From space, the Archangel comes back to Earth, just not they way its crew would have wanted to. Then again, a certain group of freedom fighters did need their help and thus Kira and company gets a free lesson on desert warfare.
Read and enjoy.
Chapter 4 – Against the Odds
After the grueling battle was over, all surviving fighting units were recalled to their respective mother ships. The Strike had entered the Archangel last since Kira was still in shock at what had just happened.
When the brunet Coordinator did deplane, he was surprised to see Tolle, Miriallia, Flay, William, Mu, and George in the walkway where he and William find themselves after getting off their mobile suits.
All of them were waiting for waiting for him to come down from the Strike's cockpit.
In response, Kira simply rubbed the back of his head as he said. "I'm fine."
Seeing their disbelieving stares, he then added while making a dismissive gesture with his hands. "Really, I am."
"Son, I may not be a pilot but I can still tell that something had happened earlier." George said with a prominent frown. "You don't have to hide it since we do want to help. As the old saying goes, we're all in this together."
"Corny as it may seem…Sorry, Mr. Allster." Mu interjected as he had raised his hands in a placating motion to appease the glaring former politician. "The saying is actually correct."
Kira had shook his head at the fact that none of his friends would ever leave him alone. Thus, he had given his assent by saying.
"Alright, I agree but could we discuss this in that big room again?"
"Sure, Kira." Mu said as he had led the way. Kira was held by Flay who had helped him calm down for the whole walk.
George had seen the closeness of the two and wondered why Sai was not even jealous. His answer would have to wait for a while longer as the said reason herself was still enjoying her stay in the warship.
-oOo-
The group was about halfway to the simulation room when they had heard the announcement in the public address system pertaining to the arrival of Rear Admiral Lewis Halburton in the main hanger bay.
They had joined the other officers as well as Kira's friends who were standing at attention facing the now powering down shuttle's air-locked door.
A tall and blond man, wearing a white uniform and an equally colored peaked cap with embroidery often called scrambled eggs in military jargon, had walked down the steps from the shuttle airlock to the deck in calm yet orderly manner.
Alongside him is another man wearing the same uniform but with different insignias signifying his lower rank. The said man is much heftier with a round face that showed a kind demeanor.
The taller man had looked in the direction of the group still in attention and gave a salute of his own before moving forward and enveloping the Archangel's commander in a hug.
The other officer had added by saying at ease to the relieved but still stunned group.
"Murrue, how are you doing in your first command?" The tall man told his subordinate.
"Pretty well, Admiral Halberton." Murrue said in reply. "I'm sorry that the candidates for the G-Weapons had died in the surprise attack but we've more or less compensated for it."
"That's alright, dear." Lewis said before turning his attention to his colleague – George Allster.
The two old men had embraced much like old buddies in their tenth high school reunion.
"My my, I was told of the attack on the Montgomery and its escorts hours ago." The admiral said after clapping his friends back. "But I have never thought that you'd be here instead."
"Well, old friend. I came here, under intense fire if I might add; just to see my darling little girl as well as the purported Intruders that are giving ZAFT sleepless nights as of late."
The grey haired politician had ignored Flay's brief outburst of being a fifteen year old teen and not a six year old little girl while everyone else had covered their faces to hide their growing grins.
Kira, Tolle, and Sai did felt their feet being stamped on thus had jumped around in pain. This had brought even more laughter to the still assembled group who were still in parade rest.
"Ah, great minds do think alike then." The admiral said before letting loose a full belly laugh at the risks his friend had undertaken for something he himself would have gone to despite the circumstances.
This action did confuse everyone else who did not know the said admiral's penchant for taking a high risk if the situation had called for it.
Seeing the confused faces from the crowd, Halberton then told them to be at ease before dismissing most of them.
"Now then, there was also a report about a certain young lady who was rescued before being detained." Lewis said to Murrue, Mu, and Natarle. "We don't have much time so I'd prefer that everything be explained in the situation room."
"Sir!" The three Earth Alliance officers said in reply with a smart salute. Murrue then led the contingent to the said situation room. Along the way, Sai and Kuzzy had also joined them.
When the whole group had arrived at their destination, Lacus was already waiting for them.
After introductions were made, Lacus then told her story. Her ship – the Silverwind was attacked by some rouge Earth Alliance ships before she was shoved to the nearest escape pod and was later rescued by the Strike.
After some biscuits and juice were served by the culinary staff, George had told his own story to the newcomers. Captain Hawkman had to shake his head at how the Archangel was becoming a magnet for either trouble or political celebrities.
Finally, it was Kira's turn as he had added his own experience of suddenly going out of control.
"I think it happened when I saw all the ships being attacked by the enemy suits and that cruiser," Kira said after a brief pause. "Suddenly, I saw what seemed like a purple seed spinning in its place before bursting in my mind's eye. Next thing I knew, the whole battle's over."
"Hmm," George said while rubbing his chin with his left hand. "I don't know about you, Duane but I'd rather have Kira be taken and examined in ORB rather than Alaska."
"So do I," The admiral replied as he too was concerned with the given information. "Knowledge of this incident may lead to the use of human guinea pigs even though it was already outlawed nearly two centuries ago."
The whole contingent had suddenly stood up and objected to the stated inhuman practice. Even Lacus had voiced out her opinion about humans being used like laboratory test rats, even though it was also done on first generation of Coordinators before their own birth.
Hawkman then raised his hand and called for quiet since denouncing inhumane practices would not lead anyone anywhere.
It was when everyone else had calmed down did Halberton ask the teens on what would be their next course of action.
The captain of the Menelaos had even given them their discharge papers since they were supposed to be part of the military to undertake their present duties in the ship.
"Sir, since I don't have anywhere else to go to, I would like ta join the crew of the Archangel along with my mobile suit – Wing Gundam Zero." William said in a no nonsense tone while returning the given paper to the surprised captain.
