Oh gee, maybe it's better that you just read the earlier Author's Note.
I forgot to add the disclaimer last chapter so… "I do not own Gundam Seed or Gundam Wing Zero".
What I do own, sort of, is my other character – William Zapanta, the newest pilot of Wing Zero and a resident dummy with a big heart.
Most of the credit goes to EmperorDraco7 for Passionate Heart and Gundam Seed DX from where I had gotten some of my ideas that were used here. The same could be said for the other author's of Gundam Seed in Fanfiction net.
Of course, all of them are much better authors than I am anyway.
Last chapter, we have been introduced to the newcomers of the Gundam Seed timeline and things are already starting to diverge so expect some characters being out of character along with some altered destinies for much of the characters of SEED.
For now, just enjoy the story.
Chapter 2 – Identifying Strengths and Weaknesses
A brown haired young man had woken up from his short slumber as he had dreamt that he was experiencing an earthquake while he was still in the classroom.
At first, he could not even believe that an earthquake could even exist in a space colony thus his initial reluctance to even move.
So when he did, the teen could only run to the nearest open space and wait for the tremors to stop.
It was while he was in the said open field, that a somewhat familiar voice was calling the teen to run towards the trees since the soft ground that he was standing on was starting to crack.
The said young man did not understand since the words had come out warbled and distorted. It was too late anyway as he had lost his footing and fell into a large fissure just next to him.
The teen had woken up screaming before he had realized that he was still in some sort of cockpit, a mobile suit cockpit to be precise, thus he had remembered everything before his unscheduled nap.
The said cockpit was trembling as if the mobile suit itself was caught in a gust of solar wind.
The teen's hands then shook at the recent memory where he had killed a person but the comforting words of a stranger had told him that it had to be done.
The said stranger's voice was already coming in clear through the suit's radio speakers, telling him to wake up.
"William, you don't have to shake the whole Strike just to wake me up, you know?" Kira said as soon as he had keyed in the radio's microphone. "Besides, where's Athrun and that other suit?"
"Yeah, well. A certain ensign is already screaming in my ear 'bout our present coordinates along with the fact that you haven't been reportin' in yet," William replied with a little whine. "As for your friend in the Aegis and the other one, they must've gotten away since they were already gone when I woke up."
"That would be enough out of you, Mister Zapanta." A female voice belonging to a certain brunette ensign had cut in the radio communication. "Return to the Archangel, both of you. Also, I want you in the bridge as soon as you dock that machine of yours, William Zapanta."
"Yes, Ma'am." Both pilots said in unison.
William had let of a sigh as soon as he had turned off the speaker.
He then immediately remembered a certain radio communication gaffe where he, Athrun, and Kira had said the very same thing to a Zaft female pilot no less.
'This is gettin' ta be a really bad habit,' William thought with a grimace.
The Filipino pilot was about to guide his gundum towards the warship when he had noticed that the Strike had strayed off their shared course.
"Yo, Kira. We're supposed to be headin' this way," The Filipino said in the airwaves as he had moved his suit's massive hands on the thinner suit's shoulders.
"Sorry, William but the Strike's heat sensors have detected a Heliopolis life boat floating around here." Kira replied, his face showing his worry on the two way communication window in Zero's main screen. "It would seem that their directional thrusters are not working as they should be if they are at all."
"Alright, let's take 'em back to the Archangel since I see 'em too." William said as even he could not just leave innocent civilians in this space graveyard. "Wing Zero to Archangel, Kira and I will be pickin' up a disabled life boat. We'll be back shortly."
"What?! Get back to the Archangel or both of you will be thrown in the brig," Natarle had screamed in the airwaves, causing both pilots to wince at the sheer volume reached by the short haired ensign.
"But, but." Kira was sputtering as he had brought his suit to a sudden stop just a few meters from the life boat's longer side.
Wing Zero did even not stop and had gotten a handhold of the floating canister at both ends.
Its pilot had already turned down the radio's volume low enough to keep his concentration on his manipulation of the gundam's hands through its control levers as well as ignoring the livid female face on his screen.
Thankfully, a second feminine voice had joined the on air conversation from beyond the camera's sight.
"Natarle, let them carry the lifeboat in. Our primary duty is to protect the civilians. Is that clear, Ensign?"
The black haired Executive Officer's face had colored slightly before returning to normal.
"Alright, you have permission to bring the lifeboat in." Natarle said with a quieter voice. "Just please, don't do anything drastic again without getting our permission first."
"Will do, ma'am." William replied for the both of them as Kira had recovered from his swoon.
"Kira, would ya mind giving me a helping hand in here? This thing's kinda heavy." He added in jest as Wing Zero had handed the said lifeboat to the Strike.
"Thanks, William." Kira said with a small grateful smile as the Strike had taken hold of the given item.
"You're welcome, kid."
-oOo-
The Strike had carried the crippled lifeboat in its arms as Wing Zero had stayed behind it in case of a surprise attack.
Both mobile suits had gotten in the Archangel's docking bay, fifteen minutes later.
The G-Weapon or gundam as Kira had called it due to the acronym on its operating system – General Unilateral Neuro-link Dispersive Automatic Maneuver was doing fine in its handling despite the additional mass it had now carried.
Kira had told both William and Zero on how he had pieced together the acronyms to make the said word as both pilots were about to deplane.
The Filipino pilot and AI had to wonder how different kinds of machines would have ended up being called the same thing.
