Disclaimer: I don't own Gundam Seed in any way shape or form.
A/N: Now I know for a fact that most of my normal reviews wont read this story but I have decided to throw my hat into the Seed universe and see what people of my work in this setting.
Far warning this well be heavy AU and please not that I well delete all flames from the review list so don't waste time writing them. Hope you all enjoy this the first chapter of The Songstress.
Chapter 1: I choose….
Lacus Clyne sighed as she leaned back in her seat. She sat before the computer terminal in the quarters assigned to her on the Earth Forces ship. She was locked in once again, after her latest foray following Mr. Pink around the ship, this excursion culminating with her entrance into the ships mess.
It had been an enjoyable sojourn until she had been confronted by the red haired girl who had disparaged her for being a Coordinator… as if she could help being what she was born. Kira had returned her to her room, admonishing her to remain in the room where it was safer. Her lunch had sat untouched at her elbow since Kira had left, stating he had work to do.
He had said he would return to talk to her, even bring her dinner. It was certainly no fun to eat alone, but it was clear no one except Kira wanted anything to do with her.
"Am I such a bad person just for being born a Coordinator?" She whispered, picking at her meal.
Mr. Pink almost bounced off the walls, admonishing her; his mechanical tone almost seemed flavoured by his disapproval of the thought. Mr. Pink certainly thought she was not a bad person because she was a Coordinator.
"I didn't choose to become a Coordinator, but I wouldn't change who I am if I could. I'm proud of who I have become and what I am." Firming her back she held out her hands to the Haro and, as she so often did when distressed, resorted to the comfort of song.
True to his promise Kira returned, spending some small time with her before retiring for the night, leaving with her a book and the suggestion she get some sleep. He had informed her they would be linking up with the Earth Forces 8th Mobile Fleet's advance guard within the next day or so, and Lacus, uncertain of her position on the ship, had nodded, thanked him for the book and watched the door close as he had departed for his quarters.
Mr. Pink, as always incapable of being still and silent, was bouncing at the door once again and Lacus sighed as the door slid open, the Haro bouncing out into the hallway. With a sigh, but unable to hide her smile, Lacus got to her feet and quickly followed the Haro through the corridors of the ship. The few civilians who were awake at this late hour seemed to pay her no mind, but she was aware when her presence came to the attention of crew members.
She could tell those who did not see her as a threat as they laughed as she hurried after the bouncing Haro, calling to Mr. Pink to stop and come back to her. Those who were not so sure of her set off in pursuit, chasing her through the halls, attempting to cut her off, but Mr. Pink was far too clever to allow that.
Within a few minutes Lacus caught the pink Haro, but not before he had led her to the MS hanger where her old life boat stood to one side at the feet of the Strike. The Strike stood in its cradle along side the Moebius Zero and on the far side of the hanger stood another Mobile Suit she had not noticed when she had first come on board.
There were similarities between the Strike and the unknown suit. The heads were almost the same in design, but the body of the new suite was more angular and had more protrusions, with a shield moulded to the larger left arm of the suit. The great grey behemoth's right arm was equipped with a weapon baring a striking resemblance to a double barrelled shotgun.
Curious Lacus walked closer, circling the suit until she paused, staring up beneath the shield when she noticed the long thin barrel of a gun attached to the rear of the shield. What was more intriguing was the long coil of segmented metal secured beneath the gun. Standing on tip toes she tried to see more of the unusual coil which, the more she looked at it, brought to mind the coiled power of a snake.
"Curious. A whip?"
Kicking off from the ground Lacus, who was no stranger to light gravity, floated to head height inclining her head as she noted the hilts of twin beam sabres mounted behind the shoulders of the suit.
"Now who might you be?" She reached to grasp the nearest fin crowning the suits head, taking firm hold to stop herself from floating away.
Mu La Flaga, from the side of his Mobile Armour, watched as the rescued guest floated up to the head of the mobile suit and appeared to stare into the dark eyes. For a long moment he considered alerting the security patrols to her presence, but instead he launched himself into the air in a controlled move, drifting unerringly to stop at the head fin opposite the young woman.
"Now what might you be doing here, Ms. Clyne?"
