Hello, everyone. Mazinkaizer here. Considering what happened last time, someone has to explain how the hell Kira (and Flay here) had been brought to Reverend Malchio's orphanage in the anime and thus I added a few scenes from the Astray manga as well with some changes.
Also, there would be some changes to canon here as well, not that big, but it is there. And finally, a certain someone would unlock a certain secret that would shock him to the core.
As such, please read and enjoy this ninth chapter of the Seeds of Freedom entitled...
Chapter 9 – In the Jaws of the Dragon
Marshall Islands, Pacific Ocean, April 29, CE 80
A red mobile suit was looking for some salvage following a hot tip that a battle had just been fought in one of the biggest islands in the area. Unlike other mobile suits, this red suit was not armed with the usual beam weapons as they use too much power and thus it was only armed with a mobile suit sized katana.
After a bit of searching, the said suit's brown haired pilot with a spiky hairstyle did not find anything of considerable value in the wreckage but had found two unconscious bodies lying near the surf.
One of the bodies was that of a young man with brown hair while the other was that of a young woman with red hair.
The pilot then talked to his electronic co-pilot for its opinion. After the AI had offered a relatively obtuse answer, he then radioed his comrades in the nearby ship of his find.
He was told to take both teens to the nearest settlement since they were only unconscious and not dead based on what they could see through the mobile suit's cameras.
The red machine then gently picked up the teens and brought them to a nearby orphanage where the said establishment's owner had seen them.
The said owner, a blind man named Reverend Machio then brought the unconscious teens with him to the PLANTs for some needed treatment and rest.
-oOo-
Back in the beach where the wreckage was still being washed by the sea, a VTOL airship had come in for a landing.
The team was told to look for any survivors in the recently concluded battle that may have claimed three lives.
Among the team were Leonardo Kisaka and the gutsy princess Cagalli Yula Attha.
The rescue team had scoured the wreckage for an hour before they finally found the unconscious form of Yzak Joule lying on the forest floor a kilometer further inland.
They had brought him to their ship where Cagalli waited for the silver haired pilot to talk. It had taken a good hour before Yzak woke up to the plane's gentle rocking.
The silver haired coordinator's eyes had widened when he realized that he was not in the Duel along with seeing the business end of a ORB Automatic pistol directed at him.
"You're lucky that I didn't even leave you to rot on that island," said the gun's owner – Cagalli. "Even then, you'd better hope that both Kira and Flay are alive or I'll blow that pretty head of yours to smithereens."
"I'd like to see you try," Yzak replied in his usual haughty tone.
"I'd rather not since your mom and your girlfriend would probably hunt me down," The blonde said with a victorious smirk as she was leaving through the hatch right after holstering her hand gun.
"Damn you." Yzak shouted as he had thrown his gray pillow at the said hatch in his anger.
-oOo-
When Yzak had come back to Carpentartia Base, he was not only hugged by a grateful Shiho but he was also told that Atrhun was being re-assigned to a desk job in the Ministry of War in Aprilius City.
After all three pilots had dinner, Yzak then headed for his superior's room. After two light knocks, the door had opened revealing Athrun who looked like he was ready to go.
"So this is it, huh?" The silver haired Red Coat said without hesitation. "You're going back to the PLANTs without even destroying the legged ship. I expect no less from you, Mr. Commander."
"Yzak, you shouldn't let your anger take hold of you." Athrun started his final lecture. "No soldier should have tunnel vision since it would only end badly for him."
"I'm not having tunnel vision," Yzak replied angrily. "I only made it my mission to destroy the Archangel once and for all."
"Suit your self," The blue haired Coordinator replied. "I'm only worried about you, man."
Athrun then checked his watch before taking his luggage and passing by both the shocked Yzak and the door.
-oOo-
In the Archangel, the mood was somber with the loss of the Strike and one of the Skygraspers from the recent battle. Everyone had tried to forget what had happened as they went through their daily routines.
The teens were hurt the most since they were closest to the ones who were now missing in action. Sai was especially trying not to cry since he had lost a former fiancée and a good friend in the said battle.
Birdy did a good job in cheering him up as the yellow and green bird had stayed by the caramel haired teen's side more often.
Then again, it was probably missing its own owner as well as its favorite sleeping spot.
Thankfully, Miriallia was adequately comforted by her fiancé who was given permission by Murrue to share a bed with her for the time being. The grieving controller did say that they would only share a bed for mutual comfort and not other things.
