Gundam SEED Fan Fiction ❯ Mobile Suit Gundam SEED: Last Impression ❯ Episode 23: Fateful Encounter ( Chapter 23 )

[ Y - Young Adult: Not suitable for readers under 16 ]

A chance meeting brings four unlikely individuals together after the Archangel engaged once again with the ZAFT Morassim team in the Indian Ocean.

Anime/Manga: Gundam SEED Fan Fiction | Genre(s): Adventure / Action / Romance | Type: Alternate Universe | Uploaded On: 07.24.2006 | Pages: 22 | Words: 24.7K | Visits: 212 | Status: Completed

Last Impression

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Created Character PROFILES (Update!)

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Archibald Jeeves

Allegiance: N/A

Birthday: August 11, C.E. 16

Age: 55

Blood Type: O

Hair: Gray, short

Eyes: Blue

Height: 175.5 cm

Status: Coordinator

Bio:

A devoted butler to Kenji Hyne, he became one after escaping to Orb from Coordinator persecution in his country of Britain, at the time when most Coordinators sought refuge in space and resided later in PLANTs. He stumbled upon a vacant butler job posted by Kenji, after he acquired unimaginable wealth through his bodyguard temporary job and able to have his image ranked in noble status, and was first astounded by the young lord's casual and kind manner, and instantly grew accustomed to him.

To note, he was one of the few oldest Coordinators to exist since they started sprouting after George Glenn's shocking revelation of his genetic heritage to the world. He's one of the few lucky ones to escape Coordinator persecution, after his only family, his brother, arranged his trip to Orb at the cost of his life.

As a butler, he always ensures top-notch quality in his duties at the Hyne Estate. He's one of the few close friends to Kenji and a loyal ally who would gladly protect his young master to his last breath. He and several maids keep guard and watch over the Hyne Estate, which was also an orphanage for children with no families. The orphanage idea came from Kenji, after taking notice in some poorer street children residing about in the city depths of Orb.

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Maria Izume

Allegiance: N/A

Birthday: May 1, C.E. 41

Age: 30

Blood Type: B

Hair: Green, long

Eyes: Blonde

Height: 172 cm

Status: Natural

Bio:

She's the head maid of the Hyne Estate, home to Kenji after he acquired his noble status. Like Archibald Jeeves, she too sought a vacant position posted by Kenji, after realizing he needed someone to watch over his new home. As the head of several trusted maids employed by Kenji, she helps maintain the Hyne Estate in pristine condition during its young lord's absence. She grew to like her young lord's casual and kind manner and is also a devoted, loyal ally. She also hails from Japan having mixed Filipino-Japanese blood flowing in her, with her mom a Filipino and her father Japanese.

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Episode 23: Fateful Encounter

Legend

Word denotes character thought

Word denotes setting, time

-Word- denotes sound effect

Word denotes flashback speech

-Word- denotes flashback sound effect

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Timeline: C.E. 71, March 6; +1700 hours

Location: Earth space

A small ZAFT fleet composed of two Laurasia-class ships and the Vesalius entered the Earth's orbit. The two Laurasia-class ships, the Geiger and the Galleon, served as escort ships for the Vesalius, after it headed back to PLANT Maius-One for re-supply and repairs.

Inside the Vesalius's main bridge, several communication operators received a latest weather report from the ZAFT Gibraltar base. One of them ripped off a print-out of the weather report from the ship's com-fax, then floating towards Captain Ades, getting his attention.

“Captain, here is a printout of the weather report transmitted from the Gibraltar base.”

The Vesalius Captain snatched the print out from the communication operator's hands and ran a thorough scan on it from his seat.

“Hmm… clear, sunny skies for today… that's good. Thank you for the printout.”

The communication operator gave a quick salute to his superior and headed back to his post.

Within minutes after nearing the Earth's atmosphere, the small ZAFT fleet initiated their atmospheric re-entry in Earth, their due course to Gibraltar, Spain.

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Timeline: C.E. 71, March 6; +1730 hours

Location: The Archangel

Meanwhile the EA legged-warship continued its trek to Alaska by cruising on the Indian Ocean. Inside Murrue's office, she and Mwu were in earnest discussion regarding the present situation. The Archangel Captain propped her chin on her folded hands, seating behind her polished oak desk.

“I don't like how this is going, after the recent battle we had three days ago. I don't think the route through the Indian Ocean in order to reach Alaska would be lightly monitored by ZAFT forces in the area,” she started with a worried face.

Standing by her right side, Mwu gave a hearty slap on her back in reassurance.

“Relax… as long as you keep the ship on course in shallow water, we'll be fine. I don't see any other problem with that.”

Murrue glanced up at him with a raised left eyebrow, wondering about his optimism.

“Are you always in a positive mood, Lieutenant? It's not that I don't appreciate it, but it startles me a bit.”

“-Chuckle- It's better to put up an optimistic side than to constantly being serious about this situation the ship is in, don't you think? I'm just being me.”

Murrue dismissed further thoughts on Mwu's personality, feeling strangely encouraged and supported just by his presence. Deep down, she shook off the feeling and resumed her hard-working demeanor as the Archangel Captain.

“Thank you for the support, I appreciate it.”

Mwu flashed a mischievous grin at her before walking off to her office's door to exit.

“No problem. Well, I'll just lazy about in my quarters for the meantime. I wanted to check up on Skygrasper-1, but Murdoch won't let me near it yet. He told me it was still in repair from the recent battle, even though I managed to get it back in one piece.”

With that said, he waved a small good-bye with his right hand at the Archangel Captain, before her office's automatic door opened before him, allowing him to exit. The automatic door then closed after him as he walked off from sight.

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In Kira's quarters, the Strike pilot placed a small, wet folded towel on Fllay's forehead, as she was bed-ridden with a fever. He looked concerned at his girlfriend as he made a small spot of his bed to sit next to her, letting his left hand being held weakly by Fllay.

I would have asked her why she preferred bunking in with me rather than her father.I'm worried he might see this the wrong way even though he told me personally it was ok for Fllay to bunk in with me.

It was only two hours ago that the Atlantic Federation Vice-Minister suddenly found his daughter struck with a fever, after presumably heading to Kira's quarters and asking his permission to walk in. The Strike pilot braced for a stern rebuke from the Vice-Minister, knowing he didn't take kindly to his sudden relationship with his only daughter; however, he was surprised instead when he received a soft, understanding remark from him.

“Knowing her stubborn nature, Fllay wouldn't allow herself to be carried back to our quarters. Kira, please take care of her instead.Oh, and one more thing, I'm not against your relationship with her, but if I hear you breaking her heart, things will be… unpleasant between us, understand?”

Nodding slowly in reply, Kira watched George giving a last look at his ailing daughter, before he turned around and headed for his quarters' automatic door to exit. As he neared it, George glanced back at the Strike pilot.

“I trust you… plus, Fllay's allowed to bunk in with you instead of me.”

With that said, the Vice-Minister finally exited the Strike pilot's quarters, shaking his head in small regret.

It'll be lonely sleeping alone, now that Fllay is into that Strike pilot.

Back with Kira, he shook off the past thought of George's short visit in his quarters from his mind, concentrating on helping his girlfriend recover from her fever.

“I could ask Miriallia to care of you instead of me. Are you sure you want me around?” he asked her concerned.

Shaking her head slowly in reply, Fllay exerted some effort to firmly grip her boyfriend's left hand with hers, enjoying every minute of it despite her current condition.

“No… I don't mind. Kira, can… you get me some juice? I'm thirsty.”

Giving her a small smile, Kira slowly withdrew his left hand from hers, then drawing partly down his blanket Fllay was on just up to her upper body, in order to help cool down her high body temperature.

“Ok, I'll try to get you some quickly. Just rest…”

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In the ship's mess hall, Miriallia, Sai, and Kuzzey were having a short break from their routine duties while they gathered about behind one of the many tables and seats available in the room. Three pieces of bottled water were laid on the table they were currently occupying.

