Greetings, everyone. We now witness how a hero is given his last rites, the Archangel and its crew turn to foraging for needed supplies, a certain superstar makes her first appearance, a politician meets up with the Archangel ahead of his fleet, and Arthrun just could not get a break.
Read and enjoy.
Chapter 3 – Distinguishing between Friends and Foes
As the Archangel had steadily left the ruins of the Eurasian space fortress – Artemis, a funeral of sorts was being held on one of its human leg-like bow.
A Moebius Zero and the GAT-105 Strike Gundam were both flanking a much burlier mobile suit with shorter legs.
On the last mobile suit's hands were the remains of an engineer killed in a firefight while bringing a needed ammunition clip to the outmatched Wing Zero's pilot.
William was already crying inside his gundam's cockpit while pressing the trigger periodically.
The machine cannons had responded by giving a three-gun salute to the floating coffin as it had drifted to nowhere when Wing Zero had released it from its gentle clutches.
Both Kira and Mu had watched the event with stoic faces from their own ships. The same could be said for the skeleton crew in the Archangel's bridge as well as those in the engineering area.
The mournful tune of "Taps" was broadcasted in the tactical net and in specific sections to honor the fallen hero who had made the ultimate sacrifice for them.
Only the civilians were not told of the events since it would only make them worry even more since their brief incarceration in Artemis Base.
Kojiro Murdoch was also told of Johann De La Cruz's short life in the space fortress as it was seen by his fellow engineers and soldiers while manning the said place.
The chief mechanic had also promised then that he would relay the same information to the Filipino pilot at a more comfortable time.
After the last shot was fired, Wing Zero had retracted its nearly spent cannons and all three machines had gone back to the hanger.
-oOo-
Soon, all the pilots were told to report to the bridge for a special briefing. Once they had arrived, they were surprised to see Kira's friends also waiting for whatever Murrue would tell them.
Seeing that everyone was accounted for, the brown-haired captain had told them that whatever supplies they had "gathered" from Artemis was just enough for a short trip to the Earth.
A longer trip to the moon would require even more supplies to compensate for the additional 500 men that had gotten aboard the Archangel during its short stay in Artemis aside from the fifty civilians that were rescued in Heliopolis.
The five hundred men from Artemis were mostly from the Engineering and Special Command (cooks, janitors, maintenance men, etc) had also been briefed by a link from the bridge itself since they were also involved.
The said manpower was already assigned by Chandra to various positions in the ship. Yet, the positions in the bridge were still held by the original crew along with the teens.
Kojiro was actually happy to see his division had more than doubled with capable hands.
Thus, the mobile suits and mobile armor were easily repaired, refueled or recharged, and re-armed in only an hour at best. This would later contribute to a faster deployment in the coming battles.
This was despite the additional fifty large crates of supplies "procured" from the Artemis space fortress before it was destroyed.
They had no other choice than to make a detour to the Debris belt where most of the junk from satellites and past battles had gone to.
Thankfully for them, the ZAFT forces chasing them had no knowledge of the detour and continued on their present course thus losing the Archangel completely in their ships' long-range sensors.
The teens had said their grievances to the immoral practice of taking someone else's food and water even though that someone was already dead in the first place.
"Guys, listen to the Lieutenant." William said as he had enough of the teen's bellyaching. "I was once a space pirate and sometimes, we had no choice but ta take whateva supply we can get. We don't care if we had to take it from a dead body as long as it would keep us alive."
A distinct murmur was heard from the teens before they nodded their assent.
The relief that the superior officers had only lasted a few minutes before Arnold had showed them a full magnification of a floating landmass in their destination in the main screen.
-oOo-
Back at the PLANTs, Athrun was replaying all of what had recently happened in his mind as he was taking a shower.
First, he was summoned along with others in the Joule team about a possible hijacking of a secret mobile suit factory in Heliopolis.
To further boost their chances of success, another new member was introduced to the team only hours before the mission itself had started– Shiho Hahnenfuss.
The said colony was in the other side of the geostationary orbit at L-3. All of the PLANT colonies were located in L-5, as every grade school student in both the Earth and the colonies had been taught.
This made Heliopolis safe from prying eyes of the ZAFT forces.
It was supposed to be a simple first in last out operation, but the fact that his friend, Kira Yamato had killed Rusty Mackenzie – a fellow Red Coat and member of the Joule Team, had changed everything.
Since then, it was hell trying not to fight his best friend while also trying to keep his loyalties to ZAFT intact.
Thankfully, the pilot of the new mobile suit had understood his intentions.
Then again, he did make a mockery of the Red Coats' collective skill by heavily damaging their machines while his own machine had only taken minor damage in return.
Even the great Rau Le Crueset was a victim of the said pilot's intervention.
It was only right for them to call the newest interloper and his gundam as "The Intruders" since William as Kira had called the said pilot, was definitely intruding on Commander Le Crueset's plans from the start.
Before losing track of his thoughts, he had remembered being taken back by the blond commander himself back to the PLANTs for a special meeting called by the Supreme Council. Along the way, he met his father who was also heading for the said meeting.
The meeting turned out to be a hawk versus dove type of discussion with the hawks winning.
