PHASE EIGHTEEN: To Gain and Lose Again
C.E 79 Eurasian Federation –Suez Base, Kuwait (Present Day)
Sweat poured down Athrun's face as he moved the Windam back, his eyes on the large heap of twisted metal in front of him of what was once the ZGMF-X99X Terminate. Along with the destruction of the large mobile suit, what little ZAFT forces that accompanied it had also been defeated and the air was quiet, no sound of explosions or swords clashing in the air. He watched as the blue, white and gold Freedom turned, facing the much ruined blue and white Windam that was hovering in the air.
"Athrun!" Kira called from the Freedom, worry colouring his tone. "Athrun, can you hear me? Are you alright?"
Athrun relaxed. "I'm fine. Sorry, Kira," he apologised, leaning back against the seat of the ruined mobile suit. He breathed deeply, spots of black and red appearing at the back of his eyes. His head was throbbing, the image of him fighting against the Terminate hurting him. Had they really killed Miho?
"Cagalli is in the Akatsuki," Kira informed, the Freedom's arms now circling the Windam. "Let's get back to the Archangel," he said quietly, his voice softer now. "Let's go, Shinn!"
"Yeah."
Athrun tuned out, shaking his head several times to try and get rid of the pain in his head. What was going on? He could sense a form of anger deep within him, a type of anger directed to Kira. But the anger didn't belong to him. How could he be angry with Kira of all people? Yet, he felt the cold fury radiating through him, along with a sense of helplessness with his inability to continue fighting, even if the enemies had been defeated for now. Somewhere at the back of his mind, he registered several people calling his name, their voice rather electronic from the internal speakers of the Windam. One in particular stood out, the voice of a female that he had been thinking of all the time he had been away.
"Cagalli…" Athrun whispered slowly, his hands gripping the controls of the Windam.
There was a slight motion of the Windam being set down on the ground, and Athrun wondered if he was already in the Archangel. The sounds coming from the internal speakers were hard to comprehend. He could hear frantic orders here and there, and several people calling his name. The door of the cockpit was forced open and he looked up with confused eyes at a familiar face clad in a blue and white pilot suit – a pilot with brown hair and amethyst eyes, and Athrun smiled slightly. "Kira."
He wondered why Kira's brows pulled, why he shouted over his shoulder for a stretcher. What was that for? But he accepted his old friend's help, climbing out of the cockpit of the Windam and balancing himself as he stood on the ground. Something golden flashed through him and he found himself in the arms of a familiar golden-haired girl hugging him tightly, sprouting curses at him that he could hardly register. But he hugged her, burying his face into her shoulder all-too-gratefully, whispering her name but not being able to hear it himself. His vision was fading – fading fast. He heard more worried calls, he could feel Kira's arm holding him as he was no longer standing, and he remembered no more.
C.E 79 Eurasian Federation – Renegade (Present Day)
"WHAT THE HELL DID YOU THINK YOU WERE DOING?" The angry voice of the Commander of the Renegade ship echoed through the room where he stood, his half-mask hiding his face from view. Daisuke's hands were clenched tight, barely able to hide his horror with what he had just seen. The amount of land destroyed by the single mobile suit that Amalfi had launched was staggering. But the Amalfi in front of him looked determined as he glared hard at the masked Coordinator.
"There was nothing else I could do when they've found out about Phaedra's Base!" the elder Coordinator argued, the light brown eyes almost calm as he glared at the one shouting at him.
Daisuke clenched his fists, his eyes glittering with anger. It was true that under the circumstances, there was a very slim chance that the Earth Alliance, and more accurately, Blue Cosmos, would allow things to continue as how they were. The announcement had been aired only a few short hours before the attack on the Suez base was launched, but it was enough to know that the discovery of the Extended Coordinators had sparked the fear among the Naturals once again, with good reason.
Still, the attack by ZAFT marked the end of RENEGADE. As much as Daisuke himself had seen it coming, had suspected that it would occur more than the prospect of separating the Naturals and Coordinators, it was still something that was frustrating for him to admit.
"There is something of interest that I would like to consult with you about," Amalfi said, his voice quieter now, catching Daisuke's attention once again. "It has come to my attention through the speakers of the ZGMF-X99X Terminate that one particular Windam was in the battle, fighting alongside the Freedom and the Destiny. From the small conversation we managed to record from the Terminate, I have reason to believe that the pilot of the Windam was Athrun Zala," Amalfi informed, his voice cool. Daisuke held his breath, suddenly wondering if his cover was about to be blown. But Amalfi merely smiled, albeit a very sinister one, almost as if he knew what Daisuke had planned all along. But he decided to ask instead. "Did you see it coming?"
With the half-mask covering his eyes, Daisuke could only be grateful that his expression was protected from the man before him. "I had no real way of seeing it coming," he said calmly. "It wasn't my idea to send the boy to Phaedra's base in the first place."
There was a lapse of silence between the two as Amalfi continued to scrutinize the man displayed on his screen. He had no doubt that things had gone according to the Commander's plans, but what the Commander wanted to achieve in truth was something he could not yet decipher. "You are right," he said eventually. "But allow me to tell you that PLANTs is no longer siding with RENEGADE. War is upon us, and Blue Cosmos will not stand down and watch us continue living."
"You can still separate the two," Daisuke tried.
There was a brief hesitation. "Perhaps. But it is high time that RENEGADE stops fighting for both sides. Choose your side. Disband your group. And fight for the life of the Coordinators."
Daisuke stared at the screen, examining the face of the man before him. But he decided not to respond and instead shut the connection, watching as the screen turned black, then resting against the back of his chair, sighing deeply.
Outside the room, a young pilot with golden hair and eyes stepped away from the door, his expression grave and calculating as he walked away.
C.E 79 Eurasian Federation –Suez Base, Kuwait (Present Day)
Pieces of metal and rubble shifted amidst the many ruins of the once-proud base of Suez of the Earth Alliance. With angry eyes, Miho heaved the final sheet of metal off from him, the low growl threatening to escape his lips, resounding deep within his chest instead. He looked left and right, searching for any signs whatsoever of humans that he could lay his hands on and kill, but it was futile. There was nobody around. His mobile suit had simply done its job of wiping out the humans, and there was nobody he could kill. His eyes turned to a small part of his mobile suit – Miho had no idea what it was before the explosion, but now it was one good melee weapon, with the long handle and the twisted end, perfect to stab into someone and twist around to cause the most excruciating of internal damages to the victim. He could see sharp shrapnel lying around that he could throw. He could see large pieces of metal that he could bring down to shatter a person's skull.