Tolle was also mad since he was not there to help out but he knew that Mu and William had also felt the same feeling of helplessness as he did.
Speaking of the two older pilots, they had simply let out their aggressions through continuous sparring at the warship's small gym.
The bridge crew seemed almost robotic in their duties but even then had kept alert for any danger.
A patrol of fifteen DINNs had engaged them a day later, but even they were no match for the three still pissed off pilots of the Skygrasper, Aegis, and Wing Zero.
The effect of the one sided battle was so big, ZAFT's Carpentaria base was told to cease all pursuit of the legged ship upon pain of death to keep a suitable number of their personnel and their machines ready for Operation Spitbreak.
The whole situation had only puzzled their lone prisoner- Dearka Elmsman who said that it was just a loss of two soldiers so it was no big deal at all. Tolle and William had to be held back by two people respectively before they would throw a sucker punch at the dark skinned Coordinator with Mu managing to keep his cool.
Dearka did get three slaps though. The first was from Murrue who said that the loss of the machines as well as their pilots had damaged the whole crew's morale completely.
Natarle had followed it up by saying that the blond Coordinator would be tried in a military court for stealing the Buster and killing civilians in cold blood during the said theft.
Finally, Miriallia had told him that she had lost her best female friend as well as a close friend of hers due to the inane actions of the blond's friend in the battle.
All three women then headed for the cafeteria for a brief snack before taking their shift. Murrue would later head for her room while the other two had headed for their own.
Dearka had only looked at the three men who were now sporting large grins as he groaned from the pain on both his cheeks especially the left. "Are they your girlfriends or somethin'?"
"Well, Mir's actually my fiancée." Tolle said as he had turned and left. His own shift in the bridge was about to start at the time.
"Not officially," was Mu's answer before he had left for his afternoon nap.
"I dunno," William was stymied for a minute before answering. "I'd rather be her friend right now but I have ta admit she can be beautiful in the right circumstances."
After shrugging his shoulders, he then told the snickering soldiers escorting the blond Coordinator to carry on before leaving for parts unknown.
-oOo-
Up in the PLANTs, a certain couple in matching white T-shirts and green shorts was waking up to the chirp of birds coming in through their ears and the sun trying to bust through their eyelids.
A cheerful voice was also telling them to wake up.
Kira had woken up first. He did not notice it in the moment that he woke up but his left arm seemed to be buried between what feels to be a bed and something else. The second item is soft (as well as a little heavy) but in a different way.
So when he had opened his eyes to see what was burying his arm, he was a bit shocked at Flay's face just inches from his own. Moreover, her gray eyes had also opened in surprise.
Both teens had quickly sat up and turned away from the other. As they did so, they saw a blurred figure with pink hair.
"I'm guessing that you don't sleep together in the Angel, don't you?" a rather sweet but teasing voice said.
"Lacus?!" was the surprised couple's words when they had looked at the teenaged coordinator standing in front of them. "Where the heck are we?!"
"You are currently in the Clyne Mansion in the PLANTs," A much deeper voice said from beyond the door.
"Wh-who are you?" Flay said as a dark haired man in priest's habit had come into view. His eyes were also closed even though he was supposed to be wide awake. "Please don't report us to the authorities."
"Miss Allster, I would never turn you in to the authorities." The blind priest said with a little laugh. "That would run contrary to Miss Lacus' own wishes."
Turning her attention back to the blushing young girl, Flay said with relief. "Thank you for taking care of us in your home. Yet if ZAFT would find out our real identities, we would only bring harm to you and your father."
Lacus was a bit unnerved with the possibility of ZAFT soldiers putting her or her father in custody for harboring a relatively unknown daughter of a well known enemy.
Not only that, she was also keeping within her home - the pilot of the mobile suit that had killed plenty of Coordinators in the past few months with Commander Morassim amongst his more recent victims.
She had shaken those thoughts out of her head when the man, who had introduced himself as Reverend Malchio, did his best to pacify the young visitors.
He had further explained that Siegel himself had known of their identities and had done some drastic steps to keep their presence in the PLANTs a secret.
"Miss Clyne, Miss Allster, Mister Yamato, I'm afraid that I must take my leave for a good hour or so since I have an important meeting to attend." The priest said with a nod to each and quickly left.
"To pass the time," Lacus said with an impish smile. "How about you guys tell me all about your recent adventures?"