Whatever Kira had to say next was stuck in his throat for two reasons. The first reason was that he had seen a familiar red headed girl who had just come out of the life boat's hatch.
The second was the glaring grey eyes of a certain black haired ensign as she had tapped her booted foot impatiently, just below them.
Natarle was already waiting for both pilots to come down from their machines and let Kojiro Murdoch and his team of mechanics get a good look at them.
She was so intently looking at the gulping pilots that were slowly going down from the docking bays that she did not even notice the green and yellow metal bird that had busted out of the younger pilot's black shirt.
When Natarle had finally noticed the bird as it had chirped its signature cry – "Birdy!, the said bird had already landed on the fifteen year old girl's forefinger and looked back at its owner.
This had made the girl look up at the sweating brunet who had nervously waved back.
The redhead was about to leap towards Kira's location when she had noticed that both he and another light brown skinned person wearing a flight suit were being reprimanded by a short haired older woman wearing an Earth Alliance uniform. She then joined the other refugees with Birdy still perched on her right shoulder.
-oOo-
Natarle Badgiruel had a good reason to be angry at both rookie pilots since both had disobeyed orders and had even gotten her in hot water with Murrue. She was already leading them towards her office at the port side of the ship in her version of a power walk.
Once they had arrived there, the pissed off ensign would finally unleash whatever she had to say without either Mu or Murrue overriding her authority.
Ten minutes later, the wonderful sound of a hatch leading to her office hissing to a close was heard by her elfinish ears. Natarle then turned to both pilots who had stood at attention as soon as the hatch had closed with a loud clank.
"Alright, do not ever forget that whenever either Lieutenant Mu La Flaga or Lieutenant Murrue Ramius is not here, I'm the boss." The black haired officer said as she had started her rant.
"Just because you hotshots can fly a mobile suit doesn't mean that you guys can do whatever you want," She then added. "That kind of bullshit behavior will not be allowed in this ship, especially when I'm still in charge. Is that understood?"
"Ma'am, yes, Ma'am." Both Kira and William replied while still in attention. The older teen had even given a sharp salute to the officer that had confused the other two occupants in the room.
"Um, he he." The Filipino blushed as he had explained. "I was a Military Police officer in the ROTC back when I was still a college student."
"Good, now you're dismissed." Natarle said with a wave of her right hand. Both pilots did as she had told and silence had once again returned to the small office.
"God, why am I stuck with hotshot pilots who aren't even in the military registry yet." Natarle said to herself as she had again headed for the bridge to make sure that the Archangel was not being followed.
-oOo-
In the cafeteria, Miralla Haww, Tolle Konig, Kuzzy Buskirk, and Sai Argylle were talking to each other about how they had gotten into this situation when Flay Allster arrived.
Birdy had flown back to his owner who was also on his way to the cafeteria as well.
The red head had hugged the surprised caramel haired teen as soon as she had entered the room. Sai was surprised by the hug and did likewise.
Both Kira and William had arrived by then, with the younger pilot trying to hide a frown from forming in his face.
Birdy had also moved to the Filipino pilot's head where it had settled itself down to William's consternation and everybody else's amusement.
If one could look closely, he could actually imagine seeing hearts appear in the green and yellow bird's dark eyes. The reason for the said robotic bird's action was that William's curly and unkempt black hair looked a lot like a bird's nest.
"William, would you start telling us your adventures in the Nirvana with Hibiki and the others?" Kira said to keep his mind from his confusing feelings he had been having as well as keeping the gundum pilot from swatting his sleeping robotic pet away from the latter's curly hair.
"Sure, let me start by…Hey, is it just me or is this ship changing course?" William was saying when he had felt the ship's movement.
"It's not you," Tolle replied. "What is with this ship? Turning around all of a sudden, the bridge isn't even givin' an announcement about its destination."
"I don't have clue, Tolle." Sai had told his friend. "I'm sure that it has something to do with the ZAFT forces that we had attacked us though."
Flay had looked at her fiancée with panic before clutching his left arm before saying. "Don't tell me that they're still after us. Why don't they just leave us alone for once?"
"Would you rather stay on that lifeboat instead?" Miralla said as she had looked at red haired friend in disbelief. "I'm sure that they'll leave you alone there."
Flay had simply clutched Sai's left arm even more. William had to sigh at the red head girl's antics and went back to his story but had changed some parts of the said story to keep Zero's AI a secret and still keep it believable.
As he was nearing the end, Mu had arrived and told Kira that it was time to fix his machine.
"Wait, how could it be my machine?" Kira asked in disbelief.
"Well, you're the only one who could pilot it bein' a Coordinator and all."
This time, Flay stood up in shock at what she had heard. She was about to shriek that a "space monster" was in their presence when she had seen Kira's forlorn face. This had made her sit down and keep quiet for some time.
"I'd rather not if I could help it," Kira said it so softly everyone had to lean in just to hear it.
"Kira, you have been given a gift." Mu said as he had placed a hand on the teen's left shoulder. "It is this gift that could keep you and your friends alive. William had chosen to protect the Nirvana even though he did not have enough skill to pilot Zero at first, so you're at a much better position then he did."
"The Lieutenant's right, Kira." William said as he had stood up to get a drink of water, having given up on his plan of grabbing his "passenger" from its perch. "Right now, I'm doin' it again. This time, it's you guys who are onboard."
