Phase 33: The chronicle of Freedom

Phase 33: As Andrew watched Athrun and Cagalli say goodbyes to each other, he briefly wondered when he became jaded and hoped they wouldn't turn out the same. The war had taken a lot, one thing it shouldn't was the the dream of tomorrow.

It was almost afternoon when help arrived. To Cagalli and Athrun's surprise, the rescue was a joint effort, involving both Archangel and ZAFT. They found out while Archangel made the first contact via Mirriallia, Captain Murrue sent Mu to negotiate a temporary ceasefire with the other side so the recovery could go without a hitch. Apart from Cagalli, the ship also wanted to recover the Skygrasper she flew, having determined it could be repaired.

The truck carrying the Skygrasper started to move, signaling Cagalli had to make a move as well. "Athrun," she said, her voice steady despite the very slight tremor.

Athrun turned toward her, his expression clouded. A few hours prior, they were forced together by the circumstances and became sudden but not unwilling allies. He knew what she wanted to say but couldn't, as he was feeling the same. He yearned for a simpler time, where all he needed to say was the two of them were friends, just like what he had with Kira. But just as war changed his and Kira's friendship, war could also mean that he and Cagalli may stand against each other one day. "Cagalli," he uttered her name, not knowing what else to say.

"I... I don't know when we'll see each other again," she said, trying to keep her voice steady, "I'll pray to Haumea for your safety, but at the same time, promise me you'll be safe."

He shook his head, "You know nothing is certain," Athrun fisted his hands in determination. "But I promise to try my best to survive,"

"That's all I can ask,"

"In return, promise me the same,"

"I will," Cagalli turned away before growling in frustration. "This is so messed up! This conflict, this world, it's crazy!"

He stepped closer, taking her hands in his. Athrun knew he was out of character, but it felt so right. "I know. But this is the world where we live in, the world that we fight for, even if… we are on different sides,"

A silence stretched between them, filled with the unsaid words that lingered in the air. Cagalli took a deep breath and gave a resolute statement, "I won't give up on my dreams,"

He smiled softly, though it didn't quite reach his eyes. "I'll be rooting for you,"

"Thank you," Cagalli said, nodding. "Just wondering, what is happening there?" she asked, pointing to her right.

Athrun looked in the direction, only to feel a soft touch of lips on his cheek, causing him to freeze in place. Only when he felt the lips were withdrawn did he move.

Even though Cagalli was the one who initiated the kissing, she was blushing furiously as she said, "You can claim that it was a sudden ambush by an overwhelming superior force,"

Unconsciously, Athrun's hand went to his cheek. "Okay," he said numbly, wondering if that excuse would fly when used on Lacus.

"Until we meet again," Cagalli said before running away, only to stop halfway to turn toward him and wave, before continuing her stride.

Not far away, Andrew and Mu were watching at the scene. "What's up with that?" the former asked.

"Royalties, not one of them, so don't know what's in their heads," Mu replied, his hands on his hips. "He and Lacus are still a thing, right?"

"Your guess is as good as mine. Still, beats the two of us trying to kill each other, eh?"

"Give them time, and place, and they will go at it with much gusto,"

"That's so pessimistic of you…" Andrew's eyebrows furrowed, "We're talking about them killing each either, right? Not something else?"

His question was met with confusion on the other man's face. "Yeah. What something else you're referring to?"

"Nothing," Andrew said as he stomped down a very graphic image of the two heirs go at it with much gusto. In an attempt to change the topic, he cleared his throat and tapped at the table in his hand, "So, are you sure this is enough? Wet and dry rations?"

"Need the meats and veggies to keep fit, and salts, sugars and spices to keep the mood up while we're escaping other pursuers." Having Athrun onboard as a POW would have caused unnecessary friction, just like the last time. His worth as a human shield had degraded, too. "Say, just wondering, Lacus Clyne is still at PLANTS, and not touring somewhere close by?"

