[A/N]: Tek again. This is just a little plot bunny that wanted out again while I plan out the Kuuga arc for "Gaia Aftershock". ^_^ Not only that, but it would appear this is the third time I've been the first to come up with something no one else did… ^^; Anyways, as a warning, Kira Yamato, and Shinn Asuka will be used in a slightly OOC setting, while Athrun Zala will be almost the reverse of his original self. For anyone who is against OOC, LEAVE NOW or read at your own risk. ONLY REVIEW IF IT WILL BE CONSTRUCTIVE, PLEASE. Compliments are welcome, but please don't make them the central focus of your reviews. PLEASE? ^^;
_ G-CORE: GUNDAM SEED DESTINY! EPISODE 0: TATTERED SOULS, G-CORE ACTIVATE!
GUNDAM SEED DESTINY X KAMEN RIDER
_
A young man tossed and turned in his bed, his brown hair drenched in sweat. The only words he repeated as he endured his nightmare were "NO…. WHY?"
~FLASHBACK~
A pair of glazing purple eyes stared up from the floor of a prison cell, disbelief in the expression of their owner as he lay in a pool of his own blood. It was by pure will alone that he'd managed to dig his fingers into the wounds in his chest and remove the two bullets within, only to shortly after use two of his fingers to try and halt the bleeding. He was fading fast, though. His eyes finally latched onto the figure of the man who'd shot him.
A young man with short black hair leaned against the bars of a prison cell, a small pistol slipping out of his right hand while his left worked fruitlessly to remove the small piece of metal pipe that was embedded in his chest.
"DAMN YOU, YAMATO…" The black haired man shouted, "DAMN YOU TO HELL!"
The last thing the man on the floor could see before everything went black was the black-haired man receiving a blow to the back of his head that knocked him out… and then…
~END FLASHBACK~
"NO!" The young man shouted, bolting upright in his bed in a cold sweat. His eyes darted left and right, searching for something, or someone, that shouldn't be there… but found no one. After a single deep breath, the man dropped back onto his bed. However, with a glance at the holo-display on the ceiling from the clock next to his bed, He saw it was six-fifteen in the morning… and he had to be at work in an hour.
"Kuso…" the man grumbled, throwing off the light sheets as he rose from the bed and rushed to the shower. After a few minutes, the sound of running water filled the air of the empty apartment, only to stop about ten minutes later.
The man stepped out of the bathroom wearing no more than a pair of white socks and blue jeans, leaving his upper body exposed as he walked towards the kitchen and flipped a switch. He covered his eyes as the electric lights came on, glaring at him as if to reprimand him for rising late.
"Yeah yeah," he muttered, turning on the coffee machine and popping some bread in the toaster. With that, he went to his fridge and got materials together to make eggs for breakfast. In no more than five minutes, he'd prepared his food and poured a thermos full of coffee, adding a little milk and sugar. He'd cooked his eggs like a hamburger patty and folded them in half over a half-slice of cheese and chopped veggies and ham, topping it with the remaining half-slice of cheese and placing it on the bread.
The man moved around his apartment with his sandwich in one hand as he searched frantically for a shirt before spotting one on the mirror by the bathroom. As he walked over to grab the shirt, he stopped, noticing his reflection. He stood still and examined himself, frowning at what he saw.
In no way at all was he ashamed of his appearance, nor was he uncomfortable with how he looked; it was just that he didn't like the fact that with all the advancements in modern science and medicine, there was nothing that could be done for his one major deformity: a large, dark-red "X"-shaped scar across his chest that seemed to glow. He knew there was no way to get rid of it or tone it down, but when it made him itchy, he had to be careful when he scratched it so it wouldn't open again. However, most times when people caught him without a shirt on (which wasn't often), they didn't even seem to notice the scar. If they did, they hid it very well.
Instead, he marveled at how those same people had instead commented on his level of fitness. He wasn't a strong or muscular man by societal standards, but he did work out for his own health. He was well built and had muscles where he needed them. He smiled a bit before grabbing the shirt and throwing it on. He grabbed a loose tie from his dresser and put it on before slipping into his shoes.
He never cared much for the way people criticized his choice of clothing. As he stepped out of his apartment and slipped on a slick black fedora, however, he smiled quietly to himself and closed the door. He fished around in his pocket until he pulled out a small remote. Clicking a small button, he heard the locks in his door click shut, and, to be certain, he grabbed the door handle and tried to turn it. He pulled his hand back just as a large jolt of electricity ripped through the handle, only catching him enough to deliver a small shock. HE smiled and pressed another button before heading down the stairs to the parking garage.
As soon as he hit the bottom step and stepped into the garage, he smiled. There, before him was the car he'd been given to drive to and from his work. That was the operative word in his mind; he hadn't BOUGHT the car, he'd been GIVEN the car for free as soon as he stepped onto the lot. Apparently being who he was held a lot of weight. He stepped in and, with a twist of the key in the ignition and simple swinging of the door to close it, set off to work.
He couldn't understand why people couldn't get over his choice of clothing. So what if he wore expensive suit and fedoras, but chose to live in a small, one-room apartment? So what if his workplace had paid for a car to be given to him FOR FREE FOR LIFE? So what if he happened to be an important person with more than his fair share of personal quirks?
After all, being the kind of person he was made him lucky and thankful to even be alive.