"Would you guys give me a minute to think about it?" The brown haired Coordinator said as he had stood up and left the room. He had also grabbed the sleeping Birdy off William's hair as he was passing the Filipino along his way out.
Mu and William had followed the Coordinator quickly with the former trying to hide a guffaw from the latter's new hairdo and the strands of hair falling off the metal bird's claws.
The same could be said for the rest, which the Filipino had either ignored or never even noticed at all.
"I didn't even know that Kira is a Coordinator," Flay finally said as the hatch had slid to a close and everyone else had calmed down. "Why should he even fight for us if he's just going to be treated like dirt anyway?"
"I don't know about you but Coordinator or not, Kira's still my friend." Miriallia said as she had stood up and left the cafeteria with the rest of her friends.
"Where are you guys goin'?" Flay said as she had watched the other teens exit the empty cafeteria.
"We'll give Kira our support." Tolle said in reply as the door had closed on the confused red head. "Yo, Kuzzey. How come you're with us? Don't you hate Coordinators too?"
"Just like Mir said, Kira's our friend and that's worth more to me than my stupid prejudices." Kuzzy said as he had floated away.
-oOo-
The red head was so deep in her thoughts that she did not notice that she had entered the hanger until she heard the door behind her shut with a loud clang. She was trying to make sense of what had happened throughout this confusing day.
It was supposed to be an ordinary day where she would have just hanged around her friends and Sai. Then ZAFT mobile suits had entered the colony even though Heliopolis was supposed to be neutral.
She was separated from her other girlfriends during the mass evacuation before being shoved in one of the colony's lifeboats.
She had later heard from one of the technicians who had stayed in the lifeboat with her that the thrusters were damaged in the destruction of Heliopolis and knew that they would be stranded in space until they would either be saved or their emergency oxygen supply would run out.
Thankfully, two strange white and blue mobile suits had rescued them from the ruins of the colony. She had even daydreamed that she would have hugged one of the two suits' pilots despite having a loving fiancé in Sai.
To her surprise, one of the pilots had turned out to be her schoolmate – Kira Yamato. Despite the surprise that she had felt, it was still good to see a familiar face.
But since Kira and the Equatorial Union pilot, who she later knew as William Zapanta, were being escorted by an Earth Alliance officer with a stick up her behind, she had joined the other refugees with Birdy now perched on her right shoulder.
She had later met her other friends plus the heroic pilots in the cafeteria before hearing the proverbial bombshell.
'I knew I should hate him for being a Coordinator but his face was just too sad,' Flay thought as she had remembered the scene in the cafeteria. 'Yet, I can't comfort him since it goes against my father's beliefs. This sucks!'
The red headed teen then heard some voices from further inside. She had snuck behind a pile of boxes nearest the bays where the mobile suits and mobile armor were kept on standby. She had recognized Kira's and William's instantly but was unable to figure out the identity of the third voice.
Truth be told, Flay had heard known plenty of accents, intonations, and manners of speaking from being the only daughter of Vice Foreign Minister George Allster.
To her, it was both a blessing and a curse that she would have to live with for the rest of her life. Even then, the third voice that she had heard was so flat and so unfamiliar that it would have to be robotic in nature. She had taken a peek from behind some crates to see both pilots talking to the… shorter mobile suit?!
'I must be imagining things, mobile suits don't talk…' She had thought in disbelief. '…Do they?'
Flay then shook her head unconsciously as she had ducked back to her kneeling position. A deep voice had startled her when it said. "Miss Allster, you can come out of your hiding place now."
A visibly shaking red head had left her comfortable hiding spot and was not surprised at the sight of the shocked and guilty pilots who were looking at any direction except at her.
"Um, we could explain this." Kira was saying while waving his arms erratically at the red head's direction but Zero had cut him off.
"Miss Allster, the reason why William did not tell you this is that he would rather not have my presence be made common knowledge." The AI said without any change in tone.
"That's ok, um… Wing Zero right?" The girl said as she had slowly regained her wits and courage.
Thankfully, she had overheard the name from the maintenance crews as they had started to refill the machine cannons' magazines on the said gundam's shoulders while she was being herded towards the exit.
"That is correct."
Just then, klaxons had again sounded as Natarle's voice could be heard clearly on the ship's speakers.
"All hands, Level One Battle Stations. I repeat, all hands, Level One Battle Stations."
"Kira, I would suggest that you escort Miss Allster to her room before suiting up." Zero had told both teens in a fatherly tone of voice. "William and I will launch first and engage the incoming units."
Along the way, both teens had met Mu La Flaga who was already in his white flight suit. "Hurry back, I've got a plan for these guys."
-oOo-
Soon, the Moebius Zero had launched from the port catapult. The Strike would launch from the starboard catapult at the same time as Wing Zero that was loaded in the now cleared port catapult.
"You ready, Kira?" William said on the radio as both pilots had waited for the signal to take off.
"Ready as I'll ever be," Kira answered. 'Athrun, will you come back to be my friend or will you be my enemy?'
The loud speakers that were placed in the hanger then announced that the Aile Striker pack was now being attached to the Strike as the mobile suit itself had stepped on its customized Electromagnetic Aircraft Launch system carriage.
Two large beams of light had briefly illuminated the space before the Archangel as well as the launch system's end as the latter was slowly being opened.
"Kira Yamato, Strike, launching."
"William Zapanta, Wing Zero, headin' out."
The first battle between the G-Weapons plus a winged gundam had just begun.