"Oh, Mr. La Flaga, I was following Mr. Pink who was so bored he escaped our room. In following him he led me here, to the hanger."
"Indeed? Well, you should head back to your rooms, I am thinking, now you have caught your errant Mr. Pink." Mu eyed the pink Haro, clearly amused. "I will escort you back to your room as you really should not be wandering around the ship. Again."
Mu offered a hand to Lacus watching her closely.
"Very well, Mr. La Flaga, but if you don't mind me asking, what is the name of this mobile suit? I recall Mr. Yamato telling me he was the pilot of the Strike and he was the one to bring my life boat in."
Lacus took the offered hand and made no protest as Mu, with deft control, pushed off from the fin and they floated in a controlled fall to the hanger floor. It was strange, she mused to herself, but it felt as though she was meant to know about this suit. It struck something deep within her, almost like a harmonious cord.
Mu looked at Lacus for a long moment and the young woman sighed. "I'm sorry; I know it is a military secret. Please, forget that I asked, it's just that…" Her eyes slipped back to the suit and she fell silent.
Having payed close attention to her reaction Mu held her close as they touched down midway across the hanger floor and he turned her to face the suit.
"It is the GAT-X208, designation Faith. She was constructed at the same time as the Strike, but unlike the Strike and the other suits of similar design, the Faith was on board the Archangel when ZAFT attacked the colony."
Lacus considered the tall man for a moment and nodded, offering up a winning smile by way of a thank you and she accompanied Mu from the hanger, the Haro clasped firmly in her hands. On reaching her assigned room Lacus turned to Mu, watching as he examined the locking mechanism, no doubt in hopes of foiling any further escapades by Mr. Pink.
"Mr. La Flaga, who pilots the Faith?"
Mu sighed and shook his head. "No one. The kid hasn't had enough time to devise an OS program a Natural can use. I'm not trained in Mobile Suit piloting, so for the moment she just stands there. Now, Miss Clyne, please stay in your room and refrain from leaving without an escort."
Lacus, flashing a small and rather mischievous smile nodded and watched as the door closed. She rather liked Mr. La Flaga, who gave every appearance of being a gentleman. Admonishing the Haro to refrain from taking any more excursions for the night, she retrieved an oversized shirt she had found in the cabinet set at one end of the bed and changed. Slipping into bed she settled the Haro on the pillow near her head; bade him guard her sleep and settled down to sleep.
The next morning Lacus woke to the sound the Haro alerting her to someone at the door before the person knocked.
"Who is it?"
"Kira Yamato."
Quickly finger brushing some order into her sleep mussed hair and pulling the blanket firmly around her, Lacus sat up. She would have preferred to be well groomed and out of bed, but the thought of having company dismissed the other concerns.
"Do come in."
Kira stepped through the door, a tray containing breakfast balanced in each hand. He offered her a small smile as he set one tray on the tray from the night before and the other beside it. Picking up the Haro he took a seat as Tori flew in the still open door to land on his shoulder.
"Good morning Ms Clyne, I brought you breakfast and thought you would like some company for your meal." Taking in her state of undress Kira blushed and turned away. "I can wait outside for you to dress and then we can eat."
Lacus smiled, running her fingers through her hair, "If you would be so kind, Mr. Yamato. I'll call you when I'm ready and thank you for being so kind to me."
Lacus was quick to leave the bed when alone with the Haro and Kira's Tori. The Haro entertained himself by doing 360's around the bird while Tori would bob his head.
Quickly pulling the shirt off and getting dressed in her own clothes Lacus looked around for a brush and made a run for the compact bathroom, dragging the brush through her hair and calling out to Kira that it was alright to enter. Though she would not admit it she was afraid he might change his mind and she would have no company to relieve her confinement.
Kira walked in and smiled at the sight of Lacus as she struggled to bring some semblance of order to her hair. Without the benefit of having a shower and hair wash it appeared she was fighting a loosing battle.
"I'll see if Mir can watch you so you can have a shower later." He promised her. "Mu told me you wandered down to the hanger last night. You really should stay in your room, there are some people on the ship who have a problem with Coordinators." Kira took a seat and Tori flew to land on his shoulder. "Breakfast, Miss Clyne?"
