Gundam SEED Destiny: Kira

by Tellemicus Sundance

He had no memory, found drifting amongst the final battlefield. Two years of peace have passed since that day, unrest and distrust are again rising. This is the story on how he recovers what he lost, what he forgot, and what he never knew he had. DISCONTINUED

5. A True Hero

Gundam SEED Destiny
Kira
By: Tellemicus Sundance
Phase 5: A True Hero

October 3, 73 C.E.
Minerva, 10:21am

When a crew is trapped aboard a vessel with minimal communication with the outside world, it is only natural for a rumor-mill to develop. Everyone will eventually know anything of any significance or interest that happens to the others while aboard. So when the crew of the Minerva learned that the remains of Junius 7 had suddenly started moving by unknown means, courtesy of Meyrin Hawke, it took no less than ten minutes for the entire crew to know of the impending collision with Earth.

The trio of ZAFT Red pilots, the young mechanics Vino Dupre and Yolant Kent, and Meyrin Hawke were all gathered in the Minerva's lounge for the break in their shifts, discussing that very topic, as was the rest of the ship.

For lack of anything better to do, Tolle was standing outside the lounge, leaning lazily against the wall. He really wished he could somehow repair the Fortitude now. If only the Minerva had the proper parts, he'd do it himself! Despite how much he disliked doing any of the nitty-gritty engineering work, it was much more preferable to listening to Cagalli and Durandal play their game of politics (how Athrun put up with it was beyond him). And being gawked at by the crew and rookies like he was some kind of rare species due to his small amount of fame was as unsettling as it was embarrassing. Did they expect him to do some kind of trick or offer some advice that would allow them to gain such status or something? Thankfully at least that Rey guy seemed to be immune that mind frame. Tolle was also reasonably sure that the tall blond knew he was there as well.

That was why he was merely leaning against the wall out in the hall and silently listened to them talk about the impending doom to Earth. It was about the same time that the rookies had finally reached the subject of how to stop the giant memorial from striking Earth when Cagalli and Athrun showed up, no doubt desiring a stiff drink or something. Judging from Cagalli's overly stressed and worried expression, a long night at a bar was just what she needed to relax…Of course, he'd sooner attack the old super-weapon GENESIS with a potato gun than tell her that!

Seeing him standing out in the hall, Athrun and Cagalli nodded in greeting to him. Athrun, despite being even more stressed than Cagalli, couldn't stop the small grin on his face when he saw Tolle. If there was one thing he'd learned about the guy he'd almost killed two years ago, it was that he disliked being the center of attention as much as Kira did. And by the sounds of the people inside, it was those rookies again who seemed so determined to worship the veterans of the Bloody Valentine War.

However, his small grin fell immediately when he and everyone else heard the dark-skinned mechanic start badmouthing the Earth and the impending tragedy, saying that the PLANTs would be better off without the planet. Athrun and Tolle both knew immediately, and without even having to look, to know that Cagalli's stress had just reached critical mass. She was gonna blow!!

And boy did the unstoppable force blow!

As Athrun futilely tried to drag her away, Tolle just leaned even more heavily into the wall with an equally heavy sigh of resignation. There she went again with one of her rants. Honestly, that was one of the only things that Tolle disliked about Kira's twin sister. She could rant like no woman he'd ever heard of before.

Finally, someone countered Cagalli's ranting. And judging from the mocking and poorly disguised disgust, it was that Shinn guy from the hangar. This wasn't going to turn out pretty at all, especially with Cagalli in this type of mood. Thankfully, Athrun wasn't the only one trying to stop the inevitable. However, to stop Shinn at this point was like trying to move the immoveable object.

"Oh, I forgot," the ZAFT Red sneered mockingly yet again. "She's some kind of VIP: the Princess of Orb."

"Control yourself, Cagalli!" Athrun said, iron in his voice as he once again held her back. If it weren't for the fact that his strength had been enhanced by genetic-engineering, he wouldn't have been able to restrain the angry blonde. Turning to face the pleased pilot, the legendary ace said, "It seems you have some kind of grudge against Orb. May I ask why? I thought you used to live there."

That caught Tolle by surprise, causing him to turn and watch the confrontation with much more interest.

"If you're looking for some kind of trivial excuse to drag the Representative into an irrelevant fight, I won't stand for it," Athrun finished, the iron in his voice returning.

However, upon hearing that, the Orb-emigrant visibly bristled in anger as his glare intensified. Walking forward as he spoke, he stood before the pair with his hateful glare seeming to make his red eyes glow. "Trivial?! It most certainly isn't trivial! And you're wrong about it being irrelevant too. I lost my entire family because of the Athhas!"

Cagalli, Athrun, and even Tolle were suitably caught off guard by that last statement.

"They believed in the nation," Shinn continued, pushing forward now that he found weakness. "and in your so-called ideals. And in the end, they were killed at Onogoro!" Turning his glare solely upon the Representative, the pure hatred in those red eyes was enough to cause the blonde to flinch back in fear and surprise. "That's why I'll never believe a word you say, and I'll never believe in Orb! I'll never believe any of your self-serving lies again!"

Crushing the soda can he was holding in his hand in his anger, Shinn continued his rant relentlessly now that he'd gained some momentum. "When you said you were going to uphold 'justice' did you ever think of how many would die because you insisted on following your values to the end?! "

For a moment, all three war veterans were treated to a flashback of people they'd seen die on the battlefield. People they could've protected, but had been unable to.

Seeing that he'd gotten his point across, Shinn visibly backed down as he finished his rant in much calmer tone of voice. "I wish people who didn't understand stuff, wouldn't talk about things that she thought she did."

He couldn't help it. Honestly, he truly couldn't stop himself. First it started out as a quiet chuckle. Then it escalated into low laughter and he began to mockingly clap his hands. This unexpected response to Shinn's obvious anger drew the attention of everyone in the lounge. Seeing Shinn's hateful glare return full-force only caused Tolle to sneer visibly at the pilot.

"What a wonderful display of pure, raw, unadulterated rage and complete and utter ignorant stupidity!" Tolle cheered as he finally entered the room and leaned against the wall next to the doorframe, still lightly clapping his hands.

"And just what's so funny about it?!" Shinn demanded. Oh, he really was starting to hate this guy!!

"I'm sorry," Tolle lied in a condescending tone. "but I just can't help it. You make it sound like you're the noble orphan who should be the king of the world. You insinuate that you could've done a better job than Lord Uzumi. Your hypocrisy is staggering."

"Hypocrisy?!" Shinn demanded, once again bristling in rage. "And what makes you think you know anything about what I had to go through?!"