"I hope so. I was against that trip to Junius Seven, but being in the middle of nowhere makes your voice harder to hear,"

"Right," No Lacus to be rescued and be included with the Athrun human shield combo meant his worth was way less compared to last time. Because of that, Mu, the negotiator for his side, was given the leeway to return to ZAFT unconditionally. With him as the negotiator, however, meant he was trying to milk ZAFT off their resources as much as possible. "Back to the story, coffee and tea for our daily recommended intake of caffeine, so yeah, we want them. Any issues?"

"No. Just that you want our MREs as well?"

"Just in case, and we can always feed them to any ZAFT prisoner we pick up along the way,"

"That's cruel and inhuman, man,"

"We'll be sure to slap the 'courtesy of Andrew Waltfeld' sticker on them, in capital letters," As the saying went, an army traveled on its stomach and food affect the overall morale. ZAFT, despite its technological superiority, had very nutritious but bland-tasting meals ready to eat. Mu suspected the reason for that was the smell, and thus taste, was affected by zero gravity. With ZAFT mainly deployed in space, the logic was there was no need to come up with something delicious if it couldn't be tasted. Still, food was food, and in a pinch, they could be mixed with the Eurasians' own rations to make the supply last. Of course, there was the need for condiments, which Mu remembered to negotiate as well.

"Now you're trying to get me killed without dirtying your own hands. With that kid being so well-adjusted, I never thought that kid's CO was a great piece of work. And to think, I used to think highly of the famous 'Hawk of Endymion'."

"And I used to look down on the 'Desert Tiger' but now we're at eye level,"

Mu got an annoyed stare.

"Really, Flaga? A 'Dad Joke'?"

"Would you prefer someone with a dry personality instead?" Mu looked at the newly installed prosthetic right leg on Andrew. In their brief conversation prior, Andrew revealed that he lost it while protecting his co-pilot, whom Mu surmised must be someone of great importance. Even after losing his leg, and having a major operation carried out on the said leg, the ZAFT commander still came in person for the exchange. Enemy or nor, it was still something to be respected. Still… "I have a leg up on you, it seems,"

Mu couldn't help himself.

Andrew groaned. "Horrible, simply horrible. Hot blazing weather like this is no place for such jokes. One more word and I'm going to run off to hide in a little corner,"

"Why would you…" Mu raised his eyebrows as understanding hit him. "Almost escaped me. Because it's 90 degrees there… since you know I'm familiar with Fahrenheit…"

"As they say, from one wall to another,"

Mu threw his arms in the air exasperatedly. "Okay! Okay! You made your point! I'll admit, I was being cringy,"

"I'm sharp in these kinds of things, you know,"

"Stop it…" Mu growled.

Later that night, Mu, with most of Archangel's crew, joined the ceremony to commemorate the martyrs, the fallen people who died fighting ZAFT and their African Community allies. As the elder solemnly reminded everyone present that the resistance against the oppressors was a fight to preserve their dignity and way of life, the battle was one without the cost. However, the alternative was to submit and let the oppressors stomped on their dignity.

After the ceremony finished, the two met Sahib in the Desert Dawn's headquarters to discuss the next day's planning.

"To a new Desert Dawn," Sahib said as he held a mug of warm tea in a toast.

"To the battle that we won," Murrue said as she clinked his mug with hers.

Mu also joined in the toast and drank the tea. The tea was a bit spicy, probably Masala Chai if memory served him. He emptied the mug and put it down. "Not to be a party popper, but while we won, the Desert Tiger is still there. Even though he lost most of his assets, they will eventually send reinforcements. The deposits here are very valuable, and even if they can rely on Oceania, they may want to secure this area to prevent access by Earth Alliance."

Archangel's intervention has temporarily reduced, but not eliminated, the competition for control over Uranium mines in the area. However, it would be a matter of time before both ZAFT and Earth Alliance would compete to exert their respective influences in the region. It was hypocritical for him to ask about the matter, since he and Murrue were there as part of the said Earth Alliance task force whose mission was to sabotage ZAFT.