Well, aside from being a genetically altered superhuman called a Coordinator, that is. That was, however, a major part of it.
This man, Kira Yamato, was the first man ever to undergo a surgery deemed too extreme for a person like him, a surgery that would replace his damaged heart with a machine that hadn't been tested and was completely unstable, AND LIVED. He was a medical, scientific, and military-grade experiment that had succeeded where every other one had gone horribly awry. The only reason the surgery had given him military standing was because it was the military's most top-secret technology that had saved his life.
That's right: this man was a medical marvel, a scientific miracle, a military man… and he dressed like he was going to a rich man's event.
Reaching down for a dial under the volume dial on his car radio, he pushed it in and turned it three notches to the left, then two to the right. The radio sank back into the console and rotated to reveal a small projector. Kira waited for the video connection to complete, and then saluted his superiors when the hologram appeared.
"Generals," Kira said, "What are my orders today?"
One general, sitting at the farthest end of the table, pressed a button that made the camera zoom in on him.
"Greetings, Yamato-san. Today, we're sending you on an extended secret mission," the General said, "a mission that will supply us with the combat data we've needed. Your mission is to board the battleship Archangel and join its crew as they head into space to aide one of the colonies. Along the way you will most definitely be set upon by the 1st Assault Squadron from ZAFT, so be very careful with your first run. Use whatever methods of dealing with your opposition you see fit, but be careful to be back within the ship's hangar before the maximum levels bottom out. Understood?"
Kira nodded solemnly and said, "Absolutely, Sir. Transfer the directions over; I'll have my auto-pilot drive me there. I didn't sleep very well last night, so I'd like to try and grab a few extra minutes of sleep before I arrive." The General nodded and pressed a button on the desk console, sending a signal to Kira's auto-pilot. With another bow, Kira switched off the Holo-phone and reclined his seat, allowing his car to drive itself for a while. With that, he laid back aback his chair seat and fell asleep.
About half an hour later, the vehicle stopped in front of a large complex and alerted Kira that he had arrived… by rotating the seat to face out of the door and EJECTING him out of the door. Kira awoke as soon as he hit the ground, groaning in pain as he stood.
The car simply honked its horn as it rolled away to park itself. Kira shook his head. Now, he wasn't feeling so lucky. The military may have been kind enough to give him a free vehicle, but the thing was fitted with an AI chip that was… a little TOO intelligent. It had, at some point, developed a mind of its own, along with a sense of humor. It was a little difficult to get a read of what the Car was thinking at any given moment, which oft made it… hard to deal with.
Regardless, Kira picked himself up off the ground, dusted himself off, and made his way to the military launch site where he'd be meeting with the crew of the vessel he'd be staying on. After a good fifteen minute trek across the compound, along with a fair fifty salutes to various personnel along the way, Kira finally reached the launch site, smiling to himself when he saw who he'd be working with: a crew consisting of a fifty-fifty split of men and women, seventy-five-percent of whom were dressed in engineer clothes. The remaining few, he noticed, had official military uniforms on, each of varying rank. When he noticed the captain's badge on the lapels of a uniform worn by the woman standing at the forefront of the group, he winced a little.
'Won't THIS be interesting,' he thought, 'I've had to work with guys in charge, but never a woman… this ought to be an enlightening experience!' he approached the group and saluted, receiving about three-hundred in return.
"Honorary Lieutenant-Commander Yamato Kira reporting for boarding," He said, deciding to play ignorant for a moment as he showed his ID card, "I wish to speak with the captain of this vessel." The woman at the front of the group stepped up, staying calm and reserved. Her brown eyes, however, betrayed her calm outlook; her eyes looked far too confident to Kira's trained eyes.
"Captain Murrue Ramius, reporting for duty, sir," Murrue said in introduction, "We're about half-an-hour from launch. Would you like to come aboard and take a quick tour of the ship, sir?" Kira nodded cheerily and followed her aboard while she ordered the rest of the crew to their positions and prepare the ship for take-off.
During the course of the scant fifteen-minute tour that covered almost the entire ship, leaving out sleeping quarters and the service deck, Murrue looked Kira in the eyes and nodded several times, almost as if trying to tell him something without letting anyone else hear.
Finally the tour concluded and Kira was led to the cockpit, and given the captain's second seat for the duration of take-off. Kira took his seat and strapped in, refusing the request to wear a standard issue uniform for the launch. As the count-down started, however, he felt a splitting pain in his left hand and, reaching into his jacket pocket, pulled out a small bottle. Deftly unscrewing the cap with two fingers, Kira tipped the bottle enough for two small red pills to fall out. Swallowing them quickly, he replaced the cap on the bottle and placed the bottle back in his jacket. He felt the pain subside in his hand, but felt a tingling in the back of his head…
"Something's not right…" Kira thought aloud.
"What do you mean?" Murrue asked, eyebrows ratcheting up a notch each and bending back in worry. Kira looked her in the eyes and shook his head.
"I usually have these little moments of premonition, but they're usually wrong. Continue with the launch," he said. Murrue nodded and signaled to the pilots to continue launching. A timer appeared on the monitor.
3
Kira still felt something wrong. The tingling in the back of his head grew stronger.
2
The tingling grew stronger still, and wouldn't leave when Kira scratched his head furiously. When Murrue looked over and asked what he was doing, he made an excuse about having a really bad itch. She nodded.