-oOo-
Both mobile suits had already taken positions in the Archangel's stern, their pilots alert for any incoming enemy mobile suits. Kira was already scanning both the Strike's radar as well as its other instruments. William was doing the same with Zero's help.
The tense silence was broken by the sight of Miriallia Haww's face in the two machine's communication screens along with her chirpy voice.
"Heads up, you two. The captain says that ten mobile suits are already on your way."
"Thanks, Mirallia." William said for the both of them.
"Just be safe, you guys. That's all I ask," The brown haired teen had replied with a cheerful smile. "Ok, the suits are confirmed to be ZAFT GINNs. All of them seemed to be heavily armed and similarly armored coming from Ensign Pal."
"William, it seems that they're serious in bringing us down." Kira said on the airwaves. "I hope we can take care of them."
"It would seem so, Kira." William answered as several blips had also registered on his own long range radar. "Jus' trust your machine as well as yerself and we'll be alright."
Soon, ten blips had also showed on the Strike's radar as the GINN assault types had arrived in V formation no less.
"I see 'em," Kira had heard William say through the tactical net. "I'll take the ones on the left. I'll leave the rest of 'em to you."
"Good luck," Kira said in reply as he had centered the lead GINN in his digital gun sights.
-oOo-
While Kira and William were defending the Archangel from the GINNs, Mu la Flaga was keeping his Moebius Zero from being seen or detected by its target (a Laurasia class destroyer) simply by weaving it through the scattered debris of the former colony.
He had also opted to remain in radio silence lest the enemy would use it to home in on his location. The blonde pilot had made a silent prayer that the Archangel and the two mobile suits would be able to handle the units sent in to destroy them.
Mu had known the Moebius Zero was not built with stealth in mind but it was the only unit maneuverable enough to dart in and out of the various floating junk yet remain powerful enough to hopefully cripple the looming high speed blue destroyer now seen in his canopy.
-oOo-
William was in the process of beheading one of the GINNs when two more had caught him in a cross fire. The missile type GINN's pilot had already centered the gundam in his gun sights while the same could be said for the GINN with a recoilless rifle.
"Oh boy, time fer some fancy footwork." William was saying to himself as soon as Zero had alerted him to the said bandits slightly above and below him respectively.
Wing Zero then slashed the third GINNs head before swinging its legs on the ZAFT machine's disabled lower body to use as a sort of jumping off point to break the laser lock on him by the other two ZAFT machines.
The two enemy pilots had never expected that their prey could do such a crazy maneuver until they had realized with horror that they were shooting at each other instead. Two pink explosions were seen behind the escaping winged gundum.
"A 'turkey shoot' made by turkeys," William had told his AI partner with a wide grin. "Now, I've seen everything."
"I am still unable to comprehend your sense of humor, William." Zero was saying as they were hunting for the remaining two enemy units. "This still holds true even with the knowledge I had gained from learning the Earth's recent history as well as your confusing vocabulary."
"Sorry, Zero." William said as he had moved the control levers in his evasion of the enemy's consistent beam fire from his right flank. "I'll tell ya later. Let's take care of these two numb nuts first."
-oOo-
After ten minutes of fierce fighting, nearly all of the GINNs were either disabled or destroyed. Murrue was impressed with the way the two mobile suits had handled the battle.
Only three of the ten ZAFT mobile suits had actually gone against the Archangel in the course of the short battle. Out of the three, only one had escaped serious harm and had even made a hasty retreat.
The brown haired captain had made a sigh of relief at the result of the battle. She was about to recall the Strike and Wing Zero when five more mobile suits were said to be launched from the Nazca class cruiser behind them.
"Are you sure?" Murre said as she had turned to Romero Pal's direction. "From what I had known about the Nazca class, we have dispatched almost all of the mobile suits they could carry."
"Yes, Captain. Identifying type of incoming mobile suits," The bespectacled man was saying before exclaiming. "Oh my god!"
"Ensign Pal, calm down and tell us what you have seen." Natarle was saying from her seat in the CIC.
"Ma'am, one of the suits is identified as a ZGMF-515 CGUE." Romero had taken a deep breath before continuing. "But the other four are GAT series."
"You mean-" Murrue's words were still stuck in her throat when the radar technician had continued.
"Yes, it is the Duel, Buster, Blitz, and Aegis."
"Oh no." This time, it was Miriallia who had spoken up as her hands clasped in front of her mouth. "Captain, I have to warn Kira and William."
"Do it."
-oOo-
Out in space, Kira had taken the news with a little apprehension. On the other hand, William was discussing a viable strategy in keeping the G-Units from even reaching the Archangel with his AI partner.
"William, could I ask another favor?" Kira had hesitantly asked his wingman.
"If you're going ta go one on one with your friend in the Aegis, then it's no problem with me." The Filipino was saying as Wing Zero had changed modes before taking off. "Jus' take care of yerself out there. That and leave the others ta me."
The brunet Coordinator could already see the Aegis approaching his location as the squid like red mobile armor had passed by the jet like Neo Bird mode of Wing Zero, which was going in the other direction. Neither of the two transformable mobile suits had reversed directions to charge at each other.
In Kira's eyes, this had only proved how much respect both Athrun and William had for each other as well as proving their own friendship to the Strike's pilot.
The brunet had only enough time to say "Athrun" before the Aegis had transformed to its mobile suit mode right before his very eyes.