"Sure, would you like to know how much Sai's been thinking about – Ow," Kira was saying before an elbow had struck his side.
"Kira, I'd rather let big brother tell it to her," The red head said with a grimace. "No offense, but you suck on story telling."
It was when the brunet Coordinator had replied with a childish pout that had gotten the girls laughing.
They did enthrall Lacus with everything that they had been through although Kira had conveniently forgotten to mention the night Athrun had spent the night with Cagalli.
Flay did the same since she did not want her new friend's story to be circulated in the PLANTs of all places, plus Lacus was also Atrhun's fiancée.
The couple had spent the next few days recovering their wounds from the last fight while talking with both Clynes about the ways on how to end the war.
Both teens were also given new clothes to wear during their brief stay.
Siegel Clyne was actually overjoyed to know that his old political rival was alive and in ORB. This had made him get his own plans to action as soon as possible.
-oOo-
Two days later, a small fleet of cruisers and some flights of ancient fighters were escorting the Archangel to the secret location of the Joint Operations Strategic Headquarters – Alaska (JOSH-A) under the cover of friendly aircraft.
As before the Archangel's crew was told to turn the whole ship around 180 degrees before they were permitted for entry at the underground dock of the said headquarters that was hidden behind a large waterfall.
For the next three days, they were sufficiently re-supplied and restocked with ammunition but nobody was permitted to leave or enter the ship for any reasons whatsoever. At least officially, it was.
Unofficially, goods (and even people) were slowly smuggled into the warship. There were some circulated rumors that the real target of Operation Spitbreak is JOSH-A not Panama as was stated earlier.
Pretty soon, the amount of people was balanced by the number of supplies (military or otherwise) that were loaded in the warship.
As a result, there were fewer pilots in the Eurasian half of the military personnel stationed there while more Atlantic Federation reserves where sneaked in to compensate for the reduction.
Finally, on the third day, all the senior officers of the Archangel along with William were told to meet with Colonel Sutherland for a debriefing.
On Murrue's hand was a small metal box that George Allster had given to her on the night prior to the Archangel's departure of ORB.
-oOo-
The debriefing itself had felt more like an inquisition since it was obvious that the orange haired Earth Alliance officer was showing his bias against Coordinators.
Most of the Archangel's officers were either offended or in some cases was thoroughly disgusted as to how Sutherland had twisted the facts on whatever situation they had been through to suit his prejudice.
More than that, it was obvious that the martinet was looking for an excuse to examine (the now missing) Strike, Aegis, newly repaired Buster, and Wing Zero while keeping the said mobile suits' pilots away from the said machines.
Surprisingly, even Natarle was trying to keep herself calm throughout the whole two and a half hours of military bullshit.
Arnold, who was sitting beside the brunette second in command at the time, could feel her anger at how Sutherland was willing to use whatever technological advance they would uncover in Wing Zero to make a more suitable mobile suit to battle the coordinators both on Earth and in space.
When the debriefing had ended, Sutherland then said that he would reassign both Mu and Natarle while William would be assigned to a Skygrasper instead of Wing Zero or any of the G-units.
It was around that time that Murrue had remembered to open the box in her right hand.
A purple haro had shot out of the box and flew just under the ceiling. It had started its jig by singing a very old yet also very annoying song about a certain gundam pilot and his First Officer (girl) friend repeatedly.
Amidst the riotous laughter that followed, both William and Natarle were thinking similar dark thoughts about the creator of the said toy.
The entire committee was too shocked and embarrassed to silence the laughing crew. The haro then switched the teasing to yet another pilot or Air Boss and a certain warship's captain.
This had gotten the rest of the crew laughing even more as they ran out of the door and through the hallway, fearful of their blushing commanders' wrath.
Finally, it had made fun of Colonel Sutherland's track record and even his sexuality at times. The committee member themselves were beginning to feel that their esteemed positions were ridiculed by the haro's actions. They could only thank the gods above that the haro was not released until after the meeting.
This was still enough to make the said senior officer mad enough to throw anything within reach just to bring down the metallic ball from hell.
He had even thrown a certain folder out the closing door where the toy had made its escape. The said morocco folder then hit William's head as the said pilot was walking just outside the door while going back to the ship, as he had answered the call of nature at the time.
After picking it up and read a few pages, he then ran towards a confused Natarle a few meters ahead of him and twirled her in the air.