"Thank you, Mr Yamato." Lacus took the other seat and with all of the manners of a lady engaged in a polite conversation with Kira as they ate breakfast.
Kira listened, mainly in silence as she spoke of growing up on the PLANT's, telling him something of her life. It was a companionable interlude and Lacus was far from happy when it was over, Kira stacking all three trays and taking them in hand.
"I'll get Mir to pick you up before she heads to the showers. In the mean time I will unlocked the computer to give you some basic access, nothing that is classified, but you should find something to read or watch to pass the time."
Kira began rapidly making entries to the computer, fingers flying over the keys, his eyes on the screen as it changed in a constant sequence in response to his entries.
"Thank you again, Mr Yamato. I look forward to meeting with you... maybe for lunch?"
Lacus looked at Kira with hope as she did get lonely locked in the room and she had a feeling that Mu might have worked out a way of stopping Mr. Pink from accessing the door code without her help.
"I'll see what I can do, but I can't promise anything." He leaned back from the keyboard with a decisive nod, his programming of the computer complete. "I tend to miss lunch when I start working on the Strike."
Kira nodded in farewell, walking out the door and activating the lock with an apologetic smile to Lacus as the door closed.
Lacus sat back for a moment and considered the door. What an interesting young man, she mused and with a small smile she settled before the keyboard and typed in his name. She had expected to get no where with the enquiry but to her surprise a file did open and she settled down to read, guessing he had cleared her to view his file. If she had been a terrorist or an enemy that would have been a very dangerous thing to do, she decided, but how fortunate it was she was a friend.
Enquiries about the crew were rejected and to her attempt to access information on the Strike the computer beeped and flashed, as it had so many times in the last few minutes, 'Access Denied'. Considering the virtues of pouting at an uncooperative computer Lacus settled down to discover what she could access and it was with some surprise she discovered she had a reasonable access to the ships library. She could even access texts on how to write an operating system for a ship or mobile suit.
Now that, she decided, was more like it. Perhaps Kira had thought she would have no interest in such texts as these, she was after all the daughter of a politician. A very proper lady was what she was supposed to be, but she would not argue against her good fortune.
It was a little more than an hour later when a knock disturbed her and the door opened at her call to reveal a girl with orange/brown hair. Her blue eyes sparkled with good humour, an expression Lacus had found sorely lacking on this ship and she was dressed in the female cadet uniform for the Earth Forces.
"Hi, I'm Miriallia Haw, but they call me Mir. Kira asked me to escort you to the showers. I'm off duty now, so we can have a good scrub down and hair wash before I bring you back."
"Thank you, Ms Mir," Lacus was quick to pick up the brush and the Haro, who settled into her hand with what sounded like a contented chirp. "Please, lead the way."
Mir proved to be quite sociable, chatting with Lacus as they walked through the ship. It seemed to Lacus that the day was much of an improvement over the previous day and so it came as a surprise when Mir jumped back as the shower doors opened and Lacus had to skip quickly out of the way to avoid running into her. For a moment Mir looked undecided and then sighed, entering the showers with an apologetic look at Lacus.
There was no big mystery as to Mir's behaviour, Lacus learned on entering. The red haired girl who had been so abusive to her the previous day was sitting on one of the benches, half dressed with a face like a thundercloud.
Diplomacy was a skill her father had attempted to train into Lacus since she was a small girl and now it came to the fore, allowing her to nod politely, strip quickly and efficiently and slip into one of the shower stalls.
"What's she doing here?" Flay glared at Mir who was well on the way to being undressed herself.
"She needs a shower, of course. Leave her alone, Flay. She isn't going to attack you, you know."
Mir stepped around the belligerent red head and into a shower stall, choosing to ignore Flay's comments, only interested in a hot shower after a long night on the bridge keeping watch for possible attacks.
Flay narrowed her eyes even more, glaring at Mir and the monster in the stall beside her before quickly dressing and leaving the room. In the wake of her departure Lacus gave a sad sigh before tilting her head back a little to let the water hit her face.
'I'm not bad or evil. I don't know what is wrong with that girl, but it has nothing to do with me. I am me and that is all that matters.'
