Gundam SEED: The Keshitai
A Kido Senshi Gundam SEED Fan Fiction by Prayer Reverie
Contact: prayerreverie(at)yahoo(dot)com
Summary: The heroes of the war set off to stop a vicious group from starting another! The fate of the Earth and the Colonies rests on their shoulders. KL, DM, AC, Y ... uh ...
This will be AU, thanks to Destiny (anyone seen Phase 01: Angry Eyes yet? It's awesome, with good background music!), however try to think of this story as a side-story, or a filler story much as Battlefield of Pacifists and Ground Zero was for Gundam Wing and Endless Waltz.
Disclaimer: I do not own Gundam SEED in any way (although some days I wish), but any Original Characters and Original Mobile Suits are mine.
Rating: PG-13. I don't plan on mincing words and there will probably be some descriptive scenes, but nothing outside of the rating boundaries. You have been warned.
Chapter 1: At the Star's Valley, Part 2
C.E. 71
Still guiding Kira by one shoulder, Athrun caught sight of the small cottage where Lacus, Cagalli, Malchio and the orphans were. The mere thought of Cagalli brought a smile to Athrun's lips. Kira still had a small frown on and was mainly watching the sand as they walked.
Athrun mulled over his friend's condition for a minute. Kira had been happy to be alive with Lacus after they got back to the Eternal. From there the beginning of the peace treaty was announced and a memorial service to commemorate those lost.
Over 200,000 had perished when Junius 7 was attacked, and hundreds of thousands more since, with the Battle of Endymion, the Battle of Victoria, Operation Uroboros, Operation Spit Break, the Battle of Carpentaria, the Battle of Orb and finally the Battle of Jachin Due.
After the service, there was nothing Lacus or Cagalli or Athrun or anyone could do to cheer Kira up for more than a few minutes. He had settled into an almost permanent depression, and although it was minor now, it threatened to expand into a full-blown suicidal depression.
The Justice pilot was going to track down the rest of Kira's friends, the ones from Heliopolis, in the hopes that perhaps they had an answer, or at least some suggestions. In the meantime, Athrun hoped that Lacus and Malchio could cheer Kira up, even for a little bit.
-
Next Morning
Milly was on the floor, hugging her knees and staring at the picture of herself and Tolle, taken barely days before the collapse of Heliopolis. Tears welled up and she lowered her head a few inches.
The ringing of the phone startled her a bit, but she didn't move to answer it right away. Four rings, five rings, six rings, finally she sighed, shook away the tears and picked up the phone.
"Hello." She said quietly.
"Milly, hi. I was wondering if you could help me with Kira's depression?" the voice asked.
"Kira?" things weren't exactly clear to her.
"Yeah, Kira. No matter what we do he always seems depressed." the voice, obviously male, explained.
"Who is this?" Miriallia couldn't match the voice to anyone.
"It's ..." he hesitated for a few seconds before answering. "Athrun."
A small gasp escaped her lips as her eyes widened. The phone dropped out of her loosened grip and fell to floor with a clunk. She heard Athrun asking if everything was all right.
"Tolle." She whispered.
Milly heard Athrun disconnect, so she hit her own disconnect button. Turning slightly to put the phone back on the charger, she glanced up at another picture; this one was a group shot of herself, Tolle, Kira, Sai and Kuzzey, again taken before the collapse of the colony. Everyone was smiling brightly, even her.
She sighed as she remembered something Mu La Flaga had said as the Archangel was about to board the remains of Junius 7 for supplies.
"Right now we're alive! To stay alive, sometimes you've got to do things which aren't always pretty!"
Milly got up and started to pack.
-
"How's Milly?" Lacus asked Athrun.
He turned around to face her.
"I'm not quite sure; she stopped talking after I told her who it was. I don't expect her to come."
"I see, well who's next on your list?" Lacus asked, changing the subject away from Tolle's death.
"Sai Argyle, the oldest of the group and former fiancée of Flay Alster."
Lacus' eyes narrowed slightly at the mention of Flay. While Lacus had forgiven the young girl for her actions aboard the Archangel when George Alster died, she believed that Flay still meant a lot to Kira, even though the younger girl was dead.
"Auntie Lacus, Auntie Cagalli wants you." A small boy said, pulling Lacus away from her thoughts and Athrun, who was already dialing Sai's number.