"Are you sure about this, young man?" Halberton replied upon seeing his subordinate receive the given papers. "This isn't a game where you can just give up whenever you wanted to."
"Yes, Sir." The Filipino answered as he had looked at the admiral straight in the eye. "I made a promise ta protect the Archangel and I'll keep my promise to the very end."
The teens and crew of the Archangel were not that surprised to hear William's decision since he does not have anyone waiting for him back in Earth anyway.
What had caught them by surprise was Tolle's own ripping of his discharge paper before saying that he would join the Archangel's crew formally.
This had led to the rest of the teens to tear up their discharge papers with Flay also asking to join the crew.
Lacus could only smile at the united spirit of the teens which is admirable even in what she should have considered to be her enemies. If it were not for her status in the PLANTs, the pink haired singer would have joined the crew as well.
She then looked at George massaging his temples at fact that his own daughter is willing to fight the enemy at their own game. The VFM then said to everyone's bated breath.
"Flay, I would rather let you join the other civilians in the shuttle."
"But, Father."
"No buts, young lady." George said as he had wanted his only child to have a peaceful life, something that he himself would have wanted but could never have. "It would be much better if I remain here. I am already a wanted man both on Earth and in space."
After a pause, he then added. "I"ll probably stay here in the Archangel until I can find a way to ORB just before this ship would enter Alaskan waters."
Through it all, Flay had simply waited for her turn before saying.
"But Father, I wanted to stay here since you're here too. Besides, if Kira and the others have opted to stay and fight, why shouldn't I be different?"
VFM Allster could only sigh at how Flay reminded him of his wife, especially in their stubbornness. 'Mel, if you could only see our little girl now.'
"Alright," George said with a firm tone. "But you are going to stay in the bridge along with Sai and the others. Leave the fighting to the pilots, understand?"
"Yes, Father."
Admiral Halberton then cleared his throat meaningfully before giving the following commissions and promotions to the volunteers and crew.
Murrue was promoted to Lieutenant Commander while Mu was also promoted to the same rank and had kept his seniority over Murrue.
Natarle was also promoted to Lieutenant Junior Grade while the volunteers have been given the rank of Ensign (William and Kira) or Crewman 2nd Class (Miriallia, Sai, Kuzzy, Flay, and Tolle)
As soon as the impromptu ceremony was complete, the alarms were sounded. The pilots then headed for their machines while George, Lewis, and even Lacus had joined the scrambling crew back to the bridge.
Natarle was about to escort the anxious singer back to her room when Lewis had told her that there do not have the time as they had continued running.
-oOo-
At the Archangel's bridge, Lacus had asked permission to talk to the Vesalius. Halberton had given the nod, surpassing everyone else's silent dissent.
As soon as the singer had gotten the needed link, she then demanded to the blond commander that the attack be ceased on her account as a representative of the memorial committee.
"Miss Clyne, we were never told that you are actually held in the legged ship." Rau's face had registered genuine surprise as he spoke.
The said celebrity's presence would surely complicate the present situation even more especially since the present Chairman would be more concerned for his daughter's safety rather than losing face against the enemy.
"Commander Le Cruset, I order you to cease hostilities at once." Lacus said with a determined stare even though her insides were feeling like jelly in speaking out against the vaunted hero and brilliant commander of ZAFT. "If not, I will permit myself to be taken hostage by the Archangel's crew."
"Surely you jest, Miss Clyne."
"No, I am not." Lacus said in response. "I will not let innocent civilians be harmed in this battle and also to prevent unnecessary bloodshed between our forces and the Alliance's."
It was this exchange that had gotten everyone in that sector of space, which had seen and heard the said exchange, to go bug eyed.
Admiral Halberton had heard enough and was about to admonish the teenaged singer for putting words into their mouths when Rau had said after a long silence.
"Very well, I will accept but only on two conditions."
"And what are those conditions?" This time, it was Admiral Halberton who had spoken as soon as he had reached the singer's side. He had also placed a hand on her shoulder to keep Lacus from saying more.
"And who is this?" Rau said as he had not met the Commander of the Eight Fleet face to face, even in a communication screen.
"I am Rear Admiral Duane Halberton of the Eight Fleet and I would like to know your conditions," the good admiral replied with a grimace.
"My first condition is that the Eight Fleet would not interfere in our battle with the Archangel since we have no quarrel with you…at least, not yet."
"And your second condition is?"
"I would also like Miss Clyne to be released as the same time as the civilians that she had mentioned earlier."
"Very well then, I accept your conditions." Lewis said with a nod to himself.
This had gotten everyone else in the bridge as well as those following the transmissions by complete surprise.
He then added. "A shuttle will carry Miss Clyne to the rendezvous point exactly in between our ships. In addition, no mobile suits are to be launched especially the Blitz."
After a minute, the ZAFT commander replied. "You drive a hard bargain, Admiral but Miss Clyne's safety is first and foremost in our mission objectives."
After Rau had said his last reply, contact was immediately broken between the two ships.
After a brief pow-wow in the bridge, it was agreed that a shuttle piloted by Tolle Koenig would be readied for launch right after the shuttle with the civilians were also launched.
The aforementioned shuttle would have Lacus as its only passenger since they trusted her enough not to hijack the shuttle along the way.
The explanation for this sudden transfer of the VIP guest was that Admiral Halberton had admitted that his pilots were still green horns in the art of fighting mobile suits.
In addition, there is a large chance that either Lacus or the civilians may be killed by an overzealous pilot if any mobile suit or mobile armor were to be launched pre-maturely.
The whole Eight Fleet as well as the trio of ZAFT ships had placed themselves on full alert while the three shuttles were launched only minutes from each other.
-oOo-
As the Earth Alliance shuttle was nearing its rendezvous point, Lacus had asked her accompanying pilot on why did he even volunteer in piloting her shuttle.