“So, we'll heading to Alaska via the Indian Ocean and then the Pacific Ocean. It kind of makes sense we'd take a longer route but less guarded by ZAFT forces in those areas,” Miriallia started, resting her arms on the table and glancing back and forth at Sai and Kuzzey.

The yellow-tinted spectacled male teen folded his arms in earnest.

“That would also mean we'd stop by Orb, if the ship is in need of repairs or it encountered more attacks from ZAFT patrols around that area.”

Seated next him, Kuzzey sighed dejectedly while he twiddled with his fingers, unsure of passing by his free time.

“Oh man… we shouldn't stop at Orb. It somehow reminds me of Heliopolis, which was also neutral. I don't want to stay in Orb and get attacked by ZAFT there, seeing they'd come up with any excuse to declare an attack on a neutral country for the wrong reasons.”

Glancing back at his friend with an amused look, Sai patted his back in reassurance.

“Orb is different from Heliopolis, Kuzzey. ZAFT wouldn't like to make another enemy out of that country now that it's occupied fighting against the Earth Alliance.”

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Just outside the mess hall, Cagalli and Kisaka managed to hear out small parts of the teens' conversation and quickly left, not wanting to attract unwanted attention. The two Desert Dawn rebels strolled by another quiet corridor and stopped on the spot, after seeing they were alone with no eavesdroppers.

Kisaka eyed his charge questionably, prompting the short blonde-haired female teen to roll over her eyes in slight exasperation at him and added a shrug of her shoulders.

“I've kept our secret so far, so don't fret. I'm being careful talking to anyone in this ship other than you,” Cagalli stated.

Kisaka folded his arms in earnest, letting out a worried sigh from his lips.

“But still… I don't know how much longer we can keep our identities a secret. Among the crew of this ship, the ones worrying me the most are Professor Hyne and his nephew, the Seraph pilot.”

Cagalli glanced at him questionably, placing her hands on her hips, starting to share his worry and concern.

“What makes you say that? Frankly, I don't find anything wrong with them, especially Kenji.”

“That's the thing, Cagalli. Their family name somehow rings a familiar bell to me, now that I start to think about it. And there's something about that Seraph pilot that leaves off a strange feeling… I can't quite describe it, but still…”

“Humph, come on, don't be such a worry-wart! You always were a serious one. It's no wonder father assigned you to come with me to the Desert Dawn's main camp in Libya, Africa.”

“Of course I'm worried! Your father wouldn't forgive me for failing my assigned duty to watch over you.”

Looking away from him momentarily, Cagalli's eyes shimmered with a change of heart before glancing back at Kisaka.

“Listen, I've decided to help Kira and the crew of this ship. I guess I want to do this out of gratitude for allowing us to board here.”

Kisaka rubbed his chin with his right hand in agreement.

“It's fine by me. Besides, there's a great chance we can stop by at Orb, seeing it's also in their route to Alaska.”

Unknown to them, a pair of ears belonging to the Seraph pilot acutely overheard the entire conversation from a nearby corner of the corridor branching in an intersection with the one Cagalli and Kisaka were currently on. The Seraph pilot furrowed his eyebrows in curious thought, before he silently headed into another corridor away from them and resumed his trek to the Hynes' quarters.

Those two Desert Dawn rebels seem to be wary of me and Uncle Peter. What could Cagalli mean when she `kept our secret so far'? And it's only Kisaka who's the wariest of all.So she wants to help Kira and the crew of this ship for the same reasons as I. Interesting…

As he continued his way and pursed his lips in thought, a sudden idea struck his mind, prompting him to stop his tracks.

Well, it's a long shot, but I guess I could use the info. But first I have to request something from Captain Ramius.

The Seraph pilot then changed his destination to the Archangel Captain's office instead.

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Back in the ship's mess hall, Kira stepped inside to get juice for his ailing girlfriend. Finding Miriallia, Sai, and Kuzzey gathered nearby in their table, he walked up to them, getting their attention.

“Hello, Kira!” Miriallia greeted with a wave of her right hand at him.

“Hi, Miriallia,” Kira replied, glancing about at his three friends. Kuzzey just nodded at him from his seat, opting for a silent greeting. As for Sai, he didn't bother looking at the Strike pilot in the eye, still harboring ill feelings at him deep down for his breakup with Fllay.

Noticing his yellow-tinted spectacled friend's quiet behavior, Kira said nothing to him, then deciding to resume his task of getting juice for Fllay.

“Where are you off to now? How's Fllay doing by the way?” Miriallia asked him, sensing the uneasy atmosphere looming around the room.

“Oh… Fllay wanted some juice, that's all. She's down with a fever, but it's nothing serious,” Kira glanced back at her as he received a small thermos filled with orange juice from Chef Carte behind the meal counter.

“Shouldn't you have Dr. Reinhardt have a look at her? He's the ship's doctor after all.”

“I plan on calling him after this before I head back to my quarters. Well, I'll be seeing you later then.”

With orange juice in hand, Kira then made a quick exit from the mess hall, giving a hurried wave back at Miriallia along the way before his retreating form disappeared from sight. Watching his retreating form with mixed emotions, Miriallia and Kuzzey looked at each other and shrugged their shoulders in wonder. As for Sai, he couldn't help but grit his teeth angrily behind a closed mouth.

Kira…

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In her office, Murrue beckoned a visitor to step inside after being hailed from outside her automatic door, interrupting her train of thought on planning her next course of action for the ship.

“Come in!” she stated.

Her automatic door slid open, revealing Kenji stepping inside and walking up to her desk. He gave a quick salute to his superior, who saluted back from her seat.

“What brings you here, Kenji? Is there something you need?” Murrue inquired, surprised by his visit. Among the ship's crew, the Seraph pilot rarely paid her a visit, save for his reprimand in the Lacus Clyne escape and his battle strategy in `Operation Lesseps Breakthrough'.

The Seraph pilot took a deep breath, picking out the right words to say from his mind for his present visit in the Archangel Captain's office.

“Actually, I came for a request. This may be a trifle, on the other hand.”

Murrue glanced at him with a perplexed look on her face.

“Hmm… well, as long as it's within my power, I could grant you a request. But first, state your reasons for doing so.”

Kenji watched her with a serious twinkle from his eyes.

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Timeline: C.E. 71, March 6; +1815 hours

Location: Europe, Spain --- ZAFT Gibraltar Base

In the base's hangar bay, Nicol and Athrun disembarked from the deactivated and parked Blitz and Aegis Gundams respectively via the cockpit winch. Removing their pilot helmets and tucking them under their arms, the two ZAFT redcoats exited the hangar bay, as the base's crew of mechanics/engineers proceeded with routine checks on their MS.

The two ZAFT redcoats of the Le Creuset team then proceeded to the base's briefing room, after several base guards allowed their entry. Athrun opened the door first to see Yzak in a heated argument with his team leader. Seated nearby them were Dearka and Barry, with the two exchanging offhand comments regarding Yzak. On the other side of the room Lisa and Ryu were seated by each other, with the latter wearing a serious look on his face. Seated behind them was Miho, who hoped for a peaceful resolution in the argument between Yzak and Rau.

The Aegis pilot also noticed Eiji standing alone and leaning against the wall in a corner of the room with folded arms. He seemed not to care with the argument between Yzak and Rau, so he merely watched on.

The `Red Reaper' is here… but who are those four new arrivals?

Looking over his shoulder, Nicol noticed first the silver-haired Duel pilot bickering with the masked Rau, then glanced at Miho. His eyes immediately lighten up at the sight of her.

“Miho?” he said aloud, attracting everyone's attention in the room.

“Nicol, you're here!” Miho exclaimed happily, immediately getting up from her seat and approaching by the Blitz pilot's side as he and Athrun stepped inside, with the latter closing the briefing room door behind them.

Barry smiled mischievously at the loving sight between Crusader-04 and the Blitz pilot, before turning attention to the latter and the Aegis pilot, approaching them.

“Well, look who just dropped in! How are you both doing, Nicol, Athrun?” he shook their hands warmly.