Even though his father was there with him, Athrun would rather be in the cockpit of the Aegis either talking or fighting with Kira.
After shaking away those depressing thoughts, he had turned off the shower and toweled himself off.
A cursory turning on of the communication system had revealed that his well-known fiancée – Lacus Clyne was missing on a routine trip towards the remains of Junius Seven in the infamous Debris Belt.
"What else could go wrong?" The blue haired Red Coat said to himself when his videophone rang.
He had learned that the Vesalius and the Gammow were heading out in twenty-six hours and that he has to be in it.
After acknowledging the message, Athrun lay on his bed and wondered why life was giving him one curveball after another.
-oOo-
In the Archangel, a stunned crew had figured out what the large land mass they were seeing actually was the remains of Junius Seven.
Only William had scratched his head at what he had seen. His actions had made Mu tell the gundam pilot about the story about how the Bloody Valentines Tragedy had started the war that they were fighting now.
"Jeez, I'd never thought that the Earth Alliance had ta resort to nuclear weapons on civilians too." William later said after he had recovered from shock. "I guess that this is a heavy burden fer you guys to, huh?"
"Yeah, that's why the Neutron Jammers were laid in various underground locations around the earth." The blond pilot replied. "Personally, we shouldn't even hit civilian targets. That's too inhumane a tactic even against Coordinators."
"I'm glad to hear that from you, Mu." A youngish voice said from behind him.
Turning around, they had seen Kira standing there with a big smile on his face. Kira then added. "I thought William's the only one who understands my situation."
"I'm not the only one, kiddo." The blond man replied as he had ruffled the younger pilot's hair. "Murrue and some others share the same position as I do. Although, I'm still not absolutely clear about a certain black haired ensign's opinion about the matter."
"Well, from what I could see, she's a rules and regulations type who doesn't change minds easily." William said with a confident smirk. "Still, given time, she'll understand that not everything is found in the rulebook."
"Hah," Mu said quickly. "I'll make a bet with you guys that she'll never change her spots. She's way too prideful for that."
"I'm game, so what's the wager?" William replied as he had already seen what had happened with Meia Gibson in the Nirvana so he knew that he would never lose this bet.
"If you win, I'll steal a kiss from our attractive captain." Mu said with utmost confidence. "And I win, I'll tell you two whom to steal a kiss from."
"Deal," William replied as the two pilots shook hands.
Kira was mystified at the sudden wager thus he said. "I don't know if this is actually a good idea. I mean, Miss Natarle is strict and all, but even she doesn't hate Coordinators that much. Am I right, guys?"
"We'll see, kid." William said as it was his turn to ruffle Kira's hair to the brunet's consternation. "We'll see."
-oOo-
In the Archangel's hanger, three teenagers were also talking about the need to go to the Debris Belt.
One of them had been trying not to follow the conversation as he was being reprimanded to keep his attention to the screen before him. The one doing the reprimand was the artificial intelligence of the mobile suit where all three teens were sitting in front of.
"Sorry, Zero." Tolle was saying as the simulation was resumed. "I promise to give my full attention to your suggestions and the enemy in the screen."
"That's good." Zero's voice had softened a little. "To be a good pilot, you have to avoid being distracted at all times. Your life will certainly depend on your ability to stay focused in the battlefield."
"Zero, he's already doing his best y'know." Miriallia had said in defense of her boyfriend.
Even she had trouble processing in her mind that a mobile suit would have such a state-of-the-art AI in its control systems that could coax Tolle in piloting it only hours before.
"I'm sure that William didn't learn everything in one day when he met you back then."
"That is true, Miss Haww." The AI replied. "Still, the same dangers applied to him and I since we were in the middle of the combat zone at the time."
"Oh yeah, William did tell us that he and Zero had to avoid being turned to Swiss cheese by a certain battleship when you guys showed up in Taraakan space." A third voice had piped up from her position beside the brown-haired controller.
"That is correct, Miss Allster."
The red head smiled at the compliment given as she had continued her chat with her brunette friend while Tolle was still learning on how to pilot the ship in the screen before him efficiently.
Zero was tracking in training pilot's progress and even remarked that the brunet would have trouble flying a mobile armor considering his recent dismal scores in the simulation runs.
Soon, Tolle had called it quits as he had needed a break from the two-hour long simulation session. Miriallia had helped him up and both of them headed for the cafeteria.
Flay had stayed behind since she wanted to try the simulation program herself and more importantly, have someone to talk to that would not shove words in her mouth.
After an hour's session, Flay had to call it quits as she was not even able to reach half of Tolle's score.
"Hey, Zero. Can I ask you something?" she said while looking up at the empty cockpit.
"You already did, Miss Allster."
"Very funny," Flay replied as she had clambered up to the cockpit. "Could you close the hatch please? This is kind of private."
"Of course."
The hatch had closed just under the red head's left foot.
"Now tell me, what would you like to ask that the hatch is needed to be closed?" The AI added as soon as the hatch had closed with a click.
"Well, it's like this." Flay had taken a deep breath before continuing. "I'm beginning to have- let's say a crush on a certain young man."