1
The tingle suddenly stopped, and a single word appeared in Kira's head: "FIGHT". The word seemed to repeat itself endlessly, and Kira closed his eyes tightly, trying not to worry anyone.
BLAST OFF
The voice became silent for a moment, before shouting "FIGHT NOW!" just as the tingle came back in full force. Kira's eyes shot open and he gasped loudly, struggling to undo his safety straps as the ship began its take off. However, not two seconds after the vessel had taken to the skies, a massive suit of metal armor crashed into the ground ten feet in front of it and extended a hand.
'DAMN IT ALL!' Kira shouted in his head, releasing himself from his straps. Everyone in the cockpit began screaming as Kira rushed to the door.
"CAPTAIN RAMIUS, READY THE LAUNCH DECK! I'M HEADING OUT!" he shouted over the screams, startling everyone.
"WHAT DO YOU MEAN, YOU'RE GOING OUT? WE HAVE NO UNITS THAT CAN BE PILOTED; YOU'LL BE KILLED!" Murrue shouted back, undoing her own straps and standing to face him. Kira gave her a single look that told her "DO NOT QUESTION ME."
"JUST DO IT!" he shouted, "I'LL BE FINE, TRUST ME!" He shot through the door at high speed, leaving Murrue with only one option. She sat back in her chair and reached for the intercom.
"ALL PERSONNEL, RED ALERT! I REPEAT: THIS IS A RED ALERT SITUATION! ALL HANDS TO BATTLE STATIONS! LAUNCH DECK, PREPARE THE LAUNCH CHUTE FOR THE LEIUTENET-COMMANDER AT ONCE!" she shouted, silencing all as determination to survive set in, causing everyone aboard to abandon their fear and prepare for the worst. As she strapped back in, only one thought tore through her head:
'WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU THINKING?'
~G-CORE~
Kira shot through the halls, watching the signs for directions to the launch deck. Once he arrived, he ran past the technicians and, seeing a lone Mobile suit being repaired, walked up to it and placed his hand on the machine's metal arm. A small web of green lines shot from his fingertips and palm, analyzing all the information of the machine. Once he finished, he turned and faced the direction of the chute, which he noticed wasn't manned at the moment. He took off running again and, arriving at his destination, stepped into the launch chute. One technician, a young woman with blonde hair and hazel eyes, ran up and grabbed his arm.
"What are you, stupid? You can't go in there without a Mobile Suit! The force of your body hitting the ground would KILL you, if the force of the launch itself didn't leave you an invalid first!" she said. Kira turned around and took her hand off his arm. He looked her in the eyes and smiled.
"Good to see you again, Kagari-nee-san. It's been… what, around three years now? We'll have to catch up later. Right now, you have to trust me and let me do this; I HAVE to save this vessel and its crew!" Kira said as flames of determination burst to life in his eyes. Kagari took a step back and nodded. She turned back to the control panel and set the timer for launch. Kira stepped into the chute and lined himself up so that his back was to the launcher. He reached a hand to his heart and clenched his fingers down like claws. From around his fingers shot several rays of light, which gathered around his waist to form a high-tech belt with a small, round hole in the center, surrounded by three switches, two dials and a single lever off to the side.
"G-Core, Confirm Status!" Kira shouted. A voice erupted from nowhere:
"CORE STATUS, NOMINAL; ALL MODULES FUNCTIONAL. READY TO ENGAGE."
Kira groaned in pain as he tore his fingers away from his chest, taking with them a small, blue orb with a single silver ring around it. Balancing it on his left index finger, Kira shot his right hand into the air and took a deep breath before bringing the orb close to his face and lowering his right hand, curling his pinky and ring fingers to rest alongside his hand. He extended his right hand out as far as it could go and exhaled slowly.
"HENSHIN!" he shouted, tossing the orb lightly into the air and, catching it nimbly between three fingers, swung his arm down to connect the orb to the hole in the belt, twisting clockwise as his right hand flew back to his body, resting back-up with his thumb parallel to his cheek bone.
"HENSHIN" the voice repeated, unleashing a blast of energy that son solidified and materialized small patches of high-tech armor. There were thousands of them, gray and silver in color. They shot out and turned back, hovering lightly over his body while the same green lines that he'd released from his fingertips before now stretched across his clothes to encompass his body. The tiny pieces of armor began to connect with the lines on his clothing one by one while the lines formed an all-black body-suit over his clothes and head. Kira waited for the pieces to finish connecting, nodding silently as some connected to his hands and arms to form gloves, arm guards and light shoulder pads, while others rested on his feet and legs to form boots, anklets, shin guards and light armor on his upper legs that connected with his belt.
He felt the last of the pieces connect into his chest, forming a combination chest plate and back guard, while a few smaller pieces formed widened areas at his major joints and neck to allow for better movement. Finally, he breathed a sigh of relief as the remaining pieces enlarged and connected with his head, forming a helmet with two small splits on the sides of the head, while a large panel connected with the center of his forehead, from which shot four armor spikes.