“Barry! It's good to see you. Oh? Lisa, Miho, and Ryu… you guys too? What are you doing here?” Nicol inquired with a gladden smile.

“Hello to you, Nicol, Athrun,” Lisa greeted amicably.

“Let's just say we stumbled upon each other by similar objectives. Athrun, how have you been? It's been a while since our last encounter in the battle with the EA 8th Fleet,” Ryu shook hands with Athrun, receiving a smile from him.

“We got here as soon as we could, after the Vesalius picked us up in Maius-One and finalized its repairs and re-supply. So you all met up with Commander Creuset first?” the Aegis pilot inquired.

“Humph… you two certainly took your time getting here,” Yzak scorned in distaste, mostly because his considered rival Athrun Zala was now standing before him.

“Yo!” Dearka greeted, giving a quick right thumbs-up and wink at his fellow squad mates.

“Dearka, Yzak! Sorry for our late arrival. Oh… you're…!” Nicol exclaimed in surprise at Eiji, who unfolded his arms and approached the group. He gave a small grunt of acknowledgement and quickly dismissed Nicol and Athrun's respectful salute given to him.

“There's no need for formalities here, so at ease. It's good that you both managed to make it back here.”

Both the Blitz and the Aegis pilots nodded understandably at the famed `Red Reaper' standing before them.

Seeing everyone in the midst of light conversation, Rau coughed loudly to get their attention, prompting them to turn facing him and take their seats gathering close to each other.

“Well, now that everyone for this mission regarding the Archangel is here, let's start with the mission briefing. Before you protest once more, Yzak, let me finish first,” the masked commander remarked to his silver-haired subordinate about to open his mouth and continue with his bickering with his team leader, shutting him up. He then spotted Athrun looking wonderingly at Yzak's scar, with Barry joining in. The Duel pilot noticed their scrutiny directed towards him, making him annoyed with embarrassment.

“What! What are you two looking at!” he exclaimed.

“If you two are curious about that scar, Yzak plans to keep it until he defeats the Strike and the Seraph, who delivered it together to him at a previous battle,” Rau answered on Yzak's behalf.

Murmurs were exchanged between the two ZAFT squads, the Le Creuset team and the Crusader Squad, as they opted not to comment further about Yzak's scar. They then resumed attention to Rau's briefing. Walking up to a central map projector provided, the masked commander activated it, showing a map of Africa and Southeast Asia. Also marked there was a white route line coming from Libya, then traveling beyond the Indian Ocean, and leading upwards to Alaska. Extending a small pointer stick he fished out from his left pants pocket, Rau pointed out the route with it.

“As you know, the Archangel, or the legged ship as we all know it, managed to defeat Commander Waltfeld's unit and able to escape to the ocean, where we have few units patrolling the area. As to Waltfeld's whereabouts, I regret to inform you that he's declared as M.I.A., after he was reported to have battled with the Strike.”

Shocked gasps sounded from everyone, save for Dearka and Yzak, who snickered deep down (they had a small grudge against the late `Desert Tiger' in setting their roles as support fire), and Eiji, who was silent and cursing regretfully a bit deep down.

Waltfeld-sensei… your death will not be in vain, I can assure you. Kenji, you'll pay for this, along with that Strike pilot!

“No way… the `Desert Tiger'…” Nicol remarked quietly to himself.

Athrun narrowed his eyebrows in earnest, with his eyes brimming resolutely.

Kira… Kenji…

Rau continued on with the briefing, not bothering to wait for everyone to resume their attention on him.

“Judging by this expected route, the Archangel is expected to cruise beyond the Indian Ocean, then to the Pacific Ocean. And from there, it will head north towards Alaska, where the EA central HQ is situated. We must keep the legged ship from reaching the EA Alaska Base; however, that task has also been assigned to our forces from Carpentaria Base.”

Alarmed by this news, Yzak and Dearka stood up from their seats and declared their protest.

“What! We want to fight, commander! Not after all the trouble we've went through in preventing the legged ship from reaching Earth!”

“We can't just sit here and watch them waltz through like a walk in the park!”

Barry eyed his respective comrades with amused, raised eyebrows.

Heh, heh… those two hotshots have their blood boiling with anticipation, that's for sure.

Returning his pointer stick back in its compact state, Rau pocketed it back in his uniformed-pants.

“Now that Athrun and Nicol are here, I believe it's now possible to have two squads for this mission. Commander Shinonome, I'm afraid you'll have to take original command of your unit, the Crusader Squad, while Athrun resumes command of his squad here.”

Eiji stood up from his seat gave a dismissed wave of his right hand at him.

“I have no problem with that. It was fun having Dearka and Yzak under my command temporarily, even though it was short.”

“Good. I'm afraid I can't go along with you, because of the preparations for `Operation Spitbreak'. Athrun, I appoint you as leader of your squadron. Commander Shinonome will meanwhile take command of the Crusader Squad. The Zala team and the Shinonome team will depart to intercept the legged ship tomorrow. In the meantime, make haste with your preparations. Are there any objections? Then this concludes the mission briefing. Good luck to you all.”

Everyone stood up from their seats and saluted respectfully at the masked Rau, who saluted them back. Then they were dismissed, exiting the briefing room and leaving Rau behind sighing tiredly. He ran a right hand through his long blonde, hair.

The legged ship is becoming more a threat as it nears the EA Alaska Base. Now, the real `Operation Spitbreak' shall commence soon… ha, ha, ha… yes, Patrick Zala continue forth with your feverish endeavor in escalating the present war with EA.

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After exiting the base's briefing room and heading outside, the two ZAFT squads opted for a small break, as they walked side by side heading towards the base's hangar bay, where their MS was parked and being maintained.

“Well, it looks like you're the squad leader, Athrun. It's a pleasure serving under your command,” Dearka chided, shrugging his shoulders.

Athrun smirked little at him, then turning his attention to Eiji who quietly walked on with his comrades.

“So, what will you do now?”

“We might as well be prepared for this mission. We've gone through hell after battling with it for the past few weeks.”

Ryu agreed with his comrade's remark, adding his comment.

“Even though the legged ship sports only two prototype MS, they far outclass us. The Crusader Squad took a beating from the Seraph, despite our best efforts in isolating it from the Strike in the previous battle back in Libya.”

Eiji rubbed his forehead with his right hand in slight exasperation, muttering curses deep down. He glanced back at everyone with a serious manner.

“I've got work to do, calibrating my MS, the Spawn. I need to oversee its repairs. I'll see you all later.”

With that said he left the group, heading inside the base's hangar bay and towards the parked Spawn undergoing repairs.

Lisa patted Ryu's left shoulder, getting his attention. She whispered close to his left ear.

“Captain, let's take a break. I'm kind of hungry.”

The Crusader Squad leader nodded in reply, turning face to everyone.

“Barry, Miho, you guys take a break. Athrun, I suggest your squad gets a break too. We can't sortie with a stressed manner.”

Barry lightly punched Yzak's left arm with an amused look on his face, then also glancing at Dearka.

“Alright you hotshots, come on, let's hang out for a while!” he suggested with a wry grin.

The Buster pilot agreed with his suggestion, shrugging his shoulders in resignation and smiling back.

“Well, I can't say no to that. Come on, Yzak. It's not like we've got anything else to do for now.”

The said Duel pilot rubbed his punched spot with his right hand and looked away from the cheerful Barry with a scowl on his face.

“Bah… Walters, I don't know how I can put up with you. Whatever, let's go!”

Barry, Dearka, and Yzak then left the group, waving small good-byes to the rest.

“Nicol… um, let's go to a quiet spot and talk,” Miho spoke to the Blitz pilot with a tinge of pink on her cheeks and fiddling her hands.

Nicol mirrored her slight blush and smiled kindly, offering his right arm for her to hold onto.

“Sure… I'd like that. Athrun, we'll be somewhere in the base for a while.”

The Aegis pilot nodded affirmatively at his comrade, watching him and Miho go off to a quiet spot in the base for some privacy. Looking at their retreating forms with an amused smile, Athrun couldn't help but be in disbelief at being the last person of the group remaining.