In his haste, the gundam pilot had actually dropped the folder he was holding to the floor.
"Put me down, you nut." The black haired officer had shrieked while feeling a little dizzy from the spinning. "People are watching us, you know."
After setting the blushing black haired Executive Officer down to the concrete floor and making an apology, the Filipino pilot had showed her the contents of the folder that he had picked up. They then ran to Mu and Murrue who were heading back to the ship ahead of them.
The folder had actually contained a list of promotions for the whole Archangel crew for their brave actions.
Murrue was promoted to Captain; Mu was promoted to Commander, and Natarle to Lieutenant Commander.
William and Kira were both promoted to Lieutenant, the latter posthumously along with Flay.
Pretty much all of the crew was promoted to a higher rank. Even Flay was promoted to Petty Officer First Class along with Sai and Miriallia.
The fact that both Kira and Flay, who were considered missing and presumed dead, had everyone weep silently for a few minutes. William had even sworn that he would kill Yzak before a slap from Natarle made him think otherwise.
As for Tolle, he was being officially promoted to Ensign in recognition for his skill as a mobile suit and Skygrasper pilot. Furthermore, the note had deferred the re-assignments as well.
At the very bottom, they had found out that all of this was done by Admiral Halberton and a select group of officers who had gone back to their positions in the Eight and other space fleets.
The now slightly sad group of officers had headed back to the Archangel to celebrate their good luck as well as forget their loss even for only one night.
It was when William was about to come out to the dry dock where the said ship was being repaired that he had remembered something.
"Hey, guys," William was saying as he had scratched his head. "Has anyone seen that purple haro from earlier?"
"I'd rather not care since I've never been so embarrassed in my life," The black haired Executive Officer said in a huff. "That cup of bolts can be cannibalized and made into a refrigerator magnet for all I care."
The laughing group had finally headed up the gang plank to their ship- their home. A group of people were waiting for them further inside.
"Alright, everyone head to the situation room." Murrue said while trying to keep a straight face.
After the crew had gone to the situation room, the brown haired captain then gave them their new promotions. Later that night, there was a small party held in the Archangel's massive bay before they had continued to wait for their new missions.
The haro had by then made its re-appearance to the surprised crew before it was chased through the hallways by two irate pilots and two equally angry commanding officers as it had sung the annoying "Sitting in a Tree" song once again.
The roar of laughter had echoed through out the ship's spacious hanger for hours on end.
-oOo-
Back in the PLANTs, newly appointed Chairman Patrick Zala had given the go signal for Operation Spitbreak.
This was the real reason why he had recalled his son since Patrick had feared that Athrun may also perish if he were to participate in the "massacre" of the blasted Naturals.
In the interim, he had also secretly changed the location of the attack to JOSH-A in Alaska not Panama as stated in the original mission parameters.
The change in targets had caused a bit of confusion as the re-entry vehicles would have to be relocated to another orbit. Thus, it had taken them three days before the attack was actually launched.
-oOo-
Moreover on that very day where Operation Spitbreak was given the go signal (May 2), Lacus had guided both Kira and Flay to a secret military facility where they had found the newest mobile suit made to counter the GAT series and its probable mass produced off-springs.
The teens were also informed that Operation Spitbreak was actually an attack on JOSH-A, where the Archangel was currently docked.
Both Kira and Flay had agreed to steal a mobile suit in order to get back to Earth on time since all civilian shuttles were put on hold.
Later that day, only Lacus was in a pink dress as both Kira and Flay were wearing ZAFT flight suits that were taken from the base's locker room.
Thankfully, both teens were virtually unknown in the PLANTs thus they were able to sneak past the confused guards. Those soldiers in the know had willingly helped in the ruse.
The password that the renegades had used for the entire clandestine operation was - "Lacus wants to sing a song about peace."
The three teens had given some kisses and hugs to each other before Kira had settled down on the pilot seat and tested the controls before making the start up sequence.
Flay had sat down on his lap since there was only room for one pilot in the cockpit. The said action had the unfortunate effect of having both of their faces turn the same color as their stolen Red Coat uniforms.
Lacus had enough time to tease the couple before the hatch had finally closed and the mobile suit's main thrusters had whined their eagerness to be used.
The mobile suit – ZGMF-X10A Freedom had shot out of its confines with a roar of vernier thrusters and headed for Earth space while Lacus had made her escape to a secret base where her father was now staying.