"Well, I have to get some practice time in piloting any other craft since I am the second string navigator of the Archangel." Tolle answered his guest who was sitting in the co-pilot seat. "That and for the simple reason which I can tell Zero that I am capable of piloting something other than a warship."
"Zero?" The singer said as she was confused at how would the mobile suit with an advanced AI figure in with the brown haired teen's piloting skills.
Lacus never did pursue the answer when the ZAFT shuttle had arrived at its rendezvous point a good five minutes before their own did.
She later realized that it was Athrun who had piloted the shuttle before her when the ZAFT pilot had contacted them on the shortwave radio channels.
The EA shuttle had come to a stop only six meters away from each other's hatch. The ZAFT soldiers had made a bit of a teetered space walk in order to reach the other shuttle.
"See ya, Lacus." Tolle said with a wave as the singer had put on her extra-vehicular suit's helmet.
"Good bye, Tolle." Lacus said in return as she had opened the hatch leading to the pressure chamber. "Send my regards to the girls if you please."
"Will do, Ma'am."
-oOo-
While Lacus was being escorted by the same ZAFT soldiers that had exited Athrun's shuttle, the pilots were having a comforting conversation in the airwaves.
"Is Kira still ok over there?" Athrun had asked his fellow shuttle pilot.
"Um, yes." Tolle replied in turn. After a bit of pumping his spirits up, he then asked the ZAFT Red Coat.
"Are you Athrun Zala, by any chance?"
"Why yes, I am. Before you ask, I was Kira's childhood friend before we got separated and I was sent back to the PLANTs." Athrun answered with a bit of nervousness himself. "By the way, who are you?"
"Sorry, must've forgotten my manners." The brunet pilot said with a slight blush. "Name's Tolle Koenig and Kira's my best bud too."
"Pleased to meet a fellow friend of Kira," Athrun said with sincerity as both pilots had initiated the start up sequence of their shuttles as Lacus had arrived in the ZAFT shuttle and is taking her seat in the co-pilot seat beside her fiancé.
After making sure that his fiancée is safely fastened in her seat, the Red Coat then asked. "Tell me; are the Intruders really that wacky outside of battle as they often were in battles?"
"Well, William's a real kook when he wants to be but we can still count on him if we're ever in a pinch." The brunet pilot said with a short laugh. "Wing Zero's a mean machine, that's for sure."
"That's nice to hear," Athrun replied with a grin. "Things certainly won't be boring over there, I'm sure."
"You don't even know the half of it," Tolle said before turning his craft back towards the Eight Fleet. "Ask Lacus, she'll know how crazy it is over here."
Looking at his fiancé, Athrun had noticed a slight blush on the singer's cheeks. He then said as his shuttle was also changing vectors. "Good bye, Mr. Koenig and please look after Kira for us."
"I will, Athrun." Tolle said before both pilots had closed the communication link. "Be seein' ya."
After their pilots had finished their chat, both shuttles were now led towards their respective ships.
As promised, the Eight Fleet had left the sector of space an hour later. Their commander is confident that the triumvirate of the Hawk, the Intruder, and the Kid would be more than a match for the ZAFT ships and their mobile suits.
-oOo-
While Athrun was guiding his craft back to the Vesalius, he had asked his fiancée about her incarceration in the Archangel. Lacus then told him that she was not incarcerated at all and had actually stumbled in some meetings that she should not have gone to at all.
She then added to her fiancé about the kindness of the people inside the said warship and that some people were not who they seemed to be at first.
Seeing that Athrun is actually interested in her tales as evidenced by his queries about the people that she had spent the most time with, Lacus had told him about her talk with Flay.
She had also told him the times when the crew had valiantly kept calm during the battles they had with the ZAFT ships pursuing them, and how they had listened to her during the aforementioned meetings.
"This isn't a sign of the Amsterdam syndrome huh, Lacus?" Athrun said in jest as the shuttle was nearing the Vesalius as it was flanked by both the Galvani and the Ziegler.
The Gammow had placed itself some distance behind the Vesalius just in case.
"It's Stockholm, you nit wit." Lacus said angrily in reply before covering her mouth in surprise at Athrun's sudden grin. "I actually fell for that joke, didn't I?"
"Hook, line, and sinker."
-oOo-
As soon as the Eight Fleet had gone out of mobile suit range from the Archangel, the Gammow, the Ziegler, and the Vesalius, the battle between the four warships had begun in earnest.
Even though the defending pilots of the Archangel were outnumbered, they were still able to hold off the invading units from the get go.
This was mostly due to Kira when he had once again entered berserker mode as the Duel nearly attacked the Archangel's bridge as its pilot's revenge for the defeats dealt on him by both Kira and William.
The Aile Strike had gone after the Duel from its own fight with the Aegis.
Somewhere else on the battlefield, Mu was having trouble trying to take out the GINNs while evading Shiho's ship and later the Aegis as well.
The same goes for the Intruders since they were being double teamed by both the Buster and the Blitz. The Buster had its armament borrowed from the Gammow's spare weapons and thus was holding a beam rifle.
As for the Archangel itself, it was able to hold off its own attackers through its superior firepower. Eleven GINNs had surrounded it like angry hornets. Helldart missiles as well as anti-mobile suit mines were more than enough to keep the enemy suits from getting nearer.
The close in weapons systems had also claimed two kills as the GINNs had kept looking for an opening before some of them were disabled quickly.
Thankfully, the other ZAFT ships had not joined in the battle or risk following the Galvani's fate.
Back in the winged gundam, its AI was having a brief chat with its pilot.
"William, we may have to finish this battle soon since we are already passing the needed window for re-entry close to Alaska." Zero was saying in the internal speakers. "More than that, there are still more than enough GINNs in the battle, all of which the Archangel could not handle alone."