"Tolle, now's not the time for this," Athrun warned, turning a sharp glare on the Gundam pilot. "We don't need a fight with these guys."

"I never said I knew anything about it," Tolle countered Shinn, easily ignoring Athrun. "What I was merely saying is that you just got done yelling at the Chief Representative of Orb about not talking about things to which she doesn't understand, and yet here you are doing the exact same thing."

"I know exactly what I was talking about!" Shinn countered, clenching his fists so tightly that the can in his hand resembled little more than twisted metal now.

"Oh really?" the older pilot drawled. "And just what would you have done if you had been the leader of Orb at the time?"

"I would've surrendered the stupid country!" Shinn snapped. "At least that way there wouldn't have been a pointless battle in which a lot of innocents would've been killed!"

"And we finally reach the heart of the issue!" Tolle declared in a strangely cheerful voice. "Because you're a victim of that pointless battle, all you can think about is what wouldn't have happened at that point in time if Lord Uzumi had surrendered instead of fought."

"What the hell does that have to do with anything?!"

"Everything," Tolle snapped, turning a stern glare upon the pilot. The sudden seriousness in the formerly mocking pilot caught everyone but Athrun and Cagalli by surprise. "You're so busy wallowing in your hatred of the 'evil' Uzumi Athha who refused to surrender his 'despicable' nation to the Alliance, which sadly resulted in the deaths of your 'pure and innocent' family. You're so busy enjoying your misery that you haven't stopped to think about what would've most likely happened if Lord Uzumi had submitted to the Alliance."

"You had better have a point to all this!!" Shinn growled dangerously, very close to attacking the older man who dared mock his family.

"You want the point then?" Tolle asked rhetorically. "Fine then. But first here's a question for you. If Lord Uzumi had surrendered and the Alliance took complete control of the Mass Driver and Morgenroete, what would've they done next?"

"They would've continued their war with ZAFT in space!" Shinn snapped, stalking over towards the slouching pilot. "Who cares?!"

"Oh, I see where you're going with this, Lieutenant," a calm voice finally said from behind Shinn, causing the boy to snap around in rage at the person who dared agree with the bastard who was insulting him. The ever-calm gaze of Rey just glanced at him before he continued. "You're trying to make him see the broader picture."

"That's right," Tolle agreed easily, nodding appreciatively towards the blond Coordinator. Since the boy was literally standing in his face by now, Tolle easily met Shinn's gaze as he returned his glare to the Lieutenant. Unfazed in the least, Tolle continued, "The Alliance would've most certainly have begun the extermination of all Coordinators in Orb's borders."

For just a second, Shinn froze as that thought finally penetrated his rage-addled brain. Like Shinn before, Tolle saw an opening and pressed forward relentlessly. "The Alliance had been under the control of Muruta Azrael at the time, remember. Do you really think he would've just left you peace? Especially when it was a known fact that Orb allowed Coordinators to live within its borders? NO, he wouldn't have!!" Everyone flinched as Tolle snapped out his last statement with such vehemence that it wasn't relevant that he hadn't even raised his voice in the least.

Turning a cold glare upon Shinn, he finally finished his opinion, "The fact that you'd have preferred to have had Lord Uzumi submit, without even considering the consequences, makes you nothing short of a self-centered brat who can't even think about anyone else but himself." With a small sigh and a shake of his head, Tolle murmured out, "I pity your existence, for that is what you're living."

In an instant, Shinn's fist smashed into Tolle's face, knocking the pilot back hard into the wall he was still leaning on. Before he could launch a follow up attack, Athrun snatched Shinn's wrist and dragged him roughly away despite how the boy struggled to free himself. "That is enough, Shinn!"

"What makes you think I even want your pity?!" Shinn yelled as he lost all control of himself. "What makes you think I give a shit about anyone from ORB?!"

"I think you do care," Tolle answered, gently holding his face as a trail of blood began running out of his nose. Standing up straight again, the Gundam pilot let out a small pained grunt as he realigned his nose into its proper position. "Do you feel any better now that you've hit something?"

Rather than answer, Shinn tried to lunge forward to finish what he'd started. It took Athrun, Yolant, Vino, and even Rey to finally drag the enraged ZAFT Red away and back towards his quarters for a time-out.

"That was completely uncalled for, Lieutenant," Cagalli snapped in anger at her escort pilot as he went in search of some tissues in the lounge. "He had only been voicing his own opinions. What he chooses to believe about my father or Orb is his business, and we do not have the right to impose our beliefs on him!"

"Yes, Representative Athha," Tolle answered easily. "However, you looked like you were ready to cry and his attitude was pissing me off!"

"You're incorrigible," she bemoaned before letting out a growled sigh of annoyance. Shortly afterwards, Cagalli left in search of Athrun. Oh boy, she couldn't wait until she returned home to Orb…if it managed to survive the approaching collision of course.

Chuckling quietly to himself, Lieutenant Tolle continued gently holding his nose as he too left in search of the infirmary.

Both Hawke sisters turned to glance at each other as the drama finally came to an end. In as quiet a voice as possible, Meyrin said, "I hope the rest of our time on the Minerva isn't going to be like this."

KIRA – Mobile Suit Gundam SEED Destiny – KIRA

October 4, 73 C.E.
Minerva, 11:39am

For the rest of the evening, on through the night, and well into the morning, the hangar of the Minerva was a place of great bustling activity and heightening stress. With the impending disaster and subsequent operation to avert it at all costs, the rookie engineers and pilots alike were in a state of near-constant nervous breakdown. There was a great deal of irritated yelling, cussing, and not-so-subtle grumbling between the junior assistants and their commanding officers.

"I've told you this three times already, Dupre!" Aves growled angrily, pulling at threads as his flailed patience and self-restraint were being yet again yanked savagely tight. "You do not give the ion pumps an extra quarter tightening! That'll only increase the likelihood of the seal linings to rupture while under pressure during operation by an additional nineteen percent! If that happens, all you've got out there is an immobile hunk of junk! Now do it right this time!!"

"Yes sir," Vino managed to utter through clenched teeth in a barely respectable tone. Once Aves had his back turned and launched himself back towards the repairs being done on Lunamaria's ZAKU Warrior, the young mechanic cadet let out low growl and flicked the bird off at his senior supervisor.

"Tut tut," a playful voice said from somewhere nearby. "I wouldn't do that if I were you, unless you wanna kiss that next promotion goodbye for the next three years."

Glancing over towards the voice, the two-tone-haired mechanic just scowled deeper as he spotted the Orb Gundam pilot from his perch on the back of his current mobile armor. The older boy had a laptop computer in one hand and a wrench in other, sitting next to an open panel near the Fortitude Gundam's port wing.

