Two weeks had passed since Leon and Rhapsody’s last contract. The two walked over to Morgenroete to check on the progress on their Murasames. They were a bit low on cash due to Leon’s addiction to coffee and Rhapsody’s insane sweet tooth. Leon cursed the day he baked that chocolate cake for her back when they were in ZAFT. Ever since then, she’s had a strong urge for all things sweet. All that aside, they met with Alex and Erica outside of the factory.
“Ah, great timing guys. I have a new job for you two,” said Alex.
“What kind of a job is this?” Leon asked.
“I need you to protect Chairman Landon of the Earth Alliance. There are rumors that Blue Cosmos wants to assassinate him in order to end the peace talks with ZAFT and the Earth Alliance.”
“What could they be thinking? They know that both sides don’t want to start another war.”
“Well, even though there are peace talks, the hatred still remains in some. The damages from the past wars have not changed how people feel in their hearts, so there are still some who wish to wipe out all Coordinators. Blue Cosmos will send someone disguised in a ZAFT uniform to assassinate Chairman Landon.”
“That makes no sense…why would they do such a thing?”
“My guess is that Blue Cosmos needs money to build up their own military force in order to start their anti-Coordinator campaign. They believe that if ZAFT ends up screwing up the peace talks, the Earth Alliance will side with Blue Cosmos and give them military support.”
“Leon, we can’t let that happen. We fought so hard to keep this peace…” said Rhapsody.
“I know. Damn, if only Atlas had a more powerful influence…”
“I’ll try to finish these Murasames as soon as I can. In the meantime, please prevent this from happening,” said Erica.
“We will. We worked too hard to let it all go to waste.”
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“Sir!”
“What’s wrong?”
“Our informant tells us that there are going to be 2 mercenaries guarding the Chairman. And they might be the two Neo Coordinators that escaped from ZAFT. Should we stop our operation?”
“No, continue as planned.”
“Yes sir.”
“I’ll enjoy meeting those two again…the so-called team that fights within the shadows…”
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“Wow, the South Korean base...I haven’t been here for a while. Piloting a DINN, trying to destroy the Earth Alliance forces, and losing all my comrades in battle...so many memories. Ever since the war ended the Earth Alliance constructed a conference building here in order to discuss the future of the Earth and the PLANTS. This place has certainly become a historical site for the establishment of the relationship between the Coordinators and the Naturals.” Leon thought to himself.
“This is Connie Summers reporting live from the George Glenn Memorial Conference Center, where Earth Alliance Chairman Landon is meeting with ZAFT representatives to discuss recent peace talks. Speaking of whom, here he comes now with two bodyguards—a girl and a…really hot guy!”
“Back off lady! He’s mine!” replied an angered Rhapsody.
“Let’s just hurry up and go inside, geez…” said an embarrassed Leon.
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The peace talks were progressing smoothly. There was no sign of any Blue Cosmos…yet. Seeing the new ZAFT high council made Leon nervous. He knew that the Telepath Project’s records have been destroyed, but he couldn’t shake the nervous feeling he had. He should have no worries since only he, Rhapsody, and that 3rd pilot knew about the project ever since they had killed the old ZAFT council. Leon had this suspicion that the 3rd pilot was nearby…leaking out this information.
“Leon, you look nervous. What’s up?” asked Rhapsody
“Ugh, I don’t know what’s wrong with me. It’s probably just because we’re in the same room with ZAFT.” Leon replied.
“I feel the same way. Think they know about us?”
“Let’s hope not. We have enough problems to deal with.”
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“I am sure you are aware of the rumors that Blue Cosmos is rising up again. My sources have told me that a new ZAFT is in progress to counter the anti-Coordinator sentiment…in the most extreme way possible. I hope that you are not involved with those extremists.” said Chairman Landon.
“No, we have nothing to do with them. Be assured…we are doing everything in our power to prevent another war from starting. We have people working day and night to find all who are with this new ZAFT regime.” said ZAFT Chairman Steele.
“Now, about Atlas. They are a bit low on funds and can’t counter any acts of terror with their current mobile suit force.”
“We’ll have our engineers build more for them. Be sure to do your part as well.”
“Don’t worry. We want Atlas’ influence to rise, so they can prevent any extremists from rising. We are doing our part.”
Leon gave out a yawn. “Geez, this boring. All they can do is repeat what each other says. I need to get out of here. I should’ve brought my music player.”