"What do ya suggest, Zero?" William said as he had pushed the triggers once to keep the Blitz at bay with the machine cannons before moving the control levers to evade the Buster's successive fire. "We're just too busy with these knuckleheads."
"It is time for the ZERO system to be used once more," was the short reply.
"Again?!" William had nearly sputtered as he had let go of the control levers for a second.
It was that specific second that had given the Buster a free shot near the twin buster rifle but Zero had alerted his pilot at the last second so that the green beam had hit empty space instead.
"No shootin' in the back allowed," the Filipino pilot said on the radio in an open frequency as he had used the separated buster rifles at the now evading mobile suit.
After seeing that the Buster was too far away to intervene and the Blitz had followed its sister suit, William then said as he was turning off the communication system.
"Alright, Zero. Let's just hope that I won't go loco this time."
"You did not at the final battle in Taraak's local space," The gundam's AI said in reply. "So I am sure that it will be the same here."
William then typed in the four letters (Z E R O) in the console before him. He then felt the almost forgotten stress of combat information being dumped on his mind. This time though, William had thought about being the Archangel's protector along with Mu and Kira.
Thankfully, the said thought had kept the gundam pilot in control throughout the battle as Wing Zero had swatted away both G-Weapons that were again hounding it with a sweeping roundhouse kick.
The winged gundam then engaged its main thrusters as it headed for the beleaguered warship.
Wing Zero then stowed its fearsome main weapon as its pilot had chosen to surprise the enemy suits by moving to nearly point blank range and slashing them to pieces with its beam saber amidst the rain of fire from the Archangel's close in weapons.
Streams of plasma fire, missiles, and other projectiles had surrounded Wing Zero's flight path as the enemy mobile suits had emptied their cartridges at the evading winged gundam, only to be slashed afterwards.
A few had tried to escape but they were also tagged by the legged ship's Iggelstungs' CIWS and Helldart missiles.
The blue and white mobile suit had even surprised Shiho as the female Red Coat had found her ship being caught in between the red mobile armor and the rampaging Wing Zero.
The CGUE's right arm was served at the shoulder by a good hit from one of the mobile armor's linear guns. This had made the Red Coat swear a blue streak as she had guided her disabled craft back to the waiting Gammow.
Screams of terror and release were heard in the ZAFT tactical net as both the Moebius Zero and Wing Zero had made consistent attack runs at the remaining five GINNs while keeping the remaining G-Weapons at bay with Kira's help.
One time, Athrun was actually scared out of his wits when the winged gundam had suddenly showed up in his machine's main screens. This was before one of the Aegis' eye cameras was broken by impact of the latter machine's metal shod right fist connecting with the Aegis' face.
-oOo-
The earlier attack had left the Aegis partially blind since its pilot could only use one camera for the remaining parts of the battle. The winged gundam had left as quickly as it came, its zoned pilot satisfied with his machine's surprise physical attack.
"Whoa, William and Kira really meant business this time." Athrun had mumbled to himself before briefly attacking the Archangel and even Mu before retreating.
Dearka was also totally spooked when Wing Zero had moved in on the Buster from the latter machine's blind side. He had fired the Buster's missiles at close range only to see the blue and white mobile suit come out of the explosions nearly unharmed and even "glare" at him.
The winged gundam then grabbed the Buster's borrowed rifle and easily snapped it in two with its massive hands before discarding the broken weapon away like it was nothing, despite the explosion it made. The dark skinned Coordinator could actually feel that he had literally shitted in his flight suit when he had seen how terrifying Wing Zero really was in that juncture.
In addition, the winged gundam's green camera eyes seemed to be staring through the viewing screen and Dearka's widening eyes straight to his soul.
Its manipulators had also taken hold of the Buster's missile launchers on its left shoulder and crumpled it as if it was mere paper, ignoring the minor explosions they had made in the process. The G-Weapon itself had trembled like its scared pilot due to the actions of the other mobile suit.
Thankfully, Nichol had fired some plasma beams at Zero thus taking its zoned pilot's attention. If not, the winged gundam would have snapped the Buster in two as well.
-oOo-
In the Vesalius' bridge, Le Cruset could not believe that two specially designed mobile suits could be enough to fight thirteen others with just a mobile armor and the legged ship's fire power as their back up.
The rest of the bridge crew could only gawk at the massacre in the main screen.
"My, my." The masked commander had said half to himself as he had stood near his station. "Those two certainly are terrifying weapons. It would seem that we have our work cut out for us in either taking the prized suits or destroying them."
He had already called for a general retreat as most of his remaining GINN units were disabled already, their pilots dazed at the unbelievable power of their enemies.
The Laurasia and Nazca class warships could only provide fire support from long range since the Ziegler was the only warship still undamaged by the winged gundam's earlier attacks.
-oOo-
"Hey William, what did you do to pretty much scare 'em spit-less?" Mu said on the horn. The senior pilot was shocked to see his fellow comrade look back at him through the main screen window with an eerie blank stare.
"Whoa, I think I'll ask you about it whenever you're ready." Mu then added with a visible shiver. 'Talk about creepy.'
William had blinked twice before responding. "Sorry 'bout that. I'm still using the ZERO system so I can level the playing field somewhat."
"ZERO system?"
"I'll tell ya guys all about it after we land on Earth," William replied before gasping in horror at what he had seen in another window of his viewing screen. "Commander, I've gotta help Kira. He's still fighting the Duel's pilot, which is now joined by the Buster's pilot. Zero out."
Not waiting for the reply, Wing Zero then jetted off towards the fighting units just before the Duel was pulled back by the damaged Buster for two reasons. The first is that the suits were beginning to enter the atmosphere and the second is the arriving winged gundam.
In addition, Mu had given his fellow pilot his affirmation with a bit of a reprimand. He then guided his craft back to the nearing Archangel.