Luxuriating in the hot water flowing over her body she tilted her head back and allowed herself to relax, humming quietly.
Lacus was returned to her quarters by Mir who was looking forward to her bed and once alone she returned to the computer. Though it was not known to the crew of the Archangel she was not unfamiliar with computers and she entertained herself with breaking through firewalls and gathering what information she could access.
She accessed reports on the last few battles the Archangel had engaged in and continued to search for information on Kira Yamato. Why he interested her she could not say, but she knew she wanted to know more. What she had thought was his file, the one she read earlier in the day, proved to be his school records and none of the more recent information since he had joined the ships crew.
Deciding it must be near lunch and wondering if anyone was going to bring her a meal she was disturbed by a quick knock on the door, which opened almost immediately. Kira stuck his head in, looking tired and worn, but he had a smile for her.
"I believe I have a lunch appointment with you." He set a tray of food before Lacus and took the second to the other side of the room for himself.
"Why so tired Mr. Yamato?" Lacus watched as Tori and her Haro started chasing each other around the room and watched as Kira heaved a sigh, leaning back in his seat.
"I haven't been sleeping that well of late. Nightmares mostly, about losing my friends." Kira leaned forward in his seat, bringing a hand up to cover his eyes while the other hand played a restless game with his fork. "I should be able to sleep as soon as we meet with the advance guard in a few hours."
"Maybe you could have a quick nap before the meeting point? You look very tired and you can't protect anyone if you fall asleep in battle." Lacus got to her feet and walking over to Kira's side began rubbing his shoulders, giving him a gentle look.
The reports she had managed to access suggested that with the exception of Kira and Mu La Flaga there was a decided shortage of defenders for the Archangel. The ship had firepower, but it needed a crew of defenders free to leave the ship.
'You protect the ship and the crew, but who is it who protects you? We all need protecting from our sad and fearful dreams.'
Kira finished eating and shook his head. "I have work to do."
Getting to his feet he stretched slowly and Lacus heard his joints protest. Watching him she knew all she could do was will him to get some sleep and wonder why she cared so much. They had only just met really, why did she think so much of him and worry after him?
"I'll sleep when we meet up with the main fleet." Kira offered her a small smile and started for the door. He did not want to look back, afraid she would see how tired he was and he wanted her to think he was strong a capable. "I'll come back with your dinner in a few hours."
He did not look back to see the small nod she offered, closing and locking the door and walking off to attend to the Strike.
Lacus sighed and moved back to the computer, bringing up the screen once again. It was a coordinator who had devised these firewalls and while it took her a while to break through them it was easier for her than it would have been for a Natural to break through them.
After reading a file on the ships Captain, one Murrue Ramius another file caught her eye, the file name, SHOCK, raising an eyebrow. Intrigued by the name she clicked on it and quickly realized it was the Captain's report on her first meeting with Kira.
"Oh my, even amongst our own people, Mr. Yamato, you're special. I know the average solider who is a Coordinator would take a good ten minutes to rewrite the OS of a mobile suit enough to move it properly; a little longer to use it in combat fully as you did." Lacus leaned forward in her seat, avidly reading the report.
She had not finished the initial assessment contained within the report when the ships alarms sounded and Murrue's voice sounded over the speaker calling all crew members to report to stations. Knowing this would be the first appearance on the detectors for the advanced guard Lacus was not concerned, until the claxons bellowed red alert and the report was given over the speakers that the advance guard was under attack.
"A single Nazca class ship and mobile suits." She sat back from the computer staring up at the speaker.
Rising quickly to her feet Lacus moved to the door and closing her eyes for a moment her hand hovered over the key pad. Composing herself she quickly began punching in numbers, a small smile playing on her lips. It was only a matter of a few seconds before the lock beeped and the door slid aside, presenting her with a startled Kira.
Schooling herself to present an innocent face as she caught his look and heard his muttered 'Not again', she looked about the hallway at the rushing crew.
"My, this place sure is lively all of a sudden. Is something the matter Mr. Yamato?" She flashed a hand out to capture Mr. Pink who seemed to think this was a fine time to run off.