The amount of weapons lying around was amazing, but there just weren't any victims for him to kill.
He did not particularly care about that, however. He had his new target – the Ultimate Freedom Gundam. Being strapped in such a large machine, Miho was absolutely discontented with how little mobility he had compared to the Freedom. He had killed many people. Hundreds. Thousands. And he felt the thrill under his fingers running through his veins as he pulled the trigger, but the Freedom destroyed his mobile suit. That was not something he had wanted to happen. Fighting against the Freedom was thrilling, and he wanted to know the feeling that he would get if he could successfully bring the mobile suit down. Perhaps it would be the best feeling ever. Perhaps it would make him… happy. Besides, he couldn't let go of such an enemy, especially when he had received the orders to kill the pilot of that mobile suit.
If there was one thing Miho did notice, it was about the Windam that had joined the battle just shortly before the Freedom Gundam fought against him. Miho had felt the presence of that pilot once before this, and it was highly unlikely for him to forget such a face. The midnight blue hair, the sharp green eyes… That person who had tried to fight against him, the one who Miho couldn't understand why he couldn't kill, even if it had been trying to escape the facility. What was his name? It didn't matter. The Blue Haired. It physically hurt him to try and aim that cannon at that particular Windam, which made Miho all the more keen to want to try and defeat it. Defeating the Freedom would be a thrill. But defeating that one Windam seemed to fuel him with excitement even more.
Finally freeing himself completely from the rubble of the Terminate, Miho walked forwards, casting his sharp eyes around for any signs of movement. He found none. He was disappointed, but at the same time, he knew how to be patient. His finger moved to a small button located on the right side of the pilot suit he was wearing, which he pressed. There was a brief silence as the connection was established.
"…Miho? Is that you?" Rita's voice was worried as she spoke through the small speakers installed in his helmet.
"Yes," Miho answered shortly.
"Where are you? Goodness, are you injured?"
He didn't answer. They had a tracking device on him anyway. He would be located soon. In the meantime, he positioned himself on a small part of the Terminate and closed his eyes, fantasizing the Freedom and The Blue Haired defeated under his hand.
C.E 79 Eurasian Federation – Archangel (Present Day)
Kira was worried. Not only was Athrun being held behind at the infirmary, it also seemed as though the doctor believed that he had been affected by something more than just exhaustion and the damage done by his wounds. He had caught snatches of discussions that mentioned "withdrawal symptoms" and "unregistered drugs" and wondered what exactly his friend had gone through when he had been kidnapped by the Renegade. His fingers stopped moving and Kira looked at his screen in surprise, realising that there was nothing more he could do to his Ultimate Freedom. Not now, not while there were still many more that needs repairing. He frowned. With his eyes clouded, he scanned the operating system again, realising that he had fine-tuned everything to ultimate precision, and finally gave up. A fine OS was nothing if the actual components couldn't work to its best.
Slowly, almost dejectedly, Kira climbed out from the cockpit of his Gundam and transported himself down, looking back at his Freedom. The Destiny had sustained more damages than this... And it would be a while before Lunamaria's Enigma could be used in battle. A gentle voice called his name and he turned, only now registering Lacus's presence in the large hangar of the Archangel. She walked over to him, her smile as gentle and knowing as ever, and he sighed.
"Are you alright?" she asked, the same, standard question.
Kira smiled slightly. "Is he awake?" he asked. He knew long enough by now that there was no point lying to Lacus, to pretend as if he was alright when he wasn't. The songstress could read him like an open book.
"I'm not sure. Will you come with me to the infirmary?" she invited. Her head tilted a fraction of an inch.
He had been defeated. "Sure. Let's go."
They walked in silence, though that was due to Kira's melancholy mood than silence on Lacus's part. The young songstress had tried to strike a conversation several times, but after receiving only one-word answers from the brown-haired pilot, she decided that perhaps Kira's mind was too fully occupied to pay much attention to her distractions. So she kept silent, while still keeping a concerned eye on the Coordinator as they walked through the hallways and up the elevator, Kira's hand firmly around her back as a sign to let her know that he was still grateful for her attempts.
"Kira…" Lacus whispered, turning her eyes on him as they neared the infirmary.
Kira hesitated. "I'm worried, Lacus. Of what they might have done to him."
"Don't worry," Lacus said reassuringly, stopping to take his hand as she gazed at him. "You know he'll be alright. He's Athrun."
It wasn't much of a reassurance, but it was still something that Kira had to admit he had faith on. Athrun had been through too much and still managed to survive unharmed… well, physically, at the very least. Kira had no real choice but to believe in his friend that the undeniable strength had never left him. They entered the infirmary and were immediately greeted by the sight of the doctor and Cagalli standing beside Athrun's bed who turned in surprise at their arrival.
"You're just in time!" the doctor said, waving the papers in his hand. Kira arched an eyebrow.
"What's going on?" Lacus asked.
"We've run full tests on him, and have only just gotten the results. Physically, I can say that his wounds are nothing more than what he has always endured before. There are quite a number of fresh wounds that he had obtained recently. Slash wounds, done by some sort of blade," the doctor said, his eyes on the report. Kira moved to stand beside Cagalli, grabbing her hand as he did so. "They're nothing that he can't recover from, but it'll take a while before I'd release him in a mobile suit again. The matter of real interest that we found were things we noticed in his body… Different readings to the previous records that we kept on the Archangel."
Kira felt a growing feeling of unease at the pit of his stomach. "What are they?"
The doctor scratched his head. "The problem is that I don't particularly see this as a really bad thing. His immune system has improved, recovery from wounds taking much less time than even the average Coordinator. The strength of his arms and legs has improved, but there are traces of strange compounds in his body… things that you wouldn't even expect from a typical Coordinator," the doctor said. Cagalli was already clenching Kira's hand tight as they listened. "Of course, I think maybe the drugs needed to be maintained. He's been suffering from something that resembles withdrawal symptoms. So far, we've been able to control him with several stimulants, but it doesn't change the fact that he is suffering without them. It's still difficult for us to try and determine just how dependent he is on them… and what they do. We have our suspicions."
A weak chuckle from the bed startled them. Kira turned, immediately realising that the closed eyelids were now open, revealing the dark green orbs that were staring up at them.
"Athrun!" Cagalli exclaimed, immediately closing the distance between them. "Are you okay?"
Athrun shook his head, pushing himself up to sit. "I'm fine. Don't worry."