"What does it matter to you, Lieutenant?" Vino demanded as he turned back to his task at hand. "You're from Orb, after all. And you've got your own mobile suit to worry about."

"I care because I'm from Orb, as you've just pointed out," Tolle answered grimly, not looking up from his laptop. "I care because my Gundam is currently inoperable, so I'll be depending on Miss ZAFT Red, the Impulsive Grump, and the White Baldy to handle the situation alone. And with the Impulsive Grump's current attitude towards my home, I'm even more worried than I should be. So please do everyone a favor and do what your boss just said: do it right this time, okay?"

For just a brief moment, in a fit of stressed anger over hearing that same phrase yet again, Vino gave the ion pump he was fiddling with a rather savage twist. Though the act was a badly needed momentary stress-relief for the young mechanic, it also pushed the already-estranged pump past its breaking point. Within little more than an instant, the tube fractured and the pressurized contents burst out, spraying right into Vino's face. Yelping in surprise, the mechanic launched himself away to safety as the entire pump gave loud shattering crash that was heard clearly throughout the entire hangar.

Had the ZAKU that he'd been working on been active, Vino would've found himself in an incomparable amount of pain from the superheated liquids that now coated his face and upper uniform. As it was, thankfully, all he had to worry about was spitting out the foul-tasting fluids and cleaning himself. Too busy wiping his face clean, the boy didn't see where he was drifting until he bumped into a body, knocking both off their present course.

"Sorry!" he called blindly.

"What happened now, Vino?" a familiar feminine voice asked.

"I broke an ion pump…by accident!" Vino explained as he finally cleared the fluids from his face. Looking over at where Lunamaria was now drifting, he growled slightly in anger as he called over, "Careful, Luna! That guy's dangerous!" Without another word, he drifted off in search of a nearby sink or shower to clean himself, whichever came first.

Shifting her body expertly, Lunamaria watched with a small frown as the Orb pilot continued with his maintenance work on his Gundam. Sighing loudly to draw his attention as she approached, she stuck out her hand, "A little help, please, Lieutenant?"

Looking up towards the young girl who was steadily approaching, Tolle quickly realized that she wouldn't be within reach to catch herself unless she went all the way to the wall some dozen meters away due to her current angle of travel. "Sure thing, Miss ZAFT Red!"

Dropping his tools and laptop, he scurried across the hull of the Fortitude. Anchoring himself to the starboard stabilizer of the right side engine, he stretched his arm and easily caught the rookie pilot as she came past. Upon pulling her safely aboard, Tolle smiled slightly before hurrying back to his work station.

Staring at the pilot with a noticeably deeper frown, the red-haired Hawke leisurely followed him, momentarily putting her previous task on hold. "You know, for being a great war hero and an ace pilot, you sure like to pick a lot of fights. I'd be willing to bet that just somehow gave Vino a reason to hate you now."

"The kid's just overworked, stressed, and very tired right now," Tolle stated, not looking up from his work. "Give him six hours of sleep, a full stomach, and perhaps some teasing and I'll bet he'll forget all about it. Besides, I really didn't do anything to him."

Not finding an immediate response to his statement, Lunamaria just stared down at him for a few moments. There were a few another questions she wanted to ask him. But if what she suspected was true, then he likely wouldn't answer them.

"Let me guess," the brown-haired Lieutenant said suddenly, surprising her for half a second. "You wanted to ask me about the 'blue-haired-hottie-who-has-such-an-intense-gaze-in-his-eyes-that-you-could-fall-into-them' guy that the Representative has for an aide. Am I right?"

Seeing the small smirk pulling at his lips and the glittering in his laughing eyes as he looked up at her, Lunamaria just scowled as a small blush began to line her cheeks. Even though she would never admit to having such thoughts about the young man, in the deepest parts of her mind where it was safe for Luna to be a squealing, romance-starved, hormonal teenager who didn't have to maintain a tomboy image, she would happily agree that Tolle's description of Athrun's prominent features were spot-on.

"I take it that I'm not the first to ask you questions like this then," she muttered bitterly, forcefully suppressing her annoyance at how quickly she'd been found out.

"Don't worry, happens all the time when Cagalli leaves home," Tolle said, laughter clear in his voice as he once again focused on the laptop in his hand. "Although you're one of the more subtle ones who've I've had to reluctantly break her heart with the news that he's taken, 110 percent. Sorry."

The inner romance-starved teenager of Luna let out a loud scream of pain, despair, and fury as her fears were confirmed. "That's not what I wanted to ask," she snapped tensely as her blush began to slowly deepen.

"His name is not Athrun Zala," Tolle said immediately, speaking in a slight monotone. "Though he does look remarkably similar to the guy, Alex has never actually participated in the Bloody Valentine War because his parents refused to allow him to join the military. Instead, he was enrolled in a technical college and was accepted as Representative Cagalli's aide shortly after the war ended and he graduated at the top of his class. Yes, he does know how to pilot mobile suits because, as the Representative's aide, he must have many diverse skills in accordance to how to best serve her needs and wishes, as well as reacting to an emergency without authorization."

Glancing up at the somewhat stupefied face of the young pilot, Tolle smirked broadly at her. "Was that everything you wanted to know?"

Snapping out the slight daze, Lunamaria just shook her head as she let out a quiet chuckle. "You know, if I didn't know any better, I would've bought that load of crap, hook, line and sinker."

"Dammit," Tolle chuckled himself. "I thought I might've been actually convincing this time! I mean, I didn't stutter or choke, laugh, or even grin this time! I guess Miss Clyne's acting lessons and all Cagalli's political lectures on etiquette have been wasted on me…Oh well, never wanted to be a damn politician anyway."

Unable to restrain herself, Lunamaria let out a loud laugh at the pilot's self-damning statements. She continued to laugh for a few moments until she noticed that some the mechanics were looking her strangely. Quickly gaining control of herself, she turned to Tolle and saw his answering smile to her own.

"Actually, there is another question I've been wanting to ask you," she said. Seeing his inquiring raised eyebrow, she continued, "What happened to the Freedom's pilot?"

Jerking slightly from both pain at the sudden unpleasant memories that flooded his mind and the unexpected question, Tolle put too much of his weight upon the wrench he was using. The sudden increase happened at a bad angle, resulting in the tool sliding off the nut he'd been absentmindedly tightening and getting his hand gashed open from it shooting forward. Dropping the wrench with a loud cuss, Tolle immediately vacated his work station for the Fortitude's cockpit where there awaited a first-aid kit.

"Sorry," Luna said, peeking into the slightly foreign cockpit. "Is that a sensitive subject too?"

