The New Seeds

Disclaimer: I do not own any of the Gundam Seed or Gundam Seed Destiny series and their characters. If I did, then I would be the happiest girl in the world.

ooOoo

Chapter 6: A long sleepless night

Several of the soldiers were gathered inside and outside of the house as Athrun and Dearka arrived. They found another one of their allies within the crowd.

Dearka stopped in front of them, hands on his knees as he panted, "What the hell is goin' on?!"

Yzak shook his head, "I don't know. I just got here too."

Another scream pierced the confused commotion, followed closely by the sound of gunfire. Athrun was quick to take action, "Dearka! Yzak! Follow me!"

The three of them and the some of the cadets ran into the house and leapt right over the bar that was supposed to keep intruders away from the rooms. They headed straight to the source of the disturbing sounds – Kira's room.

They could clearly hear there was a fight going on, but it was impossible to know who was winning, or who was attacking. Athrun pulled at the handle of the door, only to find himself unable to get in, "It's locked!"

"Move over Athrun, let me try," Dearka offered. He stepped forward and started ramming his side into the door to break it open. Yzak went over to help.

The room was a total mess. Broken furniture laid spread everywhere, accompanied by a couple of dead bodies. Lacus stood in a corner, watching the scene with wide eyes, shivering. There wasn't much she could do – she didn't even have a weapon she could use. She wasn't prepared for this. In one minute, she and Kira had been sitting on the bed, chatting quietly – and the next, six men had barged through the window and attacked them.

Kira had immediately whipped out his handgun to defend himself and Lacus. Considering his skill, the assailants shouldn't be much of a challenge to him, but it was difficult for one man to take on six enemies at the same time.

Two had already fallen, but there was still four left, and he could only concentrate at one at the time. He fought the best he could, teeth gritted, hands firmly holding the gun, sweat dripping from his forehead. He barely had time to think, but in the back of his mind he wondered just where these men had come from, and how did they find them. Vaguely, he noticed the dull thumping on the door of someone trying to brake in.

Kira looked at the door's direction. What the—

"Kira, look out!" Lacus shouted.

Kira turned around and heard Lacus' warning, but it was too late. One of the men took aim and shot him from behind, the bullet tearing into the skin of Kira's arm. Wincing in pain, the boy fell to his knees, blood matting his black long sleeved shirt. .

Darn it! Can't fight well… in this condition…

He felt a strange, prickling sensation at the back of his neck, and he swept around just in time to block the attack of another one of the assailant's dagger. He forced the soldier off balance, and used the time gained to kick at his stomach, trying to ignore the throbbing pain in his arm.

Yet another assailant was approaching Kira, but was rudely interrupted as a chair went flying at one of the men behind Kira. Lacus threw the chair in order to save her defender.

The impact of the chair didn't kill the man, but it gave Kira time to get to his feet. It seemed like he was winning the fight, when he yet again was interrupted by Lacus' voice.

"Kira!!!"

The last assailant was heading towards Lacus, ready to attack with his dagger. He was too close, and she wouldn't have time to run. Kira left the one he had been fighting with badly injured on the floor and hurried towards them.

Must reach Lacus… before him. Can't let him get her…

Still dazed from his various injuries and with only one thing at his mind, Kira leapt forward to cut off the assailant's attack. It was as if the whole scene went in slow motion. He felt himself in body contact with the man. Both lost their balance and fell to the floor. Somewhere in the background, the door was finally broken and his friends arrived. It was all a blur. He heard Lacus' scream, but didn't have time to figure out why, as the man flipped around and pinned him to the floor. Somehow, he had lost his gun in the process, and felt another gun press up at the back of head. Kira stared into the angry face of the man, and he could see Lacus out of the corner of his eye, looking terrified.

Lacus

Two gunshots were heard. The soldier's expression changed to a pained one – he tensed, still holding the gun dangerously close to certain death for Kira… then he dropped heavily on top of him.

Disgusted, Kira pushed the body off himself, then closed his eyes and remained lying on the floor, breathing heavily.

"Kira!" Lacus quickly kneeled next to him.

The three others came running over, Dearka putting away his gun, Athrun bending down by his other side, "Kira, are you all right?" his bestfriend asked.

"I've been better," he muttered, blinking his eyes open again and getting up to a sitting position with the Yzak and Dearka's help.

Athrun was examining the bullet wounds on his right arm, "These are pretty bad. You should have the doctor take a look at them."

Kira just groaned, and Lacus wrapped her arms around his neck gently in a hug, "I'm so glad you're all right… I was so scared…"

Yzak on the other hand, looked around, "Man, what a mess! It looks like a bunch of idiots had a party in here!"

Dearka paced about, glancing at the fallen men, "Hey, I think this one is still alive!"

Athrun and Yzak moved over, and Athrun grabbed the man by his collar, "Why the hell you comin' in here attackin' our Commander?!"

The man winced and coughed up blood, his voice hoarse, "They told us… to get out… the.. Chairwo..," he coughed again, and Athrun glanced at the others. This one wasn't going to last for long.

Athrun shook him and hissed, "Come on, spit it out!"

"…We… resisted… PLANTs… should be… our property… we seek revenge… for our friends… who were killed…," his eyes widened slightly and he stared up at Athrun, "…by you… bastards…"

Athrun snorted and dropped the body to the ground, "You want another war?"

Kira had staggered to his feet and was making his way over to them, a bit stunned by how cold-hearted these assailants could be. He shook his head and put a hand to his forehead, "This is… strange…"

Athrun sighed and Lacus looked at the floor, "I guess… you were right, Kira… They wouldn't give up that easily, just like you said."

Just at that moment, one of the other cadets came running into the room, "Sir, I have a mess- Oh! …Did something… happen… in here?"

Yzak turned and glared at him, "What makes you think something happened? What gave it away? The corpses?"

"Mr. Joule!" Lacus hissed.

"Sorry, Sir…," the young cadet swallowed, clearly uncomfortable, "I saw the big crowd outside and… Well, anyway, Sir, I have a message from Lady Cagalli," he stepped forward and handed the paper to Kira, then fled the room.

Kira's eyes narrowed as he read the note. The others stepped over to him.

"What is it?" Lacus asked.

"She wants us to return to Orb by tomorrow morning, she has important news."

"WOO-HOO! We're going back! And Milly-chan is working there as a photographer right?" Dearka cheered, jumping up and down.

"Shut up, Dearka. We're not going for picnic." Yzak barked at his friend.

"Anyway, I think we could all need some rest… It's been a long night," the others nodded at Kira's suggestion.

Kira took a brief glance around and sighed, "I think I need a new room."

End of Chapter 6