The Shattered Sword of the Azure Sky:
Alternate telling of Gundam Seed
Aurora-chan here. While working on a crossover work for What We Make of it, I finished watching Gundam Seed Destiny.
As someone who has seen at least a bit of every Gundam series, I was sorely disappointed. I am serious. With the exception of one thing (a certain character survives that had been marked for death for the last half of the series), most of the ending was rushed, misdirected, and just nonsensical to a point that only one other production from the Gundam universe has really suffered from, that of course being G-Saviour.
Therefore, I took a bit of time to think about what I liked about Destiny and Seed, as well as what I liked about other Gundam series in general. I decided that an interesting change back in Seed would allow me to make some drastic changes across the board, and it would allow me to just let loose with a different version of Seed, and perhaps Seed Destiny, if I end up writing that far along.
More than anything though, this is more practice, and perhaps an image of how my writing will evolve over time, so let's see what happens.
Disclaimer:
First, I do not own Gundam Seed, Gundam Seed Astray (B, X, R, any of them), Gundam Seed Destiny, Sunrise, Bandai, a Gundam, Athrun Zala, or Flay Allster, although owning any of those would be very cool.
Second, I do not plan of retyping this disclaimer on each chapter, so consider this a blanket disclaimer for the entire story. If I draw in another element, such as another series or something, I will add an appropriate part to this disclaimer.
Third, I refuse to blame Fukuda for the entirety of the Gundam Seed Destiny ending fiasco. He earned enough good karma by my standards in creating the first series, so he gets off with a warning in my book.
Well, with that out of the way, I suppose you want to know what that change is?
Read on, then.
Chapter 1: Flashing Blades: The Shattered Sword of the Azure Sky.
The rain fell outside the red mobile suit as it carried its pilot toward a small island. The pilot, a spiky-haired kid, became somewhat annoyed by the rain falling around him, but he felt like he just had to meet someone on that island. However, a flashing light in the distance caught his attention, and it seemed that he may be meeting someone else on the island besides Reverend Malchio.
Directing the Red Frame towards the flash of light, Lowe Gear used his suit's sensor system to zoom in as much as possible on what was happening. As he drew near, the suits, one red and one white, were slashing at each other in what appeared to be a violent dance. Landing on the shore, Lowe watched as the red suit transformed into a flying claw, and grabbed the white suit with its three claws. The white unit seemed helpless against this attack, but just a moment later, the red suit changed colors, becoming gray, as though it suddenly became ill at the thought of destroying the white suit. "Is it over?" Lowe asked himself aloud, although Hachi, his onboard AI, could hear him. His answer came as the now gray claw flashed for a moment. Lowe, a master of mechanical technology, seemed to instinctively know that the claw-shaped suit was about to explode. Cursing loudly, he used the Red Frame's arm to draw a large suit-scale katana from its sheath, and then proceeded to thrust it into the ground and kneel behind it.
The blast from the mobile suit tore the very ground to shreds before Lowe's eyes. After that moment, he reflexively closed them and braced to the force of the blast. As it was struck, the Red Frame's structure was pushed to nearly the breaking point, and Lowe had to use all of his strength just to keep the suit's hand controls from kicking out of his hands. If that were to happen, the suit would let go of the Gerbera Straight katana, and with the impact of the suit to the ground, with that kind of force, he likely wouldn't walk away from the landing. Pieces of the ground rose and crashed against the Red Frame and the Gerbera Straight, threatening to rip the suit apart from around Lowe.
As suddenly as the blast struck, it faded, and Lowe relaxed as best he could. He was shaking sporadically as his body began to ease into a more normal state. Still shaking, he opened the Red Frame's cockpit and descended on the pilot lift rope. However, once he hit the ground, he hit hard. His whole body quit on him for a single moment, and he collapsed. This was followed by his rise from the sand, and a slow trudging toward where the mobile suit had exploded. Crossing the sand, the dirt, and the rocks, his slow walk became a fevered sprint, as he noticed that one of the mobile suits was still in tact. He reached it as fast as his legs would go, arriving as a hard rain began to fall. Reaching out to touch the armor on the foot of the mobile suit, he stopped short, noticing a change from the white color he had seen to a dull gray. Looking at the entire suit for a moment, he noticed that this change was occurring all over the suit, as a blue, red, and white color scheme turned to the same gray that caught his eye on the leg. Reaching again to the suit, he touched it only to discover that it was still hot from the explosion and armor heat. Pulling his hand away, he looked around for a way to the cockpit. Climbing a nearby ledge was his only real option, and he shortly found one that could get him where he felt he needed to be. A sudden desire, stronger than that he got just from seeing the machine in action, compelled him to get to the cockpit and find the pilot.