"Technically, no," the scarred Lieutenant said as he finally found the kit. "But…emotionally, yes…for all of us."

This partially confused Lunamaria. She, like so many others, didn't believe the official report that the Freedom and its pilot, Kira Yamato, had disappeared after the final battle, presumably killed-in-action. Oh no, from the short clippings of battles she seen that the Freedom had been involved in, there was simply no way that a pilot of such caliber could be killed. He must've faked his death so he could avoid what Athrun Zala was now trying to: hero-worship and (most likely) assassination attempts.

"You mean he's…dead?" Luna asked, trying to wrap her mind around such a seemingly impossible concept. "Really dead? He's not just hiding to avoid the public like Athrun?"

"I don't know if he's truly dead or alive really," Tolle muttered quietly, his gaze not wavering from the new bandage on his wrist. "I was there. I was there! I saw him destroy the damn Providence Gundam…after saving me…Then GENESIS blew…All that radiation, heat, and light completely fried my Astray's sensors and all others nearby. We have no idea whether he was able to get clear of the blast in time or not. And we spent the next week searching the entire battlefield for him…if he did somehow survive the explosion, then he'd probably died shortly afterwards from lack of oxygen…or unless something else happened."

Looking up slowly, Lunamaria saw the unshed tears pulling at his eyes for a moment. For him, she realized, the pain of losing a dear friend was still very much alive and present. But probably much worse due to the fact that his friend had likely died because he'd been protecting him from death. Then the scarred pilot wiped his eyes and the slightly-bipolar Lieutenant she'd known up to this point had returned, "But hey, if he did manage to survive, he's doing a kickass job of avoiding the media!"

Lunamaria couldn't help but smile weakly at the comment. Then, hit by a sudden desire to fully bring the scarred Lieutenant out of his depression, she put on a slight grin as she asked, "So, any girlfriends back home?"

Tolle shot her a rather peculiar look before his face shifted into a strictly neutral blank. "I did...Let's just say that shit happens, and wars are hell on earth."

"Hey, Luna!" a voice from her ZAKU Warrior called out. "What are you doing? These maneuvering thrusters' outputs won't gauge themselves! Get over here!"

"Sounds like Daddy's calling," Tolle remarked, his face immediately dawning a large grin as Lunamaria quirked an eyebrow at the statement. "Looks like it's time to go, Miss ZAFT Red."

"My name is Lunamaria Hawke," she said sternly, giving him a small glare. She really disliked it when people called her something in correlation to her uniform, no matter how proud of it she was. Without waiting for a reply, she pushed herself away and towards her ZAKU.

"And my name's Tolle Koenig!" the Lieutenant called out formally.

Shaking her head, Lunamaria tried to return her mind to the task she'd previously abandoned. But before she fell back into that mentality, she quietly admitted to herself that she may have finally begun to understand some of the weird quirks in Tolle's personality and behavior.

KIRA – Mobile Suit Gundam SEED Destiny – KIRA

October 5, 73 C.E.
Junius 7, 5:44am

"Dammit, what's going on?!" Dearka yelled out over the radio of his Gunner ZAKU Warrior. "Who are these guys?!"

The attack had come without warning and without mercy. Once they had finally shown themselves, Dearka counted no less than fifty GINNs, High Maneuver Type II. All were armed to the teeth with beam rifles, swords, and even a few beam bazookas. It was painfully obvious early on that these enemy pilots were veterans of the war due to how efficiently they worked and moved. However, Dearka was quite sure that he'd come armed with at least a rifle, he could've mowed them down like dominos.

But the sad fact was that the attack was sudden, vicious, and completely unexpected. The only reason he had thus far been able to evade being shot at was because the Meteor Breaker he had been helping to place into position on the falling Junius 7 was a distance away from the heart of the battle.

Once Yzak's little gifts of spare rifles had finally come crashing down into the battle, the Joule Team had finally been able to put up a defense. The blond Coordinator, deeming that the Breaker he'd been helping with was safely in place, flew off to engage the enemy GINNs head on. He shot one blast after another with the Orthros long-range beam cannon he was using, trying to shred the attackers each time. Unfortunately, the pilots of those GINNs were proving to be quite skilled in the use of their machines, he had been able to destroy only three of them at this point.

"Just who the hell are these guys?" he growled in anger at yet another missed shot. "They're fucking experts!"

"Workers, continue with the demolition placements!" Yzak commanded loudly from his blue ZAKU as he chased off an attacking GINN from one of the Breakers. "We still have a job to do! Don't play into their hands!"

It was at that moment that three new signals appeared on the radar. Dearka and Yzak, both among of the closer ones to the signals, turned to face the approaching units. What they saw were Chaos, Gaia, and Abyss, the units they'd heard were stolen from Armory One only a few days prior. What were they doing here? It was as they drew closer that the three new machines moved into attack positions, Dearka and Yzak were already moving to evade and counter.

Just as the three units were about to open fire, a sudden burst of beams came rushing towards them from the side, catching everyone by surprise. Glancing in that direction, at first Dearka saw nothing out of place, not even the radar was detecting anything. Then as though peeling itself out of nowhere…something appeared. At first it looked like some kind of orange spider-like mobile armor. However, even with the limited visibility of the approaching object, all pilots could tell that a mobile armor it was not.

Whatever it was, it was showering golden beams down upon the three approaching Gundams without remorse. But what drew surprise from both veteran pilots was the unbelievable speed it was rushing forward at! The three Gundams quickly scattered and deftly dodged each beam that was aimed towards them, a true testament to their pilots' skills.

As it flew in among the battling GINNs and ZAKUs, the thing went into a sudden roll, seemingly out of control. Halfway through the roll, sections of the machine moved and repositioned themselves. What Yzak and Dearka saw as the object finally came to a halt was the backside of a very familiar mobile suit.

With its new orange wings spread wide open, the legendary Freedom hovered proudly and at the ready between the two sides as all fighting came to an abrupt halt for just a second.

"The Freedom?" someone asked over the radio. "Is that the Freedom?!"

As if in response to the question, the Freedom suddenly shot upwards and turned towards the momentarily-frozen battle beneath it. Quick as lightning, it flashed into a firing position and rained pinpoint precise shots down upon the horde of GINNS, utterly destroying more than fifteen of them in less than two seconds.

Athrun, who was piloting a ZAKU, could only stare in disbelief at the magnified image of the Gundam that had just appeared on the battlefield. Despite its new orange color scheme, he could recognize that Gundam anywhere! That was Kira's suit…Was Kira piloting it?!

"Back to work, everyone!" Yzak yelled out suddenly. "We've got a PLANT to break apart!"