-oOo-
As soon as Wing Zero was in visible range from the other mobile suits, William had triggered its own transformation to mobile suit mode before saying in an open channel. "Hey guys, I didn't even know that ya miss me that much."
Plasma beams, missiles, and even rail gun rounds had converged on the spot where Wing Zero was standing. At least, the winged gundam was supposed to be standing there. A double beam salvo from above had hit the CGUE's right shoulder and the gun launcher of the Buster.
The Buster had immediately thrown the now useless weapon as far away as possible before the said weapon had exploded harmlessly in empty space. The CGUE, on the other hand, had instinctively placed a metalshod hand on its holed shoulder.
"Get down here, you Natural bastard." Yzak Joule had yelled in the airwaves as the Duel shot up from its position towards the waiting Wing Zero, its beam saber in the ready.
The winged gundam had kept its twin buster rifle under its left arm shield and drew its own beam saber. Both massive machines had met with their energy swords blocking each other.
Sparks seemed to be jumping from the clashing energy weapons as their users had gone at each other in a dance of death some distance away from the Archangel and the Strike.
The remaining three was ordered by the silver haired Red Coat to attack the warship since the Aegis was engaging the Strike at the time.
-oOo-
As the Archangel and Wing Zero were engaging the other G-units, Athrun was trying to convince his friend to desert the Earth Alliance and join ZAFT instead. Both G-units were already trying to dissect each other by means of their beam sabers.
"I'm sorry, Athrun." Kira replied. "Even though I'm not a member of the Earth Alliance, my friends are in the Archangel and I won't leave them for anyone. How about you, Athrun? Why did you join ZAFT and even attacked Heliopolis?"
"Kira, I have joined the war to defend my homeland just like you're doing right now with the Archangel." The blue haired Coordinator said with a heavy sigh. "As for Heliopolis, the Naturals were building weapons there thus making it a target. I had no choice, Kira."
"Yes, you do." Kira yelled back. "You could just tell your superiors about that and let them file a complaint to ORB."
"If all of those things you said were that easy, Kira." Athrun replied as the Aegis had sheathed its saber and drew its beam rifle before shooting at the Strike's weapon. "Then we wouldn't even be in this mess."
"I guess we don't have much of a choice. Do we?" Kira said as he had evaded the beams and fired back after replacing weapons.
"No, we don't."
-oOo-
"Hold still, you Natural scum." Yzak was saying as Wing Zero had evaded the Duel's beam fire while shooting back with either the separated buster rifles or its shoulder cannons. "No Natural is going to make a monkey out of me."
Of course, the shoulder machine cannons were ineffective against Phase Armor but its high density bullets did heavy damage to the Duel's cameras in its eyes when the gundam had suddenly closed the distance between it and the G-weapon before opening fire.
As soon as the Duel was blinded, William had added insult to injury by transmitting some monkey sounds to the said mobile suit's communication system.
Yzak's roar of despair and anger was even picked up by the Archangel's radio beacons as a puzzled crew had shrugged their shoulders. Instead, they had continued to defend against the Buster, Blitz, and the CGUE while also evading the said suits' consistent fire.
Shiho Hafnenfuss had known something was up when she had heard the Yzak's sheer cry on the airwaves thus she had ordered Dearka and Nichol to press on the attack as she headed for the crippled Duel.
-oOo-
In the Vesalius (the blue Nazca class destroyer that was about to ambush the Archangel), Rau Le Cruset was listening to the various transmissions from the various combat units while studying the threat board in front of him He had ignored the shrill cry from the Duel's white haired pilot but made a mental note to discipline Lieutenant Joule later for being too emotional in battle.
'Hmm, it seems odd that the Moebius Zero is not even guarding the legged ship.' The blond commander was thinking. 'Yet, considering the enormous advantage of the other mobile suit, they may probably not even need the mobile armor at all.'
He had shaken off these thoughts as soon as the radar officer said. "Enemy vessel, closing in, distance 630."
The blond commander had known better to than to let his attention go astray from the battle at hand. "Take aim but do not fire until I give the order."
"Sir."
The Nazca class destroyer had armed its own 120 cm high energy beam cannons at the approaching ship and the crew had taken aim and readied their firing solutions. Only the order to fire was needed.
At that very moment, Rau had felt a familiar presence. He was about to give the order to evade when the Vesalius shook from several hits on the port, stern, and starboard sides.
Rau's second in command - Captain Ades had recovered quickly from his ungraceful fall and asked for a damage report.
"Sir, our number five sodium wall was damaged in the attack." The ship's engineer was saying on the horn. "My men are already containing the fire as we speak."
'La Flaga, I should have known.' Rau had gritted his teeth in anger and said. "Alert the Galvani and the Gamow at once. We're pulling out."
-oOo-
"What the fuck?!" Dearka was saying as soon as he had heard the order to retreat from Shiho.
"We're already gaining an advantage over the legged ship and now the Commander is telling us to give it all up," He added in disgust.
"Orders are orders, Mister Elsman." The brown haired second in command had replied with a terse voice. "The Duel is severely blinded, no thanks to that winged mobile suit. If the Commander isn't calling for a retreat, I'm going to call for it."
"I read you, Ma'am." Nichol said as soon as the Red Coats had slowly turned back while still engaging Wing Zero. "I've also been told that the Vesalius was crippled by the Moebius Zero and is now retreating."
