Vale quickly assessed his situation. If he flew towards Morgenroete, innocent lives would be involved in a full-scale battle. But if he stayed and fought, he’d lose his life and break his promise to Landon. Vale remembered the vow he made 5 years ago-that he would protect Orb, the country that brought him back to health when his mobile suit team was slaughtered by the Calamity, Forbidden, and Raider. He decided that he was going to stay and fight. He fired his Ghost’s beam rifle at the Blue Cosmos Ghosts, shooting down two of them. The explosion of the two Ghosts caused one of the Specters to be destroyed in the fire. Vale pulled out both combat knives and charged at a Specter, stabbing it in the head before blasting the cockpit with a beam rifle. The Specters retaliated by firing a volley of beams at Vale, leaving him little space to dodge. Vale attempted to block the onslaught with the Ghost’s shield, but ended up losing the shield and an arm in the process.
“Man…I really don’t want to do this, but I have to.” Vale thought to himself. He activated the Ghost’s emergency distress communication-link and sent it to Morgenroete. “Is anyone there? This is Lieutenant Jung Won Vale of Atlas! I’m requesting immediate mobile suit support…I’m being pursued by multiple Blue Cosmos mobile suits. Please…someone respond!!!”
-------------------
“Mmm…it’s so nice to have a good cup of coffee…” Leon commented.
“That’s your 4th cup in the past 30 minutes. You’re gonna get caffeine poisoning someday, you need to be careful.” Erica replied.
“Yes mother~” Leon replied sarcastically as he took another sip from his cup. The alarm blared, startling Leon enough to forcibly spit out his coffee. He began coughing constantly and choking. “Geez…what the hell was that about?”
“We’re receiving a distress signal from a mobile suit 39 kilometers from the base. Let’s see it’s from…oh my gosh! Vale!”
“What?”
“Hello? Is anyone there? Erica? Someone!” Vale yelled.
“I’m here Vale, don’t worry. Tell me your coordinates.” Erica replied.
“I’m at 3 ° 10' S and 169 ° W. Ah shit!” Leon and Erica heard shots being fired before the connection cut off abruptly. Leon and Erica heard shots being fired before the connection cut off abruptly.
“Erica, I’m heading out in an Eagle.”
“You can’t! What about your bandaged hands?”
“I’ll be fine. I should be able to pilot a mobile suit properly.”
Erica let out a sigh. “I guess I won’t be able to stop you. I know how stubborn you can be. I’ll have the mechanics equip an Eagle with a flight pack. Just be careful.”
“Ain’t I always?”
“No!”
-------------------
“Crap, I don’t think I’ll be able to make it at this rate.” Vale commented as he sliced a Ghost’s head off with his beam saber. “I’m getting too damn tired and I’m pretty sure this mobile suit is too.”
Vale continued to fight despite the heavy gunfire aimed at him. A Specter caught him off guard and blasted a hole in his Ghost’s torso with its “Zorn” beam cannon, inches away from the cockpit. The force of the blast caused some turbulence in the cockpit, forcing Vale to smack his head on the seat. His forehead began to bleed and his vision blurred a little.
“Damn it, this is hopeless!” Vale yelled as he activated his Ghost’s thrusters and fled. 2 Ghosts and a Specter landed in front of the fleeing Vale and aimed their rifles at him.
“Give it up, Coordinator. There’s no point in resisting so come quietly.” said the Specter pilot.
“I thought I told you guys…I’d rather eat shit than to stay imprisoned by you idiots.”
“Hmph. Just pathetic. I suppose if I kill you I can just tell Commander Arcadia that you committed suicide. See you in hell you waste of space.” said the pilot as he prepared to fire his beam sub-machine gun at Vale.
“Akina…forgive me…” Vale thought to himself.
A sudden rail cannon shot from the air forced the Specter to drop the machine gun. Everyone looked up and saw an Eagle equipped with a flight pack, rail cannon, and beam machine gun flying towards the battlefield.
“Looks like I arrived just in time.” Leon commented as he threw the rail cannon at Vale’s Ghost. Vale caught it and shot down the Specter and 2 Ghosts while Leon’s Eagle landed onto the ground. “You look like shit, Vale.”
“I could say the same about you, mummy hands.” Vale replied.
“No time for teary reunions now, we gotta take care of this garbage first.”
“Yeah.”
“It’s just one mobile suit! Don’t let it intimidate you!” barked the leader of the Blue Cosmos mobile suit force.
“Come here you old windbag!” Leon yelled as he charged towards the command unit with a beam saber and combat knife.
“Stay the hell away from me!!!” yelled the commander as he fired his Specter’s beam sub-machine gun frantically at Leon’s Eagle. Leon dodged the gunfire with ease, sliced the Specter’s head off with a saber and stabbed the cockpit with the combat knife in his other hand. The commander yelled out in pain before his mobile suit collapsed onto the ground. Another Specter attempted to land a beam cannon blast on Leon.