Upon reaching the cockpit, he threw his vest over the side of the cockpit to a large gash in the middle. Leaning over the now very hot vest, he peered into the gash and could make out a pilot suit. The blue suit was melted to the seat, and likely to the pilot that was still inside. Lowe leaned down into the suit headfirst, and saw that the pilot was, quite painfully, still breathing. Reacting without a thought, Lowe dropped carefully into the cockpit, making sure not to land directly on the pilot. He pulled the pilot suit, or at least most of it, off of the seat, and pushed the boy through the gash in the top of the suit, making sure to place him face down on the armor. Surprisingly, the pilot's normal suit had protected him for the most part. Lowe looked up at the gash and, realizing what was just about to happen, reached up and grabbed the top of the hole. The pain was excruciating, as the outer layer of his skin was boiled by a thin layer of water that had accumulated on the mobile suit. He resisted the urge to let go, instead opting to scream with mixed agony and determination to pull himself from the would-be coffin he was now in. He pulled himself free and wasted no time carrying the pilot to the ground with him as he climbed off the suit.
He moved instinctively toward a house he had learned about on a previous mission with the Junk Guild. He continued onward to the small orphanage on the island. Upon his arrival, he fell to the ground, and the young pilot on his back became impossible to carry. He set the boy facedown in the sand, turned his head to the side, and drudged towand the door, hands bleeding and body scratched and cut from the rough metal of the gash, as well as the several times he had fallen already. Openning the door, he saw Reverand Malchio and his friend, Kisato. They seemed to be saying something, but his vision was starting to narrow, and he was having a hard time hearing them. He moved his mouth, trying desperately to tell the pair about the pilot outside, but his ears could not hear if he was talking. As he collapsed, he saw Kisato look out the door behind him. Now he could be sure, that everything would be alright.
-Bit of artistic license if you will, but it didn't seem like Kira was all that heavy in Seed Astray, so I gave Lowe some reasons to be weak when he got to the Reverand's place. This is the last time that something so familiar will occur.-
Lowe Gear was definitely not sure of where he was when he woke up, but considering it was the first time in a week he wasn't sleeping in the cockpit of the Red Frame, as well as the incident from the night before, even if he were in his room onboard the transport unit Lessups, he still wouldn't have any clue where he was. Luckily for him, there was at least a familiar face waiting to greet him. His redheaded crewmate Kisato Yamabuki was half-sleeping in a chair by his bed. To Lowe, it seemed she never really could have slept, considering how much of a worrywart she was. He smiled at a small bit of familiarity, then remembered the pilot he had found last night. Trying to get up, he found his hands to be rather uncooperative, choosing to sting with the pain of the burns he had received instead of supporting his body weight. He fell the whole inch he was able to lift himself back onto the bed with a soft thud and a bit of a springy noise. Considering Lowe's assumption of Kisato, it was not surprising to him that a sound such as this could actually wake her up. Laughing quietly, he smiled as she did upon seeing that he was okay. With tears in her eyes, and an expression of absolute relief at Lowe's safety, she grabbed him in a tight embrace. This was followed by pain and sarcasm, as Lowe said, "Can you hold back on the love? It hurts."
Kisato, releasing Lowe, then blushed. "I'm sorry! I just…"
"I understand you were worried about me, but you worry far too much. Something like this won't kill me. Just some scratches and some burns. I even got to see the famous Alliance mobile suit Strike, and I helped that kid out, so it was worth it." Lowe then thought for a moment and asked, "So, how is he? The kid from the mobile suit?"
Kisato shrugged. "Not really sure, but the Reverend was taking care of him. I'll go ask him in a minute. First, I want to know just what happened last night. You said you were going to see the Reverend, and then you just disappear. It really isn't like you to leave the Red Frame unattended, either."
"You may not believe me, but I saw the Strike fighting with a red suit, and the spectacle just drew me in…"
-Storytime with Lowe and Kisato.-
The Reverend walked in at about the time that Lowe was energetically describing the color change of the armor. He stood in the doorway for a moment, then, hearing the voice of the young man stop, he began to speak as soon as he felt both sets of eyes in the room resting upon him. He spoke with his calm voice, a voice befitting the bringer of a message. Lowe waited for Malchio to finish telling him that he could stay as long as he needed to recover, then began to ask his question, "Hey, about that pilot..."
Malchio's face fell a little, as if he expected such a question, but did not wish to answer after it had been finished. "The boy was named Kira Yamato. I did my best to help him, but he didn't make it."
-End chapter 1-
Well, if you know me, you all really saw that coming, but it had to be done. Yes, Kira Yamato has died due to injuries sustained in combat against the stolen prototype X303 Aegis. And a bit of a necessary spoiler: He isn't coming back, even with the nature of Gundam Seed as it is.
Short chapter, but it had to end with the revelation of Kira's death.
Questions, comments, or constructive criticism, have you? If so, you can write them in a review of this story, or for questions, you can e-mail me at gldni17-at-gmail-dot-com.