William had acknowledged the affirmation complete with an apology before triggering the transformation of his machine. Wing Zero then converted to its Neo Bird mode for a better re-entry angle while nearing its allied machine.
The AI had also turned off its namesake system while its pilot was busy keeping the whole machine in its correct position and velocity.
After getting a good re-entry angle, William then tried to contact Kira. It had ended in failure.
The brunet Coordinator had already passed out due to the combination of the rising heat and pressure of re-entry as well as fatigue for remaining in berserker state for too long.
"Damn it," William had said under his breath as he had gripped the control levers harder while grunting to keep blood in his head where he needed it most. "Could ya take over the Strike's flight control systems while I guide us to position just over the Archangel?"
His gloved hands were already sore from constant use but the Filipino had ignored it and kept on. William's eyes were darting from his instruments to the main screen where the nearing Archangel is shown in a small window.
"Yes," Zero replied simply. "Just keep us on course and land on the Archangel's top deck."
"Thanks," William said with another grunt as he had given it everything he had to maneuver the metal bird into position over the re-entering warship.
In the meantime, Zero had taken over the Strike's flight systems with some difficulty due to the interference of the heated gases surrounding both machines and but it had gotten the taller mobile suit to sit on the winged gundam's back.
The heat of re-entry was felt by pretty much everyone but William and Kira had suffered the most since they were outside of the safety of the Archangel's ablative gel cover.
Clear blue skies were the last thing that William saw before he himself had passed out from sheer exhaustion.
-oOo-
A few days later, the gundam pilot had later woken up in an unfamiliar bed.
The walls surrounding him were white and he could see some cabinets, drawers, and even some strange devices leaning against the walls either on his right or past his feet.
The Filipino could not see any more to his left since it was covered by a dark green cotton sheet acting as its divider screen between him and the other patients.
"Where am I?" William said groggily as he had sat up. He had below his covered sheet just enough to see that he was only wearing a white gown and his underwear.
"What the hell?!" He said in surprise. "Why am I in the infirmary of all places?"
He then heard some shuffling feet and had even seen some movement beyond the screen, before the said screen was moved aside to see his friends.
It was Miriallia who had moved the screen to one side with a slight swish. With her were Flay, Sai, and Kira who was lying on a second bed.
The red head was sitting next to the lying brunet while the other two were standing in the space between both beds.
William had released a sigh of relief upon seeing his younger friend alive and well. In his mind, the gundam pilot had thought that the young Coordinator would be in worse shape than he was.
Given the awkward angle of descent before Zero had taken over the Strike's systems, it was likely that Kira would have felt most of the pressure and heat of the whole re-entry business.
"You alright, William?" the aforementioned pilot had managed to ask while looking at his comrade.
"I should ask the same fer you, Kira."
"Well, both of you seemed fine at the moment." Sai said to put his friends' minds at ease. "Kira had only suffered a slight fever in the past two days but he being who he is will be alright in no time."
After a slight pause, he then added. "It was a good thing that Zero was able to link the Strike's flight system with the Archangel's main computer so we were able to get it inside."
Turning to the gundam pilot, Sai had said. "As for you, I'm really surprised that you had suffered a fever yourself even though you were in the same situation as Kira."
"Yeah well, I got a bit of practice wit' the pirates before." The gundam pilot said with a slight grimace at the memory. "More than that, I was able ta lessen the frictional heat by having Zero come in belly first in Neo Bird mode. My flight suit and Wing Zero's gundanium armor did the rest."
"Ok…" Mirallia was saying with a "help me guys, I don't understand a word he's saying" look over her shoulder.
Tolle had taken the opportunity to get close to his girlfriend and explain what the older teen had said while making it look like that was trying to steal a kiss. He also added. "Once Zero had reported that you were both unconcious, we got the Strike under remote control so he could follow it back to the ship."
After the blushing auburn haired controller had gotten her bearings back (along with waiting for her friends to actually stop laughing), she then continued.
"Since you guys are bedridden at the moment, Tolle will take over flight duties on Wing Zero to fight alongside Lieutenant Commander La Flaga. And no, you cannot fly the Strike until you're fully recovered, Kira."
"What would the Commander fly since Moebius Zero isn't made to fly in the atmosphere?" Kira said as he had sat up. "Ow, remind me never to do that again."
"He'll be flying one of the two Skygraspers that Admiral Halberton lent us along with some needed supplies before the Eight Fleet left for god knows where," Flay had answered for her friend while pushing Kira back down. "So get a good night's rest and we'll be back before you know it."
Seeing Mirallia's giggling as the other young woman was sitting in the seat nearest to the gundam pilot's head, the red head then added. "I'm just giving him some needed advice."
In her mind, Flay still could not believe that the great admiral had agreed to such a deal despite her father probably having a hand in it. It was only when both Kira and William had gone to overdrive just to even the odds against the enemy suits and their mother ships.
"Like I said, get some sleep you two." Flay had reminded the two bedridden pilots as she was passing though the door waving back at them. "Bye."
The others had responded in the same manner until the hatch had closed shut with a clank.
"I guess it's time for us to leave as well," Miriallia said as she had taken a quick peek at her wristwatch. "We'll take care of things so just enjoy your break."
"Gotcha," William said in response. "Tolle, jus' be careful out there. Wing Zero's actually made for space combat although it can hold its own in the ground and in the skies."
"I'll keep that in mind," Tolle said as he had led his girlfriend out the hatch. "Like the girls were saying- rest up since you've deserved it."
"Thanks, Tolle." Kira said with a wave. "Just give 'em hell out there so they won't miss us."
"I will."
-oOo-
After both pilots had taken the needed sleep, they were later surprised by the sight of George Allster and Natarle Badguiruel as they were awakened a good six hours later.
"I hope we didn't come at a bad time, boys." The former politician said in a formal manner. "I would like to congratulate you two for a job well done up there."