"We are entering battle. Remain in your room so you don't get in the way." Kira regarded Lacus for a moment. "Please stay here and don't leave."
Pursing her lips Lacus stepped back within the room and Kira closed the door, initiating the lockdown, though he was well aware she could be out quickly if she chose to be. Shaking his head he bolted for the change room to prepare to launch the Strike.
Settling down in front of the computer Lacus thought for a moment before bringing the computer back up on line. Her innocent look could fool most of the people most of the time, only her father and the staff at her home seemed immune to her charm. It was terribly convenient to have people underestimate her, but she was no one's fool and was a Coordinator. Like her fellow Coordinators she was skilled with hacking and computing and was more than capable of hacking the Archangels systems.
It was only a matter of a few minutes to hack into the exterior feed of the ship and gain a view of the battle. The Strike shot past the camera, another suit she recognised as the Aegis from the reports she had hacked into not far behind. The two suits were dancing around each other, neither appeared to be willing to fire for some reason. The feed shifted to show the Moebius Zero performing some advanced acrobatics to hold off three GINN's, distracting them from attacking the advance guard.
"Oh, my. Mr Yamato you are trying so hard, but its not enough is it? They want so much from you and you are only one person; Coordinator that you are."
She recognized suits from the reports; the Aile Strike narrowly avoided the Aegis beam sword. The Strike dodged an attack only to be shot in the back by a passing GINN and Lacus winced at the hit and near miss. The Strike seemed not to have taken much in the way of damage as it hardly reacted to the hit, boosters firing to drive it in pursuit.
Watching the fight with increasing sorrow Lacus had to look away as one of the smaller Earth Forces ships detonated, along with a few of the mobile armours which had been unsuccessfully defending it. One of the GINN's was taken down by the guns of the Archangel and the two surviving GINN's darted off toward another of the Earth Forces ships. The Nazca class ship was moving toward the main body of combat, the main cannons firing, pounding the lead ship of the escort.
Voices from the hallway drew a soft hiss and Lacus quickly shut down the link, moving to the bed and singing softly, a lament for the lives lost this day, be they on the Earth Forces ships or those flown by Coordinators.
The voices from outside her door seemed to be heated, though she could not make out what was being said. The tones suggested an argument of some kind and she waited, tense and singing the lament until the door opened and the red haired Flay lunged at her. Crazed eyes glared at her and she was snarling, teeth bared.
Lacus quickly jumped out of the way, assisted in avoiding Flay by a young man she presumed was named Sai, from the curse Flay was directing at him. The young man had managed to grasp Flay, holding her while he directed a look at Lacus which told her to run while she could and he would attempt to calm the firebrand down.
Lacus didn't wait to argue or offer to help. The moment Sai gave her the opportunity she moved out of the room, Sai only just managing to hold onto Flay, who tried again to get a hold of Lacus as she passed them. Running down one of the hallways, grabbing hold of a bulkhead when the ship shook to a near miss Lacus shivered, Mr. Pink bouncing madly around her, seemingly in a panic at the battle raging about them.
With out realizing where she was going Lacus raced through the Archangel until she came to the Mobile suit hanger. She hesitated in the doorway, staring as she watched the crew locking down the Zero, working on it quickly. They were trying to get the swearing Mu La Flaga out of the mobile armour, she realized, the armour scored and scarred where he had been blind sided.
Looking around quickly in search of a place to remain unobserved, Lacus kicked off and headed up to the Faith's head, hoping to stay out of the way. She did not trust that girl Flay, not in the mood she was in and wanted a safe place until sanity prevailed.
Hovering in the deep shadow cast by the mobile suit Lacus anchored herself to a head spike, tucking herself under it for added protection. She waited, watching and listening to the reports coming in over the intercom system as the engineering crew worked on the mobile armour. A few minutes later the voice of the Fire Control Officer sounded throughout the hanger, stating another of the ships had been destroyed and the Strike was running low on power. A voice demanded to know the condition of the Zero as the Strike needed backup.
Biting her lip Lacus turned to look at the Faith, floating level with the dark eye of the suit she tightened her fingers on the fin and with a shuddering breath nodded. Pushing gently off from the fin she descended to the cockpit, opened it and entered. She did not think anyone had noticed her, but that would not remain so for long.