"Hello, Sai Argyle? This is Athrun Zala, Kira's friend. Yes, we met on the Archangel. I was wondering if you could help me with one of Kira's problems. No, it's nothing serious yet, but ... what's that? Excellent, I'll get a flight ready for you. How soon can you leave?"
-
In Space
Four GAT-01A Strike Daggers, painted completely black, drifted in space. The pilots were resting peacefully, waiting. No more than 100 meters away from one another, they had all non-essential systems shut down and everything else turned down to reduce electronic emissions.
A small pinging sound alerted the leader of their target's arrival. Sitting up, he zoomed in for a closer look.
"Wake up, its here." he said. Three green lights came on, confirming his squad was awake and operational.
A medium passenger transport came into view. It was a neutral shuttle, having a mixed crew of both Coordinators and Naturals. The passengers were the targets.
"Are you sure about this? Killing Naturals as well?" one pilot voiced his concern.
"I don't agree with killing the Naturals, but there are more Coordinators on that ship than Naturals. I'm sure they'd understand what we're doing." The leader replied, sating the other's concerns.
"Target confirmed and is in range. Let's go!" another confirmed.
The four Daggers ignited their thrusters simultaneously, jetting forward and drawing their machine hyper rifles.
"You know your parts. Keshitai ikuzo!"
They fired at the transport as they flew past it. Explosions flared where the bullets penetrated the thin armor. Another ping alerted the man to incoming GINNs and a few GuAIZ.
The daggers replaced their rifles with beam sabers and engaged the incoming ZAFT forces.
-
That Evening
The attack was all over the news that night. The reporter detailed the part about the bullet-holes in the shuttle being of the same caliber of the rifles used by the GINN mobile suits. Found near the dead shuttle were several destroyed GINNs, cut apart by Alliance beam sabers.
She went on to say how a small patrol team had apparently chanced upon the conflict and rushed to the shuttle's aid. A series of small clips was playing in the background, a Dagger slicing a GINN in two, a GINN firing at Dagger and hitting the shuttle instead, the remaining GINNs and GuAIZ retreating.
Athrun watched in interest while Malchio listened.
"Hmm... sounds to me like the same group of terrorists that struck last week, attacking a lone supply transport." Malchio remarked.
"And they were saved by several mobile armors, were they not?" Athrun asked.
"That they were. However what intrigues me is that the shuttle reportedly had several well known Coordinators onboard, and the transport the week before was carrying supplies from one PLANT to another." Malchio confirmed.
"Unless they were set up somehow, that may explain the response time of the armors and Daggers."
Malchio was about to reply when he heard a low-pitch whine from the distance.
"Sounds like one of Kira's friends are arriving." He said.
Athrun jumped up and scrambled outside to see a four-seater VTOL craft set down. The cockpit opened and two people got out and unloaded their luggage. The pilot stayed at the helm and took off when he got the thumbs up from the taller passenger. Both of them removed their helmets, and with his Coordinator enhanced sight, Athrun saw Sai, which he expected, and Miriallia, which he wasn't.
They walked towards the house, so Athrun decided to meet them halfway.
"Mister Argyle, Miss Haww, I thank you for coming here on such short notice. I must confess Miss Haww; I did not expect your arrival." Athrun greeted them.
"I remembered something someone said during the war." was her answer.
Sai shook Athrun's hand, and the Justice pilot offered to take their luggage, but both declined. They walked in a comfortable silence to the house, with Athrun holding the door open for them.
"Sai! Miriallia!" Lacus greeted them inside, hugging Milly and kissing Sai lightly on the cheek.
Cagalli got up from her chair beside Malchio, and he followed suit quickly. Everyone was introduced and in most cases, re-introduced. Finally Sai spoke up.
"Where's Kira?"
-
PLANT, Early Morning.
Yzak re-read the letter that Gilbert Durandal, newest Chairman of the PLANTS, had sent him. It really didn't interest him, but part of Yzak's job as a senior PLANT council member was to review everything that came to his attention. His attention was interrupted when the double doors slid open, revealing Dearka and Shiho.
"Yzak, you've got to take a look at this!" Dearka said with a note of apprehension in his voice.
"Not now Dearka, I'm trying to finish the letter Durandal sent me." Yzak said, not even bothering to look up at the two.