KIRA – Mobile Suit Gundam SEED Destiny – KIRA

In the blue Abyss, Auel just stared in awe at the pure destruction that the funny-looking mobile suit had just done to the ZAFT forces ahead them. Even though he hadn't spent much time on the subject since it had been assumed destroyed in the last war, Auel could recognize that winged Gundam just as easily as anyone else: the ZGMF X10A Freedom!

However, it looked very different from the pictures and movie clippings he'd seen of in the last war. The wings were now a prominent, if slightly faded, orange color. The orange shield it was carrying had a pair of weapon barrels protruding from near the end of it, clearly that shield could be as easily used as a beam rifle as it could a shield. There was also a strangely shaped and bulky-looking attachment mounted onto the Freedom's right forearm, it almost looked like a small shield of some kind. But what really caught his interest was that he could easily see not two but four separate beam sabers stored upon its hull, two on the waist and two on the shoulders.

With this strange new Freedom hovering proudly in front of him, wings still spread wide with plumes of blue engine energy glowing brightly behind it, the Gundam was an awe-striking sight, regardless of whether it was real or not. But then Auel's awe turned to instant envy. He wanted that Gundam!

"Hey, Sting," he called out. "That's the Freedom, isn't it?"

"I think so," the green-haired Extended leader answered. "But it looks different from what I remember. However, it doesn't seem to be our enemy. It just destroyed those GINNs. We'll assume it's on our side, but keep your guard up!"

"If it is the Freedom," Auel said, ignoring Sting's order as he opened the Abyss' fin-shields and taking aim. "Taking its head would be one hell of a souvenir!" With that said, he blasted all his guns at the winged Gundam's back.

However, not a single beam hit home as the Gundam suddenly dodged to the side. Turning to face his attacker, the Freedom lunged forward with a massive burst of speed, firing its rifle relentlessly. Auel was forced completely on the defensive, using his shields to protect his vulnerable center and head piece.

"You idiot!" Sting growled in annoyance as he shifted the Chaos into its armor mode. Unleashing his weapon pods, he rushed forward to attack the Freedom and draw it away from the Abyss. He couldn't help but grin in response when he was able to land several direct hits upon the Gundam. "Auel, don't get carried away! Stellar, go take out those bastards up ahead."

"Understood," the girl grunted before her Gundam rocketed away.

Trying to press his advantage, Sting continued to fire his pods at the Freedom while he came swooping down to lacerate it with his beam claws. However, now that he'd gained its attention, the winged Gundam began an almost exotic dance between the attacking pods and easily slipped out of the Chaos' lunge.

"Hold still, will you!" Auel yelled as he fired towards the evasive Freedom with all his weapons again. Somersaulting in a clearly arrogant fashion over the beams as he once again dodged them, the Freedom responded in kind with a pair of shots from its plasma cannons, forcing Auel to dodge away.

"Gotcha!" Sting cried, the Chaos charging forward in mobile suit mode with a beam saber in hand. As the Freedom landed on Junius 7, the Chaos made a vicious swing towards the cockpit. But the reflexes of the Freedom's pilot were far above and beyond any that Sting had ever seen before. The Freedom managed to duck underneath the swing, bringing its shield-rifle into position and fired at near pointblank range into the Chaos' starboard weapon pod.

Reacting immediately, the Chaos grabbed its other beam saber and brought it down towards the Freedom's right side. Just before the saber could come into contact with the strange little shield-like object mounted on the Freedom's right forearm, a pair of beam claws sprung to life and blocked the saber.

"You've got to be kidding me!" Sting growled as he pulled the Chaos a safe distance away before the Freedom could attack again. "Since when does the Freedom have crap like that?!"

"I've got him this time!" Auel yelled, triumph in his voice.

Behind the Freedom, the Abyss was rushing forward with its beam lance activated and raised for a vertical fatal strike. As Sting backed ever so slightly away, the pilot of the Freedom was quickly alerted to the Abyss' presence and reacted instantly. Just before the Abyss could close the remaining distance to deliver its strike, the Freedom's wings raised and pointed themselves towards the attacking Gundam. Panels on the tips of the eight wings suddenly slid open and the tips of beam rifles snapped into place. An instant later, all eight wings fired and struck the unguarded Abyss powerfully, knocking it away. Only the power of its VPS armor prevented those beams from penetrating the Abyss' internal structure.

Quickly changing targets, the Freedom raised its right arm towards the Chaos, putting the Extended on guard. Unexpectedly, the entire shield-like structure suddenly detached itself and shot forward, aiming for the Chaos' remaining weapon pod. Reacting too late, Sting could only growl out in anger as he lost his second pod while the shield quickly returned to its original perch on the Freedom's forearm.

"This guy…" he growled out through clenched teeth. "He's even worse than that combining bastard!"

"How about we stop playing 'nice' then?" Auel asked, the malice clear in his voice.

It was at this time that there came a massive explosion from where the larger battle was taking place. All three combatants turned and saw that Stellar had just destroyed one of the Breakers that the ZAFT pilots were trying to put into place

Jumping forward, the Freedom suddenly shifted forms. Its legs folded from the waist backwards and the arms stretched over the chest, causing the large shield-rifle to form a protective shell over the entire length. With a power blast of its engines, the mobile armor Freedom went rocketing over towards the bestial Gaia Gundam.

"Stellar, incoming!!" Sting yelled out as he and Auel turned to chase after the missile of a mobile suit.

The warning came almost too late. Barely dodging to the side, the blonde glared hatefully at the misshaped objected firing towards her. "You won't defeat me. No one can defeat me!!"

Breaking away from the latest pair of ZAKU she had been attacking, Stellar drew her beam saber as she rushed the incoming mobile armor. With a loud battle cry, she brought her saber slashing forward, intent on cutting the machine into two pieces. But before it was even within reach, the armor suddenly went into an erratic tumble, confusing her and causing her aim to miss her mark badly. Turning and slashing her saber at the same time as it passed her, she found herself facing the Freedom as it again changed back into its true form. The Freedom had drawn its own saber and easily blocked hers. Bringing its shield-rifle forward, the Freedom took a quick shot at her Gundam's semi-unprotected torso and knocked her backwards.

"WHY YOU!!!" Truly enraged, Stellar fired her own rifle at the Freedom, desiring nothing more than to see it up in flames.

As if to piss her off all the more, the Freedom deflected and blocked each beam away with its saber before rushing forward. Blocking each other's slash with their shields, the pair of them found themselves in a lock of strength of will. Then, without warning, the Xiphias rail cannons on the Freedom's waist rose up and fired, blowing the Gaia back. As the Gaia was still recovering from unexpected attack, the Freedom lunged forward with its beam saber at the ready. With one decisive slash, it removed the Gaia's shield arm and heavily damaged part of its shoulder.