Hmm…well, I'll just work on the Aegis then and adjust some calibrations of its system. Funny how I'm the odd one left out.

Shaking off the thought from his mind, he turned around heading inside the base's hangar bay for his MS.

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Timeline: C.E. 71, March 7; +0600 hours

Location: The Archangel

In the Hynes' quarters, Kenji was busy typing in a spare laptop he requested from Murrue yesterday, who informed him to head over to Murdoch and request it from him. The laptop's active screen displayed its running OS and GUI (Graphical User Interface, similar to the real-life ones like Windows or Linux), as it mirrored on his eyes, which were focused on it. His hands typed in rapid succession, at a speed few Coordinators or Naturals could ever hope to match, as he brought up a window display from a com-link application installed.

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COM-LINK DIALERVersion 1.5

SYSTEM MENU:

-CONNECTIONS-

-CONNECTION CONFIGURATION-

-CONNECTION INITIATION-

-CONNECTION HELP-

-EXIT-

…

Select -CONNECTION CONFIGURATION-

…

-CONNECTION CONFIGURATION-

Please finalize all connections before attempting to call requested number.

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Kenji ceased typing momentarily, then standing up from his seat and connecting his uncle's palm top via a USB cable (it was the miniature hacking device of Peter's used in hacking the base commander's PC in the asteroid port Artemis back then) provided by Murdoch. He then switched the palm top on and rummaged through its menu using its pen.

“Let's see… connection… connection… bingo. Ok, I'll have to wait a while.”

He placed the palm top down on the desk and took his seat. He paused momentarily, looking back at his uncle sleeping heavily on his bunk bed. He wryly smiled at the sight.

Uncle Peter can sometimes be a heavy sleeper, so I don't have to fret in waking him up at the slightest noise… well, as long it's not such a loud one that is.

Satisfied knowing his uncle wouldn't be easily aroused from his sleep, Kenji resumed his task, drumming his left fingers on the desk waiting patiently for the application to search and finalize a location. After ten seconds of waiting, he let out a triumphant cry deep down at the sight before him.

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COM-LINK DIALER

-CONNECTION CONFIGURATION-

Connection detected. Please initialize connection.

…

Select -CONNECTION INITIATION-

…

Selected connection detected. You can now call inputted number.

…

Dial Number: JANUARY.154 (10.1.14.21.1.18.25.154)

Dialing…

…

Call accepted.

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Timeline: C.E. 71, March 7; +0710 hours

Location: Orb, the Hyne Estate

Maria Izume was busy dusting off the young lord's room when her ears picked a beeping sound emanating from his PC lain on his mahogany desk. She ceased her activity and turned around facing the PC, approaching it warily.

“Hmm… what's this? I better call Jeeves.”

A minute later, Archibald Jeeves hurried to the young lord's room after being summoned by Maria. The wizened butler turned his attention at the PC pointed out by the head maid, also hearing the beeping sound.

“Ah… the young lord instructed me to accomplish this task, should his PC be called,” he remarked, startling Maria. Approaching the PC, his hands traced around its sides, seeking for a hidden hatch. Finally feeling it, he unclasped the hatch, which revealed a small buzzer blinking a red color. Maria glanced over his shoulder at the buzzer with an agape mouth covered by her left hand.

“Oh my…”

Suddenly, the buzzer stopped blinking and beeping, and the PC whirled to life in an instant, with its monitor displaying its running OS and customized GUI. Several display windows then popped out at once, then disappearing in an instant. Another display window then appeared in this manner.

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COM-LINK FINDER

Connection established… displaying call source.

…

Signal ID labeled from an EA warship, unknown model. Video conference initiated.

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Suddenly, Kenji's image was displayed onscreen, replacing the display window. Jeeves and Maria looked on at it with surprise.

“Young lord…!” they exclaimed ecstatically.

The Seraph pilot smiled at them from the built-in mini web-cam of his laptop, which was located on the top center of the folded monitor.

“Hey… Jeeves, Maria! It's finally good to see you… it's been a while. Jeeves, I believe you did as I instructed before I left several months ago?”

The butler nodded affirmatively.

“Yes sir, Maria informed me about it when she listened to the beeping sound of your PC while she was dusting off your room.”

“That's good. How're the children doing?”

The head maid smiled amicably at her young lord's image.

“They're a handful, but nevertheless they make everyday worthwhile for us in taking care of them. They're a bundle of joy!”

Kenji chuckled quietly in response.

“I'm glad to hear that. I hope you, Jeeves, and the rest of the maids have no problems with the orphanage idea I devised and instilled to be part of the estate.”

“Definitely not, young lord…! We love to take care of them. Besides, they give us plenty of chores to do while we resume the necessary cleaning tasks in the estate.”

“Ok. You don't have to worry about money, I entrusted you both all of it while I was gone. There's plenty to last for a lifetime.”

Jeeves furrowed his eyebrows in wonder, expecting an instruction or request from Kenji.

“Young lord, where are you now? I assume our signal isn't traced? Is there anything you need from us?”

The Seraph pilot dismissed his initial worry with a shake of his head.

“I'm currently in an EA prototype warship called the Archangel. It's a long story how I ended there. Don't worry about being traced, for I'm broadcasting an encrypted transmission. Have you heard the news of Heliopolis's destruction?”

Maria let out a shocked cry.

“Yes, young lord, we heard about it two months ago, during the last week of January. We feared the worst when we saw the press conference held by Lord Uzumi. We're glad to see you alive and well. By the way, what happened to your uncle, Professor Peter Hyne? Is he with you?”

“Yeah, he's with me, but he's sleeping for the moment. I wanted to call you in secret and see how the estate is faring. The present war between EA and ZAFT may soon reach Orb, and I wanted to make sure about you all there in the estate, and even the children. Anyways, Jeeves, I'd like you to do something for me right now. I'm quite in a hurry, for I just only contacted during the wee hours of the morning, and I don't want the crew of the Archangel to find out about this transmission.”

Jeeves motioned Maria to step aside, and allowing his self to be seen onscreen.

“Go on, sir, speak your instructions.”

Kenji let out a distressed sigh from his lips before he continued on.

“I need you to hack in the central database of the Orb military and get two files about these people whose names are Kisaka and Cagalli. Those two are also in the ship, and they're part of a resistance group in Africa known as the Desert Dawn. I need the info about them right away, and enclose it in an encrypted file sent back to me. Can you do this before 10 AM? That's the time when mostly everyone will be up and about in the Archangel, save the bridge crew.”

“Definitely young lord, I'll get on it right away.”

“Maria, keep up the good work with the children. How're the other maids faring?”

Maria motioned Jeeves to step aside this time, allowing herself to be seen onscreen.

“They're cheery and courteous as I instructed them to. They're not causing any problems.”

“Good… remember, you and Jeeves are the only ones allowed in my room and using my PC for contacting me, nobody else. Jeeves, I'll be expecting the info soon. I'm sorry to have given you a demanding task.”

Jeeves asked Maria to step aside again, allowing his self to be seen onscreen.

“Yes sir, I'll proceed right away after this video conference ends. How long will you keep the transmission open?”

“Until 10 AM, so you've got plenty of time. Well, I'll be signing off… remember the time.”

With that said, Kenji's image flickered off-screen, ending the video conference. Jeeves flexed his gloved hands, warming them up for his assigned task. He turned facing Maria with a heartened smile.

“Ah, it's good to be doing the young lord's instructions once again. I miss his presence.”

“-Giggle- I didn't know you could be such a softy, Jeeves. Well, I'll just finish dusting off the young lord's room later and excuse myself to downstairs.”

The head maid politely bowed respectfully to the butler before exiting the young lord's room, closing the door after herself. Jeeves sat himself down on the young lord's chair, logging on to the Internet and opening the web browser in the young lord's PC. He then visited the Orb Military's website.