"Well, from what I had seen in the Nirvana, crushes are common even among the same sex." Zero said simply.
"Uhm, ok." Flay was surprised by how calm Zero had told the said fact. 'That's too much information. Then again, an AI processes tons of information at a high rate especially if it is used for combat.'
"Is there something wrong, Miss Allster?" The AI had added derailing the red head's thoughts.
"Zero, just call me Flay since the Miss Allster part is a bit too formal." The teen said in an attempt to appear unperturbed. "Secondly, could you give me some advice on how to keep things between myself and my crush … normal in such a way so as not to scare him too much?"
"Mi-Flay then, you are asking too much from what I can see, since human relations are not my forte."
"True, but strategy and tactics are." Flay shot back. "I just need a strategy of sorts to keep him from learning my feelings thus scaring him off. I mean, he is naturally shy and I really want to be his friend."
"In that case, I may need to consult with William for the human emotions part of the matter so as to conceive a foolproof plan for your benefit."
"Thanks, Zero." Flay said with glee. "By the way, where is the switch for the hatch anyway?"
"Allow me."
The hatch was automatically opened, and the girl immediately headed for her room as soon as her flat heeled shoes had landed on the hanger floor.
Back in the recently exited cockpit, Zero said aloud to himself. "That girl has the same problem as Kira did when he had asked me something else besides my programming. Hopefully, they would realize that their plans would only come to fruition if they would open up to each other."
-oOo-
While Flay and Zero were talking on the hanger, William and his fellow pilots had taken the needed nap. The Filipino pilot had also listened to the mp3 player in his room so as to let him sleep more easily. The said music player was the item that he had taken from the Nirvana's secret room, nearly a year ago.
The playful melody of "Spacey Spicy Love" had filled the headphone speakers instantly. The voices of the pirates including Magno's could be heard if you listened closely enough. William was not sure if he had actually heard his friend Hibiki's voice as well in the song. He had later attributed it to his drowsiness and overactive imagination.
As the Filipino pilot listened to the fast-paced song, his brown eyes had misted at the memory of the large family that he was a part of in the previous year and a half.
Thus, just as he was about to fall asleep due to excess crying, William had murmured in the direction of the mp3 player. "I miss ya guys."
The sentence - "We miss you too, William" was heard from the said player's headphone's little speakers.
The sudden reply, as if his friends in the Nirvana had heard him across dimensions, had finally made William crack a small smile just as the Sandman had begun his job on the Filipino pilot. The mp3 player had also shut itself off as its battery had already run out.
-oOo-
Six hours later, a gentle knock had awakened the now snoring pilot. William had to rub his eyes and yawn loudly before slowly standing up and answering the door.
The Filipino had also adjusted his loosened boxers especially with the additional bulge that sprouted as he awoke. Thankfully, Kira was sleeping soundly on his bunk as he did not even wake up.
To his surprise, the sight of the Archangel's executive officer had greeted him from beyond the door.
"Don't even think that this would be a daily occurrence," She snapped at the grin that was starting to form on the gundam pilot's face. "The others are still busy preparing for the foraging operations that will start as soon as we land in the floating island that we saw earlier. So, get into your pilot suit and prepare for your sortie in an hour."
Seeing the still sleeping Kira, she had added. "The same goes for him too."
William had simply replied by standing ramrod straight and with a two fingered salute to boot.
The black-haired CIC then left in a huff, bewildered at the sight of the half-naked and barefoot young man that had met her in the door.
"Gee, was it my breath?" William said to himself as he had scratched his head at the strange exit of his commanding officer.
He had even tested his breath by exhaling on his left hand after closing his and Kira's bunk's sliding door.
"Yup, it's my breath alright." The gundam pilot said as he had headed back to his bunk in order to get his bathroom supplies.
-oOo-
An hour later, William had already taken a bath as well as a needed brushing of teeth and had also suited up before taking his seat in Wing Zero's cockpit. He had also awakened Kira after his bath so that the younger teen would get a half hour's more sleep.
Both the gundum and the Strike were to provide security for the ten Merlins that would undertake the foraging mission.
The lightly armed and armored mobile armors themselves were manned by Arnold and Chandra, Sai and Tolle, and Miriallia and Flay. Seven more Merlins were manned by fourteen of the twenty-two engineers that had defected from Artemis.
Each of the mobile armors had landed in a certain part of the land mass, which they later figured out to be the ill-fated Junius Seven. Some house-to-house searching had ended with everyone seeing some floating bodies inside the buildings.
Both Miriallia and Flay were sent back to the Archangel and make some paper flowers with the civilians for the coming memorial while the rest had buried the bodies on the frozen land.
Even William had helped out as he let Zero do some cursive scans in the area with its long-range radar and other sensors.
Soon, the girls had returned, and the bodies were buried in a field that was the least frozen in the whole land mass.
After a short ceremony led by Mu, about forty or so paper flowers were thrown into the edge of the landmass by Flay with the rest of the crew making a two fingered salute.
Even the two mobile suits had made a salute while their pilots had kept tears from falling in their eyes.
Flay then jumped to Sai's position and cried while he stroked her back. Sai then carried the crying girl back to his Merlin before coming back to the ship. Tolle did the same with his girlfriend.