"Yes, I too would like to thank you for keeping us alive against the numerous enemies back in orbit," Natarle had added before turning around. "Now if you would excuse me, I have to make sure that the ZAFT forces here would not surprise us in a night attack."
The newly commissioned officer had left the room rather quickly; her reddening face was seen in the brief moment that the hatch was still open while Natarle was turning to the left towards the bridge.
"Wonder what's with her?" William said as he had turned away from the newly closed hatch. "I mean, this is the second time I've seen her act like that."
"You sure 'bout that?" Kira added with a confused look at the slightly older pilot. "This is the first time I've seen her blush. Are these gowns see through or something?"
"Of course not, Kira." George said quickly, knowing that it was only slightly true. "She was simply relieved that her secret crush was alive and well. Same goes for Flay."
The spoken statement had puzzled the two young men so much that they had asked the former politician on whom he was referring to. Both teens had also felt a rather constricting pain somewhere but had ignored it.
"I was referring to the two of you," George said as he had run his right hand through his graying hair. "Sai was right; you boys rely too much on your ships' instruments."
"Ok," William said as he had finally realized what the older man was saying.
Ignoring the given insult, he then added. "Guess that means that yer daughter's got a crush on the kid here."
Kira had also realized the same thing as William did thus he said while cocking his head in the gundam pilot's direction.
"And that means that Lieutenant Badguiruel has a crush on the old man over there."
The Strike's pilot had also ignored the insult as it was a bad idea to back talk a former Vice Foreign Minister.
The former politician had to stifle a laugh at the heated glare that both pilots had given to each other for making fun of each other's age.
"Yes, yes. That is why I had a long talk with both Flay and Sai when they were in the middle of the shifts," he said in the hopes of calming both pilots down.
Seeing that both younger men were looking at him with interest, George then added with a grateful smile.
"They told me that they only love each other as siblings and that both of them had fallen in love with someone else."
"That's good news fer you kid," William said with a teasing smile and some waggling eyebrows. "I mean, I've seen how you look at 'er from afar."
"Well, she is the girl that nearly everyone's crushing on." Kira said with a visible tint in his cheeks. "Still, I'd rather keep our relationship platonic and just between friends."
'Gee, Sai must have fallen head over heels with Lacus to even tell Mr. Allster about that.' Kira had added mentally.
The former Vice Foreign Minister had seen Kira's anxious expression and decided to surprise him by saying.
"That's good to hear. I don't want to be a grandpa until you're both in your twenties and able to support yourselves, get my drift?"
Kira could only gulp at the given warning since George himself was pretty scary at the very moment. The politician then directed his attention to the smirking Filipino pilot before saying. "As for you Mr. Zapanta, I would like you to continue on getting Miss Badguiruel out of her self-made cocoon."
Seeing the gundam pilot's blank stare along with Kira's giggling in the background, George then added. "Even if the Badguiruels have a long line of military history in the family, they still wanted their little girl to grow up as a woman as well as an officer."
After a beat, he had added with a fierce glare. "Do I make myself clear, gentlemen?"
"Sir, yes, sir." Both pilots said with crisp salutes.
"Wait a minute," William said as he did a delayed double take. "What did Natarle mean by ZAFT forces 'round here? Where the heck did we land anyway?"
George then kept a deadpan face as he answered. "William, Kira, we are in the middle of ZAFT's controlled territory in the Northern part of the African continent."
"Um, I'm sorry for bringing us here." Kira said with a hurt look. "I mean, I'm the one who got us into this mess."
"Ah, don't worry 'bout it." The Filipino said with a dismissive wave of his left hand.
When he noticed that both Kira and George were looking at him strangely, William added with a slight blush. "I've always wanted to visit Africa."
-oOo-
While George was talking to the debilitated heroes, Mu was talking to both Murdoch and Zero.
"Lemme get this straight," Mu was saying as the mechanic had explained why Kira referred to the Strike as a gundam. "The Kid's able to call the Strike a gundam simply by putting the acronyms of its operating system together?"
"Yup," Murdoch replied with a wide smile as he had finished polishing the winged gundam's left hand before coming down to the deck. "Smart little guy, that Kira."
Seeing the opened manual beside the ace, the mechanic then added as he was leaving. "So how's about cracking that thick manual of yours since the Skygrasper couldn't fly itself, y'know."
"Alright, alright." Mu replied as he had opened the manual and started reading.
"Hey, Zero." The blond ace said as he had looked up at the massive machine beside him before indicating to the plane like Skygrasper some distance away. "Could you give me a hand in piloting that thing?"
"I cannot since I have to assist Second Crewman Tolle Koenig in piloting my physical self as he will be your wingman until both Kira and William recover from their fever."
"I kinda doubt neither of 'em would wait that long," Mu said while his lips had curved to a smirk.
"I know that, Mr La Flaga but Miss Badguiruel had concocted a plan to keep them occupied until then."
"Brr, that military chick's beginning to scare me." Mu said with a visible shiver.
"As do I, Mr. La Flaga, as do I." Zero said in response.
-oOo-
Unknown to the crew of the Archangel, they were actually being watched from a safe distance.
Two small figures were sitting on an Ereka jeep of recent vintage, one of them was looking at the grounded warship through infrared binoculars with range finder.
The one with the binoculars had set the item down while telling her companion that she was sure that ship in the horizon was the same ship that she had seen in Heliopolis, months earlier.
A buzzing sound was heard from the girl's handheld radio that was fastened to her leather belt.
"Cagalli here, what's up?" the girl said upon pressing the talk button.
"Miss Cagalli, it seems that the Desert Tiger had also noticed the unknown ship's arrival." An older man's voice had answered through the radio's speakers. "Three Bu-Cues and their heli escorts are heading towards the ship even as we speak."