"When that happens, we'll continue to fight, just like before you came. And if there's a need to, we will also fight you. In our eyes, you're just like them in the end,"

"But…"

"There's one thing that we can trust, which is you're here for your own self-interests. Since they aligned with us this time, we work together. But in the future, that may not be the case. In fact, the Desert Dawn may work together with the Tiger to fend off your people,"

The remark should have stung, but Mu could understand Sahib's viewpoint. As the 19th century British Prime Minister Lord Palmerston had succinctly put it, there were no permanent enemies, and no permanent friends, only permanent interests.

"But at least, until tomorrow, we are friends," Murrue said as she held out her empty mug, which prompted Sahib to call someone to fill it.

"True, and as our friend, we will hold you with both hands," the man said.

The next day, at the first light of dawn, Archangel engaged its boosters. As dust billows around the ship, its massive form began rise off the ground, crawling forward as it built up speed and momentum. Once it had cleared the Desert Dawn's base, it turned eastward and began to move in the said direction. On top of the ship deck, Mu and Murrue stood facing toward the Desert Dawn base, saluting it, even as the resistance group stood at its entrance to see them off. Cagalli, standing next to them and her escort, Kisaka, waved toward the group. She shouted something, but Mu was sure it was lost amidst the loud sound caused by the ship travestying the desert. He had heard one of the fighters was very interested in her before her cover was blown, but that's that and from the way she acted, the real war would be between the Clyne and Attha factions trying to vie for Zala's attention, a rabbit hole he swore he would avoid getting into.

All Mu wanted to think about was Archangel's journey to the Suez where it would make a hopefully short port call at the base there, where Murrue hoped the ship's armament could be replenished. While getting the supplies from Orb's arm smuggler was considered, there was the issue of reliability of the supplied munitions and spare parts. Plus, NAGI's representative, the double agent who was currently the ship's CIC Commander, confirmed supplies have been reserved for them at the said base.

From thereon, the ship will sail through the Red Sea, which was why Mu was apprehensive. Once the ship entered the Indian Ocean, the risk of an ambush was small. But before that, at the narrow waterway of Bab-el-Mandeb near the Gulf of Eden, he might as well expect a ZAFT submarine or two.

Fun.

"To boost morale, I'm thinking of having the crew take turn going to the deck once we're at the Red Sea," Murrue said as she lowered her salute,

Despite himself, Mu's eyes roved wildly all over her body. "You should do too or otherwise the rest wouldn't,"

"I will. You too,"

Mu swallowed hard at an image of Murrue sunbathing in a two-piece bikini. "Yummy,"

"Say again?"

"I said I agree with the view… I mean with the assessment,"

"Good,"

What was it again about the Red Sea? Right, fun.

Kira ran around the park, looking at the beautiful and colorful foliage surrounding him, leaving his friend behind. As he continued as fast as his lithe body could allow him, he recalled that he had an hour left before his father would come to pick him up. So many things to look around, so many grounds to cover, so much food to try! He knew there's a cotton candy stall somewhere, and it was his mission to find it!

Finally, he emerged from the bushes, and it was then he came across that person.

His heart throbbed loudly.

That person! He knew him!

Kira put a hand on his head, feeling as if it was being repeatedly bludgeoned with something heavy. As he dropped to the ground, he barely maintained his consciousness as strange thoughts invaded his mind.

Anger, happiness, jealousy, trust, betrayal, friendship, chaos, peace, hate and love; a myriad of emotions, some of them unfamiliar, hit his psyche. A red haze clouded his vision, and Kira struggled not to scream in pain. He didn't know why, but deep inside him, there was this desperate determination that he must not alert the person to his presence, not until he was ready.

In the end, the person left without being alerted to his presence, which was a good thing. Then another person came by Kira's side, asking what was wrong. The throbbing, splitting pain was still there, but bearable enough for him to reply that he was okay and just hit his head.

Even though still concerned, the person was mollified by the explanation, telling him to be careful next time. Before Kira could reply, the person disappeared and Kira ended up in a room, looking at a visage of himself who had a determined yet sad look.