The rest of the crew had started their foraging for any foodstuff and water that they could find. They had even found a huge iceberg that was made from a frozen lake and started to carry it to the warship in pieces large enough for the Merlins to carry.
Sometimes, even the mobile suits had helped out in the ferrying duty as they had alternated on security detail.
-oOo-
As the hardworking bunch was bringing in the last of the ice, Kira had found a ZAFT mobile suit hovering about nearby.
He had readied his ship's targeting system and the Strike's beam rifle when suddenly the enemy suit was pulled away from the area by an unseen force, right before a Merlin had showed up near the latter's former location.
Some shimmering was seen beside the enemy suit before it had disappeared from sight.
Another thing that puzzled Kira was that the Strike's sensors had showed some unusual snow and distortions not made by the debris all around the said mobile suit.
As soon as the said mobile suit (a GINN Long Range Reconnaissance Type) had disappeared from sight, the brunet Coordinator had contacted the bridge.
Kuzzey then replied from the nearby Merlin. "That is actually William's doing. He already saw the suit before you did and had sent an encrypted radio message that he is going to do something about it."
"Thank you," Kira replied. "I'm heading back."
As he was guiding the Strike back to the Archangel, Kira could not help but think. 'So that's how the Hyper Jammers work. I wish we could use those devices too.'
-oOo-
Back in the GINN, its pilot and his ASW were confused as to why their sensors had gone haywire as well as why they were suddenly moving backwards.
They had tried to hail their command ship but only to get static as a response. They had also tried to move their ship's arms and legs only to find them completely immobile.
Even more dire news was that their suit's sniper rifle was also missing from their GINN's right arm. To put it simply, they were seriously screwed.
Fifteen minutes had passed by but to the anxious crew it would seem like two hours. The suit had by then regained all electrical systems including detection and propulsion, but their weapon was gone for good.
The said crew had also received a strange transmission from out of nowhere.
"Leave this place in peace or you will never live long enough to regret it," A hollowed voice had said in the suit's speakers.
The pilot had reacted quickly by shakily grabbing his controls and making his machine high tail it back to their command ship.
The ASW was already contacting the command ship's communication officer while spouting gibberish about space ghosts that could paralyze and move mobile suits by themselves.
As soon as the GINN had disappeared in the distance, Wing Zero had materialized as if from thin air. The GINNs sniper rifle was still held by the gundam's left hand.
"Guess that'll teach 'em to hang around in a graveyard," William was saying as he had led the winged gundam back to the Archangel.
"Still, there must be a reason for their presence here." Zero replied. "ZAFT pilots do not 'hang around' places like this just for fun."
"Well, whatever it is, we don't have the time ta even look for it." The Filipino said as he was finally seeing the red and blue warship in his screens. "I vote fer some needed rest."
"Alright, I trust your judgment."
-oOo-
As soon as the Wing Zero docked in the Archangel, right after the Strike did, William had joined the group of people who were encircling a strangely shaped escape pod.
"Damn, this thing looks like a coffin." The Filipino was saying before he was shushed by Natarle. Some giggles and snorts had been heard at the said remark though.
Kojiro had to use a manual override just to get the pod's air locked hatch to even open. Two of the Archangel's security detail had also aimed their M-4 assault rifles at the slowly opening hatch.
What came next was something everyone, who was present at the time, would remember for days to come.
A pink spheroid had exited from the pod first. Its signature cry of "Haro, Haro" had echoed through the hanger.
Everyone was so surprised that they had never even noticed the day's second surprise – a pink haired girl wearing a long gown had jumped from the door and floated for a minute above them.
The girl then noticed the group of people that were looking back at her before seeing the insignia on the left shoulders of most of them.
'They're not ZAFT soldiers,' she had quickly realized while still in midair. The pink haired teen then pushed her body down with her legs in a gentle manner.
The girl would have landed in an embarrassing heap if not for a gentle hand that had grabbed her own on her way down. The hand's owner then pulled the girl to his side where she had landed with both feet.
As soon as the girl and the boy who had grabbed her in mid-fall looked at each other, they had quickly turned away again. A red headed girl was looking at them from the boy's left side and made a hiss of displeasure.
Before anyone else could react, Kira was the first to speak up from his place beside Mu. "Um, who are you?"
"Oh," The girl said as her hands had covered her mouth. "I'm Lacus Clyne, pleased to meet all of you."
This had made almost everyone cock their heads to each other in resigned disgust; William simply scratched his head in confusion yet again.
Lacus immediately became concerned at the collective body language and thus asked. "Is it something I said?"
"No, no." Murrue said as she had neared the puzzled girl. "We were just taken aback for a moment there. May we escort you to my office?"
"Alright, I do apologize for being a bother to all of you." The pink haired singer said with a slight bow. "I didn't realize that I was in an Earth Alliance ship until later."
"That's ok." The Archangel's captain said in reply as she had two of the security detail walk alongside the newcomer. "Lieutenant La Flaga and Ensign Badguiruel, I may need your presence as well."
Both Mu and Natarle had shrugged their shoulders and followed the now leaving captain. In the meantime, William was asking Kojiro on who was the newcomer anyway.