“DIE!!!” yelled the Specter pilot. Leon picked up the command unit’s fallen body and used it as a shield to block the beam cannon attack. The Specter charged the beam cannon for another shot, but Leon threw his combat knife into the cannon causing it overload and explode. The slight distraction gave Leon enough time to stab the Specter’s torso and fire his Eagle’s beam-machine gun at point blank range. Leon’s Eagle was engulfed in the smoke of the explosions, creating an intimidating image of the mobile suit. The remaining 2 Blue Cosmos soldiers stood in fear of Leon’s brutal fighting style.
“Is this all you got?! This is pretty sad…I’m kicking your guys’ asses with injured hands! I guess a handicap doesn’t help pilots who suck!” Leon retorted.
“I’m getting out of here!” yelled one of the soldiers. The 2 of them activated their thrusters and flew back to their base only to have Vale waiting in front of them as they fled.
“Don’t tell me you guys forgot I was here.” Vale said as he shot down the first Ghost with his rail cannon. The last pilot yelled and attempted to shoot down Vale, but missed every shot. His fear blurred his vision and caused him to fire rapidly instead of aiming carefully. Vale jammed his rail cannon into the Ghost’s cockpit and fired, leaving a very large hole in the cockpit area. “Phew…thanks for saving my ass, Leon. How are your hands?”
“They’re beginning to bleed again, but I should be fine. Let’s hurry up and get to Morgenroete. We’ll talk there.”
Leon grabbed Vale’s trashed Ghost, leaned him against his Eagle, and the two flew back to Morgenroete. Leon’s Eagle became a bit unstable once they reached the landing area, causing the two to crash onto the ground.
“Damn it Leon, couldn’t you have made a smoother landing?!” Vale yelled.
“Ah, shut up.” Leon replied.
The two jumped out of their respective cockpits and was greeted by Erica. Vale and Leon were rushed into the medical to receive treatments for their injuries.
“Oh yeah Erica, before I forget. Landon and I stole this from Blue Cosmos. It’s a blueprint for a prototype mobile suit. If Morgenroete can build it, we can probably put up a better fight against that bastard Arcadia.” said Vale.
“I don’t know if I can…” Erica replied.
“Please Erica…I don’t want Landon’s sacrifice to go to waste.”
Erica’s eyes widened with shock. After thinking a while, Erica’s expression saddened. “I suppose that’s why he wasn’t with you when you contacted us.”
“I have one more request, Erica. I need my Shrike rebuilt. I noticed that Leon no longer has his Murasame, and we’ll need him. I think that the prototype on that disk should suit him just fine.”
“We’ll start working on them immediately. You two get some rest.”
-------------------
“Something’s not right…I don’t think that the Earth Alliance would put up such a weak defense on an important base like this.” Akina commented.
“Mr. Azrael! The Calamity, Raider, and Forbidden are ready to launch.” said an Earth Alliance soldier.
“Then send them out and have them take care of those nuisances.” Azrael replied.
Suddenly, 3 mobile suits emerged out of a nearby Agamemnon class battleship. One was in a teal, grey, and yellow color scheme, and was equipped with a large amount of long range weapons. The second was in a black and red color scheme and was equipped with a dual-barreled cannon on its right arm and a hammer on its left hand. The third one was in a green color scheme, had a large backpack, and was equipped with a scythe.
“Shit! It’s the new Alliance prototypes!” Vale yelled. “Those bastards set us up!”
“So many targets…I don’t know who to shoot down first!” yelled Clotho, the pilot of the black and red mobile suit.
“Who cares who we kill first?! I just want to see some explosions!” yelled Orga, the pilot of the teal mobile suit.
Shani, the pilot of the green mobile suit, let out a sly chuckle and transformed his mobile suit into its close combat mode.
“I ain’t gonna die in a place like this!!!” yelled a DINN pilot as he charged towards the Forbidden.
“You idiot! Don’t attack so recklessly!” Vale yelled.
The DINN pilot blasted the Forbidden with his shotgun, only to have the shots blocked by the Forbidden’s shields. Shani laughed and blasted the DINN with the Forbidden’s beam cannon. Orga hid himself in a nearby forest and shot down 8 of the DINNs with a combination attack consisting of his Calamity’s backpack cannons and chest beam cannon, leaving only Akina and Vale. Vale attempted to shoot down the Raider with a missile strike, but Clotho fired the beam cannon on his Raider’s head and shot down each missile. Clotho then swung his hammer at Vale and destroyed his DINN’s arm.
“Akina, we need to get out of here! These mobile suits are too powerful for us!” Vale yelled as he and Akina flew away in their DINNs.
“Don’t run! We’re not finished playing!” Clotho yelled as he transformed his Raider into its mobile armor mode and chased after them.