On the chin was a small armor block. Just under the bottom two spikes on the forehead were two large, yellow panels that resembled eyes, while just above the block on the forehead a small, sky-blue light flashes on and off three times. The lenses flashed yellow once, prompting energy to fill several of the armor plates on his body, changing their color. The plates on his chest became mostly blue with three red panels toward the belt, while the soles of his boots became red. The chin and forehead blocks became red while two of the spikes turned a brilliant yellow. The transformation ended as a single, thick ring of blue erupted around the orb on the belt. Kira spread his arms and legs on the launcher, just in time for the large slab of metal to shoot out, sending him flying through the chute and out into open air.
"First time in the pilot's seat… This should be interesting… G-Core, give me a weapons system check!"
"Weapons system is online and operational; all modules are loaded and ready for use."
"Weapons system, activate! Selecting System Special: Baron Crusher!" Kira shouted as he took off toward the larger suit.
In the ship's cockpit, Murrue stared out at the mask of the Mobile Suit that had just grabbed the ship, feeling like she was staring death in the face.
"CAPTAIN RAMIUS, WHEN I GIVE THE ORDER, HAVE THE PILOTS GUN THE ENGINES AND GET OUT OF HERE!" Kira's voice shouted over the radio. Murrue was about to reply when she saw a red-and-blue blur shoot past the window and grab the arm of the Mobile suit holding the ship. The blur slowed down, revealing itself to be a small, human-sized… MOBILE SUIT?
"They were working on a micro-sized suit?" Murrue said aloud.
"Actually," Kira's voice said, "That would be me. I'll explain as soon as we're properly space-borne. For now… FIRE THE ENGINES AND BREAK FREE!"´Kira shouted, activating a blade from his arm. Murrue gave the orders, and as soon as the blade descended and severed the larger unit's hand at the wrist, the ship's engines flew into overdrive.
Kira, on the other hand, held aloft a large blade, then leveled it across his shoulders and waited for the ship to get clear. He marveled at how fast the weapons system's reaction time was, and how excellent the quality of the weapons was. He spared a quick glance at the sword on his shoulders; it was a two-handled sword with a double guard that had a blade coming from either end. The blades were double-edged, and seemed designed for adaptive combat. Twisting the two handles until they were perpendicular to each other, Kira pulled, separating the two blades from each other and holding them in a reverse grip. As soon as he was ready, he pressed a button on the hilt of each blade, activating a laser that covered the length of the blades and extended out an extra foot.
The voice of the larger suit's pilot shouted, "WHAT THE FUCK? WHERE DID THEY GET A SUIT THAT SMALL? NO ONE COULD POSSIBLY PILOT SOMETHING LIKE THAT! IS IT A ROBOT?" Kira simply chuckled.
"Wrong on that point," he said ominously, "This thing has a pilot. And unlike your bulky piece of garbage, this suit is made for extreme speed and extreme combat. Case in point…"
With a glance to the ship, Kira smirked under his helmet: the ship and its crew were well out of blast range. With no more warning than a mid-air squat, Kira's small frame vanished into thin air. The larger suit's pilot looked around frantically on his radar to see where he'd gone…
"WHERE THE HELL… CRAP!" the pilot screamed, only to soon get several warnings on his display about severed limbs, followed by a warning that the energy reactor in the head had been destroyed by an outside source. Soon after that, another warning appeared, informing the pilot that his unit's head had been torn from its mechanical neck.
"HOW THE FUCK IS THIS HAPPENING?" The pilot screamed, watching helplessly as the latches on his cockpit doors sealed shut, trapping him inside as engine fluid began to leak into the cockpit. He tried the emergency eject switch, only to find that the blow that had removed his unit's head had also jammed the release hatch for the ejector seat. It was only several seconds later that his foe's voice came in over his speakers again.
"I'm so fast like this that you can't even keep up with me, and strong enough to knock your block off with JUST my bare hands. And I wonder what would happen if I slammed this blade of mine into your cockpit while it's no doubt filling with engine fluids?" Kira deadpanned, now completely uninterested. Without a second's warning, He turned off the laser on one of his blades, then twisted the blade until it was bent in on itself at a ninety-degree angle, then pressed the laser button again.
"Night Night, Loser," Kira said monotonously, turning in midair and tossing the blade over his shoulder. The pilot in the larger suit screamed in terror as the curved weapon soared through the air, but was cut short a scant ten seconds later when the blade sliced through the cockpit's hatch, connected with his torso, and cut him in half as it exited the back of the unit's cockpit. The pilot gave one last gurgling scream before his face exploded behind his helmet's faceplate, shattering it from the force alone.
With that, Kira's light frame took off to the sky, leaving the pieces of the destroyed unit to catch fire and exploded violently, taking what was left of the pilot with it. Kira reached the ship as it was just about to break free of the atmosphere.
"G-Core, give me a status update!" Kira said.
"Core pressure and energy levels are all nominal; oxygen levels at seventy-five percent and slowly dropping."
"Right. Guess I should get back in the ship after we break free and take a rest…" Kira said. He wasn't prepared for Murrue to come in over his radio, however.
"LIEUTENANT-COMMANDER YAMATO KIRA! YOU ARE REQUESTED BACK IN THE SHIP TO GIVE THE WHOLE CREW A PROPER DEBRIEFING!" Murrue's voice crackled in. Kira silently cursed.
"Looks like we'll have to take a rain check on that break…" Kira said to himself. Activating his radio, he took a deep breath.