Seeing the rapidly approaching Abyss, the Freedom continued on its charge. Discarding its shield-rifle and flying forward with only its saber, the Freedom rushed towards the Abyss as the blue Gundam prepared to fire its shield cannons again. Just before the Abyss could fire, the Freedom snatched another other beam saber from its waist and made a single slash with each across the inside of the Abyss' shield cannons. The damage, combined with the Abyss in the process of firing them again, caused both to be blown apart. The resulting damage gave the shields an appearance of wearing a pair of smashed shells on its hull.

The Chaos, which was slightly behind and to the side of the Abyss, immediately turned to attack the Freedom with its beam rifle. Utilizing the added thrusters installed in its wings, the Freedom made an abrupt flight change that not only helped it dodge but allowed it to close the distance between it and the Chaos very quickly. Diving under the green Gundam, the Freedom took a single slash and amputated the Chaos of its legs. Circling around the ruined but still dangerous unit, the Freedom removed the arm that held its beam rifle.

Sheathing its sabers, the Freedom was fast to recollect its shield-rifle, utterly ignoring the ruined Gundams at its back. Flying up once again, it surveyed the battlefield quickly. Apparently the GINNs, despite having the initial advantage, were now being overpowered thanks to the ZAKUs' well coordinated attacks, as well as the back-up mobile suits and Gundam that had been sent by the Minerva. However, there were still ten GINNs remaining. Snapping into a firing position, the Freedom fired all its weapons again, instantly eliminating all the remaining GINNs.

Letting out a long breath of relief, Akira turned back to face the three crippled Gundams below him. The pilots of those Gundams were indeed exceptional in all regards. Their reaction times were nearly superhuman, their aim was superb, and the apparent ease of the usage of the Gundams was nothing short of astonishing. Were these three truly Naturals?

Whatever the case, as he stared down at them, he began to prepare to finish them off. But…this just didn't seem right. True, they'd been attacking him. He'd fought back and overpowered each one of them without remorse. But now they were, for all intents and purposes, defenseless. Did he really want to destroy those three Gundams so badly that he'd attack defenseless opponents like that? In cold-blood?

…No, not like this.

KIRA – Mobile Suit Gundam SEED Destiny – KIRA

"That guy is awesome!" Lunamaria said breathlessly. She and Athrun had been some of the very few to have stopped fighting after the Freedom had made its first mass attack on the GINNs and watched it battle the three stolen Gundams. "Where do you think he's been hiding all this time?"

In her own opinion, Lunamaria had been expecting the sheer power and skill of the Freedom. But at the same time, she'd have thought that the Chaos, Gaia, and Abyss would've put up more of a fight against it. The fact that even ZAFT's more modern 'Second Stage' Gundams were no real match against this new Freedom was a real eye-opener to the rookie pilot to the Freedom and its current pilot's overwhelming power and potential.

Receiving no comment from Athrun, Lunamaria switched on visual communication with his ZAKU to see what he was doing.

"Kira?!" he was calling out repeatedly as he changed from one communication frequency to the next. "Kira Yamato! Are you there?! KIRA!!"

"I don't think trying to contact him in the middle of a fight is the best idea, Athrun," she commented dryly. Athrun just turned an annoyed glare at her before continuing his frantic search for the Freedom's radio frequency. "I know that he use to be your friend, but what if that's not Yamato in that Gundam?"

"That's not possible," Athrun said in a very firm voice that brooked no argument. "Very few people could possibly handle the Freedom as well as Kira or I could. And there's no way that Kira would allow anyone else but himself to pilot that suit…Lacus would kill him if he did." That last comment brought a small, bitter smile to his face. "Kira?! Answer me, Kira!!"

"This is Akira Iyadomi of the Neo Freedom," a very deep voice suddenly growled over the radio, surprising all of the remaining ZAFT pilots. It took Lunamaria a few seconds to realize that the voice wasn't a natural one, but filtered. "ZAFT forces please continue with the operation, I will scout around for any remaining terrorists!" Then before the many eyes of the ZAFT pilots, the newly-named Neo Freedom shifted into that awkward-looking mobile armor and promptly vanished from sight.

"That's right, it has Mirage Colloid now," Athrun muttered quietly to himself, remind Lunamaria that her channel was still open with him. "Kira, you've certainly been busy these past two years."

"You heard him, people!" came the sharp voice of what was most likely the commander. "Back to work and pick up the pace! Or it won't matter if we split it apart!"

It was at that moment that a trio of signal flares called for the retreat of the stolen Gundams by Bogey One. Lunamaria couldn't help but smirk in satisfaction as she watched the trio of pain in the ass thieves quickly retreated.

"Let's go, Lunamaria," Athrun said as he finally gave up contacting the Neo Freedom pushed his ZAKU towards the nearest Meteor Breaker.

After a few minutes of tedious, nerve-wracking placements of the drill-bombs, a series of internal explosions caused the massive falling PLANT to split into two prominent pieces. Rather than marvel at their achievement, the veteran pilots immediately went back to work as setting their remaining Breakers on the halves. In quick succession, the PLANT began to break apart into smaller and smaller pieces.

Just as she was about fly towards a pair of Breakers that had been abandoned and somehow forgotten in the fighting, Luna's screen suddenly flashed to life. The Minerva was planning on entering the atmosphere while firing its Tannhauser positron cannon?! That was insane! But orders were orders, and with great reluctance she flew back towards the warship. Only shortly after landing did she realize that Athrun hadn't accompanied her.

KIRA – Mobile Suit Gundam SEED Destiny – KIRA

Shinn was in the process of flying back towards the Minerva when he noticed something out of the corner of his screen. A single ZAKU had remained and was attempting to place one of the remaining Breakers into the proper position. Changing course, he flew down towards the ZAKU and slowly recognized it as the one that Athrun was piloting.

"What are you doing?" he asked. Did this guy have a death wish or something? "We've been ordered to withdraw."

"Even if the Minerva uses its cannon, all it'll do is just scorch the surface of this thing," Athrun explained, his voice calm and steady. "If I can get this one going, it'll make the Minerva's main cannon much more effective."

Without even a second's consideration, Shinn swooped around to the other side of the Breaker casing and held it steady as Athrun continued to punch in the activation sequence. "Answer me something, Zala. Why would someone like you want to be on Orb's side?"

"Because it's my home now," Athrun said very quietly.

It was in that moment that a series of beams racing past them, just barely missing the high-explosive device. "NO!! We won't let you!"