"There's been another attack Commander Jule." Shiho said.
Yzak sighed and looked up at his two subordinates.
"First of all, Shiho, we are not in ZAFT anymore, there is no ZAFT anymore, and I am not a commander. Second, I'm trying to finish this damned letter Durandal sent me, and you people aren't helping any."
"Damnit Yzak, a shuttle was attacked last night by the same group as last week! Our forces lost two GINNs in the engagement, along with the shuttle containing six of the council members on their way to Earth!" Dearka said, his anger rising.
That got Yzak's attention. He set the pad down onto the desk gently, stood up calmly, and then quickly snatched the letter up and threw it across the room with all of his considerable might. Dearka assumed Yzak was willing to see the clip, so he hit the 'play' button.
The images of the attack popped in the middle of the air, and Yzak watched it all play out before it finally ended. Dearka and Shiho waited patiently for Yzak to respond, or do anything at all.
"Dearka, get your Buster ready, Shiho, get your GuAIZ ready. We'll meet at Way Point 1, I'll be in Duel." Yzak finally ordered.
"Um ... Yzak, Buster is on the Archangel, and it's not even fixed yet." Dearka said slowly.
"And Duel's in lockdown stasis, incase someone tried to steal it." Shiho added.
That didn't help Yzak at all. Here he was, already loaded down with work and trying to clear his mother's name, with his best friend and fellow veteran and one of his best subordinates ever, and they were telling him that none of them could mobilize to deal with these new threats!
Yzak quickly thought up of a new plan. Dearka wondered what his friend was planning now.
"Fine then and actually this may work out even better. Dearka, you still have access to Armory One right?" Yzak asked.
"Yeah I'm still cleared for access ... why?" Dearka responded slowly.
"Shiho, with the power vested in me by the PLANT council I hereby grant you access to Armory One. Dearka! Get us a car!"
-
Malchio's Orphanage, Two Days Later
The arrival of two of his friends had cheered Kira up considerably, enough that he wasn't depressed all of time. All of the orphans were pleased to have more visitors as well, and for a time, the war and all of the sorrow and hatred seemed to disappear.
Milly had arranged to stay for a longer time, to help the orphans and Kira. Sai was due back in another week; his company had a critical deadline to meet. Kuzzey was unaccounted for, Athrun had tried to track him down, but there was nothing on him, not even a death certificate.
That news got the friends wondering if he had died when Orb was under siege from the Earth Alliance. The group chatted on several topics, until it finally came to some of their allies during the war.
"So where are the other pilots? The blond and silver-haired ones?" Sai asked.
"Dearka Elsman and Yzak Jule." Athrun supplied. Then he continued.
"Yzak's been promoted to a senior PLANT council member, Dearka and another from his unit are helping him as aides. Paperwork has never really gotten along with Yzak, he prefers to talk with his fists rather than a letter."
"But Dearka is ok?" Milly asked timidly.
"Yes, he was cleared of all charges thanks to Yzak, and now he's working mainly to get armed forces organized."
"Armed forces? For what?" inquired Cagalli.
"ZAFT has been formally disbanded, the council has put all blame on the military, so now we technically don't have one anymore. Dearka's doing it to take some pressure off Yzak."
Some of the apprehension that had been in Miriallia's face drained away. No matter what she told herself, she did care about the Buster pilot. Lacus interrupted the conversation.
"Lunch time!" she called.
The orphans scrambled around the sitting teenagers, some of them even crawling over the sitting group to get to the table. Chuckling lightly, they rose from the floor and walked over to eat lunch, which consisted of various sandwiches and fruit chunks in yogurt.
The conversation was light and up-lifted, with the starting of Orb's reconstruction, the Treaty being hammered out, and the disarmament of most of the EA and the former ZAFT. Finally everyone finished their lunches, and Lacus stood up to start clearing the dishes. Cagalli moved to help her, but Kira whispered something in her ear that got the blond twin smiling.
Kira quickly piled the plates up into one big stack and took them over to the sink as Lacus was putting the rest of the fruit into the fridge. Before she closed the door he had the cutlery, cups, and glasses beside the stack of plates as well.
Lacus closed the fridge door and turned around, only to be surprised as Kira kissed her. Nothing in her life could have prepared her for this, a sudden and passionate kiss from the one she deeply loved. Her shock passed quickly and she reciprocated, kissing him back just as deeply.