"Actually, she's the PLANT's chairman's daughter." The chief engineer said with a shrug. "Definitely a prize catch fer us but she's too young to be a hostage."
"Yeah, guess we'll have ta wait and see what'll happen to her later." William said as he had given the older man a pat on the shoulder. "I'm headin' for the mess hall fer some grub, you guys with me?"
"Yeah," was the response from the Kira, Flay, and Sai.
-oOo-
An hour had already passed by when Flay was asked by Miriallia to carry a tray full of food to the visiting VIP. The said tray was still on the table where it was placed by the latter girl.
At first, she had refused since she still did not like Coordinators but in reality, she was jealous of Lacus catching Sai's eye earlier in the hanger.
"C'mon, Flay." The light brown haired CIC controller had persisted. "I know for a fact that 'I hate Coordinators' excuse is full of holes since you did go to Kira's room after-."
Miriallia was not able to finish her sentence when the younger girl had covered the light brown haired girl's mouth, the latter girl's cheeks turning the color of her hair.
Thankfully, only the cooks and their assistants had remained in the cafeteria, and they knew how to keep secrets as the latter group had cleaned the dishes.
"Alrght, alright." The red head said as she had released her friend's mouth. "I was jealous when something happened between her and Sai in the brief moment they held hands in the hanger earlier."
"Oh, that's different." Miriallia replied. "She doesn't have the right to steal fiancés, Coordinator or no. In that case, I'll go."
"I changed my mind," Flay suddenly said as she had bent down to carry the tray. "I don't want you to get into trouble because of me. I'll just tell her nicely not to steal Sai from me."
"Well, if that doesn't work, there's still…"
Flay's face had once again turned the color of her hair once again as she had shot her older friend a hateful glare before turning around, tray in hand, and exited the mess hall with her nose in the air.
"Oh Flay it's so obvious that you had it bad for him." Miriallia said to herself. "Then again, he felt the same way about you too. This is goin' to be good."
-oOo-
With some help from Mu who was on his way to the cafeteria himself, Flay had finally arrived at the room where Lacus was being held.
She then casually opened the door and went inside.
She had found the pink princess playing around with her pink robotic pet. After setting down the tray on the table opposite the door, the red head had meaningfully cleared her throat.
"Oh, sorry." Lacus said as she had finally realized that she was not alone in the room. "I was just too preoccupied with Haro here to notice your arrival."
"That's alright," Flay answered as diplomatically as she could. Without meaning to, she had added under her breath. "This girl needs to get out more."
"What was that?" The pink haired teen said in surprise as she had released her toy prematurely.
The pink spheroid had managed to flap its "wings" fast enough to hover near its master.
"It was nothing," Flay said to assure her guest while mentally cursing herself for saying things out loud. 'I forgot Coordinators have enhanced hearing too.'
"Oh," Lacus sighed in relief. "For a minute there, I thought you would be mad at me for holding hands with your boyfriend."
"How did-" The red head was flummoxed to hear the words spoken.
"I knew I heard something from you when I held that young man's hand earlier." The singer had continued with a giggle. "I can assume that you and he are either dating or engaged."
"Actually, Sai Argylle– the boy you were asking me and I are engaged." Flay had to smile at the frown that momentarily crossed Lacus' features. "But truth to tell, it was our parent's idea not ours."
A small sparkle of hope had shown in Lacus' green eyes for a brief moment. She then asked the other girl if she truly loved the bespectacled young man.
"Actually, he's more like a brother to me than a boyfriend." Flay answered with a blush. "Now that I think about it, I probably felt like a little girl that was losing her big brother to another girl."
"Well, since you feel that way… I promise not to interfere in your relationship." The pink haired girl said with an expression that was honed by years of singing on stage. "I know what it feels like to be engaged by parents."
"Really?!" Flay said with glee as she had finally found someone in the same rut as she was. "So who is it?"
"His name is Athrun Zala and he's a mobile suit pilot." Lacus then noticed the fear in her new friend's grey eyes. "Is there something wrong?"
"Well, a friend of mine named Kira Yamato is fighting with his childhood friend named Athrun." Flay said, hoping that Lacus would not freak out. "I think he is actually fighting your fiancé."
"They are?"
Lacus breathing had become ragged as the pink haired teen had realized that she was in the same ship as the pilots who were fighting Athrun and the other Joule team members.
"I must talk to him right away. Can you help me find him?"
"Don't worry, Lacus." Flay added as she had hugged the trembling girl before her. "From what I heard, neither of them wanted to kill the other. Besides, both of them were hoping that the other would defect."
"Is Kira a Coordinator by any chance?" The pink haired teen asked.
"Yes, but he made a promise to protect us from ZAFT so he won't switch sides anytime soon."
The pink haired singer had suddenly grinned widely as she said. "Considering how much trust you have in this Kira person, I can guess that you have a crush on him."
"Jeez, am I that easy to read?" The red head said as she had complained at the spoken fact. "Maybe I should take acting classes to be more subtle."
