Yzak had just returned to the Vesalius, having carried Commander Kleuze's damaged MS back with him. They had finished their mission in the ruins of the Mendel colony, with less than admirable results, not the least of which was his confrontation with Dearka.
He reflected on the situation, how Dearka was fighting alongside the Naturals, with the Archangel enemies now. He was left reeling when Dearka had told him that Athrun was with the Archangel as well, and how the pilot of Freedom, the former pilot of Strike, was a Coordinator and childhood friend of Athrun.
Yzak was desperately trying to sort through the chaotic mess of his emotions. He felt angry, shocked, betrayed, helpless, and afraid all at once. He was the only one left. The others were all dead or had defected. They were his enemies now. The deaths of Nicol and Rusty had affected him greatly, forcing him to realize that he was not invincible, that there was a very great possibility he could die, same as his fallen comrades. He might not have treated them well, but he did value their companionship, even if he did not show it in the best light. He felt so helpless without them. He didn't know what to do alone. He would never have showed such insecurity openly, which is why he had always erected a wall of hostility before, a wall that was now painfully crumbling. He also felt furious at Dearka and Athrun for turning against everything they believed in, fighting as soldiers of Zaft on behalf of Plant, for the sake of the Coordinators' future and survival. They had betrayed his trust! How dare they! After everything they had been through together, now they were throwing it all away. Dearka, especially. All for what? The sake of some insignificant Natural girl? He was afraid of facing Dearka and Athrun on the battlefield as well. They were his comrades. Could he fight them now?
In the midst of all this, his thoughts were interrupted when Commander Kleuze summoned him to the bridge.
Sighing, Yzak hurried there and saw the commander waiting.
"Hai, Commander Kleuze. You wished to see me?"
"Yzak, we have deteced an anomaly not far from here. It is emitting a massive amount of energy. It could be potentially dangerous or beneficial, whatever it is. I want you to investigate and report your findings."
"Hai, Commander Kleuze."
"Report to the docking bay and prepare to launch Duel, then. Good luck."
Yzak suited up and launched in Duel. He was following the coordinates to the supposed anomaly. He was glad for it, actually. It gave him something to do and take his mind off the more unpleasant matter of his former comrades' betrayal. He had yet to realize how much the anomaly would change his future.
A half-hour later, he was staring in awe at the anomaly.
"This is unlike anything I've ever seen. I think I should send some visual feedback back to Vesalius. I'll make a recording. This anomaly appears to be a vortex of some sort. It's massive, with a diameter that is hundreds of meters in length. It's swirling with colors of purple, white, and sapphire blue. The energy readings were fairly stable, but now they seem to be rising. They could reach a spike."
As he finished sending the recording, he noticed that his radar was reacting. A MS was quickly approaching, Buster. His pupils dilated as his anxiety rose.
"Commander Kleuze, Buster is approaching. What should I do?"
"Prevent it from gaining control of the vortex, Yzak. Do so at all costs."
"Hai, Commander."
Swallowing hard, Yzak tried to calm the churning in his stomach as he steeled himself for the possible confrontation.
Dearka attempted to make contact with him.
"Yzak, what are you doing here!"
"What does it look like? I'm investigating this vortex. No doubt you've been sent here to do the same. Next, you'll probably be securing it on behalf of the Archangel, won't you?"
"Yzak-"
"Were those your orders? Yes or no?"
"Well, yes, but this doesn't have to end badly!"
"You should have thought about that before you defected, Dearka. There is no other way to resolve this conflict. I have my orders. I cannot allow you to take control of this vortex. Draw your weapon."
With that, Duel drew its beam saber and settled into an attacking stance.
"Yzak!"
"Do not speak another word. It is too late for words. Let us begin."
With that, Duel closed in, bringing its saber down in a diagonal slash. Buster evaded and attempted to fire a shot, which Duel barely dodged. It went on like that for several minutes until Buster combined its guns, attempting to fire a glancing shot, just enough that Duel would be forced to put some distance between them. However, the beam fired directly into the vortex. That caused the vortex to churn even more violently than before. Duel was closer and was quickly being sucked in. Buster tried to reach it, offering its hand.
Yzak was oddly calm about his imminent demise. It didn't seem to be a particularly bad way to die. He was going to be dead in a matter of minutes, most likely. Dearka had once been his friend. In this moment, he let his sentimentality surface this once. He had nothing to lose this time.
Duel pushed Buster back, far enough that it would not be caught in the vortex's pull.