“Time to get to work then…”

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Timeline: C.E. 71, March 7; +0900 hours

Location: The Archangel

In the Hynes' quarters, Kenji received his requested info from Jeeves an hour earlier than his expected deadline. Typing out a quick thank-you note and sending it to him, Kenji methodically began exploring the requested file, after decrypting it via an encryption application in his laptop. The file's contents were then displayed in two pop-up windows, appearing over the other with official portraits of Kisaka and Cagalli. Kenji's eyes narrowed with interest as he allowed an amused smile etched from his lips.

Interesting… so that's who they really are? Ha, ha, ha… no wonder Cagalli was adamant in asking Captain Ramius to join in the ship's crew. Hmm, now that I think about it, the ship might also stop by at Orb, since it's in its expected route to the EA Alaska Base. Ok, I've got what I needed.

Taking out a mini-diskette from his desk drawer, he placed it inside his laptop's floppy drive, and saved a back-up copy of the requested file within seconds. After, he ejected the floppy drive and took out the mini-diskette, tucking it safely inside his uniformed-pants right pocket. He then cut off the transmission to his estate and also deleted traces of the requested file completely from the laptop, before switching it off and closing it. He unplugged the USB cable connecting the laptop and his uncle's palm top, wrapping and tying it securely. He slipped the palm top's pen back in place and left the palm top on the desk.

Before he could tidy up his desk and hand back the laptop and its other accessories along with it to Murdoch, the warning sirens of level-two battle stations rang aloud throughout the ship, alerting its crew to head to their respective posts. The Seraph pilot glanced up at the sirens' sound.

“Just in the nick of time… that should remove any traces of my transmission to my estate. But still, I'm beginning to hate being inside a ship that's attacked constantly by enemy forces,” he muttered tiredly to himself. He had only six hours worth of sleep today, due to his regular routine check-up of the Seraph.

Glancing at his uncle moving about in his bunk bed and not bothering to wake up, Kenji rubbed off traces of sleep from his eyes before exiting the room quietly and making a mad dash to men's locker room to change into his pilot suit.

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In the ship's main bridge, activity was brimming about as its crew leapt into action and monitored their terminals.

“How many are the enemy numbers?” Murrue inquired loudly from her seat.

Sai reported his findings on his radar of his terminal, before adjusting his yellow-tinted specs with his right hand, while the other one adjusted his headset-mic. Two pop-up windows displayed diagrams of two underwater ZAFT MS, the GOOhN and the ZnO.

“I'm picking up several underwater units in sonar… three GOOhNs and a ZnO!” he reported from his post.

“What about the enemy submarine that launched those units?” Natarle inquired aloud from her seat in the CIC area.

Sai typed feverishly in his keyboard-terminal, changing the radar type to normal and back to sonar, after examining closely for a particular ZAFT submarine which was the source of the deployed underwater ZAFT MS attacking the Archangel.

“The radar and sonar don't pick up the signal of the enemy submarine!” he reported.

Murrue pursed her lips in slight dismay by his report.

On the main screen, Mwu's image appeared, revealing him to be in his pilot uniform and behind the controls of Skygrasper-1 parked in the hangar bay.

“Don't worry about the enemy submarine, I'll go find its position for you,” he stated with a right thumbs-up at Murrue, who was assured of his piloting skills.

“Thank you, lieutenant. Good luck!” she exclaimed at his image before it flickered off-screen.

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In the ship's hangar bay, Murdoch's team of mechanics/engineers dispersed about in the area as they finalized the necessary preparations for the ship's cadre of two MS and two fighter aircraft units to launch, after hearing the launch order given by Murrue and sounded throughout the speakers inside by Miriallia, who was the com-link MS/MA operator of the ship.

“Attention, we're entering level-two battle stations! All available mobile suits are required to launch immediately!”

Behind Skygrasper-1's controls, Mwu talked hurriedly over his fighter aircraft's cockpit to Murdoch, who climbed to there by his side and listening intently.

“Murdoch, I'll need more firepower to take out the enemy submarine I'll be searching for.”

“Ok, I got ya… I'll have Skygrasper-1 retrofitted with the Launcher pack.”

Mwu nodded affirmatively to the head mechanic/engineer, watching him climb back down and hurry to another small group of his crew. However, Murdoch was startled and stopped by Cagalli, who appeared out of nowhere and blocked his path.

“I'll launch in Skygrasper-2, Chief Murdoch! Please allow me!” she argued.

Scratching his head in disbelief, Murdoch shook his head in disagreement.

“No way, kid! You're not even an official member of this ship's crew!”

Standing up from his seat inside Skygrasper-1's cockpit, Mwu shouted immediately at the two arguers, getting their attention.

“Let her, Murdoch, I'll need all the firepower I can get in order to take out the enemy submarine. She's got my permission to launch, so it's no problem with me.”

Sighing resignedly, Murdoch shrugged his shoulders, glancing back at Cagalli, who was beaming with delight.

“I don't know what's got you teenagers so fired up to fight… I guess Kenji and Kira are really rubbing off me. I'll get Skygrasper-2 ready for you, so get suited up immediately!”

Nodding affirmatively at the head mechanic/engineer, Cagalli then ran off to get her combat vest and pilot helmet left in her shared quarters with Kisaka. Watching at her retreating form with rolled-over eyes, Murdoch called over two of his crew to ready Skygrasper-2 for combat. They complied without delay, knowing the importance of their superior's orders.

The `Hawk of Endymion' proceeded to punch in Skygrasper-1's controls, activating its engines and whirling them into life. The cockpit glass hatch closed over him as he finished starting up the fighter aircraft and was all set. Then, one of Murdoch's crew (acting as the official MS/MA guide) carefully guided Skygrasper-1 to the first linear catapult (which was the middle part of the Archangel's right `leg' when opened for deployment) with his green-colored light sticks, waving them at it. Satisfied seeing Skygrasper-1 ready in place, he quickly ran back inside the hangar bay as the first linear catapult's inner doors closed after him, signaling the start of launch.

The launch sequence window popped in view from above.

LINEAR CATAPULT LAUNCH SYSTEM

FX-550 SKYGRASPER-1

…3

…2

…1

LAUNCH!

“Mwu La Flaga, Skygrasper-1 launching!” Mwu exclaimed as he geared his fighter aircraft's engines to be launched out into the open skies, along with an added effect from the linear catapult. Skygrasper-1 quickly flew away from the Archangel, beginning its search for the enemy submarine.

After Skygrasper-1's launch, the first linear catapult's inner doors opened once again, allowing Skygrasper-2 set in place for launch, with Cagalli ready behind its controls. The fighter aircraft had no Strike pack retrofitted, since the Aile pack was reserved for backup and the Sword pack being used currently by Kira.

LINEAR CATAPULT LAUNCH SYSTEM

FX-550 SKYGRASPER-2

…3

…2

…1

LAUNCH!

“Cagalli, Skygrasper-2 taking off…!” Cagalli exclaimed as she lurched into the pilot seat gritting her teeth, due to the sudden G-forces induced in Skygrasper-2's takeoff. With a surge of its thrusters, Skygrasper-2 trailed after Skygrasper-1.

After Skygrasper-2's launch, the first linear catapult's inner doors opened again, allowing the Seraph Gundam set in place on the catapult, locking its feet for launch. Inside its cockpit, Kenji finalized the necessary checks on the Seraph's system by typing on the keyboard interface before setting it aside in place. As he flexed his hands about to grip the control sticks, an image of Kira appeared on the small com-link window located above the CIS, getting his attention.

“Hmm…? What is it?” Kenji asked, feeling little regretful at seeing the Strike pilot's face as he recalled their brief conflict back outside the Archangel's right deck. He noticed Kira's expression mirroring his and wondered if he shared the same feeling.

“Um… Kenji, about that fight we had before… I'm sorry for the punch I delivered to you,” Kira remarked awkwardly, trying hard not to look directly into the Seraph pilot's eyes.

After hearing his intended apology, Kenji could still feel a dull ache from his bruised right cheek, where he received Kira's right hook before. He then recalled one time when he stopped in front of his mirror in his quarters yesterday, checking his bruised right cheek. Strangely though, he was amazed to find the bruised cheek half-way attaining its healthy skin color, and he touched the spot covered by his pilot helmet in reminder.