"I've decided. It can't be helped," his doppelgänger remarked. "We have to stop this war,"

"It's not going to end soon," Kira replied.

"It will, when everyone does their part to end it,"

To Kira's surprise, when he blinked, his doppelgänger disappeared. Instead, Flay was in his arms. Already confused, he wondered why she was there as he recalled Flay was supposed to be recovering somewhere. "What are you doing here?"

"Everyone's fighting, except for me, even though I'm the one who wanted to remain… that's why, if I can do at least half…" Flay say while shaking.

Kira saw his flight suit in a locker behind her. "Don't be foolish! It's impossible for a girl like you to try to pilot a mobile suit!" he said, not caring if his words sounded condescending, as he was more concerned with her well-being.

"But I…"

He smiled reassuringly at her. "There's no need for you to get into Aegis. I will fight for the both of us, Flay."

"Then, with my feelings, I will be with you," Flay put her hands on his shoulders and kissed him.

He had no time to savor the kiss as he ended up staring at the giant, unknown mobile suit, pointing its weapon at him. "Do you realize that what you're is evil?" Savior asked.

Kira smiled. "I know," he said softly.

"The war could have been ended faster if you didn't interfere,"

"Does it?"

"We could have understood each other."

"We do. However, because I understand you so much that I'm standing facing you. Evil?" Kira fisted his hand and looked down at it, the feeling of regret and sorrow overwhelming his psyche. "I guess you're right. I'm evil. Always was, and always will be. The sin I committed was so big that no matter how much I'm punished, I'll never be forgiven. If hell exists, I'm sure I'll burn in its deepest depths forever,"

"I can become your salvation,"

"You couldn't. I'm evil? So be it! If I'm to going to burn in hell, then I'll make sure that I will burn away brightly!"

"Why are you so stubborn?" the voice said, exasperation audible

"Logos," the reply was short, as if it would explain everything.

"Then all the more reasons to join me! Together we could have defeated the true enemies to everyone, hoping for peace! I know that I didn't choose you, but at least …" the voice faltered, "I promise I will treasure you!"

"You never listened, even when I tried to stop you. You have become one. You are Logos!"

The voice was quiet for a few seconds. "I see. That is how you see me, see us. I'm very sorry,"

"I'm sorry too,"

The last thing Kira saw was a bright light. When he opened his eyes, he found himself in the infirmary. "What a terrible dream that was," he slurred, trying to recall it. While he was confident in the dream being terrible, for the life of him, Kira couldn't remember what the dream was about. He knew he was fighting something big, but all that came to mind was Godzilla, a kaiju series that he liked to watch.

"Oh, you're awake," the doctor said as the man approached the bed. "How are you feeling?" the doctor asked, while taking Kira's pulse to verify what the instruments had told him.

Kira found it weird that he was connected to many machines, but the doctor still measured him manually, which made him question the need for the machines in the first place. "Terrible,"

"Blunt force trauma does that to the best of us," The doctor checked his chart. "Looks alright though. There's that arm, but nothing major. A few more days for observation and checks, replace that cast, and you're good to go," he said as he opened the door. "See you later,"

Kira didn't hear the door close. It took a moment to realize that Kuzzey was at the door. "Oh, hello, Kuzzey,"

"Hello, Kira," Kuzzey walked over and sat by his bedside.

"I came to apolo…to say I'm sorry," Kuzzey confessed.

"Apologize? Apologize for what?"

"I was safe onboard while you, Sai and Tolle fought."

"You did your part, and we did ours. Besides, it was that mobile suit that attack us,"

"Freedom," Kuzzey said.

"Say again?"

"It was broadcasting its IFF code. The mobile suit name was Freedom,"

Kira was about to ask about the said mobile suit when the door opened, and the rest of their friends entered. To his relief, Sai and Tolle were uninjured despite their mobile suits being taken out by the mobile suit Kuzzey referred to as Freedom. The group spent the time together, talking about nothing important while skirting the issue of war, and their involvement. Later, he received a visit from Cagalli, who asked about his well-being. It was then he found out what happened to her and Athrun. She also complained about people calling her 'MB' behind her back and it annoyed her she didn't know the reason for the name-calling. After hearing about the battle, Kira could hazard a guess where she got the call sign, but decided to keep quiet until he could confirm his personal theory.