"What happened, Athrun?"
The question came from Kira, concern clouding his eyes. A few eyes – Lacus's and Athrun's – turned to the brown-haired Coordinator as he raised the inquiry, but nobody expected what happened afterward. In a spring nearly too fast for the human eye to comprehend, Athrun was on the other Coordinator in a millisecond, green eyes burning furiously as his hands took a death hold on Kira's neck. Kira cried out in surprise, his reflexes saving him just in time as he moved with the momentum, his grip iron around Athrun's wrists as he tried to pry the hands away. They rolled around for a few seconds, both struggling, the doctor and Cagalli just beginning to move when Kira finally managed to lock Athrun's arms behind him, pressing the Coordinator onto the ground.
"What are you doing, Athrun?" Kira shouted furiously, his eyes both surprised and angry.
Athrun breathed deeply. What had he done? He could feel the urge to kill still in his veins, but they were now fading away with the knowledge that he had been defeated by his best friend. There was simply no use struggling now and above all, Athrun did not want to continue the fight. He blocked all words out, all the feeling of pain pushed away and focused fully on taking deep breaths that he did not need.
It was a while before he finally relaxed. "I'm fine now, Kira. I'm sorry," he said quietly. The grip was relaxed instantly and he raised his head to the other Coordinator.
Cagalli was already beside him, her brows pulled together. Behind her, Lacus stood, her expression concerned. He glanced at them both before turning his eyes away, unable to meet the worried expressions. Inside, he was cursing at himself, mentally kicking himself. He knew none in the room would do the honour for him. The doctor came from his other side, examining him. "Are you in control?"
"Yes," Athrun answered shortly. He turned his gaze away. He knew that the answer wasn't completely true, but then again, most probably everyone in the room knew that by now.
"Athrun… What happened?" The question came from Kira again. A hand was placed on Athrun's shoulder – Kira's hand – and Athrun silently wondered if it was a sign of comfort or if it was a precaution if he would react differently again. He supposed it might be a bit of both… for normal people. But for Kira… for Kira, it was most likely the former and nothing more. If anything, it made him feel more wretched than ever. "That base that was destroyed... Athrun. Were you in it?"
He smiled weakly. Trust Kira to hit the jackpot. "Ah… I was in the base. They were trying to make… Extended Coordinators. Coordinators with enhanced senses and abilities, far more than we are now. And designed for fighting battles and war," he said, then explaining everything that had happened since the cockpit of the Infinite Justice had been taken away. The four in the room listened in silence and Athrun was aware of Kira's hand tightening around his shoulder and the doctor's expression hardening. But he continued, even when it was painful to keep on talking, because he knew where his loyalties lay and what he wanted to fight against… and who he wanted to fight with. He knew since he rushed to the Terminate with his Windam, fighting alongside the Ultimate Freedom.
C.E 79 Eurasian Federation – Renegade (Present Day)
It was simple. All too simple. Who would question him, anyway? Who would be able to pursue him? He had been ready, waiting and watching and waiting for his Advocate to complete its repairs and supplies. He watched from afar, out of view, and examined the Gundam with his naked eyes as the hours passed by. All the time, his mind was filled with thoughts. What he must do. What fight he would be participating in. To kill all the Coordinators. To be prepared for the final battle. But, most importantly, to bring down the Freedom who would undoubtedly get in the way. Genei cared not about the fight between the Naturals and the Coordinators. All he cared about was defeating the Ultimate Freedom. That one mobile suit that had always been deemed as the strongest. Genei wanted to destroy that mobile suit. He would go down fighting if needed, die in the battle if he could.
He could kill the others. He could destroy the other mobile suits far too easily. But the Ultimate Freedom was different, and Genei knew that it was his one and true only opponent in the battle he needed to fight.
When the repairs were done and the technicians finally moved away from his mobile suit, Genei found himself in it in almost less than a minute. Little did he know that since before he had been watching the progress of the mechanics, another mobile suit pilot was already sitting in the cockpit of his machine, tuning up the Gundam silently as the repairs were being done. The pilot had not even left the cockpit since the end of the previous battle. Ken raised his eyebrows in surprise as Genei's familiar figure, clad in his pilot suit, ran towards the Advocate that was situated beside his . "That guy... I'm sure it's Genei," Ken muttered to himself, powering up his Apocalypse.
The other Gundam was already powered up and ready to depart when Ken secured the connection with his Apocalypse. Below, the technicians were already shouting and pointing, confused as they had not been informed of a launch that was supposed to happen. "Genei! Can you hear me, Genei? What are you doing?" Ken called, annoyed and angered at the same time.
"I hear you loud and clear, Seorin. I am going to defeat the Freedom," Genei answered, equipping his beam rifle which he aimed at the technicians. "Allow me to launch, or I'll force my way out," he said, his voice clear through the Advocate's external speakers.
"Stop it, Genei!"
"Or what? What can you do? RENEGADE is over. Now it's time to pick sides and do what you want," Genei snapped. He was beginning to lose his temper. The Advocate was his machine, which he could use to do whatever he wished. There was no hierarchy of power any longer, no actions that may be taken against him if he acted without following the rules. The Freedom has just come out from a battle. There's no better chance to defeat him, and I will.
.
"Captain!" Schellen turned, her eyes worried as she locked her gaze on the blue-eyed captain.
Sethe pursed his lips. "Allow him to launch. Have the Apocalypse to launch as well, and call the other pilots. Level one battle status. Be prepared to attack the Archangel as soon as it comes within our range."
There was a brief moment of silence as the crew stared at the Captain of the ship in surprise. But orders were orders, and immediately, alarms blared as the ship went into first level battle status. Sethe moved over to the CIC, the plan already forming in his mind. It was perfect, to launch this unexpected attack that would move the world to decide for itself what it truly wished for. A small smirk appeared on his lips as he waited for the other three pilots to receive his command.
The door slid open, and the Commander strode in quickly, his half-masked face turned to Sethe immediately. "What is this?"
Sethe stood, his eyes betraying nothing. "We're going into battle. Genei was not wrong to want to launch as soon as repairs on the Advocate was completed. This is the perfect opportunity to strike, while the Freedom is weak. Regardless of RENEGADE's situation right now, we should stick to our ideals and fight for what we truly believe in... Isn't that right, Commander?" he asked, narrowing his gaze at the Commander who felt no emotion at all.
C.E 79 Eurasian Federation – Archangel(Present Day)
"All hands, level one battle status! Repeat, all hands, level one battle status!"