"Don't worry. Only those girls who are in a relationship could tell so your secret is safe for the moment." Lacus replied as she had stifled another laugh. "Then again, it does seem that we're on the same boat since we are engaged to people who we love as siblings and yet have crushes with someone else."
"Yeah, but if my engagement with Sai along with your engagement with Athrun would be somehow broken, we would be free to pursue our own fiancés, right?"
"Right," Lacus had replied as the girls had shaken hands.
Before the red head would leave since it was almost time to sleep, the pink haired young woman still persuaded Flay to stay so that the red head could hear one of Lacus' new songs.
-oOo-
Still, neither of the girls had known that two of the young men they were talking about were standing just outside the door. Both of them were sent by Mirialia to pick up Flay and take her to their room.
"You like Lacus, don't you?" Kira asked his older friend as he had put his ear on the door's frame as he had noticed Sai's dreamy expression at the song they just heard.
"It's no secret that you like Flay too, y'know." Sai retorted as he did likewise.
Even without resorting to such actions, they were still able to hear Lacus' melodious voice through the door.
"I won't tell anyone if you won't," Kira squeaked as he had held out his hand as he stood up.
"Deal," Sai replied as they too had shaken hands.
Three days later, the Archangel's bridge had received an encrypted message from the Alliance's Eight Fleet that had the Archangel change its course for the third time in two weeks.
This time, the pursuing ZAFT warships were ready for them.
-oOo-
Twelve hours later, the Archangel had finally made contact with the lead ships – a 250-meter class warship flanked by two escort ships from the Eight Fleet.
In the bridge, Murrue was talking to the flagship's captain as well as the Eight Fleet's VIP – Vice Foreign Minister George Allster in the main screen.
After exchanging pleasantries, VFM Allster had requested for a rendezvous of his ridden battleship - Montgomery with the Archangel at a certain point in Earth space and to deploy its fighters as additional escorts as soon as possible.
The 130-meter class escort ship – Law had gone ahead to secure the said rendezvous point while the Bernard stayed behind to guard the Montgomery.
As soon as all four ships had gotten into position, the alarm was raised by the detection of a Neuron Jammer in the vicinity.
The Moebius Zero was launched first, immediately followed by the Strike with the Aile Striker pack, and Wing Zero.
The mobile armor had escorted the shuttle that the Vice Foreign Minister had ridden since he wanted to see the newest mobile suits up close and personal.
Six GINNs plus the Aegis had been launched from the Vesalius and quickly headed for the Archangel and Montgomery while the Law and the Bernard provided the needed interference from the suits along with the nearing Galvani.
"Why won't these guys give up?!" Kira was saying as he had shot down one of the GINNs immediately before facing the Aegis. "We just want to find some refuge. Is it too much to ask?"
"Well, I kinda doubt they actually knew about the civilians but our machines are more than enough to draw 'em in no matter what we do." William replied as he had slashed yet another GINN that was trying to shoot down the shuttle. "Permission ta give these guys one helluva scare."
"I don't even know what would you be trying to do, " Natarle had responded after a brief pow-wow with Murrue. "But if it would bring a premature end to the battle, I say why not."
It was still too late for the Law though since it had used itself to block the beams fired from the Galvani and the Vesalius towards the capital ships while two of the GINNs were being taken out of the battle by the said ship's sheer volume of fire. Its brave crew did not die in vain though since it had also given enough damage to the Galvani to keep it from attacking the remaining warships.
"Thank you," William said with glee as Wing Zero had headed towards the front of the Vesaliuis and armed its main weapon.
The said warship as well as the damaged Galvani had opened fire with all of their guns once their crews had realized to their horror what the Intruders were about to do.
The remaining GINNs were also about to intercept the wildly evading gundam when they themselves were shot down by the Moebius Zero who had successfully escorted the shuttle in the middle of the battle.
"Thanks, Lieutenant." William said as he had gotten a lock on the blue destroyer before him.
A single fired beam was enough to hole the ZAFT ship's port wing superstructure, destroying the vertical launch systems and some of its internal superstructure hidden within. Debris had flown out of the holes in the ship's hull before the Vesalius' self-sealing system had started running.
The Aegis was soon recalled as the Galvani had covered the severely wounded ship's escape. Athurn did say that he would avenge the Vesalius' damage in their next battle.
Wing Zero did fire a second burst that had also disabled the Galvani, forcing it to escape itself.
-oOo-
When the pilots had deplaned, they were met by George and Flay Allster, Murrue, Natarle, and Sai.
The forty something politician was eying the mobile suits more then he did the pilots.
"Hmm, I recognize the design of the Strike to be from Morgenroete's but the one called Wing Zero is completely different." George was saying as he had walked to the other side of the winged gundum and took another look. "Is there something that you may have been hiding from us, Lieutenant Ramius?"
"My apologies, sir." Murrue said with a meek bow. "If you could just join us in the situation room, we could explain everything."
"Alright since we may have to give a good explanation to the generals at JOSH-A."
Natarle had taken the lead in the escorting of the VIP while father and daughter had caught up with recent events. Flay had also kept some events to herself, since they were just too embarrassing for her, for Lacus, and even for Kira.