The pink haired singer had even held on the walkway's rails while she was leaving since the whole base had shuddered at the nuclear powered mobile suit's thunderous exit.
-oOo-
"Kira, what does Neutron Jammer Canceller actually mean?" Flay was asking her now boyfriend as the Freedom had gotten past the space born security of the PLANTs. She had seen the phrase in the screen as the machine's OS was booting up.
Prior to her question, Kira had already gotten rid of the two GINN sentries outside Aprilius One just before Flay had the courage to even ask.
While the brunet Coordinator was booting up the mobile suit's operating systems, Lacus was telling them the reason behind the Freedom's and its sister ship's construction.
ZAFT was planning to field two brand new mobile suits to blow away the competition including Wing Zero (literally and figuratively) and to ensure ZAFT's lead in the technological race. The two suits were made through reverse engineering of the stole GAT units as well as new technologies that ZAFT were working at the time.
"Well, I guess this means that this thing's nuclear powered since it has a device that cancels the effects of the Neutron Jammer." Kira said in reply. "More than that, its radar is not even affected when we left the PLANTs earlier as it was able to detect those GINNs almost immediately. Nifty little gadget, that one."
He had focused on keeping the mobile suit to its destination before continuing. "Luckily for us, we wouldn't have to charge this suit's batteries anymore."
"Yeah, but that also means we could be irradiated if something goes terribly wrong." The red head countered, her grey eyes flashing.
"Well, I'd rather not look at any gift horse in the mouth." Kira was saying as he had taken a moment to look at the girl sitting on his lap. "Still, you do have a point in bringing that up."
"I'm just glad that we're heading back to Earth." The red head sighed before laying her head on Kira's chest. "I mean, we still have to help the others in the Archangel escape from Alaska before the whole place is blown sky high."
"Yup, so hold on since I'm gonna push this baby to its limits."
Feeling something on her behind, Flay had lowered the brunet's helmeted head for a moment before adding. "By the way, I hope that's a gun I'm feeling down there or there'll be hell to pay when we land in Alaska."
"Yes, Ma'am…I mean, no Ma'am...I mean..."
The red head's intermittent laughter was heard in the cockpit until the mobile suit had reached an eighth of the distance towards Earth, a few hours later.
-oOo-
In the interim, various officers had tried their hands in keeping the Archangel ship-shape for launching in a moments notice.
Miriallia had even taken some flying lessons with her fiancé in case she would have to either pilot the Wing Zero gundam, the newly restored Buster, or the remaining Skygrasper.
William had watched them from the sidelines as he had waited for his turn at the simulator.
He had just finished getting the Buster's OS replaced with those made on the Strike and Aegis, thanks to the wireless network within the ship's bay.
Right now, the Filipino was not sure who could pilot the said green and white suit. Tolle would be a good candidate since he was able to try out the Aegis for a short while back in ORB with moderate success.
Mu was already doing a good job with the slightly modified Aegis with its new flight unit on its back. Even William himself could probably fly the machine with Miriallia being Tolle's wingmate in Wing Zero.
The brunette controller was an able enough pilot to serve as the Skygrasper's temporary flyer if the situation had called for it.
'Decisions, decisions.' He thought with a wry smile.
-oOo-
Soon, the sounds of battle was heard throughout JOSH-A. Fleets just outside the base engaged various enemy units both in the air and at sea.
The Archangel was forced to leave the confines of the underground base with the accompanying cruisers and destroyers as they were ordered to join the Eurasian Third Sea Fleet and defend the main gate.
As the ship was exiting the front gate, both the Aegis and Wing Zero had taken off from both launch pads.
Tolle was watching the top guns take off as he had waited for his turn to take off in the Buster.
He was also listening to Mirialia's additional instructions on being careful since it was his first sortie on a GAT series mobile suit, after all.
"Don't worry, Mir." Tolle said with the best comforting smile he could muster. "I'll only stay on deck and use the Buster as it was originally made to do. I'm just glad that I'm in here and not you."
The brunette controller's voice suddenly became frosty as she had given her final instructions before the Buster's maiden fight on the Archangel's side. If Tolle could increase the volume in the speaker, he could certainly hear some muffled laughter besides his fiancée's cold voice.
"Oops, Sorry 'bout that." The brunet Tolle said as he had rubbed the back of his neck underneath his helmet for a bit. "Tolle Koenig, Buster, taking position."
