Disclaimer – Don't ask cause I don't own it.
A/N ok here's chapter 4. Kira comes face to face with Richard and some of the past is reveled. Not much to do to this chapter either, it was more a less the way I wanted.
Mobile Suit Gundam Seed
Starlight
Chapter 4
Family Reforged
CE 71
Olympus
Richard's Quarters
Richard had helped Mu move Kira out of the hangar and to his quarters. While Mu and Murrue spoke to Laura and the ships crew, Cagalli waited with Richard for Kira to awaken. Richards's quarters were modest; he didn't have much in the first place, just some photos and personal effects, the rest were locked into a container in the main cargo bay. Cagalli moved from the corner over to the bed where Richard floated in a kneeling position next to the bed which contained the unconscious Strike pilot.
"So he really is your brother then"
Richard nodded.
"It looks that way. To think, we've lived so close for so long. If only I'd meet up with him sooner"
"Well at least you found him. How long did you say you'd been looking?"
"9 years, ever since my father told me I had a brother and sister"
Cagalli smiled a bit at her new friend.
"Well now you just need to find your sister don't you"
Richard smiled and chuckled a bit.
"Yeah I guess so"
That brought Richard to more serious thoughts. Should this teen turn out to be his brother, then eventually he would have to tell him.
The truth about Mendel colony and the GRAM facility, the truth about their birth, everything. That scared him more than anything else. After the truth came out, would his "siblings" still accept him? Only a handful of people, including Laura, Kale, and a certain young woman knew the full truth. Or at least what information he did have.
Laura had taken her 2 guests on a quick tour of the ship; they now found themselves on the bridge. Mu was impressed with the ship and its Mobile Suit complement while Captain Ramius had asked for, and received permission, to contact the Archangel to let Ensign Badgiruel know they were alive and well.
Once that was done the pair followed Laura to the ships tactical room or the "Battle Bridge", the ships secondary command room which sat inside the ships hull below the main bridge. On the far wall sat a single large monitor which displayed a forward view such as you would see from the bridge. The monitor was oriented to face the ships bow. Just in from of it sat 2 consoles and chairs meant for the Navigations and Helm officers. To either side of them were consoles for the Combat Coordinator and Sensor officers. Behind and between the Helm and Nav stations sat the captains chair and behind her sat a large flat table similar to the tactical displays on Zaft ships. Laura, Mu, and Murrue gathered around that display which showed a basic map of the area of space around the two ships. Laura looked across at the two Earth Forces officers.
"So you're heading to Artemis from here?"
Murrue nodded.
"Yes, were low on supplies at the moment and we need to reach orbit. From there we'll be able to meet up with an Atlantic Federation taskforce"
Laura nodded.
"I think we may be able to help with the supplies. Its nothing pretty, canned food and MREs, but we should have enough for both our ships. We hadn't intended to leave Heliopolis for another month at least but we were stocked up. All we really needed to do was recruit more crew and another pilot. At least we have the pilot now"
Mu nodded.
"That girl from earlier, Cagalli was her name I think"
"Yes that's her"
They were silent for a moment till Mu spoke again.
"So who's Kira's mysterious copy?"
Laura chuckled, almost a giggle.
"That's our lead pilot and XO Richard Arin, it was his father and some associates of his that began this whole project from plans we stole from Morgenroete. Our organization "Peacemaker" is still small, but that doesn't mean were any less determined"
Murrue nodded.
"I see, that explains some things like where your G-Weapons came from. But why does Richard look EXACTLY like Kira"
Laura smiled.
"Richard has a brother and sister he was separated from at birth, Triplets. According to his father his brother was identical and the sister was fraternal. After Cagalli confused Richard for Kira we though we may have found his brother. That's the big reason we decided to meet up with you, also as our Combat Coordinator Soran Zarath pointed out, there's safety in numbers. The Peacemaker Organization is formally requesting a genetic comparison between Kira Yamato and Richard Arin to confirm weather or not they are in fact siblings"
Murrue nodded.