Despite the lingering emotions he had about Athrun being in ZAFT, Kira was happy to hear his friend was doing well.

A few days later, after the doctor chased him out of the infirmary, Kira found himself in the hangar. When he arrived there, Kojiro was standing in front of something, holding a tablet. When the man noticed Kira's presence, he turned toward him. Kojiro stared at Kira from top to bottom, the man's eyes only pausing at the sling holding Kira's left arm, which was in a cast, for a second. The man turned back to his tablet. "How long did the doctor say?"

"Two and a half,"

"Days?"

"Weeks,"

"Oh. Good to hear that,"

Kira looked at the object Kojiro was examining. "What is that?"

"No actual term as far as I know, but maybe conformal… fuel tank… conformal battery,"

"Conformal battery? What is that?"

Kojiro told him how military aircraft would sometime carry external fuel tanks to extend its range. A type of those would be conformal fuel tanks, called that way due to how the tanks were designed to minimize aerodynamic drag and radar signature.

"So, you call it that because it conforms to the aerodynamic of the mobile suit prototype,"

"Yeah. The hostile that attacked us carried these batteries to increase its operating time," Kojiro said, referring to the mobile suit that wreaked havoc on both their and ZAFT forces by interfering in the fight.

The reply caused Kira to remember about his mobile suit. "How's Strike?"

Kojiro thumbed toward a direction and began walking. When the two arrived there, Kira could see the wreckage of what used to be Strike on the hangar's floors.

"As you can see, looks like shit, at least what pieces we could collect. The only thing that can be worst is someone detonated a tactical nuclear warhead in front of the cockpit,"

"Wouldn't the PS armor protect against it?"

Kojiro scoffed. "Come on, kid. Asking whether a PS armor or a blast shield can protect against such an explosion is stupid, because you know it can't. Just ask whatever you want to ask."

"Can it be repaired?"

"Short answer, no,"

"Longer version?"

"Nooooooooo…" Upon seeing Kira's expectant expression, Kojiro sighed, "That's not what you expect. You expect a long-winded explanation. Not going to happen. Long story short, using the spare parts, maybe, and just maybe, we can build a 'Strike', as in the original specs, the one that you piloted back in Heliopolis. This? No way, Jose,"

"Why not? I have the OS backed up. As for parts, don't we have enough of them, and if not, can't we use those from Aegis or Buster?"

Kojiro put the hand holding the tablet on his hip while the other scratched his head. "It just so happens the electronics have been fried, and while we have the original system, we don't have a backup of the one we got while on the moon,"

"It is upgraded?" Kira asked incredulously.

Kojiro gave him a dubious look in response. "You didn't notice?"

"I was told that it was an optimization hack!"

"Yeah, where you hack away the old unit and then replace it with a new one. Add in the unique interconnects Dolfin installed. Way better than Buster and Aegis, power efficient, low maintenance and all, but that attack really got through them. We have a few servos but they're just to replace those that got busted, but not enough to replace all of them.. So, even if we can put together all parts, including the system and the OS, you must re-optimize the whole thing from the beginning,"

"I hear a 'but' there,"

"Even if we can Frankenstein this thing, it wouldn't be as good as it used to be," Kojiro pointed at the nearby deactivated Essence of Shield. "Look at this weapon you picked up from wherever. It gobbles energy like me at an all-you-can-eat buffet and is not in the original version of the weapon library. I don't think the original Strike can hold it for a long time. Where did you get it, anyway?"

"I thought Archangel sent it,"

Kojiro opened his mouth to reply, but then stopped halfway. Instead, he used his tablet to call someone. "Mantis, I have a question,"

Kira peered over his shoulder to see the person he was contacting. It was Lieutenant Janina, the ship's CIC commander.

"What is it?" Lieutenant

"EOS. You know who sent it?"