"This is Lieutenant-Commander Yamato. I'm on my way back; I'll dock in the launch chute after we've broken through the atmosphere!" he said. After receiving an "Affirmative" from Murrue, he nodded and switched off his radio, flying alongside the ship until it broke free of the planet's gravity. From there, he flew around and removed the large metal hand that had been weighing the ship down and shot into the launch chute. He waited for the air lock to click into place before reversing his armor and opening the chute door.
His eyes bulged out of his head; there, standing in front of him, was Murrue, surrounded by the entire crew.
"EXPLANATION, LIEUTENANT-COMMANDER; RIGHT NOW!"Murrue shouted. Kira felt his ears almost pop, and winced.
"I can hear you just fine, Captain. Please lower your voice several levels; I did just break out of Earth's orbit in a metal suit while OUTSIDE of a manned spaceship; the effect is comparable to the effect on the ears after taking off in a jet. You almost blew out my eardrums," Kira said. Murrue took a step back, her face turning visibly red. Not once had anyone ever talked back to her before, not even her superiors!
Kira wobbled a little and pushed his way through the crowd.
"I'll meat you all in the mess hall in about forty-five minutes and debrief you all there… I need a little rest so I can be at my best if I need to deploy again," Kira said weakly, collapsing just outside of the door. However, due to the lack of gravity, his body didn't hit the floor… it just floated there, bent at the waist. Murrue shook her head.
"Someone get him to a room and keep an eye on him. I want to know the MOMENT he comes to!" she said, storming out of the launch deck to go back to the cockpit. Kagari pushed everyone else aside and, catching Kira so he was slung over her shoulder, floated down the halls to the sleeping quarters.
~G-CORE~
~ELSEWHERE~
In a ship somewhere off the outer rings of Saturn, a lone man sat in a captain's seat, his green eyes mired by a thick curtain of bluish-black hair. No one in the cockpit around him dared turn to face him; a simple demented grin several minutes earlier had been enough warning to mind their business and keep up on their duties.
One soldier, a communications expert, was forced to break the silence when a signal he was tracking went dead.
"C-Captain," the soldier said tensely, testing the waters.
"WHAT IS IT, SOLDIER?" the captain's voice asked. The soldier quaked.
"Uh-Uhm, the signal from the Zaku-001 unit we sent to the surface just went dead… not only that, but I picked up powerful energy readings just before it bottomed out…" the soldier said. The captain seemed unfazed. Another decided to speak up.
"Captain, I just detected an enemy ship leaving Earth's atmosphere. They're idling by the Moon… We can have a squadron of Zaku units out there in twenty if you just give the order," The soldier said… just before s silent crack was heard, followed by a dull thud as the soldier's body slumped to the floor to swim in a pool of blood. Many of the other crew members silently mourned the death of their comrade; many had liked Willhelm Mesniik, not only for his position as a worker of the radar, but as a person. Some even knew that the poor man had a family back home… now they'd never see him again.
The captain simply holstered his standard-issue pistol and sat back down, smirking wickedly.
"YZAK JOULE!" the Captain shouted, soon joined at his chair by a young man with a visible scar across his face while a full head of light grey-blue hair, clean cut at the front, framed his face with two short bangs. The man's dull, light blue eyes stared at the back of his Captain's head as he stood just behind and to the side of the captain's seat.
"Yes, Captain? What is your command?" Yzak asked, saluting. The captain stood and rounded on Yzak, causing the man to snap to flinch and snap to attention.
"READY THE LAUNCH CHUTE; I'M GOING OUT," the captain said ominously as he walked past Yzak, emitting a short blast of murderous intent that caused the man to crumble to his knees. As soon as he was sure his captain was out of earshot, Yzak rose, cursing loudly.
"DAMN THAT BASTARD! Now I have to change uniforms AGAIN!" Yzak shouted loudly, causing several people to visibly grimace. One other officer stepped up as Yzak grabbed the intercom and shouted orders to prep the chute.
"I don't mean to sound condescending, but that was more information than anyone needed, Yzak," The officer said, a pair of violet eyes set in a wince while short, wind-swept blonde hair rested on his head. Yzak looked at his fellow warrior and shook his head.
"I don't care, Dearka! He doesn't HAVE to let loose every time he wants to leave the ship; he could JUST ASK NORMALLY!" Yzak said, shouting the last few words as he slammed his fist into the console next to him, damaging it. He cursed again, turning around and heading for another console.
"What are you doing?" Dearka asked, one eyebrow ratcheting up in worry.
"I'm making sure our "BELOVED CAPTAIN" has a little backup IN CASE things start turning sour. JUST IN CASE, you understand. Wouldn't want to see him coming back in a plastic bag, would we?" Yzak spat, the sarcasm in his voice thick and oozing hatred. Dearka chuckled.
"You weren't raised to be too vindictive or sarcastic, were you?" he asked. Yzak gave him a look.
"You ACTUALLY want him to come back?" he said.
"Well, MAYBE if he were to suddenly become mentally stable and a little nicer when he comes back, that'd be nice. It's not a good thing to be so terrified of your captain that you simply want to lock yourself in your quarters and go down with the ship, is it?" Dearka said. Yzak took a deep sigh and nodded.
"I know what you mean… The man could use the whole BOTTLE of happy pills and still be as evil as always… I'll bet he'd have to buy out thirty drugstores of their stock before any semblance of an effect would become apparent…" Yzak said.