"After seeing the two together I have to agree it's more than likely they are. We'll allow the test, and we thank you for the assistance"
Laura stood and offered Murrue her hand.
"Thank you captain, and now at least you'll be able to bypass Artemis all together"
Murrue accepted and shook her hand.
"That's something at least, we don't have codes they would recognize and like Lt La Flaga I don't trust them much. What about the X303 Aegis and its pilot"
"There being kept here, as we are an independent ship we reserve the right to salvage. Once we reach neutral territory we will send the pilot back to PLANT"
Kale and Sara sat in the galley, relaxing after their combat launch against the 4 stolen ZAFT G-Weapons. The pilot of the Aegis had been unconscious when he was removed from the cockpit but had awoken about an hour ago, suffering only minor electrical burns. No one else was around, which was good for the pair. They didn't like displaying too much affection in public, dating or not. So with an empty galley, they decided it would be good for a bit of snuggle time. Kale leaned back against the wall and Sara rested back against his chest with his arms wrapped around her waist. He rested his chin lightly on her shoulder as Sara asked.
"So, do you think it's him?"
Kale made a small agreement sound which, due to the closeness to her ear, made Sara shiver, which was of course the desired effect. His whispered answer didn't help very much.
"It has to be, looks too much like him"
Kale made another small sound and Sara had had enough. She spun in place and locked her lips to his. After a passionate moment the pair parted and she made her intentions more than clear.
"You, me, my quarters, my bed, NOW!"
Kale didn't even attempt to resist as he was pulled from his seat and down toward the female pilots quarters.
On the opposite side of the section of Olympus devoted to crew quarters, Kira Yamato slowly stirred to consciousness.
'Where am I?'
As his eyes started to clear he began to remember the event that had transpired.
'We came over to the new ship the Olympus; we saw their mobile suits and their pilots. That girl from Morgenroete was there too, and there was another pilot. He looked like…'
Kira sat up in bed, eyes wide in the memory of the kid that looked just like him. He didn't recognize the room. His attention was drawn to the two others in the room, the blond girl from Morgenroete, and the teen from before, the one that looked like him. Kira was stunned to say the least, especially when the other teen spoke and Kira heard his own voice.
"Glad you finally decided to wake up"
Kira looked around the room again.
"Where…am I"
"Your on the Olympus, my quarters specifically. You fainted on us after I took of my helmet in the Mobile Suit bay"
Kira looked back to the brown haired teen, it was still shocking to see some one else with his own face.
"Why…why do you…"
Richard gave a soft friendly chuckle.
"Look like you"
Kira nodded, Richard placed a hand on Kira's shoulder.
"I'll explain it all in a while, but there's a really good chance you're my brother"
"Huh"
"Come on, we need to meet up with everyone in a bit. Laura's suppose to ask for a DNA test to find out for certain and after seeing everyone's reactions I don't doubt they'll allow it. Cagalli can you take him to the mess hall; I'll catch up in a bit. I have something I need to take care of"
As Kira was getting out of the bed, still clad in his pilot suit, he turned to Richard who was on his way out.
"What happened, to the pilot of the Aegis?"
Richard stopped at the door.
"Why"
Kira paused for a moment.
"He's a friend; we use to go to the same preparatory school on Copernicus"
Richard floated over and ruffled Kira's hair.
"He's fine; he's in the infirmary with minor electrical burns. I had to dump about 10,000 volts into the Aegis to shut it down. He'll be staying onboard until we get to neutral territory then were going to send him back to PLANT. So don't worry about it, the crew are half coordinator half Natural so he'll be fine. You want me to go check on him?"
Kira nodded.
"If you would"
Richard nodded. Kira followed the blond toward the Olympus' mess hall. Richard himself headed for the infirmary.
Mu La Flaga, Murrue, Laura and DJ Cole one of the Olympus' maintenance techs, sat in the mess hall discussing their next move when Kira and Cagalli arrived. After the two grabbed something to drink and joined the group Laura and Murrue informed the pair that they were going to run a paternity test on Richard and Kira.