-oOo-
Twelve minutes later, the group had arrived at the situation room only to find a pink haired singer making an impromptu tour of the said room along with her robotic pet. Natarle was about to dress down the embarrassed singer when George had cleared his throat meaningfully.
He then headed for one of the chairs and sat down. The rest had followed his lead and took a seat themselves.
"I was hoping that this meeting would be amongst selected military and civilian personnel, but with the presence of Miss Clyne here, I do not have any other choice." The politician said with a grave undertone.
"Actually, I was hoping to have a look around in the ship since my guards had not even heard me earlier when I called for their attention." The pink haired girl replied with a shiver as she had recognized the man who had spoken up. "May I request that I could be accompanied back to my room?"
"The request is denied, Miss Clyne." George said calmly, causing a minor commotion in the situation room. "I'm sure that Miss Clyne here could not give the information that the enemy could be waiting for. From what I heard from Flay, none of them would even believe her and may even accuse her of providing false information."
"Are you talking about Wing Zero's origins, sir?" Lacus had asked the Alliance politician with a shaky voice.
She still feared the man who was among the highest-ranking politician in the Atlantic Federation and who was rumored to be brutal with Coordinators that he had caught before.
Minister Allster had only nodded in reply.
"Actually, from what I had seen, it looked very different from any mobile suit including the one standing beside it." The singer said with more fear creeping into her melodic voice. "More than that, it seemed to be alive somehow."
This time, Natarle had interjected in the conversation. "You are actually correct, Miss Clyne. Zero is somewhat 'alive' since its AI program is even more advanced than any of our own."
"I see," The politician said as he had rubbed his square chin. "Hmm, then knowledge of this very fact should not be divulged beyond this ship unless absolutely necessary."
"But Minister Allster, wouldn't that action run contrary to our pledge to keep whatever advantage we get into the hands of the higher ups." Murrue said after recovering from her shock.
"I know that, Lieutenant Ramius." George said with finality. "The truth is that I do not trust most of the general staff for reasons that I would rather keep to myself at the moment."
"Sir, please reconsider since they would certainly put us on court martial for treason." This time, it was Natarle who had spoken up.
"Well then, I want all of you to promise that whatever I will say afterwards will stay in this room so you can understand my situation. Am I clear in this?"
"Yes, Sir."
"Good," George said as he had pulled out a 3R picture from his pocket and laid it on the table. The picture was of him in his younger years and a red headed woman who was laying her head on the politician's shoulders.
Only Flay gasped upon seeing the said photo since she had recognized the picture's contents. "Th-that's you and…Mom."
George then gave the photograph to Murrue for everyone else to study, before standing up to give his daughter a brief hug.
After they had returned the photograph to its owner, he added. "That photo is of me and my wife – Melanie Allster- Diedrich. As you have heard from my daughter, she is Flay's mother."
All of the rest had kept silent in their puzzlement. George had to tap the tabletop to regain attention. "Mel, that's what I call my wife in private, is also a first generation coordinator."
Gasps were again heard with Flay's as the loudest of all. "I was born from a Coordinator?"
"I am sorry dear for teaching you to hate Coordinators when your own dead mother was one," The politician said as his grey eyes had shed some tears. "I was forced by those Blue Cosmos bastards to do it so they won't blackmail me. That is why I have secretly kept an open mind on both Lacus Clyne and Kira Yamato's situation as it were."
"Um, does that mean that you're…" Kira said with some hesitation.
"That is correct, young man." The politician had cut the young pilot off from saying more. "You're now looking at the soon to be former Vice Foreign Minister of the Atlantic Federation. I'm sure that those m-ouse eating bastards in JOSH-A wanted to see me killed in the battlefield."
"So the real reason you came here was to seek asylum," Mu then said with an astonished stare.
"That is one of the three reasons," The politician said with a straight face. "The second is obviously to see my only daughter. The last one is that I would like to see the new machines that could tip the scales in this war. From the various reports that I had heard from Lieutenant Murrue, I had to see the suit and its pilot that the ZAFT had dubbed 'The Intruders'."
Turning to William, he then added. "I'm sure that it was your doing that had started the newest urban legend about the 'Ghosts of Junius Seven', am I right?"
"Yes, sir." William replied with a blush and a slight nod as some murmurs were heard from the others. "I thought that scaring the crew of the GINN would be a better idea than shooting it down. I never thought that it would give ZAFT all the more reason to shoot me and my gundam down instead."
"Considering that you along with Mu, Kira and pretty much everyone else in this ship had humiliated them again and again, they have a very good reason to."
"More than that, I kind of like the nickname they gave you." Mu said with a wide grin. "Together with me and Kira, we're the greatest enemies of ZAFT - The Hawk, the Intruder, and the Kid. I like the sound of that."
"I would prefer that particular topic be discussed somewhere else if you don't mind," Natarle said with a groan as she had seen enough ego trips for her entire lifetime.
This particular remark had made all the other females laugh while George and Sai shook their heads in dismay.
"I agree with Miss Natarle and why am I – 'The Kid'?" Kira whined at the perceived billing. "I'm not that young."
This time, the black-haired executive officer had whirled on the Strike's pilot with blazing gray eyes. Kira then gulped loudly to everyone else's amusement especially Flay's and Lacus'.