"REMIND ME TO DEAL WITH BOTH OF YOU WHEN I RETURN TO THE SHIP. YOU HAD THE RADIO LINK ACTIVE THE ENTIRE TIME!" the captain's voice crackled over the speakers, followed soon after by a wicked laugh. Yzak, face now burning red with anger, slammed his fist down on a big, red button and stormed out of the room. Knowing full well what would happen, Dearka reached over to the console and pressed a few buttons to set a delayed timer on what Yzak had done: He'd sent the order for the fifty un-manned Zaku-Model Mobile Suits in the ship's hangar to be deployed on the preset orders to "Seek and Destroy" and "Work Together". Dearka motioned for everyone to return to work and silently walked out of the room. The way he saw it, he'd better take a walk now and clear his head BEFORE the captain returned to set the Torture Squad on him.
"Good thing our "Dear Captain" hasn't discovered my hide-away yet… I'd hate to be found when they break my door open," Dearka thought happily as he "aimlessly" wandered… back to his sleeping quarters to lock the door and hide.
~G-CORE~
~BACK ABOARD THE ARCHANGEL~
Kira awoke to the sight of Kagari sitting over him, eyes filled with worry.
"Kira-kun, are you feeling alright?" Kagari asked. Kira sat up slowly and nodded.
"Y-yeah… I think I'll be fine in a few…" Kira said, "I just wasn't ready for the backlash of first transformation…"
"Speaking of… what WAS that?" Kagari asked. Kira shook his head.
"For now, let's just say it was some top-secret, high-tech surgery," Kira said, "I'll be able to SHOW you when we get into the mess hall. Captain Ramius still wants an explanation of what happened as well."
Kagari nodded and offered a hand to help him up, which he accepted with a smile. Moments later, the two were out of the room and gliding down the halls of the ship towards the mess hall. Upon entering, Kira felt a large drop of sweat forming on the back of his head.
True to his requests, the ENTIRE crew had gathered in the mess hall, leaving little room for either of them. Strangely, Kira noticed, Murrue seemed absent.
"About time you woke up Yamato-san," Murrue said as the throng of crewmen stepped aside to let her through.
Kira smirked and said, "And here I was thinking YOU'D skipped out. Before you ask, Yes, I'm in good enough condition to answer your questions. Let's get down to business." With that, Murrue took Kira's hand and led him to the center table, onto which he quickly climbed.
"Alright," Kira said, "So the first question was in regards to what happened earlier, correct?" At a mass nod, Kira continued.
"To accurately describe what happened," he said, "I need to go back several years. About seven years ago, my best friend decided that, since I was too straight-edged for his "old-school" friends, he'd make me the same way… by starting me off on a life of crime. His first idea was to try and muscle our way into a club after closing time. His idea failed miserably and the cops were called in. While the police were busy talking to the bouncers to figure out what happened, he grabbed one of the officer's guns and put it in my hand… and then fired it six times, killing three officers, one of whom was a woman. Just because they saw it in my hand and not his hand around mine, the remaining officers assumed I was going after them and a take-down ensued.
"After this, the court trial didn't take long at all. The murder charge placed against me was dropped, but the accessory to murder charge stuck, and I was put in prison for a few months to pay my debt to society. During that time, my "Friend" began to change, changing from a light-hearted jokester with a bad background to an abusive brawler who constantly attempted to kill me and everyone else there. The last day of my sentence was the worst of the ordeal… especially because after a particularly bad tussle, I managed to accidentally stab him in the chest with a piece of lead pipe I'd found under my bed. The guards stepped in to take me away… but he grabbed a gun from one of them, pistol-whipped the guard, and shot me three times in the heart. I vaguely saw him get whacked over the head and hit the floor before my vision went black.
"From that point until when I woke up, I don't remember anything. All I know is what the Generals told me when they came to visit me in the hospital. My family had been coming to get me and watched the whole exchange the day I was shot, and apparently my parents made the snap decision to have me operated on… Unfortunately, the surgery became classified as a top-secret military operation. And it was… in place of my destroyed heart, they gave me this."
With that, Kira reached to roll up his shirt, revealing to everyone the scar on his chest, as well as a small, square patch of flesh that seemed loose. Kira slid the patch away, revealing a small, round, bluish metal orb surrounded by a single protective ring. The orb soon disconnected itself from Kira's body, causing it to slump onto the table. However, it began to change into the form of a small, mechanical bird that hovered in midair.
"They implanted into my body this," the bird said, opening its beak to release Kira's voice, "the proto-type EXC-GT-001 G-Core Unit, a top secret device that gives the bearer the special ability to analyze and store data on any ONE mobile suit in existence… and then transform into a human-sized version of that mobile suit. They essentially revived me… as a super-hero." With that, the bird became the orb once more and reconnected itself into the hole in Kira's chest. With a long gasp of breath, Kira sat up on the table again.
"Earlier, when I was on the launch deck, I noticed that you had a GAT-X105 Strike unit in for repairs, so I pressed my hand to it and absorbed its parameters. When I stepped into the chute, I activated the transformation sequence, and became what you saw out there. The Core has another special function, as well: Any Mobile Suit that falls into the same class or family as the first one analyzed can be added to a set of "Alternate Forms" for the Core to use. For instance, the Strike is fine on its own, but if there is ever a powered-up version that is produced, I could technically scan it with my Core and add it in as a secondary Form to take when I transform," Kira said. Murrue stepped up.