Turning and drawing one of his beam sabers in one move, Shinn spotted a trio GINNs that had somehow survived the battle. As he rushed forward to attack, with Athrun hovering protectively in front of the Breaker, Shinn couldn't help but growl in annoyance. It would seem that the Neo Freedom wasn't as all-powerful as it at first appeared!

"My daughter's tombstone must fall!" a furious voice shouted over the radio. "Only then can this wretched world ever change!!"

Quickly disposing of the GINN in the front, Shinn was momentarily caught by surprise. His daughter? Just who exactly were these guys anyway?!

"You damn bastards," growled another voice. "You're laughing with the butchers who caused this massacre here! Living in a damn dream world! Patrick Zala knew it all along! His plan is the only true path for Coordinators!"

"If you truly believe that," growled that same filtered voice from earlier. "then by condemning all of Earth for the actions of a few, you're no better than those 'butchers'!"

That filtered cry of anger was all the warning that the remaining GINNs had before the orange Neo Freedom suddenly appeared behind them, catching everyone by surprise as it fired all its beam cannons mercilessly into the unprotected backs of the machines. Once the explosions had settled, the Neo Freedom dropped down to the last remaining Breaker and heaved it up, flying off to the side.

"Pilots of the Impulse and ZAKU, hurry and return to the Minerva!" the Neo Freedom's pilot said. "This fragment and the Minerva is going to enter Stage Two of reentry in less than twenty-seven seconds."

"What about you?" Shinn asked, already preparing to comply with the order. "What are you going to do?"

"I'm going to set this Breaker up on the far side of the fragment," the pilot said easily. "With these two Breakers and the Minerva's Tannhauser cannon, there will be much less debris."

"Are you crazy, Kira?!" Athrun cried. "Not even the Freedom could survive reentry into the atmosphere flying at those speeds! Even if you don't die of extreme heat, you won't be able to slow your descent enough to prevent crashing!"

"Who is this Kira you keep calling me?" the pilot demanded, causing Athrun to blink in surprise. That was Kira in there….wasn't it?!

"Regardless, I'll be aiming for the Pacific Ocean, so I'll survive," the pilot's artificial voice uttered quietly. Without another word, the Neo Freedom's engines suddenly flared brightly and the Gundam flew off at surprising speeds.

"KIRA!!" Athrun yelled, watching in despair as the Gundam he was positive his friend was piloting disappeared over the horizon. Without even a second thought, he turned his ZAKU and went racing after the speeding Gundam. I've lost him twice already, I will not lose him a third time!!

"Athrun, what the hell are you doing?!" Shinn demanded as the Impulse suddenly appeared in the ZAKU's side camera. "The Minerva is going to entering Stage Two any moment and your ZAKU isn't properly equipped for solo reentry!"

Now Athrun was truly torn. Shinn was right, he had known it ever since he'd climbed into the ZAKU's cockpit. Though there had been a risk that something like this would happen, that he might be forced into reentry, he had not given it much thought. Certainly the ZAKU's armor and shield would be quite adequate to protect him from the severe heat, but the ZAKU's engines were neither designed nor capable for reentry unless it came equipped with a special booster. If he continued after the reckless pilot of the Neo Freedom, he would suffer a fate similar to what he'd just warned Kira of.

But he didn't want to lose his friend again!

Before Athrun could finally make up his mind, Shinn's patience had finally broke and he attacked. Catching Athrun by surprise, the Impulse easily latched onto the ZAKU's backside and heaved, pulling the struggling mobile suit and pilot back towards the relative safety of the warship.

"No!! Not again!" Athrun yelled out. "KIRA!!!"

KIRA – Mobile Suit Gundam SEED Destiny – KIRA

Pointedly ignoring the yelling of the ZAKU's pilot, Akira maintained his focus on his task at hand. When he'd circled back towards the group and spotted the remaining terrorists he thought that had escaped the battle and saw those two Breakers, he had immediately known what he needed to do. Just before he'd jumped into action, he'd set a message to the Minerva, explaining his plan. The warship would continue on with its original plan of firing its positron cannon, but with the aid of this last remaining Breaker on the far side, the chance of the Minerva needing to fire multiple shots during reentry had just decreased significantly.

All he had to worry about now was if the Neo Freedom's revamped cooling systems could allow it to maintain the same velocity as the Junius 7 fragment while at the same time preventing a meltdown in the extreme heat. If his calculations were correct, and they usually were, there was a thirty-four percent chance the reactor would blow as he attempted to complete his task. Setting his jaw and forcing back his instinctive fear, he continued to push the Gundam forward.

After what seemed an eternity on the steadily falling and rapidly heating up fragment, Akira finally reached the spot he wanted. With how badly the fragment was shaking, how quickly the exterior was heating up, the steady increase in speed of the falling hunk of rock, Akira found himself hard-pressed to set the Breaker down on a semi-level surface.

By this time, the surface of the Junius 7 piece was already glowing a fierce red as trails of seemingly red smoke began to rising up from around the edges of the fragment. The interior of the Neo Freedom also began to noticeably heat up as it maintained a steady rate of fall with the fragment. Why hadn't the Minerva fired its blasted cannon yet?! Keeping one eye on the coolant gauges for the nuclear reactor, Akira found himself straining with the controls, pushing with all his strength to punch in the universal activation code for the Breaker.

7…3…5…3…9…4…

A piece of burning debris suddenly fragmented under the Neo Freedom, causing the Gundam to lose its footing momentarily. In that moment, the red alarm of the reactor began blare alive. Coolant fluid levels were approaching critical levels, 75 percent chance of nuclear meltdown and quickly rising. Pushing the Neo Freedom back up, he strained yet again and finally pushed in the last number: 6. The tip of the Breaker began to spin, drilling quickly into the superheated rock under it.

Mission accomplished.

Immediately gunning the engine in attempt to distance himself from the falling gravestone, Akira spread the Neo Freedom's wings to gain a greater amount of aerodynamic control. Upon clearing the lip of the fragment, he shifted the shield protectively in front of the Gundam to protect it. Fingers flying over the keyboard, he quickly calculated a reentry vector that would ensure his and the Neo Freedom's relative safety…though he would likely need to make a lot of serious internal repairs afterwards.

No sooner had he finally set the Neo Freedom into that rapid descent sequence than the Breaker exploded inside the fragment, causing the rock to segment even further into smaller but no less deadly pieces. It was at that moment that the Minerva finally fired its positron cannon into the center of the largest debris remaining. Had the captain been waiting for the Breaker to go off first instead of just rtepeatedly firing its cannon blindly?

