtain power...'?"
"Why are you saying this?!" The child exclaimed, shocked, as it was as if Athrun had read his mind.
"Anyone who's cried over being powerless feels that way, probably." Athrun gazed into the distance, recalling that time he had seen the destruction of Junius Seven where his mother had disappeared. He had lamented, and sought power to avoid another tragedy. But because he had obtained power, he had been forced to fight precious friends, Seren, and Kira, Kira who killed a precious comrade, Nicol. He had cried again, and to prevent more comrades from being killed, sought the strength and willpower to kill Kira. This time, he had made Seren cry... as well as himself... and Seren had wanted and tried to kill him... "But the moment you obtain that power, you become the one who make others cry. Never forget that." He turned to look straight at Shinn who gasped slightly. Those words seemed to have touched something in him. "We'll be going into battle again. Should you forget that at that time, losing yourself to your own selfish reasoning and sense of justice, using recklessly your power... you'll become nothing but a destroyer. You're not like that, right? We will sortie as soldiers intent on accomplishing their mission. We're not going out to pick a fight."
"I know that much!"
"Do you? Those who get blinded by rage and resentment will lose themselves and in times, their hands could even take the lives of those they wanted to protect. We've seen too many people like that. WE were like that once. And you too will certainly learn one day that no matter how much power you have, there are things that you can't protect." Seren added, sadly yet firmly. She and Kira had been like that in the Lybia desert. And there was that fated battle on the Marshall Islands, not to mention Patrick Zala who shot his own son too, and all those who followed him, and the people in the Earth Alliance.
"What do you..."
"If you kill someone's husband, his wife will hate you. If you kill someone's son, his parents will hate you. If you kill someone's brother, his sibling will hate you. You think you understand, but you actually don't. If you kill my siblings, or the man I love, I will hate you. But I also like you. After all, you're just like a naughty and rebellious little brother..." The girl smiled faintly before turning serious again. "Should I kill you because you killed people I loved? Even though I wanted to protect both you and them? We must be able to go beyond that. That is why I decided to avoid killing as many people as possible. If we cannot change ourselves, how can we hope to break that endless cycle of retaliation? How can we hope for a future where both Naturals and Coordinators can live in peace?" Ledford explained.
"I understand what you said about trying to avoid killing... but... How can you still believe so strongly in peace between Coordinators and Naturals?" And although Asuka didn't voice it, what he meant was clear... How can you still believe so strongly in Orb's ideals after all that happened, after you even enrolled in ZAFT and became a FAITH agent?
"I feel like I'm repeating myself but well... I certainly failed once, but no matter how hard it is, I'll keep walking that path, because I'm not that weak that I'd simply give up after just a few setbacks, saying it's impossible. If I give up, then everything will truly be over and all my efforts wasted. Besides, it's not like I'm walking alone..." She smiled more openly, hopefully, causing Athrun to smile too. "Just knowing you're not alone is very reassuring. It certainly hurts that I can't be with everyone, but I believe that even if we choose different paths, we're walking towards the same goal. It doesn't matter where we are or what uniform we're wearing, as long as we keep believing and struggling towards that goal."
"That's right." Athrun placed an arm around her shoulders. "Shinn, as long as you don't forget what we said, you are indeed an excellent pilot." He turned to his kouhai. The two FAITH members smiled kindly at the pilot of the Impulse. Feeling that he had been recognized, Shinn was pacified.
"Otherwise, you are just an idiot." The young woman could not help but add, grinning. The boy poutily glared at Seren and watched them return inside, followed by the robotic animal, before gazing pensively at the red evening sky.
Our human hearts, lifestyles, comrades... you will soon learn that we will lose more and more as long as we wish for battle. The power that cannot be suppressed is crying. What color will you dye the future you're heading to? The dream we saw is only half-finished. The all too straightforward kindness will become the trigger. Even if the words we exchanged disappear with the wind, that moment will return to brush your cheek.
Author's note: next chapter will 'The Gatekeeper of Gulnahan'... with a surprise ;)