Weird… the bruise should heal off by a week or so. It was 4 days I got it from Kira…

Shaking off the thought from his mind, Kenji merely nodded sadly in apology.

“No… I... deserved it too, Kira. I must have spoken out of line in our beliefs on this present war. And I too am sorry… for having caused those Heliopolis refugees' deaths in that shuttle you reminded me.”

Feeling ashamed for causing guilt to swell in Kenji, Kira shook his head in disagreement with a forlorn expression on his face as he finally was able to look at the Seraph pilot in the eye.

“It wasn't your fault… I know… you're not one to lie about it… there was no way you could have known where the enemy pilot's shots would have traveled. But still… despite you being a former ZAFT soldier…” he trailed off, reluctant to continue his remark.

Kenji wryly smiled at the Strike pilot's reluctance.

“I know what you'll say next, you don't have to finish. I can understand… your distrust in ZAFT, seeing that they caused Heliopolis's destruction and destroyed your home. For that, I have to apologize on my behalf. Kira… if you don't want to consider me as a friend, I understand.”

Kira looked away from his fellow comrade's image with pursed lips, feeling a small weight placed in his heart. He then looked back at Kenji with a hesitant, small smile.

“No… I still consider you as a friend, and I always will do.”

Sensing a small weight being removed from his heart, Kenji gladly nodded to Kira, returning his smile with his own.

“I'm glad we arrived upon peaceful terms with each other. Well, as much as I'd like to talk with you, we have a battle happening now before us. Will you launch after me?”

The Strike pilot shook his head in reply.

“No… I'll have to fight the enemy underwater like the previous battle. But, I'll appreciate any help from you though.”

“Copy that. I'm heading out.”

With that said, Kira's image flickered off-screen on the com-link window. Kenji directed his gaze in front of him, with the CIS showing the narrow end of the first linear catapult, with the outside sea shown at the end.

LINEAR CATAPULT LAUNCH SYSTEM

GAT-XP01 SERAPH GUNDAM

…3

…2

…1

LAUNCH!

“Kenji Hyne, Seraph heading out!” Kenji exclaimed as he floored the Seraph's thrusters, initiating his launch into the outside. After flying a short distance away from the Archangel, the Seraph's PS armor kicked in, covering the said MS in a brilliant white color. It extended its two two-fold wings for extra maneuverability, as it jettisoned high up to the skies.

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Meanwhile underwater, the reported three GOOhNs and the ZnO closed their approach on the Archangel, after having been launched from the ZAFT Vosgulov-class submarine, the Cousteau, which was within artillery range from the Archangel. Leading the attack in his ZnO, Marco Morassim tightened his grip on the control sticks as he narrowed his eyebrows in steel resolve, despite his defeat in the previous encounter with the EA legged-warship.

“This time, I'll surely destroy the legged ship before that damn Creuset does! Men, we begin our attack now!” he exclaimed to his three subordinates piloting the GOOhNs via com-link.

The four ZAFT underwater MS opened fire torpedoes, as the projectiles homed in on their inputted target and sleeked fast.

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Back in the Archangel's main bridge, Dalida detected a small number of torpedoes on his terminal's radar. His eyes widened alarmingly at the sight.

“Torpedoes are closing in fast!” he reported aloud from his seat in the CIC area.

Hearing the latest report immediately, Murrue called out from her seat with her hands gripping on the ends of her seat's armrests.

“Driver, initiate emergency take-off at once to avoid the torpedoes!” she ordered Arnold, who proceeded to climb the ship high and hard with gritted teeth, exerting his effort.

The Archangel barely made it up in the air on time as the seeking torpedoes neared its underbelly, detonating inches from impact. Their explosions' aftershock rumbled the entire ship about, rocking its bridge crew off as they stayed put in their seats bracing them. The ship then landed onto the ocean water after several seconds, creating small violent ocean waves from its forced landing.

In the ship's hangar bay, the Strike Gundam was being retrofitted with the Sword pack as it was carried automatically over to the second linear catapult by robotic arms, with its inner doors closing after itself. The catapult's doors then opened, allowing the Sword Strike to walk to the end. Taking one last look at the ocean water below, it then leapt into underwater. As it sank deeper slowly, the Sword Strike looked around, scanning for the reported ZAFT underwater units attacking the Archangel.

“Where are they? I don't see them in radar!” Kira stated, checking carefully and quickly at the CIS for signs of the enemy.

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Timeline: C.E. 71, March 7; +1000 hours

Location: Europe, Spain --- ZAFT Gibraltar Base

In one of the base's six wide runaways, seven transport planes each carrying Dearka, Yzak, Nicol, Lisa, Barry, Miho, and Eiji along with their MS respectively, were immediately launched right away one by one, climbing up to the skies.

Looking at the transport planes' launch from the windows of the lounge room, Athrun let out an annoyed sigh before turning his gaze at Ryu and seating himself on the couches provided and facing him. Ryu was sitting quietly with folded arms as he focused his gaze on the carpeted floor.

“Of all the times to wait… this has got to be the worst,” Athrun remarked, propping his chin on his folded hands rested on his hips and tapping his right foot patiently.

Not bothering to glance up at the Aegis pilot, Ryu replied to the floor instead.

“Well, it couldn't be helped, sometimes unforeseen things like this happen. There's no use complaining about it. We can only wait, Athrun.”

Detecting the finality of the tone of his remark, Athrun had to agree, sighing annoyed once more deep down and joining Ryu in the waiting game, directing his gaze on the carpeted floor as well.

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Timeline: C.E. 71, March 7; +1010 hours

Location: Indian Ocean

Back in the battlefield, the Archangel fired off wave after wave of micro missiles at the three GOOhNs. Despite the simultaneous wave of fire trailing after them, the ZAFT underwater MS were able to swim fast, dodging the missiles thanks to their underwater capability. They quickly surfaced, popping their heads out in view and retaliating with several of its remaining torpedoes from both their arms. They trailed towards the Archangel's underbelly, nicking it and causing extensive damage. The bridge crew endured another aftershock from the torpedoes' explosion.

“Direct the “Valiant Mk.8” linear cannons at the GOOhNs! Fire “Wombats”!” Natarle ordered her CIC crew from her seat in the CIC area.

“The GOOhNs are too agile underwater; they're able to avoid our attacks easily!” Dalida commented from his terminal post.

“Use the “Igelstellung” as trace fire to pinpoint the GOOhNs' location then!” Natarle exclaimed, glancing back at the yellow-tinted spectacled male teen.

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Back up in the skies, the Seraph flew around the Archangel as it looked around for the reported GOOhNs and the ZnO attacking the EA legged-warship.

“Damn… the Seraph can't find those ZAFT underwater units in radar. If this keeps up, the Archangel will surely waste most of its firepower at them. But where's the submarine that launched them? They couldn't just traveled far to get to the Archangel on their own,” Kenji remarked, furrowing his eyebrows in earnest as he quickly scanned his radar for the reported GOOhNs and the ZnO attacking the Archangel.

What's taking Lieutenant La Flaga so long to find the submarine? Either I could help him or help Kira down underwater.

Stopping to hover momentarily, the Seraph glanced down at the ongoing battle. Its eyes flickered bright yellow before it instantly jettisoned downwards at the ocean water in full speed.

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“The Seraph has plunged underwater!” Sai reported from his terminal post in the ship's CIC area of the main bridge, after he detected the Seraph's radar signature closing onto the Archangel.

Everyone in the room glanced up surprised by his report, particularly Murrue and Natarle.

“What's he up to now?” the Archangel Captain wondered.

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Nearby the Archangel's area, Skygrasper-1 and Skygrasper-2 continued their search for the Cousteau, which was concluded to be the enemy submarine that had launched the reported three GOOhNs and the ZnO.

Looking over outside Skygrasper-1's glass cockpit from left to right, Mwu clicked his tongue in dismay.