"I think it is best that we end this meeting since this particular discussion is getting out of hand," George said as he had stood up and was escorted to his room by both Flay and Sai.
"Wouldn't you agree?" he added as he was still standing up.
"Yes, sir."
The rest had shaken his hand before heading to their rooms. Sai later headed for the bridge since it was his shift already.
-oOo-
Natarle had noticed much later in the ship's personnel's records that William was born in this exact date, but he did not tell anyone about it. After finishing her shift, she then left him a present with a small card in his shared room with Kira while the gundam pilot was helping Zero train Tolle and Flay some more.
The card on the top simply said – "An Intruder was born this very day – so Happy Nineteenth Birthday, William."
When he had returned to his room two hours later, William simply smiled as he had taken the card off the now opened gift – a pair of black flight gloves. The gundam pilot had kept the card in his wallet before taking off his clothes except for his boxers and going to sleep.
-oOo-
As the Archangel and its escorts were heading for its rendezvous point three days later, the Gammow was slowly catching up to the Earth Forces warship.
Inside the three ZAFT Red Coats were talking about how to attack the Archangel before the said ship and its allies would rendezvous with the rest of the Eight Fleet.
None of them actually had known that Lacus Clyne was still in the warship the whole time they attacked.
This was why they had commenced the attack as soon as the Gammow was able to reach striking distance from the lead ships.
General Quarters was given in all three ships with the Bernard putting itself in between the nearing Laurasia class warship and the other two.
In the meantime, Mobiuses had launched in tandem with the Moebius Zero and the two mobile suits.
In return, the Gammow had launched ten mobile suits including the Buster, the Blitz, the Duel, and Shiho's CGUE.
The warship itself had readied its guns to shoot down the ships while the various mobile suits and mobile armor had engaged each other in the middle of them.
"Jeez, and I have ten more minutes of sleep to go too." William was complaining as Wing Zero had surprised two GINNs in its initial attack run with its beam saber. "This blows."
"Battles do not start or end on your say so," The AI replied as the gundum was being singled out by all three stolen mobile suits. "Hmm, I do have to wonder why these three suits are only attacking us."
William had a bit of trouble fighting all three stolen GAT series mobile suits but he knew that Mu and Kira were all busy fighting the CGUE as well as the remaining GINNs so he could not ask for help.
"Maybe they heard 'bout the urban legend that Mr. Allster talked about earlier," The Filipino pilot replied with a grunt as the gundam had to evade the various beams, missiles, and sword slashes made on it. "It's either that or they really 'ave a chip on their shoulder when it comes to us."
The winged gundam did get a few hits though as it had used its shield's nose to puncture the Duel's beam shield before spraying it with lead. It had also surprisingly used a side kick at the approaching Blitz that sent the suit careening towards two more GINNs and damaging them.
A beam from above did scorch the gundam's back but Zero had returned fire with its twin buster rifle.
The Buster had to evade the wide beam that had made a long gash on the G-Weapon's right arm and leg and even disabled its remaining weapon since its rail gun was not fully repaired yet.
Zero then headed for the Gammow that was firing at the now evading ships. In its place was the incoming Strike.
The G-Weapon seemed to be more maneuverable then the last time it had fought the Duel and its sister ships. It was made evident when the Strike was able to handle both the Blitz and Duel while the unarmed Buster was heading back to the Gammow as fast as it could in the hopes of scaring the winged gundam off with its shoulder missiles.
Shiho was having her hands full in dealing with the Moebius Zero as the other GINNs were already destroyed by the other Moebiuses while destroying a few themselves.
Thus, she was not able to do anything when the gundam had fired its main weapon at the Gammow's right side from an angle. The twin buster rifle salvo had seared the ship's outer armor and destroyed the weapons protruding from it.
The wounded warship had turned around, firing all of its available weapons on the darting gundam while recalling all of its remaining mobile suits for its defense against the still chasing mobile suit.
The winged gundam was soon recalled as it was now too far away from the Archangel.
The Buster had helped out in the defense of the Gammow, but it had become the recipient of a savage roundhouse kick by the returning Wing Zero for its troubles. The said kick had sent the long-range mobile suit careening towards the retreating warship's side armor.
The said G weapon had actually damaged the ship's rear armor even more as it punctured its way in. Its phase armor conked out as soon as it had gotten though the ship and hitting an inner wall.
Yzak himself was swearing vengeance on the Strike as well as the Wing Zero for humiliating him as he had held a hand over his wounded eye from the damage given to the Duel by the Strike's short-range attacks.
It was by this time that the rest of the Eight Fleet was seen in the Archangel's sensors and viewing screen.
Vice Foreign Minister Allster just dropped a nuke, didn't he? Well, from here on, he'll be meeting with his fellow compatriots so he would be an important character from here on. So, when is William's birthday? I'd rather let him tell you.
Next chapter, Rau would have a very very bad day and the Archangel heads to Earth for a fated meeting with Freedom Fighters and Zaft's ground specialist commander.
But before we get going here, Ash and his friends would have their first gym battle and a whole lot more waiting for them in the near horizon.