"So, basically, you're saying that your heart was destroyed… but they gave you a Mobile Suit Power Core as a replacement?" she asked. Kira shook his head.
"No, not at all. While it is true that my human heart was destroyed, it is wrong to assume that they transplanted a mechanical armor suit's power supply as a replacement. That would imply that I have surpassed the simplicities of the standard Coordinator. What they did was shrink an existing, self-sufficient and completely biologically-friendly device into my body to serve as a heart, and then hot-wired it into my nervous system. The device can detect when an imminent threat is inbound, and if a life-threatening event is about to take place that would result in my death, the Core acts as a fail-safe. It'll enlarge and engulf my body to protect it, returning to normal size once the threat has passed or an opportunity to transform has presented itself. Think of it this way," Kira said, "The core acts as a Heart, Weapon, Shield, Same-Type Mobile Suit Compendium, and Radar all at once." As soon he said that, Kira's eyes bugged out and he grasped his chest. Everyone staggered back a step as Kagari forced her way past Murrue to help.
"K-Kira! What's wrong?" she asked.
Gasping, Kira slowly stood, saying, "READY THE CHUTE. I HAVE TO GO OUT." He jumped past Kagari and landed behind Murrue.
Murrue grabbed his arm and said, "WHAT IS GOING ON, YAMATO-SAN? WHY DO YOU SUDDENLY HAVE TO GO OUT AGAIN?"
Wrenching his arm free of her grip, Kira gave her a dark, foreboding look and said, "I'm not the only one with a G-Core. As it turns out, I was one of three eligible subjects chosen for the procedure. When I said the Core acts as a form of Radar, I was generalizing. Unfortunately, that applies to other Cores as well. As far as I know, the other two subjects survived the procedure and recovered… and one of them is headed here RIGHT NOW with HOSTILE INTENTIONS. I HAVE TO GO NOW!" he shouted, rushing out of the area and off toward the launch deck. Everyone stared at him as the urgency of his words sank in:
"SOMEONE LIKE ME IS COMING TO KILL US!"
~G-CORE~
A few minutes later, Kira was clad in his Strike armor once again and had ejected himself from the chute to meet the imminent threat. He wasn't surprised by the voice that came in over his intercom, but was surprised to see a small, mostly red-clad figure approaching at mach-speed.
"SO, OLD FRIEND!" the voice said, "HOW WONDERFUL IT IS TO SEE YOU AGAIN, YAMATO KIRA!" Inside his helmet, Kira's eyes narrowed as his eyebrows slid back into a scowl.
"Why did it HAVE to be YOU… ATHRUN ZALA?" Kira shouted. His worst nightmare was coming true. He'd always hated the thought of meeting up with his old best friend… especially when the memory of what had transpired between them in prison came back to mind.
"Whatever do you mean?" Athrun said, stopping a scant fifty miles away from Kira's position, "You can't seriously mean you haven't wanted to see your old friend again! Oh, before I forget… How's that wound I gave you doing?" Kira recognized the jab and chuckled into his radio.
"It's doing fine, I suppose. They recovered all the bullets from my chest and fixed up the holes… so there's no definitive proof that you ever shot me left. My question is… HOW'S THAT PIPE HOLDING UP?" Kira asked, sending a jab right back. Athrun's eyes exploded, then glazed over as, in the back of his head, a small crystal-like seed shattered into millions of pieces.
Kira could tell by the way Athrun was now moving that his response had struck a nerve. He waited for the right moment and dodged to the side, delivering a single punch to Athrun's side in passing. Athrun veered slightly off course at the impact, and then whipped around in midair to lash out with his fist. Kira sensed the attack coming and reached out behind his back to catch Athrun's fist and pull him around to face him. Athrun was powerless to stop Kira as the latter reared back and slammed his armored head into Athrun's, temporarily stunning him.
Kira backed off and announced, "WEAPON SYSTEM ACTIVATE! BARON CRUSHER!" Kira shouted, summoning his large double blade and spinning to land the blunt edge directly in Athrun's armored stomach. Continuing the spin, Kira wound up several times and used the inertia and momentum to send Athrun flying backwards the way he'd come. As Athrun's boot boosters kicked in and stopped him midflight, Kira watched as Athrun summoned a small handgun and a short beam sword. Anticipating what was sure to come, Kira took a stance with his blade held diagonally across his front.
"THAT WON'T SAVE YOU!" Athrun shouted, firing several rounds.
At that moment, Kira could see the image of a crystal-like seed exploding in his head. When he looked at the beams coming his way, his eyes glazed over.
"BARON CRUSHER, SECOND FUNCTION ACTIVATE: SHIELD BARON!" Kira shouted, twisting the hilts of the two blades around until they were facing in opposite directions, but still connected. With that, a large shield exploded around Kira's form, blocking the shots from landing and dissipating the impact of Athrun's blade as it connected with it.
"WHAT?" Athrun shouted.