"Yzak!"
"It is a good day to die. You were a worthy opponent. You were also once my comrade. I have not forgotten that. You saved my life once, and I repay that debt to you now, though you are an enemy."
"YZAK!"
With that, Duel was sucked into the storm of energy, and the vortex closed behind it.
When Yzak next awoke, he was experiencing the agony of burning alive. Duel had been badly damaged when it was sucked through the vortex. As of now, he was plummeting through the atmosphere of a world that looked very much like Earth. Even as he did so, the interior of the cockpit was burning. The cockpit had actually collapsed somewhat and some sharp debris had pierced his suit, right through his chest and dangerously close to his heart. As a matter of fact, his own suit was now bursting with flames.
Yzak did not know how long the pain lasted, as he struggled and twisted, screaming and howling at the top of his lungs, desperately trying to stop the flames. To no avail, the fires ate hungrily away at his suit, melting his flesh and charring his hair even as he plummeted to the land.
Perhaps hours later, Yzak was slowly crawling away from the burning remnants of the Duel. He was a mess of charred flesh and bones, his silver hair now reduced to a few blackened strands, his once-handsome face terribly scarred and disfigured with burns to the point of being unrecognizable, just like the rest of his body. His pilot suit had melted and actually leaked into his flesh. Added to the wound near his heart, it was a miracle he was not dead yet. He was surviving purely on will power at this point. He thought he saw some air vehicles traveling in his direction. That was all he remembered before he blacked out.
Yzak awoke again to find himself in a capsule of some sort. He had a respiratory device hooked to his mouth, as well as countless other equipment that were probably supporting his shattered wreck of a body.
He strained his eyes to look beyond. He thought he saw many medical personal supervising. The ones closest to him seemed to be monitoring his conditions. As he looked closer, he noticed that they didn't exactly look human. Humanoid yes, but they had other features that made them seem more like robots. One in particular, the one with the long golden pony tail, caught his attention. He had a helmet with a blue crystal in it, the letter Z emblazoned on one of his shoulder guards, along with what seemed to be a saber mounted in his shoulder. His suit was red, with white and black parts as well.
"How is this human boy's condition, Douglas?"
"It's no good, Commander Zero. His body is deteriorating quickly. It has suffered too much damage. The medical capsule is slowing his death, but it won't stop it."
"Isn't there anything you can do?"
"There might be one thing. It's risky and only an experimental procedure, but I can't see any other way. I told you before. I scanned his DNA, and it is remarkable. If he were to become a Maverick Hunter, I believe he would quickly progress to the Special-A class."
"Very well. However, I will not allow this operation to be done with the boy's consent. I will try to speak to him now."
With that, the one called Zero turned to him, speaking to him through the glass of the capsule.
"Child, can you understand me?"
Yzak nodded faintly.
"That is good. We do not have much time before your body expires, so I'll try to be brief. We found you not far from our headquarters. You crashed through the atmosphere, along with some giant machine. It seems you might have crashed through an anomaly we were monitoring. Your body has been too badly injured. The only way to save you is to transfer you to a Reploid body. We'll copy your brainwaves and give it a DNA chip with your DNA signature. We have one we've been waiting to use in fact. It could become one of our most powerful. I think you have great potential. Would you be willing to undergo the operation and join the Maverick Hunters? It is our duty to maintain the order and ensure that renegade Reploids, Mavericks, do not harm our brethren."
Yzak was barely able to manage a hoarse, gasping reply, "I beg you, save me. I will help you in any way I can. Please, I don't want to die."
"Very well, then."
Zero turned to Douglas and told him to commence the procedure. Yzak was given some sort of anesthetic and fell asleep quickly.
It had been a very delicate process, as the Reploid operators and technicians scanned the human boy's brain waves and then proceeded to transfer them into the new Reploid body. Others were busy copying the boy's genetic information onto the DNA chip. The Reploid body in question was in another stasis tube receiving all the data. Both the boy's body and the one soon to become his had to be carefully synchronized if the procedure was to be successful. For the young one's sake, Zero hoped so. If so, afterwards, he would give the boy a trial period, to see how he coped as a Maverick Hunter, if he really wanted to make that decision. The boy probably came from another dimension. He might want to go back. If so, they would do their best to help this one go home. However, a part of him also wanted the boy to stay on as a Maverick Hunter. Something told him that the boy would become as good as he was, someday.
The final packets had finished transferring, the operators informed him. Now, hopefully, the boy had survived the process.