“Jung Won, look out!” Akina yelled as she shoved Vale’s DINN away from the Raider’s line of fire. The Raider fired its beam cannon at Akina’s cockpit, instantly killing her.
“AKINA!!!” Vale yelled. He completely lost his judgement and let his anger control him. He charged towards the Raider and fired his DINN’s machine gun at it. Clotho dodged the gunfire by flying upwards. Vale chased after him, but was stopped by Shani.
“See you in hell!!!” Shani yelled as he sliced the DINN in half with his Forbidden’s scythe, causing the upper torso of Vale’s DINN to crash onto the ground. The force of the crash knocked Vale unconscious.
…
Vale sat on a chair in his room and stared at a picture of Akina.
“Never again…I promised myself that I would never again lose someone important to me. I guess I broke that promise. I don’t know why I bother trying anymore. I’m sorry, Scott. You were like a father to me. I hope that you’re doing well in Heaven.” Vale thought to himself before falling asleep on the chair. Akina’s spirit came to Vale and hugged him as he slept.
“Don’t ever give up fighting, Jung Won. I’ll always be here by your side to support you and to keep you strong, my love…” said Akina.
-------------------
Three months had passed since Vale and Leon returned to Morgenroete…
Vale woke up in the middle of the night and walked over to the kitchen to grab a glass of water. As he was walking back to his room he heard the noise of tools in the mobile suit hangar. Leon was in there alone working on the X14L.
“You sure it’s okay to work on a mobile suit while your hands are still bandaged up?” Vale asked.
“Has anyone ever told you that you worry too much?” Leon replied.
“Constantly. I guess I’ll leave you alone then. Don’t stay up too long.” Vale said as he walked out of the hangar. He stopped when he heard Leon groan in pain and clench his wrists. Vale walked back to Leon, picked up a tool, and helped him work on the X14L. “You’re a really stubborn guy, Leon.”
“Yeah…I get that a lot.”
“Can I ask why you’re so willing to finish this mobile suit? I’m sure Erica and the mechanics are trying their hardest to complete it.”
“I know they are…I’m just helping them out. While they rest, I work. I want to make their work easier. Besides, you know how important Rhapsody is to me. I have to save her as soon as possible.”
“Heh…you know, I used to have someone like that…back when I was with ZAFT.”
“Oh really?”
“Yeah. My fiancée. Even though we were young we knew that we were meant for each other. I was completely devoted to her and would do anything to protect her. But ever since that day…I’ve doubted my own strength. That’s probably why I worry so much about everything.”
“‘That day?’”
“It’s nothing. Let’s just keep working. We’ve gotta save Rhapsody as soon as possible like you said, right?”
“Heh, yeah.”
-------------------
“How are you hands feeling, Leon?” Erica asked.
“A lot better. I’m just glad to get them out of those damned bandages.” Leon replied.
“Come to the hangar, I’ve got a nice surprise for the two of you.”
Leon and Vale walked through the gigantic hangar opening and saw 2 brand new mobile suits.
“So, what do you think? The X14L isn’t exactly complete, though. While the mobile suit itself is complete, we haven’t built any of the weapons except for the combat knives, the chest beam cannon, and the CIWS. We’re still trying to figure out what the heck the ‘FUNNEL’ system and ‘SVS Neuro-Link Computer’ are. All this mobile suit really needs now is a name.” said Erica.
“Hmm…I think I’ll call this mobile suit Prophecy because I see it as a divine prediction of hope for the future.” said Leon.
“That’s pretty corny, Leon. Why not just call it ‘Hope’ then?” Vale asked.
“Because that, my friend, sounds cornier than Prophecy.”
“Hmph, whatever. That mobile suit next to the X14L…is that my Shrike?”
“Yup. It’s pretty much the same mobile suit only we’ve outfitted some optional armor on it. The transformation feature is disabled and some mobility is sacrificed, but it’s been given some powerful new weapons and can take a lot more punishment. Probably the most notable weapons are the ‘Indra’ bolt discharge cannons on the arms. If set correctly, they can either fry an enemy’s operating system or disable the mobile suit altogether. And of course, you can revert it back to the old Shrike by jettisoning the external armor. Then you’ll have the transformation feature back.”
“Haha, you’re quite the mad scientist Erica.” Vale commented.
“Why thank you.”
The mobile suit showcase was interrupted by a sudden alarm by the EWS. Blue Cosmos mobile suits had located traces of destroyed Ghosts and Specters and followed the trail that led to Morgenroete. Among the team was Estelle, dead set on destroying the whole organization.
“Shit, they’re back!” Vale yelled.
“Erica, the mobile suits are ready right?” Leon asked.
“The Shrike is, but the Prophecy is too dangerous to pilot at this point! We haven’t even figured out its operating system. It might cause physical damage to your body.” Erica replied.