As promised, Tolle had guided the mobile suit on the front deck to assist the Archangel's fire power in dealing with the enemy suits.
He had blasted GINNs, DINNs, and even a few ZnOs in his defense of the hovering warship as his suit had moved about in the ship's front deck.
Tolle had even used a few of his borrowed suit's shoulder missiles for those enemy suits that had gotten too close for comfort. The Archangel had helped out by firing its Helldarts and CIWS at the same suits.
Sledgehammer and Wombat missiles were also released from their launchers as they seek their airborne targets.
The Gottfried beam cannons and Valiant linear cannons had belched their respective energy and projectile ammunition as mobile suits and even submarines were being blown to pieces.
Up above, the Aegis and Wing Zero were taking any and all comers. William had decided to use the ZERO system to compensate for the loss of Kira and his Strike.
This had made the Filipino go into a temporary berserker state as his machine had zipped from place to place, slashing mobile suits and blasting Vosglov subs wherever it went. The Aegis had simply hovered above and slightly at the back to defend the Archangel.
Wing Zero's movements in the battlefield had gotten pretty much everyone's attention as the ZuOOTs and BuCues had fired in the air to bring down the pesky Intruders. The blue and white gundam in turn, had returned fire and even shifted to close combat once the flak was too intense even for its ZERO system induced pilot.
Adding to William's headache for the day was the fact that some of the DINN squadrons had taken him on rather than enter the breached gates themselves.
All in all, the Filipino had finally learned what the longest day actually felt like the hard way.
The beaten Eurasian tank and missile truck crews had taken the needed respite to withdraw to safer havens nearby. They did thank the Intruders for their help during their escape.
The said machines did fire their guns and launchers sporadically to knock out the occupied DINNs and Gull using GINNs from the sky, the latter units landing on the snowy grounds as flaming wrecks.
The base itself was slowly being evacuated as the lower rank Eurasian officers had enough of the ineffective holding action and chose to save their own skins instead.
Soon, William had gotten tired thus Wing Zero was forced to return to the Archangel's deck and join the still shooting Buster.
"You ok, Will?" Tolle asked after he had flamed two DINNs with its long range cannon.
"Yeah," The Filipino answered as he had taken a bit of a breather as well as a quick bite of a chocolate bar that he brought to Zero's consternation. "Jus' tired, that's all. Hungry too."
They had both watched the already recalled Aegis being re-launched into the fray as it had hovered above the fleet and engaged whatever aerial mobile suit was in the area.
A few slashes here and a few holed suits there, the enemy forces had retreated quickly.
The Aegis then set down beside the other suits with high fives being shared and congratulations being said in the airwaves.
-oOo-
The rest of the enemy forces had by then moved to storming the side gates already opened to prevent further losses from the remaining fleet and the three mobile suits guarding the said fleet.
It was then that Mu had felt a familiar presence. He had managed to squeeze a permission from Murrue to investigate his hunches.
The brunette captain did ask William to follow the blond ace just to keep the latter from being caught or killed. Tolle would remain to protect the Archangel.
The Filipino did with a quick salute in the communication screen as the winged gundam had jumped from its perch in the Archangel and followed the Aegis back to the underground base in Neo Bird mode.
-oOo-
Mu had noticed that Wing Zero was flying right behind his machine and radioed the machine behind him that William should head back to help the beleaguered fleet of five ships defend the main gate.
"Can't; the captain did order me to follow ya," The Filipino replied as his machine had flown alongside the Aegis. "Besides, the Aegis would run out of juice soon and I'll have to pick you up anyway."
"Can't argue with that," the blond pilot replied. "Listen, I think I felt Le Crueset coming here. Don't ask me how, I just do."
"Alright, I'll cover ya."
The duo had landed their machines beside the CGUE as they followed the blond man's suit in the distance with Zero transforming back to mobile suit mode. They had learned that the ZAFT commander was on his way to the control center of the whole base where they followed him from a safe distance.
It was there that Le Crueset had learned of their presence and a three way fire fight broke out.
The blond ZAFT commander was pinned down by his opponents and had to throw a concussion grenade to keep both Mu and William down.
As soon as the grenade was thrown, a bullet had grazed Le Cruset's arm which he had brought back with a hiss. The grenade did its job though as both pilots had to jump in separate directions.
Rau had used the opportunity to run towards his machine while Mu had to lead William through another hallway just to get back to theirs since a minor cave in closed off the route that Le Crueset had used.