After what seemed like an eternity they finally broke the kiss and stared into each other's eyes. They shared a brief moment of silence before Lacus spoke up.
"That was ... unexpected."
Kira smiled at her comment, and then leaned in to kiss her again.
"Lacus ... I" he started.
A sudden crash interrupted the pair. A man dressed in all black and wearing a black balaclava un-holstered a machine-gun and cocked it. The Freedom pilot grabbed the former songstress and dived on the other side of the counter as the assailant opened fire.
The attacking man emptied his first clip without hitting his intended targets. He ejected the empty cartridge was in the middle of sliding the next one in when Kira jumped over the bullet-riddled counter and sent the man flying with a powerful kick. The clip went flying off towards the door as the machine gun went towards the tables.
The brown-haired Coordinator walked over to the unconscious and prone man to inspect him. There was an insignia on his left shoulder, a black 'K' set in a blue Earth with the words "For the Preservation of our Pure and Blue World" surrounding the world.
"Blue Cosmos." Kira muttered.
Lacus came out from behind the counter at the sound of Kira's voice. She timidly made her way towards Kira, stepping around the empty bullet casings. Kira tore the insignia off and handed it to Lacus. She looked at it with fear, and then handed it back to Kira.
More machine gun fire from outside grabbed their attention. Kira could see several more Blue Cosmos members firing at the orphans, Malchio, and the rest of his friends. Kira narrowed his eyes as the familiar feeling of a seed exploding in his mind occurred.
"Stay here please." He said to Lacus before rushing out the door to help his friends.
There were four soldiers with their backs to Kira, all of them in identical garb to the one in the kitchen, watching over Cagalli, Sai, Miriallia, Malchio and the orphans. Two more were rushing off after Athrun, who was leading them into the jungle.
Making a running leap, Kira launched off the short flight of stairs. The first terrorist was taken down by a back roundhouse kick to the neck. Kira landed as the first man went flying. Not sparing a second glance, Kira lunged for the next soldier, kneeing him hard in the gut and added an uppercut to the jaw.
The third man aimed his machine gun at Kira, but the teenager was already too close in. Kira twisted past the gun, grabbing it with one hand and finishing the rotation by elbowing the owner in the face. As the third man fell, Kira whipped around and swung the rifle with all of his strength, hitting the last man squarely in the side of the temple.
His friends looked relieved until they heard more gunshots from deep inside the jungle.
"Athrun!" Cagalli screamed.
Kira rushed past her into the jungle, following the sounds. Cagalli ran after him, disappearing among the trees. Lacus appeared at the door of the house to see what was going on, just in time to see Kira and Cagalli rush into the jungle.
Athrun was trapped in an angled pincer formation. The two Blue Cosmos members were still at enough range to take Athrun down before he got to them, and there was enough room between the two soldiers to prevent the Coordinator from taking them down simultaneously.
"Don't move scum." The first one sneered.
"For a Blue and Pure World." The second said.
They raised their rifles and aimed carefully at Athrun. Kira and Cagalli collided with the two terrorists just as they squeezed the trigger. Two bullets flew from the muzzles, impacting on the tree behind Athrun. The twins wasted no time in subduing the assailants.
"Athrun, are you all right?" Cagalli asked concernedly, walking towards the blue-haired Coordinator.
"Yes, thanks to you and Kira." He replied, enfolding her in a hug.
There was a feminine scream in the direction of the house, which got Kira running back to see what happened. Athrun and Cagalli followed suit, but something had Kira's blood running, he was moving faster than they thought he could. Only one thing echoed in his mind: Lacus.
He cleared the edge of the jungle in record time, only to see a medium sized VTOL helicopter leaving. Then he saw Sai sprawled out on the sand, with Miriallia tending to a minor looking should wound.
Kira ran inside the house as Cagalli and Athrun emerged from the jungle. They could all hear Kira's frantic actions, searching the place and calling out to Lacus. Then he was at the doorway, tears welling up in his eyes, his fists clenched tightly.
"Where's Lacus?"
A/N: First chapter done! Criticize everything (constructively though, no flames). This story I promise will be longer than and not as rushed as my first one. Please Read and Review! P.S. Sorry for the not-so-hanging Cliffhanger.