It was the one thing Kira never wanted to hear, no matter what time, but this time especially, the call sparked a small feeling of anger within him. Athrun was cut off from his words as he looked up at the speakers, surprised. He watched as Kira moved to the screen by his bed, punching the codes that connected him to the Archangel's bridge. "Murrue-san! What's going on?"
"Kira! It's the Advocate and Apocalypse. They're approaching us fast," Murrue informed, her brows pulling together. "We want to avoid a battle, if possible, but it doesn't seem likely."
Kira hesitated. Even he knew that this would probably be the Renegade ship's last battle. "I'll launch. Please have the Freedom ready."
"Understood. Shinn will be launching as soon as the Destiny is finished with its resupplies."
The screen flickered off, and Kira immediately found himself face-to-face with his twin, two golden orbs glaring at him angrily. "What was all that about? I'm going with you!" she cried out, annoyed. Her hands were on her hips and Kira flinched visibly under her burning glare. "Kira!"
Kira ducked away and shook his head, his hands in front of him. "Sorry, Cagalli. But... can you stay with the ship? It's just the Advocate and Apocalypse out there. I'm worried if the Renegade sent them out as a decoy to capture the Archangel."
Cagalli stopped, her eyes briefly moving to rest on Athrun who looked at them both wordlessly. In truth, she would have preferred to stay by his side, but she knew that he would probably need time to himself before she was able to talk to him properly. She did not mind that in the least. She sighed and nodded. "Alright. I'll going to the bridge to see how things are. Take care, Kira!"
The brown-haired Coordinator was by the door in a heartbeat. He paused only once when Athrun called his name, telling him to be careful, and then disappeared. Cagalli followed shortly after, leaving both Athrun and Lacus alone in the infirmary. Lacus, who had been silently watching the whole thing without word, had worry clouding her expression as she watched Kira leave. No matter how much faith she had on Kira, how brilliant and powerful a pilot and mobile suit fighter she knew he was, she still couldn't help but be very worried whenever he had to go out to battle. But he had left, and she had decided to stay, purely because she knew that her former fiancée probably would need someone by his side right now.
"Athrun," Lacus called the blue-haired Coordinator gently, resting a hand on his arm. "Come on. Let me help you back onto the bed," she said, tugging him slightly. He followed, and together they made their way back to his bed, which he settled into with a glassy look in his eyes. Lacus turned her eyes to the doctor who signaled that he would get something for the patient, leaving her as he did so. Lacus smiled. She found that at times of defeat, of sadness, of loss, a smile could never fail to lighten the atmosphere, at least slightly. She watched the changes of expression that she could read on Athrun's face, peering through the locks of blue hair that was covering his expression from where she was sitting. "What's wrong?"
"Nothing," Athrun answered, shaking his head. He turned to look at her, as if just registering her presence. There was a tired smile on his lips. "Maybe I'm just tired, Lacus. I should be away from here... Especially from Kira. Whenever I look at him, I have this desire to..." he trailed off, the clenched fists already conveying what he could not say in words.
Lacus blinked. "You want to kill Kira... is that it?" she prodded.
He sighed. Trust Lacus to address the elephant in the room. "Yes. Or maybe, that's how it feels like. When I was fighting earlier, I had a harder time stopping myself from attacking Kira than I did attacking that mobile suit," he said, grimacing.
"Even back then, during the war... You wanted to kill Kira. But you didn't," Lacus pointed out. Athrun raised his eyebrows, surprised. Lacus smiled warmly. "It's alright, Athrun. Who your enemies are, and who you should fight against... Only you know who they are and how to fight them."
Athrun exhaled loudly, frustrated. "You don't understand, Lacus."
"Don't I?" Lacus shot back. "Then, are you saying that it cannot be helped if you fight against Kira?" she questioned.
Athrun stopped. Continuing the debate was pointless if they were only going to run around in circles. He laid down, turning his face away from her. He had always wondered how Lacus could explore the emotions of those around her as she did. But then again, that had always been her gift. He heard her shuffling slightly from where she was sitting and the screen on the other side of the room flickered to life, showing the external view of the Archangel. "Let's pray for them, Athrun," Lacus said gently.
.
Already clad in his pilot suit, Kira was greeted with the sight of Shinn pacing back and forth in front of the Destiny as he arrived at the hangar of the Archangel. Shinn's face was annoyed, as Kira had expected it would be, now that the pilot was forced to wait for his Gundam to finish its last repairs before going into battle. Kira halted beside the pilot, clapping a hand on his shoulder. "Don't take too long," Kira said, his voice cheerful even as Shinn snorted at him.
"Whatever. Don't die out there," Shinn answered, crossing his arms.
Another smile was all Kira could manage before he ran towards his Ultimate Freedom, strapping himself inside and powering up the machine.
GENERATION UNSUBDUED NUCLEAR DRIVE ASSAULT MODULE
G.U.N.D.A.M Complex
"Oi, Kid. You might want to hold that hyper-propulsion back for this battle. I wouldn't recommend it," Murdoch's face appeared on the left screen as Kira was being transported to the catapult system.
"I understand. Thank you, Murdoch-san," Kira answered absently. "Kira Yamato. Freedom. Launching!"
Kira boosted his thrusters, activating the phase shift armour that rendered his mobile suit its usual blue, white and gold colour as the Ultimate Freedom sped out from the Archangel. His radar detected the two approaching mobile suits immediately, approaching him at full speed. He tensed, his hands tightening around the controls of the Freedom as soon as he spotted the familiar Advocate advancing towards him. That mobile suit... Kira thought, gritting his teeth. That mobile suit was the one that had taken Athrun, had sent him to that facility that was eventually destroyed. The image of Athrun pouncing on him, the want to kill so clear in his eyes, was hurtful. "I'll make sure this will be your last," Kira vowed, the beam rifles already equipped in his hands.
Genei smirked, the sight of the Freedom making him push the speed of his Advocate to the limit. He had been vaguely aware of the Captain giving him permission to launch earlier, barely aware of the pilot of the Apocalypse trying to connect to him through the communication channels, barely aware of the orders he had been given, and the promise of back-up he would receive. All Genei knew was that this battle was between him and the Freedom. He launched his missiles as soon as the Freedom was within range, firing with his beam rifle. The Freedom dodged and Genei smirked. It was the usual battle he had often participated in, the usual dance in the air that they performed since the start of the war. And he was beginning to tire of it.
"Seorin! If you won't help me with this one, then you better stay out of my way!" Genei snarled, releasing his DRAGOONs as he did so.