William had wisely left both the CGUE and Duel alone as it had continued to keep the remaining units as far away from the Archangel as possible. The said warship had also fired its Lohengrin positron cannons at the crippled Vesalius as additional insurance.
Thus, the Filipino pilot was surprised when Zero had reported that the Aegis was carrying the powered down Strike towards the waiting Gammow. This was even though the three ZAFT warships had sent flares to signal the end of hostilities.
"What the hell?!" William had exclaimed as a green beam had nearly shot off the winged gundam's yellow V-fin. "Sorry, bud but I've got better things ta do."
The gundam had slammed its shield's pile driving nose on the Blitz's Trikeros shield system thus holing it and fired a volley of machine cannon rounds at the incoming Buster. It then used the resulting confusion to fly towards the escaping Aegis.
Both two Red Coats had recovered from their temporary stun and had their G-weapons chase the gundam while Shiho had her red CGUE carry the crippled Duel back to the waiting Gammow.
-oOo-
In the Strike's cockpit, Kira was slowly losing hope as he could not even move the Strike's arms or feet. He had decided to talk to his childhood friend again.
"Athrun, I told you that I'm not deserting my friends for ZAFT." He said with a hint of anger. "Now let the Strike go."
"Shut up, Kira." Athrun's voice carried a bit of regret. "I have to take you and the Strike to the Gammow. Otherwise, I will have… to kill you."
Shocked, the brunet was resigning to his fate when two voices were heard in the tactical net.
"Kira, when you get free from the Aegis, fly as fast you can to the front of the Archangel." Mu's voice had said in the airwaves.
From his screen, Kira could see the Archangel approaching towards him. He could also see three units exchanging fire some distance from the warship's fore and aft. A quick magnification as well as the Filipino's deep voice in the radio speakers had confirmed that Wing Zero was also heading to the rescue.
"Don't worry 'bout these dum-dums," William said with a chuckle. "I've got 'em."
All of a sudden, a rail gun round had hit one of the Aegis' tentacles. In order to fight back, Athrun had to trigger the change of his ship to mobile suit mode. The blue haired Red Coat had known that in doing so, he would have to let go of the Strike but the nearing Moebius Zero had given him no choice.
Kira had taken the chance and ignited his back thrusters as soon as the Strike was free. The brunette coordinator then pulled the throttle home as he had turned his mobile suit towards the waiting white warship.
As soon as he had gotten in position, Kira had jettisoned the Strike's Aile Striker pack and waited for the incoming Launcher Striker pack that was launched in the right bow catapult of the warship.
What he did not know was that the Buster had broken free from the dog fight with Wing Zero and fired a single plasma blast at the hovering Strike.
A single explosion had everyone stop fighting.
Inside the Buster's cockpit, Dearka was saying. "At least, we achieved one of our primary objectives."
A moment later, a red bolt from inside the pink cloud had shot off the Buster's left arm.
From the said cloud, the recharged Launcher Strike had emerged.
It was also firing its Agni hyper impulse cannon at anything within range, hitting the Blitz's already damaged Triskelion shield, Wing Zero's own beam shield, and one of the nearing Moebius Zero's gun barrels. Thankfully, the Archangel was spared as it had changed course immediately after the explosion.
"Whoa, cool it." William was saying as his machine had dodged the various salvos along with everyone else. "I mean it, Kira. This battle's over and the bad guys are on the run."
By the time Wing Zero had neared the still stationary G-weapon, the Agni's charge was already used up. Furthermore, the remaining G-Units had gotten away from the battlefield.
"I'm sorry, William." Kira was saying with relief as he had choked back a sob. "Guess I was spooked back there with the Aile Striker pack being blown up and all."
"Ah, don't worry about it." Mu said as he had joined the online conversation. "It's just a piece of hardware."
"Lieutenant La Flaga, I insist that mobile suits like me as well as our accessories not be called such derogative terms." Zero had also spoken up in the airwaves.
"Sorry, Zero." Mu replied with a sheepish grin. "Still, let's go back to the Angel. We've all had a long day. "
"Yes, Sir."
-oOo-
A half hour later as the new pilots were taking a shower and changing to their new uniforms, Murrue was thinking about the previous battle as well as how the Artemis base would welcome them.
From what she had heard from the intercepted communications between the Strike and the Aegis, it would seem that Kira as well as the Aegis' pilot – Athrun had known each other. The blonde lieutenant made some mental calculations before figuring out that they had probably met sometime before the current Bloody Valentine's War.
A talk with Kira would have to wait since she had more urgent matters to think about – the dwindling ammunition and food supplies for the Archangel.
It was the latter shortage that demanded more of her attention since they had (through the mobile suits) rescued and taken in around fifty more civilians besides the new pilots and the high school students who had joined her and the brunet Coordinator in the fight inside the former Heliopolis.
"Lieutenant, we have just received an encoded message from Artemis." Ensign Arnold Newmann had said from his station in the ship's helm. "The request to enter the base has been acknowledged. Furthermore, they will also send an inspecting officer to the bridge."
"Understood," Murrue replied. "Mr. Newmann, prepare to dock in the Artemis bay as soon as we are able to."
"Yes, Ma'am."
-oOo-
The massive force shield that was defending Artemis had slowly de razzed as the Archangel had made a 180 degree turn before slowly heading towards the Artemis' hanger bay, before returning to form. The massive titanium gate for the docking bay soon had opened and the Archangel had entered in a quarter speeds not to overshoot its assigned bay.