Just before they left, Mu did some investigation in the control panel with William standing guard beside him. His investigations had shocked both of them when the Filipino asked him what was wrong. Apparently, the general staff of the Earth Alliance had set the Cyclops system to explode through some means.
This was why only the Eurasian forces (actually a mix of both Eurasian forces as well as some reserve pilots of the Alliance) and the Archangel were the only ones left to defend the base itself.
-oOo-
Outside the base, the ZAFT commander had noticed that both the Aegis and Wing Zero were parked next to his own CGUE.
He was about to approach both machines when the winged gundam's green eyes and chest orb had suddenly lit up. In addition, its machine cannons had risen from their shoulder compartments with a loud clunk.
Rau had changed his mind as he went to his machine instead, dodging the single burst of high caliber anti-armor bullets grazing the rocky ground near him. The CGUE had taken off clumsily as Rau was loosing control of his injured arm.
Seeing the enemy mobile suit's erratic flying, Zero had withdrawn his weapons and powered down. He then waited for the arrival of both William and Mu who had emerged from the base, a good five minutes later.
"Zero, please inform Captain Ramius that we've been set up fer a major fall." William was saying as he was readying the start up sequence. "The general staff wants us ta serve as expendable troops jus' to trap the attacking forces here."
"Let's get outta here," Mu said as the Aegis had powered up and its main thrusters were gushing blue fire.
"You got it," William said as Wing Zero had also taken off. He then again triggered the change to Neo Bird mode as soon as it was able.
After the transformation was complete, the Aegis had hitched a ride on the giant metallic bird as both machines shot out of the waterfall like bats straight out of hell.
As the Aegis and Wing Zero were coming back to the Archangel, they had engaged the two CGUEs piloted by Yzak and Shiho with Wing Zero teransforming back to its default mode. William's lips had turned to a feral grin as he fought the light blue CGUE which he had recognized as Yzak's.
The Archangel and its escorts were still being kept busy by mobile suits that remained around the mobile suit carrier and its companion warships. The Buster was forced to retire after it had gotten some damage in battle when its battery power ran low.
More and more ZAFT mobile suits were entering the now deserted base, not knowing the dangers still lurking inside.
Outside, one of the DINNs that had kept the Third Fleet busy was even bold enough to threaten the bridge itself. Thankfully, a single bolt from above had destroyed the enemy suit's rifle.
A second mobile suit, a GINN, was firing at the newcomer before its left arm was slashed away. The newcomer mobile suit then hovered in front of the bridge while it was making radio contact, its rear thrusters being the only things visible from the bridge.
"Freedom to Archangel, Freedom to Archangel, do you copy?" The high pitched voice coming from the radio speakers was very familiar to the surprised crew.
"Archangel here," Sai said flatly. "Flay, is that you?"
"Yup, both me and Kira are in this new suit." The red head replied with a giggle. "Cool, huh?"
"Flay, what is this new suit called anyway?" Miriallia thought to ask as she had wiped some tears out of her eyes.
"It's called Freedom, Mir." A new voice answered tersely who the crew had realized was Kira's. "You guys have to go. I'll keep the other suits busy in the meantime."
"You mean 'we', right?" Flay's voice could be heard on the radio.
"Sorry, we will keep the other suits busy in the meantime." Kira amended.
"Flay tell anyone within range to do the same since JOSH-A may blow up any second now." Natarle said as she had gotten the texted communiqué from Zero. "I believe that everyone else would listen to you."
"Thanks, Lieutenant. I'll tell them about it." Flay replied as she had signed off while Freedom headed off to keep the remaining suits off the Archangel's back.
"I'm a Lieutenant Commander now, Flay." Natarle had reminded the newly promoted crewman to everyone else's mirth. "Ensign Koenig, give them a hand as soon as you're ready."
"Yes, Ma'am." Tolle replied happily. "Good to see you again, guys."
"Likewise," Kira said in reply. "So the Buster's ready to fly for us huh?"
"Yeah, and she's chosen me to fly it too."
The Buster was also re-launched as it had helped Freedom cripple the enemy suits with some perfectly aimed shots at the arms and weapons.
Both the Aegis and Wing Zero were still being engaged by the Red Coats but their pilots and even AI still sent their greetings.