"From us,"

"Guessed as much. And we don't know about this… why?"

"Not part of the original package. There were some issues, which looks like have been solved,"

"And the higher ups decided to do some field test in the middle of the battle?"

"It damaged Freedom, didn't it?"

"And pissed off the pilot, too. Anyway, thanks," Kojiro said before terminating the call. He then turned toward Kira. "There's your answer. Her higher ups decided to do some field test, and while it was a success, Strike ended up taken out,"

"Mantis?"

"You know how her room has something like an altar?"

Kira nodded.

"Praying…Praying Mantis, but too long, so she ended up Mantis,"

It seemed the discipline wasn't strictly enforced, unlike the time with Natarle, since Kojiro could use Lieutenant Janina's call sign to her face without being reprimanded. "And MB is for Missile Back?"

"That works too, though it's a split between Magnificent Bastard, or Ma'am Badass, depending on who you ask. Lady took it in the back like a trooper and got up and continue firing. We laughed off Signal Wolf's story until the video came up," Kojiro said while shaking his head in disbelief. "Then, no one laughed,"

1

Idiom:

Like a trooper - with great energy, enthusiasm, or display.

Down the rabbit hole – getting too deep into something.

Proverb:

Hold a true friend with both your hands. It is a Nigerian proverb which meant one should always appreciate a true friend.

A/N

1. While going through the chapter, I found out the Archangel crew had a lot of call signs. For reference, I listed it down here. As the story continues, the list will be updated with new call signs in the future.

Cagalli Yula Attha: Royal Buddy Fucker (Phase 31), Royal Blue Falcon (Phase 31), Royal Blue (Phase 31) and MB (Phase 33). The initial three call signs were allusions to her royal position and her causing mischief among the Archangel hangar crew. The current call sign was given as a sign of grudging respect by the crew as she literally took an RPG attack to her back.

Flay Allster: Dolfin (Phase 9). Derived from 'doll' (or 'dolce') and 'boffin'. While Flay was beautiful, she was also a nerd. The term 'boffin' was a slang for nerd in United Kingdom as her family came from the country. While not explicitly confirmed by Mu, who gave her the call sign, it also alluded to the creature dolphin which used its sonar to find things in water; Flay tended to see things negatively, finding hidden troubles and coming up with conspiracy theories.

Janina Polowski: Mantis (Phase 33). She was dubbed 'Praying Mantis' because she kept an altar-like display of dolls onboard Archangel, but the nickname was eventually shortened to 'Mantis'.

Kira Yamato: Coffee Pod (Phase 13). Kira was known for his enthusiasm for saving rescue pods, and his hair is a shade of dark brown, reminiscent of coffee.

Mu La Flaga: Feather Lite (Phase 13). While Mu insisted it was due to the reputation, he got as the Hawk of Endymion, it came from him being unable to hold his liquor, thus 'feather lite'.

Mirriallia Haw: Signal Wolf. She was wolfing every signal terminology, even though she still made errors from time to time.

Natarle Badgiruel: Marchem That March 'em dead (Phase 18). Because that was how the crew saw her orders were.

Sai Argyle: Assassin (Phase 17). He was admonished by Kojiro, who told him being a stupid ass is a sin.

Sting Oakley: Chaos (Phase 32). No explanation given yet.

Tolle Koenig: Monarch (Phase 17). A reference to the Monarch butterfly, a butterfly on the endangered list. It was also a reference to his soft-spoken and polite demeanor.

2. While it may be incomprehensible to normal people, those involved with a lot of deaths, like soldier, doctors, police officers, may sometimes develop a dark sense of humor. It can be argued it's a coping mechanism for them.

3. I find Archangel allowing Cagalli to tag along without knowing her identity in Gundam Seed Phase 23 to be strange. Even if she was a teenager, she and Kisaka were possible security risks.

4. In Phase 23 as well, there was no mention of Archangel going to Suez base to resupply and refit. It's strange that they had to use the ZAFT sonar module even though they could probably acquire a more compatible EA unit.