On the viewing deck, various people had crowded the windows to see the inside of the famous Eurasian orbital base. Flay was in one of those windows with Sai while Kira and William were on the window further away to the starboard side.
The latter two were later joined by Mu who had also explained to his fellow pilots the dos and don'ts of what they had to do. The senior pilot had also advised them to lock their machine's operating systems so that no one else could operate their machines. This had prompted the Filipino to make a mock salute while pulling a surprised Kira to the hanger.
The small guard ship had approached the warship and docked at one of the exterior hatches. This was followed by a smaller craft filled with armed soldiers in their EVA suits. Mobiuses had surrounded the now secured warship.
-oOo-
Just as the Archangel was being docked, Mu had told both his new charges to change to civilian clothes.
Rather than argue, both pilots simply headed for their rooms to change. Soon, soldiers had entered the ship and began to secure it for their own selfish reasons.
The entire bridge crew as well as most of the civilians in the Archangel was herded to the cafeteria while the commanding officers were told at gunpoint to leave the ship and talk with the base commander – Rear Admiral Gerald Garcia.
As soon as Lieutenant Commander Biddaulph had left the ship, most of the men who were supposed to secure the ship had left their given posts and started to smuggle various crates filled with ammunition, food supplies, medical supplies, and even drinking water.
Only the five soldiers who were still loyal to the admiral were kept out of the loop as they were assigned to keep the hostages in the cafeteria. One of the marauding soldiers had even blundered into William's and Kira's room.
The pilot in question has just finished changing clothes and was surprised to see a fellow Filipino in his room.
"Bago ang lahat, hindi ako kalaban." The soldier said with his arms raised in a surrender position as he had noticed that the young man in the room had looked like a Filipino. "Yung kupal na si Admiral Garcia at mga tauhan niya, ang tunay nating kalaban."
William was overjoyed to hear Tagalog for a little over a year since his time with the space pirates as well as with the crew of the Archangel.
Yet, he had kept his voice even as he said. "Sino ang Admiral Garcia na iyan at bakit natin siya kalaban?"
"Siya ang head honcho sa lugar na ito at gusto lang niyang makuha ang barkong ito bukod sa mga mobile suit ninyo," The soldier said in reply. "Oo nga pala, pangalan ko ay Johann De La Cruz. Isa akong engineer dito na nagmula pa sa Equatorial Union kung saan kasama ang Pilipinas."
"Naintindihan ko na," William said with his right hand poised for a hand shake. "Ako naman si William Zapanta, piloto ng Wing Zero. Iyon ang mas maliit na mobile suit na makikita mo sa hanger."
"Kinuha na ng mga kasamahan ko ang kakailangnin natin sa pag-alis dito," Johann said as he had led the gundum pilot out the door. "Pakitulungan naman akong patumbahin ang natitirang limang sundalo na nagkulong sa mga kasamahan mo."
"O sige," William said in reply. "Simulan na natin ang laban."
As they were running to the cafeteria, William had asked the real reason why did Johann desert the Artemis base in favor of the Archangel.
Johann had replied that Eurasians had treated the lower ranked soldiers from other nations like dirt, especially if the latter had displayed more technical or combat skills then the former.
When the two had reached their destination, they were nearly shot at by the two soldiers who were guarding the door at the time. Both William and Johann had to duck at the nearest corner while the shooters were jumped from behind by the brave crew led by Kojiro and Arnold.
The two crewmembers had held the surprised soldiers down while the rest had unarmed them.
"What the heck's going on here?" William exclaimed in English as he and Johann had neared the door. "Where's Kira, Flay, Tolle, and Miriallia anyway?"
"They were taken at gunpoint by the other three goons as well as a certain Admiral Garcia and led to the hanger," Chandra replied as he had tied the two goons' hands with a plastic rope given to him by a helpful civilian. "The 'good' admiral had thought that Tolle is Wing Zero's pilot since Kira had confessed that he is the Strike's pilot."
"Great, I'm going in." William was about to go when Kojiro had stopped him.
"You're not goin' there unarmed, aren't ya?" The burly chief mechanic said as he had given the Filipino pilot - one of the confiscated M-4 automatic rifles. "I'm goin' wit ya since that's my territory they're harassin'."
"Glad to have ya aboard, Sir." William said with a small smile. "Johann, stay here and help calm the civilians."
"Will do," The Filipino engineer had replied before entering the room. Both William and Kojiro then ran as fast as they could towards the hanger.
-oOo-
The two would be heroes had arrived just in time for the girls to shove their guards off the mobile suits' hatches while the guys had closed them.
The admiral had caught sight of the intruders before ordering his bodyguard to open fire.
"Sir Kojiro, could ya give me some cover fire?" William asked as he and the chief mechanic had ducked behind some newly placed crates before returning fire.
"Drop the sir and why?" The mechanic asked as he had triggered a burst before ducking once again.
"I'll try to outflank 'em," The pilot was saying as he too had triggered a burst at the enemy.
"Alright, but those two'll gun ya for sure." Kojiro replied as he had indicated the other two soldiers who were recovering from their fall. "Wait for my signal before ya go."
The dark skinned chief mechanic then centered one of the two soldiers who was now scampering for cover and tagged him with a short burst in the side. "Now, go."
The Filipino had run out of the crates and triggered a burst that was more to keep the Admiral and his men down than to actually hit them. He then took cover in another set of crates.