While Kira was targeting the arms and legs of the enemy suits by means of his suit's various weaponry, Flay had told everyone within radio range with the best convincing voice that she could muster to stop fighting since they may all die.
Plenty of the remaining Eurasian and even Alliance forces had heard her plea and fought their way out to safer locations. Some of the ZAFT forces were skeptical yet a few others had joined in since they had thought that battle was way too easy to be real.
Most of the submarine commanders had also joined in the exodus. They had realized that if the base was actually defended more than was being done in the present, they would have incurred more realistic losses.
But those ZAFT pilots who were inside had chosen to stay to relish their moment of glory and a chance to further destroy the headquarters of their hated enemy.
Everything had changed when the Cyclops system were triggered to self destruct by the escaping Earth Alliance officers led by Colonel Sutherland. The said officers were in their submarines that were traveling under the air cover of their bases in the North American continent.
The base, along with the mobile suits within it, was decimated completely. The microwaves had irradiated everything in its path before dissipating.
Any person within the ten mile radius bloated like a helium balloon before exploding or was caught with the explosion itself. As for the vehicles and mobile suits, they looked like they were slowly broken apart from the inside out.
The whole show of destruction was capped by a mushroom cloud seen for a hundred miles in every direction of the compass. It was even visible from space thus the elated crews of the Vesalius and Nazca class destroyers were elated (and later dismayed) at the destruction of JOSH-A.
Thankfully, Shiho had noticed the sincerity in Flay's voice thus made her escape along with Mu and William.
She had also told her fellow Red Coat to move his ass before the Cyclops system would fry it to a crisp. It had taken a bit of persuasion but the brown haired coordinator had managed to get Yzak to follow her.
The brunette Red Coat had also told the red head her thanks before signing off and landing her suit (with Yzak's close behind) in the Cousteau where both Red Coats were stationed during their stay on Earth.
-oOo-
In the westernmost island in the Aleutians, the Freedom had landed on the rocky beach flanked by the other three mobile suits and later the Archangel.
On the ground, the newly arrived couple was engulfed in a group hug by their friends.
Birdy too was flying around in its joy as it was joined by a certain haro that was still teasing some people and still being ignored. Flay did let loose a few giggles at the teasing remarks.
The said group had only separated when they heard a loud shriek from within their ranks.
The shriek really came from their blushing captain who was chasing a bemused air commander around for pinching her butt. The said scene was caught by the brown haired controller's digital camera.
Natarle then gave both Kira and Flay their new commissions before asking them about the mobile suit that they had ridden on.
The couple was not able to tell much although Kira had given them an earful of what he had discovered while he was piloting the suit towards Earth. The brunet coordinator had only stopped talking when Flay had pulled him by the left ear towards a more private spot to everyone's amusement.
"Whipped," someone said that had elicited even more laughter from the small crowd.
Miriallia had also taken a few snapshots of the amusing scene for her private photo album.
William did sigh loudly as he, Tolle and even Sai were actually curious about the new technologies that were added in the Freedom's specifications.
Kira later briefed his superiors on what had happened in the PLANTs. Flay had added the parts that Kira had missed for some reason or other.
Murrue then called for an impromptu pow-wow on where they could go next.
"Well, ORB's the best place us for us now, Ma'am." Chandra said in behalf of the others. "I mean, the Earth Alliance won't take us with open arms. I kinda doubt that ZAFT would do the same since they're pissed at our taking of their newest suit."
"Then it's decided." The brunette captain said with a determined voice. "Let's head to ORB."
"Yeah!" everyone else had chorused happily.
Later, the surviving Eurasian fleet had sailed for their home ports while the Archangel headed south for their new destination – the Country of ORB.
Yeah, I'll admit that prank that Athrun made was pretty lame, and yet it still worked...kind of. Also, I hope you guys enjoyed the brief opening scene with the Red Frame, Lowe Guelle, and 8.
And because most of the Eurasian Foundation forces had managed to run away to fight another day, it would certainly make waves in both Astray and Destiny... Eclipse too.
With the Archangel saved from destruction, they had no other choice then head for ORB once again, this time with Freedom in tow. I'm guessing that the Alliance would not like having survivors that would blab its darkest secrets to the world and would certainly do something about it.
But before that, Ash and company would have to clean up a power plant, carry medicine across a bridge in a thunderstorm, and take down some ninjas along with Poison-type Gym Leader Koga.
For now, farewell till the next story... and oh yeah, Happy Valentines day too.