“Come on… where's that submarine!” he exclaimed worriedly, knowing the importance of reporting the Cousteau's coordinates to the Archangel ASAP.

“Hey, do you see anything from your side?” Cagalli inquired via com-link, flying by Skygrasper-1's left side. Mwu glanced over facing her.

“No… how about you…?”

Cagalli shook her head quickly in reply before resuming attention on the search.

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Underwater, after swimming around and spotting the three GOOhNs attacking the Archangel, the Sword Strike proceeded to give chase after them, but not before being attacked by Morassim's ZnO, which swam fast out of nowhere and slammed into it, knocking the Sword Strike hard to a nearby coral formation, smashing it in pieces by the impact.

“Ugh…! What… this underwater MS… it seems different from the ones I fought off with before,” Kira stated, eyeing warily the ZnO displayed on the CIS and looking for an opening before making a counterattack.

“Humph… so this is the reported Strike Gundam? Well, show me what you've got!” Morassim taunted inside the ZnO's cockpit.

The Sword Strike then fired off its “Panzer Eisen” at the ZnO, hoping to catch it. The ZnO easily dodged sideways the grappling attack, then cutting off the rocket anchor's rope in half with a swipe of its claws, rendering it useless. It then fired off its remaining torpedoes at the Sword Strike, forcing it to take evasive action and taking out its “Schwert Gewehr” with both hands. The ZnO then tackled the Sword Strike once again, catching it off guard and knocking it hard onto another nearby coral formation, destroying it as well.

“Ugh…! He's strong…” Kira remarked, feeling overwhelmed by the ZnO's power.

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Timeline: C.E. 71, March 7; +1030hours

Location: Europe, Spain --- ZAFT Gibraltar Base

After a brief delay of repairs in their temporary aircraft malfunction, the remaining transport planes each carrying Athrun, Ryu, and their MS respectively finally took off, with Athrun's going first.

Waiting inside his transport plane and in its cockpit behind the two pilots, Ryu couldn't help but feel a sense of anticipation swelling deep down. Folding his arms, he closed his eyes briefly, delving into his thoughts.

Finally, the mission in pursing the Archangel has resumed. Yet, I feel something strange from this… no, now's not the time for doubts.

It was then that the co-pilot of his transport plane spoke out, arousing him into reality.

“Sorry for the wait, sir, there was a slight malfunction in the circuitry of the remaining transport planes you and officer Zala are on now,” he apologized.

Ryu shook his head in reply, dismissing the intended apology with a wave of his right hand.

“There's no need to apologize, we're used to delays. But still, it was a small surprise to me that such a minor problem delayed this flight.”

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Timeline: C.E. 71, March 7; +1035 hours

Location: Indian Ocean

Lurking underwater and away from the Archangel's radar, the Cousteau proceeded to surface, after its crew received orders from Morassim to deploy the three DINNs stored inside. In order to deploy any stored MS via its three vertical catapults, it needed to surface for that to happen.

“Lower ballasts! We must launch the DINNs immediately!” the Cousteau's second-in-command bellowed to the submarine crew, who quickly complied by his command.

“10 seconds until we reach the surface!” one of the operators reported from his terminal post.

As the Cousteau finally surfaced in view, it then opened its three vertical catapults. Unfortunately, a hail of cannon fire from the skies landed several hits on the ZAFT Vosgulov-class submarine, rocking it about and knocking its crew awry.

“Two enemy aircraft are closing in fast!” the radar/sonar operator reported his findings from his terminal post.

“What!” the Cousteau second-in-command exclaimed in disbelief.

Committing a swooping attack on the Cousteau, Skygrasper-1 and Skygrasper-2 delivered a round of beam and machine-gun fire at the ZAFT submarine, inflicting major damage. However, Skygrasper-2 made a lazy turnaround and flew too close to the Cousteau, almost crashing onto it and making a sharp climb upwards to increase distance from it.

“Hey, watch it! You're flying too close, kid! Back away so I can get another shot at it!” Mwu exclaimed to Cagalli via com-link as he brought Skygrasper-1 to do a quick loop around heading towards the Cousteau.

Annoyed at not being called by her name, Cagalli dismissed his reprimand and prompted Skygrasper-2 to fly off from the Cousteau, giving Skygrasper-1 more space to fire.

“Launch the DINNs at once! It doesn't matter if we sink right now!” the Cousteau second-in-command bellowed out to the submarine crew desperately, cutting the air with an outstretched right hand.

Skygrasper-1 then opened fire with the “Agni” of the Launcher pack it was retrofitted with, with the powerful cannon shot slicing through the ZAFT submarine like a hot knife through butter, destroying it. However, amidst its imminent explosions of its destruction, one of the three DINNs stored inside took off out of one opened vertical catapult. It brought out its anti-armor shotgun, firing at Skygrasper-1.

“Damn, they still managed to launch one of their units,” Mwu remarked cautiously as he checked the DINN giving chase after him, then bringing hard the control stick as Skygrasper-1 barrel-rolled to dodge the spread shotgun shot of the DINN.

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Back to the Archangel, it continued to be under attack from the three GOOhNs. Inside its main bridge, everyone was jostled by another aftershock of torpedo explosions done by the GOOhNs, as they hang on to their seats.

Pursing her lips in dismay, Murrue furrowed her eyebrows, coming up with a quick and unconventional solution to the dilemma the Archangel was in.

“Driver, perform a 360 degree barrel roll so we can fire the main cannons!” she ordered Arnold, who glanced back at her with an incredulous look by a peculiar command.

“You've got to be kidding me… oh, alright, hang on!” he replied, grasping firmly the steering wheel, about to execute an impossible maneuver for such a large warship.

Within seconds, the Archangel slowly flipped over backwards, doing the barrel-roll, catching the GOOhNs off guard and startling their pilots as they surfaced once again to fire off their remaining torpedoes.

“What the…!” they exclaimed in disbelief.

“Fire the “Gottfried Mk.71” main beam cannons!” Murrue exclaimed confidently from her seat with a shaky right fist waving up at the air.

The Archangel's two main high-energy beam cannons on top of its “legs” swiveled aiming at the GOOhNs, and fired off instantly at them. However, two of the three GOOhNs were instantly destroyed from behind by beam shots fired underwater, alerting the remaining GOOhN pilot to suddenly glance back and catch the Seraph cloaking instantly underwater.

“Holy mother of…”

Unfortunately for him, his words were cut off as his MS was blasted into smithereens, inflicting him a quick death. The cloaked Seraph quickly swam off from the GOOhNs' explosion, looking around for the Sword Strike.

“Where did Kira go? I had him in my sights a moment ago…” Kenji wondered inside the Seraph's cockpit, checking up on his radar for Kira.

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As for the said Strike pilot, he had his hands full entangling with Morassim's ZnO. Gritting his teeth in resolution, Kira jerked the control sticks forward, flooring carefully the Sword Strike's thrusters to charge head-on at the ZnO, driving its “Schwert Gewehr” into its right arm upon impact.

-PIERCE-

The attack however, had little effect, for the ZnO shrugged it off shoving the Sword Strike away with its left hand, forcing it to drop its anti-ship sword.

“Ha… you think that will stop me!” Morassim taunted angrily.

The ZnO then pulled off the “Schwert Gewehr”, throwing it aside before going up close and personal with the Sword Strike with its claws. As it neared contact with the Gundam, Kira braced himself for the upcoming impact.

-SHWAK-

Suddenly, the ZnO ceased its charge, with its arms mysteriously sliced off instantly.

“Huh? What happened?” Kira wondered surprised, eyeing the damaged ZnO on the Sword Strike's CIS.

“Argh… how can this be?” Morassim cried frustratingly as he tried to figure out what was going on as the warning sirens buzzed non-stop inside the ZnO's cockpit. As he brought the ZnO to turn around, the Seraph de-cloaked itself in front of him, appearing in view. He widened his eyes in shock and with an agape mouth.

“No… another MS… where did that come from?”