Another soldier had tried to inch closer to the Filipino's hiding pilot but had to turn back since Kojiro had shot another burst at the floor near him. William had seized the moment given to him by making a headshot at the other soldier who was peaking at the other side of the crates with the admiral.
A sudden shaking of the whole ship had forced the said soldier out in the open, making him a prime target.
Kira's voice was heard in the Strike's external speaker. "Do you guys need help?"
"Nah, jus' check what's goin on outside." William said as he had fired two more short bursts at the remaining enemies. "Tolle, you ok in there?"
The brown haired teen's hesitant voice was heard saying that Zero was a great help in running the system. The admiral was puzzled by what the teen had meant when some bullets had whizzed by above his bald head.
The mobile suits had used the distraction by walking forward to the waiting carriages with the Strike getting the Sword Striker pack just before launching. Both of them were then launched as Sai had taken over Miriallia's role as controller upon his arrival at the bridge.
After the gundams had launched, William then realized that he was out of ammunition. He was looking around for any crate that might hold some suitable ammunition when someone had shouted over the din.
"William, catch."
The Filipino pilot had grabbed the sliding magazine just before a single gunshot was heard.
"That's what you deserve, traitor." Gerald said with a sneer as he had lowered his SigSauer pistol and ran towards the newly opened exit.
Johann had crumpled to the floor from the single gunshot that tagged him in the chest.
"God damn you, Admiral." William exclaimed as he had barreled out of his hiding place and shot wildly at the escaping admiral and the remaining soldier. "Shit. Tanginang yan."
The said soldier had made one last show of loyalty to his commander by closing the hatch before he too was shot down multiple times at nearly point blank range by the pissed off Filipino.
-oOo-
Outside, Tolle was giving his best in following Zero's advice as he had moved the control levers and foot pedals. He was actually shocked at how calm William was as he had shot the soldier in the head.
Zero then told his temporary pilot that William had become a better warrior since they had first met in the local space of Taraak even though he still needed to keep his emotions in check every once in a while.
Just before the final battle, William had confided in the AI that his thoughts on killing had changed in the whole year fighting with the pirates. The Filipino had also told Zero earlier that he would only kill another human if he has no other choice available to him. This had made Tolle think about the older teen that hid his darker side by means of a disarming smile and a deep laugh.
'No wonder, he keeps to himself most of the time.' He had reflected sadly.
After a brief reprimand from the AI and his trembling girlfriend, Tolle had resumed control of the gundam just in time to keep the arriving CGUE, Duel, and Buster from even nearing the now escaping Archangel within the now crumbling orbital base.
Kira was already engaging the Blitz and both mobile suits seemed to be fighting evenly. After a bit of confusion, Tolle was able to aim correctly and fire short bursts on the remaining Red Coats' machines.
The said three Red Coat's ships were returning fire but were having problems hitting the nimble suit mostly due to the fact that Wing Zero had used whatever item be it a supply ship, broken piece of the colony, or even the Archangel as its cover.
The rookie pilot was actually hoping for a disabling rather than a killing shot the whole time he had pressed the triggers.
Mirillia had helped by pointing at the mobile suits that she had seen in the targeting screen while Zero was pointing out which switch to push or how to operate the levers and foot pedals correctly.
-oOo-
After the units had returned to the hanger deck, Kira had congratulated his friend for decently piloting the Wing Zero even it was the first time he did so. His girlfriend had even given him a quick kiss on the cheek as her thanks.
As soon as they deplaned, Flay had asked where William had gone to. Kojiro had only answered that the Filipino was carrying his injured new friend to the infirmary.
The fallen soldier had betrayed the Admiral for something the soldier himself had truly believed in. The teens had left the hanger and soon found the gundam pilot crying in front of the clinic's door while being comforted by Natarle.
Kira quietly said goodbye to his friends as he too had felt some remorse ever since when Garcia had told him that he was a traitor to his own race and may die in the same way.
He had lay down on his bunk and tried to keep himself from crying. He had later felt a warm body covering his own as a pair of slim arms encircled his waist. A soft girlish voice had whispered in his right ear that its owner still considered him as a hero rather than a traitor.
He had turned his head as soon as the girl had let go of him, only to meet a smiling Flay lying beside him.
"Kira, I'm sorry for betraying your secret." The red head said in a whisper. "Remember, you're my hero even it is only for today."
She had kissed him on the right cheek before standing up and leaving the room completely, leaving a stunned Kira holding his cheek in wonder.
Like I said, things will be different from this chapter onwards so if you like things the way they are in canon, then I kindly suggest you stop reading this and just watch the show. It will be a win-win situation for both of us.
Johann De La Cruz is another made up character that had followed his heart in betraying his racist commander to follow what his heart was telling him. The price that he paid for his actions was cheap – his own life in exchange for everyone else's. Not a bad deal if I say so myself.
The Equatorial Union Logistics chief assistant had asked for help from William upon knowing that the gundam pilot is a fellow Filipino thus the conversation in Tagalog. The last thing I need is a flame saying that I didn't follow the flow of canon. Actually I did, but I had added some of my own twists in it like I did in Together in Spirit.
Now that this note and my rant are finally over, just read and enjoy this chapter. Coming up next, a certain singer rocks the house...err ship and a certain politician would drop a bombshell so huge, it's ripples would be felt universe-wide.
But first, a word from our favorite ponyta and his new buddies in the Pokemon world.