Strapping herself in Lacus surveyed the keyboard and control panels surrounding her and, taking a deep breath and reviewing the notes she had read in the Archangels database, she booted the computers and began to type.
There was not much time and she needed to sort the operating system out and familiarize herself with the controls. She would not need to change the entire operating system; just enough for her to operate the unit, the rest could be done late, either by herself or by Mr. Yamato.
"I might not be trained to fly one of these, but neither was Mr. Yamato. I can't just leave him out there by himself against all of those suits. I don't have to kill anyone; I can just be another target to give him some breathing space."
On the hanger floor below one person noted movement high up in the hanger and looked up in time to see the open cockpit.
"Hey, who's in the Faith?" Mu called out, watching as the cockpit closed and catching a glimpse of bright pink hair. "Damn it! The Pink Princess is in there."
Reaching a com port Mu punched buttons quickly, his voice coming through loud and clear to Lacus.
"Get that hatch open and get out here."
Lacus knew it would not take the engineers long to reach her and force the hatch open. It was unfortunate that Mu had noticed her, but she could not stop what she was doing. Her fingers were flying over the keyboard, adjusting the program and she sat back with a soft sigh.
"I want to help, Mr. La Flaga."
The com screens of the suit lit up and she saw Mu La Flaga on one and Mir on a second.
"Please allow me to go out and help Mr. Yamato."
On the command deck of the Archangel an awful silence had fallen. The screens were alight with the battle being raged outside the ship and everyone seemed to be looking at the Captain as the young girls voice pleaded.
"Captain, she will take the Faith and go to that Nazca and we would losses another suit to ZAFT." Ensign Badgiruel snapped sharply.
Murrue, looking at the main screen where she had brought up a view of the hanger bay and with a few more touches of the control a com-line was opened to the Faith. Lacus' face was anguished and Mir thought she looked like she wanted to help, but she was just a cadet and what did she know?
"Mu?" The Captain questioned.
"My armour isn't going to be ready. I'm not going out for a while." He appeared on a screen, his attention seemed distracted for a moment and he looked back at the screen, seeming to stare into the Captain's eyes. "I'm all for letting her go out and help the kid."
Lacus gasped, surprised he would back her. He inclined his head and she knew he was watching her on a screen now, not the Captain.
"Do you have any idea what you will face out there? None of them are playing at this. They are killing each other and they will kill you too."
"I… know. I just need to be a distraction, to keep moving and give Mr. Yamato the chance to regroup."
Mu considered her for a long moment and then looked once more to the Captain. "Your call, but it's her choice and I don't think the lady is actually a fool."
Murrue narrowed her eyes, staring at Lacus through the camera and finally nodded, once, sharply. "I'll allow it. Ms Clyne, I want your word you will return that suit to this ship. If you do not return when instructed to do so, I will not hesitate to order it destroyed. Is that understood?"
Lacus breathed a sigh of relief and nodded, firing up the main power bank of the Faith. "I understand Captain and I will return to the ship."
Delicate fingers flew over the keyboard and a panel lit up, echoed on another panel on the bridge.
"Captain, the destruct code for the Faith has been entered into the ships computer."
Lacus met the Captain's eyes. "So you know I will return, Captain."
Lacus powered up the Phase Shift armour, the once gray suit flushing a royal purple colour through the torso, the arms, legs and lower torso flushed white and the feet darkened to the same rich purple as the upper torso. As the suit was released from the locking restraints the shield arm moved, displaying a purple stripe.
The hanger crew scrambled to activate the cradle motors, moving the entire unit toward the portside and into the inner airlock. Lacus gave a shuddering sigh and began taking measured, even breaths, terrified she might hyperventilate if she was not careful. The entire suit shuddered as the launching catapult was locked onto Faith.
"APU locked. Systems green. X208 Faith is clear for lunch… Lacus, be careful." Mir's voice came over the system. "Port launch bay opening."
"Don't stop out there, keep moving and keep your head. Do come back in one piece." Mu's voice came over the radio.
"Lacus Clyne, Faith launching."