“Don’t worry about me, Erica. Come on Vale, let’s hurry.”
“Right. Open the hangar doors for us Erica.”
Leon flew out of the hangar in the Prophecy and Vale followed in his Shrike. A Specter fired the first shot, forcing the two to separate.
“Die, Coordinator!!!” yelled a Specter pilot as he fired a round of missiles at the Prophecy. Leon fired the Prophecy’s chest beam cannon and shot down each missile before stabbing a combat knife into the Specter’s cockpit, causing it to collapse and drop its beam machine gun. Leon grabbed it and flew towards the group of Specters that were heading towards Morgenroete.
“Don’t you dare involve Erica in our battle!” Leon yelled.
-------------------
“Hello again, Lieutenant Vale. This time I won’t hold back…I’ll make sure I dispose of you!” Estelle retorted.
“You know, you really were cute. Too bad you’re such a bitch.” Vale replied.
“Shut up!” Estelle yelled as she fired the beam cannon on her Specter’s head. Vale blocked the attack with the Shrike’s shield and counterattacked with a round of missiles. Estelle raised both of her Specter’s shields and blocked the attack, giving Vale the opportunity to slash the Specter’s armor with the Shrike’s heat claws.
“I thought you were a better pilot than this. You’re constantly leaving yourself open to an attack.”
“That’s the problem with you Coordinators…you’re all too damn cocky! Don’t take me lightly!” Estelle fired the Specter’s head beam cannon at the floor, forming a dust cloud around her. The Shrike’s cameras went into disarray, leaving Vale open to a blast from the Specter’s backpack beam cannon. The powerful blast ripped through the Shrike’s optional armor but luckily did not damage the Shrike itself too much.
“Phew…I’m gonna have to thank Erica for that optional armor upgrade.” Vale said as he took out his Shrike’s beam saber. “I don’t intend on dying today…got that?”
“I don’t intend on letting you two live today.” Estelle replied as she took out her Specter’s beam saber. Vale charged towards Estelle and beam particles scattered about as the two beam sabers clashed.
-------------------
“AAAH!!!” yelled a Specter pilot in pain as he was stabbed by one of the Prophecy’s combat knives.
“I’m beginning to think that I won’t need all those other weapons to fight against these bastards…” Leon commented as he shot down a Ghost with the Prophecy’s chest beam cannon. An image of Alex’s sacrifice against Fahren’s onslaught flashed through his mind. “But then again…I’ll need more than great piloting skills to take him down.”
Suddenly, two Specters slammed themselves into the Prophecy, blocking its view. The remaining Ghosts took the opportunity to fire some missiles at Morgenroete.
“NOOO!!!” Leon yelled as he stabbed the two Specters with combat knives. Leon shot down the Ghosts and attempted to shoot down the missiles, but was only able to take down 4. The rest hit the main hangar and exploded inside of it, causing it to collapse. “ERICA!!!”
-------------------
Vale fired a round of missiles at Estelle, forcing her to go on the defensive and block the missiles. The smoke from the explosions gave Vale the chance to slice off Estelle’s Specter’s arms off with his Shrike’s beam saber. The Specter fell to the ground and Vale prepared to fire a grenade at the downed mobile suit until he saw smoke coming from Morgenroete’s location. Vale’s eyes widened with fear and all his focus shifted to Morgenroete.
“Shit!!!” Vale yelled as he flew towards Morgenroete.
Estelle picked herself up off the ground and began flying back to the hidden transport ship.
“Don’t think this is over, Coordinator…” Estelle retorted.
-------------------
Vale rushed over to the now destroyed Morgenroete and found the Prophecy frantically digging through the rubble.
“Leon! What the hell happened?!” Vale asked.
“No time to explain! Just help me clear this rubble!” Leon replied.
Both the Shrike and the Prophecy quickly dug through the rubble and sadly found nothing. The two pilots stood in silence as they contemplated what they should do. Suddenly, a familiar face flashed onto their screens.
“Were you two about to cry? I thought you were men.” Erica commented.
“Erica! Thank God…” Leon said with relief.
“You had nothing to worry about. Morgenroete was designed to have countless defense shelters in case of an attack. So don’t worry, everyone is fine.”
“Good.”
“Now, head towards these coordinates. We’ve got some work to do…”
-------------------
“Sir! Estelle has just reported that her team was unable to kill Sieghart and Vale but has destroyed Morgenroete, as planned.” said a Blue Cosmos soldier.
“Heh, that girl is actually good for something.” Fahren replied.
“So…is that female Coordinator going to be the initial test subject?”
“Yes, she’s going to become an essential tool for my experiment…”
Fahren and the soldier walked into a room with a large machine filled with a blue liquid. As the lights came on Rhapsody’s unconscious body appeared inside the machine.