The Apocalypse, which had been flying rather idly beside him, seemed to pause momentarily. There was no answer from the pilot, but the mobile suit activated its Voiture Lumiere propulsion system and Genei smirked. He thought so. Right, let's go!
"Kuso!" Kira boosted his thrusters, one hand equipped with a beam rifle while the other was equipped with a beam saber. The Apocalypse moved at a devastatingly fast speed, and Kira did not have his own propulsion system to back himself up. The image of a violet jewel exploded at the back of his mind and Kira flipped, the DRAGOONs on his back firing at the missiles. The two mobile suits attacked, one with its beam saber, the other by firing from afar and Kira gritted his teeth, dodging and slashing as he did so.
The odds seemed against his favour, but Kira was far from wanting to give up. No. He had just gotten his friend back. Athrun had just returned, and there were still so much more that he needed to learn. Why Athrun had wanted to kill him. How he was going to restore peace to the world. He could not afford to be taken down, not right here, not right now.
As the Advocate fired its missiles and launched its DRAGOONs, rather recklessly in Kira's opinion, he increased the speed of the Freedom as he shot away, playing with the missiles as they chased him. Finding the right angle, Kira shot forwards and lashed down at the Apocalypse with his beam saber, flipping back almost a second too late. The blue wings of his mobile suit seemed to shine as he manoeuvered, providing the mobile suit with an almost majestic movement that was unlike what one would expect from a large machine. It had the desired effect. The Apocalypse, still with its Voiture Lumiere propulsion system, managed to dodge the missiles just in time, but the Advocate behind it was not so lucky. Several of its DRAGOONs managed to shoot down the missiles, but two struck him, one of them damaging his flyer pack severely.
"YOU...!" the pilot shouted loudly, and Kira narrowed his eyes, his right hand moving to his back, grasping the hilt of his anti-ship Strike sword. He brought the sword down and alarms blared inside his cockpit, surprising him. Instinct and reflexes made him react sooner than his mind could. The Freedom moved to the side, the sword inflicting considerable damage on the Advocate's shoulder, but not enough to sever it as Kira had wanted to. The flash of the red and white beam cannon missed his cockpit by inches, grazing on his back instead, and Kira cried aloud at the impact as the Apocalypse grabbed hold of his leg with one of the claws installed onto its back. His Freedom was shaken out of control and Kira registered the three mobile suits that were advancing towards him – the Zantetsuken, Premium and Imperial. It was the teal and orange Zantetsuken that had fired at him earlier.
"Stop kidding me!" Kira cried out angrily, frustrated more than ever. His cannons locked onto the Apocalypse, the DRAGOONs firing at the advancing Advocate and Zantetsuken and he fired, exactly at the same time the Apocalypse fired its cannons, releasing his leg to reverse from the impact. It was probably insanity on both their parts to fire their cannons at such a short range, but Kira couldn't afford to be trapped and the Apocalypse couldn't afford to be blown to pieces. The two masses of energy met, a large explosion engulfing both mobile suits in red and grey.
.
From the seat of her mobile suit, Hikari shot forwards, her eyes wide as the explosion engulfed her brother and Kira. In their haste on catching up to the Advocate and Apocalypse, she had not even bothered changing into her pilot suit. Her target, after all, was the Archangel and her duty was to lure the ship to the ocean. She watched, frozen, relaxing only momentarily when the Freedom, its foot now missing, and the better part of the right side of his DRAGOONs severely damaged, shot away. It turned, the remaining five DRAGOONs locking onto the approaching mobile suits... including hers. Crying out in surprise, Hikari sped forwards, moving away quickly enough to avoid the shot as she sped past the Freedom and towards the Archangel that was only beginning to come to sight. The Premium was not far behind her, and Hikari released her missiles, her railgun equipped as she began to shoot at the close-in weapons system of the white and red ship.
"No you don't!" A flash of gold interrupted her and Hikari cried out in surprise, bringing up her shield just in time to block the attack by the golden Akatsuki. She gritted her teeth, narrowing her eyes at the new mobile suit. She had placed an extreme amount of faith on the Archangel to unite the world, but the Archangel had failed. They had not met her expectations, and she felt insulted. Angered. Angered with Kira as well, for still piloting that Ultimate Freedom yet not being able to unite the world. She had recognised the voice of the Akatsuki pilot, though she had not expected it. Cagalli Yula Attha. Also one of the last hopes of uniting the world, through the final colony of Heliopolis that still remained standing.
"Get out of my way!" Hikari cried out angrily, switching her railgun for her own beam saber. She released her missiles, frustrated when the Akatsuki maneuvered away and gunned them down. She was skilled, worthy of being the daughter of Dr. Hibiki, but she wasn't as skilled as Kira was. Several missiles escaped, heading to the Archangel, and though a few were taken down, two made impact on starboard side.
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"Archangel!" Kira cried out, breaking free from the scuffle between the Advocate and Apocalypse. He pushed the speed of his Freedom to the max, determined to get back to the ship, but a wave of alarms in his cockpit halted him and he dodged, the cannons of the Zantetsuken barely missing him. There was simply no way for him to stay put. Kira breathed hard as he glared at the three mobile suits in front of him. The Advocate's shoulder was heavily damaged, and the cannons he had fired earlier had quite easily damaged a large portion of the lower part of the Zantetsuken away, but it wasn't enough. His mobility was affected with his damaged DRAGOONs and Kira pulled out his keyboard, making the needed adjustments as quickly as he could.
Alarms blared as the Advocate fired its missiles and the Zantetsuken locked onto him. Kira clenched his teeth, his fingers moving quickly, looking up only once as the two attacks came closer to him. His mind was registering things by the millisecond, each one almost too long, as he pushed his luck with the time he would need to react. Come on... He needed to adjust his power output, balancing the thrusters with the smoothness on how his Gundam could move with one wing. It was taking too long. Five seconds... Adjusting circulation... If I increase this, efficiency will increase... Four seconds...
At two seconds, Kira hit the thrusters.
Something black flashed in front of him as Kira shot away, the missiles and cannon impacting against the shield that just barely protected the blue, white and gold mobile suit. Surprised, Kira turned, the mobile suit flashing past him in a blur, beam sabers equipped, almost slamming itself against the blue and white Premium Gundam. "KUSO! What the hell did you think you were DOING?" Shinn cried out angrily, giving another shout of frustration as the Premium hit its Voiture Lumiere just in time, two beam sabers clashing in the sky.