“Where are you going?” whispered Rhapsody.
“Just getting some fresh air. I’ll be right back.” Leon replied.
It was so pleasant outside. The weather wasn’t too hot, or too cold. A light breeze added to the peacefulness of the scene. Leon went towards a shaded spot near a tree, but stopped when he saw two suspicious-looking people near the building. One was in a ZAFT uniform and another was in…a Blue Cosmos uniform!
“Shit, they actually came.” Leon said as he moved in closer to hear what they were talking about.
“Just go in there, find a good sniping spot, and shoot the guy, it’s that simple. Don’t make me repeat myself!” said the first Blue Cosmos solider.
“Alright, I got it sheesh.” replied the other.
Leon decided to give the poor guys a chance because they seemed incompetent to him. He followed the one with the ZAFT uniform inside the building.
“Nice day, isn’t it?” Leon asked.
“Er…uh…yeah…sure.” replied the nervous soldier.
“You do know that you’re wearing an outdated ZAFT uniform.”
“Oh! Uh…my other uniform is uh…getting washed! Yeah!”
“Hmph, what a lame excuse. You would think an organization like Blue Cosmos would send someone a little smarter. You guys get dumber every time I see you.”
The solider pulled out a handgun and pointed it at me. I certainly caught his attention now that I’ve blown his cover so easily, if you could it a cover.
“Damn, who the hell are you?!”
“Just your everyday, run-of-the-mill mercenary.” Leon said as he punched the soldier in the stomach, knocking him out. A few seconds later, a voice came out of the walkie-talkie in the soldier’s jacket.
“Hey! What’s your progress? Did you kill the Chairman?” said the voice.
Leon picked up the walkie-talkie. “I’m sorry, but your partner was a feeling a little tired, so I helped him fall asleep.”
“Shit!”
The other soldier cut off the connection. A few minutes later multiple mobile suits landed near the building. Leon quickly ran over to the main conference room.
“Leon! What happened?” asked Rhapsody.
“I found the Blue Cosmos assassins and took care of them. They decided to bring along some friends to the party.” Leon replied. “Hey Chairman Steele, you got anything here that can fight off mobile suits?”
“Well, I believe that there are some mobile suits in the war museum.” Steele replied.
“Now that’s just plain stupid. Why the hell would you keep operational mobile suits in a museum? Bah, whatever, let’s just hurry.”
Leon and Rhapsody ran towards the museum and found a gigantic hallway with mobile suits. Sadly, they were all the old models. Leon decided to take a CGUE, since it was the mobile suit he piloted back in the war of CE 71. Rhapsody took a normal GINN and equipped it with an M69 Barrus heavy ion cannon. They immediately flew out of the museum, causing the roof to collapse.
“Brings back memories, eh Rhap?”
“Haha, yeah. I haven’t been in one of these things for years! I certainly like the older models over those ZAKUs. Something about those models didn’t seem really original, like they got the idea for the design from somewhere else.”
“Yeah. I missed using a CGUE.”
Blue Cosmos had built more of those unknown units that Leon and Rhapsody fought in space, but this time there were no AI units piloting the suits, making the fight easier for the two. The BC soldiers fired their beam rifles at them, but they dodged the gunfire with ease. Leon took out the CGUE’s machine gun and flew towards the first 2 units. As he got in closer he shot off their legs, took out the CGUE’s sword, and sliced directly across the cockpits. Rhapsody fired the Barrus cannon and took out 3 of the units in one shot. She then took out the GINN’s machine gun and shot down the remaining suits that were heading towards her.
“What the hell is wrong with you guys? They’re inside ancient mobile suits! How the hell can we be losing?!” yelled the command unit.
“You as a pilot should know that it’s never the mobile suit that determines the outcome of a battle!” Leon yelled as he flew in closer, slicing the command unit in half. It exploded as soon as the CGUE landed on the ground. “It’s the pilot’s skill that does.”
“That’s an interesting point. Care to prove it to me?”
Leon looked up and saw another mobile suit, but it looked stronger than the ones he was fighting earlier. It was in a menacing black and grey color scheme and had multiple cannons mounted on its backpack. It held a long beam rifle in one hand and a shield/beam saber combination in the other. Leon’s mind started to get a weird reaction from the unknown unit.
“Fate has brought us together on the battlefield once again Leon!” said the pilot of the new unit.