Also Ensign Badgiruel was making preparations for the command crew form Olympus, Richard, Laura and Cagalli, to go over to Archangel to discuss their next move.
Richard however had something else on mind.
He stood next to one of the ships few windows and looked down at the simple object that lay in his hand, a visor like device that would cover only his eyes. He had worn it from Oct 29 CE 68 up until Aug 25 CE 70, his last day with Zaft. He had been part of a secret "good will" exchange program between ZAFT and the Orb Defense Forces, the fact he was a neutral Coordinator with PLANT sympathies helped matters greatly. The PLANT Supreme Council had known that he, and the others in the program, couldn't use their real names as it would leave a connection to Orb. So they created new identities for them, James Conrad for Richard, and allowed them to enroll in the ZAFT Military Academy. His instructors were directly ordered not to force him to remove his visor, sighting vision problems.
Somehow the excuse had worked and he graduated with enough credits to earn the coveted "Red Coat" uniform, and his first command shortly there after. Through it all using his connections to search for his missing siblings. He first saw action with his team during the blockade of the PLANTs by Earth Forces in CE 69 where ZAFT Mobile Suits drove Alliance Mobile Armors out of PLANT airspace in their first battle near the Junius PLANT cluster.
His team had been known as the "Black Knights" and had their Mobile Suits painted all black or slate gray with gold trim. Over time the team even adopted some customs of European Knights such as wearing long swords with their uniforms. Richard's personal GINN, a High Maneuver model, had also taken the Knights paint scheme. Also, his actions during the Blockade, putting his GINN in the line of fire of Alliance Mobile Armors to protect several civilian shuttles, had earning him the moniker "Angel of Junius".
He hadn't left Zaft until Aug 25 CE 70 when the exchange program had run its course. He still had his Red Coat uniform as well as the White Coat uniform he had received after gaining command of the Knights. Also still with him was the black and gold uniform worn exclusively by the Black Knights, derived by command to boost moral in ZAFT. It was in standard Zaft cut and was full black, trimmed in gold and some gray. His departure from PLANT and ZAFT was quiet and peaceful, like the rest of his team. In point of fact he could put on his visor and uniform at anytime and check into any ZAFT facility and he would probably be accepted.
He slid the visor back into his pocket and headed for the infirmary. Athrun Zala was being discharged and was to be moved to arranged quarters.
Athrun Zala laid back in one of the beds in the Olympus's infirmary, lights out. His arms were wrapped in fresh bandages due to the electrical burns he had received from combat with the new G-Weapon the ships doctor identified as the RGX-X078 Nemesis. He, of course, hadn't been told much else. Except that he was on a ship independent of the earth forces, Zaft and all other groups. That brought some comfort that he wouldn't be turned over for the Naturals to parade around. He had just shut his eyes when the door slid open, he couldn't see any details of the person standing in the door way as the light from behind them cast a shadow.
"I'm Richard Arin the ships XO, I'm also the pilot of the Nemesis. Doc says you're in good condition so we've arranged quarters for you"
Athrun sat up and turned to face the other person who was most likely about his age.
"I'm surprised I'm not going strait to the brig"
"Well there's the problem of us not having one, there's also the point that this is an independent ship, once were in a neutral harbor your going to be put on a flight back to PLANT or a Zaft controlled base"
"So I'm not a prisoner then"
"No, for now you have the same status as a guest, but should there be any trouble that will be revoked understood"
Athrun nodded.
"Yeah I understand"
"Good, also a friend of yours, who may well be my brother, asked me to check on you for him"
"What do you mean?"
Instead of answering him Richard simply flicked on the lights. Athrun's eyes widened as he looked at the other teen, whose face he knew so well.
"Kira?"
A/N no real Authors notes here, also I'm working on a "Kira goes to Junk Guild" fic which will be posted with this one.