"Thank you, Essam." The young woman said before turning the radio off. "Tell the others to prepare an appropriate welcome for our four legged metallic friends."
"Ahmed, it's time for us to intervene." Cagalli said before the jeep came to life and headed straight to the Archangel. "If my hunch is right, and it always is, the famous triumvirate that ZAFT has been hunting all this time would be in that ship."
The young driver of the jeep simply nodded as he had guided the rugged vehicle though the sand dunes.
-oOo-
Thirty minutes after Cagalli had finished doing recon on the Archangel, Sai had let his mind wander to his pink haired crush as his shift was about to end in about ten minutes time.
He was startled (and nearly fell to the floor) when his station had begun to raise the alarm. The caramel haired radar officer had manipulated the various knobs in order to see the type of enemy they would be facing.
He then looked over his shoulder to his somewhat distracted superior officer and said. "Ma'am, we've got three confirmed bandits – all of them ZAFT choppers. They're all heading this way at fifteen knots."
With a slight smile upon finding something to think of besides a certain bedraggled pilot, Natarle then said. "Crewman Argylle, continue tracking those choppers. Everyone else, level two battle stations."
"Ma'am, permission to implement 'Operation Plan: Distraction'?" Miriallia was saying upon standing up. Tolle had already given his girlfriend a quick kiss before leaving the bridge altogether.
"Permission granted," The second in command replied. "Get Crewman Allster to do her part as well."
"With pleasure," the brown haired controller said with a smart salute before turning around and running out the door. "See you, Ma'am, Sai."
"Ma'am, I'm pretty sure they won't like it." Sai said while tracking the enemy choppers on screen.
"They won't have to," Natarle said with a small smile.
Seeing the other veteran crewmembers come in along with a barely awake Kuzzy, she then added. "Be on the alert, choppers aren't the only agile weapons ZAFT has in its arsenal."
"Yes, Ma'am."
-oOo-
In the infirmary, both mobile suit pilots had woken up and would have left their respective beds when they were caught unawares by what had happened next.
Flay and Miriallia had busted into the room and sat down on the recovering pilots.
"What the he-?" The gundum pilot was about to say when his mouth was covered by Miriallia's gloved right hand. "Mm-hmph"
"Hey, Mir." Kira was saying with a bit of difficulty since Flay was sitting on his stomach. "Aren't you supposed to be making sure that Zero and the Skygrasper would launch properly?"
Craning his neck to look at the face of his secret crush, Kira then added. "Flay, would you please get down from there?"
The red head's answer was a mischievous smile, which had made the brunet sigh in defeat.
"Yes, but today Kuzzy is doing it for me." The light brown haired teen said with a short laugh at the Filipino's glare at her since she had duplicated the red head's action with Kira. "Hey, I was ordered to do this by Miss Natarle."
Miriallia then added with a bit of a sly smirk. "Besides, I was hoping that she'd be sitting on you, Will. But she's pretty busy directing the ship's defenses right now."
A more potent glare was William's only answer as the brown glove was still placed over his mouth. The said glare had only made everyone else laugh even more though since the Filipino's cheeks were bright red in both anger and embarrassment
-oOo-
In the desert outside, Wing Zero was trying its best to shoot down the pesky helicopters after being launched. The Skygrasper was still kept in its station since it was not fully charged yet. Mu was seen to be a little impatient with the whole delay.
He had kept himself calm by giving some instructions to the novice pilot while watching the action through the little machine's LCD screen and listening to the tactical net.
Due to the panic of re-entry, the Skygraspers were only charged after the maintenance crew had recovered from the Archangel's rough landing on terra firma, sandy surface notwithstanding.
"Hey, kid." Mu was saying in the airwaves upon seeing Tolle's distraught face in a small window of his cockpit's LCD screen. "Calm down and listen to Zero's instructions, alright. You'll be ok out there, trust me."
"I read you," Tolle said in reply with a look of determination. "Thanks for the advice, Sir."
The novice pilot had planned on using the machine cannons since they had a faster rate of fire than the buster rifles. He would reserve the beam weapons for fiercer enemies like mobile suits.
The helis had scattered upon seeing the telltale flashes of the now armed shoulder weapons. Yet, one of the three was still hit and had gone down in flames.
Two gray parachutes were seen floating away from the falling rotary craft. If anyone could hear the parachuting ZAFT members, you would know that one of them was berating the other for not following directions. Then again, I kind of doubt the other member would have heard it anyway with the whistle of the wind blowing around them.
As for the other two choppers, they had gone north to escape being shot down themselves.
In the rotary aircrafts' place were three Bu-Cues, all of them eager to rip the winged gundam to shreds from three separate directions. The choppers had also joined in on the fun after the gundam was being pre-occupied by the quadruped machines.
Tolle had panicked at the various explosions all around his borrowed machine and pulled the trigger thrice.
The 50mm tungsten slugs still missed most of their targets though they had dug meter long trenches in the sand. A few that did hit were enough to bring another chopper down and damage a Bu-Cue's right front leg.
The gundam itself was forced to kneel down from the force of the near hits, only its activated planet defenders had kept it from taking further damage.
In its cockpit, both Zero and Mu were offering useful advice one after the other. Tolle was still confused but he had gritted his teeth as he would never throw the towel that easily. An image of his friends in the Archangel came into Tolle's mind as he had promised under his breath that he would protect them with his life especially Miriallia.
From above, Sledgehammer anti-ship missiles had saturated the battlefield from their launchers in the Alliance ship's port and starboard sides.
Thankfully, Wing Zero had taken off momentarily but was still hit by the bombardment. All of the mobile suits were hit and thus their armor had weakened considerably. The remaining chopper was also hit and crashed somewhere.
The gundam's plasma shields had also weakened by the rain of missiles and thus its shimmer had waned for a second.