Kira shook his head. "Thank you, Shinn!"
"Just die already!" The Advocate advanced forward and Kira locked his armaments onto it, firing instantly. It dodged, several shots hitting it but it seemed to pay the damages no mind, bearing down with its beam saber. Kira dodged, the duel then becoming more intense as the Apocalypse joined, twice the speed of the Advocate. From afar, the Zantetsuken, designed purely for long-range battles, skilfully fired its railguns and cannons to both the Destiny and the Freedom. Kira clenched his teeth. They were now above water, the Archangel engaged with assisting them the best it could, but even Kira knew that there wasn't much the ship could do. Several fighter planes were engaging the ship, as well as the Imperial that was in battle with the Akatsuki. From the portside of the ship, Mu shot at the fighter planes with the Gaia, but it was apparent that one in particular was difficult to bring down.
.
"I didn't expect to see you here. So you decided that forgiving your traitor friends will make you feel better?"
Shinn narrowed his eyes, the two beam sabers clashing in front of him. He pushed forward, trying to overpower the Premium with the force of his thrusters, but they were quite equally matched. His red eyes glowered at the sight of the mobile suit in front of him. "Shut up! You... You don't know anything!" Shinn shouted angrily, pulling away and striking again. "Those people... They... They're the ones who are trying to stop all the fighting!" Shinn cried out, the black and gold mobile suit transforming into a fighter plane as alarms blared inside his cockpit. He dodged the Zantetsuken's cannons and fired his own, transforming again and slamming his foot against the Premium.
The Premium was a low-level mobile suit with an incompetent pilot. A pilot who had been enhanced and re-designed from the original Stellar. A pilot with blonde hair and beautiful pink/violet eyes. A pilot with an unfeeling heart, when all Stellar wanted was to live, terrified of death as she was. It was disgusting. It was cruel.
He slashed forwards, then to her side, then slammed his foot against her, and he slashed again.
And now, this stupid pilot with no soul wanted him to fight against his Commander. His Commander, Kira Yamato, who had located him in Orb after the war and offered him a place in ZAFT. His Commander who had fought for him, who had taught him too much, who still, even now, cried out in his sleep when he remembered the people he had killed. His Commander who never failed so show sorrow at the mentioning of death, who never forgot his victims... The look of defeat, the ultimate surrender of his own life in exchange of Mayu's life that he may or may not have taken. "How the HELL do you think I'm supposed to fight against someone like that!" Shinn shouted angrily. "It's you guys... It's you guys who started all this!" Slash, slash, slash...
Liesel clenched her teeth, moving her Premium away as her beam sabers blocked the attacks by the Destiny. She was being overpowered, the black and gold mobile suit pushing her far too back. No amount of back-up from the Zantetsuken was able to distract the pilot from his hatred and anger. Liesel felt fear clench through her chest. It was finally over. She had lost all her cards.
"Liesel!" The Zantetsuken moved between them, two cannons firing instantly at the Destiny Gaia. Shinn gritted his teeth, dodging the cannons just in time to avoid losing his life, though missing a leg in the process.
He clenched his controls tightly. "You... Don't you dare think you can defeat me like that! I WON'T BE TAKEN DOWN BY SOMETHING LIKE THIS!"
Shinn boosted his thrusters, his right shoulder slamming against the cockpit of the Zantetsuken. The machine flew out of control as it impacted against the Premium, sending both mobile suits back. Equipping his beam rifles, Shinn shot again and again, effectively disabling one of the Zantetsuken's cannons and hitting the beam rifle. As the Zantetsuken was forced away, Shinn maneuvered his suit, slamming his remaining foot against the Premium, sending it down. His mobile suit flipped forwards, transforming into its fighter-plane mode, and he aimed his cannon and fired, unaware of the tears running down his cheeks.
In the Premium, the last sight Liesel saw as the beam energy penetrated her cockpit was of a gentle-looking girl, almost identical to her, with the same blonde hair and pink-ish violet eyes, staring at her with sad eyes.
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"Commander! The Premium..!" Schellen cried out in terror, feeling her heart stop as the Premium was blown by the cannon of the Destiny Gaia.
Shock nearly silenced the crew on the bridge of the Renegade as they watched. Daisuke's face remained unchanged behind the mask, but there was an evident look of anger in Sethe's eyes as the signal was lost from the blue and white mobile suit.
"The Archangel has come within range!" Carnell called, swivelling her chair back.
Daisuke clenched his fists together. He knew it would come down to this, should the Renegade engage themselves in battle one-on-one with the Archangel. Their forces were equally matched, and the Archangel was too strong to be taken down easily. He waited, watching the radar closely as he did so. "Activate the Tannhäuser. Target: Archangel. We cannot afford to miss this shot, so make sure it's a direct hit. It's the only surprise we have. Be prepared to deactivate our cover shield. I want that ship to be able to locate us here at the final moment possible," he commanded, watching as the Archangel came steadily closer, not knowing what was lying at the ocean floor. "Take aim. FIRE!"
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"High energy attack incoming! From the ocean... It's the Renegade!"
"What?" Murrue cried out in surprise as the alarms resounded in the bridge of the Archangel. "Evade!"
Neumann grunted as he maneuvered the ship starboard. They crew braced themselves from the impact, Miriallia and Kuzzey crying out at the sudden movement from the Archangel. The large white and red cannon blasted out from the water with hot water vapour, coming into contact with the ship's portside. The explosion was deafening and Murrue clutched the armrests of her seat as they were hit. "We've been hit!"
"Damage report, now! Prepare the Lohengrin. Mirallia, get Mu back in the Archangel now! We'll pursue them underwater if they're not coming out. Prepare a full turn so we can get a close shot at them! Now!"
.
"LIESEL!"
A strangled, angry cry was heard from the Advocate as Shinn destroyed the Premium Gundam. Kira halted in surprise, shock turning into pure horror as soon as he saw the sudden attack from underwater that hit the Archangel. The Zantetsuken engaged the Destiny immediately. The Akatsuki was still engaged with the Imperial, which was now badly damaged despite it having a Voiture Lumiere propulsion system. Apart from the missiles, the Imperial worked with beam weapons that were rendered useless against the Akatsuki's 'Yata no Kagami' anti-beam reflection system. Kira allowed himself to have faith in his sister for that battle. He turned his gaze back onto the Advocate, gripping his controls. All three mobile suits – the Advocate, Apocalypse and Ultimate Freedom – were damaged, but Kira knew the stakes were too high for him to admit defeat. He halted his mobile suit, facing the two in front of him, waiting for one of them to make the first move.