Another loud blaring alarm diverted his attention immediately. He watched in horror as the debris of the Junius 7 fragment exploded violently after the impact of the positron cannon. A vast majority of the debris scattered and fell to Earth, creating gigantic explosions and even larger disasters upon wherever they hit, whether it was the ocean, mountain range, or a city. But Akira's attention was focused on a much more immediate danger to his survival; a considerable portion of the fragments had not been sent flying straight down. They had separated and went backwards towards space. Of course, because the debris was well inside the atmosphere, they were quickly falling back to the planet's surface—straight towards the Neo Freedom!!

"I can't move from this course," Akira told himself, his fingers again racing across the keyboard. "Estimated rate of descent is optimal, to alter course now would cause the fission reactor heat levels to rise to even greater levels, not optional! ...Guess we'll just have to tough it out as best we can, Neo Freedom."

That was when the debris finally reached him.

KIRA – Mobile Suit Gundam SEED Destiny – KIRA

Minerva, 6:22am

Captain Talia Gladys couldn't only wait in strained patience with her crew as the Minerva finally began reaching safer levels of altitude in the atmosphere. Upon reaching it, she immediately set her crew to leveling out the Minerva enough for them to safely land on the ocean surface. Once their stability had been achieved, she turned her attention to Bart and Meyrin.

"How are communications and sensors?" she asked, already suspecting that she knew the answer.

"Offline, Madam," Meyrin responded. "Fragments are interfering with the radio waves."

"Try using lasers or thermal sensors," she ordered. "We have to find that unknown mobile suit."

Unnoticed by Gladys, the mention of the unknown suit had finally seemed to rouse Cagalli out of the daze she'd fallen into when she had finally gotten a chance to see an image of the Neo Freedom. In her mind, there was no doubt at all. Her brother was piloting that suit. Kira was alive, appearing right when he could do the most help for all of the people of Earth. KIRA WAS ALIVE!!!

But then she'd watched as the Neo Freedom issued its plan to set a Meteor Breaker on the far side of the fragment. Even though Cagalli wasn't much a mobile suit pilot, her skills were admirable but not legendary, she could tell immediately that his plan was suicidal. Either the extreme heat or the extreme speeds would kill him before he'd even reached Earth. But then just before their sensors had gone offline, she'd caught an image of the Neo Freedom as it attempted to flee to safety. Debris had begun raining down upon it mercilessly. It had torn her up. She had finally seen the proof that her brother was indeed alive, like she'd nearly given up hoping for, and now it seemed that he was about to be taken from her again!

"Do you think the…Neo Freedom could've survived, Madam?" Arthur asked quietly, voicing the one question that was on the minds of all present on the bridge.

"After firing the Tannhauser like that," Gladys said softly. "I have no way of knowing…but I hope so." But at least Shinn had managed to bring Athrun in before he attempted to follow after that rogue Gundam.

After several moments, Bart suddenly spoke up, "Madam! I'm detecting something off to starboard, distance 153, traveling at terminal speeds!"

Snapping her head around, Gladys said, "Do we have a visual?"

"Yes, madam," Bart answered. "Bringing it on screen now."

The image that greeted them was not what Cagalli wanted to see. Not at all. The once legendary machine, with its crisp edges and smooth armor, looked like a twisted hunk of metal that was in the vague shape of a mobile suit which had been scorched black at various places along its exterior. Its once proud wings were twisted and warped, some were even missing altogether. There was also a trailing plume of vile black smoke following the Gundam's descent towards the Pacific Ocean.

Cagalli watched in horror as the seemingly lifeless machine crashed into the waves with unimaginable force. While her heart was screaming and begging for her to believe that her brother had somehow survived that, her brain was telling that not even the Ultimate Coordinator could've lived through that.

But…this wasn't right! She had finally seemed to have found her brother, or at the very least a potential clue that could point her in his direction, and now it had just vanished before her eyes into the depths of an ocean. With the pilot, be it her brother or someone else, most likely killed by the impact…if they weren't already dead.

This just wasn't right!!

---

(Author's Note) I'd like to give a nice big shout-out to backlash5 and FictionReader98. Backlash5 gave me an idea that I hope to use some time in the near future of this story. And FictionReader98 gets huge amounts of gratitude for beta-reading this chapter and offering suggestions that I'd honestly forgotten to use. Thanks a million, guys!

And there we have it! The Neo Freedom's grand reappearance...and disappearance! I bet many of you were expecting Akira to land triumphantly either at Orb or on the Minerva. Right? Right? Sorry, not even close! And now it would seem that Akira has been killed in reentry because of the extreme speeds, heat, and the severe damage done by collisons with debris from the primary Junius 7 fragment. What'll happen now? You'll just have to wait and see! ;P

With this chapter, the poll for possible Neo Freedom armaments is officially over. However, I do have another thing for you readers. I have had several people asking if there was a picture of the Neo Freedom's new look, but unfortunately I don't have any available. For those of you artists out there, feel free draw up any pictures that you want. I'd be more than happy to add a link on my homepage for any works that you'd submit, I only ask that you run them by me first.

Here is a listing of the Neo Freedom's new armaments and equipment that was used in this chapter. However, due to the extreme damage, it is debatable whether we'll ever see any or all of these new weapons again. That is, if Akira and the Neo Freedom manage to survive and 'reunite' once again.

ZGMF-X10A Neo Freedom Gundam
Power plant:
Ultra-compact nuclear fission reactor (Freedom)
Equipment and design features:
Sensors, range unknown (Freedom)
Phase Shift (PS) armor (Freedom)
Neutron Jammer Canceller (Freedom)
G.U.N.D.A.M. Operating System (Freedom)
Mirage Colloid (Early Harvest)
Additional thrusters, hidden in wings, used mostly while in mobile armor mode (various mobile suits)
Fixed armaments:
2 x "Igelstellung" 75mm multi-barrel CIWS, fire-linked, mounted in head (Strike Dagger)
2 x M100 "Balaena" plasma beam cannon, stored in wings, mounted over shoulders in use in HiMAT (High Mobility Aerial Tactics) mode (Freedom)
8 x 57mm high-energy beam cannons, stored inside hidden compartments of the wings, alongside the new maneuverability thrusters (various mobile suits)
2 x MMI-M15 "Xiphias" rail cannon, folded underneath hips, spread out in use in HiMAT (Freedom)
4 x MA-M01 "Lacerta" beam sabers, two stored on waist and two on shoulders (Freedom)
1 x dual beam claw, mounted on small shield on the right forearm, can be fired out with modified DRAGOON system (GuAIZ)
1 x "Kaefer Zwei" 115mm dual ram cannon, mounted on shield of left arm (Calamity)
1 x MA-M21G beam rifle, stored on rear of waist (GuAIZ)