The answer to his question came in the form of the Seraph deploying its “Armor Schneider” holstered in its hip armor and in its hands unfolded. The next second, it quickly threw the combat knives at the ZnO, stabbing it near its cockpit. Water quickly seeped in while electrical sparks cackled from the major damage the ZnO suffered. Morassim tried checking up the ZnO's damaged systems in a futile attempt.

“No, it can't be… AH----------!” he shrieked shockingly, flailing his arms to shield himself from the sudden intensity of the electrical sparks as he was half-submerged in water.

The ZnO looked to be a swelled water balloon before it finally exploded into oblivion, prompting the Sword Strike and the Seraph to back away from it.

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Meanwhile back to the skirmish between the two Skygraspers and the DINN deployed from the destroyed and sunken Cousteau, it was a grueling aerial dogfight for Cagalli and Mwu, as they circled around the DINN to have it on their sights.

Cagalli jerked the control stick wildly in order to shake off the DINN trailing after her, making Skygrasper-2 flying around aimlessly. Unluckily, her evasive efforts failed as the DINN fired off a stream of machine-gun and shotgun fire at the same time, managing to land a hit on Skygrasper-2's right wing, damaging it.

“Tch… you have to pull back, kid! You've been hit! Get out of my way now!” Mwu exclaimed at her via com-link.

“Ugh… fine!” Cagalli retorted with a displeased look on her face, prompting her damaged fighter aircraft to fly off higher to the skies, supposedly towards the direction of the Archangel.

Finally getting the DINN locked-on in his sights now that Skygrasper-2 was out of his way, Mwu pulled the trigger of the control stick, firing off the “Agni” of the Launcher pack retrofitted in Skygrasper-1. The cannon shot nailed the DINN, taking it out instantly.

“Gotcha!” he cried triumphantly. Having accomplished finding and destroying the Cousteau, along with the remainder of its forces, he decided to head back to the Archangel at once.

“Archangel, this is Mwu. I've managed to find and sink the enemy submarine that deployed those ZAFT underwater units attacking you. Skygrasper-1 and Skygrasper-2 are heading back immediately,” he contacted the Archangel via com-link.

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As to Cagalli, she seemed lost as Skygrasper-2 pulled up high in the fluffy clouds of the skies, heading towards the supposed direction she believed of the Archangel. As she continued searching for the EA legged-warship, she suddenly stumbled upon two large transport planes from behind.

“Huh…? Transports planes… are they from ZAFT? They appear to be so…” she remarked conclusively, deciding to open fire at them.

Inside Athrun's transport plane, its pilots spotted an unidentified aircraft tailing them.

“What the…? Someone's after us…” the head pilot said. He looked over to the cockpit window to find Skygrasper-2 flying by in view and doing a lazy turnaround facing him, and suddenly opening fire with its beam cannon and machine gun.

“Shit! Open fire!” the co-pilot exclaimed.

Both transport planes opened fire at Skygrasper-2 with machine guns, proceeding to gun down the sudden enemy attacking them. Surprisingly, both the transport planes and Skygrasper-2 suffered major damage from each other, with the latter flying off with a shot right wing and plummeting downwards to the ground, disappearing in view.

“Damn… the engines have been shot… we'll probably not make it to the Carpentaria Base at this rate. Sir, you must get into your MS right now so we can drop you off!” the co-pilot remarked to Athrun in his transport plane, who met his worried gaze and nodded affirmatively, not bothering to protest.

“If we can't make it to the Carpentaria base, then we must at least drop you off, sir!” the head pilot remarked to Ryu in the other transport plane. The Crusader Squad leader nodded in reply, giving a quick good-bye pat on both the head pilot and co-pilot's shoulders before he headed into his MS.

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As to the downed Skygrasper-2, it was plummeting further to a nearby small island. Cagalli gripped the control stick hard, trying to climb up while gritting her teeth in exasperation. The intensity of the plummet had her lurch deep into her seat.

“Damn it… I can't… break off! Oh no, I'll crash!”

Her eyes suddenly widened at the sight of the nearby small island zooming closer on her as Skygrasper-2 then crashed shakily into the ocean water of its shoreline, jostling its pilot wildly from the sudden impact.

“AH----------!” Cagalli screamed in fear.

It was then she suddenly collapsed unconscious in the midst of her crash-landing.

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The Seraph was flying back to the area Mwu last reported on Skygrasper-2's current location. Kenji decided to search for Cagalli after he and Kira headed back to the Archangel, informing its bridge crew about his intentions. Along the way, Mwu reported the last known coordinates he estimated Cagalli was to the Seraph pilot, who quickly thanked him for the info. Arriving at the designated coordinates, the Seraph looked around for Skygrasper-2.

“Hmm…she's not here. But Lieutenant La Flaga said this was the last place she was in…what the?” Kenji remarked in awe as a MS was spotted in view, plummeting down to a nearby island. He quickly gave chase, going at full speed after the MS. As he neared closer to it, he saw it be a white GINN-High Maneuver Type, eliciting a short surprise in him deep down. Shaking off his surprise, he focused reaching out and grabbed the GINN High-Maneuver Type by its right arm, just within a short distance from touching the sandy ground of the island's shore. With a strong boost from its thrusters, the Seraph carefully landed to the shore with the GINN High-Maneuver Type, which was deactivated. It then laid it resting on its left knee, which also did the same position as well.

Opening the Seraph's cockpit and switching off its engines and PS Armor, Kenji unbuckled the safety belt of the pilot seat and gingerly exited the cockpit. Removing his pilot helmet and leaving it on the pilot seat behind him, he then climbed down to the ground, checking his pistol strapped to his pilot coat's right leg pocket. He then slowly approached the GINN High-Maneuver Type.

Suddenly, the GINN High-Maneuver Type's cockpit hatch opened, and Kenji found himself dodging three pistol shots coming from within inside and rolling to the left, clamoring quickly behind the parked Seraph's left leg for cover. He drew his pistol out with his right hand, staying in cover warily and looking at the opened cockpit patch of the ZAFT MS. The pilot's head then popped out in view, as did the rest of his body while he carefully exited the GINN High-Maneuver Type's cockpit with a pistol in his left hand. He quickly removed his pilot helmet, exposing the face of Ryu Katsuragi. The Crusader Squad leader glanced over at the parked Seraph with surprise.

Why did the Seraph pilot bother to rescue me?Speaking of him, he's still lurking about here.

Kenji took a quick glance from his hiding spot at Ryu, taking in detail his face and trying to recognize him. His eyes suddenly widen as his memory then recalled his image.

It can't be… is that the same pilot I met with briefly in Waltfeld-sensei's base in Banadiya? It has to be… there's no doubt about it.

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Moments later, Cagalli slowly opened her eyes as she slowly regained consciousness. She found herself still inside Skygrasper-2, which was slowly seeped with ocean water from its crash. Shaking off the weariness of enduring a crash, she unbuckled the safety belt of the pilot seat, and opened the glass cockpit. Climbing out of the fighter aircraft, her combat boots were sunk in the ocean water, prompting her to look around her surroundings.

I must have landed in a small island. Ugh… I remember shooting down those transport planes, but they also shot me down as well.

Her defensive instincts kicked in as she decided to explore the small island she was on, stepping first in its entangled forest and leaving the crashed Skygrasper-2 behind. Shrugging aside shrubbery impeding her path in the forest, she soon stepped out of it to find another shoreline of the island nearby. Her eyes suddenly widen stunned at the sight of the deactivated Aegis Gundam crashed on the shore, along with its pilot removing his pilot helmet and leaving it inside its cockpit. As he turned around checking his surroundings, Athrun's eyes met up with hers, catching her in surprise. Cagalli reached out for her pistol holstered in her combat pants' right leg pocket, then firing off a quick shot at him.

-BLAM-

Athrun barely had time to react as the shot grazed his left shoulder, prompting him to drop his pistol he just fished out from his belt holster in response and roll over to a large rock nearby, hiding behind it and clutching at his injured shoulder with his right hand. He warily took a peek at his attacker sliding down the small hill she was on and approaching him.

Tch… this just isn't my day…