The Advocate moved first, its beam sword out for the first time as it decided that the ending would be the duel to the death. Kira dodged, equipping both his beam sabers and he blocked the attack, pulling away and firing his cannons as the Apocalypse moved in. Together, the two mobile suits were tough to defeat, and without his hyper-propulsion system, Kira was at an absolute disadvantage. For the umpteenth time, the Apocalypse activated its Voiture Lumiere propulsion system, lashing out with his beam sabers. Kira blocked the attack, dodging when one of the claws made a move to grab him and he clenched his teeth, moving back and throwing one of his short beam sabers into it, effectively disabling it. The Advocate charged from behind and Kira shot up, his railguns, cannons and remaining DRAGOONs locking onto the two mobile suits. They moved away as he fired, one going to his left and the other to his right.
It was as if an unspoken agreement happened between them, both the Advocate and the Apocalypse moving in perfect synchronization as they advanced with their swords. The Advocate's DRAGOONs and missiles were released, and the Apocalypse's beam boomerangs shot out as they did so. Alarms blared in Kira's cockpit and he cursed loudly, both railguns in his hand now.
He had him. He had him! Genei gave out a triumphant yell, his beam saber lashing down, only to have the Ultimate Freedom disappearing from view. His alarms went wild, the detectors in his mobile suit sounding alarms that were too fast for him to comprehend. Where had the Freedom gone to?
With the antimatter hyper-propulsion system activated, Kira released his beam boomerang, effectively cutting off the Advocate's arm. He was about to turn and bring the mobile suit down there and then, but the Apocalypse's pilot was better, taking only a few milliseconds to register what had happened. The Voiture Lumiere propulsion system was activated and he fired his cannons at the Freedom, but it was too late. Kira turned, all armaments already locked onto the Apocalypse as soon as it hit the propulsion button. His powerful beam attack was overpowered by the Freedom's multiple attacks, crashing into him in a large explosion that engulfed him. Parts of his cockpit exploded and Ken cried out, the headpiece of the Gundam blown away, effectively disabling all communication and cameras, before another explosion sent him back.
.
Shock halted Hikari from her tracks, her eyes wide as she took in what had happened in front of her. The explosion was deafening, even from where she was with the Akatsuki. She shook her head, almost staggering in her seat, unaware that her headpiece had fallen off as the tears of denial streamed from her face. Her composure, her determination, all crumbled as the mobile suit exploded, and her breath felt constricted within her chest. "No…" Hikari cried, boosting her thrusters immediately to catch what was left of the cockpit of the Apocalypse. "KEEEEEEEEENNNN!"
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"Commander!" Schellen turned, her eyes concerned as she regarded the masked man who had frozen in his seat. "Captain, we lost the Apocalypse's signal. Both the Imperial and the Zantetsuken are heavily damaged. The Advocate is running low on power!" she reported. Even the ship was heavily damaged, though they had inflicted the same amount to the Archangel.
"Issue for the mobile suits to retreat," Sethe commanded quietly, standing and turning to face the masked Commander. There was a cold, triumphant look in his eyes as he regarded the Commander in front of him. "Curious... Did you hear what Aya shouted earlier, Commander Aiten? Perhaps that was Seorin's real name… Curious, but I thought even among ourselves, our real names should not be known. Maybe they had an intimate relationship… but I never recalled seeing them close before this," he commented off-handedly.
The crew fell silent as they listened to Sethe. Daisuke raised his head, the emotion in his eyes sealed away perfectly, and stood as he faced his Captain. "Your point?"
"How peculiar, how a simple name rings a bell. How peculiar that the records in the medical database tells us that they are in fact, siblings. Perhaps under normal circumstances, the discovery wouldn't be that astounding. But see their talents. Their gifts. And that name. Ken. His appearance…" Sethe took out a gun from the inside holster of his jacket, pointing it to Daisuke. "Commander Oern Aiten… How I have searched for you so. You, who remained alive from the group who created Creuset. Doctor Daisuke Shen. Am I wrong?"
.
Kira's eyes were wild as he tried to take in his surroundings. Different alarms were blaring in his cockpit now, alarms that told him that he had pushed his reactor too far. He could not fight any longer, not if he wanted his machine to explode, but even then, all strength had been sapped out from his body. He would have recognised that voice anywhere, even without hearing the name she screamed. Hikari. It had been months since he had heard that voice, months wondering where they had run to after they had saved and rescued him. He had not been prepared for this. "Why..?" Kira whispered to himself, shaking his head.
He watched as the Imperial caught the mangled, twisted cockpit of the Apocalypse. He watched as she sped away, back towards the Renegade that was beginning to resurface to receive them. He watched the Zantetsuken follow. He was not aware of the Advocate turning on him, beam rifle raised, refusing to give up.
"No you don't!" Shinn's voice was angry as the Destiny Gaia slammed against the dark green mobile suit. The Advocate lost its colour from the impact, a sign that it was losing power rapidly. The pilot still valued his life, however, for he shot forwards and away from the battlefield. Kira watched them leave, the disbelief apparent in his face above any other emotion he could feel inside.
C.E 79 Eurasian Federation – Renegade (Present Day)
As the mobile suits docked, Daisuke bit his lips. He had to buy time, but at the same time, he couldn't act too slowly. He knew he had reached the end of the battle for RENEGADE. The crew were made of Naturals. He was a Coordinator – the only one, apart from Hikari and Ken. There were quite a number of technicians who were Coordinators, but none from the bridge. Apart from him. And now that ZAFT and the Earth Alliance were no longer working together, he would need to go. It had turned out exactly as he had predicted it would be, no surprises. Daisuke reached to his face, taking the mask off and regarding Sethe coolly. The one with no name. He had known from the beginning who his Captain was, of course, but when one wanted to be the enemy, one would need to play with fire. And no matter how beautiful the fire was, it would burn him eventually. There was simply no way around that.
"Since when had you known?" Daisuke asked, curiosity getting the better of him.
"Since the beginning, I believe. There was just no proof," Sethe answered, narrowing his eyes. "I've been searching for you for far too long. I knew there was something fishy with the way things turned out in the beginning. Your job was too easy, too remote to be detected at the start of it all. That Ultimate Freedom… I bet that was your doing."
"True," Daisuke said. There was just no point denying it now.