"If you don't know how to really use your Core, Zala, you shouldn't even try. As it is, I've been steadily training myself to prepare for this moment. I may not end you today, but I intend to at least send you running!" Kira said, reversing his shield and separating it into its twin-blade form. Athrun twitched a second before several large bursts of flame and metal shot past him to circle around Kira. Each had a single, cycloptic red eye set over a gas-mask helmet with heavy armor all over the body. The robots all pulled out laser rifles and leveled them to aim at Kira.
"What's the matter, Zala?" Kira asked in a sarcastic drawl, "Already resorting to scare tactics and running for the hills while your robots do all the dirty work? You make me sad… I thought you wanted to play a little more!"
Without another word, Athrun simply turned tail and darted off, leaving the robotic Mobile Suits to do their business. However, he was barely ten miles away when fifty explosions tore into the vacuum of space. Against his better judgment, Athrun turned on the spot to see fifty broken Zaku robots floating in pieces through space with Kira standing precisely where he'd been before.
"HOW IN THE HELL?" Athrun shouted.
"It's a little thing called Active Protocol, Zala. If you knew anything about your Core, you'd know how I beat them all. But, I'll let you try to figure it out on your own. Try me," Kira said, sounding bored out of his skull.
Once more seeing the image of an exploding crystal seed in his mind, Athrun's eyes glazed over and he rushed at Kira. However, this time, Kira seemed more inclined to engage. When Athrun threw a punch, Kira deflected and countered, and whenever Athrun kicked, Kira blocked and returned in kind. Athrun attempted a head-butt at one point, but Kira simply moved his head to one side and delivered one of his own from the side, disorienting Athrun.
Back aboard the Archangel, Murrue, back in the captain's seat, stared at the screen: Kira, in armored form, was fully engaged in combat with a mostly red version of his armor, and was winning. She had no idea how the two could be so quick in SPACE, but was not going to inquire in the midst of combat.
Back in the battle, Athrun threw yet another punch, only to watch as Kira spun in place, deflecting his punch with a kick, then countering with another to the head. Athrun floated back a few miles, then activated his boot boosters at full power and launched himself at Kira. Kira, however, seemed unfazed.
"G-Core, engage Active Protocol, Shinobi Class, Shadow Rank: GODSPEED RUSH," Kira intoned, just before his suit began expanding. Athrun watched, horrified, as Kira's armor expanded to the size of a full-sized Mobile Suit, complete with the appearance of one, activated its back boosters and sped toward him. He wasn't about to stop; if he could break through the unit's cranial cavity, he could debilitate Kira enough to kill him.
His thoughts suddenly shifted, however, when JUST before the collision would have occurred, Kira's giant suit suddenly vanished. He stopped short of his destination and looked around frantically.
"WHERE ARE YOU, BASTARD?" Athrun shouted.
"Engage Active Protocol: HISSATSU," Kira intoned, his voice coming from nowhere. Athrun was about to shout again when a sudden flash of blue and a sharp impact in his stomach told of impending doom.
"ZANTETSUKEN CLASH," Kira said, as one of his twin blades connected with Athrun's abdomen. Athrun screamed in terror as Kira brought the other down in an overhead slash that sent him flying far away. Two powerful explosions later, Kira watched as Athrun, minus several sections of his armor and fading fast, was making a hasty retreat. Kira nodded.
"G-Core, Status report," Kira said calmly.
"Status nominal. Energy levels at fifty percent; oxygen levels at twenty-five percent and slowly dropping."
"Perfect, just enough to get back to the ship," Kira said, taking off at full speed.
When he finally landed in the launch chute and was sure the airlock was in place, he reversed his armor and stepped through the door into a den of cheering and praise. Right up front was Kagari, smiling wide as she extended a hand to help him down. Kira smiled back and took her hand, just barely noticing Murrue in the far back of the throng, a proud sort of smile plastered on her face. With that image in his mind, he promptly passed out, sliding off the last step onto Kagari's shoulder. She shook her head with a smile and pushed off the ground to bring him to his room.
~G-CORE~
Back aboard his own ship, a heavily injured Athrun Zala pushed past his crewmates into the infirmary, throwing a man with a broken leg from his cot to take it for himself. Luckily for the man Athrun had thrown, a young man with short black hair and bright, red eyes had been passing by and caught him with one arm.
"Captain Zala, why did you throw this man out of his bed? Did you not SEE his broken leg?" the man shouted, finding his new charge an empty bed to lay on. He transferred the man's chart to the new bed, making a note for the doctor about what happened. Athrun, however, was not impressed.
'I DON'T CARE ABOUT HIS MINOR INJURIES, OFFICER ASUKA SHINN!" Athrun shouted, "AS YOU CAN NO DOUBT SEE, MY CONDITION IS FAR WORSE THAN HIS MEAGER BROKEN LEG!" Without a second thought, Shinn reached for a needle on the top of a set of shelves over the doctor's desk, which bore the label "CAPTAIN-LEVEL SEDATIVES". Walking over while Athrun was in the middle of ranting about how an inflamed kidney and ruptured pancreas were far worse than a broken leg, Shinn slammed the needle tip into Athrun's neck, pushing its entire contents into his captain's bloodstream. Within seconds of uttering a surprised yelp, Athrun's eyes, bent back in an enraged scowl, fluttered closed, and he lost consciousness. Shinn silently sighed and looked to the door.
"This is going to be ONE LONG TRIP," he said, shaking his head.
~THE END FOR NOW~
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