"Hey, I'm still here, y'know." Tolle had told the bridge as he had gotten the winged gundam momentarily in the air.
"Oops," Sai replied in the airwaves. "Sorry 'bout that."
After landing in the recently ruined landscape, Tolle had by then gotten Zero to kick the nearest Bu-Cue into the dirt. He then turned around just in time to see a second Bu-Cue approaching and had it sprayed with lead from its shoulder cannons.
A third had jumped from the gundam's left, its back cannons blazing. Zero simply sidestepped the plasma salvos and punched the Bu-Cue in the midsection.
"Nice tactic, Tolle." The AI said as it had seen the last Bu-Cue land on the sands, belly up and falling to its right side. "There may be some hope for you yet."
"Thanks, Zero." Tolle said with pride before making a delayed double take as the second part of the compliment had sunk in. "I think."
Zero then reported that the Archangel was being attacked. The AI then directed the teen's aim with the separated buster rifles before the gundam had fired at the remaining shells nearing the Archangel.
The Bu-Cues' and combat helicopter pilots were stunned at the brief display of fire power.
Even Andrew Watfield, the Desert Tiger, was awed at the accuracy and power of the twin buster rifle in action. In his mind, getting the gundam as well as making a perfect cup of coffee would be the best moments of his life... right after marrying Aisha, of course.
After putting the twin buster rifle at its usual place under the shield, Wing Zero was about to use its unsheathed beam saber on the remaining enemies when something happened.
Missiles from various mobile missile launchers had taken out the two newcomer helicopters and had even damaged the two of the Bu-Cues as well.
Then, one of the jeeps had gotten close to the gundam and the blonde girl sitting on the said vehicle's shotgun seat fired something at it.
"Hmm, it seems to be a voice transmitter of sorts." The AI mused as it had examined the item from the radio waves that it was receiving from the item. "I wonder why it was shot at us."
"I've no idea, Zero." Tolle answered as he had gotten the hang of piloting a mobile suit to Zero's delight.
-oOo-
While all this was going on, Skygrasper One was able to launch from the left launching pad of the Archangel.
The aircraft then searched the desert on what had fired the shells at the Archangel.
Mu had later reported that the other ship was the Lesseps – a ground moving warship and one of them was considered to be ZAFT's Desert Tiger' flagship.
He then guided the aircraft home since he was told by Murue on not to engage the Bu-Cues since Tolle was doing a surprisingly good job on them
-oOo-
While Tolle was directing his machine's actions against the Bu-Cues, a demanding female voice was heard in the interior speakers. "You in the strange mobile suit, if you want to stay alive, follow whatever I'll say."
Tolle had let go of the controls in his surprise, allowing a Bu-Cue to lessen the distance in between it and the winged gundam.
"Look alive, Tolle." Zero said to remind his substitute pilot. "We still have those Bu-Cues to handle."
"Sorry, Zero."
"Hey, you." The female voice said with an impatient tone. "Are you even listening?"
"Uh, yeah." Tolle said rather sheepishly as he had rubbed the back of his head. "Carry on."
"Like I was saying before we were cut off, we've laid down a trap about two klicks north from where you were now." The voice said in a calmer tone. "All you have to do is to lead the metallic mongrels there and I'll take care of the rest."
"Gotcha," Tolle replied with a relieved tone.
After the transmission is over, Zero then added. "The lady had made good sense; since there is a rather large depression in front of us. Furthermore, I do not think that my armor would last any longer."
"Isn't gundanium supposed to be invincible?" Tolle said as he had gotten the gundam to ward off another beam attack before taking to the air.
"Gundanium is resistant to physical and beam attacks yes, but like laminated armor, it is also limited in its structural strength." Zero replied. "It is much more appropriate to lead this quadruped suits to the trap provided to us."
"Ok, Zero." Tolle said before making a delayed double take. "Quadruped?! What the heck does that mean?"
"It simply means four-legged, Tolle."
"Oh," the teen said as he had felt pretty stupid not to figure that one out.
To cover his embarrassment, he said. "Zero, how's about using some pretty common words since I'm not exactly a rocket scientist here?"
"I would rather do it my own way since it would give you an incentive to read some science books in your spare time preferably after your shift and before your simulation with me."
"Oh, alright."
Tolle still had trouble getting the final word with the machine since Zero had always made the best comebacks in any argument.
-oOo-
While the pilot and the gundum's AI were talking, the two Bu-Cues had fired back with their weapons but kept their pace behind the soft-skinned vehicles that were underneath and slightly behind the gundum.
The young woman in the lead jeep had to admit that she had not seen this particular mobile suit before in the Morgoenette factory but she had figured that it was a new model from the said factory.
'I wonder how this one had escaped the notice of those ZAFT knuckleheads,' Cagalli was thinking as she was firing a LAW at the Bu-Cue while the gundam was firing some low powered beams with its separated rifles.
-oOo-
The chase had ended in a depression where plenty of land mines were buried. On Cagalli's signal, the jeeps had gone on separated directions while the winged gundam hovered briefly over the mines, still firing its buster rifles.
It was only when the Bu-Cues were about to jump on Wing Zero did it actually take off. The falling ZAFT machines had landed directly on the mines, still trading fire with the gundam above.
A satisfied Cagalli had pushed the red button on the transceiver in her left hand, triggering the mines and destroying the Bu-Cues in the process.
"Thanks, pal." She said on her hand held radio. "Follow us to a flat piece of land where you can land."
"Will do."
The Archangel had also followed the convoy and had landed on the aforementioned location where the gundam and its accompanying jeeps had gone to as well.
Goddess of Victory, indeed. That's Cagali Yula in a nutshell. Next chapter, it'll be the Archangel's turn to help Desert Dawn turn the tables against the Desert Tiger and his forces.
But before we continue, let's see what Ash, William, Misty, and Brock would be dealing with in Cerulean and its surrounding locales.