"What about Phaedra's base? And everything else? I doubt you haven't thought things through. Why else were you so difficult to locate? I had wanted to kill you, to track you down as the others had, for the damage you have inflicted to this world. For what you have created all to receive the money you needed. But this time... This time, it's over. There's nowhere you can go, Doctor," Sethe said, the smirk apparent on his face as his finger tightened around the trigger.
"Captain!" the door slid open and Tierra hurried in, concern on his face.
It was the opening he needed. Instantly, Daisuke turned and bolted, the bullets missing him by centimetres as he rushed to the hangar of the ship. He would try and save the two if it was the last thing he did. He could already hear the pursuit coming from behind, but he had Coordinator reflexes and abilities, and he knew he would outrun them to the hangar. He needed to.
.
Meanwhile, Hikari had just been able to prise off the cover of the Apocalypse's cockpit with help from the technicians and rescue team. "Ken! Ken!" She climbed inside, unfastening the straps and taking off his helmet. He coughed, a trickle of blood running down the side of his lip. "Ken!"
Unfocused eyes steadied and Ken managed his usual smile. "Hey, you. Idiot, what are you using my real name for?" he asked drowsily.
Strong pairs of arms helped him out and he groaned painfully. Hikari was laughing and crying at the same time, though she seemed to be crying more than she was laughing. He didn't know. His feet had just managed to touch the ground when he saw Daisuke appearing, mask off, concern and determination on his face. "Hikari! Ken! Run! Run, now!"
She did not need telling twice, but the shock halted her for a second. A second too long. Acting on impulse, Hikari grabbed Ken who protested painfully and dragged him to the Imperial that was still hunched over, having placed the cockpit of the Apocalypse earlier. The crew responded much too slowly, but Genei, with his training and sharp mind, was already running towards them. Daisuke intercepted, swinging his leg, his foot catching the pilot's head at full force, sending him crashing forwards. Hikari climbed onto the Imperial, pulling Ken with her. "Daisuke!"
"Idiot, just GO!"
The soldiers appeared in seconds, firing the bullets. All hell broke loose, the technicians diving away, some grabbing their weapons without understanding why. All they knew was that the Commander acted as if he was guilty, which probably meant that he was. And that there was an order to kill which must be obeyed. Sethe and Tierra appeared, each firing their guns, and Hikari watched with horror as three penetrated the scientist she had respected so much. "NO!" she screamed, tears running down her cheeks as she forced Ken into the cockpit of the Imperial. A searing feeling, like someone had poked a red-hot iron into her back was what she felt as she jumped into her cockpit, followed by another in her shoulder. She sealed the cockpit, crying, powering up the machine, almost unaware of what she was doing.
All she knew was that by the time the machine was out of the ship, she had run out of missiles – her last few, actually. Hikari sobbed, cradling Ken in her arms as she drove into the water and activated her Mirage Colloid stealth system. The Archangel was still where the Renegade had left it, deciding not to pursue for now.
"Hey… You've really done it this time," Ken said quietly, chuckling softly, his eyes closed.
"I'm sorry. I'm so sorry," Hikari choked out, shaking her head. How had she been able to lose her composure like that? She had trained her mind, had been prepared for the death of any one of them… or so she thought. Perhaps she was just human, after all. "Ken..?"
He was quiet.
She looked down, touching his face with her free hand. A half-strangled cry escaped her lips and she shook her head again, trying to control herself. "Shh… It's okay. We haven't lost yet, Ken. Sleep, now. I'll wake you up when we arrive," she whispered.
Author's Notes: I know, I know. I deserve something close to a yelling for this extremely delayed update, and I do apologise terribly for the lateness of it. My life had just spiralled out of control these past few weeks with the stuff I needed to do, but I'm sure I can get myself back on track again now. Apologies again! I'll make sure the chapters are somewhat longer to compensate for my absence should it happen again (though I doubt it is needed). A lot of things going on in the next chapters, so stay tuned! Due to my inability to check this website much, I shall be replying to your reviews here once again. XD
Anyway, thank you for those who are still loyally waiting for updates. Many thanks to IgNighted, Windam X, Aizawa Lee Syaoran Vessalius, Maderfole, Suomy Nona, Atlantislux, Statius and San017 for the reviews! Also thanks for the favourites and alerts! Next chapter predicted to be uploaded by 19th November. Please drop a review! It would be very encouraging.
IgNighted: I agree that this could be longer. Or at least, I wish it could have been a longer piece. But alas, this is actually my first extended Gundam fic, and it has exceeded my expectations already in terms of word count. I do have another fic in my mind at the moment though. Athrun-centered, focusing on all this brainwashing stuff that he has to endure. Not a sequel to this, but one that I'm still playing around with. Who knows, I might take it up and write it after I finish Renegade. :D
Windam X: As you can see, Miho isn't dead. I have Miho exist more to develop Athrun's character than anything else. He will have quite a few things to think about in later chapters, as well as Kira. Shinn has faced the major character development last chapter, which was a lot of fun writing it, and I'm glad you enjoyed it. :D Windams are actually my favourite non-Gundam mobile suit. It resembles the Strike a lot, and the capabilities are quite good for a typical mobile suit.
In response to your review for 'Kira's Freedom' (thanks for reading and reviewing that by the way!), I do plan on writing a lot more one-shots for it. Like, a heck of a lot more. Time constraints are what's stopping me, and nothing more, but your ideas are really good, and I think I'll take it up and write them when I have more time. I love 'Kira's Freedom', it's a fic I can work with without worrying about technical details while at the same time exploring our favourite characters and the development of their lives.
Aizawa Lee Syaoran Vessalius: Thanks for the review! I think that confrontation at least made them a bit honest with all that has happened. XD Hope you enjoyed this one!
Suomy Nona: Yeah, the Suits CD are when they were younger, before Gundam SEED. There are quite a few of them actually, and there are some that takes place after Gundam SEED, during Gundam SEED Destiny and so on. The CDs are in Japanese, unfortunately. But I think you can find translations around the internet for them.
Atlantislux: You're right that Miho is very persistent. I don't think I could have killed him so early after introducing him. XD I disliked the way everyone accepted Mu without question. I wanted at least a bit of confrontation, or at least some questions to why he did the things he did, even without his memories. He's still the same person inside, and I decided none could do the job better than Shinn. ;)
Statius: Thanks for the review, and apologies for the late update! Hopefully, I'll be updating regularly again.
San017: Haven't seen you in a while. Thanks a lot for the feedback. I know, it's been a while, I've been bogged down with too much to do and haven't the time to both read and write. I hope I can catch up to your story soon as well. Hopefully, the update date is correct this time.